In God we trust

In America, written on all of our coins and bills is a simple phrase written that says, “In God we trust.”

It seems a little ironic to me, considering that nowadays, people tend to trust money a lot more than they do God.

It seems to me that Americans would do a lot better keeping their priorities straight if they would actually look at the words on our money and live it, rather than killing themselves trying to get it.

For David, although he had his lapses, he put his trust in God.

On the run from Saul, he decided to hide in the land of Israel’s enemies, the Philistines.

Unfortunately, the Philistines had a long memory. And they recalled how David was not only the one who had defeated their champion Goliath, but had also led many military campaigns against them for Israel.

So when they found David in their land, they immediately seized him and brought him before the king.

Perhaps it was as they threw him into a dungeon, waiting to see the king, that David wrote Psalm 56.

In the midst of his troubles, not knowing whether he would live or die, David wrote,

When I am afraid,
I will trust in you.

In God, whose word I praise,
in God I trust; I will not be afraid.
What can mortal man do to me? (Psalm 56:3-4)

Why could David say these things?  I think it was a combination of things.  First, he was desperate.  He had no choice but to put his trust in God.

But also, he could look back at times in his life when God had delivered him in the past.  When he had defeated the lion, the bear, and Goliath.

The other thing that he knew was that his life was in God’s hands.

He knew through Samuel that God had a plan for him.  He knew that as long as he put his trust in God, God’s hand would be upon him.  And even if he died, he knew that while men could kill his body, they could not destroy his soul.

And so in the midst of his trials, he sang “In God I trust.”

What trials are you going through?  What hardships or sorrows?  Don’t lose hope.  Take courage.

Look back on what God has done for you in the past.  Look back on his goodness towards you.

Know that God has a plan for you even now.  And know that whatever happens, whether in life or death, you are and will always be in his hands.

I will trust you Lord when I don’t know why.
I will trust you Lord ’til the day I die.

I will trust you Lord when I’m blind with pain.
You were God before and you never change.

I will trust you.  I will trust you.
I will trust you Lord.

–Twila Paris