The Lord Will Build His Kingdom

Well, we read God's word trusting that it's his inspired, inerrant, infallible, clear, sufficient, powerful word for you and me, his people.

And seek me, not seek me anymore in any part of Israel.

So I shall escape out of his hand.

Then David arose and went over with the 600 men who were with him to Achish, the son of Maok, king of Gath.

So David dwelt with Achish at Gath.

He and his men, each man with his own household and David with his two wives, Ahinoam, the Jezreelitess and Abigail, the Carmelitess, Nabal's widow.

And it was told Saul that David had fled to Gath.

So he sought him no more.

Then David said to Achish, if I have now found favor in your eyes, let them give me a place in some town in the country that I may dwell there.

For why should your servant dwell in the royal city with you?

So Achish gave him Ziklag that day.

Therefore, Ziklag has belonged to the kings of Judah to this day.

Now the time that David dwelt in the country of the Philistines was one full year and four months.

And David and his men went up and raided the Geshurites, the Gerzites and the Amalekites.

For those nations were the inhabitants of the land from of old.

As you go to Shur, even as far as the land of Egypt.

Whenever David attacked the land, he left neither man nor woman alive, but took away the sheep, oxen, the donkeys, the camels, the apparel and return and came to Achish.

Then Achish would say, where have you made a raid today?

And David would say, against the southern area of Judah or against the southern area of the Geramilites or against the southern area of the Kenites.

David would save neither man nor woman alive to bring news to Gath, saying, lest they should inform on us, saying, thus David did.

And thus was his behavior all the time he dwelt in the country of the Philistines.

So Achish believed David, saying, he has made his people Israel utterly abhor him.

Therefore, he will be my servant forever.

The word of God for the people of God.

Thanks be to God.

Please be seated.

Amen.

Let's pray.

Lord, we trust your promise.

What Jesus said.

That all of the scriptures, all of the Old Testament, every part of it testifies of him.

Lord, we confess that the gospel is often a mystery.

It's a revelation that you need to unveil for us.

And Lord, I ask that you'll be pleased to unveil the mystery of the gospel of Jesus Christ, even in this passage of 1 Samuel 27.

Show us how this testifies of our Lord Jesus ultimately and what this means for our life in Christ.

Lord, we pray that you will elevate in our minds the reality of the kingdom of heaven.

That you are the Lord of hosts.

And that you are a God who does not change the same God of the Old Testament.

And now your kingdom is inaugurated in Jesus Christ.

And we long for that day, Lord, when you come again.

Please come quickly, Lord.

And please use this message as you will please, Lord, in each of our lives to prepare us for your coming.

We long for that day, Father.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Our failures do not determine our future.

Our failures do not determine our future.

Our standing in God's kingdom is not secured by our own behavior.

Praise the Lord for that, right?

This is a difficult chapter.

And if we look at this chapter with natural eyes, we see a man, David, here and the way he's acting.

And there's no possible way we would conceive of him having a future that God would bless.

And the title of the sermon today has nothing to do with David.

Has nothing to do with his failures or his standing in God's kingdom.

Here's what I hope you will see with God's ministry in this passage.

The Lord will build his kingdom.

The Lord will build his kingdom.

I'd like to walk through three shadows in this chapter and then point us to the substance, which is Jesus Christ.

Remember the Hebrew word for anointed is Messiah.

And David has been anointed by the kingmaker Samuel, who's now dead.

David's been in the wilderness now a long time.

So he's the Messiah in the wilderness.

And even after a glorious last chapter where we saw, remember David walking in the middle of the night to the center of the 3000 chosen men of Saul.

And God restraining David from running the spear through Saul right there and becoming the king over this army.

Now the Messiah, this anointed king is driven out once again.

The wilderness he had been running around is in southern Israel in the land of Judah.

It's still in the kingdom.

And yet we read in verse one that David said in his heart,

Now I shall perish by the hand of Saul.

