The Divine Goodness Displayed, in the American Revolution

Reading of Rev. John Rodger’s Sermon from December 11, 1783 (edited for length)

A Sermon preached in New York, December 11, 1783

Appointed by Congress as a Day of Public Thanksgiving throughout the United States

By John Rodgers, D.D.

Founding Pastor of the Brick Presbyterian Church in the City of New York

New York: Printed by Samuel Loudon

“The Lord hath done great things for us, whereof we are glad.”

The subject of this divine poem, from which I have taken my text, not obscurely points us to the occasion on which it was penned. It was the return of the Jews from their captivity in Babylon. This is what is meant by “the captivity of Zion” in the first verse. It is generally supposed, and with great…

You will readily perceive, my brethren, with what ease and propriety these words apply to the design and duties of this day. They contain the very language the God of providence has put into our mouths and teach us what notice we are to take of the dealings of his gracious hand toward us.

If you will please to attend, I will:

1. Point you to some of the great things our God has done for us, and for which we have cause to be glad this day.

2. Show you how we ought to manifest this gladness.

Let us consider some of those great things our God has done for us, and which it becomes us to notice and acknowledge this day.

These are different according to the different points of view in which we consider ourselves: either as creatures of his hand, as sinners under a dispensation of grace, or as members of society. But to enter into a particular consideration of each would be as vain as to attempt to count the stars in the firmament or number the sands on the seashore. You will expect, therefore, only a few of the numerous instances of the great things our God has done for us.

“Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation ..”

He has graciously and fully defeated the designs the court of Britain formed to deprive us of our liberties. They laid plans with such art as to deceive the nation into favorable sentiments of their measures and led them to aid in the accomplishment of their purposes.

The redress of grievances was all we first sought. Oh, with what joy and gratitude would we have received it at their hands at any time before the summer of 1776.

But this is not all heaven has done for us. God has broken our connection with that people long practiced in venality and grown old in corruption. He has delivered us from their unjust claims and future practices and given us a place among the kingdoms of the world.

Under the auspices of his providence, we have risen into existence as a people and taken our station among the nations and empires of the earth—an event of such magnitude that it forms a new era in the history of mankind.

We have nothing to do now but wisely improve this event, to render it a fruitful source of happiness to ourselves and millions yet unborn.

The early and just alarm our country took at the measures pursued by the British court strongly points to the watchful care of providence over us. The unanimity among the colonies in opposing these measures—among all ranks and degrees, with very few exceptions—is another remarkable display of divine kindness.

It is true these were natural effects of unconcealed designs and manifest injustice, but the hand of heaven is clear: Britain acted in a manner so undisguised and impolitic as to alarm and unite us. They could have attempted their purposes with more ease, less expense, and greater certainty, had they concealed their designs.

Instead, they enforced their claims by the terrors of the sword. Thus we were called to resistance and obliged to resistance by the principles of self-preservation.

The appointment of proper men to meet in Congress, and the prudence and firmness of their measures, shows both the wisdom of that august body and the providence directing them.

The military ardor that inspired all ranks across the continent—spreading like a flame from colony to colony—must be resolved into the hand of heaven. You will recall the resistance at Lexington, where the first American blood was shed, April 19, 1775; the well-fought battle of Bunker Hill on June 17 following; and the confining of the British army within Boston and its environs for nearly a year until they stole away with shame.

…Another great providence was the raising of a proper person to command our armies. Congress’s choice of the illustrious Washington was heaven-directed: the man raised up for the work of leading our armies and saving his country. His influence, the confidence he inspired, and the success that attended him demonstrate the goodness of God and his personal merit.

God also provided officers of inferior rank and enabled an army to be gathered and commanded, despite our having neither arms, ammunition, nor skill at the outset. The contempt our enemies had for us led them into conduct ruinous to themselves and advantageous to us.

…To this may be added the smallness of the army they at first sent out against us. They imagined that a few thousand men would accomplish their purpose. This misjudgment gave us leisure—after hostilities began—to prepare, in every necessary respect, to oppose and defeat them. They themselves, in this early period, contributed not a little to teach us the art of war. And after we had taught them to fear us, and they had augmented their numbers to more than sufficient to crush us, their pusillanimous caution became, in the hand of Providence, no small means of our salvation.

Who that reflects upon the dark scenes through which we passed from this period until the glorious battle of Trenton on December 26th (and dark indeed they were), and who that considers the awful poise in which the fate of America then hung—destruction awaiting us on every side—while also considering the complicated difficulties and hazards that attended that well-timed enterprise, with its signal success and extensive consequences, can help exclaiming in the language of our text: “The Lord has done great things for us whereof we are glad.”

…It also deserves notice that the means on which our enemies placed the highest dependence often had the directly opposite effect. This was remarkably true of their cruelties: burning towns, laying waste to settlements by savages, murdering citizens, destroying churches, and the like.

They designed these terrors to break our spirits and force submission, but their effect was to rouse and animate the country into more determined opposition. Their treatment of us as slaves excited our indignation, contempt, and resentment. They taught us their incapacity to govern us in wisdom or virtue and confirmed the necessity of maintaining our independence or perishing in the struggle.

