Introduction: There are four thoughts that come to mind as we mediate on Psalm 60:
I. God is merciful, gracious and patient with everyone.
Deu 4:31 For the LORD your God is a merciful God; he will not abandon or destroy you or forget the covenant with your forefathers, which he confirmed to them by oath.
Dan 9:9 The Lord our God is merciful and forgiving, even though we have rebelled against him.
Psa 89:1 I will sing of the Lord's great love forever; with my mouth I will make your faithfulness known through all generations.
Lam 3:21-23 Yet this I call to mind and therefore I have hope: Because of the Lord's great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.
II. However, God's patience is not infinite. Eventually there comes a time when God rejects nations that reject Him.
Psalm 60:1 and 10: You have rejected us, O God, and burst forth upon us; you have been angry...Is it not you, O God, you who have rejected us and no longer go out with our armies?
2 Ki 17:15-20 They rejected his decrees and the covenant he had made with their fathers and the warnings he had given them. They followed worthless idols and themselves became worthless. They imitated the nations around them although the LORD had ordered them, "Do not do as they do," and they did the things the LORD had forbidden them to do. They forsook all the commands of the LORD their God and made for themselves two idols cast in the shape of calves, and an Asherah pole. They bowed down to all the starry hosts, and they worshiped Baal. They sacrificed their sons and daughters in the fire. They practiced divination and sorcery and sold themselves to do evil in the eyes of the LORD, provoking him to anger. So the LORD was very angry with Israel and removed them from his presence. Only the tribe of Judah was left, and even Judah did not keep the commands of the LORD their God. They followed the practices Israel had introduced. Therefore the LORD rejected all the people of Israel; he afflicted them and gave them into the hands of plunderers, until he thrust them from his presence.
Jer 15:6 You have rejected me," declares the LORD. "You keep on backsliding. So I will lay hands on you and destroy you; I can no longer show compassion.
III. Bad things happen to nations that reject the LORD.
Psa 60:2-3, 10 You have shaken the land and torn it open; mend its fractures, for it is quaking. You have shown your people desperate times; you have given us wine that makes us stagger...Is it not you, O God, you who have rejected us and no longer go out with our armies?
It is quite obvious that nations who exalt Jesus Christ prosper, and vice versa. "Blessed is the nation whose God is the LORD" (Ps. 33:12). At one time Europe was the most Christian place in the world. Simultaneously, Europe was the most powerful and advanced nation. Europe NOW has largely rejected the LORD, and it has declined greatly in power and influence. At one time Great Britain was the most Christian place in the world. The British empire has NOW largely turned away from Christ, and its fortunes have fallen. The most Christian nation today on the face of the earth is the United States of America, and it is the most powerful and blessed nation. The Communists, the Hindus, the Buddhists, the Muslim nations...they have all rejected Christ, and their nations are second rate, and their populations live in poverty.
"Righteousness exalts a nation, but sin is a reproach to any people" Proverbs 14:34.
When a nation rejects God, God rejects the nation. When God rejects the nation, bad things happen.
America needs to get a bucket of cold water in the face. America needs to wake up, because we are now in the process of rejecting God.
Once a month the PCA pastors in this area get together to have breakfast at Wally's downtown. Sometimes I arrive early, and buy a USA Today newspaper. Last Wednesday's paper had a disturbing article titled: "Survey: USA's Protestant majority might soon be no more." The Article went on to say that the percentage of Protestants in America has been falling rapidly. Even including Mormons as Protestants leaves us at less than %52, and still going down. The article also said that the percentage of Americans who claim no religion at all has been rapidly increasing to %14. %27 of young adults under the age of 24 say they have no religion. The percentage of Muslims, Buddhists and Hindus has more than doubled since 1993.
The evidence that America is in the process of rejecting God is plain to see:
America has launched an all-out attack on God's ideals for marriage and the family. More and more young people have chosen to live together with getting married. Those who do get married often divorce. Husbands and wives are increasingly unfaithful to each other. So-called gay marriage is rising rapidly.
America has become hard-hearted about babies. About one third of all children conceived in America are killed in the womb before they can be born, over a million every year. A large percentage of America's children grow up in single parent homes, because they have been abandoned by their fathers.
