Doing

Well, good evening everyone. Let me invite you to turn back to Psalm 119 and to those

verses that Neil read for us. And two things we need to do just before we start this evening.

One is you need to ensure that you've got your Psalm 119 handout. If you don't have

one then I'm sure if you put your hand up somebody at the back, we'll make sure you

get one. And the second one is to pick up your knife and fork and let's put on our serviettes

and let's feast on God's words together. And let's pray just before we come to look at it now.

Let's pray.

Our Father, we come before your words this evening and our prayer is that you would show us Christ.

We ask that by your Spirit that you would teach us more about him, that you would deepen our

understanding, that you would open our eyes, that you would thrill our hearts. And oh God,

that you would increase our affection and our love for him. And this is our prayer in and through his

name. Amen. Excellent. So you may or may not be aware that Friday saw the kickoff of the Rugby

World Cup. Was anybody aware of that? Okay, John on tech. Wow. Okay, a few people. I don't know if

you were here last Sunday evening, but just at the end of the service there were four people that came

in at the back and they were tourists. And the reason I could tell they were tourists is because

they had Edinburgh hoodies on and they were all in different colours. So it was a bit of a giveaway.

And so I got talking to them after the service and I asked them what they were doing in Edinburgh.

And they said they were up from the weekend from Wales. And so naturally knowing that Wales is a rugby

daft country and knowing that they got to the previous Rugby World Cup final, I asked them if they were

looking forward to this World Cup. And so they proceeded to tell me that they were very excited.

And even though they had just lost their star player to injury, they were increasingly confident

and extremely optimistic of success. And this week in the build-up to their first match, I read an

interview with Wales' ex-captain Jonathan Davies, where he was being asked his thoughts on the upcoming

games. And here's what he said, okay?

Now feel some of this fire-breathing Wales passion, talking about their first game.

Daffodils in your hands at the ready. He says this, okay?

He said, we need to be all in for this game.

We should hit the ground running. We smash them.

Make a statement.

And put the pressure on everyone else to score points.

We need to...

We need to be all in for this game. All in. What an interesting statement, I thought.

What does it mean to be all in for something?

Well, it means to give your all to something. To give all of you to something.

To hold nothing back.

To give all-out commitment.

To give nothing but a full and unflinching devotion to the cause.

Now, I've spent all week with Mr. Sam 119.

And he strikes me as a man that when it comes to God's Word, he is all in.

He knows God's Word is true.

He knows God's Word is trustworthy.

And he knows it's good.

Because God is good.

And he loves it.

And to him, God's Word, this isn't a condemning word.

It's not a crushing word.

It's a life-giving, grace-filled word.

And he delights in it.

He loves it.

He desires it.

He depends on it.

And brothers and sisters, what a privilege it is tonight.

With joy.

That in hindsight, we know what he didn't know.

That the grace of God was so dazzlingly revealed to the world in Jesus Christ.

The one who laid down his life so that he could give life.

The one who opened the way up to all who would believe in him.

To come and be reconciled.

To be made right with God.

Let me ask you right at the outset.

Have you been dazzled by Christ this week?

Have you savored in?

Have you delighted in that life-giving, all-pursuing, freely available, undeserved grace of God that's been extended to every single one of us here?

You see, that's what Mr. Sam 119 knows.

And what he loves.

This God-breathed, life-giving word is, oh, such a sweet melody of grace to him.

And this week, as we finish our time in this psalm, we're getting our money's worth out of him these last few weeks.

We're going to ask him one more question.

We're going to ask him, what does he do with God's words?

So this is really practical this evening.

In his life, what does he do with this word?

Well, here's what he's going to tell us this evening.

He responds to God's gracious and life-giving words.

With all in worship.

All of him worship.

Now, what does that look like in his life?

Well, I'll tell you what it doesn't involve.

It doesn't involve him sitting in a dark room, thinking blessed thoughts and singing kumbaya to himself.

But rather, as he lives his life in the world in which he lives, he is active in his worship and his devotion and his love for God and his words.

