Self Government

In 1675 and 1676, the colonies were reeling under the onslaught of King Philip’s War. The streets of towns like Swansea and Dartmouth, Taunton and Sudbury were littered with the bodies of mutilated men, women and children. It appeared as if nothing could withstand the force of thousands of King Philip’s braves.

In the midst of this, Peter Folger, the grandfather of Benjamin Franklin, wrote these words:

If we then truly turn to God,

He will remove His ire.

And will forthwith take this His rod

And cast it in the fire.

Let us then search what is the sin

That God doth punish for;

And when found out,

cast it away,And ever it abhor.

Peter Marshall writes:“By April 1676, there was scarcely a man or woman in all of New England who was not diligently searching his or her own soul for unconfessed or unrepented sin. In fact, it became unpatriotic not to do so—as if one were not doing one’s part for the war effort.”

Four months later the war was over. It cost this nation proportionately more lives than any war we have fought since.

But there is a lesson here that we have forgotten. It is in the midst of trials and trouble that God’s people must turn to Him, on repentant knees, not seeking to find ultimate blame in others.

If we are to turn this nation around, we must again be forthright in recognizing the real cause of social upheavals and be willing to deal with them rightly: selfishness, greed, lust, coveting, lying, stealing…not only at the individual level, but at the corporate and governmental levels.

These are times that call for repentance, not recrimination.

These are times that call for self denial, not self-actualization.

These are times that call for bravery and courage, not fear and retreat.

For these are actually times of great opportunity…for we are not like those who are “without hope and without God in this world” (Eph 2:12).

When the night is the darkest, a light shines its brightest.

~ Dr. Del Tackett