America turns 250 years old this weekend. And while the fireworks light up the sky and the flags wave proudly in the summer breeze. Millions of Americans are quietly asking the same haunting question. Will our country survive? The threats are real.
The problems run deep. And no election, no legislation, no political leader holds the ultimate answer. But there is an answer. and it's older than America itself. Today, on Insight for Living, Chuck Swindahl opens the Bible to reveal God's survival guide for a nation in crisis.
Chuck titled his message, How to Help Our Nation Survive. Survival. This is a sermon about. Survival. How to help your nation.
Survive. How to help yourself as the people of this nation. Survive. This will not be lengthy nor complicated, but Rather a relevant call. from God to all of us.
To play our part in the survival program that he has arranged. For a nation. The basis of these words is found in Second Chronicles chapter seven. over in the Old Testament. I realize that the nation in question is not America, but an ancient nation, the nation of Israel.
And that the man involved in this monologue with God is not. A president, but a young, perhaps fearful king named Solomon. And the event is not a holiday. But rather, in every sense of the word, it is a holy day. Actually, it is a day of dedication, and technically not just a day.
But a season of dedication. Because something very important has just been accomplished. God's house has been built. He never had a permanent residence before. He had always lived in a in a tent.
That is, if we could say the shekinah of God is where he lives. He had always lived in a tent that was folded up and carried on men's shoulders from one region to another. His white shining light had always blazed into this altar room within the tent that had been built. But now he was to dwell in a house. A house not extravagantly furnished but expensively Furnished.
Smell of cedar was still in the rooms. You could see the gold untarnished by the weather. The stones did not bear any of the appearance of age. Along with the house had been completed the place where Solomon lived, called the palace. Beautiful, but not nearly as beautiful as the house of God.
And suddenly in the middle of the night, God visited his man. Not for all the public to hear, and for all Solomon would know the rest of his life, it would never be known by anyone. But God the Holy Spirit chose to preserve and etch on the record of His permanent word of truth. The monologue, not dialogue.
Solomon's quiet. He is completely silent. And into his room comes Jehovah God. to visit. To talk.
to talk into the night. What prompted an encounter such as this?
Well, there had been sacrifices. Chapter seven. Verses four and five. a lot of sacrifices. The people had offered sacrifice.
The king himself had offered 22,000 oxen and 120,000 sheep. The altar was already smeared with blood, and it would stay smeared with blood. That's why it was there. And this had come before God as a sweet-smelling aroma. It pleased Him.
because through the blood men contacted God. He arranged it that way. And then there had been music, verse 6. The priests stood at their posts, and the Levites with the instruments of music To the Lord, which King David had made for giving praise to the Lord. This again had brought God praise and pleasure.
It had been a time of feasting for days. And on top of that, And there had been special offerings, verse 7.
So much fat from the peace offerings on that bronze altar that it was not able to contain the full amount of offering of meat and of grain and of the fat. The place was overflowing with the signs and the sounds of sacrifice and praise and music. And fire.
Solomon's heart must have pounded in his chest when he went to bed that night. What a time of feasting. What a great thing to have it finished. And the people left verse 8 with a happy heart. A very great assembly had gathered.
Verse 9, they had observed for these days and for these feast days, and finally, verse 10, they had with a happy heart of rejoicing gone to their own places. living in the memory of that time of feasting, Solomon's all alone. And God came. Verse 11. After this place had been a finished successfully and And all that had been planned was done then.
Verse 12, the Lord appeared to Solomon. At night. No one was around. No more music. No audience.
No one to applaud the presence of God. That's over. Just God and his man. The Lord appeared to him at night and said, I have heard your prayer.
Now I know we're sitting in places far removed from a bedroom. But imagine yourself Resting. On a couch or on an easy chair or in bed. In the middle of the night, And in an unexpected way, there comes the visiting of God into your room, and you hear his voice. And God says to you, as he did to Solomon.
I heard what you prayed. And um I have chosen this place. I like it. I'm pleased with it. I fit here.
My glory. is displayed. in the house that's been built. I choose it as my residence. What was its purpose?
I've chosen this place for myself. It's a house of sacrifice. There will be sacrifices of praise. There will be sacrifices of animals. of all shapes and sizes.
There will be the sacrifice of offerings. There will be the sacrifice of prayer. I've chosen it for myself. It pleases me. And if you will allow me a little bit of imagination between the 12th and the 13th verses, I I believe God could have said, by way of implication.
But Solomon, I have ways of testing my people. Hard days will come. Not all the future will be like your past week or two or three. My nation will come up against The horrors of war and the weakness of depravity. And Solomon, I will see them under the test of their times.
And I will want those sacrifices to continue. I will want to have the offerings flowing out of this place, just as you have done in dedication. I want it to continue in consecration. I want that, Solomon. I expect that, Solomon.
And here is the test. Verse 13, the test for my people. If I shut up the heavens so that there is no rain, If I command the locust to devour the land, If I send pestilence among my people, That's the test, Solomon. Verse 14. These same people.
who suffer under the test of their times. These people who are called by my name I will expect of them, Solomon, in order to survive. I will expect four things. First. that they humble themselves.
