[0:00] Well good evening and a warm welcome to the service this evening, those who are tuning in on the live stream, those who may be listening in on the telephone. Again it's good for us to be able to come together and to worship God and again let me say a warm welcome to those who are joining us from Dingwall and Strathpeffer Free Church this evening.
[0:22] I'm not going to go over the intimations that I spent time going through this morning but one that I omitted to give this morning was that the Kirk Session will meet for a Kirk Session meeting this coming Tuesday at half past seven on Zoom.
[0:40] So half past seven this Tuesday the Kirk Session will meet and an email will go out to that effect tomorrow just as a reminder. Well let's begin this time of worship and we'll sing to God's praise or Adam will sing to God's praise and you'll be able to sing in your own homes and we can follow through in this text here.
[1:01] Psalm 143 and from verses 1 to verse 7. This is the psalm that we come to in our studies having gone through this altar over some time.
[1:12] Lord hear my prayer attend my suits and in thy faithfulness give thou an answer unto me and in thy righteousness thy servant also bring thou not in judgment to be tried because no living man can be in thy sight justified.
[1:29] Down to the end of verse 7 to God's praise. Lord hear my prayer attend my suits and in thy faithfulness give thou an answer unto me and in thy righteousness thy righteousness.
[2:02] My servant also bring thou not in judgment to be tried because no living man can be in thy sight justified.
[2:25] For then my heart pursued my soul my life to ground down tread.
[2:38] In darkness he hath made me dwell as who have long been dead.
[2:51] My spirit is therefore overwhelmed in me perplexedly.
[3:03] Within me is my very heart amazed wondrously.
[3:15] I call to mind the days of old to meditate I use.
[3:29] On all thy works upon the deeds I of thy hands do muse.
[3:41] My hands to thee I stretch my soul thus as dry land for thee.
[3:53] His law to hear my spirit fails hide not thy face from me.
[4:07] Let's unite our hearts now in prayer. Let's pray.
[4:19] Let's pray.
[4:49] Let's pray. Let's pray. Let's pray.
[5:19] Let's pray. Let's pray. trust in him we thank you that you are the God who does not hide your face from us but you're the one who who reveals yourself to us we thank you that we are able to know you and we know that we have been made our heart's desire is to know you that's where our contentment that's where our satisfaction lies as we so often think on the these words of Augustine our hearts are restless until they find rest in thee and so we pray at the end of this Lord's day that we would find that rest and that peace and that contentment and that joy in your presence we thank you that this is the Lord's day it's the day that we remember that the Savior died so that our sins could be taken away and the Savior rose again so that we can be given the hope of everlasting life when we are trusting in him and we pray Lord that you would press these gospel truths deep into our hearts that we would not simply think for a moment upon them but that we would with the psalmist remember and meditate and consider the works of God we thank you for the cross that's where we see the the fullness of your work of salvation on our behalf and we thank you that that's where we see the fullest expression of your love for us and we pray that we would never drift from that cross but that we would survey it regularly that day by day we would humble ourselves and be found at the foot of that cross at the foot of that cross that we would seek the cleansing from sin that our souls need as we travel through this world and that we would have our perspective sharpened that we would remember that we are here only for a while we have no continuing city here but we go to a city that Jesus has prepared for those who love him one that is to come for those who are in Christ again Lord we pray for any who may be watching who may be listening who are not yet in Christ we pray for those in our families those of our friends those that we can think of in the community who are outside of Christ and we pray that you would work in the lives of each person that comes to our mind even now that you would awaken souls we know that we are not those who seek God in and of ourselves it is the Holy Spirit who awakens us and who causes us to see our sin and to look to Jesus and so we pray that the work of the Holy Spirit may be evident in our lives in our hearts in the side of worship in our families amongst our friends in our community and across this nation and all nations we pray that this would be a day of your right hand a day where many are caused to look to Jesus we pray for those who are in particular need of the touch of Christ this evening those who feel a struggle even in their physical being we think of Nanny this evening known to so many of us in the congregation
[9:19] and we pray for her as she's been taken to a hospital today we ask Lord that those who care for her would be given compassion and would be given great wisdom that as they try to understand what is making her feel ill and as they try to set a course of treatment if necessary Lord that you would give them wisdom and we pray that Nanny would know your presence that she would know your peace we pray for your hand upon our family also we pray on for those who are grieving we're conscious of those in our own locality who are struggling with grief we're conscious of those in the Dingwall and Strathperford congregation as well who are much aware of that sense of loss at this time and for those who grieve we pray that you would comfort them we pray for our young people at this time who may be anxious about the present and the future those who are struggling in their homes with schooling those who are perhaps fearful about assessments and the future those who may feel somewhat isolated from their friends and