Praying for Our Lord’s Mercy

by Frank Tyler

(Though this article pains me greatly to write, the upcoming election threatens to sow rifts and sorrow within the body of Christ sure to impede the work of evangelism. Regardless of how brothers and sisters vote in the upcoming 2024 election, we remain a part of a far greater kingdom, and calling; we serve the King of Kings and Lord of Lords. He alone is our hope.)

Introduction: Will You Join Me?

The upcoming 2024 Presidential Election looms larger every day. A vote not cast for Trump is a vote lost to Trump. Am I inadvertently supporting Harris? No, not hardly! Though registered as a Republican, I am neither a Democrat nor Republican, but a Christian deeply saddened by the current choices for the 2024 Presidential Election. As Christians, will we extend grace to those of us who vote differently in this election? Will you and I join together as brothers and sisters in prayer for the Lord’s mercy in the 2024 and 2028 elections?

The Wisdom of God

The wisdom of God stands immutable: Righteousness exalts a nation, but sin is a reproach to any people (Proverbs 14:34). [1] How a President of the United States exercises his or her office can exalt our nation. Righteousness affords not only leadership on the world stage, but most importantly God’s blessing. Sin is a reproach to any people; Godly leadership never institutionalizes sin, but seeks instead to move all people away from its deadly consequences.

Righteousness exalts a nation .

“Donald Trump is the first former president in American history to be charged with either state or federal crimes, with four separate indictments issued between March and August of 2023.” [2] On May 30 ^th of 2024, twelve jurors in New York unanimously found him guilty on 34 criminal counts. As a felon, he now faces another 54 counts from the remaining three inditements. [3] An American President of many firsts, Trump has also been held liable for tens of millions in a civil trial involving a woman a jury believed was sexually assaulted by him in a department store. [4] And, he and his company have been convicted of defrauding the State of New York of hundreds of millions of dollars. [5] In all of his convictions, he would have us believe that the jury and the judge got it all wrong by convicting an innocent man and, more importantly, that America’s judicial system has been corrupted by the left-wing Biden administration.

Trump and his political cronies instigated the violent assault on the United States Congress in order to stimy the peaceful transfer of power to the rightful winner of the 2020 Presidential Election. [6] In all 62 suits filed by Trump and his legal team to force a recount of the 2020 vote, only one succeeded and even it was eventually overturned by the Pennsylvania Supreme Court. [7] In Georgia, Trump was caught on tape begging and bullying Brad Raffensperger for just 11,780 more votes to turn the election in his favor. [8] He and his lawyers are also accused of promoting an illegal scheme to alter the electoral college with false slates of electors from multiple states. [9] To date, Trump and his supporters refuse to acknowledge the obvious and instead continue to aggressively promote the notion that the 2020 election was stolen; the January 6 ^th coup attempt was actually a peaceful assembly that got out of hand at the instigation of leftists and covert FBI agents; and lastly, those who participated are patriots wrongfully convicted by the DOJ. No American President, former or sitting, has so acted to mislead our nation and people while undermining democracy and the rule of law. What began as a very promising, heartfelt movement within the Republican Party to Make America Great A gain (MAGA), has tragically become a Mad Hatters Society brimming with denial, out and out lies, and back-room power plays.

What possible value are top-secret United States documents to a former president? To Trump, they were valuable enough to hide from the Federal government, thereby forcing the FBI to raid his Florida property. [10] The documents retrieved could have cost many men and women their lives, but according to Trump, he merely has to say the word in order to declassify these documents [11] …even after he was forced to retire from the presidency? Really! How can this felon be entrusted with the hard earned money and aspirations of the American people? Perhaps, President Trump will appraise our nation of the actual value of these top-secret documents in his coming trial in Florida.

True, I voted for Trump in 2020, but a loser is only a bigger loser who fails to acknowledge his loss and make amends for his wrong doing. An adjudicated criminal cannot lead our nation on the paths of righteousness. Does a spring send forth fresh water and bitter from the same opening? Can a fig tree, my brethren, bear olives, or a grapevine bear figs? Thus no spring yields both salt water and fresh (James 3:11-12). Which of the six, yea seven abominations (Proverbs 6:16-19), has Trump not committed? Though supporters continue believing and promoting Trump’s lies—“I’ve done nothing wrong… I’m an innocent man”—juries of his peers and judges have found him either guilty, or worthy of indictments on a myriad of criminal charges. How many more trials and convictions must this Mad Hatter endure before taking off the hat? If Trump is incapable of the righteousness our nation so badly needs, then surely Vice-President Kamala Harris, is the logical alternative. Right? Not hardly.

Sin is a reproach for any people.

