What’s so great about America? - Psalm 33
What’s so great about America? - Psalm 33
By Pastor Lee Hemen
July 4, 2010 AM
There are cynics today who demand that we, as Americans, ask ourselves, “What’s so great about America?” They think that because we live in a country of plenty where over half the world goes to bed hungry, cold, and without proper shelter, that we should not enjoy the freedoms we do in this nation. Homemakers in much of the world will never see in their entire lifetime the abundance and quality of food which the American housewife can choose from in one trip to the grocery store. To be able to step into a Safeway for them would be a dream come true! Is this land of plenty, this freedom of ours merely by chance? Should we ask ourselves, “What’s so great about America?”
Benjamin Franklin was leaving the Constitutional Convention and a lady stopped him and asked, “Well, Dr. Franklin, what have you given us?” He replied, “You have a republic, Madame, if you can keep it.” America was formed as a constitutional republic with individual liberty, elected representatives and limited government. America was to have a government where individuals would enjoy pursuits of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. Each inalienable right endowed by the Creator. After God, the individual was to come first. What makes America great? The Psalmist relates to us why--
READ: Psalm 33
Before we celebrate our Nation’s independence with fireworks, picnics, and singing patriotic songs—we should pause to think about what’s so great about America. Join me as we rediscover the unprecedented abundance we enjoy and the freedoms that are the envy of the world!
I. First, let’s look at the greatness of America’s land!
1. This land is your land, this land is my land… this land was made for you and me! Our forefathers looked across this land of abundance and saw an opportunity, a Manifest Destiny, by God to grow a great nation. Some would have you believe that it is the land itself the earth that has made America great! They would have you worship Mother Earth instead of the One we should give our thanks. The Psalmist tells us that, “By the word of the LORD were the heavens made, their starry host by the breath of his mouth.” (Psalms 33:6) and we discover throughout the Bible that “the earth is the Lord’s.” America’s rich natural resources have made her great—rich with oil, ore, timber, water, the soil and the climate all have combined to make her great from sea to shining sea! Why then are there other nations which have been blessed with fine resources that have not risen to such greatness? It therefore must more than just the good earth we as Americans enjoy, more than the greatness of America’s land.
EXAMPLE: One of the things that motivated families to move westward across this grand continent was its natural resources. It was the notion of a Manifest Destiny where one could have their own place in the sun, the idea where families could freely own their own land to grow abundant crops in the rich untouched soil. One of the most moving patriotic hymns cites the beauty of America--a beauty that all who have traveled across this continent surely recognize as created by God Himself! Katherine Lee Bates stood atop Pike’s Peak and scanned the sweep of the land, then wrote of purple mountain majesties and amber waves of grain. She concluded that God had shed His grace on this land--a vast unexplored wilderness that, in an astonishingly short period, grew into a great nation!
There is more to any nation than just the land, there is also a quantifying factor that makes any nation great. And that factor is a nation’s people.
II. Secondly, let’s look at the greatness of the American people!
1. 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! At our Nation’s core is the notion that a nation is only as great as its people are! If a nation’s people fail to keep her safe, free, and focused on God, then a nation ceases to be a great nation. This is why others have said that it is America’s people, which have made her great! As we look at Psalm 33, we cannot but come away with the fact that people make a nation grand. The Psalmist states, “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.” (Psalms 33:13-16) Individuals can and do make a nation great. It is not only the Billy Grahams of America, the Lottie Moons, or the stalwart pastors, deacons, and Sunday school teachers, but it is each individual believer as we seek and serve the Lord Jesus Christ. You, the American people, make America a great nation!
EXAMPLE: Lyman Abbott (1835-1922), a great American educator and clergyman, stated, “A nation is made great, not by its fruitful acres, but by the men who cultivate them: not by its forests, but by the men who use them; not by its mines, but by the men who build and run them. America was a great land when Columbus discovered it: Americans have made a great nation.” It is sad to see in a country where the pride found in coming to a great melting pot is being reduced to diversity, factions, and victimization. It was rugged individualism whereby people coming here, for a common cause, a chance for religious freedom, that subdued the elements, pioneered a continent, molded a society of peoples from all over the world! People make America great!
