Do Not Put Your Trust In Princes (A Poem)

This poem is inspired by Psalm 146 and by the year 2020:

Do not put your trust in princes
Do not hang your hopes on them
Their power and their prominence
Will soon come to an end

They will promise you security
(They always have a plan)
But if they save the future
It will soon need it again

Do not put your trust in scientists
The brainiest of all
Whose data and discoveries
Cannot undo our fall

They will promise you extended life
(They always have a source)
But if they save you this time
The end still comes, of course

Do not put your trust in systems
In commune-capital-isms
For greed will thrive and hate divide
Our very best foundations

They will promise you prosperity
(They always have a way)
But somewhere on the inside
Corruption’s here to stay

Do not put your trust in your own heart
Or in the love you feel
The light inside is not alone
The darkness, too, is real

Your heart will promise perfect peace
(It always has a dream)
But the shadows of desire
Are deeper than they seem

Do not trust yourself to anything
This broken world provides
And yet, do not despair, my friend:
Hope comes from the outside

When human power fails again
And systems, hearts, and brains
Then put your trust in Jesus Christ
—all hope in him, remains