The Blessed Nation

Psalm 33:12-22 The Blessed Nation

I think many of us understand that music is a big part of the celebrations we have in America. On special holidays we always have music, both secular and sacred. I can remember riding in the car with the radio playing as a kid to go see fireworks with my family.

One of those songs, that I am reminded of, is the song introduced by Lee Greenwood in 1984. Remember these words? “I’m proud to be an American, where at least I know I’m free. And I won’t forget the men who died, who gave that right to me. And I’ll gladly stand up next to you and defend her still today. Cause there ain’t no doubt I love this land. God bless the USA.”

During times of celebration in Israel, Jewish people would make a journey to Jerusalem. And on their way, they would sing. Remember, they didn’t have a radio. And they would sing songs found in the book of Psalms.

One of those songs is here in Psalm 33. Listen to what it has to say.

[Read Scripture & Prayer]

Lyrics in a song tell a story, a desire, a want. We sing, “God bless America, land that I love.” Don’t we want that today?

Well, the only way that the Lord is going to bless this nation, to bless this people, is for us to make Jesus our Lord. Without Christ guiding our nation, it is bound to fail.

Yes, as great as our nation is, and with all the strength that she has, America will fail if our eyes turn away from God.

But this doesn’t have to happen. If we would listen to what the psalmist says, blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord, then we can see the Lord still move on these lands.

Now a nation is made up of people. And people, we need Jesus.

Now when the Lord is no longer your God, then the blessings will stop. Just think how terrible life will be, when the Lord is not blessing our lands and our people.

The psalmist writes a song, but it is a song with great meaning, because the Lord is the one who gave this song. And there are several things that we should pay attention too.

He speaks about a…

Promise (12a)

· I am so grateful that the Lord keeps His promises.

· Deuteronomy 7:9 “Know therefore that the LORD thy God, he is God, the faithful God, which keepeth covenant and mercy with them that love him and keep his commandments to a thousand generations.”

· This song is much more than a Psalm, it is a promise. Now what is the promise that we see in this verse? Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord.

· This is a conditional promise. Meaning “if” we do something, “then” God will respond.

· Where does this promise start? It starts with you and I. It starts with us, making the choice who it is we are going to serve.

· Each day, you make a choice. A choice that you are either going to follow the Lord or you are going to follow the flesh. One leads to blessing the other to affliction.

· Now we live in the land of the free, and we have the free choice of who it is we will serve. But the Lord promises to bless us if we serve him.

· Now we are blessed in America, we have many freedoms. We can choose what we become, we can own nice things, we can go to other places freely. We can speak freely. We look around and we have many opportunities. This is not the case in much of the world.

· We often take for grant it, how blessed we are. We look at the blessings as rights. But listen God can take away those blessings.

· I believe we are seeing that to a degree. With shortages of goods, longer wait times, higher prices, and lack of help, we are seeing the blessings that God has given us in times past fade away.

· If we are to see the blessings return, we have to return to God. And that starts with you and I.

People (12b-15)

· Now this song speaks of a promise, but it also speaks of a people.

· Now understand this, because this is important, God has chosen you. This isn’t a scam like you read in an email. God has truly chosen you, and what is it that you have been chosen you for?

· He has chosen you to receive an inheritance.

· That’s right, God is going to give to you what is His. He is going to give heaven to you. He is going to give you a place there with him.

· Now you might be here right now, thinking, well that might be true for others, but God doesn’t even see me. How wrong you are.

· Look at verse 13 & 14. – Friend God sees you.

· You know I get up some days, and I go the whole day and I feel unnoticed. That no one has seen me, knows how I feel, that I’m just a nobody. Have you ever felt like that?

· Well, when those times come, when nobody here sees you, let me tell you God sees you. He has never stopped looking at you.

· There are times we get so depressed, and we think that no one sees what we are doing, friend, the good Lord sees.

· There was a missionary who had been serving in Africa for many years. He was returning home, and was on the same ship as President Roosevelt. The President had been on a hunting trip and people were flocking just to catch a glimpse of him.

When the shipped docked in New York, a band was waiting to greet the President. The mayor and dignitaries were there. The papers were full of the President’s arrival, but no one noticed the missionary.