we ask that you would draw near to them we pray Lord for the very young and through the years of youth the teenage years we pray that they would remember you that they would trust you that the young ones would walk with you from the days of the youth through all the days of their lives we pray for those who teach them in school and in Sunday school in YF we pray that at this difficult time in this difficult season that you would that they would come to you that they would not be hindered but that they would come to you and know the touch of the Saviour so we pray for those who are young we pray for those who are older in their homes and care homes and Harris House and Leverborough and different care homes that we can think of pray for those who are in hospital we pray for those who are in the middle years many who may be healthy and who may want for nothing in terms of the material things of this world and yet who may not yet have Christ who may know the many pressures that this world places upon them to come this way and that way pressures that sometimes distract us from the call of Christ and so we pray for those in these years where there are many demands we ask that the troubles of this world would not take our eyes off Jesus and that we would seek first Lord your kingdom your righteousness and all these other things that preoccupy us we pray that you would order them in the right place we ask that you would bless us in this hour of worship that you would speak to us and meet with us and reveal yourself to us and we are mindful of those who are not able to meet as we are we think of Christians across the world and places where the name of Christ is not allowed to be mentioned we pray for the persecuted church we read stories about
[12:54] Christians persecuted in Pakistan and India and Cameroon we pray for Christians in North Korea we pray for Christians in Eritrea where we hear many stories that are harrowing and we ask Lord that you would give them courage that you would have your hand upon them we know that when the church is most persecuted often there is the greatest growth and the greatest vitality and so we pray for your people as they struggle we pray for places like China as well where there has been these campaigns to close down churches both physically and virtually we thank you for the freedom that we have to be able to broadcast and to tune in and to hear the message of the gospel we pray that you would sustain your people who are these opportunities are denied them and we ask that they would be enabled to meet with you and with each other through whatever means are available so hear our prayers take away our sin lead us and guide us by the Holy Spirit we pray cleanse us from sin empty us of all that would seek to elevate ourselves and may
[14:20] Christ and him alone be lifted up may we be drawn to him for we pray these things in his name and for his sake amen well if you could turn in your bibles please to to psalm 143 the psalm that we sang we've been going through the psalter now for quite some time for the benefit of those who are tuning in tonight just as a as a one-off we've spent quite a long time going through the psalter sunday evenings and wednesday evenings prior to that and we come to psalm 143 in the course of our studies this evening so we'll read this psalm this is a psalm of david oh lord hear my prayer listen to my cry for mercy in your faithfulness and righteousness come to my relief do not bring your servant into judgment for no one living is righteous before you the enemy pursues me he crushes me to the ground he makes me dwell in darkness like those long dead so my spirit grows faint within me my heart within me is dismayed i remember the days of long ago i meditate on all your works and consider what your hands have done i spread out my hands to you my soul thirsts for you like a parched land sealant answer me quickly oh lord my spirit fails do not hide your face from me or i will be like those who go down to the pit let the morning bring me word of your unfailing love for i have put my trust on you show me the way i should go for to you i lift up my soul rescue me from my enemies oh lord for i hide myself in you teach me to do your will for you are my god may your good spirit lead me on level ground for your name's sake oh lord preserve my life and your righteousness bring me out of trouble and your unfailing love silence my enemies destroy all my foes for i am your servant amen and may god bless that reading of his word to us we'll read just a short section as well from first john chapter one and reading from verse five through into the second chapter so first john chapter one and verse five john the apostle writes this is the message we have heard from him and declare to you god is light in him there is no darkness at all if we claim to have fellowship with him yet walk in the darkness we lie and do not live by the truth but if we walk in the light as he is in the light we have fellowship with one another and the blood of jesus his son purifies us from all sin if we claim to be without sin we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us if we confess our sins he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness if we claim we have not sinned we make him out to be a liar and his word has no place in our lives my dear children i write this to you so that you will not sin but if anybody does sin we have one who speaks to the father in our defense jesus christ the righteous one he is the atoning sacrifice the propitiation for our sins and not only for ours but
