True Humility Produced by God's Holiness

Isaiah 57. We'll read the entire chapter. Please stand together with me for this reading from God's Word. The righteous perish and no one ponders it in his heart.

Devout men are taken away and no one understands. That the righteous are taken away to be spared from evil. Those who walk uprightly enter into peace.

They find rest as they lie in death. But you, come here, you sons of a sorceress, you offspring of adulterers and prostitutes. Whom are you mocking? At whom do you sneer and stick out your tongue?

Are you not a brood of rebels, the offspring of liars? You burn with lust among the oaks and under every spreading tree. You sacrifice children in the ravines and under the overhanging crags.

The idols among the smooth stones of the ravines are your portion. They, they are your lot. Yes, to them you have poured out drink offerings and offered grain offerings.

In the light of these things, should I relent? You have made your bed on a high and lofty hill. There you went to offer your sacrifices. Behind your doors and your doorposts, you have put your pagan symbols.

Forsaking me, you uncovered your bed. You climbed into it and opened it wide. You made a pact with those whose beds you love and you looked on their nakedness. You went to Molech with olive oil and increased your perfumes.

You sent away, you sent your ambassadors far away. You descended to the grave itself. You were wearied by all your ways, but you would not say it is hopeless. You found renewal of your strength and so you did not faint.

Whom have you so dreaded and feared that you have been false to me and have neither remembered me nor pondered this in your hearts? Is it not because I have long been silent that you do not fear me?

I will expose your righteousness and your works and they will not benefit you. When you cry out for help, let your collection of idols save you. The wind will carry all of them off.

A mere breath will blow them away. But the man who makes me his refuge will inherit the land and possess my holy mountain. And it will be said, build up, build up, prepare the road, remove the obstacles out of the way of my people.

For this is what the high and lofty one says. He who lives forever, whose name is holy. I live in a high and holy place, but also with him who is contrite and lowly in spirit.

To revive the spirit of the lowly and to revive the heart of the contrite. I will not accuse forever, nor will I always be angry. For then the spirit of man would grow faint before me.

The breath of man that I have created. I was enraged by his sinful greed. I punished him and hid my face in anger. Yet he kept on in his willful ways. I have seen his ways, but I will heal him.

I will guide him and restore comfort to him. Creating praise on the lips of the mourners in Israel. Peace, peace to those far near, says the Lord, and I will heal them.

But the wicked are like the tossing sea which cannot rest, whose waves cast up mire and mud. There is no peace, says my God, for the wicked. Well, there is none like God.

And none like him in his absolute moral purity. This is what the Bible teaches about the holiness of God. And we've been studying his holiness for six weeks now.

And it's applications to our lives. You can't brush up against the holiness of God without coming away changed. And we've been drawing out the different ways that the holiness of God should change us.

Most radically is the fact that God says, You be holy because I am holy. And so last week we saw that since God is holy, we ought to worship him in the splendor, in the light of his holiness.

And for that worship to be acceptable, it must be with reverence and awe. Hebrews 12, 28. Today, we're going to see that since God is holy, we ought to be humble.

There's a very close relationship between holiness and humility. Thomas Brooks says, The most holy men are the most humble men.

Now, magazine racks in stores are not safe places for guys to hang out these days. So I do not know many current magazines. But a piece of mail came to my box this week that gave me the opportunity to subscribe to some magazines at no cost to me.

And so I looked over a list of about 60 magazines. And there, just before Sports Illustrated, was one that caught my eye. It's called SELF.

S-E-L-F. All in caps. SELF. I thought, that's interesting. And I went online to see more about what this magazine is about.

Here are some of the articles. Talking myself up. True to myself. Make time for you.

Live your dreams. Well, that gives you a flavor of the magazine. It is all about self. It's all about you. And the motto on the subscription card reads, Make yourself a priority.

Make yourself a priority. One subscriber writes in to say, It's my favorite magazine. It's like my Bible. Well, I did not subscribe to this magazine.

