An attorney by the name of Francis Scott Key

Watched from a ship as a battle raged

‘Twixt the British and the American military.

He saw “rockets’ red glare and bombs bursting in air”

In the 1814 battle fought at Fort Mc Henry.

And then he could see “by the dawn’s early light”

That the Star-Spangled Banner still waved in the breeze,

And it gave him assurance of America’s triumph.

So with heart and pen he jotted some words;

“The Battle of Fort McHenry,” he called it then.

It would soon be read in many newspapers,

And by the consensus of the people

Its name was changed to “The Star-Spangled Banner;”

And then it was set to music and sung.

When later Key penned the final verse,

It said “this be our motto ‘IN GOD IS OUR TRUST.’ ”

In the year of 1865—near the Civil War’s conclusion,

Our Congress passed a significant act,

That our coins henceforth should bear an inscription.

The words designated were ‘IN GOD WE TRUST.’

In God’s mercy we emerged from the war as one nation,

Though torn by the battles between the states.

We’d been led by President Abraham Lincoln.

Who signed the act just before his death.

‘IN GOD WE TRUST’ was emphasized in Washington, D.C.

If you find your way to the U.S. House Chamber,

On the Speaker’s rostrum those words can be seen.

If you go to the Senate’s main southern door,

Look above the door, and those words you will read.

Wander to the towering Washington monument,

And those words you will find there, too, indeed.

In the stained glass of the Capitol’s Chapel you’ll find Psalm 16:1.

In the year of 1956, a decade after World War II,

With the President being General Dwight D. Eisenhower,

Congress decided to strengthen that theme in another way, too,

By formally making ‘IN GOD WE TRUST’ into our national motto.

A year later currency, with those words, off the presses flew,

And the motto’s 50th Anniversary year arrived in 2006.

The Senate decided that they would affirm our national motto anew,

To proclaim that our theme would still remain the words ‘IN GOD WE TRUST.’

But to many, ‘IN GOD WE TRUST’ may now be thought to be a false claim:

Our public schools no longer honor the reading of the Bible;

Our public schools deny the leading of prayers in Jesus’ name;

Our public schools teach our children we were created just by chance.

Though God sees that the inscription on our money stayed the same,

He also sees if the words are still inscribed upon our hearts.

We remember Matthew 15:8, as translated in the King James,

“This people . . . honoreth me with their lips, but their heart is far from me.”

We need to remember Who grants our resources

And cling to the words of Psalm 20:7–

“Some trust in chariots, and some in horses;

But we will remember the name  of . . . our God.”

Though many in our land may trust godless forces,

God’s people must trust in God alone.

We must follow the example of the psalmist’s discourses

When he said “In thee do I put my trust.”