[0:00] Good evening and warm welcome to the service this evening.
[0:24] Let's begin this time of worship and we sing to God's praise from Psalm 126. Psalm 126. When Zion's bondage God turned back, as men that dreamed were we, and filled with laughter was our mouth, our tongue with melody.
[0:41] They among the heathen said, The Lord great things for them hath wrought. The Lord hath done great things for us whence joy to us is brought. We sing the whole of this psalm to God's praise.
[0:52] When Zion's bondage God turned back, as men that dreamed were we, then filled with laughter and filled with laughter.
[1:09] When Zion's bondage God turned back, as men that dreamed were we, then filled with laughter. The Lord hath done great things for us whence joy to us is brought.
[1:27] As streams of water in the south our bondage Lord recall. Who so in tears shall reap in time of joy in joy they shall. That man's joy to us is brought. Whence joy to us is brought. As streams of water in the south our bondage Lord recall.
[1:41] Who so in tears shall reap in time of joy in joy they shall. That man who bearing precious seed in going forth doth mourn.
[1:56] He doubtless bringing back his sheep. He call. Who so in tears shall reap in time of joy in joy they shall. That man who bearing precious seed in going forth doth mourn.
[2:14] He doubtless bringing back his sheep's rejoicing shall return.
[2:27] Let's unite our hearts in prayer. Let's pray. Our Heavenly Father we thank you at the end of this day we are able to come into your presence.
[2:38] We thank you that we are able to say this is the day that the Lord has made and we shall and we have rejoiced and we can be glad in it. And we thank you as we have sung that psalm, as we've read that psalm, that not only was the psalmist able to say the Lord has done great things for us.
[2:59] But we are able to join in that chorus and say the Lord has done great things for us. We see in the psalm how your people were released from a land where they were enslaved and a situation where they were in danger and where they were suffering and brought into a place that you had prepared for them.
[3:22] And we thank you Lord that although that is not our experience in the literal sense we we can look spiritually on these things and we see that we are people who were enslaved by sin and yet Jesus has broken these chains.
[3:41] We thank you that the suffering for our sin that our sin deserves has been taken from us by Jesus on the cross. And we thank you that an eternal home has been prepared for us by Jesus.
[3:57] We thank you for the, we think of the words of John 14 as Jesus says to his disciples to be at peace and then points them to the place that he was going on to prepare for them.
[4:10] We know that between that heavenly home and that time frame was the cross. And we thank you for the cross.
[4:20] We pray that we would never drift from the cross but we pray that we would constantly be constantly be looking back to that place where the Lord did everything for us.
[4:31] We thank you that our salvation is not something that we part earn. It's not something that we need to work to retain. We thank you that everything that was necessary for us to know eternal life, eternal salvation, absolute security and satisfaction in our souls.
[4:52] We thank you that it is finished, it's done. And we pray that we would rest in that. And we pray that we would be those who are rejoicing day by day in the reality of that.
[5:05] We live in a world where our circumstances so quickly change. We go through difficult times. We sometimes encounter circumstances.
[5:17] We enter experiences that we didn't see coming, that we find difficult. If our joy was in the circumstances of this life, our joy would be very fleeting.
[5:31] But we thank you that true joy is not based in the changing scene of time. But our true joy is guaranteed, it is steadied in the eternal work of Christ.
[5:45] So help us, we pray, to be ever thankful for the cross and for the open grave. Thank you that each Lord's Day we are given the reminder of resurrection life.
[5:58] The Savior died but rose again, triumphant over the grave. And we thank you, Lord, that his promise was that because he lives, we too shall live if we're trusting in him.
[6:11] So we pray that you would give us faith to be trusting in Jesus. We thank you that when we're trusting in Jesus, our lives are transformed, that we ourselves are transformed, and eternity is transformed for us.
[6:26] We thank you for the hope of the gospel. And we pray for those who are struggling at this time. We think of those who are grieving. We think especially of Donald out at Boona.
