It was a prayer in desperate days—Psalm 80. A patriot implores Almighty God for Israel’s spiritual restoration and national revival.
1 Give ear, O Shepherd of Israel,
You who lead Joseph like a flock;
You who dwell between the cherubim, shine forth!...
3 Restore us, O God;
Cause Your face to shine,
And we shall be saved!
The psalmist was heartsick to see that God, the Founder and Protector of Israel, was removing the hedge from around His people.
12 Why have You broken down her [Israel’s] hedges,
So that all who pass by the way pluck her fruit?
This is a warning to the United States or to any country.
Will God impeach America? I say with a broken heart that our God-blessed America is sick unto death. We are in a moral freefall. When we hit bottom, there will be no repair. America will become a molded crust in history’s garbage can if something radical is not done quickly.
America mirrors Israel in four significant ways:
GREAT NATIONAL DESPAIR
Characterized by—
Spiritual Sterility
4 O Lord God of hosts,
How long will You be angry
Against the prayer of Your people?
People were praying, but they were unrepentant! So God was not answering. In fact, their prayers made God angry. Religion without righteousness is repugnant. The prayers of unrepentant people are an insult to God.
America is praying. We have a National Day of Prayer. Dignitaries often gather in Washington to pray. Yet cesspools of iniquity are full and running over while we pray, “God, bless us. Just bless us, anyhow.” God is not going to do that.
Personal Sorrow
5 You have fed them with the bread of tears,
And given them tears to drink in great measure.
Sorrow follows sin as night follows day. “When the wicked bear rule, the people mourn” (Proverbs 29:2). We’re seeing that in America. Oceans of tears, rivers of blood, and seas of sweat may be the price America will pay.
National Shame
6 You have made us a strife to our neighbors,
And our enemies laugh among themselves.
In many parts of the world, America is known as “The Great Satan,” no longer respected for her ideals, leadership or moral strength.
GLORIOUS NATIONAL DESIGN
Look at what God had done for Israel.
A Nation Divinely Planted
8 You have brought a vine out of Egypt; [God is calling His people a vine.]
You have cast out the nations, and planted it.
God brought them out of the tormenting chains of Egyptian slavery and planted them in a new land, Canaan.
9 You prepared room for it [the vine],
And caused it to take deep root,
And it filled the land.
There is a striking parallel between Israel of old and America today. No nation ever had such a Christian beginning as America.
I believe God Himself placed the American dream was placed in the hearts of our Founding Fathers. The original colonies were founded because of the Christian faith.
Israel, a vine planted by God, forgot Him, and judgment came. America was divinely planted. We sang, “Our fathers’ God, to Thee, Author of liberty, to Thee we sing. Long may our land be bright with freedom’s holy light. Protect us by Thy might, great God, our King.” Our King ruled in the Heavens. Our forefathers believed in separation of church and state, rightly understood, but never for a moment in the separation of God and government.
Divinely Prospered
10 The hills were covered with its shadow,
And the mighty cedars with its boughs.
11 She sent out her boughs to the Sea,
And her branches to the River.
Taught honor, the dignity of work, and the right of personal ownership of property, Israel prospered. The fruit of that prosperity brought God glory.
15 And the vineyard which Your right hand has planted,
And the branch that You made strong for Yourself.
America has prospered like no other nation. God did not bless America so we could say, “All that matters is the stock market.” Our prosperity was for His glory.
Divinely Protected
God planted Israel, His vine, and put a hedge around it. Their first line of defense was not alliances or weapons, but God Himself.
God planted America and put a hedge around it. In a war-torn world, He protected America. Compare America to what happened in England, France, Germany, Italy, Japan and Korea. We saw the “great God, our King” protect us by His might.
GRAVE NATIONAL DANGER
12 “Why hast Thou then broken down her hedges?”
We are now at a point of grave national danger. As with Israel, God has already removed the hedge He once placed around America.
External Danger from Her Enemies
12 “so that all they which pass by the way do pluck her”
Pick up any newspaper. America, the vine that was blessed, has been plucked. China, for example, in the 1990s plucked the vineyard when they were given our nuclear secrets. We spent billions shoring up Middle-Eastern countries only to have terrorists today confiscating our weapons, taking them for their use.
Internal Danger from Corruption
13 “the boar out of the woods uproots it”
A hog doesn’t just eat the fruit—it eats the root (v. 13). A tidal wave of immorality is destroying America’s roots. Why are we shocked by school shootings? Prayer is out, policemen are in. Bibles are out, values clarification is in. The Ten Commandments are out, rape and murder are in. Creation out; evolution in. Corporal punishment out; disrespect and rebellion in. Traditional values out; unwed motherhood in. Abstinence out; condoms and abortion in.
Eternal Danger from God Himself
God is not just America's only hope, He is our biggest threat.
16 It is burned with fire, it is cut down; They perish at the rebuke of Your
countenance.
God Himself is now bringing judgment like an ax laid to the root of a tree. God's judgment is like a consuming fire. God blessed America, but now America says, “God, we don't want You!” We expelled Him from our schools and government, and He is about ready to impeach America.
This is what Satan has wanted to do for a long time. He's been walking around saying, “How can I get in? I can't get in.” But now the hedge is down. He can get in—and has. How else do you explain why we are in such chaos?
Many of us are shell-shocked. Bad news has been coming at us through a fire hose. It's hard to build a dam when you're floating downstream.
Friend, there won't an America if we don't take this nation back.
GRACIOUS NATIONAL DELIVERANCE
It’s not too late. Note the prayer of this patriot:
14 Return, we beseech You, O God of hosts;
Look down from heaven and see,
And visit this vine
15 And the vineyard which Your right hand has planted,
And the branch that You made strong for Yourself.
What must we do for God to restore us?
#1: Confess up.
Sin caused God to take down the hedge (v. 16). We must confess and turn from our wicked ways
#2: Speak up.
Satan's strategy is to keep good people silent in evil times.
17 Let Your hand be upon the man of Your right hand,
Upon the son of man whom You made strong for Yourself.
Prophetically, this psalm proclaims, “Our hope is in the Son of God.” The Church is not the master of the state nor the servant of the state. The Church is the conscience of the state. In the name of Jesus, we must come out from under the rock, stand on the Rock, and speak up. Boldly proclaim what God’s Word says about today’s issues.
#3: Stand up.
18 Then we will not turn away from You;
revive us, and we will call on Your name.
We must come out from under the rock and stand upon The Rock.
#4: Look up.
19 Restore us, O Lord God of hosts;
Cause Your face to shine,
And we shall be saved!
Only God can deliver us. We must seek His face, returning to God with weeping, fasting, praying. God doesn't have to route revival through Washington.
It's time God's people were filled with a holy resolve: “Oh, God, here's your vine. We're in great despair. There was a glorious design! Lord, there's a grave danger! But give us deliverance, please, O God.”
It is time for God to work once again in America. Look up, confess up, speak up, stand up.
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