Transcription downloaded from https://yetanothersermon.host/_/stornowayfc/sermons/62845/john-924-41/. Disclaimer: this is an automatically generated machine transcription - there may be small errors or mistranscriptions. Please refer to the original audio if you are in any doubt. [0:00] Just a wee word to the young folk. When I was young, I always enjoyed getting a biscuit. [0:13] I still do, but when I was young, I often used to come in when I would be playing. I still remember as a wee boy, and I would ask my mum, can I have a biscuit? [0:25] Very often she would say yes and get me a biscuit. But sometimes she would say no to a wee boy. That's not fair. [0:38] But then she would say no because you're just going to have your dinner. And if you have a biscuit just now, it'll put you off your dinner. Other times, when I was a little older, I would say, could I have a biscuit? [0:50] And she would say yes, do you want to help yourself? Or sometimes she would say, not just now, because maybe I just had a couple of biscuits before. And she'd say, you can have another one later. [1:01] So sometimes I would hear yes, sometimes I would hear no, and sometimes I would hear later. And you know, it's the very same with us when we go to God in prayer. [1:16] Because that's the way sometimes God answers us. Sometimes when we ask for something, the Lord will give us exactly what we've asked for. [1:29] Other times we ask the Lord for something, and he doesn't give us what we asked for at all. Other times we go to the Lord and ask, and sometimes it's as if the Lord is saying to us, wait. [1:44] Now the Bible tells us that the Lord waits that he might be gracious. In other words, the Lord says, sometimes it's better for you that it'll be a weebity later on. [2:00] Because sometimes, it's not just young people, but older people as well. Sometimes when they pray for something, and the Lord doesn't give them what they pray for. [2:12] But maybe you've been like that, and you've asked the Lord for something, and you didn't get it. You might be saying to yourself, the Lord didn't hear me, or the Lord doesn't like me. [2:24] You might be thinking all kinds of thoughts like that. But the Bible shows us that's not the case. Two of the best men that God used probably more than any. [2:43] Two men, one was Moses in the Old Testament, and another was Paul in the New Testament. Both these men, who were amazing believers, and did so much for the Lord, both of them prayed to the Lord for something. [3:03] And God said to both of them, no. Paul had, we don't know what it was, he called it a thorn in the flesh. It was something that made life really difficult for him. [3:17] And he wanted rid of it. And he prayed, and he prayed, and he prayed to the Lord to get rid of it. And the Lord said to him, no. [3:29] But he said, my grace is sufficient for you. I will give you what will help you through it. And obviously this was maybe to help Paul to trust in the Lord all the more. [3:44] The other was Moses in the Old Testament, who wanted into the land of promise. And God said to him, no, you're not going in. He led Israel right to the borders. [3:56] But God said, you're not going in. And Moses pleaded, and he pleaded, and he pleaded. And he says, Lord, I want to go in. And in the end, God said to him, I don't want you to speak to me anymore about this. [4:11] The answer is no. So the reason I'm saying that is, God knows the bigger picture. We don't. And sometimes we will be disappointed when we go to God. [4:25] Let us not think that everything is going to come just the way we want. And God is showing us that even two of the best people ever, who were so walking with God, that even to them, sometimes, God will say no. [4:43] So we ask that we learn to trust the Lord, and to know that even when we don't know, that he knows. We're going to sing again in Psalm 40. [5:04] Psalm number 40. This is from the Scottish Psalter. Psalm 40, verses 1 to 5. [5:17] Psalm 40. Psalm 40. Psalm 40. The tune is Palermo. That's on page 259. [5:28] I waited for the Lord my God, and patiently did bear. At length to me he did incline my voice and cry to hear. He took me from a fearful pit and from the miry clay. [5:41] And on a rock he set my feet, establishing my way. Put a new song in my mouth, our God to magnify. Many shall see it, and shall fear, and on the Lord rely. [5:52] O blessed is the man whose trust upon the Lord relies, respecting not the proud