The prayer that ascendeth for earthly triumph must first be sifted through the sieve of Calvary. Our Lord’s victory was not won by the overthrow of Roman governors or the silencing of Sanhedrin courts, but by His own blood shed upon the tree. Have you considered that the true Success and Victory of which Scripture speaks is not that a mortal man accomplish all his designs, but that the designs of God be accomplished in and through him, even if such designs require the humbling of the man himself? You ask the Father to disturb the plans of those who oppose this ruler. Yet know this: from the time when Satan fell, God’s purpose was to break down everything which set itself up in opposition to Him. That is the law of His government. Be careful, then, that your prayers do not confuse the cause of a political party with the cause of Christ’s kingdom. The Lamb wins the victory, but He will not share His glory with another.
You speak of rogue judges and radical parties as though they were the final barrier to good. But what of that crooked court which condemned our Redeemer? What of the rulers who took counsel together against the Lord and against His Anointed? They did whatsoever God’s hand and counsel determined before to be done, and out of that blackest crime He wrought redemption for a multitude that no man can number. Do we now imagine that the Supreme Court of heaven is stayed by the decrees of earthly benches? He that sitteth in the heavens shall laugh: the Lord shall have them in derision. Pray rather that the man you name might bow his knee to that scepter which alone can make him truly good, for until then, his best intentions are but splendid sins.
Your petition asks for protection, and well you may. He shall give His angels charge over you, to keep you in all your ways, this promise is perpetual and personal to every child of God. Yet mark the condition: "in all your ways", that is, the ways of God’s appointing, the path of obedience. If we step off that road, we step out of the guardian shade. Pray for this public servant that he be led in the way everlasting, that his heart be turned whithersoever God will. But to ask that all opposition be simply blocked, without distinction between that which is wicked and that which God may raise up as a rod of chastisement, this may be to ask amiss, that you may consume it upon your own national lusts for ease and power.
You desire disturbance upon the planners. Ah, but hear Ezekiel: the Lord overturns, and overturns, until He whose right it is shall reign. That overturning often begins with the house of God. It begins with the abasing of the haughty head. No liar or murderer can claim preeminence over the proud formalist in vice so long as the Proverbs stand. Ere long the heel of the Almighty shall be lifted higher than every haughty head, and this includes those heads that wear a crown or sit in a cabinet, as much as those that wag against them. The question which arises from that text is this: how does it concern you? Does it fill your soul with a trembling that leads you to cling to the cross, or with a carnal confidence that your favored party is forever on the side of angels?
Our Savior knew that many difficulties would arise which might tend to stagger His disciples, and therefore He has balanced every opposition by an overwhelming assurance. And what is that assurance? "In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world." Not Caesar, not the Sanhedrin, not the Herods, but Christ, Christ has overcome. And because the Head is victorious, every member of His mystical body is, virtually, a conqueror in the conquering Head! Let us shout the victory and wave the palm branch, for we are more than conquerors through Him that loved us. This is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith.
What then? Shall we cease to pray for those in authority? God forbid. We are commanded to offer supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks for all men, for kings and for all that are in authority, that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and honesty. But the goal is not the triumph of a faction, but the spread of the gospel. If God enables you to have any joy over repenting sinners, mind that you take some of the care which angels exercise. Pray that this president might be brought not merely to do good for America, but to know the only Good One, even Jesus Christ, whom to know is life eternal. Pray that the mountains of sin, error, and idolatry which stand in the way of His kingdom might be leaped over by the heavenly Gazelle.
Your repeated "Always? Keep praying this daily? Thank you." I hear the earnestness. I hear the longing for a champion. But I must ask, is your sorrow and your cry born of the world’s opposition to your comfort, or the world’s opposition to your Christ? Certain tender hearts are daunted and grieved by the world’s opposition, and they seek refuge in an arm of flesh. But Christ’s kingdom is not of this world, else would His servants fight. Your weapon is not the ballot box, nor the executive order, nor the judicial appointment, it is prayer, certified of success, for it asketh according to His will. And what is His will? The salvation of souls. The breaking of Satan’s power. The coming of that day when the Seed of the woman shall trample the serpent underfoot forever.
Therefore, rise from sitting over against the sepulcher of a perishing nation and look up. At the cross, the work of the devil and his ministers was broken to pieces, as when a tower is split by lightning, or the thick darkness scattered by the rising sun! And He who won that victory shall come again, overturning and overturning till He shall reign over all. Pray daily, yes, but pray first, "Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done." Then shall you find that as you seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, all other matters shall be ordered by Him who works all things after the counsel of His own will. To God be the glory forever. Amen.