Thoughts from Mark "Hat" Rackley

He has shown you, O mortal, what is good.
    And what does the Lord require of you?
To act justly and to love mercy
    and to walk humbly with your God.

• Micah 6:8

Not to us, Lord, not to us
    but to your name be the glory,
    because of your love and faithfulness.

• Psalm 115:1

“’In his book Reading the Bible with the Founding Fathers, Daniel L. Dreisbach observes that the leaders of the American Revolution repeatedly referred to Micah 6:8. ‘The literature of the founding era has numerous references and allusions to this biblical text,’ he wrote. John Winthrop referred to this passage in his ‘City on the Hill’ sermon. John Adams quoted it frequently. George Washington alluded to it in his farewell letter when resigning as commander in chief of the Continental Army. It was also a key text used by George Duffield, a Presbyterian minister in Philadelphia who served as chaplain of the Continental Congress.
“After the War was won and peace established, Congress appointed December 11, 1783, as a Day of Thanksgiving, and Duffield gave a powerful sermon praising God for His providence:

“Who indeed hath heard such a thing? Who, but a few years back, would have believed the report, had a prophet himself declared it? … Who since time began, hath seen such events take place so soon? The earth has indeed brought forth, as in a day. A nation has indeed been born, as at once. Let us look back, on what God hath done; and contemplate the prospect He opens before us.”

• Robert J. Morgan, 100 Bible Verses That Made America

In my recent trip to visit the grandchildren, the oldest of them went with me to Nashville, to sell used books and games.  One of the books that I purchased in return was 100 Bible Verses That Made America by Robert J. Morgan.  As we approach the 250^th anniversary of the birth of the USA, I thought I would do a condensed mini-series on some of these verses, four posts per week for a few weeks – maybe not all 100 verses.

Dunfield’s encouragement to the troops was so powerful that the British put a price on his head. During the Philadelphia occupation, they turned his church building into a hospital and kept the British wounded warm by burning the pews.

In his 1983 sermon, he quoted Micah 6, Psalm 115, and many other Scriptures.

In mentioning how John Adams frequently quoted Micah 6:8 and George Washington alluded to it in his farewell address to the troops., we are looking at the first two presidents of the United States.

I think that George Washington would have been happy just sitting on the porch at Mount Vernon and watching ships sail by on the Potomac far below.  When the war was over, his officers wanted to establish Washington as king and he sternly refused.  I visited Mount Vernon, and like the officer’s club at Fort Belvoir, on the next hill, the view of the Potomac is breathtaking.

John Adams was a devout man of God.  He did not consider the presidency as his ambition, but with anxiety, he faced the burden of leading the nation.  He wrote to his wife Abigail of how there was a tremendous weight in serving as president, but he felt a duty to lead so that the nation could establish a strong foundation.

I have written before that nearly all career politicians today are politicians first, and servants of the people second.  They are more interested in establishing a legacy than they are in being a humble servant of the people.  The position does not lend itself to humility.

We need statesmen to return to our government, people who put the nation before their own interests.

But then again, we have people that are elected already.  If they could repent and turn to God…

With God, anything is possible, but that is asking a lot.

We can pray that God will raise up new Christian statesmen who can turn this country back to a God-fearing country.

Editor’s Note: This post comes out one day short of a month after the anniversary of agreement of the words of the Declaration of Independence.  The parchment was not ready for any official signatures until 2 August.  The delegation from New York did not agree on 4 July.  The four delegates went back to New York and got approval from their state before they signed.  And upon the signing of the official document on 2 August, five delegates were not present.  It was not until January of 1977 that Thomas McKean of Delaware signed the document.  Since the word “unanimous” was added to the official title they had to get all of them to sign it.

I am going to switch this to twice each week.  I enjoy these biblically based history lessons.  I skipped the first eleven, but I want to continue from where I am now until the 100^th verse, referring to a National Prayer Breakfast in 2019.  I will continue, if God is willing, on Mondays and Thursdays in the afternoon post.

Soli Deo Gloria.  Only to God be the Glory.