nor such, must turn aside to a lie. Psalm 41 to the double verse 5. [6:06] I waited for the Lord my God. I waited for the Lord my God. I waited for the Lord my God. [6:20] And patiently live That then to me He's given mine My voice and cry to hear He took me from a fearful day And from the mighty day And on a rock he set my feet Establishing my way He put a new song in my heart [7:25] Our God to magnify Many shall see it and shall hear And on the Lord rely O blessed is the man whose trust Upon the Lord relies Respecting not the proud nor such I'll turn the sight to lies O Lord my God [8:29] O many are The wonders thou hast done Thy gracious thoughts To us were taught Above all thoughts are gone In order love and record To hear them declare And speak of them I would be more Than can be number nine [9:32] We're going to read now in John's Gospel First of all in John chapter 3 And we're going to read verses 16 to 21 And then at the end of John chapter 9 First of all John chapter 3 Verse 16 For God so loved the world That he gave his only Son That whoever believes in him Should not perish But have eternal life For God did not send his Son Into the world To condemn the world But in order that the world Might be saved through him Whoever believes in him Is not condemned But whoever does not believe Is condemned already Because he has not believed In the name of the only Son of God And this is a judgment [10:35] The light has come Into the world And people loved the darkness Rather than the light Because their deeds were evil For everyone who does wicked things Hades the light And does not come to the light Lest his deeds should be exposed But whoever does what is true Comes to the light So that it may be clearly seen That his deeds have been carried out in God And then into John chapter 9 And we'll read from verse 24 To the end Now we've been looking at The healing of this blind man And then the reaction From the religious leaders To that healing Because the healing was On the Sabbath day And they made out That anybody who healed On the Sabbath day Couldn't have come from God But this blind man Is insisting That only somebody [11:36] Who has come from God Could have healed him So we'll read at verse 24 So for the second time They called the man Who had been blind And said to him Give glory to God We know that this man Is a sinner He answered Whether he is a sinner I do not know One thing I do know That though I was blind Now I see They said to him What did he do to you? [12:10] How did he open your eyes? He answered them I have told you already And you would not listen Why do you want to hear it again? Do you also want to become his disciples? [12:22] And they reviled him saying You are his disciple But we are disciples of Moses We know that God has spoken to Moses But as for this man We do not know where he comes from The man answered Why? [12:41] This is an amazing thing You do not know where he comes from And yet he opened my eyes We know that God does not listen to sinners But if anyone is a worshipper of God And does his will God listens to him Never since the world began Has it been heard That anyone opened the eyes Of a man born blind If this man were not from God He could do nothing They answered him You were born in utter sin And would you teach us? [13:14] And they cast him out Jesus heard that they had cast him out And having found him He said Do you believe in the Son of Man? He answered And who is he, sir That I may believe in him? [13:28] Jesus said to him You have seen him And it is he who is speaking to you He said Lord, I believe And he worshipped him Jesus said This again is to the group That was round Like to the Pharisees For judgment I came into this world That those who do not see May see And those who see May become blind Some of the Pharisees Near him Heard these things And said to him Are we also blind? [13:59] Jesus said to them If you were blind You would have no guilt But now that you say We see Your guilt remains Amen And may God bless to us This reading of his holy word We are going to sing again From Sing Psalm Psalm 119 And the section Beginning at 129 Psalm 119 That is on page 165 Psalm 119 Verse 129 Tunisweram Your statutes Lord Are wonderful So I obey them From my heart Your words As they unfold Give light And truth To simple minds In part With open mouth I pant and yearn To know the laws That you proclaim Show me the mercy You extend To those who love And praise Your