May the Lord be with us again
this evening as we turn together to his word. And this evening
by way of a text I direct your thoughts to the book of Psalms.
Psalm 119 and verse 103. Psalm 119 and verse 103. How
sweet are thy words unto my taste,
yea, sweeter than honey to my mouth. How sweet are thy words
unto my taste, yea, sweeter than honey to my mouth. Well, to remind ourselves, this
morning we considered together the account of David and Shimei,
And we were considering how David had responded to the cursing
of Shimei and the casting of stones and dust at him, and his
grace in not cutting him down and not rashly attacking him
in any sense, because David allowed him to continue, and indeed David
later also allowed him to live. And we were considering that
in its greatest sense as a type of the Lord Jesus Christ, And
we thought of the times when the Lord Jesus Christ was challenged
during his trial, most particularly before Caiaphas and Pilate and
Herod, and those times when Jesus did not respond, said no words. And we were thinking on the reasons
that that may have been. that because he was determined
to walk the path before him to suffering, because he had authority
over the proceedings and had no need to defend himself in
a sense, because he was determined to fulfil the scripture and the
prophecies concerning himself. And therefore a great depth there
was, and we tried to fathom a small part of that in these truths
that the Lord Jesus Lord Jesus Christ kept his silence. Well
now this evening I want to consider the other side and that is what
Jesus did say. Consider his words and there
is much teaching and much truth in the words of the Lord Jesus
Christ at that time and I want to confine it with God's help
to what is more commonly described as the seven sayings of the cross,
and those things which the Lord Jesus Christ spoke whilst on
the cross at Calvary. And there is such depth in those
words. There is such teaching in those
words. Because I believe in the sayings
of the cross, in a sense, are the truths that the Church of
God rests on. There we see the truths which
apply to each believer, and as we look at them this evening
with God's help, we see something of their beauty and something
of the truth that we can rely on. Indeed, as the psalmist says
in Psalm 119, how sweet are thy words, unto my taste. And these words
of the Lord Jesus Christ, when the Lord truly comes and shows
us something of them, are sweet to our taste. They're a delight
to consider what the Lord Jesus Christ spake. It's right for
us to remind ourselves of the context of the sayings of the
cross. Of course, the background of
these sayings is one of immense suffering and immense pain. The Lord Jesus Christ, as he
speaks the words that we hope to turn to tonight, is in a physical
state of agony. He has, of course, passed through
the trials that we spoke of this morning, but more particularly
of Caiaphas and Pilate and Herod. He has been mocked. He has had
the crown of thorns on his head, the robe around about him. He
has been hit and spat upon, and he is being scourged. He's been
whipped to the point that his back, essentially, was torn apart. He's in a place of great weakness
in a physical sense and then, of course, bade to carry his
cross and then brought to Calvary and nailed and lifted up. That
is the context and the background of these words. But of course,
deeper than his physical sufferings was the spiritual and heartfelt
sufferings which he was entering into at that time, where he was
enduring the suffering that the whole Church of God deserved
in a spiritual sense. He was carrying the weight and
burden of their sin. He was carrying their guilt,
though he had no guilt himself whatsoever. And he was about
to enter into, and did then enter into, the deepest part of his
sufferings, that is, the darkness and the hiding of his father's
face. That is the context of the words of the cross. The Lord
Jesus Christ speaks these things in his own personal agony, and
yet speaks them for the good of his people. and speaks them
for our encouragement tonight, the glorious truths that they
contain, that we might, by his grace and with his help, rest
upon these things and see there not a suffering man in Jerusalem
those years ago, but see there the saviour and our hope and
our rejoicing. How sweet then are thy words
unto my taste. While the first words that we
read of the Lord Jesus Christ speaking, having been crucified,
were words of mercy, words of forgiveness. We read in Luke's
Gospel, chapter 23, verse 34, Jesus said, Father, forgive them. for they know not what they do. The first words of the Lord Jesus
Christ, having laid himself down and had his hands and feet nailed
to the cross, it would seem almost at that very moment, as he was
being crucified, he speaks these words, Father, forgive them,
for they know not what they do. It is a prayer, isn't it? A prayer
to his Father, And it is a prayer of mercy, a prayer of forgiveness,
a prayer of desire and longing even for the people who mocked