[6:39] And we ask that you would draw near to him, having lost his sister in past days and the funeral passing in this past week. We pray that you would draw near to him, Lord, that you would comfort him and the family as they miss Chrissy, as they look, Lord, to that empty place.
[6:58] We pray that you would fill that place with your spirit. We ask that you would be with all who are grieving. We pray on for those who are struggling through this present crisis.
[7:10] We have prayed much over past weeks for the NHS and for care workers. Keep us, Lord, mindful of them. We pray for them just now, those who are in hospitals, those who are at the front line.
[7:25] We pray for the emergency services. We pray for those who are teaching in schools. We pray for parents who are struggling to teach at home. We pray for the children.
[7:36] With all the uncertainty of what they have lived through, we ask that each one of us, that you would meet us, Lord, at the point of our need.
[7:47] And that you would draw us ever closer to you. We pray on, Lord, that you would bless those who have shared your word with us in past weeks at the prayer meeting. We thank you again for Gordon Thompson as he spoke on Wednesday past.
[8:02] We thank you for the work of the faith mission. And we thank you for the evangelistic gifts that you have given to your people in that particular sphere.
[8:13] And we ask that you would continue to use them for your glory. Bless Donny. Bless Gordon. Bless Gordon. And continue, Lord, we pray, to speak clearly through them.
[8:24] And we ask that you would reach many people, that they would look to Jesus. And that's our constant prayer, Lord, that we would be looking to Jesus. We pray that you would awaken those who are dead.
[8:36] We pray that you would revive the hearts of those who are your people, those who are living. We confess that we stray from you, Lord. Sometimes we can become cruel in our hearts.
[8:47] But we thank you that you are able to revive us with a touch. And we pray for that touch even as we have your word open. As we come to you in prayer, as we meditate upon the scriptures.
[8:58] Meet with us, we pray. Touch your hearts. Revive your work, we pray, in the midst of the years. Begin that work of revival in us, we ask.
[9:10] And what we pray for ourselves, Lord, here as a congregation. We pray for the congregations that are around us, the denominations that are around us as well. And wherever Christ crucified is preached, we ask that you would add your blessing.
[9:24] And that you would build your church. And for the freedom that we still have here to open your word and to broadcast these services. We pray for places where there is no such freedom.
[9:35] We ask that you would continue to protect and encourage your people in the areas where the church is persecuted. And we thank you that in these areas where the church is persecuted, so often we see such life and such revival power even.
[9:52] So hear our prayers. Bless your people across the world. Open our eyes that we might see Jesus. And open our ears that we might hear the word of God as we come now to read it.
[10:06] And we ask all this in Jesus' name. Amen. We'll turn now to God's word and we'll read that short psalm. Psalm 126, the psalm that we sang.
[10:20] Again, it's within the section of psalms that are entitled A Song of Ascents. When the Lord brought back the captives to Zion, we were like men who dreamed.
[10:34] Our mowlies were filled with laughter, our tongues with songs of joy. Then it was said among the nations, the Lord has done great things for them. The Lord has done great things for us and we are filled with joy.
[10:48] Restore our fortunes, O Lord, like streams in the negative. Those who sow in tears will reap with songs of joy. He who goes out weeping, carrying seed to sow, will return with songs of joy, carrying sheaves with him.
[11:06] Amen and may God bless that reading of his word to us. Let's turn for a few minutes now back to the psalm that we read, Psalm 126.
[11:20] Sometimes when bad things happen, when we go through difficult times, and when we don't know who directly to blame, we can see that God gets the blame.
[11:35] We hear people say often when they are going through dark times, why did God allow this to happen? It's been said about the coronavirus. Often it's been said on many occasions about natural disasters, earthquakes, floods.
[11:53] These kind of situations when people are struggling and suffering. We hear it on the news. We read it in papers. We hear it sometimes in conversation.
[12:04] Why did God do this to us? People ask. And yet we know it's not just in the big things of global consequence. In our own lives, in the details of our lives, when we go through hard times, when we suffer, we sometimes find that we're looking in God's direction and we're asking the question, although perhaps not speaking it out, but deep down we're asking the question, why?
