We hope that you enjoy this teaching from Christ Church.
This material is copyrighted and no unauthorized duplication,
redistribution, or any other use of any part is permitted without prior consent from Christ Church.
Please consider donating to this work in the San Francisco Bay Area online at ChristChurchEastBay.org.
My name is Vaughn Woodson and I am a part of the Oakland Little Faith Group.
Today's scripture reading is from the book of Deuteronomy, chapter 5, verses 1-7 and 22-33, as printed in the liturgy.
And Moses summoned all Israel and said to them,
Hear, O Israel, the statutes and the rules that I speak in your hearing today,
and you shall learn them and be careful to do them.
The Lord our God made a covenant with us in Horeb.
Not with our fathers did the Lord make this covenant,
but with us, who are all of us here alive today.
The Lord spoke with you face to face at the mountain out of the midst of the fire,
while I stood between the Lord and you at that time to declare to you the word of the Lord,
for you were afraid because of the fire.
And you did not go up into the mountain.
He said, I am the Lord your God,
who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery.
You shall have no other gods before me.
These words the Lord spoke to all your assembly at the mountain,
out of the midst of the fire, the cloud,
and the thick darkness with a loud voice.
And he added, No more.
And he wrote them on two tablets of stone and gave them to me.
And as soon as you heard the voice out of the midst of the darkness,
while the mountain was burning with fire,
you came near to me, all the heads of your tribes and your elders.
And you said, Behold, the Lord our God has shown us his glory and greatness,
and we have heard his voice out of the midst of the fire.
This day we have seen God speak with man, and man still live.
Now, therefore, why should we die?
For this great fire will consume us.
If we hear the voice of the Lord our God anymore, we shall die.
For who is there of all flesh that has heard the voice of the living God
speaking out of the midst of fire, as we have, and has still lived?
But go near and hear all that the Lord our God will say,
and speak to us all that the Lord our God will speak to you,
and we will hear, and we will do it.
And the Lord heard your words when you spoke to me.
And the Lord said to me, I have heard the words of this people,
which they have spoken to you.
They are right in all that they have spoken.
Oh, that they had such a heart as this always,
to fear me and to keep all my commandments,
that it might go well with them and with their descendants forever.
Go and say to them, return to your tents.
But you stand here by me,
and I will tell you the whole commandment and the statutes and the rules
that you shall teach them,
that they may do them in the land that I am giving them to possess.
You shall be careful, therefore, to do as the Lord your God has commanded you.
You shall not turn aside to the right hand or to the left.
You shall walk in all the way that the Lord your God has commanded you,
that you may live, and that it may go well with you,
and that you may live long in the land that you shall possess.
The grass withers and the flowers fade,
but the word of our God stands forever.
Well, thank you, Vaughn, for that scripture reading.
Good morning.
My name is Andrew.
I'm one of the pastors here,
and it's good to be with you.
Will you join me in prayer as we come to hear what God has to say to us?
Lord God, it was good when they said to me, when they said to us,
let us go to the house of the Lord.
Father, I thank you personally this morning for the praises sung here
by my brothers and sisters in Christ,
exclaiming your holiness and your character and your awesomeness.
And I pray that we would encounter you as such today,
the God who reigns, the holy and awesome God,
who in many ways is terrifying,
but in Christ is also more tender than we could ever imagine.
Help us to know you as this kind of God.
Help us to know you not just as lawgiver, but lifegiver,
and to understand how those things are not opposed to one another
because of the gospel,
because of the good news of what you've done for us in Christ.
Would you bless and honor the preaching of your word
and fill us all with your spirit
as we listen to what you have to say to us.
And we pray these things in the name of Jesus.
Amen.
Well, Christ Church, we're continuing our series
in the book of Deuteronomy and these Hebrew scriptures,
this last book of the Torah.
And to get what Deuteronomy is about,
I know we've talked about it, but I just want to refresh us.
I want you to picture Moses.
Picture Moses and the people of Israel
on the other side of the Jordan River,
outside of the Promised Land.
And 40 years have now gone by.
40 years have now gone by since their people,
mostly their parents, mostly their grandparents,
were delivered from slavery in Egypt,
but then refused to enter the land
that God had promised them.
And so here in Deuteronomy,
you have this next generation of Israel.
Pretty much all their parents,
pretty much all their grandparents
have not survived long enough to get to this moment
where they're about to cross the Jordan River
and enter into the Promised Land.
