WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:13.740 Heavenly Father, though some of us are weary this evening, we have gathered because we 00:00:13.740 --> 00:00:15.259 seek your presence. 00:00:16.660 --> 00:00:24.500 You are always with us, but when we are gathered together, Lord, we experience you in a fresh 00:00:24.500 --> 00:00:28.699 way as your church, as your body. 00:00:28.699 --> 00:00:36.679 And so we have gathered so that we can hear your voice through your word and also in our 00:00:36.679 --> 00:00:37.179 prayers. 00:00:38.979 --> 00:00:42.799 We have gathered so that we can encourage one another and pray for one another. 00:00:44.000 --> 00:00:48.620 So won't you please lead us and speak to us from your word in Psalm 17. 00:00:51.920 --> 00:00:55.539 So that your word may inform our prayers and guide us throughout this evening. 00:00:56.260 --> 00:00:57.299 In Jesus' name we pray. 00:00:57.620 --> 00:00:57.859 Amen. 00:00:58.700 --> 00:01:01.679 We're in Psalm 17. 00:01:13.680 --> 00:01:16.140 It is entitled, A Prayer of David. 00:01:18.600 --> 00:01:19.840 Psalm 17. 00:01:19.840 --> 00:01:49.820 It goes, 00:01:49.840 --> 00:01:52.120 I have heard of my purpose that my mouth will not transgress. 00:01:53.500 --> 00:01:57.680 With regard to the works of men, by the word of your lips, I have avoided the ways of the 00:01:57.680 --> 00:01:57.980 violent. 00:01:59.340 --> 00:02:02.180 My steps have held fast to your paths. 00:02:02.680 --> 00:02:04.540 My feet have not slipped. 00:02:04.540 --> 00:02:05.540 I call upon you, O God. 00:02:05.540 --> 00:02:08.620 I call upon you for you will answer me, O God. 00:02:08.620 --> 00:02:09.620 Incline your ear to me. 00:02:09.620 --> 00:02:10.620 I call upon you for you, O God. 00:02:10.620 --> 00:02:11.620 I call upon you for you. 00:02:11.620 --> 00:02:12.500 I call upon you for you. 00:02:12.500 --> 00:02:13.620 I call upon you for you. 00:02:13.620 --> 00:02:15.620 show your steadfast love. 00:02:15.620 --> 00:02:20.099 O Savior of those who seek refuge from their adversaries at your right hand. 00:02:20.099 --> 00:02:22.099 Keep me as the apple of your eyes. 00:02:22.099 --> 00:02:23.519 Keep me as the apple of your eye. 00:02:23.519 --> 00:02:26.299 Hide me in the shadow of your wings. 00:02:26.299 --> 00:02:30.319 From the wicked who do me violence, my deadly enemies who surround me. 00:02:30.319 --> 00:02:33.319 They close their hearts to pity. 00:02:33.319 --> 00:02:35.780 With their mouths they speak arrogantly. 00:02:35.780 --> 00:02:38.900 They have now surrounded our steps. 00:02:38.900 --> 00:02:41.799 They set their eyes to cast us to the ground. 00:02:41.799 --> 00:02:48.419 He is like a lion eager to tear as a young lion lurking in ambush. 00:02:49.479 --> 00:02:50.819 Arise, O Lord. 00:02:51.680 --> 00:02:52.500 Confront him. 00:02:52.780 --> 00:02:53.560 Subdue him. 00:02:53.979 --> 00:02:56.759 Deliver my soul from the wicked by your sword. 00:02:56.759 --> 00:03:00.099 From men by your hand, O Lord. 00:03:00.599 --> 00:03:03.459 From men of the world whose portion is in this life. 00:03:04.739 --> 00:03:07.359 You fill their womb with treasure. 00:03:07.899 --> 00:03:09.159 They are satisfied with children. 00:03:09.659 --> 00:03:11.399 And they leave their abundance to their infants. 00:03:12.979 --> 00:03:18.000 As for me, I shall behold your face in righteousness. 00:03:18.859 --> 00:03:23.359 When I awake, I shall be satisfied with your likeness. 00:03:23.360 --> 00:03:31.980 In this psalm, we see first the kind of portrait of the righteous sufferer in verses 1 to 5. 00:03:31.980 --> 00:03:40.160 And then we see the portrait of the wicked oppressor that's kind of contrasted with the psalmist in verses 6 to 12. 00:03:40.540 --> 00:03:44.340 And then finally, we see the faithful deliverer in verses 13 to 15. 