IN GOD WE TRUST

Can I pray for you in any way? Send any prayer requests to ourchristianwalk@aol.com In Christ, Mark

The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.

All you Israelites, trust in the Lord — He is their help and shield.

 House of Aaron, trust in the Lord — He is their help and shield.

You who fear Him, trust in the Lord — He is their help and shield.

Psalm 115:9-11

This ends this reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.

I was behind a car yesterday with a Georgia license plate and I was drawn to four simple words at the plate’s base: In God We Trust. I loved that and found myself wishing this declaration was boldly proclaimed in other public places as prominently.

It was at that point that I realized that it was. For our national currency has had this message printed on it since the Civil War when it was imprinted on coins. The appeal for this action came from Reverend M. R. Watkinson, a minister from Ridleyville, Pennsylvania.

Dear Sir: You are about to submit your annual report to the Congress respecting the affairs of the national finances.

One fact touching our currency has hitherto been seriously overlooked. I mean the recognition of the Almighty God in some form on our coins.

You are probably a Christian. What if our Republic were not shattered beyond reconstruction? Would not the antiquaries of succeeding centuries rightly reason from our past that we were a heathen nation? What I propose is that instead of the goddess of liberty we shall have next inside the 13 stars a ring inscribed with the words PERPETUAL UNION; within the ring the allseeing eye, crowned with a halo; beneath this eye the American flag, bearing in its field stars equal to the number of the States united; in the folds of the bars the words GOD, LIBERTY, LAW.

This would make a beautiful coin, to which no possible citizen could object. This would relieve us from the ignominy of heathenism. This would place us openly under the Divine protection we have personally claimed. From my hearth I have felt our national shame in disowning God as not the least of our present national disasters.

To you first I address a subject that must be agitated.

Do you sense his concern over the spiritual state of the nation back in 1861? Could we be repeating his same concern today – that the national shame over disowning God as not the least of our current national disasters? In fact, instead of focusing ourselves on the economy or gun control or any other number of things we find our country squabbling about, maybe we should be just focusing our attention on God, the only One capable of getting us through the matters of life.

So how did Secretary of Treasury Salmon Chase respond to Reverend Watkinson’s letter? He wrote the following direction to James Pollock, Director of the Philadelphia Mint:

Dear Sir: No nation can be strong except in the strength of God, or safe except in His defense. The trust of our people in God should be declared on our national coins.

You will cause a device to be prepared without unnecessary delay with a motto expressing in the fewest and tersest words possible this national recognition.

And so the process began. It was discovered that an Act of Congress in 1837 had already prescribed mottoes to place on United States coins. Using this as guidance, Director Pollock proposed that either OUR COUNTRY, OUR GOD, or GOD, OUR TRUST should be imprinted on national coins. Secretary Chase responded to this in 1863 by saying:

I approve your mottoes, only suggesting that on that with the Washington obverse the motto should begin with the word OUR, so as to read OUR GOD AND OUR COUNTRY. And on that with the shield, it should be changed so as to read: IN GOD WE TRUST.

And so it was. The first appearance of the words “In God We Trust” was on two-cent coins in 1864. Look at your currency today and you’ll still see it there.

Of interest is that the words, “In God We Trust” were to be placed with the shield. We’re not told that this was by design to align with the scriptures but I sure would like to ask Secretary Chase if he had been reading the 115th Psalm when he was making his decision. For as we can see in this passage, seeing God as our Shield and the One we are to trust in is the central theme:

All you Israelites, trust in the Lord — He is their help and shield.

 House of Aaron, trust in the Lord — He is their help and shield.

You who fear Him, trust in the Lord — He is their help and shield.

The main themes are central to the matter of Christian faith. We are a people who need help. Without saving, we are destined for destruction because of our sinfulness. And so we seek and yearn for a Savior, someone who can rescue and protect us, not only from damnation but also from the trials we will face in life. We long for a help and shield – and in the Lord, we find just that, a Help and Shield we can always rely on and trust in. No one and nothing can shelter us like our Lord.

Friends, it’s high time we started to live with the attitude of “In God We Trust” that we find placed on license plates and currency. For unless we believe it with our hearts and show it through a steadfast faith in the Lord, they are just four words left empty and void. And that’s something we can’t ever allow to happen.

Amen. 

In Christ,

Mark

PS: Please share this with anyone you feel might be blessed by it.

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