May this be the Lord's Day that we humble ourselves before the Lord. Fifty-seven years ago today President Kennedy was to give a speech in Dallas. That speech.....never given....would have ended with these words...."....the righteousness of our cause must always underlie our strength. For as was written long ago: 'Except the LORD keep the city, the watchman waketh but in vain'." The full verse in the first verse of Psalm 127....KJV....reads.... "Except the LORD build the house, they labor in vain that build it. Except the LORD keep the city, the watchman waketh but in vain." We tried to make America great again....but our labor was in vain....as was our vigilance....for we put in charge a man who gives credit to no one else....accepts credit that is not his....and blames others for his errors. Our righteousness did not underlie our strength....and it wasn't the Lord that would keep this city.....nor build. The following is from 2018:
The Supreme Court decision on Roe v. Wade came down on the same day that former President Lyndon Johnson died....January 22, 1973. Watergate would consume the rest of the year. In November Billy Graham held a crusade in St. Louis, Missouri. In one of his nightly messages he thundered about the Babylonian king Belshazzar. Nebuchadnezzar was dead and his grandson took the vessels previously taken from the temple in Jerusalem.....and all present in that great feast of his drank from the holy vessels. That's when the hand appeared....writing on the wall....as the book of Daniel describes to us. Billy Graham pointed out to the people in the packed arena....once again this back in 1973....that America was becoming as Babylon had been under Belshazzar.
Folks....that crusade was over forty-five years ago. I was partying on the Pitt campus at the time. Did I somehow catch that particular night's message? Possibly....as I did spend some time at home....and I did surf the 13 or so channels....but at the time I would not have known the Old Testament book of Daniel from a bottle of Jack Daniels....but here's the thing....what Billy Graham saw in the America of 1973....was absolutely nothing in terms of rebellion to God as we have today! Reverend Graham would continue to preach this message....with increasing fervor....until he went to be with his Lord more than forty-four years later.
Was Billy Graham incorrect or premature with his message of judgment forty-five years ago. Was he about a half century too early to give such a message? No....Jeremiah prophesied God's warnings for forty years. Most of God's prophets in the Old Testament did not live to see their prophesies come true....and Billy Graham would never see his beloved nation undergo the full judgment of God.
I've had it said to me....eyes rolling....many times....'Oh Special Dog....you've been saying for a long time that God is going to judge America." My usual response has been....'What would you rather have....God judging us without a warning.....without giving us an opportunity to turn to Him....or would you rather have what He has been doing for at least a half century....sending faithful preachers to show exactly how we have turned away from Him....what God's Word tells us will happen....and what we must therefore do?
We don't have the Billy Graham Crusades for the unbeliever to stumble upon....and we don't have Christian bookstores anymore....and we are losing these faithful preachers who warned us one by one. In short....our supply lines have been cut. May God open our eyes once again....in the pulpit and in the pew....in time to turn to Him.....to look to Him....and to rely only upon Him in the turmoil that surely lies ahead.
