"When the righteous increase, the people rejoice, But when a wicked man rules, people groan." (Proverbs 29:2)

I'm sure that you have heard the statement that everything rises and falls on leadership. Next month, America is going to go to the polls to elect the next President of the United States of America. Are there any parameters that might help us as a nation choose a leader who will take us into the future, for a future, rather than destruction? Let's see what God's Word tells us about the qualities of our leaders.

Proverbs 28:2 says, "By the transgression of a land many are its princes, but by a man of understanding and knowledge, so it endures." What is God saying? If we want a land that endures, if we want a nation that continues, a nation that does not experience the wrath of God, leadership is key. We need a person of knowledge and understanding. America is in trouble because the things that we once called evil we are now calling good. Beloved, evil and good do not change. God is a God of principles, and He has laid out for us in His Word the principles and precepts of life. In Psalm 119 we read, "Through Thy precepts I get understanding; therefore I hate every false way." (Psalm 119:104, KJV) An evil way is a false way, and that evil has a beginning; it has a source, and that source is the enemy of our souls. In John chapter 8, verse 44, Jesus turns to religious leaders of the people, leaders that are spiritually blind, and says, "You are of your father the devil, and you want to do the desires of your father. He was a murderer from the beginning, and...he is a liar and the father of lies." (John 8:44) Satan is defined and described as a deceiver, destroyer, and as an angel of light. In other words, he appears to be good; he appears to be light, when really his kingdom is that of evil darkness. And so you and I have to have our eyes open. We have to know what the Word of God says, and we have to realize that when we go to the polls in November and we indicate who we want as a president, that leader can affect the future of the United States of America.

Now there's another aspect in the level of the free will of man. But there is a parallel truth that goes with that, and that parallel truth is the sovereignty of God, which means God rules over all. And God tells us in the book of Samuel, and He tells us in the book of Daniel, that it is He who sets up kings; it is He who takes kings off their thrones. Many times He allows wicked people to rule over a nation because God is judging that nation.

In Ezekiel 14, God says if a nation or country sins against Him, He will judge that country. (See Ezekiel 14:12-20) We see in Jeremiah chapter 18 that a nation cannot sin against God and get away with it. (See Jeremiah 18:15-17) They may think that they can get away with it but they can't, because there is a sovereign God. So this sovereign God knows what's going to happen, but He also shows us that He will act according to our ways. This is why God sends prophet after prophet saying "Repent, turn back, return to Me, listen to Me." He's trying to get our attention and He's trying to get us to walk that straight and narrow path of righteousness.