Blessed Is the Nation Whose God Is the Lord

Blessed is the nation whose God is the LORD, the people whom he has chosen as his heritage!
Psalm 33:12

Have you ever seen this picture?

The first time I saw it was as a painting hanging on a wall in one of the buildings where my kids go to school. 

At the center of this image is an American flag, as a boat full of what we can probably safely presume to be American patriots are proudly waving their flag in the name of God.  And so Psalm 33:12 is identifying America as that nation whose God is Yahweh, the nation that God uniquely established.  As millions of students in classrooms throughout the United States have been taught to recite daily over the years (myself included), we are: one nation, under God.

But does this application square with the context of Psalm 33 and, more widely, the rest of the Scriptural witness?

My assertion is that it does not and simply cannot ultimately be about America, or any earthly nation for that matter.

Let's look at the context of Psalm 33 first.

[10] The LORD brings the counsel of the nations to nothing; he frustrates the plans of the peoples. [11] The counsel of the LORD stands forever, the plans of his heart to all generations.
Psalm 33:10–11

Notice how verse 10 stands in direct contrast to verse 11. The earthly nations and their wisdom and plans are set in stark contrast to Yahweh and His wisdom and plans.

Yahweh brings the counsel of the nations to nothing and frustrates the plans of the peoples.  Yahweh establishes His own counsel and carries out His own plans to all generations.

"Nations" and "peoples" are used by the psalmist interchangeably in verse 10.  And in both verses "counsel" and "plans" are also interchangeable.  And the picture which emerges for us to see is that the earthly nations/peoples with their counsel and plans are at odds with Yahweh and His counsel and plans (cf. Psalm 2:1-3).

Now notice how the original verse quoted follows these two verses:

Blessed is the nation whose God is the LORD, the people whom he has chosen as his heritage!
Psalm 33:12

Out of the multitude of nations who are planning and plotting against Yahweh and His anointed (Psalm 2:1-3), Yahweh chooses a single nation to bless as His heritage, a nation whom He will uniquely be God to in a way that He is God to no others.  Who is this nation?

“For you are a people holy to the LORD your God. The LORD your God has chosen you to be a people for his treasured possession, out of all the peoples who are on the face of the earth.
Deuteronomy 7:6

Deuteronomy 7:6 is not about America.  It's about the nation of Israel.  And if Deuteronomy 7:6 isn't about America, then Psalm 33:12 can't be about America.  Because it's about the same chosen nation that is referred to in Deuteronomy 7:6!

But zooming out to the wider witness of Scripture, I don't simply contend that Psalm 33:12 cannot be about America.  It cannot be about any earthly nation.  It ultimately has nothing to do with an earthly nation but rather is about a spiritual nation: the church which spans peoples from every earthly nation!

Look down a little further in Psalm 33 to see why this must be the case:

[16] The king is not saved by his great army; a warrior is not delivered by his great strength. [17] The war horse is a false hope for salvation, and by its great might it cannot rescue.
Psalm 33:16–17

There's a school of thought that goes something like this: "God has no problem with us using armies and war horses as long as we don't trust in them."  In other words, it's possible to go to battle with your armies and war horses while trusting in God.

But I would contend that holding to this school of thought is the same thing as saying that you can serve both money and God.  You can look to money for security and safety and at the same time look to God for security and safety.  You can't.  It's impossible.  You can't have your cake and eat it too.

God isn't saying to use war horses as long as we don't trust in them—as if we can trust in Him while using war horses. He's saying you can't benefit from both war horses and from Yahweh at the same time.  Because when the victory comes, only one can receive the glory.

[6] Now I know that the LORD saves his anointed; he will answer him from his holy heaven with the saving might of his right hand. [7] Some trust in chariots and some in horses, but we trust in the name of the LORD our God. [8] They collapse and fall, but we rise and stand upright.
Psalm 20:6–8

Now let's bring this all the way home.

Every earthly nation at bottom is built on war horses.  For example, have you ever seen how much of America's budget is allocated to military? It doesn't even compare to what is allocated elsewhere.

Only God's spiritual nation—the church—isn't built on war horses. Which is why Jesus, the King of that nation, says this:

My kingdom is not of this world. If my kingdom were of this world, my servants would have been fighting, that I might not be delivered over to the Jews. But my kingdom is not from the world.
John 18:36

Fighting is simply what servants of the kingdoms/nations of the world do.

But one of the central distinctions of the servants of the kingdom of God and its King is that we don't fight (Isaiah 2:4, Micah 4:3).  Instead we lay down our lives.  Instead of mounting war horses and taking up arms, the King and His citizens wait patiently—to the point of death—for God's resurrection deliverance:

[18] Behold, the eye of the LORD is on those who fear him, on those who hope in his steadfast love, [19] that he may deliver their soul from death and keep them alive in famine. [20] Our soul waits for the LORD; he is our help and our shield. [21] For our heart is glad in him, because we trust in his holy name. [22] Let your steadfast love, O LORD, be upon us, even as we hope in you.
Psalm 33:18–22

Notice even the contrast between God as shield for the nation whose God is Yahweh and a literal shield in physical battle used by earthly nations as they ride their chariots and horses.

So when Israel demanded to have a king like the rest of the nations and God granted that request, He was giving them over to fight just like the rest of the nations (1 Samuel 8:10-12).  But to fight in this way was never God's ideal for His chosen nation.

And so Peter in the New Testament tells us of the nation that will fulfill God's ideal in a way that the earthly nation of Israel could not and no earthly nation can:

But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.
1 Peter 2:9

This is the New Testament fulfillment of Deuteronomy 7:6 from above.  Notice the repetition of "holy" and "chosen" and "possession" from that verse.  But it no longer applies to the earthly nation of Israel.  Instead it applies to the church, a spiritual nation with a brotherhood scattered throughout the world (1 Peter 5:9).  And, most importantly, it's a brotherhood that doesn't seek to devour/conquer others as a lion does, but instead allows itself to be devoured/conquered like a lamb is, following the lead of its Lamb King:

[18] knowing that you were ransomed from the futile ways inherited from your forefathers, not with perishable things such as silver or gold, [19] but with the precious blood of Christ, like that of a lamb without blemish or spot.
1 Peter 1:18–19

[21] For to this you have been called, because Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example, so that you might follow in his steps. [22] He committed no sin, neither was deceit found in his mouth. [23] When he was reviled, he did not revile in return; when he suffered, he did not threaten, but continued entrusting himself to him who judges justly.
1 Peter 2:21–23

[8] Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour. [9] Resist him, firm in your faith, knowing that the same kinds of suffering are being experienced by your brotherhood throughout the world. [10] And after you have suffered a little while, the God of all grace, who has called you to his eternal glory in Christ, will himself restore, confirm, strengthen, and establish you. [11] To him be the dominion forever and ever. Amen.
1 Peter 5:8–11

Show me a nation that, like the Lamb of God, allows itself to be devoured by the devilish "powers that be" because it trusts in its God to restore and establish it by the power of the resurrection.

And I'll show you a blessed nation because that nation—and that nation alone—has Yahweh as its God.

Blessed is the nation whose God is the LORD, the people whom he has chosen as his heritage!
Psalm 33:12