Let us turn to God's Word in
the book of Proverbs. And I want to direct you this
morning to words that we find in Proverbs 12, 12. Chapter 12 and verse 12 in the
book of Proverbs. And we read these words, The
wicked desireth the net. The margin gives the alternative
reading of fortress. The wicked desireth the fortress
of evil men, but the root of the righteous yieldeth fruit. The wicked desireth the nets,
or the fortress of evil men, but the root of the righteous
yieldeth fruit. He reminded, of course, at the
beginning of the book of what the nature of Proverbs is. It's told there, the Proverbs
of Solomon, the son of David, king of Israel, to know wisdom
and instruction, to perceive the words of understanding, to
receive the instruction of wisdom, justice, and judgment, and equity. It's the purpose of the book,
verse 6, to understand the proverb and the interpretation, the words
of the wise and their dark sayings. That's part of scripture that
we call the wisdom literature. It continues, of course, into
the following book of Ecclesiastes, the book of the preacher, and
there at the end of Ecclesiastes, again, chapter 12 and verse 12, sorry, I should say verse 11,
the words of the wise are as gold, it says, and as nails fastened
by the masters of assemblies which are given from one shepherd. So, all of it ultimately, be
it the words that we find in Ecclesiastes or the words in
Proverbs, all proceeds not so much from Solomon, but from that
one shepherd, even the Lord Jesus Christ himself. Now when we come to the words
that I've read, for a text here in chapter 12, we see quite clearly
how that two sorts of people are set forth. There is this
great division amongst men. There are the righteous, and
there are the wicked. And we have the end of each of
these two distinct groups, the end of them being spoken of.
In verse two, a good man obtaineth favor of the Lord, but a man
of wicked devices will he condemn. And then again at verse 19, It
says the lip of truth shall be established forever, but a lying
tongue is but for a moment. These contrasts being drawn between
two quite distinct and different characters. And so when we come
to the text again, the wicked desire of the nets, the fortress
of evil men, but the root of the righteous yieldeth fruit. And this morning I really want
to concentrate on what he said at the end of the verse. Our
text really is found in those words in the second clause. The
root of the righteous yieldeth fruit. First then, we have to
ask the question, who is the righteous? Who is the righteous
person that is being spoken of in this chapter that is being
spoken of throughout the book, throughout all the wisdom, literature
we might say, throughout all of Holy Scripture, who exactly
is the righteous? And we have an answer. and we
find it on three occasions in scripture. We find it in the
New Testament, there in Romans chapter 3 and verse 10, it says
there is non-righteous, no, not one. And how emphatic is that
statement? Because we have three negatives
there. It says non, no, not one. There is non-righteous, no, not
one. And it's not only there in that
third chapter of Romans that we find that statement, but we
also have it, it's a quotation really, we have it back in the
Old Testament. We find it twice in Psalm 14
at verse 3, and then again in Psalm 53 at verse 3. Three times, We have that text then, twice
in the Old Testament, once in the New Testament. And each time
we have those three negatives, there is non-righteous, no, not
one. And the wise man tells us in
Ecclesiastes that three-fold cord is not quickly broken. How true it is. How true it is. There is non-righteous. Where
do we find the righteous man? We cannot find that man. For
all have sinned, he says, and come short of the glory of God. All of us descended from Adam
and Eve, they transgressed the commandment of God there in the
Garden of Eden. Adam standing at the head of
the race, a representative person, we all sinned in Adam, we're
sinners in Adam, but we also receive from him a fallen nature,
who can bring a clean thing out of an unclean, not one. We were
conceived in sin, we were shaped in iniquity. There is not a just
man upon the earth that doeth good and sinneth not. Again, words that we find there
in Ecclesiastes 7 and verse 20. Who is the righteous? There is
not. And then we're told quite plainly
in Holy Scripture, Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not
inherit the kingdom of God. If there's an unrighteous and
all are therefore unrighteous, who is able to inherit the Kingdom
of God? Who can be saved? Who can be
saved? Well, the secret, of course,
is found in this text that I've announced this morning, these
words at the end of this twelfth verse, the root of the righteous
yieldeth fruit. The secret is in the root. And
that root is, of course, none other than the Lord Jesus Christ
Himself. What we have here as a text this
morning is one of the names amongst the many names that are given
to the Lord Jesus Christ throughout the Bible. Here is one of His
names. He is the root of the righteous. This is part, as I said, of the
wisdom literature and do His wisdom. It is the Lord Jesus
Christ. He is wisdom to His people, of
Him are ye in Christ Jesus who have God is made unto us. Wisdom
and righteousness and sanctification and redemption. He is our wisdom,
He is our righteousness. And all Scripture of course is
constantly directing us to Him. as he says to the Jews there
in John chapter 5, search the Scriptures, search the Scriptures,