[12:31] Why has the Lord brought this into my life? We can be quick to look to God and look in God's direction when things go wrong, but sometimes we're not so quick to look to God when things go right.
[12:47] I know certainly that's something I could be accused of. Something bad happens and we look in the Lord's direction.
[12:58] We say, why did God do this? Something good happens, conversely, and we can sometimes be tempted to say, look what we did. Something bad happens, look what God did.
[13:10] Something good happens, look what we did. It's often the way things go, but in Psalm 126, that's not the way things go. The first thing we see in Psalm 126 is what the Lord has done.
[13:26] And the people are very clear about what the Lord has done for them. And that's verses 1 down to 3. When the Lord brought back the captive's design, we were like men who dreamed.
[13:41] Our mouths were filled with laughter, our tongues with songs of joy. And it was said among the nations, the Lord has done great things for them. The Lord has done great things for us.
[13:54] That's the first thing we see, the Lord, what the Lord has done. Now in the Psalm, the Psalmist, he's looking back. And he's looking back with thanksgiving at a happy time.
[14:07] A time when God, he took his people out of the captivity of Babylon. And he took them home to Zion. Babylon was a place that was spiritually dark.
[14:22] It was a spiritually oppressive place. It was a place that was anti-God. And God's people for 70 years were in captivity there.
[14:34] And it looked during these years like there was just no way out. And they suffered in these years. And then, God broke in. And the door, which previously seemed to be so securely locked, God opened.
[14:54] He released them from the grip of their enemies. He took them back to Zion, back home. And likely now, as the Psalm was composed and as the Psalm was being sung, they were in Zion.
[15:10] It's quite possible they were on the anniversary of the return date. And they're looking back. And they're looking around. And they're together reminiscing of all that the Lord has done.
[15:22] And they're saying to each other, remember when we first came back? It's like a dream come true. We said it then and we say it again. It was the Lord that did it for us.
[15:36] These things that we look back on, it's what the Lord has done. They were looking back on what the Lord has done. And that's not something that should be limited to this Psalm.
[15:48] This is something which we should constantly be doing. Looking at what the Lord has done. Think about even the detail of our lives.
[15:59] It's good for us sometimes to look back. We can be very much consumed with the present. We can often have our minds preoccupied by the future. Sometimes it's good to look back.
[16:11] And to remember darker times. And to remember how we prayed for God's help. And how he heard our prayers. And how he answered our prayers. It's good for us to look back with thankfulness.
[16:26] And say to each other, remember. Remember what the Lord has done for us. But not just in terms of the details of our lives. It's good.
[16:38] It's more than good. It's essential. For us to remember the great things that the Lord has done for our salvation. How he has freed us from the captivity of our sin.
[16:52] How he has released us from the grip of Satan. How he has redeemed us. He has brought us back. He has bought us back with his blood. He has taken us from the jaws of hell.
[17:06] And he has given us a place. A guaranteed place that we are trusting in. In the eternal home of heaven. Did we do this? Did we do anything to work at?
[17:18] To pay for? To earn our salvation? Not one bit. Our salvation from A to Z. It's what the Lord has done. His amazing grace.
[17:30] His finished work. His Son, Jesus. His blood that was shed. His sovereign salvation plan. Psalm 22.
[17:41] The last few words of the Psalm. Do you remember? It points us to the cross. He has done it. And so we can say with the Psalmist.
[17:52] In fact we must say. The Lord has done great things for us. The Lord has done great things for us. The Lord has done great things for us. And that's why. That's why we need always to be looking back to the cross.
[18:04] That's why we need always to be encouraging each other. To look back to the cross. The cross is not a place that we go. To be saved and then move on from.
[18:17] We must never drift to a place where we can't see the cross. Because that's where we see. What the Lord has done for us.
[18:28] That's where the fire of our faith is reignited sometimes when it starts to smolder. That's where our love for God is rekindled when it sometimes goes cool.
[18:43] That's where our assurance is received when we become anxious. That's where we find the joy of our salvation renewed. That's where we are driven to worship.