And I would imagine that there are some helpful articles in it for us. But the whole ethos of the magazine is clear. It's about the worship of self.

But I don't need 12 issues a year to teach me to be self-absorbed, self-admiring, self-esteeming.

I'm really good at that. And so are you. I could write for that magazine. I've got reams of material just waiting to be printed.

Just waiting to be lived out in my home and in my life and my church. I'm an expert at making myself a priority. Pride runs in my veins.

Self-interest is deeply rooted in my heart. I was born a self-worshipper. And ever since I've been converted, I've been fighting against self.

The promotion of self, the commitment to self, the focus on self, it all comes so easily to me. It's my undying commitment to self that gets me into so much trouble.

So what I need is to learn to humble myself. To forget about myself. To make God my priority. To walk humbly with my God and humbly with my neighbor.

My need is not a magazine called self. I need a magazine called humility. But when you think about it, that's what this book could be entitled.

A book about humility. I bet you found that to be true as you read the Bible. That from beginning to end, it's about glorifying God and abasing man.

Humbling man. That's the theme of the book. God opposes the proud. But he gives grace to the humble. It's the agenda for all the ages.

It's the goal to which all history is moving. Isaiah chapter 2, 11 and 12. The eyes of the arrogant man will be humbled. And the pride of men brought low.

The Lord alone will be exalted in that day. The Lord Almighty has a day in store for all the proud and lofty. For all that is exalted. And they will be humbled.

You see, we're moving toward that day when every knee will bow. And every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord. When the worship of self will be no more. And Jesus Christ will receive the glory due his name.

It is our Lord himself who said, Whoever exalts himself will be humbled. And he who humbles himself will be exalted.

Had any trouble with pride lately? If you dig it all in your heart and life, You'll have to confess that this is one of our greatest problems.

Indeed, it lies at the root of all of our sins. It gets us into all sorts of trouble with God and with men. It clogs up the channel of God's blessing. And it grieves his Holy Spirit.

Whereas on the other hand, Humility is the door that opens up To the grace of God. For he says he gives grace to the humble. Augustine says, If you would ask him, What is the essence of the Christian religion?

What's it all about, Augustine? You spend your life studying the scriptures. Tell us, What is the essence of the Christian religion? He says, I would answer, Humility is the first thing.

Humility is the second thing. And humility is the third thing. You see, It's the essence of the Christian religion. Humility. And so I want, I need humility.

I need help with my pride and self-esteem And self-congratulations. So I'm very interested in the question of How can I become more humble?

How am I to be more humble? Have you noticed that if you just try to be humble, You fail every time? Just the direct effort at humility fails.

You end up with false humility. You end up with pretended humility. And there's nothing more ugly than pretended humility. Pride acting humble.

But folks, That's the best we can do. That is the very best we can do. Just trying to be humble. To have pride acting humble.

The Pharisees would have won Oscar awards For their performance of pride acting humble. And they came under scathing denunciations From our Savior because of it. Remember how he says They love to look humble when they fast.

And so they leave their face all disheveled In their clothes and hair. But when you fast, He says, Don't be like that. They're wanting everyone to know How humble they are.

That they're fasting. That's pride acting humble. Oh yes, Pride can wear very humble masks.

But it's stinking hypocrisy. And that's the closest we can come By just trying on our own to be humble. So Robert Murray McShane knew this And he cried, Oh for true, Unfeigned humility.

Don't you have that in your heart this morning? Oh for true, The real thing, The honest thing, Unfeigned humility. I know that I ought to be more humble But I don't know the half of it.

So humility is not so much something To be directly pursued As it is the reaction, The reflex of the soul That sees itself in relation to the Holy One.

You see the difference? Here's the formula for humility. Know God And know yourself. And you can't know yourself Until you've come to know God.

So humility is just being honest with reality. Reality is God is very holy. And reality is I am not. And the result of considering God's holiness And my lack of it Is humility.

