WEBVTT 00:00:00.900 --> 00:00:04.020 Let me pray for the reading, preaching of God's Word. 00:00:12.500 --> 00:00:16.399 I lift up my eyes to the hills. Where does my help come from? 00:00:20.199 --> 00:00:23.160 God, we lift up our eyes to you because we need your help. 00:00:23.160 --> 00:00:30.579 We need your help to understand your Word. 00:00:31.939 --> 00:00:35.460 We need your help to internalize your Word. 00:00:37.840 --> 00:00:45.820 We need your help for us to persevere to the end in faith and obedience. 00:00:48.820 --> 00:00:51.140 We need your help to be faithful today. 00:00:53.159 --> 00:00:53.639 Amen. 00:00:58.919 --> 00:01:03.399 So, Lord, reveal to us more of yourself this evening. 00:01:06.640 --> 00:01:08.060 Increase our faith in you. 00:01:10.079 --> 00:01:16.799 Bring greater conviction and deeper comfort in Christ our Savior. 00:01:18.500 --> 00:01:21.039 In His precious name we pray. Amen. 00:01:21.039 --> 00:01:21.140 Amen. 00:01:23.159 --> 00:01:24.840 Psalm 121. 00:01:26.519 --> 00:01:28.159 A song of ascents. 00:01:30.119 --> 00:01:32.459 I lift up my eyes to the hills. 00:01:32.819 --> 00:01:34.479 From where does my help come? 00:01:36.379 --> 00:01:40.500 My help comes from the Lord, who made heaven and earth. 00:01:40.500 --> 00:01:44.980 He will not let your foot be moved. 00:01:45.680 --> 00:01:47.640 He who keeps you will not slumber. 00:01:49.379 --> 00:01:53.239 Behold, he who keeps Israel will neither slumber nor sleep. 00:01:55.579 --> 00:01:57.180 The Lord is your keeper. 00:01:58.060 --> 00:02:00.460 The Lord is your shade on your right hand. 00:02:00.459 --> 00:02:05.399 The sun shall not strike you by day nor the moon by night. 00:02:05.919 --> 00:02:09.539 The Lord will keep you from all evil. 00:02:10.759 --> 00:02:12.120 He will keep your life. 00:02:12.120 --> 00:02:20.080 The Lord will keep your going out and your coming in from this time forth and forevermore. 00:02:20.080 --> 00:02:24.680 God's holy and authoritative word. 00:02:24.680 --> 00:02:24.780 Amen. 00:02:24.780 --> 00:02:24.920 Amen. 00:02:29.460 --> 00:02:39.200 As we're getting ready for another baby, I'm just kind of looking back and remembering when our first two daughters were growing up. 00:02:39.199 --> 00:02:47.659 As infants grow up, they go through a stage, sometime before when they're two years old, where they experience separation anxiety. 00:02:49.099 --> 00:02:53.560 Basically, they just are terrified of being separated from their parents. 00:02:53.560 --> 00:03:04.759 And so, it happens, it's like a natural stage in their development because they're old enough to recognize that not everybody is their parents. 00:03:05.479 --> 00:03:07.699 Which, like, real infants, like, don't even know that. 00:03:08.240 --> 00:03:14.140 But then they're not quite old enough to know that when their parents leave, like, they come back. 00:03:14.980 --> 00:03:17.960 And then, like, they can, and that it's not like they're abandoning them. 00:03:17.960 --> 00:03:24.879 And so, when they, when the parents are out of their size, so, for example, if they put them to bed, but then in the middle of the night they wake up and they're not there, they're terrified. 00:03:25.020 --> 00:03:26.640 They're like, my parents have abandoned me. 00:03:26.719 --> 00:03:30.379 Kind of, it's like they feel separated and they cry. 00:03:30.540 --> 00:03:37.460 And obviously, it's, like, an exhausting time for parents, you know, because that means, you know, you can never really be apart from them. 00:03:37.819 --> 00:03:41.980 And in some bad cases, like, parents can't even go to the bathroom, like, without the kids. 00:03:42.980 --> 00:03:46.420 And apparently, that's what I did to my mom. 00:03:46.419 --> 00:03:55.319 But then it's also a really, like, sweet time, too, because they're totally dependent on you and entrusted to you. 00:03:56.039 --> 00:04:04.459 And it's like, and, like, there's a lot of, you know, comforts you can offer them and a lot of cuddle times and things that, like, happen. 