I remember a man I know who constantly criticized our government. An out-of-towner — way out — had moved here to avoid the excessive income tax of his own country. "If I were in my old country, the head of state would simply resign in disgrace and let someone else take over if he failed to do the job within a reasonable amount of time."

I'll get back to this in a minute or two.

I know there are a lot here who have visited a foreign country at one time or another in your life. But, it's necessary to live in that place for a while to really know something about it other than the tourist traps. During my Navy stint, I had the privilege of living in Naples, Italy, for two years. I learned enough Italian to get around, except when I was in Rome and spoke Neapolitan and the locals would spit when they heard my accent. I ate at the finest restaurants, sat in a box seat to hear the best opera singers in the world. I was listening to "La Boheme" and the tenor was getting boos from the balcony, the local critics, and he raised his hands and said, "If you think I'm bad, wait 'til you hear the soprano!"

Anyway, when I got off my ship in New York City, I ordered two hamburgers with all the fixin's, two chocolate peanut butter milkshakes and a pile of fries. I was home! There was no one to throw rocks at me because I was an American. I could read a free press, get my education, choose almost any profession — except to teach math — and fall in love with my best girl, Julie Marie.

Psalm 147 shouts to us, "Praise the Lord! For He strengthens the bars of your gates, He blesses your sons within you. He makes peace at your borders, He fills you with the finest of foods!"

And as verse 20 states, "He has not dealt thus with any other nation."

Things began to change. Prophet Amos, "The leaders have sold the good people for silver and the poor for a pair of shoes!" My translation, "They have let profit take precedence over people and have demanded and gotten comfort and wealth at the expense of the less fortunate."

What I hope to do is to realize that there is a great deal of parallelism between ancient Israel and present-day America.

For Israel, God became compartmentalized. God took care of the religious stuff and the leaders took care of the practical stuff like running the country, levying taxes, controlling the marketplace and forgetting the people. Listen to Isaiah, "I have had enough of burnt offerings. I cannot endure people who do evil things and then pray and ask for more blessings."

I believe that now is the time when we begin to trust God rather than our political system. The words of Psalm 147 almost sound like "America the Beautiful." It's going to take a lot of work, some very courageous people who must stand up and be counted and listen to the words of God Almighty.

With God and His Son our Lord Jesus Christ, we can do miracles!

Thanks, God!