REMEMBRANCE

Remember the days of old, consider the years of many generations.

– Deuteronomy 32:7

Today’s verse is part of a song that Moses taught to Israel. The people were about to enter the promised land after wandering in the desert for forty years. Joshua would lead them in since Moses could not enter as a punishment for striking the rock at Meribah-kadesh, instead of speaking to it as God told him to. God said to Moses, “You broke faith with me… you did not treat me as holy in the midst of the people of Israel” (Deuteronomy 32:51).

Moses was one hundred twenty years old, knowing he would die soon. The song recited the history of their exodus from Egypt as a “witness against them” (Exodus 31:19). Moses knew that after he died the people would turn their back on the Lord. The prophet stressed the importance of paying attention to the nation’s history and being careful to do what God commanded. That same day, God allowed Moses to go up to Mount Nebo and view the land of Canaan, and then he died there.

The people of the United States would benefit as well from paying attention to its history. The first U.S. president, George Washington, said, “No people can be bound to acknowledge and adore the Invisible Hand which conducts the affairs of men, more than the people of the United States. Every step by which they have advanced to the character of an independent nation seems to have been distinguished by some token of Providential agency.”

Give God thanks for the way He has formed and blessed this country. Pray that its citizens and elected officials would heed President Washington’s advice and acknowledge their Creator’s involvement in this nation, with thanksgiving and adoration.