[0:00] Welcome to another recording from Epicaloo Free Church as we continue to look together at the life of Gideon. We'll shortly read from Judges 7 but by way of preparing us for that let's read together from 1 Corinthians chapter 1 and at verse 18 and we'll return to this theme towards the end of our time looking at Judges 7. So 1 Corinthians 1 at verse 18, for the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing but to us who are being saved is the power of God for it is written I will destroy the wisdom of the wise the intelligence of the intelligent I will frustrate where is the wise person where is the teacher of the law where is the philosopher of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world? For since in the wisdom of God the world through its wisdom did not know him God was pleased through the foolishness of what was preached to save those who believe. Jews demand signs and Greeks look for wisdom but we preach Christ crucified a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles but to those whom God has called both Jews and Greeks Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God for the foolishness of God is wiser than human wisdom and the weakness of God is stronger than human strength. Let's pray together briefly as we begin our time together. Let's pray.
[1:36] Lord our God we give you praise for the message of the cross recognizing that it is the power of God that the Lord Jesus Christ is the power of God and the wisdom of God. Now we thank you that in your eternal plan the cross is your way to save sinners by grace so that you receive all the praise and the glory. Lord we recognize that unless you open our eyes we will only see foolishness at the cross. It would be a stumbling block to us so impossible to understand without your spirit giving us eyes of faith to see that in the death of the Lord Jesus there is for us forgiveness of sin. There is a way to enjoy peace with God, a way to be adopted into the family of God, to be brought into your kingdom, your church, to have eternal hope and an eternal future, to enjoy every spiritual blessing. So Lord we pray that you would open all of our eyes and that we would see wonderful glorious things in your word, that you would open our eyes so that we would see and believe the gospel, that we would delight in and worship Jesus as Lord. Help us then we pray in Jesus name. Amen.
[3:32] So let's look together at Judges chapter 7 and we'll think about it for a few minutes after that. Early in the morning Jerob Baal, that is Gideon, and all his men camped at the spring of Harod.
[3:53] The camp of Midian was north of them in the valley near the hill of Moray. The Lord said to Gideon, you have too many men. I cannot deliver Midian into their hands or Israel would boast against me.
[4:05] My own strength has saved me. Now announce to the army, anyone who trembles with fear may turn back and leave Mount Gilead. So 22,000 men left while 10,000 men remained. But the Lord said to Gideon, there are still too many men. Take them down to the water and I will thin them out for you there.
[4:27] If I say this one shall go with you, he shall go. But if I say this one shall not go with you, he shall not go. So Gideon took the men down to the water. There the Lord told him, separate those who lapped the water with their tongues as a dog laps from those who kneeled down to drink.
[4:42] 300 of them drank from cupped hands lapping like dogs. All the rest got down on their knees to drink. The Lord said to Gideon with the 300 men that lapped, I will save you and give the Midianites into your hands. Let all the others go home. So Gideon sent the rest of the Israelites home, but kept the 300 who took over the provisions and trumpets of the others. Now the camp of Midian lay below him in the valley. During that night, the Lord said to Gideon, get up, go down against the camp because I'm going to give it into your hands. If you are afraid to attack, go down to the camp with your servant Pura and listen to what they are saying afterwards. You'll be encouraged to attack the camp. So he and Pura, his servant, went down to the outposts of the camp. The Midianites, the Amalekites and all the other eastern peoples had settled in the valley, thick as locusts.
[5:30] Their camels could no more be counted than the sand on the seashore. Gideon arrived just as a man was telling a friend his dream. I had a dream, he was saying. A round loaf of barley bread came tumbling into the Midianite camp. It struck the tent with such force that the tent overturned and collapsed.
[5:47] His friend responded, this could be nothing other than the sword of Gideon, son of Joash, the Israelite. God has given the Midianites and the whole camp into his hands. When Gideon heard the dream and its interpretation, he bowed down and worshipped. He returned to the camp of Israel and called out, get up. The Lord has given the Midianite camp into your hands. Dividing the 300 men into three companies, he placed trumpets and empty jars in the hands of all of them with torches inside. Watch me, he told them, follow my lead. When I get to the edge of the camp, do exactly as I do.
