Open your Bibles if you would
to 2nd Kings chapter 2. 2nd Kings chapter 2. The name
of the message is, Where is the God of Elijah? Where is the God
of Elijah? I'd like us to consider this
passage of scripture here in 2nd Kings chapter 2 where we
see Elijah taken to heaven in the chariot of fire Now Elijah
now had the burden and responsibility to carry on in the place of Elijah
as God's prophet to Israel. And when he saw this amazing
sight of Elijah ascending to glory and when he realized the
calling of God to this office, he took the mantle of Elijah
and smote the waters of Jordan and cried, where is the God of
Elijah? This is an interesting chapter.
It contains the history of the removal of Elijah to heaven and
of the establishing of Elijah as his successor in the prophetic
office that he had. And it also contains the dividing
of the Jordan and the healing of the waters in Jericho and
destruction of the children who mocked Elijah. So there's a lot
in this chapter here. And think upon the types bought
forth in the ascension of Elijah to heaven. This picture is our
Lord in type. And our Lord's ascension to glory
is only Enoch and Elijah were taken to glory in this way. And
Elijah's ascension into heaven is a picture of our Lord's ascension
into glory. Our Heavenly Father, by the remarkable
circumstances given here, and to the church of old, and types
and pictures, was constantly bringing forth to the people
of His own choosing, types and shadows and pictures of our Lord
Jesus Christ. And think of the glorious, victorious
ascension of our Lord Jesus Christ into glory. What a picture we
have here of that. So with that in mind, let's read
verses 1 to 14. And it came to pass, when the
Lord would take up Elijah into heaven by a whirlwind, that Elijah
went with Elijah from Gegal. And Elijah said unto Elijah,
Tarry here, I pray thee, for the Lord hath sent me to Bethel.
And Elijah said unto him, As the Lord liveth, and as thy soul
liveth, I will not leave thee. So they went down to Bethel.
And the sons of the prophets that were at Bethel came forth
to Elijah and said unto him, Knowest thou that the Lord will
take away thy master, yea, from thy head today? And he said,
Yea, I know, I know it. Hold ye your peace. And Elijah said unto him, Elijah,
tarry here, I pray thee, for the Lord hath sent me to Jericho.
And he said, As the Lord liveth and as thy soul liveth, I will
not leave thee. So they came to Jericho. And
the sons of the prophets that were in Jericho came to Elijah,
and said unto him, Knowest thou that the Lord will take away
thy master from thy head today? And he answered, Yea, I know
it. Hold ye your peace. And Elijah said unto him, Terry,
I pray thee here, for the Lord hath sent me to Jordan. And he
said, As the Lord liveth and as thy soul liveth, I will not
leave thee. And they went on, and they too
went on. And the fifty sons of the prophets
went and stood to view afar off, and they too stood by Jordan.
And Elijah took his mantle and wrapped it together and smote
the waters, and they were divided hither and thither, so that they
too went over on dry ground. And it came to pass, when they
were gone over, that Elijah said unto Elijah, Ask what I shall
do for thee before I be taken away from thee. And Elijah said,
I pray thee, let a double portion of thy spirit be upon me. And
he said, thou hast asked a hard thing. Nevertheless, if thou
see me, when I am taken from thee, it shall be so unto thee. But if not, it shall not be so. And it came to pass, as they
still went on and talked, that behold, there appeared a chariot
of fire and horses of fire. parted them both asunder, and
Elijah went up by a whirlwind into heaven. And Elijah saw it,
and he cried, My father, my father, the chariot of Israel, and the
horsemen thereof. And he saw no more, and he took
hold of his own clothes and rent them in two pieces. He took up
also the mantle of Elijah, that fell from him, and went back
and stood by the bank of Jordan. And he took the mantle of Elijah
that fell from him, and smote the waters, and said, Where is
the Lord God of Elijah? And when he also had smitten
the waters, they parted hither and thither, and Elijah went
over. And when the sons of the prophets which were of you at
Jericho saw him. They said, The spirit of Elijah
doth rest on Elijah. And they came to meet him and
bowed themselves to the ground before him. And they said unto
him, Behold now, there be with thy servant fifty strong men.
