A Prayer for Our Nation

“May God be gracious to us and bless us and make His face to shine upon us, that Your way may be known on earth, Your saving power among all nations.  Let the peoples praise You, O God; let all the peoples praise You!  Let the nations be glad and sing for joy, for You judge the peoples with equity and guide the nations upon earth.  Let the peoples praise You, O God, let all the peoples praise You” –Psalm 67:1-5 (ESV).

In the emphasis of “Unite in Prayer,” forty days of praying for God to forgive America and turn His wrath from us and bless us, Psalm 67 has some principles we can apply to our present day.  This Psalm was used in Jewish worship, as the introductory note indicates:  “To the choirmaster:  with stringed instruments, a psalm, a song.”  It opens with a prayer for God’s blessing upon the Israelites, but a purpose is given in seeking the blessing:  “that Your way may be known on earth, Your saving power among all nations.”  The psalm is reminiscent of the covenant with Abraham when God promised that through him all the nations of the earth would be blessed, Genesis 12:1-3:  “Now the Lord said to Abram, ‘Go from your country and your kindred and your father’s house to the land that I will show you.  And I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing.  I will bless those who bless you, and him who dishonors you I will curse, and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed”

Psalm 67 acknowledges that God is the supreme ruler, regardless of who might be at the helm of government of a nation:  “You judge the people with equity and guide the nations upon earth” (v. 4).  In this period of concerted prayer for our nation, it is paramount that we accept and believe the truth of God’s lordship over our nation and all nations upon the earth.  Those in power often exert their rule in ungodly and even heinous ways.  Think of Hitler and the atrocities he perpetrated during the time he was the leader of the German nation.  Untold suffering and deaths occurred because of his efforts to eradicate a people.  Those who hold God in reverence and seek His will, not only individually but for nations, recognize as did the Psalmist and those who sang this song in worship, that a Sovereign Power holds the balance.  A time will come when “every knee shall bow and every tongue confess” allegiance to the Lord God (see Isaiah 45:23, Romans 14:11 and Philippians 2:10).  It is so much better that we think in terms of turning voluntarily to God now and seeking His face.  The time will come when all peoples will recognize Him for the God He has claimed to be from the foundation of the world.  But for some, the time of choosing Him and being counted as among those who honor and worship God will have passed.

It is said that when the battle of Gettysburg raged during the Civil War and reports of Union losses reached President Lincoln, he was greatly troubled.  He went into his room in private, knelt and prayed.  His prayer poured out before God went something like this:  “I have done all I can do.  The result is in Thy hands.  If this country is to be saved, it is because it is within Thy will.”  Lincoln said he arose from his knees with his burden lifted and in its place a great trust in the providence of God filled him.  But in studying the life of Lincoln we know that he could pray in that earnest way about Gettysburg because he had practiced the presence of the Lord in his life for many years prior to that crucial point.  He had often, as Psalm 63:6 states, meditated upon God “in the watches of the night,” for God had been his help, and “in the shadow of His wings” anyone who depends on God and calls upon him can “sing for joy.”

Prayer:  Lord, morning, noon, and evening, and in the watches of the night that surrounds us, we claim Your promises.  As we seek Your face, please hear from heaven. forgive our sin and heal our land.  Amen.