Will God Bless America?

Psalm 33

King George III was the king of England in 1776.
King George received a letter from his British colonies in America that was entitled "
The Declaration of Independence."
Historians have read his personal diary written on July 4, 1776, and found this:
"Nothing happened today."

He didn't know that the destiny of western civilization had changed forever that that day.
He did not realize that our forefathers had just launched a bold and daring battle in their quest for liberty.
He had no clue that the most powerful nation in the history of the world had just been born.
As far as he was concerned -- nothing had happened.

Over two hundred years ago, the United States was born as a nation.
Because of our nation's strong belief in God, the nation rapidly grew in population and power.
It is the world's only superpower.
God has blessed the U.S.A.

How much longer will He continue to bless us?

On June 25, 1998, the National Commission on Civic Renewal, led by Bill Bennett and Sam Nunn,
released a report that said our population was infected with a corrosive cynicism that has crippled our civic spirit.
It states that the United States leads the nations of the world in murders, violent crime, imprisonment,
divorce, abortion, sexually transmitted diseases, teen suicide, cocaine consumption
and pornography production.
That is shocking!
That is horrible!

How much longer will God tolerate our nation's wickedness?

Psalm 33 tells how God dealt with the nation of Israel.
And it applies to us today.
This psalm applies to all nations past and present.
This psalm describes two kinds of nations.
It describes the nation that God blesses and the kind of nation that God breaks.
It tells us about the type of nation God delivers and the type of nation God destroys.

Verse 11 says, "But the plans of the Lord stand firm forever,
the purposes of his heart through all generations."

The main theme of this psalm is that God is sovereign.
God is the supreme ruler of the universe.
He does what He wants to do and when He wants.
The purposes of God will not be hindered.
His plans will never be defeated.
History is His story.
All that God plans will come to pass.

God absolute authority extends to individuals and to nations.
This is seen in verse 10:
"The Lord foils the plans of the nations; he thwarts the purposes of the peoples."
Anytime a nation tries to hinder God's plan, it will lose.
Anytime a nation makes plans without calling upon God they will suffer His judgment.
When a nation chooses to break the laws of God, that nation will be broken by God's laws.

God will bless the nation that fears Him.
Verse 12 says: "Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord, the people he chose
for his inheritance."
When any nation looks to God, and follows God's laws, that nation will be blessed by God.

Our founding fathers acknowledged God.
Our coins have "In God we trust" inscribed on them.
In the Pledge of Allegiance we state that we are "One nation, under God."

Judge William O. Douglas, a Supreme Court Justice, was not a believer in Christ.
But before he died in 1952, Justice Douglas said, "We are a religious nation.
Our institutions presuppose a Supreme Being."

Over a hundred years ago De Tocqueville of France said:
"I sought for the greatness of America in her harbors and rivers and fertile fields,
and her mines and commerce.
It was not there.
Not until I went into the churches and heard her pulpits flame with righteousness did I understand
the greatness of her power.
America is great because she is good; and if America ever ceases to be good,
America will cease to be great."

How true! How true!
"Righteousness exalts a nation, but sin is a disgrace to any people."
(Proverbs 14:34)

America is no longer good!
Sin is rampant.
Financial corruption is in the news almost every day.
Violence rules our streets.
Drug and alcohol abuse has increased to dangerous levels .
The entertainment industry produces pornography and violence that is corrupting our world.
1.5 million unborn infants are murdered in our nation each year.
Homosexuality is glorified as an acceptable lifestyle.
Satanic cults and witchcraft and spiritism are attracting millions.

Some states are sanctioning the medical killing of people who are very sick or very old.
Sexual immorality is considered normal and healthy.
Church attendance is declining.
We as a nation should be horrified by the sinfulness of our nation.
America is not as "good" as it has been.

When will God's blessing cease?
Is God already withholding His blessings?

We must turn back to God.
We must renew our love and our worship of the God of creation.
We must acknowledge God as our God.
We must praise God for all His blessings.

He is in control of the earth and all that is on the earth. Verses 4-9:
"For the word of the Lord is right and true; he is faithful in all he does.
The Lord loves righteousness and justice; the earth is full of his unfailing love.
By the word of the Lord were the heavens made, their starry host by the breath of his mouth.
He gathers the waters of the sea into jars; he puts the deep into storehouses.
Let all the earth fear the Lord; let all the people of the world revere him.
For he spoke, and it came to be; he commanded, and it stood firm."