name So on Psalm 119 129 To 136 [15:01] Tunisweram Your statutes Lord Are wonderful Your statutes Lord Are wonderful So I obey them From my heart Your words As they unfold Give light And truth For simple minds In part With open mouth I can't and yearn To know the laws That you proclaim Show me the mercy [16:04] You extend To those who love And praise your name Direct my good Steps in your word Let sin not hold me In this way For man's oppression Set me free That your commands I may obey Upon your step And shine your face Teach me the statutes [17:08] You have made My eyes shed screams A bitter tears Because your love Is not obeyed Turn back to John chapter 9 And looking at this section From verse 35 to the end John 9 verse 35 Jesus heard That they had cast him out And having found him He said Do you believe In the son of man He answered And who is he sir That I may believe in him Jesus said to him You have seen him And it is he Who is speaking to you And he said Lord I believe And he worshipped him [18:10] Jesus said For judgment I came into this world And so on Just like the Judaizers Followed the apostle Paul Everywhere And hassled him And gave him So much grief The scribes And the Pharisees Followed Jesus Everywhere And again They gave him So much grief Because they were They were there Just like the Judaizers Were with Paul Not to get benefit From the teachings But to try and Pick holes In the teachings They were there As critics As cynics They were there To disrupt To try and Undermine You know It's an awful thing For any person To have that As their aim And motive With regard to The gospel But that's What was happening In the time of Jesus Now last week We saw In the healing Of this blind man That the Pharisees [19:11] Were absolutely Incensed Because they were Saying That Jesus Had to be a sinner Because no Person who came From God Would ever Heal A person On the Sabbath We saw How ridiculous The laws Had become In order For them To be sure That they were Keeping the Sabbath They sort of Just kept Building law Upon law Upon law And making They made Not just a rod From their back They made it Impossible for the people To live For instance I think we Mentioned this Last week You were allowed To try and Preserve a person's Life You were allowed To try and Keep a person From dying But you Weren't allowed To make them Better You could Hold them Try and hold Them from dying That wasn't a sin But to try and Make them better You would have to Wait the next day To try and Make them better Now that's as Absurd And ludicrous And ridiculous [20:11] As it is possible So we've always Got to be careful And Jesus There was nobody Who kept the Sabbath better Than Jesus But Jesus Was free as well He had a liberty And he didn't Bother with their Man made laws And so that's Why they couldn't Cope with the Way that Jesus Conducted himself On the Sabbath Because it wasn't In keeping with What they had Stipulated and What they had Set down And so They refused To accept The testimony Of the man Who had been Born blind Even although His eyes Had been opened They asked The neighbours The neighbours Said yeah This is incredible They asked His parents And his parents Said yes But ask him Parents didn't Want anything To do Because they Knew that They would Get thrown Out of the Synagogue So they Said ask Him You shall And this Blind man Was just He was getting So frustrated With them Because they Wouldn't accept His testimony [21:12] That he Had been Blind And of course They knew it Because he Was a beggar Who sat Every day In the Same place And they Were used To seeing Him But remember How we saw That prejudice And unbelief Are really Quite extraordinary Things And part of What's wrong With unbelief Is that it Comes from the Wrong starting Point The unbelief Of the Pharisees Were at the Wrong starting Point In their Assessment Of Jesus They had Made up In their Own mind This man Cannot come From God That was Their starting Point So they Weren't going To accept Any testimony Because their Minds were Made up He has not Come from God Because he Heals on The Sabbath Day And we Also saw That unbelief Will never Accept And prejudice Will never Accept The facts [22:13] That are Staring them In the Face Doesn't Matter how Often It is Said If you Give them A hundred Facts They'll Say I need I need Two hundred Give Two hundred They'll Say I need Three hundred It was The same With a Blind man It was The same With Jesus Remember How