Jonathan Newlon
Uniontown Church of Christ
4 November 2020
Psalm 2: Our Nations vs Our God
Introduction
The following story is taken directly from the U.S. Treasury website. The motto IN GOD WE TRUST was placed on United States coins largely because of the increased religious sentiment existing during the Civil War. Secretary of the Treasury Salmon P. Chase received many appeals from devout persons throughout the country, urging that the United States recognize the Deity on United States coins. From Treasury Department records, it appears that the first such appeal came in a letter dated November 13, 1861. It was written to Secretary Chase by Rev. M. R. Watkinson, Minister of the Gospel from Ridleyville, Pennsylvania, and read:
Dear Sir: You are about to submit your annual report to the Congress respecting the affairs of the national finances.
One fact touching our currency has hitherto been seriously overlooked. I mean the recognition of the Almighty God in some form on our coins.
You are probably a Christian. What if our Republic were not shattered beyond reconstruction? Would not the antiquaries of succeeding centuries rightly reason from our past that we were a heathen nation? What I propose is that instead of the goddess of liberty we shall have next inside the 13 stars a ring inscribed with the word PERPETUAL UNION; within the ring the all seeing eye, crowned with a halo; beneath this eye the American flag, bearing in its field stars equal to the number of the States united; in the folds of the bars the words GOD, LIBERTY, LAW.
This would make a beautiful coin, to which no possible citizen could object. This would relieve us from the ignominy of heathenism. This would place us openly under the Divine protection we have personally claimed. From my hearth I have felt our national shame in disowning God as not the least of our present national disasters.
To you first I address a subject that must be agitated.
As a result, Secretary Chase instructed James Pollock, Director of the Mint at Philadelphia, to prepare a motto, in a letter dated November 20, 1861:
Dear Sir: No nation can be strong except in the strength of God, or safe except in His defense. The trust of our people in God should be declared on our national coins.
You will cause a device to be prepared without unnecessary delay with a motto expressing in the fewest and tersest words possible this national recognition.
The Motto was Chosen, “In God We Trust.”
Let’s now read Psalm 2 to see what kind of state our world and even our nation now finds itself in.
(Read Psalm 2)
I. The Nations Rage Against the Lord
a. World Demographics (the world is largely against God)
I want to start by taking a look at the demographics of the world population in terms of religion. The most popular religion in the world is, in fact, Christianity. Christianity is, of course, being used as a blanket term here including all denominations and sects of it. As of 2020, 31.1% of the world identifies as being Christian. Half of the Christians in the world are Catholic. The other half is divided amongst Protestants, Orthodox, and “other.” As we can see, even in the “Christian” world, there is real concern about how many are actually serving the Lord and living by what the Bible says.
Let’s take a look at the 68.9% of the world that isn’t Christian. Of that group, the largest is of the Muslim religion. 36% of non-Christians identify as Muslim. It is very concerning as the Muslim religion is vehemently against the One True God that we serve. They call us infidels and say that we must be put to death. In fact, one of the calls of the Koran is that the Muslims should put to death any who will not show faith in Muhammad or proclaim that Allah is god. Another 23% of the non-Christian group identifies as Atheist or Agnostic. They either believe that there is no God or they just believe in some sort of Cosmic power without a personage. These people, like the Muslims, tend to be vehement enemies of Christianity. We constantly see people like noted Atheist Karl Sagan calling Christians “fools” or “idiots.” Many people surely work against the Lord today, but we know that no matter what, God is in control.
b. God’s own Nation turned on Him.
The world being against God is nothing new. In fact, we constantly see how God’s own nation constantly turned on Him throughout the Old Testament. Let’s just look at the book of Exodus to see how God’s own nation of Israel waivered on their faith in Him. This starts in Exodus 14. Moses and Israel had just fled Egypt and were not standing on the banks of the Red Sea. They looked back and saw the armies of Egypt pursuing them. They lost their faith in what God could do and they asked Moses starting in verse 11, “Is it because there are no graves in Egypt that you have taken us away to die in the wilderness? What have you done to us in bringing us out of Egypt? Is this what we said to you in Egypt: ‘Leave us alone that we may serve the Egyptians’? For it would have been better for us to serve the Egyptians than to die in the wilderness.”
Next let’s look at Exodus 32. Moses was now on the top of Mount Sinai talking with the Lord. God was revealing his law to Moses and Moses would then take it down to the people to serve the Lord in the proper way. However, Israel grew impatient and they once again turned against the Lord. They thought that Moses was taking too long. I don’t know whether they thought that Moses had died on the mountain or that God had neglected them, but the fact is that grew impatient when they should have been waiting on the Lord. Not only did they grow impatient, but they turned away from God altogether.
