To Whom Is God Faithful?

1 Samuel chapter 21.

1 Samuel 21 · chapter mention

It leaves us wondering whether David's story will turn around at all.

! If you'll remember, and you can look back to the end of chapter 20, David is a man who lost everything.

His head is wanted by the wicked king Saul.

He may never see his wife again.

He may never enjoy rest at home.

We have to imagine, what is he wondering?

What is this attack he's going through?

If I were in his shoes, I would probably be wondering whether God will keep his word.

Whether God can be trusted at all.

So now let's see if things turn around for David.

1 Samuel chapter 21.

1 Samuel 21 · chapter mention

As he says his goodbye to Jonathan at the end of 20,

we read in 21 that David came to Nob, to Ahimelech the priest.

And Ahimelech was afraid when he met David and said to him,

Why are you alone and no one is with you?

So David said to Ahimelech the priest,

The king has ordered me on some business and said to me,

Do not let anyone know anything about the business on which I send you or what I have commanded you.

And I have directed my young men to such and such a place.

Now therefore, what do you have on hand?

Give me five loaves of bread in my hand or whatever can be found.

And the priest answered David and said,

There is no common bread on hand, but there is holy bread.

If the young men have at least kept themselves from the women.

Then David answered the priest and said to him,

Truly, women have been kept from us about three days since I came.

And the vessels of the young men are holy,

and the bread is in effect common,

even though it was consecrated in the vessel this day.

So the priest gave him holy bread,

for there was no bread there but the showbread,

which had been taken from before the Lord,

in order to put hot bread in its place on the day when it was taken away.

Now a certain man of the servants of Saul was there that day detained before him.

And David, and his name was Doeg, an Edomite,

the chief of the herdsmen who belonged to Saul.

And David said to Ahimelech,

Is there not here on hand a spear or a sword?

For I have brought neither my sword nor my weapons with me,

because the king's business required haste.

So the priest said,

The sword of Goliath the Philistine whom you killed in the valley of Elah,

there it is, wrapped in a cloth behind the ephod.

If you will take that, take it.

For there is no other except that one here.

And David said,

There is none like it, give it to me.

Then David arose and fled that day from before Saul,

and went to Achish the king of Gath.

And the servants of Achish said to him,

Is this not David, the king of the land?

Did they not sing of him to one another in dances,

saying Saul has slain his thousands and David his ten thousands?

Now David took these words to heart and was very much afraid of Achish, the king of Gath.

So he changed his behavior before them, pretending madness in their hands,

scratched on the doors of the gate, and let his saliva run down on his beard.

Then Achish said to his servants,

Look, you see the man is insane.

Why have you brought him to me?

Have I need of madmen that you have brought this fellow to play the madmen in my presence?

Shall this fellow come into my house?

Look at the next verse in 22.

David therefore departed from there and escaped.

The word of God for the people of God.

Thanks be to God.

Please be seated.

The grass withers, the flower fades, but the word of the Lord stands forever.

Let's pray.

Lord, we trust the promise that your word is living, it's active,

and it's more sharp in your hand, the hand of the Spirit, than a double-edged sword.

We pray, Lord, that your word, even in this narrative of 1 Samuel 21, will be alive.

We pray that this will teach us about your kingdom and about you, Lord,

that we can know you in your covenant faithfulness.

To all those, Lord, who are here today,

I pray that you'll draw us closer to you and Jesus Christ.

To those who are spiritually hungry, Lord.

Those who may be in great need now,

even need that they're not aware of, Lord.

We pray that you'll stir that up,

and you'll give us no other option

but to run to Jesus Christ.

We pray this for your glory.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Have you ever wondered

if God will be faithful to you

even when God sees you at your ugliest?

This is something that will tell us a great deal about God.

When God sees you or me at our ugliest,

can you go to him still?

I'll be honest with you,

in this chapter there's a lot of questions I still have,

I think even more after our discussion

and our Bible study this morning.

Praise God, it's wonderful.

What I want to do as we approach this chapter, though,

is to take our cue from the Psalms.

Because in the Psalms we see

the great despair of men like David.

David is not the Messiah.

He's a weak sinner like you and me.

But we also see David throwing himself unabandoned,

just completely at Christ's feet.

The feet of the Lord who's the covenant keeper.

And so that's what I hope to do in this passage

is to the extent that David may be foreshadowing

a hidden kingdom

and the fact that many will miss the kingdom

and it'll be the kingdom like a mustard seed

in Christ's first coming.

