Can God Be Trusted with Power?
A New Commentary on Isaiah 7:5-14
“Power tends to corrupt and absolute power corrupts absolutely. Great men are almost always bad men…” -Lord Acton
My first lesson about power came early…and with tears. It started with a sense of excitement, almost honor. I couldn’t believe it, but I, a lowly 2nd grader in Houston, Texas, was trading baseball cards with a sixth grader, the friend of the brother of one of my closest friends. I was in awe. However, where I saw joy, he saw an opportunity for gain.
He heard I liked the Astros, so he offered me a plastic 1970s Houston Astros ruler in exchange for the best cards in my collection, including a Roberto Clemente. I agreed. When I gave him my cards and he gave me the plastic ruler the other sixth graders started laughing. When I realized I had been ripped off I ran home embarrassed and crying.
Unfortunately, I have experienced many other, more serious, abuses of power. I learned that human life is rife with the misuse of power. It has been that way since time immemorial. By the 19th century, it had happened to enough people enough times that Lord Acton wrote: “Power tends to corrupt and absolute power corrupts absolutely.” I learned to distrust power in anyone’s hands…except my own.
King Ahaz learned the same lesson. He knew the Israelites couldn’t trust the more powerful kingdoms around them for their well-being. God wanted to encourage Ahaz and his people to trust Him to guide them through this trying time. He first tells him not to fear:
“Aram, Ephraim and Remaliah’s son have plotted your ruin, saying, ‘Let us invade Judah; let us tear it apart and divide it among ourselves, and make the son of Tabeel king over it.’ Yet this is what the Sovereign Lord says: ‘“It will not take place, it will not happen…”. -Isaiah 7:5-7
Then God graciously offered the King a sign, any sign, to further establish His trustworthiness. But King Ahaz refused.
Again the Lord spoke to Ahaz, ‘Ask the Lord your God for a sign, whether in the deepest depths or in the highest heights.’ But Ahaz said, ‘I will not ask; I will not put the Lord to the test.’ -Isaiah 7:10-12
King Ahaz has learned the lesson of human abuse of power. He has learned it so well he doesn’t trust anyone but himself.
I’ve tried to protect myself from the abuse of power by limiting my deep relationships to a small, carefully selected group of people who’ve earned my trust. But this slow and hesitant trust easily bleeds into my relationship with God. It keeps me from accepting God’s gracious opportunity to walk in faith with the only One who can be trusted to wield power. God, though frustrated with me and King Ahaz, is not deterred.
Then Isaiah said, ‘Hear now, you house of David! Is it not enough to try the patience of humans? Will you try the patience of my God also? Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign: the virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel. -Isaiah 7:13-14
As Isaiah’s story continues, this sign of Immanuel, or “God with us,” develops into the only Person who can resist the temptation of power. In a passage immortalized in Handel’s Messiah, we read an incredible description of the One who heals the scars the abuse of power has left in human hearts by handling power with justice and righteousness.
For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counsellor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Of the greatness of his government and peace there will be no end. He will reign on David’s throne and over his kingdom, establishing and upholding it with justice and righteousness from that time on and for ever. The zeal of the Lord Almighty will accomplish this. -Isaiah 9:6-7
This is a leader I could learn to trust more than myself. How about you? Could you trust this all-powerful God?
Yes and the more I learn and experience Him, the more I can trust - with the help of Holy Spirit to work within me.