1 Samuel chapter 21.
It leaves us wondering whether David's story will turn around at all.
! If you'll remember, and you can look back to the end of chapter 20, David is a man who lost everything.
His head is wanted by the wicked king Saul.
He may never see his wife again.
He may never enjoy rest at home.
We have to imagine, what is he wondering?
What is this attack he's going through?
If I were in his shoes, I would probably be wondering whether God will keep his word.
Whether God can be trusted at all.
So now let's see if things turn around for David.
1 Samuel chapter 21.
As he says his goodbye to Jonathan at the end of 20,
we read in 21 that David came to Nob, to Ahimelech the priest.
And Ahimelech was afraid when he met David and said to him,
Why are you alone and no one is with you?
So David said to Ahimelech the priest,
The king has ordered me on some business and said to me,
Do not let anyone know anything about the business on which I send you or what I have commanded you.
And I have directed my young men to such and such a place.
Now therefore, what do you have on hand?
Give me five loaves of bread in my hand or whatever can be found.
And the priest answered David and said,
There is no common bread on hand, but there is holy bread.
If the young men have at least kept themselves from the women.
Then David answered the priest and said to him,
Truly, women have been kept from us about three days since I came.
And the vessels of the young men are holy,
and the bread is in effect common,
even though it was consecrated in the vessel this day.
So the priest gave him holy bread,
for there was no bread there but the showbread,
which had been taken from before the Lord,
in order to put hot bread in its place on the day when it was taken away.
Now a certain man of the servants of Saul was there that day detained before him.
And David, and his name was Doeg, an Edomite,
the chief of the herdsmen who belonged to Saul.
And David said to Ahimelech,
Is there not here on hand a spear or a sword?
For I have brought neither my sword nor my weapons with me,
because the king's business required haste.
So the priest said,
The sword of Goliath the Philistine whom you killed in the valley of Elah,
there it is, wrapped in a cloth behind the ephod.
If you will take that, take it.
For there is no other except that one here.
And David said,
There is none like it, give it to me.
Then David arose and fled that day from before Saul,
and went to Achish the king of Gath.
And the servants of Achish said to him,
Is this not David, the king of the land?
Did they not sing of him to one another in dances,
saying Saul has slain his thousands and David his ten thousands?
Now David took these words to heart and was very much afraid of Achish, the king of Gath.
So he changed his behavior before them, pretending madness in their hands,
scratched on the doors of the gate, and let his saliva run down on his beard.
Then Achish said to his servants,
Look, you see the man is insane.
Why have you brought him to me?
Have I need of madmen that you have brought this fellow to play the madmen in my presence?
Shall this fellow come into my house?
Look at the next verse in 22.
David therefore departed from there and escaped.
The word of God for the people of God.
Thanks be to God.
Please be seated.
The grass withers, the flower fades, but the word of the Lord stands forever.
Let's pray.
Lord, we trust the promise that your word is living, it's active,
and it's more sharp in your hand, the hand of the Spirit, than a double-edged sword.
We pray, Lord, that your word, even in this narrative of 1 Samuel 21, will be alive.
We pray that this will teach us about your kingdom and about you, Lord,
that we can know you in your covenant faithfulness.
To all those, Lord, who are here today,
I pray that you'll draw us closer to you and Jesus Christ.
To those who are spiritually hungry, Lord.
Those who may be in great need now,
even need that they're not aware of, Lord.
We pray that you'll stir that up,
and you'll give us no other option
but to run to Jesus Christ.
We pray this for your glory.
Amen.
Have you ever wondered
if God will be faithful to you
even when God sees you at your ugliest?
This is something that will tell us a great deal about God.
When God sees you or me at our ugliest,
can you go to him still?
I'll be honest with you,
in this chapter there's a lot of questions I still have,
I think even more after our discussion
and our Bible study this morning.
Praise God, it's wonderful.
What I want to do as we approach this chapter, though,
is to take our cue from the Psalms.
Because in the Psalms we see
the great despair of men like David.
David is not the Messiah.
He's a weak sinner like you and me.
But we also see David throwing himself unabandoned,
just completely at Christ's feet.
The feet of the Lord who's the covenant keeper.
And so that's what I hope to do in this passage
is to the extent that David may be foreshadowing
a hidden kingdom
and the fact that many will miss the kingdom
and it'll be the kingdom like a mustard seed
in Christ's first coming.
I mostly want to keep our focus on David
as a sinner who needs the Lord,
the Lord of covenant faithfulness.