Starting in verse 1, Moses writes, “When the people saw that Moses was delayed to come down from the mountain, the people gathered themselves together to Aaron and said to him, ‘Up, make us gods who shall go before us. As for this Moses, the man who brought us up out of the land of Egypt, we do not know what has become of him.” The people then brought their golden items to Aaron and he made them into a golden calf for Egypt to worship as it’s god. Even after God miraculously parted the sea for them to cross over on dry ground and used the same sea to destroy the pursuing Egyptians, they still turned away from Him. Apparently, miracles such as that and manna from heaven weren’t enough to impress Israel to keep serving the Lord.
This pattern of unbelief would plague Israel throughout its entire existence. They would threaten to kill Moses more than once. They would question the Lord over and over again. Even when coming to the Promised Land, they didn’t think they could take it because they didn’t have enough faith in the Lord to think He would help them defeat the people in the Land. This pattern would follow them throughout the Old Testament and even into the New Testament when they put to death the very messiah they sought to save them. The nation that was supposed to love and serve the God that chose them would turn away from Him consistently.
c. America
We see that the world is largely against the Lord. We see that even in the past, God’s own nation kept turning on Him. This begs the question, what about us here in America? Our nation was founded as a Christian nation. It would be foolish not to acknowledge that America was founded on the principles of Christianity. The Constitution and the Bill of Rights were written mostly based on Christian principles. Our founding fathers were men of great faith in the Lord. There is a reason that our money says, “In God We Trust.”
In recent years, however, we see ourselves falling into the very same pattern that Israel fell into. You simply have to turn on the television to see what kinds of things our country glorifies today. I turned on the television the other evening after I got home from work just to see what was on. On one channel, I saw a lesbian couple trying to raise a kid on a sitcom. On the next channel, there was a boyfriend and girlfriend in bed together. On the third channel was a music video of a rapper that was so filled with bleeps that you couldn’t even tell what the guy was saying.
The treatment of Christians in the country is getting worse, not better. We are called intolerant because we support the Biblical view that marriage is between one man and one woman. We are called bigots because we choose life for our young children rather than wanting to kill them in abortions. We are called hateful because we don’t support pre-marital sex or homosexuality. Let’s take a look at 2 Timothy 3:1-9 and see where we find ourselves as a nation.
Read 2 Timothy 3:1-9
II. God’s is Still Greater
a. God knows that He is greater even if we don’t believe it.
Look at verse 4 in our Psalms passage. It says, “He who sits in the Heavens laughs; the Lord holds them in derision.” God knows we are being foolish when we turn away from Him. We have before us an eternal God who created the heavens and earth just by simply speaking it into existence. We have before us the creator and sustainer of all things. What do we do as a nation? We turn away from Him because we think we know better. It doesn’t make a lick of sense.
I am reminded of God’s answer to Job when Job questions Him. Job had gone through the ringer. His friends had forsaken him, his family was dead, and he had lost everything he had. Now he was questioning the Lord on why this was happening to Him. God knew his purpose was greater and taught Job a lesson by putting him in his place. Take a look at Job 38. Let’s read the first 11 verses together.
(Read Job 38:1-11)
God really brings home the point to Job that when compared to God, we are nothing. He loves us and wants the best for us, but when we compare ourselves to God and think we are better, we are nothing but fools. We have no power without God. We have no heaven or earth without God. We have no life without God. When we turn away from God, we turn away from the very one on whom our very existence hinges.
III. A Call back to the Lord.
In the last 3 verses, God shows His love and mercy for us. What is he saying here? He is calling us back to Him. God doesn’t want to put forth His Wrath against us. He doesn’t want us to be destroyed. He doesn’t want us to burn in Hell. He simply wants us to obey and be with Him.
Romans 8:28 says, “and we know that in all things, God works for the good of those who love Him, who have been called according to His purpose.” God works for our good. He always has our best interests at heart. That is why He calls us back to Him. And when we do run back to God, He will run to us with open arms. Just look at the father’s reaction to his son returning home in the parable of the Prodigal Son in Luke 15.
The young man had left his home and squandered his inheritance. When he finally came to his senses, he returned home expecting to be treated as a servant rather than a son but look at what the father did. He RAN to him! This is a big deal! It was considered an embarrassment for a Jewish man to run because of the clothes they wore. If they ran, they ran the risk of exposing themselves. But this father didn’t care. He simply wanted his son back and to embrace him. He ran to Him and restored him.
God wants the same for us. As individuals and as a nation, God is calling us back to Him. He wants nothing more than for us to come back to Him. That is why he calls us. That is why He works for our good. When we come back to God, we won’t be treated just as servants. No, God will do just as the father in that parable did for his son. He will restore us. He will love us. He will run with open arms to meet us. He will, once again, call us his Sons.
Conclusion
In closing, we have a choice to make. We have a choice to make both as individuals and as a nation. As individuals, we must always stay with God. Do not turn away from Him as the rest of the nation does. Let’s work in our community and with our neighbors to start turning this nation back to Christ!
