IN GOD WE TRUST
Psalm 33:12-22
America seeks to be a vigilant nation.
It strives to be alert, watchful, prepared even for the unexpected.
But vigilance has never come easily.
Throughout our 200 plus years as a nation we have always had enemies.
Some here remember the surprise attack on our naval base at Pearl Harbor,
the Cold War years and events like the Cuban Missile crisis,
and certainly what happened on 9/11/01.
This new threat of terrorist attacks has upped the ante in so many ways.
No one wants us to let down our guard.
But to keep it high, is costing us dearly.
An unnamed writer in Psalm 33, also reminds us that military strength alone is not enough to insure our safety as a people.
I’m reading from Psalm 33:12-22
These words of the Psalmist, are really addressed to believers.
Non-believers would probably hear them as religious rhetoric or even nonsense.
To them, the phrase “In God We Trust” is meaningless.
They’re words, that’s all.
Why would a vigilant nation need divine protection?
“Divine protection” sounds like something an Islamic fundamentalist would talk about.
But the Bible makes it clear, that a vigilant nation is one that seeks divine protection.
And the bottom line conviction of that nation must be “In God We Trust”.
A conviction is a deep-seated belief.
It’s a strong persuasion.
It’s something held at the very core of who you are.
Our psalmist held a conviction, that there is a God in heaven,
who’s looking down watching over what’s going on here on earth.
More than that, God is considering what our actions mean.
Beyond the many guns and tanks and battleships and stealth bombers and intercontinental missiles, he’s the one who has the final say, as to which side wins.
That truth is taught numerous times in the Bible.
Verse 18 again, “…the eyes of the Lord are on those who fear him, on those who hope in his unfailing love, to deliver them from death.”
So, bottom line, we want to be numbered with those who (verse 21), “…trust in his holy name.”
“In God We Trust” – what is specifically might that mean?
Better yet, how do we demonstrate such a conviction?
Let me suggest three ways.
1. The first would be in our righteousness.
It would be foolish to overlook the obvious.
Our God is holy.
When the scriptures give us snapshots of His realm, such as in the book of Revelation,
the four living creatures that surround the throne don’t say
“Omnipotent, Omnipotent, Omnipotent.”
Over and over they chant.
But the word they speak is not even “Loving, Loving, *Loving.”
NO.
What’s repeated on and on and on is “Holy! Holy! Holy!”
It would be nonsense to think that a nation can escape punishment, when it sins with impunity.
Even ancient Israel couldn’t get by with that.
Contemporary America has transgressed in so many ways.
This is a wicked culture, that flaunts its disbelief.
The big question is, what about the righteous remnant?
Does it still maintain its beliefs, and if so,
do these convictions manifest themselves not just in words,
but also in their lives?
A holy remnant can be a powerful force.
For only ten righteous people,
the wicked cities of Sodom and Gomorrah would have been spared.
I don’t know where most American Christians are, in regard to righteousness.
I fear the culture influences the church, far more than the church influences the culture.
If my assumption is correct, I tremble.
It leaves this land in a most precarious position.
When the divine canopy lifts, America is indeed defenseless.
What’s easier to figure out, is where each of us is individually.
I know none of us is perfect.
Only God is.
But Christ does expect his followers to be righteous.
So what if all American believers, mirrored your behavior?
Say God picked you out and said:
“Your righteousness, or lack of it, is typical of where American Christians are.”
Would that be positive for the nation, or negative?
Would the God, who is looking down from heaven and seeing mankind say,
“Because of people like you, I will/will not continue to protect this land”?
Or would he sadly have to remove his shield and his help?
And if it’s the latter, would you be willing to change?
“In God We Trust” doesn’t mean much, if the people solemnly saying the words, don’t live by what they imply.
If you trust in God, then you will also seek to please him by how you live.
It’s as simple as that!
2. The second way Christians can demonstrate a true conviction regarding this historic national phrase “In God We Trust” would be in our prayers.
If we say we trust in God to protect America, even as our nation seeks to be vigilant,
but we never take advantage of the power of prayer on our nation’s behalf,
what does that reveal?
How many times in scripture, does Israel cry out to God when they are threatened by enemies, some of them incredibly powerful?
And in miraculous ways, God often answered their prayers,
at least when Israel demonstrated righteousness as a people.
That’s in line with the words of James 5:16: “...The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective.”
It’s not non-believers who are going to form the prayer base for our nation.
That’s going to have to be God’s people.
But are we doing this?
Again, if God picked you out, and said you are typical
of where the average believer in America is in terms of praying for this nation,
would that encourage the rest of us, or would we have reason to be concerned?
But not only should we be praying for our nation,
the leaders of our nation,
our service men and women who protect our nation.
We need to pray for another powerful moving of God’s Spirit within the churches of this nation.
Revival is needed above everything else for which we could pray.
3. That brings me to the third way to demonstrate a conviction that “In God We Trust” is genuine: in our Hopes!
The Psalmist uses that word hope three times:
“18 But the eyes of the LORD are on those who fear him, on those whose hope is in his unfailing love. 20 We wait in hope for the LORD; he is our help and our shield. 22 May your unfailing love rest upon us O LORD, even as we put our hope in you.”
For what are you hoping?
What’s number one on your list, of what you would like to see God do?
Somewhere toward the top, I would trust that you’re hoping for another great season of revival.
The word “revival” simply means that which pertains to life coming back again.
In theater, when an old play is dusted off and presented anew, we call it a revival of that production.
When home building is booming, we term that a revival in the housing industry.
But in a greater sense, the word revival has always belonged to the church.
It refers to a time, when generally speaking, the people of God have been like the dry bones, as in Ezekiel chapter 37.
“3 ...Can these bones live?...” the Lord asks his prophet.