[6:21] When I and all who are with me blow our trumpets, then from all round the camp blow yours and shout for the Lord and for Gideon. Gideon and the hundred men with him reached the edge of the camp at the beginning of the middle watch, just after they changed the guard. They blew their trumpets and broke the jars that were in their hands. The three companies blew the trumpets and smashed the jars, grasping the torches in their left hands and holding in their right hands the trumpets they were to blow. They shouted, a sword for the Lord and for Gideon. While each man held his position round the camp, all the Midianites ran, crying out as they fled. When the 300 trumpets sounded, the Lord caused the men throughout the camp to turn on each other with their swords. The army fled to Bethsheta towards Zerara, as far as the border of Abel-Mehalah near Tamath. Israelites from Naphtali, Asher and all Manasseh were called out and they pursued the Midianites. Gideon sent messengers throughout the whole country of Ephraim saying, come down against the Midianites and seize the waters of the Jordan ahead of them as far as Beth-barah. So all the men of Ephraim were called out and they seized the waters of the Jordan as far as Beth-barah. They also captured two of the Midianite leaders, Oreb and Zeb. They killed Oreb at the rock of Oreb and Zeb at the winepress of Zeb. They pursued the Midianites and brought the heads of Oreb and Zeb to Gideon, who was by the Jordan.
[7:44] It's the end of our story. We thank God for his words. Today we're going to think about strength made perfect in weakness. Paul's phrase, Paul's testimony, something he'd come to understand from 2 Corinthians chapter 12. In 2016, Zack Snyder produced the movie 300, which told as a retelling of the story of the Battle of Thermopylae, that might be how you say it, in 480 BC, in which 300 Spartans fought against Xerxes and a Persian army of some 300,000 troops. And the story of the 300 Spartans is one of legendary bravery, of fighting skill and courage, though ultimately one of glorious defeat. Here we have our author's account of Gideon's 300. But don't we notice how it's so totally different to that of the Spartans? Because the emphasis doesn't lie on fighting skill, the emphasis lies on weakness. Even as they come to the battle, they're waving a torch, they're waving a sword, but they stay on the spot. And God wins a glorious victory, though his people are weak, with just 300 against a vast army. So the question then is, why draw attention? Why celebrate weakness? Why is Judges 7 deliberately drawing attention to this tiny, weak army and the victory that they win?
[9:32] Well, it serves to teach us the vital lesson that God is a God who has always and will always save his people by grace. This battle scene reflects a deeper spiritual reality. That reality anticipated when Jesus came. And if we use the battle scene imagery, Jesus comes as our champion. He goes out to fight for us, for his people, for the church, for those he came to save, against the forces of evil, against Satan and sin and death. And Jesus enters that battle and he wins the victory that we receive as a gift of God's love.
[10:25] By trusting in him, by faith in him. And all the way along, our weakness as people, as the church, becomes a way through which we are enabled to see God's glory and God's grace, God's strength being revealed. So that the whole of the Christian life, from beginning to end, from A to Z, is about God's grace. We'll come back to that phrase in 2 Corinthians 12 a number of times where Paul says, my grace is sufficient for you. My strength is made perfect in weakness.
[11:12] So that hopefully we'll come to see how we need to believe that truth. And then as Christians and as God's church, we need to live out that truth. To recognise in our weakness that grace and that strength from God that's available to us. So that we draw comfort and help from him.
[11:36] Let's get to our story then. The first eight verses, it stand to show us that weakness is needed.
[11:50] Look with me at verse 1. Early in the morning, Jeroboam, that's Gideon, and all his men camped at the spring. And then you've got the camp of Midian in the valley near to them. And bear in mind the context.
