The words to a familiar song came to my mind this morning during my walk with God. You know it as well as I do, since we all learned it in grade school—”The Battle Hymn of the Republic.” Its title gives us pause as we reminisce about those good old days when we sang it in patriotic programs on the 4^th of July and Veterans Day, and covered our hearts with our hands and pledged allegiance to the grand ole flag. A trip down memory lane might serve us well today.

“The Battle Hymn of the Republic” was written by Julia Ward Howe after a visit with the Union Troops during the Civil War.¹ The inspiring lyrics stir us as we consider the seriousness of that moment. The United State of America was in the crux of a battle in which our nation and its God-given purpose to stand for freedom and justice throughout the world was at stake.

I don’t know about you, but to me it feels that we could be in a similar place today where once again our nation and what it stands for is at stake. I have copied the words to the song at the end and I think it benefits us to read through them, but the words that the Lord turned my attention to this morning was the last line of the first verse: His truth is marching on.

I can’t help but wonder if my generation has succeeded in keeping His truth in the forefront of our lives and moving it forward to the next generation. Have we reared our children to seek truth, find truth, and know truth? And lastly, have we challenged them to take a stand for truth?

In a time when everything is being challenged and redefined, do we know what “truth” is? I think we actually do know what His truth is, even if we don’t live by it. But have we moved it forward? I suspect that every generation will have to answer for what they’ve done with “His truth.”

Tomorrow, we have the grand privilege of casting our vote once again in this greatest nation on earth. But before we do, I challenge us to determine what “His truth” is…about life (born or unborn), righteousness, justice, honesty, and greed. Career politicians have turned our governmental institutions into a platform to gain power and wealth. Their rhetoric and deception are mindboggling, while every freedom we have is on the ballot. I heard a recent poll revealed that our trust in Congress is at an all-time low of 7%.²

Our responsibility as citizens of this great country is simply to look at what (not who or which party) is on the ballot and determine if it lines up with God’s truth. If that is difficult to sort out, then go ahead and spring for some good old- fashioned common sense. Our nation is at stake tomorrow, so let’s get this right. If we don’t, future generations may never know “His truth.” ~ Sarah Jane Kellogg

The Battle Hymn of the Republic ~ (Public Domain)

Mine eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the Lord;

He is trampling out the vintage where grapes of wrath are stored;

He hath loosed the fateful lightning of His terrible swift sword,

His truth is marching on.

CHORUS:

Glory, glory, hallelujah! Glory, glory, hallelujah!

Glory, glory, hallelujah! His truth is marching on.

I have seen Him in the watchfires of a hundred circling camps;

They have builded Him an altar in the evening dews and damps;

I can read His righteous sentence by the dim and flaring lamps,

His day is marching on.

CHORUS

He has sounded forth the trumpet that shall never call retreat;

He is sifting out the hearts of men before His Judgement Seat.

Oh! Be swift, my soul, to answer Him, be jubilant, my feet!

Our God is marching on.

CHORUS

In the beauty of the lilies Christ was born across the sea,

With a glory in his bosom that transfigures you and me;

As he died to make men holy, let us die to make men free,

While God is marching on.

CHORUS

Songwriters: John William Steffe / Julia Ward Howe / Peter Knight

¹Battle Hymn of the Republic The story behind the songhttps://www.kennedy-center.org › media › music

²Trust In U.S. Institutions Hits Record Low, Poll Finds – Forbeshttps://www.forbes.com › madelinehalpert › 2022/07/05