Judicial Tyranny, a Tool in the Hand of God

In my lifetime I do not recall a more awaited decision by the U.S. Supreme Court than the one delivered today on “Obamacare.”  Leaders across the political spectrum were gathered with baited breath and spin-machines idling on standby, ready to use whatever decision was made to their own political advantage.

From my perspective, as one who respects the U.S. Constitution and believes it should be faithfully interpreted according to the intent of the Founders, today’s court action was a gross miscarriage of justice.  The national government has now been given the green light to force the American population to do anything it chooses, under the guise of abusive taxation.

The long-term implications of this landmark decision remain to be seen.  It would appear that the liberties Americans have enjoyed for the past 236 years are going the way of the dodo bird and passenger pigeon.  The rapidity with which our society is degenerating is breath taking, incorporating developments unthinkable a few short years ago.

What is the Christian response to this latest example of judicial tyranny?  The author of the beloved hymn, Amazing Grace, John Newton, provides some pertinent insight.  In one of his letters he describes what he terms “some blemishes in Christian character.”  One of those blemishes is the excessive attention to political matters, to the detriment of the “much more essential service [of] pleading for [the country] in prayer.”  Individuals that are overwhelmingly caught up in political affairs, Newton writes, “look no farther than to second causes, and forget that the Lord REIGNS (emphasis his).”

In other words, however much we may disagree with this latest Supreme Court edict, those nine justices are but secondary causes that the Lord is using in His sovereign reign over the affairs of these United States of America.  The root of our nation’s ills is spiritual.  We have abandoned God and His Law and are reaping the devastating consequences of loss of freedom.  The book of Judges repeatedly describes a similar fate for the ancient Jews who refused to follow the Lord with integrity and devotion.

If our land is to be restored from its headlong plunge to oblivion, the cure will not be found at the ballot box but in the prayer closet.  Yes, we must exercise our civic duty to cast informed votes, to voice our concerns to our representatives, to encourage state and local governments to resist the tyranny being foisted upon us by the Washington elite by utilizing the Tenth Amendment and other legal means.  But if our nation is to be saved from utter destruction, the key will be found in humility and repentance before the Sovereign God.  He indeed reigns.  Let the faithful repent and seek His face.