That is page 268, if you're looking in one of the Pew Bibles, 2 Samuel 17.
I wonder whether you've ever felt like you are in the wilderness, hungry, thirsty, weary,
maybe physically, emotionally, relationally, or spiritually.
That's a situation David and his followers are in during this chapter.
In fact, that's how they're described in the last verse.
And this evening, we're in a section of 2 Samuel where basically David's life, his kingdom,
his family has been falling apart, largely due to David's own moral failure.
David was in a very vulnerable place for a whole bunch of reasons.
But what we see in this chapter is that even when we failed, and even when our life is falling
apart, God doesn't abandon us to our enemies, but rather he mercifully provides for us.
Now, maybe you've been coming here and through this whole long series in 1 and 2 Samuel, but
maybe you haven't.
So let me just bring us all up to speed on the story of David as it's written in the book
of Samuel.
So the book of 1 Samuel, we see David's suffering.
We see David is anointed by the prophet Samuel to be the future king of Israel.
But then for the rest of the book, for like 16 chapters, King Saul is pursuing him, persecuting
him.
He has to flee into the wilderness.
He's running for his life.
And King Saul's trying to kill him.
He's suffering.
The first 10 chapters of 2 Samuel, after King Saul is killed in battle, we see David's
rise to power.
And David is raised up to reign over the United Kingdom of Israel.
The people come together under him.
He defeats their enemies.
He brings peace.
And God promises that his kingdom will be established forever.
And everything seems great.
And then we see David's fall, starting in chapter 11, when he commits adultery with Bathsheba,
and when he arranges for her husband to be killed in battle.
And after that, David's family begins to fall apart, and David's kingdom begins to fall apart.
And that's what we've seen over the last few chapters.
Chapter 16, David is tricked, and then cursed, and then betrayed.
And so he's not only reaping the consequences of his own failure, he's also being unjustly
treated and attacked.
And even in this situation, David doesn't give up.
He entrusts himself to the Lord.
And here we are in this chapter.
What's happened in this chapter is that David's son, Absalom, has organized a conspiracy and has
rode into Jerusalem, the capital city, and declared himself king.
And David has had to flee.
And so David's gone, and his son, Absalom, has seized the throne, completely against David's
wishes.
And that's sort of what's going on.
And David is in the wilderness again.
It seems like he's right back where he was in 1 Samuel when Saul was pursuing him, and when
he was persecuted again in the wilderness.
Seems like he's risen and fallen, and he's right back there.
So here's where we are tonight.
So I want to walk us through the passage and show us three main things.
Now, the first thing is God doesn't abandon us when we've been betrayed.
We see this in verse 1 through 14.
Now, before I read these verses, verse 1, we see Ahithophel.
Sorry, Ahithophel.
Let me just explain so the story will make sense when I read it.
Ahithophel was David's counselor.
That means his trusted friend and his political advisor.
Ahithophel was widely respected.
If you look at the last verse of chapter 16, it says people took his words like they were
the word of God.
It literally says that, right?
He was widely respected, and his words were weighty.
So he had been David's counselor, David's friend, but then he defected.
He betrayed David.
He joined Absalom's conspiracy.
When Absalom tried to seize the throne from his father.
And when David heard about that, he was devastated.
And he prayed.
He said, Lord, turn the counsel of Ahithophel into foolishness.
He realized that unless God intervened, things weren't looking good.
Because Ahithophel was a wise and strategic counselor.
And now he had deserted David.
All right, so here we are, chapter 17.
Ahithophel is in Jerusalem with Absalom, David's son.
So moreover, Ahithophel said to Absalom, let me choose 12,000 men, and I will arise and pursue
David tonight.
I will come upon him while he is weary and discouraged and throw him into a panic, and
all the people who are with him will flee.
I will strike down only the king, and I will bring all the people back to you as a bride
comes home to her husband.
You seek the life of only one man, and all the people will be at peace.
And the advice seemed right in the eyes of Absalom and all the elders of Israel.
Then Absalom said, call Hushai the archite also, and let us hear what he has to say.
Now Hushai is David's friend, and he's hanging with Absalom, but he's actually like a spy.
And so he's trying to give Absalom bad advice to trick him, because he's actually on David's
side.
So let me briefly run through Ahithophel's plan.
So Ahithophel, if you look at what his plan is, he's basically like, let me take care of
this.
Okay?
I'll choose 12,000 men.