00:04:04.560 --> 00:04:11.779 So, like, a lot of intimacy and affection that, you know, you really never experience again after that. 00:04:11.780 --> 00:04:17.360 Because the more they, independent they get, the more they grow, they don't really need that or seek that from you. 00:04:18.519 --> 00:04:31.339 And so, it's like, this Psalm 121 is really an invitation to enjoy that kind of deep intimacy and affection with our Lord, with God. 00:04:31.339 --> 00:04:36.539 And the main point of it is that we should entrust ourselves to the Lord who keeps us. 00:04:38.279 --> 00:04:42.659 And so, it's kind of, it's got four couplets. 00:04:42.660 --> 00:04:48.939 So, every two verses is like a unit. 00:04:50.460 --> 00:05:05.400 And it has, it has kind of recurring themes, words, and then it kind of has that terrace structure, that staircase structure that I mentioned last week about just every, I guess, pair of verse depends, advances the idea of the one that preceded it. 00:05:05.399 --> 00:05:10.739 And in the first pair, we see that the God is, God is the one who helps us. 00:05:11.139 --> 00:05:14.759 In the second one, in verse 3 to 4, we said that God is the one who watches us. 00:05:15.399 --> 00:05:18.959 And then verses 5 to 6 tells that God is the one who shields us. 00:05:19.219 --> 00:05:23.179 And then verses 7 to 8 tells that God is the one who keeps us. 00:05:23.219 --> 00:05:28.199 So, let's just go through and turn, starting with verses 1 to 2, which tells us that God is the one who helps us. 00:05:29.019 --> 00:05:30.500 It begins with the psalmist's question. 00:05:30.599 --> 00:05:32.279 It really introduces the entire psalm. 00:05:32.279 --> 00:05:34.399 It says, I lift up my eyes to the hills. 00:05:34.539 --> 00:05:36.619 From where does my help come from? 00:05:36.699 --> 00:05:37.879 From where does my help come? 00:05:39.299 --> 00:05:42.319 The hills, which is sometimes translated mountains. 00:05:42.519 --> 00:05:43.879 It's the same Hebrew word. 00:05:44.959 --> 00:05:47.239 The hills represent the dwelling place of God. 00:05:49.199 --> 00:05:52.619 Sometimes it uses the plural to refer to the dwelling place of God. 00:05:52.699 --> 00:05:55.079 So, Psalm 133, verse 3 says, 00:05:55.079 --> 00:06:01.439 It is like the dew of Hermon, which falls on the mountains of Zion, or the hills of Zion. 00:06:01.439 --> 00:06:04.759 For there the Lord has commanded the blessing, life forevermore. 00:06:04.860 --> 00:06:06.959 It's the place where God dwells. 00:06:07.000 --> 00:06:08.899 He gives life to his people, eternal life. 00:06:09.980 --> 00:06:12.000 Similarly, Psalm 125, verse 2 says, 00:06:12.120 --> 00:06:18.639 As the mountains surround Jerusalem, so the Lord surrounds his people from this time forth and forevermore. 00:06:18.740 --> 00:06:23.959 So, there's a powerful effect, right, of seeing a mountain range that surrounds a city, 00:06:24.339 --> 00:06:28.060 and then seeing in that God's surrounding protection over his people. 00:06:28.060 --> 00:06:30.759 And so, that's kind of the view here. 00:06:30.839 --> 00:06:32.319 I lift up my eyes to the hills. 00:06:33.819 --> 00:06:35.459 From where does my help come? 00:06:36.060 --> 00:06:39.860 And so, this Psalm is really for anyone seeking God's help. 00:06:40.560 --> 00:06:43.120 People who are asking themselves, who is going to help me? 00:06:43.579 --> 00:06:43.780 Right? 00:06:43.879 --> 00:06:44.519 I need help. 00:06:44.579 --> 00:06:45.480 Who is going to help me? 00:06:45.720 --> 00:06:46.779 Where are you, God? 00:06:46.779 --> 00:06:51.099 And the psalmist answers his own question in verse 2. 00:06:51.699 --> 00:06:54.559 My help comes from the Lord, who made heaven and earth. 