I mostly want to keep our focus on David

as a sinner who needs the Lord,

the Lord of covenant faithfulness.

So the title for today is this,

To Whom Is God Faithful?

To Whom Is God Faithful?

And what we'll see over and over is God is faithful,

but it's not because of David deserving this.

And the encouragement for you and me

is that God is faithful,

not because of who we are,

but despite who we are.

When we are at our ugliest,

our Lord is faithful still.

The first observation is this,

God proves his covenant faithfulness

to the lonely and brokenhearted.

God proves his covenant faithfulness

to the lonely and brokenhearted.

In the last verse of chapter 20,

we're told that David wept

and Jonathan wept,

but David wept the most.

And if you'll remember those parting words

from Jonathan,

who's a picture to us

of the covenant keeping friend,

his words to David are,

Shalom.

Go in peace.

May the Lord be between us.

I found it interesting

that the very next action David takes

in response to that word

is to go find a priest.

He goes to the tabernacle.

He goes to the mediator

between people like him

and the covenant keeping Lord.

You see verse 1 in chapter 21.

David shows up now

before Ahimelech,

the priest.

It's interesting how the priest

is the one meant to minister

peace to sinners with God.

And for reasons we're not told,

instead,

Ahimelech seems shocked

to encounter David.

David,

he says he was afraid

when he met David.

He trembled,

literally.

And he asked him,

why are you alone?

No one is with you.

And that's all the information

we have to go off of.

But David's response

seems to fill in a gap

of what was Ahimelech

potentially trembling about.

David says in verse 2

to the priest,

the king has ordered me

on some business.

He seems to want to right away

establish that the king

and I are talking.

The king and I are on good terms

and I'm still working for him.

We know that at this time

Saul had spies

across the entire nation

and it's taking sides.

Whose kingdom will prevail here?

So David says,

the king has ordered me

on some business.

He seems to be using vague words

on purpose.

It leads the priest to believe

David is on a secret mission.

And he asked him,

why are you alone?

And David says,

I have directed my young men

to such and such a place.

So we have one of two options.

Either David is telling the truth

or he's lying.

He's deceiving the priest.

It seems like David is truly alone

because he left with no provisions,

no plan.

He doesn't even have food to eat,

doesn't have any weapons.

We last saw him all alone

behind the rock

and Jonathan says his goodbye.

So I believe that

in this entire chapter,

David is practicing deception,

telling half-truths,

speaking in vague terms,

and letting people assume

something that's not right.

Why are you alone?

No one is with you.

I wonder how those words

hit David's ear.

What's evident,

despite the questions we may have,

is that God has humbled David.

Remember, this is the same David

who went out leading the men

to battle

and coming back victorious,

getting promoted

and getting more armies,

more men,

leading them out

and coming back victorious.

That's been the story

of David so far,

never alone,

always with an army.

Why are you alone?

No one is with you.

David is desperate,

but David is in the presence

of God.

There's no other place

to be when we're desperate.

The world will tempt us.

Oh, you're desperate.

Satan will accuse us.

Desperate people

do desperate things.

We need to put ourselves

in the presence of God.

There's no other place

to enjoy shalom,

to enjoy peace,

unless the Lord is among us.

This is the place

where God's grace

is mediated.

When you and I feel

our sins abound,

we can approach God

the same way,

put ourselves back

in His house,

ask God for mercy

through Jesus Christ.

John Gill commented

that mercy is not shown

to any because

they are worthy of it,

for that would be

a contradiction in terms.

Mercy is for those of us

who don't deserve it.

Romans 5.20 encourages us,

where sin abounds,

God's grace abounds

all the more.

God proves His covenant

faithfulness to the lonely

and brokenhearted.

Number two,

God proves His covenant

faithfulness to those

who hunger.

God proves His covenant

faithfulness to those

who hunger.

Well, by verse three,

David's most urgent need

has come to the surface.

In verse three,

he says,

therefore,

what you have on hand,

give it to me.

Five loaves

or whatever you can find.

See, one more way now

in which God

has humbled David.

Remember, it was David

who took the bread

to his brothers.

He's the one

bringing provision.

Now he's the one

without even a loaf

of bread to eat.

He had been married

to the princess,

King Saul's daughter.

He feasted

at the king's table.

And all of that's been

stripped away from David

now.

He's hungry.

He's starving.

In verse four,

the priest answered David

and said,

there is no common bread

on hand.

But next,

the priest does something

very interesting.