him and crucified him. It is an astounding prayer when
we consider the context. I'm sure the last thing on the
mind of the two thieves next to him were any form of forgiveness
at that time, any form of kindness or mercy towards those who had
crucified them. And yet Jesus in the midst utters
this prayer, Father, forgive them. Now they were, of course,
the people who had rejected Christ. They were the people who had
rejected his person and turned away from his teaching. and had
cried out, crucify him, crucify him. But you see, I believe they
didn't have the full understanding of the magnitude of what they
were doing. As he says, they know not what they do. They rejected him out of jealousy
and out of the hardness of their hearts. But did they really understand
that there before them was the very son of God? There before
them was the creator of the heavens and the earth who spoke and they
came into existence. There before them was the longed
for and prophesied Messiah. They didn't understand the full
depths of that. They didn't know what they were doing. And Jesus
cried, Father, forgive them. They have hated me. They have
despised me. And they've hounded me to the
cross. And here I am suffering at their hand. But forgive them. Forgive them. Reach out the hand
of mercy, even to these, my persecutors. What a word to begin with, as
it were. What a word of love and compassion. That the Lord desires the forgiveness
of his enemies. That the Lord desires the forgiveness
of those who so despised him. As we thought this morning, they
joined, as it were, with Shimei, didn't they? Who cursed and cast
rocks at David. They had done, in a sense, the
same to the Lord Jesus Christ. And yet He desires their forgiveness.
What does this word speak to us today as we look at these
things? What truth does it tell us today?
Does it not tell us that there is hope? that there is hope today
for the very worst of sinners. That we, with Shimei, and we
with these people, have cursed, and we have joined with the crowd
crying, crucify him, crucify him. And yet the Lord has this
heart of mercy, Father, forgive them. There is an outflowing
of forgiveness here. There is grace that can reach
to the very worst. There is mercy that flows from
the cross. This is the teaching of the first
words of the Lord as he suffers. There is mercy flowing from the
cross of Calvary. And the Lord desires forgiveness
for them. Now this word was fulfilled,
wasn't it? We think in the I'm not too sure exactly how many
weeks, it would have been 40 days plus a few, when the Lord
came in his power on the day of Pentecost. And Peter preaches
to the multitudes on that day, and he points the finger directly
at them and tells them that it was them who had taken the Lord
Jesus Christ. and by wicked hands have crucified
and slain, him being delivered by the determinate counsel and
fornilage of God. Ye have taken, he says. Ye have
done it. He doesn't speak in a general
sense that the Jews took him or that the Romans took him.
You took him, he says, to the crowd around about him. And I'm
sure there were some in that crowd who had joined with the
crowd before, crying for the crucifixion of Christ. And he preaches to them, and
they cry out, what must we do? What can we do? And Peter's word
is so wonderful and so simple. Repent, and be baptized every
one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins,
and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost, that they
that gladly received his word were baptized, and the same day
there were added unto him about 3,000 souls. I wonder how many of those 3,000
have been with the crowd at Pilate's palace. Father, forgive them. You see, mercy flows from the
cross, and that is the first glorious truth for us today from
these words. that the Lord Jesus Christ is
willing to forgive the worst of sinners that come to Him.
You see, Peter's word, it was so clear, wasn't it? Repent and
be baptized for the forgiveness of sins. There needed to be repentance.
There needed to be an acknowledgement of what they had done. There
needed to be a realization that they had taken the Son of God
and by wicked hands had crucified Him. And that's what's vital
for us today. We must acknowledge As the Lord
shows us what we are and what we have done, and the Lord shows
us something of the depth of our own sinnership, there must
be an acknowledgement and repentance and a desire to turn from it,
and confession of what we are by nature as sinners. And when
there is, this mercy flows to the repentant sinner. Father,
forgive them, for they know not what they do. So there is hope. There is hope for the worst of
sinners. The first words from the cross. The second words are found later
on in this chapter in the Gospel according to Luke, chapter 23,
and is found in the glorious conversation, as it were, between
the Lord Jesus Christ and the dying thief. We considered this
together, didn't we, a couple of weeks ago, how the thief had
turned to the Lord and had prayed that he would be remembered.
