In the upcoming presidential election, many of us who are dedicated Bible-believing Americans may still be unsure about how we should vote. Ultimately, God’s sovereign control of all things has faced us with this situation, and we must decide what to do.
For quite some time, I have been very dissatisfied with the approach of voting for the lesser of two evils, which many have advocated should determine how to vote in such situations. I have been praying over much of that time for God to give me wisdom to know what to do.
Recently, God directed my thinking to a biblical account that seems to have some relevant parallels to some aspects of the upcoming presidential election.
2 Samuel 24 (1 Chronicles 21)
After David sinned by numbering the Israelites (2 Sam. 24:1-10; 1 Chr. 21:1-8), God gave Him a choice of three possible punishments (2 Sam. 24:12-13; 1 Chr. 21:9-12). He was thus unavoidably faced with the necessity of choosing among multiple undesirable choices.
David chose what he believed would be the least unfavorable one for him and entrusted himself to the Lord’s mercies in making his choice (2 Sam. 24:14; 1 Chr. 21:13). Although his choice still brought great suffering for him and his people (2 Sam. 24:15-25; 1 Chr. 21:14-27), he at least knew that he had made that choice believing that the outcome would have been worse with either of the other choices.
Tuesday, November 6, 2012
We Americans collectively as a nation have been very sinful. For example, more than 50,000,000 unborn Americans have been aborted since 1973.
Many Christians hold that God is already judging us for our sinfulness. Whether or not we are directly experiencing His judgment in the current political challenge that we face, we know that He has providentially put us in a position that many of us believe forces us to have to make a difficult choice: not voting, voting third party, writing in a candidate, or voting for a Republican ticket about which many of us have serious reservations.
Of these choices, not voting clearly would increase the chances of a Democrat presidential victory, which would be, as best as I am able to determine now, the worst possible outcome of all. Because there is no realistic chance that a third party or write-in candidate could win this election, voting either of these ways would have the same ultimate effect as not voting would.
Choosing to vote for the Republican ticket, we would at least not contribute to a victory for the Democrats in this election. Even if we were to do so, however, God may yet judge us further by allowing the Democratic ticket to win on Tuesday.
Perhaps, however, He will have mercy on us and not allow them to win.
Applying David’s Example to Voting on Tuesday
David chose what he believed was the least undesirable choice among the only choices that he had in his situation. His ultimate trust was not in his choice but in the mercy of God.
In spite of the serious reservations that many of us may yet have about voting for the Republican presidential ticket on Tuesday, the Scriptural record of David’s choosing the least undesirable choice seems to me to provide some biblical basis for doing so. Like David entrusted himself to God’s mercy in making his choice, we too can confidently entrust ourselves to God’s mercy about many of the unknowns that we still will face in making such a choice.
Copyright © 2011-2024 by Rajesh Gandhi. All rights reserved.
Very wise, Scriptual conclusion. God have mercy on us and our country.
Thanks for the feedback, Mrs. Flinte. Our only hope is God’s mercy.