in them ye think that ye have eternal life. All the Jews had
a high regard for the Word of God, the sect of the Pharisees,
how they sought to surround that Word of God by their various
rules and regulations, their traditions, they had such a high
regard for it. They smothered it, really, with
their tradition. But nonetheless, they recognized
what God's Word was, they would search it. Christ says, search
the Scriptures. In them you think that you have
eternal life, but these are they that testify of me. And here, we see the Lord Jesus
Christ. Is He not spoken of In that remarkable
statement that we have at the beginning of chapter 30, we read
the passage last Lord's Day. There in chapter 30 and verse
4, "...who hath ascended up into heaven, or descended, who hath
gathered the wind in his fist, who hath bound the waters in
a garment, who hath established all the ends of the earth, what
is his name? And what is his son's name, if
thou canst tell?" Oh, it's God's Son, His eternal Son, His only
begotten Son, who is being spoken of here in our text this morning. The roots of the righteous. The
root of the righteous yieldeth fruit. And remember how He is
spoken of, we read the passage there in Isaiah chapter 11 concerning
Him. those words at verse 10 there
shall be in that day a root of Jesse it says a root of Jesse
which shall stand for an ensign of the people he is the root
of Jesse who was the father of David and he is a righteous root by his knowledge shall my righteous
servant justify many says God or the Messiah who comes as a servant of God
who is made under the Lord of God who honors the Lord of God
he is a righteous servant by his knowledge shall my righteous
servant justify many he is the root and he is righteous isn't
that his name? His name shall be called Righteous. We're told there in Proverbs
23.6. That is His name, He's the Righteous
One. But when we think of the significance
of Christ as that Root, as we have it here in the text, when
we think of Him as the Root, the Root of Jesuit, And also,
of course, as he is the root of Jesse, he must also be the
root of David, and he's declared to be that. In Revelation 5,
verse 5, and again in the end of that book, in Revelation 22,
16, he says, I am the root of David. But not only that, I am
the root and offspring of David. the bright and morning star. He is both the root of David,
and he is also the offspring of David. And of course, that
is very significant because it directs us to the truth of the
two natures in the one person of the Lord Jesus Christ. He
is David's root, he is David's Lord, but he's also David's offspring,
he is David's son. And we remarked recently on the
significance of how Paul, when he begins to define the gospel
there in the opening verses of the epistle to the Romans, makes
it quite clear that with regard to his human nature, Christ is
of the seed of David. but how he is declared to be
the Son of God with power. There in words of that epistle,
Paul, a servant of Jesus Christ, called to be an apostle, separated
unto the gospel of God, which he had promised afore by his
prophets in the Holy Scriptures, concerning his son Jesus Christ
our Lord, which was made of the seed of David according to the
flesh, but declared to be the Son of God with power according
to the Spirit of holiness by the resurrection from the dead."
Remember again also how the Lord Himself silences His critics, silences the Pharisees
there at the end of Matthew 22 He asked them, saying, What think
ye of Christ? Whose son is he? And they say
unto him, and they are right, the son of David. They say unto
him, The son of David. He saith unto them, O then, that
David in spirit call him Lord, saying, The Lord said unto my
Lord, Sit thou on my right hand, till I make thine enemies thy
footstool. If David then call him Lord,
how is he his son? No man was able to answer him
a word, neither does any man from that day forth ask him any
more questions, it says. So he silences them by directing
them to that great mystery. The truth that he is the root of David. He is the
root of Jesse. He is before David. He is before Jesse. He is the
eternal Son of God before Abraham. He says, before Abram, I am. And if you believe not that I
am, you shall perish in your sins. Or when we think of him
then as the root, we have to think in terms of his person
and in particular of his divine nature, he is God. And yet he
is also man. Because, again, in that portion
that we read in Isaiah, what does it say in the opening verse? He is a rod out of the stem of
Jesse, and a branch out of his roots. He also proceeds from
Jesse. He is a branch. He is a branch
out of Jesse's roots. With regards to his human nature,
he is descended then. from Jesse, from David, is that
branch. What does God say in Zechariah? Behold I will bring forth my
servant the branch. Behold the man whose name is
the branch. All this is the human nature. And when we think of Christ in
the Incarnation, how is that spoken of? there in Isaiah 53
a root out of a dry ground it says thinking of his human nature
a root out of a dry ground he hath no form nor comeliness when
we shall see him there is no beauty that we should desire
him he is one who is despised and rejected of men in his human nature or what you
militant, making himself of no reputation, taking upon him the
form of a servant, found in fashion as a man, it says. I am the root,
he says, and the offspring of David. The mystery of these things,
a root, a root is one thing, An offspring is quite another.
