Blessed Is The Nation!

Psalms 33:12, 16- 22:

"Blessed is the nation whose God is Jehovah the Lord and the people
whom He hath chosen for His own inheritance."

"There is no king saved by the multitude of a host.
A mighty man is not delivered by much strength.
A horse is a vain thing for safety neither shall he deliver anybody by his great strength.

Behold, the eye of the Lord is upon them that fear Him.
Upon them that hope in His mercy to deliver their soul from death and keep them alive in famine.
Our soul waiteth for the Lord. He is our help and our shield.
For our heart shall rejoice in Him because we trusted in His holy name.
Let thy mercy, O Lord, be upon us according as we hope in Thee.

"Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord."

The might and the strength of America is a miracle in the story of humanity
and in the civilizations of mankind.
There has never been an empire, much less a nation, who ever approached the might
and the strength of America.

Nebuchadnezzar's golden Babylonian Empire would be a drop in the bucket compared
to the might and the strength of America.
The material blessings of God upon our nation is fantastic.
Americans have so much -- houses, telephones, cell phones, computers, cars, TVs, stereos,
microwaves, refrigerators, and gadget upon gadget.
You name it -- we have it.

There is a reason that we have had these marvelous, material blessings.
The reason can be found in the history of our nation.
This nation was born with a respect and reverence of Almighty God.

If size and resources would make a nation great, Russian Siberian would be the greatest nation in the earth.
If a massive population would make a nation great, China would be the greatest nation in the earth.

American greatness is not found in its resources or in its vast population.
When you study the history of our country and its spiritual foundations, you will find
a deep reverence for God.

In the Valley Forge National Park in Pennsylvania is a statue of George Washington,
as general of the Revolutionary Army, kneeling in prayer.
This pictured the devotion of our first President to God.
Our spiritual foundations are in our belief of the worth of an individual soul.
We believe that man is made in the image of Almighty God.

Pilgrims came to America and with others carved out of a wilderness this great nation.
And that puritan ethic is each one of us has the right to strive, to work, to achieve, to excel.
The last four letters in American is: "I can."

We are decaying in moral righteousness.
I can remember when people did not ever lock their doors, and you could go to your church
at any time through an unlocked door.
Not any more!
Not only are the doors of our churches locked at night, they are locked during the day
to keep the secretaries and day care workers safe.

Many of our churches have had to install alarm systems to protect their church property.
I was called several times in the middle of the night by the police to tell me that someone
had broken into our church.
If you visit some of our churches in the day-time, you must ring a bell and identify yourself to gain entrance.
That is so sad!
There is no respect for the house of God.

Many home owners would not buy a home without an alarm system.
And many are moving into gated communities hoping to live without fear.
Some in private neighborhoods have iron bars on their doors and windows.
There is a decay of moral righteousness in America.
And there is a decay in the cultural and spiritual life in our nation.
There is a decay in our educational institutions.

I can remember when pastors would speak in chapel in our public schools.
Oh, Yes! Our public schools had chapel, and I had the privilege to speak in several.
Not any more!

Go to your library, and see if you can find an old Maguffy Reader.
That reader was standard in our schools many years ago, when the public school system
was founded in America.
Ninety-five percent of the Maguffy Reader was from the Bible and the other five percent
was moral stories.
Today the textbooks of the public school system teach evolution, atheism, materialism, and humanism.

The decay of America should cause great sorrow in our hearts.
Our nation has forgotten what made it great.
In our generation we have witnessed the public burning of the American flag,
and the disrespect of our laws.

I was born during the great Depression which lasted from 1929 to 1939.
The spiritual character of my family and of our country enabled my family and our country
not only to survive but thrive.
Because of strong family values and a persistent work ethic our country became a better nation.

Can you imagine what would if America faced such a devasting depression?
I believe that our country would be torn apart by lootings and by riots.
I believe that we would see mobs roaming up and down our main streets breaking out windows
and looting our stores.
I am not sure that we have the moral character and strength today to face another great depression.

Welfare has become a way of life in America.
We have a fourth generation living off of the the government.
We have lost the puritan work ethic.
What we need is a return to the faith of our fathers.
We need a rebirth of the religious faith that made this nation great.

"And the Lord God whispered and said to me:
These things shall be.
These things shall be.

No help shall come from the starlet skies
Until My people rise.
Until My people rise, My arm's weak.
I cannot speak until My people speak.

When men are dumb, My voice is dumb.
I cannot come until My people come.
From over flaming earth and sea,
the cry of My people must come to Me.

Not till their spirit break the curse,
May I claim My own in the universe.
But if My people rise, if My people rise,
I will answer them from the swarming skies. "
-- Author Unknown

A return to God and a rebirth of our national faith is desperately needed today.
As Christians we should re-commit ourselves to God.

Spurgeon, the great English preacher, was converted on a snowy day,
in a primitive Methodist Chapel in Colchester, England.
The weather was bad and the preacher wasn't even there.

A layman spoke to a handful of people, one of whom was Charles Haydon Spurgeon.
The layman's text was from Isaiah 45:22: "Look unto Me and be ye saved all the ends of the earth
for I am God and there is none else."
Spurgeon looked and lived that day.

And in that same city in their city hall are the names of the martyrs who had been burned
at the stake because of their faith and their commitment to Christ.
One of them was a man named, John Noyes.
He exclaimed as he was being burned: "I bless God that He hath thought me worthy
of this high honor that I should die for Thee."
That was a personal commitment!

"Our fathers chained in prisons dark
Were still in heart and conscious free.
How sweet would be their children's faith
If we like them could die for Thee.

Faith of our fathers, holy faith,
We will be true to Thee till death.
And in no other way will the ills
of our country ever be healed."

Dear God our hope is in Thee!
"Blessed is the nation whose God is Jehovah the Lord."

Sermon by Dr. Harold L. White