It makes us truly, Honestly, Honestly, Honestly, Humble. If you would be humble, See your holiness in relation to His.

Pride thrives when we compare our holiness with others. Pride shrivels when we compare our holiness to God. And Jesus lived in a time when many people were comparing their holiness to others.

And so He told them a parable. Two men went up into the temple to pray. One was a Pharisee. Very religious man.

And the other was a tax collector. An outwardly wicked man. And they're both in church and they're praying. And the Pharisee prays this way.

I thank you that I'm not like other men. Robbers, Evildoers, Adulterers, Or even like this tax collector. I fast Twice a week And give a tithe of all that I get.

Whereas the tax collector Stood at a distance And would not even Look up to heaven. But beat his breast And said, God, Be merciful To me, The sinner.

And Jesus said to the crowd that day, I tell you that this man, Rather than the other, Went home justified Right before God. Because everyone who exalts himself Will be humbled And he who humbles himself Will be exalted.

One oozed with pride, The other, Humility. One viewed himself Against others, The other viewed himself Against God.

Now get the picture. Here's a ladder. And there's a There's a guy up on top Of this ladder. And he's boasting Over all the rest of us That he's closer to the sun Than we are.

Is there something wrong With that picture? I'm closer to the sun Than you are. Well, What is five feet?

When we both Are 93 million miles Beneath the sun. And so all distinctions Of holiness Between men Come to nothing When we compare ourselves To the infinite holiness Of our God.

And it's comparing ourselves To him That makes us Humble. We never have known Ourselves yet Until we've seen ourselves In the light of his holiness.

We've not had a proper Estimate of ourselves. So if you would be humble, Keep your sights on God. There I find Cause for smiting My breast And asking him Every day To have mercy On me A sinner.

That's where my pride Withers. And even on my best days My holiest days I have more cause For humility Than I do For pride. Did you know that?

On your holiest days You have more reason To be humble Than to be proud. Because even your holiness Then On your best days Is 93 million miles And more From God's.

What flashlight Boasts In the presence Of the noon sun? Remember that all Our holiness Is worked in us By God.

Does the moon boast In the presence Of the sun? No. Because it knows That all of its Brilliance Is but a reflection Of his.

It's borrowed brilliance. Will someone Who's dressed In the borrowed robe Of Christ's righteousness Have reason to boast In his presence? No. Because we know That the brilliant Robe of righteousness That covers us Is Christ's righteousness Given to us.

It is the Lord Who makes us holy Leviticus 20 In verse 8 And so I have No holiness That I've not Received from God It's all borrowed It's all given It's all received Remember we saw That it's the Lord That makes you holy He makes you holy By giving you Christ's holiness On your record In heaven That's called Justification We're made right With God Because God Now views me In Christ And he sees The perfect holiness Of Jesus Put to my account And he says John is holy In my sight He sees me In Jesus But then he's Making me holy In life As he's put His spirit In me To change my heart And to change My ways And to bring them In line with His ways So any holiness In my life Is due to his life And grace in me A branch has nothing To boast over the vine It draws all Its nourishment From the vine And so Jesus

Says to his people I am the vine You are the branches If a man remains In me And I in him He will bear much fruit But apart from me You can do nothing So here is the reason A holy life Is even possible For us Because we're branches In the vine His grace Sanctifying us Making us holy And that gives us Reason for humility Even on our Holiest days Who makes you Differ from anyone else 1 Corinthians 4 7 asks What do you have That you did not receive And if you did receive it Why do you boast As if you did not What holiness Do you have That you did not receive Who makes you To differ From anyone else It is the Lord Who makes you holy Leviticus 20 And 8 Now this matter Of humility Is important to God When Micah the prophet

