Why Psalm 135 Still Matters In Public Life

What if the biggest threat to your peace isn’t the headlines, but who you’ve been treating like a savior? We start by reading Psalm 135, a blunt reminder that the Lord rules over heaven, earth, and the depths and that idols are powerless things made by human hands. From there, we pray for forgiveness and for the strength to live out our faith with real compassion for the hurting, including widows, orphans, and those who serve in uniform. 

We then move into Genesis 9 and the command to be fruitful and multiply, arguing that God’s design for marriage, sex, children, and responsibility isn’t random advice. When a culture rebels against that design, the damage shows up everywhere. We also read Acts 11, where Peter explains how the Holy Spirit falls on the Gentiles, the early church recognizes God’s work, and believers in Antioch become known as Christians. Along the way, we highlight the practical generosity of famine relief as a model for faith that acts. 

The second half turns to public life and civic virtue. We remember a Pennsylvania state trooper killed on the roadside and bring the story back to the family left behind, then connect personal loss to national consequences. We also share a Medal of Honor note on Heath Canfield and revisit early American election sermons, including Matthias Burnett’s 1803 sermon, to discuss separation of church and state, factional party zeal, and why a free republic depends on a virtuous people. If you’ve ever wondered whether politics can fix what’s broken, this conversation pushes deeper toward the only lasting source of hope: God and Jesus Christ. 

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Transcript

Psalm 135 And God’s Power

SPEAKER_00 0:02

Psalm one hundred thirty five Starting with verse five. I know the greatness of the Lord, that our Lord is greater than any other God. The Lord does whatever pleases him throughout all heaven and earth and on the seas and in their depths. He causes the clouds to rise over the whole earth. He sends the lightning with the rain and releases the wind from his storehouses.

A Trooper’s Death And Its Cost

SPEAKER_00 0:35

Within the last week, last few days, last couple weeks, Pennsylvania state trooper was hit and killed by an illegal immigrant driving a 18-wheeler or other large truck. There's some potential there for driving under the influence or just reckless driving in general.

Welcome And Words Of Thanks

SPEAKER_00 1:11

Hey folks, this is Jesse Cope, back with another episode of the American Soul Podcast. Hope y'all are doing well wherever y'all are, whatever part of the day you're in. Sure to appreciate you joining me, giving me a little of your time and attention, a little piece of your day. I will try and use it wisely. For those of y'all that continue to share the podcast with others, tell others about it. Thank you. Same thing with the America's Christian Heritage Podcast. For those of y'all that are joining us over there, hope you're getting something out of it. For those of y'all that have checked out the countryside book series and left reviews for that or the podcast, thank you very much. Very grateful for both. For those of y'all that are supporting the podcast financially each month, thank you. And for those of y'all that continue to pray for me and for the podcast, thank you most of all for your prayers. Very, very grateful for them.

Prayer For Mercy And Courage

SPEAKER_00 2:09

Father, thank you for today. Thank you for you, Father, and your son Jesus Christ and your Holy Spirit. Thank you for your love and your mercy, your grace, and your forgiveness of sins through the merit of your son Jesus Christ. Thank you for the blessings that we admit, Father, and the ones we don't, for whatever reason. Forgive us our sins, the ones we admit, the ones we try and hide, or don't even realize that we're committing, Father. Help us to share the gospel of your son Jesus Christ. Help us to care for the widow and the orphan, the poor and the needy. Be with our military, our law enforcement, our firefighters, EMS, protect them, keep them safe, bring them home safe. Help us to care for their widows and their orphans. Not with merely words, father, but with actions, with deeds. Compassion, patience. Oh, they could support Be with those around the world who are suffering for the sake of your son Jesus Christ because they acknowledge him as the only Son of God. Guide our steps. Be with those listening, comfort them, bless them, their families, ease any worries, anxieties, heal any hurts, any injuries, any illness. Help us to trust you, Father. Bring us home to you in your timing. In your son's name we pray. Amen. And God, my words here, Father, please. In your son's name, we pray. Amen.