they Would say To Jesus Who are You And he Would tell Them And they Would say I know But who Who are You really I've told You Because they Had made up Their mind Who he Was And they Weren't Ready to Listen To what He was Saying And it Was the Same With a Blind Man And we've Always got To remember That when You meet People who Are really Opposed to The gospel That they've Just got This sort Of thing Normally They have Made Already made Up their Minds There is Prejudice There is Something there And they're At the Wrong Starting Point And it's Imperative And many Of us Have been There Already [23:14] I've been For a lot Of my Life I was At the Wrong Starting Point And we Need You know What we Have to Do We have To Climb Down From our Own High Opinions And come To Accept What the Word Says And that Can Sometimes Be a Very Difficult Thing For us To do And at The end Of the Day Really It's Only Grace That can Change That And that's What we Need Is that Grace Will work In our Heart And to Take us Down from Our high Horse Or from Our own Prejudices Or our Own Opinions To accept What the Bible says To us Regarding Jesus Christ And laying Hold upon This for Our Shows Then we Saw that This blind Man While there Were many Things he Couldn't Understand The one Thing he Kept Saying To them Look He says I'll Tell you One Thing I don't Know loads Of things But I'll Tell you One Thing Whereas I Was blind Now I See That is [24:14] A fact I am In a New world From where I was Yesterday And it And it's The same For so Many people Who come To faith In Jesus Christ They There's Loads Of things They can't Tell Maybe Loads Of you Here Today And There's Loads Of things You don't Know You hear People Talking About this And that And great Conviction Of sin And great Experiences And so Much And you Say I can't Follow That Loads Of things I just Can't Follow But I'll Tell you One Thing I'm not Where I Used to Be And I Once was John Newton Says I Once was Blind But now I see And that's What this Man was Saying the Very same Thing That he Was once Blind but Now he Sees And of Course then When this Man went On and On about It And then He said He was Saying to The disciples Look He said Sorry to The Pharisees Can you Not Can you [25:14] Not grasp It This Man has To Come From God Nobody Can Open Eyes But Somebody Has Come From God And they Were so Angry with Him that They threw Him out Of the Synagogue and that's About the Worst thing That could Have happened To a Person in Those Days Because There was An Incredible Social Stigma Attached To it If you Were thrown Out of The Synagogue You were Sort of Almost In the Class Of A Leper And You Were Just Austacized By That Was The End In The Whole Of Society But We Find Jesus Going And Finding And That's What It Tells Us Verse 35 Jesus Heard That They Had Cast Him Out And Having Found Him That's What Jesus Has Done He's Going Searching For This Man And He Finds Him And That's What Jesus Does Jesus Cares For The Outcast You Today May Feel In Whatever I Don't Know But You May Feel Outside You May Feel Misunderstood You May Feel That Life Has Got Really [26:14] Down On Top Of You You May Feel That Nobody Understands Your Pain Your Circumstances You May Feel To A Certain Extent Like This Blind Man Or This Healed Blind Man Let Me Tell You Please That There's Somebody Who Knows About You And Who Cares And He Wants You To Go To Him And Pour Out We Actually Pour Out Our Heart It's Not Enough To Know That He's There We Need To Go And Tell Him And You Know It's Amazing When We Tell When We're Honest And Open God Wants Our Honesty Because We Can't Fool Him And You Know I Say Sometimes That It's You Go Through The Bible You Go Through Some Of The Psalms Do You Know The Psalm Is Sometimes Is Angry With God You Read Sometimes They Say Things I Would Never Dare Say You Read It And You Think Oh My But [27:16] That Comes From Somebody Who Knows God And Is Just Baring Their Soul And Expressing Just How It Is And God Wants Us To Come And To Pour Out Our Shells And You Know As We Do That And That's By Faith We Are Doing God Will Begin To Work In Us And Gradually He Will Begin To The Worst Thing We Can Do Is To Just To Hide It Away And To Sit In It And Just To And Maybe Allow These Things To Fester Away Gotta Come And Be Open That's What All This Is In Confession Confessing How We Feel Within Our Jesus Wants Us To Do That And He's Asking Us To Cast All Our Burdens Upon Him And Then Jesus Begins To Deal With