God is so powerful!
He spoke worlds into being.
All of the stars and planets are the result of His speaking them into existence.
God created all that is out of nothing.
When you gaze into the night sky, and see billions of galaxies, each full of billions of stars,
we should marvel at the creative power of God and we should submit to Him in reverential fear.

Someone has said, "As we stand at the beach and realize that these vast oceans
cover 3/4 of the surface of the earth, we should remember that God is so big,
He could drain all that water into a few pitchers and store it on the shelf.
A blessed nation is one that bases its existence and survival on the fact that God is the creator
of the universe."

People who believe in a Creator are people who know that they will be held accountable
for their actions by a God who is watching their life.
Blessed is that nation that fears this all-powerful, all-knowing God as their Lord,
for that nation will have a much greater tendency to do what God says is right.

The God who sovereignly controlled the creation of our planet in the past
is the same God who is still sovereignly in control of all the present events on planet Earth.
The psalmist draws our attention to that fact in verses 13 through 19:
"From heaven the Lord looks down and sees all mankind; from his dwelling place
he watches all who live on earth -- he who forms the hearts of all, who considers everything they do.
No king is saved by the size of his army; no warrior escapes by his great strength.
A horse is a vain hope for deliverance; despite all its great strength it cannot save.
But the eyes of the Lord are on those who fear him, on those whose hope is in his unfailing love,
to deliver them from death and keep them alive in famine."

Verses 16-17 point to the foolishness of any nation to rely exclusively on its military superiority for its protection.
History proves that it is ridiculous to assume that a big army is all you need to keep you safe.
We know that from history.
In Daniel 5, the invincible Babylonian Empire was destroyed overnight by Cyrus the Mede.

Remember ancient China.
The Chinese Emperors spent hundreds of years building the Great Wall of China to keep
their northern enemies from invading their country.
As long as the gates of that wall were closed, no enemy could possibly get through.
But China's enemies did get through by bribing a gatekeeper.

America is facing dangerous threats to its survival.
Today's germ warfare agents could conceivably destroy our population with its lethal VX nerve gas,
recently found in Iraqi missiles.
One drop of VX on the skin instantly causes victims to be wracked by seizures,
twitching to death within five minutes.
It is believed that Iraq has stockpiled as much as 200 tons of VX, enough to kill every person on earth.
We have already seen how vulnerable we are to attack by the destructive acts of September 11, 2001.

I certainly don't know what will happen, and I know that we had better depend totally on the Lord.
Verse 18 says, "the eyes of the Lord are on those who fear him, on those whose hope
is in his unfailing love."

The Lord God of the universe is the only One who will never let us down.
The only way we can ever truly find peace of mind in this wicked world is to rest in His mighty arms.
The only way to experience this rest is to remember that He is still on the throne.
He can intervene in history.

That is why you and I should look to God as the psalmist states in verses 20-22:
"We wait in hope for the Lord; he is our help and our shield.
In him our hearts rejoice, for we trust in his holy name.
May your unfailing love rest upon us, O Lord, even as we put our hope in you."

No matter what you are going through, place your hope completely in the Lord.
Trust in His plans for you.
You may be going through a terribly difficult time in your personal life.
Your closest relationships may be on the ragged edge.
Your job and income may be at risk.
You may have severe doubts about what your future holds.
Trust in God -- He will see you through.

When you trust in the Lord, you have nothing to fear.
You are more safe and secure than you could be anywhere else in the world.

This psalm begins with worship, and it ends with waiting.
Both our worship and our waiting are based on the truth that God is sovereign.
He is in full control of the past, the present, and the future.
Whatever He plans will come to pass.

At the center of this psalm we see that the sovereignty of God includes all nations.
The purposes of God cannot be thwarted, God will break the nation that opposes Him,
and God will bless the nation that fears Him.
To fear Him is to realize that He is watching everything we do.
When we fear Him, we will trust Him and obey Him.
This is true for individuals, and it is true for nations.

God will bless America if America remains good.
As citizens of a nation that was once better and more blessed than it is today,
let's commit ourselves to fear and honor Him.
Let's remain alert to the moral issues that are chipping away at the foundation of our republic.
Let us unashamedly worship our sovereign God.
Let us live such pure lives so that God will continue to bless America.
Let us place all our hope in God.

Then He will be our help and our shield, and He will bless us and our nation.
"Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord."

Sermon by Dr. Harold L. White