Venezuela, Greenland and Iran: How the Psalms can transform our understanding of geopolitical unrest

Well it’s been a dramatic start to the year. No, I’m not talking about the England’s Cricket Team’s disappointing defeat in the 5th Test in Sydney, but about geopolitical events around the world, and in particular, those centring around the actions of the United States.

It was Saturday 3rd January when the US conducted a military operation in Caracas, capturing the Venezuelan dictator Nicolas Maduro and his wife Cilia Flores. In what was part of a wider military operation, ‘Operation Resolve’, the pair were first taken to the US warship Iwo Jima, before being transported to New York. Maduro then appeared in court on Monday afternoon, put on trial for drugs and weapons charges, to which he pleaded not guilty. The next court hearing for Maduro will take place on 17 March.

The international response has been mixed; some of those we would expect to oppose the US were vocal, and surrounding regimes, such as the Colombian government, expressed their dismay, due to feeling threatened themselves. But many of those who would normally be American allies were more cautious in what they said, partly due to questions over whether America’s actions have violated international law.

Keir Starmer confirmed to the BBC that the UK had not been involved in the operation, and when asked whether the operation had broken international law, said “I’ve been a lifelong advocate of international law and the importance of compliance with international law. But I want to ensure that I’ve got all the facts at my disposal, and we haven’t got that at the moment. And we need to get that before we come to a decision about the consequences in relation to the actions that have been taken.”

However, events continued to unfold as the week went on. On the same day as the capture of Maduro, Katie Miller, the wife of Stephen Miller, the White House Deputy Chief of Staff, posted an image on X of Greenland coloured in in red, white and blue, and captioned: ‘SOON’. Greenland has a population of only 58,000, and entrusts its defence to Denmark; large chunks of it are only defended by Sirius Patrol, a special operations unit which primarily relies on dog sleds. President Trump has repeatedly claimed that Greenland is vital for America’s national security, and suggested that it is “covered with Russian and Chinese ships all over the place.” It is also thought that America has aspirations of taking Greenland’s vast mineral reserves, which are buried within the ice.

A couple of days later, Stephen Miller said in an interview with CNN: “obviously Greenland should be part of the US”, and in response to a question about using military force, replied, “Nobody’s going to fight with the US over the future of Greenland.” On Wednesday, the White House confirmed that all options were on the table, including the use of force, raising the prospect of America invading a region that belongs to another NATO country. In response, the Danish Defence Ministry said that its soldiers would be required to “shoot first, ask questions later” if Greenland were invaded.

And even in the last 24 hours, President Trump has claimed that Ayatollah Ali Khamanei in Iran is preparing to flee to Russia amid the mass protests there which are threatening his regime, and has promised that the US will step in to protect protestors who are being targeted, saying in an interview with Fox News: “We’re ready to do it. If they do that, we’re going to hit them hard… the enthusiasm to overturn that regime is incredible.” The Ayatollah, for his part, has accused the protestors of simply “trying to please [Trump]”.

Throw in an ongoing war in Ukraine, a highly volatile situation in Gaza, questions around China’s intentions towards Taiwan, and our world appears more unstable than it has been for a long time.

So how are we to respond to all this as Christians? The Bible is full of stories of wars and alliances, of nations conspiring and political intrigue. In recent weeks, I have been reading my way through the Psalms, and (although it shouldn’t be surprising) I have been struck afresh by how relevant they are to what is going on in our world today. Here are three ways I think we can use them as we try and steer a course through the choppy waters of geopolitics…

We often talk about this at CARE, but we are called to pray for our political leaders. We regularly come back to 1 Timothy 2:1-2: “I urge, then, first of all, that petitions, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be made for all people— for kings and all those in authority, that we may live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness.”

But how can we pray for them? Psalm 72 provides an excellent template, listing some of the characteristics of a good leader. Although it is originally written to be for a king of Israel, in an era where kings had fewer checks on their power than many Prime Ministers or Presidents might do in the 21st Century, the principles it contains are just as relevant today.

The Psalm is rooted in an awareness that the King can only succeed with God’s help. This is something which many of our world leaders are unaware of today, whether it be through outright atheism, or through spiritual blindness and arrogance, which means they do not feel the need to depend upon Him. The Psalm, however, makes clear that kings need to depend upon God, beginning with a request for God to “Teach the king to judge”.

Indeed, the positive characteristics that the Psalmist wants the King to embody - virtues like righteousness and justice - derive ultimately from God Himself: “Teach the king to judge with your righteousness, O God; share with him your own justice, so that he will rule over your people with justice and govern the oppressed with righteousness.”

I found an interview with Donald Trump this week, after the capture of President Maduro, a fascinating case-study in the way in which leaders can sometimes think. Amid all the concerns around violations of international law, he had just been asked a question about whether there was any limit to what he might do. “Yeah, there is one thing,” he told The New York Times. “My own morality. My own mind. It’s the only thing that can stop me…I don’t need international law.”

