Yesterday afternoon, I had the
delightful privilege of visiting with some very dear friends.
Been friends for a long time. And we had no more than sat down
and took a cup of coffee. Then the man asked me a question. He said, what was Jeremiah's
covenant? And I responded, do you mean the covenant spoken
of in Jeremiah 31? He said, yes, that's it. And
I began to explain the blessed message of that covenant. And
as I did, he and his wife listened intently. I hope you will listen
intently. I came home and started to read
the 31st chapter of Jeremiah again. Open your Bibles there
if you will. Jeremiah chapter 31. And As I read this chapter, I began
in verse 31, read through verse 34, and then I backed up to chapter
30, and read on through chapter 32, and read them again, and
I began to think to myself, it's been a long time since I preached
from that passage. And then I started doing a little
research and discovered I never have. As many times as I've quoted
it and referred to it, I've never preached to you from the 31st
chapter of the book of Jeremiah. So I thought, well, I'll prepare
a message, if the Lord will let me, on verses 31 through 34,
dealing specifically with the covenant. But the chapter just
got sweeter and sweeter and sweeter as the day went on. So today
I believe God's given me a message that's just popping to get out.
And we're going to look at these 40 verses of Jeremiah chapter
31. The title of my message you'll
find right in the middle of the Lord's statement concerning the
new covenant in verse 31. The title is a new covenant,
a new covenant. a new covenant, Jeremiah chapter
30 and verse 31, rather, and verse one. The first thing we
see here in verses one and two is the recognition, the declaration
that God has a chosen people, an elect people. of people who
are the objects of his special care, of his particular grace,
of people set apart from all the rest of humanity by divine
purpose. At the same time, saith the Lord. This is a remarkable thing. In
these 40 verses, in these 40 verses, 40 times, we read, thus
saith the Lord, or saith the Lord. Forty times. Forty times. As if to say, here is the basis
of all faith, of all our confidence before God. Thus saith the Lord. Not our feeling, not our experience,
not what goes on around us, not what we seem to think. Thus saith
the Lord. At the same time, saith the Lord,
will I be the God of all the families of Israel? The families
of Israel, if you read the closing chapters of Revelation, or you'll
discover, are named after the 12 tribes of Israel. But it's
not talking about just the physical seed of Abraham or those physical
12 tribes. They were representative of the
whole Israel of God. and they shall be my people,
my chosen, my church, my covenant people. Thus saith the Lord,
the people which were left of the sword, that is those who
escaped the terrible tyranny of Egypt, found grace in the
wilderness, even Israel, when I went to cause him to rest. Isn't it amazing the Lord God
speaks of Israel, who found grace in the wilderness, and speaks
of Israel then as a singular person, said, when I went to
cause him to rest. Our Lord Jesus, who has entered
into his rest, is our Savior and we are one with him. He's
describing for us our own experience of grace, both presently and
in the world to come. The Lord God has caused us to
find grace in this wilderness. Aren't you thankful? He's caused
us to find grace in this wilderness. And he has caused us to rest
in his son. And soon he will bring us into
the blessed rest of everlasting glory with Christ. Next in verse
three, the Lord God appears to these chosen people, his church,
the families of Israel, and he tells us that we are loved by
him. with an everlasting love. This
great salvation, this rest, this grace is ours because God loved
us with an everlasting love. The Lord hath appeared of old
unto me saying, yea, I have loved thee with an everlasting love. Therefore with loving kindness
have I drawn thee. The singular cause of all grace
that we experience in time, the singular cause of all the blessedness
we have in God's salvation, the singular cause of everlasting
glory with Christ is God's everlasting love for us. That's the cause. That love of God that is the
same yesterday in eternity, and today in this world, and tomorrow,
forever, everlasting love, never changing, invariable, immutable,
is the cause of all God's goodness. His special love for you is the
cause of all His dealings with you. Ah, God loved us with an
everlasting love, even that love with which he loves his Son. Because God Almighty has for
everlasting viewed all his Israel as his Son, one with his Son,
one in his Son, so that thou hast loved them, our Savior says,
as thou hast loved me, and thou lovest me before the foundation
of the world. Now look at verses four through
nine. These verses reveal a promise of salvation. The God, Lord God
promises to save all the people of his love. Now, I don't have
any question about the fact, and it is a fact. This passage
refers specifically, historically, to the deliverance of Israel
out of Babylon, to their being reestablished in Jerusalem and
in Israel, and the rebuilding of the temple and the walls of
the city of Jerusalem. But it refers to much, much more
than that. He refers to God's salvation
of God's Israel in this gospel day by his almighty grace, gathering
us to Christ and gathering us at last into heavenly glory in
the new Jerusalem with Christ our Redeemer. This is a love
of God that's going forth to his people, and he promises to
save those people he loves, his Israel, his chosen, his elect,
from every corner of the world, from every nation in the world
into which he has scattered us. Scattered us. Since the fall
of our father, Adam, God scattered all the peoples of the world
into all the corners of the earth. With them, he scattered his elect
and he will gather them again unto himself. Look at verse four.
