In God We Trust

IN GOD WE TRUST

Psalm 31 1-5; 14-17

Scripture:

1 In You, O LORD, I have taken refuge;

Let me never be ashamed;

In Your righteousness deliver me.

2 Incline Your ear to me, rescue me quickly;

Be to me a rock of strength,

A stronghold to save me.

3 For You are my rock and my fortress;

For Your name’s sake You will lead me and guide me.

4 You will pull me out of the net which they have secretly laid for me,

For You are my bstrength.

5 Into Your hand I commit my spirit;

You have ransomed me, O LORD, God of truth.

14 But as for me, I trust in You, O LORD,

I say, “You are my God.”

15 My times are in Your hand;

Deliver me from the hand of my enemies and from those who persecute me.

16 Make Your face to shine upon Your servant;

Save me in Your lovingkindness.

17 Let me not be put to shame, O LORD, for I call upon You;

Introduction

The headlines read almost every day with the ever worsening news of our economy.

• “Canada’s unemployment rate soars to 7.2 per cent as economy sheds 129,000 jobs in January” (Toronto Star – 2/6/09)

• “Worst job losses since 1982”

• CTV NEWS –“More job losses to come, Flaherty tells Canadians

• Toronto Sun - An "economic tsunami" wiped out a record-high number of jobs across Canada last month

• Vancouver Sun – “U.S. employers slashed 598,000 jobs in January, the biggest monthly loss in 34 years”

• NEW YORK – “General Motors Corp. is planning to slash another 10,000 salaried jobs this year”

And I could go on and on and on, and I know you know all this. You have heard it every day on your radio, tv, in your newspaper, around the office and in the water cooler.

And I say to you, now is the time for the faith of the believer to shine. Now is the time to get ready for a harvest of souls. Now is the time when men and women are looking for something solid, something secure, something that will hold them safely and bouy them up amid the tossing seas of uncertainty and adversity.

But how does the believer do this in a time of great uncertainty? How does the believer give evidence to the assurance and certainty that is in God and His word. How can you and I let the “Light shine in the darkness”

We live in difficult times and the word of God does tell us that “He makes His sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust.

The children of God are not spared adversity! Nowhere in the Word of God does it promise that if you serve God you will not suffer adversity. But God does promise to be with you and go with you and He does promise to deliver you. Our scripture today is Psalm 31. Let’s see if we can take a lesson from David the Psalmist.

1) David Makes a Bold Declaration

a) “In You O Lord I put my trust” vs.1

i) It was a conscious choice, decision by David

ii) He chose to take refuge in the Lord

iii) Many seek their refuge elsewhere

(1) The arm of flesh

(a) Their friends , family

(b) Their alliances

(i) The wonderful world of politics depends on this

(2) Their own abilities and resources

(a) Their ability to aquire wealth and property

(b) They place their trust in the almighty dollar

(i) But even the U.S. Congress realized the dollar isn’t almighty – God is

(ii) “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. “

(iii) The dollar is not secure or stable, recent events in our economy make that easily known

(iv) Why governments are pour billions of dollars in to the economies trying to prop the me

(c) But David made a conscious decision – “In Thee O Lord I have taken refuge.”

(i) To take refuge implies he sensed an impending danger or threat to his safety or well being, be it physical, mental, emotional or spiritual

(ii) To take refuge is to seek shelter, protection, and defense

(iii) Why does David choose to make God his refuge

(iv) What does David believe about God

1. What you believe in your core being is important, for what you truly believe determines your actions

2) David Declares His Belief about God