And let's shift our focus

now from David's perspective

to the perspective

of the priest

for a moment.

What he does,

we could call

a theological triage.

If you're a nurse

in the emergency department

and people are coming in,

you've got to decide

which need comes first here.

And I'm triaging

the needs

based on importance.

The priest considers

in verse four

availability.

He says,

there is holy bread.

We do have some bread

available.

And verse six

describes this.

It was removed

in order to put

hot bread in its place

on the day

when it was taken away.

This is a ceremonial law

God had given his people.

Leviticus 24 9

tells us,

12 loaves were baked

and placed

on a golden table

in the tabernacle

every Sabbath.

So once a week.

When the new loaves

were brought in,

the old loaves

were removed.

The day old bread

or multiple days old,

it was reserved

exclusively for Aaron

and his sons,

the priests.

And it had to be eaten

in a holy place.

But the principle

that the priest

is evaluating right now

is captured for us

in Proverbs 3 27.

There is bread available.

And the principle

in the proverb is,

do not withhold good

from those

to whom it is due

when it is in your power

to give it.

But notice how the priest

doesn't go all the way

to antinomianism

to saying

there is no law

or the law of God

doesn't matter.

He still shows

submission to God's law

at verse 5.

Look at that.

He says,

if the young men

have at least

kept themselves

from women.

He's not throwing

the law,

even the ceremonial law,

all the way out.

Well, David and his men,

they were not priests,

but Ahimelech

seems to be making

for them

a mercy-based exception.

Since David said

they were ritually clean,

even though I believe

he had no soldiers

with them,

and the priest

then decided

that the moral obligation

to preserve life,

which is upholding

the sixth commandment,

outweighs

the ceremonial restriction.

See, he did a triage.

The moral law

takes a higher precedent,

higher weight

than the ceremonial law.

In verse 6,

we read,

so the priest

then gave him

holy bread.

And then we get

this wonderful

little detail

that we won't

make much of now,

but it's important

as this story

gets layered

for an upcoming chapter

in verse 7,

that there was a witness

to all of this

who stood by,

observed the whole thing,

and he worked for Saul,

the chief shepherd.

He would later testify

in the defense

of this priest.

So let me ask

your opinion.

You got the scene,

you got the situation.

From Ahimelech's perspective,

did the priest

do the right thing?

What do you think?

Well, it seems

that by the time

we get to the

New Testament,

to the New Covenant,

all of the Jewish tradition

affirmed and celebrated

both the priest

and David.

Remember,

David is the greatest

hero of Israel,

national Israel.

Yet,

when the Lord Jesus

was teaching them

the true meaning

of the Ten Commandments

and how he is

the Lord of the Sabbath,

the Pharisees

were very quick

to condemn Jesus

and his disciples.

So in Matthew 12,

Jesus quotes Isaiah 6.6

and Jesus says,

God desires mercy,

not sacrifice.

And the word mercy

is the same word

that Jonathan and David

spoke to one another.

It's hesed.

Our Lord Jesus revealed

God is a God of hesed,

covenant kindness,

covenant faithfulness

to those who need it most.

David was a man in need.

So,

in my opinion,

it's okay if you disagree,

but the New Covenant

affirms the decision

of the priest.

Leaving David's actions

and behaviors aside,

the priest in this case

elevated the moral law.

The ceremonial law

was a pointer to Christ

and it would fade away.

It would be done with.

But the moral law

is upheld.

The life of David

is precious

and God is pleased

to show his covenant

faithfulness

to this man

who hungers.

John Calvin

had a comment on this.

He said,

Christ uses this very example

to teach us

that the law

was made for man,

not man for the law,

showing that his own ministry

is one of mercy

and life

to those in need.

You see how twice now

the Lord has humbled David.

He was popular,

now he's alone.

He had plenty

and now David hungers.

Can this God be trusted

who deals with his people

this way?

You see,

it's God's kindness

to humble his people,

isn't it?

It's the Lord

who in his covenant

faithfulness,

he humbles us too.

We've each been

through different seasons

of being humbled,

being made to hunger

and it's one of the greatest

joys of being

in church life

is to hear God's faithfulness

to each one of us

about how he made you

hunger more for his word

and how he fed you

and has proved

his covenant faithfulness

to you and to me.

Deuteronomy 8, 3

bears witness to that.

It's the Lord

who humbles you.

He made you hunger

and he fed you

with manna

that you did not know

nor did your fathers know.

Why?

