Blessed is the nation whose God is the LORD, the people whom He has chosen as His heritage![Psalm 33:12]
On August 27, 1775, only 25 days after the Declaration of Independence had been signed by the last delegate, General George Washington's army found itself trapped on the edge of Brooklyn, New York's East River. The British had 20,000 seasoned soldiers; Washington had 8,000 inexperienced, raw colonials.
The end, as everyone could plainly see, was imminent.
Indeed, it would have been imminent, but for some reason, some illogical, inexplicable reason, the British forces drew up short. They hesitated. Some think the British commander was waiting for his fleet to sail up the river. A northwest wind arose, and the fleet didn't come.
If the British hesitated, Washington didn't.
Under the cover of darkness, using small boats, Washington led his men in retreat. With haste, carrying a few men at a time, the boats crisscrossed the river. The goal was to save as much of the army as was possible. The night passed before the job was completed. The approach of dawn would make the ferrying boats target practice for the skilled artillerymen of the British. That is the way history should have recorded the end of the rebellion, but it didn't happen that way.
Just as the sun came up, so did a fog. The fog hung on until the last colonial boat, the boat with Washington on board, launched off from shore. By the time the first British cannon fired, he was out of range.
Sitting, as we are, far removed from that time, it is easy to think of all this in terms ofluck.
But Christians know our Lord is a God of history and in His hand is the future of nations. We believe it was more than chance for the winds to blow and the fog to linger.
If so, we are in agreement with those who were there. Almost every American soldier who recorded the events of that night gave credit to divine intervention.
So did their enemies.
In the centuries since then much of America has become too sophisticated to rely on God: to think of Him, to thank Him. Jesus' people ought to be different. We know the Lord had a hand in the making of this nation and in preserving her till this point in time.
Now, with elections coming, we have a choice. We can honor the Lord and use our right to vote for the best candidate, or we can say, "It doesn't make any difference." Well, our vote does make a difference. Our prayers make a difference and, most of all, the Lord makes a difference to our tomorrows.
It will make a difference because the Lord has promised it would be so. He said, "If My people who are called by My Name humble themselves, and pray and seek My face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven and I will forgive their sin and heal their land" (2 Chronicles 7:14).
THE PRAYER: Dear Lord, may our country be a nation which is strong in its devotion to You and Your Son who gave His life so we might have peace in this world and perfection in the next. This I ask in Jesus' Name. Amen.
On August 27, 1775, only 25 days after the Declaration of Independence had been signed by the last delegate, General George Washington's army found itself trapped on the edge of Brooklyn, New York's East River. The British had 20,000 seasoned soldiers; Washington had 8,000 inexperienced, raw colonials.
The end, as everyone could plainly see, was imminent.
Indeed, it would have been imminent, but for some reason, some illogical, inexplicable reason, the British forces drew up short. They hesitated. Some think the British commander was waiting for his fleet to sail up the river. A northwest wind arose, and the fleet didn't come.
If the British hesitated, Washington didn't.
Under the cover of darkness, using small boats, Washington led his men in retreat. With haste, carrying a few men at a time, the boats crisscrossed the river. The goal was to save as much of the army as was possible. The night passed before the job was completed. The approach of dawn would make the ferrying boats target practice for the skilled artillerymen of the British. That is the way history should have recorded the end of the rebellion, but it didn't happen that way.
Just as the sun came up, so did a fog. The fog hung on until the last colonial boat, the boat with Washington on board, launched off from shore. By the time the first British cannon fired, he was out of range.
Sitting, as we are, far removed from that time, it is easy to think of all this in terms ofluck.
But Christians know our Lord is a God of history and in His hand is the future of nations. We believe it was more than chance for the winds to blow and the fog to linger.
If so, we are in agreement with those who were there. Almost every American soldier who recorded the events of that night gave credit to divine intervention.
So did their enemies.
In the centuries since then much of America has become too sophisticated to rely on God: to think of Him, to thank Him. Jesus' people ought to be different. We know the Lord had a hand in the making of this nation and in preserving her till this point in time.
Now, with elections coming, we have a choice. We can honor the Lord and use our right to vote for the best candidate, or we can say, "It doesn't make any difference." Well, our vote does make a difference. Our prayers make a difference and, most of all, the Lord makes a difference to our tomorrows.
It will make a difference because the Lord has promised it would be so. He said, "If My people who are called by My Name humble themselves, and pray and seek My face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven and I will forgive their sin and heal their land" (2 Chronicles 7:14).
