Blessed is the Nation

Blessed is the Nation - Praising God using the 33rd Psalm

Happy 4th of July Weekend. Happy Independence Day Sunday! I hope you took in some fireworks last night or will tonight! There’s nothing like being free and we are free whether online or in person to worship & praise God. Why praise God? There are an infinite number of reasons why, but the Psalmist in Psalm 33 provides four. Turn in your Bibles today to Psalm 33 or you can read right from the screen. Chelsea Jo Calo got us started. She read verses 1-3. Using the rest of Psalm 33 here are four reasons why we praise God.

Reason #1: We praise Him because His word is right & true. The Psalmist said this in verse 4. (Read verses 4&5) If you want your marriage to be really good, be kind. If you are tired of anxiety, pray, don’t worry. If you want to be close to God, fast & pray. If you want a good reputation, keep your word - do what you said you would do. And no one loves as much as God does! We find these promises from God’s word. Look again at the end of verse 5. the earth is full of his unfailing love. That word love is the word hesed. Last Sunday I concluded a series called God is… God is compassionate and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in love and faithfulness The word for love found in Exodus 34:6 is the same word for love found here in Psalm 33:5. Hesed is God’s loyal love, his mercy, his lovingkindness towards his people. Again, where do all these promises come from? From God himself. His word is right & true. Why does this matter? If the Bible is right, there is a Creator who made us. A heavenly Father who loves us. If the Bible is right, heaven exists and so does hell. If the Bible is right, our identity is found in being a child of God and NOT in our skin color or gender. If the Bible is right, our life’s purpose is fulfilled in dying to ourselves and living for God. If the Bible is right, we won’t see ourselves as far right or far left! Because God thrives in unity; not division.

The Psalmist provides a second reason. We praise God because He spoke the world into existence. The Psalmist explains starting in verse 6. (Read 6-9) Everything has a beginning, except God. (by… video (2:00) How can there be a building without a builder or an architect? A watch without a watch maker? How can there be a universe without a creator or a designer? Dr. Walter Bradley is the co-author of the book, The Mystery of Life’s Origin. He said, “If there isn’t a natural explanation and there doesn’t seem to be the potential of finding one, then I believe it’s appropriate to look at a supernatural explanation”[i] for how the world began. Dr. Bradley and the Psalmist are taking us back to creation. In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light. The Psalmist just said, For he spoke, and it came to be. God spoke light/creation into existence.

Why does this matter? Some facts are not important.[ii] A cat has 32 muscles in each ear. OK. A vet would need to know that. A snail can sleep for three years. That seems excessively long to me😊but whatever! A “jiffy” is an actual unit of time. If I said - I’ll be back in a “jiffy.” That means I’ll be back in 1/100th of a second. I don’t see that happening and I doubt I’ll ever use the word “jiffy” ever again. Now God creating us. God creating YOU is a life altering fact. To know that we are God’s idea. We didn’t create Him. He created us. This means that all of us have innate value. Not because of our looks, career or talent. You are valuable because God made you! He sent His son Jesus to save you!

Here’s a third reason why the Psalmist chose to praise God. We praise Him because He blesses the nations. The blessing starts in verse 10. (Read 10-12)

Those people are called the Israelites. The nation is Israel. Remember context. What’s happening then! This is somewhere around 3400 years ago.[iii] The Psalms were a collection of poems and songs used by the children of Israel to praise God. God has blessed the nation of Israel because He ultimately wants to bless the world. Verse 10 is a reminder. God is eternal; nations are temporary. What’s the old saying. “If you want to make God laugh, tell him your plans.”Could I alter that to If you want to make God cry, frustrated, tell him your plans. God’s plans are sovereign. Human plans can be shaky if not diabolical. The plans of Alexander the Great, Adolf Hitler, Joseph Stalin, Osama bin Laden were as the Psalmist said “foiled or thwarted.” Verse 12 is a divine promise. God blesses nations that honor him. The opposite is also true. God withholds blessing nations that dishonor him.

Bob Russell preached here last March. Bob retired from Southeast Christian Church after serving as Senior Minister for 40 years. Bob quoted historian Arnold Toynbee who traced 21 major civilizations in history and concluded that 19 collapsed from moral decay. He says it happened gradually, quietly, when no was aware of what was happening.[iv] I pray you are aware of moral decay happening in America.

Why does this matter? I have traveled to Haiti, Jamaica twice, Barbados and St. Vincent on mission trips. I have been to Zimbabwe, Africa seven times. When I talk with people in Zimbabwe, they can only imagine what we often take for granted. We have unprecedented freedoms.

Let me tell you a story that happened in Ocean City, Maryland last May. Jonathan Bauer was involved in a multi-vehicle crash on the Route 90 bridge over the Ocean City Bay. A twenty-three-month-old girl fell out of another car in the crash and into the water. Bauer saw the baby in the bay and jumped more than twenty-five feet into the water to save her. For his heroics, he was selected to ride in the back seat of an F-16 as part of the Thunderbirds’ “Hometown Hero” program.[v] Can you imagine the Mom or Dad of this little girl walking up to Jonathan Bauer and asking, “where are her white shoes? She was wearing white shoes.” No parent could be that ungrateful, but we have a number of ungrateful Americans. They refuse to see the astonishing blessing of living in the US.

