Americans: Let's lift up the standard once again!

By Joshua Herring

Oh beautiful, for spacious skies, for amber waves of grain,
for purple mountains majesties above the fruited plain!
America! America! God shed his grace on thee.
And crown thy good with brotherhood, from sea to shining sea.

O beautiful for pilgrim feet, whose stern, impassioned stress
a thoroughfare for freedom beat across the wilderness!
America! America! God mend thine every flaw.
Confirm thy soul in self-control, thy liberty in law!

America! America! God mend your every flaw. Confirm your soul in self-control, your liberty in law! When I consider America, I like to think back to a time when I was ten years old. Why? Does that happen to have been the happiest time of my life growing up? Not actually. It is what I saw when I looked around me and what I sensed in America at the age of ten that makes the difference. It is still fresh in my memory after all these years. At the time, it had been less than three years since Engle v. Vitale — the tragically misguided Supreme Court decision determining that, supposedly, prayer in public schools is unconstitutional.

This decision was handed down by the Court in 1962. It paved the way for legal precedents prohibiting free exercise of the Christian religion in the public domain. In fact, even so much as the exposure of Christian symbols in public has been proscribed at this point, thereby stripping Americans of religious liberties that have been protected by the Constitution since the birth of this nation. The impact of this Court ruling on life in America has been catastrophic. It has progressively stripped America of its beauty. Gradually replacing it with immorality, decadence, degradation, and the squalor we see around us on every side in America today. Needless to say things haven't always been this way.

I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America

I can still remember at age ten, as I stood in my third grade class for the pledge of allegiance to the flag, what a special moment that was for me. There was something about the American flag that evoked deep sentiments within me in spite of my youth, and one look around the classroom would have told you that I wasn't alone. Why was this true? Actually, there are a few things that must be touched on to answer this question adequately, and see that my message is clearly understood.

When I was a child, by the time children reached third grade they had been well-taught about the proud history and heritage of America. Furthermore, we weren't taught out of textbooks riddled with revisionist history, which has now replaced everything that makes humanists uncomfortable; i.e., the Christianity of America's Founding Fathers, the influence of biblical principles on the formation of law and government, and the role Providence played in the birth and establishment of this nation.

Nevertheless, a superior understanding of American history, notwithstanding; it took something more to create the kind of atmosphere and the attitude exhibited by my class during the pledge of allegiance. Normally, it wouldn't have been uncommon for ten-year-olds, in recitation of something as part of their daily regimen, to mouth the words without giving much thought to their meaning. But had this been the case there would have been a lot horsing around before and during the pledge.

I cannot recall my third grade teacher ever having to chastise anyone, or having to wait for us to settle down for the pledge to begin. There was something that evoked sentiments bordering on a sense of reverence within us as we stood there. And the purpose of this essay is fivefold: to define exactly what it was, to explain why this was so important, to identify what brought it to an end, to discuss some of the consequences of the change, and to touch on a solution to the problem.

The importance of a national standard

Please allow me to begin by calling your attention to a passage of Scripture for the sake of illustration.

Then the man said to Eli, "I am he who came from the battle. And I fled today from the battle line." And he said, "What happened, my son?" So the messenger answered and said, "Israel has fled before the Philistines, and there has been a great slaughter among the people. Also your two sons, Hophni and Phinehas, are dead; and the ark of God has been captured." Then it happened, when he made mention of the ark of God, that Eli fell off the seat backward by the side of the gate; and his neck was broken and he died, for the man was old and heavy. And he had judged Israel forty years.

Now his daughter-in-law, Phinehas' wife, was with child, due to be delivered; and when she heard the news that the ark of God was captured, and that her father-in-law and her husband were dead, she bowed herself and gave birth, for her labor pains came upon her. And about the time of her death the women who stood by her said to her, "Do not fear, for you have borne a son." But she did not answer, nor did she regard it. Then she named the child Ichabod, saying, "The glory has departed from Israel!" because the ark of God had been captured and because of her father-in-law and her husband. And she said, "The glory has departed from Israel, for the ark of God has been captured." 1 Sam. 4:16–22 (emphasis added)

The Ark of the Covenant was later called "the Ark of the Testimony." It was a symbol of God's covenant relationship with Israel; a testimony of God's presence among them. Three very sacred things were kept in the Ark. The two tables of the law engraved in stone by the finger of God, a pot of manna, and Aaron's rod that bloomed in the wilderness. When they realized the Ark of God had been brought into the Hebrew camp the Philistines were terrified.

