My country right or wrong?
I know some Americans who are having a hard time this Fourth of July. With our Supreme Court having just made such an historic error, which put our country on the wrong side of God’s word, the Fourth of July becomes different for some.
Perhaps there are people reading who are deeply discouraged that our nation has redefined marriage away from what God says it is. Perhaps there are some who find it harder, this Fourth of July, to sing, “God shed his grace on thee.” Perhaps encouraging God to “Stand beside her, and guide her,” is harder.
Maybe today there are some readers who even struggle with the fourth verse of our national anthem, written during the war of 1812: “And this be our motto, in God is our trust.”
For those who feel that way, I have some good news!
We live in a great and resilient nation, and the future is bright. Our nation was founded by men called forth by God for that specific purpose. This country was forged for the very purpose of enduring trials, and often trials of our own making.
When we began, the unchristian evil of slavery was written into our constitution by American hands. Yet this nation rose above it. That same constitution once did not allow women to vote, yet this nation rose above it.
As a nation, we make mistakes. America is made of human beings, after all, and we live in a fallen world. But that does not make America a mistake.
This great nation has been through tragic errors before. We will survive this one too, and we will rise above it.
And so we remember, when we sing God Bless America, that it’s not just a prayer that God stand beside her and guide her. That famous lines conclude with words that mean more today than they have for most of our lives.
God bless America. Stand beside her, and guide her, through the night with the light from above.
The decision redefining marriage has given me much cause for prayer this week. Like you, I am sad to see my country do something so wrong. But with you, I am determined to help my country make things right.
Tomorrow, the Fourth of July, we celebrate the signing of the Declaration of independence. It is the document that created the United States as a separate country. It is also a document that contains the truth that the secular left fears:
Our rights come only from our creator.
The Supreme Court cannot create new rights. Nor can the government. Five unelected people cannot change the fundamental character of a nation founded by appeal to God, no more than they can change the fundamental character of an institution created by God.
Today, we celebrate the declaration of independence. In that famous document, the founders appealed to the “Supreme Judge of the World.” They declared themselves reliant on “divine providence.”
So, too, may we.
In this America of the 21st century, every one of us should place our trust, just as the founders did, in divine providence. We should trust that we certainly are endowed by our creator with certain inalienable rights. And we should use those rights every day to advocate for a better America. There is no better way to celebrate the Fourth.
Most of all, this Fourth of July, we should not fear to say, sing, and pray what our countrymen have for generations.
God Bless America.
I am confident that he will.
