God Bless Canada
Blessed is the nation whose God is the LORD,
the people he chose for his inheritance.
From heaven the LORD looks down
and sees all mankind;
from his dwelling place he watches
all who live on earth—
he who forms the hearts of all,
who considers everything they do.
No king is saved by the size of his army;
no warrior escapes by his great strength.
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.
Canada is a great nation which has enjoyed the richest blessings which Heaven can bestow upon a people. Rich in natural resources and blessed with the most fertile soils in the whole of the world, wealthy beyond all imagination in possessions, in human ability and in capabilities, Canada has been wonderfully blessed of God. Bounded on three sides by bountiful seas, we enjoy the longest undefended border in the world with friends to the south. Three times in recent years Canada has been designated as the best nation in the world in which to live. Surely, such blessings are not mere happenstance. No one is so foolish as to believe that our politicians are the cause of these rich blessings. God, and God alone, is the source of Canada’s hap among the nations.
In the Thirty-third Psalm, the Psalmist speaks of a nation richly blessed by God. In this Psalm, the sweet singer of Israel reminded his readers that God rules over all and overrules all. A nation is saved neither because of its great resources nor by its armed might. It is the Almighty who watches over the nation to insure that it is preserved. By that criterion, we who live in Canada are obviously the recipients of Heaven’s goodness. God has shown us great mercy, and the most of us are unaware of that grace.
As a nation we have enjoyed the blessings of God, neither because we deserve His mercies, nor yet because we are necessary to His plan for this world. We have enjoyed His rich blessings because He is gracious and merciful. Though popular mythology today denies that Canada was ever a Christian nation, we continue to enjoy the fruit of a Christian heritage. Our forebears were more deeply respectful of the mercies of the Living God than evidence by present day Canadians. Consequently, national leaders were prepared to make hard decisions regardless of any poll. Politicians today appear to be more gophers than men, sticking their heads up from subterranean playpens to test which way political winds are blowing before making a decision. It was not bowing to such political winds which made Canada a great nation.
Great truths are presented in this Psalm and are worthy of our remembrance. Implicit is the truth that God Is the Source of Every Blessing. There is a perception that our strength is the source of the blessings we enjoy. Much as Israel of old, we think that our might and our ability have secured the peace and prosperity we enjoy. As Moses was concluding his prophecy of the future of those he had led out of Egyptian captivity he warned of complacency. He spoke of the rich blessings of God—how God guarded Israel as the apple of His eye, how God led the people and enriched them in every way. Then, in Deuteronomy 32:15-18 the man of God wrote these startling words:
Jeshurun grew fat and kicked;
filled with food, he became heavy and sleek.
He abandoned the God who made him
and rejected the Rock his Saviour.
They made him jealous with their foreign gods
and angered him with their detestable idols.
They sacrificed to demons, which are not God—
gods they had not known,
gods that recently appeared,
gods your fathers did not fear.
You deserted the Rock, who fathered you;
you forgot the God who gave you birth.
In their arrogance, the people decided they themselves were the source of all their blessings, and having deserted the Lord their God, they were in turn deserted by God. It was a fulfilment of the warning which Moses had delivered to the nation earlier. Observe the commands of the LORD your God, walking in his ways and revering him. For the LORD your God is bringing you into a good land—a land with streams and pools of water, with springs flowing in the valleys and hills; a land with wheat and barley, vines and fig trees, pomegranates, olive oil and honey; a land where bread will not be scarce and you will lack nothing; a land where the rocks are iron and you can dig copper out of the hills.
When you have eaten and are satisfied, praise the LORD your God for the good land he has given you. Be careful that you do not forget the LORD your God, failing to observe his commands, his laws and his decrees that I am giving you this day. Otherwise, when you eat and are satisfied, when you build fine houses and settle down, and when your herds and flocks grow large and your silver and gold increase and all you have is multiplied, then your heart will become proud and you will forget the LORD your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery. He led you through the vast and dreadful desert, that thirsty and waterless land, with its venomous snakes and scorpions. He brought you water out of hard rock. He gave you manna to eat in the desert, something your fathers had never known, to humble and to test you so that in the end it might go well with you. You may say to yourself, “My power and the strength of my hands have produced this wealth for me.” But remember the LORD your God, for it is he who gives you the ability to produce wealth, and so confirms his covenant, which he swore to your forefathers, as it is today [Deuteronomy 8:6-18]. Just so, God has blessed our nation, and to forget that He is the source of our blessing is to invite His judgement on us as a nation.
