Psalm 86

Well, good morning. OK, half of you are here. Some of you are still trying to make up for last week's loss of sleep. I can see that. I want to say, first of all, that I bring musicians with me to make up for what is lacking in the preaching. So if you don't like the preaching side, at least you could have enjoyed praising God together with this wonderful team. And I appreciate my kids, their families coming up. Elena wishes she could be with us She's our oldest daughter. And then Paul and Ashley send their greetings, of course. They miss you so very much. But they're thankful for the time that they were here, that you invested in them and the friendships that they forged and continue to treasure here. And you are so gracious to have us come. Even though you may not have known I was coming or had any part in that, you are so gracious to put up with us today. And especially I want to thank Keith and Sam as well for their hospitality, for the fun that they are, for the times we've had together. We've shared many meals. and discussions with these guys it was Sam will only have once or twice but but with Keith many times and so God has been so very good in that and it's good to be with you today and By the way, if you you get any of you Who are old school you get a little disturbed about me seeing me do this I'm just want to let you know that if the sermon gets boring and Or I go too long, I can keep up with the scores of the game today. So that's what that is up there for, basically. I would like you to turn your Bibles to Psalm 86, Psalm 86. I want to read at least a portion of this before I begin the message. And out of respect for God's Word, would you please rise with me one more time? A prayer of David. Incline your ear, O Lord, and answer me. For I am poor and needy. Preserve my life, for I am godly Save your servant who trusts in you. You are my God. Be gracious to me, O Lord, for to you do I cry all the day, gladden the soul of your servant. For to you, O Lord, do I lift up my soul. For you, O Lord, are good and forgiving, abounding and steadfast love to all who call upon you. Give ear, O Lord, to my prayer. Listen to my plea for grace. In the day of my trouble, I call upon You, for You answer me. Father, may You bless us as we open Your Word. Lord, I pray that You will help me to decrease as You increase. May we magnify Your name above every name. And Lord, may as we come to this passage, may we see how you have graciously opened your arms to welcome us in our times of need because of who you are, because of what you have done for us. So bless us now as your people gathered on this Lord's Day to worship you. May we open our ears and our hearts to understand in Jesus name. Amen. You may be seated. Have you ever noticed how conversations often begin with questions? Maybe something like, how's your family? Or how's your job? Or how's your week been? Or maybe how's your team faring in the ACC tournament? Maybe you've even heard one or more of those questions this morning. and just casual conversations here, but chances are no one asked you a question like this. How's your heart? Anybody have anyone ask them that question this morning, how's your heart? Seriously, when when was the last time someone came up with that kind of question to you, except maybe your doctor, my doctor, you know, how's the heart doing? One of my sons in law, who will not be named, had a basic medical exam recently as he was renewing an insurance policy. And after one of the checkpoints, the nurse turned to him and remarked, you have a wonderful heart. Now, I could have told her that all of my sons in law have wonderful hearts, but I think she had in mind something a little different, something about the physical heart. But when we come to God's word, God addresses the matter of the heart. He bores down deep into the very core of our being and who we are, how we respond to him. God wants that heart in wonderful condition. But I will be honest with you. I sometimes struggle with issues of the heart. Do you? In Jeremiah 1710, God tells us I, the Lord, search the heart even this morning as we gather here. God is not just simply looking at you and taking attendance. He searches our hearts. To know us. When God searches the heart, I will tell you often the diagnosis is not always very good. I suffer with problems such as a hard heart or a fearful heart. or an unbelieving heart or a troubled heart, a divided heart. Now, in Scripture, I do find a man who had a truly wonderful heart, inside and out. The Lord said of this man, I'm looking for someone who's after my heart, a man after God's heart. And twice in God's word, this man, David, is affirmed as a man who is truly seeking the heart of God. And many of the Psalms speak about the heart, even admitting his own weaknesses of his heart. And I detect some of that in Psalm 86. which has been called a mosaic of fragments. That is, David has borrowed from his own previous writings that he's pulled from songs here and there in the past. You can go back and check it out. Psalms twenty five to twenty eight and fifty four to fifty seven, eight songs. And he pulls out phrases there and then puts them together in this magnificent Psalms, recasting them into this frame to speak to us as we worship. As you turn and look here at that heading at the psalm, it simply reads this way. A prayer of David. And from start to finish, you can't miss that it's an earnest prayer. In fact, there are as many as 15 requests made of God in these 17 verses, and yet he's not laying out here simply a a wish list for God to do