Elect the Preferable Ruler

¹⁴ [When] you say “Let us set a king over us like the nations around us,” ¹⁵ be sure to appoint over you the king the Lord your God chooses. He must be from among your own brothers. Do not place a foreigner [a non-covenanter] over you, one who is not a brother Israelite [a fellow believer]. ¹⁶ The king, moreover, must not acquire great numbers of horses for himself or make the people return to Egypt to get more of them, for the Lord has told you, “You are not to go back that way again.” ¹⁷ He must not take many wives, or his heart will be led astray. He must not accumulate large amounts of silver and gold. ¹⁸ When he takes the throne of his kingdom, he is to write for himself on a scroll a copy of this Law… ¹⁹ It is to be with him, and he is to read it all the days of his life, so that he may learn to revere the Lord his God and follow carefully all the words of this Law and these decrees ²⁰ and not consider himself better than his brothers and turn from the Law to the right or to the left. Then he and his descendants will reign a long time over his kingdom in Isra’el. DEUTERONOMY 17

Our rulers have the power to decide political, socio-economic and military matters that could make or break our lives, families, communities and nations. Let us be wise in electing them.  

As we write this book, the Philippine Government is allocating large amounts of public funds for poll automation and for strengthening our military and police forces. But because the computer can be corrupted, and because the police and the military can be corrupted, no nation whose moral fibers are allowed to collapse can be saved from the decline by poll automation or by strengthening its military and police forces.

The better thing to do is elect the righteous. Because it is actually the character of our leaders that makes or breaks our lives and society. When Judah had a righteous king like Josiah (1 Chronicles 34-35) the nation prospered, but under evil Manasseh the nation declined (1 Chronicles 33).

³ An uneducated king will be the ruin of his people, a city owes its prosperity to the intelligence [wisdom] of its [leaders]. ECCLESIASTICUS 10

Keep in office the leaders who exercise their authority and power as a service to God and neighbor. Who relegate their personal interests to the common good. Who build a society of love, truth, justice and harmony; a society that facilitates everyone’s rights and responsibilities without violating anyone’s freewill.

¹⁹ [He] must be the people’s representative before God and bring their disputes to Him. ²⁰ [He must] teach them the decrees and laws [of God], and show them the way to live, and the duties they are to perform. EXODUS 18

¹ A wise ruler will educate his people. SIRACH 10

² A man of understanding and knowledge maintains order. PROVERBS 28

³ Defend the cause of the weak and the fatherless; maintain the rights of the poor and oppressed. ⁴ Rescue the weak and needy; deliver them from the hand of the wicked. PSALM 82

⁸ Speak up for those who cannot speak for themselves, for the rights of all who are destitute. ⁹ Speak and judge fairly; defend the rights of the poor and needy. PROVERBS 31

⁹ Save the oppressed from the hand of the oppressor, and do not be mean-spirited in your judgments. ¹⁰ Be like a father to orphans, and as good as a husband to widows. ¹¹ And you will be like a son to the Most High, whose love for you will surpass your mother’s. ECCLESIASTICUS 4

²⁶ A wise king winnows out the wicked; he drives the threshing wheel over them. PROVERBS 20

⁴ It is not for kings, O Lemuel, not for kings to drink wine, not for rulers to crave beer, ⁵ lest they drink and forget what the Law decrees, and deprive all the oppressed of their rights. PROVERBS 31

¹⁵ When justice is done, it brings joy to the righteous but terror to evildoers. PROVERBS 21

⁴ By justice a king gives a country stability. PROVERBS 29

²⁷ Therefore, O king, be pleased to accept my advice: Renounce your sins by doing what is right, and your wickedness by being kind to the oppressed. DANIEL 4

¹⁰ You kings, be wise; be warned, you rulers of the earth. ¹¹ Serve the Lord with fear and rejoice with trembling. ¹² Kiss the Son, lest He be angry and you be destroyed in your way, for His wrath can flare up in a moment. Blessed are all who take refuge in Him. PSALM 2

²⁸ Love and faithfulness keep a king safe; through love his throne is made secure. PROVERBS 20