I woke up Sunday morning with the song America the Beautiful going through my sub conscious. I felt God was wanting to tell me something. I heard the melody and the line “America, America” but I couldn’t recall the rest of the song very well. Do you know the lyrics?
America! America! God shed His grace on thee
And crown thy good with brotherhood from sea to shining sea!
When I looked up the lyrics, I discovered these lines…
America! America! God mend thy every flaw
Confirm they should in self-control thy liberty in law!
O beautiful for heroes proved In liberating strife, Who more than self their country loved and mercy more than life!
Katherine Lee Bates wrote these words after visiting Pikes Peak in 1893. These truths were relevant then and even more relevant today.
“You neglected the Rock who had fathered you;
you forgot the God who had given you birth.” Deut 32:18 (NLT)
As I began my time of prayer and the melody rang again out in my spirit. Immediately I had an increased burden for our country and begin to pray for goodness to prevail. That law prevails and not the plots and pursuits of deceptive leaders. I prayed that God would bring down the corrupt and selfish who are hurting our nation. He knows the hearts of all men. Then, I prayed that He would exalt and promote righteous leaders who have a moral compass and have the people of America as their concern.
America the Beautiful is similar to a song Moses sang that God wrote, “Israel soon became fat and unruly; the people grew heavy, plump and stuffed.” (Deut 31:15 NLT) We can apply that to us in so many ways. America became "fat and unruly," self-satisfying and disruptive.
Then Moses sang what happened as a result. Remember it is God who sang this to Moses originally and now Moses is singing it to Israel. “They abandoned the God who had made them; they made light of the Rock of their salvation and stirred up His jealousy by worshipping foreign gods; they provoked His fury with detestable deeds. They offered sacrifices to demons, which are not God. You neglected the Rock who had fathered you: You forgot the God who had given you birth (America)” (Deut 31:17)
There is a power behind the entities a culture exalts or lifts up. What we value and give our affections to, we worship. Examples are celebrities, sports heroes, politicians, materialism, and world systems. Have we offered attention, support, money and time to the demon powers behind these American idols?
Have we abandoned our Father -- the God who birthed this nation? By giving our affections to other things and placing them above God are we not in essence rejecting God?
Let’s recommit our affections to God alone and pray these truths from America the Beautiful for our country. God may your grace would remain on us.
God shed His grace on thee God mend our every flaw
Confirm they should in self-control thy liberty in law