Putting to one side any questions we might have around President Trump’s cavalier approach to a rules-based order, I thought that was an illuminating answer. For most leaders - even those who take a more muscular approach to politics - there is, ultimately, a limit to what they are willing to do. We all have a conscience. But the follow-up question is this: where does your morality come from? Is it from within? Or is it God’s righteousness and justice - with all the inconveniences and challenges and sacrifices that entails - that we are looking to implement?

The Psalmist demonstrates what that justice looks like in the verses that follow. We read in verse 4: “May the king judge the poor fairly; may he help the needy and defeat their oppressors.” Similarly, in verse 12, the Psalmist writes: “He rescues the poor who call to him, and those who are needy and neglected. He has pity on the weak and poor; he saves the lives of those in need. He rescues them from oppression and violence; their lives are precious to him.” This is not a world in which might is right, where the powerful are to help their chums to the mutual benefit of both, and to the detriment of the poor (and nor is it the world of liberation theology either, where the poor and oppressed are always in the right, no matter what, as other passages make clear).

And it is legitimate to ask God to bless the king’s rule, that he might govern wisely and bring about prosperity; as long as that prosperity is accompanied by righteousness. Prosperity that is based upon injustice or inequality is no prosperity at all. The two go hand-in-hand in the mind of the Psalmist: “May the land enjoy prosperity; may it experience righteousness” (Psalm 72:3). Verses 6 and 7 pair the two together again: “May the king be like rain on the fields, like showers falling on the land. May righteousness flourish in his lifetime, and may prosperity last as long as the moon gives light.”

It is not wrong for America (or other world powers) to seek prosperity, to try to bless its citizens or to defend its security interests. But it would be wrong to do so in a way which does not embody righteousness. Or in the words of Micah 6:8: “What does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God.”

Sometimes it really is impossible to know what is best for the world; we might balance a disdain for corrupt dictators and evil regimes on the one hand, with concerns around international law and aggressive military actions on the other.

Is it ever right to remove another country’s leader, if you have the opportunity? What would the threshold be? Or is being hawkish always a recipe for disaster? And if you decide to intervene, how do you make sure you do not sink to the same level? It is very easy to convince yourself you are on the side of the angels when you can order a bomb to be dropped from the other side of the planet. (As a case in point, consider the disparity in the numbers of civilians killed in the attacks on the Twin Towers in 2001, with those who died as a result of America’s War on Terror.)

In its own way, the actions of America in Venezuela provide a vivid demonstration of the difficulties in trying to seek justice in our world. President Maduro’s government was widely accepted to have been characterised by corruption, electoral fraud, and human rights abuses: 7 million people are estimated to have been forced to flee the country due to its economic collapse, and Human Rights Watch has said that thousands of people died in extrajudicial killings under his regime. (We might take a similar approach when thinking about the Ayatollah in Iran.)

But lest we think that America was simply motivated by benevolence…consider the way in which the US has said that it will run Venezuela until further notice, and in particular its intentions for Venezuelan oil. JD Vance said this week: “We control the energy resources, and we tell the regime: you’re allowed to sell the oil so long as you serve America’s national interest, you’re not allowed to sell it if you can’t serve America’s national interest.” One Democrat senator gave an alternative perspective: “They are talking about stealing the Venezuelan oil at gunpoint for a period of time undefined as leverage to micromanage the country. The scope and insanity of that plan is absolutely stunning."

Justice is complicated. It is complicated because the world is not just split into black and white; it is complicated because things do not just exist in a vacuum and punishing one person (particularly a leader) will tend to impact others; and it is complicated because none of us has the true picture of what is proportionate and what is not.

The Psalms are full of reminders that, although God does commission us as humans, created in his image, to seek justice, ultimately he is the true King, and the only one who can ever enact justice perfectly.

Everything God does is right (in the deepest sense of the word): “The works of his hands are faithful and just; all his precepts are trustworthy” (Psalm 111:7). There is nowhere on earth that God does not want to see justice and righteousness reign: “For the word of the Lord is right and true; he is faithful in all he does. The Lord loves righteousness and justice; the earth is full of his unfailing love” (Psalm 33:4-5). When we do not know what is the best course of action, it is a great comfort to know that there is One who does.

Indeed, there are plenty of occasions in the Psalms where the Psalmist appeals to God precisely because they are not getting justice on earth; Psalms like Psalm 17 deal with the issue of false accusations. Or in Psalm 7, David appeals to God, as the King over the world, to enact justice: “Justice is what you demand, so bring together all the peoples around you, and rule over them from above. You are the judge of all people. Judge in my favor, O Lord; you know that I am innocent. You are a righteous God and judge our thoughts and desires. Stop the wickedness of evildoers and reward those who are good” (Psalm 7:6-9).