Let them go, we pray thee, and seek thy master. Lest, peradventure,
the spirit of the Lord hath taken him up and cast him upon some
mountain or into some valley. And he said, Yea, or ye shall
not send. Let us take note here, beloved,
that there are different workmen laboring for the Lord, but there's only one Master. Only one Master. Let's look at
verse 14 again. And he took the mantle of Elijah
that fell from him and smote the waters and said, Where is
the Lord God of Elijah? Elijah. And he And when he also
had smitten the waters, they parted hither and thither and
Elijah went over. There are different workmen laboring
for the Lord in his vineyard. But beloved, there's only one
master. Only one master. Our great God
does not need any one particular man. And we know from Scripture that
Elijah was a great prophet. But you know that his departure
did not hinder the Lord's work? It did not hinder the Lord's
work. Our great God carries on His
plan and note that Elijah was nothing without God. And we see here that neither
was Elijah. How deeply here Elijah felt his
powerlessness. Take note, he did not cry out,
where is Elijah? He cried out, where is Elijah's
God? Where is Elijah's God? Every
preacher of the gospel will tell you that we see ourselves as
insufficient for preaching the gospel. And we never want to step into
the pulpit in our own strength. You know that each time I step
into this pulpit, I always pray that the Lord goes before me.
Always. Always. And I pray that God will prepare
your hearts to receive the Word preached. So take note again that Elijah
in asking this question, where is the Lord God of Elijah? He
feels his powerlessness to do anything. And he cries out to
our Almighty God. Turn if you would to 2 Corinthians.
2nd Corinthians, Paul wrote of this very thing over in the New
Testament. When writing about preachers
of the Gospel, 2nd Corinthians chapter 3, Paul wrote this very
thing. And I've talked to many of my
dear brothers who preach the Gospel, and we all feel the same
way. We all feel the same way. Our sufficiency is of God. It's
of God. God makes the preacher. No man
seeks to be a preacher. God puts him in the ministry. And God makes a preacher. He
grows us just as He grows any other saints. All by His grace
and by His mercy. Look at this in 2 Corinthians
3, verses 1 to 6. Do we begin again to command
ourselves, or need we, as some others, epistles of commendation
to you, or letters of commendation from you? Ye are epistles written
in our hearts, known and read of all men. Forasmuch as ye are
manifestly declared to be the epistle of Christ, ministered
by us, written not with ink, but with the Spirit of the living
God, they're born again by the Holy Spirit, not in tables of
stones, but in fleshy tables of the heart, In such trust have
we through Christ to Godward, not that we are sufficient of
ourselves. Oh my, that's what every preacher
feels like. We're not sufficient for this,
this wondrous task of preaching the gospel. Not that we are sufficient of
ourselves to think anything is of ourselves, but our sufficiency
is of God. That's where the preacher's sufficiency
comes from. God, and God alone, who also
hath made us able ministers of the New Testament, not of the
letter, but of the Spirit, for the letter killeth, but the Spirit
giveth life. Now the question of where is our God is often
asked by our enemies, and often asked by those who are enemies
of the gospel. Turn, if you would, to Psalm
42. Psalm 42. And when the enemies
of God ask this question, they ask it in a mocking way. Where's your God? I've heard it before countless
times from people. Especially when you're going
through a trying situation. And they ask you that to try
to crush you. But our great God keeps His people. And comforts
His people through the scriptures. Look at this in Psalm 42. We're
starting in verse 5. Why art thou cast down, O my
soul, and why art thou disquieted in me? Hope thou in God, for
I shall yet praise him for the help of his countenance. O my
God, my soul is cast down within me. Have you ever found yourself
in that situation? I think every one of us have.
Even though we're believers, we find ourselves in those situations,
don't we? Times when we're cast down, beloved. Therefore will I remember thee
from the land of Jordan and of the Hermonites from the hill.
Mizar, deep calls unto deep, but the noise of thy water spouts.
