Turn with me please to the one hundred and
forty-forth Psalm, as we speak today on the subject; "Happy is that
people whose God is the Lord." Reading the 144th Psalm, "Blessed
by the LORD my strength, which teacheth my hands to war, and my
fingers to fight. My goodness and my fortress, my high tower and my
deliverer, my shield, in whom I trust; who subdueth my people under
me. Lord, what is man that Thou takest knowledge of him, or the Son
of Man that Thou makest a count of him. Man is like vanity. His days
are as shadow that passeth away. Bow thy heavens O Lord and come
down. Touch the mountains and they shall smoke. Cast forth
lightening and scatter them. Shoot out thine arrows and destroy
them. Send Thine hand from above, rid me and deliver me out of great
waters; from the hand of strange children, whose mouth speaketh
vanity. In their right hand is the right hand of falsehood. I will
sing a new song unto thee, O God. Upon a psaltery and an instrument
of ten strings do I sing praises unto thee. It He that giveth
salvation unto kings; who delivereth David from the hurtful sword.
Rid me and delilver me from the hand of strange children whose mouth
speaketh vanity; in their right hand is the right hand of falsehood.
That our sons may be as plants grown up in their youth; that our
daughters may be as cornerstones, polished after the similitude of a
palace; that our garners may be full, affording all manor of store;
that our sheep may bring forth thousands and ten thousands in our
streets ; that our oxen may be strong to labor; that there be no
breaking in or going out; that there be no complaining in our
streets. Happy is that people that is in such a case. Yea, Happy
is that people whose God is the Lord."
Will you bow with me, please, for a moment of
prayer. Heavenly Father, we pray that as we think, today, upon our
nation and the great happiness that we've enjoyed so many ways, for
so many years. As we think, dear Lord, that there are many forces
like many winds, blowing across our land. Some of them are
destructive forces that would take away all the blessing of God from
this land. And yet, O God, there are other forces. There are the
people of God who stand; there are still the people of God who are
the light of the world and the salt of the earth. There are still
people of God whose prayers rise to Thy throne of grace. And O Lord,
we pray that Your people will continue to walk before Thee in such a
way that You'll be pleased to continue a hand of blessing instead of
a hand of judgment on this nation. We ask this in Jesus' name and
for His sake. Amen.
I would like to speak to you first of all this
morning about the greatness of America. I believe the United States
of America was founded on God. The Spanish were the first to come to
America. They came to America for gold, but God did not give America
to the Spanish.
The French were the next to come to America, and
they came to America for gain. But God did not give America to the
French. The English came. Their first excursion was also for gain,
but God did not give America to those who came for gain. The
Pilgrims came to America for God, and God gave America to the
Pilgrims.
When our Pilgrims came in that cold month of
December, 1620 , I believe it was, the little boat with which they
came ashore was overturned. They would not light a fire because it
was what was to them the Sabbath day . They would not violate their
convictions, as they understood them, of breaking the Sabbath day.
So they walked up and down, all night long, on the shoreline. They
could freeze to death but they could not violate their convictions.
They went aboard the Mayflower. They penned the Mayflower Compact,
which began with these words; "In the name of God, amen,. Having
undertaken, for the glory of God and the advancement of the
Christian faith, do by these present, solemnly and mutually in the
presence of God and one another, covenant and combine ourselves
together into a civil body politic." My friends, the Puritans came,
not only to establish a political government, but they came for the
glory of God and the advancement of the Christian faith. In 1636,
there had not been one government in history that guaranteed
religious liberty. But in that year of 1636, Roger Williams founded
the first Baptist church of Providence, Rhode Island. He penned for
the first time, a charter guaranteeing absolute religious liberty
and civil democracy.
The first regional constitution written in the
United States of America was the constitution of the New England
Confederation. It was drafted in 1643. It stated very clearly,
"Whereas we all came into these parts of America with one and the
same end and aim, namely, to advance the kingdom of our Lord Jesus
Christ, and to enjoy the liberties of the gospel in purity with
peace." My friend, you can' t have a political government set up and
founded on more spiritual and scriptural principles than that.
William Penn, from the great state of
Pennsylvania, said in 1681, "If you are not governed by God, you
will be ruled by tyrants." The great law of Pennsylvania was passed
on December 7, 1682. The preamble stated, "whereas the glory of
Almighty God and the good of mankind is the reason and end of
government, and therefore government of itself is a venerable
ordinance of God. And forasmuch as it is principally desired and
intended to make an established law as shall best preserve true
Christian and civil liberty." My friends, our very first
constitutions in this land were constitutions that were founded on
God.
Written on the liberty bell in 1752 was this
quotation from Leviticus 25:10, "Proclaim liberty through all the
land and to all the inhabitants thereof." Samuel Adams
asserted in 1772, "The rights of the Colonists as Christians may be
best understood by reading and carefully studying the
institution of the great law-giver, and head of , namely the laws of
nature and natures' God, that all men are created equal; that they
are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights.
Appealing to the supreme judge of the world of the rectitude of our
intentions with firm reliance on protection of divine providence."
A year later, on September 11, 1777, the Continental Congress voted
an expenditure of $300,000.00 to buy copies of the Bible and
distribute them throughout the original thirteen colonies.
Our national constitution was based on Bible
principles, drafted in prayer in 1787. For some five months,
there were fifty-five men who had come together and had labored to
bring forth the constitution, and they had been unable to do so
because of disagreement. You see, the small states wanted
equal representation, and the larger states wanted representation on
a population basis. It seemed that the representatives at the
Constitutional convention were at loggerheads and agreement was
absolutely impossible. Then, Benjamin Franklin rose to his
feet and made a motion that each session begin with prayer. "I
have lived, Sir, a long time. And, the longer I live, the more
convincing proof I see of this truth, that God governs in the
affairs of man. If a sparrow can not fall to the ground
without