While watching the State of the Union address by Mr. Biden last night, several things stuck out to me. I’ll try to favor the more subtle things people may not have first recognized, in my remarks.

Firstly, the D.C. swamp is real, and we need to be more vocal in our rejecting the status quo. It’s not enough to simply elect leaders with an R behind their name if all they will do is kowtow to and thereby become the swamp. Kevin O’Connell, Mitch McConnell, and many other “Republicans” are all too chummy with the democrats whom they supposedly oppose. Therefore, the first few minutes of Mr. Biden’s address were consumed by Washington self-congratulating.

Secondly, Mr. Joseph Biden is supremely unfit and unwell in numerous ways, whether it be his stumbling slurred speech, the outright anger displayed at his opposition, and more concerningly his health seems to be draining from him as we watch. I don’t say these things merely to attack the man, but as the last week has shown, we need strength in a Commander in Chief. We saw the Chinese balloon floating all the way, coast to coast, across America, and a very lackluster response from the gentleman in the Oval Office. We can recognize that there are still threats in the world that require strength and fortitude. The Constitution allows for the removal of persons who are incapable of performing their duty, and this seems to be a perfect candidate.

I also want to focus on how outright divisive Biden was. I’ve watched quite a few State of the Union’s, since I was a teenager. I don’t remember almost the entirety of a political party booing for any length of time, not just making noises/or signs of disapproval, but actual booing and shouts of “Liar.” I am glad to see the response from a group of Republicans, it was refreshing, and I don’t blame them for it. However, it is a sad reality that a poor leader will divide rather than unite opposing forces. Much has been said about the seemingly fake or disingenuous nature of the State of the Union address. While I am not a fan of staged political theater, over time this exercise has become less a statement on our unity and more a topical “whack-a-mole” of division. Let’s remember this divisiveness is a symptom, not the disease. The disease is something I will get to shortly.

I could go point for point on the policies that he presented, and many will, but I want to focus on something that I have not heard from other commentators to this point. Mr. Biden said, “the world is watching.” This may be true, and I do believe that, while I hold to non-interventionism in global politics, I do understand that we should, (as many of the first citizens, pastors, and founding fathers extolled) be “the shining city on a hill.” However, he paired those remarks with policies that are not only extremely “regressive” in a political sense, extremely immoral in a societal or moralistic sense, but more importantly they are profoundly ungodly, sinful, and degenerate. A lot of noise was made about the Grammy performance being satanic, and I’m glad people disapproved, but frankly what a musician does on TV bothers me less, than what a nation does to its citizens, or what leaders fail to do in promoting goodness or decency. Promoting LGBTQA+ godlessness and the slaughtering of the unborn is damnable, wicked, and unbecoming of a leader of a Nation whose founding principles were that of the Bible. This is the disease I referred to earlier.

Ironically, Biden would then go on to say, “we are all created in the Image of God.” If he had any sense of logic or reason, he would know that anyone who bears the image of God, deserves protection from being slaughtered in the womb, and is also called to follow God’s precepts and to live a life devoted to God’s standards of holiness.

Biden also unequivocally stated, “we are strong” and “we are good people.” I must tell you I don’t believe that “we” are either, not all of us. All of us know people who are weak or wicked. However, most of us also know people who have been made strong and redeemed. It must be rejected that our strength comes from our acceptance of each other as we are. Instead, our strength must come from our fostering holiness in one another as a nation devoted to God who is merciful to repenting sinners. If anything is to be done about the current state of things, it must come from a repentance and return to faith and living according to God’s law, not merely contrarian “conservatism” or halfway policies.

Lord God, forgive our wickedness as we repent, strengthen our hearts and our passion to burn for a renewed righteousness in our country, cause hard hearts to be shattered and reminded of their need for you. Remind us that “Blessed are the people whose God is the Lord.” (Psalm 33:12) We praise you because you have remained faithful, even as we have turned away from you. If it is your will raise up new shepherds of your people, and of this country, to reinvigorate goodness, holiness, and justice in our country I pray this in the name of the Lord Jesus. Amen.