All thy waves and thy billows are gone over me. Yet the Lord
will command his loving kindness in the daytime, and in the night
his song shall be with me in my prayer unto the God of my
life. See, now he has his eyes on Christ,
not the circumstances. I will say unto God my rock,
why hast thou forgotten me? Why go I mourning because of
the oppression of the enemies? As with a sword in my bones,
mine enemies reproach me while they say daily unto me, where
is thy God? Where is thy God? Why art thou
cast down, O my soul? And why art thou disquiet in
me? Hope thou in God. For I shall yet praise Him who
is the health of my countenance in my God. Now turn over to Psalm
115. And David brings forth that the
heathen ask a similar question. A similar question. Psalm 115 verses 1 and 2. Not unto us, O Lord, not unto
us, but unto thy name give glory for thy mercy and for thy truth's
sake. Wherefore should the heathen say, where is now their God? So this is a question that even
the enemies, now Elijah asked that in a place of powerlessness
as a believer. But God's enemies, they ask this
question all the time. And as I said, they use it like
a knife, beloved. It's not asked the way Elijah
asked. It's asked in a spiteful, hurtful
way. Where is now their God? Now we know that our God is not
dead. He's a living God. He's not sleeping
or on a journey as Elijah mocked the prophets of Baal about their
false God. So where is he? Where is he? I know of two grace preachers,
when one of their boys died, they were each asked this question,
where's your God? Somebody came up to them and
asked them that question. One of them I know personally, and I know very dearly, and he
was asked that, where's your God? Right after his son died,
killed on the job site, where's your God? And He gave this answer. My God's
in heaven. My God's in heaven. And He's
in control of all things. And He's absolutely solemn. He
does whatever He pleases. So the question comes before
us here. Where is the God of Elijah? David again tells us in Psalm
115, verse three, our God is in the heavens. He's in the heavens. He had done whatsoever he had
pleased, whatever he pleased. Beloved of God, our first answer,
and we will only answer from scripture this question, Where is the God of Elijah? Our
first answer is He has been and always will be eternally in the
heavens. Turn if you would to Psalm 90.
Psalm 90. The scriptures declare that our
God is from everlasting to everlasting and He never changes. As He is
God and there is none other. Look at this in Psalm 90, verses
1 to 4. Lord, Thou hast been our dwelling
place in all generations. The Lord is the refuge of His
people through all generations. Through all generations. Look
at this. Before the mountains were brought
forth, Wherever thou hast formed the earth and the world, even
from everlasting to everlasting, thou art God. He's always been and always will
be eternally in the heavens. Thou turnest men to destruction
and stayest return, ye children of men, for a thousand years
in thy sight are but as yesterday. when it is past and is a watch
in the night. The eternal God is in the heavens,
beloved. And He rules in absolute power. He has absolute dominion over
all. And He executes His sovereign
will. as He pleases. He calls the ravenous
bird from the east and the man that executed His counsel from
a far country. And whatever He has spoken, it
shall come to pass. He will bring it to pass. He
proclaims in the Scripture, I have purposed it, I will also do it. And there is no one who can thwart
His plan. No one. He is an absolute sovereign. So that's one of our answers
from Scripture. And in the New Testament, Paul brings this blessed
truth forth. Turn, if you would, to Ephesians
chapter 1. Paul brings this blessed truth forth in the book of Ephesians. Chapter 1, verses 10 to 12. And
take note of verse 11. Because He works His mighty will
as He pleases. And we know it's all in Christ.
Take note of verses 10 and 12. It's in Christ. Look at Ephesians
1, verses 10 to 12. That in the dispensation of the
fullness of times, He might gather together in one all things in
Christ, both which are in heaven and which are on earth, even
in Him. In whom also we have obtained
an inheritance, being predestined according to what? The purpose
of Him. who worketh all things after the counsel of His own
will." Doesn't say anything about man's will there, does it? But
it sure tells us something about God's will, doesn't it? He does
whatever He pleases. And if you're saved, it pleases
God to save you. Isn't that wonderful? It's all according to His purpose.
That we should be to the praise of His glory who first trusted
in Christ. He has always been and always
will be eternally in the heavens. Beloved of God, here is our second
answer from Scripture to the question of where is the God
of Elijah? He is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
God Almighty was in the man Christ Jesus. Paul wrote, God was in
Christ. 2 Corinthians 5.19. Turn, if you would, to 1 Timothy
3, verse 16. Our wonderful, merciful Savior,
the Lord Jesus Christ, was God manifest in the flesh. Perfect,
sinless. And this is a great mystery,
beloved. Now, also put your finger in
Hebrews 9, where we go in there right after this. 1 Timothy 3,
16 and Hebrews 9. Look at this, though, in 1 Timothy
3.16, and without controversy, great is the mystery of godliness.