Israel had a special relationship with God. Canada cannot claim such a relationship since we were not chosen by God, but we have been used by God to advance the cause of Christ during the past decades. Canadian Christians underwrote a major portion of the advance of the Faith throughout the world during the Nineteenth and Twentieth Centuries. Canadian missionaries advanced the cause of Christ in Asia and in Africa. Though the role of missionaries is now depreciated among the aboriginal populations of Canada, men and women of conscience sacrificed themselves to ensure that our native populations would receive an education and be equipped to compete in the changed world. At the same time, those missionaries told of Christ and the love of God.
Though there were among them unconscionable individuals who pretended to be godly, don’t permit that negative fact detract from the great good which was accomplished for the cause of Christ and for the betterment of mankind. Today, there are scoundrels among Christ’s ministers, and such has always been the case. Peter warned, there were also false prophets among the people, just as there will be false teachers among you. They will secretly introduce destructive heresies, even denying the sovereign Lord who bought them—bringing swift destruction on themselves. Many will follow their shameful ways and will bring the way of truth into disrepute. In their greed these teachers will exploit you with stories they have made up. Their condemnation has long been hanging over them, and their destruction has not been sleeping [2 Peter 2:1-3].
Solomon said that Righteousness exalts a nation [Proverbs 14:34], and by that criterion Canada can say that the current blessings we enjoy are in no small measure the result of God’s exaltation of us. Surely there is no one so contentious as to question the thought that this nation has enjoyed a blessed history in great measure because its God was the Lord? Large numbers of people did seek God fervently and God blessed the people with peace and prosperity. Even the ungodly among us have been blessed because of God’s merciful blessings toward His own.
Such is not necessarily the case today, however. Over one quarter of British Columbians are professed atheists or agnostics. A pitiful minority ever frequents the services of a church save for a couple of high holy days. Our nation is not Christian; it is militantly secular. Our real gods are money and pleasure. Nevertheless, the blessings of God surround His people, even in a godless or a secular environment. It is right to remember Him and to remember His blessings. What are His blessings? The Psalm categorises them into three groups.
First, the Psalmist notes God’s watchfulness. The Lord looks down and sees all mankind… He watches all who live on earth [verses 13, 14]. Though few today seem to believe this truth, God, who forms the hearts of all mankind, considers everything they do [verse 15]. Though this verse makes a strong case for God’s omniscience, that is not particularly what the Psalmist had in mind. Verse 18 gives us the intent of the Psalmist.
But the eyes of the LORD are on those who fear him,
on those whose hope is in his unfailing love…
This is precisely the watchfulness which David described in Psalm 32:8.
I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go;
I will counsel you and watch over you.
This means that God is keeping an eye on us so that He can intervene in timely fashion to counsel us, to help us, to direct our steps so that we will not wander off the path and thus dishonour Him.
I have often noted the impact of God’s watching eyes. Such a thought is terrifying to the ungodly. Reading a verse such as that recorded in 2 Chronicles 16:9 discomfits the ungodly. The eyes of the LORD range throughout the earth to strengthen those whose hearts are fully committed to him. The wickedness of the wicked is known to God. Though their deeds should be conducted in darkness, God who created light and dark, sees all that is done and the ungodly are thus exposed for their evil deeds.
By the same token, the godly are revealed as those who seek to honour the Lord. Their motives are known to God, and their desires to honour Him are known to Him. What a glorious thought, that God knows the righteous and that He takes note of their deeds. You thought that your efforts to comfort another were unnoticed, or that your efforts to speak of God’s grace to some someone were unfruitful. However, God witnessed your efforts and He took note of your love for Him.
I am often comforted by the words of the ancient prophet Malachi. Those who feared the LORD talked with each other, and the LORD listened and heard. A scroll of remembrance was written in his presence concerning those who feared the LORD and honoured his name.
“They will be mine,” says the LORD Almighty, “in the day when I make up my treasured possession. I will spare them, just as in compassion a man spares his son who serves him. And you will again see the distinction between the righteous and the wicked, between those who serve God and those who do not” [Malachi 3:16-18].
Again, the Psalmist takes note of God’s protection. God protects His people, foiling the intent of their enemies to harm them.
No king is saved by the size of his army;
no warrior escapes by his great strength.
A horse is a vain hope for deliverance;
despite all its great strength it cannot save.
