Transcription downloaded from https://sermonarchive.gfcbremen.com/sermons/98064/glory-in-the-king/. Disclaimer: this is an automatically generated machine transcription - there may be small errors or mistranscriptions. Please refer to the original audio if you are in any doubt. [0:00] In Zechariah chapter 9. We had the first part of this chapter last Sunday evening.! I will take away the chariots from Ephraim and the war horses from Jerusalem, and the battle bow will be broken. [0:38] He will proclaim peace to the nations. His rule will extend from sea to sea and from the river to the ends of the earth. As for you, because of the blood of my covenant with you, I will free your prisoners from the waterless pit. [0:55] Return to your fortress, O prisoners of hope. Even now I announce that I will restore twice as much to you. I will bend Judah as I bend my bow and fill it with Ephraim. [1:08] I will rouse your sons, O Zion, against your sons, O Greece, and make you like a warrior's sword. Then the Lord will appear over them. [1:20] His arrow will flash like lightning. The sovereign Lord will sound the trumpet. He will march in the storms of the south. And the Lord Almighty will shield them. They will destroy and overcome with sling stones. [1:34] They will drink and roar as with wine. They will be full like a bowl used for sprinkling the corners of the altar. The Lord their God will save them on that day as the flock of his people. [1:48] They will sparkle in his land like jewels in a crown. How attractive and beautiful they will be. Grain will make the young men thrive. [1:59] And new wine the young women. Well, ever since Adam ate that fruit from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, the world has been a real mess. [2:13] And here we are living in that mess. And we are, because of that fall, messes ourselves. Jay Adams, Christian theologian, counselor, he wrote years ago, The first and most important fact to remember about a truly Christian home is that sinners live there. [2:39] Something that we forget, parents, sometimes when we look at our children, that they, like us, are sinners. They have something broken. And something we forget when we look at ourselves, too, if we're being honest. [2:53] We can find that true. Things that we want to do. We have good desires for our families. And they're always being thwarted. [3:04] There's nothing ever comes off perfect. It's because of sin. So we want our children to get along. And we want quick and happy obedience. And we want them to make wise decisions. [3:17] And yet there's this thing called sin. That is always sticking its ugly head. In all of our affairs. But I won't just speak for parents, kids. [3:31] I'm sure you can look at your mom and dad. And say sometimes they don't treat me like they should. Because of sin. But it's not just in families. [3:44] We're not all on that stage. Some of us are empty nesters. Some of us are singles. We don't experience so much that battle for sin in the midst of family life. But you can see it. [3:56] You can see it at school. You can see it certainly in yourself. Where you can say with Paul. The things that I don't want to do. Those are the things that I keep on doing. [4:09] And the things I want to do. Well, I end up not doing those things. I've talked to myself. I've picked myself up again and again. I've vowed. I've promised. I've memorized. [4:20] I've read. I've done all sorts of things. But the things I want to do, I don't do. And the things I don't want to do, those I keep on doing. And so you don't have to be a real Sherlock Holmes to see the brokenness. [4:34] The brokenness and the sinfulness and the misery of this world. It's clear. It's evident. But what's the answer to it? What is the solution to it? [4:46] How do we get out of it? Where do we look for hope? Well, there's as many alternatives and answers as there are people. [4:57] But I just want to think of a couple here. One of our culture's favorite answers to the brokenness of life, of family life, of my frustrations and my sin and what I've done to myself and what I've done to other people is we numb ourselves to it. [5:18] We numb ourselves. The average American, I was totally shocked by this. The average American watches five hours of TV a day. [5:32] That's the average. So think of the worst cases. But the average, five hours of TV, five hours of escape, five hours of numbing. It's that soul. [5:44] I'm going to numb my soul to this reality that I'm living in. Let me just say, I hope that's none of you. That shouldn't be any of you. [5:55] You have a Savior. And so you don't need five hours of TV. Maybe one way of dealing with it. Christians can do this. Or people like us can do this. [6:08] We deal with it with anger, outrage. We see the problems in the world. We see what other people are doing. And so we don't try to hide from it. On the other hand, we drink it in. [6:19] We can't. We're almost obsessed with it. We like to look at it. We like to be angry about it. And it seems like that's a lot of what conservative talk radio is all about. About