Princes

Do not put your trust in princes, Nor in a son of man, in whom there is no help.
His spirit departs, he returns to his earth; In that very day his plans perish. Psalm 146:3-4 NKJV

Prince Harry, third in line to the British throne, is in the news for all the wrong reasons. He has become an embarrassment, a laughing stock in the world, and the subject of many debates on how and why he got himself into such a compromising situation in Las Vegas, the sex and prostitution capital of the world. (Not my words, but from a royal commentator.)

The discussions have included serious topics like, press freedom, freedom of speech, the Judge Leverson Enquiry into press freedom, Harry’s protection team, Harry’s choice of ‘friends’ for the night, front page pictures being available to the youngest of curious minds, and what is ‘in the public interest’, to name but a few. I think it is worth remembering he was there by choice, and that the UK taxpayer paid the bills.

Nowhere in the news, and no one in particular has raised the issue of morality. No one. I am not even talking about that old fashioned word ‘sin’, I am talking about good old fashioned decency and morality. The morality of a not so young man, who is third in line to be the future King of Great Britain, and the bad example he shows to a generation of people. Can we ever look the same on the ‘good works’ he does for charity again? And if that isn’t bad enough, Prince Harry has at a stroke become the best and biggest argument for dismantling the British Monarchy, and replacing it with a democratically elected Republic. At least, someone who behaves like this can be voted out. Make no mistake, in a democratic Republic his public image counts for something, and he would have been replaced by now. As it is in the UK, Harry can lie low for a while and hope the problem will blow over. Is this the role model we need in our nation?

I wonder what the Psalmist had in mind when he penned the words above? Maybe he knew of abuses by the Princes of his day, and we know the truth of God’s Word is timeless. Trust in Princes has been shown again to be foolish, so the rest of the verse must be true too. His life and days are numbered and his actions will die with him, but since we believe in the King of all Kings, our future in Him is sure, timeless, and eternal. In today’s news story, I don’t see that reported, but it is still true. I for one am glad of that simple truth.