And when the ark of the covenant of the LORD came into the camp, all Israel shouted so loudly that the earth shook. Now when the Philistines heard the noise of the shout, they said, "What does the sound of this great shout in the camp of the Hebrews mean?" Then they understood that the ark of the LORD had come into the camp. So the Philistines were afraid, for they said, "God has come into the camp!" And they said, "Woe to us! For such a thing has never happened before. Woe to us! Who will deliver us from the hand of these mighty gods who plagued Egypt?" 1 Sam. 4:5–8 (emphasis added)

At that time Jerusalem was still a Jebusite stronghold, and Shiloh was the religious/political center of Israel. During the first encounter with the Philistines at the battle of Aphek four thousand Israelites were slain. This should have been enough to tell them something. Nevertheless, rather than offering sacrifices and petitioning God to seek His blessing the hard-hearted elders of Israel did something foolishly irreverent. They issued an order for the Ark of the Covenant to be removed from the "holy of holies" in the Tabernacle and carried out to the battlefield. They did this knowing that men had lost their lives for so much as even touching the Ark or violating the sanctity of "the holy place."

Not surprisingly, in the next battle not only was Israel defeated, they suffered such a terrible slaughter at the hands of the Philistines that it devastated the nation. As if to emphasize their great sin even more Israel's national standard, the Ark of the Covenant, was captured and carried away by the enemy. After that battle the nation was left in extreme confusion, disarray, and despair. Not only had the Israelites lost the Ark, both their high priest and the sons who were to have succeeded him were dead. In addition to this, there is strong archaeological evidence that Shiloh was sacked and destroyed by the Philistines. Israel lost everything. The Israelites mourned twenty years before Samuel stepped up with a message from God to pull them back together.

What does all this mean to us today?

The Ark of the Covenant was considered to be "most holy." Truly pious Israelites of antiquity were in awe of the Ark, and this was true long after the death of Moses. As people approached the Tabernacle where the Ark was kept to present their gifts and sacrifices it was a very sacred time. There was a presence that reached out and touched the hearts of all who loved Israel, and who were humble and sincere about their faith. It wasn't just something imagined; it was a very real presence that gripped the hearts of many in a tangible way that stirred them deeply.

The Philistines were in awe of the Ark of the Covenant as well, and they were aware of a special presence hovering over the nation of Israel. This always made going into battle against the Israelites an iffy proposition in the minds of Philistine leaders. They knew of cases in which God had intervened miraculously on behalf of Israel against their enemies. This is why the Philistines reacted as they did upon learning that the Ark was in the Hebrew camp. They didn't fully understand the all the details pertaining to the significance of the Ark, but the sight of it caused them to tremble, and it left them in awe of Israel.

There has been a modern parallel to this that involves the United States of America and our own national standard the flag. I once read a report written by an officer who had defected from the Russian army, before the breakup of the Soviet Union, and he said: "The average Russian soldier's perception of the American soldier is that of a fighting man about ten feet tall." The Russians didn't actually understand why this was true, and Americans today know nothing of it anymore, but at that point we knew why.

The Philistines were in awe of Israel's national standard — the Ark of the Covenant — and thus in awe of Israel because of the God that standard represented. In modern times people in other nations, despite not understanding exactly why, have been in awe of the American flag and what it stood for. This was because of the same God that caused the Philistines to tremble at the sight of the Ark, and what the American flag stood for was well known.

We were a nation in which the righteousness of God was the source of our beliefs, the foundation upon which our system of government was built, and the strength upon which we relied for success and a sense of security. Because of this, there was a recognizable presence that hovered over America, and again it wasn't something imagined. It was a very real presence that the people of other nations could sense. Even if they didn't quite understand what it was they knew there was something special that set America apart as a nation.

How does all this come together?

