Let us now turn to the passage that we read.
Paul's letter to the Galatians, chapter 2, and we may read again at verse 20.
! I have been crucified with Christ.
It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me.
And the life I now live in the flesh.
I live by faith in the Son of God who loved me and gave himself for me.
And I'd like particularly to focus on the phrase,
the Son of God who loved me and gave himself for me.
The letter to Galatians was written in the first instance to former recovering Pharisees,
a people who found it difficult to leave their legalism behind.
Who better to write such a letter under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit
than a recovering Pharisee himself?
The letter has been called the Magna Carta of Christian liberty.
You could say that the same verse is a declaration of independence.
Yet we know, wrote the Apostle,
that a person is not justified by works of the law,
but through faith in Jesus Christ.
Could I suggest that it is not just former Pharisees
who have a problem in leaving legalism behind?
Is it not true of the Christian believer today
that although saved by grace alone,
we do not always know how to live by grace alone?
As one commentator expressed it,
we are legalists by nature.
The letter to the Galatians challenges
many of our preconceptions
about what it means to have a right relationship with God.
So you can say that this letter
was also written for people just like us.
Whether we like to admit it or not,
there is engraven in our DNA
the principle,
do this and live,
was the principle that was engraven
in our first parents.
And it follows us
even into a state of grace.
This letter then,
speaking to us too,
the Church of Christ
at any one time
is full of recovering Pharisees
who need to receive the Gospel again
as if for the very first time.
That ought not to fill us
with anger and indignation
or resentment,
but ought to make us humbly
examine our lives
in the light of the challenging content
of this letter.
Martin Luther,
who wrote a very valuable commentary
on this letter,
tells that his liberating moment came
when he discovered
that Christianity was not about
what he had to do for God,
it was about what God
had done for him
in Jesus Christ.
In his lectures
on Galatians,
had the theme
of the free grace
of God and Christ
received by faith.
And through the writing
of Luther,
incidentally on Galatians,
John Bunyan
came to a great appreciation
of Luther.
In Bunyan's
spiritual autobiography,
grace abounding
to the chief of sinners,
he tells how he found
his condition
in Luther's experience.
And I quote,
I found, he said,
my condition
so largely
and profoundly
handled
as if his book
had been written
out of my heart.
In the chapter
we read,
Paul boldly,
fearlessly
and publicly
rebukes
the apostle Peter
for his behavior
and the example
he was setting.
When Cephas
came to Antioch,
I opposed him
to his face
because he stood
condemned.
Peter apparently
did not wish
to offend
those
of a Jewish
persuasion,
the reason being
he feared
the circumcision
party.
And you could say
there was a kind
of standoff
between what
the law
accomplishes
and what grace
accomplishes.
May have been
that Peter
did not like
confrontation
and so went
out of his way
to avoid
conflict.
However,
looking at the
life of Peter,
you have to
conclude
that not
for the first
time was
Peter
influenced
by his
prevailing
circumstances.
Remember his
denial
in the hall
of the high
priest
where he was
adamant in
stating
that he was
not associated
with the
accused
prisoner
Jesus Christ.
And in this
context,
he was challenged
by Paul.
The rest
of the Jews
thought Paul
acted
hypocritically
along with him
so that even
Barnabas
was led
astray
by the
hypocrisy.
When I
saw that
their conduct
was not
in step
with the
truth of
the gospel,
I said
to Cephas
before them
all,
if you
though a
Jew
live like
a Gentile
and not
like a Jew,
how can
you force
the Gentiles
to live
like Jews?
We're not
told of
Peter's
reaction
to the
rebuke
of his
fellow
apostle,
but I
would
expect him
to have
accepted it
in the
manner
in which
it was
given.
But it
must have
been some
moment.
Peter
was the
older
apostle,
and here
is Paul,
the younger
apostle,
and he's
upbreding
Peter for
his behavior
and the
way that
he's leading
people
astray.
For
Paul,
it was
not peace
at any
price,
but the
gospel
at all
costs.
such
was his
fervent
zeal,
because the
message of
the gospel
and the
estimation
of the
apostle
was at
stake.
It was
a battle
for the
gospel of
free grace.
The
message of
good news
proclaims
that through
the death
of Christ
on the
cross
and his
resurrection
from the
dead,
Jesus
has done
everything
required
by God
for the
salvation
of
sinners.
Nothing
else is
needed to
receive
forgiveness
for sins,
enjoy
fellowship
with God,
or have
the hope
of eternal
life.
Accept
trust
in Christ
alone.