[18:55] And we come again and we look again to the cross. That's where we see what the Lord has done. Second point.
[19:07] We see next here what the people have ended. And still in verses 1 to 3. When the Lord brought back the captives to Zion.
[19:20] We, it's the people, were like men who dreamed. Our mouths were filled with laughter. Our tongues with songs of joy. So what is it that the psalmist is saying here?
[19:35] He's saying that the people, including himself, they worshiped. When they thought about all that the Lord had done for them in their history. They were prompted to worship.
[19:48] They were inspired. They were moved to worship God. They didn't say as they looked back on their escape. How ingenious our escape from Babylon was. How crafty we were.
[20:00] They didn't say, look at what we have done. Calvin says that the unknown author. The unknown author of this psalm. Asserts the deliverance from Babylonian captivity.
[20:13] Could never be attributed to Lady Luck. They weren't out of Babylon. Because of anything that they had done. They weren't out of Babylon because they'd got lucky.
[20:24] They recognized that this was a work of God. And they worshiped him for it. And there's two elements that we see within their worship here. There's reverence.
[20:36] And there's rejoicing. First of all, reverence. He says in verse one, we were like men who dreamed. And that conveys to us that sense of awe. As they left Babylon.
[20:47] As they arrived back in Zion. They were overcome by that sense of awe and reverence. We were like men that dreamed, he says. Montgomery Boyce says, it's hard for us to appreciate anything quite like this homecoming.
[21:01] These ecstatic people had been released from a dreary 70 year long captivity and returned to their native land. And they were so overwhelmed with a sudden turn of fortune.
[21:16] That they almost imagined they were dreaming. And even now as they sang this psalm, as they so often would have. There's no cool, casual remembrance.
[21:28] This was a dream come true, they said. There's an overwhelming sense of wonder in their response to and their worship of the God who had delivered them.
[21:42] And I think that is much needed today. As we come in worship. How much is needed today that we would rediscover that sense of wonder and love and praise.
[22:04] How much we are in need. In a day when we are so easily distracted. How much we are needing to have that sense of awe and reverence as we consider who God is.
[22:21] And how much he has done for us. Think of that great hymn that we so often sing. O Lord my God, when I in awesome wonder.
[22:32] Consider all the works thy hands have made. I see the stars, I hear the rolling thunder. Thy power throughout the universe displayed. Then sings my soul, my Saviour God to thee.
[22:45] How great thou art. When we look out our window in a place like this. How often we should be filled with a sense of awe.
[22:57] At the greatness of the Creator God. And then when we look to the cross. Even more so. When I think that God is Son, not a sparing.
[23:10] Sent him to die. I scarce can take it in. That on the cross my burden gladly bearing. He bled and died to take away my sin. And sings my soul.
[23:22] My Saviour God to thee. How great thou art. These shouldn't just be familiar words on our lips. These should be the earnest, reverent cries that come in worship from our hearts.
[23:39] There's reverence in their worship. And there's secondly here, our rejoicing that we see within their worship. Our mouths, verse 2, were filled with laughter.
[23:52] Our tongues with songs of joy. Eveson, the commentator, says laughter and sin are expressions of joy. When the people were in exile, the people were sad and in no condition to sing.
[24:06] He points us to Psalm 137. Lane does the same. He says, in Babylon, they had refused to sing and hung up their harps. Now their tongues were filled with songs of joy.
[24:21] The harps are off the shelf again. Their fingers are back in motion. The silence has been broken by laughter and by songs of joy.
[24:33] There's rejoicing in their worship. I've heard a few people say in past weeks that the second we're out of lockdown, it's going to be party time.
[24:44] It's going to be the party to end all parties. And we understand that sentiment. We've not had much in the way of freedom. And when there is freedom, people want to come together and to rejoice.
[24:57] But if we think spiritually, because of what the Lord has done, we are out of sin's lockdown. We have eternal freedom. We have forgiveness of sin.