But they're still led by their faithful leader,
their faithful prophet and shepherd, Moses,
who is now 120 years old,
and he's about to die knowing
that he is not gonna enter the Promised Land
with this people.
So here in Deuteronomy, you have Moses,
this great prophet and shepherd over Israel,
contemplating his death,
wishing better things for this next generation of Israel,
better things than for the previous generation,
and looking to speak a final and fruitful word to them
as they begin their next season of being the people of God
without him.
And so what Deuteronomy is,
is it's the record of this prophet Moses,
his final and most important parting words
to an Israelite generation
about to embark on a new chapter
in the story of God's people.
And so in the first chapters,
which we covered in the last couple weeks,
he pretty much, he retells the history.
He retells Israel what God has done for them,
how he brought them out of Egypt,
how he sustained them through the wilderness,
how he forgave them with all their whining
and all their rebellion
and all the ways that they failed to trust him.
But as we come here to Deuteronomy chapter five today,
Moses has moved on from retelling what God has done,
and he moves on to tell us what God has spoken,
namely his law.
Verse one says,
Now next week,
Jonathan is gonna talk about those 10 commandments,
specifically given at Horeb.
But what I wanna point out to us today
from Deuteronomy chapter five
is not the laws themselves.
Today, I want us to see the way that these laws
are actually framed as they're spoken to Israel.
And this is so important to see
because if we just go straight to the laws themselves,
and if we fail to see who communicates these laws
and why and how,
we'll completely misunderstand God's law,
we'll completely misunderstand God himself.
But if we pay close attention,
we'll notice that it's not just the law
that Moses wants to remind us about.
Here in Deuteronomy chapter five,
Moses also wants to remind us,
he wants to impress upon us
of who this God is who spoke to us,
and why he spoke to us,
and how he spoke to us.
Who, why, and how.
See, because Moses understands,
and we all need to understand
that unless we've been struck
by the reality of who God is,
and why he gave us his law,
and how he spoke it,
we'll never rightly relate to God,
we'll never rightly know him,
we'll only know him
as just some authoritarian law-giving God,
we'll never know him
as the affectionate, life-giving God
that he truly is.
And that's what Moses is up to this morning,
that's what he wants his people to see here
in Deuteronomy chapter five,
and that's what I hope we'll all see
in the preaching of God's word this morning.
So let's dig in and look at how,
before Moses even got to the what,
before he even got to the law,
he insisted on reminding them
of who it was who spoke to them.
Notice, he doesn't start with the what of the law,
he starts with the who of the lawgiver.
See, Moses had a bigger understanding,
a bigger view of the faith
and simply, here you go, Israel.
These are some Jewish rules and regulations
for you to obey and follow.
Moses' retelling of the law
is about so much more
than helping them brush up
on this religious manual
for the sake of good Jewish behavior.
In verse two,
Moses roots the statutes and the rules.
He's calling Israel to hear
and learn and do them.
He's rooting them in the covenant.
That's what it says in verse two.
Hear, O Israel,
the statutes and rules.
Learn them and be careful to do them.
Four, verse two.
The Lord, our God,
made a covenant with us in Horeb.
See, by invoking this covenant
that God made,
by invoking this life and death
binding commitment
of the sovereign God
to his people,
Moses is saying,
this is not primarily about rules.
This is primarily about relationship.
And that's the key thing about covenant.
Covenant is about relationship,
a personal, intimate, communicative,
and faithful relationship.
And so what Moses is doing here
is he's reminding these people
in verses four to six
of just how personal,
just how intimate,
just how faithful this God has been
in this covenant relationship to them.
He reminds them,
the Lord, Yahweh,
the God who appeared
and spoke to Abraham
and your forefathers,
he also, verse four,
spoke to you.
He spoke to you.
Face to face at the mountain,
he says.
And not only did he speak intimately
with his covenant people
face to face,
but Moses reminds them
of Yahweh's covenant credentials.
Look at verse six.
Before God even tells them
what they shall and shall not do
in the Ten Commandments,
God grounds his commandments
in who he is
and what he's already done
as their covenant God.
In verse six,
before giving out any commands,
God says,
I am Yahweh,
I am the Lord,
your God,
who brought you out
of the land of Egypt,
out of the house of slavery.
Moses wants them to see
that the law they've received
didn't just come from anyone,
not simply from him,
a mere man,
just another Israelite,
and certainly not from your typical
ancient Near Eastern pagan God.