Writes and summarizes What it is That God requires Of us He's got this question What does God Want from me Does he want A sacrifice If I went out And got all the animals That live in the world Would that be a big enough Sacrifice If I gave the The child That has come From my own body Would that be a big enough What does God Want from me And the word That comes from God Is this Micah 6 8 He has showed you Oh man What is good And what does The Lord require Of you To act justly To love mercy And to walk humbly With your God To walk humbly With your God That's important That's one of the big Threes with God That we walk humbly With him Well where are we To come up with This humility That's what I'm Interested in I know I need humility I want humility Where do I find it Well the answer

Is that God's holiness You see Should help us To walk humbly With God Live close To the humblest And holiest man That ever lived The Lord Jesus Christ Come to the cross That greatest Self humbling And see a man So humble That he is willing To go anywhere And do anything To obey his Father in heaven He's that Holy He's that Humble He'd rather die Than disobey He'd rather endure Hellish torments On the cross Than to displease His heavenly father It's the holiness Of God It's the holiness Of God In Christ That humbles us So bring your Your Your Your pride Into the light Of God's holiness If you would Have it withered It's here That we learn True humility And contrition Of heart And when we're Humble

And lowly In spirit We receive A great promise From the Lord Open your Bibles To Isaiah 57 And verse 15 This whole chapter Was read for us We see Israel Has abandoned God They've gone after Other lovers Other gods Who he compares To other lovers And just about When they're reaping The consequences Of their sins And you'd think That they're All out of Hope He says in verse 10 You were wearied By all your ways You see Sin brought you Down to the gutter But you would Not say it Is hopeless You found Renewal of your Strength And so you Didn't faint You didn't give up You went on In your own Wicked ways And so Israel Is far from The Lord And yet we have This wonderful Prophecy And this word From God Concerning her Recovery And her

Restoration And here's the word It comes straight Out of heaven Verse 15 For this is what The high And lofty One says He who lives Forever Whose name Is holy I live in a High and holy Place But also With him Who is Contrite And lowly In spirit To revive The spirit Of the lowly And to revive The heart Of the contrite Oh this passage Is so precious Because it brings Together then The holiness Of God And our Humility First God's Holiness Who is he He's the high And lofty One He's the only One So high The lofty One There's only One Of him He's not Down here On our level He's lofty And high He's exalted Far above us It's How superior He is to us That's being

Emphasized Infinitely Superior To us He's the Eternal One He's the Holy One There's That word Again We saw He's the one Set apart From all The rest There's none Like him This high And holy One You see The view Is not Downward It's not Comparing Ourselves To other People No The view Is Right up To the Son And viewing The holiness Of God And therefore The response Is humility It's in the Light of this Blazing holiness That we see Ourselves As we Really Are And in That moment Humility Happens And we Become Contrite And lowly In spirit That's the Language of the Text Contrite And lowly In spirit We're not Patting Ourselves On the Back But we're Low Before him Humble Now God's Purpose For bringing Us low Before him Is to

Lift us Up Whoever Humbles Himself Will be Exalted He gives Grace to The humble God is Attracted To Humility It brings Him near To bless And so He says I Have two Two dwelling Places Two places Where I Live You know Some people Have two Homes Don't They A summer Home in Indiana And a Winter Home in Florida God has Two homes The high And lofty One whose Name is Holy Has two Homes And he Tells us About them Here in This verse He says I live In a High And lofty Place Heaven But also With him Who is Contrite And lowly In spirit His second Home is The humble Heart Amazing Isn't it That this High and Lofty One Who dwells In a High and Holy Place Would also Dwell In a Place

So low As a Contrite Lowly Heart Now I Wonder if We get This That God's Best friends Are humble People The crushed The lowly In heart They feel Their sinfulness They sense The distance Between them And God And they're Broken For it Broken Verse 19 Calls them Mourners Oh but Blessed Mourners They are Blessed are They that Mourn For they Shall be Comforted Jesus Teaches Us Yes These Are the The ones God regards As his Closest Most Intimate Friends He has A special Place in His heart For these People Psalm 34 Psalm 34 18 says The same It says The Lord Is close To the Broken Hearted And he Saves Those who Are crushed In spirit

