our ancestors have told us -
the work You accomplished in their days,
in days long ago
It makes me sad to see that so many in our nation are no longer remembering what God has done for us. Each generation before us was doing a pretty good job of telling the next generation all that God had done for the good ol' USA. We could say with the Psalmist "You are my King, my God, Who ordains victories."
It is a sad day.
I'm afraid the fate of Israel seen in verses 9-16.
Our response needs to be what we see in verses 17-18
All this has happened to us, but we have not forgotten You or betrayed Your covenant,
Our hearts have not turned back; our steps have not strayed from Your path,
The only way for our nation to turn around is for God's people to live and act and speak like His children. We need to pray for our country. We need to be active participants in the political process (without being hateful!) But mostly we need God to "Rise up! Help us! Redeem us because of Your faithful love." v.24
1 comment:
I love math. I love it because there's always a right answer, set parameters, certainty (unless you are studying non-Euclidean geometry, which totally throws out the window all the constants I know and memorized, like a triangle having 180 degrees, but I digress). In the cause and effect problems, the "if/then" ("If John sells apples for 5 cents, and David sells oranges for 8 cents, and Mary has 78 cents, then what is the most apples and oranges Mary can buy?") we can come up with the correct answer. Most people live their lives with the "if/then" mentality of "If I do this, then the result is...." whether that be good or bad. We expect that we will be rewarded for our good, the evil people will be punished for doing wrong. How many of us don't get the feeling of satisfaction when we see someone who has sped by us on the interstate pulled over by the highway patrol? That's justification for their bad actions, and we get to cruise on by, going the speed limit, as they get a ticket....
So when I read in Psalm 44, verses 17-18 "All this is come upon us; yet have we not forgotten thee, neither have we dealt falsely in thy covenant. Our heart is not turned back, neither have our steps declined from thy way" I thought "Yeah, you must have done something wrong for God to turn His back on you!" But that is the side of me that sees scales always balancing, balance sheets always being equal, and every action being rewarded or punished immediately.
God has a purpose and it's not for me to question. My "job" as it were, is to listen to what God teaches through the Bible, through circumstances in my life and in the world, and to pray to remain in His perfect (though not always seen) will.
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