Deo Gloria
Sermon for July 5, 2026
Pastor Martin Bentz
Text: Psalm 33:12
Theme: Blessed is the Nation Whose God is the LORD!
I’d like you to consider something for a moment. In fact, I’d like you to consider this question: What is it that makes America great? Is it our World Cup soccer team? Is it our educational system, which produces such well-educated citizens? Is it our free market economy, which promotes competition and innovation? Is it our form of democratic government? Is it the kind of people who live here in this country—hard-working, resourceful, self-sufficient? Is it our freedom? Is that what makes America great?
In the mid 1800’s Alexis de Tocqueville, a French statesman and historian, made a visit to our country. His goal was to find the secret to America’s greatness. In his own words, this is what he discovered:
I sought for the greatness of the United States in her commodious harbors, her ample rivers, her fertile fields, and boundless forests, and it was not there. I sought for it in her rich mines, her vast world commerce, her public school system, and in her institutions of higher learning, and it was not there. I looked for it in her democratic Congress and in her matchless Constitution, and it was not there. Not until I went into her churches, and heard her pulpits flame with righteousness did I understand the secret of her genius and power. America is great because America is good, and if America ever ceases to be good, America will cease to be great.
In spite of what some might like to say, the secret to America’s success, the secret to America’s greatness is found in her religion, the fact that over the years the LORD has been her God. America is a living example of the words of our text: Blessed is the nation whose God is the LORD!
We aren’t sure who wrote the words of this psalm, though there’s a good chance it was David. There are only four psalms in the first book of psalms that are not attributed to David. Psalm 33 happens to be one. So if we had to make an educated guess, King David would be a good choice.
We do know, however, about whom these words were written. They apply to the nation of Israel, God’s chosen people. Out of all the nations of the world, the LORD had chosen them to be his people. He had brought them out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery. He had established a covenant with them at Mt. Sinai and had given them his 10 Commandments. He had led them through the wilderness, providing food and water every day for 40 years. He had settled them in the Promised Land, the land of Canaan, in the process driving out other nations that had been living there, nations which were much larger and stronger than them. He had made them into a nation, a free and independent people with their own land and their own government. Without the LORD and his help and his blessing there would have been no nation of Israel. He had made them what they were.
And he was their God. The gods of Egypt were not their gods. Baal and Ashtorah, the gods of the Canaanites, were not their gods. The LORD was their God. He is the one they worshiped at the tabernacle. He is the one to whom they offered their sacrifices. He is the one to whom they said their prayers. He was their God.
And when he was their God, when they worshipped the LORD and followed the LORD, they were blessed. David had seen that firsthand. The LORD blessed them by helping them to defeat the Philistines. The LORD blessed them by helping them capture the city of Jerusalem and establish it as their capitol. The LORD blessed them with abundant rain and bountiful harvests. The LORD blessed them with peace on their borders and prosperity they had never seen before. The LORD blessed them with faithful priests and godly prophets, men who proclaimed God’s Word to his people; who instructed both young and old to keep God’s covenant and obey his commands; who reminded God’s people of the special promise God had given: that one day he would send a Savior. David witnessed firsthand the truth of the words we have before us: “Blessed is the nation whose God is the LORD.”
Though America is not God’s chosen nation as the nation of Israel was, there certainly are some striking parallels. Like Israel, America’s God is the LORD—was from the very beginning. Many people think that the Pilgrims who landed at Plymouth came here in search of religious freedom; but they didn’t. They already had found religious freedom in Holland. So why did they come to America, then? Why did they brave an Atlantic crossing, where the average loss of life was 50%? Why did they want to come and start a new life here? Hadn’t they heard what had happened to the settlers down by Jamestown and about the “Lost Colony of Roanoke”? Oh yes, they had heard. And yet they came anyway. They said they were led to America by the Lord Jesus Himself to propagate the gospel among the Indians, which they did, and to become stepping stones for the furtherance of the gospel to the uttermost parts of the earth.
Patrick Henry, who fought in the Revolutionary War and who is best known for that famous statement of his, “Give me liberty, or give me death,” also said the following: “It cannot be emphasized too strongly or too often that this great nation was founded not by religionists, but by Christians; not on religions, but on the Gospel of Jesus Christ.”
In 1776, as the Declaration of Independence was being signed, Samuel Adams, who is known as the “Father of the American Revolution,” declared: “We have this day restored the Sovereign to whom all men ought to be obedient. He reigns in heaven above and from the rising to the setting of the sun, may His kingdom come.”
James Madison, who is known as the father of the U.S. Constitution and served as fourth president of the United States, made this statement:
We have staked the whole future of American civilization, not upon the power of government, far from it. We have staked the future of all of our political institutions upon the capacity of mankind for self-government; upon the capacity of each and all of us to govern…ourselves according to the Ten Commandments of God.
And finally George Washington, first president of the United States–he observed, “It is impossible to govern rightly without God and the Bible.”