for God to take care of for him. These petitions focus on a central theme of seeking grace and mercy in the time of trouble. That's verse seven. That's at the very heart of this. Here, David is going through some hard times, obviously, though. Some scholars feel that it was written during the days when David experienced family problems with Absalom, his son, and was forced to flee the throne. And there were so many who were attacking David. Seems like that could fit here, but we don't know for sure. And I think that's good because then all of us can identify with any of the problems perhaps that we might be facing. Now, as you read through this prayer, each of the appeals that he makes to God is accompanied by a reason that he expects God to answer this. And that's why you see the word for or because so often in this psalm. In fact, I would challenge you later today to go back and read this psalm personally, let it speak to your heart and mark some of those. But as you look through the song, his logic is not so much to convince God to do something or to twist God's arm as if we could do that. But instead, David reveals his motives and his motivations centered not on himself, really, but instead on God and who God is and what God has done and what God will continue to do. So with that as a backdrop, I want you to listen to and explore David's song as it reveals a heart of a man from four perspectives. And here's a basic outline for you. We see that he has a heart driven to dependence and that's versus one through seven. And then we find him with a heart that is driven to worship in verses seven through 10. In verses 11 and 12, we find a heart that is driven to commitment. And then finally, in verses 13 to 17. We find a heart driven to prayer. So let's begin there in the first six verses, seven verses with a heart driven to dependence. I believe that one of the basic struggles that we deal with in life is the matter of self-sufficiency. I struggle with that and over 40 plus years of ministry and in counseling more than 20,000 people, I have found that people struggle in this particular area. I mean, we think I can do this myself. I can figure this out. I'll take care of this. Don't worry about it. But then something happens, we discover all too often that we don't have the answers, the resources, the strength. To face every problem in life. Notice how David begins this prayer, therefore. Verse one, incline your ear, oh Lord, And the first section draws to a close in verse six, when David pleads, give ear, O Lord. Now, glance back and forth between those two verses, verse one and verse six, and those statements there for a moment, notice the similarities. In each case, he asked for God's ear. The ear is mentioned and also the word Lord, all capitals is being used, signifying that he is addressing God As the covenant keeping God, the intimate personal God, he is crying out to him. I compare these two bookends that hold together David's thoughts and stanza one of his song here. And it shows us that David is experiencing something that brings him to an end of himself. We pick up on that in the very first word, that word inclined there. It's a word which means to bow down to to bend low. God, I've hit bottom. I need you now to step into my life because of what I'm facing, and he reinforces that in the first verse as well. Look at the next phrase there. David pictures himself as poor and needy. I would remind you this is interesting terminology for a man who's a king. I thought kings had anything they wanted. They just call and somebody brings it. But in David's case, he looks upon himself in this time, this day of trouble, and he says, I don't have what it takes. I'm poor and needy. I'm in trouble. Notice next, verse three. His cries for help could be heard all the day. In other words, this is not something that's going to easily or quickly go away. It's something that has been he's been struggling with. And then, not surprisingly, then we learn that these matters are things that are troubling him within. Look at verse seven again. Describes the crisis as the day of my trouble, that's rather dramatic that this day is just standing out in his mind, and it's more than just simply a day. I think it perhaps reflects on the fact that the scope of his problem is huge on his horizon. He can think of nothing else. It constantly troubles him. And don't miss don't miss the my in my trouble. It's deeply personal, and I believe it perhaps reflects an element of his own failure that comes out later in the song. David feels like, God, Life is a mess right now. And I need you to step in and help me. Can you identify with this? Maybe you're struggling with a problem. Maybe a big problem. You feel like you've exhausted every option that you have, you find yourself poor and needy, your heart cries out constantly within you and your soul is deeply troubled over what you're facing. David is desperate and therefore driven, driven to dependence. But where can he turn to whom is he driven? Where can he find help, relief, answers in the turmoil of his heart? Do we turn to friends? Oh, they can offer some comfort. Do we turn to advisors? Oh, I heard someone recently say that if You go to a counselor, an advisor, and if he gets three out of 10 and helps three out of 10, that's pretty good. Self-help books, I'm sure we've all bought them, but these are Band-Aids at best. This desperate man is driven to dependence, but he's driven to dependence on the Lord, all capitals, who is a covenant keeping God, who loves his people, who cares for them in every