Notice what he says next.

He says, there is nothing better for me.

We know what he says in the Psalms and other places.

There's nothing better for me than being in the house of my Lord and dwelling in his courts.

But look at the state of his heart now.

There's nothing better for me than that I should speedily escape to the land of the Philistines.

The best thing for me is to get out of God's kingdom.

That's what he's saying in his heart.

This is a low place for David.

And it's motivated by just one thing.

He says, then Saul will stop searching after me.

He will seek me no more because I won't be in any part of Israel to be found.

And then I can escape out of Saul's hand.

He's just seen God deliver him out of Saul's hand.

There was a moment for Saul to arrest David and take his head off.

He just saw this happen.

Yet David's faith is so weak.

His heart falters to trust in God.

I also thought it was interesting.

Where do we get these insights from?

Well, we believe that God breathed out every word of scripture.

So even if this is later on written by Ezra or someone else like that,

God can just tell them this is what David said in his heart.

That's possible.

Now, it's also possible that someone is interviewing David.

And this is part of David's testimony.

His weakness.

Look what I said in my heart.

This is how much I faltered and how weak my faith is.

Even after that amazing experience of the Lord sustaining me and restraining me and Saul blessing me and letting me walk away.

My heart falters and I leave the kingdom.

Psalm 73 verse 26 admits just that.

Psalms 73:26

My heart fails.

And this is the cry of someone who knows the Lord, a person of faith.

Have you had to confess that to the Lord?

God, my heart toward you fails.

Brothers and sisters, a brief application.

I don't want you to be discouraged.

I want you to see the example in all of scripture.

We need to be brutally honest of how weak we are and how dependent we are on God.

Our hearts fail.

Our faith is weak.

The second London Confession of Faith, chapter 14, paragraph 3 admits this.

Capturing the truth of scripture, I believe.

True faith varies in degree and may be weak or strong.

It may often be attacked and weakened.

But God still gains the victory.

Our Confession of Faith, chapter 18, paragraph 3 also says,

Even the assurance that we have of our salvation,

like David's assurance that God would bring the kingdom and fulfill all of his promises.

While assurance of salvation in Christ is infallible,

God's part won't fail based on Christ's work and God's promises.

Assurance, what I know about my own salvation,

is not so joined to the essence of faith that a true believer may not wait a long time

and struggle with many difficulties before obtaining it.

Saying you can be saved for a long time and not have a final assurance that you're saved.

That's how weak we are, brothers and sisters.

We need to admit that.

And we need to admit our dependence on Jesus Christ.

And so in verse 2, David goes back to King Achish again.

I need to remind you now, it was back in chapter 21,

after David had been blessed by Jonathan, blessed by the priest,

took Goliath's sword, do you remember that?

And then he runs to Gath, the capital of one of the five great cities of the Philistines,

the capital where Goliath's sword was likely forged.

It's the city that Goliath is from.

And he was afraid of this King Achish in chapter 21.

And he let drool come down his mouth on his beard.

And he's back there again now.

In both chapters 21 and 27, we have so many parallels.

Again, David runs away from King Saul in both cases, leaves the land of Israel.

He hides in Gath.

In both stories, David is now in exile among the very people that are his enemies,

that Israel's at war with.

Amazing parallels, aren't they?

This makes us pay attention to the literary narrative here and what is being highlighted for us.

We read in verse 4, it was told Saul, and then Saul sought David no more.

In our Sunday school class, Professor John pointed out that nowhere is the name of God mentioned in this entire chapter.

And we have to just say it's inconclusive.

Was David acting out of his flesh and in disobedience?

I can't say for certain.

Was he led by the Lord, by the Spirit of the Lord?

That's definitely not clear.

It sounds like a humble admission in his heart.

There's nothing better for me than to get out of here.

To me, it sounds like weakness from David.

And you notice how it worked.

Saul stopped chasing David.

Stopped hunting him down.

And for his men, his 600 men that are following around, hiding, and just exhausted by being hunted down all the time,

I'm sure it was a nice breather.

We'd get to rest a little bit, finally.

Think about this, too.

The attacks for obeying God are real.

The spiritual battle is real.

We read Ephesians 6.

There is a spiritual war over the souls of God's people.

Satan does back off from those who are no threat to him.

What this shows us in David's weakness, in his faltering heart, his weak faith,

is that a king is needed, but a better king than David.

It points forward.

So we're left not with any answers in this first observation of the first shadow,

but the question, how will the Lord do it?

How will the Lord build his kingdom?

Isaiah 11, verse 1, further sheds light on how God will do this.

Isaiah 11:1

Here's the prophecy.

There shall come forth a rod from the stem of Jesse, David's dad.

A branch shall grow out of its roots.

The Lord will build his kingdom.

It will be through David's line, but a better king than David is needed.

I picture this wonderful song, this hymn that we sing, I think every time leading up to Christmas, Advent.

And I picture the people of Israel, even at this moment in time, singing it, looking forward.

A better king is needed.

O come, O come, Emmanuel.

God with us.

In ransom captive Israel.

They're slaves to Saul.

That mourns in lonely exile here.

David's exiled out of the land God promised.

Until the son of God appear.

Then we can rejoice.

Rejoice.

Emmanuel shall come to thee, O Israel.

Psalm 73, 26 goes on.

My heart fails, but God is the strength of my heart.

That's our first shadow.

The Messiah driven out once again.

Second shadow is that the Messiah is welcomed by Gentiles.

The anointed one of Israel is welcomed by the Philistines.

Look at verse three.

So David dwelt with Achish at Gath.

He and his men.

There's 600 of them.

Now this detail is important for upcoming chapters.

Each man with his household.

Wives, children.

Possibly slaves and servants.

Men and women now.

Including David and his household.

Verse five says,

Then David said to Achish, the king of Gath.

If I have now found favor in your eyes, give me a place in some town in the country that I may dwell there.

For why should your servant dwell in the royal city with you?

So David's establishing the terms of his occupation in this land.

You will be the Lord.

I will be your vassal servant.

I will be paying you taxes for everything good that I can do.

That's what a servant relationship would be.

For Achish, it has to be a benefit now.

Achish has to profit and receive these taxes from David as basically rent for allowing him to stay in his land.

We discussed in Sunday school why this land of the Philistines and why Gath, the big city where they've been enemies for so long.

And these are mutual enemies of Saul.

This is a place where Saul can't bring his army without having to go to war, all on war with the Philistines again.

So it is a mutually beneficial arrangement.

In verse 7, we read that David was among the Philistines for one year and four months.

This is a long time.

And we're told his behavior for over a year and four months was a similar pattern.

I want to analyze now the similarities and contrast with chapter 21 once more.

The first time David came to see King Achish, I tried to persuade you that he was alone.

And that when he was saying he sent his men to the priest, you know, to go do an errand, he was bluffing.

Because when he last left Jonathan, he was all alone.

And if he was alone in chapter 21 meeting King Achish, now he's the opposite of alone.

He has 600 men with all of their households.

Remember the first time he met King Achish, the king said, you're no use to me.

Get this guy out of here.

Don't we have enough crazy people already in Gath?

We don't need one more.

There's no place for David here.

But this time, King Achish is a very shrewd ruler.

He says, we can have an arrangement.

I can see you got an army now.

And I don't know how you went from being crazy to now being a commander of an entire army.

But please stay here.

We can make this work.

So how will the Lord build his kingdom in this land of the Philistines?

And how will David, who seems to be on a downward spiral in his relationship with God and God's promises,

how will he even be used by the Lord?

Isaiah 11.10 gives this prophecy.

In that day, there shall be a root of Jesse.

There it is, that theme again.

Jesse being David's dad.

And so from this same family line, who shall stand as a banner to the people,

for the Gentiles shall seek him.

This is interesting language of prophecy.

Because a banner in war is we have two sides line up.

Here's the meadow in the middle that they're going to rush into for foot, hand-to-hand combat.

All these foot soldiers charging in.

The banner on one side shows their nation's colors, what they stand for.

The banner on the other shows what they stand for.

And we have this interesting prophecy that says,

from the root of Jesse will be a banner for the people.

This is the people of Israel.

And the Gentiles will seek after him.

What an interesting shadow we have here, that the Messiah will be welcomed by the Gentiles.

Yet he'll be the banner for the people of Israel.

The third shadow is that the Messiah, the anointed one, deceives the enemy.

The Messiah deceives or tricks the enemy.

King Achish is still the enemy here.

And David is deceiving him.

That's what happens in the rest of the chapter.

Look at verse 8.

David would attack the Amalekites, another wicked people,

for those nations were the inhabitants of the land from of old.

And to get our geography here, the Amalekites lived in the Negeb,

which means the south country,

all the way down toward Egypt,

which was explicitly assigned to the tribes of Judah

and Simeon in Joshua chapter 15, verses 1 and 12.

Joshua 15:1

Remember, David is the lion from the tribe of Judah,

at least the shadow of Christ who will fulfill that fully.

And this land that the Amalekites live in,

all the way down to the river and the border with Egypt,

God promised to Israel,

more specifically to the tribe of Judah.

But ever since Joshua's invasion,

it was always porous.

There's always holes.

It was never completely taken over.

And earlier in 1 Samuel 15, verses 2 and 3,

1 Samuel 15:2

God had given a direct command to King Saul.

Do you remember this?

To kill the Amalekites

and to claim this territory

because of how they had attacked Israel during the Exodus.

And that's very important

before we get to verse 9 of our chapter.

It's a difficult verse.

Would you look at verse 9?

Whenever David attacked,

literally struck the land,

he left neither man,

okay, most people are okay with that first word so far

in a battle, combat setting,

but he also left neither woman alive,

but took away the sheep, the oxen,

the donkeys, the camels, the apparel,

and returned and came to Achish.

This is total annihilation.

And David would tell his soldiers,

go and leave no one alive

because we can't afford to have even a little child

come back and give a report to one of the soldiers

and they bring him to Achish.

And Achish says,

David, that guy right there in his army,

they attacked our village

because David is busy deceiving King Achish,

telling him,

I'm going to attack Israel.

He's making Achish think we have a common enemy,

which is Saul.

So you see, it's the Messiah,

the anointed one,

deceiving the wicked King Achish.

Again, the purpose of this

is not for us to learn a moral lesson

from the do's and don'ts about David's life,

but it's also raising some difficult ethical questions

we can't totally skip over.

When believers do something atrocious,

it doesn't automatically mean they were never saved.

Again, our confession of faith,

capturing what we believe the scriptures teach.

chapter 17, verse 3,

teaches this,

that believers may fall

into serious sins

and continue in them

for a time

because of a number of things,

because of the temptations of Satan

in the world,

the strength of the corruption

remaining in them,

and the neglect

of the means of preservation.

not going to meet with God's people,

not praying,

not sitting under the preaching

of the word,

the gospel,

the ministry

that God has given us,

not going out of your way

to be part of a baptism celebration

like we have coming up,

or not taking steps

to enjoy the Lord's Supper

with the church.

These are the means of preservation,

and we are so weak.

The strength of the corruption

remaining in Christians

is so strong.

We need this.

We need all the help

we can get.

So to the extent

that we can relate to David

and to the extent

that this was him

and his flesh,

you know,

lying, deceiving,

and annihilating these villages,

there's an application.

But I think,

I don't think,

I know,

the bigger message here

is not to take do's and don'ts

away from David

as an example,

but rather to see

how does this point us

to Jesus Christ

and the unfolding

of his grand plan

of redemption.

See,

David is raiding

these Amalekites

in the kingdom

that God had already claimed

for himself.

If there is someone wise

paying attention,

maybe in the schools

of the prophets

that sat under the teaching

of Samuel

that's caring about

the scriptures,

this is a signal

that a new Joshua figure

is on the move.

He's not really

in enemy territory.

It's a servant of God

doing what Saul

had neglected.

It's one that God

has anointed

cleaning out

which is meant

to be holy

in the land

that God

had already given

to Israel.

to the extent

that David

is fulfilling

or cleaning up

or following

after the work

that God started

through Joshua,

we have a picture

then of what Joshua

ultimately points to.

In the Bible,

we see these patterns

of two,

ones and twos,

ones and twos,

and a great pattern

we see is with

Moses, Joshua.

Later,

we see this

with David, Solomon,

and it's a one-two punch.

With Moses,

the Lord's servant

comes as a lawgiver.

With Joshua,

he comes

to consummate the kingdom,

to take it all.

With David,

we see a man

who goes to war

as the Lord's servant

and he's bloodied.

And with Solomon,

we see a prince of peace

taking everything.

And these patterns

of two point us

to the first

and second coming

of our Lord Jesus Christ.

The Lord

in his first coming

came like a Moses figure,

preaching the law

and giving people

a means

to approach him

through blood sacrifice.

And with Joshua,

we see the second coming

of our Lord Jesus Christ.

And we have this

apocalyptic vision

in Revelation.

There will be

rivers of blood

like grapes

that have been pressed

flowing like wine

on the streets.

This is the second coming

of Jesus.

And now is the time

where his grace

is extended to sinners.

But here we have

these violent pictures

of a coming judgment.

God has been so patient

so long.

Think how many generations

have now passed

since Joshua.

And the opportunity

even for these Gentiles

to be like a Ruth

and receive the true Lord.

Turn away from your idols.

It's a picture

of the kingdom

of heaven

coming to earth

ultimately.

The Lord of hosts

himself

intruding

into the domain

that is rightfully

God's.

Where nothing

unholy

has a place

in bringing

final justice

to all.

The Lord

will build

his kingdom.

It's bigger

than David's story.

It's bigger

than Joshua.

It's the kingdom

of the Lord

of hosts himself

Jesus Christ.

In both

of these times

that David

has been

in this land

of Gath

working with

King Achish

he used deception

and he stayed

safe there.

the first time

he acted crazy

and now

by lying

to King Achish

about which groups

he was attacking

and bringing

money and cattle

and those things

back to King Achish.

So we read

in verse 12

how it worked.

King Achish

believed David

saying

he has made

his people

Israel

utterly

abhor him.

Therefore

he will be

my servant

forever.

There's no way

David can go back

across the border

to Judah.

I'm going to keep

milking this prophet

from him

all of my days.

The Messiah

the anointed one

deceived his enemy.

Well

there's one more

movement

but it's not even

in our passage

and it confirms

the theme

of the sermon

and it's this

that God gives

the Messiah

the anointed one

an army.

We've seen

in this chapter

many ways

how David

is certainly

weak

but notice

how God

is accomplishing

his purposes

despite David's

weakness.

He's even

showing mercy

and grace

to those

who least

deserve it

like David

like you

and me.

Would you

please turn

with me

to 1st

Corinthians

I'm sorry

1st Chronicles

chapter 12

1st Chronicles

chapter 12

a few books

forward

just keep

going forward

until you

get to

1st Chronicles

while you're

turning there

let's see if

how many

of our kids

can remember

the name

of the city

that King

Achish

gave David

can you

remember

what it

was?

It starts

with the

letter Z

can someone

say it

out loud?

Parents

you can

help them

what was

it?

Ziklag

yeah

so Ziklag

is an

unusual name

it's a

town

in the

land of

the

Philistines

where David

and his

his 600

men and

all their

households

are living

and if we

search the

Bible for

that unusual

name of a

town

Ziklag

we learn

some interesting

things

let's look

at 1st

Chronicles

chapter 12

starting at

verse 1

now these

were the

men

who came

to David

where?

at Ziklag

while he

was still

a fugitive

from Saul

the son

of Kish

and they

were among

the mighty

men

helpers

in the

war

pay attention

to verse

12 now

these men

were armed

with bows

using both

the right

hand and

the left

in hurling

stones and

shooting arrows

with the

bow

they were

of Benjamin

Saul's

brethren

isn't

that

interesting

while David

is in

hiding

in

Ziklag

some of

the best

warriors

from

Benjamin

are now

day by

day

traveling

down

and joining

David's

force

instead

isn't

that amazing

where would

those mighty

men of the

tribe of

Benjamin

last have

seen

David

it'd be the

chapter right

before this

wasn't it

Saul brought

3000 chosen

men

mostly from

his tribe

of Benjamin

that are

loyal to

him

and they've

seen not

once but

twice now

the Lord's

anointed

David

spare King

Saul

and wait

upon the

Lord

so while

there are

some

Ziphites

from the

southern

part of

Judah

going up

to

Tattle

on David

to King

Saul

there's

also

Benjamites

that have

a love

for the

true Lord

and they

want the

kingdom

that God

will bless

they're done

with the

ways of

the world

they're done

with King

Saul

verse 8

of 1st

Chronicles

12

tells us

from the

Gadites

there were

over

there went

over to

David

at the

stronghold

in the

wilderness

mighty

and experienced

warriors

experts

with the

shield

and spear

whose faces

were like

the faces

of lions

and who

were swift

as gazelles

upon the

mountains

now the

Gadites

were on

the other

side of

the Jordan

got from

way up

north as

well

northeast

God is

sending

soldiers

an army

the best

soldiers

from all

of Israel

to this

little

outpost

outside of

the borders

in Ziklag

in the land

of the

Philistines

now drop

down to

verse 22

1st

Chronicles

12

22

for from

from day

to day

men came

to David

to help

him

until there

was a

great

army

like

an army

of God

isn't that

awesome

David is

weak

but the

Lord is

building

his army

in a way

that you

can't get

communication

out to all

these parts

God will

put it

in the

hearts

of the

soldiers

they will

go to

the

Messiah

in the

wilderness

exiled

and the

Messiah

will receive

an army

from God

in a way

that only

God gets

all the

glory

despite David

being so

weak

despite his

heart failing

so often

despite his

faith faltering

so frequently

God still

accomplishes

his will

he sends

these mighty

men of

valor

there to

where David

is

and God

causes them

to choose

what the

world sees

as foolish

which is to

follow

God's

anointed

one

in exile

it's all

part of

God's

plan

the

Lord

will

build

his

army

amen

well those

are the

shadows

and now

is the

joy

to celebrate

with you

the substance

the fulfillment

through our

Lord Jesus

Christ

how do all

of the

scriptures

testify of

him

our Lord

Jesus

Christ

he deceived

Satan

the enemy

turn back

to 1st

Samuel

one more

time

1st

Samuel

27

our

sermon

passage

and take

a look

at the

last

verse

of this

chapter

verse 12

just as

Achish

believed

David

had made

his people

Israel

utterly

abhor him

and thought

he will be

my servant

forever

think about

how when

all of

Israel

utterly

abhor

our

Lord

Jesus

Christ

and

Satan

saw

both

Jews

and

Gentiles

the

Israelite

rulers

and the

Roman

soldiers

Satan

was

