Let me express my sincere thanks for this opportunity to be with you here, representing Grace Baptist Church Eldorette, and that you, dear ones, should allow me to occupy your pulpit now a second time, and in the morning over there, I'm very, very grateful. And I will be going back when the time comes to be able to express the joy that it has been being among you. The relationship we enjoy together because of Christ is genuine, it's real, it's very encouraging to us. We have received so much from you, dear brethren, and we thank God for that.
We will never be able to repay, but we are very, very grateful for what the Lord has done that we can be in this kind of fellowship, of a togetherness. I have the opportunity to bring God's Word, and I would want to use this opportunity again to be an encouragement. And as I think of the Christian life, the Christian life is not lived in a vacuum, the Christian life is not lived in cloud nine, as it were, whatever that may mean. And I say that, I use that expression because particularly among the health and wealth, you know, believers or those who claim such kind of a gospel want to tell us that if you are a believer, then you should be living a life that basically goes up like this.
But the truth of the matter, if you are a believer, is that you will be experiencing an up, it's basically an upward trend, but with ups and downs. And there are moments when you wonder, how low will that go? Before Asitua, you make an upward movement again. Dear brethren, dear friends, that is the reality in the Christian life.
So exactly what am I talking about? It is this, that as we live our lives as Christians, practically we go through trials, we go through challenges, we go through problems which make us wonder. Lord, where are you? Lord, how long?
And that becomes even harder when you see the non-believers not only appearing to be going up and up and up, but the non-believers, as it were, turning against you as a believer. using words that they can use to corrupt their way, to make it sound that you are, they use their tongues to manipulate or even outrightly to accuse you and make you wonder, Lord, do you know what is happening in this situation? Maybe in a work situation, maybe in a home set up. As a believer, you want to please the Lord, but then in your very home, in your very workplace, in your school, in your college, There are those who do not know the Lord, they do not love the Lord, they then use everything before them to make life hard for you. And you wonder, Lord, how long?
Lord, do you care? Lord, will I survive? Well, I trust that this will be an encouragement as we look in God's Word now to be able to see that yes, the Lord does care and the Lord mocks all that happens, all the evils, all the unfairness. all the wrong accusations, the Lord marks them and that the Lord will act. At the end it will be seen indeed He is in control And it wasn't at your speed, it wasn't as you would have liked, but it's that which the Lord wants.
So the Lord is never late. If you are about to throw in the towel and say, I have waited for the Lord for so long, this cannot continue like this. If the Lord is there, why has he left me in this situation? Friends, I don't know your situation, but the Lord knows.
Well, let's use His Word so that we can receive encouragement from Him.
Scripture Reading: Psalm 52
Please turn with me to the book of Psalms, Psalm 52. This is a psalm that I trust, it's only nine verses, and I trust it will be for our good. I read Psalm 52. To the choir master, a muskel of David, when Doeg, the Edomite, came and told Saul, David has come to the house of Haimelech.
Verse one. Why do you boast of evil, O mighty man? The steadfast love of the Lord endures all the day. Your tongue plots destruction like a sharp razor, you worker of deceit.
You love evil more than good and lying more than speaking what is right. Sell her. You love all words that devour a deceitful tongue. But God will break you down forever.
He will snatch and tear you from your tent. He will uproot you from the land of the living. The righteous shall see and fear, and shall laugh at him, saying,
Trusting Riches Instead of God
See the man who would not make God his refuge, but trusted in the abundance of his riches. He sought refuge in his own destruction. But I am like a green olive tree in the house of God. I trust in the steadfast love of God forever and ever.
I will thank you forever because you have done it. I will wait for your name, for it is good in the presence of the godly." Well, that's God's word, and I just want to...
Introduction
understand this passage and then draw some helpful lessons for ourselves. It's a psalm of David, and you will appreciate that's why we had read a number of verses from 1 Samuel chapter 21 and chapter 22. And in that passage that we read, David runs from King Saul is out hunting after him, wanting to kill him. And David runs for his life, comes to Ahimelech, the priest, and asks for help.
And it so happened. It so happened that there was a man there in the presence of Ahimelech, a man called Doeg. And this man called the Edomite happens to just be there and to see and to hear the things and the conversation that went on between David and Himalik. And then Doig reports this to Saul, who then is even more and more angry and orders the murder of Ahimelech and all the other priests with him, 85 in number.
