"America"

She’s been beautiful and bloody,

Recollection’s sometimes muddy,

Blessed land of freedom and the brave.

With all created equal,

There’s never been a sequel,

This world’s huddled masses here to save.

They  fought for independence,

And though some thought it nonsense,

Patriots pledged the cause all that they had.

Their lives and sacred honor,

Knowing some would be a goner,

Their sacrifice should always make us glad.

We hate war but we’ll fight it,

The wrong we’ll try to right it,

The tyrants of this world all know it’s true.

Peace is our desire,

But evil men still fire,

And when that happens we know what to do.

Through the years of struggle,

God gave us the muscle,

To overcome every present threat.

To protect all of our freedoms,

‘Cause God knows we still need ‘em,

The price for freedom we are paying yet.

To say what we believe in,

To vote no matter who wins,

To gather, worship, publish as we please.

The right to keep and bear arms,

Defend when others mean harm,

And would God-given rights as theirs to seize.

The right to have due process,

Can’t deny our redress,

Ours is till a nation led by laws.

And of and by the people,

What the Constitution says is legal,

And all the rest is ruled by freedom’s cause.

In far and distant places,

Sometimes forgotten faces,

Of Americans who fought and bled and died.

All so we can know it,

And to the world still show it,

God-given rights will never be denied.

So stand and pledge Old Glory,

And tell this nation’s story,

To the young and everyone who’ll hear.

She still waves there proudly,

And we applaud her loudly,

Right makes might and so we have no fear.

And right from the beginning,

God’s favor we were winning,

One nation under Him we’ll always be.

In God we trust is still true,

And with His help we will do,

What it takes to keep our people free.

“Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord, the people whom He has chosen for His own inheritance.” (Psalm 33:12, NAS)

I know this is an Old Testament promise, spoken in the context of God’s covenant with the nation of Israel. But Paul tells us that every promise of God is offered to us through Jesus Christ. What does this mean for America? There is no doubt that our nation was founded upon Judeo-Christian beliefs. Our Declaration of Independence claims that our rights and freedoms are God-given, and that every person is created equal. Our history has been a long struggle to create a nation where this is true. That said, ours is a country that will not force religion on anyone. Christians are called to be the salt and the light for a nation that at its worst turns to secularism and forgets it is “one nation under God.” Pray for America. Vote your conscience. Help the needy. Make a difference. Honor everything we know that makes America great.

Lord, we ask Your mercy and blessing upon America, in Jesus’ name.