This morning, in celebration of Independence Day, I decided to read the words to several patriotic songs. So many of them are so very good--full of love for country and love for God! Contrary to what many liberal folks would have us to believe, our nation truly was built on the foundation of God Himself... and His principles. I was especially moved today by the last verse of the Star Spangled Banner, our national anthem. I had never heard this verse before... The Star Spangled Banner (final verse)
~Francis Scott Key
O! thus be it ever, when freemen shall stand
Between their loved home and the war's desolation!
Blest with victory and peace, may the heav'n rescued land
Praise the Power that hath made and preserved us a nation.
Then conquer we must, when our cause it is just,
And this be our motto: 'In God is our trust.'
And the star-spangled banner in triumph shall wave
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave!
Let us never forget to praise Him Who is the very Power that made our nation and has preserved it thus far! If we are to stand strong as a nation, we must continue to proclaim--"In God is our trust."
Dear Father... thank You for our country! Thank You for our freedoms! Thank You that in You we may place our trust!
God Bless America!!
Sharilyn, I was watching the men in our family set off fireworks last night. They had some pretty big ones. As the explosions pierced my eardrums, the acrid smoke made me nearly choke, and brilliant explosives lit up the nighttime sky, it occurred to me that I was receiving a small taste of the elements of battle.
ReplyDeleteThe words of "The Star Spangled Banner" are rarely thought of as particularly meaningful, especially as people stretch to get them right and hit those notes. But Francis Scott Key penned the words as our nation again fought the British in the War of 1812. The "rockets' red glare" which illuminated and "gave proof through the night" of our flag's preservation represented the preservation of a nation.
It seems to me that our nation is fighting a very different battle right now, for its soul. As many of us continue to search through the darkness for a standard which remains aloft, we cannot help but ask, "Oh say can you see ... what so proudly we hailed ..."