For the transgression of a land many are the princes thereof: but by a man of understanding and knowledge the state thereof shall be prolonged (Proverbs 28:2).

Time and again, all over the world, a nation will exalt the most vile and ruthless individual to the highest political office in the land. Usually, the people are responding to promises made by the candidate to give them money from the public treasury and to look after their needs—from the cradle to the grave.

Of course, much heartache and tragedy awaits the nation when this is done because it is an observable fact that, the more a government takes upon itself the task of looking after the welfare of the people, the less religious that nation becomes. There is a simple reason. No longer do citizens have to look to heaven and pray to God the Father, "Give us this day our daily bread." They look to the state.

But those in power cannot produce what they have promised and they certainly cannot produce righteousness in a people for they themselves tend to become corrupted by the process. The rise to power and the promotion of others to power gives the freedom to release the dark passions of the naturally depraved heart.

In the recent Correspondence Dinner the president of the United States engaged in vile and despicable "humor" when referring to his chief of staff Rahm Emanuel who apparently has a profane vocabulary, according to the president. All of this can happen for a simple reason: who is able to rebuke them now?

Many years ago John Emerich Edward Dalberg Acton, (1834–1902), the historian and moralist, expressed a very astute opinion in a letter to Bishop Mandell Creighton in 1887: "Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely. Great men are almost always bad men."

The true stabilizing force in a nation is the person of spiritual understanding and knowledge. Jesus said to His disciples, Ye are the salt of the earth: but if the salt have lost his savour, wherewith shall it be salted? it is thenceforth good for nothing, but to be cast out, and to be trodden under foot of men. 14 Ye are the light of the world. A city that is set on an hill cannot be hid. 15 Neither do men light a candle, and put it under a bushel, but on a candlestick; and it giveth light unto all that are in the house. 16 Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven (Matthew 5:13). The church must not forget the vital role it plays in the survival of a nation. "By a man of understanding and knowledge the state thereof shall be prolonged."

By way of application to our own country, the hope of our nation is ultimately not in a political party but in an understanding of the importance of returning to the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. The survival of this nation rests upon Christ and the values He has instilled in His people. Let the church be the church and let the people rejoice. It is as simple—and as difficult—as that.