Again, I will build thee and thou shalt be built, O virgin
of Israel. You read this book of Jeremiah
and he well describes you and I, his people, a whoring people. fornicators, idolaters, adulterers. Here he says, oh, virgin of Israel,
because our righteousness with God is Christ Jesus. He was always
our righteousness, and he is our righteousness even in the
midst of all our falls and sins in this world. He was our righteousness
when we fell in Adam, and when we come to him in faith, he's
our righteousness. And when we sin against him every
day throughout the day, he's still the Lord our righteousness.
and we are still in Christ, the Virgin of Israel. Thou shalt
again be adorned with thy tabrets and shall go forth in dances
of them that make merry. I'm gonna make you rejoice. Thou
shalt yet plant vines upon the mountains of Samaria. The planters
shall plant and shall eat them as common things. That is, you're
gonna have all you can possibly want. You're gonna have everything
you can possibly need. For there shall be a day that
the watchman upon the Mount of Ephraim, the Mount of Ephraim,
shall cry, Arise ye. Let us go up to Zion unto the
Lord our God. You'll have prophets and apostles
and preachers who will come and lead you up to Mount Zion to
the Lord God. For thus saith the Lord, sing
with gladness for Jacob and shout among the chief of the nations,
publish ye, praise ye and say, oh Lord, save thy people, the
remnant of Israel. Behold, I will bring them from
the North country and gather them from the coast of the earth. I've told you several times in
a bit that took place several years ago. I was flying out of
Louisville. I forgot where I was going, and it was during the
early days after 9-11, and a fellow opened my bag up and saw a Bible
laying there and asked me, are you a preacher? And I said, yes. And he said, where are you from?
I said, Danville. And he asked if I knew one of the local preachers
here. And I said, yeah, I know him. And I guess he could detect
in my voice I didn't care much for the fellow. And he said,
you're not one of those fellows that believes in predestination,
are you? I said, of course I am. Of course I am. I believe the
Bible. He said, well, if you believe in predestination, why
are you going to preach? I said, because I believe in predestination.
We have a work before us to proclaim the gospel unto all the nations
of the earth, for God has scattered his people among all the nations.
And this is the word we have from God. I will bring them from
the north country and gather them from the coast of the earth.
And with them, the blind and the lame, the woman with child
and her that travaileth with child together, a great company
shall return thither. We never, never, never entertain
the thought that God's work is going to fail or our work in
his hands is going to fail. God will save his people. He
will save them by his word, by the preaching of the gospel,
through faith in his son, by omnipotent grace in Christ the
Lord, just as he has purposed. They shall come with weeping.
and with supplications. All who come to him come brokenhearted. With weepings and supplications
will I lead them. I will cause them to walk by
the rivers of waters in a straight way, wherein they shall not stumble. They shall not stumble. They
walk by the rivers of water, upright and strong. For I am
a father to Israel, and Ephraim is my firstborn. The Lord Jesus
is God's firstborn. He calls in Exodus chapter four,
Israel, his firstborn. And here he stoops a little further
and says of Ephraim, you remember what he said about Ephraim? Ephraim
is joined to his idols, leave him alone. Ephraim's a backsliding
heifer. Ephraim's full of iniquity. Ephraim,
Ephraim, wicked, wicked Ephraim. Ephraim is my firstborn. All the host of God's elect,
being one with Christ, make up that which is called the Church
of the Firstborn. We are God's firstborn, God's
honored ones, God's accepted ones, God's blessed ones. Now
look at verses 10 through 14. and rejoice with me as we're
reminded of God's free, saving, amazing grace, the super abounding
grace of God in Christ. Jeremiah 31 10. Hear the word
of the Lord, O ye nations, and declare it in the aisles afar
off, and say, It's obvious with that statement that God doesn't
intend this just to be something for Israel during the days of
their Babylonian captivity or just during the days of Jeremiah.
