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A Journey To Zion · Stornoway Free Church of Scotland - Sermons

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  Psalms, Psalm 84, and I'm just going to bring out some points from the whole stretch of the psalm.
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  How lovely is your dwelling place, O Lord of hosts.
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  Now it's obvious as you read through the psalm that it's one of those pilgrimage psalms.
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  It's one of those psalms that speaks about a journey to Zion, a journey to the temple,
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  because as we'll see, he is away from the temple.
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  The psalmist is lamenting the fact that he's not in God's house or near God's house
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  and wants to know again of the benefit of being in the Lord's house.
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  It doesn't tell us where he is or how long he's been away,
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  but he does obviously have a longing to be back in the courts of the Lord, as he says in verse 2.
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  And you can see too that three times, at least through the psalm, you have the word blessed.
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  And in some ways you could say that blessed, as you find in verses 4 and 5 and 12,
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  the psalm is in a sense a meditation on the meaning of blessed
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  and how the whole concept of being blessed applies to God's people.
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  One of the beautiful things about the psalm, and it is such a comforting thought,
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  is that blessedness is not affected by whatever conditions we may find ourselves in.
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  Because the psalm takes us through different circumstances and different conditions,
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  even the fact that he's there and then in a place of longing,
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  and where he talks to later, as we'll see, to the valley of Baker,
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  the difficulties of the journey, the challenges of the journey,
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  and then reaching journey's end, throughout all of these varied experiences,
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  his blessedness remains in place.
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  God has blessed him. Nothing can alter that.
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  And all the way through, he's carrying the blessedness that belongs to him,
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  of which he speaks through each and all of these circumstances.
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  It remains intact for the whole of his journey.
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  And isn't that a comforting and reassuring thought for yourself tonight as a Christian?
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  That however things change in your experience or in the conditions of your life from day to day,
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  none of that affects your blessedness.
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  You are as blessed after God has blessed you.
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  You are as blessed in times of adversity and temptation and difficulty
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  as you are in times of comfort and joy.
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  The blessedness is not conditional upon the outward circumstances.
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  The blessedness continues right through every instance of life.
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  And that's, of course, what God demonstrated way back in the Old Testament days there,
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  further back in the days of Balaam coming to try and curse the Lord's people in the book of Numbers,
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  chapters 23, 24, as you read through that,
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  that Balak, the king of Moab, had hired him to come and curse these people of God.
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  He took him up to a mountain, as you remember, and sought to curse them from there.
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  And God came and put a word in his mouth.
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  And instead of uttering curses against the people of God,
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  he pronounced some of the most beautiful blessings from God upon these people.
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  And in pronouncing that, one of the things he said more than once was,
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  how can I curse whom God has not cursed?
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  And how can I bless whom God has not blessed?
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  If tonight your life is blessed, and as a Christian your life is blessed,
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  nothing is going to be able to curse you.
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  Nothing is going to alter that blessedness that God has actually laid upon you or taken you into.
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  Now, there are three points, just briefly, that we can divide the psalm into.
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  First of all, verses 1 to 4, and also verse 10,
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  you find that there is what you might call the element of pining.
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  He's pining for the house of the Lord.
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  He has a longing in his heart.
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  Secondly, verses 5 to 7 speaks about pilgrimage.
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  And then, finally, verses 11 to 12 speak about plenty,
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  the plenteousness that God has for his people,
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  as the one who is their son and their shield,
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  bestowing favour and honour.
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  No good thing does he withhold the plenteousness of goodness,
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  as God showers them with good things.
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  So, pining, pilgrimage, and plenty.
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  And the first verses, 1 to 4, here he is saying,
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  how lovely is your dwelling place.
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  He's thinking about the dwelling place of God, the temple of God.
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  And then he says, my soul longs, yes, faints for the courts of the Lord.
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  And one of the things that strikes you all the way through that,
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  especially in the beginning, how lovely is your dwelling place.
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  As he pines for the house of God, his mind is caught up with the beauty of that.
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  And with the beauty of the house of God, because of God's own beauty.
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  Because that's what you find right throughout,
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  where God makes his presence, that makes a place or a person beautiful.
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  You find that in Psalm 27, for example.
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  When you think of how the same reference there is to the temple or the house of God,
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  and the psalmist there in 27,
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  the Lord is my light and my salvation.
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  This is David this time, how that gives him encouragement and strength.
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  But then in verse 4,
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  one thing I have asked of the Lord, that will I seek after,
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  that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life.
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  Why? To gaze upon the beauty of the Lord, to inquire in his temple.