[25:10] As Gordon was saying on Wednesday evening at the prayer meeting, we are forgiven our sin. Past, present, future. We have a relationship with God that nothing can break.
[25:22] We have eternal life. So how much cause we have to rejoice. How much cause we have to share in that reverent, awesome joy that the psalmist directs us to.
[25:40] So what did the people do? Well, they worshiped God with that holy blend of reverence and joy. And I want just to note here, before we move on, the effect of that worship.
[25:56] Look at what it says there in verse 2 still. Then it was said among the nations, the Lord has done great things for them.
[26:11] The nations who were not believing, the nations that were very much against God, could not deny all that the Lord had done for them. There was no explanation of their departure from Babylon other than the fact that God had done it.
[26:26] And so they, themselves, the foreign nations, the pagan nations are saying, God has done amazing things for them. And you know, the best evangelism we can do is to be in true worship.
[26:46] As God's people were seen to be rejoicing and to be in awe of God, the nations, they noticed.
[26:59] Not only did they notice what God had done for them, but they noticed what God was continuing to do in them in worship. The most powerful evangelistic tool is true heart worship.
[27:13] People, when they walk into a church, should see and hear and feel something of that sense of worship. Calvin says that the writer's intention was to encourage extravagant rejoicing, lest forgetfulness should bury the remembrance of God's grace.
[27:33] Today, says Calvin, similar joy should characterize the assembly of the Lord's people whom he has gathered. Now that's what makes an impact.
[27:48] People who don't believe come into company with people who truly do believe and who are in joy and in reverence makes an impact. I think it was Angus MacKellar's testimony that he didn't come to faith through clever arguments.
[28:05] He didn't come to faith through an evangelistic program. But he came to faith in the moment that he walked into a room where there was family worship.
[28:16] And he knew that God was there. There was an awesome, joyful sense of God's presence amongst his people. And someone who doesn't believe walks into that kind of environment.
[28:31] They say the Lord has done great things for them. And then they ask the question, maybe the Lord can do great things for me. If I come to him and trust him and bow and worship.
[28:47] So what the Lord did, has done. Secondly, what the people then did. And thirdly here, what the Lord is still able to do. Verse 4, restore our fortunes, O Lord, like streams in the negative.
[29:04] And in a sense, actually, this verse, verse 4, takes us back to earth with a bump. Up until now, the psalmist, he's been looking back.
[29:16] And he's been greatly encouraged by all the things that he's remembering. But now he looks around. And things are a bit flat. Lane, the commentator says, the novelty of being back in the land was worn off.
[29:35] As they tackled the task of restoring their land to its former glory. See, when they left Babylon and got back to the place that God wanted them to be in.
[29:47] There was work to do. There was rebuilding work to do. And we could interview Zechariah or Ezra or Nehemiah or Haggai. And they would tell us about the slog of rebuilding for God's glory in the land after exile.
[30:03] It was hard. There were times when they wanted to give up. And in terms of the people of God returning from captivity. In Haggai and Zechariah's days, we studied in past months.
[30:18] We saw that although God opened the door for his people to return to the place that he would have them be. Only a small number did. And so many of God's people decided to stay in Babylon.
[30:31] They decided to stay in a place that was anti-God. A place that was very much this worldly that they'd become comfortable in. Calvin, when he's speaking of verse 4, says, Now comes a prayer that God would gather together the residue of the captives.
[30:53] A remnant has returned, but the Holy Spirit would have them pray for those still living in Babylon. Was it fear of the journey or laziness or cowardice that caused so many Jews to remain in exile?
[31:07] Or did they prefer their present ease to eternal salvation? Since only a few availed themselves of their liberty, the prophet requires the remnant church to supplicate God to restore our fortunes.
[31:22] And so that's what they do in verse 4. They supplicate God. They cry out to the Lord. And they say, The great thing is, Lord, that you did in the past.
[31:37] Do it again. Do it again. They're in a dry place spiritually. But they have the faith and vision in the present tense to see what the Lord is still able to do in the future.
[31:53] And so they cry out to him. Restore our fortunes, O Lord, like streams in the negative. We looked at the picture of that and I think it was two psalms back.
