All right, brethren, Psalm 108.
Psalm 108 here in verse 1, it says this is a song or a psalm
of David. Now David is in affliction. He's troubled because his brethren
are captive at this time. You read there in verse 6, he
asked that thy beloved may be delivered, save with thy right
hand, and answer me. He said in verse 11, he's asking who will
deliver, and he says, will not thou, O God, who has cast us
off, will not thou, O God, go forth with our hosts, give us
help from trouble? For vain is the help of man. But David here also represents
the greater David. He represents the Lord Jesus.
Now he begins here in verse one and he says, Oh God, my heart
is fixed. Oh God, my heart is fixed. We don't always find David in
this state. He's planted, he's firmly trusting
the Lord right here, but we don't always find him here. But God
had delivered Israel to the enemy for a time, and he had afflicted
David, and it was to turn David, and it was to turn the children
of Israel from trusting in man, from putting their trust in princes
and in men, to trust the Lord alone. And we don't know when
exactly this psalm is written. Some of it is from Psalm 57.
where David was in the cave of Adullam. Other parts of it are
from Psalm 60 when he was in another battle, but it doesn't
seem like either one of those is the setting of this psalm.
I kind of think it is when David had thought to build the Lord
a house, and the Lord sent Nathan to David and said, you're not
going to build me a house. There's a son coming after you
who shall build my house. Talking about God's spiritual
house, talking about Christ, who came through David, according
to the flesh, and he said, and he will establish his kingdom
and his throne shall be established forever. And he promised David
that he would be saved and all God's elect would be saved. And
after that, David began to pray. His heart was fixed by the gospel,
the gospel of Christ that Nathan preached to him. And we find
the next chapter, that's in 1 Chronicles 17, the next chapter we find
David going forth to battle all the people we're going to see
him speak about in this psalm. Now the Lord's brought David
through that gospel. He's brought him to the end of
the affliction. This is the end of the affliction. The Lord has
fixed his heart. The Lord has settled his heart. And David wasn't always in this
state. Before this, He wasn't, if that's the setting, after
that he would number Israel and again he would be troubled. But
look into Christ, the greater David, Christ's heart was always
fixed on God his father in perfect faith. Always. And it's by his
faithfulness that we're saved. It's by his obedience, his perfect
faith to God that his people are saved. And it's by Christ's
faithfulness that he fixes our heart on him. and keeps our heart
fixed on him, even if he has to use affliction to do it. In regeneration, there's great
affliction. The Spirit of God comes, and
what does he do? He exalts Christ in our heart
through the preaching of the Word. That's how he fixes our
heart. He settles our heart on Christ.
And when he sends affliction and providence together with
his gospel, as he did through Nathan, once again renews us inwardly,
the renewing of our mind. That's the only way we put off
the old man and put on the new. He fixes our heart on Christ. He fixes our heart on Christ.
And this is what God said he would work and this is what he
said he would continue to work. He said in Isaiah 2.11, the lofty
looks of man shall be humbled and the haughtiness of men shall
be bowed down. And the Lord alone shall be exalted
in that day. That's what we're going to see
in this psalm. He said in Isaiah 12, 4, In that day shall you
praise the Lord, and call upon His name, and declare His doings
among the people, and make mention that His name is exalted. So
here's the first thing we find David doing. As soon as he says,
my heart is fixed, here's the first thing. Having his heart
fixed on the Lord, David praises God. He says in verse 1, I will
sing and get praise even with my glory. That is, with the gifts
God had given him. which were his gifts of music,
he said, Awake, psaltery, and harp, I myself will awake early. I will praise thee, O Lord, among
the people, and I will sing praises unto thee among the nations,
among the Gentiles. Now the Apostle Paul references
that verse right there in Romans 15, referring to Christ. Christ
is here speaking as well as David, and Christ is the one who, like
he used David to minister his word and brought his people to
rejoice in the Lord and confess to the Lord, Christ is the one
who does it. And so in Romans 15, he speaks
of the Lord calling out his Gentiles, the nations, his elect among
the Gentiles, and the Lord says, I will confess among the Gentiles
and sing praise to thee, O Lord. He does it through the gospel,
through the spirit, bringing his people to praise him through
the preaching of the word. So Christ here is using David
as his minister, but it's Christ bringing David and bringing all
his chosen Israel to praise the Lord, to give glory and honor
to the Lord. He's fixing their heart on the
Lord. Praise is from beholding God's
mercy and truth. He says here in verse four, For
thy mercy is great above the heavens and thy truth reacheth
unto the clouds. This is why you'll sing praise
unto God among the nations and among his people. For thy mercy
is great above the heavens and thy truth reacheth unto the clouds. If it was when Nathan preached
the gospel of Christ to David, David would have seen this clearly.
