I Come to You This Morning Representing a...

I come to you this morning representing a people for whom the inscription on our national coin, "In God We Trust" — has real significance. For we know that an effective relationship persists between God and this land and its people. ¶

Centuries ago the Lord designated America a goodly land, choice above all others, to be reserved for a righteous people. While it was yet unknown to Eurasians, He decreed that it should be discovered only under His guidance and promised its inhabitants from that time henceforth and forever that they should "... be free from bondage, and from captivity, and from all other nations under heaven," (Ether 2:12) if they would serve him. On the other hand, he warned that if they would not serve him, "they should be brought down into captivity, and also into destruction both temporally and spiritually." ¶

Preceding the advent of Columbus, two mighty peoples dwelling upon this land prospered in obeying God's commands and, rebelling against them, sank into oblivion. Their records are eloquent proof of the certainty in God's warning and promise. ¶

The builders of modern America, though without knowledge of the divine decree, have been aware of God standing within "the shadow keeping watch upon his own." ¶

Columbus, not knowing it had been given, yet witnessed to the truth of the declaration that the discoverers of America should be led by divine inspiration. "God gave me the faith and afterwards the courage so that I was quite willing to undertake the journey," he said to his son, and in his will he wrote: ¶

In the name of the most holy trinity, who inspired me with the idea and afterwards made it perfectly clear to me that I could navigate and go to the Indies from Spain, by traversing the ocean westward. ¶

The early settlers of the Atlantic seaboard testified that they were led and sustained by the power of God. The colonists, rejected the tyranny of King George, appealed "to the Supreme Judge of the world for the rectitude of" their intentions and, "with a firm reliance on the protection of Divine Providence" ¶

struck for freedom. ¶

At a critical point Franklin thus addressed the constitutional convention, We have been assured, sir, in the sacred writings, that "Except the Lord build the house, they labour in vain that build it." ¶

I firmly believe this; and I also believe that, without his concurring aid, we shall succeed in this political building no better than the builders of Babel. (Documentary History of the Constitution of the United States, Vol. Ill, pp. 235-237.) In his 1789 Thanksgiving Proclamation, Washington made seven separate references to the Almighty, whom he acknowledged as the source of all the nation's blessings, including victory in the Revolution and "opportunity to establish a form of government for" our "safety and happiness." ¶

Perhaps no American, save the prophets only, has put such implicit trust in God as did the Great Emancipator. ¶

Out of his personal experiences he testified he was as certain that God acts directly upon human affairs as he was of a fact apparent to the senses, such as that he was in the room where he was then speaking. He said: ¶

I have had so many evidences of his direction, so many instances when I have been controlled by some other power than my own will, that I cannot doubt that this power comes from above. I frequently see my way clear to a decision when I am conscious that I have not sufficient facts upon which to found it. But I cannot recall one instance in which I have followed my own judgment, founded upon such a decision, where the results were unsatisfactory; whereas, in almost every instance where I have yielded to the views of others I have had occasion to regret it. (Abraham Lincoln — Man of God, John Wesley Hill, 124.) A marked diminution of our trust in God has taken place in America since the days of Lincoln, the effect of which is everywhere apparent. We and our beloved country are today at the crossroads in our efforts to maintain our glorious American heritage of political, temporal, and spiritual freedom, won and bequeathed to us by the fathers who had inscribed in their hearts, as well as on their money, "In God We Trust." In every hamlet of our land arises a plaintive cry for a return to that trust in God by which the fathers built our nation. I believe we are approaching almost an unanimity in our feeling that the great and imperative need of this hour of decision for America is to vitalize our trust in God. ¶

I believe we can do it. I know we can do it if we are but willing to pay the price. Possessing a sure knowledge of the truth of what I say, I point out two prerequisites to the realization of this, our great need: First, we must in humility seek the God in whom we trust in earnest prayer; second, we must dedicate ourselves to the keeping of his commandments. ¶

"Seek ye the Lord while he may be found, call ye upon him while he is near," counseled Isaiah. (Isa. 55:6.) "Evening, and morning, and at noon, will I pray, and cry aloud: and he shall hear my voice," sang the Psalmist. ¶

(Psalm 55:17.) "Watch and pray, that ye enter not into temptation," (Matt. 26:41) taught Jesus. And in his perfect life he set the pattern. He prayed (Luke 3:21) and fasted forty days (Matt. 4:2) at the beginning of his public ministry; he prayed in the wilderness (Luke 5:16); he prayed at the beginning of the day (Mark 1:35); he prayed a whole night preceding his selection of the Twelve Apostles (Luke 6:12); he prayed for strength in Gethsemane; and finally, on the cross in the hour of his death, he prayed. (Ibid., 23:34.) All men who, "under God," have advanced the cause of righteousness in America have been praying men. Who has not heard Isaac Potts' account of Washington on his knees in the snow in prayer at Valley Forge? Lincoln's sublime trust in God came after he had many times been driven to his knees in prayer. He thus explained to General Sickles the reason for the serenity he experienced while the outcome of the battle of Gettysburg hung in the balance: ¶