getting stirred up and stirring other people up. [6:32] About this constant outrage about what is going on. And by being angry, we think that we're accomplishing something. We think that if I am angry, then I am actually doing something. [6:45] And it feeds people's sense of being right and being okay. But like TV, like endless internet, pop culture stuff, endless video games, endless anger leaves us no better off than where it left off. [7:02] It doesn't satisfy it. It actually makes us more empty. More obsessive. It takes more anger. More of all of that to satisfy us. [7:14] And so when we're trying to deal with the world and ourselves and we're broken and hurting, we keep shoveling and shoveling and shoveling. And what we find is it takes so much more now. And the hole is never filled up. [7:27] We're only left more hungry, more thirsty, more in pain. So it takes more TV and more food and more Facebook and more praise and more anger and more sleep and more hiding and more adoring eyes on me. [7:42] More secrets. More control. More religion. More rules. All the different ways that people have of trying to deal with this world. [7:53] But it's never enough. Humpty Dumpty has fallen. And all the king's horses and all the king's men can't put Humpty Dumpty back together again. And so there we are. [8:04] We're splat on the ground. And our yoke is everywhere. And with our hands, we're trying to scoop ourselves back into our shell. And yet, what we find is we just keep slipping away. [8:17] Keep slipping away. Well, that's the context of Zechariah 9.9. That's the context. Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion. [8:29] Shout, O daughter of Jerusalem. See, your king comes to you. Righteous and having salvation. Gentle and riding on a donkey. The Bible's answer. [8:42] Zechariah's answer. God's answer to our fallen world is a king. A king. A saving king. A savior king. So remember this morning we saw, look, there's the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. [8:57] God's answer to our fall in its totality and all the mess that it is, is a king. Is a person. Is a humble, gentle lamb. And so we, we so easily get distracted and we forget that what we need more than anything is a rescuer. [9:18] A savior. We need redeemed to be set free, saved from our bondage. And so God doesn't send us a few practical tips on how to get out of jail. He doesn't bake us a cake with an iron file in it and so we can hopefully figure it out and break out of jail ourselves. [9:34] We are in Alcatraz. And so he doesn't send us a map. He doesn't send us a plan how we can do it ourselves. Instead, he sends a rescuer. A savior. [9:44] And so we don't need a little help. We don't need a good example. We don't need a few good tips. We don't need to know what's even better for us. [9:54] Even though that would surely help. But it's certainly not enough. We don't need more money. We don't need a boosted self-esteem. If only we felt better about ourselves. We don't need more discipline. [10:06] Or just a more supportive cast. If I had people around me, then I could figure it out. But all these people around me, they sabotage me. Well, all those things can be good in and of them, in their place. [10:20] But we need a king. God sends a king. He sends a king to rule over and to defend us. A king to subdue his people's warring madness. [10:35] This king with power that we saw this morning. That he has the power to subject all things to himself. A king to fight for us. A king to crush the serpent's head. [10:46] A king to create a kingdom where we can live in peace. Where we can live in righteousness. Where we can live without fear. A king who can give us laws. [10:59] That in his hands, they're called the royal law. The perfect law. The perfect law that gives freedom. And so that's why Jesus came. And when he came, he preached good news. [11:14] And his good news sounded like this. Repent. For the kingdom of God is at hand. It's here. It's now. He's the king. [11:25] And he's saying, I'm here. And now the kingdom is at hand. And so repent. Believe. Get into the kingdom. I've come to save you. And Zechariah's response to the coming of the king and the coming of his kingdom is rejoice. [11:39] Shout. Shout for joy. So what we're going to do is look at all. Just. We're not going to get very far. I had originally intended to take like 11 verses. [11:53] And then it got squished down to 6. And then it got squished down to 3. And to be honest, it's just going to be verse 9 today. It's so full of reasons for us to rejoice. [12:05] And so we're going to take. You've seen those pictures where they set the exposure on the camera for hours. That's what we're going to do. We're going to take a long, exposed look at the king. [12:19] And see all the reasons to rejoice in him. And so if my prayers are answered and this sermon does what I want it to do. What you're going to do is you're going to leave here. [12:29] And you're going to be rejoicing in your king. And then on some Tuesday. Or Wednesday. Or Friday. This coming week. When you are in deep trouble. Or when you have fallen. [12:40] Your heart is going to turn to this king that we see in Zechariah 9. 