God is on Our Side

This weekend at church, a friend leaned over to ask me what I thought of a song. The song in question is Bethany Dillon's You Are On Our Side. The chorus goes:

You sit at the table with the wounded and the poor

You laugh and share stories with the thief and the whore

When you could just be silent and leave us here to die

Still, You sent Your Son for us

You are on our side

The question is, what does it mean to say that God is on our side? Who is 'us'? And what does that give 'us' the license to do? The song itself calls us to remember that even in our weakness and in our mistakes, God loves us. But for my friend (and I agree with him), the phrase "God is on our side" conjures up images of US imperialism. So often it seems that US military aggression hinges on God's blessing (think of the conquest of the Americas, Manifest Destiny, the War in Iraq-- "God has put the wilderness in front of us to conquer!" or "God has given us a great victory!").

What does it mean to sing "God is on our side"? Or Chris Tomlin's variation "If God is on our side, who can be against us?"? Can it simply mean that God loves us? Or is it invariably tied to US military aggression?