The king’s heart is a stream of water in the hand of the Lord; he turns it wherever he will. – Proverbs 21:1
God sent Moses to Pharaoh to demand that he let the Israelites leave Egypt. But God also told Moses that He would harden Pharaoh’s heart so that he would refuse to heed Moses. Why did God do this? God wanted to display His mighty power, both as a judgment on Egypt and to bolster the faith of His people. God planned to establish for Himself a reputation that would serve His people well when they invaded Canaan. God’s ways of dealing with Pharaoh must have baffled Moses and Aaron, but they remained faithful and obedient nonetheless.
On this day in 1924, President Calvin Coolidge stated: “I, therefore, urge upon all the voters of our country, without reference to party, that they assemble… at their respective voting places in the exercise of the high office of American citizenship, that they approach the ballot box in the spirit that they would approach a sacrament, and there, disregarding all appeals to passion and prejudice, dedicate themselves truly and wholly to the welfare of their country. When an election is so held, it sustains the belief that the voice of the people is the voice of God.”
When you vote, you help determine who will lead the nation, make the laws, and protect your liberties. Most of all, as a follower of Christ, you must choose representatives who will embrace and uphold those biblical values that are close to God’s heart. So, fulfill your responsibility and privilege as a Christian citizen, but trust Him as the ultimate guide of the political forces of this world. Pray that the believers across America will do the same.
Today’s Verse: Proverbs 21:1
The king’s heart is a stream of water in the hand of the Lord;
he turns it wherever he will.
All Scripture quotations and audio are from the ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Recommended for further reading: 1 Samuel 12:1-12
1 And Samuel said to all Israel, “Behold, I have obeyed your voice in all that you have said to me and have made a king over you. 2 And now, behold, the king walks before you, and I am old and gray; and behold, my sons are with you. I have walked before you from my youth until this day. 3 Here I am; testify against me before the Lord and before his anointed. Whose ox have I taken? Or whose donkey have I taken? Or whom have I defrauded? Whom have I oppressed? Or from whose hand have I taken a bribe to blind my eyes with it? Testify against me and I will restore it to you.” 4 They said, “You have not defrauded us or oppressed us or taken anything from any man’s hand.” 5 And he said to them, “The Lord is witness against you, and his anointed is witness this day, that you have not found anything in my hand.” And they said, “He is witness.”
6 And Samuel said to the people, “The Lord is witness, who appointed Moses and Aaron and brought your fathers up out of the land of Egypt. 7 Now therefore stand still that I may plead with you before the Lord concerning all the righteous deeds of the Lord that he performed for you and for your fathers. 8 When Jacob went into Egypt, and the Egyptians oppressed them, then your fathers cried out to the Lord and the Lord sent Moses and Aaron, who brought your fathers out of Egypt and made them dwell in this place. 9 But they forgot the Lord their God. And he sold them into the hand of Sisera, commander of the army of Hazor, and into the hand of the Philistines, and into the hand of the king of Moab. And they fought against them. 10 And they cried out to the Lord and said, ‘We have sinned, because we have forsaken the Lord and have served the Baals and the Ashtaroth. But now deliver us out of the hand of our enemies, that we may serve you.’ 11 And the Lord sent Jerubbaal and Barak and Jephthah and Samuel and delivered you out of the hand of your enemies on every side, and you lived in safety. 12 And when you saw that Nahash the king of the Ammonites came against you, you said to me, ‘No, but a king shall reign over us,’ when the Lord your God was your king.
All Scripture quotations and audio are from the ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
