America is the dreamland of the world. It is such a dreamland that one of the biggest problems we have as a nation is stopping all the illegal immigrants.
As we celebrate America’s birthday, every American should be grateful and feel blessed that we can call ourselves Americans.
At this special time in our history as a nation, our nation’s birthday, let us look at the GOOD and BAD that we face as a nation.
I. AMERICA’S PREVIOUS HISTORY
When we think of this great country that God has given us, we can not help but think about what the Psalmist said.
Look at Psalm 44:1-3, he said, “We have heard with our ears, O God, our fathers have told us, what work thou didst in their days, in the times of old. How thou didst drive out the heathen with thy hand, and plantedst them; how thou didst afflict the people, and cast them out. For they got not the land in possession by their own sword, neither did their own arm save them: but thy right hand, and thine arm, and the light of thy countenance, because thou hadst a favour unto them.”
Notice, in these three verses, the psalmist tells us over and over again what God did. He said, “Our fathers have told us, what work thou didst in their days, in the times of old.”
In other words, he said, “God, we were not around:
• When you sent the plagues to deliver your people from the bondage of Pharaoh
• When you led your people by cloud by day
• When you led your people by a pillar of fire by night
• When you opened the red sea for your people to walk across on dry ground
• When you fed your people with manna from heaven
• When you gave your people victory after victory over their enemies”
He said, “We were not around, but ‘Our fathers have told us, what work thou didst in their days, in the times of old.’”
In other words, David was saying, “Lord, the nation of Israel has became the greatest nation that ever existed on the face of the earth, not because of anything we have done, but because YOU MADE IT A GREAT NATION!”
Without a doubt, when you compare the nation of Israel to all the nations that ever existed, this nation stands out head and shoulders above all the rest. Oh how God has blessed this nation! No other nation in the world can make the claims this great nation can make about how God miraculously took care of them.
But in spite of all their claims, the only reason they can boast at all, is because God has so richly blessed them as a nation.
But what about America? Let’s look at-
A. THE FACT OF AMERICA’S GREAT HISTORY
Today, America is the superpower of the world. But the only reason we can boast that claim, is because GOD HAS BLESSED THIS NATION.
• He has given us godly leaders in the past. To see that, all you have to do is study the history of this great nation, and God is written all over the history pages
• He has given us some of the smartest men and women to lead this nation.
(1) When it comes to technology, we lead all other nations
(2) When it comes to medicine, people from all over the world come to America, to our doctors and hospitals
(3) When it comes to our universities, people from all over the world attend our universities
(4) When it comes to beauty, people from all over the world come to see this lovely land in which we live
• He has given us some of the richest land to raise our crops
• He has given us some of the best weather for our crops to flourish
• He has blessed us with rain, time and time again, to water our crops
And while we are popping our fireworks and throwing our parties, we must not forget to look up to God who has blessed us with these blessings, and say, “We have all these things because of YOU!”
If it were not for the blessings of God on this nation, we could be a chapter in the history books, like other nations, as a nation that one time existed but no longer exists.
God has given us victory after victory over our enemies.
• THE REVOLUTIONARY WAR - we seemingly had no chance but God wrought a great victory
• THE FRENCH WAR - we seemingly had no chance, but God wrought a great victory
• WORLD WAR I - God gave us a great victory
• WORLD WAR II - God gave us a great victory
We have looked at THE FACT OF AMERICA’S GREAT HISTORY, but let us also look at-
B. THE FORCE OF AMERICA’S GREAT HISTORY
Look at verses 4-7, we read, “Thou art my King, O God: command deliverances for Jacob. Through thee will we push down our enemies: through thy name will we tread them under that rise up against us. For I will not trust in my bow, neither shall my sword save me. But thou hast saved us from our enemies, and hast put them to shame that hated us.”
In these four verses, David tells us over and over again what God had done to make them a great nation.
• Verse 4 - he gives God the credit for their deliverance
• Verse 5 - “Through thee will we push down our enemies.”