[32:07] In these dry, arid places, there were dry water beds. And in the winter, when the rains came down, almost overnight, even more abruptly than that, where there was dry land, there was crashing waters, rushing waters.
[32:25] There was rivers. And then there was green life. A place that had been a desert. And that's what they're asking for. They're saying, What we're living in, in the desert now.
[32:40] We look what, we see what you did in the past. But in the present, things have become dry. Lord, will you move again? Will you bring new life?
[32:52] Will you bring new life? And you and I might feel spiritually dry. We might look around at our nation and see a Negev-type landscape.
[33:04] Scotland, I think it's fair to say, is a spiritually dry, parched land just now. So what should we do? We're taught through this psalm to pray. And who do we pray to?
[33:18] Well, we pray to the God who's able to do more than we can ask or think, Ephesians 3. And what do we pray? Well, here's a model prayer for us in this psalm.
[33:32] Restore our fortunes. Revive your work. Give us that fresh touch. Bring streams into the desert. What you've done in the past, Lord.
[33:44] Do it again. Bring revival. Bring renewal. Awaken the dead. Quicken the living.
[33:59] Do we see what the Lord is still able to do? They could see what the Lord was still able to do. Do we see what the Lord is still able to do?
[34:12] And will we cry out to him in prayer that he would do it again? Final point is what we are still to do.
[34:27] In terms of the Lord's work of our salvation, it's done. It is finished. It is finished. Jesus did it all. Completed. But our work is not done.
[34:43] The work of sharing the gospel. Wierspie says, faith without works is dead. So after we have praised God and prayed, we must get to work.
[34:58] We've praised God. We've prayed. And there to get to work. And it's a calling that was not just on them. It's a calling that's on us. If we are God's people, if we are Christians.
[35:10] And we're called to work. And some might say, well, you know, I'm actually very busy. I've got a whole lot going on in my life. I don't have much spare capacity to do this kind of work.
[35:22] If you're trying to press something onto me here. And yeah, Wierspie, as he continues in that quote, says in scripture, the people God commissioned for special service were busy when he called them.
[35:35] Moses was caring for sheep. Exodus 3. Gideon was threshing wheat. Judges 6. David was tending the family flock. 1 Samuel 16. Nehemiah was serving the king.
[35:47] Nehemiah 1. Peter, Andrew, James and John were busy in their fishing business. Luke 5. And Matthew was in his tax office. Matthew 9.
[36:02] And yet God called him. And he called him to work. We have work to do. According to the psalmist. Sowing work.
[36:15] Verse 5 and 6. Those who sow in tears will reap with songs of joy. He who goes out weeping, carrying seed to sow, will return with songs of joy, carrying sheaves with him.
[36:29] Now what is this all about? Well, I think we recognize the pictures here as we think about Jesus teaching in the New Testament. The gospel, the good news about Jesus is the seed.
[36:42] And we are the ones who have been commissioned to go out with that gospel seed. We are called to sow that seed. To scatter that seed. So how are we to sow? How are we to work?
[36:53] How are we to go out? Well, there's two things here. As we move to that conclusion. We're to go out. We're to sow with tears. Those who sow in tears, verse 5.
[37:05] He who goes out weeping. William Booth was the founder of the Salvation Army.
[37:17] A man who was very much used by God over the years. And there was a story told of one of the workers of the Salvation Army. One of the workers under Booth was working hard in a particular place.
[37:33] And he was seeing nothing happen. And as time passed, he became discouraged. And he decided that he wanted to go and see Booth.
[37:45] And so Booth spoke to him. And began to counsel him. And he asked him the question. When he saw his frustration and he saw his discouragement.
[37:58] He said, well, are you preaching the gospel? And he answered, yes, I am. And he was. He said, are you visiting the people? He said, yes, I am, day and night.
[38:10] And he was. Are you praying for the people? And he said, yes, truly I am. What else can I do? Asked the man. I'm at the end of myself. I don't know what else I can do.