00:06:55.639 --> 00:07:01.759 Ah, such a powerful, right, powerful introduction to who our helper is. 00:07:02.579 --> 00:07:09.079 I mean, it's like when we ask someone for help, we ask someone that's in a better position than we are, right? 00:07:09.339 --> 00:07:11.079 A position from which they can help. 00:07:11.920 --> 00:07:15.560 So, if you're in a pit, like, you don't ask someone that's in the pit with you to help you. 00:07:15.620 --> 00:07:19.399 You've got to ask someone who's up on higher ground to lift you up, right? 00:07:19.859 --> 00:07:26.839 And so, if, like, I need help, I mean, I'm not a student anymore, but if someone needs help with their physics problem set, right? 00:07:26.879 --> 00:07:32.099 I mean, there's a whole bunch of physicists in our church, like, with PhDs that can ask, right? 00:07:32.739 --> 00:07:35.399 And so, they ask because they are qualified to help. 00:07:36.459 --> 00:07:46.439 And in a similar way, we want to know if people who are going to help us are capable of helping us, if they're qualified to help us. 00:07:46.439 --> 00:07:50.420 And this verse tells us that the Lord is qualified to help us. 00:07:50.519 --> 00:07:53.959 My help comes from the Lord, who is he, who made heaven and earth. 00:07:55.199 --> 00:07:56.259 It's his qualification. 00:07:57.639 --> 00:07:58.800 It's a merism, right? 00:07:58.860 --> 00:08:06.180 It's a literary device where you use two extremes of a spectrum in order to denote the entire thing, the entire spectrum. 00:08:06.720 --> 00:08:11.699 So, when someone says young and old, like, young and old can come to this meeting, 00:08:12.339 --> 00:08:16.019 that doesn't mean only youth and the elderly can come, right? 00:08:16.019 --> 00:08:17.839 It also includes the middle-aged people, right? 00:08:17.859 --> 00:08:18.959 It means everyone can come. 00:08:19.439 --> 00:08:24.019 So, when it says heaven and earth, that means not just the sky and the land, but all creation. 00:08:24.560 --> 00:08:26.979 The Lord made all of creation. 00:08:27.799 --> 00:08:28.859 That's who he is. 00:08:29.379 --> 00:08:32.240 And so, he's sufficient to be our helper. 00:08:32.899 --> 00:08:34.799 I mean, if you think about it, it's really mind-boggling, right? 00:08:34.799 --> 00:08:46.799 The brightest minds in our world have devoted their entire lives to study and discover maybe something new about just tiny slice of creation, right? 00:08:46.839 --> 00:08:47.299 Of reality. 00:08:47.459 --> 00:08:50.439 And God made the heaven and the earth. 00:08:50.440 --> 00:08:57.580 And it's such a strengthening and reassuring thing that the creator of the cosmos is the God who helps us. 00:08:57.680 --> 00:08:58.780 Where is your helper? 00:08:58.980 --> 00:09:00.140 Where does your help come from? 00:09:00.480 --> 00:09:02.380 The God who made heaven and earth. 00:09:02.960 --> 00:09:04.600 Man, I just wish I could tell everybody that. 00:09:04.680 --> 00:09:05.440 Like, who helps you? 00:09:05.820 --> 00:09:07.480 The God who made heaven and earth. 00:09:07.820 --> 00:09:08.540 That's my helper. 00:09:08.539 --> 00:09:12.519 And so, he's the one who helps us. 00:09:12.599 --> 00:09:16.559 And then we see that God's the one who also watches us, watches over us, verses 3 to 4. 00:09:18.159 --> 00:09:21.099 And he's now, you could notice, he says, 00:09:21.259 --> 00:09:24.980 I lift my eyes to the hills from those where does my help come from? 00:09:25.379 --> 00:09:27.199 And then, my help comes from those who made heaven and earth. 00:09:27.259 --> 00:09:31.019 And now, starting in verse 3, he starts addressing others. 00:09:31.279 --> 00:09:34.879 So, from that place of conviction and faith in God as his helper, 00:09:35.059 --> 00:09:38.399 he's now turning to comfort other pilgrims on the way, other saints. 00:09:38.539 --> 00:09:40.179 And so, he says, 00:09:40.299 --> 00:09:42.240 He will not let your foot be moved. 00:09:43.099 --> 00:09:44.799 He who keeps you will not slumber. 