I read of the display of a golden idol of Donald Trump at the CPAC meeting and thought at once of Psalm 113:12-16:

The idols of the nations are silver and gold, 

   the works of the hands of men.

They have mouths, and do not speak; 

   they have eyes, and do not see.

They have ears, and do not hear; 

   they have noses, and do not smell.

They have hands, and do not feel; 

   they have feet, and do not walk. 

Neither will they cry out with their throat.

Let those who make them become like them, 

   along with all who trust in them.

It is altogether appropriate to have a statue of Trump at a gathering where most of the GOP has come to bow down before him and his idol (that is on sale for $100,000). The prayer of the Psalmist, “Let those who make them become like them,” has been fulfilled abundantly in the Republican Party that made this idol and has become like it, wholly corrupt.

I also thought at once of Psalm 95:5, “For all the gods of the gentiles are demons, but the Lord made heaven and earth.” In The City of God, St. Augustine asserts that what the demons most crave is to receive the worship due to God. Is Trump demonic? I’m inclined to say that he is. For how else can we explain his preternatural reduction to servitude of half the country and most of the Republican Party? He has made every effort to undo what is good in government and to replace it with greed and malice. He is also a thoroughgoing liar, and Trump brings vividly to mind the Lord’s description of the Devil in John 8:44: “When he lies, he speaks out of his own character, for he is a liar and the father of lies.”