[12:04] So we've been reminded in Judges 6, for the last seven years, raiders from Midian have been coming year upon year upon year. They've been taking all the produce, they've been oppressing the people, they've been spreading fear among God's people. So we would assume naturally that Gideon is going to need more men if he is to defeat this powerful enemy, not less.
[12:31] But then the twist comes in verse 2, doesn't it? The Lord said to Gideon, you have too many men. And this is really interesting. Last week we saw God's spirit comes on Gideon. God appoints Gideon to be a deliverer. He rallies the troops. The troops are ready to go into battle. But then God says there's too many men. And why is that? We're told in verse 2, look there with me, I cannot deliver Midian into their hands or Israel would boast against me, my own strength has saved me.
[13:09] Turns out there's a greater danger even than the might of Midian. And it's the danger of spiritual pride. Here God is reminding us that someone is always going to get praise. It will either be God or it will be us.
[13:27] Someone will always receive honour. It will either be God or it will be us. And the temptation that's being addressed here is the temptation to rob from God, to take the credit from him that he deserves, to deny God his place as king over all and the one who gives every good gift and the one who gives salvation.
[13:49] The temptation is towards self-reliance and then boasting and not humility and being so thankful for God's grace.
[13:59] And so God is identifying a problem area in Gideon's day. And actually if we think just a bit broader, chapters 6 and 7 have been identifying for us sins and temptations for God's people in every age, not just for Gideon in his day, but for us today.
[14:18] Last week we saw the danger of God's people being forgetful. We can forget the promises of God. We can lose sight of his power to save.
[14:30] And then we can be guilty of the sin of unbelief. There's also the danger of idolatry. The people then were, as it were, hedging their bets. Yes, we'll worship God, but we'll also worship idols.
[14:44] We too can think, well, I'll trust God, but I'll also trust something else for my sense of identity. I'm going to look sometimes to God, but sometimes to someone or something else for my sense of security and for salvation when I'm in trouble.
[14:59] It's a problem of divided loyalty. And here the sin and temptation being addressed by God is that of pride. It's robbing God of glory, taking honour to oneself, the idol of self.
[15:14] And so to deal with that, God orders some cutbacks, some necessary cutbacks in his army. With the intention that he would cut back and cut away pride.
[15:29] So as to emphasise grace and so that he might get the glory he deserves. So verse three, we find the first cutback. Anyone who trembles with fear may turn back and leave.
[15:44] Now, boys and girls, let's do a little bit of maths together to notice just how Gideon's army changes. So he begins with 32,000.
[15:55] Then we're told in verse three, 22,000 left. So started with 32,000. 22,000 went home. How many are left? We've got 10,000.
[16:09] It's a considerably smaller army. But that's not enough. God says in verse four, there are still too many men. So there's another cutback. And in verses four to six, we discover it's all about drinking style.
[16:23] So they're taken down to a river. And there's some that cup their hands. And they're lapping the water like dogs. Others are kneeling and they're drinking straight from the river. And there's a selection process.
[16:36] Now, it's really important. And sometimes people go to town on these details. It's not. The point isn't, well, the guys that stood up and lapped out of their hands. Well, they're clearly good soldiers.
[16:47] Whereas kneeling is bad. This isn't about one group being really watchful and alert. This isn't some kind of super troops. Because remember, the whole point is to emphasise the weakness of Gideon and his army to make much of God's strength.
[17:02] The point is just there's too many. And so there needed to be separation. And so, verse seven, with the 300 men that lapped, I will save you.
[17:15] Give the Midianites into your hands. Let all the others go home. So again, boys and girls. The army was down to 10,000. Then it gets cut to 300.
[17:27] So how many were sent home? It's a bit trickier, that one, isn't it? The answer is 9,700. And when we put that together, we're talking of a troop reduction of more than 99%.
[17:43] God considers that a necessary cutback. Why? Remember verse two? I cannot deliver Midian into their hands or Israel would boast against me.
[17:54] My own strength has saved me. All glory must belong to God. And so weakness is needed among the army.