circumstance of life. And never fails. And David's faith that God will hear him is strong. Based upon three truths about God, why should he turn to God? Three things just pulls him like gravity toward God. It's in verse five. See, because the more we know about God and the more we know his heart, that our heart will learn to trust in him, as it says in verse two, my heart trust in you. Why would his heart trust in God? Three things first. This is so simple yet profound. God is good. Look at verse five, what he says, for you, oh, Lord, are good. You know, I, I like the stuff made by the company whose byline is life is good. Have you seen that? I mean, I've got cups and T-shirts and things like that say life is good and life has its moments, but I think I'm old enough now in my mid 60s to tell you that honestly, life isn't always good. For instance, it's not good when I see the price tag on life is good products as life is not good. But the real truth is life is often messy. It's difficult. It's demanding. It's painful. Life isn't always good, but God is always good. God is always good. If you have clothes on your back, you can say God is good. You got food on your table today, you can say God is good. If you're relatively healthy, you can say God is good. If you're a citizen of this country, this free country, you can say God is good. And I say this not being trite or self-serving, but if this is your church and this is your pastor, you can say God is good. Kathy and I, over the last year plus, we have visited many churches and fellowship with a lot of different people. And to be honest with you, a good church and good preaching, it's not always easy to find. But for you, God is good. Thank God for the men you have here on this staff who are serving you under the word of God. Every good gift, every perfect gift, the scripture says, comes down from the father. And so from God's good hand, we enjoy the gifts in good measure, things such as peace and comfort and hope and love, even when life is hard, because God is good. Does the goodness of God so grip your heart that it drives you to trust in God for all things? You know, we Taught our children when we were young, I learned growing up, not even in a Christian home initially, I learned a prayer that we said over the meals. You probably many of you older ones, you learn this, too. Maybe you've taught your kids. It's a great prayer. Simple. God is great and God is good, and let us thank him for our food. God is good. And so David can turn to God. Because he knows he believes that God is good, but there's something else here. Number two, look at verse five again. God is not only good, he is. Not just forgiving, he is ready to forgive. Hebrew term here is very precise, it's only use of God in Scripture, no hesitation, no probation, no uncertainty. He is ready and eager to forgive. us, and that's a wonderful truth for someone like me who stumbles and falls so often. Maybe for you as well, because God's grace is greater than all our sin and where our sin abounded, grace surpassed it all. And if that is if that's not enough, David adds one more highlight to this magnificent portrait of God. Verse five again, and he's abounding in love. abounding in steadfast love. This is that word, a Hebrew word in the Old Testament for grace. Oh, God abounds in His grace and His love toward us. Isn't it wonderful to feel loved by a spouse or children, family, friends? But beyond that love, the love of God has for each of you is even greater. And he does love you. David affirms this. If you look at verse five, he's David affirms that God's love is available to any and all who call upon his name. Somehow today you just feel alone, isolated, unloved. You are not. Because God loves you and cares about you. And that means that God loves you in spite of who you are. And because of who he is, God loves you in spite of your past and your present failures. His heart opens wide and overflows with love to you. You remember in Romans eight, nothing can separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus. God loves you. And even though we might wonder from God. In his loyal love, he will never abandon us. And that's why David can confidently say and ask God, incline your ear here. I'm at bottom and bend over. Lord, come down. God, you're going to have to come down really low to pick me up this time. And this God. This God, who is always good, ready to forgive and abounding in love, is a personal God. Notice what David says. He is my God. You are my God. Verse two. It's as if to say, God, I just can't live without you. You are mine, and I'm so glad you're mine. And we have all these frilly love songs that talk about I just can't live without you. I think of an old Barry Manilow song, if anybody knows who Barry Manilow is in this audience. So I can't smile without you. I can't laugh without you. Blah, blah, blah. I tell you, David's song here goes so much deeper. I can't live without God, you are my God. Now, that should fill us with a sense of joy, should it not? And that's why David himself says in verse four, rejoice the soul of your servant, for to you, O Lord, I lift up my soul. I bring myself before you, God, because I am down and I need you in this time of my life. So where does all this lead? Well, the verses eight to 10. As David considers this goodness, forgiveness and love of God, how does he respond? With a heart driven to worship. David especially loses himself in the person and presence of God in verses eight through 10, and again, we're going to find some bookends here. Look with me and mark