That means 12 military units.
Sometimes 1,000 was a word referring to a military unit, even if it didn't have, even
it didn't always have 1,000 people in it.
But he says, let me take 12 military units, sort of representing all the 12 tribes of
Israel.
We're going to go target David, finish him off tonight, and the kingdom's yours.
Clean.
I'll take care of it.
I'll take the risk.
I'll take responsibility.
I'll make sure it happens.
I'll do it.
His plan is careful, calculated, and concise.
He knows that David is in a vulnerable position, and he is saying, I'll finish him off.
Okay, second plan, Hushai the Archite.
Verse 6.
When Hushai came to Absalom, Absalom said to him, thus has Ahithophel spoken, shall we
do as he says?
If not, you speak.
Then Hushai said to Absalom, this time the counsel that Ahithophel has given is not good.
Hushai said, you know that your father and his men are mighty men, and that they are enraged
like a bear robbed of her cubs in the field.
Besides, your father is expert in war.
He will not spend the night with the people.
Behold, even now he has hidden himself in one of the pits or in some other place.
And as soon as some of the people fall at the first attack, whoever hears it will say,
there has been a slaughter among the people who follow Absalom.
Then even the valiant man whose heart is like the heart of a lion will utterly melt with fear.
For all Israel knows that your father is a mighty man, and those who are with him are
valiant men.
But my counsel is that all Israel be gathered to you, from Dan to Beersheba, as the sand by
the sea for multitude, and that you go to battle in person.
So we shall come upon him in some place where he is to be found, and we shall light upon
him as the dew falls on the ground, and of him and all the men with him, not one will
be left.
If he withdraws into a city, then all Israel will bring ropes to that city, and we shall
drag it into the valley until not even a pebble is to be found there.
Now, if you compare these two speeches of advice, they're almost completely opposite.
And his fellow's like, I'll do it.
I'll do it now.
I'll take care of it.
He's crisp.
He's clean.
He's a military guy, and he knows what he's doing.
Hushai the Archite, his speech is three times as long.
Absalom, it's full of flowery metaphors and grandiose ambitions.
And he doesn't say, I'll take care of it.
He says, Absalom, you, you know best.
You know your father.
You should lead the people into battle.
You should gather all Israel to you from the far north to the far south.
And you lead them majestically.
And don't just kill David.
Wipe out everyone who's on his side.
If they're in a city, you put ropes around that city and drag it to the ground until it
doesn't exist anymore.
Well, verse 14.
Absalom and all the men of Israel said, the council of Hushai the Archite is better than
the council of Ahithophel.
Hushai successfully appealed to Absalom's pride, his vanity, his desire to be at the center
of everything, even though Ahithophel's advice was actually militarily the more prudent advice.
The advice that would have worked if he took it.
But then we have the end of verse 14, which says, for the Lord had ordained to defeat the
good council of Ahithophel so that the Lord might bring harm upon Absalom.
Now, if you read the book of Samuel, if you read most biblical narratives, there aren't many
statements like this one.
That explicitly reveal God's sovereign purposes.
And so when you see one, you should stop and notice it.
It's sort of like if you're hiking.
If you're hiking on a trail in the woods, most of the time, you got to look for those little
dots, right?
On the rocks or on the trees in front of you.
And if it snowed, then you got to look even more carefully or follow the footprints, right?
And you're sort of looking one at a time.
But then every once in a while, you might come to a clearing or a trail junction or a major
landmark.
And there's this like big wooden sign, right?
That says summit 1.4 miles.
Waterfall 3.6 miles.
This trail, you know, West Trail, North Trail, whatever.
Right?
And so when you get to one of those markers, you're not just sort of going step by step,
but you can sort of see the big picture.
And you get an idea, that's where I want to go.
That's where this trail is leading me.
And that's like what this, this statement is one of those big signs that says, here's
what God is doing in the midst of all this, you know, human acting and reacting.
You know, because if you just read these stories, you know, it can sometimes be confusing.
Who's on whose side?
And who's right?
And who's wrong?
And should we, you know, is Ahithophel right?
Is Hushai right?
And what about David?
I mean, David's the anointed king, but then he does this terrible thing with Bathsheba.
And I mean, is he good?
Is he bad?
Like, it's a little murky.
All right, but what does this statement say?
So first of all, it says Ahithophel's counsel was good.
Now that doesn't mean it's morally good, but it means it was strategically effective.
