 By James H. Cagle |
“When the righteous are in authority the people rejoice: but when the wicked beareth rule, the people mourn” (Proverbs 29: 2 KJV).
In the times of the kings of Israel, when a righteous king was on the throne and did “right in the sight of God” by making God-honoring decisions, God blessed the land and the people rejoiced. When a wicked king was on the throne and “did not that which was right in God’s sight” and did not make God-honoring decisions, God cursed and judged the land and the people mourned.
God is saying that even today when a righteous man, or in other words a God-fearing man, is in authority he will make God-honoring decisions and God will bless the land and the people that he governs and the people will rejoice. But God also says that even today when a wicked man, a man that doesn’t fear God, is in authority that he will make decisions that do not honor God and that God will curse the land and the people that he rules and the people will mourn, or sigh, for his oppressive rule.
In any election our vote should not be a political choice but a moral choice. Is the candidate righteous and God-fearing or is he wicked, dishonest and corrupt, without any fear of God? If the righteous man wins the election everyone will eventually rejoice, even the ones that did not vote for him. If the wicked man wins the election everyone will eventually mourn, even the ones who did vote for him.
Granted, it’s hard to find a righteous man sometimes who is running for office. It is then that we cast our vote for the lesser of two evils and elect the candidate that is closest to God’s standard.
One reason for not voting for a wicked man is that “The wicked walk on every side, when the vilest men or exalted” (Psalm 12: 8). To promote, honor, exalt, and elect a wicked man is to promote, honor, and exalt all wicked men. It’s to encourage wickedness and lawlessness. When we elect a wicked man into office all the wicked that have been operating in the shadows because of a previous righteous ruler will come out of the shadows and operate unashamedly in broad daylight. The character of the one we elect, whose office is many miles away, does ultimately impact the block we live on. Vote wisely. Vote for righteousness.
