Choose Your Own Judgement

King David had sinned. Tempted to rely on his own strength instead of God's (which had saved him numerous times and made him the great man he was), and against his Commander in Chief's advise, David conducted a census of all the men in Israel. As soon as the census was complete, David felt remorse and asked God to forgive him.

The angel of the Lord by the threshing floor of Araunah the Jebusite

God sent the prophet Gad to King David with the following message.

2 Sam 24:12 “Go and speak to David, ‘Thus the Lord says, “I am offering you three things; choose for yourself one of them, which I will do to you.”’” 13 So Gad came to David and told him, and said to him, “Shall seven years of famine come to you in your land? Or will you flee three months before your foes while they pursue you? Or shall there be three days’ pestilence in your land? Now consider and see what answer I shall return to Him who sent me.”

This is the only case of which I'm aware in which God commanded a Biblical character to choose his own judgement. That brings me to this meme I saw at Pastor Doug Wilson's blog.

That's not an exact quote from Calvin, but it gets to the heart of what he did say on the matter. If Calvin was right, and I think he was, the United States of America is already under judgement, and is headed for more (probably worse) judgement. Barring a miracle, only two people are likely to be elected president, and they're both wicked, and everyone knew it long before the primaries. Anyone who pretends to be surprised at either candidate's latest outrage is faking it. That means we Americans find ourselves in a position to choose our own judgement.

I completely understand my Christian friends who've decided that Donald Trump is the lesser judgement upon our nation. I don't see how one can make the same case for Hillary Clinton. My Christian friends who are enthusiastic about either candidate are - I think - following the wrong shepherd.

 
How did King David respond?

14 Then David said to Gad, “I am in great distress. Let us now fall into the hand of the Lord for His mercies are great, but do not let me fall into the hand of man.” 

Which is, of course, exactly the right way to respond.

15 So the Lord [g]sent a pestilence upon Israel from the morning until the appointed time, and seventy thousand men of the people from Dan to Beersheba died. 16 When the angel stretched out his hand toward Jerusalem to destroy it, the Lord relented from the calamity and said to the angel who destroyed the people, “It is enough! Now relax your hand!” And the angel of the Lord was by the threshing floor of Araunah the Jebusite.

Unlike David, God didn't instruct me to choose between the judgments facing us, so I won't, but like David, I'll also pray "Let us now fall into the hand of the Lord for His mercies are great, but do not let me fall into the hand of man". How should we pray for our abundant wicked rulers? I have an idea.

Psalm 58
1 Do you rulers indeed speak justly?
    Do you judge people with equity?
2 No, in your heart you devise injustice,
    and your hands mete out violence on the earth.
3 Even from birth the wicked go astray;
    from the womb they are wayward, spreading lies.
4 Their venom is like the venom of a snake,
    like that of a cobra that has stopped its ears,
5 that will not heed the tune of the charmer,
    however skillful the enchanter may be.
6 Break the teeth in their mouths, O God;
    Lord, tear out the fangs of those lions!
7 Let them vanish like water that flows away;
    when they draw the bow, let their arrows fall short.
8 May they be like a slug that melts away as it moves along,
    like a stillborn child that never sees the sun.
9 Before your pots can feel the heat of the thorns—
    whether they be green or dry—the wicked will be swept away.[c]
10 The righteous will be glad when they are avenged,
    when they dip their feet in the blood of the wicked.
11 Then people will say,
    “Surely the righteous still are rewarded;
    surely there is a God who judges the earth.”