Recently my wife and I watched an interview between Nora O’Donnell and Pope Francis in which he declared that man is basically good. Really! The heart is deceitful above all things and desperately wicked; who can know it (Jeremiah 17:9)? Likewise, the Apostle Paul describes his personal struggle: For the good that I will to do, I do not do; but the evil I will not to do, that I practice. Now if I do what I will not to do, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells in me (Romans 7:19-20). Sin is a horrific burden personally and a reproach to any people.

Abortion and alternative sexuality continue providing Trump, himself a man with deep moral flaws, the highly visceral moral fulcrum needed to secure the Christian vote and pry open the door to the White House in 2024. The struggle with these issues is certainly not confined to modernity. (Evidence of abortion dates to roughly 1500 BC Egypt. An Egyptian tomb may well document alternative sexuality to as early as 2400 BC.) What is unique is the modern embrace of abortion and alternative sexuality as normal lifestyles that should not only be protected, but promoted through our nation’s laws.

When the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, the Biden administration immediately embraced protecting a woman’s right to abortion as an urgent priority. “Protecting access to reproductive health care has been a priority since the beginning of the Biden-Harris Administration, made even more urgent by the Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe v. Wade.” [12] Vice-President Harris has hit the campaign trail to make reproductive rights for women a byword for the 2024 Harris-Waltz campaign.

President Biden and his administration aggressively promoted LGTBQI+ rights even within our schools: “The President’s Executive Order directs the Department of Education to establish a new Working Group on LGBTQI+ Students and Families, which will advance policies for states, school districts, and other educational institutions to promote safe and inclusive learning environments in which all students can thrive.” [13] Likewise, Biden’s administration appointed more LGTBQI+ officials than any other administration in the history of the United States. [14]

From the biblical perspective, life begins at conception when God breathes life into the womb. Miscarriage, induced or not, should always be viewed as a tragic loss of life regardless of the age of the child in the womb. [15] Likewise, Leviticus chapter 18 identifies any form of sexual immorality as sin. Indeed, God’s wrath against sexual immorality, both homo and hetero, fell heavily on Sodom and Gomorrah (Genesis 19:1-13). Therefore, with acute anticipation, the Christian community rightfully feels the weight of our nation’s sin, along with the impending reproach and judgment of God.

Advancing policies to protect reproductive health care and enhance LGBTQI+ rights at the Federal level promotes rampant unchecked abortion and rapidly expanding alternative sexuality, especially among our children. Once again, the MAGA Kool-Aid will seem like sweet relief from the sweltering heat of God’s judgment. Not unlike the issues of slavery and abolition, should Harris be elected and these issues remain unresolved, the embers of dissent will be stoked in a nation bitterly divided and at odds with itself. Once again, our nation may well bear the reproach of sin and, as in Lincoln’s time, tragically pit brother against brother.

Judgment and the 2024 Election

Trump and his cronies lack the righteousness necessary to lead our nation. He openly promises to do away with our constitution [16] and act as a dictator on day one of his future presidency[17]… and the Republican Party embraces him. To date, the Biden administration’s promotion of abortion and alternative sexuality has surely led our people into the greater and greater reproach of sin.

Both Biden and Trump are tired old men seeking to preserve the last gasp of their legacies; they are rutted in their ways and unable to think outside the confines of their political moorings. Witness the border security crisis: Trump spent 15 billion dollars on a border wall that $100.00 or less worth of tools from Home Depot can defeat. [18] Biden has just now taken executive action to restrict immigration at the border; [19] what has he done recently that could not and should not have been done four years ago? Incompetence… perhaps, but neither man forestalls the judgment of God.

Alas, the first Presidential debate between them only confirmed what most Americans knew—their golf games notwithstanding—both candidates are unfit for the office of President. Trump filled the stage with falsehoods and half-truths while Biden babbled incoherently. Never again Trump—Never again Biden. Thankfully and to his great credit, Biden stepped down from his bid for re-election, and Vice-President Kamala Harris was designated the candidate for the Democratic party. But, what of the 2024 Election?

If the Democratic Convention confirmed any one thing, it was Harris’ mental acuity. She is well supported within the party rank and file as well as leadership. Her acceptance speech revealed a brilliant, articulate and strong woman concerned for her nation, surprisingly well prepared, and poised for her party’s nomination and the office of President. But, if elected, will she have the political and moral courage to resolve America’s precipitous slide into sin? Will she promote LBGTQI+ among our youth? Will she promote a Mother’s right to reproductive healthcare to the exclusion of a child’s right to life? Will joy and inclusion remain merely campaign slogans or an olive branch to Christians that brings healing to the visceral issues dividing this nation? That she is capable is clear, but if the second presidential debate reveals anything, you and I must assume she will aggressively and with great acuity promote woman’s reproductive rights to the exclusion of a child’s right to life. Our nation’s slide into sin will very likely accelerate with devastating consequences.

Even though Harris has replaced Biden as the Democratic candidate, the dilemma remains—Trump and Harris are now the heads and tails of an impending judgment.

