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 Psalm 126

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 So we're in the songs of Ascent right after Psalm 119.

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 And this psalm is particularly helpful and appropriate in the time that we live.

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 And we are described in Scripture as people who are living in the last days,

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 people who are living in the already but not yet reality of the kingdom of God,

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 the in-between times,

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 and between the first coming of Christ to save us

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 and then the second coming of Christ to judge us.

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 And so Jesus has already, with His life, death, and resurrection,

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 kind of defeated decisively the spiritual forces of evil and sin and death.

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 But that victory hasn't yet been consummated, right?

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 So Jesus' reign has been inaugurated but has not yet been consummated.

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 And so as people who are living in those times,

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 we can also relate to this psalm which was written in an in-between time.

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 So if you look at verse 1,

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 the psalmist recalls a time when the Lord restored the fortunes of Zion.

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 But that time is in the past.

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 And now in verse 4, he prays,

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 again,

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 restore our fortunes, O Lord.

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 So verses 1 to 3 is a commemoration of God's restoration,

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 what God,

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 the restoring work that God did in the past.

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 And then verses 4 to 6

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 is an anticipation of God's future restoration.

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 And the main point of this psalm is that we should commemorate God's restoring work in the past

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 so that we might anticipate His restoring work in the future.

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 So let's look at how the psalmist commemorates the time of God's restoration.

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 Verse 1,

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 When the Lord restored the fortunes of Zion,

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 we were like those who dream.

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 The phrase restore fortunes occurs in the Bible both before and after their exile.

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 So we can't really peg a definitive time period saying this is after their initial exile

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 and then return after with Nehemiah and rebuilding the temple.

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 It's hard to peg.

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 But it is referring to recalling a time when God restored their fortunes from a previous misfortune.

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 So they had probably sinned and because of God's judgment had encountered misfortune.

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 But God eventually restored their fortunes.

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 And so they're remembering how God had done that.

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 And when that happened, they say they were like those who dream.

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 It's really an emotional expression, right?

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 It's like it was surreal for them.

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 It was dreamlike for them when God restored their fortunes.

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 They had to pinch themselves to see if it was real.

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 They felt like their dreams had come true.

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 And then the psalmist continues in verse 2,

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 So notice the complementary structure of verse 2.

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 The first two lines.

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 It says,

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 So God's restoring work among us, it filled us with joyful exultation.

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 And it filled them, the nations, with awe and marvel as they witnessed the work that God did among us.

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 And similarly, as God's people now, like God restores, when God restores, heals, and saves us through Jesus,

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 people see this great transformation and reversal of fortunes in our own lives.

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 And that fills us with joyful exultation.

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 It also fills them, unbelievers in our lives, with wonder.

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 And we become a living testimony.

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 And as the psalmist is remembering how God restored them in the past,

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 he's now filled with gladness again.

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 And remarks in verse 3,

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 The Lord has done great things for us.

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 We are glad.

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 But things are not so great right now.

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 And so having remembered the past of God's restoring work,

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 the psalmist now prays with faith and anticipates God's restoration.

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 And he says in verse 4,

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 Restore our fortunes, O Lord, like streams in the Negev.

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 Negev is the dry, kind of arid southern region of Judah.

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 And during the summer, when they would have drought,

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 the land is filled with these ravines and gullies that are just totally dry.

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 There's nothing there.

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 But during the winter rainy season,

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 just rain pours down and floods,

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 and it fills all these ravines.

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 And it overflows the banks so that literally overnight,

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 lush greenery appears.

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 So it's a really powerful picture of God's restoring work,

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 the picture of renewal and revival.

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 And that's the image that the psalmist is invoking in his prayer.

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 Restore our fortunes, O Lord, like streams in the Negev.

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 And then in verses 5 to 6,

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 he uses another illustration to express his faith-filled anticipation of God's restoration.

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 It says,

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 Those who sow in tears shall reap with shouts of joy.

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 He who goes out weeping, bearing the seed for sowing,

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 shall come home with shouts of joy,

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 bringing his sheaves with him.

