Blessed Is The Nation Whose God Is The LORD!
Psalm
33:1-22
On
the 250th anniversary of our nation's independence, we have much to thank God
for. Through His divine providence, we live in one of the greatest countries on
Earth, where wealth is abundant. Clearly, the USA remains a top destination for
those fleeing persecution of all kinds and seeking economic opportunity and a
better life. My first trip to the USA was in 1990, to Hawaii, to attend a
leadership training school with YWAM, where I was tempted to stay back in the
country. God had other plans, so He took me back to India to continue to serve
Him there.
After
fifteen years, the Lord led me back this time with my family of five to pursue
a M.Div. at Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary in 2005. Since then, I have
served as a pastor, and our entire family became naturalized citizens. Now, we
call the USA our home! Over the past 20 years living here, I have seen
firsthand both the good and the bad sides of this country.
While
I am grateful for many blessings we enjoy as children of God and as a pastor, I
am also deeply concerned about the numerous challenges our nation faces. In a
country that claims to be founded on Judeo-Christian principles and is full of
Bibles, many Christians are unaware of their own scriptures. Here are some
startling statistics:
-Half of
all Christian adults can name the four Gospels.
-Many
Christians cannot identify more than two or three of the twelve disciples.
-Most Christians believe the Bible teaches,
"God helps those who
help themselves."
-At least 12 percent of adults believe that
Joan of Arc might be Noah's wife.
-Another survey of graduating high school
seniors revealed that over 50 percent thought that Sodom and Gomorrah were
husband and wife.
-Many people have pointed out that Billy
Graham preached the Sermon on the Mount. "The larger scandal is biblical
ignorance among Christians. Choose whichever statistic or survey you like; the
general pattern is the same among professing Christians. America's Christians
know less and less about the Bible. It shows."[1]
How is it that in a country that claims to be the greatest country on Earth,
many people do not know the true God? And those who seem to know the God of the
Bible are ignorant of the Bible that helps us understand who God really is and
His purposes for humanity? We will explore Psalm 33 to understand what makes
and keeps a nation blessed, and what the biblical blessings truly mean. I title
this message:
Blessed Is The Nation Whose God is the LORD! Psalm
33:1-22. Let's begin!
I. Celebrating God's Goodness. (Psalm 33:1-5)
When we read the Psalms, we do so without
music, which can cause us to forget that many of them were originally songs of
praise and worship. Here, the Psalmist encourages us to sing joyfully to the
LORD, give praise to the LORD, play skillfully with stringed instruments, sing
a new song to God, and shout for joy. Remember, when we sing songs of praise,
who are we singing for? It is not for the worship leader, pastor, or even for
each other, but for God.
As God's children, we are called to praise
Him. Praise involves declaring God's goodness, faithfulness, love, mercy,
grace, provision, protection, and compassion. When we praise Him, it opens our
hearts to hope in Him and trust Him. Reflect on the past twenty-four hours.
When did you feel thankful? Where have you seen God's kindness? How have you
experienced His love and Justice? We have just celebrated the 250th anniversary
of our nation's founding. What have we truly celebrated? Was it our own
ingenuity, achievements, and successes, or the extraordinary goodness and the
bountiful blessings of the LORD?
II. Celebrating God's Greatness: Psalm 33:6-11
Singing
praises to God involves celebrating His Greatness. The Psalmist recounts how
God created the heavens, the starry hosts, the Earth, and the seas, which were
formed by His Word and are being sustained by it. Remember the creation story in
Genesis, there were seven times God said, "Let there be," and things
came into existence out of nothing and nowhere.
That emphasizes God's greatness, and we sing
praises to Him for His mighty power. The Psalmist also calls on the whole Earth
to fear Him and for people to revere our God by highlighting His unmatched
greatness. God, through His power, defeats the plans of the nations (Ancient
Israel's enemies) and thwarts people's evil schemes. What He did to Israel's
enemies then, He is capable of doing to any nation that opposes God's eternal
plans and purposes.
III. Blessed Is The Nation Whose God Is The
LORD!
Psalm
33:12 says, "Blessed is the nation whose God is the LORD, the people he
chose for his inheritance." The Psalmist is referring to Israel as God's
chosen people. Through them, God would ultimately send the Messiah who saves
and blesses everyone.
God
promised to provide, bless, and protect the nation of Israel as long as they
obeyed His precepts and followed Him, not bowing before any other false gods.
But we know from numerous OT passages that the Israelites turned away from Him.
Prophet Isaiah painfully describes how God's chosen people rebelled against
Him.
Isaiah 1:2-4, Hear me, you heavens!
Listen, Earth! For the Lord has spoken: "I reared
children and brought them up, but they have rebelled against me.
The ox knows its master, the donkey its owner's manger, but Israel
does not know, my people do not understand." Woe to the sinful nation, a
people whose guilt is great, a brood of evildoers, children given to
corruption! They have forsaken the Lord; they have spurned the
Holy One of Israel and turned their backs on him.
Israel's
history demonstrates some of the consequences that can happen to a nation when
its people turn away from God. God fought for them as long as they honored Him
by destroying the temples of other gods and obeying His commandments. But when
they disobeyed and followed idols, God sent several prophets to warn and call
them back to Him. When they completely refused to listen to those warnings, God
punished them by allowing their enemies to invade, destroy their cities, and
take them as captives into their own land of Babylon.
Once
a great and powerful nation, it has now fallen and been disgraced by its
enemies. The blessings of obedience, dealings, and punishments for disobedience
are relevant to the nation of Israel. The main lesson we learn from this is
that sin leads to negative consequences.
Galatians
6:7, "Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows."
It is God's warning to individuals and nations that He will not be mocked. If
we obey His commandments and follow Him, we will be blessed; if we rebel, we
will face the consequences.
By
reading Psalm 33, we will learn three principles that apply to individuals and
nations to experience God's blessings. First, worship the living God and
do not bow our knees to any false gods. Isaiah 42:8 says, "I am
the LORD; that is my name! I will not yield my glory to another or my praise to
idols." Psalm 33 began with high praises and worship of the living God. So
long as we worship our God and do not bow down to idols, we will be blessed,
but if we turn away and worship idols or the creation, we will face God's
punishment.
Secondly, living a life of obedience to the
almighty God. Vs. 12 notes, "Blessed is the nation whose God is the LORD."
A nation, community, or people experience true
prosperity, peace, and spiritual well-being only when they acknowledge,
worship, and obey the one true God (Yahweh) as their ultimate authority. On the
US currency, it reads, "In God We Trust!
Who is God for you? Does he sadly remain only
in the Bible, in biblical literature, on paper currency, or in slogans? Or is
He the absolute sovereign God who calls for total surrender and obedience to
His commandments? If you only believe in God but never obey Him, you are no
different than the Pharisees who believed in God but never obeyed Him.
Thirdly, consistently demonstrating a life of
complete dependency on God. Psalm 33:13-14, From heaven the LORD looks
down and sees all humanity; from his dwelling place he watches all who live on Earth—he
who forms the hearts of all, who considers everything they do." During our
250th celebrations of our nation's founding, did you know who the
uninvited guest was? Yet He watched everything and even more that has taken
place?
He is God, the LORD! I wonder what He thinks
of what he has seen and continues to see in our nation. He is not impressed by
our wealth and military power, and in fact, He challenges our false hope and
security, saying, "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." Psalm 33:17-19 On the 250th anniversary of
the founding of our nation, let's remember as individuals and as a nation, we
can only be blessed and remain blessed by worshiping God and not following
idols, and living a life of obedience and dependency on our God, the LORD
almighty.
