Thoughts from Mark "Hat" Rackley

Contend, Lord, with those who contend with me;
    fight against those who fight against me.

• Psalm 35:1

May those who seek my life
    be disgraced and put to shame;
may those who plot my ruin
    be turned back in dismay.

• Psalm 35:4

“Duché then led in a powerful prayer, lasting about ten minutes, which has been called “the most famous prayer of the American Revolution.” He said, in part:

“0 Lord our Heavenly Father, high and mighty King of kings and Lord of lords, who dost from Thy throne behold all the dwellers on earth and reignest with power supreme and uncontrolled over all the Kingdoms, Empires, and Governments; look down in mercy, we beseech Thee, on these our American States, who have fled to Thee from the rod of the oppressor and thrown themselves on Thy gracious protection, desiring to be henceforth dependent only on. Thee ….
“Be Thou present, 0 God of wisdom, and direct the councils of this honorable assembly; enable them to settle things on the best and surest foundation that the scene of blood may be speedily closed; that order, harmony and peace may be effectually restored; and truth and justice, religion and piety prevail and flourish amongst the people. Preserve the health of their bodies and the vigor of their minds; shower down on them and the millions they represent, such temporal blessings as Thou seest expedient for them in this world and crown them with everlasting glory in the world to come.  All this we ask in the name and through the merits of Jesus Christ, thy Son and our Savior.

“Afterward, John Adams described the event in a letter to his wife, Abigail:

“Mr. Duché appeared … and read several prayers in the stablished form, and then read the Collect for the seventh day of September, which was the Thirty-fifth Psalm. You must remember this was the next morning after we heard the horrible rumor of the cannonade of Boston. I never saw a greater effect upon an audience. It seemed as if Heaven had ordained that Psalm to be read on that morning. After this Mr. Duche, unexpectedly to everybody, struck out into an extemporary prayer, which filled the bosom of every man present. I must confess I never heard a better prayer or one so well pronounced … such fervor, such ardor, such earnestness and pathos, and in language so elegant and sublime, for America, for the Congress, for the Province of Massachusetts Bay, and especially for the town of Boston. It has had an excellent effect upon everybody here.”

• Robert J. Morgan, 100 Bible Verses That Made America

In my recent trip to visit the grandchildren, the oldest of them went with me to Nashville, to sell used books and games.  One of the books that I purchased in return was 100 Bible Verses That Made America by Robert J. Morgan.  As we approach the 250^th anniversary of the birth of the USA, I thought I would do a condensed mini-series on some of these verses, four posts per week for a few weeks – maybe not all 100 verses.

The first Continental Congress was gathered at the behest of Samuel Adams.  They thought they would share the duties of opening each day of the congress in prayer, but after Jacob Duché’s initial prayer, he was asked to perform this duty each day that the congress met.  In a way, he had become the first congressional chaplain, long before there was such a thing in a formal sense.

When the representatives from each colony heard the prayer, they were all greatly moved.  Some dropped to their knees.  Some wept.  It was as if the Lord had entered the room and was sitting among them, according to many other reports.

Psalm 35 begins with a concept that most seem to not understand.  King David wrote that he was a servant of God, totally committed to do God’s will.  And in so doing, David’s prayer was that God would lead the way.

The way we get it wrong these days, and probably many people ever since David wrote it, we try to make a deal with God.  God, if you will lead the way and rid myself of my enemies, then I will commit myself to your will.

Then there are those who never have the intention of committing themselves to God’s will, but God better hold up His part of the bargain.

The first example, of us humbling ourselves before God and then asking for help…  That’s the one that works.  But, we might not end up going the direction we wanted to go.  God will lead us in a better direction, one where we can glorify Him more.

And verse 4 of this psalm is imprecatory.  For those that do not like imprecatory verses, this one is mild in nature.  The British fought to retain the colonies, but in invoking this psalm in his prayer, Jacob Duché was saying that the British should be shamed for what they had done to the colonies.  They should simply leave.  If that had happened, there would have been no bloodshed on either side.

There was a bloody rebellion, but the imprecation is more along the lines of “leave me alone.”

Let us seek peace, but may we understand that a strong defense might be necessary.

Regardless, we must trust in God and God’s plan.

And in looking at these Bible verses that made America what it is today, the founding fathers were indeed godly men, most extremely strong Christians.

Soli Deo Gloria.  Only to God be the Glory.