[18:06] God isn't looking for 300 men like those 300 Spartans. Those who are renowned warriors who fight with courage and bravery.
[18:17] He's looking for a weak 300. To give no room for human boasting so that God gets all the glory. Now let's think about this principle for ourselves.
[18:29] About weakness being needed. Weakness is needed for your salvation and for my salvation. We need to get to that point where we admit our need, our weakness before God.
[18:45] That we have sinned against him. That we fail to match his perfect standards. That what we deserve from God is not to be commended but to be condemned.
[18:58] And so we need that weakness that is humility that recognises that if we are to be saved, if we are to be right with God, we must be entirely dependent on God.
[19:14] So we talk about being saved by grace alone. It is entirely of God's free kindness. It's not something we deserve or earn. It comes entirely from Jesus Christ alone.
[19:28] We contribute nothing to our salvation. We bring our sin that deserves death. And Jesus gives us salvation and the gift of eternal life. And that comes by faith alone.
[19:40] Simply by looking away from ourselves and looking to Jesus. Have you known that weakness in yourself and have you come to Jesus for salvation? But then we understand too that weakness is needed if we are to grow in our faith.
[19:58] We are not saved by grace and then left to go in our own steam. God doesn't say to us, you must fight temptation and grow in obedience and serve others and speak for Jesus in your own strength.
[20:10] No. We are encouraged to always depend on his sufficient grace. Always to depend on that strength from him in our weakness.
[20:22] Our life always from beginning to end is to be marked by dependence, humility, trust. It's also worth saying that weakness is how the world sees God's church.
[20:34] Regarded as irrelevant, aren't we? Often outdated on the margins. But here's the truth. God is with us and God is within us. God has called us. God has built us together in the Lord Jesus.
[20:46] There is grace that's sufficient for us. There is power to give us strength in our weakness. He is our source of strength and comfort. Jesus is building his church, his kingdom.
[20:58] And that's unstoppable. Weak as we might seem and weak as we often look. So weakness is needed. Then if we look at verse 9 to 16, we see that there is assurance in weakness.
[21:18] Verse 9. I've just finished reading a novel by a Scottish author by the name of Josephine Tay, one of the great detective novelists of the 20th century.
[21:41] She wrote a book called The Daughter of Time, in which her principal character, Inspector Alan Grant, he's in hospital recovering from an injury. And he's trying to solve a mystery related to King Richard III.
[21:55] Trying to unravel a mystery from history. Nice right. And what's interesting is that as Alan Grant begins to read history books, he becomes really critical of historians.
[22:09] And time and again, he finds himself bemoaning the fact that these historians don't seem to understand real people. Now I tell you that because the same can sometimes be said of Bible commentators.
[22:24] Here you will find some people really critical of Gideon. Look at him, he's still not trusting. He's still afraid. Why should he take that reassurance that God offers?
[22:35] Shouldn't he just go and fight? In a sense, it's really easy to be an armchair critic, to sit back and to criticise and to forget that we're all needing reassurance of faith.
[22:49] We all value it and God is willing to provide it. Let me suggest that this section is not criticising Gideon. Rather, it's encouraging the people of God that God would reassure you and me when our faith is weak.
[23:07] That we have a God who is patient and gentle with us. Remember the only time that Jesus ever spoke of his heart, he said, I am gentle and I am lowly. So let Gideon's story and what God does for Gideon be a reassurance and an encouragement to us as a church and as God's people.
[23:26] Now, three elements in this story of God reassuring Gideon I want to draw your attention to. Maybe to help us, we can look at verse 13 and 14. So remember, God has said, if you want to get reassurance, go down into the camp.
[23:42] So Gideon arrived in the camp just as a man was telling a friend his dream. I had a dream. A round loaf of barley bread came tumbling into the Midianite camp. It struck the tent with such force that the tent overturned and collapsed.
[23:53] His friend responded, this could be nothing other than the sword of Gideon. God has given the Midianites into his hands. So three elements. One, there's the reassurance of the power of God.