That night the missionary’s spirit was broken. He felt that God was not treating him fairly. So, he went to the Lord in a prayer. He shared with the Lord how he faithfully served him, how many had come to know the Lord while in Africa, and the great work that was accomplished there. Why Lord, did the President receive a tremendous homecoming, when no one met me as I returned home.

It was then that the Lord came and placed his hand on the missionary and said to him, “Son, you’re not home yet.”

· Listen, God sees you, even when no one else does. “For his eye is on the sparrow, and I know, He watches over me.”

Protection (16-19)

· Now there is a third thing that we see in this song, and that is protection. Look at verses 16-19.

· We feel protected in this land, we have a strong military, we have sophisticated radar and satellite surveillance, we have nuclear weapons, no one is going to mess with us. Right?

· Do you realize, it doesn’t matter how much money we put into our army, how big we make it, none of that is what saves us.

· It is not how strong we are, it is not about how much muscle we have, how fast we can run, how smart we think we are, none of those things will save us.

· Our nation has prided itself on its tanks, planes and ships, but do you know, none of those things will save us.

· What really saves us, is God. When we serve the Lord, it is he who delivers us.

· Many people are scared today, they walk out of their homes with guns and vests, because they feel safe with them. But listen at the end of the day, you are not saved because you had a gun, or a vest, or any other weapon.

· At the end of the day, you are saved because of the mercy of the Lord.

· Listen you are not safe and secure by the army our nation has, you are kept safe by the guns you possess, you are not safe by the strength you have, none of these things really protect you. Your protection comes from the Lord.

· We mustn’t deceive ourselves, thinking that it is by our own hand we are able to stay safe. No, it is by the good Lord.

· God had brought these people through so much, through times where people were trying to kill them, where there was little food, and people were starving. It was God who got them through.

· And it is the good Lord who will get our nation through the tough times we are enduring right now, as long as we keep God on the throne.

· If we think it is the president, congress, or any other person who is going to get us through this terrible time, we are sadly deceived. It is only the Lord who can restore us, protect us, and deliver us.

Praise (20-21)

· Now there is a fourth part to this song, and that is praise.

· Do you praise the Lord? Do you know why you should praise the Lord? First because he is our help.

· Its time to quit blaming the Lord for our mistakes, and start praising the Lord that he is helping us through it.

· We better be glad that the Lord is patient and long-suffering, because if the Lord was like many of us, he would have quit on us a long time ago.

· I mean let’s be honest, we say things like: God, why did you let this happen? God this is your fault. God you don’t care.

· If we talked to others like that, they would leave us. But that isn’t how God works. We should never blame God, because we know that all things work together for good.

· What we must realize is that God is not here to hurt us, he is here to help us.

· God wants to help you. And he want to protect you. It has never been the mission of God to make your life miserable.

· Now what do we need to start doing? We need to start praising the Lord. Praising the Lord that he has given us this nation to live in. To praise him that he protects us and helps us. To praise him because His word is true.

· I fear that our praise has been overshadow with problems. That we have forgotten to give God glory and instead we just give him grief.

· Remember who God is.

· Who is God? He is:

o Alpha and Omega

o El Shaddai – the Lord God almighty

o Adonai – Lord and Master

o Light of the World

o The Lily of the Valley

o He is Comfort

o Strong and Mighty Tower

o Our strength in times of weakness

o He is Amazing Grace

o He is Jesus Christ

· If we can praise people for what they have done, I can praise the Lord for what he has done for me. He is my hope and trust.

Prayer (22)

· Now the psalmist has spoken about a promise, he has sung about a people, he has shared with us protection, and he has given praise, but there is one last thing that we see about this song and that is prayer.

· Look at the last verse. Vs 22.

· Do you pray to the Lord? I mean do you seek the Lord and mean business with him? If there is ever a prayer to pray right now, is the prayer for the Lord’s mercy on our life.

· That the Lord would have mercy on this nation. That the Lord would have mercy on this church.

There are lots of songs that people know the words too by heart. I dare say, many of you know the chorus to Sweet Home Alabama, many of you can sing every word to Billie Jean, there are some of you that can recite the words to the Star Spangled Banner.

But what we really ought to be remembering are the words of this song. “Let thy mercy, O LORD, be upon us, according as we hope in thee.”

Do you want God’s mercy on your life, for this church, for this land? Then come to Jesus and ask Him for it. Let thy mercy Lord, be upon me, as I hope in you!