So the title for today is this,
To Whom Is God Faithful?
And what we'll see over and over is God is faithful,
but it's not because of David deserving this.
And the encouragement for you and me
is that God is faithful,
not because of who we are,
but despite who we are.
When we are at our ugliest,
our Lord is faithful still.
The first observation is this,
God proves his covenant faithfulness
to the lonely and brokenhearted.
God proves his covenant faithfulness
to the lonely and brokenhearted.
In the last verse of chapter 20,
we're told that David wept
and Jonathan wept,
but David wept the most.
And if you'll remember those parting words
from Jonathan,
who's a picture to us
of the covenant keeping friend,
his words to David are,
Shalom.
Go in peace.
May the Lord be between us.
I found it interesting
that the very next action David takes
in response to that word
is to go find a priest.
He goes to the tabernacle.
He goes to the mediator
between people like him
and the covenant keeping Lord.
You see verse 1 in chapter 21.
David shows up now
before Ahimelech,
the priest.
It's interesting how the priest
is the one meant to minister
peace to sinners with God.
And for reasons we're not told,
instead,
Ahimelech seems shocked
to encounter David.
David,
he says he was afraid
when he met David.
He trembled,
literally.
And he asked him,
why are you alone?
No one is with you.
And that's all the information
we have to go off of.
But David's response
seems to fill in a gap
of what was Ahimelech
potentially trembling about.
David says in verse 2
to the priest,
the king has ordered me
on some business.
He seems to want to right away
establish that the king
and I are talking.
The king and I are on good terms
and I'm still working for him.
We know that at this time
Saul had spies
across the entire nation
and it's taking sides.
Whose kingdom will prevail here?
So David says,
the king has ordered me
on some business.
He seems to be using vague words
on purpose.
It leads the priest to believe
David is on a secret mission.
And he asked him,
why are you alone?
And David says,
I have directed my young men
to such and such a place.
So we have one of two options.
Either David is telling the truth
or he's lying.
He's deceiving the priest.
It seems like David is truly alone
because he left with no provisions,
no plan.
He doesn't even have food to eat,
doesn't have any weapons.
We last saw him all alone
behind the rock
and Jonathan says his goodbye.
So I believe that
in this entire chapter,
David is practicing deception,
telling half-truths,
speaking in vague terms,
and letting people assume
something that's not right.
Why are you alone?
No one is with you.
I wonder how those words
hit David's ear.
What's evident,
despite the questions we may have,
is that God has humbled David.
Remember, this is the same David
who went out leading the men
to battle
and coming back victorious,
getting promoted
and getting more armies,
more men,
leading them out
and coming back victorious.
That's been the story
of David so far,
never alone,
always with an army.
Why are you alone?
No one is with you.
David is desperate,
but David is in the presence
of God.
There's no other place
to be when we're desperate.
The world will tempt us.
Oh, you're desperate.
Satan will accuse us.
Desperate people
do desperate things.
We need to put ourselves
in the presence of God.
There's no other place
to enjoy shalom,
to enjoy peace,
unless the Lord is among us.
This is the place
where God's grace
is mediated.
When you and I feel
our sins abound,
we can approach God
the same way,
put ourselves back
in His house,
ask God for mercy
through Jesus Christ.
John Gill commented
that mercy is not shown
to any because
they are worthy of it,
for that would be
a contradiction in terms.
Mercy is for those of us
who don't deserve it.
Romans 5.20 encourages us,
where sin abounds,
God's grace abounds
all the more.
God proves His covenant
faithfulness to the lonely
and brokenhearted.
Number two,
God proves His covenant
faithfulness to those
who hunger.
God proves His covenant
faithfulness to those
who hunger.
Well, by verse three,
David's most urgent need
has come to the surface.
In verse three,
he says,
therefore,
what you have on hand,
give it to me.
Five loaves
or whatever you can find.
See, one more way now
in which God
has humbled David.
Remember, it was David
who took the bread
to his brothers.
He's the one
bringing provision.
Now he's the one
without even a loaf
of bread to eat.
He had been married
to the princess,
King Saul's daughter.
He feasted
at the king's table.
And all of that's been
stripped away from David
now.
He's hungry.
He's starving.
In verse four,
the priest answered David
and said,
there is no common bread
on hand.
But next,
the priest does something
very interesting.
And let's shift our focus
now from David's perspective
to the perspective
of the priest
for a moment.
