What an interesting Psalm that seems to fit what has happened to our dear country
today! We believe that this Psalm was
written in the days of Hezekiah who was the king of Judah. Isaiah was
prophesying that judgment was coming to the nation of Israel by way of the
Assyrian armies just north of them. The unknown writer of this Psalm begins by
remembering what their fathers had told them about the glorious establishment
of Israel in the Promise Land (vv. 1-8).
When the leaders of the nation sought the LORD and His blessings, the nation enjoyed
prosperity and protection. They were a
nation that was envied by all the other nations of the world. This is the true
story of American. America was founded
upon Biblical and Christian principles and quickly became one the greatest
nations in the history of the world. In the 1800’s someone said, “America is
great because America is good. If America ever ceases to be good, America will
cease to be great.”
One of the foremost constitutional theorists of the founding generation of our
country, John Adams, observed, “Our Constitution was made only for a moral and
religious People. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other.” He
wasn’t the only Founding Father to hold this view. Indeed, James Madison wrote
that our Constitution requires “sufficient virtue among men for self-government,”
otherwise, “nothing less than the chains of despotism can restrain them from
destroying and devouring one another.”
When “every man begins to do what is right in his own eyes” (Judges 21:25),
and there is no respect for God, no respect of others and property, no sense of
self-restraint or self-responsibility, no respect for authority or the law, you
will find lawlessness, violence, and anarchy.
Whenever I have read Psalm 44:9-16 over the past several years, I have immediately
pictured how these verses describe America today. After the writer remembers in the first 8
verses how God bless and help them to become a great nation, he begins verse 9
with the word, “But”. “But You have
cast us off and put us to shame….”
In the next 6 verses, the writer acknowledges that it was “You” (God),
that turn away from His people and His beloved nation and allowed their sins to
catch up with them.
Notice the seven “You” statements: “You have cast us off and have put us to shame”.
“You do not go out with our armies”. “You make us turn back from the enemy”.
“You have given us up like sheep… and have scattered us among the nations.”
“You sell your people for next to nothing”. “You make us a reproach to our
neighbors, a scorn and a derision to those around us.” “You make us a byword
among the nations, a shaking of the head among the peoples.”
God really doesn’t have to judge us. All He
has to do is take His hand of blessing and protection off of us! That is what
happened to Israel in Hezekiah’s day and that is exactly what is happening to
America today. The only answer and hope God gives us to this dilemma is found
in 2 Chronicles 7:14, “If My people who are called by My name will humble
themselves, and pray and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I
will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and heal their land.”
My friend, it is not a good thing to be “cast off” from the Lord! May the Lord put the Spirit of humility,
prayer, and repentance into the hearts of His people today!
God bless!