00:09:45.839 --> 00:09:50.159 Behold, he who keeps Israel will neither slumber nor sleep. 00:09:51.339 --> 00:09:54.199 You can see kind of how it's continuing that idea here. 00:09:54.339 --> 00:09:56.659 The kind of theme that ties this pair together, 00:09:56.779 --> 00:10:00.679 a pair of verses together is the language of slumbering and sleeping. 00:10:01.919 --> 00:10:04.740 And it's telling us that God is our sentinel. 00:10:05.219 --> 00:10:06.639 He's our watchman. 00:10:06.639 --> 00:10:08.199 He guards over us. 00:10:08.200 --> 00:10:15.680 And even the bravest and most robust and honorable soldier 00:10:15.680 --> 00:10:21.940 is going to doze off eventually if they're waiting, 00:10:22.100 --> 00:10:23.520 watch standing guard long enough, right? 00:10:23.519 --> 00:10:34.199 Even the most devoted helicopter parent can't possibly ever watch his or her child all the time. 00:10:34.860 --> 00:10:35.799 They can't. 00:10:36.100 --> 00:10:36.699 It's limited. 00:10:37.399 --> 00:10:38.919 But God never sleeps. 00:10:39.720 --> 00:10:40.539 He never sleeps. 00:10:40.659 --> 00:10:41.579 He doesn't need to rest. 00:10:41.639 --> 00:10:42.539 He doesn't need to sleep. 00:10:43.000 --> 00:10:44.579 And he never dozes off. 00:10:44.840 --> 00:10:47.340 Like, there's never a time when he's just not paying attention. 00:10:47.539 --> 00:10:49.759 And you can just catch him off guard and something happens to you. 00:10:50.120 --> 00:10:51.899 Like, that's happened to my kids so many times, right? 00:10:51.919 --> 00:10:54.340 You just, like, turn your eyes away for a second, and they're like, boom! 00:10:54.480 --> 00:10:56.639 Like, you know, bang your head in the corner of a table, 00:10:56.740 --> 00:10:58.799 and like, ah, like crying, and you're crying their eyes out. 00:10:59.179 --> 00:11:01.139 It's like that never happens to God. 00:11:01.279 --> 00:11:01.759 Like, you know? 00:11:02.080 --> 00:11:03.240 And how comforting is that? 00:11:03.299 --> 00:11:05.379 Like, you know, when something happens to you, you're like, man, like, 00:11:05.439 --> 00:11:08.819 my life is just, like, what is happening to my life? 00:11:08.820 --> 00:11:13.420 And then just remembering, no, God has never let his gaze off of you. 00:11:14.160 --> 00:11:15.220 He doesn't slumber. 00:11:15.660 --> 00:11:16.840 Never dozes off. 00:11:16.879 --> 00:11:17.420 He's not sleeping. 00:11:17.500 --> 00:11:18.379 He watches us. 00:11:19.220 --> 00:11:22.340 And then verse 5 and 6 tells us that he shields us. 00:11:24.780 --> 00:11:27.500 It says, the Lord is your keeper. 00:11:28.520 --> 00:11:30.420 The Lord is your shade on your right hand. 00:11:30.580 --> 00:11:33.460 The sun shall not strike you by day, nor the moon by night. 00:11:33.460 --> 00:11:38.440 In the middle of our long New England winter, 00:11:38.660 --> 00:11:43.300 it's probably hard to associate the sun with anything other than endorphins 00:11:43.300 --> 00:11:45.240 and vitamin D and happiness, you know? 00:11:45.400 --> 00:11:48.660 But you've got to remember that this psalm is written in a context 00:11:48.660 --> 00:11:52.420 where people are living in the, you know, withering heat 00:11:52.420 --> 00:11:57.600 of the Middle Eastern desert, where people literally die of heat strokes, you know? 00:11:57.600 --> 00:11:59.420 Sometimes, you know, it's like a... 00:11:59.420 --> 00:12:02.580 And so a shade is such a respite, right? 00:12:02.580 --> 00:12:04.920 It's something that shields you from that oppressive heat. 00:12:05.680 --> 00:12:09.100 And it's a welcome sight when you find it in this culture. 00:12:10.340 --> 00:12:11.280 And so... 00:12:11.280 --> 00:12:14.700 And not only that, in the ancient world, there's also this idea of being moonstruck. 00:12:15.720 --> 00:12:18.860 So the Greek word for epilepsy... 00:12:19.540 --> 00:12:23.720 Epilepsy, actually, the word comes from the Greek word that literally means moonstruck. 