In the pinch of your campaign up there, when everybody seemed panic-stricken and nobody could tell what was going to happen, oppressed by the gravity of affairs, I went to my room one day and locked the door and got down on my knees before Almighty God and prayed to him mightily for victory at Gettysburg. I told him that this war was his, and our cause his cause, but we could not stand another Fredericksburg or Chancellorsville. Then and there I made a solemn vow to Almighty God that if he would stand by our boys at Gettysburg, I would stand by him, and he did stand by our boys, and I will stand by him. And after that, I don't know how it was, and I cannot explain it, soon a sweet comfort crept into my soul. The feeling came that God had taken the whole business into his . hands, and that things would go right at Gettysburg, and that is why I had no fears about you. ¶

(Hill, op. cit., 339-340.) If we would vitalize our trust in God, we — you and I — must get down on our knees and pray to him as Lincoln prayed, with all the energy of our souls. ¶

And we must do so as did the Psalmist, evening, morning, and at noon. We cannot leave it for the other fellow; we must do it ourselves, and we must do it now. If we will begin and close each day by praying unto our Father in heaven in secret, as the Savior admonished, thanking him for our lives, his protection over us and our loved ones, our material comforts, the freedom we enjoy in this glorious land; if we will plead with him to guide us in the paths of righteousness that we may merit a continuation of his mercies; if the head of every household will daily call his family about him and, praying with them and they praying with him, truly worship the Lord, the first long and sure step will be taken toward vitalizing our trust in God. ¶

To take the second step, we must learn that in the relationship between God and ourselves both parties have obligations. We must stand by the Lord, as Lincoln promised to do, for he has promised to give us protection against temporal and spiritual bondage, and against all other nations under heaven, only if we serve him. Praying is one way to serve him, another way is to keep his commandments. There are numerous ways in which we are violating them in America today. ¶

On many points the Lord has given us specific guidance with respect to the conduct of our lives; for example, he has said, Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain; for the Lord will not hold him guiltless that taketh his name in vain. (Ex. 20:7.) In harmony with this command Washington issued the following order in 1776: ¶

The General is sorry to be informed that the foolish and wicked practice of profane cursing and swearing, a vice heretofore little known in an American army, is growing into fashion. He hopes the officers will, by example as well as influence, endeavor to check it, and that both they and the men will reflect that we can have little hope of the blessings of heaven on our arms if we insult it by our impiety and folly. Added to this, it is a vice so mean -and low, . . . that every man of sense and character detests and despises it. ¶

What respect is today being paid to this prohibition against profanity? If you hear what I hear, you know we have not placed the Lord in our debt through its observance. ¶

"Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy," (Ex. 20:8) is another familiar command. ¶

That it was revered by the great Lincoln is evidenced by a general order to the army and the navy, signed by him November 15, 1862. From that order I quote: ¶

The President, commander-in-chief of the army and navy, desires and enjoins the orderly observance of the Sabbath by the officers and men in the military and naval service. . . . The discipline and character of the national forces should not suffer, nor the cause they defend be imperiled, by the profanation of the day or name of the Most High. (Abraham Lincoln, The War Years, III, Carl Sandburg, 374.) How do we, as a nation, stand upon this matter today? Is it not rather noted in the breach than in the observance? ¶

"Thou shalt not commit adultery," ¶

(Ex. 20:14) spake the Lord amidst the thundering and lightning of Sinai, against one of the most debasing of sins, a practice which has preceded the disintegration of every fallen civilization. ¶

Paul's pronouncement that our bodies are the temples of God, that "If any man defile the temple of God, him shall God destroy," (I Cor. 3:17), is an eternal principle still in force. Much of our sorrow and distress stems from a violation of this divine command. ¶

We might continue with others, "Thou shalt not steal," "Thou shalt not bear false witness," "Thou shalt not covet," (Ex. 20:15-17) but we now have in mind enough to persuade us of many ways in which we may improve, if we really, in truth and without hypocrisy, are committed to keeping the commandments of God. ¶

I plead with you, my friends, for a vitalization of our trust in God through earnest prayer and a careful keeping of the Lord's commands. Every substitute we have tried has left us deeper in the mire. Our integrity, our liberties, our treasures, are slipping like sand through our fingers. Our cynicism and godless learning lead us ever farther from the truth. Why should we not put to test the one untried plan of self-disciplined conformance to the plain and simple commands of the God in whom we profess to trust. Doing this, turning not to the right hand or to the left, we shall become strong and of a good courage. The Lord will be with and prosper us, whithersoever we go. Our trust in him being thus vitalized into an all-powerful present reality, the strongest bulwark in all our defenses, we shall sing with strong conviction, Our fathers' God to thee, Author of liberty, To thee we sing; Long may our land be bright With freedom's holy light; Protect us by thy might, Great God, our king. ¶

That we may do so, I humbly pray in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen. ¶