"But We Have Forgotten God"

In a proclamation appointing a national day of fasting and prayer on March 30, 1863, (The Collected Works of Abraham Lincoln, ed. Roy P. Basler, vol. 6, p. 156), President Lincoln spoke of the many blessings God had bestowed upon the people, both individually, and collectively as a nation. President Lincoln began his proclamation by stating (scroll down to heading title, “Lincoln’s Faith Increases“):

“It is the duty of nations as well as of men to own their dependence upon the overruling power of God, and to confess their sins and transgressions in humble sorrow, yet with assured hope that genuine repentance will lead to mercy and pardon, and to recognize the sublime truth, announced in Holy Scripture, and proven by all history, that those nations only are blessed whose God is the Lord.”

He then went on to reflect on the fact that God had blessed the United States with abundant prosperity — so much so, that the people had become too self-sufficient for them to acknowledge the Source of their prosperity. President Lincoln then makes this astute observation: “But we have forgotten God.”

He continued his speech with this observation: “Intoxicated with unbroken success, we have become too self-sufficient to feel the necessity of redeeming and preserving grace, too proud to pray to the God that made us. It behooves us, then, to humble ourselves before the offended power, to confess our national sins and to pray for clemency and forgiveness.“ Mr. Lincoln must have read and been aware of God’s decree to the nation of Israel through Moses in Deuteronomy 6:10-12, that warned Israel of the possibility of acquiring an attitude of self-sufficiency after receiving an abundance of His blessings. God gave Israel the following warning (just as he gives our nation today): “then beware, lest you forget the Lord” (Deuteronomy 6:12).

As President Lincoln stated above in his proclamation, has our nation today “forgotten God?” Are we “intoxicated with unbroken success” to the point where we are “too proud to pray to the God that made us?” From all evidence and indications, our country in in the process of “forgetting God.” What’s the solution to this problem? President Lincoln states the solution: “It behooves us, then, to humble ourselves before the offended power, to confess our national sins and to pray for clemency and forgiveness.“

What’s amazing is that President Lincoln’s solution is similar to the solution that God presents in 2 Chronicles 7:14: “if My people who are called by My name will humble themselves, and pray and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and heal their land.” The question is, are we as a nation willing to humble ourselves and make application of the above solution?

—Mike Riley, Gospel Snippets