As I mentioned several weeks ago, I’m revisiting Tim Keller’s ‘Songs of Jesus’ as a source for my morning devotions in 2021. For the past week, I’ve been reflecting on Psalm numbers in the mid-30s, and I’ve had one of those rare (for me, anyway) moments of confluence, of understanding, of “Oh wow, I think I get it”, where the living Word jumps off the page and connects with actual, real life.

There are many inter-related issues in my “a-ha!” moment, but the one over-arching issue is where believers place their hope. And it’s an issue that affects many, from Joe and Jane congregation member to famous evangelical figures.

What “clicked” for me with this week’s Psalms happened as I’ve also been reflecting on the pernicious “Equality Act” recently passed the U.S. House of Representatives, and to be taken up shortly by the U.S. Senate. The Equality Act has many evangelicals (quite appropriately) concerned. But a common thread among the response of evangelicals to the Equality Act, along with many other political issues over the past 30-40 years, is a combination of full-on fear coupled with a misplaced hope for worldly political powers to protect and vindicate them.

To be clear, I’m not suggesting that there’s no place for political engagement or for voting among believers. I’m a big fan of the ideals behind the American founding. I think the United States Constitution is the best among all the imperfect documents created so far for governing imperfect and fallen people. But every human system of government, every nation, has a guaranteed expiration in scripture, and should never be viewed as a source of saving help.

All of us, myself included, are prone to misplaced hope and trust. This misplaced hope and trust in worldly political powers inevitably results in people allowing politics and political issues, rather than the word of God, to primarily govern their thinking. It’s what leads YouTube personalities like Jon Harris to reach the utterly ridiculous conclusion that people like Al Mohler and Tim Keller are somehow “woke” leftists. It’s what leads evangelical figures like Franklin Graham to ignore Donald Trump’s persistent, clearly unbiblical character. It’s a bowing down before the wrong altar, which I wrote about at the beginning of the year.

In the Psalms I’ve been reading this week, David cries out about the injustice he’s experiencing at the hand of his enemies. But he not calling on worldly powers to deliver him. He’s calling on God. He’s not playing up his victimhood, either to his own people or to his opponents. He’s placing his trust solely in God.

For the past couple of years I’ve been falling asleep listening to an audio Bible (the first time through with the NIV, this time using the The Message just to change things up). The past several weeks have been the words of Isaiah and Jeremiah. I believe there’s a relevance in their message for us today, as I believe it’s going to get increasingly difficult for orthodox-believing Christians.

They’re warning of the people of God about impending destruction and exile. But in doing so they’re also warning them against hopelessness and self-pity. What they’re saying is this: The Assyrians are coming! But don’t fear the Assyrians. FEAR GOD.

It’s a tricky thing to be both clear-eyed and unafraid about what appears to be coming, but that’s precisely what God calls us to do. It will require humble and repentant hearts, deep immersion into God’s word, placing our trust solely in Him, and living lives of generosity and hope in the midst of suffering. And that can only be accomplished in the power of the holy spirit. Psalm 37 begins with these words: “Do not fret because of those who are evil”.

So let’s commit ourselves. And let’s get to it.