There are those two natures. He is God, and yet he is man,
and no mingling, no mixing of the natures, two distinct natures,
and yet in that glorious, what they call the hypostatic union,
he is one person, one Lord Jesus Christ in all things, in everything
that he does here upon the earth, he is the God-man. And here we
have mention of him. By this name he is the Root,
it says, the Root of the Righteous, and the Root of the Righteous
yieldeth fruit. Well, let us think of that, what
he said concerning this particular Root of Righteous. It yields
fruit. How does the Lord Jesus Christ
bear fruit? How does He bear that great fruit
of salvation? There was a purpose for His coming
into the world. Remember what He says? Verily,
verily, except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die,
it abideth alone. But if it die, it bringeth forth
much fruit. This is how the Lord Jesus Christ
is fruitful. And I want us to think for a
while what His work involves. What does the work of the Lord
Jesus Christ entail? He is sent by the Father. He
makes that quite clear. He has not come to do His own
will but the will of Him who has sent Him and to finish His
work. He has a work to do. Now, what is that work? What
does it involve? Well, it involves life and death
and resurrection and ascension and intercession And in every
part of that work that he accomplishes here upon the earth, in every
aspect of that work, he is fruitful. Now, I did wonder when I awoke
this morning whether I should continue with this particular
test. I'd had it on my mind earlier in the week and done some preparation. But then with events yesterday
and The news now that we're to go
into another form of lockdown for another month, I thought
well, is this a subject that I should really be dealing with
this morning? Shouldn't I really turn to some
other portion of scripture? I did go to the language of Jehoshaphat
in his great prayer there in 2 Chronicles 20. I refer to it
in prayer, we know not what to do, but our eyes are unto thee. But then, as I thought about
things, I thought, well, I did listen to the news yesterday
evening and heard that the Prime Minister had made this statement
saying that we have to be humble before nature. And so, within
24 hours there's been a complete somersault by the powers that
be. One minute they're saying we're
definitely not going to have another national lockdown, and
the next they're decreeing such a thing. And I thought, well,
what a strange thing to say we have to humble ourselves before
nature. It's almost a pantheistic sort
of statement, as if we worship nature. We don't worship the
creature, we worship the Creator, we worship God. And it's grievous,
is it not, that amongst the powers that be, one never hears any
reference to God or the hand of God going against us at this
time, that God's judgments are in all the earth, that God is
dealing with us as a people, and that we need to look to ourselves
and to examine ourselves. And I thought, well, maybe I
should just stick with the text because it does set before us
something of the glories that belong unto our God and Savior,
the Lord Jesus Christ. So I want to try to say something
with regards to the fruit. The fruit that we see as a consequence,
as a result of the work of the Lord Jesus Christ. Think of His
life. Think of His life. In that life
of the Lord Jesus Christ there is righteousness. That is the
only place where we will find real righteousness. That is the
great doctrine, is it not, that was rediscovered at the time
of the Protestant Reformation, the doctrine of justification.
Now the eyes of Martin Luther, by the grace of God, were open
to that wondrous truth. And where is that righteousness
that justifies the sinner? It's found in the Lord Jesus
Christ and the life that He lived here upon the earth. We're told
when the fullness of the time was come, God sent forth His
Son, made of a woman, made under the law. He's not only made of
a woman, He's the seed of the woman. He's the seed of Abraham.
He's the seed of David. He's a real man. We've sought
to say something again this morning concerning the person. of the
God-man, a real man. But he's not just made of a woman.