He would have seen this clearly because The Lord was speaking
of Christ being exalted and his throne established and his spiritual
house being built. God's mercy is exceeding great. Thy mercy is great above the
heavens. God's mercy is exceeding great. He's plenteous in mercy. We are
saved by mercy alone, by God's mercy alone. It was mercy by
which God chose Christ to do the saving, It was mercy when
God chose his people in Christ and sent Christ forth. It was
mercy for Christ to come into this world to fulfill that everlasting
covenant, which itself is an everlasting covenant of mercy.
And it's great mercy when the Lord went to the cross and redeemed
his people, and then he comes in mercy and brings us the gospel
and teaches us of his mercy and what he's accomplished for his
people. All his works of salvation towards sinners like us, beginning
to end, is just a continuation of constant mercy to his people. Constant mercy to his people.
If we knew, if we just could enter into how true this is because
of our sin, if we just could see what we are, except it be
for Christ and God's mercy in Christ, we would see we are saved
continually by God's mercy, continually. For thy mercy's great above the
heavens, thy truth reaches unto the clouds. Truth here includes
God's righteousness. It's in Christ where we see mercy
and truth meet together, mercy and righteousness meet together.
When God, when Christ was on the cross and God hid his face
from our Lord, It was in truth, it was in justice, it was in
righteousness because he was bearing the sin of his people.
It was in order to satisfy his justice toward his elect. And
since his elect were justified by Christ from all our sins and
God's law was honored, that's mercy, it's justice, it's mercy
for God. It's just for God to show us
mercy because he satisfied his own law. And truth also includes
God's faithfulness. Another psalm sounds just like
this one, but he says this in Psalm 36, 5, Thy mercy, O Lord,
is in the heavens, and thy faithfulness reacheth unto the clouds. That's
his truth. We see God's faithfulness in
that he sent Christ. He promised him all through the
Old Covenant, and then he sent him. That was his faithfulness.
We see His faithfulness in Christ coming and fulfilling the covenant
that He made with the Father for His people and the Father
fulfilling the covenant He made with Christ. That's where you
see the faithfulness of God, Father and Son, Christ walking
faithfully before Him and the Father faithfully fulfilling
His covenant to Him. And we see God's faithfulness
in forgiving us for Christ's sake, giving us Christ's righteousness
through faith. It's all of God's faithfulness.
And then this is so true. This is true too. And this is
why I believe that Nathan preaching the gospel to David fixed his
heart to say, thy mercy and thy truth is in the clouds. It's in the heavens. It's because
Christ himself is mercy and truth. He is the mercy and truth of
God personified. That's who he is. Psalm 85 11
said, truth shall spring out of the earth and righteousness
shall look down from heaven. That's right after it says mercy
and truth are met together. Righteousness and peace have
kissed each other. When Christ said it's finished,
mercy and truth were met together. He honored the law and he justified
his people. And then when Christ arose from
this earth to heaven, truth sprang up out of the earth and righteousness
is now looking down from heaven. That's the Lord Jesus. He is
mercy and truth. Now I want you to behold Christ
here typified in David. Christ's heart was fixed on God
in perfect faith. His heart was fixed on the Father
in perfect faith even when he was bearing the wrath of God
on the cross. Now look, he waited. The Lord waited. He came into
affliction. This is going to be a good practical
instruction for us. When Christ was in the affliction
of the cross and bearing the justice of God, he waited on
the Father. until the Father was glorified
and honored, and His justice completely satisfied, His people
justified from all our sins. Now, look how He says this in
verse 5. Be thou exalted, O God, above
the heavens, and thy glory above all the earth, that thy beloved
may be delivered. Save with thy right hand, and
answer me. Christ is God's beloved. And
Christ Jesus hung on that tree and He submitted to God's afflicting
hand. That's what He did. He submitted
to God's afflicting hand while He was on the cross. And He prayed
for the Father to be exalted. He prayed for the Father to be
magnified in His glory so that Thy beloved may be delivered. Christ was waiting on that cross
until God was satisfied, until justice was honored, until the
law was fulfilled completely and his people saved. And only
then, when God is exalted and is honored and he's glorified,
would the beloved be raised and saved and shown mercy from the
Father. That was Christ's perfect faith
as he was bearing the afflicting hand of God's wrath on Calvary's
cross. And when God was exalted and
glorified, and justice was satisfied, and every elect child justified
by Christ, then He delivered His Beloved as He promised. And by Christ's perfect obedience,
by His obedience, what does Paul say in Ephesians 1? We are accepted
in the Beloved. We're accepted in Christ. Now,
let's look at David here. When God brings affliction upon
us, Our Lord is teaching us obedience by the things we suffer, even
as Christ learned obedience by the things which he suffered.
