Proverbs 14:34: “Righteousness exalts a nation, / But sin is a reproach to any people.”

June 18th, 2024 by Pastor Ed in devotional

Some years ago the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled the citing of the pledge of allegiance in public school as unconstitutional, because the phrase “one nation under God” was an “endorsement of religion.” The jurist who wrote the majority opinion said, “The pledge sends a message to non-religious students that they are outsiders.” In a matter of a few short weeks, the U.S. Senate and the House of Representative overruled that court and the President signed it into law.

We see in this proverb that the one thing we most need to be is a nation under God. The word righteousness implies that the citizens of a nation are living by just and godly principles, which produces just and godly actions. Just principles and actions preserve and build up a society, but their absence brings pain and shame.

President John Quincy Adams wrote in 1821 that nearly all of the American people agreed that the Word of God should be the guiding principle for life. Certainly not all of this nation, then or now, would agree with Adam’s statement, but this proverb promises that God will bless any people who choose His way over their own way. “Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord, / The people He has chosen as His own inheritance” (Psalm 33:12).

“LORD, please reach down and assist us, empower us, and direct us as we follow You toward righteousness this day.”