God was manifest in the flesh. God himself justified in the
spirit, seen of angels, preached unto the Gentiles, believed on
in the world, and then what? Received up into glory, which
Elijah's ascension pictured. Now turn, if you would, to Hebrews
chapter 9. We know that Christ was God incarnate in the flesh
and we marvel at this wonderful fact that God Himself in the
flesh came to accomplish that which we could never do. We could
never We could never pay the price for our sins. We could
never redeem ourselves. So God himself becomes a man
and redeems his people from their sins. Look at this in Hebrews 9, verses
11 to 15. and high priest of good things
to come, by a greater and more perfect tabernacle, not made
with hands, that is to say, not of this building, neither by
the blood of goats and calves, but by his own blood, entered
in once into the holy place." Look at this. Having obtained
eternal redemption for us. Now, notice it says, having obtained
that, right? It is what? Finished. He did it, beloved. He did it
all. He obtained eternal redemption
for us, for we who are sinners. Look at this, how much more shall
the blood of Christ, who through the eternal spirit offered himself,
look at this, without spot, he's sinless, he's perfect, he's spotless.
Without spot to God, purge your conscience from dead works to
serve the living God. We're full of spot, we're full
of sin, aren't we? That's all we are. He offers
himself up to God without spot. Perfect. Oh my God. What a Savior. What a Redeemer is Jesus Christ
our Lord. And for this cause, He is the
mediator of the New Testament, that by the means of death, for
the redemption of the transgression that we're under, that were under
the First Testament, they which are called, that's we, might
receive the promise of eternal inheritance. Oh my. What a salvation. What a savior
is Jesus Christ, our Lord. Our third answer from scripture
to the question of where is the God of Elijah is, he's right
here in this world. He's right here in this Word,
isn't He? Turn, if you would, to Hebrews 4.12. The Bible is
all about our Savior, isn't it? It's all about our Savior, who
is the Word of God. And we know from Scripture that
the Word became flesh and dwelt among us. Brother Henry says
you cannot separate the written Word from the incarnate Word.
You can't separate them. Look at this in Hebrews 4.12.
For the word of God is quick and powerful and sharper than
any two-edged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder
of soul and spirit and the joints and marrow, and is a discerner
of the thoughts and intents of the heart." John Gill brings
forth here on this text, this is to be understood of Christ,
the essential word of God. For the word of God was made
known, name of the Messiah among the Jews, and therefore the apostle
makes use of it when writing to them, and the words are introduced
as a reason why care should be taken that man fall not off from
the gospel, because Christ is the author, the sum, and the
substance of it. So Christ is the author, the
sum, and the substance of the gospel. Think of this, as Christ reveals
to the Father, so this book reveals Christ to us. They cannot be
separated. Christ is the truth, Christ is
the gospel. It's only because Christ is alive
that his word is alive and effectual. We know from scripture Turn,
if you would, to James chapter 1. We know from Scripture that
it is the Word, by the Word that we are quickened and born again.
The Holy Spirit takes the preaching of the Gospel. We're born again
by the Spirit of God. He uses the Word, the Word of
God. Look at this in James chapter
1, verses 17 and 18. This is marvelous. And as he writes here about every
good gift and perfect gift, think of our salvation in Christ. Think
of the faith that you have in Christ. Think of the repentance
that you have towards Christ. Think of the justification that
you have in Christ. Think of the redemption that
you have in Christ. Oh my beloved. Look at what he says here in
verse 17. Every good gift and every perfect
gift is from above. Oh my. And cometh down from the
Father of lights. He's the giver. He's the giver. We're just receivers of this
wonderful grace, beloved. We're just receivers. With whom
there is no variables, neither shadow of turning of his own
will, begat he us with the word of truth. Born again by the Holy
Spirit of God, we know that faith cometh by hearing the hearing
by the word of God. That we should be a kind of first fruits of
his of his creatures. Let us consider our fourth answer
from Scripture to the question of where is the God of Elijah. Beloved, He is on the throne
of grace. Turn, if you would, to Isaiah
chapter 6, and then put your finger in Hebrews chapter 4.
Isaiah chapter 6. In Hebrews chapter 4, where's
the God of Elijah? Where's the God of Elijah when
all these things happen in this world? Our enemies will say,
where's your God? He's on the throne. He's on the
throne. He's on the throne in good times,
and he's on the throne in bad times, isn't he? I remember Brother
Norm told me that when his daughter broke her neck, And she didn't
die, but she broke her neck, and there was a possibility that
she'd be paralyzed for the rest of her life. And Norm said, God's
good all the time. God's good if she doesn't recover,
and God's good if she does recover. He's good all the time. And God's
on the throne during all those circumstances, isn't he? No matter
what happens in this world, no matter what happens in our lives,
God is upon the throne. And the scriptures, both in the
Old Testament and New Testament, proclaim this wonderful truth.