And remember, the woman was first in the transgression. How wondrous
it is that the one who comes to undo what Adam did is the
seed of the woman who leads Adam, as it were, into
the transgression. The woman leads Adam into the
transgression, but now there is one who comes to save the
sinful sons of Adam and Eve. He is made of a woman, but he's
also made under the law. He is subject to the law of God.
And we're told how the Lord is well pleased for his righteousness
sake. He will magnify the law and make
it honorable. all that's what he comes to do
to magnify, to honor it and he does it by the life that he lives
that life of obedience to every commandment of God all that man
Jesus of Nazareth who never once sinned in all of his life who
never even thought a sinful thought, that man holy, harmless, undefiled,
separate from sinners, made higher than the heavens. And He is declared
to be the end of the law for righteousness to everyone that
believes. Oh, that's the great truth, is
it not? Where do we look for righteousness? It's in Christ. And we have to trust in Christ
as that One who in the very lower place of His people has come.
And I know that that Holy Lord of Gods demanded a full and a
perfect righteousness. And now the Apostles, they preach
this truth. Paul preaches this great truth.
There at Antioch in Acts chapter 13 What does he say? By Him, he's speaking of Christ,
by Him all that believe are justified from all things that they could
not be justified from by the deeds of the law. Why was it
that Paul preached that truth? Well, that is the Gospel. And
that is the Gospel that was revealed to him. Remember how he speaks
of it in Galatians chapter 1, he pleads God, he says, to reveal
his Son in me. What was that revelation? Him
who is the root of righteousness. And so Paul expresses his great
desire there in Philippians 3 to be found in Him. Or to be found
in Him, not having mine own righteousness, he said, which is of the law,
but that which is through the faith of Christ. The righteousness
which is of God by faith. He couldn't preach any other
message. He could only preach that that he desired for himself. I believed, he says, therefore
have I spoken. He preaches righteousness. And that righteousness, I say
again, is in the life of the Lord Jesus Christ. But when Christ
comes, he doesn't just come to live a life. He also comes to
die a death. And He is obedient, we're told
in Philippians 2.8, unto death. He's obedient unto death, even
the death of the cross. And what is there in the dying
of the Lord Jesus Christ? Why, in that death there is redemption. In whom we have redemption. through
His blood, according to the riches of His grace." Well, what has
the Lord Jesus Christ done? He has come to redeem His maid
of a woman made under the law, to redeem them that were under
the law, that they might receive the adoption of sons. And how was Christ redeemed?
Well, He has paid the ransom price. And what is that ransom? It is precious blood. All the life is in the blood.
Without the shedding of blood there is no remission of sins.
The Holy Lord of God must be satisfied not only with regards
to all its precepts. All its holy precepts must be
obeyed. but it must also be satisfied
in terms of all its dreadful penalties. The soul that sinneth
it shall die, says the law. Well, that's the wages of sin.
Adam was told, in the day that they eat us thereof, they shall
surely die. Sin brings death. That's the ransom that must be
paid then. And Christ hath redeemed us,
it says, from the curse of the law. Being made a curse for us,
for it is written, Cursed is everyone that hangeth on the
truth. Oh, he is obedient unto death,
but what death? It is that death of the cross.
It is that accursed death. He has paid the price. It's a
penal death then. He pays that price that the Holy
Lord of God demands. Oh, in his death, there is redemption
just as in his life there is righteousness no wonder in heaven they sing
that new song saying thou art worth it for thou hast redeemed
us to God by thy blood out of every kindred and tongue and
people and nation that is the song of the redeemed they sing
glory to the Lord Jesus Christ You see, there's fruit in his
life, there's fruit in his dying. "...for the roots of the righteous yieldeth
fruit." There's fruit also in his resurrection from the dead.
