Our country has been richly blessed by the God of Heaven. He has endowed us with abundant natural resources, beneficial climatic conditions, fertile soils, and beautiful scenery. He has brought to our shores a variety of hard-working men and women seeking freedom and opportunity.
The founding fathers laid a foundation of governing principles rooted in the "Judeo-Christian" tradition, honoring God and the principles of the Bible. One of the most valuable freedoms provided was the "freedom of religion." What they gave us has worked well.
But something has happened. Freedom "of" religion has become freedom from religion to the extent that we argue over prayer in the schools, nativity scenes on the courthouse lawn, and "In God We Trust" on our coins. Consequently our crime rate rises year after year. Half of our marriages end in divorce. Nearly one- third of our babies are born to single mothers. Fathers desert their families, refusing to meet their responsibilities. Alcoholism and drug addiction are rampant. The battles against pornography and pedophilia are being lost. And hundreds of laws to control these situations are added to the books every year to no avail.
Our founding fathers were perhaps familiar with Psalm 33:12: "Blessed is the nation whose God is the LORD; and the people whom he hath chosen for his own inheritance." While this verse primarily applies to Israel, it has wider overtones. We, too, are, in the sense God's sovereign will, his chosen inheritance. We who have trusted Christ as Savior are also His by redemption. But the later verses in the Psalm extend the coverage clearly: "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 to keep them alive in famine. Our soul waiteth for the Lord: for he is our help and shield. For our heart shall rejoice in him, because we have trusted in his holy name. Let thy mercy, O LORD, be upon us, according as we hope in thee" (Psalm 33:18-22).
The last line of that passage, which is a prayer, is frightening. What if the mercy of God is extended to our nation only "as we hope in thee"? With our present disregard for the things of God, righteousness, purity, truth, and morality, it seems to me that God is under no obligation to extend further His mercy shown us in the past. It would be wise for all of us, individually and corporately, to repent of our sins and get back to the God of our fathers. "For thou, Lord, art good, and ready to fotgive; and plenteous in mercy unto all them that call upon thee" (Psalm 86:5).