You, Lord, showed favor to your land; you restored the fortunes of Jacob. Psalm 85:1

Why does God show favor to a people?

It’s a general question I’ve been pondering lately. What is it about some people or groups that He seems to favor and others seems to get overlooked.

Take the nation of Saudi Arabia for instance. It’s a very wealthy nation with very corrupt and unjust rulers. Even within that nation are extremely poor people that barely eke out an existence. Not to mention, the world focuses on this nation during Islam’s annual pilgrimage. Nothing good can come from a nation that persecutes its believers, subjugates its women, and does not even allow the Bible into the country. Many are persecuted for their faith in that country. In short, Saudi Arabia is a very dark nation, though the wise man would say that God is doing a very great work with those Believers who have remained hidden and undetected. So why does the oil and subsequent wealth continue to flow out of that region?

Why hasn’t God put a stop to the extreme corruption and immorality that exists?

I suppose the same could be said about a lot of nations around the globe.

At what point does the Lord just say, “Enough!”

What’s really interesting, though, is that the Bible is filled with examples of Israel’s sin > God’s judgment > Israel’s repentance > God’s blessing.

Some of those Old Testament kings were very wicked, and God responded with harsh punishment.

Is that a cycle every nation goes through? If so, where are we as a nation?