Other countries look in awe and envy at our ability to produce, for not only our needs, but also the needs for much of the entire world! California alone can feed most of the globe! American ingenuity and initiative are known across the world. How is that possible?
III. Third, let’s look at the greatness of America’s freedom!
1. My country, ’tis of thee, sweet land of liberty, of thee I sing! Land where my fathers died, land of the pilgrims’ pride; from every mountainside, let freedom ring! America’s freedom is the political expression of God’s righteousness! The Psalmist reminds us that “The LORD loves righteousness and justice; the earth is full of his unfailing love.” (Psalms 33:5) Freedom is found only when folks realize it comes from the Lord! Martin Luther King Jr. kindled the conscience of the American people concerning this freedom in his “I Have A Dream Speech.” He reminded us that “when we allow freedom to ring, when we let it ring from every village and every hamlet, from every State and every city, we will be able to speed up that day when all of God's children, black men and white men, Jews and Gentiles, Protestants and Catholics, will be able to join hands and sing in the words of the old Negro spiritual, ‘Free at last! Free at last! Thank God Almighty, we are free at last!’” Patrick Henry would admonish the Continental Congress with these words, “Is life so dear, or peace so sweet, as to be purchased at the price of chains and slavery? Forbid
it, Almighty God! I know not what course others may take; but as for me, give me liberty or give me death!” It is in this foundational belief that God alone has given us the freedoms we enjoy: the ability to say what we want, possess what we desire, and worship where we will! America is only as great as her freedom!
EXAMPLE: When the world has needed America, we have responded. Whether it is from the Halls of Montezuma, to shores of Tripoli, or on to the sands of Iwa Jima and Iraq. When the world cries out in hunger, the American people respond! Americans give 90% of all donations to the world’s charities. You cannot name for me another nation that responds as America does to the needs of the world! All of the blessings we have, all the blessings we share, are from the great spiritual heritage that built and designed America! Thomas Jefferson exclaimed, “My God! How little do my countrymen know what precious blessings they are in possession of, and which no other people on earth enjoy!” America is great because of the freedoms it enjoys, but where did those freedom ideals come from?
Plato warned us in his writing that unrestricted democracy must result in dictatorship. Why would he say that? Plato knew that at the core of freedom is the individual and if the individual does not have a personal foundation established in firm moral and righteous convictions, then democracy will fail.
IV. Finally, let’s look at the greatness of America’s relationship to God!
1. Praise the Power that hath made and preserved us a nation… And this be our motto: “In God is our trust.” Our founding fathers established a new ideal: freedom of religion, not from religion! No nation stands long or is remembered that does not have God as its ruler. Notice the writer declared, “Blessed is the nation whose God is the LORD, the people he chose for his inheritance.” (Psalms 33:12) Rome fell, Greece fell, and Nazi Germany fell. Imperialist Japan, Iraq, and the Soviet Union and others have and will fall and fade away if God is not their king. Israel itself is a prime example of a nation that has constantly forsaken God and paid the price of its disobedience. America today suffers because it has forgotten its Creator and king. When we look at Scripture, we find the panoply of God working to bring mankind back into personal relationship with Him--kings or countries, nations or persons were to follow God and His ideals. Americans had the gall to wonder, “If Christ is the one who makes men free, how could a mere earthly king force free men to live and die for him?” This ideal was the spark, the flame, the beacon of light that ignited a great American republic into being! America is only as great as its relationship to the Lord is strong!
