September 20
Nehemiah 8:13-10:39
We have all heard the terms used concerning our nation: American exceptionalism, American greatness, Leaders of the free world, The greatest nation that ever lived, etc. The 1619 Project is widely being accepted as a new teaching in some of our nation’s schools to reteach our nation’s history through the eyes of slavery. Many reject this as an attempt to rewrite our nation’s history. I reject the new re-writing of our history as well, but we should all pause for a moment and realize that we already have rewritten it. Where is God in our history books? Nowhere! Lifted up are the contributions of individuals and groups of individuals, but absent is God’s providential hand and His continuous extension of mercy and grace to our nation, not because we earned it, but because He lovingly bestowed it. The early Pilgrims loved God, though they are deemed hateful by current rewriters of history, as they are so wrongly presented in movies, etc. They were on the brink of death and extinction were it not for God’s hand in their survival through that first year, culminating in Thanksgiving. We were a ragtag group of separatists taking on the most powerful nation in the world, yet we supernaturally prevailed. The stories of God’s protection over George Washington and their military victories are remarkable, but absent from our history books. We came under much attack externally in those early years along with internally in the Civil War, but again, God’s hand was upon us. So we elevate everyone and everything else in our nation’s history and lift ourselves up as somehow special. The sheer arrogance of our stance is astounding. It was God, it is God, and it will always be God, for as long as He chooses to lovingly allow our nation to continue. To deem ourselves worthy or deserving of this is amazing.
As we go through the history of the nation of Israel, take note that in Nehemiah 9, the word “give” is used 16 times. In this beautiful prayer they acknowledge that it was God that provided (Jehovah Jireh), and it was not due to their innate goodness or from anything that they earned or deserved. What is also amazing is how often people state that they prefer the God of the New Testament over the God of the New Testament as though they are not One in the same. Over and over in this prayer they thank God for His mercy despite the actions of the people. They acknowledged their own fault as they repented of the sins of the people, past and present, as we read in 9:16-17, “ “But our ancestors were proud and stubborn, and they paid no attention to your commands. They refused to obey and did not remember the miracles you had done for them. Instead, they became stubborn and appointed a leader to take them back to their slavery in Egypt. But you are a God of forgiveness, gracious and merciful, slow to become angry, and rich in unfailing love. You did not abandon them,”. And in 9:31-33, we read, “ But in your great mercy, you did not destroy them completely or abandon them forever. What a gracious and merciful God you are! “And now, our God, the great and mighty and awesome God, who keeps his covenant of unfailing love, do not let all the hardships we have suffered seem insignificant to you. Great trouble has come upon us and upon our kings and leaders and priests and prophets and ancestors—all of your people—from the days when the kings of Assyria first triumphed over us until now. Every time you punished us you were being just. We have sinned greatly, and you gave us only what we deserved.”
We now sit in a nation which lifts up every godless stance humanly possible. In fact, it is hard to imagine being much more godless than we currently are. I love my nation, but we had better open our eyes to realize who we have become. Every godless position slipped in slowly, almost imperceptibly, until it became a movement, then the norm. Pushed out was any public mention of God. In fact to lift up God’s stance is now deemed both hateful and intolerant. The only thing that saved the nation of Israel was God’s mercy and grace. The only thing that will save our nation is God’s mercy and grace. The only thing that will save any of us individually is God’s mercy and grace as we slowly meditate on Ephesians 2:8-9, (NKJV), “ For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast.” God’s story will continue to move forward with or without us personally and with or without our nation. Obedience, submission, and acknowledgment of His sovereign hand allows us to share in His blessings. Disobedience means we don’t.
Messages from Pastor Lloyd Pulley: