← Back to sermon library

Well, you can turn with me in 
your Bibles to Psalm 13. Psalm 13, we'll begin reading 
at verse 1. To the chief musician, a psalm 
of David, How long, O Lord, will you forget me forever? How long 
will you hide your face from me? How long shall I take counsel 
in my soul, having sorrow in my heart daily? How long will 
my enemy be exalted over me? Consider and hear, O Lord my 
God. Enlighten my eyes, lest I sleep 
the sleep of death. Lest my enemies say, I have prevailed 
against him. Lest those who trouble me rejoice 
when I am moved. but I have trusted in your mercy. 
My heart shall rejoice in your salvation. I will sing to the 
Lord because he has dealt bountifully with me. Amen. Well, let us pray. O Lord our God, we are thankful 
for our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, who is our sure and steady 
anchor in shifting times. And we're thankful that we can 
put our faith and trust in Him. We can put our faith and trust 
in You, our God, especially in times when it seems that You 
are absent, in times when it seems like You are not near. 
And we know, O Lord, that Your promises are true, whether we 
feel like it or not. And so we're thankful, Lord, 
we can rely upon your promises as you're the God who does not 
change. We're thankful that you've promised to never leave us nor 
forsake us. And you've promised to be with 
your church even to the end of the age. And so we ask and pray 
that tonight that we would know that promise and that you'd be 
with us this night as we come and consider your word once again. 
We pray that you give your spirit, send forth your spirit to enlighten 
our eyes, to see the things we need to see tonight. We pray, 
O Lord, if we need comfort, please comfort. If we need some rebuke, 
please rebuke. And we pray, O Lord, that you 
would edify your saints, that you would be pleased to save 
sinners, and in all things you would be glorified. So help us 
now, we pray, in the name of Christ. Amen. Well, I appreciate 
how our Heavenly Father knows our frame. And this is evident 
in his word, because he doesn't always sugarcoat the realities 
of life that we're going to deal with. He promises mercy, grace 
and abundance. He promises protection. But we're 
still going to go through tribulation in this lower world. And so there 
are going to be times when it seems like God is near. There 
are going to be times when it seems like God is not close. There are going to be times when 
it seems like God's countenance has been withdrawn. Now, we shouldn't 
be surprised by those moments. But yet, even in those moments, 
and even when perhaps those trials are very long, we might cry out 
like the psalmist and we might say, how long? And so I really 
like the Psalms because they're books, certainly, Psalms that 
point to the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, but there's a lot 
of lament, there's a lot of crying out, there's a lot of trial that 
we see in the Psalter. Even when it seems like our trials 
are never-ending, Psalm 13 is very instructive for us. It affirms 
the loneliness God's people face, even seemingly from God, but 
it directs us to just keep praying and to just keep looking to His 
promises. And as we consider the Psalter 
as a whole, I do believe there is some order and there is some 
flow as we read through it. Certainly, the main message and 
main purpose comes in Psalms 1 and 2. Psalm 1 is the purpose. Psalm 2 is the message. The way 
of happiness is found in the king. The way of happiness is 
found in the one who is the anointed one. And then we start book one, 
which is where our psalm is. And that is called, as Dr. Godfrey 
says, the king's confidence in the Lord. As you read the opening 
psalms, there's a lot of struggle. There's a lot of trial. There's 
a lot of doubt. There's a lot of crying out in 
these psalms. And so even though Psalm 13 is 
an example of that, it is an individual lament. Yet nonetheless, 
often the psalms turn to trust. They cry out, the psalmist has 
a plight, he has an issue, but they always turn to trust, not 
always, but most of them turn to trust in the one true God. Because the problem that we can 
see in Psalm 13 is the problem of when the Lord is seemingly 
absent from the people of God. that sensible absence of the 
Lord when it seems like God is not with us, which is something 
many of God's people go through. Now, God has his reasons, and 
he may evidence itself in various ways in time and space. Perhaps 
we're overcome with some melancholy over our sins. We may question 
the grace of God because of that. Maybe God's chastising us for 
a particular sin, or maybe we are just so alone that it seems 
like the enemy is winning. All those things are very clear 
in Psalm 13. And so in Psalm 13, we do see 
that the Lord affirms our questions, but he also provides the hope 
we need in the midst of those questions. And so we're going 
to look at this psalm as we consider the questions we have under two 
headings. First of all, we're going to 
see our questions in the Lord's absence in verses one through 
four. Our questions in the Lord's absence 
in verses one through four. And then we're going to see our 
faith in the Lord's mercy in verses five and six. So the questions 
we have and the faith we have. So let's first look at our questions 
in the Lord's absence in verses one through four. And Psalm 13 
does not have a superscript, so we do not know the historical 
setting, yet perhaps there is some inference and we can glean 
something from the superscript of Psalm 13. In Psalm 13 we read, 
A Psalm of David, when he fled from Absalom his son. And we know that with the situation 
with Absalom, God is judging David for his sins. Yet, nonetheless, 
David still goes to God for help, he still goes to God for aid, 
he still cries out to Him. He is a father who disciplines, 
but he's also the father that his son can call upon. And there's 
been a lot of loneliness, there's been a lot of perplexity in the 
Psalms that lead up to Psalm 13. We see that God, we see enemies 
seem to increase. Friends have bad advice. There's 
no one who is godly, no, not one. And there is the proud who 
seem to flatter themselves. Is God going to deal with them? 
What can give us hope when many use their own words to flatter 
themselves? Well, we do see in Psalm 12 that 
our hope is the word of God. And we see that the words of 
the Lord are pure words, like silver tried in a furnace of 
earth, purified seven times. You shall keep them, O Lord, 
you shall preserve them from this generation forever, even 
when the wicked prowl on every side. We can look to God's word, 
we can look to his promises, even when the proud are lifting 
up their own words against God and for themselves. And so these 
questions continue in Psalm 13. His plight is still real, and 
we see that his plight seems to have gone on for quite a long 
time. And so we see the questions in 
verses 1 and 2, and really there's four questions, and they all 
start off with, how long? How long? How long? How long? How long? And it highlights the 
anguish. It highlights the plight. It 
highlights that he's been in this situation for quite some 
time. He doesn't know if he can continue 
in it. He doesn't know if he can keep 
going in the midst of his trials and his struggles. So we see 
his anguish as he cries out. Now, brethren, often we want 
to find some relief from our suffering, and we want to find 
that relief right away. And God in many ways and many 
times is pleased to relieve us of that suffering, but there 
are many times where He doesn't. And it seems like that suffering 
is just going on so long, we might think about caving in. 
We've prayed. We've come to church. We've done 
all these things. But brethren, we have to just 
keep going. We have to just keep praying. 
We have to keep coming to the house of the Lord, because there 
is nowhere else for us to go. Because that's exactly where 
David goes. In his plight, he still goes 
to his God. In his plight, he still says, 
How long, O Lord? And so the first problem really 
has to do with God and how God seems absent. How long, oh Lord, 
verse one, will you forget me forever? How long, oh Lord, will 
you hide your face from me? We want the shining countenance 
of God. We want God's face directed towards 
us. We want God's blessings. We want those things. We certainly 
see that Aaronic blessing in number six, that countenance. 
That was what was prayed for in Psalm 4, verse 6. There are 
many who say, who will show us any good? Lord, lift up the light 
of your countenance upon us. You have put gladness in my heart. But now we have Psalm 13. Lord, 
where are you? Where is your face? Where is 
your goodness? Where is your goodness? nearness. And remember, this is David. This is the one who was promised 
a kingdom. This is the one who was promised 
a dynasty. And things are not going very 
well. He might be questioning the promise of God. We have to 
understand that the Davidic Covenant undergirds the entire Psalter. 
And even too, when we get to Psalm 89, which talks about that 
Davidic Covenant, the psalmist there cries out again, Oh Lord, 
what is going on? Why is this happening? When the 
people of Israel, when they go into captivity, they would be 
questioning, oh Lord, why is this happening? Is there going 
to be the shoot who's going to come? And thanks be to God, he 
gives his people promises before they go into captivity, there's 
going to be the shoot who's going to come. One day Emmanuel is 
going to come and all the other prophecies that point ahead to 
Jesus. So when they're going into captivity, there is the 
promise that they can lean upon as they do that. But even then, 
God's people would still question the promises of God. Even John 
the Baptist even asked Jesus, are you the one? Are we to look 
for another because of where he was sitting? And so David 
is questioning all these things, yet he still goes to his God 
and he asks, oh Lord, how long will you forget me? How long 
will you hide your face from me? So God seems to be absent. God doesn't seem to be near. 
God seems to have hidden his face from him. Then we also see 
David tries to take counsel in his own mind. He tries to reason 
and try to get out of his situation in verse 2. How long shall I 
take counsel in my soul, having sorrow in my heart daily? He has anxiety in himself. He 
has anxiety in his own plans. He lays out all these plans in 
his head about how to get out of this situation, but they haven't 
worked. He wants help, but he can't seem 
to get it from anywhere, it seems. God is not near, God doesn't 
seem to be close, and his own plans continue to be foiled and 
continue to be shot down. How long shall I take counsel 
in my own soul, having sorrow in my heart? But not only that, 
God is absent, his plans don't work, the enemy seems to be increasing. That's one of the problems we've 
seen in Psalms 9 and 10. They seem to increase. They seem 
to continue to get away with things. They seem to be able 
to crush the poor and nobody's saying anything. They seem to 
be getting away with injustice. Where is the justice of God? How long will my enemy be exalted 
over me? How long will my enemy be able 
to remove me and take me out and seemingly winning the battle 
at this time? How long will my enemy be exalted 
over me? Those are questions I'm sure 
we've all had in one shape or form or another. How long, O 
Lord? And notice what David continues 
to do in verses three and four. He cries out, he asks these questions, 
but notice his request to the absent God, to his seemingly 
absent God in verse three. Consider and hear. Lord, consider 
and hear. Lord, you've forgotten me. Lord, 
you haven't been near to me. But notice he continues to pray. He is at his wits end, but he 
continues to pray. Lord, you're not looking, so 
look. Lord, you're not considering, 
so consider. He keeps going to his God and 
crying out to him. You haven't looked in a long 
time, oh Lord, it seems, but look. Consider and hear. Listen to what I have to say. 
Listen to my plight. Listen to my words. Lord, please 
see. Consider and hear me, O Lord, 
my God, and also enlighten my eyes. He wants some understanding, 
but he also wants some sort of revival in his own soul and revival 
in his own heart. He is in anguish, but he wants 
some sort of refreshment. And so that is not a wrong thing 
to ask sometimes. It's not necessarily wrong to 
ask that the Lord lifts us out of our plight. He's certainly 
doing that. We must trust the Lord if he 
doesn't do it in the timing that we would like him to do it. But 
we can still ask. Consider, Lord, and hear. Enlighten 
my eyes. And then he goes on to give the 
reasons why. Isn't the psalmist helpful when 
it comes to praying? We can give these petitions to 
God, we can bring our petitions, but we can reason with God based 
upon his promises and what he says. What is prayer? It's praying 
the promises of God back to him. It's praying the word of God 
back to him. And that's exactly what David 
is doing here. He says, consider and hear. He's 
using his mind and he is using his emotions. They are both present 
in this psalm. The intellect and the will are 
working in tandem as really the faculties of the soul. We just 
split it up. But in reality, everything functions 
as we know, as the intellect knows, so the will And that is 
very present here, and we have to be careful that we don't remove 
both reason and emotion. Davis says, sometimes in our 
Christian or church culture, we get pushed one way or the 
other. Some urging us, if we think of 
extremes, to swing and sway to the beat and bounce of Roup Didou's 
songs of praise, and others to furrow our brows and get into 
brain cell Christianity. But the psalm implies that, especially 
in prayer, you must hold both emotion and reason together. 
In a true knowledge of God, they combine. At the throne of grace, 
tears fall from your eyes and arguments from your lips. The 
psalmist also does this in Psalm 12. The petition is one word, 
help. That's all it is in Psalm 12, 
help. That's all sometimes we can say sometimes to God, help. 
But then he lays out the reasons. The godly man ceases, the faithful 
disappear from among the sons of men. Help, here's why. Lord, 
consider, here's why. And he lays out his reasons why 
in verses 3 and 4. Lest I die. Lord, if I die, lest 
I sleep the sleep of death, as I'm in the face of death and 
my enemy is coming, lest I die, Lord, consider and hear, consider 
your anointed one. Lest my enemies say in verse 
four, I have prevailed against him. Lest those who trouble me 
rejoice when I am moved. Lord, what of the Lord's anointed? What of your promises to me? 
What of your promise to have a line? Will you bring shame 
upon yourself according to what you've said and not do it? He's 
laying out these reasons before God. Consider and hear, O Lord 
my God. Enlighten, lest I sleep, lest 
my enemies say, lest those who trouble me rejoice when I am 
moved. He cries out, how long, but he 
also continues to keep praying. And that is the clear application 
that we need to take away. The prayers, we just need to 
keep praying. Sometimes we view prayer as some 
sort of, if I do this, if I pray this, I'm going to get this. 