9. So look at all the reasons that you have to rejoice in him. The first one. [12:51] He's called your king. He's called your king. He belongs to you. He is for you. The world has lots of kings. [13:04] Great kings. Little kings. Bad kings. Good kings. Lots of kings. Last week we looked at Alexander. He was quite a king. Quite a conquering king. Amazing king. But he wasn't king for God's people. [13:16] He wasn't what God's people were looking for. No. God had promised David that I'm going to send you. Or one of your descendants is going to be to sit on the throne. And he's going to. [13:27] One of your sons is going to have a kingdom that will never end. So this king is going to have eternal life. And he's going to have infinite power in order to create a kingdom that nothing can take it away. [13:40] Nothing can break it now. Nothing can destroy it and overrun it. He's going to build this kingdom. It's going to be his kingdom. It's going to be your kingdom. But as we read the history of 1st and 2nd Kings, it's the history of the failure of the kings. [13:58] If you want sort of just a basic principle for reading 1st and 2nd Kings and maybe even 1st and 2nd Chronicles is how it goes with the king is how it goes with the people. And as the kings deteriorate, the people deteriorate. [14:14] They go down. And so king after king come. But none of them can stem the tide of failure in Israel. Just like they have for generations. [14:25] They were falling into sin. And no matter how many times they were picked up, they fell again. And the land got smaller and smaller and stripped away and broken down. And the people by sliding. [14:36] And then finally they just fell off the cliff. Away from God. But this promise remained that a king is coming. When Jacob was blessing his sons, he came to Judah and he said, Judah, you're going to have one of your sons is going to be a king. [14:54] And the obedience of the nations is going to be his. The scepter will not leave him. Balaam, the false prophet, saw him. [15:06] And this is what Balaam said. I see him, but not now. I behold him, but not near. A star will come out of Jacob. A scepter will rise out of Israel. [15:18] His enemy will be conquered. But Israel will grow strong. And so the hopes of Israel. God had promised a king to come for them. Now, all throughout Israel's history, strong kings had invaded, had rode over their backs, Nebuchadnezzar and others. [15:36] And believers in Israel groaned, when is our king going to come? That's the, it's, we can feel that. We can relate to that. We can understand that, don't we? [15:47] We are longing for a savior to come from heaven. They were longing for a king. And so when is he going to come? When is our ancient and strong king going to come? [15:59] The one that we can shout for. The one that we can cheer for. The one who we can give our hearts to. The one who will lead us to victory. And Zechariah says, rejoice, your king. [16:11] Comes. The one who's for you. Now, I haven't lived a long time, but maybe like no other election I've seen. I know a lot of Christians are saying, I don't know what I'm supposed to do this time around. [16:27] And I'm not here to give you answers. But we're saying, these aren't my people. And brothers and sisters, it's all right that we don't fit in and that we don't have a clear choice. [16:43] We have a king already. A perfect king. Who has our heart. And so every political ad you see. [16:55] Every news report you see. Every campaign thing that you see. It should send you in thanksgiving and praise to God. Saying, thank you that I have a king already. [17:09] So rejoice. Shout. Why? Secondly, because he comes to you. Your king comes to you. Jesus came to us. [17:22] There's so much grace in just these words. We didn't ascend the hills into heaven. He didn't wait for us to be born into heaven. Into his kingdom there. [17:34] He came to us. This is the grace of God. This is the heart of God for sinners. That when he wants to create a kingdom, he doesn't wait for us to approach him. [17:46] He sends his king to come toward us. To rescue us. And so we sing a thrill of hope. The weary world rejoices. Here's someone that's different. [17:58] Here's a savior. Now, there's so many wonderful things about the Christmas story. But at the heart of all of it is God was drawing near to man. God was coming close to man. [18:11] God was identifying with man. And so the son of God came to us. He didn't wait for us to be born into heaven. He was born into this world. And so he was born into the darkness. [18:23] And into the despair. Into the Satan ruled world that we live in. He came into this sin cursed world. He came to us. [18:35] And he came running to us. And he broke down every barrier. And he crossed every river. And he climbed every mountain to get to us. And can I just say that he still comes to us? [18:47] He's still the one who draws near to us. So he came in the incarnation. He came on that Palm Sunday that this