Two Paths: Cursing and Blessing

In the midst of the prophetic darkness and doom of an impending judgment, the Lord, through the Prophet Jeremiah, revealed two paths. One that leads to cursing and one that leads to blessing.

17:5 Thus says the LORD:

“ Cursed is the man who trusts in man

And makes flesh his strength,

Whose heart departs from the LORD.

17:6 For he shall be like a shrub in the desert,

And shall not see when good comes,

But shall inhabit the parched places in the wilderness,

In a salt land which is not inhabited.

(Jeremiah 17:5-6; underlining added)

The coming judgment, stark and barren like the wilderness, awaits those whose trust is in the arm of flesh. In marked contrast, in the midst of this same horrific judgment, hope and life, like a tree planted by the waters, awaits those whose trust is in the Lord and His word.

17:7 “ Blessed is the man who trusts in the LORD,

And whose hope is the LORD.

17:8 For he shall be like a tree planted by the waters,

Which spreads out its roots by the river,

And will not fear when heat comes;

But its leaf will be green,

And will not be anxious in the year of drought,

Nor will cease from yielding fruit.

(Jeremiah 17:7-8)

When facing judgment, how you and I fare as individuals and corporately as the body of Christ depends upon the One in whom we place our trust. Are you and I shrubs in a parched wilderness or trees planted by the waters? Where we place our hope and in whom we trust determines the outcome of God’s judgment—cursing and blessing.

A Godly King’s Example

King David experienced a dilemma having to choose between different Divine judgments on the nation of Israel: I am in great distress. Please let us fall into the hand of the LORD, for His mercies are great; but do not let me fall into the hand of man (2 Samuel 24:14). You and I now face a similar distress choosing between Trump and Harris; at this time, discerning the lesser judgment for our nation seems far beyond our grasp and voting for either candidate may well violate our conscience as Christians. Thankfully, there is no biblical command to vote in the upcoming election; instead, there is an example of a Godly king who knowing God’s great love or “chesed” seeks the lesser judgment that he and his people may fall into the hand of the Lord, for His mercies are great (2 Samuel 24:14). Like David, you and I can and must cry out to God for His mercy on our nation and then trust that whoever is elected is the lesser of the two judgments: Your kingdom come. Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven (Matthew 6:10). Whether we vote for Trump, Harris or vote not at all, we know our Lord is good and His mercies never fail.

As Christians, you and I are called to pray for our nation’s leaders (1 Timothy 2:1-3). As Americans, we earnestly desire to cast our votes wisely for the best candidates to lead our nation. Struggle as we must in 2024, let us also long for a fresh start in 2028: Is it too much to ask the Lord for leaders to guide our nation out of a moral quagmire to moral clarity? Is it too much to ask for leaders to quiet the political upheaval and restore national greatness?

Hope for a Lesser Judgment and a Promising 2028

Regardless of whether Harris or Trump wins the 2024 Election, unless the Lord intercedes, the next four years may not bode well for our nation or people; however, the 2028 Presidential Election could be a high water mark for greatness or the shoals of a continued disaster for our nation and people. Are you and I shrubs in a parched wilderness or trees planted by the waters? Where is our hope and in whom are we trusting?

The moral issues surrounding abortion can and must be resolved successfully to protect both mother and child. The rights of all peoples, including those engaging in alternative sexuality, can and must be preserved without promoting sinful lifestyles, especially among our youth. Righteousness should exalt the United States; our people must be freed from the reproach of sin. But, it requires Divine intervention and leaders of great strength and moral clarity. Is it possible to confront these two great moral issues while at the same time working to bring a diverse nation together through the Godly exercise of grace and truth? Absolutely. So I believe and so I pray.

The political quagmire, which renders the current Congress incapable of governing, can and must be overcome. The democratic process can and must be re-energized in the wake of January 6^th. Issues like border security, election integrity, Israel, Palestine, Ukraine, climate change, crime, the national debt, human rights and inflation are the very challenges needed to bring our nation together. With the help of God, is it possible to raise up the leadership required to meet these challenges? Absolutely. So I believe and so I pray.

Conclusion: Prayer for Our Lord’s Mercy

In 2024, the worst election outcome is neither Trump nor Harris, but rather division within the body of Christ. Regardless of how you and I vote or do not vote, as brothers and sisters united in prayer, let us be gracious toward one another and seek the Lord’s mercy—a lesser judgment in 2024 and a more promising election in 2028. At this difficult moment, we must seize the opportunity to trust in the Lord and be likened to trees planted by His waters. Together we serve the King of Kings and Lord of Lords (Revelation 19:16) knowing that His great love and righteousness never fail!

The wisdom of God stands immutable: Righteousness exalts a nation, but sin is a reproach to any people (Proverbs 14:34). May our great nation and people fall into the hand of the LORD, for His mercies are great (2 Samuel 24:14) and His will perfect both on earth and in heaven. Amen!