“And now, please let me tell you what I will do to my vineyard: I will take away its hedge, and it shall be burned; and break down its wall, and it shall be trampled down. (Isaiah 5:5)
One of my favorite pastors once told me, “The Holy Spirit is a gentleman. He does not go where he is not wanted”. I wonder if this statement could be applied to what’s happening in our country today.
There is no doubt that God placed a hedge of protection around this country for many years, but I’m beginning to think it’s gone now. We have pushed him out of our schools, our county courthouses, and in some case, out of our churches. I fear what its loss may have in store for us, and what those of us who truly love him and want his protection can do about it.
Isaiah was not the only prophet to whom God spoke about losing his hedge of protection. Asaph – who put music to many of David’s psalms – wrote about it in Psalm 80 when Israel lost God’s hedge of protection. It happened hundreds of years before the birth of Christ:
“O LORD God of hosts, how long will you be angry against the prayer of your people? You have fed them with the bread of tears, and given them tears to drink in great measure. You have made us a strife to our neighbors, and our enemies laugh among themselves. Restore us, O God of hosts; cause your face to shine, and we shall be saved!” (Psalm 80:4-7)
So here we sit, thousands of years after Asaph wrote Psalm 80, and yet when I read the above verses, I very much see my own country in his words. We ARE in many ways being laughed at by our enemies, and we ARE very much a strife to our neighbors.
Think about it. The extremist Muslim world celebrates when they succeed in blowing up our buildings and embassies, killing thousands of Americans. Also, we are so far in debt that other countries – who have loaned us trillions of dollars – are worried about the future of our nation, not to mention if they will ever get their money back.
So can we really do anything to convince God to remove his anger and restore us in a way that we can truly see his face shining upon us again? Of course we can, if we believe what he told us at 2 Chronicles 7:14: “If my people who are called by my name will humble themselves, and pray and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and heal their land.”
Interestingly, we’ve had the answer for thousands of years. However, putting it into action is the problem. The plain truth is our country isn’t turning from its wicked ways and admitting that absent God’s help, we don’t have a chance. In short, we have not repented and we certainly have not shown any humility.
The irony here is if we believe Scripture, we don’t have to sit and wait for the leadership of our nation to wake up and do something. In fact, many who are running for political offices today do not serve the same God we serve, if any god at all. But take comfort because our God says that all it takes is for HIS people to humble themselves, pray, and seek his face and turn from their wicked ways.
It’s tough to do. But if we’ll do our part, he promises in his Word that he will do his part. I believe that is a promise on which we can rely!
Share on Facebook