Or functionally effective.
It would have worked if Absalom had followed it, but the Lord had arranged to frustrate it.
You see, God had chosen David to be king and not Absalom.
And the main point of Samuel, if you want to summarize the book of Samuel in one sentence,
it's God brings down the proud and he raises up the humble.
And Absalom is one of the proud who exalts himself and lifts himself up.
And so God says, I'm going to bring him down.
And I'm going to, even though David has failed, he had repented.
And God says, I'm not done with David yet.
I'm not going to bring David down forever.
I'm not done with him.
I'm going to uphold him because he trusts in me.
So we see God didn't abandon David.
Even when David was betrayed by one of his closest advisors,
by one of his, when he had lost one of his best resources,
God didn't abandon him.
So that's the first point.
Second point, what we see in this passage is God judges those who remain unfaithful to his kingdom.
If you look down at verse 23, we see Ahithophel's reaction to his advice not being followed.
Verse 23, when Ahithophel saw that his counsel was not followed,
he saddled his donkey and went off home to his own city.
He set his house in order and hanged himself.
And he died and was buried in the tomb of his father.
So Ahithophel saw that Absalom didn't follow his advice.
I think he realized Absalom didn't follow my advice.
Things aren't, and so Absalom's not going to succeed.
And if David comes back on the throne,
I've just betrayed the king and committed treason against the king.
So I'm going to deserve the death penalty.
There's no future for me in David's kingdom.
So I'm going to end it myself.
So Ahithophel, I want to spend a little time thinking about Ahithophel.
Because his life ended tragically.
He was David's counselor.
High official in David's kingdom.
Powerful, close to David.
Trusted confidant.
David relied on him.
And his life ends in a tragic way.
When he saw no hope for his future.
So let me ask this question.
Why would Ahithophel join Absalom instead of remaining loyal to David?
Why did he betray David?
You have to think about this.
You might think, well, maybe Ahithophel gave David some advice
that David didn't listen to.
And so Ahithophel was like, I don't want to advise you anymore
if you're not going to listen to me.
Well, that's probably actually not right.
Because chapter 16, verse 23 says,
both Absalom and David highly esteemed Ahithophel's advice.
So it's probably not because David didn't listen to him.
You might think, well, maybe Ahithophel was being pragmatic.
Maybe he was like, David's getting older.
He seems indecisive.
If Absalom's young and handsome, charismatic leader,
I'm going to side with the winner.
Possibly.
But at the same time, Absalom was a risky bet.
And he didn't end up listening to Ahithophel's advice.
And he didn't end up succeeding.
There's one very likely factor that motivated Ahithophel.
And we can't be 100% sure,
but I think this is the most likely reason
that would have motivated him to do what he did.
If you look in 2 Samuel 23, 34,
it's an obscure verse.
It says, Ahithophel had a son named Eliam.
Now, there's only one other place
where a man named Eliam appears in the Bible.
And that's 2 Samuel 11, verse 3.
Right?
These are two verses you'd sort of never notice
unless you do a Bible gateway word search.
Right?
And you realize these are the only two.
And you've got to have somebody
who tells you to do that word search too
because you wouldn't guess it on your own.
Right?
I didn't guess this on my own.
Right?
Eliam was the father of Bathsheba.
Now, if this is the same Eliam,
which it probably is,
Ahithophel is Bathsheba's grandfather.
Now, imagine if you're Ahithophel
and you're David's counselor
and Bathsheba is your granddaughter.
And then you see what David does.
That he steals her from her husband
and violates her
and then gets her husband killed.
And then you think,
am I going to stick with this guy or not?
Maybe we can understand
why Ahithophel defected.
He was furious with David.
And in one sense, he was right
because God was furious with David too.
And that's why God sent the prophet Nathan
to rebuke him
after he had committed adultery with Bathsheba.
But when Nathan confronted him,
what was David's response?
David said,
I've sinned against the Lord.
And he wept.
And he wrote what we have now as Psalm 51
where he said,
Have mercy on me, O God,
according to your steadfast love.
I'm full of sin and iniquity
and I need your mercy.
And I rely only on your mercy.
And the prophet Nathan said to him,
The Lord has put away your sin.
You shall not die.
In other words,
God's not finished with you yet.
God saw that David's repentance
was sincere.
It wasn't just a show,
but it was sincere
and enduring.
And God said to David,
I'm not going to totally remove you
from my kingdom.
