Declaring Our Dependence Upon God

Introduction

We are so grateful today to be celebrating our Nation’s 245th birthday. As we look out at America today, we would all have to agree that within our respective lifetimes many things have changed.

The America of today is shockingly different than the America of yesteryear. And if we were to go all the way back 245 years we would come to see a nation vastly different than what we see today.

Our nation was a nation that trusted in God. And still today you and I gathered here must once again declare our utter dependence upon God.

I believe the motto that is found on our currency “In God We Trust” is fitting and biblical for you and I declare this morning.

You see all around us this motto is quickly fleeing from the hearts and minds of the people in this great nation of ours.

And I believe that you and I can this morning, as we celebrate this 4th of July, declare our utter dependance upon God once again.

And perhaps local New Testament churches across this nation will be doing the same.

You see the remnant in this nation can make a difference. We can begin to stand up and declare “In God We Trust!”

I’d like us as we think of this thought to see that the Psalmist David in Psalm 56 in the face of grave danger declared the same motto.

Let’s stand for the reading of God’s Word.

Read Psalm 56

This blessed motto that you I still see today has not always been on the currency of America. As a matter of fact, from the United States Treasury Website I would like to take a few moments and read to you this history behind this God-honoring motto.

On November 13, 1861 the Secretary of the Treasury received this first of many petitions from Rev. M. R. Watkinson, Minister of the Gospel from Ridleyville, Pennsylvania, in the midst of the Civil War,

And I quote

“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.

As a result, Secretary Chase instructed James Pollock, Director of the Mint at Philadelphia, to prepare a motto, in a letter dated November 20, 1861:

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.

It was found that the Act of Congress dated January 18, 1837, prescribed the mottoes and devices that should be placed upon the coins of the United States. This meant that the mint could make no changes without the enactment of additional legislation by the Congress. In December 1863, the Director of the Mint submitted designs for new one-cent coin, two-cent coin, and three-cent coin to Secretary Chase for approval. He proposed that upon the designs either OUR COUNTRY; OUR GOD or GOD, OUR TRUST should appear as a motto on the coins. In a letter to the Mint Director on December 9, 1863, Secretary Chase stated:

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.

According to our treasury website this motto has been in uninterrupted use since 1864.

But my friend we are living in precarious days, when some would strike at the heart of this Nation’s God and press to have this blessed motto removed and stricken from History.

On June 10, 2019, we can Thank God that a case seen by the Supreme Court rejected “Michael Newdow’s request to have this motto removed from all coins and currency.

A Poll taken in that same year of over 240,000 college students from 800 different colleges stated that 2/3 of all college students that claim to be Democrat are in favor removing “In God We Trust” and 6% of Republicans are in favor of removing “In God We Trust” as well.

You see from our text that David was no stranger to the warfare from the ungodly. If you know anything about the life of David, you know that consistently he declared “In God We Trust”

The inscription from this Psalm evidently refers to the time when David was fleeing from Saul having to take refuge in the heathen country of Gath.

This was the home of the Philistines. Remember that giant that David slew was from Gath.

And so you can imagine the circumstances that are recorded for us in I Samuel 21:10, 11 where is tells us, “And David arose, and fled that day for fear of Saul, and went to Achish the king of Gath. And the servants of Achish said unto him, Is not this David the king of the land? did they not sing one to another of him in dances, saying, Saul hath slain his thousands, and David his ten thousands?”

It was in the midst of these circumstances, I want you to see how David declared his dependence upon God.

And may we individually declare our dependence upon God this morning.

May this local church body declare unequivocally our dependence upon the Lord Jesus Christ!

And may this nation, that God has blessed, once again wholly declare their dependence upon God.

Notice with me in this Psalm:

I. The Enemies of God

We see immediately in this Psalm the fact of the enemies David faced. And you and I likewise have a sure understanding that we face enemies.

Today there are certainly enemies in this great nation of ours.

Even in the darkened spiritual days of this nation, those who claim the name of Christ will always have enemies to face.

Notice about this enemies that:

A. They Fought Daily v1,2

David uses the phrase, (v1) “...:he (meaning ‘man’) fighting daily oppresseth me.” and (v2) “Mine enemies would daily swallow me up:”

David is expressing the constant attack of the enemy upon his life.

It seems that way for you and I as well.

This psalm has been well described as the Psalm portraying the tension between fear and faith Dilday, R. H., Jr., & Kennedy, J. H. (1972). Psalms. In H. F. Paschall & H. H. Hobbs (Eds.), The teacher’s Bible commentary (p. 316). )

We understand surely that we are to have faith and no to live in fear. Particularly, we can think about fear that comes upon us based on the circumstances of life and the attacks of the enemy.

Not only did the enemies fight daily but:

B. They Fought Deceitfully v5,7

It is interesting to note that in this day, His enemies took his words out of context. Literally “wrest” torturing Him with his own words. The psalmist says, “Every day they wrest my words: all their thoughts are against me for evil.” (v5)

We likewise live in a day when the enemies of the cross seek to twist and pervert the Word of God, and any who would stand and speak for the King of kings.

Just recently I was made aware of the vicious uptick of the powerful elites attempting to silence those who would not sing to the World’s tune. We seen this happen just in our lifetime this “cancel culture” as its called.

And this is nothing new under this sun. For the Lord Himself was tried and convicted under the same guise. A twisting of the Saviors words concerning the Temple.

Mark 15:56-58 “For many bare false witness against him, but their witness agreed not together. And there arose certain, and bare false witness against him, saying, We heard him say, I will destroy this temple that is made with hands, and within three days I will build another made without hands.”

Not only did they fight daily, and they fought deceitfully, but notice thirdly:

C. They Fought Decisively v6

The Bible says, (v6) “They gather themselves together, they hide themselves, they mark my steps, when they wait for my soul.”