Look in Isaiah chapter 6, where we see that Isaiah sees the Lord
high and lifted up, and what's he doing? He's sitting upon the
throne, beloved. Isaiah chapter 6, verses 1 to
7. In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw also the Lord sitting
upon the throne, high and lifted up, and His train filled the
temple." He's sitting on the throne. He's ruling. He's reigning,
beloved. Above it stood the seraphims,
each one had six wings. With twain He covered His face.
And with Twain he covered his feet, and with Twain he did fly.
Even the angels have to cover themselves in the presence of
the Lord. He's so holy. He's so holy. One cried unto another and said,
Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts. The whole earth is
full of his glory. And the posts of the door moved
that the voice of him that cried in the house was filled with
smoke. And look at look at Isaiah's response, which which is the
response of of one who has had revealed to them who God is.
Then said he, woe is me now in the chapters before he was saying,
woe is you and woe is you and woe is you and woe is you. And
now he gets a glimpse of who the Lord is. What does he say?
Woe is me. I'm a man. I'm undone because
I'm a man of unclean lips. And then he sees the depravity
of all men. Look, and he says, and I dwell in the midst of a
people of unclean lips. For my eyes have seen the king,
the Lord of hosts. Then flew one of the seraphims
unto me, having a live coal in his hand, which he had taken
with tongs from off the altar, and he laid it upon my mouth
and said, Lo, this has touched thy lips, and thy iniquity is
taken away, and thy sin purged. There's a picture of the blood
of Christ. Oh, my. Now turn to Hebrews chapter
four, and we who are God's people are told to boldly approach the
throne of grace. Why? That we may obtain grace
and mercy in time of need. And I brought this up in Sunday
school. Nothing is too small. Nothing is too small for you
to take to the Lord of glory. Nothing. Nothing. Why? Because he cares for you.
He cares for his people. Remember, the hairs of our head
are numbered. He knows us so intimately, beloved.
So intimately. Oh, my. Hebrews chapter 4, look
at verses 14 to 16. Seeing then that we have a great
high priest, which we have in Christ, that is passed into the
heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our profession.
For we have not a high priest which cannot be touched with
the feeling of our infirmities, but was in all points tempted
like as we are yet without sin. He knows what we go through,
beloved. He was tempted, but yet without sin. He's perfect,
spotless. Let us, therefore, come boldly where? Unto the throne
of grace. He's seated upon the throne. Let us, therefore, come boldly
unto the throne of grace that we may obtain mercy. Do you need
mercy? You try to tough it out yourself. We do sometimes, don't we? You think we'd learn? Do you
need mercy? Take it to the Lord. Because
he cares for you. Take it to him. Do you need grace? All the time. That we may obtain
mercy and find grace to help when in time of need. That's
all the time. We're needy people, aren't we?
And we've been showing our need constantly. And we continually
go to the Lord. You who are the redeemed of the
Lord. Our Lord has obtained and secured
salvation for His people through His glorious sacrifice. And now
He is sat down on the right hand of God. And He ever lives to
intercede for us. Therefore, let us bring all our
needs and all our cares to He who cares for us. So the answer
from scripture to the question of where is our God? He's on
the throne. Always. I heard some news recently about
something being said that, oh, if this happens, you people will
lose all your rights as believers. My God and your God, beloved,
will take care of us. And He always has. Always has. And He always will. Now we may
go through some things, right? We may go through some trials.
We may go through some fiery trials, beloved. But let us,
our hope, our hope is not in man, is it? Our hope is in God. No matter what comes our way,
He'll take care of us. He will. He will. And we just have to rest in Him
and trust in Him, don't we? We saw His mighty hand at work
in our last election. It was incredible. God is God. We just sit back
and marvel at what He does, don't we? We marvel at what He does. My goodness. So let us bring
our cares to Him because He cares for us. The fifth answer from
Scripture to the question of where is the God of Elijah is,
He's in the midst of His people. He's in the midst of the people.
He's promised us that He'll never leave us nor forsake us. Never. And what comfort this can bring
The suffering saint of God, that no matter what we go through,
no matter where we are, the Lord is in the midst of His people.