No, it came from their covenant God,
Yahweh,
the God who had fulfilled
his promises to Abraham,
the God who rescued them
from Egypt,
and the God who was about
to bring them into the promised land,
the I am.
The I am who said,
I am yours.
I am your God,
O Israel.
See, Moses reminds them
that these laws
are so much more than rules.
They're a way of life.
They're a way of life
meant to reflect
and cultivate
a sacred relationship
between God and his people.
Think of it this way.
If you're about to enter
into a relationship
with someone
and you want to nurture
that relationship,
what do you do?
Do you just kind of
plop a manual
into their lap
with all your likes
and dislikes,
all your preferences
and pet peeves
and say,
hey, memorize this,
live by this.
If you want a relationship
with me that's going to work out,
just follow these rules.
Go try that out
and see how it works, right?
No, you unfold to them
who you are
if you want a deep relationship
with them.
You unfold to them
who you are.
You show them your character
and you connect with them
in the deepest ways possible.
You knit your hearts together
around the things
that unite you
and that's what God's doing
in the giving of his law.
It's not a list
of God's pet peeves.
It's a reflection
of who he is.
It's a reflection
of his character.
So when God says,
thou shalt not kill,
it's a reflection of him
as the giver of life,
as a God
who values life.
Or when he says,
you shall not bear
false witness,
you shall not lie,
he's reflecting himself
as a God of truth,
a God of integrity.
And see,
just as these laws
reflect his character,
they also reflect
the intended character,
the intended way of life
for all those
who are made
in his image.
Image bearers of God
meant to enjoy
a harmonious relationship
with him.
See, God's law
is not an oppressive
straitjacket.
No, it's actually
the truest,
most original,
most authentic way,
the best way,
God's intended way
for human beings
to live.
So don't you see
that this book,
this book,
the scriptures,
this law,
even with all the laws
and rules
and statutes
and demands upon our lives,
it's not just
any other book,
it's the word of God.
It's the word of God,
the God who loves us
and gives himself to us
and desires a personal
and intimate relationship
with us.
And the who,
and who these laws,
who these laws come from,
this makes all the difference.
It makes all the difference
in how we should understand
and receive this book
and all the rules
and statutes
that are in it.
You know,
the history of the world,
the history of world religions
is fraught
with a bunch of magic,
impersonal formulas
for how to get what you want,
how to attain that blessed life,
which hoops you have to jump through,
which obstacles you have to overcome,
which sacrifices you have to make.
But this is not so
with the Christian faith.
Christianity is different.
It's not about doing
all the right things
and following a list of rules
from an impersonal,
distant God
who only exists
to place impossible demands
upon our creaturely existence.
The faith of Moses,
the faith of all God's people
is grounded,
not in rules,
but in a relationship
with the one true
and living God
who graciously covenants himself
to belong to
an undeserving people like us.
Do we know this God?
This is the God
who rescues his people
from all kinds of slaveries,
from slavery in Egypt,
from slavery to our own sin,
our addictions
and our sinful habits,
from our enslavement
to the regret
and the shame
and the depression
that plague us
over all our inadequacies
and our imperfections
and our failures.
leaders,
if you are down this morning,
if you are depressed
this morning,
overwhelmed by the weight
of your flaws
and your failures,
and if your understanding
of the Christian faith
is simply that
of a legal code
that you have shamefully broken,
Moses has good news for you.
The Spirit of God
speaking through him
and maybe even through me
preaching to you today,
we have better news for you.
Good news
of the covenantal,
relational God
who before even uttering
his Ten Commandments
broke the chains
of his beloved people.
And if we only ever have eyes
to view the Christian faith
as but one among many other
religious systems
filled with pious rules
and rituals,
then we will only ever
find God's law.
We will only ever find
God himself as burdensome
and oppressive
and ancient
and irrelevant.
But if we are struck
with the larger,
truer reality
of this covenant God
that the Lord Almighty
so desired
to bind himself
in a life and death
relationship
with his people,
including people like us,
this changes everything.
This changes everything
about how we are
to understand
the law of God
and it opens our eyes
to see him not just
as the law giver
but as the life giver.
Our covenant God,
he breaks the chains
of all those
who belong to him.
His law is,
it's a picture,
not merely of
the limitations
that are placed upon us.
Actually what it is,
is it's a way
to live out
our liberation.
That's what the law is.
It's a way to live out
our liberation.
And this brings me
to the why question.
