The Star Spangled Banner

“The Star-Spangled Banner” by Don Emmitte And he came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up. And as was his custom, he went to the synagogue on the Sabbath day, and he stood up to read. And the scroll of the prophet Isaiah was given to him. He unrolled the scroll and found the place where it was written, “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor.” And he rolled up the scroll and gave it back to the attendant and sat down. And the eyes of all in the synagogue were fixed on him. And he began to say to them, “Today this Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.” (Luke 4:16-21 ESV). As we prepare to vote today in one of the most important of elections our country has ever had, it would do us well to remember that on September 14, 1814 Francis Scott Key composes the lyrics to "The Star-Spangled Banner." He wrote it after witnessing the massive British bombardment of Fort McHenry in Maryland during the War of 1812. Key, an American lawyer, watched the siege while under detainment on a British ship and penned the famous words after observing that the US flag over Fort McHenry had survived the 1,800-bomb assault. After circulating as a handbill, the patriotic lyrics were published in a Baltimore newspaper on September 20. Set to the tune of "To Anacreon in Heaven," an English drinking song, written by the British composer John Stafford Smith, it soon became popular throughout the nation. Throughout the 19th century, "The Star-Spangled Banner" was regarded as the national anthem by the US armed forces and other groups, but it was not until 1916, and the signing of an executive order by President Woodrow Wilson, that it was formally designated as such. In 1931, President Herbert Hoover signed a congressional act confirming Wilson's presidential order. The first stanza goes: Oh, say can you see, by the dawn's early light, What so proudly we hailed at the twilight's last gleaming? Whose broad stripes and bright stars, through the perilous fight, O'er the ramparts we watched, were so gallantly streaming? And the rockets' red glare, the bombs bursting in air, Gave proof through the night that our flag was still there. O say, does that star-spangled banner yet wave O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave? When Key wrote those words, freedom in America was merely a future hope. So it is as we anticipate the freedom that Jesus came to bring us. That freedom was begun with his death and resurrection, however it will not be compete until he restores his rule on the earth. As I read the Scripture and compare the current events unfolding with those prophesied, I am sure that day is closer than anyone might imagine. Are you prepared for that day? There is only one way to be ready. That is through faith in Christ. Trust in him today. You will not be disappointed!