This Man This Man Is Growing Awareness In Him As To Who Jesus Is And He's Aware That He's In The Presence Of Greatness [28:16] And So When Jesus Asks The Question Do You Believe In The Son Of Man He Answered And Who Is He Sir That I May Believe Who Is It's Just Like Saul Remember On The Road To Damascus And When Jesus Revealed Himself Saul Is Saying Who Are You Lord It's Like The Philippian Jailers Saying What Must I Do To Be Saved And So This Man Is Enquiring And Jesus Reveals Himself And He Says Look I Am Do You Believe In The Son Of Man Who Is He Sir That I May Believe In Him You Have Seen Him And It Is He Who Is Speaking To You And He Said Lord I Believe And He Worshiped Him Lord He Says I Believe And That's There's This Great Sense Of Just Throwing Himself Upon The Lord Now So What Does It Mean To [29:17] Believe In The Lord Well It's Not Simply To Believe The Historical Account Of The Lord While That Is Through Absolutely That's An Essential Part We Have To Believe What Is Revealed To Us About The Lord We Have To Believe The Historical Account But That Is Not Sufficient Because We're Told That Even The Devils Believe And Tremble We Are Not Simply Just To Believe In The Sense Of Saying Well Since I Believe That Jesus Is True And Since I Come To Church And I Believe What The Bible Says Then I Automatically Am A Believer Or Even Where It Says Jesus Christ Died For Sinners I'm A Sinner So Obviously That That's Me Saved Now While All These Things Are Part Of It We Have To Come To Where It Becomes Personal For Us [30:17] Where We Actually Believe And Again It's Very Personal And Often For Many People Very Private And I Always Believe That Within Our Churches There Are A Lot More People Who Are Actual Believers In The Lord In The True Sense Of The Word Than Maybe We Give Credit I Believe That When We Come At The Sabbath Of A Communion And We See The Communicants People At The Lord's Table I Believe There Could Be A Good Deal More There But These It's A Personal Thing And I Would Say To People Who Maybe Have A Have A Quiet Faith Because You Remember Jesus Said In The Parable Of The Sower That Some When They When They Come To Faith Will Bring Forth Fruit A Hundred Fold In Other Words These Are Going To Be The Christians Who Are Right [31:17] At The Front And Everybody Can See So Clearly The Fruit In Their Life Bursting Forth But He Also Says Some Will Be Sixty Fold In Other Words There Won't Be So Much Fruit In Evidence These Are The Ones Maybe With A Little Love And A Little Zeal Maybe Have Never Expressed It Or Confessed It Before Any But The Fact Is That They Believe So What Is It To Believe As Jesus Says Here Well Thing Is That A Lot Of People They Wonder And They Saying Well Do I Believe Might Be People In Here Today And Say Well How Do I Know That I Believe In The Lord Jesus Christ Well With Regardless Salvation There Are Many Things That We Could Say But We Could Just Highlight A Few Of Them For Instance If You Love [32:18] The Lord Or If You're Trusting Your Soul To The Lord Then That's Exactly What You're Doing You Aren't Basing Your Salvation On Anything That You've Done Yourself When You Come Before God You're Not Saying Well I Deserve To Go To Heaven Because I've Been A Pretty Decent Person You Don't Do That You're Looking Only To What Jesus Has Done And Then Side By Side With That You Have A Love For God's Word Now I Don't Not Saying That Every Christian Every Single Day Will Read Loads And Loads Of God's Word God's Love Letter To God Is Revealing Himself To Us And I Think It's Important That Every Day We We Go To God's Word And We Get A Little Out Of It Now I Know That God's People Sometimes Say They Have A Greater Desire [33:18] For God's Word Than At Other Times But The Fact Of The Matter Is There Has To Be Some Desire For His Word And Again The Believer Is Somebody Who Who Knows Something Of The Battle That Goes On Within Them Them A Battle Between What Is Right And What Is Wrong Between Wanting To Do What God Wants Them To Do And The Sin That Is Within Our Own Lives You Know The One Of You Know The Biggest Problem In My Christian Life Is Myself Without A Shadow Of Doubt And I Think Every Christian Will Find That We Let Ourselves Down All The Time There's This Just This Sense So Often Of Failing Failing The Lord Of Not Being What You Want To Be Or Saying Well Listen I Know The Lord And I Want To Lord To Do Your Will I Take Delight And Yet At The Same Time There Is This There's This Force