That is
briefly a
summation,
if you like,
of the
gospel of
free grace.
And Paul
was fighting
to make
sure that
the church
continued to
live by
the gospel
it had
always
preached.
And so
you find
him
writing,
yet we
know,
he says
in this
letter,
that a
person is
not justified
by works
of the
law,
but through
faith in
Jesus
Christ.
So we
also have
believed in
Christ Jesus
in order to
be justified
by faith
in Christ,
not by the
works of
the law,
because by
works of
the law,
no one
will be
justified.
It's a
key text
that teaches
the doctrine
of justification
by grace
alone through
faith in
Christ alone.
And Paul
mentions the
term three
times in
the one
verse.
The principle
that justification
cannot come
by works.
It's what
distinguishes
Christianity
from other
religions in
the world.
And Paul,
being a
student of
the scriptures,
knew what
was taught
in the
scriptures,
in the
Old Testament,
in the
book of
Psalms,
for example,
where the
psalmist
states,
enter not
into judgment
with your
servant,
for no
one living
is righteous
before you.
And Paul
translates that
in the
New Testament
by works
of the
law,
no one
will be
justified.
Out going
to church,
a good
habit,
reading the
Bible,
another
profitable
habit,
giving to
charitable
causes,
all good
things.
But none
of that
of itself
will ever
get us
into heaven.
That is
one very
good reason
why the
doctrine of
justification
by faith
alone in
Christ alone
is of
such supreme
importance.
You know,
there was a
character in
Greek mythology
by the
name of
Atlas,
who was
condemned
to hold
up the
heavens or
sky for
eternity.
And James
Packer,
in one of
his writings,
made the
observation,
the doctrine
of justification
is like
Atlas.
It bears a
world on
its shoulders,
the entire
evangelical
knowledge of
saving grace.
when Protestants
let the
thought of
justification
drop out
of their
minds.
The true
knowledge of
salvation
drops out
with it
and cannot
be restored
till the
truth of
justification
is back
in its
proper place.
When Atlas
falls,
everything
that rested
on his
shoulders
comes crashing
down to
James
Packer.
Well,
to our
text this
evening,
first,
the person
who loved,
second,
the proof
of his
love,
thirdly,
the person
loved,
and finally,
the power
of love.
First,
the person
who loved.
Paul wrote,
the Son of
God who
loved me.
Now,
just repeat
that to
yourself.
Is that
not an
astonishing
statement
to make?
The Son
of God
who loved
me.
There is
no other
personal
statement in
the whole
of the
New Testament
that can
compare to
it.
Yes,
you will
find verses
that speak
of Christ's
love for
the church,
but not
this personal
statement of
being loved
by the
Son of
God.
So,
let us
select from
the Bible
some of
the information
given about
the identity
of this
person who
loved.
Note,
Paul didn't
write,
Jesus loved
me.
That would
be true,
but that's
not what he
wrote.
We may make
the statement,
Jesus loves
me,
and when
challenged
us to
our basis
and confidence
for making
such a
statement,
we may
quote from
the hymn
that we
learned as
children,
Jesus loves
me.
This I
know,
for the
Bible
tells me
so.
Nor did
Paul write,
Christ loved
me.
That is also
true.
That's not
what he
wrote.
He wrote,
the Son of
God loved
me.
The identity
of the one
who loved
him,
important to
the apostle
as it
should be
to every
believer.
Paul is
surely
stressing
the divine
identity of
the one
who loved
him,
person who
has no
beginning.
His
generation
was complete
from
eternity.
In the
words of
one of the
early church
fathers,
the Son
is the
unoriginally
God has
repeatedly
applied to
him the
incommunicable
name of
Yahweh or
Jehovah,
a name that
is descriptive,
exclusively,
of the
supreme
being,
the one
only living
and true
God.
The Son
of God
repeatedly
described in
the Bible
as the
first and
the last.
His
coming
forth is
from
old.
He is
described as
the Alpha
and Omega,
the beginning
and the
ending,
who is
and who
was and
who is
to come
the
Almighty,
one who
searches
the minds
and the
heart of
the children
of man,
one who
is unchanging
in the sense
that he is
the same
yesterday and
today and
forever,
the great
creator
God.
And as
Paul wrote
in his
letter to
the Colossians,
for by him
all things
were created
in heaven
and on
earth,
visible and
invisible,
whether thrones
or dominions
or rulers
or authorities,
all things
were created
through him
and for him.
And he is
before all
things and in
him all
things hold
together.
He is the
head of the
body,
the church,
he is the
beginning,
the firstborn
from the
dead,
that in
everything
he might
be
preeminent.
made.
And you
remember how
John in
his prologue,
how he
speaks of
all things
were made
through him
and without
him was
not anything
made that
was made.
The scope
of Christ's
authority
extends to
the bounds
of his
creation,
for by him
all things
were created,
heaven and on
earth,
visible and
invisible.
scientists
tell us
that the
span of
the physical
universe
is 93
billion
light years.
Now I
have to
confess
that my
understanding
of that
piece of
information
is virtually
nil.
But does
it not
convey a
sense of
the majestic
power of
the Son
of God,
much on
earth that
is absolutely
astounding.
He created
the tiniest
creatures,
for example.
I read
somewhere that
there are
800,000
catalogued
insects with
billions in
some of the
species.
And on a
warm,
calm,
damp August
evening,
I don't think
any of us
would find that
piece of
information
difficult to
grasp when
we are
attacked by
the dreaded
image.
Think of
the genius
of divine
wisdom in
the wonder
of the
human brain
or the
complex
working of
the human
eye with
its millions
of points
of data
that
instantaneously
focus into
a single
image.
every form
and kind
of matter,
simple or
complex,
the atom
and the
star,
the sun
and the
cloud,
every grade
of life
from the
worm to
the angel,
every order
of intellect.
Being
and being
around us
and above
us,
the splendors
of heaven,
the nearer
phenomena of
earth are
the product
of the
one designated
the son
of God.
And Paul
wrote,
this person
to whom
belongs
infinite
majesty
and glory,
the one
who was
ever in
the presence
of the
father,
loved
him.
This love
is not
general.
It is a
love that is
special.
it focuses
on those
whose names
are written
in the
Lamb's
book of
life.
Those who
are precious
to him
are engraven
on the
palms of
God.
It is a
selective
love.
He loved
me,
wrote the
apostle.
It is a
personal
love.
It is a
love that
knows no
variation.
Although
there may
be very
different
manifestations
of it
in the
lives of
believers.
Some
manifestations
of love
that may
cause
you
to
query
his
love
for you.
Yet
it is,
I believe,
a source
of
everlasting
wonder
to the
saints
in glory.
It lies
at the
heart of
their
united
harmonious
choral
praise.
It is a
source of
continuing
amazement
the lives
of believers
on earth
that Christ
loved
them.
Lives
that were
crippled
and twisted
by the
pervasive
debilitating
power of
sin.
Divine
Christ
this
evening.
You
experienced
the power
of Christ's
love in
its
intensity.
So as a
helpless
sinner,
you were
unable to
respond to
the overtures
of grace.
And you
can also
testify,
the Son
of God
loved me.
This
love of
Christ is
eternal,
it is free
and unmerited.
Nothing in the
life of the
sinner to
draw out
that love.
And the
measure of
this love
is how
much it
gives and
that brings
me to
my second
point,
the proof
of his
love.
If the
first statement
blows you
away,
what about
the second
part of
the statement?
The Son
of God
gave himself
for me.
me?
This is,
I believe,
the ultimate
definition of
love.
Jesus himself
taught,
greater love
has no one
on this
that someone
lay down
his life
for his
friends.
And in
order for
this love
to be fully
demonstrated,
the Son
of God
became flesh
and dwelt
among us.
One
commentator
expressed
it,
that the
creator and
upholder of
the universe
should come
down to
such a
world as
this and
clothe
himself in
the inferior
nature of
its race.
And in
that nature
die to
forgive and
save it.
It's the
most amazing
of revelations.
What
sublimity is
shed around
the gospel?
The God
of the
first chapter
of Genesis
is the
babe of
the first
chapter of
Matthew.
Think about
that.
Think about
the wonder
of that.
He was
always the
Son,
but he
became man.
And Paul
is reflecting
on the
wonder of
the plan
of redemption
as accomplished
by the one
who loved.
You see,
love is not
something tangible.
You cannot
put it in
the palm of
your hand
and say,
that's love.
You have
to find
the proof
of love.
You need
evidence.
And Paul
gives us
the evidence.
He places
the irrefutable
evidence or
proof of the
love of the
Son of God
before our
minds.
The Son
of God
gave himself
for me.
And what
Paul states
is not
merely the
innocent one
taking the
place of
the guilty.
It's God
the Son
in our
nature
taking the
place of
the guilty,
enduring in
himself his
own condemnation
of sin.
