FROM AND INTO YOUR HANDS, FATHER!

My country 'tis of THEE,

Sweet land of liberty,

Of THEE I sing:

Land where my fathers died,

Land of the pilgrim's pride,

From every mountain side

Let freedom ring!

My native country, THEE,

Land of the noble free,

THY name I love:

I love THY rocks and rills,

THY woods and templed hills;

My heart with rapture thrills

Like that above.

Let music swell the breeze,

And ring from all the trees

Sweet freedom's song:

Let mortal tongues awake,

Let all that breathe partake;

Let rocks their silence break,

The sound prolong.

Our fathers' GOD, TO THEE,

AUTHOR of liberty,

To THEE we sing:

Long may our land be bright

With freedom's HOLY LIGHT;

Protect us by THY MIGHT,

GREAT GOD, our KING! AMEN.

Our land, indeed, is a gift of freedom from our great GOD and KING. Despite all that many do who attempt to discount the true AUTHOR of LIBERTY, our country "it is of THEE" and THEE ALONE! Everything for which our FATHERS died, this country where the PILGRIMS TOOK PRIDE in a place of religious freedom, it is all from THEE, oh GOD, and every ROCK and RILL, WOOD and TEMPLED HILL does THRILL my HEART - and send its yearning reflection on that which one day I will know in YOUR HEAVEN ABOVE!

But, Father, the land seems not SO BRIGHT at times, and freedom's HOLY origin of YOUR LIGHT has had a shade put upon it by those who would not recognize YOUR prior claim, or even the PROTECTION of YOUR MIGHT to preserve it. Oh, FATHER, on this day when our nation's fathers penned our declaration of independence from earthly king's rule, and truly our renewed DEPENDENCE on YOU, OUR GREAT GOD and KING, may we be reminded and rekindle our song of REPENTANCE and be RESTORED to YOUR REALM OF LIGHT AND LIBERTY!

For we know the counsel of YOUR WORD to be true, that "If YOUR people, which are called by YOUR name, shall humble ourselves, and pray, and seek YOUR face, and turn from our wicked ways; then will YOU hear from heaven, and will forgive our sin, and will HEAL OUR LAND." (Restated from II Chronicles 7:14)

Oh, FATHER, may it be so and begin WITH ME! This is my DEPENDENT prayer on this anniversary of our INDEPENDENCE!

Be encouraged, my fellow Americans, and I pray, UNDER GOD!

(An added P.S. - the Hymn MY COUNTRY, 'TIS OF THEE was written by Samuel Francis Smith, a native Bostonian and a ministerial student at Andover Seminary. He was 23 years of age and had been inspired by the missionary work of Adoniram Judson, America's first Baptist foreign missionary. He developed a passion for world evangelism that stayed with him through his own ministry as a Baptist preacher, pastor, college professor, hymnist, linguist, writer, and missionary advocate. His son became a missionary in Rangoon, Judson's field of work. He was active until his death in his late eighties. His legacy in this patriotic hymn is one that TRULY NEEDS TO BE REVISITED AGAIN AND AGAIN!)