Turn, if you would, to Matthew 18, 20. The Scriptures declare
this wonderful truth, beloved. The Word of God proclaims this
wonderful truth. Do you know how many people have
to be together for the Lord to be in their midst? He's with
every one of us all the time, isn't he? He is. But look at
this wonderful truth in Matthew. This is an absolute wonderful
verse. Now as I was looking at this verse, John Gill was bringing
out that the Jews, for some reason, thought that if you had any less
than 10 people, then God wasn't there in the midst of them. And so he masterfully brings
forth that Christ is with his people all the time. And look
what it says here, though. Where two or three are gathered
in my name, there am I in the midst. Two or three. Isn't that wonderful? I heard
a story. I got to share this with you. When I was down 13th Street,
I asked Brother Ron Trayvon about this, and it just happened Brother
Ron was there, and I didn't know about this, but he was actually
there, but he didn't go up the mountain. But Brother Henry Mayhem
and Brother Milton Howard hiked up this mountain, all right? And think of this. Henry, he's
a well-known preacher, travels all over the world, right? at
that time, hiked up this mountain to sit across from one man and
preach the gospel, and preach the gospel to him. And the three
of them gathered together there, and then I guess his family members
too, and oh my, they had a wonderful time. And when I remembered that,
I thought, where two or three are gathered together in my name,
there am I in the midst of them. He's with his people, beloved.
He's with his people. The Lord is ever with us, presiding
over us, ruling in our hearts, directing our counsels, providing
for us, and ever watching over us. He's our shepherd. What does a shepherd do for the
sheep? He cares for them. He protects
them. He watches over them. constantly. The Lord is my shepherd. Is he
yours? I pray God make it so. If he's
not, let's consider our sixth and final answer from the scripture
to the question of where is the God of Elijah? He is in every act of divine
providence. He is in every act of divine
providence. Our great God, in His wisdom
and by His almighty hand, wisely sends trials our way and though
we often do not understand them, you know they are to wean us
from the arm of the flesh, beloved. They are to wean us from the
arm of the flesh. These trials, these fiery trials and trials
and temptations, they cause us to trust Him more and more. They
really do. Usually in times of trials and
testings and temptation, we cry out and draw nigh to our great
God and King. Let's turn to Romans chapter
11, and we'll read verses 33 to 36, where we see Paul reminding
us of the impossibility of our even comprehending the wisdom
and knowledge and judgment and mind of the Lord. We cannot understand
it. He's infinite. We're finite.
He's so far above us. His ways are not our ways. And He'll do what He wills, with
whom He will, and when He will, and all that He does is right. Sometimes we think we have all
the answers and understand the ways of God, but oftentimes we
have revealed to us our ignorance and our foolishness. Let our faith be summed up in
the words of Eli, it is of the Lord, let him do what seemeth
good. Let him do what seemeth good.
Look at Romans 11, verses 33 to 36. Oh, the depths of the
riches, both of the wisdom and knowledge Of God, how unsearchable are
His judgments in His ways past finding out. Look at that. How unsearchable are His judgments
in His ways past finding out. For who hath known the mind of
the Lord? For who has been His counselor?
No one. No one. Who hath first given to Him,
and it shall be recompensed unto Him again. For of Him, and through
Him, and to Him are all things to whom be glory forever. Amen. So the answer to the question
from the Scriptures of where, and there's many more answers,
we can find more answers in the Scriptures, this is in no way
exhaustive. But these answers that we've
looked at from the scriptures to where is the God of Elijah
is this, is He has always been and always will be eternally
in the heavens. He is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
He is in His Word. He is on the throne of grace. He is in the midst of His people. And He is in every act of divine
providence. And God's people say, praise
is my name. Heavenly Father, we thank Thee
for Your goodness and mercy and grace towards us in and through
Christ Jesus our Lord. O Lord, we love Thee. Give us
grace and strength just to trust and rest upon Thee, we who are
Your blood-bonded people. Lord, we're tried people. But
Lord, we know that it is by thy wise counsel and by thy wise
providence that these things come our way. Give us grace and
strength, Lord. Help us to quickly, quickly run
to thy throne, O Lord, where we obtain grace and mercy in
time of need. Again, Lord, we love you and
we praise you only because you first loved us. In Jesus' name,
amen.