That's why
he took human
nature in
order to put
himself in a
position where
he had blood
to shed and a
soul to pour
out in death.
the fourth
servant song
in Isaiah
so powerfully
prophesied.
Therefore I
will divide him
a portion with
the many and
he shall divide
the spoil with
the strong
because he
poured out
his soul
to death.
Numbered with
the transgressors
bore the sin
of many makes
intercession for
the transgressors.
Ask yourself
the question
for whom did
he shed his
blood and
poured out
to soul?
And the
biblical answer
is an
innumerable
number of
people whose
souls were
enveloped by
thick spiritual
darkness which
could never be
removed unless
their guilt
was removed.
Fallen man
is under the
wrath and
curse of a
holy God.
You know
there's a
vivid picture
portrayed by
the prophet
Jeremiah of
the incorrigible
wickedness of
the human
heart.
The prophet
speaks of
the sinful
practices of
the nation
of Judah.
Sin of
Judah is
written with
a pen of
iron with
a point of
diamond.
It is
engraven on
the tablet
of their
heart.
The sins
of the
nation,
they weren't
just written
in pencil.
Something that
could easily
be erased
or rubbed
out.
They were
chiseled
into their
stone cold
hearts with
a metal
pen.
In other
words,
that corruption
was deep
seated and
ineradicable.
That's how
deeply ingrained
sin is in
all of our
hearts unless
we are in
receipt of
divine
forgiveness.
The Bible
reminds us
that without
the shedding
of blood,
there is no
remission of
sins.
And the
apostle sets
before us the
price of
redemption.
In the
words of
our text,
the Son
of God
gave himself
for me.
That involved
the Son of
God in our
nature entering
into the
darkness and
bearing the
wrath and
curse.
The only
way which
the guilt of
sin could be
removed in
order for
light to
replace
darkness was
for the Son
of Man in
our nature
to enter
into the
darkness in
bearing the
wrath and
curse.
He gave
himself.
He gave
himself as a
sacrifice to
satisfy divine
justice and
reconcile sinners
to God.
He gave
himself.
That was the
supreme sacrifice.
He laid down
his life.
And in doing
so, he
was laid in
the dust of
death.
Was that
not what
prompted the
hymn writer on
an occasion to
write?
Long my
imprisoned spirit
lay, fast
bound in sin
and nature's
night.
Thine eye
diffused a
quickening ray.
I woke,
the dungeon
flamed with
light.
My chains
fell off.
My heart
was free.
I rose,
went forth
and followed
thee.
Amazing love,
how can it
be that
thou, my
God,
should die
for me?
Oh, does it
fill you
with astonishment
this evening
that the
Son of God
gave himself
for you?
And that
brings me to
my third
point.
The proof
of his
love, the
person who
loved, the
person loved.
Paul wrote,
the Son of
God who
loved me
and gave
himself for
me.
He loved
me, wrote
Paul.
He gave
himself for
me.
Was the
meal from
Paul wrote
a believer
and a
faithful follower?
Was that
the focus
of the
love of
the Son
of God?
No!
Was that
the kind
of person
for whom
he gave
himself?
And again,
no.
For one
will scarcely
die for a
righteous person.
Though for a
good person
one would
dare even
to die,
but God
shows his
love for
us in
that while
we were
still sinners,
Christ
died for
us.
When
Christ met
with Saul
of Tarsus,
he was
behaving like
a wild
animal in
his threats
to the
followers of
the Church
of Jesus
Christ.
The book
of Acts
tells us he
was breathing
threats and
murder against
the disciples
of the
Lord.
He asked
the high
priest for
letters to
the synagogues
at Damascus
so that if
he found
any belonging
to the
way man
or woman
he might
bring them
bound to
Jerusalem.
He was
engaged in
active
persecution
of the
Church of
Christ.
And as
Christ
forcefully
reminded him
on that
never-to-be-
forgotten
Damascus
road meeting,
Saul,
why are
you
persecuting
me?
Saul was
ignorant of
the identity
of the
questioner.
Who are
you,
Lord?
He asks.
And the
response,
I am
Jesus.
I am
the
Savior of
sinners.
I am
the Son
of God.
And what
was true
of this
person who
speaks of
being loved,
who can
state that
the Son
of God
gave himself
and his
place?
Well,
you may
remember his
own
biographical
description
of his
own
former way
of life.
I was a
blasphemer,
persecutor,
an insolent
opponent,
until mercy
arrested me.
I received
mercy,
says the
apostle.
He had
been under
the dominion
of darkness.