“...O Sovereign Lord,” he responds, “You alone know.”
Then Ezekiel is told to prophesy to the bones, to say to them, “4 ...Hear the word of the Lord.” What an impossible assignment.
What chance was there, that these dry disjointed skeletons could hear him,
to say nothing of responding.
But because God told him to do it, that’s what Ezekiel did.
He preached to his dreadfully dead listeners.
“7 So” writes the man of God, “I prophesied as I was commanded. And as I was prophesying, there was a noise, a rattling sound, and the bones came together, bone to bone. 8 I looked, and tendons and flesh appeared on them and skin covered them, but there was no breath in them.” 9 Then he said to me, “Prophesy to the breath; prophesy, son of man, and say to it, ‘This is what the Sovereign LORD says: Come from the four winds, O breath, and breathe into these slain, that they may live.’” 10 So I prophesied as he commanded me, and breath entered them; they came to life and stood up on their feet – a vast army.
That’s a picture of revival, that which pertains to life coming back again.
And it’s the number one need of the American church today.
Some people have a negative response to the word.
When they hear “revival” they think of a sweaty faced preacher
hollering at the top of his lungs for people to repent.
Obviously, that’s not what I have in mind.
When I refer to life coming back again, or revival, I’m picturing the sweet presence of Jesus marking our services.
What would happen if He were here physically, instead of by his Spirit?
Well I picture our worship being elevated to a whole new level.
If we sang our songs, and we could see with our eyes, the one we are singing about,
what a difference that would make.
I’m sure the preaching would change, if Jesus were to bodily attend our services.
What a challenge it would be for me, to somehow adequately represent him.
I’m sure some of you would glance His way occasionally,
to see how he was responding to what was said from the pulpit.
With our sovereign Lord in our midst Sunday after Sunday,
I’m confident you would want to bring others to the services.
You would say to friends and loved ones,
“You have to come. I’m sorry to keep pestering, but this is an opportunity of a lifetime.”
Everyone would also be happy to serve Him, in one way or another.
“Not a problem,” you would say,
“It’s nothing, Jesus, compared to all you have done for me.”
Christ-like love would be evidenced throughout the body.
He wouldn’t ever have to say anything about it,
because all of us would know that this was very important to him.
My guess is that we would even do much better in regard to holiness.
Like I mentioned before, Jesus and sin don’t mix.
So righteousness would begin to mark us as a people.
So would prayer.
I picture lines of people wanting to talk to Jesus.
Some would just like to say “Thank You”.
Others would have personal needs they want to share.
In time, after beginning to get a feel for His importance and the vast extent of his kingdom,
we would even want to intercede on behalf of our nation and its leaders.
Now listen closely.
The outstanding characteristic of genuine revival, is an overwhelming sense of the presence of Jesus.
Revival is marked, more than anything else, by a marvelous sense of Christ’s presence.
It’s when the very things I’ve been describing happen,
because people have a keen awareness, that the risen Christ is present with them.
In my humble opinion, this is what the American church have been lacking for far too long.
But I’m confident, this is not where most of you are.
My perception is that your hearts long for what I’m describing.
If you don’t, America is really in trouble.
Our conviction, summarized in the phrase “In God We Trust”, must show itself in our:
Righteousness, in our
Prayers, and in our
Hopes for God, to again visit His church, in another thrilling season of revival.
I have a sense there must be some preachers today who feel like Jeremiah of old.
This weeping prophet, could clearly see what was ahead for Israel, if things didn’t change.
But his words for the most part went unheeded.
The sad book of Lamentations – or Jeremiah’s lamentings – spells out the tragedy that followed.
It begins:
1 How deserted lies the city, once so full of people! How like a widow is she, who once was great among the nations...
16 This is why I weepand my eyes overflow with tears. No one is near to comfort me, no one to restore my spirit. My children are destitute because the enemy has prevailed. Lamentations 1:1 & 16
There were all kinds of prophets who preached that everything was fine.
The situation wasn’t anywhere near as dire, as Jeremiah made it out to be.
“They dress the wound of my people as though it was not serious.” (Jeremiah 8:11)
he had preached.
But thought Jeremiah, God made it clear that the nation was in crisis.
Today, America is in crisis as well.
But many Americans/Christians don’t see it that way.
They don’t see an urgent need for spiritual revival.
In his final book, The State of the Church, Andrew Murray wrote, “If God’s Spirit truly begins to move in the church, the preaching will need a tone of decision hitherto little known. The hearer must be told that he is being called to face a crisis. By the grace of God the minister must seek to get hold of him and not let him go until the decision is made.”
For all too many Americans/Christians, America is seen as having problems, but not a crisis.
When in reality, America moves closer and closer to the brink.
Now frightening to think, that for multiplied millions,
the phrase “In God We Trust” is out of date.
This morning I’m wondering: have American Christians become so secularized, that the phrase has lost its meaning for them too?
“In God We Trust” – do we really?
I believe you can tell if it’s still a bottom line conviction for you by examining …
Your day-by-day righteousness
Your prayers for America’s leaders, and
Your hopes for another powerful national Spiritual awakening.
And just to keep you honest, remember the psalmist’s words, that the Lord looks down from heaven and sees all mankind.
His eyes notice those who fear Him,
who hope in his unfailing love,
who trust in his holy name.
Yes, we are a vigilant nation.
We spend billions attempting to stay alert.
Programs like Homeland Security is where so many put their trust.
But all the vigilance in the world,
all the military power in the world,
will not protect a nation who fails to live out the phrase:
“IN GOD WE TRUST!”
“IN GOD WE TRUST!”
Do you really?
Let’s listen to Diamond Rio,
a country-western musical group many of you are familiar with,
sing about this phrase.
Watch the video by clicking here: http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=5444733821844089092