Blessed Is the Nation: What America Must Do to Keep God's Favor

On March 30, 1863, in the darkest hour our nation had ever faced — two years into a Civil War that would ultimately claim more lives than all other U.S. wars combined — President Abraham Lincoln wrote some of the most sobering words in American history. He called Congress to appoint a day of national humiliation, fasting, and prayer. And in that letter, he referenced a truth from the Bible that is just as urgent for us today as it was then. Lincoln wrote that "those nations only are blessed, whose God is the Lord." Two hundred and fifty years into this great American experiment, we have to ask ourselves: are we still that nation?

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A Verse That Changes Everything

In Psalm 33:12, King David — the great warrior-king of Israel and one of the most celebrated leaders in all of Scripture — wrote these words: "Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord." This wasn't written just for Israel. The Hebrew word used here for "nation" is goy — a generic term that applies to any and all nations of the world. That means this is a message for America. That means it's a message for you and me. Let's look at that verse word by word, because every single word matters. Blessed — the Hebrew word esher — means happy or favored. It's the favor and blessings of God that directly result in human flourishing. God desires human flourishing. He wants us to be blessed, favored — you can even say it simply — He wants us to be happy. Nation — again, that's any nation. This is an open offer from God to every country on earth. God — the Hebrew word Elohim, a general term for a ruler, magistrate, or judge. Lord — and here's where it gets powerful. Notice in your Bible that the word "Lord" in the Old Testament is sometimes written with all capital letters: L-O-R-D. That's not an accident. That is the Hebrew name Jehovah — Yahweh — the self-existing, eternal God of Israel. His proper name. His personal name. So the full meaning of Psalm 33:12 is this: Happy, favored, and flourishing is any nation in the world whose ruler, whose judge, is Jehovah — the Lord.

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Was America Founded as a Christian Nation?

Before we dig into what Psalm 33 calls us to do, we need to answer a question that is being hotly debated in our culture right now: Was America ever a nation whose God is the Lord? Was America founded as a Christian nation? There are voices in our media and our universities today that say absolutely not. They call people who believe in America's Christian founding ignorant — or even dangerous. But when you look at the actual biographical history — what the founders themselves wrote, said, and believed — the answer is clear. Consider the facts. In 1607, the Jamestown Colony's founding article stated their goal was "the propagating of Christian religion in the new world." In 1620, the Pilgrims' very first governing document — the Mayflower Compact — directly invoked the glory of God and the advancement of the Christian faith as the primary motivation for their settlement. In 1630, Governor John Winthrop led 700 Puritans to establish what they called "a city upon a hill" — a deeply religious society governed by the Bible. By 1776, 99% of the 2.4 million colonists were practicing Christians. And in between the colonial days and the Declaration of Independence, the First Great Awakening swept through the nation — a massive revival that taught people that all men are created equal before God. It was that evangelical truth that laid the groundwork for the Declaration of Independence itself — that all men are created equal and endowed by their Creator with unalienable rights. George Washington wrote, "To the distinguished character of a patriot, it should be our highest glory to add the more distinguished character of Christian." John Adams declared, "Our Constitution was made only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other." Benjamin Franklin, while the founders were penning the Declaration, stood and said, "I have lived, sirs, a long time, and the longer I live, the more convincing proofs I see of this truth — that God governs in the affairs of men." America was founded as a Christian nation. No matter how many letters someone has after their name, the biographical history is clear.

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Has God Blessed America?

The second question we must answer is just as obvious: Has God blessed America? Yes. Resoundingly, yes. We are the freest and most prosperous nation in human history. We have natural wealth from sea to shining sea. We have been a nation of refuge and opportunity — a beacon of liberty for immigrants from all over the world. We have used our vast resources to help stop two world wars. Our men and women have offered their very lives to defend liberty around the globe. And perhaps most significantly of all, the United States has been the greatest force for sending out missionaries the world has ever seen. Today there are 200,000 American missionaries serving around the world. The United States is the single largest contributor to worldwide missions, giving over half of all mission dollars for the entire world. God has blessed America. But the question that Psalm 33 presses us to answer is this: What must we do to maintain those blessings?

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Three Calls from Psalm 33

David gives every nation on earth three calls in Psalm 33. If we want to experience God's blessing, we must answer each one.