That he might make you

to know that man

shall not live

by bread alone

but man lives

by every word

that proceeds

from the mouth

of the Lord.

Amen?

John Cotton commented

God's overruling hand

in this case

used David's need

to sanctify

his dependence

on God.

David was reminded

that he was sustained

not by Saul's table

but by God's

in his sanctuary.

Amen.

That's the end

of Cotton's quote.

The life-giving bread

that fed David

and sustained him now.

It says it was

the holy bread

taken from

the presence

of the Lord.

And literally

the language

in the original

is taken from

before the faces.

It means

before the face,

the presence

of the Lord.

It was not

merely food.

This was a gift

from God

himself.

You can see

how God's holiness

even as it was

protected in the

ceremonial law

ultimately God's holiness

is not a barrier

but it's the very

holiness of God

to which we're united

through Christ

that is the only

source of eternal life

for those that God

has made to be

spiritually hungry.

God proves

his covenant

faithfulness

to those

who hunger.

Number three,

God proves

his covenant

faithfulness

to the empty

handed

and weak.

God proves

his covenant

faithfulness

to the empty

handed

and weak.

Look at verse 8.

David said

to Ahimelech

the priest,

is there not

here

on hand

a spear

or a sword?

Here's God

humbling David

one more time.

David,

the one who

first from Israel

held Goliath's

sword,

is now

empty handed.

David,

whose military

might was famous

not only in his

nation but also

among the

Philistines,

he now

is weak.

He has nothing

with which to

fight or defend

himself.

Defenseless.

No way to

build a kingdom

for himself.

will God

keep his

covenant?

Will God

keep his

promises?

How will

God do it?

We see

David now

at a moment

of weakness.

God has

stripped him

of any

source of

strength

in himself

and this

too is a

blessing.

David says,

I have

brought neither

my sword

nor my

weapons

with me.

Now that's

true.

He left

in haste.

He's got

nothing.

And then he

says,

because the

king's business

required

haste.

Well,

if he's

referring to

Saul as

king,

then this

is bearing

false witness.

Will God

show mercy

to this

broken,

lonely,

hungry,

weak man?

If David's

being deceptive

here and

trying to

be crafty

and get

things by

his own

efforts,

he doesn't

deserve God's

mercy.

And God

is merciful

still.

Look at

verse 9.

The priest

said,

The sword

of Goliath

the Philistine

whom you

killed in

the valley

of Elah.

There it

is,

wrapped in

a cloth

behind the

ephod.

The ephod

was that

elaborate

multicolored

garment

that the

high priest

would put

on to

perform the

ceremonial

duties.

Benjamin

Keech

commented

how,

this is

interesting,

God kept

the weapon

of the

enemy in

the place

of worship.

It reveals

that the

power to

overcome the

giant was

God's

power all

along.

God gets

the trophy.

And now

he had laid

it up and

preserved it

for his

anointed one

in his

time of

greatest need.

In verse 9,

the priest says,

If you will

take that,

take it.

For there is

no other

except that

one here.

Can you picture

David,

you know,

there in the

tabernacle

from behind

the priest's

garments

comes the

sword of

Goliath.

They unwrap

the cloth.

I don't know

where in his

body he put

it, you know,

maybe like on

his back or

on his belt,

on his side.

I mean,

from then on,

David is going

to get to

walk around

now with

this sword

of Goliath.

A constant

reminder of

God's past

deliverance.

Whenever you

doubt,

whenever you

fail,

God is putting

this visible,

tangible

reminder on

you of

God's past

faithfulness.

Of course,

he will be

faithful to

the end.

He will keep

his covenant

faithfulness to

you.

David said,

there is none

like it.

Give it to

me.

Matthew

Henry's comment

was this,

by giving him

the sword he

once used to

cut off the

giant's head,

God was

saying the

battle is

the Lord's.

It was God's

way of saying,

of arming

those who

come to

God in

their distress.

That's the

end of

Matthew

Henry's

quote.

Why did

God do

this?

Why was

God so

kind to

David?

It's because

this is who

God is.

He is the

God of

covenant

faithfulness.

Psalm

111.5,

God will

ever be

merciful to

his covenant.

Titus 3.5,

not by works

of righteousness

which we

have done,

but according

to his

mercy,

he saved

us.

John

Gill,

one more

time,

mercy is

for the

miserable.

I love

that.