What he does,
we could call
a theological triage.
If you're a nurse
in the emergency department
and people are coming in,
you've got to decide
which need comes first here.
And I'm triaging
the needs
based on importance.
The priest considers
in verse four
availability.
He says,
there is holy bread.
We do have some bread
available.
And verse six
describes this.
It was removed
in order to put
hot bread in its place
on the day
when it was taken away.
This is a ceremonial law
God had given his people.
Leviticus 24 9
tells us,
12 loaves were baked
and placed
on a golden table
in the tabernacle
every Sabbath.
So once a week.
When the new loaves
were brought in,
the old loaves
were removed.
The day old bread
or multiple days old,
it was reserved
exclusively for Aaron
and his sons,
the priests.
And it had to be eaten
in a holy place.
But the principle
that the priest
is evaluating right now
is captured for us
in Proverbs 3 27.
There is bread available.
And the principle
in the proverb is,
do not withhold good
from those
to whom it is due
when it is in your power
to give it.
But notice how the priest
doesn't go all the way
to antinomianism
to saying
there is no law
or the law of God
doesn't matter.
He still shows
submission to God's law
at verse 5.
Look at that.
He says,
if the young men
have at least
kept themselves
from women.
He's not throwing
the law,
even the ceremonial law,
all the way out.
Well, David and his men,
they were not priests,
but Ahimelech
seems to be making
for them
a mercy-based exception.
Since David said
they were ritually clean,
even though I believe
he had no soldiers
with them,
and the priest
then decided
that the moral obligation
to preserve life,
which is upholding
the sixth commandment,
outweighs
the ceremonial restriction.
See, he did a triage.
The moral law
takes a higher precedent,
higher weight
than the ceremonial law.
In verse 6,
we read,
so the priest
then gave him
holy bread.
And then we get
this wonderful
little detail
that we won't
make much of now,
but it's important
as this story
gets layered
for an upcoming chapter
in verse 7,
that there was a witness
to all of this
who stood by,
observed the whole thing,
and he worked for Saul,
the chief shepherd.
He would later testify
in the defense
of this priest.
So let me ask
your opinion.
You got the scene,
you got the situation.
From Ahimelech's perspective,
did the priest
do the right thing?
What do you think?
Well, it seems
that by the time
we get to the
New Testament,
to the New Covenant,
all of the Jewish tradition
affirmed and celebrated
both the priest
and David.
Remember,
David is the greatest
hero of Israel,
national Israel.
Yet,
when the Lord Jesus
was teaching them
the true meaning
of the Ten Commandments
and how he is
the Lord of the Sabbath,
the Pharisees
were very quick
to condemn Jesus
and his disciples.
So in Matthew 12,
Jesus quotes Isaiah 6.6
and Jesus says,
God desires mercy,
not sacrifice.
And the word mercy
is the same word
that Jonathan and David
spoke to one another.
It's hesed.
Our Lord Jesus revealed
God is a God of hesed,
covenant kindness,
covenant faithfulness
to those who need it most.
David was a man in need.
So,
in my opinion,
it's okay if you disagree,
but the New Covenant
affirms the decision
of the priest.
Leaving David's actions
and behaviors aside,
the priest in this case
elevated the moral law.
The ceremonial law
was a pointer to Christ
and it would fade away.
It would be done with.
But the moral law
is upheld.
The life of David
is precious
and God is pleased
to show his covenant
faithfulness
to this man
who hungers.
John Calvin
had a comment on this.
He said,
Christ uses this very example
to teach us
that the law
was made for man,
not man for the law,
showing that his own ministry
is one of mercy
and life
to those in need.
You see how twice now
the Lord has humbled David.
He was popular,
now he's alone.
He had plenty
and now David hungers.
Can this God be trusted
who deals with his people
this way?
You see,
it's God's kindness
to humble his people,
isn't it?
It's the Lord
who in his covenant
faithfulness,
he humbles us too.
We've each been
through different seasons
of being humbled,
being made to hunger
and it's one of the greatest
joys of being
in church life
is to hear God's faithfulness
to each one of us
about how he made you
hunger more for his word
and how he fed you
and has proved
his covenant faithfulness
to you and to me.
Deuteronomy 8, 3
bears witness to that.
It's the Lord
who humbles you.
He made you hunger
and he fed you
with manna
that you did not know
nor did your fathers know.
Why?
