From an idea garnered from MSNBC.......
"He has picked his bible, but what verse?"
While President-elect Barack Obama will certainly be making history when he takes the oath of office on January 20, he'll also be repeating it -- by placing his hand on the same Bible that Abraham Lincoln used during the inauguration of 1861. It brings up the question of what verse(s), if any he will use for his call to arms.
II Chronicles 7:14 was used for three swearing-in ceremonies: "If my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land."
When FDR first took the oath of office in 1933, the country was reeling under the crushing weight of the Great Depression. Urging his fellow Americans to lend a helping hand, Roosevelt had the Bible opened to I Corinthians 13: "And now abideth faith, hope, charity, these three; but the greatest of these is charity."
Richard Nixon during the Vietnam era, took the oath with a family Bible opened to Isaiah 2:4: "And he shall judge among the nations, and shall rebuke many people: and they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruninghooks: Nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more."
During his first inaugural, Woodrow Wilson opened the Bible to Psalm 119, which concludes "I have gone astray like a lost sheep; seek thy servant; for I do not forget thy commandments."
The master of public speaking, William Jefferson Clinton opened up the Bible to Isaiah 58:12: "Thou shalt raise up the foundations of many generations, and thou shalt be called the repairer of the breach."
Washington and Lincoln chose to open their bible to completely random passages. Others have not quoted directly from the bible at all. In fact, of the last 10 inaugural addresses, only 2 presidents - Democrats Carter and Clinton - have directly quoted from the Bible.
For Obama, I would suggest the following, from Jeremiah....“I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. (Jeremiah 29:11).
Whichever quotes Obama uses for his inauguration speech, you can be sure that they will be carefully measured, and plentiful. For my money, I predict Obama will continue his obsession with Lincoln and Kennedy, and use the John F. Kennedy Inaugural quote: "Let the word go forth from this time and place. . .to friend and foe alike. . . that the torch has been passed ...
Interesting Obama would pick Kennedy and Lincoln to pattern himself, and his Presidency after....is this in anyway predicting the ending of his Presidency, considering how the Kennedy and Lincoln terms ended?
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