EXAMPLE: We have forgotten why people fled to America. Most came not for profit. They came to be able to live their lives worshipping God without the governmental interference. No other American Denomination, other than Baptists, has suffered so much to gain freedom in America. Baptists made up the majority of Washington’s army that crossed the Delaware River and stayed with him through the horrible winter at Valley Forge where men starved and froze to death. It was because of John Leland (a Baptist preacher) and John Hart (a Baptist layman) that we enjoy religious liberty. These two Godly men worked to include the first amendment to the Constitution guaranteeing our individual religious liberty. They found this Godly notion so pervasive that they persuaded Jefferson and Madison to put religious freedom first, before speech, press, the right to assemble, or petition the government! Jefferson, after being convinced by Leland to include religious liberty, wrote, “Can the liberties of a nation be secure, when we have removed the conviction that these liberties are the gift of God?” America is great because of her relationship to God!
Conclusion:
The well-known French philosopher Alexis de Tocqueville wrote in 1840 of his observations of America as he traveled through this great country. He said, “For the Americans, the ideas of Christianity and liberty are so completely mingled that it is impossible to get them to conceive of the one without the other!” Daniel Webster in 1851 affirmed the need and role of God in government when he wrote: “Let the religious elements in man’s nature be neglected, let him be influenced by no higher motives than low self-interest, and subjected to no stronger restraint than the limits of civil authority, and he becomes the creature of selfish passion or blind fanaticism.” Charles Malik, one-time ambassador to the UN, related, “The good (in the united States) would never have come into being without the blessing and power of Jesus Christ... I know how embarrassing this matter is to politicians, bureaucrats, businessmen and cynics: but, whatever these honored men think, the irrefutable truth is that the soul of America is at best and highest, Christian.”
America is great because of its land, its people, and its freedoms, but America is truly great because of God’s grace. Never forget that. We are only what we are in the grace of Jesus Christ.
---
Pastor Lee Hemen has been the outspoken pastor of the same church for 25 years in Vancouver, WA. He writes regularly on spirituality and conservative causes and maintains several web blogs. This article is copyrighted © 2010 by Lee Hemen and is the sole property of Lee Hemen, and may not be used unless you quote the entire article and have my permission. You now have my permission…
By Pastor Lee Hemen
July 4, 2010 AM
There are cynics today who demand that we, as Americans, ask ourselves, “What’s so great about America?” They think that because we live in a country of plenty where over half the world goes to bed hungry, cold, and without proper shelter, that we should not enjoy the freedoms we do in this nation. Homemakers in much of the world will never see in their entire lifetime the abundance and quality of food which the American housewife can choose from in one trip to the grocery store. To be able to step into a Safeway for them would be a dream come true! Is this land of plenty, this freedom of ours merely by chance? Should we ask ourselves, “What’s so great about America?”
Benjamin Franklin was leaving the Constitutional Convention and a lady stopped him and asked, “Well, Dr. Franklin, what have you given us?” He replied, “You have a republic, Madame, if you can keep it.” America was formed as a constitutional republic with individual liberty, elected representatives and limited government. America was to have a government where individuals would enjoy pursuits of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. Each inalienable right endowed by the Creator. After God, the individual was to come first. What makes America great? The Psalmist relates to us why--
READ: Psalm 33
Before we celebrate our Nation’s independence with fireworks, picnics, and singing patriotic songs—we should pause to think about what’s so great about America. Join me as we rediscover the unprecedented abundance we enjoy and the freedoms that are the envy of the world!
I. First, let’s look at the greatness of America’s land!
1. This land is your land, this land is my land… this land was made for you and me! Our forefathers looked across this land of abundance and saw an opportunity, a Manifest Destiny, by God to grow a great nation. Some would have you believe that it is the land itself the earth that has made America great! They would have you worship Mother Earth instead of the One we should give our thanks. The Psalmist tells us that, “By the word of the LORD were the heavens made, their starry host by the breath of his mouth.” (Psalms 33:6) and we discover throughout the Bible that “the earth is the Lord’s.” America’s rich natural resources have made her great—rich with oil, ore, timber, water, the soil and the climate all have combined to make her great from sea to shining sea! Why then are there other nations which have been blessed with fine resources that have not risen to such greatness? It therefore must more than just the good earth we as Americans enjoy, more than the greatness of America’s land.
