a chicken in every pot and a car in every garage


Psalm 76
To the choirmaster: with stringed instruments. A Psalm of Asaph. A Song.
1In Judah God is known; his name is great in Israel.
2His abode has been established in Salem, his dwelling place in Zion.
3There he broke the flashing arrows, the shield, the sword, and the weapons of war. Selah
4Glorious are you, more majestic than the mountains full of prey.
5The stouthearted were stripped of their spoil; they sank into sleep; all the men of war were unable to use their hands.
6At your rebuke, O God of Jacob, both rider and horse lay stunned.
7But you, you are to be feared! Who can stand before you when once your anger is roused?
8From the heavens you uttered judgment; the earth feared and was still,
9when God arose to establish judgment, to save all the humble of the earth. Selah
10Surely the wrath of man shall praise you; the remnant of wrath you will put on like a belt.
11Make your vows to the Lord your God and perform them; let all around him bring gifts to him who is to be feared,
12who cuts off the spirit of princes, who is to be feared by the kings of the earth.

“A chicken in every pot and a car in every garage.”
Herbert Hoover, 1928

Right now the U.S. is approaching the finish line of a very long, arduous, and conflicted presidential race. As with any political campaign, impossible promises are made. At this point, I’m not sure how we can believe any of it anymore. But I digress. As I was pondering Psalm 76 this morning the political campaign slogan “a chicken in every pot and a car in every garage” flashed through my mind because that phrase has a similar ring to it as we consider the motivation for this prayer.

It is believed that this psalm reflects back on the story of the attempted Assyrian takeover of The Southern Kingdom (Judah) during the reign of King Hezekiah. This history is given to us in 2 Kings 17-19. Sennacherib, king of the Assyrians, had already captured Judah’s northern brothers, the Nation of Israel and carried them off into slavery 20 years earlier. Now his army stands at the gates of Jerusalem attempting bring Judah to the same fate. In the course of that attempt, the general of Sennacherib’s army makes some rather wild promises as he bargains with the Hebrews in order to get them to surrender without battle.

Isaiah 36:16
16Do not listen to Hezekiah. For thus says the king of Assyria: Make your peace with me and come out to me. Then each one of you will eat of his own vine, and each one of his own fig tree, and each one of you will drink the water of his own cistern.

To me that promise reads like this: “Grapes and figs on every table and clean water in every well.” Sound familiar? People have long made promises to one another that they simply don’t have the power to keep. As the story unfolds, Hezekiah turns to the Lord and begs for help. He literally takes the letter he has received from Sennacherib and spreads it out on the floor of the Temple before God and asks Him what to do about the threat. God’s response is recorded for us in 2 Kings 19.

2 Kings 19:35–36
35And that night the angel of the Lord went out and struck down 185,000 in the camp of the Assyrians. And when people arose early in the morning, behold, these were all dead bodies. 36Then Sennacherib king of Assyria departed and went home and lived at Nineveh.

God never makes idle promises in the hope of manipulating us. He simply handles the situation and we are the benefactors. Psalm 76 describes the rehearsal of the drama and the recites the praises due to our God who is able to deal with even the strongest of our enemies. In the story that is the basis for this psalm, the people don’t even have to go out to battle. God does it all.

We all have situations in our lives that we can’t handle. They are simply too complicated or completely outside of our power to solve. What choice do we have except to turn to our God who is never overwhelmed? Twenty years earlier, the leaders of the Northern Kingdom had turned to Egypt rather than God when they face this same threat from Sennacherib. The Egyptians refused to help and they were defeated. Hezekiah makes the better choice and turns to God. His outcome is dramatically different.

As humans we are faced with one completely insurmountable obstacle – our own sin which will eventually lead only to hell. We are blessed to have a God who saw our need and supplied the only viable answer; the blood of Jesus Christ. Now our enemy, the devil, can make all the promises he wants to make but they are hollow and void in the face of the Father who offers us eternal life. So – what shall we do when faced with troubles either temporal or eternal? Pour out your problems before the Lord and trust His answers for they are always the best.

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