God On Our Side

      We live in an age where there is a true dearth of Christian manhood and Christian ideals.  Even our political leaders spend more time suppressing, or at least apologizing for, Christian principles than they do advancing them.  How different it used to be in this country!  Here are just a couple of examples of how the Father or our country sought to advance a Christian moral order in the midst of a civil war:

 

"GOD ON OUR SIDE"

       When General Washington was told that the British troops at Lexington, on the memorable 19th of April, 1775, had fired on and killed several of the Americans, he replied: "I grieve for the death of my countrymen; but rejoice that the British are still determined to keep God on our side,"  alluding to that noble sentiment which he later so happily expressed, viz:  "The smiles of Heaven can never be expected on a nation that disregards the eternal rules of order and right, which Heaven itself has ordained."¹

FIRST GENERAL ORDER TO THE ARMY

     July 4, 1775, the day after he took command of the army, an order was issued, in which we find the following injunction:

       “The General most earnestly requires and expects a due observance of those articles of war established for the government of the army, which forbid profane cursing, swearing, and drunkenness. And in like manner he requires and expects of all officers and soldiers, not engaged in actual duty, a punctual attendance on Divine service, to implore the blessing of Heaven upon the means used for our safety and defense.”²

ORDERS ARMY TO ATTEND DIVINE SERVICE

     The Continental Congress having ordered a day of fasting and prayer, General Washington issued the following order, July 20, 1775:

       “The General orders this day to be religiously observed by the Forces under his Command, exactly in manner directed by the Continental Congress. It is therefore strictly enjoined on all Officers and Soldiers to attend Divine Service; and it is expected that all those who go to worship do take their Arms, Ammunition, and Accoutrements, & are prepared for immediate action if called upon.”³

Christ, not man, is King!

Dale

1)    William J. Johnson, George Washington, The Christian (New York, NY: The Abingdon Press, 1919), p. 68.

2) Ibid., 69.

3) Ibid., 70.

Washington Kneels During Prayer

How different would our country be if our Congress had such a chaplain as this, and if the members thereof knelt in prayer as these men did?

WASHINGTON KNEELS DURING PRAYER

The first of September, 1774, Washington left home for Philadelphia as a member from Virginia of the First Continental Congress about to meet in that city. It met on the fifth. The first two days were spent in organizing and arranging preliminaries, when it was proposed that the sessions should be opened with prayer. The Rev. Jacob Duche^’, an Episcopal clergyman, was invited to officiate. The first morning, September 7, 1774, he read the thirty-fifth psalm, which begins as follows:

       "Plead my cause, O Lord, with them that strive with me: fight against them that fight against me.

       "Take hold of shield and buckler, and stand up for mine help.

       "Draw out also the spear, and stop the way against them that persecute me: say unto my soul, I am thy salvation."

       After the Psalm, Mr. Duche^’ offered the following prayer: "O Lord our Heavenly Father, high and mighty King of Kings and Lord of Lords, who dost from Thy throne behold all the dwellers on earth, and reignest with power supreme and uncontrolled over all kingdoms, empires and governments; look down in mercy we beseech Thee, on these American States, who have fled to Thee from the rod of the oppressor, and thrown themselves on Thy gracious protection, desiring to be henceforth dependent only on Thee; to Thee they have appealed for the righteousness of their cause; to Thee do they now look up for that countenance and support which Thou alone canst give; take them, therefore, Heavenly Father, under Thy nurturing care; give them wisdom in council, and valor in the field; defeat the malicious designs of our cruel adversaries, convince them of the unrighteousness of their cause; and if they still persist in their sanguinary purposes, O let the voice of Thine own unerring justice sounding in their hearts constrain them to drop the weapons of war from their unnerved hands in the day of battle. Be Thou present, O God of wisdom, and direct the councils of this honorable assembly; enable them to settle things on the best and surest foundation, that the scene of blood may be speedily closed, that order, harmony, and peace, may be effectually restored; and truth and justice, religion and piety, prevail and flourish amongst Thy people. Preserve the health of their bodies and the vigor of their minds; shower down on them and the millions they here represent, such temporal blessings as Thou seest expedient for them in this world and crown them with everlasting glory in the world to come. All this we ask in the name and through the merits of Jesus Christ, Thy Son, our Saviour. Amen."

JOHN ADAMS'S LETTER

       John Adams, in a letter to his wife on the day following, thus describes the scene:

       "You must remember this was the morning after we heard the horrible rumor of the cannonade of Boston. I never saw a greater effect upon an audience. It seemed as if heaven had ordained that psalm to be read on that morning.  After this Mr. Duche^’ unexpectedly to everybody struck out into an extemporary prayer, which filled the bosom of every man present. Episcopalian as he is, Doctor Cooper himself never prayed with such fervor, such ardor, such earnestness and pathos, and in language so eloquent and sublime, for America, for the Congress, for the province of Massachusetts Bay, and especially the town of Boston. It had an excellent effect upon everybody here."

       "Washington was kneeling, and Henry, and Randolph, and Rutledge, and Lee, and Jay, and by their sides there stood, bowed in reverence, the Puritan patriots of New England.”¹

Christ, not man, is King!

Dale

1)     William J. Johnson, George Washington, The Christian (New York, NY: The Abingdon Press, 1919), p. 63-6.