"This is the day the Lord has made let us rejoice in it and be glad!" (Ps 118)

“This is the day the Lord has made let us rejoice in it and be glad!”  (Ps 118)

Of course the writer of this Psalm was portraying his thankfulness for the victory over their enemies.  Could it be the same for us today where the United States would hold its head high and become like the old nation that once stood tall as a beacon for the world?  What has happened to the Red White and Blue we used to see as a sign of prosperity, freedoms we fought for throughout the world, and a constant belief in God and our adherence to his creation of mankind?  

These are questions a free society should not have to look for since we have a solid Constitution and a ruling government that is trustworthy with our freedoms that are part of our heritage.  Looking across the oceans at so many nations that rule with dictators seeking their own desires it used to conflict with free societies who could govern themselves.  No more!  Allow one president with concurring legislators who are there for personal gain without their original promises to their constituents, and we will fall as a nation since God has also been shelved somewhere in their minds.  

Writing about these situations may appear to be like a broken record, but the old adage of, “those who forget the past are doomed to repeat it.”  That became the repeated scenario for far too many people, nations, and philosophies that were destined to reduce past kingdoms and continues in a time of a Godless priority of not placing him first.  

Have we, as a modern society in the 21st century, forgotten the Ten Commandments;  “I, the Lord, am your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, the place of slavery.  You shall not have other gods besides me.  You shall not carve idols for yourselves in the shape of anything in the sky above or on the earth below or in the waters beneath the earth; you shall not bow down before them.  For I, the Lord, your God am a jealous God, inflicting punishments for their fathers’ wickedness on the children of those who hate me, down to the third and fourth generation but bestowing mercy, down to the thousandth generation, on the children of those who love me and keep my commandments.”  (Dt 5: 6 - 10).  Of course, this is a repetition of a previous article, and sets a precedent for this new year of 2024.  Why is this so imperative to keep repeating?  Look at the present political thermometer in Washington D. C. and the temperature is rising to a boiling point simulating something out of a Sci-Fi program.  

To say it’s just another political excursion that will pass after the November elections is not looking at the reality of the landscape.  We need to look again at the Old Testament and Matthew’s Eschatology in chapter 24 of his Gospel and put the proclamations together.  Herein, we will be able to use the words from Daniel and Revelation to understand the very repeat of God speaking through Moses regarding false gods.  

As a nation, we are at the beginning of the end times when the mighty nations will begin to collapse.  “Fallen, fallen is Babylon the great.  She has become a haunt for demons.  She is a cage for every unclean spirit, a cage for every unclean bird.  For all the nations have drunk the wine of her licentious passion.  The kings of the earth had intercourse with her, and the merchants of the earth grew rich from her drive for luxury.  (Rev 18: 2 - 3).  “The kings of the earth who had intercourse with her in their wantonness will weep and mourn over her when they see the smoke of her pyre.  They will keep their distance for fear of the torment inflicted on her, and they will say:  Alas, alas, great city, Babylon, mighty city.  In one hour your judgment has come.”  (Rev 18: 9 - 10).  

Is there anyone reading this who will exclaim, “Not again, words from an old bible apocalyptic narrative that has no meaning to modern day Christians?  But, the words from antiquity are valid since we are living in the shadow of what is coming.  The words from  Psalm 118  will be repeated by all those who survive the theme of Babylon falling.  When we read further in Revelation, “Then I saw the heavens opened, and there was a white horse; its rider was called Faithful and True.”  He judges and wages war in righteousness .  His eyes were like a fiery flame, and on his head were many diadems.  He has a name inscribed that no one knows except himself.  He wore a cloak that had been dipped in blood, and his name was called the Word of God.  He has a name written on his cloak and on his thigh, “KIng of kings and Lord of lords.”  (Rev 19: 11 - 13, 16).  

“This is the day the Lord has made, let us rejoice and be glad in it.”  (Ps 118 24).  

Ralph B. Hathaway