I know we have our problems. The US is fractured. We are divided by race, gender, politics and religion. But oh my, look around at what we have in America. “The US has 6% of the world’s population but we have 53% of the world’s goods and services.”[vi] There’s no middle class in Zimbabwe. You are either Richie Rich “rich” or you are dirt poor. Nations cannot survive without a middle class. US Presidents can only serve two terms, but dictators can remain in power for decades. Zimbabwe was ruled by a dictator, the late Robert Mugabe, since 1980. Mugabe was forced out in 2017 only to be replaced by another dictator. People in Zimbabwe are astonished that we can speak our mind without fear.

Zimbabweans would love to own a home but that’s near to impossible because they don’t earn much more than $3 a day. It’s even worse in Cuba where people earn around $9 a month.[vii] They imagine roads covered by asphalt. “The US has nearly 3 million paved roads and access to 5000 public airports.”[viii] People in Zim imagine fresh, clean drinking water coming out of faucets in their own home. Clothes to buy a reasonable price food on selves in the grocery store. Opportunity is often a dream in Zimbabwe. Many students study, but are never given the opportunity to succeed, but in America it’s possible to be homeless, rise above it and one day own a business or become a CEO. America is the land of the free and the home of the brave. Chad Biniker is going to come and praise God for unprecedented blessing God has granted America.

I think you should know. I love living in this country. I love our freedoms. I love our Bill of Rights. Especially Amendment 1: U.S. citizens have the freedom of religion, speech, press, assembly and petition.” My last name is French. At one time it was spelled BonDurand. Capital D in the middle and ended with a d. My relatives left France and came to America in 1702. My name was changed to Bondurant. Bon means good and Durant means time. As I’ve always said, just call me “Pastor Good Time.” We can worship God freely in America for now. Don’t take that for granted.

The reason I voted last November is because I don’t want America to become like North Korea. What we’re doing here today is unheard of in North Korea, Afghanistan and most of China. Journalist John Allen said, “Christians today are indisputably the most persecuted religious body on the planet.”[ix] If you mention Jesus in North Korea, you will go to prison, you will be tortured, you will die. I love living in a country where we can freely praise the name of Jesus. How much longer is that going to be? The Psalmist continues his praise to God. We praise Him because He sees us. Here is verse 13. (Read 13-19) Let’s couple verses 13 & 18a together. (Read)

Verse 13 might make you nervous. The realization that God sees you, watches you and considers everything you do. God is not a gigantic surveillance camera😊 Religion teaches that God is waiting for the right moment to pounce on us for being stupid or selfish. That he can’t wait to slap our hands or scold us for committing yet another sin. Institutional religion is just a list of “do’s and don’ts” to follow. Jesus wanted nothing to do with that. Verse 18 should make us confident. God watches over those who fear him. Your feelings might betray you into thinking that God has turned his back on you. He hasn’t.

Why does this matter? You are never alone. Your life, whether short or long, serves a purpose. If you fear him, God becomes your hope. God is the One you trust. I picture this amazing crescendo at the end of Psalm 33. Go to verse 20. (Read 20-22)

Have you? Have you put your hope in God? All of this matters because God exists and rewards those who earnestly seek Him. God blesses nations - people who fear Him. It started with Abraham. God promised him. I’ll make you into a great nation. Believe in me. He did. It continued with Isaac and Jacob. I’ll make you into a great nation. Believe in me. They did.

God promised that he would bless all nations through a Jewish baby boy named Jesus who grew up, lived, died and then resurrected from the dead. Do you believe Jesus did all of that? What the world needs to see are not more far right nationalists or far left socialists. What the world needs to see are people who live for Jesus. Bob Russell said, “The most patriotic thing you can do for your country is to live a Godly life. The most important patriotism is not saluting the flag properly, standing at attention and singing the national anthem, voting wisely at every primary election or crusading against the evils of our time. Those things are good, but the most helpful thing you can do for your country is to honor Jesus Christ in your daily life.”[x] Because Jesus is our Creator, Lord, Savior and Deliverer, he is worthy of your praise.

Decisions:

July 4 - Ron & Amanda Ross coming up for prayer. Moving to Florida.

[i] Lee Strobel, Today’s Moment of Truth, 6-7 [ii] https://gcfl.net/archive.php?funny=7995 [iii] Life Application Bible Vital Statistics, Psalms, 820 [iv] Bob Russell, Blessed is the Nation, 2 [v] https://www.denisonforum.org/columns/daily-article/man-who-saved-toddler-honored-by-thunderbirds-the-crucible-of-our-formation-is-the-monotony-of-our-routines/ [vi] [vi] Bob Russell, Blessed is the Nation [vii] https://facts36.com/lowest-minimum-wage-in-the-world/ [viii] 1440 Happy Birth Eve, Eve America email, July 2, 2021 [ix] https://www.denisonforum.org/columns/daily-article/the-latest-on-the-building-collapse-in-florida-three-biblical-ways-to-prepare-for-an-uncertain-future/ [x] Bob Russell, Blessed is the Nation, 9