delighted

to watch

that

happen

to see

them

torture

Jesus

mock

him

spit

at

him

curse

him

reject

God's

own

son

the

Messiah

the

anointed

king

and

Satan

the

great

deceiver

thought

that

Jesus

Christ

would

be

his

servant

now

Satan

thought

he

won

as

our

Lord

hung

on

the

cross

Jesus

would

be

the

object

of

mockery

and

torture

in

hell

forever

that's

what

Satan

thought

our

Lord

Jesus

used

that

weakness

of

the

cross

that

foolish

tool

to

despise

Satan

to deceive

him

to turn

it over

on his

head

in

1

1 Corinthians 2:7

Corinthians

2

verses

7

and 8

we read

that the

cross

was the

wisdom

of God

in a

mystery

it was

the

hidden

wisdom

which

God

ordained

before

all

ages

for

our

glory

with

Christ

which

none

of the

rulers

of this

age

knew

for

had

they

known

they

would

not

have

crucified

the

Lord

of

glory

and

now

we

can

sing

that

great

hymn

O

come

thou

rod

of

Jesse

free

thine

own

from

Satan's

tyranny

from

depths

of

hell

thy

people

save

and

give

them

victory

over

the

grave

and

so

we

rejoice

rejoice

Emmanuel

has

come

and

the

Lord

is

building

his

kingdom

brothers

and

sisters

we may

fall

into

serious

sins

because

we are

so

weak

but

our

failures

do

not

determine

our

future

our

standing

in

God's

kingdom

is

not

secured

by

our

behavior

our

Lord

Jesus

Christ

is

the

better

king

he's

the

one

who

was

now

welcomed

by

us

Gentiles

we

go

to

him

Psalm

73

26

we

can

say

this

now

in

Jesus

Christ

my

heart

fails

outside

of

him

but

God

through

Jesus

Christ

the

ministry

of

the

spirit

God

is

the

strength

of

my

heart

we

are

raised

up

as

his

army

and

he's

our

only

comfort

in

life

and

in

death

we're

going

to

begin

through

our

next

set

of

catechisms

!

next

week

I

believe

and

this

is

the

answer

to

that

great

question

what

is

our

only

comfort

in

life

and

in

death

listen

to

how

this

pulls

together

these

wonderful

themes

of

this

passage

in

Jesus

Christ

we

can

rejoice

that

I

am

not

my

own

but

belong

body

and

soul

in

life

and

in

death

to

my

faithful

savior

Jesus

Christ

he

has

fully

paid

for

all

my

sins

with

his

precious

blood

and

has

set

me

free

from

the

tyranny

of

the

devil

he

also

watches

over

me

in

such

a

way

that

not

a

hair

can

fall

from

my

head

even

when

I'm

failing

without

the

will

of

my

father

in

heaven

in

fact

all

things

must

work

together

for

my

salvation

even

my

weakness

even

my

faltering

because

I

belong

to

him

Christ

by

his

Holy

Spirit

assures

me

of

eternal

life

and

makes

me

wholeheartedly

willing

and

ready

from

now

on

to

follow

him

as

a

joyful

foot

soldier

his

troops

are

willing

on

the

day

of

war

the

Lord

builds

his

kingdom

and

you

and

I

get

to

be

part

of

it

through

the

finished

work

of

Jesus

Christ

let's

praise

him

and

thank

him

for

his

mighty

power

oh

Lord

we

praise

you

for

how

you

are

the

king

of

kings

you

are

the

the

Lord

the

host

the host

of

heaven's

armies

bow

before

you

and march

after

you

you're

the

king

of

armies

we

thank

you

Lord

that

your

church

can

hear

you

can

know

your

commands

can

obey

we

thank

you

Lord

that

you

take

weak

ones

like

us

despite

our

failings

and

our

falterings

Lord

you

cause

us

to

joyfully

obey

you

we

know

we

can't

do

this

on

our

own

but

you

make

us

to

readily

want

to

live

for

you

from

now

on

I

pray

Lord

that

your

Holy

Spirit

will

do

this

in

a

mighty

way

in

your

church

for

your

glory

we

ask

amen