Saturday, July 4, 2020

Thought for the day:

“O Love that wilt not let me go,
I rest my weary soul in Thee,
I give Thee back the life I owe,
That in Thine ocean depths its flow
May richer, fuller be.”   — George Matheson

Historians recognize Abraham Lincoln as a great leader for our Nation and two of his speeches as great literature.  “The Gettysburg Address” speaks of the beginning of this Nation on July 4, 1776.  “The Second Inaugural Address” ends with a plea for we Americans to get it right.  Here is the beginning of the first and the end of the second:

“Four score and seven years ago our fathers brought on this continent a new nation, conceived in liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal.”

“With malice toward none; with charity for all; with firmness in the right, as God gives us to see the right, let us strive on to finish the work we are in; to bind up the nation’s wounds; to care for him who shall have borne the battle, and for his widow and his orphan — to do all which may achieve and cherish a just and lasting peace among ourselves, and with all nations.”   –Abraham Lincoln

The WORD for the day:

Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord,
The people He chose for His inheritance.
From heaven the Lord looks down
And sees all mankind;
From His dwelling place He watches
All who live on earth —
We wait in hope for the Lord;
He is our help and our shield.
In Him our hearts rejoice,
For we trust in His holy name.
May Your unfailing love rest upon us, O Lord,
Even as we put our hope in You.  (Portions of Psalm 33)

Gracious and loving God, we ask that you bless our nation with healing and hope as we celebrate this day of our Independence.  You know how much we need it, Lord.  Amen

–Pastor John