Why did God speak to them
and give them his law?
Well, Moses wants them
to know that the reason why
was out of their covenant
God's loving kindness,
out of his desire
for his children
to flourish.
See, when we understand
who this God is,
the why question
actually becomes quite clear.
Look with me
at the last two verses,
32 and 33.
You shall be careful,
therefore,
to do as the Lord
your God
has commanded you.
You shall not turn aside
to the right hand
or to the left.
You shall walk
in all the way
that the Lord your God
has commanded you
that you may live
and that it may go
well with you
and that you may live
long in the land
you shall possess.
Every good parent
makes laws.
Every good parent
makes rules
for their children,
not for their harm,
not for their frustration,
but for their good.
Like when I say,
Kami and Leah,
thou shalt not
come near to the oven
when we're baking cookies
for you
because you will
harm yourself.
You will get burned
and we don't want you
to get burned.
I mean, think about it.
No one actually wants
to live in a world
without laws.
No one actually wants
to live in a world
without laws, right?
No sane person
who's honest about
their finitude
and their fallibility
even wants to live
in a world
where they themselves
get to make up
their own laws.
Our aversion
is not to laws
if we think about it.
It's not actually
to laws in and of themselves.
You know what it is?
Our aversion
is to imperfect laws
given by imperfect lawgivers.
But what if
there was a perfect lawgiver?
What if there was
a perfect lawgiver
whose laws worked
for the good
of all people
truly without fail?
Might it be
that the one true God
is a good father
who wants our good
and who is for us?
Can you hear
his fatherly longing
here in verse 29?
His fatherly longing
for his children's good
when he says to Moses,
oh, verse 29,
oh, that they had
such a heart
as this always
to fear me
and to keep my commandments
that it might go well
with them
and with their descendants
forever.
What if,
what if we didn't
simply see
the law of God
as a list of limitations
but as a liturgy
of life?
A good way,
a good pattern
to commit ourselves to,
a way to give ourselves to,
a law that's been given
to us
by an infinitely wise,
an infinitely good,
an infinitely loving
father in heaven?
What if we saw
the law of God
in that way?
But maybe you question that.
Is God really good?
Can I really trust
this law
that he's given us?
Is the God of Moses,
the God of the scriptures,
is he truly good?
Is he truly for us?
Well, having considered
the who
and the why,
I think it's really
when we understand
how he spoke
that we begin to see
just how much God
is actually
for his people,
just how much
he desires our good
when he gives us
his law.
I want you to notice
how Moses,
he details the
dramatic experience
of Israel's encounter
with God
and he details it
with a lot of
like darkness
and terror
when God spoke to them
at the Mount Horeb,
right?
In verse 22,
these words,
the Lord spoke to
all your assembly
at the mountain,
out of the mist
of the fire,
the cloud,
and the thick darkness
with a loud voice.
This wasn't just
some casual encounter,
this is what theologians
call a theophany,
a visible,
sensible manifestation
of God
in creation
to humans.
Of all the ways
that God could have
communicated his law
to them,
he didn't drop a scroll
down from the sky,
he didn't send
just an angel
and a prophet
as his messenger,
he didn't just speak
with a loud voice
from heaven,
he revealed to them
his glory
and his power
and his presence
palpably
with the nearest exposure
that anyone had had
with God
since the first humans
originally walked
with him
in the Garden of Eden
before the fall.
And it was an absolutely
overwhelming encounter
to hear this law
from God
because things were
different now
than in the garden.
They were different now
compared to when
God's people once
strolled with him
through the Garden
Paradise.
Moses reminds Israel
of not just how
awesome this encounter
was,
but also of how
absolutely terrifying
it was.
It was terrifying.
Verse 23,
Moses says,
And as soon as you
heard the voice
out of the midst
of the darkness,
while the mountain
was burning with fire,
a whole mountain
on fire,
you came near to me,
all the heads
of your tribes
and all your elders,
and you said,
Behold,
the Lord our God
has shown us
his glory and greatness,
and we have heard
his voice
out of the midst
of the fire.
This day we have seen
God speak with man
and man still live.
They're surprised.
They continue in verse 25,
Now therefore,
why should we die?
For this great fire
will consume us.
If we hear the voice
of the Lord our God
any more,
we shall die.
For who is there
of all flesh
that has heard
the voice
of the living God
speaking out of the
midst of fire
as we have
and has still
lived.
