Read Psalm 146:1–10
ALSO IN SCRIPTURE
“Let us hold tightly without wavering to the hope we affirm, for God can be trusted to keep his promise.” (Hebrews 10:23 NLT)
Since the midterm elections, I have heard many people express a sense of relief. In fact, as a poet, that is true internationally. Many people are hoping the results might open the door to a different direction, and for the first time in a while, some feel like they can breathe. I understand that relief. Elections affect what happens to our neighbors. It matters who writes the laws, who has access to care, and who gets heard when decisions are made. All of that matters immensely.
Hearing people talk about hope after favorable elections makes me wonder, though, how we speak about hope during unfavorable ones. If we find it easier to talk about trusting God when an election goes the way we hoped, what exactly has changed? God’s faithfulness? Or our confidence that things might go the way we want them to?
We can be grateful for an election result. We can even believe God may be at work through it. There is nothing wrong in believing that. But how quickly do we move from I’m grateful this happened to God did this because it was the right outcome. If we read every result we welcome as proof that God is at work, what room have we left for God to act in ways we don’t expect or to challenge the very people we’re cheering for?
Psalm 146 tells us to beware of placing our trust in rulers. The reason the psalm gives is wonderfully plain. They are human. They die, and their plans die with them. The psalm then calls blessed those whose hope is in God and shows us what God’s faithfulness looks like. The oppressed receive justice. The hungry are fed. The stranger is protected. Widows and orphans are cared for. These are the people the psalmist asks us to notice.
I want those elected to serve well. I especially want Adam Hamilton to serve well. I admire his preaching and pray that his faith gives him courage when doing right costs him something. I also know that he walks into Washington as susceptible to flattery, fear, and the desire to keep his position as any other human being. There will be compromises worth making if they help people. There will also be moments when keeping his influence may require a silence he ought to break. If I assume his faith has already settled how he’ll respond, I’ve placed him on a pedestal he never asked me to build.
I know that temptation from the other side of the pulpit. It feels good when people are glad you’re there. And when a congregation has longed for steady leadership, there’s real joy in discovering what you can do together. But what happens when the pastor makes a mistake, says something the congregation needs to hear and doesn’t want to hear, or simply can’t give them what they need? Can they still see a person they can love, challenge, and pray for? Conversely, can the pastor admit where they got it wrong without feeling the need to defend the pedestal?
We can do this even with Scripture. We can grow so certain that our reading settles what God must be doing that we never let the text question us. And once we believe God has guaranteed the outcome we want, it becomes awfully easy to excuse harm done by people we admire. When we can no longer excuse it, it can be just as easy to turn on them for failing to be what we imagined.
That’s where I see the difference between hope and naivety. Naivety assumes our leaders will do the right thing because we believe they’re good people. Hope in God gives us the courage to see what they actually do, to support what helps our neighbors, and to speak up when it’s our own allies who cause harm. And when an election goes the way we feared, that same hope makes room for grief and gives us reason to keep showing up for people who have good cause to be afraid.
This week, let Psalm 146 direct your attention. Who near you is running short on food? Who is being treated as a stranger? Choose one way to show up for them. Engage politically—not with partisanship—but in good faith. Ask the people you helped elect, and all our leaders, what they’re doing for those same neighbors. Speak up if their decisions hurt the people you hoped they would help. That’s where trusting God becomes a practice. We keep caring for our neighbors and telling the truth about what they need, whoever holds office. And we trust God to give us the strength to do so.
THOUGHT OF THE DAY
Hope in God gives us the courage to face what our leaders do, even when they’re the ones we were cheering for.
PRAYER
Faithful God, help us receive good news with gratitude and face disappointment with courage. Give us the humility to see where our loyalties have clouded our judgment and the grace to hold one another accountable with love. Keep us close to the people whose needs remain after the celebrations end, and show us how to serve them. Amen.
Devotion written by Rev. Todd R. Lattig with the assistance of ChatGPT (OpenAI).