Righteousness exalts a nation, but sin is a disgrace to any people. Lord, how long shall the wicked be allowed to triumph and exult? Hear their insolence! See their arrogance! How these men of evil boast! See them oppressing Your people, O Lord, afflicting those You love. They murder widows, immigrants, and orphans, for "The Lord isn't looking," they say, "and besides, He doesn't care." Fools! Is God deaf and blind - He Who makes ears and eyes? He punishes the nations - won't He also punish you? He knows everything - doesn't He also know what you are doing?

   Will You permit a corrupt government to rule under Your protection - a government permitting wrong to defeat right? Do You approve of those who condemn the innocent to death? No! The Lord my God is my fortress - the mighty Rock where I can hide. God has made the sins of evil men to boomerang upon them! He will destroy them by their own plans. Jehovah our God will cut them off. Jehovah is King! He is robed in majesty and strength. The world is His throne. O Lord, You have reigned from prehistoric times, from the everlasting past . . . Your royal decrees cannot be changed. Holiness is forever the keynote of Your reign.

   [The Lord says:] "Don't harden your hearts as Israel did in the wilderness at Meribah and Massah. For there your fathers doubted Me, though they had seen so many of My miracles before. My patience was severely tried by their complaints. For forty years I watched them in disgust," the Lord God says. "They were a nation whose thoughts and heart were far away from Me. They refused to accept My laws. Therefore in mighty wrath I swore that they would never enter the Promised Land, the place of rest I planned for them." [And He also says:] "O Israel, if you will truly return to Me and absolutely discard your idols, and if you will swear by Me alone, the living God, and begin to live good, honest, clean lives, then you will be a testimony to the nations of the world and they will come to Me and glorify My name."

   Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord, the people whom He has chosen for His own inheritance. Open the gates that the righteous nation may enter, the nation that keeps the faith.

Taken from Pro. 14, Psa. 94, 93, 95, Jer. 4, Psa. 33, Isa. 26, The New American Standard,
The Living Bible and The New International Version. For free Lifescope book,
write to Box 1575, Carlsbad, NM 88221. Please send $1.00 for postage and handling.