Within Us That [34:18] Is Trying To Go Another Way It's Like The Apostle Said The Good That I Would I Do Not And The Evil That I Would If I Love The Lord How Is It That There's This And There's That And The Next Thing And All We Can Do Is Go Back To The Lord Again And Again And Again And Say Lord Forgive Me And The Lord Is So Patient And He's So Gracious With Us But You Know If We Love The Lord We Long For The Day When We'll Be With Him And There Is There's A Kind Of A Growing Longing And An Awareness That This Is He's The One We Want We Want To Be With Him Forever And So We Find Here Anyway That Here's This Man And The Lord Has Revealed Himself To Him And So He Says I Believe And He Worshiped Him He Calls Jesus Lord [35:19] And And Of Course We Know That When A Lord Is Someone Who Becomes A Master Within That Person's Life And Then Jesus Says For Judgment I Came Into This World That Those Who Do Not See May See And Those Who See May Not May Become Blind Now A Lot Of People Find Difficulty With This Because They're Saying Is This Not A Contradiction Because Jesus Back In We Read That In John Chapter 3 Almost Says The Very Reversion For God Did Send His Son Into The World To Condemn The World But In Order That The World Might Be Saved Through Him But Jesus Is Now Saying That He Has Come For Judgment But In A Sense Jesus Has Come For Both His Primary Purpose For Coming Into This World Was For Salvation It Was For Bringing Salvation God [36:20] So Loved The World That He Gave His Only Begotten Son That Whosoever Doesn't Matter Who They Are Or Who You Are Whosoever Believes In Him Shall Have Eternal Life End Of Story That's It And Jesus Says That Is Why I Have Come Hell But Here Right But He Says I Have Come For Judgment And The Point Is This There Is An Element Of Judgment In It If We Do Not Believe If We Don't Believe because the same light, Jesus said that he is the light of the world, and the same light that dispels the darkness is also the light that casts shadows. [37:05] That's what light does. It throws away the darkness, but it can also cast shadows. And Jesus is saying to them, look, I have come as light into this world. [37:17] Some of you prefer the darkness to the light because your deeds are evil, because the light exposes what's dark, and you don't like it. [37:28] That's why a lot of people take real umbrage about the Bible. That's why people say, hey, I don't want to hear this. There are loads of people today who would not choose to come into church because they don't like what the Bible says because it often makes us uncomfortable. [37:46] It's true. It gets right in. It's under our skin. It provokes. People don't like that. It challenges us. It takes us. It strikes into our pride and our self-righteousness and brings us to see that we need Jesus. [38:04] And that goes against the grain because we want to be in control. We want to be masters of our own destiny. And the Lord is saying, no. It's got to be, you have got to come to trust in me. [38:16] And so there is an element of judgment in the sense that if we do not believe in Jesus, then a judgment is already taking place. [38:28] And that judgment will go on and on and on within a person's life. Because ultimately, as we know, the Bible makes it very clear there are two destinies. [38:42] And at the end of the day, the Lord will say to some, depart from me, for I never knew you. And people say, that's a terrible thing. [38:53] How can the Lord say to people, depart from me? Well, apply a little bit of logic here. All the Lord is doing is giving people what they've chosen in this life. [39:09] Because in this life, people are saying to the Lord, you depart from me. I don't want to know you. I don't want anything to do with you. I don't want your word. [39:20] I don't want your house. I don't want your day. I don't want your people. I don't want to be influenced by you. I don't want anything to do with you. And the Lord says, all right, at the end of the day, that's exactly what you will get. [39:41] Depart. You have chosen in this life your own destiny by pushing me away all the time. So I think it's important for us to, and that's what Jesus is saying, for judgment, I have come into this world that people either accept or they reject me. [40:04] And so what you see, it's a very, very solemn thing to reject the Lord Jesus Christ. And Jesus is calling the Pharisees blind. [40:15] In fact, elsewhere, he called them blind leaders of