Virtual Service August 21, 2022
In God We Trust – P1
-In November of 1861, Reverend M. R. Watkinson appealed to Secretary of the Treasury, Salmon P. Chase, to add the phrase to all U.S. coins in deference to the Almighty. He wrote, “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.”
-In November 1956, Congress passed a joint resolution declaring “In God We Trust” to be the official motto of the United States.
Psalm 20:7 Some trust in chariots and some in horses, but we trust in the name of the Lord our God.
GOD’S PROMISES
Jeremiah 29:11 “For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.
Romans 8:28
Psalm 34:17
Psalm 103:2-5
BUT…
Psalm 10:1 Why, Lord, do you stand far off? Why do you hide yourself in times of trouble?
Psalm 22:1-2
Psalm 44:23-24
Psalm 6:2-6
Psalm 77:7-9
IN GOD WE TRUST?
“God wants the righteous to live peaceful, happy lives, but sometimes even He cannot bring that about. It is too difficult even for God to keep cruelty and chaos from claiming their innocent victims.” (Kushner “When Bad Things Happen To Good People”)
God is completely sovereign
God is infinite in wisdom
God is perfect in love
“God in His love always wills what is best for us. In His wisdom He always knows what is best for us. In His sovereignty He has the power to bring it about.” (Bridges “Is God Really In Control”)
GOD IS SOVEREIGN
Sovereign: superior, greatest, supreme in power and authority, ruler, independent of all others, in complete control
Psalm 103:19 The Lord has established his throne in heaven, and his kingdom rules over all
Jeremiah 32:17
God is sovereign over nature
God is sovereign over our physical beings
God is sovereign over our circumstances
GOD’S SOVEREIGNTY OVER NATURE
Jeremiah 31:35 This is what the Lord says, He who appoints the sun to shine by day, who decrees the moon and stars to shine by night, who stirs up the sea so that its waves roar— the Lord Almighty is His name
Jeremiah 14:22
Amos 4:7
Job 37:3,6
GOD’S SOVEREIGNTY OVER OUR PHYSICAL BEING
Acts 17:25,28 …He Himself gives everyone life and breath and everything else…For in Him we live and move and have our being.
Psalm 139:13-14,16
Exodus 4:11
GOD’S SOVEREIGNTY OVER CIRCUMSTANCES
Daniel 4:35 …He does as He pleases with the powers of heaven and the peoples of the earth. No one can hold back His hand or say to him: “What have you done?”
Ecclesiastes 7:13-14
Psalm 23:2,4
Lamentations 3:37-38
GOD IS SOVEREIGN- “Nothing, therefore, happens unless the Omnipotent wills it to happen: He either permits it to happen, or He brings it about Himself.” (St Augustine)
WHY?
Why, Lord, do you stand far off? (Psalm 10)
Why have you forsaken me? Why are you so far from saving me? (Psalm 22)
Why do you hide your face and forget our misery? (Psalm 44)
IN GOD WE TRUST?
God is completely sovereign
God is infinite in wisdom
God is perfect in love
“God in His love always wills what is best for us. In His wisdom He always knows what is best for us. In His sovereignty He has the power to bring it about.” (Bridges “Is God Really In Control”)
Psalm 20:7 Some trust in chariots and some in horses, but we trust in the name of the Lord our God
Psalm 91:2 I will say of the Lord, “He is my refuge and my fortress, my God, in whom I trust.”
Psalm 9:9-10 The Lord is a refuge for the oppressed, a stronghold in times of trouble. Those who know your name trust in you, for you, Lord, have never forsaken those who seek you.
Romans 8:35,37-39 Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword…No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us…
…For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Matthew 10:29-31 Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? Yet not one of them will fall to the ground outside your Father’s care. And even the very hairs of your head are all numbered. So don’t be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows.
“God in His love always wills what is best for us. In His wisdom He always knows what is best for us. In His sovereignty He has the power to bring it about.”