Now, our verses here, the verses that Neil read out, verses 1 to 16, they are full of what your primary teacher at school used to say, doing words.

They're full of verbs.

That is, what he's trying to say is that all of him, every part of him, worships in response to God's lavish grace.

He's telling us that there's no part of him that is uninvolved in treasuring God, loving God and his word above all else.

And here's how he expresses it to us in these verses.

He draws attention to his body.

This is head-to-toe worship.

Now, as we look at this together, this is what I found as I was preparing it this week.

What we need to ask ourselves as we look at this is, are we head-to-toe all in with our worship?

Let me show you how this works.

Firstly, see how he is all in with his mind.

Verse 7, what does he write?

He says, I praise you with an upright heart as I learn your righteous laws.

Verse 15, I meditate.

There's our word from last week, meaning he chews it over.

Remember, I meditate on your precepts and consider your ways.

So what is he doing?

He's devoting himself to learning, to considering, to meditating on God's word.

He's making every effort to fill up his mind with God's word.

To have it as the thing, not a thing, the thing that shapes his mind.

Because do you know what he's aware of?

He's aware that he lives in a world that is constantly trying to shape him into its mold.

And he needs his mind.

He knows that he needs his mind to be filled with the truth, God's truth.

And he learns it.

Let me ask you this evening.

What are you filling your mind with?

As you live your life in this world, what are the words that you are listening to?

What is shaping your values and your motives?

As my grandpa used to say, what's going on to the noggin?

Now just think about it this week.

Think about it.

What are the words that you've listened to this week?

What are the things that you've watched?

What are the images that have gone into your head?

What are the opinions that have gone into your head?

There was an Ofcom Scotland report published a few months ago.

And it reported that the average Scot, I'm not calling any of you average.

But the average Scot now spends 19.9 hours online each week.

And presumably that figure is not accounting for DVDs and television.

Now I think that's probably almost true in my life.

That exposure.

Friends, that's a lot of exposure.

What is filling our minds?

The American evangelist William Chapman, he used to say,

it's not the ship in the water, but the water in the ship that sinks it.

In the same way, it's not the Christian in the world,

but the world in the Christian that constitutes the danger.

And we have to ask ourselves, as we honestly think about what's going into our minds,

the question to be asking ourselves is,

is it helping or is it hindering our walk with God?

How much exposure is your mind getting to God's word?

What does Paul say in the book of Romans?

He says,

Be transformed by the renewing of your mind.

Do you see what the psalmist is saying here?

That God's word is the most important voice in his life.

And so he pulls out all the stops to make sure it gets ingrained on his mind.

He learns God's word.

He learns it.

He doesn't give it a casual glance.

He doesn't skim read it.

He doesn't gloss over it.

He learns it.

And he consistently reminds himself, as he does so, of this God of all grace.

Now, why does he do that?

Well, he knows his own heart.

As we'll come on to see, he knows his proneness to wander.

He knows his ability to forget.

Do you not know that to be true in your own life?

I do.

I forget all the time.

And he brings himself to God's word as the means of constantly bringing his wandering heart back to its true destination.

Now, let me just allow you into my life this week.

This is how it's worked out for me.

There are many times this week that I have felt massively unworthy.

Massively unworthy.

That harsh word that I've said about someone.

The impatience that I've shown with Alex, my wife.

The judgmental attitudes that I've had towards people.

And that's just the stuff that's made it to my tongue.

Leather rolling what's in my brain.

And I've felt the weight of my sin.

And I've felt the evil ones say,

Now, on the one hand, he's absolutely right, isn't he?

Who am I?

Well, I've got two options at that point.

I can listen to what the devil is saying and I can wallow in it.

Or I can address what he's saying with the gospel.

For what did the Spirit of God bring to my mind this week?

This verse in 2 Corinthians 5.21.

He made him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf

so that we might become the righteousness of God in him.

It's the verse that we made an effort of learning

at the student weekend a few years ago.

And it came to my mind.

The Spirit of God brought it to my mind.

Graham, you are not worthy, but Jesus is.

And your life is hidden with his.

You are caught up with him.