Doig, very gladly, pulls the trigger, as we would say. And this story, what we read in 1 Samuel and now captured in Psalm 52, is something briefly what I described. How a believer would feel. In this sinful world, a believer sees the unbeliever using his or her, but using their influence for their own gain against the people of God to such an extent that a child of God looks and says, is it worth it?
Where is God in all this? Will I survive? This little psalm divides itself I think fairly simply, easily. We look at the boasting of this evil doer and all evildoers like this evil man described here.
And then in the second place, we see God's response from heaven to such who seem to take the law into their own hands and make life hard for the believer. And then finally, what would be the response? What should be the response of the believer When things happen the way they do, and I trust we'll be able to see in all this that it's never a loss. It's a sum, actually, as we will see at the end, that does point to the Lord Jesus Christ, and therefore, our hope.
The Boasting of the Evildoer
So in the first place we see the boasting of the evildoer in verses 1 to 4. Here is described a person, indeed in the person of the doig, boasting. And his boasting is highlighted, but highlighted in a negative way. And this, we may say, is a very evil boasting.
Verse 1,
Evil Boasting and Self-Sufficiency
why do you boast of evil, almighty man? Why do you boast of evil? It reminds us of the book of James. James is a very straightforward book, calling us paid as paid, as it were. calling white white and black black.
There are no gray areas. And James describes a boasting person. Let me just quickly read James chapter 4. You will see what he's talking about here in James chapter 4.
The boasting of an evil person. I think it is chapter 4, verse 16. As it is, you boast in your arrogance. All such boasting is evil.
James calls it ever so plainly. And even in an earlier verse and later we will be seeing how James It talks about the tongue in a moment. But there is a boasting that is negative, a boasting that is evil. It is a feeling of self-sufficiency.
It's a feeling that I have it all. I am powerful. No, I am untouchable. There are people in my own country in our present government, they behave in such ways, the things they utter or the things they cause to happen, they behave as though they are untouchable.
A recent case of Deputy Inspector of Police uttered some words that some particular blogger, a young man, had talked ill of him or accused him unfairly, and so this person then sends his juniors to the home of this person, gets hold of that person, takes him over 300 kilometers away from the home to the city of Nairobi, and the person, this young man is harassed and finally is tortured to death and to date that particular officer is untouchable. And it makes people feel ever so vulnerable. This man, Doig, is behaving just like that. In fact, he so behaves in such a way that he, as I use the language, he pulls the trigger and he kills the 85 unarmed men.
And he's not ashamed. Even though evil has happened, it doesn't affect him. And when things happen like that, it is so easy to say, does God care? Does God care?
Please look at the last part of verse 1. which tells us this, the steadfast love of God endures all the day. There is that statement, it is put right at the beginning after we are introduced to the boasting of a wicked man in his might, the untouchable, we are being told that as we go through this psalm, we should have in mind, have it underlined that the steadfast love, the mercies of the Lord endure forever. And so there is a hook there, a hook of hope in the midst of uncertainty. And that should encourage everyone who is a believer Well, in verse 2, this man,
The Tongue as Instrument of Destruction
his wickedness is further explained or is narrowed down to precisely where it was we are told his evil is through his tongue. It's what he said, how he used his tongue, verse 2. Your tongue plots destruction like a sharp razor, you worker of deceit." And so it is through his tongue that he causes injury to the child of God. It is what he said, actually, that brought the death of the 85 helpless unarmed people.
It was the sin of speech. And so we turn, I had mentioned, we will be looking at the book of James a few times, but then James again, chapter 3, and in verse 6 now. We could begin in verse 5, but we want verse 6. James 3, verse 5.
So also the tongue. It's a small member, yet it boasts of great things. How great a forest is set ablaze by such a small fire, verse six. Under the tongue is a fire, a world of unrighteousness.
The tongue is set among our members, staining the whole body. setting on fire the entire course of life and set on fire by hell. Oh, the tongue, the tongue. And so it was the tongue of this man, Doeg, that ultimately brought the death of all these people. You see, we are then, as we move on,
The Heart Behind the Tongue
we are shown something about the state of Doeg's heart. The tongue speaks, yes, but the tongue does not just speak accidentally, actually. Verse 3 tells us, we're back in Psalm 52, look at verse 3. You love evil more than good. lying more than speaking what is right.