The people
were amazed,
yes,
to encounter
and to hear directly
the voice of God,
but gone were the days
when sinless humanity
could encounter
the Almighty God
in all his glory
and all his holiness
without dread,
without terror,
without the fear
of getting consumed
by his overwhelmingly
holy presence.
A holiness
that cannot,
a holiness that will
not tolerate sin
and evil
and injustice
and unrighteousness.
Moses reminds them
of the terror
that they felt
when they heard
the voice of God
and met him
at the burning mountain
and received
his holy law.
He reminds them
of this
in order to impress
upon them
the seriousness
of coming before God,
the seriousness
of an encounter
with God,
the weightiness
of what was spoken
to them,
given to them,
the law.
The law
is not something
to be received
nonchalantly.
It's not a mere
suggestion,
something to
flippantly try out.
Like, hey,
I'm gonna try keto
this week.
I'm gonna try
intermittent fasting
for months.
See how it works
out for me.
No.
When God told Israel
at Mount Horeb
to consecrate
themselves for two days
and to wash
all their garments
and then on the third day
to come near
to the mountain
but not to touch
the mountain,
not even their animals,
lest they surely die.
And when God came near
and revealed himself
to them
and spoke to them
from this burning
mountain of fire
with flashes of lightning
and thunder
and darkness
and a deep,
dark cloud of smoke,
this was all meant
to indicate to them
that the words
spoken to them
were not
a mere suggestion
but the words
of the holy,
almighty,
creator God,
words that were
a matter
of life and death
and in fact,
too hot
to even handle.
Moses reminds them
that they were surprised.
They were surprised
to even have encountered God
and hear him speak
directly to them
and still have survived.
And by reminding them
of how God
so dramatically
spoke to them,
by reminding them
of how terrifying
God's voice was
when he met them
and spoke his law
to them,
Moses was also reminding them
of really the great conundrum
they faced
as recipients
of God's law
and this was the conundrum.
On the one hand,
Israel recognized
that it was only by
God's word and law
that they could live.
They needed him
to speak to them.
They recognized
that God's voice
was absolutely necessary
for life
and yet on the other hand,
they also recognized
that they could neither handle
nor survive
God's holy word
and law.
That it was impossible
for them
to remain in God's presence
and continue listening
to his voice
much less live up
to this law
he was giving them.
On the one hand,
to hear God's voice
and receive his law
was wonderful
and absolutely necessary
for life
and well-being
but on the other hand,
it was absolutely terrible
and impossible
to survive
and this is really
the whole conundrum
of the Christian faith.
This is the whole conundrum
of all of life
that we human beings
made in God's image
are absolutely dependent
on the word
and the presence of God,
his word
and his voice
of the very thing
that created us,
the very thing
that sustains us
and yet,
his holy word
and his presence
present a deep,
dark threat
to all of us
because we've all
violated his holy standards.
We have not loved him
with our whole heart,
soul, mind
and strength
nor loved our neighbors
as ourselves.
We have not put God first
nor trusted in him.
We've lived first
for ourselves
and then only occasionally,
right,
only opportunistically
for the good
of our neighbors,
our image of God
bearing neighbors.
This conundrum
is at the heart
of the Christian faith
and if we don't understand
this dire conundrum,
we have not understood
what Christianity
is about.
If we only know God
as a tender teddy bear
and not as a terrifyingly
transcendent God,
we have not understood
him or his law
or how far we've gone
astray from him
and how far
and how much
we need him.
I mean,
do we,
do any of us,
do any of us realize
what a wonder
it is
that we are all
still breathing
today
as we've come
into the house of God
before the presence
of God
to worship him
and to hear his word
this morning.
Most of us
probably came
far more casually
than any Israelite
would have dared
approach
the living God
at Mount Horeb
or in his temple.
Myself included,
we come half-hearted,
we come half-awake
on our own time,
on our own terms,
coming to consume
more than to bow down.
When reminding Israel
of what God spoke,
Moses wanted to remind them
of how God spoke,
reminding them
of the conundrum
inherent in any encounter
between the holy God
and wayward humanity.
But see,
the beauty of this
is Moses didn't just
remind them
of the problem
they face
in verse 26.
For who is there
of all flesh
that has heard
the voice
of the living God
speaking out of the mist
of the fire
as we have
and has still lived?
But he also reminds them,
he also reminds them
of how they still
happen to live
while encountering
this holy God.
Go back down
to verse 4.