And the Spirit of God brought me to the cross.

The cross, the way of salvation that deeply, deeply humbles man.

Because this has nothing to do with us earning salvation.

And the cross that exalts the grace of God

and causes us to wonder, why?

Why?

But praise him that he did.

He looked upon us.

He loved us and he saved us.

And he looked upon a sinner like me.

Reminding ourselves of the gospel, friends.

Learning the gospel.

Preaching the gospel to ourselves

is the most important daily habit that we can establish.

Jerry Bridges writes this.

We should bathe our hearts and minds daily in the gospel

as part of our daily communion with God.

What words are filling your mind?

What are you learning?

Mr. Sam 119, he's all in with his mind.

I'm very much tied to that.

See that he is all in with his mouth.

Verse 13, look at it there.

What does he write?

With my lips I recount all the laws that come from your mouth.

Now that word to recount is not talking about politics.

This is not a recount.

I looked it up in the dictionary this week

and it means to tell the story of.

That's what to recount means.

And I think what Mr. Sam 119 is doing here

is he is speaking scripture to himself.

He is reminding himself of who God is

as he speaks his word to himself.

Let me ask you this evening,

what are you saying to yourself with your lips?

Are you in the habit of speaking scripture to yourself?

You know, there's this wonderful story told

about Martin Lloyd-Jones,

the famous Welsh preacher.

He was speaking to a member

of his own congregation one evening

and this particular member

was really struggling with the gravity

and the weight of his sin

and he was spouting forth to Martin Lloyd-Jones.

And Martin Lloyd-Jones turned to him after a while

and he said this.

He said,

Have you not realized,

have you not realized

that so much of the unhappiness in your life

is because you are listening to yourself

instead of speaking to yourself?

Speak God's word to ourselves.

That's what the psalmist is doing here.

Let me ask you this evening,

what are you saying to yourself with your lips?

What are you saying to yourself with your lips?

What are you saying to others with your lips?

Now here, I was thinking about this recently.

We were on holiday a few weeks ago

with my parents-in-law down in Brittany.

My father-in-law, bless his heart,

he found a book of old nursery rhymes

in his loft

and he proceeded to take this book

with us on holiday.

So this book of nursery rhymes

from about the 60s, I think,

was in the living room.

And I'm up early one morning

with Chloe, our little girl,

and I noticed this book in the corner

and I thought,

Well, I'll give it a shot.

I'll read her a little nursery rhyme.

And this is the first one that I read, okay?

This is called

There Was an Old Woman Who Lived in a Shoe.

Have you heard of that?

This classic.

This is how it goes.

I thought I'd put it on the screen for you.

This is what my six-month-year-old girl

was hearing from me.

There was an old woman who lived in a shoe.

She had so many children

she didn't know what to do.

She gave them some broth without any bread

and whipped them all soundly

and put them to bed.

That's cracking, that.

So short of puzzling over

the political correctness

of that nursery rhyme

and how exactly that shoe

matches up to current building standards,

I'm thinking to myself,

What am I saying with my lips

to this young girl?

Am I passing on to her?

Am I speaking to her meaningless fluff?

Am I passing on to her empty tales?

Or in my life,

as a father, as a Christian,

am I striving to pass on to her

the words of the eternal and the living God?

Would it not be an absolute travesty

if she grew up knowing more about Jack and Jill

than she did about Calvary's Hill?

What are we passing on with our lips

to our families?

What are we passing on with our lips

to our friends?

Am I seeking to bring her up,

Chloe up,

in a home,

a Bible-saturated home

where the very atmosphere of Scripture

gets down into her bones,

gets into her lungs?

That is just what we talk about

as a family.

What are you passing on

to others with your lips?

And in our interactions with one another

in this church family,

what are we speaking to one another

with our lips?

Are we seeking to bring this word,

this life-giving word

that God has given us

to bear in each other's lives?

Wouldn't that be a wonderful thing

as we come to it each day,

we could pray and say,

Lord, help me to be nourished myself,

but help me also to nourish others

and to encourage them

with what you're teaching me.

