“America the Beautiful” is a grand old poem by Katherine Lee Bates. Originally entitled, “Pikes Peak,” Bates penned this beautiful ode to America after a trip to Colorado Springs allowed her to see the land from high atop the famous Colorado “fourteener” in July of 1893. The poem first appeared in the July 4^th edition of the church periodical, The Congregationalist, in 1895. It was later set to music in 1910, combining Bates’ words with a tune written by Samuel A. Ward in 1882. It has since found its way into many hymnals. Today it remains one of the most popular patriotic songs of all time. 

While many people know and love this majestic piece of Americana, I believe it also has great potential as a prayer to Almighty God for restoration. It expresses a number of ideas that we desperately need to see God carry out today. A careful reading of the lyrics reveals an acknowledgement of our need for God’s grace, refinement, and purification. In particular, the words of the second stanza connect easily with the thoughts of the Sweet Psalmist of Israel in Psalm 119:45. The stanza reads,

O beautiful for pilgrim feet,
Whose stern, impassioned stress
A thoroughfare for freedom beat
Across the wilderness!
America! America!
God mend thine every flaw,
Confirm thy soul in self-control,
Thy liberty in law!

Psalm 119:45 says, “And I will walk at liberty: for I seek thy precepts.” True liberty comes from seeking and obeying the law of God. It is God’s law that makes and keeps men free to live according to His will on earth. Salvation and eternal life in heaven are by grace through faith, but law governs behavior and life on earth. The Gospel changes the heart, but the law keeps at bay the outward manifestation of sin. God gave the Mosaic Law to Israel to set them apart as a society, and to provide orderly government for the nation. The United States is NOT Israel, but those same principles set forth in Scripture will undoubtedly benefit any society that adheres to them. Our Founding Fathers understood that some amount of supreme civil law was necessary to protect individual liberty from being trampled by the sin of both men and governments. The Holy Spirit empowers the Christian’s will, confirming and establishing our soul on the path we should walk, but individual liberty for everyone on earth is ensured by law. Godly laws based upon biblical principles are a blessing wherever they are enforced.

Walking at Liberty is a God and Country ministry for encouraging churches to be good stewards of government, confirming the liberty of the nation by the Law of God.