or highlight if you mark your Bible statements at the beginning and end of these verses eight to 10 in verse eight, he says, there is none like you. And in the verse 10, you alone are God. You know, when I read those words, they kind of have a familiar ring to me. Do they to you? It's because David himself is recalling similar words from another setting when God delivered his people from their bondage in Egypt. And Moses sat down and composed a song, the song of salvation, and in Exodus chapter 15, verse 11, There we read David paraphrases it, but Moses wrote, who is like you, O Lord, among the gods who is like you, glorious and holiness, fearful and praises doing wonders. Now, the song here in front of us now just really overflows with thoughts of God, that God alone is God. And David is lost, as we say earlier, lost in the wonder, love and praise of this God. David's Godward focus here is evident in the number of times that various names for the Lord are used, for instance, the name Jehovah, Yahweh, all capitals, Lord is used four times in the text, Adonai, Lord with the lowercase letters, meaning sovereign Lord, seven times in the text Elohim, that general name for God Almighty, five times. And there's a constant reference to God through the use of personal pronouns such as you. I'd challenge you to go back for yourself and look at those sometime today. But let me just give you a sampling and reading through this, if I counted accurately. He refers to God. Thirty two times with a personal pronoun in 17 verses. He says in verse three, be gracious to me, O Lord, for to you, I cry all the day. Verse four, gladden the heart of the soul of your servant for to you, O Lord, I lift up my soul. Verse seven, in the day of my trouble, I call to you upon you for you answer me. Verse 10, for you are great and do wondrous things. Verse 15, but you, oh, Lord, are a God merciful and gracious. And the end of verse 17, because you, Lord, have helped me and comforted me. That's only a few. Thirty two times he sets his eyes upward toward God to look to him for his help. And the character of God is magnified in nearly every single line, and especially here in verses eight through 10, where his heart is driven to worship God, this incomparable God, as he celebrates the sovereign Lord, he sees that he is sovereign. Look with me here as I read through these verses. There is none like you among the gods. You see, he is sovereign in the heavenly realm among the gods. Or if we continue on, oh Lord, there nor are there any works like yours, no works like yours. He is sovereign in the world of creation. Verse nine, he is sovereign in the world of mankind. All the nations that you have made shall come and worship before you, oh Lord, and shall glorify your name. And then in verse 10, he is sovereign in the events of history. When he says here that I will give thank our first hand for you are great and do wondrous things. You alone are God, Lord. You are the Lord of history. You're the Lord of all of this. And verse 10, I really think is a wonderful summary statement of God himself when it simply says this, for you are great. God is good. It's great. When you think about it, that simple prayer we tell our kids, it's a biblical prayer, isn't it? It's a biblical thanksgiving to God because God alone is great. So our God is a good God. Our God is a great God, sovereign over all, good beyond measure. And all this drives the man deeper still in his life. We come to verses 11 and 12. And here we find a heart driven to commitment. When you see God for who he is and all that he's done, you're driven to be all that he desires for you to be. You can never know enough about God or know him intimately enough, because when you do, it drives you deeper into your walk with him. With that in mind, David's celebration and worship of God is more here in the song than just simply an emotional feeling, an expression. Very wisely, very gratefully, David does not appeal to God without offering himself back to God. This is our reasonable service. I beseech you, brethren, by the mercies of God, you present yourselves to God because of God's mercy, because of God's grace. Give yourself to him. And David does that very thing. There are some commitments that he makes here. Let the next verses that I read, 11 and 12, grip you and your heart. Teach me your way, O Lord, I will walk in your truth, unite my heart to fear your name. I will praise you, O Lord, my God, with all my heart and I will glorify your name forever. Is that the way you pray? You know, I read that and it's so unlike so many of my prayers, give me, give me, give me. Too often we come to God in our need and it's as if he is nothing more than our servant rather than us being his twice in the psalm, David talks about himself being a servant, though he's king. Notice what he asks, what he gives to God, I should say, what he offers to God first. He asked the Lord to teach him. Teach me your way, O Lord, that I may walk in your truth. I love this. Because though this man is going through difficult times, he does not ask God to teach him how to escape. He asked God to teach him how to walk within the trials in a way that will please God. Lord, teach me how to just to walk in the way of truth. If I can keep my feet on that path, I know your blessing is there. David here wants to grow through this experience. He is eager to learn the lessons God has for him. What's your attitude? What's my attitude when trials and troubles surround us? Do we ask the real questions like? What am I to learn from all of this? God, how are