That's what he's doing for his children throughout the life
of faith. He brings us to submit to God's
hand. by submitting to Christ. That's
the obedience. And this is what we cry, Be thou
exalted, O God, above the heavens, and thy glory above all the earth,
that thy beloved may be delivered, saved with thy right hand, and
answer me. Now when you behold Christ as
all your righteousness, and you behold Christ as all mercy, and
you behold the faithfulness of God in the Lord Jesus, that's
when the Lord fixes our heart on Christ. My heart is fixed,
O God." That's when your heart's planted, firmly rooted, trusting
the Lord Jesus alone. And so you submit to Him to deliver
you. You trust Christ to deliver you.
This is so in the first hour when He brings us to trust Christ,
delivers from all our sin, and casts all our care on Him for
our eternal salvation. And every other afflicting case
the Lord is teaching us, the same thing He taught us in that
first hour. He's reminding us Christ is our
eternal salvation and Christ will be our salvation through
the affliction and the trouble and whatever it is we're going
through in this world. And he brings you to submit to Christ
in the light affliction, trusting Christ in the light affliction,
the trouble, the trial you're going through because you trust
in him for all your eternal salvation. and you trust in him to save
and deliver in his time only when he's exalted and when he's
glorified. That's the only way we can preach
the gospel is when we've experienced this and we know his time's the
right time. I can't force it. No other man
can force it. His teaching is not to trust
man but to trust Christ only who does all the saving. He who
has to justify us. He who had to make us holy. He
who had to redeem us from the curse and condemnation of the
law. He who's made wisdom to us. He who is all our salvation. He's the only one who can make
his word effectual in the heart of chosen sinners. And so he
brings us into these afflictions so that we have to wait on him
to be exalted and wait on him to magnify his name because we
want him to save by his right hand and deliver us in his time. And when that's so of us personally,
that'll be so of us toward one another. David's heart's fixed
on the Lord. He's trusting the Lord to exalt
himself by delivering all his beloved children by God's power
and glory and grace. He needs the Lord to deliver
him, and he needs the Lord to deliver all his people. And our
Lord, when he does this, he turns us from man. That means from
our own selves, from trusting our own selves, and he turns
us from trusting other men. And He fixes our hearts on God's
right hand to save us. That's Christ, the power of God. He said, Save by thy right hand.
Christ is seated there at God's right hand. And our Lord Jesus
Christ, this is the obedience God brings us to. Trust Christ. Believe Christ. Trust His obedience
before the Father. We are brought there in His regenerating
grace and the obedience He brings us to in every affliction and
trouble is right where David was right here. His heart is
fixed on God. His heart is fixed on His Savior.
Trust in Christ alone. We can't trust man and submit
to Christ to save. We can't do both. And he's teaching
us here in this psalm that we have to cease trust in man and
trust Christ. He's there at God's right hand,
and how does he save us now? How's he going to save us? Christ
is there. He is the righteousness of his
people. He's pleading his own righteousness with the Father.
We have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous.
