Good morning, ladies and gentlemen.
Before we share the Word, I want to fulfil a promise. I want to read to you the declaration by the U.S. President, George Bush, as a conclusion to the Gulf War. I want you to take this to your heart and pray.
National Days of Thanksgiving, April 5–7, 1991, by the President of the United States of America: A Proclamation.
As the Psalmist wrote:
O give thanks unto the Lord; for He is good:
for His mercy endureth for ever.
Almighty God has answered the prayers of millions of people with the liberation of Kuwait and the end of offensive operations in the Persian Gulf. As we prepare to welcome home our courageous servicemen and women and join in the joyful celebrations of the Kuwaiti people, it is fitting that we give thanks to our Heavenly Father, our help and shield, for His mercy and protection—asking Him to judge not our worthiness, but our need for protection.
Knowing that the Lord gives victory not by might, nor by power, we prayed for swift and decisive victory and for the safety of our troops. Clearly, the United States and our coalition partners have been blessed with both. We thank the Lord for His favour, and we are profoundly grateful for the relatively low number of allied casualties, an effect described by the commanding general as miraculous.
Nevertheless, because each and every human life is precious, and because the massive scale of Operation Desert Storm must never diminish the loss of even one service member, we also remember and pray for all those who made the ultimate sacrifice in this conflict. May the Lord welcome all who have fallen into the glory of Heaven, and may He strengthen and console their families in their hour of need. May it also please our Heavenly Father to grant full recovery to those military personnel wounded in action.
We also give thanks for the remarkable unity of our people throughout this conflict—a unity marked by heartfelt and general support for our troops in the field and, in the American tradition, respect for the rights of those who dissent. May our nation emerge from this conflict stronger and more united, to face as one united people the challenges and opportunities before us.
As we unite in thanksgiving to Almighty God, let us pray in a special way for the innocent men, women, and children, wherever they may be, who have suffered as a result of the conflict in the Gulf. Recalling the words of President Wilson shortly after World War I, let us seek forgiveness for any “errors of act or purpose,” and pray for God’s help and guidance on the way that lies ahead.
May the resolution of remaining questions and concerns, especially the return of all prisoners of war and the freeing of those who are detained, be as timely and as certain as this victory in battle. Finally, seeing before us the promise of a safer, more peaceful world, one marked by respect for the rule of law, let us offer all these entreaties in a spirit of faith, humility, and gratitude, seeking reconciliation with all peoples.
In doing so, we recall the timeless prayer found in Scripture:
Thine, O Lord, is the greatness, and the power, and the glory,
for all that is in the heaven and in the earth is Thine;
and Thou reignest over all.In Thine hand is power and might;
and in Thine hand it is to make great,
and to give strength unto all.Now therefore, our God, we thank Thee,
and praise Thy glorious name.
As the Psalmist wrote:
Come, behold the works of the Lord.
He maketh wars to cease unto the end of the earth.
Now, therefore, I, George Bush, President of the United States of America, do hereby proclaim April 5 through 7, 1991, as National Days of Thanksgiving. I ask that Americans gather in homes and places of worship to give thanks to Almighty God for the liberation of Kuwait, the blessings of peace and liberty, and for our troops, our families, and our relations.
In addition, I direct that the flag of the United States be flown on all government buildings. I urge all Americans to display the flag, and I ask that bells across the country be rung at 3 p.m. Eastern Daylight Saving Time on April 7, 1991, in celebration of the liberation of Kuwait and the end of hostilities in the Persian Gulf.
In witness whereof, I have hereunto set my hand this seventh day of March, in the year of our Lord 1991, and of the independence of the United States of America, the two hundred fifteenth.
George Bush
It is almost a Bible study, isn’t it? I guess that this was something for you to take to heart.
I would ask, maybe Mac Graham would just lead us and thank God for this proclamation, and pray that these days would be days of glory given unto the Lord for everything that happened. Would you? Could we all stand in doing that?
Lord, as we gather around Your table this morning, we saw Your infinite love in person. Lord, we thank You that we have been able to see and experience Your great hand, authority, and mercy in the recent Persian Gulf War.
Lord, we do return and just thank You that we can see Your heart. We thank You for the testimony of the President, but it is not that much about anything other than Your mighty Spirit.
Lord, we pray for this country: as we have a heart of thanksgiving, Lord, may we not turn away. May that heart of thanksgiving lead to a heart of repentance. Lord, we pray that these words that our President has uttered would burn within his heart, that they would burn within the Cabinet, Lord, and throughout this nation—that we would return with a real heart of repentance and humility, and that You would write forth Your glorious gospel.
Lord, do not allow the effect of this war just to fade away. We pray that the mighty power of Your Word would go forth throughout this land and, Lord, beyond its borders, throughout this earth.
In Jesus’ name. Amen.
Amen. Amen. You may be seated.
If you turn with me to 1 Samuel 15, please. 1 Samuel 15. We are reading from verses 17 through 23.
Samuel said, Although thou wast little in thine own sight,
wast thou not made the head of the tribes of Israel?
And the Lord anointed thee king over Israel;
and the Lord sent thee on a journey, and said,
Go and utterly destroy the sinners the Amalekites,
and fight against them until they be consumed.Wherefore then didst thou not obey the voice of the Lord,
but didst fly upon the spoil,
and didst evil in the sight of the Lord?And Saul said unto Samuel, Yea, I have obeyed the voice of the Lord,
and have gone the way which the Lord sent me,
and have brought Agag the king of Amalek,
and have utterly destroyed the Amalekites.But the people took of the spoil, sheep and oxen,
the chief of the things which should have been utterly destroyed,
to sacrifice unto the Lord thy God in Gilgal.And Samuel said, Hath the Lord as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices,
as in obeying the voice of the Lord?
Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice,
and to hearken than the fat of rams.For rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft,
and stubbornness is as iniquity and idolatry.
Because thou hast rejected the word of the Lord,
He hath also rejected thee from being king.
Keep your finger on that portion as we turn to the New Testament and follow up with a few Scriptures, beginning in Romans 12:1.
Therefore I urge you, brothers, in view of God’s mercy,
to offer your bodies as living sacrifices,
holy and pleasing to God.
This is your spiritual act