All right, if you take your Bibles
and turn with me again to Psalm 27. Psalm 27. Psalm chapter 27. We began this
last Lord's Day and we only got through with verse 1. And so,
Lord willing, I have three other points that I need to get through
in this Psalm. You remember the first point,
it begins in chapter 27 verse 1, it says, The Lord is my light
and my salvation, whom shall I fear? The Lord is the strength
of my life, of whom shall I be afraid? When the wicked, even
mine enemies, my foes, came upon me to eat up my flesh, they stumbled
and fell. We find David again here in the
midst of his enemies, in trouble. And he cries out unto God and
the grounds, the grounds upon which he stands before God, he
mentions to us in verse 1. It is his union. It is his union. We went over this Sunday, he
said the Lord is my life, the Lord is my salvation. The Lord
is the strength of my life. He didn't say God gives me light,
God gives me salvation, God gives me the strength. He said He is. He's testifying of His union
with God. God who is light is my light. God who is salvation is my salvation. God who is life is my life. He's confessing his union with
Christ. And we know this, that God, if
you are a believer in Christ, we know this, that God put you
in union with His Son before the world began. Scripture says
that blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ who
has blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places
in Christ Jesus according as He had chosen us in Christ before
the foundation of the world. We were chosen in Christ. And
when Christ came into the world, we were in Christ. He was our
representative. When He honored the law of God
in our stead, we honored the law of God in Him. When He died
for our sins upon Calvary Street, we were in Him. We died. The law, the law and the justice
of God fell on him because of our sin. God made him to be sin
for us who knew no sin for this purpose, that us, we who are
in him might be made the righteousness of God in him. That's where our
righteousness comes from. Our redemption is because we
were in union with him. And when he rose again from the
dead, we were in union with him. When God raised up Christ, we
were risen with Him. We were risen with Him. And then
we know this, when the Spirit of God came, that union was manifest. That union was made real to us
when the Holy Spirit came and dwelt in us. He gave us a new
nature. He put the very nature of Christ
in us, the holy nature. Paul says that we are created
after God in true holiness. He gives us a new nature. And
then the Spirit makes His abode with us. This is amazing, isn't
it, that God dwells in us? Can you contemplate that, that
the Spirit of God, wherever you go, doesn't matter, Doesn't matter
the condition of this flesh, does it? The Spirit of God is
with us. He is in us. We are in union
with God. And so then we may truly say,
God who is my light, then has what? Given me light. God is
my light, but then in grace God gave me light. Scripture says
that God has made Christ, that God put us in Christ. 1 Corinthians
chapter 1, it says, But of God are you in Christ Jesus, who
of God has made unto us what wisdom, light, understanding. You were in darkness, but now
what? You have the light of life. God
has given you light and understanding. He is my salvation. Now what
Paul says he's made into wisdom, righteousness, sanctification,
redemption. Is that not salvation? That's salvation. He that is
my salvation has now given me his salvation. And because he
has given his salvation to me, because he's given me his righteousness,
he has given me his sanctification, he has given me his redemption. Therefore, in my trouble, that
is the grounds upon which I stand before God. We pray denied twice.
How do you know he heard me? How do you know he heard you?
You question that. How often do you question if
God heard you at all? Well, that just depends on what,
what's your grounds? What's your merit? You don't believe God heard you
because you're basing that on your merit. Well, you'll never
believe God heard you if you're basing it on your works. But
listen, God hears you because of your union with Christ. He
will always hear you because He will always hear His Son.
The day He stopped listening to Christ, the day He stopped
listening to me. Isn't that something? He always hears you. How often
do you feel when you pray that don't go past the ceiling? Oh,
it went past the ceiling. Went all the way to heaven. You know what? It's amazing.