• Verse 6 - he said he was not trusting in their weapons but in the God he served
• Verse 7 - it is God that has given them the victory and put their enemies to shame
Because God had done all these things for them as a nation, he said in verse 8, “In God we boast all the day long, and praise thy name for ever. Selah.”
Today, because God has so richly blessed us, we should boast of the God who has blessed us. It should disturb us greatly today that we talk about being a superpower while we do not talk about God being the SUPERPOWER!
There is not a nation in this world today that can match America in her military strength. BUT WE MUST NOT FORGET THAT WE ARE STRONG BECAUSE GOD MADE US STRONG.
We once had godly leaders that believed in:
• Almighty God
• The Word of God
• The Church that Christ died for
• Christ who died for the sins of mankind
And because we had such leaders, God poured His blessings out on this nation in abundance!
Our godly forefathers crossed the ocean to find freedom to worship God
Illus: On the Mayflower, 41 men signed a document implementing the first government in America. They wrote in this document, “We whose names are underwritten, the loyal subjects of our dread sovereign Lord, King James, by the grace of God, of Great Britain, France, and Ireland, Defender of the Faith ... having undertaken for the glory of God, and the advancement of the Christian faith ... a voyage to plant the first colony in the northern parts of Virginia, do by these presents, solemnly and mutually in the presence of God, and one of another, covenant and combine ourselves together into a civil body politic.”
God’s name is written all over the history pages of America.
We recognize that the blessings of this great nation came from God, who blessed this great nation because of our godly forefathers. It should disturb us greatly that today we are filling the Congress, Senate and the White House in Washington, DC with men and women whose lives seem to indicate that God has no part in their lives.
The reason it should disturb us as a nation, is because if we recognize these blessings came because of godly leaders, how long can we have them without godly leaders?
God has highly exalted America! - Land of the free and home of the brave!
We have looked at AMERICA’S PREVIOUS HISTORY, but also let’s look at-
II. AMERICA’S PRESENT HELPLESSNESS
• When Israel faithfully served the Lord, God greatly blessed the nation
• When Israel rejected God, bad things happened to them
David talks about that, for example, he talks about-
A. THEIR SHAME
Look at verses 9-14, “But thou hast cast off, and put us to shame; and goest not forth with our armies. Thou makest us to turn back from the enemy: and they which hate us spoil for themselves. Thou hast given us like sheep appointed for meat; and hast scattered us among the heathen. Thou sellest thy people for nought, and dost not increase thy wealth by their price. Thou makest us a reproach to our neighbours, a scorn and a derision to them that are round about us. Thou makest us a byword among the heathen, a shaking of the head among the people.
David talks about how shameful it was that this great nation Israel, that God had so richly blessed, because of their disobedience became prisoners and slaves of their enemies.
WHAT A SHAME THAT MUST HAVE BEEN FOR THIS GREAT NATION!
Today America, like Israel, has suffered shame because of our disobedience to God’s Word.
• In the 60’s, look at the shame that was brought to this nation during the Viet Nam war. As a nation in the past, God had given us tremendous victories in all our wars, but in Viet Nam we lost the war and 50,000 brave men and women.
It was not only a shameful defeat, but when the brave men and women who fought the war came home, some of them were spit upon by the war protesters who had refused to fight. Never has our military been treated with such disrespect. IT WAS SHAMEFUL!
• In the 60’s, many of the young men who were called upon to fight for their country, fled to other countries until the war was over. IT WAS SHAMEFUL!
• During that same time of war, one of the movie actresses, Jane Fonda, showed such a lack of patriotism for her country that she went to the enemy side, and sat in a tank that was aimed in the direction of our men and women fighting for this country. It was such a shameful thing that it was in almost every magazine and newspaper around the world. IT WAS SHAMEFUL!
• During the 90’s, President Bill Clinton brought shame to the White House like it had never been shamed before. He placed this nation in shame around the world, and even today has a smirk on his face, and refuses to apologize. IT WAS SHAMEFUL!