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  See what comes through to us from the word of God.
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  From the study of the word of God, from our meditation on the word of God.
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  What comes through to us as God impresses us with his word in our hearts
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  is the beauty of the Lord.
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  Every single thing that has beauty about it in this world.
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  And let's face it, this is still a world that's marred by sin,
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  waiting for the day of its deliverance at the end of the world
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  and the reconstitution into the new heavens and the new earth,
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  where righteousness dwells.
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  Nevertheless, all around you, you have beauty.
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  You have beauty in terms of your own human being.
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  The beauty of your mind.
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  The beauty in which God has put you together with the different faculties that you have.
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  Where does that beauty come from?
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  Where does the beauty of salvation come from?
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  Where does the beauty of redemption in Christ come from?
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  Where does the beauty of your adoption come from?
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  The fact that you've been made and brought into the family of God
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  and have become a child of God.
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  The beauty of that position and that relationship with God is from him.
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  Everything is derived that is beautiful is derived from his beauty.
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  God places his own beauty.
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  The beauty of his holiness.
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  The beauty of his life.
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  The life that he gives to us.
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  He impresses us and puts that upon us.
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  And so you find the same in verse 10.
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  For a day in your courts is better than a thousand elsewhere.
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  I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God
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  than dwell in the tents of wickedness.
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  In other words, he's really saying the least position in the house of God
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  is of infinitely more beauty than the highest position in the world.
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  To dwell in the tents of wickedness.
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  To have that dwelling place instead of the dwelling place
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  of being in the house of the Lord.
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  There is no comparison.
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  Tonight you are in a beautiful situation.
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  Of course, the temple of the Lord, house of the Lord,
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  is more than this building.
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  The concept of God's dwelling place moves as we come into the New Testament.
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  It being now the church of God, the people of God.
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  That's where he dwells.
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  That's where he's placed his name.
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  That's the place he makes beautiful for his own presence
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  and by his own presence.
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  And you know, as we come to another Lord's day
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  and another Lord's supper, God willing.
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  One of the things that we ought to seek from God
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  as we come once again to take communion
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  is that the Lord would bless his word to us
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  and by his spirit enable us once again
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  just to dwell upon the beauty of the Lord.
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  To dwell upon what these elements of bread and of wine represent.
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  That this is the beauty of Christ.
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  Christ's own death, which is such a cursed death.
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  And the ugliness of death.
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  And the ugliness of bearing the punishment of God.
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  And yet, nevertheless, it is, in the other sense,
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  the most beautiful place in the world.
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  Because that is where the beauty of righteousness shines.
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  The beauty of God's love as it penetrates the darkness of Calvary.
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  And as you look at those things in emblem in the Lord's supper,
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  it should be for us a conveying of that sense of beauty.
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  How beautiful is our salvation.
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  How beautiful is our saviour.
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  How beautiful is that relationship to him
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  in which we have communion with God.
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  How beautiful is the prospect in the hope that he's given us
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  of eternal life with him in heaven.
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  Every single aspect of our relationship with God
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  has beauty in some way attached to it.
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  And we can say how lovely, how beautiful is your dwelling place, O Lord.
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  And you know that word lovely, it is beautiful.
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  It does mean beautiful.
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  But it also conveys with it a sense of beloved, of being valued.
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  How beloved is your dwelling place?
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  How valued is your dwelling place?
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  How precious to me is the fact that you dwell, Lord, in my heart.
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  That you've chosen this as your dwelling place.
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  It's something that I prize, something that I value.
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  Of course, that carries you into what the Bible many ways presents as,
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  the lament of God's people when they're not as aware as they once were of being near to God.
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  When they lament the fact that they have caused perhaps some distance between themselves and God
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  by disobedience, by something other that they know has caused that God's face has,
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  to an extent, been hidden from them.
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  They don't have the same comfort they used to have.
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  They don't have the same sense of nearness to God.
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  And they can say with the psalmist, Lord, my soul longs, faints.
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  I want this back.
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  I want to have that relationship restored to the way that I enjoyed you as I used to.
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  But, you know, tonight, if you are in that situation where you say,
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  I'm not as close to the Lord as I used to be.
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  I'm not as close to the Lord as I've been recently.
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  And I lament the fact that that's the case.
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  And I'd like to have it restored.
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  If that is the case, don't let that keep you back from the Lord's table.
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  Don't let it keep you from coming to take communion.
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  Because, after all, what could be better for you than to use a means of grace like the Lord's Supper,
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  by which the Lord channels grace into our lives?
