One Nation Under ____________?
Psalms 33:10-22
* In 1954, the United States was consumed with Cold War fears of a rising ’godless-communist’ threat. Responding to this threat, Congress gave a ’nod to God’ by placing the two words, “Under God” in the “Pledge to the Flag.” When President Eisenhower sign the act he announced that, “From this day forward, the millions of our school children will daily proclaim in every city and town, every village and rural school house, the dedication of our Nation and our people to the Almighty.” Little did he know that 38 years later the Supreme Court would rule that these two words were unconstitutional? This is why we see a ’blank’ in the title of this message. There is no doubt we are “One Nation Under” SOMETHING, but what is it?
* The question today is this, “Are we truly a nation UNDER GOD?” Truly, God is the Supreme Judge, the overseer of life, and the creator of all we know, but, as a nation, do we give Him the allegiance and deference of days past?
* Turn with me to our text and let’s hear the words of the Psalmist. (Read) From our text, I offer you four thoughts to check and see if, in this 21st century, we are indeed a “Nation Under God.”
1. The Start of this Country – Let’s revisit verses 10-12. Upon reading these verses, I see a picture of the discovery of the New World and the development of this New Country. Any honest reading of American history will reveal the the peoples and nations of the known world were NOT in favor of the start of a new, independent nation. In fact, so strong was the opposition that of the 56 brave men who signed the DOI, 5 were captured and tortured before they died. Twelve had their homes burned. Two lost their sons in the war and one had two sons captured. Nine fought and died from wounds or the hardships of war. Three others, who were wealthy, lost everything they had and died in poverty. The start of this nation was costly because it was opposed by peoples & nations.
==> However, the counsel of the Lord stands for ever. You’ve heard the story about the debate and almost deadlock of the Continental Congress. A man who is not known as a follower Christ stood and said, “Gentleman, if it is true that not one single petal from any flower falls to the ground without escaping God’s attention, will the distress of this nation go unheeded? Let us therefore determine to seek His face.” At these words all the participant are reported to have went to their knees as one.
==> As an aside, can you imagine the difference in our nation is the judges, the congressmen, and the president would earnestly go to their knees and ask, “God, what do you want for & from this nation?”
==> While we are playing the ’Can you Imagine’ game? Can You Imagine:
* The Chief Justice of the US Supreme Court saying, “Divine Providence (that would be God) has given to our people the choice of their rulers, it is our duty to select Christians for their rulers. (John Jay)
* State Legislatures passing a law requiring all elected officials to take this oath, “I do profess faith in God the Father & in the Lord Jesus Christ His only Son. I do acknowledge the Holy Scripture (Old & New Testament) to be given by Divine Inspiration.” (Delaware)
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* Legislation has been passed which recommend use of the Holy Bible in the public schools. (It happened in 1782 and the Supreme Court affirmed this in 1844 when ruling on a law suit)
* If the people who began this experiment in self-government held to these principles could it be the dream for America was to become a lighthouse of God’s righteousness.
* From Christopher Columbus to and through the founding of this nation, the handwriting of God can be seen in the words, “Blessed (or Happy) is the Nation whose God is the Lord.” The Amazing thing about modern historians and legal ‘scholars’ is this; while attempting to debunk the so-called ‘myth’ of America being founded on Biblical truths, these same people stand in front of 200 year old landmarks which have inscribed passages from God’s word. The Washington Monument is the tallest structure in DC. By statute, no structure can be built taller than this monument. At the top are these words in Latin from scripture: "Let God be praised."
2. The Situation of this Culture – People in this room do not need to be reminded of the degradation of this culture. For those over 40, all that has to be done is to remember television and movies before the need for ‘ratings.’ Because of the righteous nature of days past, there existed a common ‘standard of decency’ which no longer exists. Today, the church (and more to the point, the pastor) is expected to look the other way at the action of our culture. We have no need to be reminded of the statistics which demonstrate the darkness in which we live. Immorality which includes everything from pre-marital to extra-marital to post-marital sex is the norm. In fact, to keep oneself pure and unstained from the world will receive ridicule and disdain. This culture has so eroded that everything is upside-down as almost nothing is considered taboo and to pronounced something a sin is to be intolerant. We find the reason for this in that;
a. There is a False Sense of Strength (v 17) – Almost every time you read the word ‘horse’ in the Bible, it symbolizes strength and power. In those days like today, strength is measured in horsepower. The culture of today considers itself so self-sufficient and independent that there is no real need for God. In the early days of this nation, the country was seen as so weak that, except for the grace of God, they knew the end was near.
b. There is a False Sense of Security (v 16) – Whatever we cannot do individually, today we look to our government to pick up the slack and protect us. In fact, Americans have difficulty believing that a ‘war’ will ever come to the shores of America. We seem to have forgotten the lesson of the 1930’s which is wealth can be GONE overnight. Yes, we have been reminded of late, but that fear seems to have quickly passed as we continue to value our money above all else and see it as our security for tomorrow while taking our freedom for granted. See the word “King” & consider this truth; our trouble with Lordship is from ignorance. We don’t grasp Lordship in America because we don’t understand Kings.
