There is no king saved by the multitude of an host: a might man is not delivered by much strength.
- Psalm 33:16
Watching the news. It’s hard to do these days.
I admit to following day to day events, politics, economics, and the like. It’s too much a part of me not to do so.
But it really isn’t a very enjoyable experience.
There’s simply no good news. Or at least many days it doesn’t seem like it.
As a reformed believer, I know well that God has decreed all things, whatsoever comes to pass. He doesn’t merely know in advance what’s going to take place, or passively allow it to happen. He actively brings about the events that occur, both in our own lives and on the scale of nations and of the world.
As much as I don’t like it, God decreed from all eternity that Joseph Robinette Biden would be inaugurated as the 46th president of the United States on January 20, 2021. And his purposes in doing so are his own glory and the good of his people.
But even though a Biden presidency is for our ultimate good as Christians, this does not mean that it is going to be a pleasant experience.
Scripture does not teach a foolish optimism where we’re expected to treat disasters as if they were manna from heaven. It’s okay to call a disaster a disaster an mourn over it. As the Author of Hebrews tells us, “Now no chastening seems to be joyful for the present, but painful.”
Jeremiah wept at the destruction of Jerusalem by the Babylonians. Jesus wept at the tomb of Lazarus. If it was not wrong for them to grieve, it is not wrong for us to grieve the enormous disaster that has befallen our nation.
And yet, there comes a time when grieving must end, and work must begin. We, all of us, have suffered difficulty and disappointment in our lives. There is a time for grieving, and a time to cease grieving.
Joe Biden is in a position to do a lot of damage to this nation. As Christians, we have a responsibility to speak out against his evil policies, to refute them from the Word of God and, if possible, to prevent them from being enacted. We have a responsibility to preach the Gospel of Christ, that perhaps some who don’t know him may hear and be saved. We have a responsibility to protect and provide for our families, both our natural family and our brothers and sisters in Christ.
How do we do this? Do we look to ourselves, to our inner strength? As the hymn goes, the arm of flesh will fail you, you dare not trust your own.
No. It is to Christ we must look if we are going to find the knowledge, wisdom, and strength to not just to survive, but to triumph in these dark times.
This brings me to the lesson from Luther which I’d like to discuss.
As we did in last week’s post, this week we’ll be referring to Luther’s treatise “To the Christian Nobility of the German Nation.”
Lux Lucet 
Steve, so true. Here’s one for the Bidens in the White House from Luther: “The world and the masses are and always will be unchristian, although they are baptized and nominally Christian. Hence a man who would venture to govern an entire community or the world with the Gospel would be like a shepherd who would place in one fold wolves, lions, eagles, and sheep. The sheep would keep the peace, but they would not last long. The world cannot be ruled with a rosary.” Here I Stand, Martin Luther, Roland Bainton