A Proclamation.
Whereas, the Senate of the United
States, devoutly recognizing the Supreme Authority and just Government of
Almighty God, in all the affairs of men and of nations, has, by a resolution,
requested the President to designate and set apart a day for National prayer
and humiliation.
And whereas it is the duty of
nations as well as of men, to own their dependence upon the overruling power of
God, to confess their sins and transgressions, in humble sorrow, yet with
assured hope that genuine repentance will lead to mercy and pardon; and to
recognize the sublime truth, announced in the Holy Scriptures and proven by all
history, that those nations only are blessed whose God is the Lord.
And, insomuch as we know that, by
His divine law, nations like individuals are subjected to punishments and
chastisements in this world, may we not justly fear that the awful calamity of
civil war, which now desolates the land, may be but a punishment, inflicted
upon us, for our presumptuous sins, to the needful end of our national
reformation as a whole People?
We have been the recipients of
the choicest bounties of Heaven. We have been preserved, these many years, in
peace and prosperity. We have grown in numbers, wealth and power, as no other
nation has ever grown. But we have forgotten God. We have forgotten the
gracious hand which preserved us in peace, and multiplied and enriched and
strengthened us; and we have vainly imagined, in the deceitfulness of our
hearts, that all these blessings were produced by some superior wisdom and
virtue of our own. Intoxicated with unbroken success, we have become too
self-sufficient to feel the necessity of redeeming and preserving grace, too
proud to pray to the God that made us!
It behooves us then, to humble
ourselves before the offended Power, to confess our national sins, and to pray
for clemency and forgiveness.
Now, therefore, in compliance
with the request, and fully concurring in the views of the Senate, I do, by
this my proclamation, designate and set apart Thursday, the 30th. day of April,
1863, as a day of national humiliation, fasting and prayer. And I do hereby
request all the People to abstain, on that day, from their ordinary secular
pursuits, and to unite, at their several places of public worship and their
respective homes, in keeping the day holy to the Lord, and devoted to the
humble discharge of the religious duties proper to that solemn occasion.
All this being done, in sincerity
and truth, let us then rest humbly in the hope authorized by the Divine
teachings, that the united cry of the Nation will be heard on high, and
answered with blessings, no less than the pardon of our national sins, and the
restoration of our now divided and suffering Country, to its former happy
condition of unity and peace.
In witness whereof, I have
hereunto set my hand and caused the seal of the United States to be
affixed.
Done at the City of Washington , this thirtieth day of
March, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and sixty-three, and of the Independence of the United States the eighty
seventh.
By the President of the United States of America : Abraham
Lincoln
If his analysis was valid in 1863, how much more so does it
ring true today!
3 comments:
Hi Brian,
Wouldn't it be wonderful if all of America fasted, repented and prayed on April 30th? I know God would hear, I only hope He would listen to the cry and stop what is going to come.
Here is a site that you might be interested in reading. Executive Order -- National Defense Resources Preparedness... http://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2012/03/16/executive-order-national-defense-resources-preparedness
Blessings,
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Everything about this Lincoln The bottom-line then and now is that "we have forgotten God" and need to "humble ourselves before the offended Power, to confess our national sins, and to pray for clemency and forgiveness." as our great President stated so long ago. It would be wonderful if this nation fasted, repented and prayed. even better to come to a "saving" knowledge of Jesus Christ that transforms hearts. Thank you for writing.
isn't this unbelievable? can you even imagine teaching this to our kids in school? would never happen! my 13 year old son told me yesterday they taught him in health class the wonders of the birth control pill for teens...keeps their skin beautiful and acne free... that is what they are learning.
I am your newest follower..pls follow back if you can.
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