00:03:44.340 --> 00:03:50.480 And in verse 1, we see the start of David's petition to God as a righteous sufferer. 00:03:50.620 --> 00:03:53.259 He begins to plead his just cause. 00:03:53.360 --> 00:03:53.740 He says, 00:03:54.460 --> 00:03:55.780 Hear a just cause, O Lord. 00:03:55.860 --> 00:03:56.280 Verse 1. 00:03:56.379 --> 00:03:58.000 O Lord, attend to my cry. 00:03:58.120 --> 00:04:01.520 Give ear to my prayer from lips free of deceit. 00:04:02.099 --> 00:04:06.539 So he's saying that God should hear him and listen to him because his lips are free of deceit. 00:04:07.039 --> 00:04:08.539 And because his cause is just. 00:04:09.099 --> 00:04:11.659 And so that's why he asks for vindication in verse 2. 00:04:11.659 --> 00:04:14.439 From your presence, let my vindication come. 00:04:14.520 --> 00:04:15.979 Let your eyes behold the rights. 00:04:16.360 --> 00:04:20.219 So we don't know exactly what the nature of his oppression and suffering is. 00:04:20.319 --> 00:04:23.639 But he's being unfairly charged and assaulted by his enemies. 00:04:23.740 --> 00:04:25.699 So he's asking for God's vindication. 00:04:26.040 --> 00:04:30.779 If only God would hear him out, then he believes, he's confident that he will be vindicated. 00:04:31.480 --> 00:04:33.879 He wants God to see what is true and fair. 00:04:34.000 --> 00:04:34.959 So he says to him, 00:04:35.060 --> 00:04:36.360 Behold the right. 00:04:36.540 --> 00:04:37.339 See the right. 00:04:37.339 --> 00:04:40.399 And David continues in verse 3. 00:04:40.679 --> 00:04:40.819 He says, 00:04:40.919 --> 00:04:42.119 You have tried my heart. 00:04:42.199 --> 00:04:43.279 You have visited me by night. 00:04:43.339 --> 00:04:45.000 You have tested me and you will find nothing. 00:04:45.359 --> 00:04:47.979 I have purposed and my mouth will not transgress. 00:04:48.719 --> 00:04:52.759 So the language of trying and testing evokes refining metal. 00:04:53.379 --> 00:04:56.739 So David feels like he's been in the fire, really being refined, tested. 00:04:57.299 --> 00:05:02.879 And he also says that God visited him at night, by night, which the visitation, the word visit, 00:05:03.099 --> 00:05:05.799 suggests some kind of interrogation or investigation. 00:05:05.800 --> 00:05:08.660 So maybe it's during his prayers at night. 00:05:08.819 --> 00:05:11.420 You know, he feels like God's searching him, investigating him. 00:05:12.040 --> 00:05:21.699 But even in the midst of such divine probing, David's confident that he won't be found sinful in the ways that he's being accused. 00:05:22.139 --> 00:05:24.220 So he cries out to God in confidence, 00:05:24.340 --> 00:05:25.240 You will find nothing. 00:05:25.759 --> 00:05:28.500 I have purposed and my mouth will not transgress. 00:05:29.620 --> 00:05:34.379 David has solemnly resolved not to transgress by his speech. 00:05:34.379 --> 00:05:38.339 This kind of reminds me of what Job says. 00:05:38.399 --> 00:05:44.379 He says he has made a covenant with his eyes not to, you know, look simply at a young woman. 00:05:45.019 --> 00:05:51.319 And it's that kind of resolute commitment, you know, saying he's purposed that his mouth will not transgress. 00:05:51.319 --> 00:05:55.659 And that's a challenging example for me to look at. 00:05:55.939 --> 00:06:01.740 Because James talks about the danger of the tongue, how it's like a fire that sets ablaze a forest. 00:06:02.300 --> 00:06:04.339 And it's easy to be rash in our speech. 00:06:04.339 --> 00:06:12.959 You know, but people, I mean, if we look around us, if we look at even ourselves, 00:06:13.079 --> 00:06:22.839 people who will be quite reticent to speak against God to his face are actually sometimes quite free in their speech. 00:06:23.079 --> 00:06:30.099 That dishonor is God nonetheless, whether it be in gossip or slander or complaints or just uncharitable criticism toward others. 