Call #1: Praise the Lord

Psalm 33:1-3 says, "Rejoice in the Lord, O ye righteous: for praise is comely for the upright. Praise the Lord with harp: sing unto him with the psaltery and an instrument of ten strings. Sing unto him a new song; play skilfully with a loud noise." Here's something worth knowing: you were created to praise God. All the way back in Genesis, Moses recorded that male and female were created in the image of God. We bear His image. We reflect His character, His nature, His authority. Humans have the unique capacity to love, to reason, to create, to make moral choices — and all of that mirrors what God is like. That is your purpose. Before anything else, you were made to reflect God's perfect, good character. And nations were created for the same reason — to make it possible for people to live out that God-given purpose. The first time government appears in the Bible is in Genesis 9, right after the flood, when God established human government to protect humanity, maintain order, restrain violence, and administer justice. When there is order and safety and justice, humans are free to carry out their purpose of reflecting God's glory. Fifteen times in the Psalms we read phrases like "let the nations praise God" and "let the nations be glad." If a nation wants God's blessing, it must make praise a part of its national purpose.

Call #2: Fear the Lord

Psalm 33:8 says, "Let all the earth fear the Lord: let all the inhabitants of the world stand in awe of him." Here is a definition of the fear of the Lord worth burning into your memory: The fear of the Lord is the constant awareness that everything I think, say, and do is both being observed and is being taken into account by the all-knowing, all-powerful God, judge of the universe. For the person living in rebellion against God, that is a sobering and fearful statement. But for the person walking in obedience and surrender to God, fear of the Lord simply means awe, reverence, and wonder at His holiness, mercy, and grace. Why should nations fear the Lord? Because He is the sovereign ruler over all. Psalm 33:9 says, "He spake, and it was done; he commanded, and it stood fast." Verse 11 tells us, "The counsel of the Lord standeth for ever." History is not a random sequence of events. As one powerful phrase puts it — history is His story. God is carrying out His redemptive plan through the rise and fall of every nation on earth. The book of Daniel — written by the prophet Daniel roughly 2,500 years ago — contains stunning prophecies in which God revealed to Daniel exactly how He would use the nations of the world to bring about His will. Babylon would rise and fall. Persia would rise and fall. Greece would rise and fall. Rome would rise and fall — and in the last days, come back together again. Hello, European Union. God is sovereign over all of it. Nations that do not fear the Lord cease to exist. History books are full of nations that no longer exist — nations that put their trust in their own intellect, power, and wealth. As Abraham Lincoln warned, "We have forgotten God. We have become too proud to pray to the God that made us." Nations, just like people, have lifespans. And America is not exempt.

Call #3: Trust in the Lord

Psalm 33:18-22 says, "Behold, the eye of the Lord is upon them that fear him, upon them that hope in his mercy; to deliver their soul from death, and to keep them alive in famine. Our soul waiteth for the Lord: he is our help and our shield. For our heart shall rejoice in him, because we have trusted in his holy name. Let thy mercy, O Lord, be upon us, according as we hope in thee." We don't trust in our politicians. We don't trust in our military, as mighty as it is. We don't trust in our health care, our education system, or our bank accounts. In one day, all of that could be gone. We trust in the Lord — capital L, capital O, capital R, capital D. Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord.

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It Starts With You

Nations are made up of states. States are made up of cities. Cities are made up of neighborhoods. Neighborhoods are made up of homes. And homes are filled with individuals. For our nation to be blessed by God, it has to start with an individual. It has to start with you. Here's something that will blow your mind. The Lord — Jehovah — in the Old Testament is the I AM who met Moses at the burning bush. The Lord is the shepherd of Psalm 23. The Lord is the light of Psalm 27. The Lord in Isaiah 9 is the ruler of all. The Lord in Isaiah 48 is the first and the last. Now go to the New Testament. Jesus Christ is our I AM. Jesus Christ is the Good Shepherd. Jesus Christ is the light of the world. Jesus Christ is the ruler of all, the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end, the first and the last. The Jehovah of the Old Testament — the Lord that you will be blessed to make your God — is Jesus Christ in the New Testament. The one who came to this earth, lived a perfect life for 33 years, and then went to the cross and died to pay for your sin and mine. You can have God's greatest blessing today. Blessing starts with humbling yourself and saying, "I've lived my whole life trying to be my own God. But today I want to trust in Christ."

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Putting It Into Practice

For the nation: Heed the call of the psalmist. Praise the Lord. Fear the Lord. Trust in the Lord. We will only be a great nation when we make Him the Lord of our lives. For you personally:

• Praise — Start each day by intentionally reflecting on who God is and what He has done. You were made for this.
• Fear — Live with the constant awareness that every thought, word, and action is observed by the all-knowing God. Let that produce holiness, not paralysis.
• Trust — Stop placing your ultimate confidence in politicians, institutions, or bank accounts. Put your hope in the Lord — His mercy endures forever.
• Respond to the Gospel — If you have never humbled yourself before Jesus Christ, admitted your sin, and placed your faith in Him, today is the day. The Jehovah of the Old Testament, the Christ of the New Testament, is waiting with open arms. "Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord" (Psalm 33:12) — and blessed are you when you make Jesus Christ the Lord of your life.