is literally fulfilled at. [19:00] But surely this verse isn't a one or two time thing. But this passage is a summary of the whole gospel story. [19:14] It's a summary of the Lord Jesus' whole ministry. Who he is for us. He's the king. He's God's king that comes close to his people. And so who is he? [19:25] Who is he for us right now? Well he's our king that comes to us in the middle of all this brokenness. In the middle of all the frustrations that you're experiencing. In the middle of the family pain. [19:36] Of the work pain. Of the loneliness. Of the personal sin and temptations. The guilt. The shame. The power of remaining sin. Here's the help that you need. [19:50] Here's the help that you need. Here's God's answer for you. Here's God's answer for you. Rejoice your king comes to you. With saving power. With great love. [20:01] And so Jesus is now here. Moving toward his people. And all of his saving might. And so what do our families need? What do you need personally? What do our workplaces need? [20:12] What do our extended families need? What do lost people need? What do we need in our fight against sin? In our tiredness? [20:23] In our brokenness? In our wanting to give up? Well we need the glorious presence of King Jesus. We need him to come onto the field. [20:34] We need him to draw close to us. And we need to be rescued. And held. And defended. And so I need grace from that throne of grace. [20:44] I need royal grace from the king of kings. Omnipotent grace. Grace that super abounds. Where sin abounds. Grace abounds right over it. And subdues it. [20:57] Grace from his hand. So what do we need? We need him. What do you need? You need him. Him in his saving might. Him in his patient intercession. [21:09] Him in his omnipotent freedom giving grace. That when he comes. Sin must let go. And so. [21:23] Zachariah 9 says rejoice. He's coming. He comes to you. Now three. Rejoice because he's righteous. He is righteous. [21:35] His kingdom is a kingdom of righteousness. So righteous. Righteousness. It's the opposite of the sin. It's the opposite of every sin. [21:47] So in him there's no shortcoming. In your king there's no shortcoming. There's no brokenness. Like Pastor John said. Jesus is that perfect example. [22:00] Of Psalm 1. Of a tree. Fruitful. He's brimming with life. He's brimming with fruit. He's overflowing. And so in him he's this righteous king. [22:12] Full of life. Full of righteousness. And so in him there's no subtle rebellion. In him there's no selfishness. There's no bent inness with him. [22:23] Jesus never once asked. Only and exclusively. What's in it for me. He has the heart of his people. They're on his heart. [22:36] And so there's no divided heart with King Jesus. No divided heart. He loves God with all of his heart. With all of his mind. With all of his soul. [22:47] With all of his strength. And he loves his people. Like he loves himself. And so he is full of love. And joy. And peace. [22:58] And patience. And kindness. And goodness. And faithfulness. And gentleness. And self-control. And in his heart. Love binds all of those virtues together. [23:09] In perfect harmony. So not a single one of them. Goes to seed. And turns to something that it shouldn't. Love binds it all together. In perfect harmony. [23:19] In Philippians. Paul prays. That their love may abound more and more. In knowledge. In depth of insight. Sometimes in love. We don't know what to do. [23:30] And sometimes in our lack of love. We choose foolish things. We don't do the right thing. Because we don't understand. We don't understand our kids. We don't understand our parents. [23:41] We don't understand our friends. We don't understand our family. We don't understand those people. But in Christ's heart. His love abounds. In knowledge. In depth of insight. [23:51] When he sees a person. He knows exactly what that person needs. In love. And how to do it. In the most loving way. And so that's the king that comes to you. [24:02] Full of love. Perfect in righteousness. And because he is this king of righteousness. He uses his kingly power. To spread righteousness. [24:14] To make his kingdom. A kingdom of righteousness. So whoever comes into the sphere. Of his kingdom. Comes under the power. Of his righteousness. [24:28] And so his rule. In my life. Becomes my salvation. Instead of his rule. Working against me. His rule works for my good. And his rule becomes. [24:40] My salvation from sin. Because he's working righteousness. In his kingdom. And if there's some sin in me. His righteous rule is going to work it out. It's going to get rid of it. [24:51] And so his rule is my salvation. From the presence of sin. Someday. It's going to be my deliverance. From all the ravishing effects of sin. [25:04] Because he works righteousness. For all the oppressed. And at one time. We are all oppressed under sin. And he works righteousness. For all the oppressed. And he exerts his righteous authority. [25:15] And when he does. His people are saved. And so his rule. Becomes my holiness. It's not that I don't have a part to play. But his sovereign