Near the beginning of this essay, I said that as we prepared for the pledge of allegiance in my third grade class, there was something we experienced that bordered on being a sense of reverence. .At the age of ten, as I stood at attention with my hand over my heart, facing the flag and pledging my allegiance to this nation it was much more than just words. I sensed an unmistakable presence that I didn't yet understand, abiding on a standard that represented everything this nation once stood for — the American flag.

It gave me a sense of warmth and well-being even at that age, despite the fact that I didn't quite understand what it was as I do now. This is what I experienced as I pledged my allegiance to a nation the Lord of Glory brooded over like a mother hen waiting to bring new life into the world — until a point came when despite insurmountable odds against it — this nation under God was born as a result of divine guidance, provision, and protection! Testimony to the Christian heritage of this nation was revealed in every aspect of American life from the start, and perhaps never more beautifully than in some of our national songs. One verse of the Battle Hymn of the Republic says:

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 live to make men free,
while God is marching on.

But the glory has departed

Though I didn't understand much at the age of ten, I now understand what draws my mind back with a sense of longing to that period in my life. It had been less than three years since the Supreme Court incision known as Engle v. Vitale. Since then the Court has gutted American society the way a fisherman guts a fish during cleaning; removing all the vital organs that gave it vitality and strength.

Just as surely as a fish is gutted in preparation to be eaten — since removing God from our public schools — the Supreme Court has devoured nearly every trace of virtue and truth America once stood for. In 1962, with the Court ruling on Engle v. Vitale, our national standard was captured by the enemy. Since then it has been progressively stripped of its meaning and virtue. Someone standing outside of the Supreme Court building that day should have shouted: "Ichabod! The glory has departed from America!"

The impact of that Court decision was so destructive that within eleven short years the Supreme Court debacle, Roe v. Wade, ushered in an era of mindless, merciless, sadistic slaughter of babies in America. Just as surely as people in ancient Palestine and surrounding areas once sacrificed their children on the altar of a pagan deity named "Molech;" Americans have been sacrificing their children on the altars of humanistic gods of greed, licentiousness, sexual promiscuity, and irresponsibility. According to an organization called "National Right to Life," in the time that has passed since 1973 over 48 million American babies have been slaughtered.

The corruption of a nation

How long does it take for a nation having turned its back on God to be corrupted? At my junior high school during the years from 1968–1970, drugs were mentioned occasionally in a whisper, by a few kids who were the wildest among us. The reason for the whisper was that most of the teens in my junior high school wouldn't have associated with "dopers." But in the year 1971, less than ten years after Engle v. Vitale, on my high school campus drugs weren't just something bad kids were experimenting with — they were everywhere. School officials were literally carrying teens out of the park across the street so badly overdosed they had no legs under them.

Furthermore, although girls in my junior high school who were sexually active were disrespected, in my sophomore year of high school girls were being stripped of their virtue in the park and in the back seats of cars. By my senior year, rather than talking to their parents about it when this got them into trouble — in fear, anxiety, and shame those girls were bypassing their parents. Accepting counsel from women trained to sell abortions for places like Planned Parenthood — women they had never even seen before.

At their advice those girls destroyed the precious life growing inside of them without even truly considering the ramifications of their decision. Of course, those "caring counselors" were not paid to discuss such things with them, and they weren't around when the girls had to deal with the consequences of the act. The consequences, once they began to manifest — seemed to roll in like the unstoppable waves of an incoming ocean tide — at a time when the girls were even more ashamed and afraid to talk to their parents about it. Sometimes physical problems prevented them from having babies later in life or something even worse. Many times the lives of young girls were flooded with emotional trauma that followed them for years, if not for life.

How long does it take for a nation having turned its back on God to be corrupted? I wasn't even out of high school yet, and at that point I neither saw nor sensed anything that resembled what I sensed when I placed my hand over my heart at the age of ten to say: "I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America, and to the Republic for which it stands: one Nation under God, indivisible, with Liberty and Justice for all."

Where does this leave us today?