Mercy is

for the

miserable,

not for

the worthy,

but it

shows,

it is

shown because

God has

made a

covenant with

his chosen

and his

faithfulness is

the security

of it.

if you

feel empty

handed,

if you

feel weak,

God's

word,

God's

spirit through

his church

are constantly

his reminder

to you

of his

power

and his

past

deliverance.

Reading stories

like this from

1 Samuel,

keeping it

always before

us,

God is

merciful for

you and me

who are weak,

empty handed,

especially when

we're miserable.

Number four,

God proves his

covenant faithfulness

to the fearful

and desperate.

God proves his

covenant faithful

to the fearful

and desperate.

In verse 10,

we read,

then David arose

and fled that

day from before

Saul and went

to Achish,

the king of

Gath.

Gath?

That's the next

city he goes

to.

You remember

Gath.

This is one

of the five

powerful cities

of the Philistine

nation that

have tormented

and enslaved

the Israelites.

Not only

just one of the

five,

but this is the

city that

Goliath himself

is from.

Right after

getting the

sword of Goliath,

probably made

by iron workers

in the city

of Gath,

he now goes

marching back

into that city

with this

sword.

And why did

he do this?

Well,

as we

mentioned,

this is still

the kingdom

of Saul

needing to

be reclaimed

for the

Lord.

But right

now,

everywhere that

you go within

Israel,

you will be

now viewed

as a threat

to Saul's

kingdom.

And God

isn't the one

sending David

to Gath

necessarily.

Maybe this

is David

in his flesh

thinking there's

no other way

to survive.

But this

in God's

providence

is where

David lands.

We read

in verse 11

that the

servants of

Achish,

these Philistine

soldiers,

said to the

king,

is not this

David the

king of

the land?

And then

they quote

that song

that the

women of

Israel sing.

And this

gives us

an insight

from an

outsider's

perspective,

from another

nation,

how famous

David was,

how high

his popularity

had soared

to the point

that they think

he was the

king of

Israel already.

His following

was swelling.

In verse 12,

now David

took these

words to

heart,

and notice

the next

words,

and was

very much

afraid of

Achish,

the king

of Gath.

I think

this entire

context is

important because

it sets up,

even though

you've got

Goliath's

sword,

a reminder

that God

has defeated

this entire

nation and

their greatest

champion,

and you're

going back

to their

city.

It just

sets up

how much

David is

humbled again.

Even there,

with all of

this,

he's afraid.

He's weak.

He's like

you and

me.

God humbled

David.

David,

who was feared

by the entire

army of the

Philistines,

they were the

ones who saw

him cut off

Goliath's head.

Remember,

David carried

Goliath's head

around with him

everywhere he

went.

And now

David is

afraid.

In verse

13,

we're told

what he

does in

his fear.

He changed

his behavior

before them,

pretended

madness in

their hands.

So apparently

they laid

their hands

on him,

and they're

bringing him

before their

king.

And as he's

going in,

David is

scratching at

the doors

of the gate

and letting

saliva run

down his

beard.

In ancient

Near Eastern

culture,

the beard

for a man

was a symbol

of dignity

and masculinity.

So for a

man to let

saliva,

which is

associated

with a lack

of self-control,

for that to

defile his

beard was

like the

ultimate sign

of craziness,

total loss

of status.

David is

humbled,

once feared,

respected,

now considered

crazy.

John

Flavel

commented,

even great

saints like

David may

have ebbs

and flows

of faith

where fear

drives them

to shift

their behavior

disgracefully.

And this is

true in my

life,

it's true in

yours,

and it will

happen.

We see

those who

we see as

strong in

the faith

having these

moments where

their faith

is weak

and their

behavior show

it.

In verse

14,

then Achish

said to

his servants,

look,

you see,

this man

is insane.

Even when

David's

faith ebbed,

he resorted

to these

unseemly

shifts,

but God

was sanctifying

David and

had not

abandoned

him.

He uses

David's

craftiness

here,

acting crazy

as a means

of escape

and deliverance.

I love

the king's

comment,

have you

brought him

to me?

Verse 15,

have I need

of more

madmen?

I don't

know if

madmen

had just

left the

presence

of the

king

there,

left his

court.

I don't

need more

crazy people

in here.

Why have

you brought

him here?

So David

is weak.

We see

that it was

not his

acting this

way that

delivered him

or gave

him an

escape,

but it was

God who

did it.

God

sovereignly

moved the

heart of

this pagan

king,

to preserve

his

anointed,

not because

David deserves

it,

but because

God will

keep his

covenant.

