Blessed is the nation whose God is the LORD

Psalm 33:12

Blessed is the nation whose God is the LORD,
the people whom he has chosen as his heritage!

When you register your car with the state of Alabama you a have a few different options for your license plate that do not cost extra. One of these options is a plate that has an American flag watermark and the line at the bottom says, “God Bless America.”

This is really very interesting to me. Most of the plates you register for cost extra. All those football, environmental, education, and choose life license plates take your money and donate them to the institution or cause you are supporting. Not so with the “God Bless America” plates.

I suppose they do not cost extra because the government cannot endorse any particular religion, so it can’t take extra money for them. At the same time, it still seems odd in today’s political and social climate that these plates would be made available at all.

And there beaucoups of these plates riding around our state. They are everywhere!!!

My question though is this: Why do people put these on their cars? Is this the 21^st century version of the little fish? You know the fish that became an ichthus that became a darwin fish that became an ichthus eating a darwin fish. That was so 90’s.

No the cool thing apparently is to proclaim proudly from the read end of your car, “God Bless America.” Is this the identification of a Christian?

Well, I don’t really want to get into that. I have more concerns about what people mean when they say “God Bless America.” I have NO problems with people who want our country to be blessed with the superfluous preaching of the gospel calling all people to repentance and faith in Jesus Christ. If that is what you mean by calling for God’s blessings on us, then I say “Hallelujah!” This is a plea for God’s mercy… not entitlement.

However, if you have Psalm 33:12 in mind when you say “God Bless America,” then you have a wrong understanding of this verse. In fact, I have heard this verse used out of context too many times to count.

Here are the reasons this verse has nothing to do with the good ole US of A.

1. You are very mistaken if you think this is a nation “whose God is the LORD.” Yes, I know what principles our nation was founded upon. I read Peter Marshall’s The Light and the Glory and other books like them. Yes, many of our founding fathers believed in a god of some sort, some even believed in God. We even have God’s name on our money. But none of these facts mean that we are a nation “whose God is the LORD.”

In fact, right now we are one of the most godless nations on the planet. There are churches in Africa and Asia that are sending missionaries here! We have been consumed with the god of self and have indulged that god with all sorts of materialism and narcissism.

Whether you want to look at our past or our present, we are not a nation “whose God is the LORD.”

2. Most importantly, the context of this verse makes it clear that Israel is in view. If you read the entire verse and not just the first half there is no escaping the conclusion that Israel is THE nation that is referenced. One of the major themes of the Bible is that God has chosen a people for Himself, a people for his Son’s inheritance. Israel was chosen to be the instrument that would bring God’s blessings to the nations. They were a special people to God. Just read the first few chapters of Exodus to see God’s special love for his people.

There was only one “nation” that God chose as his heritage: Israel. The promise of blessing is not just for any nation who says The LORD is their God. It is a specific promise for that one nation whom God has chosen as his.

3. Even in “the Church” age of the New Testament this verse still references God’s people not a country. The Hebrew word translated nation is meant to identify a people group, not an organized state. In the Old Testament just because you were a Jew, a child of Israel, did not mean you were “saved” or received all of God’s blessings. True “Israel” were those who by faith obeyed God. So even when we see the “nation” of Israel mentioned as God’s chosen people, it was not the organized country of Israel, but the faithful followers of YHWH who are in view.

The way for us to read this Psalm in the New Testament, Church age is to remember 1 Peter 2:9

But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.

The Church is the holy nation who is blessed by having the LORD as our God. Anyone who believes in Jesus Christ as his Savior and Lord is a part of this “holy nation.” It is this “nation,” this people group, that God has chosen as his heritage and who are blessed.

So, I pray that God will mercifully bless America with the gospel being proclaimed by faithful churches. I pray that He will call MANY individuals to become a part of his people and be blessed in Christ. I hope this will be your prayer also.

But let’s not get distracted by thinking that we are blessed materially by God because we are a nation “whose God is the LORD.”