And I think that's what Ahithophel
couldn't accept.
Ahithophel couldn't accept
that God would forgive
and even restore David
after such a serious moral failure
involving his granddaughter,
of all people.
But here's the irony.
In Ahithophel's animosity toward David,
Ahithophel ends up advising Absalom
to be even worse
than David was.
David had violated Bathsheba.
But the first thing Ahithophel
advises Absalom to do
is sleep with all of David's concubines
in a tent on the roof of the palace.
The end of chapter 16.
David had violated one woman
and Ahithophel counsels Absalom
to violate a whole bunch of them.
to establish his kingdom, supposedly.
David had intentionally arranged
for Uriah to be killed in battle
and targeted.
That's exactly what Ahithophel says
to do to David.
He says,
come upon him when he's weary
and discouraged
and in a panic
and kill him.
And then at the end,
Ahithophel couldn't fathom
the possibility
that God could forgive
and restore David
after he had sinned
so grievously.
And so when Ahithophel
saw that he had failed
grievously
and his advice wasn't listened to,
Ahithophel couldn't imagine
any possibility
that David
would ever forgive
and restore him
and include him
in his kingdom again.
Now here's another irony.
In chapter 19,
when David returns
to Jerusalem,
he forgives all his enemies.
He forgives the guy
who tricked him
in chapter 16.
He forgives the guy
who cursed him
in chapter 16.
And most likely,
he would have forgiven Ahithophel
if Ahithophel was still there.
You see,
Ahithophel's unwillingness
to forgive David
poisoned his career,
poisoned his judgment,
and poisoned his life
and his end.
So I think there's a warning here.
If there's someone
that you're unwilling
to forgive,
if there's someone
that you're holding
a grudge against,
if there's someone
that you don't want
to be reconciled with
even if they repent,
beware.
Hebrews says,
don't see to it
that no root
of bitterness
springs up
and causes trouble
and by it
many become defiled.
That's why Jesus
taught us to pray,
forgive us
our sins
even as we forgive
those who sin
against us.
Because,
you see,
when we're unwilling
to forgive others,
we can become
as bad
or worse
than the people
we refuse
to forgive.
And that's the warning
that we see
from Ahithophel.
Perhaps a warning
we wouldn't have expected.
But there's also
an invitation
to come to the king
and be forgiven.
To receive forgiveness
from Jesus Christ
and by his spirit
living in us
to have the power
to extend his forgiveness
to others
and to be reconciled
to someone
when they also
express repentance.
There's only one other
character in the Bible
who's like Ahithophel.
Maybe you can see
the parallels.
A trusted friend
who ended up
betraying
the Lord's anointed king
whose counsel
was turned to foolishness
and who ended
his life in despair.
Judas.
Of course
unlike David
Judas had no
Jesus had committed
no sin
that Judas
had to forgive
or overlook.
But it's certainly
possible that
one of the things
Judas resented
about Jesus
was his teaching
about forgiveness.
It's possible
that Judas
was one of the zealots
that may be
what his last name
means
Iscariot
and the zealots
were people
who wanted to kill
the Romans
and overthrow them
and Judas
may have been
disappointed
that that wasn't
Jesus' agenda
and that Jesus
even talked about
forgiveness
for enemies.
That may have been
part of why
Judas
decided
I'm not going to
follow this king
anymore.
And just like
David
and Ahithophel
well
Jesus offered
Judas his
friendship
to the very end.
He gave him
the piece of bread
at the last supper
reaching out to him
offering him
his friendship
his loyalty
and yet
Judas rejected it.
Anyway
God
provides
God
doesn't
abandon us
when we're
betrayed
God judges
those who remain
unfaithful to his
kingdom
and third
God provides
for us
through faithful
friends.
So we've seen
God's purpose
to bring down
Absalom
and to rescue
David
but we also
see in this
chapter
some of how
God accomplished
that plan.
If you read
verse 15
let's look at
verse 15
then Hushai
said to
Zadok
and Abiathar
the priests
thus and so
did Ahithophel
counsel Absalom
and all
the elders
of Israel
and thus and so
have I counsel.
Now therefore
send quickly
and tell David
don't stay
tonight at the
fords of the
wilderness
by all means
pass over
lest the king
and all the people
who are with him
be swallowed up.
It seems like
Hushai doesn't
know
what Absalom's
going to do.
