America was shocked on Saturday night with the attempted assassination of Donald Trump as he was speaking at a Rally in Pennsylvania. Yes, America was shocked – but I was not. Why?

Well each Wednesday morning a good friend comes over to my place for a talk and a prayer. By the way he brings me a hot chocolate. We talk about anything and everything, including the Kingdom of God matters and issues regarding politics. Recently I shared with him that I have had a feeling for some time that there was going to be an assassination attempt, probably on Donald Trump, but it would not be successful. So when it happened I was not in shock. I was not surprised at the attempted assassination when I watched it all on television.

WHAT HAPPENED

This is not a time to speculate on all the matters involved in this event. Some are obvious, others require more investigation.

What we do know is that a 20 year old young man named Thomas Crooks fired an automatic rifle from the roof of a nearby building. There will be an investigation into the apparent failure of Special Security. 

The attacker was neutralized, which means he was killed by secret service personal. One bystander was killed and two others critically injured.

Trump himself was hit by a bullet to his ear as can be seen in the video. It was a matter of inches and he would be dead. He was airlifted to a nearby hospital and was later released.

This assassination attempt was the first attack against a President or presidential candidate since the attack on President Reagan in 1981.

Greg Smith was one of several people outside the Butler Farm show grounds where he saw the assailant crawling up the roof. “I had a direct line of sight,” he said, “directly to the backside of that roof, and I saw a guy crawling up the roof … with a rifle.” He and his party saw Secret Service agents and tried to get their attention. “And we were like, “Hey man, there’s a guy on the roof with a rifle’… and the police were just running around.” (theepochtimes.com)

TRUMP & THE BULLET

Trump knew immediately that something was wrong. “I was shot,” he later said, “with a bullet that pierced the upper part of my right ear … I heard a whizzing sound, shots and immediately felt the bullet ripping through the skin. Much bleeding took place, so I realized then what was happening.” (newsmax.com)

Trump rose moments after the shots rang out with blood on his ear and face, and raised a fist before he was helped to safety. He also said “I want to extend my condolences to the family of the person at the Rally who was killed, and also to the family of another person that was badly injured.” (newsmax.com)

There is a photo of Trump standing up with his fist in the air and the call to keep fighting, all against an American flag surrounded by Secret Service Agents. This photo will be part of history. (apnews.com)

In the time following the attempted assassination, President Biden reported that he had a brief conversation with ex-President Trump. He also declared that “There’s no place for this kind of violence in America. We must unite as one nation to condemn it.” (foxnews.com)

HOW SHOULD WE RESPOND

Not only are we to ask what does all this mean, what brought on this act of violence, but we are to ask ourselves how should we respond. Let me suggest some thoughts on this regard.

1) Praise God for Trump’s deliverance from death.

Former President Donald Trump on Sunday morning said “God alone” saved him from the assassin’s bullet. (newsmax.com) It is easily seen how close the bullet came to ending his life. Some say that it was the movement of his head at the last moment that saved him from assassination.

Let us be clear. I believe God intervened in that moment to spare his life. Let us recognize the place of God in all that happened. Praise be to our Lord who delivered Trump from an instant death.

2) Recognize the heroic actions of Secret Service agents.

There may have been failed security but one has to recognize the heroic actions that many agents exercised at that moment. They raced to shield the former President with their own bodies before taking him off the platform to safety. We need to be grateful for all the men and women who serve in such capacity.

3) Pray for the innocent victims and their families.

We need to remember the family of the man who was killed. He evidently was a fine man, who went to church every Sunday. Also remember the others critically injured and in the hospital and also their families. So let’s pray for all these people, for God’s grace to touch each of them.

4) Let’s see the language used by both parties turned down.

Trump has been called all sorts of things including a Hitler and the like, going back to Hillary Clinton’s comment about “deplorable.”

Senator JD Vance of Ohio, Trump’s choice for Vice President wrote, “Today is not some isolated incident. The central premise of the Biden campaign is that President Donald Trump is an authoritarian fascist who must be stopped at all costs. That rhetoric led directly to President Trump’s attempted assassination.”

Former Attorney General, William Barr, told Fox News that “the Democrats have to stop their grossly irresponsible talk about Trump being an existential threat to democracy. He is not.” 

Even President Biden made remarks to donors on July 8th in which he said “it’s time to put Trump in a bullseye.” (foxnews.com)

5) Pray for former President Trump and his family.

One can only imagine what they experienced, what Trump went through as he nearly came to the end of his life. So we need to pray for healing of any emotional or physical scars, for his family, for his protection and for his responsibilities at the Republican National Convention.

Pastor Robert Jeffress of First Baptist Church in Dallas Texas prayed “We thank God for protecting the life of this courageous leader who is a warrior for truth and the friend of Christians everywhere.” “America needs to turn to Jesus, pray for our leaders, repent of our sins, and walk humbly with God.” (foxnews.com)

6) Pray for America.

If ever our country needed prayer, it is now. There is a verse in Scripture, which in its context refers to Israel, but it is one that many Christians take as a word for us. It is 2 Chronicles 7:14 –

“If my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sin and will heal their land.”

Remember too, no man or party is our Savior. Jesus alone fills that role. So through it all we must trust in Jesus for He is our true King.

CLOSING THOUGHTS

There is a lot more to happen this year especially with the elections in November. I expect some more things to happen in September into October that will have a major effect on our nation. So let us continue to pray for America. 

God bless America.