“Righteousness Exalts a Nation”
Proverbs 14:34
“Righteousness exalts a nation: but sin is a reproach to any people.”
America and every nation rises or falls spiritually before it ever falls politically, economically, or militarily.
God’s Word teaches that righteousness lifts people up, while sin brings shame and destruction.
At the end of the Constitutional Convention in 1787, when Elizabeth Willing Powel asked Benjamin Franklin, "well, Doctor, what have we got, a republic or a monarchy?" he gave a trenchant reply that resonates today: "A republic, if you can keep it."
John Adams wrote:
“Our Constitution was made only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other.”
He said this in a 1798 letter to the Massachusetts militia.
George Washington, who said in his Farewell Address:
“Religion and morality are indispensable supports” of political prosperity.
A nation is only as strong as its spiritual foundation.
Seven Foundations America Was Built On
1. Faith in God
Many of America’s founders believed that freedom and morality depended on a recognition of God and biblical principles.
Psalm 33:12
“Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord.” —
The Bible heavily influenced early American law and culture.
The New England Primer
Reading
Writing
Bible Verses
Morality & Christian Principles
Public prayer, thanksgiving, and dependence on God were common in early America.
Many founding documents reference the Creator and divine providence.
2. Biblical Morality
America was strongly shaped by Judeo-Christian values concerning right and wrong.
Key principles included:
Honesty
Integrity
Sanctity of life
Marriage and family
Personal responsibility
Proverbs 14:34
“Righteousness exalts a nation…” —
3. Freedom and Liberty
The founders believed liberty was a God-given right, not merely granted by government.
The Declaration of Independence says people are “endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights.”
These freedoms included:
Freedom of religion
Freedom of speech
Freedom to assemble
Freedom to pursue opportunity
4. Law and Justice
America was founded on the idea that no one is above the law.
Biblical influence can be seen in:
Equal justice
Witness testimony
Protection of rights
Accountability
Deuteronomy 16:20
You shall follow what is altogether just, that you may live and inherit the land which the Lord your God is giving you
5. Family and Strong Homes
The family unit was viewed as the foundation of society.
Early America emphasized:
Marriage
43% end in Divorce.
The average length of a marriage prior to divorce is eight years.
Raising children with discipline and faith
24.7 million children (33%) in the United States live in fatherless homes.
Children living in fatherless homes have increased by 25% since 1960.
Hard work
Respect for parents and authority
Proverbs 22:6
“Train up a child in the way he should go…” —
6. Hard Work and Personal Responsibility
America was built by people who valued diligence, sacrifice, and stewardship.
Farmers
Builders
Craftsmen
Entrepreneurs
Servants of the community
II Thessalonians 3:10
“If anyone will not work, neither shall he eat.”
7. Unity and Sacrifice
The nation survived because generations were willing to sacrifice for freedom and the common good.
John Kennedy famously said:
Ask not what your country can do for you, but what you can do for your country.
Examples include:
The Revolutionary War
Civil War preservation
Veterans defending liberty
Citizens serving communities and churches
John 15:13
“Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one’s life for his friends.” —
America was not built merely on wealth or power, but on foundational principles such as:
Faith
Morality
Freedom
Justice
Family
Hard work
Sacrifice
When these foundations are strengthened, nations prosper. When they are ignored, nations weaken.
Psalm 127:1
“Unless the Lord builds the house, they labor in vain who build it.”