Psalm 9: 15 The heathen are sunk down in the pit that they made: in the net which they hid is their own foot taken. 16 The Lord is known by the judgment which he executeth: the wicked is snared in the work of his own hands. Higgaion. Selah. 17 The wicked shall be turned into hell, and all the nations that forget God. For the needy shall not always be forgotten: the expectation of the poor shall not perish for ever. 19 Arise, O Lord; let not man prevail: let the heathen be judged in thy sight. 20 Put them in fear, O Lord: that the nations may know themselves to be but men. Selah. 10 And they that know thy name will put their trust in thee: for thou, Lord, hast not forsaken them that seek thee.
Take out a dollar bill and a penny. From the smallest to the largest of our currency, it all has the same statement on it. When it was adopted, our currency was to have specific things on it. Among them is the motto In God We Trust. It is more than a motto because it expresses how the people of the US felt. The Bible says that nations will forget God. The book of Proverbs says righteousness exalteth a nation: but sin is a reproach to any people. The book of Psalms reminds us that blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord; and the people whom he hath chosen for his own inheritance. Verses 15-16 above tell us that when nations trust other things, they fall. When a nation forgets God, that nation will end up in hell.
King David made a statement Psalm 11 that should be a statement we all make: In the Lord put I my trust. I want to pose the question to you. Are we still worthy of the motto on our money? Consider the value of your dollar. Then think about how much you value it. We need money to live, but what value do we place on it? Without the inscription, there is no blessing on America. If our trust in in our currency instead of the one who gave it to us, then we have nothing. If we forget God and don’t trust him, we’ve lost it all. The Bible asks us in the book of Mark for what shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? I’m afraid for our country, but before we judge anyone else, let’s consider our own priorities.
I ran across a poll of 1,500 Americans who were asked to name the top four things in order of importance to them. Almost 2/3 said Number 1 was money. Number 2 was their looks. Number 3 was sex. Guess what number 4 was. It was not God, life or liberty. Number 4 was health. This shows what kind of nation we’ve become when sex is before health. Our progression has taken us backward morally. Anything is okay. For many people, there is no such thing as sin. This is the accepted philosophy by the world at large. God has been ousted and most certainly our motto is not In God We Trust. Our own currency lies to us.
Our forefathers didn’t intend this to be only lip service. What do you trust in? The fate of the world depends on your answer. One can say he trusts in God, but deep down do most of us really trust in him? The people who formed this country trusted in God first.
Five hundred twenty years ago, on October 12, 1492, the first words spoken by Christopher Columbus upon seeing the US were “let Christ rejoice on earth.” He gave glory to God not Queen Isabella in Spain. God guided him across the Atlantic, and this land was found.
Statesman William Penn said unless we are governed by God we will be ruled by tyrants. Many are ruled by their lusts and guided by their greed. God help us not to get caught up in it. Alexis de Tocqueville, a French statesman and historian, observed the democracy in America in those early days and said not until I went into the churches of America and heard her pulpits flame with righteousness did I understand the secret of her genius and power. America is great because America is good…and if America ever ceases to be good….America will cease to be great.
In 1620 the Mayflower landed at Plymouth Rock. The people left the tyranny of Europe for this land in search of a place to be free and worship God according to the dictates of their heart. The Mayflower Compact was written to guarantee freedom by trusting in God. The opening words of this document were In the name of God—Amen. They didn’t close it this way; they opened it this way!
The 13 colonies gathered in Philadelphia in 1776. The British were in the harbor; their soldiers were here. The King of England was bent on keeping this land under his rule. A group of men sat down and penned the Declaration of Independence. They held a message for the King and anyone else who would read the document. We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal; that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. They signed it. Our forefathers trusted in God. Our nation can and will only trust God when its citizens trust him.
When it came time to write the constitution, the people were in a deadlock as to how it should be worded. It had to be right. In the midst of the arguing about how to do it, Ben Franklin spoke up and said Gentlemen, I have lived a long time and am convinced that God governs the affairs of men. If a sparrow cannot fall to the ground without His notice, is it possible that an empire can rise without His aid? I, therefore, move that prayers imploring the assistance of Heaven be held every morning before we proceed to business. It wasn’t long before the words came together as we know them today. By their trust in God, they chose first to pray then write. By their trust in God, they believed him first so that America could be free. Who do you trust? If you say anything but God, you are trampling on the graves of these men.
Abraham Lincoln left Illinois to become President. At his farewell address he said without the assistance of that Divine Being…I cannot succeed. With that assistance I cannot fail. Trusting in Him who can go with me, and remain with you, and be everywhere for good, let us confidently hope that all will yet be well. He was trusting God.
In his inaugural address, John F. Kennedy said let us go forth to lead the land we love, asking His blessing and His help, but knowing that here on earth God’s work must truly be our own. I was a 6-year old boy when I heard that and I remember clapping because mom had taught us to love the Lord.
These men were not perfect; they were men who trusted God. Things of this world are losing value quickly. God is still on the throne. The motto on our currency is either a lie or the truth. It’s up to us to determine which. Who do you trust? America may not want it, but she needs us to trust and follow the Lord. If you’re unsaved, you can’t say you trust in God. For your soul’s sake, for your country, your family, accept the Lord. God help us who are saved to wake up and say unashamedly “In God We Trust.” Don’t let our currency say something that’s not true. Let’s back it with our heart.
On December 24, 1968, the Apollo 8 astronauts read the book of Genesis to the American people. In trying to discover the moon, they discovered the earth.
Bill Anders
“We are now approaching lunar sunrise and, for all the people back on Earth, the crew of Apollo 8 has a message that we would like to send to you. In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters. And God said, Let there be light: and there was light. And God saw the light, that it was good: and God divided the light from the darkness.
Jim Lovell
“And God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And the evening and the morning were the first day. And God said, Let there be a firmament in the midst of the waters, and let it divide the waters from the waters. And God made the firmament, and divided the waters which were under the firmament from the waters which were above the firmament: and it was so. And God called the firmament Heaven. And the evening and the morning were the second day.
Frank Borman
“And God said, Let the waters under the heavens be gathered together unto one place, and let the dry land appear: and it was so. And God called the dry land Earth; and the gathering together of the waters called He Seas: and God saw that it was good. And from the crew of Apollo 8, we close with good night, good luck, a Merry Christmas – and God bless all of you, all of you on the good Earth.”
In God We Trust: do you?
Adwolfe Freewill Baptist Church 