You don't have to say a word. God doesn't need your voice. Sometimes
we can't help it. We have to use our voice. God
doesn't need it. Sometimes that pain is so painful
that we have to cry we have to beg we have to use our voice
with my voice I cried unto God and he heard me now why would
he hear you because of Christ so that's our grounds now then
the second thing I wanted to see is David's enemy Look at
that in verse 2. David's crying and he's using
this cry, these grounds, because he has enemies. He said, when
the wicked, even mine enemies, my foes came upon me to eat up
my flesh. They stumbled and fell. Believer
like David, we are not lacking enemies. You're not lacking enemies. We have real enemies. Real foes. When we were in this world and
we were lost, now listen, we had plenty of friends. We had plenty of friends. When
we were in this world, but once the Spirit quickened us to life
and faith, it became clear that we had real enemies. Real foes. Over in 1 Peter, look at this
here, 1 Peter chapter 4 and verse 3, 1 Peter chapter 4, For in
time past of our life may suffice us to have wrought the will of
the Gentiles when we walked in lasciviousness, lust, excess
of wine, reveling, banqueting, and abominable idolatry. wherein
they think it strange that you run not with them to the same
excess of right, speaking evil of you. You see, as long as we
were running with them, they didn't mind so much. But when
we could no longer run to the same excess as them, it convicts
them, it condemns them, and they don't like that. And they won't
like you if you won't run with them, if you don't do the same
things they do. Now then these foes, what are
our enemies? Who were the enemies of David?
They're the same enemies you have. They are the world, the
flesh, and the devil. These friends are real enemies. The first one I want to mention
is the devil, Satan. He is real. I believe one of
the most amazing things that he has done is to convince the
world he doesn't really exist. They think it's a mythological
being of some sort. Either that or they exalt him
to be equal with God. Religion would do that. They
say, well, God made his vote and the devil has his. They put
Him on the same equal playing field as God. No, but He's real. I'll tell you, once we were at
peace under His dominion, but now that Christ has freed us,
Now that we serve Christ, Christ has spoiled his kingdom. He has delivered his elect from
the accusations of the devil, from the guilt of sin that enslaved
us. He freed us. He said, upon this
rock I will build my church and the gates of hell shall not prevail
against it. You see, we were barred, I'll
tell you this, by Christ. The gates of hell did not prevail. They did not keep us. They could
not keep us. We were freed, freed from Him. And yet this evil being hates
us above all things, despises us. Remember over in
Revelation it talks about the woman. The woman is a picture
of the church. And Satan being cast down from
heaven has come to the earth. And he opens his mouth and sends
a flood after the woman. You remember, the earth opened
up and swallowed the flood. You see, that he is always going
to be after God's church. He's always going to seek to
destroy it. But yet God, God always is going
to keep His people. God is going to deliver His people.
But we should not neglect this enemy. Remember what the Lord
Jesus said to Peter that night in the garden. He said, Behold,
Satan hath desired to sift thee as wheat. Now listen, do not believe that
you are stronger than him. We're not. We're not. How easy is it to sift wheat?
Because we still have this old nature in us, it is very easy
to grab a hold of that. Very easy for Him. The only thing
that prevents Him from tearing us apart is Christ. But I have
prayed for thee. That's the only difference between
Peter and Judas. Christ intercession. Christ intercession. We have an enemy who walketh
about as a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour. He is a real
enemy. He is dangerous to us. And he
is constantly opposed to us. The second enemy is the world.
The world is our enemy. Jesus warns us of this. You remember before he was about
to depart, he said this, the world will hate you because it
hated me first. The reason the world hates you. Now if you were of the world,
it would love you. This world, it would love you
if you were one of its own. But we are not of this world,
Christ said. You are not of this world. Even
as I am not of this world. Now the world is made up of two
types of people. The religious and the irreligious. The religious and the irreligious.
But both of them are against you. The religious are not going
to help you. They're not your friends. Oh,
they'll smile and wave. They'll pretend. Until they understand
the gospel you preach, until they understand the Christ you
believe, then they will hate you. Don't expect them to receive
you. They won't. I was talking to a fellow last
night at Danville, and I wanted to be clear. There's only two
religions in all the world. Two. Put anything you want on
the door. Works and grace. Salvation by
works and salvation by the free grace of God. These two cannot
be mixed. It is either or. Paul said, if it's of grace,
it is no more work. Otherwise, grace is no more grace. Work is no more work. You mix
them, it just totally ruins the definition of the word. We believe
salvation is by the free grace of God. God chose us of His own
free will. His own sovereign mercy chose
us. Christ died for us. The Spirit quickens us. The Spirit
keeps us. The Spirit gives us faith in
Christ. It's all of Him. And there's
no merit in us. Now you preach that to the false
church and they'll hate you for it. Why? Because they believe
that you can contribute in some way to Christ's death, to Christ's
righteousness, to His holiness by your outward obedience. They hate you. Now listen, we were by nature
the same as them. Am I right? Look, I know who
they are because that's who I am by nature. We all were the same. But now
God has given us a new nature so we serve Christ. And now,
believers, we are not taken out of this world. When God saved
you, did He take you out? Did He set you in a higher plane?