And second, that they pray. And third, that they seek my face. Ever saw one's face in the fog? Looking longingly. Waiting.
Fervently. Look for a face in a crowd. Or at a large terminal, a large Airport terminal for someone who said they would meet you. ever tried to find someone in In that setting, you've sought their face.
Solomon, I will expect my people to humble themselves and to pray and to wait for me to work. And to give credence to all of those actions, I expect them to turn from their ways of wickedness. Even though they are Israelites, and even though you are their king, and even though their history. is rich Rich with heritage. I expect them at that moment to turn from their wicked ways.
I want to see an attitude of a servant, a spirit of dependence, a willingness to wait. a response of obedience. And I in return, Solomon, I will hear the prayer. I will forgive their sin. I'll heal the land.
Observe, by the way, the close connection between a disobedient people and a diseased nation. Don't miss that. The pestilence comes not because God is cruel in standing over man, seeing how much he can squirm under the pain. The pestilence comes by implication because they have turned from their ways with God and gone their own wicked ways. Pestilence has come, and he who rules the insect world says, I can bring it upon you.
He who causes the rivers to flow says, I can dry them up by stopping the rain. Then, Solomon, I will wait for the prayer of my people. Then I will look for the right attitude. J. Barton Payne, while associate professor of Hebrew at at Wheaton College.
Wrote these words. This great passage expresses, as does no other in Scripture, God's requirement. For national blessing. whether in Solomon's land, in Ezra's, or in our own I believe that. I am fully aware that this passage originally was given to a Jewish king who ruled over a Jewish people.
Halfway around the world. In specifics, there is hardly a comparison with America. But in principle, there is a rather close association. I'm also well aware that the 104 people who finally made it to Jamestown. and established our first colony were not all flaming evangelists.
Nor did they give birth to those who loved Jesus Christ. Preeminently And all the judges and all the courtrooms and all the people of authority that formed those 13 colonies were all men and women of God. I know that, you know that.
Furthermore, I'm not so foolish as to believe that all of our American roots have been. nourished by purity. In or out of war. Decisions made in the Oval Office are made in a Or those made in a city council, I am completely aware that we are shot through with depravity. Always will be.
But it is true, we are a people uniquely, uniquely blessed of God. Talk to anyone who has recently returned from a trip anywhere else. And listen. We even had a most unique origin. Christopher Columbus, in an unusual book, His book of prophecies.
includes these words. It was the Lord who put into my mind, I could feel his hand upon me. the fact that it would be possible to sail from here to the Indies. No one should fear to undertake any task in the name of our Savior if it is just. and if the intention is purely for his holy service.
The working out of all things has been assigned to each person by our Lord. But it all happens according to his sovereign will. Oh, what a gracious Lord. Who desires that people should perform for him those things for which he holds himself responsible day and night? Moment by moment, everyone should express their most devoted gratitude.
to him. Christopher Columbus. Before there was ever a dream of America. Strangely, uniquely set aside as a continent. Land.
Rivers, lakes, mountains. Bounty. Blessing. how far we have drifted.
Well, what is the answer, then?
Some would say, elect a Christian president. Reminds me of Dwight Eisenhower's words: Never let yourself be persuaded that any one great man, any one leader, is necessary to the salvation of America. When America Consists of one leader and 158 million followers, it will no longer be America. Back in the 17th century, the same tension went on. between a man named Increase Mather.
and another named Solomon Stoddard. Stoddard confronted Mather with a concern. Matthew, you see, firmly believed this very conviction that it doesn't take just a president. But it takes a people. Though small in number, to pull it off.
Stoddard confronted him. In the 17th century, New England Only a fraction of our population is Christian. Mather retorted, Nonetheless, That fraction is sufficient to stand for the entire land. and redeem the whole. Good word.
You and I are not many in number. But we are who we are. And we are like little grains of salt. Sprinkled and planted here and there. Little rays of light.
Set up on a hill. Strategically, by our sovereign God, who has not yet lost control of this earth. And he says to those with salt, bite into that society. And those with the light, shine it. Flood that area.
And somehow, in his magnificent plan, He is pleased to use the salt. And the light of a 17th century body of believers. to assuage to soften the blows. of a godless society. Look again at the verse.
My people call by my name. humbled yourselves. I call that the unconditional surrender of my will to God's. It's not salvation. This is people already called by his name.
These are people who have already taken the gift of eternal life, embraced Jesus Christ by faith, but now said in their own soul, said to themselves, I turn my will to God's. I take his word as my rooftop. I take his principles as my precepts for business, profession, practice, life, and death. I surrender unconditionally myself to him. I pray.
I wait for him to work. I also do it without hypocrisy. I turn from my wicked. ways. No, I cannot clean up my society.
I can clean up my life. by the power of God. Full-time job. Humble myself, pray, seek his face, and turn from my wicked ways. Then, I'll hear and I'll heal.