And we see the word cellar at the end there. In other words, this is a verse or this is a passage we just don't read and move on. We read and it should cause us a moment, as it were, of reflection, that we don't just gloss over it and move on. No.
We take a moment and say, wow. Verse three again. You love evil more than good and lying more than speaking what is right. So we are truly told the state of Doig's heart.
He loved it so it did not come out as an accident. And like Doeg, we have people, even today, people who love to use their tongue to cause problems to others. And particularly we are thinking those who belong to the Lord. They use their tongue to hurt, to bring pain upon God's people.
So as it was then, so now. in societies, in communities. Obviously, the authorities, even the police, they are there and they would They have their place as Romans chapter 13 would tell us. The authorities have their place, Romans chapter 13 verse 4, which tells us, for he is God's servant for your good. But if you do wrong, be afraid, for he does not bear the sword in vain, for he is the servant of the Lord.
We have, if the government is working well, they are there, they should be there to make sure that wicked people, people who love to do wrong, people who love to use their tongue to indict others, to cause problems to others, then they are brought to book, they are challenged to you know, to verify their talks so that they do not escape or get away with their evil speaking, which then can land others into problems. But of course, as we know, government does not always get it right, and they will not always apprehend those who are bent in evil. Of course, many evil people escape that. But, and thankfully, it is a clear big but.
But, look at verse four. Okay, you love all words that devour all deceitful tongue. Here is a person who loves it that way. They speak evil. and they appear to get away with it.
But they will not be the end. That will not be the end. They do not have the last word because
God's Response from Heaven
verses 5 to 7 now reveals to us that the God in heaven sees and will act. God's response from heaven against those who are bent in such evil. Doeg and people like him. Verse five.
Verse five. But God will break you down forever. He will snatch and tear you from your tent. He will uproot you from the land of the living cellar.
There we have it again. So we had looked at this phrase at the end of verse 1. And I said, even though we were introduced to the boasting of the wicked and the The stage was set. A statement is made about the wicked appearing to reign in might.
And we were told at the end of verse 1, the mercies of the Lord or the steadfast love of the Lord endures forever. Now that is explained, how will the Lord work it out in verse 5? And there is hope. There is hope because
Four Divine Judgments on the Wicked
here in verse 5 the psalmist brings out four things in a very dramatic way, four things, strong images that are used to show what the Lord in heaven is going to do and should encourage every true believer. Because the Lord in heaven is going to do this. One, he will break down forever. He will break down.
In other words, he's going to destroy the wicked. In fact, he will demolish. And let's remember who is talking here, being described, it is the Lord from heaven. And oh, friends, The mighty used his tongue to cause problems, but now it is the Lord, the Lord himself, the God from heaven is the one who is going to do this.
One, he is going to break down forever, and that is to destroy, to demolish the wicked. Two, he will snatch, he'll take away. And the implication or the idea there, the picture there is something must be removed. It's in the wrong spot.
Visitors are about to enter the house and you realize there's a dirty piece of cloth on the floor, I mean on the table. and you don't grab it ever so gently and find, no, they're just at the door and there is the dirty stuff on the table. You snatch it away, you remove it. It is undesirable there. And so the wicked will be snatched away, taken away.
It's in the wrong spot, as it were. The third thing, He will tear you from your tent. In other words, he'll pluck you away from where you would have called home, where you go to rest, where you feel this is your belonging, a place where you belong. It is said the Lord will tear you from your tent.
And that does speak hopelessness on the wicked. He's torn from where he had anchored himself as it were his dwelling. Here referred to as a tent, clearly showing before the Lord it's not permanent, it's just a tent. And then the last thing he will do, the Lord will uproot you from the land of the living like a tree is uprooted.
You want to have some development in a particular area and there are some trees and shrubs, you don't spare them. You uproot them and you don't just cut them, you uproot them, you lift them so that they do not exist there any longer. And that's what the Lord is going to do to the wicked. In other words, God is set to bring judgment. upon the wicked.
And if it is the Lord doing that, dear friends, who can restrain his hand? Who can question? Who can say, what are you doing? No one can do that.
It is the Lord. In other words, the wicked is doomed. It's doomed. You see, When the Lord does that, when the Lord carries out these four mighty activities to a point where we stand and look and marvel, look at verse 6 and verse 7.
