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In his recent Attleboro, MA “Sun Chronicle” newspaper column, Mr. Ruark presented a very bizarre and terribly misleading exposition of the Declaration of Independence. He wrote in his column that “the Declaration claims that ‘men’ (human beings) have rights simply by virtue of being human beings.” How true, but he then proceeded to undermine the role of “their Creator” in the bestowing of those rights, by dismissing Him as being impersonal, and a mere product of the philosophical idea of deism. He then further sought to diminish the Creator by writing that “the Declaration does not say that all rights come from a ‘Creator’ – only ‘certain unalienable ones’ – and does not list all of the ones that do.” Apparently, Mr. Ruark is claiming that there are other rights men possess and are entitled to which have nothing to do with God.
He then asserted that, “The Constitution never mentions or requires a particular view of the origins of our rights… If it could be shown that God did not exist, or if we were a nation of atheists, we would still be endowed with rights.” But without God, where do they come from? In spite of Mr. Ruark’s assertion, that’s still a supremely important question. The system of checks and balances in the Constitution was a recognition by the founders of the reality that man left unchecked is capable of the worst abuses of power, often motivated by appalling selfish ambition. The need for a constitution in the first place is an acknowledgment of the Biblical record of man’s rebellious and fallen condition. Mr. Ruark even categorized the idea of “God-given-rights” as “dangerous to democracy, liberty and the rights of others.” And so, in a few sentences, Mr. Ruark simply dismissed God as a personal Creator and law-giver, and declared that the Declaration of Independence is essentially irrelevant and disconnected from the Constitution. Welcome to the Orwellian new order where God, history and words are cancelled or redefined! In fact, it is widely recognized that our founders, Jefferson in particular, were influenced by William Blackstone's (1723-80) “Commentaries on the Laws of England.” Blackstone wrote in the introduction, “Man, considered as a creature, must necessarily be subject to the laws of his creator, for he is entirely a dependent being… And consequently, as man depends absolutely upon his maker for everything, it is necessary that he should in all points conform to his maker's will… This will of his maker is called the law of nature… The doctrines thus delivered we call the revealed or divine law, and they are to be found only in the holy scriptures.” The expression “Laws of Nature and Nature’s God” in the Declaration of Independence clearly demonstrates Blackstone’s influence on Jefferson and others. Quotations from the founders are readily available, and in many of them there are references to God’s sovereign providence in the course of human affairs. That acknowledgment by them clearly points to their understanding of God as personal, very active in the events of the world, and One to whom men can and should pray. The Constitution of Massachusetts, primarily written by founder John Adams, states, “It is the right as well as the duty of all men in society, publicly, and at stated seasons to worship the Supreme Being, the great Creator and Preserver of the universe.” Benjamin Franklin wrote, “Here is my Creed. I believe in one God, Creator of the Universe. That he governs the World by his Providence. That he ought to be worshiped.” To write off the founders as just deists only therefore, is misleading, naïve and dangerously dismissive. Their beliefs in God cannot be reduced to mere simplistic theological or philosophical categories. Mr. Ruark’s argument for man’s autonomy from God as our Creator and lawgiver is in fact the real threat to “democracy, liberty and the rights of others” because the determination of rights is then left to those with the most power, who then attempt to force their views on those who disagree. Once God as a personal and providentially active Creator is cancelled along with His laws, we’re left with what Jefferson feared and then termed as, “elective despotism.” And this is all done under the euphemism of “unity” which really means conformity in the new order. Before the founding fathers are entirely cancelled, or I’m interred at a re-programming camp because I and tens of millions of Americans “who elected and enabled this president (Trump) are more a threat to America than Donald Trump” (as Mr. Gouveia outrageously asserted in his column), I’ll quote James Madison who wrote, “It is impossible for the man of pious reflection not to perceive in it (the Constitution) a finger of that Almighty hand which has been so frequently and signally extended to our relief in the critical stages of the revolution.”
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“Turn Yourself to me, and have mercy on me, for I am lonely and afflicted. The troubles of my heart have enlarged; bring me out of my distresses!” Psalm 25:16-17
David, the author of this Psalm, experienced many sorrows and times of anguish in his life. Some were from his many conflicts with his enemies, others were the result of his sins, which in some cases were very great. But in all these there was an abiding child-like trust in God. It was during these times, however, that David sometimes was tempted to think that God had turned His back on him, and this would be to David a great source of distress. He would then feel isolated and alone, and left to his own thoughts, his condition would then loom large and ominous to him. This experience was not unique to David. It was felt in the greatest degree by Jesus himself who walked this earth as a “Man of Sorrows and acquainted with grief” (Isaiah 53:3). Who could possibly plumb the depths of the grief, distress and sorrows He knew? Who can know the profound sense of forsakenness Jesus experienced on the cross when He cried out, “My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?” (Matthew 27:46). We know that Jesus submitted Himself to this agony of body and soul so that true believers might be delivered from their sin. He who knew no sin became “sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him” (1 Corinthians 5:21). And we know that those who trust Jesus are also commanded to take up their cross and follow Him, which unavoidably involves suffering. However, the Apostle Paul would write concerning his sorrows and distresses, “I now rejoice in my sufferings for you and fill up in my flesh what is lacking in the afflictions of Christ” (Colossians 1:24). He was not in any way undermining the sufficiency of the sufferings of Christ for His people, but was acknowledging the intimate union of himself with his Savior and Lord Jesus Christ. By experiencing these distresses, he and we in our afflictions enter into fellowship with His sufferings, which gives us real cause to love Christ more as we experience a small taste of what He knew in all its fullness. But there’s more here in this Psalm. Charles Spurgeon once wrote that, “It is the mark of a true saint that his sorrows remind him of his sins, and his sorrow for sin drives him to his God.” This was indeed the case with David who petitioned the Lord earlier in the same Psalm, “For Your name’s sake, O Lord, pardon my iniquity, for it is great” (verse 11). You see, it was the awful realization of sin in his life which gave David this profound sense of loneliness, affliction and desolation. It’s the same for all Christians because sin alienates one from God. God utterly hates sin, and when one sins, it often brings on a real sense of God’s displeasure! But that’s what the cross was all about, God pouring out in righteous wrath His holy displeasure with sin. But the good news for humble, penitent, believing sinners is that Christ received this outpouring of God’s wrath on their behalf. Therefore, when a true believer knows he’s sinned, he need no longer fear God’s wrath, but may now go freely and confidently into God’s presence in humble confession and repentance, knowing he will receive forgiveness on the basis of Christ’s legal debt paying suffering and death. In this way, Christ has sanctified the suffering of the saints in that it is used for their good. And the greatest good for the sinner is to be reconciled with his Creator and to be conformed to God’s image, the image in which he was created. Known sin inevitably and ultimately drives the child of God back to the cross to experience fresh washings in the blood of Christ. And therefore, during those times of loneliness and affliction, whether it is because of sin or perhaps a time of testing, the Christian has a place of refuge in Christ. “For we do not have a High Priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin. Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need” (Hebrews 4:15-16). May you find relief and comfort in your times of distress and sorrow as you wholly trust in God through your faithful High Priest Jesus Christ. |
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