Why have Americans’ political disagreements recently become so strident? It’s not just because our debts have increased to the point where all of us can’t have everything we want. And it’s not just because our moral and ethical standards have diverged to the point where they have become mutually exclusive. No, the main problem is that Americans are worshipping different gods: while some insist that the free market will satisfy their desires, others look to the state to protect them and to provide for their needs. So, when people disagree with our politics, in our minds they are blaspheming, attacking that which is sacred to us.

But does that really make sense? After all, the psalmist reminds us that no mere human being, no matter how wise or powerful he or she may be, really has the power to protect us and give us justice, at least not in the long run. For if there’s one lesson we can learn from even the most casual study of history, it’s that no emperor or king or president lives forever, and neither do the laws or the systems of government they work so hard to establish (verses 3 and 4).

But it makes no more sense for us to look to any man-made economic system to guarantee the prosperity that we crave. Instead, the Psalmist reminds us that it is God Who gives food to the hungry (verse 7) and Who supports the weakest among us (verse 9). In the same way, it is God Who provides perfect justice to all, punishing the oppressors, blessing the poor and releasing those who have been wrongfully imprisoned (verse 7). God is the only reliable source of peace and plenty, of safety and justice. For no matter what politician or party may be in power at any given time, it is only the Lord Who reigns forever (verse 10).

So, instead of worshipping our markets or our governments, why not worship God? Why not seek God’s will instead of our own? Why not try to choose the policies that line up with God’s Word rather than those that will simply line our pockets? Why not trust in the only One Who has the power to save us?

And who knows? Maybe if we’ll focus our hearts and hopes on the Lord, loving Him and worshipping Him alone, we’ll regain the perspective that will allow us not only to be courteous with those who disagree with us, but also be able truly to love them.

Psalm 146 (NASB)

Praise the LORD! Praise the LORD, O my soul!
2 I will praise the LORD while I live; I will sing praises to my God while I have my being.
3 Do not trust in princes, In mortal man, in whom there is no salvation.
4 His spirit departs, he returns to the earth; In that very day his thoughts perish.
5 How blessed is he whose help is the God of Jacob, Whose hope is in the LORD his God;
6 Who made heaven and earth, The sea and all that is in them; Who keeps faith forever;
7 Who executes justice for the oppressed; Who gives food to the hungry. The LORD sets the prisoners free.
8 The LORD opens the eyes of the blind; The LORD raises up those who are bowed down; The LORD loves the righteous;
9 The LORD protects the strangers; He supports the fatherless and the widow; But He thwarts the way of the wicked.
10 The LORD will reign forever, Thy God, O Zion, to all generations. Praise the LORD!