And Jesus, his words to him, verily I say unto thee, today
shalt thou be with me in paradise. Today shalt thou be with me in
paradise. Here we have one who deserved
to suffer as he was. One who had broken the law of
the land and the punishment under that system was the death that
he was dying. And he for a time railed against
Jesus and said, if thou be the Son of God, save thyself and
us. But this time comes where he
is changed. And he sees Jesus in a different
light And he turns on his companion on the other side, he says, Dost
not thou fear God, seeing thou art in a sane condemnation, and
we indeed justly? And he says, Jesus, Lord, remember
me when thou comest to thy kingdom. And Jesus turns and speaks these
glorious words, Today shalt thou be with me in paradise. That
very day, that very day, the Lord Jesus Christ would ascend
to glory. having finished the work of the
cross, that very day the dying thief would ascend to glory and
be with him for all eternity, having been bought, having been
saved by the wondrous work of Christ on the cross. That very
day he would be with him in paradise. Think the dying thief. He was
one of the very, very few people ever to have lived. who literally
saw with his own eyes the sacrifice for sin, the sacrifice for his
sin. He literally saw the bloodshed
that he would be washed in. What a privilege it was for him.
What a joy, but really the joy in these words were the promise
of what was to come. Today shalt thou be with me in paradise. What do these second words of
the cross teach us today? It shows us the eternal accomplishments
of the cross. It shows us the eternal work,
the eternal glory set before the Lord's people, that the work
of Christ on the cross opened the gates of paradise. and opened
them even for the thief. And those for whom the Lord prays,
Father, forgive them, opened the doors of paradise that it
was once barred and that sin could never enter in. And yet
through the work of the cross and what Jesus accomplished on
that cross, the gates of glory were to be opened and the thief
himself could be with him in paradise. Again, it shows us
today of the eternal accomplishments of Christ, that we, by His grace,
can enter through the gates of glory and can be with Him forever
and forever. There was no small work done
at Calvary. There was no temporary work done
at Calvary. There was no small amount of
cleansing, no small amount of forgiveness. No temporary and
short-lived blessing. There is an eternal blessing
that flows from these words, an eternal blessing that flows
from the cross. Be with me in paradise. And the Lord is able to take
us with him and to set us in those heavenly places where a
mansion has been prepared. Today, shalt thou be with me.
in paradise. What a word this must have been
for the dying thief. What comfort, what glorious salvation
the Lord showed to him. So undeserving, so undeserving. Just like any of the Lord's people
throughout the ages. What a wonderful word if we were
to hear it for ourselves afresh tonight. thou shalt be with me
in paradise. The gates have been opened and
the work has been done. So these second words, today
shalt thou be with me in paradise. The third words we find in the
gospel according to John, in the chapter we read together
in John chapter 19. These words we find the Lord
Jesus Christ speaking to his mother. We read now, there stood
by the cross of Jesus' mother and his mother's sister, Mary
the wife of Cleophas and Mary Magdalene. And Jesus therefore
saw his mother and the disciples standing by whom he loved. He
saith unto his mother, woman, behold thy son. Then saith he
to the disciple, behold thy mother. And from that hour that disciple
took her unto his own home. Woman, behold thy son. and then
behold thy mother. Consider the sadness of Mary. Mary had been told, hadn't she,
by Simeon, when Jesus had just been born, that a sword would
pierce her own soul also. There'd be great suffering and
sadness on the part of Mary and it culminated here. As she stands
at the foot of the cross, And there she sees her son, her son
suffering such agony, such awful suffering on the cross. And she
beholds it. And surely there the sword is
piercing through her. And she wonders, what does this
mean? She wonders why her son must
suffer so much. And yet Jesus looks down and
he says these words, woman, behold thy son. I think in this in one
sense, what a sword those words could have been for her. Behold
thy son, behold the Lord Jesus Christ, behold where he is, behold
what he is enduring, behold where he has been, behold the hatred
around him, behold the nails, behold the scourge, behold the
crown of thorns. Woman, behold thy son. What a
sword through her soul. But the Lord doesn't really mean
her to focus on Him in this sense. Because what He is doing is directing
her to John. Directing her to turn to Him
as her son, as it were, to join these two together. John is to
be thy son and Mary is to be his mother. They are to be joined
together to care for one another and to be with one another. The
Lord Jesus Christ, you see, even in his deepest sufferings, has
a concern for his mother, a concern that she might be provided for. And he fulfills, doesn't he,
even in his suffering and death, the commandment to care and to
obey his parents, his concern that she might be provided for.