He's the mercy seat. He's the propitiation for our
sins. He expiated the sins of his people. And we trust Him to plead His
blood by which our sins are put away. We trust Him to be the
reason that God is just to show mercy to us and to all His people. And we trust Christ to go forth
with us. to save us, to be our strength,
and to make his word effectual, and to save his people from the
enemy. That's what we have pictured
here in these enemies that God saves his people from. Now how
come we trust God to do this? How come our hearts fixed on
him and we have this trust in our Lord to do this? Well, here's
the second thing. This is praise to God. That's
the first thing. When He fixes your heart, you
want Him to get the praise. You want Him to be exalted and
glorified and honored, and so you're waiting on Him to deliver
His beloved, you and all His people in Christ the beloved
by His right hand. And secondly, we're sure of God's
faithfulness to save His people due to God's holy covenant. to His holy word, to His promise. He said in verse 7, God has spoken
in His holiness. I hope you'll go home tonight,
read 1 Chronicles 17, hear what the Lord said to him, and then
listen to what David prays to the Lord. David, he had the word
of the Lord, that Christ is coming through him, and Christ is going
to build my house, establish my kingdom, put down all the
enemies, and David had that promise from God. The sure mercies of
David. That's Christ's everlasting covenant
of mercy to David. The sure mercies of David. It's
God's promise to Christ and to His people in Christ. God has
spoken in His holiness. God is sworn by Himself. He's
sworn by His holiness because He can swear by no greater. Look
at Hebrews 6. Hebrews chapter 6. Look at verse 18. This is when
he spoke to Abraham. He says by promise, that's by
covenant. And he says here, let's look
at verse 16. Men verily swear by the greater,
and an oath for confirmation is to them an end of all strife.
wherein God, willing more abundantly to show unto the heirs of promise
the immutability, the unchangeableness of his counsel, confirmed it
by an oath that by two immutable things in which it was impossible
for God to lie, we might have a strong consolation who had
fled for refuge to lay hold of the hope set before us, which
hope we have as an anchor of the soul, both sure and steadfast."
That's what David's saying, my heart is fixed. His anchor had
entered in within the veil, where the forerunner has for us entered,
Jesus made a high priest forever after the order of Melchizedek.
And this is why when we see Christ and we look to Christ, this is
why we know this covenant shall be sure. Because all the promises
of God in him are yes and in him an amen unto the glory of
God. Christ fulfilled everything God
the Father sent him to fulfill, everything he promised to fulfill,
and God the Father shall, has and shall fulfill everything
he promised the Son. Now having Christ's word that
he shall call out and keep all his redeemed, David speaks, but
this is Christ's holy word. Listen to this faith right here,
having God's promise. He's speaking as though it's
already done. He's speaking as though he's
already won this victory. Listen to this. Psalm 108.7.
Now this is Christ. He first and foremost says this. But this is the faith he gives
in the heart of his child. So you can say this. He says,
I will rejoice. I will divide Shechem and mete
out the valley of Sukkoth. Gilead is mine. Manasseh is mine. Ephraim also is the strength
of mine head. Judah is my lawgiver. See, he's
saying all this is so, and David hadn't even gone in to do battle
with these enemies yet. But it's so in Christ, because
Christ shall not fail. Isaiah 40 says, comfort ye, comfort
ye my people, speak ye comfortably to Jerusalem, and declare to
her that her warfare is accomplished. I'll reward her double for all
her sin. This is what God is making us to remember so that
every promise God makes to his people is sure and steadfast
because of Christ's faithfulness, because of his holy promise being
fulfilled by him. Now what does all this mean here?
Well, Shechem was a city in Mount Ephraim. And it was now in the
hands of this enemy king. And that's where the Ephraimites
were. The valley of Sukkot, that's
where Gilead and Manasseh and other tribes of Israel were captive.
But Judah's the lawgiver. And you remember what the scripture
says about Judah? A scepter shall not depart from
Judah nor a lawgiver from between his feet until Shiloh comes.
to him shall be the gathering of the people. To him, that's
Christ. Judah wasn't in bondage. Judah
wasn't in captivity. This tribe of Judah, Christ is
not bound. His word is not bound. His gospel
is not bound. Christ makes this promise to
us from heaven's glory, and he's the one lawgiver. He's the one
lawgiver who's able to save and destroy, and he gives his gospel
wherever he's pleased to plant his word he's there and he's
coming forth with his gospel and he's defeating all the enemies
of his people just like David is about to do by going forth. According to God's promise, David
believed he would conquer the enemy and these lands would all
come into his possession. That's what he's talking about
dividing Shechem. He's going to divide the land.
He's going to conquer them. He's going to divide the land
and the spoils for an inheritance once he's conquered the enemy.
He's going to divide it to his brethren. That's what Christ
has done. He has come down and conquered
all the enemies of his people, made us joint heirs with him,
and he shares the spoils of his victory with his people. He's
conquered every enemy. That's his covenant promise to
us, that he shall call and separate out all his elect, Jew and Gentile,
and make us one. At that time, they were not one.