Now, God is pleased to answer our prayers. God is pleased to 
help us in our prayers, as we're going to see, sometimes changing 
our demeanor in the midst of that prayer. We're going to see 
that in verses 5 and 6. But the reality is, in this present 
world in which we live, there are going to be times when it 
seems like God is absent from His people. It doesn't mean He 
is, but there might be times where we fall under His fatherly 
displeasure, and He might be chastising. We see that in the 
book of Hebrews. There might be times when we 
can grieve the Holy Spirit. Maybe that's another reason, 
perhaps. Maybe God is trying to wean us from the world. Maybe 
He's teaching us our dependence upon Him. Maybe He is exposing 
some sort of sin, and that we might kill it in Christ and by 
the power of the Spirit. Maybe He is teaching us that 
we are under His fatherly displeasure. And so we must keep praying to 
God Most High as we go through bouts of melancholy or sorrow. And we shouldn't think we're 
so odd if we go through bouts of melancholy or sorrow. Christians aren't always bubbly 
or uppity all the time. We don't, as Davis says, always 
sing Roop-dee-doo songs of praise. Sometimes we need dirges. Sometimes 
we are in deep. Sometimes we need Psalm 13. How long, O Lord, will you forget 
me forever? How long will you hide your face 
from me? And what makes this even more 
blessed? Remember, if the situation with 
Psalm 3 is inferred, and even if it's not, the reality is we 
can go to our God even when it's our fault. We can go to our Father, 
even when we've sinned against Him, and we can cry out, how 
long, O Lord, consider, hear, and listen. What else can we 
do, brethren? What else are we gonna do? Stop 
praying, stop coming to church, stop trusting. Are we gonna stop? 
We must continue to look to Him, continue to look to our God, 
even if it is our fault. And thankfully, He is the one 
we can always go to. boldly approach the throne of 
grace through Jesus Christ, our High Priest. So those are our 
questions that we have in the Lord's absence. Let's then look 
secondly at our faith in the Lord's mercy in verses 5 and 
6. And notice our faith in God's 
promises. Notice David changes, but the 
situation doesn't. He is still perhaps being chased 
by Absalom, but things with respect to his demeanor and after having 
a holy conversation with himself and with God, notice his demeanor 
changes. But I have trusted in your mercy. My heart shall rejoice in your 
salvation. He directs his attention not 
to himself, but he directs his attention to God. And God is 
pleased to help him in the midst of his plight. and in the midst 
of his prayer. We must continually go to our 
God who has promised, and thanks be to God, our God is a God who 
does not change. And so when it seems like God 
is not near, we need to hear Joshua. I will never leave you 
nor forsake you. We need to hear the Great Commission. 
I know it's for the church, but it's for God's people. I am with 
you to the end of the age. We need to hear those things 
and be encouraged by those things and uplifted by those things 
because this is our covenant-keeping God. Davis tells the story of 
Spurgeon and a lady Spurgeon called Mrs. Much Afraid. It was 
a lady who had very little assurance. She didn't have a whole lot of 
hope. But she always attended the meetings. She always attended 
the house of God. And Spurgeon asked her many different 
questions. And one time he said, well, maybe 
you should stop coming. And she's like, I can't. I cannot 
stay away from the house of the Lord. Then Spurgeon says, well, 
why don't you sell me your hope? And she's like, but I cannot 
sell you my hope. I would not sell it for 1,000 
worlds. But she struggled, and yet she 
wouldn't sell her hope for 1,000 worlds. You see, faith is not 
a fuzzy feeling, is it? Now, we want assurance. We want 
to have that persuasion in our hearts in that way. But brethren, 
faith is trust in the promises of God. And that is where our 
hope lies. Not in the feelings we feel about 
it, but the hope we have and trust in what God has said, and 
we can always go to him when we're struggling. I remember 
this past week, I was just saying just out loud in front of my 
family, I said, you know, this has been a bit of a week that's 
been a bit of a struggle for me. And my daughter says, Dad, 
you can always pray to God when you're struggling. And brethren, 
isn't that the truth? We can always pray to God when 
we're struggling. It's a James 5.13 sort of application, 
isn't it? When we're suffering, what do 
we do? We pray to God. When we're cheerful, what do 
we do? We sing songs to God. We're not always cheerful, and 
we're not always suffering, and we're not always in a melancholy 
state, but God directs us in what we ought to do in those 
states. And thanks be to God, he can 
turn our melancholy into rejoicing. As we see that with David, I 
have trusted in your mercy. I have trusted in your promises. I have trusted in your salvation. and my heart shall rejoice in 
these things." The salvation that he has is what brings him 