Genesis 9 And Fruitful Families

SPEAKER_00 4:16

Marriage verses for today, Genesis 9, 1 and 7. Then God bless Noah and His Son, saying to them, Be fruitful and increase in number and fill the earth. As for you, be fertile and multiply, populate the earth and multiply in it. These aren't just random suggestions, folks. So many problems that we have today come from our rebellion against God and his commands for marriage, roles of men and women, having children, sex, responsibilities. Look at abortion and what it's done here in America, the UK, other countries around the world. Just devastating.

Acts 11 And The Gentiles’ Hope

SPEAKER_00 5:12

Acts 11, 1 through 30. Soon the news reached the apostles and other believers in Judea that the Gentiles had received the word of God. But when Peter arrived back in Jerusalem, the Jewish believers criticized him. You entered the home of Gentiles and even ate with them, they said. Then Peter told them exactly what had happened. I was in the town of Joppa, he said, and while I was praying, I went into a trance and saw a vision. Something like a large sheet was let down by its four corners from the sky, and it came right down to me. When I looked inside the sheet, I saw all sorts of tame and wild animals, reptiles, and birds. And I heard a voice say, Get up, Peter, kill and eat them. No, Lord, I replied, I have never eaten anything that our Jewish laws have declared impure or unclean. But the voice from heaven spoke again, Do not call something unclean if God has made it clean. This happened three times before the sheet and all it contained was pulled back up to heaven. Just then, three men who had been sent from Caesarea arrived at the house where we were staying. The Holy Spirit told me to go with them and not to worry that they were Gentiles. These six brothers here accompanied me, and we soon entered the home of the man who had sent for us. He told us how an angel had appeared to him in his home and had told him, Send messengers to Joppa and summon a man named Simon Peter. He will tell you how you and everyone in your household can be saved. As I began to speak, Peter continued, the Holy Spirit fell on them just as he fell on us at the beginning. Then I thought of the Lord's words when he said, John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit. And since God gave these Gentiles the same gift he gave us when we believed in the Lord Jesus Christ, who was I to stand in God's way? When the others heard this, they stopped objecting and began praising God. They said, We can see that God has also given the Gentiles the privilege of repenting of their sins and receiving eternal life. Meanwhile, the believers who had been scattered during the persecution after Stephen's death traveled as far as Phoenicia, Cyprus, and Antioch of Syria. They preached the word of God, but only to Jews. However, some of the believers also who went to Antioch from Cyprus and Cyrene began preaching to the Gentiles about the Lord Jesus. The power of the Lord was with them, and a large number of these Gentiles believed and turned to the Lord. When the church at Jerusalem heard what had happened, they sent Barnabas to Antioch. When he arrived and saw this evidence of God's blessing, he was filled with joy, and he encouraged the believers to stay true to the Lord. Barnabas was a good man, full of the Holy Spirit, and strong in faith. And many people were brought to the Lord. Then Barnabas went on to Tarsus to look for Saul. When he found him, he brought him back to Antioch. Both of them stayed there with the church for a full year, teaching the large crowds of people. It was at Antioch that the believers were first called Christians. During this time, some prophets traveled from Jerusalem to Antioch. One of them, named Abigus, stood up in one of the meetings and predicted by the Spirit that a great famine was coming upon the entire Roman world. This was fulfilled during the reign of Claudius. So the believers in Antioch decided to send relief to the brothers and sisters in Judea, everyone giving as much as they could. This they did entrusting their gifts to Barnabas and Saul to take to the elders of the church in Jerusalem.