[24:06] You know, it just so happens that Gideon walks into this army camp where the soldiers are as thick as locusts. He just happens to be by the guy who has the dream.
[24:19] You know, Gideon just happens to be there. No, that's not it. This is reminding us God is totally in control. The Bible is so full of that truth.
[24:33] And it's always intended to be a comfort for the people of God. And it certainly proved to be an encouragement to Gideon that God is in control. So we see the power of God and that reassures him.
[24:45] We also get reassurance in the promise of God. So think about the content of the dream. What's going on there is one of those bizarre dreams that's outside the realms of what we would expect.
[24:59] So that there's a loaf that's capable of smashing a tent. Think about the biggest loaf you've ever seen, the biggest jumbo sandwich you could ever buy.
[25:10] That's not going to smash a tent. And the point is, and the enemies get it, God is going to fight for Gideon, for the people, to give them victory over the much greater Midianites.
[25:26] So there's the power of God, there's the promise of God, and that brings Gideon peace. Verse 15, When Gideon heard the dream, he bowed down and worshipped. In the middle of his enemies, in the middle of the enemy camp, where he could have been most afraid, he bows down and he worships.
[25:38] His faith is reassured. He knows victory is certain. God has been kind to him. God has given him reassurance in his own weakness.
[25:49] It's wonderful to know that God knows our weakness. But he doesn't crush us in that. Rather, he comes to us in comfort and assurance.
[26:00] Now, how does he do that for us? Not likely through dreams of barley, loaves and tents. But he will reassure us from God's word.
[26:11] When we read God's word, what are we reading about? We are reading all about God's character. God can be trusted. God is faithful. God cannot shame.
[26:23] We are discovering God's unbreakable promises to his people. We are reading of God's eternal plan of salvation. That's all of grace.
[26:34] So there is security when our faith is in Jesus. And we also read of the promise of the spirit that God comes to take up residence in the lives of his people in his church.
[26:45] So God reassures us by his word. But then he also reassures us by God's church. As we gather together in God's presence, and here again, in our absence, there's a reminder of the special privilege of gathering together for worship.
[27:02] We have the gift of hearing God's word read and preached together. We have the gift from God of the sacraments of baptism and the Lord's Supper. Last week, we shared the Lord's Supper and we remembered the death of the Lord Jesus.
[27:16] And what that means for our salvation. So we're encouraged and reassured through God's church. We're also reassured through God's people.
[27:31] We are brothers and sisters walking the road of faith together. We are speaking the truth in love to one another. We're sharing how God has been speaking to us from his word.
[27:43] We're sharing how God has been at work in our lives. We're looking to pass on wisdom to the next generation. We're looking to pass on the comfort that we ourselves have received to enable one another to persevere.
[27:56] To use the army image, we are a band of brothers. Bound together by our shared faith in Jesus. Living to serve him, living for his glory.
[28:08] And we also find assurance from God's gospel. The good news in the Lord Jesus. So as we look from Gideon and his story to Golgotha and the story of Jesus' death on the cross, we can also see there the power of God.
[28:29] Peter in Acts chapter 2 testified to the crowd that gathered to listen to him preach. Wicked men put Jesus to death.
[28:39] But his death was God's plan by God's foreknowledge. And God raised him from the dead. Jesus came and he won that victory over sin and death.
[28:52] And there's good news for us. When our faith is in him, we die to sin and we live with him. New life in Christ. There is at the cross the promise of God.
[29:08] Jesus' death is for us the new covenant in his body, in his blood. Here is God's unbreakable commitment to save and to keep all who look to Jesus in faith.
[29:19] He will not lose any who come to him. And when we think about the cross, how do we see the peace from God?
[29:29] Again, in Paul's letter to the Corinthians, he can speak of Jesus' death being our means of reconciliation. Bringing peace between sinful people like us and a holy God as Jesus takes the penalty, the punishment that sin deserves.
[29:49] Our sin. He bears it and gives us, credits to us, his perfect record of righteousness. And because of that great change that takes place, we can have peace in our conscience.
