WATCHWORD:
What sorrow awaits the unjust judges
and those who issue unfair laws.
2 They deprive the poor of justice
and deny the rights of the needy among my people.
They prey on widows
and take advantage of orphans.
3 What will you do when I punish you,
when I send disaster upon you from a distant land?
To whom will you turn for help?
Where will your treasures be safe?
4 You will stumble along as prisoners
or lie among the dead.
But even then the Lord’s anger will not be satisfied.
His fist is still poised to strike. Isaiah 10:1-4
Meditation:
Without getting too politically incorrect, I wonder who Isaiah the prophet is cautioning about in today’s world? With needs and desperate times growing throughout our country, with the pandemic still expanding in areas and the death toll rising, to whom do our citizens turn to, count on, for help? Where are our leaders? They are home, enjoying their families, or on the golf course or, simply, ignoring the growing need that is right there, before their eyes.
Are we getting a taste of what we read about in the Holy Bible, the inflictions visited upon tribes and peoples, and the innocents? I wonder.
I depart from the usual meditation, and offer this answer, written by Moses, about 1406 BC, to remind the people (and us) of what God has done and to encourage them to rededicate their lives to Him:
Deuteronomy 11:8-21 — 8 “Therefore, be careful to obey every command I am giving you today, so you may have strength to go in and take over the land you are about to enter. 9 If you obey, you will enjoy a long life in the land the Lord swore to give to your ancestors and to you, their descendants—a land flowing with milk and honey! 10 For the land you are about to enter and take over is not like the land of Egypt from which you came, where you planted your seed and made irrigation ditches with your foot as in a vegetable garden. 11 Rather, the land you will soon take over is a land of hills and valleys with plenty of rain— 12 a land that the Lord your God cares for. He watches over it through each season of the year!
13 “If you carefully obey the commands I am giving you today, and if you love the Lord your God and serve him with all your heart and soul, 14 then he will send the rains in their proper seasons—the early and late rains—so you can bring in your harvests of grain, new wine, and olive oil. 15 He will give you lush pastureland for your livestock, and you yourselves will have all you want to eat.
16 “But be careful. Don’t let your heart be deceived so that you turn away from the Lord and serve and worship other gods. 17 If you do, the Lord’s anger will burn against you. He will shut up the sky and hold back the rain, and the ground will fail to produce its harvests. Then you will quickly die in that good land the Lord is giving you.
18 “So commit yourselves wholeheartedly to these words of mine. Tie them to your hands and wear them on your forehead as reminders. 19 Teach them to your children. Talk about them when you are at home and when you are on the road, when you are going to bed and when you are getting up. 20 Write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates, 21 so that as long as the sky remains above the earth, you and your children may flourish in the land the Lord swore to give your ancestors.
As I read this, I think about “One nation, under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.” That is a dynamic statement. It isn’t a statement of past history, it is a statement of current mission, the goal that we continually work toward, aspire to and prayerfully take steps toward.
One nation under God. That is not lost in the great span of things. That’s something worth fighting for, working for, sacrificing for. It’s something that we expect our leaders to be dedicated to. But, more than that, it’s what each one of us should expect of ourselves. Amen?
Prayers for Our Country:
Dear God, I pray You will be put in Your rightful position in this country. Give the leaders of this nation the wisdom and integrity to lead our nation in the best direction. Give each one discernment I pray, when making decisions or drawing up the legislation and laws that they pass. And may the decisions that they reach be godly and wise.
As the days become increasingly dark in our country, I pray that the light of Your love will shine on this land. May peace reign in our nation and protect us from those that would seek our downfall, I pray.
I really thank You that you have placed me in this land and I am grateful that I am a citizen of this nation. Thank You, Lord, for my country. In Jesus’ name. Amen.
O Precious King, the world and everything in it belongs to you. Father God, we come to you because the people of this nation and everything in it belong to you. We are not here by accident. You are the one who set us in this nation at this particular time for the glory of your name. But Father, people in this country are turning against each other. We no longer live like brothers and sisters. Brother has turned against brother and child against parent. But your word says that if we humble ourselves and turn from our wicked ways you will heal our land. Lord, heal our hearts, heal our land. Remove bitterness and resentment from our hearts and help us to live as brothers and sisters. In Jesus’ name, Amen.