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* In a Kingdom, under a King, you don’t have a voice and don’t get a vote. The King lays down the rules and laws and yours is to obey. Kings always felt like they were the ‘big kids on the block’ and they were. But there is one thing about being the ‘big kid’, there always comes a time when someone is bigger. When we get our security from any other than our Lord Jesus, it is a false sense of security. The greatest Homeland Security we could have is a nation of hearts given to the Heavenly Father.
c. There is a False Sense of Sovereignty (v 13-15) – Before we read, consider this; we live in a land where people feel they are self-made, in control of their own lives, and basically answer to NO ONE! Candidly, teenagers in this nation desire to grow up too quickly because they catch on that the adults have little accountability. Our culture can best be defined as is seen in the scriptures. The last verse of Judges (21:25) paints a picture of the culture today, “In those days there was no king in Israel, everyone did whatever he wanted.” Most would ask, what is the BIG deal? This is working for us. In these words we find the ‘false sense’ of sovereignty.
* Proverbs 16:25 says, “All a man’s ways seem right in his own eyes” and Proverbs 14:12 says, “There is a way that seems right to a man.” The ending of these two Proverbs tell us that God ‘weighs the motives of man because left to his own, mankind’s ways will lead to destruction.
* I submit that people outside the church have little problem in proclaiming their self-reliance and self-dependence while the people inside the church, in large measure, say they depend on Jesus but live like it all depends on them. Never forget verses 13-15 (read). Notice the three words, “God looks, observes. & gazes.” What does this mean? He sees, He Oversee (and understands the truth), and He (with narrow eyes) notices. He created us.
3. The State of the Church – The fact that this Nation began as a Nation who was “Under God” is a historical fact! But it was not a nation under God because National Monuments and Founding Fathers say so, the National Monuments and Fathers say so because the fabric of our freedom was woven by people who were willing to give their earthly lives that this country could be free. Words like “endowed they their creator” and “Whereas we all came into these parts of America with one and the same end and aim, namely, to advance the Kingdom of our Lord Jesus Christ and to enjoy the liberties of the Gospel in purity with peace; and whereas in our settling (by a wise providence of God)” are at the very core of our nation’s history. So what happened? I submit that the church became more interested in being like the culture as opposed to changing the culture. Candidly, sometimes the words we need to hear are not words we want to hear. Here are 3 thought for us;
a. The things we’ve forgotten (V18a) – It seems to this preacher that the light of the church has gone dim or out in many places with the culprit being right here. We have forgotten that He’s watching. Why do I feel this way? When dad was watching me (as a little boy) I tailored my actions.
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* If God was physically in this building this morning, would we be as passive as we are this morning? Would we leave the service with unconfessed sin still present in our lives? (Knowing His eyes of fire see through us). The only obvious conclusion is that we have forgotten or even dismissed the idea that God sees us and knows us.
b. The trust we’ve feign – (For those who don’t know, ‘feign’ is another word for ‘fake, put on, pretend, and even ‘act as if’). While I understand this is offensive, let us read verse 18b and consider the implications. Inside the ‘beltway’ of the church, we ‘say’ we depend on His love while at the same time, we mistreat fellow believers and especially those outside the church. We ‘say’ we “LOVE GOD”, but do we truly “LIVE LIKE WE LOVE GOD.” Can people see it in our action, sense in our attitude, & hear it in our words? The Great Commandment comes from the lips of Jesus saying, “Love the Lord God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength and (without taking a breath) love your neighbor as yourself.” In 1 John, the disciple tells us that “Whoever keeps God’s word, in Him the Love is God is perfected, completed, doing its work.” Without reservation, I submit that for many years this country looked to the church for spiritual answers which are found in ‘depending on the Love of God.’ Sadly, in many instance, they found us lacking, so now they have taken their quest elsewhere. So our nation is floundering with it roots.
c. The truth we’ve forsaken – When I read verse 19 it stings deeply in my soul what the ‘gospel’ and the ‘Church’ has seemingly been reduced to and the impact on the culture. The real New Testament church exists for the reason of showing God as a deliverer from death and a giver of life. The great thing is that He gives life in the middle of a famine! A famine is where everything is dying and nothing is bearing fruit. It is at this time, that God does His greatest work. It is still his way, today. Yet, in most corners, we spend more time talking about the style of music than the scope of our mission, our comfort rather than the cross, the desires of our heart rather than the design of His heart. D. L. Moody said, “The world has yet to see what God can do with & for & through & in & by the man who is fully & wholly consecrated to Him.” Our nation is waiting to see what God’s power in His church & it will only happen when we see;
4. The Sin of the “Christian” – Let’s read verses 20-22. Do we wait on God? Do we truly depend on God? Do we rejoice in God? Do we trust His name? Do we honestly put our hope in Him? Most of us will say “Oh yeah.” And yet, were we to examine our last 7 days, very little of what we said or have done would display our focus on HIM. We are good ‘ole boys and girls who are, in most cases, morally good, but to put God at the center of our day is a foreign concept. Follow this progression; it is this sin in the lives of believers that brings about the state of the church which breeds the situation of our culture and has overcome the start of our county.