[38:24] And Booth said to have replied, try tears. Try tears. And sometimes that's what's lacking.
[38:36] That earnestness. That tears for the lost. Remember in Luke 19, 41. As Jesus approached Jerusalem and saw the city.
[38:50] He wept over it. May God give us the tears of Jesus. As we go out with the good seed of the gospel.
[39:08] We're to sow. We're to go out. We're to share the message of Christ. We're to evangelize with tears. Tears. Earnest tears. As we consider the reality of the fact that people that we know and people that we love, without Christ they will be lost eternally.
[39:27] We go out with tears. We go out with tears. And finally, we go out with faith. We go out with faith. We go out with faith.
[39:38] Not just tears. But we go out with this gospel seed. With faith. Believing. That there will be a harvest of souls to reap.
[39:49] Believing that there will come a day when we shall come rejoicing. As we sometimes sing. Bringing in the sheaves. Gordon and Bethany were telling us, I don't know, a couple of months back now.
[40:06] About planting potatoes on the hill up behind the house. They went out one day with the seed. And they planted it. And they were telling us about that at the prayer meeting that Gordon took.
[40:20] And I expect soon enough, I'm not quite sure what the timings are, but soon enough, they'll be up at that field. And they'll be looking. And they'll be expecting to see something.
[40:31] They'll be believing that there'll be something to show for their work. And as we go out with the gospel seed, as we're called to. We must go out with that same faith.
[40:44] That God is still able. To convict. And to convert. To seek. And to save. To quicken. And to revive.
[40:56] Sinners. Like us. We pray. Lord God, we thank you for all that you have done for us.
[41:07] We thank you for the completed work of salvation. And we ask that as we meditate upon that. That you would work in our hearts each day.
[41:19] That we would be moved to worship you with that reverence and with that joy. We pray that you would open our eyes. That we would see the fact that your arm is not shortened.
[41:31] That you are a God of mighty power. Help us to see that you are able to do more than we can ask or imagine. And we do pray, Lord, that you would work.
[41:46] We have known times in the past, even in these islands. Where you have moved in mighty revival power. And we believe that you are able to do it again. And we pray as we are directed to in this psalm.
[42:00] Lord, do it again for your glory. For the salvation of souls. For the encouragement of your people. Do it again, we pray. We ask even, Lord, that you might use us.
[42:13] That we would take seriously the call that you have placed upon our lives. If we are your people. To go out with the good news about Jesus. With tears in our eyes.
[42:25] Tears of love for the lost. And with faith. Believing that your word will not return void. But will achieve much. For your glory.
[42:37] So help us, Lord, we pray. In Jesus' name. Amen. We will sing to conclude that great hymn. To God be the glory.
[42:48] Great things he hath done. So loved he the world that he gave us his son. Who yielded his son. To God be the glory, great things he hath done.
[43:13] So loved he the world that he gave us his Son. Who yielded his life an atonement for sin.
[43:26] And opened the life gate that all may go in. Praise the Lord, praise the Lord, let the earth hear his voice.
[43:40] Praise the Lord, praise the Lord, let the people rejoice. O come to the Father through Jesus the Son.
[43:53] And give him the glory, great things he hath done. O perfect redemption, the purchase of blood.
[44:13] To every believer the promise of God. The vilest offender who truly believes.
[44:27] That moment from Jesus our pardon receives. Praise the Lord, praise the Lord, let the earth hear his voice.
[44:39] Praise the Lord, praise the Lord, let the people rejoice. O come to the Father through Jesus the Son.
[44:53] And give him the glory, great things he hath done. Great things he hath taught us, great things he hath done.
[45:12] And great our rejoicing through Jesus the Son. But purer and higher and greater will be.
[45:26] Our wonder, our rapture, when Jesus we see. Praise the Lord, praise the Lord, let the earth hear his voice.
[45:39] Praise the Lord, praise the Lord, let the people rejoice. O come to the Father through Jesus the Son.
[45:53] And give him the glory, great things he hath done. And now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us.
[46:14] To him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever. Amen.