Psalm 138 6 Though the Lord Is on High He looks Upon the Lowly But the Proud He knows From afar He's Close To the Lowly He says In Isaiah 66 2 This is The one I esteem He who Is humble And contrite In spirit And trembles At my Word You see God is Telling us Who his Favorites Are They are The Lowly The Contrite The ones Who tremble At his Word Who are Humbled Over How Unlike God They really Are And I Find that Amazing That none Other than The holy One Is drawn To such To people Who are Broken Because they're So unholy So unlike Him And the Holy One Says That's That's The place For me That's The home Where I Will live And he Moves In For good The holy

One What's so Humbling As to Realize That this High and Holy One Comes To live In my Heart To think That he Who had Every Reason To damn Me Would punish His son In my Place So that I might Be forgiven And become A home In which He lives By his Spirit That's Humbling But notice To what End he Moves In Why does He move In Why does He say That's My home The Lowly And Humble In Spirit He Doesn't Move In To crush Us Further He doesn't Come in To put Us Under His Heel Wonder Of Wonders Notice Why he Comes To dwell In The Lowly I Live In a High and Holy Place But also With him Who is Contrite To To revive The Spirit Of The Lowly And To Revive The Heart Of The Contrite He

Comes To Revive He Comes To Bless He Comes To Give Grace To Give Help To Give Strength To The One Who Is So Broken He Comes To Revive That Means To Quicken With New Life Those Whose Spirits Are So Low And Whose Hearts Are So Contrite Blessed Are The Poor In Spirit For Theirs Is The Kingdom Of God Blessed Are Those Who Mourn For They Will Be Comforted Blessed Are Those Who See How Holy God Is And So They Hunger And Thirst To Be More Righteous Themselves For They Will Be Filled Blessed Are The Humble Ones Because God Will Make Them His Home In Order To Revive Them And To Lift Them Up And To Instill Fresh Life And Vigor In Them You've Sinned And You Know It You've Fallen Short Of God's Standard Of Holiness You've Broken His Laws You've

Clearly Stepped Over The Line You've Transgressed You're Out Of Bounds And Rather Than Cover It Rather Than Conceal It Rather Than Deny It Rather Than Justify It And Excuse It And Rationalize It You Bring It Into The Presence Of This Holy God Now That's A Bold Move To Bring Sin Into The Presence Of The High And Holy One Who Hates Sin Amazing But That's What He Says What Could Possess You To Do So What Could Enable Such Behavior One Thing The Lord Jesus Is Your Great High Priest Because If Anyone Sins We Have An Advocate With The Father Jesus Christ The Righteous One We Have One To Speak To The Father On Our Defense And So We're Told To Come And Confess Our Sins Because We have One To Plead His Righteousness For Us And So With A Humble Broken

And Contride Heart You Come To God With Your Sin You Come To The Holy One With Your Sin And You Tell Him All That You Are And All That You've Done You Hold Back Nothing You Seek His For Jesus Sake You Say With The Tax Collector Have Mercy On Me The Sinner Look On Christ And Pardon Me What Do You Expect To Find On God's Part What Kind Of Reception Do You Think To Find With The High And Lofty One You Know It Could Be That Some Sinners Here This Morning Have Never Come To God Through Christ Because You're Appreciating A bit How Holy He Is And Appreciating How Sinful You Are And For You To Approach This God Might Be A bit Fearful Sort Of Like Jill In C.S.

Lewis Book The Silver Chair She Comes To An Opening In The Forest And She's Parched With Thirst And She Sees A Running Stream Not Far Away But She Still Does Not Run To Throw Her Face Into Its Refreshing Current She Stands Still In Fear For There's A Great Lion Lying On The Ground Just This Side Of The Stream And It Speaks To Her Are You Not Thirsty Said The Lion I'm Dying Of Thirst Said Jill Well Then Drink Said The Lion May I Could I Would You Mind Going Away While I Do Said Jill The Lion Answered This Only By A Look And A Very Low Growl And As Jill Gazed At His Motionless Bulk She Realized That She Might As Well Have Asked The Whole Mountain To Move Aside For Her Convenience The Delicious Rippling Noise Of The Stream Was Driving Her Nearly!