God will

establish the

throne through

the line of

this man,

this weak

man,

David.

Proverbs

21,

1 tells us

the king's

heart is in

the hand

of the

Lord like

the rivers

of water,

and he

turns it

wherever he

wishes.

2 Corinthians

12,

9 reminds

us God's

strength is

made perfect

in our

weakness.

And so

we read in

21, 1,

therefore David

departed and

escaped.

David has

been humiliated,

ashamed.

He was afraid

and he was

desperate,

yet God

delivered him

in his

weakness.

David didn't

have to get

himself strong,

get his act

together,

and then

received God's

deliverance.

God did it

despite David.

You may be

in a place

where you feel

backed into a

corner.

You may have

shame or

disgrace.

It's for

people like you

and me in

those moments.

God wants us

to depend on

him completely.

If he delivers

you when you're

strong,

you can take

some of the

credit perhaps in

your flesh.

But if you

are utterly

desperate,

laid low,

stripped of

everything that

you once put

some pride

into,

God alone

will get the

glory and

the credit

for the

deliverance.

And God

will see to

it that all

things,

even in our

worst failures,

they turn out

for our good

and for his

glory.

God proves

his covenant

faithfulness to

the fearful

and desperate.

it.

Well, we've

made it through

our passage and

I want to give

you one final

encouragement as

we meditate on

this.

You and I,

whom God has

redeemed, we

cannot fail

ourselves out

of God's

covenant

faithfulness.

We cannot

fail ourselves

out of God's

covenant

faithfulness.

in this

chapter, we

see David at

his lowest

to the extent

that he was

acting out of

his flesh.

Even there,

we just see

God's grace

shining through

and as David

gets humbled

lower and

lower and

lower and

lower, it's

the power,

the faithfulness

of God that

gets elevated

higher and

higher.

So,

brothers and

sisters, we

need to remember

our security,

just like David's,

it doesn't

rest on our

performance,

but on the

perfection of

our Savior.

Our standing

before God is

grounded solely

on God, the

covenant keeper.

Our assurance

is found not

in our

faithfulness, but

in God's.

The Lord is the

refuge for the

sinner who has

nowhere else

to go.

If God is

making you to

hunger spiritually,

it's so that he

can feed you.

Christ is not

for the

self-sufficient,

but for those

who, like David,

realize they

will perish

without God's

immediate

provision.

Jesus Christ

is the bread

of life.

We read John

6 earlier.

Jesus Christ

is taken from

before the face

of God,

and he declared

in John 6,

35,

I am the bread

of life.

He who comes

to me shall

never hunger.

Jesus Christ

gave his

own body,

his holy

body,

given to

wicked people,

commoners like

you and me,

who are

perishing and

would starve in

the wilderness

of this world.

Matthew Henry

pointed out how

the priest did

not hesitate

to give the

bread for

David and

his necessity.

him.

And Jesus

Christ does

not hesitate

to give

himself to

sinners like

you and me.

Our Lord is

faithful to

lavish his

grace upon

us who are

spiritually desperate.

When we're

empty-handed

beggars,

when we know

that we are

guilty in our

sin on our

own,

and when we

feel completely

disgraced,

most humbled,

that's when

our Lord Jesus

loves to come

near to

commune with

us.

He feeds

you,

he equips

you,

and he

delivers you.

Amen.

Because our

Lord has

bound himself

in covenant

faithfulness to

us as people.

Go to him.

Let's pray.

Lord, we

praise you for

those times when

you humble us,

when you make

us hunger,

hunger.

And we

praise you that

you don't

hesitate to

give yourself

to us.

You love to

commune with

us.

We praise you

that you,

Lord Jesus,

are the great

high priest

who pulls

your people

close,

who keeps

us close

to you.

We thank

you,

Lord,

for your

great

compassion.

We thank

you,

Lord,

for your

good law.

God,

we thank

you,

Lord,

that your

kingdom is

not a

kingdom

dependent on

man,

but your

kingdom is

established in

Jesus Christ

forever and

ever,

and that by

your grace

and your

covenant

faithfulness

alone,

we belong

to you.

Help us to

know more of

this assurance,

to find more

of this comfort

in you,

and we know

that your

grace is a

redeeming grace

from start to

finish.

We thank you

for the good

work you have

begun in

each life

here,

in each

household,

and in this

church as a

whole,

and we trust

that by your

covenant

faithfulness,

you will see

it through to

completion.

We ask this

for your

glory.

Amen.