That he might make you
to know that man
shall not live
by bread alone
but man lives
by every word
that proceeds
from the mouth
of the Lord.
Amen?
John Cotton commented
God's overruling hand
in this case
used David's need
to sanctify
his dependence
on God.
David was reminded
that he was sustained
not by Saul's table
but by God's
in his sanctuary.
Amen.
That's the end
of Cotton's quote.
The life-giving bread
that fed David
and sustained him now.
It says it was
the holy bread
taken from
the presence
of the Lord.
And literally
the language
in the original
is taken from
before the faces.
It means
before the face,
the presence
of the Lord.
It was not
merely food.
This was a gift
from God
himself.
You can see
how God's holiness
even as it was
protected in the
ceremonial law
ultimately God's holiness
is not a barrier
but it's the very
holiness of God
to which we're united
through Christ
that is the only
source of eternal life
for those that God
has made to be
spiritually hungry.
God proves
his covenant
faithfulness
to those
who hunger.
Number three,
God proves
his covenant
faithfulness
to the empty
handed
and weak.
God proves
his covenant
faithfulness
to the empty
handed
and weak.
Look at verse 8.
David said
to Ahimelech
the priest,
is there not
here
on hand
a spear
or a sword?
Here's God
humbling David
one more time.
David,
the one who
first from Israel
held Goliath's
sword,
is now
empty handed.
David,
whose military
might was famous
not only in his
nation but also
among the
Philistines,
he now
is weak.
He has nothing
with which to
fight or defend
himself.
Defenseless.
No way to
build a kingdom
for himself.
will God
keep his
covenant?
Will God
keep his
promises?
How will
God do it?
We see
David now
at a moment
of weakness.
God has
stripped him
of any
source of
strength
in himself
and this
too is a
blessing.
David says,
I have
brought neither
my sword
nor my
weapons
with me.
Now that's
true.
He left
in haste.
He's got
nothing.
And then he
says,
because the
king's business
required
haste.
Well,
if he's
referring to
Saul as
king,
then this
is bearing
false witness.
Will God
show mercy
to this
broken,
lonely,
hungry,
weak man?
If David's
being deceptive
here and
trying to
be crafty
and get
things by
his own
efforts,
he doesn't
deserve God's
mercy.
And God
is merciful
still.
Look at
verse 9.
The priest
said,
The sword
of Goliath
the Philistine
whom you
killed in
the valley
of Elah.
There it
is,
wrapped in
a cloth
behind the
ephod.
The ephod
was that
elaborate
multicolored
garment
that the
high priest
would put
on to
perform the
ceremonial
duties.
Benjamin
Keech
commented
how,
this is
interesting,
God kept
the weapon
of the
enemy in
the place
of worship.
It reveals
that the
power to
overcome the
giant was
God's
power all
along.
God gets
the trophy.
And now
he had laid
it up and
preserved it
for his
anointed one
in his
time of
greatest need.
In verse 9,
the priest says,
If you will
take that,
take it.
For there is
no other
except that
one here.
Can you picture
David,
you know,
there in the
tabernacle
from behind
the priest's
garments
comes the
sword of
Goliath.
They unwrap
the cloth.
I don't know
where in his
body he put
it, you know,
maybe like on
his back or
on his belt,
on his side.
I mean,
from then on,
David is going
to get to
walk around
now with
this sword
of Goliath.
A constant
reminder of
God's past
deliverance.
Whenever you
doubt,
whenever you
fail,
God is putting
this visible,
tangible
reminder on
you of
God's past
faithfulness.
Of course,
he will be
faithful to
the end.
He will keep
his covenant
faithfulness to
you.
David said,
there is none
like it.
Give it to
me.
Matthew
Henry's comment
was this,
by giving him
the sword he
once used to
cut off the
giant's head,
God was
saying the
battle is
the Lord's.
It was God's
way of saying,
of arming
those who
come to
God in
their distress.
That's the
end of
Matthew
Henry's
quote.
Why did
God do
this?
Why was
God so
kind to
David?
It's because
this is who
God is.
He is the
God of
covenant
faithfulness.
Psalm
111.5,
God will
ever be
merciful to
his covenant.
Titus 3.5,
not by works
of righteousness
which we
have done,
but according
to his
mercy,
he saved
us.
John
Gill,
one more
time,
mercy is
for the
miserable.
I love
that.
