A Prayer of Gratitude to Canada
O Canada…I stand in awe of the majesty of your seemingly limitless breadth, your towering height, and the latent and unharvested power of your resourcefulness! You are truly a gift from God, our Father, for generations hereafter in His time. As an enriched homeland with fields of gold, you reach around the globe sharing your nutritional treasures as your acres overflow like the hearts of your sons and daughters, and your infectious and well-earned good will and respect. From their “hearts” flow such wonderful generosity for your neighbours far and wide – allowing strategic, compassionate breaches of your shores and welcoming the desperately weary and displaced peoples.
You cradle those buried in earthen graves, having faithfully surrendered their lives to protect your children in times of turmoil…those who have stood so bravely against evil encroaching from foreign soils. And you shelter those placed in memorials, now returning to dust while awaiting our Lord’s Second Coming and the arrival of His Kingdom on earth. My heart is full as I consider the inspiring spiritual heritage of those Canadians (including my own father) who have loved God and you, as their nation, and have defended your rugged yet beautiful shores against all doers of harm.
You have faithfully reared your children to believe that God’s leadership model of righteousness and justice – as demonstrated and lived out by Jesus – is worthy of a people who love others and are committed to building upon the Godly roots of Canadian society. You have taught us that it is good to dream big dreams, particularly when invention benefits the lives and livelihoods of our fellow men and women around the world. As we have historically integrated such principles into the Christian foundations of most Canadian institutions (universities, hospitals, health care systems, and financial institutions, for example), we have been blessed with 150 years of peace and prosperity. Today, Canada stands as a vanguard for these attributes, and though regularly challenged in its most conservative values, it continues to be a bastion for the faith traditions that have given rise to its well-tested judicial systems, and all of its operating precepts.
Solomon wrote the 72nd Psalm, not only as a song of praise to our God, but also as a prophetic proclamation of the influence, span and nature of the Kingdom that Christ will ultimately rule, based on God’s perfect version of the application of righteousness and justice. Consider the following passage of Psalm 72:1-9, as expressed in the New King James Version:
A Psalm of Solomon
“Give the king Your judgments, O God, And you rightness to the king’s Son. He will judge Your people with righteousness, And Your poor with justice. The mountains will being peace to the people, And the little hills, by righteousness. He will bring justice to the poor of the people; He will save the children of the needy, And will break in the pieces the oppressor.
They shall fear You, As long as the sun and moon endure, Throughout all generations. He shall down like rain, Upon the grass before mowing, Like showers that water the earth. In His days the righteous shall flourish, And abundance of peace, Until the moon is no more. He shall have dominion also from sea to sea, Those who dwell in the wilderness will bow before Him.”
Here then, in this inspiring passage, is the resonance and humility of David’s and Solomon’s hearts, and their recognition of God’s holy sovereignty in providing governance to a land and a people (such as Canada). In one sense, these verses could serve as a political platform for a party seeking power and desiring to know the secrets to a God-driven success.
Also, it is interesting to note that, in verse 8, Solomon’s proclamation of God’s sovereignty, “He shall have dominion also from sea to sea,” is the same statement made in Latin on Canada’s official coat of arms. May it forever be so. Happy Birthday Canada!
Endnote: Canada’s coat of arms, adopted in 1921, stands upon the Latin phrase, A Mari Usque Ad Mare, which when translated means From Sea to Sea, in reference to Psalm 72:8.
-Doug