you trying to shape my heart and my life? What have I been missing? What are you desiring of me? I guess the ultimate prayer is or just make me teachable every day, regardless of what I face. Teach me your way. I may walk in it. Second thing, though, he offers to God, he says. Unite my heart. Unite my heart to fear your name. Isn't it interesting to hear such words from a man who supposedly is a man who already seeks after the heart of God? But you see, God sees us in his righteousness and we often see ourselves in our weakness and simpleness. And here, as David looks at himself, he realizes, you know. God, I need to unite my heart. I just feel like I'm fragmented. I feel like I'm distracted. I feel I'm pulled in so many directions, Lord. Do you ever feel that way? Is your heart that way this morning? Remember the story about Luke 10 and Luke 10, where Jesus is in the home of Mary and Martha. And we find Mary sitting there at the feet of Jesus, listening to his teaching and Martha. Oh, she is so busy and so underappreciated for all her busyness. And Luke writes this Martha was distracted with much serving. And she came in and complained to the Lord about Mary, she wasn't doing her part. And Jesus says, Martha, Martha. You are anxious and troubled about many things, but one thing is necessary, and Mary has chosen the good portion. It's a matter of choice. There are so many allurements, so many attractions, so many temptations. But we make a choice, what do we choose? David here is choosing to bring things back together. Lord, I want you to pull my heart together back into a unit that I might fear your name. You ever find that your emotions and your affections and your passions chase after many things rather than just the one thing in life? Beyond that, I think that the fact is that all of us at one time or another do harbor idols in our hearts. The idols of this world are many. We make idols of people. We make idols of politics. We make idols of sports. I don't know how many of you saw it. I saw something during the Olympics that stunned me because NBC was running a little clip, a teaser about their sports and all they cover and what you can get on their app and so on. And they were throwing up on the screen words that identify with what sports is all about. Endurance. Courage. Worship. I turned to my wife, I said, did you see that? She didn't, so maybe it was my eyes, I don't know. But I thought I thought for a minute there, wait a minute, is this going to a church setting or where is this going? No, it went to the sports arena. It's a terrible thing to say during an ACC tournament, isn't it? We make gods of our wealth, of our hobbies, No sensual things. But you see, David has already reminded us in verse 10, you you are God alone. There is only one that we worship. There's only one worthy of our heart and of our full heart's devotion. You alone are God. And as those who would say we worship the one true God, we need to pull the pieces of our heart together and make it whole, one, united for the sole purpose of fearing his name, of exalting his name, of proclaiming his name. We do that as individuals, but you do that as a church. That's what you are to do. God wants you, as we sang even earlier, one voice. We lift up the name of God and praise him. Eugene Peterson's paraphrase. The message states that these words put me together, one heart and mind and then undivided, I'll worship you in joyful fear. And then third. He tells the Lord that having learned God's ways. and having united his heart to fear God's name, that then he will praise and glorify God with all of his heart forever and ever. You see that there in verse 10. Well, do you get the picture here? This this is a life of total commitment. Notice outwardly. Teach me to walk inwardly, unite my heart upwardly, accept my praise. Total commitment to God. And so we come to the final stanza of his song, where we see a heart driven to prayer. Now, early on in the song, we sense that David was facing a difficult situation, verse seven, in the day of my trouble. Now, that trouble becomes much more defined here in verse 13 and 14, you have delivered my soul from the depths of shield, from the depths of hell. Oh, God, insolent men have risen up against me, a band of ruthless men seek my life and they do not set you before them. David here is describing his world, the world in which he lives, his culture. He lives in a world where people are arrogant. Who are ruthless, meaning oppressive, even violent, and they have no regard. For God. We live in a world like that. The world in general can be described in that way. Arrogant. Ruthless, no regard for God. So there's little David can do to change that, and so the man is driven deeper to prayer. First two words in verse 15, everything turns after talking about all these problems. Look at verse 15. Mark these first two words, but you, but you. I'm surrounded by all these problems. I'm burdened with all these cares. Things are pressing upon me. But you, God, I look to you. God is the one who can make a difference. Why? Verse 15, for you, O Lord, are God merciful and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness. David has. already alluded to these words previously in the psalm. In fact, earlier back up in, oh, verses one through six, he talked about some of these elements. But here he quotes a passage, quotes a passage from Exodus 34. There where Moses had like David here said, Lord, show me your ways that I may know you and give me your presence and show me your glory, then God shows him his glory and God passes by. And