“Now Judah did evil in the sight of the Lord,
and they provoked him to jealousy
with their sins which they committed,
more than all that their fathers had done.”
1st Kings 14:22

Just as America has done…

Rather than chronicle again the downfall of America which has rejected her God, let us look instead on the Lord and the grief HE has endured from the gross rejection that the people have flaunted against him.

God is a loving Father. He birthed America and he raised her up with great care and great blessing. In a relatively short while, America became chief of all the nations on the face of the earth. Her prosperity was rivaled by none, she lacked for nothing. Righteousness reigned. There was no gathering that didn’t start with prayer, whether it be in the halls of Congress, the courts, the schools, every public celebration that took place all started with acknowledging the God who created her.

Great universities sprang up, and most of them were established as seminaries, Harvard, Yale, Princeton and many others founded as seminaries to train men to preach the Gospel throughout the land, and to send ministers of the Gospel as missionaries to all the countries on the earth. America was great because her God was great. She enjoyed a peace and prosperity unrivaled by any country on the face of the earth EVER. America loved her God, and God loved his people. Some of you may be too young to remember those days. I remember them well and can testify that this was the America I grew up in.

Much has been written about the final downfall of America and the judgment that will come upon her. But rather than belabor that point, let us look not at America but rather at the God who has been rejected. America has “provoked him to jealousy with their sins which they committed, more than all that their fathers had done.”

The best way to look at this is through the eyes of any parent grieving over a son or daughter who has gone wrong. There is no love like the love of a parent for his/her child. A parent has high hopes for his son or daughter, providing the training that will steer the child the right way and develop his character toward the things that will mold him for success in all aspects of life. When that son or daughter goes wrong, there is no grief like the grief of the parent who has given so much, provided so much, and tried so hard to grow him/her up in all that makes for wisdom, success and happiness.

One may think it inappropriate to ascribe human emotion to the great God, the Creator of all. But God himself has said that man is made in his image and likeness; God is love, and when his child goes wrong he too has great disappointment and heartfelt grief. He grieves much because he loves much.

If you want to see the heart of God, read the Book of Jeremiah. In this Book in the Bible, God shows the grief in his heart as Israel starts to reject him. Through the prophet Jeremiah God pleads, warns, reaches out with all his heart pleading with his people not to go that way, showing how desperately he does not want to bring judgment upon them. It’s the heart of the Father begging his son or daughter not to commit sin that will put the child out of the Father’s reach in a place where the Father can no longer influence that son or daughter who has hardened his heart. The Book of Jeremiah shows the depth of the Father’s love for his people, and the greatness of his pain as the child will no longer listen to him.

And this is America, the country the Father raised up to be his people, believers in Jesus Christ, founded upon his Word, America, whose whole attitude was to glorify the God who has so blessed them.

America remained faithful to God until this generation, and then her downfall began. Once it gained momentum it came to the place where nothing could stop her degradation. The heart of the Father is grieved beyond measure, because he loved her so. He pleaded with her, raised up men to speak warning to her, men who loved God and loved America and who expressed the depth of the Father’s grief. But America refused to listen, and has stubbornly defied her God even as judgments fell. Her doom is sure, much to the heartache of the Father who brought her into the world.

So rather than mourn America today, let’s turn rather to her God and mourn for him, for his loss has been great as the people he raised up have turned against him in the most vile ways imaginable. His Father’s heart is deeply grieved. Deeply, deeply grieved.