Mercy is
for the
miserable,
not for
the worthy,
but it
shows,
it is
shown because
God has
made a
covenant with
his chosen
and his
faithfulness is
the security
of it.
if you
feel empty
handed,
if you
feel weak,
God's
word,
God's
spirit through
his church
are constantly
his reminder
to you
of his
power
and his
past
deliverance.
Reading stories
like this from
1 Samuel,
keeping it
always before
us,
God is
merciful for
you and me
who are weak,
empty handed,
especially when
we're miserable.
Number four,
God proves his
covenant faithfulness
to the fearful
and desperate.
God proves his
covenant faithful
to the fearful
and desperate.
In verse 10,
we read,
then David arose
and fled that
day from before
Saul and went
to Achish,
the king of
Gath.
Gath?
That's the next
city he goes
to.
You remember
Gath.
This is one
of the five
powerful cities
of the Philistine
nation that
have tormented
and enslaved
the Israelites.
Not only
just one of the
five,
but this is the
city that
Goliath himself
is from.
Right after
getting the
sword of Goliath,
probably made
by iron workers
in the city
of Gath,
he now goes
marching back
into that city
with this
sword.
And why did
he do this?
Well,
as we
mentioned,
this is still
the kingdom
of Saul
needing to
be reclaimed
for the
Lord.
But right
now,
everywhere that
you go within
Israel,
you will be
now viewed
as a threat
to Saul's
kingdom.
And God
isn't the one
sending David
to Gath
necessarily.
Maybe this
is David
in his flesh
thinking there's
no other way
to survive.
But this
in God's
providence
is where
David lands.
We read
in verse 11
that the
servants of
Achish,
these Philistine
soldiers,
said to the
king,
is not this
David the
king of
the land?
And then
they quote
that song
that the
women of
Israel sing.
And this
gives us
an insight
from an
outsider's
perspective,
from another
nation,
how famous
David was,
how high
his popularity
had soared
to the point
that they think
he was the
king of
Israel already.
His following
was swelling.
In verse 12,
now David
took these
words to
heart,
and notice
the next
words,
and was
very much
afraid of
Achish,
the king
of Gath.
I think
this entire
context is
important because
it sets up,
even though
you've got
Goliath's
sword,
a reminder
that God
has defeated
this entire
nation and
their greatest
champion,
and you're
going back
to their
city.
It just
sets up
how much
David is
humbled again.
Even there,
with all of
this,
he's afraid.
He's weak.
He's like
you and
me.
God humbled
David.
David,
who was feared
by the entire
army of the
Philistines,
they were the
ones who saw
him cut off
Goliath's head.
Remember,
David carried
Goliath's head
around with him
everywhere he
went.
And now
David is
afraid.
In verse
13,
we're told
what he
does in
his fear.
He changed
his behavior
before them,
pretended
madness in
their hands.
So apparently
they laid
their hands
on him,
and they're
bringing him
before their
king.
And as he's
going in,
David is
scratching at
the doors
of the gate
and letting
saliva run
down his
beard.
In ancient
Near Eastern
culture,
the beard
for a man
was a symbol
of dignity
and masculinity.
So for a
man to let
saliva,
which is
associated
with a lack
of self-control,
for that to
defile his
beard was
like the
ultimate sign
of craziness,
total loss
of status.
David is
humbled,
once feared,
respected,
now considered
crazy.
John
Flavel
commented,
even great
saints like
David may
have ebbs
and flows
of faith
where fear
drives them
to shift
their behavior
disgracefully.
And this is
true in my
life,
it's true in
yours,
and it will
happen.
We see
those who
we see as
strong in
the faith
having these
moments where
their faith
is weak
and their
behavior show
it.
In verse
14,
then Achish
said to
his servants,
look,
you see,
this man
is insane.
Even when
David's
faith ebbed,
he resorted
to these
unseemly
shifts,
but God
was sanctifying
David and
had not
abandoned
him.
He uses
David's
craftiness
here,
acting crazy
as a means
of escape
and deliverance.
I love
the king's
comment,
have you
brought him
to me?
Verse 15,
have I need
of more
madmen?
I don't
know if
madmen
had just
left the
presence
of the
king
there,
left his
court.
I don't
need more
crazy people
in here.
Why have
you brought
him here?
So David
is weak.
We see
that it was
not his
acting this
way that
delivered him
or gave
him an
escape,
but it was
God who
did it.
God
sovereignly
moved the
heart of
this pagan
king,
to preserve
his
anointed,
not because
David deserves
it,
but because
God will
keep his
covenant.