00:06:30.100 --> 00:06:39.420 And yet we ought to follow David's example and purpose that our mouths will not transgress. 00:06:40.260 --> 00:06:41.320 So we're in Psalm 17. 00:06:42.500 --> 00:06:46.379 And not only does David abstain from just speaking evil, 00:06:46.660 --> 00:06:52.400 he also abstains from ways of the wicked, works and ways. 00:06:52.399 --> 00:06:53.899 It says, in verse 4, he says, 00:06:53.979 --> 00:06:58.859 With regard to the works of man, by the word of your lips I have avoided the ways of the violent. 00:06:59.879 --> 00:07:04.500 This principle is similar to what found in Psalm 119, 9 to 11. 00:07:04.659 --> 00:07:04.799 It says, 00:07:05.179 --> 00:07:07.099 How can a young man keep his way pure? 00:07:07.379 --> 00:07:09.419 By guarding it according to your word. 00:07:09.779 --> 00:07:11.479 With my whole heart I seek you. 00:07:11.560 --> 00:07:13.359 Let me not wander from your commandments. 00:07:14.120 --> 00:07:18.519 I have stored up your word in my heart that I might not sin against you. 00:07:18.519 --> 00:07:18.959 Right? 00:07:19.159 --> 00:07:22.879 So it's the same way the Psalmist here, David's saying here in verse 4, 00:07:23.519 --> 00:07:26.039 By the word of your lips I have avoided the ways of the violent. 00:07:26.139 --> 00:07:29.199 That's the key to avoiding the ways of the violent, the ways of the wicked, 00:07:29.339 --> 00:07:32.620 is to keep the word of God close to our hearts, to guard it in our hearts, 00:07:32.779 --> 00:07:35.839 so that in the moment of temptation, in the moment of pressure, 00:07:36.439 --> 00:07:39.680 the word rises up in our minds, in our hearts, and guards us, 00:07:39.740 --> 00:07:44.939 and keeps us on the straight path, straight and narrow path that Christ calls us to. 00:07:44.939 --> 00:07:50.180 And so because of that, because he has done that, he says in verse 5, 00:07:50.279 --> 00:07:54.160 My steps, his ways, his steps have held fast to your paths. 00:07:54.240 --> 00:07:55.980 My feet have not slipped. 00:07:57.139 --> 00:08:00.240 Now we might be a little bit skeptical at this point, like, 00:08:00.339 --> 00:08:01.199 David, are you serious? 00:08:01.420 --> 00:08:04.060 I mean, did you really not sin? 00:08:04.199 --> 00:08:06.680 Or did you really stay in that path all the time? 00:08:06.759 --> 00:08:11.879 And I don't think David's insisting on absolute innocence, you know, that he was sinless. 00:08:11.879 --> 00:08:15.939 Rather, I think he's speaking concerning a particular situation that he's in right now, 00:08:16.040 --> 00:08:19.079 where he's being assaulted and being falsely accused by his enemies. 00:08:19.719 --> 00:08:22.480 And on that account, he says he has been innocent. 00:08:22.699 --> 00:08:27.219 So it's kind of like, you know, a robber who goes to court, you know, he's clearly guilty, 00:08:27.719 --> 00:08:30.819 but he's being charged for murder, and he didn't commit murder, right? 00:08:31.279 --> 00:08:35.679 So he can be declared innocent on that count, while still being a guilty man on another way, right? 00:08:35.679 --> 00:08:41.679 So like, David is not claiming absolute innocence, but he says on this particular occasion, 00:08:41.779 --> 00:08:45.559 this context, he is blameless on this count, what he's being charged with. 00:08:45.639 --> 00:08:49.879 So he pleads with God, behold the right, vindicate me, O Lord. 00:08:50.579 --> 00:08:52.719 And so that's the plea of the righteous sufferer. 00:08:53.279 --> 00:08:58.219 And then now we can look at the portrait of the wicked oppressors in verses 6 to 12. 00:08:58.220 --> 00:09:08.860 The wicked oppressor is really kind of the symmetrical opposite of the righteous sufferer in this psalm. 