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  What could be better for you than to come and avail yourself once again of it,
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  asking that the Lord would restore your soul,
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  would actually bring back to you that sense of his nearness,
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  if you've lost that to some extent.
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  So, this is his desire.
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  The soul is longing.
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  He's crying out for the courts of the Lord.
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  And these words in verse 2,
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  my heart and flesh sing for joy.
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  I think the old translation in that instance is probably better.
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  It's crying out to the living God.
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  And it's not necessarily devoid of joy,
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  but the prominent element, I think,
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  in his longing and his pining for the house of God,
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  he has that pain in his heart.
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  And he is crying out for the Lord.
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  This is really serious to him.
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  This is something he really wants to know,
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  and God's answer to God answering his prayer and his longing.
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  My soul longs, yes, even faints for the courts of the Lord.
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  She is envious at the sparrow and the swallow,
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  who have found a place to nest at your altars, O Lord of hosts.
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  He's really saying,
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  Lord, here I am, and I'm conscious I'm not at your house.
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  I'm not where I would desire to be.
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  At the moment, I'm distanced from your altars,
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  from your temple,
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  and I envy these very little birds that have a place in your temple.
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  If only I were as one of them to actually be at your altars,
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  O Lord of hosts, my King and my God.
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  And so that's the blessed state he speaks of.
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  Blessed are those, verse 4,
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  who dwell in your house,
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  ever singing your praise.
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  Well, is this not our desire tonight?
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  However much we've known the Lord in the past up to this moment,
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  whether we've been in this pilgrimage a long time or a short time,
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  that's not really the issue.
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  The issue is that tonight we want to see God spiritually with our longing eyes.
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  We want to come to this communion on the Lord's day,
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  praying that the Lord would reveal himself to us through his word
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  and through the elements of the Lord's Supper.
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  And that once again, we would gaze upon his beauty.
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  And that he would reinforce to our longing souls
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  the fact that he is our God,
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  that we are his people,
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  that he's taken us as his people,
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  that we are, in other words, blessed.
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  Blessed by him.
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  Because he speaks of him here as,
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  O Lord of hosts, my King and my God.
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  By that he shows that this Lord, this God, has no rivals.
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  None can take his place.
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  None can dethrone him.
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  More than that,
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  the Psalms very often are polemic.
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  That's to say they're directed against idolatry
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  and against the kind of religions
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  that Israel had around her at all times.
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  And so in the Psalms, you'll find so much of an emphasis on God,
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  their God being the true God,
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  the only God, the living God,
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  the creator God, the sovereign God,
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  the saving God, the covenant God.
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  All of that is a polemic against
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  those idols and these idolaters around them.
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  And really these gods in Psalm 115,
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  they're dead.
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  They're made by human hands.
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  They have certain shapes.
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  They've even got human form.
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  They have eyes.
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  They have ears.
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  They have mouths, but they can't hear.
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  They can't speak.
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  Because they're dead, worthless idols.
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  But your God is this God.
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  And as this God is your God,
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  so you'll love to have that made known
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  to the world in which you live.
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  And by coming to once again take communion,
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  and even by being here tonight,
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  you have demonstrated and you're demonstrating
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  that this God is your God,
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  that you're not living for the gods of this world.
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  That whatever shape the gods of this world take,
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  they are varied and they are many.
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  As we heard in the Lord's Day from Kalmurda,
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  if I remember rightly,
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  that the idolatry of our age
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  is not confined to things that people make with their hands.
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  There's all kinds of ideologies and philosophies and lifestyles
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  and many things related to that
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  that are just idolatrous.
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  Man worshipping himself and his own mind
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  and his own so-called ability
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  and putting God aside.
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  But this is your God.
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  Blessed are those whose God is this God.
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  At your altar, O Lord of hosts,
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  my King and my God.
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  And isn't it marvellous
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  how that little word, my,
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  just clinches that argument for us, doesn't it?
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  He's not just God.
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  He's not just God in terms of being the King
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  and the Sovereign Lord of the universe.
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  The psalmist is here saying,
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  I'm away from where I would long to be,
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  where I'm longing to be back at.
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  My soul is longing for the courts of the Lord.
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  At your altar, my King and my God.
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  Reminds you, doesn't it,
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  of the great words you find in John's Gospel
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  when Jesus came to reveal himself to Thomas?
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  Thomas not having been there a week before
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  when he revealed himself
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  as the risen Christ to the disciples.
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  And of course, he knew of Thomas' objection
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  and the words that Thomas had spoken,
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  even though Jesus wasn't physically present.