He doesn't know
if Absalom's
going to listen
to Ahithophel
and start
pursuing David
immediately
or if he's
going to listen
to Hushai
who's basically
getting him
to delay.
And so Hushai
sends a warning
message to David
through some people
that he had
previously arranged.
And so in this
chapter we see
how that happened.
There are
at least
five different
people involved.
Zadok
and Abiathar
the priests.
They tell their
sons Jonathan
and Ahamaz
in verse 17
and there's
a female servant
involved as well
who's passing
the message to them.
They almost get
found out.
Verse 18
a young man
saw them
and told Absalom
so both of them
went away quickly
and came to the
house of a man
at Behurim
who had a well
in his courtyard.
They went down
into it
and the woman
the man's wife
took and spread
a covering over
the well's mouth
and scattered grain
on it
and nothing was
known of it.
When Absalom's
servants came to
the woman at the
house they said
where Ahamahaz
and Jonathan
and the woman
said to them
they have gone
over the
brook of water
and when they
had sought
and could not
find him
they returned
to Jerusalem.
After they had
gone the men
came up out
of the well
and went
and told
King David
and David
flees.
So you might
ask well
okay so what's
the point of
that whole
paragraph I
just read?
Why doesn't
the author
simply say
Absalom didn't
follow Ahithophel's
counsel he
followed Hushai's
counsel and so
David was safe.
Why does he
tell this whole
story about two
guys and being
seen and being
hidden in a well
and the woman
saying no they're
not here they're
over the water.
here's what I
think the point
of this paragraph
is.
Not only that it
would make a good
action movie scene
right?
Narrow escape
they barely make
it but we see
in this chapter
we see God's
sovereign purpose
verse 14 and we
also see the
people whom God
uses who take
risks to be
loyal to David
whom God uses
to accomplish
his purpose.
So we see that
God has sovereign
purposes and that
we're also
responsible to
play our part
in them.
And God uses
people who step
up and do
their little parts
even if it's
passing on a
message to
somebody else or
hiding two guys
under a well.
Sort of like
Rahab did when
the spies came
into Jericho
back in the
book of Joshua.
So we see
both these things
in the midst of
a hostile world
God has a
sovereign plan to
preserve his
kingdom and we
see that God
uses us when we
take risks and
step out in ways
that are loyal to
him.
Verse 24
David arrives at
Mahanaim
that's about 30
miles north of
where he'd crossed
the Jordan
and we come to
the end of the
chapter verse 27
when David came to
Mahanaim
Shobbi the son of
Nahash from
Rabbah of the
Ammonites and
Mekur the son of
Amiel from
Lodabar and
Barzillai the
Gileadite from
Rogalim brought
beds, basins, and
earthen vessels,
wheat, barley,
flour, parched
grain, beans, and
lentils, honey, and
curds, and sheep, and
cheese from the
herd for David and
the people with him
to eat for they
said the people are
hungry and weary
and thirsty in the
wilderness.
So we see God
provides for David
when one of his
closest advisors has
betrayed him.
God provides several
faithful friends.
All these people who
pass along the
message so that David
can be warned and
flee to safety and
preserve his own
life and the life of
the men with him.
And we see these
three men in verse
27 to 28 who come
to provide a place
for them to rest and
some food and drink to
refresh them in the
wilderness.
And so we see God
provides for David
through faithful
friends.
Now these three guys
at the end, let me
just introduce you to
them briefly because
they're an interesting
bunch.
Shobbi, son of
Nahash from Rabbah
of the Ammonites.
Now he's interesting
because he is from a
pagan background, an
Ammonite, right?
The Ammonites were
another group of people
who were not part of
the people of Israel.
And Shobbi's brother
appears in chapter 10.
Basically David had a
sort of some kind of a
treaty or David was
loyal to Nahash, the
father of Shobbi and
his brother.
And Nahash had been
loyal to David.
And so when Nahash
died, David sent a
delegation to express
condolences to the
family concerning the
death of their father
who had been the king.
And Shobbi's brother
rejected this kindness.
And he was like,
yeah, right.
David's, this is fishy
business.
And so he shames David's
men and he sends them
back home and treats
them very badly and
rejects them.
But Shobbi here must have
seen David's kindness and
loyalty.
And we see that Shobbi
responded positively.
Right?
So Shobbi's brother was
like, yeah, right.
Don't deal with this guy.
You know, he's tricking you.
And Shobbi's like,
actually, no, he's not.
He's the real stuff.