joy. He was ruminating on his plight, 
but then he directs his attention to God and what happens. It changes 
him. It is not good for anyone to 
ruminate on their sadness for very long periods of time. And 
thankfully for the Christian, we can always go to our God and 
direct our attention to him and his mercy, and he will answer 
us, brethren. He will provide for us. Sometimes 
we just need to get out of our own heads, don't we? And set 
our mind upon the things that are above. It's similar to what 
Asaph says in Psalm 73. Remember, he's struggling with 
how the wicked seem to prosper. He's struggling with what's going 
on all around him. And then what does he say? I 
went to the house of the Lord. Ah, and then I understood. Then 
I understood. He had an issue. He had a plight. He had a situation that was bothering 
him. He comes to the house of the Lord and his attention is 
directed to God Most High. And he understands God is sovereign. There is something that's going 
to happen. The wicked are going to be dealt with at a time. But 
he had a trial and an issue and a struggle and directed his attention 
to God. Now, the answering with which 
God might answer might not always be deliverance, but thanks be 
to God, we're not always going to cave in our plight. I mean, 
there's the perseverance of the saints. We are the ones who persevere 
as the subjects who persevere. But in reality, who is the one 
who keeps us and protects us from stumbling? It's God Almighty 
who does, and all his people will be kept and preserved until 
the end. And we certainly desire some 
consolation. We desire that sensible assurance. We desire that sensible beatitude. But Roger says, sensible consolation 
is a very desirable thing. It is like the dew of heaven, 
like manna coming from there, like honey or the honeycomb, 
very pleasant to the taste. But dependence and trust in God 
when he is withdrawn is one of the most glorious acts of faith. And we saw that with Mrs. Muchafraid. She still went to her God. That 
is faith, dear brethren, isn't it? Always going to God, even 
when we have to cry out, how long? And so David did cry out 
how long, but his attention is directed to God's mercy. his 
kindness, his goodness, his salvation. My heart shall rejoice in your 
salvation. And then we do see it turns from 
suffering into singing following that James 5.13 instruction. Verse six, I will sing to the 
Lord because he has dealt bountifully with He sings because of the 
goodness of God. Sometimes we just need to be 
reminded of the goodness of God in the situation in which we 
are in. In the midst of sadness, we need 
to be reminded of how gracious and how kind and how benevolent 
our God is. He provides for us temporally. 
Everything we have is a gift of God. We don't deserve any 
of it. He's provided for us spiritually. If He saved our souls, He protects 
us, and He guides us. He is a faithful God. Now a good example of this is 
found in Lamentations 3. You can turn to Lamentations 
3. Lamentations is all about the 
judgment of God upon Israel and the end of Jerusalem. And we see in verse 16, he's 
broken my teeth with with gravel and covered me with ashes. You 
have moved my soul far from peace. I have forgotten prosperity. 
And I said my strength and my hope have perished from the Lord. 
But then verse 19, remember my affliction and roaming the wormwood 
and the gall. My soul still remembers and sinks 
within me. This I recall to mind. Therefore, 
I have hope. And then we get to verse 22 and 
23. And we know these words well. Through the Lord's mercies, we 
are not consumed. because his compassions fail 
not. They are new every morning. Great 
is your faithfulness. The Lord is my portion, says 
my soul. Therefore, I hope in him." Even 
in the midst of judgment, God is good. Even in the midst of 
judgment, God is faithful. And even in the midst of judgment, 
we can have a reason to sing to God most high, because we 
were not consumed. Rogers again says, oh, how pleasant 
are the smiles of God when we have long lain under the terror 
of his frowns. How pleasant it is to indeed 
find him to be our friend when we have long thought him to be 
our enemy. And thanks be to God that we 
have real hope and real answers to our questions, the goodness 
and promises of God. We pray to this God, we look 
to our God, but we can rely upon His promises and rely upon His 
goodness and rely upon that promise that He is near, even if it does 
not feel like He is near. And again, notice what gives 
him joy. It's not the feelings he feels. Even though the situation has 
not changed, it's the knowledge of God's promises, the knowledge 
of God's salvation that turns his heart to singing. Again, 
see how we sometimes we need to have a holy conversation with 
ourselves. We need to pray to God, ask him 
for help. Then we need to chat with ourselves 
as well. God is good. God has promised. God has said. And really the best way to get 
out of our own heads is to come to the house of the Lord and 
to hear whatever the preacher, whatever God has for that day. 
