So Help Me God

January 10- So Help me God
“I will lift up my eyes to the hills. Where does my help come from? Our help is in the name of the Lord who made the heavens and the earth. “ (Psalm 121:2)

Calvin: “in the first place, we must state what an oath is. It is calling God as witness to confirm the truth of our word…Now the eternal God not only permits oaths as a legitimate thing under the law but commands their use in case of necessity (Ex. 22;10,11).” (Inst. II. 8.23,26).

John Calvin began most of his worship services with the verse above- “Our help is in the name of the Lord who made the heavens and the earth.” If you’re going to study Calvin, then you have to know what was so important to him that he said it three times a week, and other people didn’t say it. The Roman Catholic priests didn’t begin their worship services with this verse. It was Calvin’s idea.
The headline on CNN.com today said, “Obama wants to invoke God during inauguration oath.” It’s first sentence says, “President-elect Barak Obama will invoke God when he takes the oath of office January 20, despite a lawsuit filed by atheist and non-religious groups.” I am shocked at the tone of this, as well as the intention to wipe any mention of God, and anyone’s personal preference to mention God at something so important to them. If God is a part of their lives, why not? If there is no God as some claim, then what’s the big deal? It is not proselytizing anyone just to mention God.
Calvin, on the other hand, would say that God is the King of kings and gives every magistrate, king (or president) power and ability, time and life to reign. Calvin said, “a good emperor is within the church, not over the church” (IV.11.4) But at the same time our help is in his name.
So help us all, God, to fulfill our oaths.
So help us God, by giving us the strength, courage, life, time, support that we need to answer your call of duty. And, yes God, please help our soon-to-be-president to call on you for help. May he find help available for you in this awesome task. Amen.