Inaugural Address 1789

The First Inaugural Address of President George Washington
In the City of New York, on the day of April 30, 1789 President George Washington addressed the Congress. We see in these words a desire of the heart of our first president to encourage the Congress, and therefore the people, in the service and building of our new Nation. The following words are but a part of Washington’s inaugural address, words that you most likely will not hear on Tuesday of next week, but words that should express the blessings of the God of Holy Scripture.

George Washington began his address with these words: “Fellow citizens of the Senate and the house of Representatives.” This honorable statesman continued:

“Among the vicissitudes incident to life no event could have filled me with greater anxieties than that of which the notification was transmitted by your order, and received on the 14th day of the present month. On the one hand, I was summoned by my Country, whose voice I can never hear but with veneration and love.
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“Such being the impressions under which I have, in obedience to the public summons, repaired to the present station, it would be peculiarly improper to omit in this first official act my fervent supplications to that Almighty Being who rules over the universe, who presides in the councils of nations, and whose providential aids can supply every human defect, that His benediction may consecrate to the liberties and happiness of the people of the United States a Government instituted by themselves for these essential purposes, and may enable every instrument employed in its administration to execute with success the functions allotted to his charge. In tendering this homage to the Great Author of every public and private good, I assure myself that it expresses your sentiments not less than my own, nor those of my fellow- citizens at large less than either. No people can be bound to acknowledge and adore the Invisible Hand which conducts the affairs of men more than those of the United States. Every step by which they have advanced to the character of an independent nation seems to have been distinguished by some token of providential agency; and in the important revolution just accomplished in the system of their united government the tranquil deliberations and voluntary consent of so many distinct communities from which the event has resulted can not be compared with the means by which most governments have been established without some return of pious gratitude, along with an humble anticipation of the future blessings which the past seem to presage. These reflections, arising out of the present crisis, have forced themselves too strongly on my mind to be suppressed. You will join with me, I trust, in thinking that there are none under the influence of which the proceedings of a new and free government can more auspiciously commence.
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"Such being the impressions under which I have, in obedience to the public summons, repaired to the present station, it would be peculiarly improper to omit in this first official act my fervent supplications to that Almighty Being who rules over the universe, who presides in the councils of nations, and whose providential aids can supply every human defect, that His benediction may consecrate to the liberties and happiness of the people of the United States a Government instituted by themselves for these essential purposes, and may enable every instrument employed in its administration to execute with success the functions allotted to his charge. In tendering this your sentiments not less than my own, nor those of my fellow- citizens at large less than either. No people can be bound to acknowledge and adore the Invisible Hand which conducts the affairs of men more than those of the United States. Every step by which they have advanced to the character of an independent nation seems to have been distinguished by some token of providential agency; and in the important revolution just accomplished in the system of their united government the tranquil deliberations and voluntary consent of so many distinct communities from which the event has resulted can not be compared with the means by which most governments have been established without some return of pious gratitude, along with an humble anticipation of the future blessings which the past seem to presage. These reflections, arising out of the present crisis, have forced themselves too strongly on my mind to be suppressed. You will join with me, I trust, in thinking that there are none under the influence of which the proceedings of a new and free government can more auspiciously commence.”

“RELIGION AND MORALITY ARE THE ESSENTIAL PILLARS OF CIVIL SOCIETY.”
--George Washington, 1797

Stephen McDowell, in his book Apostle of Liberty, wrote, “Good civil leaders should have not only excellent character but also knowledge of the truth, especially in regard to public affairs and government philosophy. The Founders believed that they should view all of life from a biblical perspective; that is, they should have a biblical worldview. How one thinks determines how one acts. A leader will govern based upon his presuppositions of law, government, economics, liberty, and life. If these presuppositions are rooted in relativism, humanism, secularism, statism, or positivism, the fruit will not be life, liberty, prosperity, or virtue. If they are rooted in true religion and morality, according to Washington, the fruit will be personal and political freedom and prosperity.”

Pray for America and its elected leaders with the above thoughts in mind.
Robert L. La May,