Before you start, watch the video. There is some content that is not in the commentary below and a special shout-out that I don’t want you to miss.
The ten most important words in our nation’s beginning are found in the Declaration of Independence. Have you ever read the Declaration of Independence in its entirety?
Tomorrow we will celebrate the 245th birthday of the United States. I take that time each year to read the full Declaration of Independence.
It opens with an explanation that there are occasions that compel the people to break from the old and start a new nation. These occasions should be rare. In this case, the separation was fully justified.
The first sentence contains two references to God. One is to God’s law in nature and the other to God Himself. This establishes a reason and foundation for the Declaration.
“When in the Course of human events it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature’s God entitle them….”
The second sentence contains two more references to God. One as the creator and the other to the place of man in God’s creation. This passage is probably the best known.
“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.”
Our nation began, not by beseeching King George to give us freedom. The founders boldly declared that America was assuming equal standing among the powers of the earth.
The basis of that equal standing was not something that a human being or human institution gave to them. God held the title and God granted that standing.
The middle section of the Declaration sets forth in specific details the actions of Great Britain that led to the Declaration. The signers listed at least 27 individual acts of oppression.
The colonies made repeated petitions for redress. A total separation was the only remaining course of action.
The last two sentences make the fifth and sixth references to God. In the next to the last sentence, the Declaration appeals to God as the just ruler.
“We, therefore, the Representatives of the united States of America, in General Congress, Assembled, appealing to the Supreme Judge of the world…”
The Declaration closes with these words:
“And for the support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of Divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes, and our sacred Honor.”
The middle of the last sentence contains the ten most important words in our nation’s beginning, “with a firm reliance on the protection of Divine Providence.”
King Solomon told his son to, “
Trust in the Lord with all your heart and do not lean on your own understanding.” (Proverbs 3:5 NASB)
The men who signed the Declaration took action that, from all human reasoning, was doomed before it got off the ground. These men looked beyond the limitations of human reasoning to the Highest Authority.
America is unique and exceptional because we started on a solid foundation to which King Solomon referred. That foundation is simply trust in God. “With a firm reliance on Divine Providence.”
My mother and father referenced Proverbs 3:5-6 in a note in the front of the Bible they gave me for high school graduation.
On this Independence Day, take a moment to humbly bow and ask God for His continued Divine Providence. A common prayer is, “God Bless America.”
I think that on this day, we need to return thanks for His “protection of divine Providence” by saying, “America, Bless God!” Happy Independence Day.
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