The Psalmists - even when they are in the midst of suffering, injustice or even doubt - ultimately maintain a conviction that God will see the world put to rights. In Psalm 7, David contends that “God is a righteous judge and always condemns the wicked” (Psalm 7:11) He recognises the way that, under God’s sovereignty, the schemes of evil-doers tend to rebound upon themselves: “But in the traps they set for others, they themselves get caught. So they are punished by their own evil and are hurt by their own violence” (Psalm 7:15-16). In fact, by the end of the Psalm, he is able to thank and praise God for what he will one day do, even if it hasn’t actually happened yet: “I thank the Lord for his justice; I sing praises to the Lord, the Most High” (Psalm 7:17).

Of course, God may enact his judgements upon the wicked on this side of the veil; the Psalmists certainly had in mind a present dimension. But it is generally wise to be cautious around asserting with too much confidence what God is and isn’t doing at any one time; after all, how many of those songs about judgement of the wicked could so easily be turned around upon ourselves (I am mindful of the way in which Habakkuk asked God to judge wickedness in Judah, only to then object when he raised up Babylon to deal with it). Sometimes, God does things which we just don’t seem to understand, and we are left singing, “How long, o Lord” or “By the rivers of Babylon I sat and wept.”

But as Christians, we have the benefit of living on the other side of the resurrection of Jesus; we know that God has vindicated Jesus as his Messiah, that death and the powers of evil really have been defeated, and that one day Jesus will come again as a judge. Those words of the Psalms around God’s perfect justice and judgements, which we can only see in part now, will become a reality. ​​The wicked will be repaid for what they have done, the oppressed will be restored, and we will be able to see, with the Psalmist, that “Righteousness and justice are the foundation of your throne” (Psalm 89:14).

It can be so tempting, when we read of world events, to believe that the superpowers of the day are unassailable; that certainly seems to be the assumption that America is currently operating under. President Trump said this week, with his trademark confidence: “We need Greenland for national security and even international security. And we're working with everybody involved to try and get it…And I think we're going to get it one way or the other. We're going to get it.”

Of course, he is not the only one. Regimes like North Korea try to inspire eternal worship of the ruling family; Vladimir Putin seems to be on a mission to restore the Soviet Empire and believes he can invade Ukraine with impunity; the rise of newer powers like China or India appears to be unstoppable. The new world order might appear to be fixed, but how many empires have fallen, and how many kings now life in the dust? (Europe (and the UK), incidentally, seems to have been reduced increasingly to a bystander, the great empires of the 19th century long forgotten, in a vivid demonstration of how quickly history can change.)

But as the nations scheme away - and particularly if you are anxious around what is going on in the world - it is worth coming back to the Psalms to remember who is really in charge.

In Psalm 2, we have our first encounter with “the nations”. “Why do the nations plan rebellion? Why do people make their useless plots? Their kings revolt, their rulers plot together against the Lord and against the king he chose” (Psalm 2:1-2). God’s response shows how little he is concerned by them: “From his throne in heaven the Lord laughs and mocks their feeble plans.” The mightiest of world leaders is but a puny human being in the eyes of the God who is seated in the heavens. No President or prince is ever truly in charge; there is a fundamental category difference between humans and God, as David declares at the end of Psalm 7: “let the nations know they are only mortal.”

International leaders - particularly of the great powers - might like to feel like they are in control, but as Christians, we have a glimpse behind the veil. We know the one who is truly in charge of history. Psalm 33 demonstrates this by talking about God’s sovereignty over creation: “By the word of the Lord the heavens were made, their starry host by the breath of his mouth. He gathers the waters of the sea into jars; he puts the deep into storehouses.” The seas and stars are but playthings for the Lord of the Universe. God needs only speak, and it will come to pass.

In comparison, what is a President or a Prime Minister? The Psalmist then goes on to talk about God’s sovereignty over history: “The Lord foils the plans of the nations; he thwarts the purposes of the peoples. But the plans of the Lord stand firm forever, the purposes of his heart through all generations.”

This is not to deny human agency, for God has genuinely given us responsibility for our actions: what we do matters. But in a mysterious sense which we cannot fully understand here and now, in Venezuela and Greenland, or in Ukraine and Taiwan, whatever happens will not just be determined by might on the battlefield or political strategies, but by the nod of the living God.

And one day, everyone will see it: in Psalm 22, David declares how one day, “All the ends of the earth will remember and turn to the Lord, and all the families of the nations will bow down before him, for dominion belongs to the Lord and he rules over the nations.” The arrogance of dictators will be exposed as the folly that it always was, and people will see who was truly in charge of the universe.

We are living through a time of great geopolitical uncertainty; but the Psalms provide us with a helpful framework we can live by. There is much which we cannot know about the next few years; but as the future unfolds, let us come back to what we do know: interceding for our leaders, praying for God’s justice to be done, and remembering the One who really holds history in the palm of his hands.