Because the Lord is going to do these things to break down and to snatch and tear from this person, from their tent and uproot them from the living. Verse 6 and verse 7, the righteous shall see and fear and shall laugh at him. This is an Old Testament language, poetic yes, but holds a lot of truth. What the Lord is going to do is going to cause the righteous to observe and to consider.
And when the righteous sees what the Lord is doing and considers what the Lord is doing, brings it to heart what the Lord is doing, you know what? will celebrate. And you may say, celebrate? How does the righteous celebrate when the people are destroyed, uprooted, and completely face the judgment? Actually, This celebration must be seen in the light of the fact that God is setting things right.
When God sets things right, things which for now are They're happening in such a way and we ask, Lord, how long? Lord, where are you? Lord, can I really maintain my Christian faith? It's because things are not right.
Things are not right. And often it's like, Lord, if you are there, if you are true and you're there, Lord, come down and do this for me. And we so often want to give God time. It's like, Lord, if by tomorrow morning you have not done this for me, then I quit Christianity.
No, that's unfair. We are dealing with a sovereign God, a God who is in perfect control, God who knows exactly, and His timing is right, and He's going to break down the evil. the wicked and snatch them and tear them away and uproot them. Let's not rush the Lord, but
The Righteous See and Celebrate
when the Lord has done that, we will see, we will fear, but actually we will celebrate because the Lord is setting things right. Something interesting about these verses, particularly now, look at verse seven, please. Or read verse six and seven. The righteous shall see and fear, and then they shall laugh at him.
This is interesting because the righteous are the ones calling to attention the activities of God. Don't miss that point. It is the righteous that are observing and they're seeing this, not the wicked. Ordinarily, you'd have thought that it is the wicked who, as it were, they'll stand at the corner somewhere and say, it's like, oh, we got it wrong.
We got it wrong. This is the time to change. We are not learning that. We are not seeing that.
But we are seeing it is the righteous. that respond in this positive way. So in that case, then what is wrong with the wicked? It is high time that they should act and say, wait a minute, it's time to learn. No.
Someone has said, Alexander, McLaren, he used to be a very faithful preacher back in the UK. Many years back, he died in 1910, so that's way back. But even though dead, something he said remains and just really a quote. But he says in this, in regards to this, he says, But this is the tragedy of life.
So what is that tragedy of life? This is the tragedy of life, that its teachings are prized more by those who have already learned them, and those who need them most consider them least. It is very sad, but it is true. In this passage, you would expect those who need this the most is that person or those wicked people who have behaved in ignorance, if we may put it that way.
That they reach a stage and now they see the Lord for who He is and consider His way and fear. But no, it is the righteous who respond positively to the actions of God. And that's sad, but that's the reality. And I just pray that we will be those who can be considered and counted in the group of the righteous, that we see the actions of the Lord. that we do not rush, we do not hurry, we do not give up on the Lord when He is actually working.
We need to give Him time as it were, we need to be patient so that as He has worked or as He works, it will be opportunity for us to reflect, that we may fear, that we may celebrate And our celebration, as we have said, is not evil. No, it is acknowledging, it's appreciating our God making things right. That should cause a believer to celebrate. Well, we look at verse 7, but as we look at verse 7, let me ask a question.
And the question is this. Let's think of it together. Have you ever wanted something so badly? You genuinely, as it were, you sincerely want something and you want it so badly that you actually lie.
Just let that thought sink. You want it so badly. You consider that, now, if I don't get this, I mean, things won't go well. My family will suffer.
I might lose my job. I need this so badly. And you find yourself lying. In other words, you cut corners to get what you want.
And why would people do that? Why? Why would someone express a desperate interest in something to a point where they add Acetone, or we would say adding some salt, you know, to make a matter appear juicy, tasty. And then you win your way, Acetone.
Why? There is an answer, and the answer is we don't believe that God will give us if we just trust Him alone. It's like, no, no, no, I don't think the Lord will give me. I must lie.
You may not call it a lie, but you add. Oh, friends, I think the only thing is so humbling because Who among us would say, no, no, no, that's not me. That illustration doesn't fit with me. It's something that is like, oh, no.
Why did I add that last sentence? Why did I hold back that which I should have said? It's because you felt if you said it, then you, we feel, then I'll not get that which I wanted. Let's look at verse 7.
Verse 7. Remember, the righteous shall see and fear and shall laugh at him. See the man who would not make God his refuge. Just see, see the man who would not make God his refuge.