Americans have debased and abused their sexuality. Stuff we used to be ashamed of now seen everyday on TV and in the movies. Lyrics that are demeaning to women, and rauchy radio programs are popular. America's little girls have taken Madonna and Britney Spears for roll models. Chastity and modesty used to be common, but now they are rare.
We are swimming in a sea of lies. People used to say, "A man's word is his bond." Now we say, "Trust, but verify."
Almost every advertisement you see on TV is a big lie. Buy this pill, and you will lose weight and be beautiful...Buy this car and you find fulfillment...Send me $99 for my get rich quick video tapes, and you will be a millionaire in a year or two...Send me $19.99 for my blessed prayer oil, and your illnesses will be cured...and so on.
People are in debt, and many people refuse to pay their debts. Loan defaults and bankruptcies are at an all time high. Employers lie to employees, and vice versa. Politicians lie all the time. It is getting hard to believe anything anyone says about anything. Our motto is "do unto others before they do unto you."
The concept of the "separation of Church and State" has become so engrained in the minds of Americans that we are in danger of losing the Pledge of Allegiance, the public display of the Ten Commandments, nativity scenes, and "in God we trust" on our money. Public school teachers are not allowed to display Bibles on their desks. School children who write essays on Christian themes are likely to have their essays handed back to be re-written. The fact that God created the world may not be mentioned in a public school science class. The Supreme Court and the ACLU are on a crusade to eliminate the influence of the Christian Faith in the public arena.
As I noted earlier, Americans are increasingly abandoning Biblical Christianity for false religions, or for no religion at all. According to a recent poll by Barna Research Institute, only %7 of Americans believe in conservative, biblical Christianity.
"Righteousness exalts a nation, but sin is a reproach to any people" Proverbs 14:34. When nations reject God, God rejects nations. When God rejects a nation, bad things happen. America needs to turn around, and turn back to God.
IV. Now for the good news! When nations repent, God delights to forgive and restore.
God took great delight in restoring the nation of Israel.
Psa 60:6-8 God has spoken from his sanctuary: "In triumph I will parcel out Shechem and measure off the Valley of Succoth. Gilead is mine, and Manasseh is mine; Ephraim is my helmet, Judah my scepter. Moab is my washbasin, upon Edom I toss my sandal; over Philistia I shout in triumph."
God speaks here, and joyfully says he will be good to the nation of Israel, North, South, East and West. He also says, in very colorful language, that He is going to soundly defeat Israel's enemies: Moab, Edom and Philistia.
God has the same approach to the other nations of the world. Do you remember the story of Jonah and the city of Ninevah (the capital of the Assyrian empire)?
Jonah 3:1 Then the word of the LORD came to Jonah a second time:
Jonah 3:2 "Go to the great city of Nineveh and proclaim to it the message I give you."
Jonah 3:3 Jonah obeyed the word of the LORD and went to Nineveh. Now Nineveh was a very important city--a visit required three days.
Jonah 3:4 On the first day, Jonah started into the city. He proclaimed: "Forty more days and Nineveh will be overturned."
Jonah 3:5 The Ninevites believed God. They declared a fast, and all of them, from the greatest to the least, put on sackcloth.
Jonah 3:6 When the news reached the king of Nineveh, he rose from his throne, took off his royal robes, covered himself with sackcloth and sat down in the dust.
Jonah 3:7 Then he issued a proclamation in Nineveh: "By the decree of the king and his nobles: Do not let any man or beast, herd or flock, taste anything; do not let them eat or drink.
Jonah 3:8 But let man and beast be covered with sackcloth. Let everyone call urgently on God. Let them give up their evil ways and their violence.
Jonah 3:9 Who knows? God may yet relent and with compassion turn from his fierce anger so that we will not perish."
Jonah 3:10 When God saw what they did and how they turned from their evil ways, he had compassion and did not bring upon them the destruction he had threatened.
Conclusion:
CAN God still bless America? YES! God is merciful and gracious!
WILL God continue to bless America? I don't know.
The trend away from God and away from His laws is looking pretty grim at this moment in America's history. But God is merciful, and it is never too late to pray. It is never too late to repent.
Pray that God would bring repentance and revival. Pray that people would turn away from sin. Pray that people will turn from their idols to faith in Jesus Christ. Pray that God would use the Church to be an instrument of His love and peace, and that we would be salt and light for our country. Pray for God to graciously send us a revival. Amen.