Princes

Put not your trust in princes,

in a son of man (adam), in whom there is no salvation.

When his breath departs, he returns to the earth (admah).

on that very day his plans perish.—Psalm 146:3,4 

 

Some years ago, while touring the Egyptian Museum in Cairo, Egypt, I came across a room full of embalmed mummies laid out in glass cases. Most of them were "princes"—shakers and movers in the ancient world. Many bore names I recognized from history.

 

One case contained the remains of a very small man, barely  5' tall. The card on the case read "Ramses the Great, the greatest, most celebrated, and most powerful pharaoh of the Egyptian Empire.” I stood there amazed. 

 

This is the man Percy Shelly enshrined In his poem, “Ozymandias,” adopting the name the ancient Greeks gave him.

 

And on the pedestal these words appear:

"My name is Ozymandias, King of Kings:

Look on my works, ye mighty, and despair!"

 

This is the man who terrorized the Ancient Near East for seven decades, whose kingdom stretched from Libya to the Euphrates. 

 

Once famous for his statesmanship, architecture, military genius, administrative ability, and building activity—now he was nothing more than an unsightly bag of bones, a “son of man, in whom there is no salvation” (146:3). 

 

That’s the problem with every “prince” (or president): Their plans expire when they do. That’s why our hope must be fixed solely on the eternal Son of Man, who made and rules ”heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them, who keeps his word forever” (146:6), and who, because he dearly loves us, has promised to save us to the end (146:8; Philippians 1:6). He’s the only Prince whose plans will endure. 

 

Carolyn has a saying, “Men will always disappoint you; try Jesus.” That’s the psalmist's point of view—exactly.

 

David Roper

11.14.20