Asked Jill I Make No Promises Said The Lion Jill Was So Thirsty Now That Without Noticing It She Come A Step Nearer Do You Eat Girls She Asked I Have Swallowed Up Girls And Boys Women And Men Kings And Emperors Cities And Realms Said The Lion It Didn't Say This As If It Were Boasting Nor As If It Were Sorry Nor As If It Were Angry It Just Said It Oh I Dare Not Come And Drink Said Jill Well Then You Will Die Of Thirst Said The Lion Oh Dear Said Jill Coming Another Step Near I Suppose I Must Go And Look For Another Stream Then There Is No Other Stream!

Said The Lion Perhaps You've Begun To See The Greatest Problem You Have Is That God Is Holy And You Are Not And That You Are Under His Wrath And Justly So God But You And Have!

!!! And You Want To Come And Drink The Water Looked So Refreshing You've Been So Parched Seeking Satisfying Your Desires And All The Broken!

Cisterns Of this world that cannot hold water. And here's this rippling stream so full of living water. It is Jesus Christ himself. But you're wanting promises.

Well, maybe I misunderstand Lewis, but I think at this point there's a difference between the lion and Jesus Christ. The lion made no promises, but Jesus Christ makes promises to returning sinners.

And he says, seek the Lord while he may be found. Call on him while he is near. Let the wicked forsake his way and the evil man his thoughts. Let him return to the Lord and he will have mercy on him and to our God, for he will freely pardon. You see, Jesus Christ makes promises. Whoever believes on me will not perish, but have everlasting life. Oh, put away your fears of what will happen if I come to this Savior. If you come to him and seek him with all your heart, he will be found by you.

Perhaps that's what you say. You say, you know, John, I've sought the Lord and he hasn't saved me. I've asked him to save me many times, but I'm still lost in my sin. Well, now that's an interesting one because Jesus says, if you seek me with all your heart, you'll find me. And you tell me that you've sought him but haven't found him. Now, who are we to believe? You or him who is truth, the way, the truth, and the life? Let God be true and every man a liar. And we must say to you, though you have asked Christ to save you a thousand times and are still lost in your sins, that you've not come to Christ to drink of him with all your heart. You've been withholding from him.

You've not come, as he says, if you seek me with all your heart, you'll find me. But if you come and want to be saved from all your sins, I'll save you. I'll receive you. You will enjoy eternal life. But you've been saying, this one's for me and I want this for myself.

And you're tucking away your sins in your own heart, holding on to the control of your life. Well, you've not sought him as he's called you. He says, come, come to me.

All you who are weary and heavy laden, I will give you rest. You see, he's promising you what will happen if you come. But you must come. There's nothing good to say for yourself. You must throw down all your good deeds that you've been hanging on to, to make you right with God. And you must see them as the filthy rags that they are. And you must throw aside all your filthy deeds and filthy thoughts and ways and just come and ask him to save you. Do you know he stands ready this morning to save?

He stands ready this morning to revive the heart of the child of God that's roamed far from him. That's Israel here in Isaiah 57, far from God. And yet here's the promise that I have two houses, Israel, and I dwell in a high and holy place, but I also dwell with him who is contrite and lowly in spirit. And I do so in order to revive their hearts, to revive their spirits.

So come. Lost sinner, come. Wandering saint, come. And you'll find his promise true.

This infinitely holy one delights to forgive sin. Did you hear what the Bible says? He delights in mercy, Micah 6. He delights in Micah 7. He delights in mercy. He doesn't just, okay, all right, I'll forgive.