THE PRAYER: Dear Lord, may our country be a nation which is strong in its devotion to You and Your Son who gave His life so we might have peace in this world and perfection in the next. This I ask in Jesus' Name. Amen.
In Christ I remain His servant and yours,
Pastor Ken Klaus
Speaker Emeritus of The Lutheran Hour®
Lutheran Hour Ministries
Through the Bible in a Year
Today Read: Psalms 64, 70; John 6:1-21
Psalms 64:1 (0) For the leader. A psalm of David:
660 Mason Ridge Center Drive
St. Louis, Missouri 63141, United States
1-800-876-9880
www.lhm.org
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Pastor Ken Klaus
Speaker Emeritus of The Lutheran Hour®
Lutheran Hour Ministries
Through the Bible in a Year
Today Read: Psalms 64, 70; John 6:1-21
Psalms 64:1 (0) For the leader. A psalm of David:
2 (1) Hear my voice, God, as I plead:
preserve my life from fear of the enemy.
3 (2) Hide me from the secret intrigues of the wicked
and the open insurrection of evildoers.
4 (3) They sharpen their tongues like a sword;
they aim their arrows, poisoned words,
5 (4) in order to shoot from cover at the innocent,
shooting suddenly and fearing nothing.
6 (5) They support each other’s evil plans;
they talk of hiding snares
and ask, “Who would see them?”
7 (6) They search for ways to commit crimes,
bringing their diligent search to completion
when each of them has thought it through
in the depth of his heart.
8 (7) Suddenly God shoots them down with an arrow,
leaving them with wounds;
9 (8) their own tongues make them stumble.
All who see them shake their heads.
10 (9) Everyone is awestruck —
they acknowledge that it is God at work,
they understand what he has done.
11 (10) The righteous will rejoice in Adonai;
they will take refuge in him;
all the upright in heart will exult.
70:1 (0) For the leader. By David. As a reminder:
2 (1) God, rescue me!
Adonai, hurry and help me!
3 (2) May those who seek my life
be disgraced and humiliated.
May those who take pleasure in doing me harm
be turned back and put to confusion.
4 (3) May those who jeer, “Aha! Aha!”
withdraw because of their shame.
5 (4) But may all those who seek you
be glad and take joy in you.
May those who love your salvation say always,
“God is great and glorious!”
6 (5) But I am poor and needy;
God, hurry for me.
You are my helper and rescuer;
Adonai, don’t delay!
John 6:1 Some time later, Yeshua went over to the far side of Lake Kinneret (that is, Lake Tiberias), 2 and a large crowd followed him, because they had seen the miracles he had performed on the sick. 3 Yeshua went up into the hills and sat down there with his talmidim. 4 Now the Judean festival of Pesach was coming up; 5 so when Yeshua looked up and saw that a large crowd was approaching, he said to Philip, “Where will we be able to buy bread, so that these people can eat?” 6 (Now Yeshua said this to test Philip, for Yeshua himself knew what he was about to do.) 7 Philip answered, “Half a year’s wages wouldn’t buy enough bread for them — each one would get only a bite!” 8 One of the talmidim, Andrew the brother of Shim‘on Kefa, said to him, 9 “There’s a young fellow here who has five loaves of barley bread and two fish. But how far will they go among so many?”
10 Yeshua said, “Have the people sit down.” There was a lot of grass there, so they sat down. The number of men was about five thousand. 11 Then Yeshua took the loaves of bread, and, after making a b’rakhah, gave to all who were sitting there, and likewise with the fish, as much as they wanted. 12 After they had eaten their fill, he told his talmidim, “Gather the leftover pieces, so that nothing gets wasted.” 13 They gathered them and filled twelve baskets with the pieces from the five barley loaves left by those who had eaten.
14 When the people saw the miracle he had performed, they said, “This has to be ‘the prophet’ who is supposed to come into the world.” 15 Yeshua knew that they were on the point of coming and seizing him, in order to make him king; so he went back to the hills again. This time he went by himself.
16 When evening came, his talmidim went down to the lake, 17 got into a boat and set out across the lake toward K’far-Nachum. By now it was dark, Yeshua had not yet joined them, 18 and the sea was getting rough, because a strong wind was blowing. 19 They had rowed three or four miles when they saw Yeshua approaching the boat, walking on the lake! They were terrified; 20 but he said to them, “Stop being afraid, it is I.” 21 Then they were willing to take him into the boat, and instantly the boat reached the land they were heading for.
The Lutheran Hour660 Mason Ridge Center Drive
St. Louis, Missouri 63141, United States
1-800-876-9880
www.lhm.org
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