Isaiah 1:4 “Ah sinful nation, a people laden with iniquity, a seed of evildoers, children that are corrupters: they have forsaken the LORD, they have provoked the Holy One of Israel unto anger, they are gone away backward.”
A few weeks ago, I published four posts related to the insidious national dangers of power and wealth. This post and the next will punctuate those thoughts in different ways, one historical and one sociological.
Samuel Langdon, former president of Harvard University, said the following in 1775:
“When a government is in its prime, the public good engages the attention of the whole; the strictest regard is paid to the qualifications of those who hold the offices of the state; virtue prevails–every thing is managed with justice, prudence, and frugality; the laws are founded on principles of equity rather than mere policy, and all the people are happy. But vice will increase with the riches and glory of an empire; and this gradually tends to corrupt the constitution, and in time bring on its dissolution. This may be considered not only as the natural effect of vice, but a righteous judgment of heaven, especially upon a nation which has been favored with the blessing of religion and liberty, and is guilty of undervaluing them; and eagerly going into the gratification of every lust.”
Langdon was speaking of the British Empire, which had grown corrupt because of its power, prestige, and prosperity. The same may be said of America today. Our corruption stems from the natural effect of vice and the righteous judgment of heaven. We have undervalued our blessings and gratified our every lust. As a result of God’s particular blessings of religion and liberty, we are held to a higher standard and a greater level of accountability. We have fallen short of both, and have provoked the Holy One unto anger.
PLEASE PRAY THAT AMERICANS WOULD SHED OUR CONFIDENCE AND COMPLACENCY AND RETURN TO A NATION IN ITS PRIME. Otherwise, history books will relegate us to being another cautionary tale – another nation gone away backwards.