It is much to be lamented that the troops of a nation once considered a bulwark of the Reformation should act as though waging war against the God Christians adore. In the course of this war, they utterly destroyed more than fifty places of public worship in these states—burning many, leveling others, and defacing still more by converting them into barracks, jails, hospitals, and riding schools. Boston, Newport, Philadelphia, and Charlestown all furnished melancholy instances. And in this city, of the nine places of worship fit for use before the war, there were but nine fit for use when the British troops left it, and many were left in ruinous condition.

…Again, the formation and completion of that social compact among these states, commonly styled the Confederation, is another instance of the great things our God has done for us. This is what gives us national existence and character. Before it, we had no permanent union, nor were we regarded by other powers as a distinct people.

By this event the thirteen United States, though differing in situation, customs, manners, and local interests, became one people. Their interests are united into one common interest, and they stand pledged to each other for the united defense of every state and the privileges of the whole. This teaches the sacred obligation each state and every individual is under to support and strengthen this federal bond. Under Providence, our all depends upon it.

Once more, God’s raising us up such powerful friends among the nations—who have generously espoused our cause—is another instance of the great things he has done for us. We were unable in every respect to contend with the mighty nation that made war upon us, but Providence so ordered events that it was the interest of the great nation who first took us by the hand, and indeed of all maritime powers of Europe, to favor our cause. They acted by human policy, but God—whose kingdom rules over all—was accomplishing his own gracious purposes concerning these States.

Another instance of divine goodness, which we may not pass unnoticed, is his providing in this State so good a Constitution for securing our rights and privileges. It has imperfections like all human institutions, but upon the whole it is equaled by few and surpassed by none in wisdom, justice, and sound policy.

The rights of conscience—both in faith and worship—are secured to every denomination of Christians. No denomination can oppress another. All stand on the same common level in religious privileges. Nor is this confined to Christians: the Jews also have the liberty of worshiping God in the way they think most acceptable to him. No man is excluded from the rights of citizenship on account of his religious profession—nor ought he to be.

What great things has the God of Providence done for our race! By the revolution we celebrate today, he has provided an asylum for the oppressed in all the nations of the earth, whatever the nature of the oppression. And he is thereby accomplishing great things that open the way for the more general spread of the gospel in purity and power, and in due time the universal establishment of Messiah’s…

There is not, within my recollection, an instance in history of so great a revolution effected in so short a time and with so little loss of lives and property as that in which we rejoice.

It has cost us blood and treasure; but considering the magnitude of the object, the unequal terms on which we began and pursued the contest, and its glorious issue now secured by treaty, the cost is less than we had a right to expect.

We ought to express our gladness of heart for all these great things our God has done for us in the following ways:

God’s beneficence is designed to form us to a similar temper toward our fellow creatures. Even if many are unworthy, our own unworthiness has not barred the mercy of heaven. We must especially beware of resentment and revenge. True greatness rules the spirit. The religion of Jesus breathes benevolence and inspires it in all genuine believers.

This benevolence should manifest especially amid religious distinctions. It is not to be expected that all will be united in opinion—but we may be united in affection. Where we cannot agree, let us agree to differ. Love is the peculiar mark of Christ’s religion: “By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye love one another.”

Nor must we forget the case of those deserving citizens who lost their all by this struggle—many while hazarding their lives in the field. Add to this the case of widows and orphans made by this contest. Their situation demands attention not as charity, but justice. Can no plans be formed for employing such members of the community—the best method of providing for them? Can luxury and dissipation spare nothing for those in need? The approaching winter enforces this duty with an urgency language cannot express.

…God has put within our reach all the blessings of civil and religious liberty. Perhaps no nation has ever had so fair an opportunity to become the happiest people on earth. Yet misery as well as happiness lies before us, unless the present state of things is wisely improved.

The eyes of heaven and earth are upon these States. The situation is solemn and dignified. The path is plain: we must cement and strengthen the federal union; support the honor of the Great Council of the nation; execute salutary measures with unanimity; establish the credit of this new empire upon strict justice; and keep faith sacred and inviolable.

…Industry and frugality are of the highest moment. We must make the Constitution and laws the great rule of our civil conduct. The government to which obedience is urged is of our own framing—a government for which we fought and bled, and fought and bled with success. The magistrates who administer it are the men of our own choice. Therefore it is both duty and interest to strengthen the hands of government as the sure path to national happiness.

The order and dignity with which the change of government was introduced on November 25th—the day the deliverance of these States was completed by the evacuation of this city—have attracted admiration and even the acknowledgments of enemies. This should encourage us to persevere in virtue, order, and reverence for lawful authority.

…God calls us to testify joy and gratitude by lives devoted to his fear and service. This is the most acceptable manner of expressing thankfulness for any favor. One end of God’s goodness is to lead us to repentance. Every instance of beneficence is a cord of love thrown over the soul to draw us to himself.

“To offer praise to God” and “to order one’s conversation aright” are treated as the same: “Whoso offereth praise glorifieth me; and to him that ordereth his conversation aright will I show the salvation of God.”

Virtue—political and moral—is essential to the preservation of our hard-earned privileges, especially in a democratic government. Prevailing vice will sap the foundations of liberty sooner or later.

And the sons of profaneness cannot now sin at the cheap rate they once did. Guilt is greater in proportion to the great things God has done for us. Therefore, I beseech you by these mercies, in addition to all the grace of the gospel, that you break off your sins by repentance and study to walk before God as becomes those for whom he has done such great things.

Which may God of his infinite mercy grant, for Jesus’ sake. Amen and Amen.