Psalm 81:10-16 “I am the Lord thy God, which brought thee out of the land of Egypt: open thy mouth wide, and I will fill it. But my people would not hearken to my voice; and Israel would none of me. So I gave them up unto their own hearts’ lust: and they walked in their own counsels. Oh that my people had hearkened unto me, and Israel had walked in my ways! I should soon have subdued their enemies, and turned my hand against their adversaries. The haters of the Lord should have submitted themselves unto him: but their time should have endured for ever. He should have fed them also with the finest of wheat: and with honey out of the rock should I have satisfied thee.”
Israel had the great opportunity to follow the Lord and be blessed with supernatural protection and provision. They had followed God in the past, and had seen the great rewards that resulted from their faithfulness. By hearkening unto the Lord, they again would have experienced the richest of God’s blessings. Instead, Israel had gotten to the point where they had done more than just ignore God; they rejected Him. As a result, the Lord removed His hand of blessing and they were turned over to their own counsel. The results were drastically different than if God had been a part.
America has had the great opportunity to follow the Lord and be blessed with supernatural protection and provision. We have followed God in the past, and have seen the great rewards that resulted from our faithfulness. By hearkening unto the Lord again, we would have the opportunity to experience the richest of God’s blessings. Instead, we have gotten to the point where we have done more than just ignore God; we have rejected Him. As a result, the Lord has removed His hand of blessing and we have been turned over to our own counsel. The results are drastically different than if God had been a part.
What are some of the manifestations of following our own counsel apart from the Lord? We compromise on moral issues and refuse to compromise on practical issues. Our political leaders do the same. We take the trivial seriously and consider the serious trivial. Our political leaders do the same. We discount the eternal and cling to the temporal. Our political leaders do the same. We scoff at the righteous and adore the unrighteous. Our political leaders do the same. We elevate the value of entertainment and discount the value of the meaningful. Our political leaders do the same. All the while, we fail to consider that there is a strong correlation between our rejection of God and the loss of our national blessings.
PLEASE PRAY THAT WE AS A NATION WOULD ONCE AGAIN HEARKEN UNTO THE LORD. Our own counsel and the lusts of our hearts are leading us in a direction away from God’s protection and provision. The ruinous results are all around us.