When you look back at the history of our country, the truth is unmistakable: our country is a Christian country, founded on Christian principles and Christian ideals. Though our founding fathers did not establish a national religion, and intentionally so—they did have a religion. They believed in the Lord and worshipped the Lord. They made him a central part of their lives and of their new nation. Their God was the LORD.
And they were blessed. Our country was blessed. God blessed them and helped them in their fight against the British and helped them achieve their independence. Over the years he helped our country preserve its independence, winning two world wars and a host of other smaller conflicts. God has given us peace within our borders. Except for the Civil War, a war between the states, no war has been fought on our soil for over 200 years, which is why Sept. 11th was such a shock to so many people. It shattered the peace we Americans had enjoyed for so long.
God has blessed our country with unparalleled prosperity as well. America is far and away the wealthiest country in the world. In fact, if you were to take the entire population of the world and reduce it to a village of just 100 people, half of the village’s wealth would be in the hands of six people. And all six would be from the United States.
In addition, God has blessed us with freedom. Yes, freedom is a gift from God, not a right given to us by our government. Remember what our founding fathers said?
We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal. That they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.
Freedom is a gift from God.
And most of all, God has blessed our country with his Word. Where else can you go in the world and hear the Gospel of Jesus Christ so abundantly proclaimed? What other country has so many Christian churches, where people can hear about the Savior God promised and sent, the Savior who died on the cross to take our sins away, the Savior who by his death and resurrection crushed the devil’s power and gave us freedom, liberty from sin, death and hell? The answer is none. There is no other country where the Word of God is so richly proclaimed. Blessed is the nation whose God is the LORD!
Unfortunately, there are those who want to change all of that, those who want to erase our country’s Christian heritage, those who want to do away with anything associated with God and the Bible. Even though the Bible was the only textbook in the first public school classroom, you cannot teach the Bible in a public school classroom anymore. Prayer, likewise, has been eliminated in the public schools. In many courtrooms across the country you will find the 10 Commandments on display. The ACLU wants all of those taken down. At Christmas time you’re not supposed to wish other people “Merry Christmas” anymore. What you’re supposed to say “Happy Holidays” so you don’t offend anyone. In short, some people want to do everything they can to eliminate God from public life and from the hearts and minds of American people.
What about you? Is the Lord still your God? Is he still the God you worship and adore, or have you bought in to this multi-cultural, politically correct nonsense: that we all really worship the same god, that one religion is as good as another? “You worship Jesus. I worship Allah. It doesn’t matter. We’re all going to the same place.” Sorry. There is only one true God and only one way to heaven. His name is Jesus Christ.
Many foreigners who look at American culture think money is our god. What would they think if they took a look at your life?
Yesterday as you lit off those fireworks with your children or grandchildren and celebrated our nation’s independence, did you also pause to pray with your children and thank God for the gift of freedom?
In a country where we have the freedom to worship and hear God’s Word and where God’s Word is so abundantly proclaimed, do you take the time each week to worship your Lord and hear his Word, or does summer vacation also tend to mean a vacation from church?
It’s so easy to fall into that, to take God’s blessings for granted, to forget that our freedom, our prosperity, our national peace and security, the opportunities we have to work and pursue our careers, the freedom and opportunities we have to worship our Lord, to hear his Word and share his Word with others—that all these come from the Lord. Like the people of Israel it’s so easy to become complacent in our prosperity. While we still acknowledge that the Lord is our God, in our day to day lives we tend to set him aside on a shelf and allow other things to become more important. These are sins we need to confess and ask for the Lord’s forgiveness.
As the years went by, the nation of Israel gradually turned away from the LORD. The people in general forgot about the LORD and what he had done for them. They took him and his blessings for granted and began to worship other gods. And God withdrew his blessings and sent his judgments against them instead. He allowed famine to take away their abundant crops. He allowed depression and recession to take away their prosperity. And ultimately he allowed enemy armies to take away their land.
Will the same thing happen to America? I don’t know. I can’t look into the future. But I think we would do well to heed the warning issued by Daniel Webster, one of the greatest orators in American history. He said:
If we abide by the principles taught in the Bible, our country will go on prospering and to prosper; but if we and our posterity neglect its instructions and authority, no man can tell how sudden a catastrophe may overwhelm us and bury all our glory in profound obscurity.
My prayer is that we won’t forget, that we will always remember how blessed we are and where those blessings come from. And if some our fellow citizens happen to forget, I also hope that we will remind them. “Blessed is the nation whose God is the LORD.”
The words I’d like to leave you with this morning are the closing words of this psalm. If David did indeed write them, I picture him in the later years of his life, toward the end of his reign. His concern is for the future, that in the years to come the people of Israel would remain faithful to the Lord, that they would continue to remember him, that they as a nation might continue to enjoy God’s favor and blessing. This was his hope and prayer for his country. It is my hope and my prayer for ours.
We wait in hope for the LORD; he is our help and our shield. In him our hearts rejoice, for we trust in his holy name. May your unfailing love rest upon us, O LORD, even as we put our hope in you. (vv. 20-22)
Amen.