When God Speaks

The human race communicates primarily by the spoken word: sounds grouped together in a vast variety of ways to convey meaning. These sounds, words, are the means of revealing the mind of the speaker. Adam was created in God's image with the ability to speak so that he could talk with God, but after the fall, verbal communication between God and man became very rare. Then came the confusion of languages at the tower of Babel -- God saw that because all people had one language, there were no boundaries for them. Their common communication allowed them to manifest their pride in a unified way. So God created a very effective boundary to prevent that unity: whatever language had been before, it became quite inadequate for universal expression of the mind among people.

But God still desired to express His mind to mankind, and He did so in human language, through one nation, a group of people with one language. And through that one nation and language, God kept His promise of sending redemption for all nations and languages. The Word came. Jesus, God in the flesh, walked the earth and revealed God's mind to man. Though the Man Jesus spoke Aramaic and Hebrew, His portrayal of God's heart could be understood by people of any language. His very words had power to create, heal, and even restore life, not because there was anything special in the sounds He spoke, but because they were an expression of God's thoughts. And when God speaks, things happen. The word of God is the revelation of His will, and the word of man will never stand against it.

By the word of the Lord the heavens were made . . .

[He upholds] all things by the word of His power.

 Then God said . . . and it was so.

 Psalm 33:6, Hebrews 1:3, Genesis 1:9

My Country, 'Tis of Thee . . .

My country, ’tis of thee,
Sweet land of liberty,
Of thee I sing;
Land where my fathers died,
Land of the pilgrims’ pride,
From every mountainside,
Let freedom ring!

My native country, thee,
Land of the noble free,
Thy name I love;
I love thy rocks and rills,
Thy woods and templed hills;
My heart with rapture thrills,
Like that above.

Let music swell the breeze,
And ring from all the trees,
Sweet freedom’s song;
Let mortal tongues awake;
Let all that breathe partake;
Let rocks their silence break,
The sound prolong.

Our fathers’ God, to Thee,
Author of liberty,
To Thee we sing;
Long may our land be bright
With freedom’s holy light;
Protect us by Thy might,
Great God, our King.

~Samuel F. Smith

America has been a nation chosen and blessed by God.  She has been given stewardship of one of the richest and most beautiful lands in the world.  She has been the protector of many other nations.  She has been given power among the peoples of the world and prosperity and security for her citizens.  She has been the birthplace of many great men and women, people who have taken the gospel to the farthest parts of the earth and changed the world.  Truly, God has blessed America, because from the beginning, America blessed her God.  Our freedoms are based on the principles of God's perfect law, and so long as our nation is under His rule, so long will she remain blessed.  God bless America . . . America, bless God!

Blessed is the nation

whose God is the Lord.

Psalm 33:12