In God We Trust

We are all familiar with the logo on our United States currency “In God We Trust.”  Do we believe it?  Do we really trust in God?  The real question is, do we trust in God in our personal lives?

In Exodus 24:3 when Moses told the people all the Lord’s words and laws, they responded with one voice, “Everything the Lord has said we will do.”

Again in verse 7 Moses wrote, “Then he took the Book of the covenant and read it to the people.  They responded, ‘We will do everything the Lord has said; we will obey.’”

So many times the Israelis committed themselves to obey God then turned away from Him.  Then when life fell short of their expectations they came complaining to Moses and Aaron.  They griped about no water and no food.  They accused Moses of leading them out to the desert to die, they wanted to go back into bondage in Egypt rather than obey the Lord.

We are so like the Israelis, we hear encouraging words, we hear the promises of God and we want to be loyal followers.  We profess that God is our creator, our provider, and our savior.  We confess that we too will listen and obey the words of God.  Yet when life isn’t going exactly as we think it should we don’t always have the courage to trust God.  We turn away to go our separate ways.  Then when we get into trouble, when sin overtakes us, we gripe and complain about the circumstances in our lives that fail to meet our desires.  

I’m old enough to know that there are many times, many occasions, many circumstances in life that God will allow us to believe we can live independently of Him.  He allows us to go our own ways to do as we please.  Sometimes it works out, often it does not. 

The ideal situation would be to have the courage to adopt into our lives a true and lasting dependence on God as David had. David wrote in Psalm 91, verse 2  “I will say of the Lord, he is my rock and my fortress; my God; in Him will I trust.

David enjoyed a unique and special relationship with God.  God loved David and called him to lead His nation of Israel.  We too can enjoy a unique and special relationship with God, one built on trust and understanding.  God loves us and each of us has been called by God to accomplish God’s will in our lives.  He has equipped each of us for a unique position in His creation.  Like His provision for the nation of Israel we can trust that God will provide for our needs in order to accomplish His will for our good and His glory.

In his wisdom, King Solomon wrote in Proverbs 3:5, “Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding.”  C. H. Spurgeon wrote, “To take up a general truth and make it our own by personal faith is the highest wisdom. Where there is every reason and warrant for faith, we ought to place our confidence without hesitancy or wavering.  Dear reader, pray for grace to say, ‘In Him will I trust.’”   (The Treasury of David,  Vol. 2   Page 89.)

It is possible for us to enjoy a close, trusting, constant relationship with God.  Through prayer, Bible reading and through listening for the words of the Holy Spirit during meditation we can develop an awareness of God in our lives and a dependence on Him to lead us through this life according to His will.  He is always there through His Spirit and with courage on our part we can develop the awareness of His presence. 

Ps 131: verse 2,  David said, “ But I have calmed and quieted my soul; like a weaned child is my soul within me.  O Israel put your hope in the lord both now and forevermore.

C. H. Spurgeon wrote, “See how lovingly a man who is weaned from self thinks of others!  David thinks of his people, and loses himself in his care for Israel.  How he prizes the grace of hope!  He has given up the things which are seen, and therefore he values the treasures which are not seen except by the eyes of hope.”   (The Treasury of David, Vol. 2, page 138)

We must cast off the lines that anchor us to the world and take up the assurances, the promises of God for our security.  There are times in our lives that we are experiencing trials and we pray to God for deliverance.  It is often through hind sight that we see that God has been involved and has resolved the situation.  It is then that we should pause to give Him thanks and praise.  Understand this, God will care for us, look out for us, and provide for us all to our benefit AND to His glory.  So many of His actions are to our benefit and always to His glory.  He is an amazing God that we serve.

When you consider just a few of the things that God has accomplished beginning with the creation, He not only spoke the earth into existence but the entire universe as well.  Consider how many planets, how many stars God has created.  God divided the sea.  He turned water into wine.  He raised the dead and healed the sick, the blind and the lame.  He loved us enough to send his son to be crucified on the cross for our redemption 

Psalm 62: 2  He alone is my rock and my salvation; he is my fortress, I will never be shaken.

Matthew Henry wrote, “There are a good number of references of God as our rock, our fortress, our protector.  All of these are reassuring to the believer.  But, we must keep in mind that God is our rock, our protector, our redeemer not necessarily for our good but for His glory.  In all things God will be glorified.  If he is our redeemer, and he is, he is glorified.  If he is our rock, and he is, he is glorified.”  (The NIV Matthew Henry Commentary, Page 746)

Ps 27: 14  Wait for the Lord; be strong and take heart and wait for the Lord.

Be patient.  It is amazing when we look back to see how God has worked His will in our lives when we turn lives over to Him.

In God we trust.  Sounds simple enough.  But is it?   To trust in God is to put all we are, all we have into his hands of God for safekeeping.  As it is written in Proverbs 3:5  Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding.

Amen.