[30:02] We don't need to live with fear of death and being condemned. We can live with peace in the present and peace for our future as we know God is with us and God is with us always.
[30:14] So there is assurance in weakness. And then we go to verse 17 to 25 and we see God's triumph in weakness.
[30:25] So remember, Judges 7, not the story of 300 Spartans, you know, glorious in battle, ultimately different. Nor is it the story of glory to Gideon in his 300.
[30:36] This isn't, wow, Gideon had this remarkable battle strategy, the surprise attack, etc. No, the point is God's strength made perfect in human weakness so that God gets the glory in salvation.
[30:52] Always. Salvation by grace. So, the plan. Verse 16. What does Gideon do? He divides 300 men into three companies, gives them trumpets, empty jars and torches.
[31:04] And they've got swords. Three groups of 100. One sword, one torch, one jar, one trumpet each. Now, remember verse 12. The Midianites, the Malachites and all the eastern peoples had settled in the valley thick as locusts.
[31:19] Their camels could no more be counted than the sand of the seashore. 300 men, torches, trumpets, swords, jars versus a locust-like army.
[31:32] Camels like sand and sea. Without God, this is not going to go well. Verse 18. The battle cry, which is an important part of this fight.
[31:47] And it matters. When I and all who are with me blow our trumpets, then from all round the camp blow yours and shit. For the Lord, and forget it, the Lord comes first.
[31:57] He is commander in chief. He leads, he fights, he will win. That's the point of the story. And so they get that with their battle cry. So the middle of the night, verse 20. What happens?
[32:08] The noise begins. They blow their trumpets. They smash the jars. The torches are up. They've got the trumpets. They're shouting. But don't miss this detail. Verse 21.
[32:20] Gideon's 300. Are they super warrior types? While each man held his position round the camp.
[32:30] They're not super fighters. They stand still. They stand still. They stand still so that the Lord will triumph. The Lord will show his glory. Verse 22. When the 300 trumpets sounded, the Lord caused the men throughout the camp to turn on each other with their swords.
[32:47] So the Lord causes chaos, confusion, ultimate defeat. As he does so often when you read the Old Testament battle scenes. And there's no doubt from this author that this triumph in weakness is the triumph of God's grace.
[33:00] This is a gift to his people. His people who have been forgetful, who have been guilty of idolatry, who are guilty of pride. He is saving them for his own namesake and by his grace to showcase his glory.
[33:13] That's God's way. That's God's way with his church still today. Now, got me thinking. What would an onlooker have thought before this battle began and before this victory was won?
[33:28] I can imagine some thinking as they saw Gideon's 300 men fan out. This is crazy. This is a suicide mission. The odds are impossible, Gideon. Why are you bothering? But maybe others with the eyes of faith would look on and think, yeah, but God promised that he would be with them.
[33:44] And he promised that he would give them victory. And God is powerful. And so we recognise faith is what you and I need to see God's powerful grace.
[33:56] Despite our weakness, despite our sin. That we would draw on God's powerful grace. That we would draw on God's powerful grace in our own lives.
[34:07] Think back. You can turn back with me to that passage that we read at the beginning. 1 Corinthians 1.18 to 25. What do you see when you look at the cross?
[34:19] Some people in Paul's day, some people in our day see the cross as a place of weakening. A place of shame. A place of sheer folly. How can someone dying in shame bring salvation to anybody?
[34:32] How can that benefit anybody? For some it's a stumbling block. Looking for glory. And that seems suffering. I don't want to follow a saviour who brings suffering.
[34:43] I want life to be wonderful. Always. And so some people look at the cross and it's a place of weakness. A place to be rejected.
[34:54] But with the eyes of faith, what is it? To us who are being saved, it's the power of God. It's the way of salvation to all who believe.
[35:05] What do you see when you look at the cross? As we close, if you're not a Christian. If you've not looked at the cross and seen your only hope of salvation.