these very words, which are the most quoted verses out of the Old Testament in other Old Testament books, it's almost like the creed of the Old Testament. You, O Lord, are a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness. You see, as God answered the prayer of Moses, now David says, I need that God and I need that answer to prayer in my life as well. God, this is who you are. And I desperately need you to be that God for me, the God who is faithful. So, Lord, I want to ask of you these things for 16. First, turn to me. Here's a prayer for blessing. Turn to me. It literally means in the original language to turn your face toward me. I need your face to shine upon me, Lord. Second, verse 16, be gracious to me, that word also means and maybe more strongly means be merciful to me. He cries out to God and this has been echoed throughout the song. Go back to verse three. Be gracious to me. Verse six. Listen to my plea for grace or mercy. Verse 15. Oh, Lord, you are God, merciful and gracious. In all these places, the word means gracious or merciful, and that's what God is and that's what we need is mercy from God. If you're here today and you have no hope of salvation, you don't know what will happen to you when you die. I will tell you that here are words of hope for you because God is merciful and he hears the prayer of the sinner. God be merciful to me, a sinner. Turn to me, be gracious to me. And then verse 16 again, give me strength, give your strength to your servant strength to bear up under the pressures, the burdens, the hardships, even the enemies. And finally, he says, and God show me a sign. Don't think of this, by the way, in some sense that, you know, he's like Gideon and putting out a fleece. He says, show me a sign. He's simply saying, Lord, answer this prayer. And the reason I say that is look at verse 17. Show me a sign of your favor that those who hate me may see and be put to shame because you, Lord, have helped and comforted me. God, you do for me what I need and let other people see that. Let that be the sign that you're working in my life. But you're helping me that you're comforting me and may others be drawn to you because of what they see in me. David had every confidence, therefore, that God would answer his prayers. That's why back in verse seven already he has said this in the day of trouble, I call upon you for you answer me. And now again. At the end of verse 17, he he says once again, show me a sign of your favor because you, O Lord, have helped and comforted me. God, you will answer my prayers. You've done it in the past. I know you will do it now. And so David, in his trouble. Appeals to the goodness of God, verse five, he appeals to the greatness of God. Verse 13, and he appeals to the faithfulness of God. Verse 15. He says, this is my God, a God who is good, a God who is great, a God who is faithful in him, I can trust in him, we can trust. We find compassion, we find strength, we find deliverance, and therefore. I call to you. That you might rest in him. Trust in him. Let him teach you his ways. Let him unite your heart to fear his name. Let him put a song of wholehearted praise on your lips. A pastor by the name of Scotty Smith blogs periodically has a prayer, and this one I think fits so well with it. Listen to this prayer. Heavenly Father, How I long for the day when I will no longer be temptable, deceivable and even capable of worshiping any other God but you. I so look forward to an eternity of giving you the adoration, affection, attention and allegiance of which you alone are worthy. No one cares like you. No one understands like you. No one redeems like you. No one loves like you. No one restores like you. There is no God but you. And Jesus, you've already given me a new heart. and have placed your spirit in me. In Jesus, you have already turned my heart of stone into a heart of flesh. In Jesus, you have already given me a heart to know and love you. In Jesus, you have already written your law upon my heart. In Jesus, you've already given me a perfectly forgiven heart. And yet. It is not a fully perfected heart. The battle for my heart's daily worship continues and will continue on to the day Jesus returns to finish making all things new. Thus, the warning to keep myself from idols has never had more meaning, father. Help me discern which idols of the heart I am most susceptible to trusting in rather than you. When I don't think you're enough, Where do I take the worship you deserve? Where do I go for life, deliverance and salvation? Sometimes the collaboration and conspiracy of the duplicity within me, the world around me, the devil invisible to me is overwhelming. I need the gospel every minute of every hour. I praise you for the assurance that I am already one of your beloved children. You cannot love me more than you already do, and you will never love me less for you love all your children just as much as you love your beloved son, Jesus. Surely the gospel, this gospel will win the day, my heart and the entire cosmos. So very amen, I pray in Jesus name and Father, we pray as your people gathered here on this day. That you would teach us your way that we might walk in your truth, that you would unite our hearts to fear your name. And may we give thanks to you, O God, with our whole heart. May we glorify You with the praise of our lips and our lives. And we pray this in the name of our great sovereign God, of Lord Jehovah, our covenant-keeping God who loves us and keeps us. In the name of Him who sent His Son to die for our sins to redeem us. In His name we pray. Amen.