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  We invited Thomas specifically.
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  And what a marvellous thing that is as well,
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  that the Lord would make the effort,
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  if we can put it that way,
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  and would take such concern
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  to present himself to that one disciple
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  who had been missing from the previous gathering,
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  just to reveal himself to him this time.
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  And after Thomas had come with conviction
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  to realise who this was,
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  that this was the risen Christ,
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  how did he respond?
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  My Lord and my God.
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  My Lord and my God.
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  What a great confession.
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  One of the greatest confessions in the Bible,
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  combining as it did
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  the personal attachment of Thomas to Jesus
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  and Jesus to him,
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  but also Jesus himself being both Lord and God.
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  So there's pining,
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  pining for the house of the Lord,
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  the presence of God,
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  secondly,
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  there's pilgrimage from verse five.
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  Blessed are those whose strength is in you
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  and whose heart are the highways to Zion.
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  As they go through the valley of Beka,
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  they make it a place of springs.
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  The early rain also covers it with pools.
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  They go from strength to strength.
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  Each one appears before God in Zion.
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  Now the journey to Zion,
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  or back to the temple,
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  wherever he was situated this time,
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  was obviously going to be
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  through difficult terrain,
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  valley of Beka,
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  generally is interpreted by commentators
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  as a place of dryness.
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  Difficult to be precise,
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  but the meaning of the word Beka itself,
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  but certainly it was a desert place,
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  a place of dryness,
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  very arid place,
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  a place for which you needed strength
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  to actually walk through it
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  and come out the other side.
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  And he's saying here
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  that he requires that strength
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  so that they will go
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  and he will go from strength to strength
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  with those who are traveling.
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  It involves a tough journey.
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  It's the journey of life.
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  It's the journey on which you and I are set
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  as pilgrims heading towards Zion
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  because that road takes you,
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  as you very well know,
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  through difficult,
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  challenging territory.
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  You're going to meet with enemies
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  that will frighten you.
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  You're going to meet with failures
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  on your own part and mine.
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  You're going to meet with temptations
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  to some of which you will yield to,
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  and I too.
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  There's so much you're going to meet with
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  that really in themselves
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  are designed to put you off,
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  to make you turn back.
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  You're going to meet with Satan,
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  especially different forms
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  and different ways
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  in which he has access to our lives.
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  So as to try and intimidate us,
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  you're going to meet with the ways of the world,
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  with the hostility of those enemies of Christ.
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  So many ways in which the path,
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  the pilgrimage,
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  is a really testing one,
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  one of difficulty for which you and I need,
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  the strength that God gives.
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  That's why he's saying in verse 5,
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  blessed are those whose strength is in you.
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  In other words, he's saying,
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  blessed are those for whom you are the strength.
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  You are the one who gives them
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  the strength for the journey.
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  And really that's very much in line
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  with what the apostle wrote.
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  You remember to the Corinthians
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  in the second letter to the Corinthians
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  where he spoke about the difficulties
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  that he himself was facing.
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  But then as he came to chapter 12,
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  as you read it in chapter 12,
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  the experiences he spoke of there,
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  the thorn in the flesh that was given him,
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  to buffet him,
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  a messenger of Satan,
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  to harass me,
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  to keep me from being too elated.
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  Three times I pleaded with the Lord about this,
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  that it should leave me.
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  But he said to me,
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  my grace is sufficient for you,
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  for my power is made perfect in your weakness.
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  Therefore, I will boast all the more gladly
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  of my weaknesses,
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  so that the power of Christ may rest upon me.
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  For the sake of Christ, then,
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  I am content with weaknesses,
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  insults, hardships, persecutions,
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  and calamities.
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  For when I am weak,
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  then I am strong.
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  He's saying that I am content.
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  For the sake of Christ,
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  I'm content with weaknesses,
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  and so on.
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  He knew that as he depended upon Christ,
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  as he depended on the grace of God
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  that was promised him,
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  he knew that the strength he needed
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  was given to him.
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  The strength to actually meet those challenges
• 22:47
  that he speaks of in this chapter,
• 22:49
  in these verses.
• 22:50
  And the word he uses there for content.
• 22:54
  For the sake of Christ,
• 22:55
  I am content with weaknesses,
• 22:58
  insults.
• 22:59
  It's the very same word
• 23:00
  that's actually used
• 23:02
  for God's,
• 23:04
  the Father's words about Jesus.
• 23:07
  This is my beloved son
• 23:09
  in whom I am well pleased.
