Isaiah 40:24 “Scarcely are they planted, scarcely sown, scarcely has their stem taken root in the earth, when he blows on them, and they wither, and the tempest carries them off like stubble.”

Princes and rulers on this earth seem to have power, but the power is fleeting. Over and over, God has dealt with them to remind them of their fleeting days of power. The days of their rule go to their head, and they begin to imagine that they are more powerful than they are. A reading of the books of the kings will remind us that they came and they left. They ruled so many years, and then they died or lost power.

Psalm 2 reminds us of the curious relationship of kings and rulers who imagine themselves as being the true power. God laughs at the very idea that men would pit themselves against Him. God reminds the rulers that He will set up His own king whose kingdom will not end.

The rulers in our world today suffer the same illusion of power. They do not realize that they barely make it out of the ground when God removes them. None of them last in spite of their bragging and boasting. God is the great evener, and when He has had enough, those who rule are gone, blown away like dried grass.

Task for Today: The prophet states that God brings princes to nothing and makes rulers of the earth as emptiness. While we are stressed by the action of our rulers and leaders, we must remember that they do not have the last say. They cannot control their own lives, extend their days by even a second. God has them in derision, the psalmist says. But He is our savior, our redeemer. His kingdom and king, which are eternal, are a gift to us, and both are kingdom and king of peace. Thanks be to God for His unspeakable gift. It is not the rulers of this earth that are laughing, it is the ruler of the universe.