Idols Then And Idols Today

SPEAKER_00 9:16

Praise the Lord. Praise the name of the Lord. Praise him, you who serve the Lord, you who serve in the house of the Lord, in the courts of the house of our God. Praise the Lord, for the Lord is good. Celebrate his lovely name with music, for the Lord has chosen Jacob for himself, Israel for his own special treasure. I know the greatness of the Lord, that our Lord is greater than any other God. The Lord does whatever pleases him throughout all heaven and earth, and on the seas and in the depths. He causes the clouds to rise over the whole earth. He sends the lightning with the rain, and releases the wind from his storehouses. He destroyed the firstborn in each Egyptian home, both people and animals. He performed miraculous signs and wonders in Egypt against Pharaoh and all his people. He struck down great nations, slaughtered mighty kings. Sihon, king of the Amorites, Og, king of Bashan, and all the kings of Canaan. He gave their land as an inheritance, a special possession to his people, Israel. Your name, O Lord, endures forever, your fame, O Lord, is known to every generation. For the Lord will give justice to his people, and have compassion on his servants. The idols of the nations are merely things of silver and gold shaped by human hands. They have mouths but cannot speak, and eyes but cannot see. They have ears but cannot hear, and mouths but cannot breathe. And those who make idols are just like them, as are all who trust in them. O Israel, praise the Lord. O priests, descendant of Aaron, praise the Lord. O Levites, praise the Lord. All you who fear the Lord, praise the Lord. The Lord be praised from Zion, for he lives here in Jerusalem, praise the Lord. Proverbs 17, 12 through 13. It is safer to meet a bear robbed of her cubs than to confront a fool caught in foolishness. If you repay good with evil, evil will never leave your house. When they're talking about the idols here, folks, I can't help but think of people who put their trust today in a particular political party or politician. It does us no good, folks. There's no way any particular political party or politician can save us. The only hope that we have is God and Jesus Christ in America, in Britain, the U.K., Ireland, Europe in general. That's the only hope we have. Not in a particular denomination either, folks. If you're putting your hope in the Catholic Church or the Greek Orthodox Church or the Methodist Baptist Church of Christ, any Protestant denomination, you have to put your hope in God and Jesus Christ.

Books Reviews And Support Links

SPEAKER_00 12:07

If you are looking for a family-friendly middle grade read, if you would check out the Countryside series, there's two books in the series, kind of like Narnia, The Hobbit, Percy Jackson, Harry Potter, that kind of stuff, Fable Haven. If you have kids or grandkids, or if you enjoy that kind of stuff, if you'd check it out. And if you do enjoy it, if you'd leave a review for the first andor the second book, those help. And tell others about it, that helps even more. And same thing for the podcast. If you feel like you're getting something out of it, if you'd leave a review online for that, tell others about it. I would appreciate that. And if you have five or ten dollars a month, you can spare. There's a link in the show notes where you can buy the book, hardback, paperback ebook, where you can set up that monthly donation for five or ten dollars a month. And also there's links for both the American Soul or the America's Christian Heritage Podcast. So I'd appreciate any or all of that.

Illegal Immigration Brought Home

SPEAKER_00 13:07

I want to go back real quick to the state trooper in Pennsylvania that was killed by the illegal driving drunk or recklessly, the 18-wheeler. I just want to bring it home a little bit. This trooper was married, wife, relatively young family, had been with the Pennsylvania State Police, I believe. That was the branch that he was serving with for maybe 10 years, maybe more. And he was assisting on the roadside when he was struck by this 18-wheeler. And the reason I want to come back to that, folks, is this isn't just however you're thinking about it, if you're thinking it's just a loss for the nation, you need to remember the family. If you think it's just a loss for the family, you need to remember the nation. This family, tonight, today, this morning, this afternoon, whenever you're listening, somewhere out there, this family is home. This wife no longer has her husband. These children no longer have their father. And it's gone. So so this it's devastating for the family, and it it hurts the nation because we lose character most of all. But we lose time and effort and money also. It's just a loss across the board, folks. And so when you see people in your neighborhood and your contacts, your family members, your friends, your coworkers, neighbors, when they vote for illegal immigration and Muslim, mass Muslim immigration, this is just one of the examples of what they're really voting for. And it doesn't matter what they say. It doesn't matter they say, well, I'm not voting for that. I just want to support. But you are. You are supporting this.

Medal Of Honor Heath Canfield

SPEAKER_00 15:25

Medal of honor for today, Heath Canfield, Private Indian Campaigns, Charlie Company, Second U.S. Cavalry, U.S. Army, May 17th, 1870, Little Blue, Nebraska. Gallantry and action. Accredited to Carlisle, Cumberland County, Pennsylvania, not awarded posthumously. Presented June 22nd, 1870, born 1849, New Milford, Connecticut. Died December 16, 1913, St. Augustine, Florida. Buried Evergreen Cemetery, MH Old Section C Tac 110, St. Augustine, Florida. Heath Canfield.

