Every Gain Divine

“Some trust in chariots, but we will remember our God.” (Psalm 20:7)

“All nations shall come and worship before Thee.” (Revelation 15:4)

In this political primary season, as America moves toward selecting its next president, the forgotten words to several hymns seem fitting to recall. Francis Scott Key penned a stirring second verse to our national anthem, “The Star-Spangled Banner”: O thus be it ever, when free men shall stand, between their loved homes and the war’s desolation; blest with vict’ry and peace, may the heav’n-rescued land praise the Pow’r 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. Another classic, Katherine Lee Bates’ “America the Beautiful,” includes these lesser-known lyrics: “America, America, God mend thine every flaw, confirm thy soul in self-control, thy liberty in law,” and “may God thy gold refine, till all success be nobleness, and every gain Divine.” Whichever candidate becomes our 44th Commander-in-Chief, these old, poignant words remind us where America’s hope resides: in humble, grateful dependence upon the One by whose grace the nation was established and has endured.

Heavenly Father, let this be our prayer: that we view every gain, in our lives, in our nation, and in the world, as Divine; that our motto truly be, ‘In God is our trust!’; thatwe receive with gratitude every good gift from Your hand; and that we seek Your face for the healing and hope, the purity and purpose, the strength and resolve necessary for each of us to play our important role in making history. Amen.