“I have found My servant David; With My holy oil I have anointed him, With whom My hand shall be established; Also My arm shall strengthen him. The enemy shall not outwit him, Nor the son of wickedness afflict him. I will beat down his foes before his face, And plague those who hate him. “But My faithfulness and My mercy shall be with him, And in My name his horn shall be exalted. Also I will set his hand over the sea, And his right hand over the rivers. He shall cry to Me, ‘You are my Father, My God, and the rock of my salvation.’ Also I will make him My firstborn, The highest of the kings of the earth. My mercy I will keep for him forever, And My covenant shall stand firm with him. His seed also I will make to endure forever, And his throne as the days of heaven.” (Psalm 89:20–29, NKJV)
Today is the first Sunday of Advent, the time of year when we recall God’s promises to our fathers that one day He would send a Son of David to rescue His people and rule among the nations of men. The words of Psalm 89 remind us that this Son of David, our Lord Jesus, will be victorious over his enemies and is Lord over all the kings of the earth. Listen to God’s promises to Jesus: “I will beat down his foes before his face and plague those who hate him…” – He will be victorious. “I will set his hand over the sea and his right hand over the rivers…” – His dominion will encompass all the earth. “Also I will make him My firstborn, the highest of the kings of the earth…” – He will rule over all other rulers.
Given these promises that God has made to Jesus, what is the obligation of men and nations, what is the obligation of our nation? Our obligation is to worship and serve this One whom God has exalted to His right hand. It is to live in light of His rule. And it is to this that our Advent Call to Worship summons us – because Jesus is Lord those who trust Him can take comfort; because Jesus is Lord those who spurn Him must take warning.
For the fourth year in a row, President Obama has neglected to thank God in his annual Thanksgiving address let alone to request God’s forgiveness for our personal and national sins. This is a travesty of monumental proportions and will bring God’s judgment down on our nation. Jesus is Lord and will beat down his foes.
Contrast our current national pride and impenitence with the recent declaration of the President of Uganda. This last October President Museveni prayed the following:
I stand here today to close the evil past and especially in the last 50 years of our national leadership history and at the threshold of a new dispensation in the life of this nation. I stand here on my own behalf and on behalf of my predecessors to repent. We ask for your forgiveness.
Museveni then listed the various sins which have afflicted Uganda in the last 50 years and requested God’s blessing on their nation, closing his prayer thus:
We want to dedicate this nation to you so that you will be our God and guide. We want Uganda to be known as a nation that fears God and as a nation whose foundations are firmly rooted in righteousness and justice to fulfil what the Bible says in Psalm 33:12: Blessed is the nation, whose God is the Lord. A people you have chosen as your own.
I renounce all the evil foundations and covenants that were laid in idolatry and witchcraft. I renounce all the satanic influence on this nation. And I hereby covenant Uganda to you, to walk in your ways and experience all your blessings forever.
I pray for all these in the name of the Father, Son and the Holy Spirit. Amen.
This is how men and nations are to honor the Son of the Highest, our Lord Jesus Christ. This morning we need to confess that we as a people have elected a man to office who defies God and refuses to thank Him for the manifest blessings He has showered upon us. But the reason Obama refuses to honor God is that we as a people refuse to honor Him as well. We are a stiff-necked people and have rebelled against the Lord. So let us kneel and confess our sins to Him.