• 23:13
  That word in Greek for well pleased,
• 23:16
  content,
• 23:17
  is exactly the word
• 23:19
  that Paul uses there
• 23:20
  in 2 Corinthians chapter 12.
• 23:23
  I am well pleased to be like this.
• 23:27
  I am content that this is my lot,
• 23:30
  that I know whatever circumstances I have,
• 23:34
  my blessedness will not run out,
• 23:36
  and it will not be taken from me.
• 23:38
  My status will not change.
• 23:40
  The grace of God will not fail me.
• 23:43
  It is sufficient for me.
• 23:47
  Whatever we're afraid of,
• 23:51
  and we're afraid of many things,
• 23:54
  whatever we're afraid of
• 23:55
  must never deflect our minds
• 23:58
  and our conviction
• 23:59
  that the grace of God
• 24:01
  is not sufficient for us.
• 24:04
  Many people have fears
• 24:06
  about coming to meet with the elders,
• 24:07
  for example,
• 24:08
  to come to take communion
• 24:09
  for the first time.
• 24:10
  And however much we do try
• 24:13
  and emphasize and do again emphasize,
• 24:15
  this is not to be seen
• 24:16
  as a formidable challenge.
• 24:18
  It's not there to prove
• 24:20
  how much you don't know
• 24:22
  or do know.
• 24:23
  It's actually there to be
• 24:24
  very much a stepping stone,
• 24:26
  very much to do with
• 24:27
  an encouraging step
• 24:29
  for you to take
• 24:30
  in terms of
• 24:32
  coming to the Lord's table
• 24:34
  for the first time.
• 24:36
  In other words,
• 24:37
  the challenge of that,
• 24:39
  think of it in the words of Paul,
• 24:40
  I am therefore content.
• 24:42
  I am therefore pleased
• 24:44
  that there's such a thing for me
• 24:46
  that I can take this step,
• 24:48
  even if it's a challenge,
• 24:50
  because then the power of Christ
• 24:52
  will rest upon me
• 24:53
  and the grace that's promised me
• 24:56
  will be my experience.
• 25:00
  So he has the strength
• 25:01
  even in the times of testing,
• 25:03
  but notice how he's saying
• 25:05
  as they go through
• 25:05
  the valley of Beka,
• 25:07
  they make it a place of springs.
• 25:11
  And I think the imagery
• 25:12
  that you've got there
• 25:14
  is a very precious one.
• 25:16
  He's not saying
• 25:17
  as they go through
• 25:18
  the valley of Beka,
• 25:19
  the rain comes down.
• 25:20
  He does mention that
• 25:21
  in the end of verse 6,
• 25:22
  but the first thing he says here
• 25:24
  is they make it.
• 25:25
  These pilgrims
• 25:26
  make the valley of Beka.
• 25:28
  They make it a place of wells.
• 25:30
  In other words,
• 25:31
  they have to actually use means
• 25:33
  by which to dig up
• 25:35
  the water for themselves.
• 25:37
  The valley of Beka
• 25:38
  is arid on top.
• 25:40
  It's a desert.
• 25:41
  There's nothing to be seen
• 25:42
  on the surface,
• 25:42
  but when you dig down
• 25:44
  deep enough,
• 25:45
  you'll come across water
• 25:46
  and you can actually
• 25:46
  get a refreshing drink.
• 25:48
  That's the image
• 25:50
  that you've got here.
• 25:52
  And that image follows you
• 25:54
  into the Christian's experience
• 25:56
  as well.
• 25:57
  Because there are circumstances
• 25:58
  in your life,
• 26:00
  and if we can put it
• 26:01
  in the language of the psalm,
• 26:03
  you have to dig
• 26:04
  a blessing out of it.
• 26:05
  It takes effort
• 26:08
  on our part.
• 26:10
  We can't bless ourselves.
• 26:12
  We cannot earn
• 26:15
  the blessing of God,
• 26:16
  but God places us
• 26:17
  in situations
• 26:18
  of distress,
• 26:20
  sometimes of anguish,
• 26:21
  sometimes of
• 26:22
  whatever difficulties
• 26:24
  they may be.
• 26:26
  And he's saying to us
• 26:28
  from this psalm,
• 26:29
  however difficult it is,
• 26:31
  whatever kind of difficulty
• 26:33
  it is,
• 26:33
  you have to dig down.
• 26:36
  You have to search through it
• 26:38
  and find the hand of God
• 26:41
  and find the water
• 26:43
  that God has provided
• 26:45
  for his people
• 26:45
  throughout the journey.