[18:20] also for the sins of the whole world amen and may god bless that reading also of his word to us we're going to sing again now to god's praise i was torn between two hymns we usually just have the two praises but i was torn between two hymns this evening so i decided we'd just sing both of them and we'll now hear the words of mission praise 975 being sung before the throne of god above i have a strong a perfect plea a great high priest whose name is love whoever lives and pleads for me this all hymn we'll hear this song to god's praise now before the throne of god above i have a strong and perfect flea a great high priest whose name is love whoever lives and pleads for me my name is graven on his hands my name is written on his heart i know that while in heavenly stance no tongue can bid me this depart no tongue can bid me this depart when satan tempts me to despair and tells me all the guilt within upwards i look and see him there who made an end to all my sin because the sinless savior died my sinful soul is counted free for god the justice justified to look on him and pardon me to look on him and pardon me behold him there the risen lamb my perfect spotless righteousness the great unchangeable i am the king of glory and of grace one with himself i cannot die my soul is purchased by his blood my life is hid with christ on high with christ my savior and my god one with himself i cannot die my soul is purchased by his blood my life is hid with christ on high with christ my savior and my god with christ my savior and my god with christ and savior and my god well if you could turn back with me please to the psalm that we read psalm 143 and just as we go there let's pray just for a moment again
[22:21] our heavenly father we pray the words of the psalmist we ask that you would not hide your face from us but we pray that you would reveal yourself to us in your word that we may see christ that we may see our need of jesus that we may see the fullness of the blessings the gospel blessings offered to us in him so help us lord we pray we ask that the power of the holy spirit may be known to us working within us that we may see you that we may meet with you lord in this hour and we pray this in jesus name amen now as we step through the the psalms and even if we dip into the psalms and look at just a few of them we can't help but see that david the psalmist he's so often in trouble remember when you were wee and you were out playing sometimes your parents would say to you careful who you're playing with you know don't be don't be playing with them because every time you're playing with such and such you always seem to get into trouble i sometimes wonder if people said that about david careful with him careful about spending time with him because he's always in trouble and that's the truth he he was but the trouble that david found himself in most of the time it was good trouble it was the kind of trouble that we have to expect when we're following the lord it's john 16 verse 33 kind of trouble and david even through a few of these psalms would teach us that if we want an easy stress free predictable safe comfortable kind of life the christian life is not for us if we're following the lord as david was we'll often find ourselves in trouble because we're going against the flow of this world but that trouble that we experience should cause us to be much in prayer and psalm 143 is another prayer of david so we'll spend a few minutes this evening looking at this prayer and the first thing we see in this prayer the first point for those who who know these things down we see or we hear david he's crying out in prayer he's crying out verse 1 oh lord hear my prayer listen to my cry for mercy now sometimes we can be in conversation with another person and we get the feeling that although we're speaking our words aren't actually getting through
[25:42] I think probably in this strange new world of zoom we probably feel that more so than ever we're often saying in meetings I'm speaking but are you hearing what I'm saying is this my words actually getting through to you on the other side of that screen and sometimes even when we're praying we can feel that way we don't feel like we're getting through it feels like our prayers are almost bouncing off the ceiling and there's a sense of that here david is crying out and he's pleading that the lord will hear his prayer it's not an irreverent cry but it's an earnest cry he's crying out that the lord will hear his prayer and listen to his cry for mercy he's looking for a door in a sense through which his prayer will be able to travel to the throne room of god and so he knocks first of all on the door of god's mercy listen to my cry for mercy he says and when we're praying when we're seeking to approach god that is the door that we often and usually first of all knock on and it's right that we do because we as god's spirit works in our lives he shows us our sin he shows us our unworthiness so what do we do as we see our unworthiness what do we do as we see our sin well we do what
[27:27] David so often does we appeal to the lord for mercy to David as he cries out he says to the lord listen to my cry for mercy but it seems that as David continues in this prayer he goes a step on from that he finds another door that he starts to knock on at a door marked faithfulness and righteousness so he says still in verse 1 in your faithfulness and righteousness come to my relief and that might seem kind of strange to us especially when we first read this and we start to think it through it might seem strange to us that we would ask the lord to hear us because of his faithfulness and his righteousness because we tend to think of God's faithfulness and his righteousness as attributes that will shut us out rather than bring us in we think of God's faithfulness his righteousness his justice as things that will bring us into judgment because of our sin and David he confesses his sin we keep seeing this he acknowledges openly readily that there are none righteous and yet he asks the lord that the lord will not bring him into judgment even though he is amongst those who are not righteous do not bring your servant into judgment verse 2 for no one living is righteous before you and so the question for us as we think this through is how is that possible how can god answer this prayer how can the lord show sinners like David and us mercy and yet be righteous and faithful to who he is and what he has said how can he be righteous and faithful and just and show us mercy and at the same time punish sin which is the right thing and the answer as it so often is in the psalms is Jesus he is the one who lived the righteous life that we could not live for us and he is the one who died to be the atoning sacrifice the propitiation the one who could satisfy divine justice in our place so if we have trusted the lord as David did then we can say and we can rejoice in this fact that
