Clearing-the-Fog

In 1938, as storm clouds of war darkened the horizon in Europe, composer Irving Berlin sat down to write what has become a second national anthem for the United States – “God Bless America.” This song was propelled to greatness by singer Kate Smith, and now it has become a catch phrase for almost every politician and leader throughout our country. After almost every speech you will hear the catch phrase, “And God bless America!”

I was driving the other day and I saw a familiar bumper sticker that simply said, “God bless America.” I had seen such bumper stickers dozens of times before, but this one set me to thinking. I recalled the sobering fact that in Moses’ farewell address to the children of Israel God’s blessing was tied to obedience to God’s laws.

Deuteronomy 11:26–28 (NLT) – “Look, today I am giving you the choice between a blessing and a curse! ²⁷ You will be blessed if you obey the commands of the Lord your God that I am giving you today. ²⁸ But you will be cursed if you reject the commands of the Lord your God and turn away from him and worship gods you have not known before.”

God’s blessing is tied to obedience. Obedience to God’s law, however, suffers a little in American culture today. Probably suffers a lot would be a better description! As a nation we have turned away from following God and His commands.

I think I have a better phrase for our nation today. If I had the means, I would start a nationwide bumper sticker and billboard campaign with a slight alteration to this standard phrase: “God bless America.” 

I would use the “No” symbol over the word “bless” and substitute the word “forgive.” My new slogan would be “God Bless Forgive America.” Only through God’s forgiveness will we ever experience God’s blessing.

Some of the great men of faith in the Old Testament era knew this concerning the Jewish people. In Ezra 9, the priest and scribe Ezra prayed to God, confessing the sin of his nation.

Ezra 9:5-7 (NLT) – At the time of the sacrifice, I stood up from where I had sat in mourning with my clothes torn. I fell to my knees and lifted my hands to the Lord my God. ⁶ I prayed, ‘O my God, I am utterly ashamed; I blush to lift up my face to you. For our sins are piled higher than our heads, and our guilt has reached to the heavens. ⁷ From the days of our ancestors until now, we have been steeped in sin. That is why we and our kings and our priests have been at the mercy of the pagan kings of the land. We have been killed, captured, robbed, and disgraced, just as we are today.”

Take the time to read the rest of his prayer in Ezra 9:5-15. As he continued to pray, Ezra pinpointed the troubles that were plaguing the Jewish people and indicated they came about because of their sinfulness. There was nothing of the “bless us” nature in his prayers. It was simply an agonizing admission of the wickedness of the people and a plea for God’s forgiveness.

Daniel prayed a similar prayer where he also acknowledged the cause of the exile of the Jewish people to Babylon was the direct result of their sinfulness.

Daniel 9:4-8,17-19 (NLT) – “I prayed to the Lord my God and confessed: ‘O Lord, you are a great and awesome God! You always fulfill your covenant and keep your promises of unfailing love to those who love you and obey your commands. ⁵ But we have sinned and done wrong. We have rebelled against you and scorned your commands and regulations. ⁶ We have refused to listen to your servants the prophets, who spoke on your authority to our kings and princes and ancestors and to all the people of the land. ⁷ Lord, you are in the right; but as you see, our faces are covered with shame. This is true of all of us, including the people of Judah and Jerusalem and all Israel, scattered near and far, wherever you have driven us because of our disloyalty to you. ⁸ O Lord, we and our kings, princes, and ancestors are covered with shame because we have sinned against you.‘

. . . .

¹⁷ ‘O our God, hear your servant’s prayer! Listen as I plead. For your own sake, Lord, smile again on your desolate sanctuary. ¹⁸ O my God, lean down and listen to me. Open your eyes and see our despair. See how your city—the city that bears your name—lies in ruins. We make this plea, not because we deserve help, but because of your mercy. ¹⁹ O Lord, hear. O Lord, forgive. O Lord, listen and act! For your own sake, do not delay, O my God, for your people and your city bear your name.’”

As you read both Daniel’s confession and Ezra’s prayer, note how specific they were as they confessed the waywardness of the Jewish people. That ought to be a pattern for our prayers – we don’t sin generally; we sin specifically. Our prayers of confession – for ourselves and for our nation – need to be specific!

Perhaps today would be a good day to use these two prayers as templates for our own prayer of confession for our nation.  Remember . . .

We can’t pray “God bless America” until we have prayed “God forgive America!”