• 26:48
  They make it
• 26:49
  a place of springs,
• 26:52
  a place of a well.
• 26:54
  So if you're facing
• 26:56
  tonight a specific
• 26:58
  difficulty,
• 26:59
  even if you find
• 27:00
  it's one that
• 27:01
  you may feel
• 27:02
  nobody else
• 27:02
  can actually
• 27:03
  help you with
• 27:04
  or understand,
• 27:05
  maybe different
• 27:06
  to what anybody
• 27:07
  else may be going
• 27:08
  through,
• 27:10
  here is the Lord
• 27:10
  encouraging you,
• 27:12
  dig into it
• 27:13
  in such a way
• 27:14
  as you pray
• 27:15
  to me,
• 27:16
  you pray for me,
• 27:17
  you pray that
• 27:18
  I will actually
• 27:19
  make myself
• 27:20
  known to you,
• 27:21
  that I will bless
• 27:21
  this to you,
• 27:22
  that you will find
• 27:23
  that it is in fact
• 27:24
  by my blessing
• 27:25
  and coming to see
• 27:26
  me in it
• 27:27
  a place of wells,
• 27:29
  a place of real
• 27:31
  blessing to your soul.
• 27:35
  And that's why
• 27:36
  he's saying here
• 27:36
  the early rain
• 27:39
  also covers it
• 27:40
  with pools,
• 27:41
  well that's
• 27:41
  in addition to
• 27:42
  needing,
• 27:43
  to blessing,
• 27:44
  to digging
• 27:45
  for the blessings,
• 27:46
  God graciously
• 27:47
  sometimes just comes
• 27:48
  with a shout
• 27:49
  of blessing
• 27:50
  even if you haven't
• 27:51
  done much digging
• 27:52
  at all
• 27:52
  because he's God
• 27:54
  and because he's
• 27:55
  kind.
• 27:57
  He comes with
• 27:58
  unexpected blessings.
• 28:01
  He showers
• 28:02
  down blessings
• 28:03
  upon us.
• 28:05
  And so
• 28:05
  verse 7,
• 28:06
  they go
• 28:06
  from strength
• 28:08
  to strength
• 28:08
  each one appears
• 28:09
  before God
• 28:10
  in Zion.
• 28:12
  And you have
• 28:13
  something quite
• 28:14
  wonderful again
• 28:14
  in this.
• 28:16
  You've got both
• 28:17
  an emphasis on
• 28:18
  the company
• 28:18
  of God's pilgrims
• 28:20
  and each
• 28:21
  individual
• 28:22
  appearing before
• 28:23
  God in Zion.
• 28:24
  And what a benefit
• 28:25
  it is for us,
• 28:26
  friends,
• 28:27
  especially when
• 28:28
  the testing
• 28:28
  comes to us
• 28:29
  and the going
• 28:30
  is tough
• 28:30
  and the pilgrimage
• 28:31
  really is through
• 28:32
  very difficult territory
• 28:33
  spiritually.
• 28:35
  What a blessing
• 28:35
  it is to know
• 28:36
  that you're not
• 28:37
  on your own,
• 28:38
  that you're part
• 28:39
  of a company,
• 28:40
  that you belong
• 28:41
  to a fellowship,
• 28:43
  that you're
• 28:43
  traveling together
• 28:44
  with others
• 28:45
  who are pilgrims
• 28:46
  on the same
• 28:46
  journey,
• 28:47
  who maybe
• 28:48
  have been
• 28:48
  through similar
• 28:49
  circumstances
• 28:49
  before and
• 28:51
  can help you
• 28:51
  through it,
• 28:52
  but even not,
• 28:53
  if not,
• 28:54
  they're there
• 28:54
  for your support.
• 28:57
  They go from
• 28:58
  strength to strength
• 28:59
  and as we dig
• 29:01
  for blessings,
• 29:03
  let's make sure
• 29:04
  that we're looking
• 29:05
  out for those
• 29:06
  that we can help
• 29:07
  and let's make sure
• 29:09
  that we're willing
• 29:09
  to receive
• 29:10
  the help we need
• 29:11
  whenever others
• 29:13
  offer it to us.
• 29:15
  We are there
• 29:15
  for each other.
• 29:18
  We are there
• 29:18
  as fellow pilgrims.
• 29:21
  We are there
• 29:21
  sharing the journey.