Are you walking up above everybody else? No. He said, I'm not going
to take you out of this world. You know why? Because I have
my people still in this world. I must call my people. And what does he use? He uses
us. He uses his people to preach the gospel so as to call his
elect out of the false religion. Call them out of this world to
faith in Christ. He has sent us, he has sent Christ
into the world and he said, I'm not going to take you out. but
that you should preach my word. Believer, we are sent into this
world not to be conformed to it, not to appease the world,
not to befriend the world. We're not here to win friends
and influence people. That's not our business. I'm
not here to do that. I'm not here to be a motivational
speaker to people. I'm here to preach Christ. I'm
here to exalt Christ. I'm going to take Christ and
I want to set Him before you and I want to say, behold, the
God-man. Behold, Christ and Him crucified,
the only hope for sinners. That's our message constantly. And by doing so, we're not going
to be befriended by this world. Rather, we're going to be hated.
But I know this Christ has an elect people and he must call
him. He said other sheep I have which are not of this fold them
I also must bring. And you know what? He said my
sheep hear my voice. You heard his voice. How do I know if I heard his
voice? Do you follow him? Do you believe him? Do you trust him? My sheep hear
my voice, and they follow me. I know them, and I give unto them eternal
life, and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them
out of my hand. Believer, we are sent into the
world to preach the gospel, but this religious and irreligious
world alike will despise our gospel. They despise a successful
Savior. Isn't that something? that men
would despise a successful Savior. They want a Savior who only did
part. I don't need a Savior who did part. I need a Savior who
did it all. And my Savior did it all. They despise this message. And
the last enemy is one much closer than the devil and the world. The flesh. I believe it is the greatest
enemy we face as we walk through this world. Self. Self. What I mean by flesh is that
old nature of sin. That old man of sin. Listen,
Satan is not omnipresent. You know that? He can't be everywhere
at once. The world itself is not omnipresent. They can't be everywhere at once.
But guess what? Wherever you go, there you are. You are always present with yourself. You can be in a cave alone, but
you can't escape yourself. And self is therefore the worst
enemy we have. The old man of sin. The flesh when we were saved
by the grace of God. Listen, Jesus said this, The
flesh profiteth nothing. So what happened to your flesh
when you were saved? Nothing. Nothing. It was put down as ruler, but
I'll tell you this, it did not change. He was put down but he
didn't like it. And he still don't. The old man
of sin is still just as vile as he always was. Jesus said
that, that which is born of flesh is what? Flesh. It will live flesh and it will
die flesh. But that which is born of spirit
is what? Spirit. That which God gave you,
that new nature, it is holy. It is righteous. It is without
sin. John says, whosoever is born
of God sinneth not. Now, how can you reconcile that?
You go look in the mirror and say, you know what? I just don't
see it. You can say that to yourself all you want to. You're just
lying. You know it and I know it. How can we reconcile that
scripture with us? Because we know this, that the
new nature sinneth not. But listen, the old nature, it
can do nothing but sin. And so what happens then when
you have these two natures into one man, one body? I got one
body, I don't have two bodies. I got one body. In this one body
there are two natures constantly at war with one another. The
old nature and the new. The flesh lusteth against the
spirit and the spirit against the flesh and these two are contrary
one to another so that you cannot do what you would. What would
the new nature do? It would live without sin. Can't do what you want to. What
would the old nature do? It would live in sin. Guess what? It can't do what it wants to
either. And we are at war with ourselves constantly. It's because the flesh exists
that the world and the devil have any impact at all on us.
How much did the world and the devil impact Christ? What influence did they have
on him? Jesus said, which of you convinces me of sin? There's
no temptation to him at all because there was no sin in him, but
that's not so of us. We have this old nature. That's
why the devil and the world are our vicious enemies, dangerous
enemies to us, because we still have this old man of sin, this
foe remains even until death. But I'm so grateful that, you
know, that's what David, that's what Paul said in Romans chapter
7, he said, in my flesh dwelleth no good thing. It's an enemy,
isn't it? It's an enemy to us. He said, who shall deliver me
from the body of this death, this rotting corpse about my
neck? You feel that way about yourself?
