Trust in God and keep your powder dry

"Trust in God and keep your powder dry" is a maxim attributed to Oliver Cromwell, but whose first appearance in print was in 1834 in the poem "Oliver's Advice" by William Blacker, with the words "Put your trust in God, my boys, and keep your powder dry!"

The poem is a dramatic representation of Cromwell addressing his army during the invasion of Ireland.

Edward Hayes, who edited the anthology in which the work first appeared, calls it a "well-authenticated anecdote of Cromwell".

[2] The allusion is to gunpowder which soldiers had to keep dry in order to be ready to fight when required.

Bergen Evans suggested that the phrase combined piety and practicality.