rule. [25:26] Breaks the power of sin in my life. His rule defends me. His righteous rule. Produces righteousness in me. It saves me from my enemies. It makes sure that everything is working for my good. [25:40] Because he is a righteous king. And so rejoice. He's not like every other king. Every other king. Either fell into it. Or they took it by force. [25:51] And now they use their kingdom to feather their hat. To do what they want for themselves. He's not like that. He's righteous. [26:02] All the way through. Right to the bottom. He's good. And that's good news for his people. So Zachariah says rejoice. Your king is righteous. [26:14] Well rejoice. Why? For he has salvation. He has salvation. He's come to save. Now every politician pretends to be a savior. Maybe in their own minds they think they are. [26:27] Maybe they think they're the answer. I don't know. Just listen to some of these presidential slogans. I just looked them up on Wikipedia. These are some of the presidential slogans of the past centuries. [26:42] Make America great again. Well that's pretty new. Basically I'm going to save us from our mediocrity. Another one. Patriotism. Protection. Prosperity. [26:54] Happy days are here again. It's morning again in America. All those things are saying I'll protect you. I'll bring prosperity. [27:05] I'll give you a new start. Those are salvation words. Those are words that are hitting where we desperately feel like there's something wrong. [27:18] But the world goes on. If we're a nation and there's presidential elections a hundred years from now, politicians are going to be saying the same sorts of things. The world goes on. [27:31] Too broken. Too far gone. There's something too wrong in the heart of man for any politician to fix. But Zacharias says rejoice. [27:42] Your king comes and he has salvation. He has salvation. King Jesus was born to save. He was born for this. Born for this. [27:53] His name is Jesus because he's going to save his people from their sin. And he came to save us not just from the symptoms of our sin. He did come to save us from the symptoms of our sin. [28:04] You know, things like broken hearts and broken homes and loneliness and all the rest. But he does it by not just treating each symptom. He goes deeper than that. What is the major problem? [28:17] What is the root problem? Why can't politicians fix it? Well, it's because at the most basic level, our biggest problem is we are separated from God. [28:30] Separated from the life of God. Separated and at war against the governor of the universe. And if you are making war against God, it can't be good for you. [28:42] It won't work out for you. And so there we are, our broken relationship with God at enmity with him. And in turn, he is angry with us because we are rebels. [28:54] So we're estranged from God. Children of wrath, under sin, separated from God. So here you are, a rebel. A rebel to the kind and generous God of the world. [29:09] Dead set against his wise laws. I don't like those laws. Or I'll agree with them insofar as they're what I want. [29:22] So I'm never going to obey. Occasionally I will agree. So we're against his laws. We're against his house. [29:34] We're against his son. We're prodigals. Wandering sheep. I did not love my shepherd's voice. I loved far, far to roam. That's us. [29:45] Separated. And not even wanting to come back. No matter how much damage we do to ourselves. We're separated. We're stained. Guilty. [29:57] Full of shame. The prodigal wasted his money on prostitutes and riotous living. Shameful living. Separated and stained by birth. [30:08] By choice. You can't save yourself because you are the problem. You can't save yourself because it's what you've done. But what you can't do, Jesus does. [30:21] Into that desperate situation that the whole world finds us. What we find ourselves in. Where we find ourselves personally. Jesus comes into that and he comes having salvation. And he comes to rescue you. [30:33] So how does he do it? How does he do it? I think there's a little hint. Even in this passage. [30:46] This word having salvation. It's in the passive in the Hebrew. And so. Literally. It says righteous and. [30:59] Being saved. Or righteous and saved. Jesus. In order to save us. Had to go through an ordeal. [31:14] He had to go through an ordeal for us. And he had to go through something to save you. And so he faced everything sinners faced. The separation. The stain. [31:28] Our iniquities were accounted to him. And our filthy garments. They just weren't taken away. He took them off of us. And put them on himself. And walked to the place. [31:39] Of God's curse. Of God's punishment. And wearing our clothes. He went to the place of the skull. And God's curse fell on him. [31:51] So all the opposition. All the wrath. All the anger. Of God. The malediction. Of God. Came on him. [32:02] And he bore it. And he bore it. Until it took his life away. Until he was cut off from the land of the living. Until he was crushed. Isaiah 53. Imagine a flower falling on the sidewalk. [32:15] And a bicycle. Running