00:09:09.680 --> 00:09:17.040 And the psalmist, the author of the psalm, conveys that by using similar words, but in the opposite way. 00:09:17.580 --> 00:09:24.040 So for example, in verse 3, psalmist says that his heart, the word heart, has been tried and refined. 00:09:24.039 --> 00:09:29.599 But then the wicked, on the other hand, it says in verse 10, they close their hearts to pity. 00:09:31.120 --> 00:09:35.039 And this is a really cool way the Hebrew poetry writes about it. 00:09:35.079 --> 00:09:38.319 So in verse 10, the word heart is actually not found in verse 10. 00:09:38.699 --> 00:09:43.379 The literal translation of the phrase is, their fat closes in. 00:09:43.579 --> 00:09:44.759 That's what it says in verse 10. 00:09:45.000 --> 00:09:49.679 It doesn't say that their heart's close to pity, but that's their way of conveying that their heart's close to pity. 00:09:49.679 --> 00:09:54.639 So they picture, for example, like the heart's here, the fat closing in. 00:09:54.819 --> 00:09:56.059 That's how callous they are. 00:09:56.219 --> 00:09:59.839 Their hearts have been shut off from showing compassion or pity. 00:10:00.239 --> 00:10:01.859 So that's the kind of metaphorical way. 00:10:01.979 --> 00:10:05.899 So it says their fat closes in, so meaning their hearts are close to pity. 00:10:07.479 --> 00:10:10.219 Another example of that is in Job 15, 27. 00:10:11.339 --> 00:10:16.000 And then, so David continues the comparison or the contrast rather than verse 3. 00:10:16.000 --> 00:10:19.460 I have purposed that my mouth will not transgress. 00:10:19.639 --> 00:10:21.019 So his mouth will not transgress. 00:10:21.159 --> 00:10:25.539 But then in verse 10, it says, their mouths, the oppressor's mouths, speak arrogantly. 00:10:26.059 --> 00:10:30.600 So David's heart has been tried by God, but the wicked oppressor's hearts closed. 00:10:31.519 --> 00:10:36.899 And David's mouth has been purposed to not sin, not transgress, but their mouths speak arrogantly. 00:10:37.379 --> 00:10:41.759 And then finally, in verse 5, David says, my steps have held fast to your paths. 00:10:41.759 --> 00:10:46.740 But the wicked, in contrast, in verse 10, have now surrounded our steps. 00:10:46.980 --> 00:10:48.580 So that's the kind of military language. 00:10:48.799 --> 00:10:49.759 He's being surrounded. 00:10:50.220 --> 00:10:51.819 They're lurking in ambush, really. 00:10:52.879 --> 00:10:56.460 So unlike the psalmist who refrains from violence and stays on that straight path, 00:10:56.539 --> 00:10:59.059 the wicked are like a lion eager to tear. 00:10:59.240 --> 00:11:01.139 They have surrounded the steps of the righteous. 00:11:02.419 --> 00:11:07.460 So in light of his own just cause that he talked about in verse 1 and the oppressor's wickedness, 00:11:07.740 --> 00:11:10.460 on that basis, David cries out to God for help. 00:11:10.460 --> 00:11:15.220 But the ultimate basis is not his innocence and their wickedness, 00:11:15.340 --> 00:11:18.120 but the ultimate basis we see in verses 7 and 8. 00:11:18.300 --> 00:11:21.900 It says, wondrously show your steadfast love, 00:11:22.060 --> 00:11:26.139 or Savior of those who seek refuge from their adversaries at your right hand. 00:11:26.660 --> 00:11:28.519 Keep me as the apple of your eye. 00:11:28.660 --> 00:11:30.840 Hide me in the shadow of your wings. 00:11:31.980 --> 00:11:37.019 So the basis for David's prayer of faith is in God's steadfast love, right, 00:11:37.019 --> 00:11:40.100 which can also be translated as loving kindness, 00:11:40.279 --> 00:11:43.579 which refers to his covenant love, covenant faithfulness to his people. 00:11:44.159 --> 00:11:49.399 That's the word that's used to describe God's character in Exodus 34 when he reveals himself to Moses, 00:11:49.600 --> 00:11:50.419 the Israelites. 