He says, declare this to the nations, hear God's word, those
isles that are far off all the Gentile world. He that scattered
Israel will gather him and keep him as a shepherd doth his flock. He that scattered Israel will
gather him and keep him as a shepherd doth his flock. Oh, how God in
his wisdom, in his marvelous, marvelous wisdom, in his infinite
wisdom and goodness, scatters his elect. I wouldn't do that for anything,
would you? I wouldn't do that for anything.
I'd keep them close by. I keep them near the hand, but
God scatters them. God scatters them. Some of you
know by experience, and I've seen many friends, they see their
children leave home, move a long ways off, and have little contact
with them, and they weep with broken heart, and I would too.
I would too. We wouldn't let them leave. We'd
keep them. We'd keep them. But God scatters
his elect. that in the process of time at
the appointed time of love, he may show his mercy, his grace,
and his glory, and he gathers them. He gathers them whom he
scattered. How do you know that? Verse 11.
For the Lord hath redeemed Jacob and ransomed him from the hand
of him that was stronger than he. Those whom God's redeemed,
those whom God's ransomed by the blood of his dear son, he
will gather by the power of his grace. Therefore they shall come
and sing in the height of Zion and shall flow together, watch
this, to the goodness of the Lord for wheats and for wine
and for oil and for the young of the flock and of the herd
and their soul shall be as a watered garden and they shall not sorrow
anymore at all. Then shall the virgin rejoice
in the dance, both young men and old together, for I will
turn their mourning into joy, and I will comfort them and make
them rejoice from their sorrow. I said to my friend yesterday,
I've experienced a lot of pain and sorrow caused by my hands. Things I regret. Things for which
I will weep to the day I die with shame and embarrassment. But I wouldn't change a thing
if I could. For this is all the way by which
God has led me here tonight to talk to you about his great grace
and his salvation. And I couldn't tell you what
I now preach to you if I didn't know all the past as well as
all God's grace given us in Christ Jesus. I will make them to rejoice
from their sorrow. Oh, how I rejoice in His goodness. And I will, we just sang about
it, I'm satisfied. I will satiate the soul of the
priest with fatness. Who are these priests, my people?
My people shall be satisfied with my goodness, saith the Lord. There it is again. My people
shall be satisfied with my goodness, saith the Lord. I'm not asking these things anymore.
I'm not as young as I used to be. But when I was younger, folks
would ask me what, people often ask young folks, what do you
want? What do you want? And thank God he saved me when
I was a young man. I wasn't, not hardly 17 years
old. And I learned the right answer
by experience. Not a thing, thank you. Not a thing. I'm the richest
man in the world. The richest man in the world
is a man who doesn't want a thing. I've got everything I want. His name is Jesus Christ the
Lord. You understand what I'm talking
about? I will satiate my people with fatness and goodness. They shall be satisfied with
my goodness, saith the Lord. Now, look at verses 15 through
17. Here the Lord God assures us of this satisfaction at last. Thus saith the Lord, a voice
was heard in Ramah, lamentation and bitter weeping. There is
much lamentation and bitter weeping in this wilderness of sin. Rael
weeping for her children, refused to be comforted for her children
because they were not. Thus saith the Lord. Refrain
thy voice from weeping, and thine eyes from tears, for thy work
shall be rewarded, saith the Lord. And they shall come again
from the land of the enemy. And there is hope in thine end,
saith the Lord. And thy children shall come again
to their own border. What does all that mean? Listen,
and I'll tell you. Our light affliction, which is
but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal
weight of glory. For we look not at the things
which are seen, but the things which are not seen. For the things
which are seen are temporal, but the things which are not