Election Sermons And The Founding

SPEAKER_00 16:10

Going to come back to uh Matthias, maybe is how you pronounce that first name. Burnett, the congregational minister that we talked about, read a few quotes from his election sermon. It's important to remember again, folks, these were sermons that were pretty common at the founding of our nation. And they were specifically preached to the legislature of the states. So you had a preacher coming in specifically to give a sermon addressing, in this case, Connecticut's legislature at Hartford. This was May 12, 1803. It's just one more example, folks. When somebody says our founders wanted separation of church and state, if that was really true in the modern sense, right? They wanted separation of church and state in the sense that the state wasn't binding itself to one particular Christian denomination and forcing everybody to be part of that denomination. They didn't want that. But they did want the state bound to Christianity in general. Because if they didn't, they would never have allowed these election sermons. It's not Islam, it's not none of the impostors, none of the fake, false religions, just Christianity. So we're going to read a few more quotes out of this sermon preached at Hartford on the day of the anniversary election, May 12, 1803. Another thing upon which the welfare and stability of government much depends is the choice of wise and worthy men, men of sound heads, honest hearts, and exemplary lives. If the men who are raised by the people to legislate, judge of, or execute the laws for them are weak and ignorant, the laws they frame must partake of the same qualities. Or if they be corrupt in their principles and dissolute and immoral in their lives, they will have a motive in their own breast to weaken and destroy the very government they are sworn to maintain. Good Lord, folks, can you not see this exactly applies to people that support the left in Islam today? They will have a motive in their own breast to weaken and destroy the very government they are sworn to maintain. The left despises liberty and our Christian republic. Muslims despise

Party Zeal Versus True Principles

SPEAKER_00 18:34

Jesus Christ, the principles, the foundation of our country. You cannot elect them and do anything but put people in power that weaken and destroy our nation. Another quote from the same sermon: avoid and discourage that unreasonable jealousy and party zeal which throws the members of the state into different factions. This casts a mist before their eyes and sanctifies every mean, however base and iniquitous. In the sermon, he talks, uh Burnett talks about the fall of Rome. Divisions among the Jews uses those as historical warnings, folks. This is why I don't use parties very often. I try not to. It doesn't matter whether you belong to the Democrat Party, the Republican Party, or the Evergreen Party or whatever else. What matters is the principles you stand for. If you stand for life and marriage and the principles of this nation, the founding of this nation, the principles of Christ, whatever party letter you have in front of your name is irrelevant. And for us to vote along party lines simply because it's the party. Now, I'm not talking about if you vote along party lines because those are the best candidates in every single case. But if you're going in and you're simply voting for a candidate because they belong to a certain party and you support that party, you're not supporting America, you're just supporting the party. Right? Same thing with a politician. And none of them are perfect, folks. I'm not looking for perfection, but but you know, David Crockett talked about this. You have to look, you have to be concerned about ideals, not party or politician. One more. And this is something our founders talked about so often: virtue. In order to the stability of a free government, it is necessary that the great body of the people be and continue virtuous, sober, industrious, and lovers of order. And again, he talks about the lack of virtue, the corruption that ended up destroying ancient Rome. Come back maybe and read this election sermon or more of it either here or on the America's Christian Heritage Podcast. But folks, if we don't have virtue in our people, I wish I had the quote right in front of me from John Adams, but he talks about this. If we can't find more virtue in ourselves, we can change our government and our rulers all we want. But all we're going to end up with is just different tyrannies and different tyrants. And the only source of pure virtue is God and Jesus Christ and the Holy Scriptures. Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. Again, sorry. Forgive me, Lord. Let me go back just real quick. That was uh Matthias Burnett, right, and the Hartford election sermon, 1803.

The Lord’s Prayer And Blessing

SPEAKER_00 21:57

Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us, and lead us not to temptation, but deliver us from evil, for thine is the kingdom of the power and the glory forever and ever. Amen. God bless y'all. God bless your families, your marriages if you're married, uh, your children if you have them, your nation, wherever you are around the world, listening. God bless America. We'll talk to you all again real soon, folks. Looking forward to it.