00:11:50.419 --> 00:11:59.819 And the words used in verse 7, three words, wonder, steadfast love, and right hand, 00:12:00.079 --> 00:12:04.059 are all actually words that occur in Exodus 15, 00:12:04.399 --> 00:12:08.339 the exact same words that were used to celebrate God's deliverance of Israel from Egypt. 00:12:08.340 --> 00:12:12.700 So there's a deliberate comparison here, a parallel really, 00:12:13.139 --> 00:12:18.280 of the fact that the psalmist, having looked back, remembered God's deliverance in Egypt, 00:12:18.420 --> 00:12:22.680 is now crying out for deliverance again as God did at that time. 00:12:23.379 --> 00:12:27.580 So he's hearkening back to how God was faithful to his covenant before 00:12:27.580 --> 00:12:30.680 and using that as a basis to ask God to be faithful to him, 00:12:30.980 --> 00:12:34.340 his steadfast love, his covenant love, his unchanging love. 00:12:34.340 --> 00:12:38.440 And I love his request, so personal and intimate. 00:12:38.920 --> 00:12:40.800 Keep me as the apple of your eye. 00:12:41.200 --> 00:12:42.259 The apple of your eye. 00:12:42.280 --> 00:12:47.700 I mean, that's the most vulnerable and seemingly precious part, right, 00:12:47.899 --> 00:12:52.560 in a way, I mean, just instinctively we protect our eyes, the apple of our eyes. 00:12:52.700 --> 00:12:54.399 And keep me as the apple of your eye. 00:12:54.480 --> 00:12:57.460 Hide me in the shadow of your wings, that protection over us. 00:12:58.240 --> 00:13:02.220 And after appealing to God's steadfast love, 00:13:02.220 --> 00:13:06.360 David calls upon God specifically to destroy the wicked and deliver him. 00:13:06.800 --> 00:13:08.160 So verses 13 to 14. 00:13:08.420 --> 00:13:09.379 Arise, O Lord. 00:13:09.500 --> 00:13:10.920 That's, again, military language. 00:13:11.420 --> 00:13:12.139 Confront him. 00:13:12.279 --> 00:13:13.000 Subdue him. 00:13:13.180 --> 00:13:15.560 Deliver my soul from the wicked by your sword. 00:13:15.860 --> 00:13:17.899 From men by your hand, O Lord. 00:13:17.980 --> 00:13:21.340 From men of the world whose portion is in this life. 00:13:22.040 --> 00:13:26.220 So just as them surrounding his steps is probably metaphorical, 00:13:27.019 --> 00:13:29.980 this likewise is metaphorical using God come to his aid. 00:13:29.980 --> 00:13:31.820 Deliver him with your sword. 00:13:32.220 --> 00:13:39.480 And we might expect that, you know, given this drastic prayer for divine intervention, 00:13:39.759 --> 00:13:42.300 we would see the result in the end of the psalm of, you know, 00:13:42.360 --> 00:13:45.120 God dashing his enemies to pieces and rescuing David. 00:13:45.740 --> 00:13:48.040 But we see something that's quite different. 00:13:48.200 --> 00:13:49.360 It says in verse 14, 00:13:50.019 --> 00:13:52.600 men of the world whose portion is in this life. 00:13:52.680 --> 00:13:54.840 It says, you, referring to God, 00:13:55.200 --> 00:13:56.580 you fill their womb with treasure. 00:13:56.580 --> 00:14:01.160 They are satisfied with children and they leave their abundance to their infants. 00:14:03.259 --> 00:14:04.920 God does that for the wicked men. 00:14:05.220 --> 00:14:06.500 They prosper in this world. 00:14:07.020 --> 00:14:09.580 Their wombs are filled with treasure and they have many children 00:14:09.580 --> 00:14:12.759 and enough wealth to bequeath to their children. 00:14:12.759 --> 00:14:19.279 And so this is a really stark teaching, you know, 00:14:19.340 --> 00:14:25.580 that God's, what seemingly is, what seems like divine favor, 00:14:25.840 --> 00:14:29.159 wealth, prosperity, well-being, health, 00:14:29.659 --> 00:14:34.899 even are not necessarily signs of God's presence and favor with them. 00:14:34.899 --> 00:14:42.139 And because in the end, their portion is in this life and not in the God who is bigger than this life. 00:14:42.899 --> 00:14:47.059 And so if they might be satisfied in this life, but if they don't have God, 00:14:47.120 --> 00:14:49.459 they don't have the most important riches. 