The Government faces the unenviable task of steering the country out of the lockdown. Doubtless, there has been widespread consultation amongst experts and advisors from the caring services, utilities, university researchers, government departments, transport, education and the many sectors of the economy. I assume that the way other countries are facing this complex matter will be scrutinised to see what lessons can be learned. Even from this layman's point of view it is easy to see that there are many perils and pitfalls, unintended consequences and trade-offs involved... It will not be possible to please everyone with the plans, nor to address everyone's particular needs. The opinion columns of the newspapers will be taken up with comment on and criticism of whatever steps are proposed. It is a profoundly knotty problem that the world faces.

My own mind though goes beyond the government of this country, or of any other for that matter, to the one who governs all things. Leaders, advisors and decision-makers in every part and at every level of society would do well to look to the Lord God for wisdom. Proverbs 21:1 tells us that 'The king's heart is in the hand of the Lord; he directs it like a watercourse wherever he pleases." Rather than pretending God is not there, or has nothing useful to say, 'kings' would be well advised to submit to the one who really is Lord. "The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge, but fools despise wisdom and discipline" (Proverbs 1:7). What does it mean to fear the Lord God? It is personal and individual. Psalm 2:10-12 says, "Therefore, you kings, be wise; be warned you rulers of the earth. Serve the Lord with fear and rejoice with trembling. Kiss [in the sense of bow the knee and kiss the hand of the monarch as a sign of loyalty] the Son, lest he be angry, and you be destroyed in your way, for his wrath can flare up in a moment. Blessed are all who take refuge in him". The Son, of course, is Jesus Christ. Whether we are leaders or not, the only truly wise course of action for any of us begins with seeking refuge in Jesus, and so receiving forgiveness, salvation from our sin and the experience of our lives being brought into line with God's will.

In the end, God will bring about all He intends from this crisis and how much better it would be for leaders, and for everyone they lead, were they to seek to go in His ways and not to carry on in defiance of Him and His laws. "Righteousness [in other words conformity to God's law] exalts a nation, but sin is a reproach to any people" (Proverbs 14:23).