under the protection of John, behold thy son, behold thy mother. Here is a wonderful truth for
us to consider, that in our lives as we walk the mount here below,
the Lord Jesus Christ does care and does have concern for the
paths that we walk in this world. We can think so much, and it's
quite rightly to do so, of glory before us, of being with him
in paradise, and what is set before us. And it is a wilderness
and a difficult path to walk, and all that is true of the world
below. But the Lord Jesus Christ is with us here, as well as will
be with us in glory. He is with his people here, and
has this care, as he had for his mother, that might be provided
for and might be cared for. He sees our sadness and our suffering
at times as we walk out our lives here below. He feels with compassion
what we feel because he has felt the same. What a wonderful encouragement,
what a wonderful comfort for us that he comes in his presence,
he comes in his word, and he comes in fellowship with others. What do I mean by that? Well,
John and Mary were to be a comfort one with each other. They were
to be brought together. And the Lord, of course, would
be with them in a sense. As he says, I will never leave
thee nor forsake thee. And he was to be with them in
a sense, though he had ascended into glory, as he is with us
today. But he provided them with each other, with fellowship. And that's a wonderful blessing
that the Lord gives the church today. He blesses us with each
other. He blesses us with times when
we can meet, and times when we can encourage each other, and
times when we can feed from the Word of God together. It's a
great blessing to be amongst the people of God. And here is
that truth. Mary and John brought together
these third words from the cross. The Apostle Paul tells us, doesn't
he, when he wrote to Timothy, he tells us of how he was so
refreshed by the coming of Onesiphorus. He says in the second epistle
of how he had come to him, the Lord give mercy. unto the house
of Onesiphorus, he says, for he oft refreshed me and was not
ashamed of my chain. And when he was in Rome, he sought
me out very diligently and found me." What a wonderful word, a
touching word of the relationship between the Apostle and this
man Onesiphorus. How he refreshed him with his
presence. And you see, I believe that would be the same for Mary
and John. And the Lord was concerned that there might be that bringing
together and that support, one for each other. And it's the
same today. The Lord brings his people together in a local body,
that we might be like them, an encouragement and a support,
one for each other. Woman, behold thy son, and then
behold thy mother may we be refreshed by each other's presence as well
so these third words behold thy son behold thy mother the fourth
words of the cross well-known words recorded in two Gospels,
in Matthew and in Mark, as the Lord Jesus Christ comes into
the depths of his sufferings and comes to the time when he
enters into and he passes through those three hours of darkness
that was over the whole earth a depth to that darkness, a darkness
that could be felt almost, a supernatural darkness for three complete hours,
a sign of God's displeasure, a sign of God's wrath, but also
a sign that the deepest sufferings of Christ were to be veiled and
were not to be gazed upon. And the Lord Jesus Christ, as
he comes to the ninth hour, he cried with a loud voice saying,
Eloi, Eloi, lama, lama, subacthanite, which is being interpreted, my
God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? These fourth words of the
cross, why hast thou forsaken me? You know there is an unfathomable
depth to these words, almost impossible to grasp what they
really mean, Because here we have a small glimpse of the sufferings
of Christ's soul. A glimpse of what he really entered
into. You see, we can picture, can't
we, the physical sufferings, but we cannot really grasp the
spiritual sufferings of Christ. And these words give us a glimpse
of it. My God, my God. Why hast thou forsaken me to
be forsaken of his loving, eternal, heavenly Father? You see, the
words he uses, it's not Father. Earlier it was Father, forgive
them. The relationship between Father and Son, now it's Eloi,
God. In a sense, there's a distance
here. God, my God. As if the relationship
has been broken in one way. Of course, he was always the
eternal son of God. Of course, his father was always
his father. It was never broken. But it's
as if he's experiencing that experience, that God is far off. He experiences that God has forsaken
him. The smile has been removed, though
I'm sure the Lord, in a sense, is still smiling. Because as
he sees the suffering of the soul of his son, he is satisfied
with that suffering. And as he sees the willingness
of his son to lay down his life, he is well pleased with his son. But the experience of the smile
is removed. The experience of the flowing
of the love is removed. And what is it replaced with?