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 In the ancient world,

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 sowing seeds was often associated with death,

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 because it's like the seed,

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 which is the symbol of life,

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 has to be buried, right?

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 It's like dying.

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 So that's why Paul says in 1 Corinthians 15, verse 36,

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 What you sow does not come to life unless it dies.

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 So that's how they understood sowing,

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 the idea of sowing.

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 And the psalmist is using the imagery in the same way.

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 We sow in tears.

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 You sow mourning the loss or the death of the seeds.

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 But then soon you reap with shouts of joy,

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 bringing sheaves with us, celebrating new life.

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 And Jesus himself used this metaphor to describe his own life in ministry.

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 In John chapter 12, verses 23-24,

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 It says,

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 So Jesus was the grain that fell and died.

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 He died on the cross to pay the penalty for our sins,

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 so that we might be forgiven and restored to God,

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 so we might be restored like the streams in the Negev.

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 If he experienced death for us,

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 then he was raised from the dead,

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 so that by his resurrection power,

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 we might have eternal life.

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 And so in a sense,

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 he experienced the greatest misfortune,

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 so that he might restore our fortunes,

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 as this psalm is talking about,

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 so that he might bear fruit for us on eternal life.

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 And Christian discipleship,

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 for those who follow Jesus,

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 it follows the same pattern of death and renewal.

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 Jesus says in Matthew chapter 16, verses 24-26,

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 If anyone will come after me,

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 let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.

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 For whoever will save his life will lose it,

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 but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.

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 For what will it profit a man

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 if he gains the whole world and forfeits his soul?

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 Or what shall a man give in return for his soul?

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 It's when we die to our own pride and vainglory,

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 when we die to our selfishness,

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 when we die to our desire to be affirmed and made much of.

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 It's when we die to the desire to be served

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 and instead serve others.

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 It's when we die to ourselves, right,

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 in order to live for Christ,

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 live to Christ, live through Christ.

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 That's when we find that we are truly alive

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 and the eternal life in us flows.

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 And as those who live in the in-between times,

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 in this already-but-not-yet reality,

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 it's our duty to do what the psalmist is doing here,

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 to commemorate God's restoring work in the past in Christ

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 so that we might anticipate God's ultimate restoring work

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 through Christ in the future.

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 And to remember that we will soon be filled with shouts of joy,

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 as it says here.

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 Note the threefold repetition of that phrase,

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 shouts of joy,

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 in verses 2, 5, and 6.

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 It's a great expression that conveys

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 this unexpressed, like squealing joy, right?

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 It's like this shouts of joy.

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 It's just uninhibited happiness.

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 And that's what Jesus promised us in John 16, verse 22.

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 So also you have sorrow now,

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 but I will see you again,

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 and your hearts will rejoice,

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 and no one will take your joy from you.

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 In this world,

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 and it's very evident now

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 with what's going on with the pandemic,

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 in this world we have misfortune, right?

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 In this world we have disease,

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 in this world we have death,

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 in this world we have sin,

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 in this world we have suffering,

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 in this world we have persecution.

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 But by remembering God's restoring work in Jesus Christ,

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 we can pray with faith-filled confidence,

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 like the psalmist does,

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 in anticipation of the consummation

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 of God's restoring work,

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 and when there will be no more tears,

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 and instead there will be shouts of joy,

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 like this psalmist saying.

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 Yes,

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 yes,

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 yes.

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 You can pray with freedom.

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 You can pray with faith-filled mindsaction,

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 like this psalmist themselves,

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 be the vigil,

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 I don't see it problema,

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 but I came with me a дум today.

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 So that's the secret refuge of God.

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 You can pray with me,

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 I think you took me zbouting.

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 You have no believers into letters,

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 and there will be s Back by by saying,

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 which I did not believe today,

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 and I said God will pray for you,

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 and I said God will pray for you.

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 You have no takeaway,

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 Illov coemu.

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 I can do it right now,

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 and I said God can do it.

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 So then I said God will situat Weight.

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83 i Sh балu Mary will see yourself,

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 until I said God willジrige,