I do. But I want you to be comforted
in this. This is the part of the New Covenant. This is what
God promised in the New Covenant. He said, I'm going to gather
you. I'm going to sprinkle you with clean water. I'm going to
cleanse you of your unrighteousness. I'm going to cause the corn and
the wine to increase. I'm going to increase the fruits
of the Spirit in you. That all sounds great, right?
But listen to this, he said, and you shall loathe yourselves. That's also part of the new covenant. Do you loathe yourself? I know
this, if you believe on Christ, you do. You confess that in myself,
in my flesh doesn't dwell one good thing. And all my hope. is in Christ. All of it. All my merit is in Christ. And I'll tell you, we often feel
like Joshua the high priest. Do you remember that? Joshua
the high priest, he comes before the Lord in those filthy garments.
And there's the enemy at his right hand, ready to accuse him,
the scripture says. He's ready to make accusation
against him. And what could Joshua say? He
was filthy. He could say nothing. If Satan
were allowed to speak, all he could say was he'd be right.
But you remember that the Lord stepped in before he could say
anything. And he said, who are you to make
accusations against this guy? Is this not a brand plug from
the Bernie? You know what Satan had to say in that text? He could
say nothing. So when we read this, when my
enemies, my foes came upon me to eat up my flesh, what happened? They stumbled and fell. I think of Christ, when I read
that, I think of Christ in Gethsemane. Do you remember that? When his
enemies came up to eat up his flesh, they said, we seek Jesus
of Nazareth. What did he say? I am. And they fell down. They fell
down on their faces. So when I read that next verse
when it says this, though an host encamp against me, my heart
shall not fear, the war should rise up against me, I'll be confident. If the whole Roman army came
after Christ and he said this, I am, they would all fall down
on their faces. But you remember they had to
ask him a second time. And he said, I told you I am.
And he allowed them to take him and crucify him. Why? He did it to destroy our enemies. And he did. The devil is God's devil. He
does with him as he pleases. The world and all that's happening
in it is moving only according to the will of our Savior. And even that old flesh in your
nature that abides in you, know this, though it rise up against
you and make many accusations. How often is your conscience
pricked? Huh? How often does the enemy of the
flesh rise up and tempt you and draw you away? What's the remedy? The remedy is simply this. Christ
has overcome the world. Christ has overcome my flesh.
Christ has overcome Satan. That's my hope, and though they
all rise up against me, because of Christ, they will stumble
and fall. They will not be able to destroy
us. Now the third thing is this.
Look at verse 4 now. We see David's grounds for coming
to God. We see David's enemies are the
same as ours. But now then we see David's desire
in verse 4. He says this, One have I desired. Again, you want to take out that
word thing. It doesn't belong there. It's
not one thing he desired. It's one person he desired. One have I desired. And that
will I seek after. The one that he desired was the
Messiah. Because he was surrounded by
his enemies, because the grounds of his hope was his union with
this Messiah, he longed for the coming of his Savior. At this
time he wrote this, Christ had not yet come. He was waiting
for him to come into the world and save him. This is how the
Old Testament saints were saved. Faith in Christ. Faith in Christ. They weren't saved in a different
way. They were saved the same. The one David desired of the
Lord was Christ. Even so, it is with us. Now we
live after Christ had come, we live after he has fulfilled the
promises of God, after he has saved his people from their sins,
after he had by his faith obtained righteousness and eternal redemption. We live in a time after he's
come. And so as David sought Him by
faith, even so now do we see Him by faith. We seek Him by
faith. We long to have His presence,
His mercy. David sought Him by faith. He
looked for Christ to deliver Him from His foes. And because
Christ was victorious in his obedience and death, we have
confidence then that we shall be delivered from our enemies.
We shall be delivered from our enemies. He said, Be of good cheer. I
have overcome the world. Is that not plain speech? In
this text, David said in verse 11, teach me thy way, O Lord,
lead me in a plain path. Is that not clear to you who
are surrounded by enemies? Is it not clear Christ was successful,
that Christ was victorious? Then because He is, He is our
desire, our harsh desire, we find our rest and our comfort. Seeing that we are pitted in
battle against such enemies we cannot overcome, we are confident
then of His victory. His victory. David said, One
have I desired of the Lord, and that will I seek after, that
I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life,
and behold the beauty of the Lord, and to inquire in His temple. Even by contrast, Even by constant
remembrance of the Word of God. That's how we are confident of
His victory. How often do you forget? We're like broken cisterns. It
just leaks out. How much will you remember when
you leave? How much? How much will I remember? Probably
next week I probably won't remember what I preached. I'm the one
preaching it to you. And I forget. But I'm telling
you, we leak these things out. This is why David wanted and
desired to live in the house of the Lord. That's where God
was. That's where God was preached.