And what is the fruit that we find there? Is there not an association
in his resurrection to that great doctrine of regeneration? even when we were dead in sins
hath quickened us together with Christ it says in Ephesians 2.5
we are quickened together with Christ it's the same power that is in the resurrection
of the Lord Jesus Christ that comes into the soul of the sinner
when that sinner is born again of the Spirit of God, regeneration
and what is the consequence of regeneration? They are saving
five. By nature the sinner is dead
in trespasses and sins. He knows nothing of the graces
of the Spirit but when the Spirit comes And he comes as the Spirit
of Christ and it's that quickening in the soul. Remember the language
that we have there in Ephesians 1.19 where Paul speaks of the
exceeding greatness of his power to us who do believe. The exceeding
greatness of his power to believe us. And it's according to the
working of his mighty power which he wrought in Christ. when he
raised him from the dead and set him at his own right hand
for thy dead men shall live together with my dead body shall they
arise there's a connection between his resurrection and that new
life that comes into the soul of that sinner who is dead in
trespasses and in sin and of course when the sinner
is born again he comes into the experience of his adoption he
comes to experience the blessing of adoption and that adoption is also rooted
in the Lord Jesus as Christ is the only begotten son so those
who are in him they are the adopted sons of God He's made of a woman, He's made under
the Lord to redeem them that were under the Lord that they
might receive the adoption, the adoption of sons, the resurrection life of the
Lord Jesus Christ. It's such a vital truth, is it
not? That's a remarkable statement that we have in Romans 5 and
verse 10. Paul says, if when we were enemies we were reconciled
to God by the death of his son, much more being reconciled we
shall be saved by his life. Now what is Paul saying there
when he speaks of being saved by his life? He's speaking of
the Lord's resurrection life. You see the doctrine of the resurrection
of Christ is such a vital truth. Because our very life is bound
up with that life that is in him as the resurrected one. That's
what Paul is saying. Oh, the root of the righteous
and that fruit that is yielded from such a root. There's righteousness,
there's redemption, there's regeneration. But then think also, when he
is risen again from the dead, He shows himself those 40 days
and 40 nights by many infallible proofs as we read in the opening
chapter of the Acts. He proves to his disciples the
reality of his resurrection and then he ascends. And what is
there in the ascension of the Lord Jesus Christ? Why there's
all those gifts all those gifts that are so necessary
to our experience of salvation the psalmist says thou hast ascended
on high and he goes on thou hast received
gifts for men yea for thee rebellious also in his ascension into heaven
hasn't the Lord Jesus Christ received an abundance of gifts
And these gifts are therefore rebellious, sinners, those who
are by nature in that state of alienation, they're enemies of
God, they're so set against God. And those words of the Psalmist
there in Psalm 68 are directly applied to the Lord Jesus in
Ephesians 4.8. Thou hast ascended on high, Thou
hast led captivity captive, Thou hast received gifts for men.
We read there in Ephesians 4.8. And what is that great gift that
the Lord bestows in the first instance? Is it not the gift
of the Holy Spirit? Or Peter declares it on the day
of Pentecost, therefore being by the right hand of God exalted,
having received of the Father the promise of the Holy Ghost,
He has shed forth this which ye now see and hear." That is
the great gift that the Lord Jesus Christ has received, even
the gift of the Holy Ghost. It's the working out of the whole
economy of grace. Oh, that salvation! That salvation
that is in God himself, in Father, Son and Holy Spirit and remember
that they are three eternal persons and they are equal persons there
is no superiority or inferiority it is God the Father, God the
Son and God the Holy Spirit when he comes to the great plan of
salvation there there is an economy, there's a covenant and in that
covenant the son so willingly becomes the servant of the father
and so the father sends the son Behold my servant whom I uphold,
mine elect in whom my soul delighteth, I have put my spirit upon him
and as the As the Father is served by the Son, so the Son is served
by the Spirit. And the Son sends the Spirit.
He hath shed forth this which ye now see and hear, and he comes
as the Spirit of Christ. and he has that ministry that
he is so self-effacing he doesn't call any attention to himself
the Blessed Spirit or he delights to testify of the Lord Jesus
he speaks of the things of the Lord Jesus Christ and he works
on behalf of the Lord Jesus Christ he is given to make Christ known
in the souls of sinners how Christ then, the Ascended One those
shed forth gifts, that gift of the Holy Ghost, but then it goes
on, does he not Acts 5 31, Himmath got exalted with his right hand
to be a prince and a saviour to give repentance to Israel
and the forgiveness of sins. Oh, do we thank God for that
gift of the forgiveness of sins. Thank God for that gift of repentance. And the Spirit comes, does he
not, to work that repentance in the soul of the sinner just
as he works faith. Oh, where there is that regenerating
grace of the Spirit, there is faith, there is repentance, there's
that experience of the blessings of union with the Lord Jesus
Christ. Of all that the work of the Lord
Jesus Christ involves, His life, His death, His resurrection,
His ascension, But then also let us not forget his session
now in heaven. His session there at the Father's
right hand. He is still the great high priest
of our profession and he came to do a priestly work here upon
the earth when he made the great sin atoning sacrifice and now
he has entered into that within the veil and there he ever lives
to make intercession. Oh, and think of the fruit of
that intercession. What is there? What is the fruit
of His intercession? For us, there is access. There is access. Oh, we're told
He is able to save to the uttermost all that come unto God by Him.