00:12:24.480 --> 00:12:27.240 So not that the moon actually causes it, 00:12:27.240 --> 00:12:38.340 but that's how they basically described illnesses that had no apparent, you know, physical cause or source. 00:12:38.440 --> 00:12:40.759 And actually, people still can't explain epilepsy, right? 00:12:40.799 --> 00:12:44.440 So it's like they think it's something to do with the brain, but they don't know how it happens. 00:12:44.580 --> 00:12:44.700 Yeah. 00:12:45.240 --> 00:12:48.100 And it's like a certain type... 00:12:48.100 --> 00:12:49.279 There are two types of epilepsies, right? 00:12:49.320 --> 00:12:50.039 I think there's many. 00:12:50.120 --> 00:12:50.759 I don't know if you know. 00:12:50.759 --> 00:12:55.100 But one kind is like they know it's like something to do with the brain. 00:12:55.179 --> 00:12:56.220 The other kind, I don't think they know. 00:12:56.759 --> 00:12:57.480 And then... 00:12:57.480 --> 00:12:58.840 And so they had his moonstruck. 00:12:58.960 --> 00:13:02.779 So here, I think the psalmist is using it a little more figurative way. 00:13:03.319 --> 00:13:06.659 Basically, anything that can harm you by day, anything that can harm you by night. 00:13:07.319 --> 00:13:08.159 All day long. 00:13:08.220 --> 00:13:10.759 There's nothing that you are not shielded from by God. 00:13:11.139 --> 00:13:12.080 He's our shade. 00:13:13.399 --> 00:13:17.559 And then finally, in verses 7 to 8, it tells us that God is the one who keeps us, 00:13:17.559 --> 00:13:23.579 which is kind of the keep, the word keep occurs again and again and again throughout this psalm. 00:13:23.679 --> 00:13:24.399 It's the main idea. 00:13:25.079 --> 00:13:27.239 The Lord will keep you from all evil. 00:13:27.459 --> 00:13:28.859 He will keep your life. 00:13:29.419 --> 00:13:34.419 The Lord will keep your going out and your coming in from this time forth and forevermore. 00:13:35.179 --> 00:13:38.359 There's two more merisms here in this last verse, right? 00:13:38.439 --> 00:13:39.839 So going out and coming in. 00:13:40.219 --> 00:13:46.399 That means all of our, every part of our journey of life, every leg of our journey, 00:13:46.399 --> 00:13:50.100 wherever you're going, whenever you're coming back in, God is with us. 00:13:50.179 --> 00:13:52.679 And then this time forth from now and forevermore. 00:13:53.059 --> 00:13:57.819 That means all time, for all time, he is guarding us and protecting us and shielding us. 00:13:58.059 --> 00:14:01.879 And so it's really speaking of God's ultimate preservation and protection. 00:14:02.419 --> 00:14:08.360 And the fact that he uses forevermore, I think, suggests that the psalmist is already on to something, 00:14:08.519 --> 00:14:10.939 that it's God not only protects us in this life, 00:14:11.240 --> 00:14:15.419 rather that this points to an ultimate reality of God's preservation and protection. 00:14:15.419 --> 00:14:19.799 And I think that it's echoed in Jude 1, 24 to 25. 00:14:19.799 --> 00:14:20.459 It says, 00:14:20.699 --> 00:14:37.159 Amen. 00:14:37.159 --> 00:14:45.299 It's God who keeps us in this journey of life until we arrive at our eternal destiny 00:14:45.299 --> 00:14:50.500 and are presented blameless before God with God's glory, with great joy. 00:14:51.240 --> 00:14:57.600 And that eternal life that redounds to God's eternal glory, it happens through Jesus Christ. 00:14:58.139 --> 00:15:02.600 He is the one who saves us, and then he's the one who keeps us and preserves us. 00:15:02.600 --> 00:15:11.740 And let's turn to John 10 briefly to see how Jesus does this. 00:15:15.740 --> 00:15:18.920 John 10, verses 14 to 18. 00:15:18.919 --> 00:15:22.240 It says, 00:15:22.240 --> 00:15:23.519 I am the good shepherd. 00:15:24.299 --> 00:15:27.099 I know my own, and my own know me. 00:15:28.500 --> 00:15:30.979 Just as the Father knows me, and I know the Father. 00:15:31.639 --> 00:15:33.759 And I lay down my life for the sheep. 