[30:36] Jesus has lived for us and Jesus has died for us and Jesus has taken the judgment of God away from us he's done it all so that we can appeal to God in prayer as David did we can appeal to the faithfulness and the righteousness of God we can ask the lord for that eternal relief that we need because of Jesus we heard it sung just a minute ago because the sinless saviour died my guilty soul is counted free for God the just think about that God the just is satisfied to look on him to look on Jesus and pardon me and really the words of that hymn it's the
[31:43] New Testament version of the argument that David is developing in Psalm 143 it's a legal argument that would be worked out in fullness on the cross of Christ and this is the argument that we bring to God in prayer as we cry out to him yes we cry out that God would be merciful to us as we confess our own sin as we must but we also cry out and ask the lord to be faithful and righteous to who he is and what he has done in Christ as we look at the finished work of Christ at Calvary and I wonder we don't know but I wonder if John the apostle had this psalm in his mind when he was writing 1st John chapter 1 and verse 9 these verses that we read a moment ago if we confess our sins he is faithful and just same words and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness so that's where the psalm begins
[33:07] David in this predicament in this time of trouble he's crying out to God he's he's seeking the Lord's mercy and he's asking that the Lord will be faithful and righteous and not leading him into judgment but in showing him mercy and showing him salvation second point here is we we see or we hear through David that he he's under the crush of the enemy so there's the crush of the enemy that's our second point verse three the enemy pursues me he crushes me to the ground he makes me dwell in darkness like those long dead so my spirit grows faint within me my heart within me is dismayed and there are echoes in this psalm psalm 143 of the previous psalm in these verses we studied psalm 142 last week and we hear echoes of that in this psalm also and it leads many of the commentators to believe that this psalm was possibly composed at the same time that the previous psalm was composed when David was in the cave and he's seeking refuge from the pursuing enemy
[34:28] Saul he's dwelling in darkness literally he is experiencing that faintness of spirit that deep dismay he's he's felt it in the past he's written of it in psalm 142 and he's feeling it again in the present as he expresses this in psalm 143 he feels the crush of the enemy he writes about it now who was David's enemy well in one sense it was it was King Saul he was the one that was pursuing David but behind King Saul as he pursued David was actually Satan seeking to crush the Lord's servant David it just as he had from the beginning we think back to the promise in Genesis chapter 3 verse 15 we have that prophecy that the enemy he would he would seek to crush the heel of the saviour but the saviour would crush the head of the serpent of the enemy and so we see or we get that sense that David is feeling that crushing of the enemy at this point in his life and in his experience and perhaps the point in application for us or one of the points in application for us here is just to be realistic about the fact that the enemy of our souls he's always in pursuit of us he's always seeking to pull us down he's always prowling about as Peter warned us of he's prowling around like a roaring lion seeking whom he can devour the apostle
[36:27] Paul reminds us in Ephesians chapter 6 and verse 12 we wrestle he says not against flesh and blood but against principalities against powers against the rulers of the darkness of this world against spiritual wickedness in high places our battle says the apostle Paul is not against flesh and blood flesh and blood can be used people can be used by the enemy as souls we can sometimes be used by the enemy we know that but our battle the battle that comes at us from the outside and the battle that we sometimes experience on the inside is with the devil he's the one who seeks to crush I think the encouragement for us to keep hold of is to remember that our enemy the devil he is defeated and because he is defeated although we may feel with David that we are being squeezed even crushed we have the assurance we have the promise that we won't be destroyed he is the one who will be destroyed but those who are in
[37:59] Christ will be protected 2 Corinthians chapter 4 verse 8 and 9 the apostle Paul says we are troubled on every side yet not distressed we are perplexed but not in despair persecuted but not forsaken cast down but not destroyed and David he knew even if we take that verse we see we see elements of this in the psalm David he is experiencing trouble he is experiencing that sense of being perplexed he is experiencing that persecution that sense of being forsaken he is feeling the crush of the enemy but God still holds him it is easy for us isn't it when we are aware of the sense of the enemy's attack it is easy for us when we are conscious of that and feel that pressure and feel that sense of being troubled and being crushed it is easy to fixate on that but David doesn't do that does he he doesn't pretend it is not there he brings it in prayer he speaks about it openly he is honest in what he shares with us from his prayer journal but he doesn't get stuck with that sense of crush and despair he moves on in prayer from the crush of the enemy to considering the works of
