Election Results

"FIRST OF all, then, I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and
thanksgivings be made for all men, for kings and all who are in high
positions, that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life, godly and respectful in
every way. This is good, and it is acceptable in the sight of God our
Savior, who desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge
of the truth." 1 Timothy 2: 1--3

When I was a pastor in Norfolk, VA, (most of my members were active or retired Navy) during the Clinton years, we prayed for the President as the Scripture urges us to do. A church member said to me, 'Do we really have to pray for HIM?' I said, Yes. Here in Lexington, VA, during the Bush years, a member said to me...guess what? 'Do we really have to pray for HIM?' I said, Yes. I can disagree with the President (and the Congress!) but we must pray for our government. When St. Paul wrote the above, he was praying for Caesar. We can even say the Lord put the king, the president, or the prime minister into that office. Not because of his/her policies but as the Lord’s way in this world to have temporal peace:

For there is no authority except from God, and those that exist have been
instituted by God. Therefore he who resists the authorities resists
what God has appointed, and those who resist will incur judgment.
For rulers are not a terror to good conduct, but to bad. Would you have no
fear of him who is in authority? Then do what is good, and you will receive his
approval, for he is God's servant for your good. But if you do
wrong, be afraid, for he does not bear the sword in vain; he is the servant of
God to execute his wrath on the wrongdoer.—Romans 13: 1--4

In my opinion, the Scripture has a view of a limited role for government: to implement the law as curb to our propensities toward sin and evil and promote the common good. Why? So that the Church and our fellow citizens, “…may lead a quiet and peaceable life, godly and respectful in every way.” The devil wants chaos and disorder so that the Gospel be not heard. This is what the President is elected to do for our good. And he is the Commander-in-Chief no matter what. So we must pray for him and our government and our nation and their sworn duty to implement the rule of law in one of the greatest documents in human history:
The Constitution of the United States of America.

A Post-Script: And I remember as a 6 year old watching black and white TV and scared as I saw the evening news reports on Walter Cronkite/CBS News of police and dogs and fire hydrants opened upon Negro civil rights marchers in the South in 1960s who at the time were prevented from voting. Negros were beaten, killed, terrorized, could not go the same schools as whites and were regularly called the ‘N’ word. It was wrong. It was evil. There is nothing good about doing evil. And now 50 years later…a Negro has been elected President. For instance: Do you really think Germany will ever elect a Turkish citizen as Prime Minster any time soon? And we can disagree with the President (even if he is black or white, a man or a woman, a Christian or not), satirize him and if he does not do the job to which he will swear to do the day he is inaugurated, we can vote him out. But we must pray for him. We are blessed to live in the United States. God save the State!