And most of the time, hopefully, our attention is directed to 
God. The situation is directed to God. Our minds are directed 
to God. And hopefully we're reminded 
of the promises of God as we go through suffering in this 
lower world. So we have real answers to our 
questions. And thanks be to God that there 
is a promise that our sorrows really will end. There's going 
to be a time where we no longer have to cry out how long. There's 
going to be a time where all our tears are going to be wiped 
away. And God is the one who in his 
timing will bring that about. One of my favorite hymns is the 
Sands of Time, and all four stanzas are fantastic, but one thing 
I learned pretty recently is there's actually 19. Anne Cousins 
arranged the poems of Samuel Rutherford, so they're really 
by him, and some of the other ones are quite lovely, so much 
so I don't cry a whole lot. I have to say I did cry quite 
a bit through these ones, but I liked stanza 14 quite a lot, 
as it applies, I think, to the fact that our sorrows are going 
to end. He says, soon shall the cup of 
glory wash down earth's bitterest woes. Soon shall the desert briar 
break into Eden's rose. The curse shall change to blessing. The name on earth that's banned 
be graven on the white stone in Emmanuel's land. Brethren, 
we can cry out how long, but one day the briar will break 
into Eden's rose. One day we shall be in Emmanuel's 
land. And thanks be to God, as we have 
that hope, there is someone that we can look to always in this 
world. And that is Christ Jesus, who 
is our sure and steady anchor in shifting times. He is the 
author and perfecter of our faith. as we press on in this lower 
world. Because what else can we do? 
Where else can we go when we need to cry out, how long? Where 
else can we go when we need to cry out to our God and ask perhaps 
four times, how long, oh Lord, will you forget me? Well, let 
us pray. Our good and gracious God, we 
are thankful for your promises that you give in the scriptures, 
that tell us about your mercy, that tell us about your salvation. 
And we confess, O Lord, so often we are forgetful of those promises. So often, in times when it feels 
like you are not near, so often we are so focused upon the situation, 
focused on our plight, rather than bringing it to you. And 
we are thankful, O Lord, that we can, even if we've fallen 
under your fatherly displeasure, that we have such a great high 
priest who is the same yesterday, today, and forever, and that 
there is mercy and that there is forgiveness with you. And 
so we ask and pray, O Lord, that as we go through suffering, and 
if there are times when it feels like we're going to cave in, 
we ask, O Lord, that you would preserve us by your Spirit, that 
you would help us to keep praying, help us to keep looking to your 
promises, help us to keep coming to your house, because there 
really is nowhere else for us to go. And we are so grateful 
for your so great salvation for such undeserving people like 
us. And we're thankful that your promises are sure and true, even 
in the fulfillment of David's greater son, who has come. Thank 
that he is the one who fulfills that Davidic promise. And he 
is the one who reigns now supreme. And he shall come again to judge 
the living and the dead. He is the one who shall take 
that briar and Eden's rose shall bloom. And we are very grateful 
for that promise and for that hope that we have of the new 
heavens and the new earth, O Lord. Whatever we go through in this 
world, whatever bitterness we might endure in this world, help 
us to understand that the suffering we go through does not compare 
to the eternal weight of glory that awaits us in Christ Jesus 
our Lord. So Christ, our sure and steady 
anchor, be with us, help us, never leave us nor forsake us. 
And we ask that you would be with us all as we go out into 
this present evil age. Give us that strength that we 
need, give us that help that we need, give us the hope that 
we need, and help us to direct our attention to you. And we 
pray, if there are any here today who do not know you, we pray, 
O Lord, that you would save their souls. We're thankful, Lord, 
that you are pleased to save sinners, and you are pleased 
to be our help and our aid throughout all of this lower world. And 
that is something that an unbeliever cannot say. And we pray, O Lord, 
that you would save. We pray, O Lord, that you would 
work. And we pray, O Lord, that there were to be many who can 
call upon the name of the Lord and rejoice in the salvation 
that you bring. So thank you for all that you 
do. Thank you for your provision, and we ask, O Lord, that you 
would consider, that you would hear our prayers, and that we 
would rejoice in your salvation. So be with us now, we pray, in 
the name of Christ. Amen. We'll close in