seen are eternal. In verses 18 through 21, we're
reminded that repentance to God is the gift of God. Repentance
toward God is the work of God. It is God's work of grace in
chosen redeemed sinners. The work of his omnipotent mercy
wrought in us by the operation of his spirit in irresistible
grace. These verses beautifully describe
the melting of sinners' hearts by the grace of God. Only God
can do it. Jeremiah 31, 18, I surely heard
Ephraim bemoaning himself thus. Thou hast chastised me, and I
was chastised as a bullock unaccustomed to the yoke. Oh, when God breaks
you, you'll be broken. When God bows your heart, you'll
be bowed. When God makes you to mourn,
you'll mourn. When God works the sorrow of
repentance in your heart, sorrow will be real. Turn thou me, and
I shall be turned, for thou art the Lord my God. Turn me, O God,
and I'll be turned. Turn us, and we'll run after
you. Surely, after that I was turned,
I repented. And after that I was instructed,
I smote upon my thigh. I was ashamed, yea, even confounded,
because I did bear the reproach of my youth. Do you remember
what Jeremiah told us in Lamentations chapter three? He said, it is
good that a man should bear the reproach of his youth. It's good
for a man to bear his reproach, for God to make you know what
you are and make you confess it from your heart. Is Ephraim
my dear son? Is he a pleasant child? For since
I spake against him, Ephraim's joined to his idols. Leave him
alone. God speaks by his law and says
the soul that sinneth it shall die. God speaks every word of
his law against us by nature because we are all sinners and
his law abides over us with condemnation's threat constantly until he gives
us life and faith in his son. He says, since I speak against
him, even then I do earnestly remember him still. Therefore, This is just unbelievable. God
says, therefore, my bowels are troubled for him. I will surely
have mercy upon him, saith the Lord. Set thee up, waymarks,
make thee high heaps, set thine heart toward the highway, even
the way which thou wentest. Turn again, O virgin of Israel,
turn again by these to thy cities. Now look at verses 22 through
26. Remember. Jeremiah is talking to us, that
is God is speaking to us about his salvation by Jeremiah, his
salvation in Christ, the salvation of his people because of his
everlasting love, because of his covenant grace, that covenant
established and fulfilled by Christ, our covenant surety.
And this is God's promise. He promises a man, the God man,
a savior to accomplish it all. Verse 22. How long wilt thou
go about, O thou backsliding daughter? For the Lord hath created
a new thing in the earth. A woman shall compass a man. He's talking about the virgin
birth, the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, the woman's promised
seed. Thus saith the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, as
yet they shall use this speech in the land of Judah and in the
cities thereof, when I shall bring again their captivity.
The Lord bless thee, O habitation of justice and mountain of holiness. God says, this is how my people
will speak of my people. The Lord bless thee, O habitation
of justice, and mountain of holiness. And there shall dwell in Judah
itself, and in all the cities thereof together, husbandmen,
laborers, farmers, and they shall go forth with flocks. Pastures
leading his sheep for I have satiated the weary soul and I
have replaced every sorrowful soul All that by the coming of
this man compassed by a woman then in verse 26 It seems that
a different one speaks If I don't mistake what I'm reading, and
I'm sure I don't, it is the Lord Jesus, this man who came by the
woman's womb, by the womb of the virgin, he speaks, having
finished his work, and says, upon this I await and beheld,
and my sleep was sweet unto me. After finishing his work as the
God man, our mediator, our savior bearing our sin in his own body
on the tree was buried in the earth where his body slept briefly
for three days. And then he awaked from his sleep,
having put away sin, having conquered death, hell, and the grave, not
only for himself, but for us, making us triumphant in him.
