Happy Independence Day

In many of the United States, it still Independence Day.

At our church yesterday, we sang a forgotton stanza of "The Star-Spangled Banner" by Francis Scott Key, written in the wake of the War of 1812:

O thus be it ever, when free men shall stand
Between their loved homes and the war's desolation!

Blest with victry' and peace, may the heav'n-rescued land
Praise the Pow'r that hath made and preserved us a nation!

Then conquer we must, when our cause it is just;
And this be our motto: "In God is our trust!"

And the star-spangled banner in triumph shall wave
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave!

I would love for this to be sung with the more popular premier stanza with sincerity in keeping with America's tradition at major athletic events.

I thank God that I live free by His grace in this land.