It's replaced with the outpouring of his wrath. and of his eternal
anger against the sin that he was bearing is replaced with
hell. That's where the Lord Jesus Christ
descended to in his sufferings on the cross, the very experience
of hell. My God, my God, why hast thou
forsaken me? We haven't got time to go through
it tonight, but of course, if we went through Psalm 22, we could
see something there of the sufferings of Christ, as in prophecy in
that Psalm, the forsaking of his father. What does this show
to us today? What glorious truth does this
display to us today? Well, it shows, doesn't it, that
he suffered all that was necessary. He suffered what his people deserve,
the forsaking of the love and grace of God, hell itself, and
he suffered it in the place of others. There was no reason for
Christ to enter this path because of his own sin. He did not deserve
this suffering. He did not deserve the forsaking
of his father. He did not deserve hell for his
own sin. He only passed that way because
of others. He only passed that way because
he bore the sin in the place of others. It shows that the
price is fully paid and the suffering has been fully entered into. All what his church deserves,
all what you and I deserve, The Lord entered into it so willingly.
We sing, don't we? He suffered it with strength
enough and none to spare. Enough to enter in and to endure,
but he gave his all. As he cries, my God, my God,
why has thou forsaken me? It shows his suffering in the
place of others. It wasn't for his sin that he
was forsaken. It was for the sin of his entire
church. And if you consider, if we can
try and imagine that we know, as God reveals just a small part,
I believe, of our sinnership, we don't know the full extent
of our guilt. And yet the Lord took the full weight of us as
individuals if we're a Christian. He took the full weight of our
sin. And then he took the full weight of every single believer
throughout all ages. And he bore that full weight
and all the wrath that God would pour out because of that sin,
contracted in a time span, this suffering on the cross. What
an intensity. What suffering. What love. of the Lord Jesus Christ. My
God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? The fourth words of the cross. The fifth words are found as
we read in John's Gospel again, chapter 19, simple words, when
the Lord spoke and he said, I thirst. I thirst. And again, there is
a depth here. We might think, well, there's
a physical aspect here. The Lord thirsted in a sense
that he needed to have refreshment. He needed to be refreshed. He
was thirsty under the suffering of what he was enduring. But
you see, there's also a great depth in these words. When we
consider who it is that's speaking these words, I thirst, Here we
have the very fountain of waters himself. Here we have the one
who spoke to the woman in John 4, that he was able to give living
water, and he cries out, I thirst, I thirst. I said a moment ago
that in the sufferings of the cross, it's as if he entered
into the experience of hell. We, don't we, have that account
between Lazarus and a rich man. And we read that the rich man
who descended into hell cried out to Father Abraham and said,
please send Lazarus that he might send. A drop of water could cool
my tongue for I am tormented in this flame. In a sense, I
thirst. The Lord Jesus Christ here says
the same, I thirst. It's again a picture of the suffering
that he was enduring, the very picture of hell itself. But he
also thirsted. In his soul, there's a longing
here. There's not just a physical aspect,
there's a longing, there's a thirsting for the accomplishment of his
work. There's a longing for the salvation of his people. There's
a longing to see his people to be saved and to be with him.
Yes, there's depth. Yes, there's suffering. But he
looks beyond and he's thirsty. He's longing that his people
might be bought, that his work might be complete. that the price
may be paid, I thirst. The fountain of living waters
thirsted. Of course, this was also prophesied,
wasn't it, in Psalm 22, when the psalmist tells us there about
this thirst. He says, My strength is dried
up like a potsherd, and my tongue cleaveth to my jaws. Thou hast
brought me into the dust. of death. So even here, Jesus
is fulfilling prophecy, even in what might seem simple words.
I thirst. He's fulfilling the prophecy
of Psalm 22, the Psalm of David. Here is no ordinary person. Here
is, as we thought this morning, the promised Saviour who fulfills
these prophecies. So we have these words, these
fifth words, I thirst. Moving on, because I see the
time is going. The words that we read at the end of this chapter
were in verse 30, when the Lord Jesus had received the vinegar,
he said, it is finished. It is finished. Again, can we not hang all our
hope on these words, on this truth, it is finished? The work was done. The suffering
was over. The life, the righteousness,
as it were, had been worked out. The life had been given. The
suffering had been endured. Now it was finished. And now
he cries with a loud voice, it is finished, and he enters into
glory. or will do very shortly. A victor and a conqueror. It is finished. There's nothing
more for him to do in the salvation of his people. No more work,
no more suffering. But you see, glorious for us
today is also to consider there's nothing more for us to do. We must, of course, turn from
our sin. We must confess and repent and come to the Lord.
as he gives strength and gives grace. But there's nothing for
us to do to earn our salvation, because Jesus sums it up here.
