liberty in law?

I wish that our national anthem weren't our national anthem.  It's essentially un-singable (often mangled in sports arenas), features a poem about a bombardment in the War of 1812 (our second military engagement with Great Britain), and honors our flag rather than the nation it represents.  Compare that with "America The Beautiful", describing the natural and noble beauties of our land and our people, punctuated by a repeated prayer:  America, America, God shed His Grace on Thee, God mend thine every flaw, May God thy gold refine.  Perfect!

Except, perhaps, for this phrase: thy liberty in law!  America sees itself as" the land of the free (and the home of the brave", the best part of the national anthem).  We tend to think of freedom or liberty as being freed from something or someone, including laws imposed on us by others, even by God Himself.  So "liberty in law" is, for some, an oxymoron, two things put together that shouldn't be.  If this is your perspective, perhaps you need to be reminded of what happened to the first humans who sought freedom from God's Law about the one fruit they couldn't eat.

For believers, this phrase may present problems as well.  Paul writes that the law kills, but the Spirit gives life (2 Cor. 3:6).  And so some would say that true liberty only comes from the Spirit, Who encourages us to shake off the "dead letter" of The Law to find real freedom in Christ.  If this is your take on things, remind yourself that Jesus said I have not come to abolish the law but to fulfil it (Matthew 5:17).

Psalm  119:45 reads: I will walk at liberty, for I seek your commandments.  Walking in liberty, being truly free, is a gift given to believers by The Holy Spirit, Who frees us from the law of sin and death, and then enables us to be free, not from God's Law, but rather free to fulfil it.    As "America The Beautiful" prays, confirm [our] soul in self-control (a fruit of the Spirit) such that [our] liberty [can be] in law.  

Let's join in that prayer for ourselves and our nation.