• 29:24
  We are there
• 29:25
  so that in
• 29:25
  sharing the journey
• 29:26
  we may go
• 29:27
  from strength
• 29:28
  to strength
• 29:28
  step by step,
• 29:31
  strengthening each other
• 29:32
  until we come
• 29:34
  to appear
• 29:35
  before God
• 29:36
  and sign
• 29:36
  until we reach home,
• 29:38
  until we reach
• 29:38
  the temple above,
• 29:39
  the heavenly Zion.
• 29:41
  But you notice
• 29:41
  how it's changed
• 29:42
  from they go
• 29:43
  to from strength
• 29:45
  to strength
• 29:46
  to each one
• 29:47
  appears before God
• 29:48
  and sign.
• 29:49
  None is left out.
• 29:51
  Now this life
• 29:52
  may for some Christians,
• 29:55
  many indeed be
• 29:56
  a very lonely journey.
• 29:59
  They may find
• 30:00
  difficulties
• 30:00
  sharing things
• 30:02
  with others.
• 30:03
  They know they belong
• 30:04
  to the company
• 30:05
  of God's people.
• 30:06
  It doesn't necessarily
• 30:07
  mean that it's easy
• 30:08
  for them to die
• 30:09
  divulge their needs
• 30:10
  to others
• 30:10
  or their thoughts.
• 30:14
  But whatever
• 30:14
  experiences we have
• 30:16
  and whatever the company
• 30:17
  needs to go through,
• 30:19
  each one appears.
• 30:22
  He's not going to leave you
• 30:23
  in the desert.
• 30:26
  He's not going to leave you
• 30:27
  in the valley of Baca.
• 30:30
  He's not going to take away
• 30:31
  his strength
• 30:32
  for the latter part
• 30:34
  of the journey
• 30:34
  or for the section
• 30:36
  or for the section
• 30:36
  you're going through
• 30:36
  just now.
• 30:38
  Each one
• 30:39
  appears before God
• 30:42
  in Zion.
• 30:44
  Be thankful tonight
• 30:45
  for that emphasis
• 30:47
  on individuality
• 30:49
  set in the context
• 30:51
  of the corporateness
• 30:53
  of God's people together.
• 30:55
  Because that's what we have
• 30:56
  to always hold on to.
• 30:58
  I'm not alone.
• 31:00
  And even though
• 31:01
  I'm part of a crowd,
• 31:03
  I'm not lost
• 31:04
  in the crowd.
• 31:05
  I belong to the company
• 31:07
  of those pilgrims
• 31:09
  that are traveling home.
• 31:12
  Pining,
• 31:13
  pilgrimage,
• 31:14
  and then plenty.
• 31:17
  Because from verse 11,
• 31:19
  he speaks here about
• 31:20
  the Lord God
• 31:21
  is a sun and shield.
• 31:23
  The Lord bestows
• 31:23
  favor and honor.
• 31:25
  No good thing
• 31:25
  does he withhold
• 31:26
  from those who walk
• 31:28
  uprightly.
• 31:29
  So it's really
• 31:30
  in these two verses
• 31:31
  what God is
• 31:32
  and what God does.
• 31:35
  He is a sun
• 31:35
  and he's a shield.
• 31:37
  He gives light
• 31:38
  and he gives protection
• 31:39
  at the same time.
• 31:41
  That's the God
• 31:41
  who takes his people
• 31:43
  through this pilgrimage
• 31:44
  until they appear
• 31:46
  in his presence.
• 31:48
  To counter
• 31:49
  all the fears
• 31:50
  that we may have.
• 31:52
  Here is God saying,
• 31:54
  if you need light,
• 31:55
  then I've got light
• 31:56
  for you.
• 31:57
  If you need strength,
• 31:58
  I've got the strength
• 31:59
  you need.
• 32:01
  If you need protection
• 32:02
  as a shield,
• 32:04
  I am your shield
• 32:05
  and I am your exceeding
• 32:06
  great reward,
• 32:06
  as he said to Abraham.
• 32:08
  I will look after you.
• 32:10
  I will protect you.
• 32:12
  I will be your defense.
• 32:14
  And also,
• 32:16
  he gives
• 32:17
  favor and honor
• 32:20
  the Lord bestows.
• 32:24
  And again,
• 32:25
  the old translation
• 32:26
  has,
• 32:28
  he bestows
• 32:29
  grace
• 32:30
  and glory.
• 32:32
  There's nothing wrong
• 32:33
  with putting it as
• 32:34
  favor and honor,
• 32:35
  but somehow,
• 32:36
  especially for those of us
• 32:37
  of an older disposition,
• 32:39
  perhaps we might prefer
• 32:41
  these words.