It is finished. The work is done, the price is
paid, the righteousness is complete, and God is satisfied. Satisfied. He shall save the travail of
his soul and be satisfied. And how do we know that that's
true? How do we know that it's finished? Well, of course, the
words of Christ here. But it's also displayed in that
three days later the tomb was empty and the Lord Jesus Christ
rose again from the grave. The clearest demonstration that
there was no more death and no more suffering and nothing more
for him to endure, that the work of salvation was finished because
he rose again and death had no more hold over him whatsoever.
We can be certain that every single sin of his entire church
has been paid for. There is nothing outstanding. There is no debt to be paid.
We can be certain of it because God raised him from the dead. It's as if the whole debt had
been written off and the Lord rises again, having paid it all. There is not one penny outstanding
that is not paid. It is finished. It is right for us, with God's
help and strength, to strive for holiness. It is right for
us to strive to live in accordance with his will and his commands.
It is right, but we do it only, only with this thought in mind. It is finished. And we are unprofitable
servants, but our unprofit is forgiven. It is finished. John tells us,
doesn't he, that the blood of Jesus Christ, God's Son, cleanses
us from all sin. And that word encompasses everything. That word is the rejoicing, the
hope of our heart, all sin. from beginning to end, from birth
to death. All sin has been cleansed by
the blood of Jesus Christ. It is finished. A glorious truth
of these six words of the cross. Finally, Father, into thy hands
I commend my spirit. Father, into thy hands I commend
my spirit. The Lord Jesus Christ did not
die in weakness. Of course, he died on the cross. He was weak, he was suffering,
and in a sense he died of the crucifixion. But the Lord Jesus
Christ gave his life. He yielded his spirit. The time came when they knew
that it was finished, the suffering was complete, and therefore now
he gives his life, he gave his spirit, he yielded up the ghost.
Father, into thy hands I commend my spirit. Do you see the difference?
The word that's come back? Father. Father, forgive them,
he says at the beginning. God, why hast thou forsaken me,
he says in the middle. Father, into thy hands I commend
my spirit. Again, is that not a sign that
the suffering is complete, the relationship is restored? And
the Lord enters into the presence of his Holy Father, and he enters
in not as a defeated, not as conquered, but as the conqueror,
as the one who's given his life and has entered into his glory,
and the one who has suffered willingly out of love to his
people. Father, into thy hands I commend
my spirit. Today, these words show us glorious
truths. They show us in one sense, the
necessity that Jesus did die. Many people would tell us today
that, how can we be sure he died? Did he just faint and come back
again and so forth? How do we know he died? Well,
we know from this word. He said, I commend my spirit.
And he did die. Body and soul was separated.
He did endure the curse, which was death. He really did endure
the curse. His body and soul were separated,
and He entered into glory. He did truly die, but this glorious
Word shows us He did it, and He yielded it, and He gave Himself,
and He entered into glory into the presence of His Father, and
He entered into glory as a conqueror and as a victor, not as defeated
by the Jews and the Romans of the day. Father, into Thy hands
I commend my spirit, the seven sayings of the cross. Father,
forgive them, for they know not what they do. Today shalt thou
be with me in paradise. Woman, behold thy son, behold
thy mother. My God, why hast thou forsaken
me? I thirst. It is finished. Father, into thy hands I commend
my spirit. I have entered briefly, because
of time this evening, in each of these things. Take them home.
Meditate on each one. There is a depth of truth in
each word. And each word displays a glorious
truth that we can rest our souls on, that we can plead before
God. And it is the hope for the church. these truths of the sufferings
of the cross and the truth and the love which he displayed in
his words. Is it not true that thy words
are sweet to my taste? Yea, sweeter than honey to my
mouth. Not words of anger, not words
of cursing, not words of self-defense, not words that David could have
justifiably hurled at Shimei, but words of suffering, words
of humility, words of love, words of mercy, words of forgiveness. This evening, rather, may we
hear these words. May we hear them not just as
the words spoken from him those many years ago, but may we hear
them spoken to us, to us. Yea, how sweet are thy words. to my taste. May that be true
for each one of us, and may we be found worshipping and looking
to no one else. Well, may God add his blessing
to all that has been said today.