And he looks back upon his finished work and says, my brief sleep
in the grave was sweet. For out of that brief sleep of
mine in the heart of the earth comes life eternal for my people,
and they shall never, never perish. Next in verses 27 through 30,
the Lord God assures us that all who are made heirs of his
salvation in Christ Jesus shall be watched over and kept by him. But all who refuse to trust the
Lord Jesus shall eat the fruit of their own way and perish at
last because of their sin. Behold, the days come, saith
the Lord, that I will sow the house of Israel and the house
of Judah with the seed of a man and with seed of beasts. That
is, I'm going to continue throughout the days of this gospel age to
scatter my people with men and beasts in the world, wherever
they're found. and it shall come to pass that like as I have watched
over them to pluck up and to break down and to throw down
and to destroy and to afflict, so will I watch over them to
build and plant, saith the Lord. In those days, they shall say
no more. The fathers have eaten a sour
grape and the children's teeth are set on edge. Oh, that happens
with things in time. behave in an ungodly way, their
children reap the benefits or reap the results of it. That
happens in time. But with regard to God's judgment
and eternity, everyone shall die for his own iniquity. Every
man that eateth the sour grape, his teeth shall be set on edge. But then God speaks in verses
31 through 34. and declares the blessedness
of a new covenant, a covenant of grace by which God's elect
have been, are, and shall be saved. Behold, the days come,
saith the Lord. that I will make a new covenant
with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah, not
according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in
the day that I took them by the hand to bring them out of the
land of Egypt, which my covenant they break, although I was a
husband unto them. saith the Lord. But this shall
be the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after
those days, saith the Lord. I will put my law in their inward
parts, and write it in their hearts, and will be their God,
and they shall be my people. And they shall teach no more
every man his neighbor, and every man his brother, saying, Know
the Lord. For they shall all know me from the least of them
unto the greatest of them, saith the Lord. For I will forgive
their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more. Now we know this new covenant
that Jeremiah is here writing about, or has written about,
is the covenant of grace, the everlasting covenant. That same
covenant of which David sang on his deathbed, the Lord hath
made with me an everlasting covenant, order in all things, ensure this
is all my salvation and all my desire. We know that because
the Holy Ghost tells us so in the eighth chapter of Hebrews.
Turn there and look at it, Hebrews chapter eight. Just hold your
hands in Jeremiah 31 or put a bookmark there and we'll be right back. Here in Hebrews eight, verse
seven. For if that first covenant had
been faultless, he's talking about that Sinaitic covenant
that God made with Israel under the law when he gave the law
to Moses at Sinai. If that had been faultless, then
should no place have been sought for the second. For finding fault
with them, he saith, behold, the days come, saith the Lord,
when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and
with the house of Judah. quoting now directly from Jeremiah
31, we just read it. Not according to the covenant
that I made with their fathers in the day when I took them by
the hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt, because they
continue not in my covenant, and I regarded them not, saith
the Lord. That is, I gave them my law,
they said they'd keep it, they didn't do it for a second. For
this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel
after those days, saith the Lord. I will put my laws into their
mind and write them in their hearts. And I will be to them
a God and they shall be to me a people. What's he talking about? This is what he promises in the
covenant. I'll put my law in their hearts and in their minds. What law? This is his commandment
that you believe on his side. His word is his law. The whole
revelation of God in the law, in the prophets and in the gospels,
that's God's law. He writes it on our heart so
that every heaven born soul delights in the law of God after the inward
man. He's given us a new nature. He
puts His law in your heart, making you willing in the day of His
power to believe His Son and walk with Him by faith. Some
of us were talking back in the office just a little bit ago,
and Brother Bobby said, concerning an acquaintance, said he believes
what he wants to. And somebody responded, said,
we all believe and do exactly what we want to. And that's exactly
right. That's exactly right. Aren't you glad God changed your
want to? Oh, he causes his own to delight
in his law. Summed up in this one thing,
believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. Watch what it says now. Verse
10, for this is the covenant that I will make with the house
of Israel after those days, saith the Lord. I'll put my laws into
their mind and write them in their hearts and I will be to
them a God. and they shall be to me a people.
I'll be their God, they'll be my people. These whom I've loved
with an everlasting love, my Israel, my Eilat, my redeemed.
And they shall not teach every man his neighbor and every man
his brother, saying, know the Lord. For all shall know me from
the least to the greatest. Now that doesn't mean there's
no place for pastors and teachers in God's kingdom. You know better
than that. You've got to have a pastor to
teach you the way of God, the will of God, and the word of
God. I remember learning something
from Brother David Coleman shortly after I came here. We were playing
rook one night. I forgot who we were playing with. I think
he and Teresa and Shelby and I were playing. I can't remember.
But David and I were partners. He said, I'm going to go it alone.
I thought, what on earth is that talking about? I never heard anybody
doing that in rook. And he explained to me, that means I don't need
your help. I'll go it alone. Well, I've got bad news for folks
who think in the things of God they can go it alone. You can't.