That's where Christ was manifested. And so if we desire to have confidence
over our enemies, then we are to be constantly reminded of
Christ. Constantly reminded. The place
where God was preached was the temple. I long to inquire of
him. The one I seek after, I must
inquire of him and behold his beauty. Where? Where God dwells. Where in the temple. Where the
sacrifices were offered, where the blood of the lamb was spilled
by the high priest. It was a perpetual reminder of
Christ. The one David desired. was seen
only in the place where God was present, where the word was preached.
But now those pictures have been fulfilled, they've been done
away with, but God has set up his church for the continual
preaching of the gospel. He's set forth Jesus Christ,
the one we desire. So those who desire Christ, do
you desire Christ? Do you long after him? Where
will you find him, the one you desire? You'll find him where
God dwells, in his house, where his word is preached. We need to constantly be reminded. This is why God has given us
the church, why he's given us this place to worship. And what
do we inquire about? What are the things, what do
we learn here? Well, we learn one thing. We learn the one thing we're
lacking. Every time the Gospels preach, don't you feel what you're
lacking? Remember that lawyer, he came
to Jesus, says, you know, what's the greatest commandment? He
said, you know, love the Lord your God with all your heart,
soul, mind, strength, and body. He's a neighbor himself. He said,
well, I don't know. And he said, yet one thing thou
lackest. You know what it was? Absolute righteousness. Every time this gospel is preached,
I'm reminded that I lack righteousness in myself. And every time this gospel is
preached, I understand that there's only one to be desired, Christ. That Christ alone is all my hope,
all my desire, all my salvation. And every time this gospel is
preached, I know that there's only one thing needful. One thing
needful. When the Lord was there with
Mary and Martha, you remember Mary was at the feet of the Lord,
and Martha was up there serving everybody, and she got upset.
She said, Lord, won't you tell her to get up and do something?
And he said, no. There's only one thing needful. And Mary hath chosen that part. What was that one thing needful? To hear His Word. What's the most needful thing
in this world for you? What's the most needful thing? To hear his word, to hear his
gospel. I really think that the public
worship of Christ in this generation is not seen as necessary. They like it, I'm talking about
believers now, I'm not talking about the world, who cares, I
can't, I'm not going to speak for them Talking about the church,
I'm talking about people who really profess to believe in
Christ. Yet I'm telling you what they have put jobs, they have
put family, they have put the place where they live above the
need of worship. And it's sad. It's really sad. Christ said there's only one
thing needful. And that's to hear his word. You remember what the apostle
said in Hebrews 10, he said this, forsake not the assembling of
yourselves together as a matter of some use. Now why would he say such a thing
as that? Because it's needful. Friends, it's more needful than
your food. It's more needful than your job.
It's more needful than your family. And I'll tell you, some believers
are just so selfish that they don't realize that we need each
other. We need each other. We need each other to encourage
one another, don't we? How can you encourage me if I
don't see you? You know, I really like your
preaching. Oh yeah? I can tell. That's just one thing needful,
is to hear the Word. I know God's people, we can become
so cold and indifferent to the things of God. But look, if Christ
is the one thing you desire, the only place you're going to
get Him is where His Word is preached. Where His Word is preached. Well, I can do that myself. You
find that in the book? You find that in the book? I don't. I find that God sends
preachers. To what? To witness of Christ,
to testify of Christ for your benefit. For your benefit. And the last thing I want to
see is the victory. The victory David's victory. Look at verse
13 and 14. David said this. He said, I had
fainted unless I had believed to see the goodness of the Lord
in the land of the living. The Lord often tries the faith
of His people through His divine providence and sets them through
the fires of affliction and the floods of infirmities. And He told us He would do this.
Go to Isaiah 43. Look at this, Isaiah 43. But now thus saith the Lord that
created thee, O Jacob, that formed thee, O Israel, fear not, for
I have redeemed thee. I have called thee by thy name.
Thou art mine. What a wonderful passage. I created
thee. I made that new nature in you. I have redeemed you.