He's good to his word.
And his, he was won over
by David's kindness and
loyalty, even though he
was from a non-Israelite
background.
So that's the first guy.
Second guy, Machir, son of
Amiel from Lodabar.
The only other thing we know
about him is that the
beginning of David's
kingdom, he was taking care
of Mephibosheth, who was
one of Saul's surviving
relatives.
So most likely, he was also
not on David's side from
the beginning.
He was on Saul.
He was probably loyal to
Saul.
That's probably why he was
taking care of Saul's
grandson, Mephibosheth.
And yet, what did David do
to Mephibosheth?
He extended kindness and
loyalty to him and brought
Mephibosheth into his court
and was faithful to his
covenant with Jonathan,
Mephibosheth's father.
So most likely, this guy
Machir became loyal to
David because he saw
David's kindness again.
Kindness to an outsider.
And the third guy,
Barsili, the Gileadite, in
the next chapter we learn
he's a wealthy, retired,
80-year-old man.
This is the first time he
appears in the story, but
later on, David is also
kind and loyal to him as
well.
And so these three guys,
from all different
backgrounds, have
been won over by David's
kindness.
They've become part of his
kingdom.
They're his loyal followers
because of David's
kindness and David's
loyalty, his steadfast love.
And, you know, isn't that, in
one sense, isn't that a
picture of who we are as a
church?
Right?
We're all different kinds of
people from all different kinds
of backgrounds, and some of us,
you know, would never have grown
up seeing ourselves in a church.
Some of us might have grown up
in another kind of church and
never saw ourselves in a
Baptist church or whatever, and
some of us don't really care that
it's a Baptist church, and
that's fine.
Right?
But we're coming from all
different backgrounds, but
we've been won over by the
kindness and loyalty of our
King, Jesus.
And so we come to follow him,
we come to give our treasures
to him because he has shown us
his kindness, and he has shown us
his faithfulness.
So in conclusion, three things.
God doesn't abandon us when we've
been betrayed.
God judges those who remain
unfaithful to his kingdom.
God provides for us through
faithful friends.
We see how this is true for
David.
Now you might, your last, one
last question, you might say,
well, how do we know it's true
for us?
Okay, it's true for David.
Nice story back then.
How in the world, why in the
world should I assume that it will
be true for me?
Just because it happened to
David doesn't mean it's going to
happen to me the same way.
And here's your answer.
It's not just because it was true
for David, it's true for us.
It's that because, it's that David,
it was true for David, and it was
also true for Jesus.
When Jesus was betrayed, God did not
abandon him.
God did not abandon him to Judas's,
Judas's, or the Jewish leaders, or
the Roman authorities' purposes.
But even through their betrayal, God
accomplished his purpose for Jesus, and
to bring us salvation.
God didn't abandon Jesus when he was
betrayed.
God brought judgment on Judas the
betrayer.
God provided for Jesus.
Even through faithful friends.
Interestingly, most of his followers
abandoned him, but there were a
couple who remained with him to the
end, and who were there with him even
at the cross.
And you know, it's because these things
are true of Jesus, and because Jesus
promises, I will be with you, even to
the end of the world.
That's the reason why you can be
confident these things are true of us,
is if you trust in Jesus as your king,
if you have put your trust in him, even
if, even if like David, you have failed
in the past, even if your life feels like
it's falling apart, even if you're hungry,
thirsty, weary in the wilderness, if you
say, yes, King Jesus, you are my king,
God won't abandon you, even if you're
betrayed.
God will bring judgment on those who
remain outside his kingdom, and God
will provide for you through faithful
friends.
Let's pray.
Lord, we thank you for these stories in
the Old Testament that are so realistic,
Lord, that don't shy away from showing the
messiness of life, the failures that we
often get ourselves into, and the troubles
that we face as human beings, but we thank you
that we see in them your faithful and
steadfast love.
We thank you for your son, Jesus Christ,
and that he is our merciful and faithful
high priest who has drawn near to us and
who has experienced these trials with us and
who's died on behalf of our sins so that we
can know your promises, so that we can know that
you won't abandon us, that you are our friend who
sticks closer than a brother, and you are the
one who provides for us through faithful
friends.
Lord, we pray that we would experience your
provision, that we would trust in your
provision through Jesus Christ, and that we
would be the means of your provision and your
grace for others as your spirit dwells in us.
We pray this in Jesus' name.
Amen.