This is no innocent game a foot. They are fighting decisively. They are fighting to win.

The fool looks around and sees no danger in the world today.

The idea that the psalmist is giving is that the enemy is working together, working craftily, working in concert to destroy the man of God.

And so it is that we see that David under inspiration of the Holy Ghost accurately depicts the battle field of His day and the battlefield of ours as well.

Not only do we have the Enemies of God, but we have:

II. The Deliverance of God

How is it that we are to be delivered in this terrible day? What are we to do as part of this great nation that seems to be tumbling down hill faster and faster?

A. Davids Call For God’s Mercy v1

“Be merciful unto me...”

When we begin to think about this, we understand that David cry’s out for mercy, He is asking for God to have favor upon him.

As Matthew Henry stated concerning this passage, “It implies likewise our best plea, not our merit, but God’s mercy, his free, rich mercy.”

In Psalm 51, David cried out for mercy understanding that he needed the mercy of God upon him because of his transgressions, “Have mercy upon me, O God, according to thy lovingkindness: according unto the multitude of thy tender mercies blot out my transgressions.”

We as God’s people and as being a part of this nation need to be first to the altar to cry out to God for mercy.

We understand that this nation has allowed great wickedness to abound and continues to do so.

We understand that God’s people have not been what they should be, and have acted in apostasy.

We understand that individually we personally have not done what God has called us to do. And so, we also ought to cry out to God for mercy.

Secondly, notice:

B. David’s Call For God’s Judgement v7

David’s question seems to be one of amazement, as he looks as asks, “Shall they escape by iniquity?”

We see today that the wicked seem to continue and succeed by wickedness and for many this does not seem right.

But the question becomes, do we trust God’s judgement?

I believe David is calling for God’s justice, notice he says, “in thine anger cast down the people, O God.”

In thy time, in thy judgement, in thy reckoning deal with this O’ God.

I wonder this morning as we look out at this world, this nation and even what takes place here in the city of Hampton, are we crying out for God’s justice in our prayers?

Do we call upon God for His will to be done?

“The Lord knoweth how to deliver the godly out of temptations, and to reserve the unjust unto the day of judgment to be punished:” II Peter 2:9

And so we see David’s call for Mercy, David’s Call for God’s judgement, but then thirdly we see:

C. David’s Call For God’s Protection v13

David called on God for His mercy and God’s judgment, but we also need to call upon God for his divine protection.

(v13) “For thou hast delivered my soul from death: wilt not thou deliver my feet from falling, that I may walk before God in the light of the living?”

David is certainly asking God for His protection.

As we begin to close this sermon we have four declarations that David made. And these four declarations you and I can make today as well. As we “declare of dependence upon God”

D. David’s Declares His Trust v3,4,11

“What time I am afraid, I will trust in thee.” (v3)

This supposes that you and I will have times when fear begins to creep into our hearts and minds.

“When that times comes… what will I do?” - Trust in thee.

Our problems seem a whole lot smaller when we shift our thoughts from the problem to God.

When we take control of our minds and will them to think upon the greatness of our wonderful God and Savior Jesus Christ we move from a position of fear to the position of faith.

The writer of Hebrews declared it this way, “So that we may boldly say, The Lord is my helper, and I will not fear what man shall do unto me.” Hebrews 13:6

This motto on our currency that we looked at the beginning is found right here in our text in verse 4, “in God I have put my trust”

And is repeated again in verse 11, “In God have I put my trust: I will not be afraid what man can do unto me.:”

You see David declares His trust in God but then:

E. David Declares His Praise v4,10

When we begin to move from fear to faith, something starts to begin in our hearts where we cannot but help but to praise God for his goodness to us.

David expresses this in verses 4 and 11 in (v4) “In God I will praise his word, in God I have put my trust; I will not fear what flesh can do unto me.”

Praising God for who He is, Praising God for what He has and is doing, Praising God for what He has said, His holy Word.

We have so much to praise God for in His Word.

When we begin to meditate on God and His Word we can rejoice and certainly have much to praise Him for, because He has given to you and I what we need in this present world.

David declares his trust in God, he declares his praise of God but then:

F. David Declares God’s Justice v8

In this declaration, the Psalmist knows something about God and His justice. He knows that God can “tell” his wanderings and that God has his tears recorded in His ‘book’

(v8) “Thou tellest my wanderings: Put thou my tears into thy bottle:Are they not in thy book? When I cry unto thee, then shall mine enemies turn back:”

This indication is that God’s justice will be right and true because He knows every place I go, He knows every difficulty I deal with, and every tear I shed. David declares, “God you know all that I am going through. You have record of it all.”

How often do we forget that God is omniscient? There is nothing that escapes Him and He therefore is the only one that can render justice in perfection.

All the trials, all the difficulties, all the injustices, all the problems are known to Him.

Lastly,

G. David Declares God’s Faithfulness v9

As David begins to close out this psalm, David declares God’s faithfulness.

And this is one of the greatest declarations that we can make, “This I know; for God is for me.” (v9)

How wonderful it is to declare are utter dependence upon God knowing that He is for me?

“What shall we then say to these things? If God be for us, who can be against us?” Romans 8:31

Against the backdrop of all that is taking place in this nation of ours, we as God’s people can declare, “This is know; for God is with me.”

At the end of it all we know that the enemies of God will be ultimately dealt with. But in the mean time, we are to declare are utter dependence upon God.

As we have tis time of invitation, I would like us all to come to this altar and declare our dependence upon God

calling on God’s Mercy

calling on God’s Justice

Calling on God’s protection

but then declaring

our trust in God

declaring our praise to God

declaring our confidence in Gods justice

declaring our confidence in God’s faithfulness “for God is with me.”

Let’s Pray.