Welcome to "Tuesday Morning"—an encouraging" read on any morning (or evening) of the week. 

 

"We the People of the United States...." I love that phrase, don't you? It states that whatever follows represents the core values of the persons drafting the statement. It is the beginning of the Preamble to the Constitution of the United States. It was created by several committees of the Constitutional Convention that met in the summer of 1787. Fine-tuning the wording of the Constitution was assigned to a group called the "Committee of Stile and Arrangement." Their task was to draft a formal document to be voted on by the members of the Convention. The members of that elite drafting committee were William Johnson, Rufus King, James Madison, Governor Morris, and Alexander Hamilton. I am writing this on January 11, the birthday of Alexander Hamilton.

 

This week's "Tuesday Morning" is attached. It is entitled "In Times of National Anxiety." Read on below whenever you are ready. Celebrate your patriotism. Pray for your leaders. Intercede in behalf of your nation. This message is being read by citizens of 35 world areas. Not all of them are safe. I pray especially for them. I pray for you. May the Lord bless and guide you wherever you are today. My prayer includes the last verse of Isaac Watts' hymn, "O God, Our Help in Ages Past."

 

"O God, our Help in ages past, Our Hope for years to come,

Be Thou our Guide while life shall last, And our eternal Home."

 

Tom Barnard

A Senior Patriot

 

P.S. One hymnal version I found offers a slightly different reading of the last stanza of the above hymn. It reads, "Be Thou our guard while troubles last, And our eternal home." I think I like that version best. It is my prayer today.

 

In Times of National Anxiety

Tom Barnard

 

he year 1714 was a year of national anxiety in Great Britain. Anne, Queen of Great Britain and Ireland, was near death, and she had no direct heir in line to succeed her. All of her eight children had died at birth or in their infancy. In addition she had numerous miscarriages, trying to give birth to an heir. She had poor health during much of her adult life and died following a stroke at age 49. Her husband had died eight years earlier.

 

England was in turmoil at the time of Anne’s death. She had served the state well. One author said that “she had been moderate, a stout-hearted Protestant, thoughtful for her people, generous and kindly, establishing out of her own pocket the renowned ‘Queen Anne’s Bounty.’” She built many churches and was called by many “Good Queen Anne.”

 

But at her death, there was no immediate heir. The closest Protestant relative, George of Hanover, was a second cousin, but he had no direct ties to England. He was born in Lower Saxony (now Germany) and spoke no English. He knew little of English ways and had no concept of what it meant to occupy the British throne. There was a rising national concern about the impending crowning of a non-Englishman as king.

 

But God had a man whose writings were widely known and who could bring a sense of calm to the nation. His name was Isaac Watts. He was nine years younger than Queen Anne, and he was not royalty. He was the eldest of nine children, and at the time of his birth, Isaac’s father was imprisoned as a religious dissenter. Early on, Watts was an eager student and mastered the languages, logic, and theology. His writing of hymns began before he was twenty and continued until his death in 1748. At age 25 he was appointed assistant pastor in the chapel at Mark Lane, and three years later he became senior minister there. But poor health limited his efforts at full-time ministry, and he eventually accepted a working assistant who eventually became co-pastor.

 

Watts’ popularity was widely known, and his writings were considered among the best of his day. His hymns stand among the most-loved hymns written by anyone in the eighteenth century. In 1714 it was his outstanding hymn, “O God, Our Help in Ages Past,” that helped stabilize a nation struggling with a transition in leadership.

 

O God, our help in ages past, Our hope for years to come,

Our shelter from the stormy blast, And our eternal home.

 

Beneath the shadow of Thy throne Thy saints have dwelt secure;

Sufficient is Thine arm alone, And our defense is sure.

 

Before the hills in order stood, Or earth received her frame,

From everlasting Thou art God To endless years the same.

 

A thousand ages in Thy sight, Are like an evening gone;

Short as the watch that ends the night, Before the rising sun.

 

Time, like an ever rolling stream, Bears all its sons away;

They fly, forgotten, as a dream Dies at the opening day.

 

O God, our help in ages past, Our hope for years to come,

Be thou our guide while life shall last, And our eternal home.

 

Fast forward in history to 1780. In America the War for Independence was moving full-speed ahead. Rev. James Caldwell was a Presbyterian minister in Elizabethtown, New Jersey. He was well known to the British for his outspoken fervor for American liberty. The church where he pastored was burned to the ground by the British in response to his patriotism. Caldwell’s wife, Hannah, was killed by a raiding party. In the battle of Springfield, Caldwell’s troops were running low on wadding for their muskets. According to legend, he entered a nearby church, grabbed all the hymnbooks he could carry, and rushed them to the battle front. As his troops tore through the hymnals to stuff the paper wadding into their muskets, Pastor Caldwell urged them onward with what became a famous battle cry of the Revolutionary War, “Give ‘em Watts, boys. Give ‘em Watts.” 

 

Isaac Watts had no idea that his hymns would become musket wadding. He wrote to calm a nation’s fears. And he didn’t intend for them to help win a war on another continent. But they did, becoming a beacon of hope to those who fought for liberty and freedom two generations later. One person can influence many. History can be altered. It’s time to sing again. A new year has begun. A voice needs to be heard. That voice is yours. And mine!