This is not someone else's job. It won't be accomplished in the marble-walled rooms on Capitol Hill. It is not something limited to judges in the chambers. Or to voting booths, or to city council meetings, or to mass gatherings on Sunday mornings, or pep rallies. It is something that fits the chamber of the heart.
and fits their best. I save you from the statistics. You know them, many of you, better than I. But just watch the decline. of our country.
You're seeing it crumble. God is not panicked. God says to us in the night hours, Go back. to my book. Turn yourself to me.
Pray. Wait for me to work. And I will hear. and I will heal. You just turn from your wicked ways.
We spent this past week up at Forest Home, a Christian conference ground about. hour or so from Here. Most of us had a grand time. There were a few broken hearts. I met one the last day.
I was preoccupied those hours with getting Four. Um cars full of luggage into three. That was one of my concerns. We had taken friends from out of state, and so we had all of that to put together. I had this facing me today.
I appreciate Paul's words: there is always the care of the churches, and that never seems to leave.
So that was on my mind. I was seized with fear that we might have nothing more than testimony time on Sunday morning if I didn't get my act together. And I couldn't seem to get it clear as to what God wanted me to say. And then I came across a troubled woman. Didn't know her.
had hardly seen her through the week. And she says to me as we bumped up against one another in the last few hours, would you? Pray for me. I said uh a bit preoccupied.
Well yes. What exactly would you like me to pray for? She said, Oh. My survival. My survival.
Suddenly, luggage and packing seemed terribly unimportant. A sermon did not seem a high priority. Survival is at stake. And everything else bowed to that knee.
So it is in our nation. What is high priority to you? May I interrupt? And ask you to pray for Our survival. Let's do that now.
O our Father, we are masters at passing responsibility to someone else.
Someone else who's paid to do it.
someone else who has the responsibility.
Some hard charging, high powered, well paid Decision maker.
Some professional. For we gag. in our days of decadence. How could we Think of someone else more responsible. Then we ourselves.
Giving birth to children is a frightening thought. Parading them in front of our newsstands is a desperate desperate. Experience. Having them read our filthy literature and watch our dirty films. and be counseled by fools.
and led astray by cults. and expose to the godless. Oh, our God We are in desperate times. Integrity is a forgotten word in business. Even our government.
has pockets of pollution. that we continue to discover. You are the only source of true purity. You are the only hope. of our future.
Forgive us of our smug complacency. For once we find ourselves well fed, who really could care less. about the hungry. And once we are comfortably in from the rain, who could care about the shelter of another? Begin by humbling us, our Father.
Giving us hearts of compassion, though we are securely well-fixed financially. giving us a heart for those that do not have. Sufficient. to survive. Open our ears to the cry of the hurting.
May physicians practice a compassionate medical practice. May attorneys see and feel the hurt and the need of their clients. above and beyond what they get out of it. May teachers teach for the sheer joy of stretching minds and developing a curious heart. For the world that you have given us.
to enjoy. And may we preachers Preach the truth. Lord God, somehow, in some way, cause these words to fall on some soul. who has just about sold out. to the enemy.
In a time of midlife crisis, or in the weariness brought on by a recent retirement. Father. Purify us as a people. Do a deep Soul-searching work. Within our hearts.
and then within our homes. and then cause the salt and light to infect and impact others. with truth. Not so we will feel better. But so we will survive.
We ask this in the strong name of Christ. And all God's people said, Amen. On America's 250th birthday, Chuck Smendahl has reminded us that the survival of a nation doesn't hinge on a political platform. It hinges on the posture of God's people. Our mandate is clear.
We must humble ourselves, pray, seek God's face, and turn from our wicked ways. Four simple steps and a promise straight from the throne of God. You're listening to a special edition of Insight for Living. Chuck titled his message, How to Help Our Nation Survive. Whether you live in the United States or not, these principles apply to everyone because they're deeply rooted in biblical truth.
On this Independence Day, as the flags wave and the fireworks light up the sky, it's natural to think about what endures. Nations rise and fall, but the promises of God do not. And one of those promises is this: For those who trust in Christ, the best is still ahead. Heaven. It's a word we use often, but we understand far less than we might think.
Is it a real place? What will we actually do there? Will we recognize one another? What does the Bible really say? Insight for Living has created a resource to help you answer those questions.
It's called the Understanding Heaven Passport. It's a free digital download packed with biblical truth about eternity. God didn't reveal truth about heaven to confuse us. He revealed it to give us hope. And on a day when we're celebrating freedom, what greater freedom is there than the certainty of where we're headed?
To download your free copy today, visit insight.org/slash heaven. You know, there's not a day that passes here at Inside for Living when we don't pray for you. If you've been blessed through Chuck's teaching, would you drop us a line and let us know? You can do that by going to insight.org slash connect. Or call us at 800-772-8888.
I'm Bill Meyer. Join us when Chuck Swindahl resumes his teaching called, How Great Is Our God. Monday on Insight for Living. The preceding message, How to Help Our Nation Survive, was copyrighted in 1982, 1994, 2003, 2007, 2015, and 2026. And the sound recording was copyrighted in 2026 by Charles Parswindahl Incorporated.
All rights are reserved worldwide. Duplication of copyrighted material for commercial use is strictly prohibited.