EXAMPLE: One of the things that motivated families to move westward across this grand continent was its natural resources. It was the notion of a Manifest Destiny where one could have their own place in the sun, the idea where families could freely own their own land to grow abundant crops in the rich untouched soil. One of the most moving patriotic hymns cites the beauty of America--a beauty that all who have traveled across this continent surely recognize as created by God Himself! Katherine Lee Bates stood atop Pike’s Peak and scanned the sweep of the land, then wrote of purple mountain majesties and amber waves of grain. She concluded that God had shed His grace on this land--a vast unexplored wilderness that, in an astonishingly short period, grew into a great nation!
There is more to any nation than just the land, there is also a quantifying factor that makes any nation great. And that factor is a nation’s people.
II. Secondly, let’s look at the greatness of the American people!
1. 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! At our Nation’s core is the notion that a nation is only as great as its people are! If a nation’s people fail to keep her safe, free, and focused on God, then a nation ceases to be a great nation. This is why others have said that it is America’s people, which have made her great! As we look at Psalm 33, we cannot but come away with the fact that people make a nation grand. The Psalmist states, “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.” (Psalms 33:13-16) Individuals can and do make a nation great. It is not only the Billy Grahams of America, the Lottie Moons, or the stalwart pastors, deacons, and Sunday school teachers, but it is each individual believer as we seek and serve the Lord Jesus Christ. You, the American people, make America a great nation!
EXAMPLE: Lyman Abbott (1835-1922), a great American educator and clergyman, stated, “A nation is made great, not by its fruitful acres, but by the men who cultivate them: not by its forests, but by the men who use them; not by its mines, but by the men who build and run them. America was a great land when Columbus discovered it: Americans have made a great nation.” It is sad to see in a country where the pride found in coming to a great melting pot is being reduced to diversity, factions, and victimization. It was rugged individualism whereby people coming here, for a common cause, a chance for religious freedom, that subdued the elements, pioneered a continent, molded a society of peoples from all over the world! People make America great!
Other countries look in awe and envy at our ability to produce, for not only our needs, but also the needs for much of the entire world! California alone can feed most of the globe! American ingenuity and initiative are known across the world. How is that possible?
III. Third, let’s look at the greatness of America’s freedom!
1. My country, ’tis of thee, sweet land of liberty, of thee I sing! Land where my fathers died, land of the pilgrims’ pride; from every mountainside, let freedom ring! America’s freedom is the political expression of God’s righteousness! The Psalmist reminds us that “The LORD loves righteousness and justice; the earth is full of his unfailing love.” (Psalms 33:5) Freedom is found only when folks realize it comes from the Lord! Martin Luther King Jr. kindled the conscience of the American people concerning this freedom in his “I Have A Dream Speech.” He reminded us that “when we allow freedom to ring, when we let it ring from every village and every hamlet, from every State and every city, we will be able to speed up that day when all of God's children, black men and white men, Jews and Gentiles, Protestants and Catholics, will be able to join hands and sing in the words of the old Negro spiritual, ‘Free at last! Free at last! Thank God Almighty, we are free at last!’” Patrick Henry would admonish the Continental Congress with these words, “Is life so dear, or peace so sweet, as to be purchased at the price of chains and slavery? Forbid
it, Almighty God! I know not what course others may take; but as for me, give me liberty or give me death!” It is in this foundational belief that God alone has given us the freedoms we enjoy: the ability to say what we want, possess what we desire, and worship where we will! America is only as great as her freedom!