• 32:42
  He gives
• 32:42
  grace,
• 32:44
  which is,
• 32:45
  of course,
• 32:45
  favor and honor,
• 32:47
  which is really
• 32:48
  ultimately glory.
• 32:50
  Isn't it
• 32:51
  whichever translation
• 32:53
  we choose,
• 32:54
  it really amounts
• 32:54
  pretty much to the same thing.
• 32:56
  He gives grace
• 32:57
  and he gives glory.
• 32:59
  He gives you his favor.
• 33:00
  He bestows that upon you
• 33:01
  and he gives you
• 33:03
  his honor.
• 33:05
  He honors you.
• 33:07
  He gives you glory.
• 33:10
  That's really a description
• 33:11
  of a Christian.
• 33:13
  What am I as a Christian?
• 33:14
  What are you as a Christian?
• 33:16
  What are we together
• 33:17
  as Christians?
• 33:17
  We have people
• 33:19
  on whom God
• 33:20
  has bestowed
• 33:21
  grace and glory,
• 33:24
  favor and honor.
• 33:27
  That's our portion.
• 33:29
  And that's why
• 33:31
  when every Lord's
• 33:33
  supper opportunity
• 33:34
  comes around,
• 33:36
  we have to respond
• 33:37
  to the fact
• 33:38
  of what this is saying
• 33:39
  to us.
• 33:40
  The blessing,
• 33:41
  the blessed people,
• 33:42
  we have to respond
• 33:43
  by saying,
• 33:44
  well,
• 33:44
  how can I not go
• 33:45
  and take communion?
• 33:48
  When God
• 33:49
  is all of this
• 33:50
  to me,
• 33:51
  when this is the fact
• 33:52
  of what he has done
• 33:53
  and is doing,
• 33:55
  how can I possibly
• 33:56
  think of
• 33:57
  anything less
• 33:58
  than taking
• 34:00
  the cup
• 34:01
  and taking the bread
• 34:02
  and doing this
• 34:03
  in remembrance
• 34:05
  of him?
• 34:08
  Really similar
• 34:09
  isn't it?
• 34:09
  Romans chapter 8
• 34:11
  and verse 28.
• 34:12
  It says there
• 34:12
  in verse 12
• 34:14
  of the psalm,
• 34:15
  O God of hosts,
• 34:15
  Lord of hosts,
• 34:16
  blessed is the one
• 34:17
  who trusts in you.
• 34:21
  As Romans 8, 28
• 34:22
  puts it,
• 34:24
  blessed indeed,
• 34:25
  where Romans says
• 34:28
  that as Paul saw
• 34:31
  the wonder
• 34:32
  of being in Christ,
• 34:33
  the wonder
• 34:33
  of the blessings
• 34:34
  of Christ,
• 34:36
  that all of the things
• 34:38
  that he had mentioned
• 34:39
  there actually
• 34:40
  in verse 28,
• 34:41
  just give me a minute
• 34:42
  to look it up,
• 34:43
  the surrounding verses
• 34:45
  as well,
• 34:47
  where he said
• 34:47
  that the spirit
• 34:49
  helping them
• 34:50
  in their infirmities
• 34:51
  and the calling
• 34:53
  of God,
• 34:54
  the justifying
• 34:55
  of God,
• 34:55
  what shall we then
• 34:56
  say to these things?
• 34:57
  If God is for us,
• 34:59
  who can be against us?
• 35:02
  And we know
• 35:02
  in verse 28,
• 35:04
  we know that
• 35:04
  for those
• 35:05
  who love God,
• 35:08
  all things
• 35:09
  work together
• 35:10
  for good.
• 35:12
  Just like
• 35:13
  the psalm has said,
• 35:15
  he will give
• 35:15
  grace
• 35:16
  grace
• 35:16
  and glory.
• 35:18
  No good thing
• 35:20
  will he withhold
• 35:20
  because
• 35:22
  all things
• 35:23
  work together
• 35:24
  for good
• 35:25
  to the Lord's people.
• 35:27
  May he bless
• 35:28
  these thoughts
• 35:28
  on his word.
• 35:29
  Let's
• 35:30
  sing in his praise
• 35:32
  in Psalm
• 35:33
  let's
• 35:40
  pinch enrage
• 35:42
  for good
• 35:43
  Schluss
• 35:48
  into
• 35:48
  the
• 35:48
  truth
• 35:50
  after
• 35:53
  you
• 35:53
  should
• 35:54
  tell
• 35:54
  he
• 35:56
  to
• 35:56
  UN
• 35:59
  do
• 36:00
  the
• 36:01
  us
• 36:02
  and