He delights. What do you, what, what do you delight in? He delights in forgiving. He delights in showing mercy to those that don't deserve it. So come to him.

And he will revive your heart with the joy of his forgiveness, with the peace of guilt gone, forever buried in the depths of the sea, never to be brought up against you again. And you'll feel like a new man in Christ.

A new power of godliness, of holiness at work within you. The love of Christ compelling you. The joy of the Lord is your strength. Empowered to fight on against besetting sin.

How often has it been the case with us when we've been strained from him and we've dared to draw near in Jesus' name.

And we found him to come and dwell with us and revive us and quicken us with new life. Happy, blessed life to walk humbly with our God.

Do we get it then? Humility is the way to revival. Stay humble and stay revived. The holy one receives the humble. And God's holiness is the way to humility.

Christian, you're needing to be revived this morning. Truth is, we need to be revived every day. Every single day. Because believers leak.

We leak. And yesterday's manna is not enough for today's challenges. We need fresh grace. We need fresh life. We need to be revived every day of our lives.

We need our faith, hope, and love to be revived. That we might run on in faithfulness and obedience to our God. We need faith to be revived so that we will see the unseen.

Any of you having trouble seeing the unseen? You need your faith revived. You need to see the eternal and live for it rather than the fleeting things that are so temporal and that are seen.

Your faith needs reviving. Your faith needs reviving. Our hope needs to be revived so that we can lay hold of the promises of God and count on them as true and confidently expect future good.

Lest we grow weary in doing good. We need to begin to do the easy wrong rather than the hard right. We need our love to be revived. Love for God and holiness that makes sin so hard to commit.

We need love for our neighbor to move us to love him like we love ourselves. Faith, hope, and love revived. How? As we come and own what we are to this high and holy one.

As we come through his son and we find him to come near to revive us again. He stands ready today. It may have been months and years that there's been growing coldness and distance between you and Christ.

Do you know that today he would revive your heart? Today he would receive you. Today he would welcome you back. Today he would forgive you. You're just a breath away from knowing the kiss, the smile of God in Jesus.

Return to me. When you are with me, I am with you, he would say. He stands ready. Reviving grace is his to give today.

David knew it. When he had sunk in sin and strayed a long way, what was it that drew him back? The realization of the one who is high and holy, that he would receive him and forgive him.

And so he says in that psalm of penitence and confession, you do not despise. A broken and a contrite heart, you do not despise. I know that.

I know you don't. You rejoice. You delight to show mercy. And so David came and spilled it all before the Lord and received mercy and was revived in his soul.

We're going to sing from the overhead. A song, Search Me, O God. It's a song that is a prayer for greater holiness.

It's a song that is a humble expression of our desire for God to come and revive us again.

Sing it with me, but sing it from your hearts. Let's send all pride pretending to be holy. Let's really ask the Lord to come and to make us what only he can make us.

Holy by his blood and by his spirit. O Holy One, how could we come before you as we read in Psalm 15? You're so holy.

Who can dwell with you? But you've revealed to us in your word, again here from the Old Testament in Isaiah 57, that you will receive sinners.

You will rejoice over them to do them good. And so we would dare to draw near in the name of Christ, our righteous one. And ask you to forgive us of all of our self, self-centeredness and self-concern and pride.

To cleanse us from our sin. To make us truly humble within. Amen. To give us that passion. To be like our Savior who humbled himself and went to the cross for us.

Thank you for your merciful character. Thank you that you are ready this morning to receive a sinner for the first time.

Amen. Draw them. Draw them. Draw them with cords of love and remembrances of mercy. Chase them. Chase them with realization of your holiness, your justice, your wrath.

But bring them to Christ. And give them to taste of that sweet mercy found in him. And help us to taste each day afresh.

What a blessing that we can come and start all over with you every day. We can come and taste mercies for this day. And tomorrow wake up to new mercies for that day.

We bless you. We thank you in Jesus' name. Amen.