• Today, it is a shame in this country that we now have to fill our public schools with policemen, because these institutions are filled with rebellion, drug addicts, drug peddlers and promiscuity. IT’S A SHAME!
Because of disobedience, ISRAEL and AMERICA HAVE SUFFERED SHAME. We have looked at THEIR SHAME and OUR SHAME, but also let’s look at-
B. THEIR SUFFERINGS
Look at verses 15-22, “My confusion is continually before me, and the shame of my face hath covered me, For the voice of him that reproacheth and blasphemeth; by reason of the enemy and avenger. All this is come upon us; yet have we not forgotten thee, neither have we dealt falsely in thy covenant. Our heart is not turned back, neither have our steps declined from thy way; Though thou hast sore broken us in the place of dragons, and covered us with the shadow of death. If we have forgotten the name of our God, or stretched out our hands to a strange god; Shall not God search this out? for he knoweth the secrets of the heart. Yea, for thy sake are we killed all the day long; we are counted as sheep for the slaughter.”
As we said already, when Israel obeyed God, God blessed them. But when Israel disobeyed God, they SUFFERED greatly because of their disobedience.
Illus: A good example of that is when they fought in Jericho, God knocked the walls down. But when they came to the next town, called Ai, it was such a small town that they only sent a few soldiers. But as they came up against this small town, they got their socks knocked off. Joshua was angry with God for the defeat, and he soon discovered that sin in the camp was the reason for the defeat.
Every time they would obey God, He would bless them. But when they disobeyed Him, He would let them SUFFER DEFEAT.
We in this nation today are SUFFERING DEFEAT. For example:
• We SUFFER from the corrupt judges that sit on the benches in our courts
• We SUFFER from the politicians that are continually taking our money from us through the tax system
• We SUFFER from the school boards that promote everything but education
Because of our disobedience we are a SUFFERING NATION! What has brought about this SHAME and SUFFERING?
One thing, our sins! Proverbs 14:34, we read, “Righteousness exalteth a nation: but sin is a reproach to any people.”
We have looked at AMERICA’S PREVIOUS HISTORY and AMERICA’S PRESENT HELPLESSNESS, but let’s look at-
III. AMERICA’S POWERFUL HOPE
Look at verses 23-26, we read, “Awake, why sleepest thou, O Lord? arise, cast us not off for ever. Wherefore hidest thou thy face, and forgettest our affliction and our oppression? For our soul is bowed down to the dust: our belly cleaveth unto the earth. Arise for our help, and redeem us for thy mercies' sake.”
Look at verse 23, we read, “Awake, why sleepest thou…”
A. WE MUST RETURN
Look at verse 23, he said, “O Lord? arise, cast us not off for ever.”
In other words, it has been a long time since we had the blessings of God. Lord forgive us for our sins, we need your blessings. It has been a long time since we have had God’s blessings.
Illus: I do not believe anyone who knows anything about this Bible, will say that we are traveling the right road today. No, we are going further and further from God’s Word. We need to stop, turn around and head back in the right direction if we want God to bless this nation again.
WE MUST RETURN, but also-
B. WE MUST REPENT
Look at verse 25, we read, “For our soul is bowed down to the dust: our belly cleaveth unto the earth.”
Acts 17:30, “And the times of this ignorance God winked at; but now COMMANDETH ALL MEN EVERY WHERE TO REPENT”
Repent = metanoeo - to think differently
We need to see sin through the eyes of God and we will see things differently.
Conclusion:
Will America continue to be the dreamland of the world? That depends on what we do with our sins.
• If we continue them, we will become like other great nations that have come and gone
• If we repent of them and turn back to God, God will restore His blessings on us as a nation
LET US PRAY FOR AMERICA!
I. AMERICA’S PREVIOUS HISTORY
II. AMERICA’S PRESENT HELPLESSNESS
III. AMERICA’S POWERFUL HOPE