EXAMPLE: When the world has needed America, we have responded. Whether it is from the Halls of Montezuma, to shores of Tripoli, or on to the sands of Iwa Jima and Iraq. When the world cries out in hunger, the American people respond! Americans give 90% of all donations to the world’s charities. You cannot name for me another nation that responds as America does to the needs of the world! All of the blessings we have, all the blessings we share, are from the great spiritual heritage that built and designed America! Thomas Jefferson exclaimed, “My God! How little do my countrymen know what precious blessings they are in possession of, and which no other people on earth enjoy!” America is great because of the freedoms it enjoys, but where did those freedom ideals come from?
Plato warned us in his writing that unrestricted democracy must result in dictatorship. Why would he say that? Plato knew that at the core of freedom is the individual and if the individual does not have a personal foundation established in firm moral and righteous convictions, then democracy will fail.
IV. Finally, let’s look at the greatness of America’s relationship to God!
1. Praise the Power that hath made and preserved us a nation… And this be our motto: “In God is our trust.” Our founding fathers established a new ideal: freedom of religion, not from religion! No nation stands long or is remembered that does not have God as its ruler. Notice the writer declared, “Blessed is the nation whose God is the LORD, the people he chose for his inheritance.” (Psalms 33:12) Rome fell, Greece fell, and Nazi Germany fell. Imperialist Japan, Iraq, and the Soviet Union and others have and will fall and fade away if God is not their king. Israel itself is a prime example of a nation that has constantly forsaken God and paid the price of its disobedience. America today suffers because it has forgotten its Creator and king. When we look at Scripture, we find the panoply of God working to bring mankind back into personal relationship with Him--kings or countries, nations or persons were to follow God and His ideals. Americans had the gall to wonder, “If Christ is the one who makes men free, how could a mere earthly king force free men to live and die for him?” This ideal was the spark, the flame, the beacon of light that ignited a great American republic into being! America is only as great as its relationship to the Lord is strong!
EXAMPLE: We have forgotten why people fled to America. Most came not for profit. They came to be able to live their lives worshipping God without the governmental interference. No other American Denomination, other than Baptists, has suffered so much to gain freedom in America. Baptists made up the majority of Washington’s army that crossed the Delaware River and stayed with him through the horrible winter at Valley Forge where men starved and froze to death. It was because of John Leland (a Baptist preacher) and John Hart (a Baptist layman) that we enjoy religious liberty. These two Godly men worked to include the first amendment to the Constitution guaranteeing our individual religious liberty. They found this Godly notion so pervasive that they persuaded Jefferson and Madison to put religious freedom first, before speech, press, the right to assemble, or petition the government! Jefferson, after being convinced by Leland to include religious liberty, wrote, “Can the liberties of a nation be secure, when we have removed the conviction that these liberties are the gift of God?” America is great because of her relationship to God!
Conclusion:
The well-known French philosopher Alexis de Tocqueville wrote in 1840 of his observations of America as he traveled through this great country. He said, “For the Americans, the ideas of Christianity and liberty are so completely mingled that it is impossible to get them to conceive of the one without the other!” Daniel Webster in 1851 affirmed the need and role of God in government when he wrote: “Let the religious elements in man’s nature be neglected, let him be influenced by no higher motives than low self-interest, and subjected to no stronger restraint than the limits of civil authority, and he becomes the creature of selfish passion or blind fanaticism.” Charles Malik, one-time ambassador to the UN, related, “The good (in the united States) would never have come into being without the blessing and power of Jesus Christ... I know how embarrassing this matter is to politicians, bureaucrats, businessmen and cynics: but, whatever these honored men think, the irrefutable truth is that the soul of America is at best and highest, Christian.”
America is great because of its land, its people, and its freedoms, but America is truly great because of God’s grace. Never forget that. We are only what we are in the grace of Jesus Christ.
---
Pastor Lee Hemen has been the outspoken pastor of the same church for 25 years in Vancouver, WA. He writes regularly on spirituality and conservative causes and maintains several web blogs. This article is copyrighted © 2010 by Lee Hemen and is the sole property of Lee Hemen, and may not be used unless you quote the entire article and have my permission. You now have my permission…
Comments