Sunday, February 26, 2012

Unfailing Love

Focus verses: Psalm 44

"Rise up and help us; redeem us because of your unfailing love."

The hand of the Lord reaches to His people because of His love, not because of anything we have or have not done. There is none pure enough to stand righteous in the face of God on his own merits.

We are a weak and sinful creation. Left to our own devices, we fall into sin and wantonness. We tend to follow the lust of the flesh rather than the love of God. We satisfy our immediate appetites regardless of the consequences. We behave as if there were no consequences.

This psalm should be our prayer for our nation today. Look at all the things we've done.

We've allowed prayer to be stripped from our schools.

We have gagged the word of God and removed symbols of our faith from public lands.

We've misconstrued our own Constitution and the amendments thereto, twisting them to read that not only can government not interfere with religion (which was the original intent), but religion can have no say in government (which was not true even when the constitution was written).

The Declaration of Independence refers to a Supreme Being three times. Look for these three phrases: "the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God" - "endowed by their Creator" - "the Supreme Judge of the world."

The foundation of our freedoms lies in our understanding of God and His moral laws. Having flouted those laws and turned our backs on the Author of those laws, we are now reaping the consequences of His disfavor.

Father, God,

Remember our beginnings. In Your unfailing love, draw our nation back to Yourself. Restore us to the values of our roots and cleanse us from our iniquities.
In Jesus' most precious name.
Amen.

2 comments:

Sally Lewis said...

My dear friend I must, respectfully, disagree with you on all but your first four paragraphs, by directing your attention to Mark 12:13 - 17 where our Savior said "Render unto Caesar that which is Caesar's and to God the things that are God's"... and to Matthew Henry's excellent commentary on these verses, especially the second sentence which is as true now as it was in the 1700's: "The enemies of Christ would be thought desirous to know their duty, when really they hoped that which soever side he took of the question, they might find occasion to accuse him. Nothing is more likely to insnare the followers of Christ, than bringing them to meddle with disputes about worldly politics. Jesus avoided the snare, by referring to the submission they had already made as a nation; and all that heard him, marvelled at the great wisdom of his answer. Many will praise the words of a sermon, who will not be commanded by the doctrines of it."

We are a secular nation not a theocratic one because our forefathers understood that we best protect each individual's right to worship as he believes by denying government the power to favor any.

Judith Robl said...

I love that you disagree. These are designed to make people think and question their values. Thank you for referring to Matthew Henry's commentary. He is a valuable resource for study.

Have a blessed Sunday.