00:14:50.079 --> 00:14:51.439 They don't have the greatest treasure. 00:14:51.879 --> 00:14:54.639 And so David adds his contrast in verse 15. 00:14:54.759 --> 00:14:55.699 Yes, they're satisfied. 00:14:55.879 --> 00:14:56.639 Yes, they have abundance. 00:14:57.139 --> 00:15:01.059 But as for me, I shall behold your face in righteousness. 00:15:01.059 --> 00:15:06.019 When I awake, I shall be satisfied with your likeness. 00:15:08.439 --> 00:15:10.619 That's the portion of the righteous, right? 00:15:11.339 --> 00:15:14.479 The wicked oppressor's portion is in this life, in this world, 00:15:14.599 --> 00:15:17.799 but the portion of the righteous sufferer is in God himself. 00:15:18.799 --> 00:15:22.759 And the psalm has now come full circle and we see kind of the closure 00:15:22.759 --> 00:15:26.519 because in the beginning, David pleaded his just cause 00:15:26.519 --> 00:15:29.019 and asked God to behold the right. 00:15:29.019 --> 00:15:34.840 And now at the end in verse 15, David's confidence that he shall behold God's face. 00:15:34.919 --> 00:15:37.460 The same word, he asked God to behold the right. 00:15:37.519 --> 00:15:40.759 Now he knows that he will behold God's face in righteousness, 00:15:41.019 --> 00:15:44.679 which is the same word as just when David pleaded for his just cause. 00:15:44.960 --> 00:15:47.079 So he's confident that his prayer is going to be answered. 00:15:47.480 --> 00:15:49.899 His just cause that he prayed for, he pleaded for, 00:15:50.439 --> 00:15:52.779 and his prayer that God would behold the right, 00:15:53.039 --> 00:15:54.079 now that gets answered. 00:15:54.080 --> 00:15:58.500 And because of that, David cannot behold God's face in righteousness. 00:15:59.820 --> 00:16:05.440 And as Christians, and we can look at that at the very end of that verse 15. 00:16:05.520 --> 00:16:08.000 It says, when I awake, I shall be satisfied with your likeness. 00:16:08.040 --> 00:16:09.759 He thinks he's going to see God, right? 00:16:09.800 --> 00:16:11.520 He thinks he's going to be in the presence of God. 00:16:11.740 --> 00:16:16.660 And as Christians, we, of course, have that covenant faithfulness of God. 00:16:16.740 --> 00:16:19.259 In the Old Testament, we can look back to like the psalmist does. 00:16:19.259 --> 00:16:21.899 But we also can look back to Jesus, right? 00:16:22.019 --> 00:16:25.519 Because he's the ultimate demonstration of God's covenant faithfulness. 00:16:26.100 --> 00:16:31.960 And Hebrews 1.3 tells us that Christ is the radiance of the glory of God 00:16:31.960 --> 00:16:33.939 and the exact imprint of his nature. 00:16:34.620 --> 00:16:37.480 And in Colossians 1.15, it says that he's the image of the invisible God, 00:16:37.539 --> 00:16:39.200 the firstborn of all creation. 00:16:39.960 --> 00:16:42.580 Philippians 2.6 says Christ was in the form of God. 00:16:42.679 --> 00:16:46.439 And finally, Romans 8.3 tells us that by sending God's own son 00:16:46.440 --> 00:16:51.580 in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, God commanded sin in the flesh. 00:16:51.800 --> 00:16:57.420 So this David imagined seeing God and being satisfied with his likeness. 00:16:57.760 --> 00:17:00.580 But in Jesus, we have the ultimate fulfillment of that, 00:17:00.720 --> 00:17:03.100 the likeness of God come down in the flesh. 00:17:03.500 --> 00:17:06.059 And because of that, we can always behold him. 00:17:06.559 --> 00:17:09.340 And through the Spirit, we can be always assured that we are his children. 00:17:09.880 --> 00:17:12.320 And because of that, we can always have the confidence like David 00:17:12.319 --> 00:17:14.539 to cry out to him as righteous sufferers, 00:17:15.200 --> 00:17:19.139 knowing that we can behold him and he beholds our right. 00:17:20.659 --> 00:17:23.000 With that, let's seek God in prayer together.