Independence or Dependence? - A July 4th Message Psalm 33:12

Independence or Dependence?

    A July   4th   Message

       Psalm 33:12

Call to the Word

Call to the Word

On July 4, 1776, the final wording of the Declaration
  of Independence was officially approved, and a few
  weeks later, 56 Founding Fathers signed the
  document.

  What they wrote and signed provoked an all-out
  war…and men, women and children lost their lives
  over it. Today, we enjoy the fruits of their sacrifice.

Introduction

“We hold these truths to be self-evident: That all
  men are created equal; that they are endowed by
  their Creator with certain unalienable rights; that
  among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of
  happiness; that, to secure these rights, governments
  are instituted among men, deriving their just powers
  from the consent of the governed…”

Introduction

“The God who gave us life, gave us liberty at the
  same time.” (Thomas Jefferson)

  Equality, liberty, popular sovereignty, the rights of
  man - these are not elements which we can see and
  touch. They are ideals. They have their source and
  their roots in the religious convictions.” Calvin
  Coolidge
Introduction

Blessed is the nation…

  Blessed: fortunate, prosperous, and favored by God…
  the nation referred to is happy, and its condition is
  desirable.

Psa 33:12

Blessed is the nation…
  "If she did the exact same thing at this very moment,
  if she was North Korean, not only herself will be
  executed, [also] eight generations of her family can be
  sent to political prison camp and execution. And the
  fact that she's complaining about this country, the
  most tolerant country, she doesn't really understand
  history.“
      (Yeonmi Park)
Psa 33:12

…whose God is the LORD

  LORD: Yahweh – self existent, becoming One

  The nation which worships Yahweh and is under his
  protection.

Psa 33:12

…whose God is the LORD
  “[T]here is no country in the whole world in which the
  Christian religion retains a greater influence on the souls
  of men than in America, and there can be no greater
  proof of its utility, and of its conformity to human nature,
  than that its influence is most powerfully felt over the
  most enlightened and free nation of the earth.”
  (Tocqueville)

Psa 33:12

…whose God is the LORD

  2Ch 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.

Psa 33:12

…whose God is the LORD

  “…if God wills that it continue …until every drop of
  blood drawn with the lash shall be paid by another
  drawn with the sword, as was said three thousand
  years ago, so still it must be said ‘the judgments of
  the Lord are true and righteous altogether.’ ”
  (Lincoln)

Psa 33:12

…The people He has chosen as His own inheritance.

  Eph 1:18 I pray that your hearts will be flooded with
  light so that you can understand the confident hope
  He has given to those He called—His holy people who
  are His rich and glorious inheritance.

Psa 33:12

…The people He has chosen as His own inheritance.

  We are a product of a Christian worldview.

Psa 33:12

…The people He has chosen as His own inheritance.

  “Upon my arrival in the United States, the religious
  aspect of the country was the first thing that struck
  my attention. And the longer I stayed there, the
  more did I perceive the great political consequences
  resulting from this state of things to which I was
  unaccustomed.” (Tocqueville

Psa 33:12

…The people He has chosen as His own inheritance.

  Does the U.S. currently demonstrate a Christian
  worldview; the answer is absolutely “no.”
  Is the government of the U.S. Christian in its
  structure; the answer is “sort of.”
  The United States was structured to govern a
  particular worldview.
Psa 33:12

“We have no government armed with power capable
  of contending with human passions unbridled by
  morality and religion. Avarice, ambition, revenge, or
  gallantry, would break the strongest cords of our
  Constitution as a whale goes through a net. Our
  Constitution was made only for a moral and
  religious people. It is wholly inadequate to the
  government of any other.” (Adams)

Psa 33:12

“The Holy Scriptures...can alone secure to society
  order and peace, and to our courts of justice and
  constitutions of government, purity, stability, and
  usefulness..... Bibles are strong entrenchments.
  Where they abound, men cannot pursue wicked
  courses and at the same time enjoy quiet
  conscience.” (McHenry)

Psa 33:12

“That [God] would most graciously be pleased to
  dispose us all, to do Justice, to love mercy, and to
  demean ourselves with that Charity, humility and
  pacific temper of mind, which were the
  Characteristics of the Divine Author of our blessed
  Religion, and without an humble imitation of whose
  example in these things, we can never hope to be a
  happy Nation.” (Washington)

Psa 33:12

Can we lose the blessings of God? Will God remove
  His hand of protection?

  Psa 9:17
  Isa 63:19
  2Ch 7:14

Reflection

Can we lose the blessings of God? Will God remove
  His hand of protection?

  Lam 3:40-41
  Let us search out and examine our ways and turn back
  to the LORD; Let us lift our hearts and hands To God
  in heaven.

Reflection

• Lam 3:40 Let us search out and examine our ways, And turn back to the LORD;
• Lam 3:41 Let us lift our hearts and hands To God in heaven.

Reflection

Independence or Dependence?

    A July   4th   Message

       Psalm 33:12