Instead he trusted in the abundance of his riches. He sought refuge in his own destruction. All he needed is to put his trust in God, but no, he would not. He would not.
Yeah. So this is a psalm that does prick us to the soul. Doeg did just that. And please let's remember Psalm 52 was written under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, but we believe based on what had happened in 1 Samuel 21 and 22.
Doeg wanted the favor of the king and he wanted it so badly And you would remember in the story we read in the Samuel passage that the soldiers of the king, the king had said, kill Himalik and his priests. And the soldiers would not. They would not. It's like they considered and said, no.
Did they say this is God's anointed, this God's servant? Whatever they said, but it was a consideration they made, and it's like, no, no, no. Whatever happened to the soldiers, we don't know. But here is a man who then wanted the favor of the king.
And so we are told he was happy to pull the trigger and to slaughter. all these 85 servants of the Lord. He would not put his trust in the Lord and leave it at that. He was desperate for the favor of the king, and you can understand. I mean, if you have the favor of the king in such settings, anywhere in my own country, those who play it right and get close to the president, they know there are favors for them.
And if it is a church, then they even change their preachings. If we hear if the president is going to some particular church, then quickly the summon of the day will be changed to fit the king, you know, the president, and things like that. Doig was such a person. Well, how should a believer respond?
We have seen the boasting of the evil doer. We have seen what God in heaven will do. What should be the response of a believer when things are the way they are. They seem to take long to be made right, but certainly when the Lord confirms to us, when the Lord reassures us, when we come to church and we hear his word and it's like, ah, I almost threw in the towel.
It's good I came to church. I've heard his word. I am able to go back and face that challenging situation. I don't know how long that will be.
How should a believer behave?
The Believer's Response
Verses 8 and 9. But I am like a green olive tree in the house of God. I trust in the steadfast love of God forever and ever. I will thank you forever because you have done it.
I will wait for your name, for it is good in the presence of the godly." And so here, Very interestingly, David tells us and comes to that position and now speaks of himself, I am, I will do, I trust. Very remarkable. So he declares in verse 8, I am like a green olive tree in the house of God. And the picture there.
Well, if a green olive tree, not in the forest somewhere, not even along the river bank, no, this one is set in such a unique place in the very house of God. And therefore, one can only imagine a place of safety, a place of success. David is trusting in the steadfast love of the Lord, in the mercies of the Lord. And it's not just coming occasionally.
No, it's coming and the language is used forever and ever. The mercies of the Lord stand, or steadfast love of the Lord stand. It's there forever. Verse 9.
As we think of verse 9, When we first came to the Lord, at least it happened to me, and I believe for many of us we could bear this testimony. The day the Lord saved me back a few years back in 1971, I was in Form 1 in secondary school. I couldn't keep quiet. I mean, That was everything to me.
I told everyone. And I was away in boarding and those were not the days of email or the phones. You'd have to go to a post office and book that you'd, if on the other end, you know, my parents were in the village if they had a phone. They had to know that the Lord had saved me, so I wrote a letter, I don't know how long it took, how many weeks, but finally they got to hear that the Lord had saved me.
And that was something I could not keep to myself. It was exciting. I rejoiced in the Lord, and I don't think my example is unique. Those who the Lord has saved, there is excitement, there is joy, and we love to talk about it.
I wonder, dear friends, what has happened nowadays? Someone can experience conversion. But it is not exciting. It's not the thing that they talk about that nowadays is easy.
You can send a text message or WhatsApp or Facebook message and all your friends would need to know, they should know that the Lord has saved you. But that doesn't happen. No, let's be like David. And David in his case says, I will thank you forever because you have done it.
Oh, may it happen afresh. Let's look back and see where has the joy we once knew gone so that we can once again be able to thank the Lord. But there are a few lessons here that I would like to leave with us to think about.
Psalm 52 and Christ
This psalm, dear friends, actually talks about or directs our attention to the Lord Jesus. I believe it's Spurgeon who said, listen, Every passage, obviously, need to lead us to the Lord Jesus. And the student may say, but I'm not seeing the Lord Jesus here. Then Spurgeon would say, you know, make a way.
I'm paraphrasing. Get him there. Reveal that he's there. And even in Psalm 52, we see great truths about the Savior.
Three things quickly that do come out from this and helps us to see and appreciate the Lord Jesus Christ.