Those tribes weren't. They're under the under the captivity
of an enemy because God had delivered them out, but they displeased
God and weren't walking according to God's word. And God chastened
them and afflicted them because they were trusting man too much,
trusting themselves too much, looking to themselves and their
own will and way and their works and looking to enemy nations
to save them. And God afflicted them. He afflicted
them to teach them this. That's what God does. That's
mercy. That's what that is. That's the
mercy and love of God to his children to do that. And he even here says he's going
to conquer every enemy for his people. He says in verse 9, Moab's
my washpot, over Edom will I cast out my shoe, over Philistia will
I triumph. He's speaking of the three worst
enemies Israel had right here. And spiritually, we can see here
the three worst enemies we have our Lord has conquered. Sin,
death, and hell. He's conquered sin, the guilt
and condemnation of the law. He comes and conquers sin and
takes dominion of the hearts of his people. He fixes our hearts
on Christ. And every time you waver, just
like David, He comes and he chastens and he sets your heart back on
Christ and keeps your heart set on Christ. If you think you can
set your heart on Christ, your heart ain't set on Christ. I
can guarantee you that. The moment you start looking
to your faith, you ain't looking to Christ. The moment you start
trusting your strength and your assurance, you've lost your strength
and your assurance. But even amongst the Gentiles
there, Christ shall save his elect. Ruth was a Moabitess. She's the great, great, great
grandmother of our Lord Jesus. And he saved her. He saved her
from the Moabites. All who Christ saved were enemies
in our minds by wicked works. And Christ came forth and reconciled
us to God. And these afflictions are to
remind us When we can't save ourselves, and we're not talking
about just stumping your toe, we're talking about God shutting
you up to where you can't do one thing to save yourself. And
when he brings you back into that kind of affliction, sometimes
it's spiritual, it's in the heart, sometimes it's providential,
but when he brings you there again, he's reminding you all
over again that now that we're reconciled friends with God,
you can be certain we're gonna be saved, not by our hand, but
by Christ who is our life. You'll be certain. David believed
God would give him strength to fight. And he went forth and
did some fighting. We're going to have to fight.
We're going to have to put down this enemy that's in our flesh.
We're going to have to put down the enemy that's without. We're
going to have to fight. But it's a fight of faith. It's
not a fight of personal strength. David declares in his psalm,
Christ did it. Look at it, verse 10. Who will
bring me into the strong city? Who will lead me into Edom? Listen
now. Will not thou, O God, who has
cast us off? And will not thou, O God, go
forth with our hosts? Now you picture Christ on the
cross. It's as dark as it's ever been
on this earth. They're not a word coming from
God, because God has cast him off in judgment. Here's perfect
faith. Who's going to lead me forth?
Is it not going to be thou who has cast us off? That's faith. To trust God when he's cast you
off. David went forth trusting the
Lord, and David fought by faith, but the Lord won the victory. Isaiah 63 says, Who is this that
cometh from Edom with dyed garments from Basra? This that is glorious
in his apparel, traveling in the greatness of his strength,
I that speak in righteousness, mighty to say. Now think about
this as a child of God. They were captives because God
was chasing His people. God usually doesn't just chase
one of His children, He chases them all. usually together, and
that's what he was doing with Israel. But this is the faith
God gives when he comes and his chastening hand has accomplished
its purpose in his child personally and he fixes your heart personally
on Christ alone. Even though God has cast us off,
We know his chastening is only to make us trust Christ alone
and to turn us from trusting man. So that we say, who will
lead me? Who's going forth with me? Will
not thou, O God, who cast us off? This is God's promise. For a
small moment I forsaken thee, but with great mercies will I
gather thee. In a little wrath I hid my face
from thee for a moment, but with everlasting kindness will I have
mercy on thee, saith the Lord thy Redeemer. Isaac Watts wrote a hymn titled
The Darkness of Providence. Listen to this. See if this rings
true in your heart. Lord, we adore thy vast designs,
the obscure abyss of providence, too deep to sound with mortal
lines, too dark to view with feeble sense. Now thou rayest
thine awful face in angry frowns without a smile. We through the
cloud believe thy grace, secure of thy compassion still. Through
seas and storms of deep distress, we sail by faith and not by sight. Faith guides us in the wilderness
through all the briars and the night. Dear Father, if thy lifted
rod resolved to scourge us here below, still we must lean upon
our God. Thine arm shall bear us safely
through. That's what David's saying right
there. Who's going to go forth? Will it not be God who casts
us off? Even in the darkness, God, when He fixes your heart
on Him, you trust Him. And here's the end of every affliction
when God brings His child there, verse 12. He asks, give us help
from trouble, for vain is the help of man. This is what he wrote in Psalm
60, verses 1 and 2. He said, O God, thou hast cast
us off, thou hast scattered us, thou hast been displeased. O
turn thyself to us again. Turn thyself to us again. Thou hast made the earth to tremble,
thou hast broken it. Heal the breaches thereof, for
it shaketh. Now brethren, Christ is teaching
us obedience by the things we suffer. The same as he learned
obedience by the things he suffered. That means we're going to suffer.