[39:50] God and that's the third point that we come to there's the crying out that we hear from David as the psalm begins there's the crush of the enemy that he speaks of that he shares with us in his experience and then he moves on from that to considering the works of God I remember he says the days of long ago I meditate on all your works and consider what your hands have done I spread out my hands to you my soul thirsts for you like a parched land Selah he takes time to consider these words now when we're in lockdown as we have been coming in and out of that over this past period we can sometimes feel somewhat down we were conscious last weekend and speaking about this to various people there was a sense of various folks feeling down at that particular time we can feel isolated from family and friends so what do we do in that situation well one thing that we can do is we can dig out the photo albums and as we look back on happy memories and as we kind of almost relive experiences that were really special for us and in recent and in not so recent days gone by as we think back on that and consider that and remember that we're encouraged as we look towards the future we look forward to this again sometime that's kind of what David does here he takes out the photo albums of salvation history he remembers days of great encouragement when the
[41:47] Lord did mighty things for his people in the past he brings them back to his mind to his memory but he doesn't just allow them to come to his mind for a moment and then move on in his thought process to something else he remembers these days of great encouragement these days of long ago and he more than that he meditates upon them I meditate on all your works he ponders these things he takes time to to mull them over to chew them over in his mind and he does that perhaps until there's a sense of awe that he feels within himself as he thinks upon the works of God he considers what the Lord has done he takes time to to give consideration to these days of long ago to these works of the
[42:47] Lord's hands in creation and in redemption and as he does so as he considers the works of God in the words of Kidna he is already escaping from the prison of his circumstances and his self preoccupation as he considers the work of God as he remembers as he meditates as he considers these works of God it's as if he's lifted and he comes out of the prison of his circumstances he comes out of that dark place of self preoccupation and and his spirit begins to lift and this wasn't a one-off this isn't something that David did one time only we haven't got time but we could go to to to psalm 136 or psalm 18 or psalm 68 or psalm 69 or psalm 89 or psalm 104 or psalm 105 it's just a few examples of scenarios when David did the same thing he often did this he often pressed pause to consider the works of God in the past to encourage him in the present and to give him optimism as he looked towards the future
[44:16] James Montgomery Boyce says why does David do this why does he consider the works of God well it's in order to work through his painful distress and fear of enemies he remembers how God had been with him previously he meditates on that deliverance then he considers or reasons from that past experience to the present if God helped him in the past why should God fail to help him in the present he is the same God says boys and this is not complicated is it in terms of being a prescription for us to help us deal with the ailment of spiritual despondency this is not a complicated prescription we remember we meditate we consider it's not hard for us to understand what the psalmist is doing but it's so necessary for us to do what the psalmist did and we have so much going on in our lives we have so much information coming at us we may be in lockdown but our phones are not in lockdown our TV screens are not in lockdown our tablets are not in lockdown we have information coming at us all the time demanding our attention and that causes us sometimes to fail to take time to remember and meditate and consider who God is and what
[46:03] God has done for us and it's because we're slow to consider what God's hands have done that we can be slow to spread out our hands in prayer and praise Calvin on this psalm says the memory of God's sweet goodness ravishes David's heart and leads him to prayer and the hymn that came to my mind in preparation that seems to follow this formula within the psalm is that great hymn O Lord my God when I am awesome wonder 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
[47:03] God to thee how great thou art and when I think that God his son not sparing 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 then sings my soul my saviour God to thee how great thou art now what are we being asked to do even in the singing of that hymn we're being asked to consider the works of God's hand in creation we're being asked to consider the works of God's hand in redemption and then we are encouraged to spread out our hands in praise and prayer it's a hymn that follows the structure of this psalm in these verses verse 5 and 6 it's a great hymn for dry parched and yet thirsting souls to sing so David here he considers the works of God that's our third point fourth point we hear a confession of faith from the psalmist verses 7 down to verse 10 he says answer me quickly oh lord my spirit fails do not hide your face from me or
