Today's Daily Lesson is from Psalm 82 verses 6 through 8:
6 I said, “You are gods,
sons of the Most High, all of you;
7 nevertheless, like men you shall die,
and fall like any prince.”
8 Arise, O God, judge the earth;
for you shall inherit all the nations!
Yesterday's lesson on the injunction to pray for our leaders has me today thinking about our need to keep a proper perspective toward all earthly authorities. Government and rulers are apart of God's divine ordinance, and should be respected as such. But ultimately all laws, governments, governors, and nations are subject to God Himself. To Him belong all nations and governments. In the end, all rulers, authorities, and nations will pass away; only the LORD's authority endures.
In the oculus above the rotunda in the United States Capitol Building, there is a beautiful fresco painted in 1865 by Italian artist Constantino Brumidi titled "The Apotheosis of Washington". The painting depicts George Washington seated amidst the clouds, rising high into heaven. It is Washington's exaltation or "apotheosis", which is a Greek word meaning literally "to become a God".
For many, George Washington was a God. But he too passed away, just like any common man of history. So will our present rulers. And so too will our nation. They're all temporal. It is God who is eternal.
Recognizing this helps us keep things in perspective.
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