Joshua 4:21-24 “And he spake unto the children of Israel, saying, When your children shall ask their fathers in time to come, saying, What mean these stones? Then ye shall let your children know, saying, Israel came over this Jordan on dry land. For the LORD your God dried up the waters of Jordan from before you, until ye were passed over, as the LORD your God did to the Red sea, which he dried up from before us, until we were gone over: That all the people of the earth might know the hand of the LORD, that it is mighty: that ye might fear the LORD your God forever.”
President Washington continued in his inauguration speech (see previous post) with the following:
“In tendering this homage to the Great Author of every public and private good I assure myself that it expresses your sentiments not less than my own; nor those of my fellow-citizens at large, less than either. No People can be bound to acknowledge and adore the invisible hand, which conducts the Affairs of men more than the People of the United States. Every step, by which they have advanced to the character of an independent nation, seems to have been distinguished by some token of providential agency. And in the important revolution just accomplished in the system of their United Government, the tranquil deliberations and voluntary consent of so many distinct communities, from which the event has resulted, cannot be compared with the means by which most Governments have been established, without some return of pious gratitude along with an humble anticipation of the future blessings which the past seem to presage. These reflections, arising out of the present crisis, have forced themselves too strongly on my mind to be suppressed. You will join with me I trust in thinking, that there are none under the influence of which, the proceedings of a new and free Government can more auspiciously commence.”
Washington saw the uniqueness of the new nation. He couldn’t suppress the overwhelming thought that this nation was formed by the blessings of God. He saw the Lord’s hand in every step that advanced towards colonial independence, revolutionary victory and united government. To Washington, no people should have been more humbly appreciative or anticipative than the citizen’s of the newly-formed United States.
Washington saw the past blessings as an undeniable sign of future blessings. The past victory presaged future success. The new president wanted citizens to live in humble anticipation by looking back at what God had done, and to build upon His foundation with His help. He wanted the past to motivate and encourage them into the future.
This nation and its citizens have been given so much. No people should be more humbly appreciative or anticipative than citizens of the United States. The past should motivate and encourage us into the future. PLEASE PRAY THAT AMERICANS WOULD ONCE AGAIN BUILD UPON THE FOUNDATION WE WERE SO BLESSED TO RECEIVE. No people should acknowledge God more than us.
NOTE: Please read this prior post for related thoughts: https://prayatlunch.us/minority-miracles/
