In God We Trust

“Some trust in chariots and some in horses, but we trust in the name of the Lord our God.” – Psalm 20:7 (NKJV)

The phrase “In God we trust” has been on the US currency since 1873 after many devout Christian Americans appealed to the US Secretary of Treasury to put an inscription on the US currency to reflect the fact that the United States of America is not a heathen nation but a country that recognizes God and trusts in Him. According to the US Treasury website, treasury.gov, the idea was that if the nation should ever be destroyed, future generations would know by the inscriptions on our currency that we are a God-honoring country. As this was the case with many of our founding documents, congress agreed and the phrase later became recognized as the nation’s motto.

However, what does this mean? Are we still trusting in God today?

In Psalm 20:7, King David made the declaration; “Some trust in chariots and some in horses, but we trust in the name of the Lord our God.” In this declaration, he was declaring his nation’s trust in the God Jehovah. David was a great warrior and military strategist, one of the greatest of his time. He won many battles and through his conquest established Israel as a great nation during his reign. Chariots and horses were the sophisticated military equipments of great nations and armies of his day. They are like today’s fighter jets, submarines, or military tanks. King David understood how essential they were to an army to achieve superiority over their enemy as they represented strength, power, and invulnerability.

Despite his understanding of military strategy, the use of sophisticated war equipment, and the importance of projecting strength, as a worshiper he also understood that his victories did not come from his strategies, the chariots, or horses but from the living God. His declaration that Israel trusts the name of the living God was a reminder to himself and the nation that no matter how great our strategy or how sophisticated our weapons, their victory comes from God almighty. He was declaring that his nation trusts in God and not in its weapons. No wonder God called him a man after His own heart.

Similarly, the phrase “In God we trust” on the US currency must not just serve as a historical reminder to future generations that America is not a heathen nation but it should also reflect where our trust lies. Do we put our trust in our military? In your sophisticated weapons? In our economy? In our congress? In our President? Or is our trust in God? Who is your trust in? How do you know where your trust lies?

When we put our Trust in God:

We have God-fidence:
The end justifies the means
We employ biblical means and strategies
We acknowledge God in everything we do
We exemplify the fruit of the spirit
Our purpose is to realize God’s purpose
We give God thanks for our success
We accept God’s will
When we trust ourselves:

We have self-confidence:
We rely on random chance
We exemplify the works of the flesh
We employ human means and strategies
The means justify the end
Our purpose is to achieve greatness
We take credit for our successes
We resist God’s will
Where are you putting your trust for your family or your business? Where does your nation put its trust?

My prayer for you today is that God will give you the grace to put your trust not in your bank account, your family, your business, your pedigree, or your nation but in your God.