the blind. Do you know, I think it is one of the most awful human tragedies is for spiritual, so-called spiritual leaders to be blind to the truth of the gospel and to go and to try and tell people about God and about Jesus and the way of salvation when they have no idea themselves. [40:46] And they are leading people in the wrong direction. It happened in the Old Testament, it happened in the New Testament, and it is still happening today. [40:58] Where people who don't know the first thing about the way of salvation are standing in pulpits and telling people about God. [41:10] but it's not the gospel. And that is one of the most serious things that a person can do. And that's what Jesus, Jesus goes on in the next chapter to talk about the thieves and the robbers. [41:23] And the thieves and the robbers are those who are stealing people's souls. They're taking them away from Jesus. And that's why I say that's one of the worst things that a person can ever, ever do in this life is to point a person in the wrong direction. [41:41] Even just naturally when you're going somewhere and you go into a strange town or a, I shouldn't say a strange town, but a town you don't know or a place you don't know and you stop and you ask somebody for directions and you're in a hurry and they point you in completely the wrong direction. [41:56] And after a while you say to yourself, ah, that person was that. What on earth? I wish I'd never stopped to ask. He's put me completely the wrong way. Fortunately, you're able to sort it out. [42:08] But spiritually, it's the worst thing. It's where you're pointing somebody, pointing them completely in the wrong direction. The Lord in his mercy has revealed to us what is important in the word. [42:24] And so Jesus is challenging these Pharisees and he's challenging us today that our eyes will be opened, that we will see him. He has come as a light. [42:35] You ask Jesus today that as the light of the world that he will shine into your heart, that he will reveal himself, that he will dispel the darkness so that you will see and that you will believe. [42:50] Let us pray. Oh, gracious God, we give thanks for this word. We pray that we might know that light within our own life. we pray for those who feel today in darkness, maybe not just even spiritual darkness, but just the darkness that is brought about through sadness and sorrow. [43:12] And we are so conscious of so many today whose hearts are heavy through death, through so many crying tragedies in this world. [43:24] We pray then to watch over us all and to keep us and to guide us and be with us in all the days ahead. And we pray for those whose hearts are heavy. [43:35] Again, we pray for Donnie Martin and all the family at this time. And we remember them in all the days ahead and all whose hearts are sore and heavy at this time. [43:47] Oh, Lord, we give thanks that the Lord Jesus Christ has been touched with the feeling of our weaknesses. we give thanks, oh Lord, for the many beautiful pictures that are given to us in the Bible. [44:01] When church leaders were angry and furious and scowling and throwing people out, that Jesus was the one who was reaching out to them. [44:12] He was the one who was sitting down beside them. He was the one who was taking time to be with them. Oh, Lord, may we have the spirit of Jesus. Bless us then, we pray and take away all our sin. [44:24] In Jesus' name, we ask it. Amen. Concluding, Psalm is Psalm 34 from the Scottish Psalter. Psalm 34, I'm going to sing verses 1 to 7. [44:44] Psalm 34, verses 1 to 7, the tune is Jackson. God will I bless all times as praise my mouth shall still express my soul shall boast in God the meek shall hear with joyfulness. [45:08] Extol the Lord with me, let us exalt his name together. I sought the Lord, he heard and did me from all fears deliver. verses 1 to 7 of Psalm 34, God will I bless all times. [45:26] God will I bless all times his praise my mouth shall still express my soul shall boast fear and put它的 name Where can he meet from all fears deliver? [46:23] They look to him and I tend where God shamed where their pieces Lest for mankind not care to see Live from all his distresses The angel of the Lord encampments Unground and compasses All those of our blood to him Fear and them deliver Now may the grace, mercy, and peace [47:25] Of God the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit Rest and abide upon each one of you now and forevermore Amen