00:15:35.019 --> 00:15:37.279 And I have other sheep that are not of this fold. 00:15:37.459 --> 00:15:40.599 I must bring them also, and they will listen to my voice. 00:15:41.259 --> 00:15:43.519 So there will be one flock, one shepherd. 00:15:43.519 --> 00:15:48.699 For this reason, the Father loves me, because I lay down my life that I might take it up again. 00:15:49.240 --> 00:15:51.980 No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. 00:15:52.500 --> 00:15:58.199 I have authority to lay it down, and I have authority to take it up again. 00:16:00.319 --> 00:16:00.799 Wait, sorry. 00:16:00.879 --> 00:16:03.000 No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. 00:16:03.779 --> 00:16:05.980 I have authority to lay it down, and I have authority to take it up again. 00:16:06.059 --> 00:16:07.480 This charge I received from my Father. 00:16:07.480 --> 00:16:13.440 And if you go down a little bit more, he says in verse 27 to 29, 00:16:13.659 --> 00:16:17.039 My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. 00:16:17.519 --> 00:16:21.360 I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, 00:16:21.840 --> 00:16:24.500 and no one will snatch them out of my hand. 00:16:25.440 --> 00:16:28.039 My Father who has given them to me is greater than all, 00:16:28.539 --> 00:16:31.360 and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father's hand. 00:16:31.779 --> 00:16:32.960 I and the Father are one. 00:16:32.960 --> 00:16:38.720 And it's such a comforting promise. 00:16:39.280 --> 00:16:48.300 And I don't know if I'm just getting more fatigued with life or just old, 00:16:48.300 --> 00:16:54.720 but I used to be much more exuberant about, 00:16:55.080 --> 00:17:01.019 like, hey, I'm going to kind of conquer the world for Christ kind of thing 00:17:01.019 --> 00:17:06.839 and just, like, not, you know, like, don't, and, you know, I'm going to, I don't know. 00:17:08.099 --> 00:17:10.460 And then now, like, I think the more, it's like, 00:17:11.339 --> 00:17:14.879 and so this kind of passage didn't mean as much to me back then. 00:17:14.980 --> 00:17:18.039 It's like God's going to preserve you, like, protect you. 00:17:18.220 --> 00:17:21.539 It's like I felt invincible, you know, like, I don't need protection. 00:17:21.660 --> 00:17:22.839 I'm just going to go, you know, it's like a, 00:17:23.240 --> 00:17:25.500 and then, like, and then, like, the more, it's like, 00:17:25.579 --> 00:17:28.319 I think the more and more, like, these kind of passages are comforting to me 00:17:28.319 --> 00:17:33.439 and assuring to me, it's like I, in my own strength, 00:17:33.500 --> 00:17:37.259 cannot, cannot persevere to the end, but Christ preserves me. 00:17:38.519 --> 00:17:39.939 Dan said the same thing on Sunday. 00:17:40.039 --> 00:17:40.319 Really? 00:17:40.740 --> 00:17:41.319 Oh, really? 00:17:41.319 --> 00:17:44.460 He had such a strong zeal and energy and how, like, 00:17:44.500 --> 00:17:47.240 now it's just he has more humility, but he's kind of in the same state. 00:17:48.019 --> 00:17:48.839 That's really funny. 00:17:49.339 --> 00:17:52.319 I kind of listen to that sermon still, yeah, but it's like, yeah, 00:17:52.319 --> 00:17:58.519 yeah, it's just so grateful because our helper is the creator of the heavens and the earth, 00:17:59.179 --> 00:18:04.039 and he's keeping us, and who's going to dare snatch you out of his hand, right? 00:18:04.059 --> 00:18:04.879 And he's keeping you. 00:18:04.939 --> 00:18:07.700 He's got you, and that's the hope that we have. 00:18:07.740 --> 00:18:09.319 Because of Jesus, we're in his hands. 00:18:09.419 --> 00:18:12.299 Because of Jesus, we've been rescued, and we're in the flock of God. 00:18:12.299 --> 00:18:19.899 And I hope that really functions in our lives to encourage us, comfort us, and help us, 00:18:20.460 --> 00:18:24.839 spur us on to continue on and to persevere for Christ's glory.