Isaiah 26:1-2 “In that day shall this song be sung in the land of Judah; We have a strong city; salvation will God appoint for walls and bulwarks. Open ye the gates, that the righteous nation which keepeth the truth may enter in.”
On the morning of September 14th, 1814, those who woke up in the city of Baltimore were unsure of what they would see as they looked toward Fort McHenry. That fort, and its strategic position that played a pivotal role in keeping the British out of Baltimore’s inner harbor, had been under heavy attack for over 24 hours from the guns of powerful British warships. As Baltimore’s citizens awoke on that morning, engulfed in a battle for national survival only 25 years removed from birth under the Constitution, they saw a beautiful sight. The American flag was waving over Fort McHenry, and while the soldiers therein were battle weary they had not been defeated.
Francis Scott Key, imprisoned during those days on a British warship, saw the same glorious sight on that tumultuous morning. The flag waving over Fort McHenry inspired him to pen the words of our National Anthem. Those patriots, trusting in the Lord and in the nation’s Biblical foundation, prevailed on that day.
America had won an important battle, and the strong city of Baltimore remained in American hands. Our fledgling nation paid a heavy price during the War of 1812 that ended only a few months later, but it had withstood a major test of its Christ-based resiliency. PLEASE PRAY THAT AMERICA, BY TRUSTING FULLY IN THE LORD, WOULD REMAIN THE LAND OF THE FREE AND THE HOME OF THE BRAVE. May we never wake up some morning to find that our Christ-based foundation has disappeared, no longer waving as a sign and the source of our resiliency.