Don't be afraid. I've called you by my name. I've
saved you. Notice this, verse 2, when thou
passest through the waters. It didn't say if, did it? It
just said when. In other words, you and I, we're
going to pass through the waters. If God saved you, you're going
to pass through the waters. And when you do, listen, when
thou passest through the waters, I will be with thee, and through
the rivers they shall not overflow thee. When thou walkest through
the fire, not if, when thou walkest through the fire, thou shalt
not be burned, neither shall the flame kindle upon thee. Why? For I am the Lord thy God,
the Holy One of Israel, thy Savior. I gave Egypt for thy ransom,
Ethiopia, and Saba for thee, since thou wast precious in my
sight. Thou hast been honorable, and I have loved thee. Therefore
will I give men for thee, and people for thy life. Fear not,
I am with thee. I will bring thy seed from the
east, and gather thee from the west. I will say to the north,
give up, and the south keep not back. Bring my sons from far,
and my daughters from the ends of the earth. Even everyone,
even everyone that is called by my name. For I have created
him, this is why he's gonna do it. For my glory I have formed
him, yea, I have made him. When you pass through the waters,
they shall not overflow thee. Victory, promised victory. How often do the floods feel
like they're overflowing you? They're not. How often do you feel the fire,
the flame of affliction? Yet not one hint of smoke will
touch your soul. Remember those three men, Shadrach,
Meshach, and Abednego, when they were cast in the fiery furnace? Nebuchadnezzar looks down there
and he said, Did we not cast three men bound, and now I see
four men loosed? You know why they weren't touched
with fire? The fourth man. Christ the Son of God was with
them. And when they took them out,
they witnessed that there was not even a hint of smoke on their
garments. Listen, this flesh may be destroyed. You may lose your family, your
friends, your wealth, your possessions, but listen, What have you really
lost? Nothing. Why? Because God was with you. God
will keep you. And David says in our text, look
at this. Listen to the language here. He said, I had fainted
unless I had believed to see the goodness of the Lord. In
other words, he hadn't yet seen it. He was surrounded still by his
enemies while he was writing that. He was in the fires of
affliction when he wrote it. And yet he said, I'm not going
to faint because I believe I'm going to see His goodness. Now
what hope do you have? Because I'm with you, God said. I'm with you. I will never leave
you nor forsake you. Have you had people forsake you?
If people that you depend on forsake you, He will never forsake
you. Therefore, David said, look,
I'm not going to faint because I know He's going to show me
His goodness. And therefore, he encourages us to wait on the
Lord. He shall strengthen thine heart,
wait, I say, on the Lord. May God help us not to faint
in the midst of these fires and floods. What's the remedy for
not fainting? Faith. Faith. Not in our strength, but in His. Do you faint and feel weak? Then
let us look to Christ, who will do us, who has promised to do
us good all the days of our life. God said, I know my thoughts
of thee, thoughts of peace and not of evil. To give you unexpected What's going to be our end? You know the end of this thing?
Is it going to be good or bad for you? If you're in Christ,
what is it going to be for you? God said you should know what
to expect. Good. It's all going to be good for
you. Say you to the righteous, it
shall be well with him. And so then we ask this, is it
going to be well? You may not feel well, but what
does that have to do with it? It shall be well, you can expect
it. You can expect it. Let me ask you this in closing,
has he ever failed? You that believe, what is your
experience of this? Has he ever failed you? You know
the evidence that he hadn't failed you? You know what the evidence
is? You still believe, don't you? After all you've been through,
you still believe. That's the evidence he won't
fail. He's never discouraged. He will do you good. Wait on
him. and be of good courage. Strengthen
you. May God strengthen you and settle
you. I pray God will help you with this.
Let's stand and be dismissed in prayer. Father, I pray that you'd bless
your word. Please be merciful. Father, please make it effectual. Please pour it into the hearts
of your people so that they would be encouraged in the midst of
our enemies and surrounded by our enemies. Enemies without,
enemies within, always feeling the afflictions of fire and floods. But Father, I know that this
is for our good to try our faith. Father, there is no strength
in us to keep it. We pray, Father, only upon the
strength and grounds of Jesus Christ that you would keep our
faith, that you would strengthen our faith, strengthen our love
to Christ and his people. Father, please forgive us our
sins and lead us in a plain path. I pray that you do these things
in the name of Jesus Christ, for the glory of Christ.