Chaplain,
Maybe you could lead this thread in a prayer of Thanksgiving to the Almighty for us. I have no doubt that His hand was upon this, and that the prayers of many, many military and their families went before the throne of God.
Once, I heard a sermon about ingratitude before God, and how horrible a thing that is. He preached on Luke 17: 11-19.
11 Now on his way to Jerusalem, Jesus traveled along the border between Samaria and Galilee. 12 As he was going into a village, ten men who had leprosy[b] met him. They stood at a distance 13 and called out in a loud voice, ‘Jesus, Master, have pity on us!’ 14 When he saw them, he said, ‘Go, show yourselves to the priests.’ And as they went, they were cleansed. 15 One of them, when he saw he was healed, came back, praising God in a loud voice. 16 He threw himself at Jesus’ feet and thanked him – and he was a Samaritan. 17 Jesus asked, ‘Were not all ten cleansed? Where are the other nine? 18 Has no one returned to give praise to God except this foreigner?’ 19 Then he said to him, ‘Rise and go; your faith has made you well.’
It is important that we thank God.
Any verse or prayer you could give on behalf of all military families tonight would be greatly appreciated.
The scripture below is a time when King David was moved to realize how precious is the sacrifice of his warriors, in this case, his SpecOps Warriors:
2 Samuel 23: 13 During harvest time, three of the thirty chief men came down to David at the cave of Adullam, while a band of Philistines was encamped in the Valley of Rephaim. 14 At that time David was in the stronghold, and the Philistine garrison was at Bethlehem. 15 David longed for water and said, "Oh, that someone would get me a drink of water from the well near the gate of Bethlehem!" 16 So the three mighty men broke through the Philistine lines, drew water from the well near the gate of Bethlehem and carried it back to David. But he refused to drink it; instead, he poured it out before the LORD. 17 "Far be it from me, O LORD, to do this!" he said. "Is it not the blood of men who went at the risk of their lives?" And David would not drink it. Such were the exploits of the three mighty men.
Lord God, in the same way that King David realized that the sacrifice of warriors for the nation was a gift fit only for You, our Almighty God, so let us realize that such a sacrifice should not be an occasion for us to take credit or to earn personal glory. In the same way as David made their gift of water to him into a gift to You, an offering made by pouring, so let us realize that the blood poured out on our behalf by our brave warriors is not to the credit of presidents, politicians, or generals. These leaders are mere humans, and such a gift is too precious for the likes of men.
Help us to see the Divine Blessing that is ours in the sacrifice of our warriors on our behalf, on behalf of our nation.
You have always been a God who saw the love of Your Son's sacrifice reflected in the sacrifice of soldiers. You are the God of the warriors Joshua, David, the faithful Centurion, the Centurion Cornelius, and so many other warriors who have found grace in Your sight.
Protect these warriors of our nation from the evil designs of politicians who would bask in the warrior's renown while stealing from them their sustenance.
We thank you, Lord God, that you have answered the cries of those who have stood in the gap in this struggle against self-serving leaders, against those who would violate their own promises.
We also thank You for our warriors' sacrifice for our nation. And, on all battlefields where our troops guard and watch to keep us safe, we pray they be victorious.
In Jesus' Name we pray. Amen