Remember how
he wrote in
his letter
to the
Colossians,
God has
delivered us
from the
domain of
darkness
and transferred
us to
the kingdom
of his
beloved
Son.
He included
himself among
the number
who were under
the domain
of darkness
and were
delivered.
Yet such
is the
devastating,
blinding
effect of
sin in
his
pre-conversing
days,
that that
was certainly
not how
he viewed
himself.
He was
striving to
keep the
law.
If anyone
else thinks
he has
reason for
confidence in
the flesh,
I have
more.
Circumcised
on the
eighth day
of the
people of
Israel,
of the
tribe of
Benjamin,
a Hebrew
of the
Hebrews,
as to
the law
of Pharisees,
as to
seal,
a persecutor
of the
church,
as to
righteousness
under the
law,
blameless.
Oh,
often,
is that
not how
we tend
to think
of ourselves?
I'm not
really such
a bad
person.
Oh,
I know
I'm not
what I
should be,
but,
oh,
we may
fervently
believe that,
but the
reality is
that we
are sinners.
We are
under the
condemnation
of the
holy,
just,
law of
a
righteous
God.
Nothing
we can
do
can
alter
that
fact.
That is
why the
statement
of love
is so
really
wonderfully
amazing.
Remember
how Paul
prayed
that
believers
be empowered
by God
to grasp
this love
that
surpasses
knowledge.
and in
doing so
Paul wrote
about the
immeasurable
dimensions of
Christ's love.
Its
breadth and
length and
height and
depth.
Reminds me of
the story of a
little boy who
was out fishing
with his dad.
They were
using hand
lines and
the little boy
was letting
down his
hand line.
He could
touch the
bottom.
He could
feel the
bottom.
But they
moved further
out to
sea.
And when
the little
boy
let out
his
hand
line he
could no
longer
feel the
bottom.
He
turned to
his dad
and he
said,
surely
this is
the
great
ocean.
And his
dad said
to him,
no,
when you
are in
the middle
of the
great
ocean
there is
no
bottom
or no
shore.
when you
come face
to face
with the
love of
God
and Christ
it is
like a
huge
ocean
with no
bottom
and no
shore.
And the
terms used
by Paul
are calculated
to set
before our
minds the
immensity
and inexhaustible
nature
of Christ's
love.
irrespective
of
background
or race
or age
there is
room in
the extensive
embrace
of love.
There was
a place
for me
states
Paul
the arch
persecutor
striving to
keep the
law and
you go
through the
Bible
and you
discover
there was
a place
in the
love of
Christ
for
Rahab
the
prostitute.
There was
room for
backslidden
penitent
restored
Samson.
There was
a place
for Naomi
who experienced
being emptied
in order
to be
even more
filled.
A place
for Rose
the Moabite
who became
an heir
of the
promises.
There was
a place
for the
woman
there was
a sinner
who came
into the
house of
Simon.
There was
a place
for little
Zacchaeus
the greedy
tax collector
and we
could go
on.
And oh
my friend
the wonder
is there
is a
place for
you and
the likes
of you
and me.
Does that
not humble
you if
you find
yourself this
evening in
the embrace
of this
love?
For you
do not
possess
knowledge of
anyone like
you possess
of your
own self.
love of
the
love of
the
love of
the
judgments
of a
heart
that is
deceitful
and
desperately
wicked.
But even
with impaired
biased knowledge
of self
you know
if you are
in Christ
this evening
you never
deserved a
place
in the
all
embraces
all
enveloping
love
of the
son of
God
that took
you in
as a
neglected
helpless
orphan
without
resources
for in
his
eyes
we
were
unseemly
and loathsome
objects.
And the
words that
you find in
the prophecy
of Ezekiel
we were
lying
in our
own
blood
when he
looked on
us
in love
and said
to us
live.
Christ's
love then
is not
some
abstract
concept.
It is a
passionate
affection
that has
been expressed
through
sacrificial
action.
Many
waters
the Bible
says
cannot
quench
love
neither
can
floods
drown
it
and
that
is
certainly
true
of the
love
of
God
in
Christ.
The
person
loved
a
hell
deserving
sinner.
The
proof
of his
love
he gave
himself
the
person
who
loved
the
Son
of
God
and
finally
the
time
is
going
the
power
of
love.
We
can
say
that
the
love
spoken
of
by
Paul
wells
up
from
within
the
divine
being
and
it
flows
towards
loveless
lives
with
such
power
that
they
are
constrained
to
no
longer
live
selfishly
for
themselves
but
to
selflessly
devote
their
lives
in
reciprocal
love
to
the
one
who
loved
them.