Christ Contrasted with the Wicked
Number one, we see in this Psalm, Jesus is contrasted. The contrast, you know, this is this, this is this. And so Jesus is contrasted with the wicked man who will be destroyed forever. Especially when we think of verse 5, what God is going to do.
But God will break you down forever. He will snatch and tear you from your tent. He will uproot you from the land of the living. When we come to think about the Lord Jesus, I ask you to turn to the New Testament and see the book of Hebrews.
And you'll appreciate that indeed He is contrasted. Hebrews chapter 1, just listen to verse 8 and verse 9. While the wicked will be uprooted, will be snatched, and all that we have read, verse 1, 8 and 9. But of the Son, he says, your throne, O God, is forever and ever.
The scepter of uprightness is the scepter of your kingdom, verse 9. You have loved righteousness and hated wickedness. Therefore, God, your God, has anointed you with the oil of gladness. beyond your companions, surely you will see Jesus is being contrasted there with the wicked who will be uprooted and his place will be no more. The wicked will be gone while Jesus remains and rules forever and ever.
Dear believer, don't throw in the towel. The Lord Jesus is on the throne, and it is His timing. So let's not give the Lord days and say, if tomorrow things don't change in my situation, I give up Christianity. No, don't do that.
Well, then in the second place,
Christ the Righteous One Who Laughs
Back to Psalm 52, we see not only Jesus is contrasted with the wicked, but Jesus is the righteous one. Jesus is the righteous one who will laugh at the enemies of God. It would have sounded strange that when we see and fear, in 52 verse 6, the righteous shall see and fear and shall laugh at him saying, and then it goes on, friends, Jesus is the righteous one who will laugh at the enemies of God. Those two verses, verses 6 and 7, is a reminder of Psalm, way at the beginning of the book of Psalms.
Psalm 2. In Psalm 2, there in verse 4, we indeed find this word. Psalm 2, verse 4. He who sits in the heavens laughs, the Lord holds them in derision.
So the Lord laughs at the wicked. The wicked may appear to prosper, may appear to have his way, may appear to get what they want. But the Lord laughs. Well, and finally and quickly,
Christ the Green Olive Tree
we see then in the third place that Jesus is this green olive tree. He is the green olive tree in the house of God. So when you look at Psalm 52, what did we read in verse 8? David personalizes the matter and he says, but I am like a green olive tree in the house of God.
That's very personal for David to say that. But do you see this which David could say about himself, the Lord Jesus later would call himself? The Lord Jesus, if you look at Revelation chapter 22, right at the end of the Bible, where we read, I, Jesus, have sent my angel to testify to you about these things for the churches. I am the root and the descendant of David. the bright morning star.
Jesus identifies himself ever so closely as the root and the descendant of David. He's the son, in other words, the son of David, the descendant of David, and therefore when David says he is the green olive tree, these things find their fulfillment in the Lord Jesus Christ. Oh dear friends, Let's stand with Jesus. Let's remain with Jesus.
In the readings that we did, right at the very end, David told Abiathar, stay with me. If you stay with me, it'll be OK. You'll be safe. Let's stay with Jesus.
It'll be OK with us. we will find that which we need. And for you unbelievers among us, again, it's great you come and we have looked at the Word of God. The Christian life, certainly, is tough, it is lived in a sinful world, and believers make it hard for believers, but it's never forever. And the Lord watches above.
I invite you, I invite you to look to this God, to trust this God, because He will uproot all wickedness. There'll be no more, but those who trust in Jesus, the green olive tree, will be safe. And I persuade you, I call you, consider Jesus the very son, as it were, and descendant of David. Let's pray.
Closing Prayer
We thank you, Lord, our God, for your word. We live in a real world. Christianity is lived in a cruel world, a world which, for the moment, you actually are allowing the wicked, like doig, to appear to be winning, to be flourishing. And we are caused to wonder, Lord, how long Lord, will you be silent forever?
We know you'll never be silent forever. Time comes and you will so act mightily that we will see, we will fear, we will celebrate because you'll bring and make all things which have gone bad, you'll make them right and we will rejoice. And Lord, while it is called today, we don't want to rejoice alone, and so we are persuading our friends who are still outside the faith, oh, that they would come in, that they would consider, as Abiathar was told, come on, stay with me, that, Lord, we would persuade them to come and stay with us. because with you then we are victorious. Hear our prayer, be gracious then to us.
These things we pray in Jesus' name, amen.