God will
establish the
throne through
the line of
this man,
this weak
man,
David.
Proverbs
21,
1 tells us
the king's
heart is in
the hand
of the
Lord like
the rivers
of water,
and he
turns it
wherever he
wishes.
2 Corinthians
12,
9 reminds
us God's
strength is
made perfect
in our
weakness.
And so
we read in
21, 1,
therefore David
departed and
escaped.
David has
been humiliated,
ashamed.
He was afraid
and he was
desperate,
yet God
delivered him
in his
weakness.
David didn't
have to get
himself strong,
get his act
together,
and then
received God's
deliverance.
God did it
despite David.
You may be
in a place
where you feel
backed into a
corner.
You may have
shame or
disgrace.
It's for
people like you
and me in
those moments.
God wants us
to depend on
him completely.
If he delivers
you when you're
strong,
you can take
some of the
credit perhaps in
your flesh.
But if you
are utterly
desperate,
laid low,
stripped of
everything that
you once put
some pride
into,
God alone
will get the
glory and
the credit
for the
deliverance.
And God
will see to
it that all
things,
even in our
worst failures,
they turn out
for our good
and for his
glory.
God proves
his covenant
faithfulness to
the fearful
and desperate.
it.
Well, we've
made it through
our passage and
I want to give
you one final
encouragement as
we meditate on
this.
You and I,
whom God has
redeemed, we
cannot fail
ourselves out
of God's
covenant
faithfulness.
We cannot
fail ourselves
out of God's
covenant
faithfulness.
in this
chapter, we
see David at
his lowest
to the extent
that he was
acting out of
his flesh.
Even there,
we just see
God's grace
shining through
and as David
gets humbled
lower and
lower, it's
the power,
the faithfulness
of God that
gets elevated
higher and
higher.
So,
brothers and
sisters, we
need to remember
our security,
just like David's,
it doesn't
rest on our
performance,
but on the
perfection of
our Savior.
Our standing
before God is
grounded solely
on God, the
covenant keeper.
Our assurance
is found not
in our
faithfulness, but
in God's.
The Lord is the
refuge for the
sinner who has
nowhere else
to go.
If God is
making you to
hunger spiritually,
it's so that he
can feed you.
Christ is not
for the
self-sufficient,
but for those
who, like David,
realize they
will perish
without God's
immediate
provision.
Jesus Christ
is the bread
of life.
We read John
6 earlier.
Jesus Christ
is taken from
before the face
of God,
and he declared
in John 6,
35,
I am the bread
of life.
He who comes
to me shall
never hunger.
Jesus Christ
gave his
own body,
his holy
body,
given to
wicked people,
commoners like
you and me,
who are
perishing and
would starve in
the wilderness
of this world.
Matthew Henry
pointed out how
the priest did
not hesitate
to give the
bread for
David and
his necessity.
him.
And Jesus
Christ does
not hesitate
to give
himself to
sinners like
you and me.
Our Lord is
faithful to
lavish his
grace upon
us who are
spiritually desperate.
When we're
empty-handed
beggars,
when we know
that we are
guilty in our
sin on our
own,
and when we
feel completely
disgraced,
most humbled,
that's when
our Lord Jesus
loves to come
near to
commune with
us.
He feeds
you,
he equips
you,
and he
delivers you.
Amen.
Because our
Lord has
bound himself
in covenant
faithfulness to
us as people.
Go to him.
Let's pray.
Lord, we
praise you for
those times when
you humble us,
when you make
us hunger,
hunger.
And we
praise you that
you don't
hesitate to
give yourself
to us.
You love to
commune with
us.
We praise you
that you,
Lord Jesus,
are the great
high priest
who pulls
your people
close,
who keeps
us close
to you.
We thank
you,
Lord,
for your
great
compassion.
We thank
you,
Lord,
for your
good law.
God,
we thank
you,
Lord,
that your
kingdom is
not a
kingdom
dependent on
man,
but your
kingdom is
established in
Jesus Christ
forever and
ever,
and that by
your grace
and your
covenant
faithfulness
alone,
we belong
to you.
Help us to
know more of
this assurance,
to find more
of this comfort
in you,
and we know
that your
grace is a
redeeming grace
from start to
finish.
We thank you
for the good
work you have
begun in
each life
here,
in each
household,
and in this
church as a
whole,
and we trust
that by your
covenant
faithfulness,
you will see
it through to
completion.
We ask this
for your
glory.
Amen.