Coming back to the passage of Scripture that I shared, when Israel's national standard was carried away by the enemy it was as Eli's daughter-in-law said — the glory had departed from Israel. However, when the Philistines put the Ark of the Covenant in the temple of their god Dagon, the next morning they found it knocked over on its face — prostrated before the Ark of God. After setting it up and leaving things as they were — the next morning they not only found their god knocked over and prostrated before the Ark — this time the image of Dagon was decapitated. Furthermore, God was plaguing the city and people were being destroyed.

So the Philistines sent the Ark to another city for safekeeping, but God plagued that city until the Ark was sent away from there. As this pattern continued God plagued the Philistines with sickness, death, and destruction for seven months until they sent the Ark back into Israel. By this time both nations had paid a devastating price for their irreverence.

In America today humanists are gloating over the "progress" they've made during the past four decades. As they do so, they must ignore the fact that urban blight, with its myriad forms of death and destruction, has increased exponentially since 1962. Then they tell us America isn't reaping the consequences of barring God from the public domain. If this is true, why does the Philistine pattern of death and destruction that I just described sound so much like what we see happening in America today?

The only difference I can see is that the Philistines, despite being pagan idol worshippers, were smart enough to realize within seven months that if they didn't show more respect for God they were going to be destroyed. But if it served their purpose, humanists in America would stand buried up to their nostrils in steer manure — and say it doesn't smell — before admitting there is a correlation between the dates of those two Supreme Court decisions, and the explosive increase of problems that are threatening to bring America down.

Eventually grace comes into the situation

Nevertheless, despite the extreme irreverence and folly of Israel, God prevented the nation from being subjugated by the Philistines — until He gave them a new leader in Samuel — under whom God's blessing returned and stability was restored. By the same token, as bad as it has been here in America, God hasn't forgotten His people. Soon He will begin to intervene in our situation by establishing new leadership — this time both in the Church and in the nation — through whom positive changes will begin to come about gradually.

Some of the leaders who've been responsible for what has happened will be lost due to age and/or mortality. Some of the others will simply be replaced by men and women whose hearts are more patriotic and pure. And even as it was with Samuel, the new leaders of whom I speak will have a sense of vision through which God's blessing will be restored, but amidst very tumultuous and trying times. Progress will be made, but nothing will come easy.

My heart yearns for the America that I knew at the age of ten. Something fresh and very wholesome has been lost. Although many people just took it for granted amidst good times, and gave little thought to how privileged we were to live in this nation — it was because of the presence of God in attendance. As divine principles and practices were common in every day life it made all the difference in the world. There was unquestionably no other nation on the face of the earth like the United States of America. This wasn't just something we thought as a result of national pride — it was something that was uniformly agreed on around the world!

Progress vs. perversity

In the seventies, Joni Mitchell recorded a song with a hook line that said: "Don't it always seem to go, that you don't know what you've got till it's gone? They paved Paradise and put in a parking lot." That's human progress for you. I wonder how Adam and Eve felt after they betrayed their Maker and lost the sense of wholeness and security that had once existed in their world. Although they were led to believe that rebellion would make them better they didn't call it "progress" afterwards. In fact, the first words Adam used to describe the effect of the change were: "I was afraid." He had never known fear before.

I wonder how Judas Iscariot felt when, after living with the Lord for the best part of three years, for thirty pieces of silver he betrayed his Master and threw away the best thing he'd ever had. Judas was so remorseful that he killed himself afterwards.

I wonder how Americans would feel, if we were to allow what remains of God's blessing on this nation to slip away, because of leaders pursuing everything from filthy lucre to deceptive global agendas . . . I wonder.

The fruits of disobedience and what needs to be done

In the late eighties I had a memorable experience when "Operation Rescue" first came to southern California. O.R. was led by a minister from New York named Randal Terry who had a unique sense of vision. He believed God had placed it in his heart to travel around the nation addressing members of the Christian Church about the abortion issue. That in itself wasn't so unique, but Randall was calling for an approach to breaking the hold of abortion on America that was unique to the Church at the time.

Originally, he wasn't mobilizing Christians to block abortion clinics. He was addressing them about accepting their rightful share of the blame for what was taking place. His message was that Christians needed to quit acting so self-righteous, as if all the blame for this abomination rested on unbelievers, and fall on their faces in repentance before God for having allowed "the curse of abortion" to grip our land. He contended that the root of the problem is spiritual, and that if God's people were where we should have been — spiritually speaking — it would have prevented the scourge of abortion from taking America.