[verses 16, 17]
Canada has never been successfully invaded by a foreign army. The sole attempt resulted in the Canadians repelling invading American forces during the War of 1812. Can we really believe that this is because we are so powerful that no one would dare invade us today? Whereas we once had the third largest navy in the world, today we are reduced to asking our neighbours to the south to shadow Russian spy ships patrolling our West Coast since we are incapable of floating any craft capable of monitoring their activities. We long ago surrendered sovereignty over arctic waters and require our benevolent neighbours to keep watch over the north.
I am confident that many of our deliverances are likely unknown to us. When we pray, we often remember the tangible blessings of God: family, health, friends, the privileges we enjoy in this democratic nation. Perhaps we think of less personal, but nevertheless tangible blessings as well. The world enjoys relative peace, other nations are discovering freedoms we have taken for granted, technology makes our work and our play more enjoyable, the gospel is widely proclaimed and in other parts of the world people are coming to faith in Christ.
As we thank God for the tangible blessings, I would urge us to thank God for what we haven’t received. We have been spared much sorrow because of His mercies. We may not know specifically what God kept us from, but we know the categories. Have we been spared sickness during the past year? We should be thankful for that. Some have experienced serious illness and severe hurt.
Have we been kept from severe accidents during the year past? We should give God thanks that we have not been injured or hurt. We know that some have suffered greatly.
Perhaps we have been spared from people that would harm us at work? In our homes? On the streets? If you have been spared from harm at the hands of enemies, it is God’s doing and you should give Him thanks.
What about temptations? The Word of God informs us that God … will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear [1 Corinthians 10:13]. I would learn from this that God turns aside many temptations before ever they reach us. If He did not keep us from such temptations, we would surely fall. That we can even walk in the path of righteousness as we learn to be His disciples is the result of God’s care for us as His people.
The third blessing which the Psalmist notes is God’s preserving care. The nineteenth verse states that God delivers His people from death and keeps them alive in famine. You should especially note that God does not necessarily keep His people from hard times, but He does keep them in hard times. I have no doubt that many of you, as you review your lives as Children of the Living God, can recount times that you passed through deep waters or passed through the flames. What comfort to the child of God are the words of God found in Isaiah 43:2!
When you pass through the waters,
I will be with you;
and when you pass through the rivers,
they will not sweep over you.
When you walk through the fire,
you will not be burned;
the flames will not set you ablaze.
Again, the Nation which is Blessed of God is Caused to Rejoice before Him. In our God our hearts rejoice, and that because we trust in His holy Name. The Psalm began with a note of joy, and it is appropriate that it conclude with such a note.
Sing joyfully to the LORD, you righteous;
it is fitting for the upright to praise him.
Praise the LORD with the harp;
make music to him on the ten-stringed lyre.
Sing to him a new song;
play skilfully, and shout for joy.
[Psalm 33:1-3]
Joyful praise leads to quiet confidence, which is nonetheless joyful.
Because we trust in Him, our lives are marked by joy. Modern Canadians believe it is their right to enjoy happiness. I suppose that is because they watch a great deal of American television which frequently makes appeal to the American Bill of Rights which speaks of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. Happiness was never said to be a right, but the pursuit of happiness if a right for those living under that system. Likewise in Canada we have the right to pursue happiness, but joy is the certain promise of those who know their God and obey His will.
I make the following observation which should be a source of comfort to each of us, even in our old age. Happiness is elusive … no one ever attains happiness for long. It is fleeting, ephemeral, effervescent. Happiness is dependent upon our hap in life, the circumstances surrounding us. Joy, on the other hand, is a settled condition which is the promise to every Christian. Joy is not dependent upon conditions surrounding us, but it is the condition which results from one secure and content. If the Lord God is my Saviour, I am secure in Him and content since I have all that Heaven can offer. Thus, I rejoice.
So it is with the nation. If the nation is godly, it will be marked by a sense of national joy. If the nation is unrighteous, it will be marked by a sense of restlessness and discontent. Ask yourself whether our nation is a joyful nation, or whether we are becoming a nation of grumblers. If the former, it must be the result of confidence in the rich blessings of God. If the latter, it must be because we have deserted the Lord our God with the consequence that we are unfulfilled and unsatisfied.
In the 144th Psalm, the Psalmist pleads with God:
Deliver me and rescue me
from the hands of foreigners
whose mouths are full of lies,
whose right hands are deceitful.
Then our sons in their youth
will be like well-nurtured plants,
and our daughters will be like pillars
carved to adorn a palace.
Our barns will be filled
with every kind of provision.
Our sheep will increase by thousands,
by tens of thousands in our fields;
our oxen will draw heavy loads.
