By James Strand

Happy 4th of July everyone! I just heard the 4th verse of the star spangled banner for the first time – on an AETN PBS show.  This forgotten 4th verse of our national anthem by Francis Scott Key praises God! I did not know there be a 4th verse that mentions heaven and God! Why does it not surprise me that you never hear this verse sung very often? Let the atheist whine all they want – here is the truth! An act of congress declared this our national anthem with the words! “Praise the Power that hath made and preserved us a nation” and “And this be our motto: “In God is our trust!”  Also, I did not realize he was a POW when he wrote this.

The 4th verse of our National Anthem:

Oh! thus be it ever, when freemen shall stand
Between their loved homes and the war’s desolation!
Blest with victory and peace, may the heaven-rescued land
Praise the Power 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!

YouTube video reference: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fnwUi8Y88HA