That means we're going to suffer. But he's going to make us to
know he's the one who sent the affliction. But it's his chastening
hand of love and mercy to save us from trusting man. Don't ever
exalt a man. Don't ever put your confidence
in a man. Not me, not anybody else, certainly not yourself. He's going to make us know again
that Christ alone is the great healer and the repairer of the
breach. That's what they prayed in Psalm
60. Lord, you made the earth to tremble, thou hast broken
it. Heal the breaches thereof, for it shaketh. He's going to
make us to know again and again and again. Better, better, better. more clearly, more clearly, more
clearly, that we don't have any strength in ourselves to save
ourselves. He gonna make us know more clearly.
He is the repairer and the healer of his people. Christ is. Turn,
and he, when he does it, he turns you in repentance, a change of
mind, not just concerning what you've done, although it is that,
but concerning what you are. You're the sinner. And He brings
you in faith from trusting man, in repentance, from trusting
man to faith to trust Christ. Turn thyself to us again. We need you, Lord. That's what
He brings you to cry. And then what happens? Verse 13. Through God we shall
do valiantly. For He it is that shall tread
down our enemies. Did God go with David? Did God
go forth with David? His people are going to continue
to persevere in faith. They're going to continue to
walk before him and follow after Christ and seek to honor him
and glorify him in their lives. And they're going to continue
to be used by the Lord to spread his word. And will we defeat
our enemies? Did David 1 Chronicles 18.1 said,
After this it came to pass, David smoked the Philistines, and he
smoked Moab, and the Moabites became David's servants and brought
gifts. David slew of the Syrians two
and twenty thousand men. The Syrians became David's servants
and brought gifts. And thus, the Lord, the Lord
preserved David wherever he went. The Lord did it. Now, to those
who are real sinners in need of God to save in mercy alone,
God says this, incline your ear and come unto me and here in
your soul shall live and I will make an everlasting covenant
with you even the sure mercies of David. That promise David
spoke about, he's spoken to me in his holiness in his covenant
promise. And to his saints who know they're
yet real sinners in need for God to save in mercy, God says,
incline your ear and come unto me. Here in your soul shall live
and I will make an everlasting covenant with you even the sure
mercies of David. We don't ever get beyond that.
We don't ever get beyond that. It's of the Lord's mercies that
were not consumed because his compassions fell not. They're
new every morning. Great is thy faithfulness. Therefore, Paul said, let no
man glory in men. That's where David was brought.
He said, oh, it's vain to look for the help of man. Let no man
glory in men. For all things are yours, whether
Paul, or Apollos, or Cephas, or the world, with all its afflictions
and its briars and its thorn, or life, With all its ups and
downs, and you watch that wheel of providence, sometimes you
could be up here, but that wheel of providence is going to roll,
and you're going to be down here sometime. But it'll keep rolling. You'll be back up there again.
Life or death, death is yours. Things present or things to come,
all are yours. And you're Christ, and Christ
is God. That's what David That's what,
when he heard Nathan preach that gospel of Christ, that gave him
strength. That was his power. He went forth
to the victory. That's where he went forth, to
the victory. I pray God bless the gospel to
our hearing. Father, thank you for this word.
We ask you to bless it, ask you to work this in our hearts and
afflict as we need affliction, Lord. Break us, break us, break
us. Don't let us trust ourselves.
Keep us trusting you alone. When you're pleased, Lord, and
you're honored and glorified, we ask you to deliver your beloved
ones and hear us and deliver us. And Lord, when you have,
how we do praise you when our heart is fixed on you alone to
know you indeed are our preserver, you're our strength, you're our
help in every time of need. And we need you every time, all
the time. Lord, forgive us our sins. Forgive
us the haughtiness of man. Forgive us for exalting ourselves
and trying to force by guilt and intimidation and law and
put us down, Lord, in the dust. Make us trust you. Make us look
to Christ only. Know you're ruling and reigning. You're doing all things well
for your people. In Christ's name we ask you,
amen.