There will be no breaching of walls,
no going into captivity,
no cry of distress in our streets.
Blessed are the people of whom this is true;
blessed are the people whose God is the LORD
[Psalm 144:11-15].
Indeed, blessed are the people whose God is the Lord. They shall rejoice in His goodness and in every rich provision.
That Nation which Enjoys the Blessing of God will Worship Him as God. The Psalmist concludes with the prayer for God’s unfailing love to rest upon the people in proportion to their hope in Him. If God is God, we should worship Him as God. If the Lord is God, should we not see Him as worthy of praise and worship? We should include in all our Canada Day celebrations worship of the Almighty. As an aside of no small importance, our American cousins should likewise include time for sober reflection upon the goodness of God as they celebrate the founding of that nation. If there is no occasion for time in church, worship within your family, remembering the goodness of God to you, your family and your nation.
I confess that I have some serious concerns about this business of worshipping God as God. When we spend more on entertainment than we do on spreading the message of life in Christ, can we say that we are worshipping God? When we spend more on cosmetics than we do on the spread of the message of life throughout our own nation, can we actually think we are worshipping God acceptably? When our expenditures for pet food is greater than is our expenditure for hunger relief, do we actually think we are pleasing to God? I can draw only one conclusion: though we now enjoy the rich blessings of God, we are nearing a time when those blessings may well be withdrawn. We are taking God for granted.
Permit me to probe deeply into your soul. Which is more important to you as a Canadian, worship in the House of the Lord or time apart camping on Canada Day? I am not against recreation, but I am concerned that recreation may become of greater importance to us than is worship of the Creator. Even in our recreation, I urge each of us to make as great an effort to refresh our spirit as we do to refresh our body.
As a parent, which is more important to you, that your children get ice time on Sunday mornings or that they have time in the House of the Lord? I know that the opportunity for sports is important, but I cannot help but wonder at the number of parents who choose soccer or softball or hockey or ballet or skating instead of encouraging their children to consider God. When our children come to their teen years and say that they no longer wish to be in the house of the Lord because it is boring, it just may be that we have invested more time teaching them that sports is exciting and God is boring. It just may be that we have failed to introduce our children to the might and power of God in worship and that is why they would rather do almost anything than go to church.
Too many of us, both parents and grandparents, consider our children a bother. The evidence for this is that we want them to leave us alone to do the really important work of worship undistracted while we send them away to what we euphemistically call Children’s Church. By doing this we teach them that they cannot know God as we know God. Thus, we compel them to discover a truncated God who entertains. We cannot understand why these same children are less than excited when they suddenly turn ten and are compelled to enter into the foreign world of worship as adults.
We have forgotten that the spiritual cannot be compartmentalised from the secular. Rather the spiritual must dictate to the secular or the secular must surely rule the spiritual. We would do well to recall the commands of God through Moses. These commandments that I give you today are to be upon your hearts. Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates [Deuteronomy 6:6-9].
If the people forgot to instruct their children and if they forgot to prepare the future generations, they would forget God and bring on them the curse of God as He withdrew His blessings. I fear the grief which attends such forgetting. Again, God through Moses warned the people.
When the LORD your God brings you into the land he swore to your fathers, to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, to give you—a land with large, flourishing cities you did not build, houses filled with all kinds of good things you did not provide, wells you did not dig, and vineyards and olive groves you did not plant—then when you eat and are satisfied, be careful that you do not forget the LORD, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery.
Fear the LORD your God, serve him only and take your oaths in his name. Do not follow other gods, the gods of the peoples around you; for the LORD your God, who is among you, is a jealous God and his anger will burn against you, and he will destroy you from the face of the land. Do not test the LORD your God as you did at Massah. Be sure to keep the commands of the LORD your God and the stipulations and decrees he has given you. Do what is right and good in the LORD’s sight, so that it may go well with you and you may go in and take over the good land that the LORD promised on oath to your forefathers, thrusting out all your enemies before you, as the LORD said.
In the future, when your son asks you, “What is the meaning of the stipulations, decrees and laws the LORD our God has commanded you?” tell him… [Deuteronomy 6:10-21].
My encouragement to you is that you remember the Lord your God even now in the final years of life. Remember that He has richly blessed you with all that you have. On this Canada Day, remember that He is God, that He is the source of all that you hold dear, and that He is worthy is be worshipped as God. Tell your children. Tell God that you rejoice in His goodness—in His watchfulness, in His protection, in His preservation. Amen.