Dear Reader,

“O beautiful, for spacious skies, for amber waves of grain;

For purple mountains’ majesties, above the fruited plain;

America, America, God shed His grace on thee,

And crown thy good with brotherhood, from sea to shining sea.”

If you have had the opportunity to travel across our country, as I and my family have, you surely could agree with the words of the song above. I’ve had the privilege of living in several states with my wife and children, and I can truly say that we live in a beautiful country. But when I think about it, I realize that there is more to America than breathtaking scenery; America is inhabited by people, and, though all of them are loved and created by God, not all of them are what we call good people. And, because humanity is infected by sin and evil, we here in America are infected by that same sin and evil.

When we look at the question stated in the topic title, we need to recognize that God is no doubt very well pleased with what He has created in the geography and nature of America, so the real question is, “What does God think about America’s people?” We find the answer to that question when we look at God’s Word, the Bible, and see what He says about other people in other nations. Though many doubt it in our day and age, the Moral Code found in the Bible is for all of us. And because the Moral Code is for all of us, the consequences of breaking or violating that code also affects all of us. Proverbs 14:34 tells us, “Righteousness exalts a nation, but sin is a reproach to any people.” In other parts of the Old Testament especially, kings of Israel were told by God’s spokesmen that they, the kings, should read and study God’s Law so they would know how to lead their subjects. In the history of the Children of Israel, the ancestors of the present day Jewish people, when they failed to heed and obey God’s law, they were often conquered by other nations, and forced to serve as slaves until they learned their lesson, repented of their sin, and sought help from God for deliverance. America, too, must understand that when we reject or forget God and His Word, we, too, will suffer consequences directly related to our disobedience. Happily, God still hears the prayers of His people for their communities, leaders, and nations, and it is my opinion that if more of us talked to God about America and the way she is going, we could see the change so many of us long to see.

Thanks for reading,
Pastor Ritchey