You still got to have pastors to teach you and lead you in
the way of life and truth by the Word of God, by the Spirit
of God. Well, what's this talking about then? In the Old Testament,
anytime somebody wanted to know something, settle an issue, they
had to go to Moses at the door of the tabernacle. They had to
go to the prophet. They hadn't brought a sacrifice.
They had to go to a priest. They couldn't come directly to
God. They had to go through a mediator. No more. We are a kingdom of
priests, a royal, holy priesthood, all having access to God, all
knowing God, having the mind of Christ, being born of God
and taught by his spirit. Verse 12, for I will be merciful
to their unrighteousness, all their unrighteousness. I will be merciful, and their
sins and iniquities will I remember no more. I blotted them out,
I cast them behind my back, I removed them from them as far as the
east is from the west. I will remember them no more
again forever. In that, he saith, a new covenant
shall be made. He hath made the first old. He
took away the law and the ceremony and the cardinal ordinances.
Now that which decayeth and waxeth old is ready to vanish away.
Paul's writing this just before the destruction of Jerusalem.
Jeremiah 31 and the covenant spoken of is referred in the
same words again in Hebrews chapter 10. And after writing about it,
Paul says, let us now draw near to God with a full assurance
of faith because we have a new and living way open to God consecrated
for us by the blood of the everlasting covenant. Now come back to Jeremiah
31 again, Jeremiah chapter 31. We'll wrap this up. The Lord
God speaks here of absolute security in verses 35 through 40. The
prophet assures us by God's own word given to him of the absolute
certain accomplishment of God's covenant, the absolute certain
salvation of God's people, the absolute certain fulfillment
of God's promises. Thus saith the Lord, which giveth
the sun for a light by day, and the ordinance of the moon of
the stars for light by night, which divided the sea when the
waves thereof roar. God who controls everything,
the Lord of hosts is his name. This is what he says. If those
ordinances depart from before me, saith the Lord, Then the
seed of Israel also shall cease from being a nation before me
forever. Now that statement alone tells
you this is not talking about the physical seed of Abraham
or the physical nation of Israel. Because that nation ceased from
being a nation from 70 AD until it was regathered politically
in 1948. And those who are gathered there
now, not one of them, not one of them, can trace his lineage,
his family tree, back to Abraham because the records were destroyed
in 70 AD. Not one of them can prove that
he is of that nation physically. Not one of them. I can. I am of that nation of which
God speaks here. His is real. And the proof is
one simple thing. He's written his law on my heart.
I believe his law. That's all. That's all. I believe
His Son. Brother Todd Nyberg and I were
talking one day last week about Peter and his fall. And he said,
he said, you know, Brother John, if you'd gone to Peter right
after he cussed and denied the Lord Jesus three times and asked
him if he was saved, he'd probably say no. But if you asked that
same Peter, do you believe that Jesus is the Christ? He'd say,
absolutely. That's our assurance. That's
our peace. That's our joy. That's our confidence. Not the strength of our faith
or the fervency of our love or our devotion. Our faith that
Jesus is the Christ. He alone is our acceptance and
our assurance. Read on. Thus saith the Lord,
verse 37, If heaven above can be measured and the foundations
of the earth searched out beneath, I will also cast off the seed
of Israel for all that they have done, saith the Lord. I like
it when the scientists get better telescopes. And they, man, we
should have reached the end of this thing now. And they finally
decided there's just no end to it. God says, when you can measure
the heavens, I'll cast off my people. But until you can measure
the heavens, it ain't gonna happen. Read on, verse 38. Behold, the
days come, saith the Lord, that the city shall be built to the
Lord from the tower of Hainil under the gate of the corner,
and the measuring line shall yet go forth over against it
upon the hill Garib, and shall compass about to Goeth, and the
whole valley of the dead bodies. I think I read about those somewhere.
I think I read about those over in Ezekiel chapter 37. A whole
valley full of dead bodies. Described by the prophet as the
whole house of Israel. And of the ashes. And all the
fields under the brook Kidron. Under the corner of the horse
gate toward the east. All of them. All the people I've
loved with an everlasting love. All of Israel, all my sons and
daughters, every blood-bought soul, every redeemed sinner,
every sinner called by my grace shall be holy unto the Lord. And he shall not be plucked up
nor thrown down anymore. Amen. Let's have a hymn for that.