If we do but come by the Lord Jesus Christ, there is all the
fullness of salvation for us. and what access? In whom, Paul
says, we have boldness and access with confidence by the faith
of Jesus Christ. You know, I love the language
of the Apostle Paul. I know it's all the Word of God.
From Genesis to Revelation there are different authors of Scripture
and these authors, you know, They have their own particular
and peculiar way of expressing themselves, and there is language
in the New Testament that is clearly Johannine. It's John's language, and you
read John's gospel, or you read John's epistles, or you read
the Revelation, and you see there's a certain language that John
is using, and with Paul's epistles, it's different. His language
is his own, it's Pauline. God doesn't subsume the personalities
of these men in the doctrine of inspiration. They're speaking
the words of God, but they're not having those words merely
dictated to them. They're speaking out of their
own heart and soul's experience. Do you not love the way in which
Paul uses language? And how the beauty of it is brought
out for us in the Authorized Version. and that statement that
we have there in Ephesians 3.12 concerning the access that we
have in Christ in whom we have boldness he says access with
confidence by the faith of him oh what an entrance we have because
the Lord has ascended and the Lord is now entered into heaven
itself and there he ever lives to make intercession He's our
advocate. He's our high priest, yes, but
He's also, that's another name, is it not? If any man sin, we
have an advocate. With the Father, Jesus Christ,
the righteous. And He is the propitiation for
our sins. Oh, He is Jesus Christ, a righteous
advocate. And the root of the righteous
yields fruit. Remember, the testimony of Job. I read that lovely 19th chapter,
but I was thinking in particular of those words in verse 28. Let's read the passage from verse
25. Here's Job's testimony, how he's rebuking his friends, they
were such poor comforters. and he felt God's hands had gone
out so much against him they didn't seem to understand and
yet here is the faith of this man Job I know that my Redeemer
liveth, he says and that he shall stand at the latter day upon
the earth and though after my skin worms destroy this body
yet in my flesh shall I see God whom I shall see for myself and
mine eyes shall behold and not another though my veins be consumed
within them But ye should say, why persecute we him, seeing
the root of the matter is found in mine? Or the root of the matter
was there in Job in the midst of all his trials? Or this morning
is this root of the matter in us? Is it in me, really in me?
Is it in you? It's the root of the righteous. It's Christ, you see. Christ
in you, says Paul. The hope of glory. He's Christ in us. Not just us
being in Christ, you know. That's a precious truth. To be
in Christ. But for Christ to be in us. For
Christ to be in us. Look at the language of the Prophet,
Isaiah 14, 5. He says, I will be as the dew
unto Israel. He shall grow up as the lily
and cast forth his roots as Lebanon. His branches shall spread. His beauty shall be as the olive
tree and his smell as Lebanon. Oh, if the root of the matter
is in us, Root of the matter is really in us, Christ in us
He'll be to us as dew We'll grow as the lily, we'll cast forth
roots as Lebanon Our branch is spreading out There'll be beauty
there There'll be the smell of Lebanon All he says from me is
thy fruit found if we are fruitful it all comes from the Lord Jesus
Christ only from him the Lord says ye shall know them by their
fruits and we are so dependent upon the Lord for any fruitfulness
if we are his sheep he says my sheep hear my voice and I know
them and they follow me are we those who are true followers
of him? Let this mind be in you which
was also in Christ Jesus. Do we have the mind of Christ? Are we those who desire that
we might be fruitful and fruitful to the honor and the praise of
his great name or this one, this one who is the root of righteousness. What a blessed privilege it is
if we know Him and could only discern all the fullness of that
fruit that is found in His person and in His work. O God, then
be pleased to bless the words to us. The root of the righteous
yieldeth fruit. Amen.