[35:17] And if you've not seen your urgent need. Your eternal need of being right with God through trusting in Jesus. Ask God today to show you your need of him.
[35:30] To expose to you your sin and your guilt. To help you to see salvation is this wonderful free gift from God. That you would receive it by faith.
[35:42] Not looking to yourself but trusting in Jesus. And if you're a Christian. Celebrate. Celebrate the victory of Jesus at the cross.
[35:53] Just as Gideon's men would have celebrated the victory that he secured. Beyond the apparent weakness of Jesus' death. There was victory. There was triumph for us.
[36:04] That means forgiveness. That means eternal life. So we celebrate. We should pray. Shouldn't we pray? Pray for God to open the eyes of other people.
[36:16] To see what we have come to see by God's grace. To enjoy what we have come to enjoy. To pray that we'd be willing to share it with others. Let's encourage one another.
[36:28] Encourage other Christians to look to Jesus. To find strength from God's word. Let's seek to be those who encourage and bring reassurance towards perseverance.
[36:41] And let's remember those precious words from God. My grace is sufficient for you. My strength is made perfect in weakness.
[36:55] Let's pray once again. Father God, we are so thankful that we are saved by grace alone. As we recognise our own sin.
[37:07] Our own weakness. Our own foolishness. As we honestly consider our inability to match up to your perfect standards. We are so thankful that you, in your love and in your kindness, sent your son Jesus to go to the cross.
[37:30] To secure our salvation by his finished work. Lord, may we live to give praise and glory to him. May we recognise his strength in our weakness.
[37:45] May we be those who would be honest about our weakness, about our struggles. Honest with you, honest with one another. May we look to bear one another's burdens. In the weakness that we experience in life.
[37:59] Lord, may you help each one of us. And be looking to you. To your power. To your presence. To the peace that you provide. To find our hope.
[38:10] In the Lord Jesus. To prove this to be true. That your strength is made perfect in our weakness. We pray in Jesus' name. Amen. Now, let's finish our time together.
[38:23] With a couple of songs. The first, he will hold me fast. And the second, a section from Psalm 139. When I fear my faith will fail.
[38:36] Christ will hold me fast. When the tempter would prevail. When I fear my faith will fail.
[38:50] Christ will hold me fast. When the tempter would prevail. He will hold me fast.
[39:04] I could never keep my hope. Through life's fearful path.
[39:15] For my love is often cold. He must hold me fast. He will hold me fast.
[39:29] He will hold me fast. For my Savior loves me so. He will hold me fast.
[39:44] He will hold me fast. He will hold me fast.
[39:55] He saves are His delight Christ will hold me fast Precious in His holy sight He will hold me fast He'll not let my soul be lost His promises shall last Bought by Him at such a cost He will hold me fast He will hold me fast He will hold me fast For my Savior loves me so He will hold me fast For my life He bled at night
[41:07] Christ will hold me fast Justice has been satisfied He will hold me fast Raised with Him to endless life He will hold me fast Till our faith is turned to sight When He comes at last He will hold me fast He will hold me fast For my Savior loves me so He will hold me fast He will hold me fast He will hold me fast
[42:11] For my Savior loves me so He will hold me fast For myvux Jesus has been Lord For you created me and gave me life.
[42:54] Within my mother's womb you fashioned me.
[43:06] I'm fearfully and wonderfully made.
[43:18] I praise you as your mighty works I see.
[43:29] My frame could not be hidden from your sight.
[43:41] When I was made within the secret place.
[43:54] When I was woven in the depths of earth.
[44:05] My unformed body was before your face.
[44:17] Your eyes beheld me in my unborn state.
[44:39] And all the days that you ordained for me.
[44:51] Were written in the book that you had made.
[45:04] Before a single day had come to be. How precious are your thoughts to me, O God.
[45:26] There some is vast and far beyond my view.
[45:38] To count them is like counting grains of sand.
[45:50] When I awake from sleep. I'm still with you.
[46:03] I'm still with you.
[46:16] I'm still with you.