[48:32] I will be like those who go down to the pit let the morning bring me word of your unfailing love for I have put my trust in you show me the way I should go for to you I lift up my soul rescue me from my enemies lord for I hide myself in you teach me to do your will for you are my god may your good spirit lead me on level ground now in these verses there 7 to 10 there is a struggle that's ongoing isn't there yes David is encouraged as he's considered the works of god but still there's a struggle that's that's live and is in motion still there's that cry of desperation that we hear from David still there's that intense longing for the presence of god in verse 7 there's a hunger for hope for the the light of the morning after the dark night that the psalmist is going through he's he's looking for it he's hoping for it there's a plea for guidance there in verse 8 there's a plea for rescue and refuge in verse 9 there's almost a sense of a worry and anxiety in verse 10 that he may have drifted out of god's will he's asking for reassurance that he's being led by the spirit of god so there's a lot in that mix in this stanza from 7 through to 10 but at the center of it there is that confession of faith isn't there i have put my trust in you now there are some people whom i believe that god is calling persistently and yet patiently to make confession of faith there are some people and i believe that god is speaking to them because we keep coming to this wherever we are in scripture there's that challenge in this psalm as there are in so many different places to step forward out of the shadows where secret believers hide and to say for all to hear lord i have put my trust in you there may be some watching or listening in who feel this challenge and who respond by saying well i have many struggles in my soul i can lack assurance at times i can be fearful at times sometimes i'm not sure if i'm on the right track sometimes i get down i get anxious i can be worried and once i get over all these things then i'll make confession of faith in christ and david through the psalm almost says to us don't wait till then because you'll never get to a place where there are no struggles and fears and anxieties and spiritual crises the challenge here is that we are to confess our faith now so for some let's for all of us let's hear that challenge let's hear that call of god through david the psalmist whereby we are invited we are called we are commanded to say if we are trusting in the lord jesus i have put my faith in you i've put my trust in you there's that confession of faith and the final thing here is uh
[52:33] we hear uh on the part of david a commitment uh or probably more accurately a recommitment of of life to the lord verse 11 for your name's sake o lord preserve my life and your righteousness bring me out of trouble and your unfailing love silence my enemies destroy all my foes for i am your servant lord and as david's prayer comes to an end here really what he he says is is what we always say in prayer he says in so many words he says i'm asking for this i'm praying this i'm bringing these things to you for your name's sake lord this prayer i'm praying it's it's in your name and it's for your name's sake lord what i ask says david that the preservation of my life the being brought out of trouble the silences of my enemies the destruction of my foes the reason i ask it says david is not so that people will see me exalted it's because i want to use my life to exalt you lord i am your servant i commit once more my life myself my soul my heart to you now before we finish let's just ask that question who is the lord's servant in the most true sense well in the truest sense the lord's servant is jesus he is the servant of god that isaiah speaks about in prophecy in isaiah 49 through to 53 and let's remember as we think about christ the lord's servant that his life was not preserved his life was laid down so that our lives could be preserved and through his righteousness we are brought out of eternal trouble and through the unfailing love of christ that we see on the cross our enemy is silenced as we look to that cross we see our great foe satan destroyed because jesus determined that he would do the will of the father he would be the lord's servant and it's as we look to jesus who he is and what he has done for us that we are given such great commitment or such great encouragement to commit or recommit perhaps our lives to him so let me finish with the words of hebrews chapter 12 let us fix our eyes on jesus the author and perfecter of our faith who for the joy set before him endured the cross scorning its shame and sat down at the right hand of the throne of god consider him who endured such opposition from sinners so that you will not grow weary and lose heart we'll
[56:33] pray heavenly father we ask that as we think upon this psalm that we may be enabled to say with the psalmist i have put my trust lord in you and as we look at jesus and as we look at all that he did as the servant of the lord to make it possible for us to be saved we pray that in response we would say also with the psalmist i am your servant lord and i want to to put my life out for you for your glory for your praise following the course that you have set for us so enable us lord we pray to respond in faith to respond in a way that brings glory to your name and we pray all these things for your name's sake amen we'll hear the words of a well-known hymn to finish it's i think 755 in mission praise when i survey the wondrous cross on which the prince of glory died my riches gain i count but loss and poor contempt on all my pride we'll hear this hymn sung to god's praise now when i survey the wondrous cross on which the prince of glory died my riches gain i count but lost and poor contempt on all my pride forbidden lord that i should boast save in the death of christ my god all the vain things that charm me most i sacrifice them to his blood see from his head his hands his feet sorrow and love flow mingled down did such love and sorrow meet or thorns composed so rich a crown where the whole realm of nature mine that were an all frank far too small love so amazing so divine
[60:34] demands my soul my life my all love and i may the grace of our lord jesus christ and the love of god the father and the fellowship of god the holy spirit be with us all both now and forevermore amen