In God We Trust

Blessed is the nation whose God is the LORD (Psalm 33:12).

"In God we trust." This motto appears on all our currency. But do you know how those words ended up there?

In November of 1861, a farmer in Maryland sent a letter to Salmon P. Chase, Secretary of the Treasury. The letter said that since America claimed to be made up of God-fearing Christians, some mention of the Lord should appear on our currency.

Secretary Chase referred the letter to James Pollock, director of the U.S. Mint. Pollock loved the idea and came up with two mottoes: "Our Country, Our God" and "God Our Trust." Secretary Chase then had the matter presented to Congress in 1862, but nothing was done about it. The idea was brought back up the next year, but once again nothing happened.

At that time, America was in the grip of the Civil War. The national spirit was taking a beating and morale was low. Realizing this, Secretary Chase made one last appeal in 1864. He offered "God Our Trust" for the proposed motto, saying "It is taken from our national hymn, The Star Spangled Banner, and is a sentiment familiar to every citizen of our country. It has thrilled millions of American freemen. The time is propitious. Now in this time of national peril, our strength and salvation must be of God."

Secretary Chase won his plea. Congress authorized the coining of a two-cent piece to be stamped with the words "In God We Trust." The following year, on March 3rd 1865, the Director of the Mint was authorized to place this new motto on all gold and silver coins. And so our currency reflected the words of Francis Scott Key who wrote, "Then conquer we must, when our cause it is just, and this be our motto: 'In God is our trust.' "

In a time of civil war, Americans realized how much they needed the grace of God to preserve our nation. It is the same today; our land is threatened by terrorists and criminals, economic troubles and social unrest. Now more than ever, we need to rely on God to preserve our nation.