right over it. He was crushed. For our iniquities. And so. He was beaten. Bruised. Crushed. Cut off from the living. Land of the living. [32:26] Down into the depths he goes. And the oceans. Swallow him up. And mystery of mysteries. A mystery too bright for angels to even look at. [32:39] This is the king. Saving his people. And God sees it. God is satisfied. His wrath is satisfied. Appeased. [32:49] God says it's enough. He's full. God's wrath is. He's satiated. Satisfied. And the executioner puts his whip away. And on the third day. With great joy. [33:00] God the father raises his son. From the dead. He sees. What his king had done. And he saves his king. From the hands. [33:10] From the clutches of death. Now that's our king. He comes righteous. And having salvation. And salvation to offer to us. His death. His resurrection. [33:22] His own death. His own curse bearing. His cross. That's his salvation. And he gives it. To us. And so. Sin is done away. [33:33] If. If. The curse of sin has been born. Then sin is done away. Enmity is buried. The wrath of God is put away. And we're reconciled to God. We are reconciled to them. He is reconciled to us. [33:44] And we are reconciled. To him. So the king has salvation. He reaches into the problem. And he. He goes all the way through. To the very bottom. [33:54] To rescue us. But there's more. Rejoice. He is gentle. He is gentle. The word means. Gentle. Afflicted. [34:06] Humble. Meek. It kind of. It carries the idea that. He is humble. Because he has been through. Humble circumstances. He is gentle. [34:19] Because. He himself. Has suffered. And so this king. He's not a king. Without scars. Without hurts. [34:31] He's not a king. Who only knows. A soft bed. And a full stomach. And day after day. Of good things. No. [34:42] He himself. Has been wounded. He himself. Has been humbled. Afflicted. And out of his great. Experience. Of the full. [34:53] Power of sin. Power of God. He's gentle. He knows what it is. [35:06] And so he's gentle. So dear sinner. And dear unbeliever. And even you. Dear believer. I invite you to this Jesus. What a savior. What a king. [35:17] Gentle. And riding on a donkey. Humble. Afflicted. And yet. Triumphant. Yet triumphant. Victorious. Ready to save. And so. [35:28] Zachariah says. Rejoice. Here's your salvation. Here he is. Take a hold of him. Humble yourselves. Put yourselves in his mighty hands. [35:39] And what you will find is. In his mighty hands. There's still scars. There's still tenderness. There's still gentleness. It's combined with infinite. Saving power. [35:50] And yet. He knows how to carry us. Softly. And so. When sin threatens to undo you. This week. When at. [36:01] 930. You've already blown it. Your day is almost gone. Or it feels like it's over already. Rejoice. Run to your king. Your king was born. For that moment. For that situation. [36:13] To save you. And so. When you're weary. And tired. Beyond words. This week. Rejoice. Your king comes to you. And when you don't know what to do. And when problems are too difficult to unravel. [36:27] You know. Rejoice. You have a king. And when the work God has given you to do. Tastes like a bitter pill. This week. [36:38] Rejoice. Your king comes to you. Righteous. Having salvation. Gentle. Riding on a donkey. And when you're confused. And hurt. Frustrated. [36:48] And misunderstood. And you feel like life has. You've hit a roadblock. Thank the Lord. You have a king. That comes to you. He's your salvation. [37:02] And one last question. What is the command in this verse? It's this. Rejoice. Something for us to do. [37:14] Something for us to do. Rejoice greatly. O daughter of Zion. Shout. Daughter of Jerusalem. God. Commands us to do that this week. [37:27] I hope we'll do that. Let's pray. Heavenly Father. We thank you that Jesus Christ. Is the perfect answer. [37:38] For our every sin problem. For our every problem. For our folly. And for our anger. And for our laziness. [37:51] For our guilt. For our shame. For the sins that other people have done to us. For the hurts and the frustrations of this world. [38:03] Of just living in a world. For our sins. For our sins. For our sins. For our sins. For our sins. For our sins. And with sin. And we thank you that the Lord Jesus. Is the perfect answer. For every one of those things. [38:16] That he is our salvation. He is our tree of life. So I pray that we would. Live under his shadow. That we would take our stand. [38:27] Under the shadow of the cross this week. As a great rock. And a dry land. And that we would. In that shadow of that cross. Feel the love of God. [38:38] And know the comfort. Of his unfailing love for us. That our hearts would be one. That our passions would be subdued. [38:51] Because of what Jesus has done. And who Jesus is. Lord Jesus don't leave us this week. Don't leave us for a moment. But come to us. [39:02] Be near to us. And help us to. Be near to you. To not go a day. Not to go two days. Without drawing close to you. [39:15] And finding grace. And help. For this our hour of need. We ask these things in Jesus name. Amen.