The Lord spoke with you
face to face
at the mountain,
out of the mist
of the fire,
verse 5,
while I stood
between the Lord
and you
at that time.
See,
the way that Israel
survived this conundrum
was by a mediator.
They had someone
to stand between
them and God,
someone to stand
between sinful them
and their holy God,
a substitute,
someone to face
and encounter
their fiery God
even more intimately
than they ever dared.
The people of Israel
knew that this was
a holy God
when they saw the fire,
when they heard the voice,
and so they pleaded
with Moses
in verse 27.
You,
go near
and hear all
that the Lord
our God will say
and then speak to us
all that the Lord
our God
will speak to you
and we will hear it
and do it.
We cannot handle
his voice anymore,
Moses,
but we desperately
need it,
so you go,
please,
go and try
in our place.
You go,
expose yourself
to the fiery God.
You go meet him
on the mountain
in the dark cloud
for us.
And God says
in verses 28 to 31,
they are right.
It is good
that they said this.
Tell them to return
to their tents,
but you,
Moses,
stand here by me
and I will speak
with you
so that you
may teach them.
See,
Moses rehashes
all of this
because he wants
them to remember
not only the terror
they felt
in the presence
of God,
in the presence
of his law,
but also
he wants to remind
them of the
sacrificial mediator
that they needed
who made it
possible for them
to hear
from this
terrifyingly
holy God
who made it
possible for them
to enter
into a relationship
with this
awesome God.
See,
no one just
encounters God
on their own
without a mediator.
We all need
someone to stand
between us
and God.
He is far
too holy.
We are far
too sinful.
We all need
someone like
Moses,
someone who will
go into the fire
and the darkness
in our place
and restore
our relationship
with God.
Really though,
we need someone
greater than Moses.
God allowed Moses
to serve as a mediator
but in one sense
it was a burden
too great
for him to bear
and he died
without entering
the promised land
with his people
a consequence
of his own sins
and the sins
of his people.
But thanks be to God.
You know why?
Thanks be to God
that he has not
left us
without a better
mediator.
The Apostle Paul
says in 1 Timothy
chapter 2
for there is
one God
and there is
one mediator
between God
and men.
The man
Jesus Christ
who gave himself
as a ransom
for us all.
And this is the gospel.
This is the gospel
that the conundrum
of the Christian faith
is solved
by the ultimate
mediator
Jesus Christ.
The one who
faced the fiery
judgment of God
and went into
the darkness
in our place.
And came out alive
dying and yet
rising again
to bring us
into the promised land
of new creation.
The gospel
the good news
of Jesus Christ
is that though
God is far holier
than we could
ever comprehend
and though we are
more sinful
than we could
ever dare
to imagine
the terrifying
law-giving God
of Mount Horeb
has still
chosen
to pour out
his sacrificial
love
upon us.
A love
greater than
we would
ever dare
hope
because he
is the
life-giving
God
not just
of Mount
Horeb
but he's
the life-giving
God of
Mount Zion
in Christ
the mediator
of a new
covenant
initiated
by his
blood.
So Christ
Church
my prayer
is as we
continue in this
series in
Deuteronomy
as we
continue to
examine
God's
law together
in the weeks
ahead
we'll do it
with this
proper
framework
remembering
our covenant
God
who broke
our chains
even before
giving us
commands
to live
out our
liberation
remembering
his tender
heart
and his
good intentions
for us
his desire
that we
experience
his abundant
life
and remembering
how he
sacrificially
sent forth
his one
and only
son
as a
mediator
to solve
the ultimate
conundrum
presented
by the
heights
of his
holiness
and the
depths
of our
sin
this is
the
gospel
will you
pray
with me
Lord what
will we
do without
the gospel
the good
news that
you have
sent a
mediator
for us
help us
never to
presume that
we could
have a
relationship
with you
on our
own
show us
the wickedness
of our
hearts
show us
the holiness
of your
character
and make us
tremble before
you
and
help us to
hear your
tender voice
your desire
to be with
us
give us
eyes to see
how far
you've gone
to pursue
us
to bring us
into your
family
to allow us
into your
presence
to commune
with you
at this
table
Lord let us
not take
this lightly
show us
the heights
of your
holiness
the depths
of our
sin
and the
overwhelming
abundance
of your
grace toward
us in
Christ
our perfect
mediator
we pray these
things in his
name
amen
and
so
we
never
let's
go
Oh
oh
Oh
oh