They
are
motivated
controlled
by
the
love
of
Christ.
They
are
under
the
dominion
of
the
expulsive
power
of
a
new
affection.
That's
why
they
follow
the
Lord.
That's
why
they
love
coming
to
the
table
of
the
gospel.
You
relish
the
food
and
drink
provided
on
the
table
that
nourishes
your
soul,
satiates
your
appetite,
and
strangely
at the
same
time,
it
whets
your
appetite
for
even
more
of
the
same
provision.
Because
under
the
motivating
power
of
the
love
of
the
Son
of
God,
this
has
become
true.
Just
as it
was
true
of
the
life
I
now
live
in
the
flesh,
I
live
by
faith
in
the
Son
of
God
who
loved
me
and
gave
himself
for
me.
And
is
that
not
why?
You
come
to
his
own
table,
to
the
Lord's
table,
as
you
express
your
deep
indebtedness
to
him,
but
also
your
anticipation
and
expectation
of
his
coming
to
take
you
to
be
forever
with
himself.
But
what,
my
friend,
if that
is not
true of
you
tonight?
What
if you
are a
stranger
to
the
love
of
God
and
Christ?
What
if you
have
never
been
constrained
by
this
power
that
turns
lives
around
and
makes
them
live
for
the
one
who
loved
them
and
gave
himself
for
them?
Oh,
may
God
grant
that
you
come
to
know
this
person
in
your
life
and
that
is
love
works
mightily
and
powerfully
in
your
heart.
The
person
who
loved
one
from
all
eternity
was
immersed
in
love
as
the
beloved
son.
He
came
from
a
world
of
love.
He
came
from
a
world
of
love.
The
love
that
exists
between
the
persons
of
the
glorious
Trinity.
The
proof
of
his
love
he
gave
himself.
The
only
sacrifice
that
could
accomplish
redemption.
The
person
loved
me
says
Paul
and
everyone
who
has
been
united
to
Jesus
through
faith
in
his
name.
Me
the
unworthy
undeserving
sinner.
The
power
of
love
they
might
no
longer
live
for
themselves
but
for
him
who
for
their
sake
died
and
was
raised
again.
Let
us
pray.
Oh
eternal
and
ever
blessed
one.
There
is so
much
in the
little
text
before
us
this
evening.
and
eternity
will
never
exhaust
the
wonder
and
astonishment
of the
lives
of the
redeemed
as
they
constantly
focus
and
contemplate
on the
one who
loved
them
and
gave
himself
for
them.
Oh
that
each
one of
us
this
evening
might
be
able
to
make
the
same
admission
and
the
glory
shall
be
thine.
In
Jesus'
name
we
ask
it.
Amen.
Let
us
conclude
by
singing
to
God's
praise
from
Psalm
108
page
146
of the
psalm
book.
Psalm
108
page
146
O
Lord
God
my
heart
is
steadfast
and
with
all
my
soul
I'll
sing
harp
and
lyre
I
will
awaken
and
my
song
the
dawn
will
bring
Lord
my
God
among
the
nations
I
will
ever
give
you
praise
in
the
midst
of
all
the
peoples
I
will
sing
of
you
always
for
your
steadfast
love
is
boundless
greater
than
the
heavens
high
and
your
faithfulness
towards
us
reaches
even
to
the
sky
far
above
the
highest
heavens
be
exalted
O
my
God
and
through
all
the
earth
around
us
let
your
glory
spread
abroad
let
us
sing
these
verses
in
conclusion
O
Lord
God
my
heart
is
steadfast
O
Lord
God
my
heart
is
steadfast
and
with
all
my
soul
I
will
sing
Harp
and
light
I
will
awaken
and
my
song
the
dawn
will
bring
Lord
my
God
among
the
nations
I
will
ever
give
you
praise
in
the
midst
of
all
the
peoples
I
will
sing
of
you
always
!
for
your
steadfast
love
is
boundless
greater
than
the
heavens
high
and
your
faithfulness
towards
us
reaches
even
to
the
sky
!
But
above
the
highest
heavens
be
exalted
O
my
God
and
through
all
the
earth
around
us
let
your
glory
spread
the
Lord
now
may
the
grace
of
the
Lord
Jesus
Christ
the
love
of
God
the
Father
fellowship
and
communion
of
the
Holy
Spirit
rest
on
and
abide
with
you
all
now
and
forever
Amen
may