Randall Terry was right. In the early going he understood something few ministers were even willing to consider. He understood that in the churches of America we had become vain because of our knowledge, arrogant in our affluence, and both self-indulgent and self-righteous as a result of God's blessing. Randall Terry contended that if this were not true many of the serious problems we saw multiplying in America wouldn't be running rampant. What he was saying was:

For the time has come for judgment to begin at the house of God; and if it begins with us first, what will be the end of those who do not obey the gospel of God? 1 Pet. 4:17 (emphasis added)

Randall Terry understood something else that is so vitally important. It is something that I can share with you, not only as a result of having been a pastor dealing with others, but also as a result of experience working out my own salvation. If we wish to deal with problems we encounter in life properly, the very first thing we need to do in every case is approach God humbly, asking Him to expose our own hearts to us. Then allow Him to deal with anything that isn't pleasing to Him before we seek to deal with anyone else, so that we may go forward from there with His guidance and approval.

Granted, at times the divine response to this can be a bitter pill to swallow at first, but even then the result makes it worth the pain and the strain involved in the process. This kind of submission and obedience brings us closer to God. It also releases peace and power that brings amazing results both in our hearts, and in the situations we are confronted with. So many things in our world wouldn't be nearly the problem that they are today, if this kind of humility and sincerity before God were the rule of thumb, rather than being an exception to the rule.

When I encountered Randall Terry it was at a rally. He was sitting at a keyboard in the LA Convention Center leading the crowd in a song I think he may have written titled: "Lord Have Mercy on Us." It was a very simple song, but sometimes the best things in life are the simplest things, and it moved me so deeply that I used it during worship services in my own church later. I also know of other churches where this was true. It was just a short chorus, but the music was well suited to the message, and it was very compelling as Randall led the crowd singing:

Lord have mercy on us. Come and heal our land.
Cleanse with Your fire, heal with Your touch. Humbly we bow and call upon You now.
Oh Lord — have mercy — on us. Dear Lord . . . . . have mercy . . . . . on us.

As Randal Terry alternated between singing and speaking he was sharing a message of brokenness, of humility, and of repentance that touched me deeply. The Bible tells us there are times when, if we want to move the hand of God, we must allow Him to show us the things He isn't pleased with, and do a work of repentance in us that causes us to "rend your hearts, not your garments" (Joel 2:13). The Bible also teaches that if anything of noteworthy spiritual value is to be accomplished by God's people it will come about, "Not by might, nor by power, but by My Spirit, says the Lord." (Zech. 4:6)

My spirit bore witness to the fact that if, despite our most diligent efforts to overturn Roe v. Wade for years we were getting nowhere — obviously we weren't moving the heart of God with our prayers. And if not, this had to be because God wasn't pleased with what He saw in our hearts as He looked down on our efforts.

The same rule applies in our efforts to restore constitutional liberties that have been stripped away in America. Therefore, as important as this is, my most fervent prayer is not that God will move those resisting our efforts out of the way. My most fervent prayer is that God will humble the hearts of those of us who claim His name, and work with us until He is pleased with what He sees. My most fervent prayer is:

Lord have mercy on us. Come and heal our land.
Cleanse with Your fire, heal with Your touch. Humbly we bow and call upon You now.
Oh Lord — have mercy — on us. Dear Lord . . . . . have mercy . . . . . on us.

The sweet psalmist of Israel, David, whom God described as "a man after my own heart," said:

For You do not desire sacrifice, or else I would give it; You do not delight in burnt offerings. The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit, A broken and a contrite heart — These, O God, You will not despise. Ps. 51:16–17 (emphasis added)

And God Himself said:

"if My people who are called by My name will humble themselves, and pray and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and heal their land." 2 Chron. 7:14

This will get the job done. In fact, it is the only thing that will get the job done. For many years now our national standard, the American flag, hasn't stood for the things it is supposed to. I wrote this to try and identify how that came about, and to say: Americans: Let's lift up the standard once again!

* All Scripture drawn from the NKJV

© Joshua Herring