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What Is My Confidence?         United Gold Group frequently runs an advertisement on conservative talk-radio station WGTK, AM 970 in Louisville. The commercial begins by reminding listeners that traditional retirement accounts are shrinking and that government waste is devaluing the dollar. It ends with an invitation to invest in something of real value. Gold, the ad claims, is the thing to put confidence in.         It is certainly true that the recession is hurting retirement accounts, home values, and even U.S. currency. But is putting confidence in gold the answer? Job did not think so. In his oath of innocence, he said: “If I have made gold my trust, or called fine gold my confidence; if I have rejoiced because my wealth was great, or because my hand had gotten much; […] this also would be an iniquity to be punished by the judges, for I should have been false to God above” (Job 31:24-25, 28).         In other words, putting confidence in precious metals is a betrayal. Who provides everything we own and enjoy? Paul charges people with means “not to be haughty, nor to set their hopes on uncertain riches but on God who richly furnishes us with everything to enjoy” (1 Tim. 6:17).         Paul's reference to “uncertain riches” is a reminder that no financial investment is truly secure--not even gold. Any material thing that can be possessed can also be taken away, lost, or destroyed. A passage in Proverbs advises: “Do not toil to acquire wealth; be wise enough to desist. When your eyes light upon it, it is gone; for suddenly it takes to itself wings, flying like an eagle toward heaven” (Prov. 23:4-5).