Are we seeking to build one another up

and to strengthen one another

with our words?

Now, we've got a vision evening

next Sunday,

and we'll be telling,

we'll be launching

and discussing together

this great resource

that John and I have put together

over the summer

that's designed specifically

for us to read the Bible

one-to-one together.

And it's really designed

for this purpose,

that we can get

speaking God's word

into one another's lives.

What are we recounting

to one another

with our words?

What are we recounting

to the world

with our words?

And I was reading

on the news this week.

I don't know if anybody saw

Alistair Darling's comments

about Jeremy Corbyn.

And he simply said this,

he said,

I need to know

what Jeremy Corbyn stands for.

That's probably what you're thinking

as well.

But he needs to know

what Jeremy Corbyn stands for.

Friends,

let me ask you this evening,

does the world

know what you and I stand for?

Are we recounting,

are we telling God's word,

are we telling the story,

the gospel story

to this lost world

in which we live?

The gospel,

the good news

that is the hope

for this world.

Are we telling them

about Jesus

who is the hope

of the nations?

The God of all grace

has so magnificently

revealed himself

in Jesus.

Jesus who could not

have gone any lower

in his mission

to save us.

And who now

has the name,

the victorious name

that could not be

any higher.

Are we using

our lips

to speak

God's word,

the gospel

to our world?

Are we using

our lips

so that the people

in our lives

know about

Christ?

Do you see

how Mr.

Psalm 119,

he is all in

with his mind

and he's all in

with his mouth.

And what we need

to see at this point

is that this word,

this knowledge,

God's word,

doesn't just stay

in his head,

but it travels

18 inches down

and it pierces

and penetrates

his heart.

Do you see

what God's word

is informing him

of,

this life-giving

God,

this good God,

is the furnace

that drives

the engine

of his affections.

John Piper

puts it like this.

He says,

it's the mind

that provides

the kindling

for the fires

of the heart.

Mr.

Psalm 119,

his theology,

what he knows

about God,

serves doxology,

so his praise

of God.

His reflection

on God's word

serves the purpose

of stirring

his affection

for God.

His contemplation

serves his exaltation.

You get the point?

It doesn't just

stay in his head,

it penetrates

and changes

his heart.

This is what

we need to see.

He's all in

with his heart.

He does not

remain static.

He does not

remain hands folded.

Look at the words

that he uses

in these verses.

Verse 7,

for example,

I will praise you

with an upright heart.

Verse 12,

praise be to you,

Lord.

Verse 14,

I rejoice

in following

your statutes

as one who

rejoices

in great riches.

He is not

unmoved

by God's word.

God's word

moves him

to worship,

to sing

exuberantly

as he revels

in God's goodness.

To come at it

from another angle.

It's just not

what Jesus said

was at the heart

of how God

told his people

to live.

To obey

the Lord God

with all your heart,

your soul,

your mind and strength.

No, no, no, no.

To love

the Lord,

your God,

with all your heart

and all your soul

and all your mind

and all your strength.

Now, of course,

obeying

is part of that love

as we'll come on to see.

But do you see

how love,

loving God

is at the very heart

of God's words?

We need to understand,

friends,

that God's word

should lead us

to love him more.

There's a great story

I read recently

about the great Bible teacher

John Stott

and somebody asked him

what his biggest fear

was for the students

that came to study

under him

and his reply

was that his biggest fear

was that many of his students

would leave

with a doctorate,

would have ceased

to be a disciple.

They would leave

with a qualification

but they would have long

stopped loving the Lord Jesus.

That many would go

from talking about God

in the second person

to talking about him

in the third.

If that's you this evening,

if the fire has gone cold,

if the fire has gone out,

then can I plead with you

from God's word

to pray

and to ask God

that he would help you

put that right this evening.

That he would install in you

a deep, deep love

for him

and his son

and his words

and that it would

transform your heart.

The study of God's word

should lead us

to love him more.

And do you notice

where the psalmist

sees himself

storing up God's word?

Verse 11.

Is it in the mind?

No.

It's in his heart.

So what starts in the mind

travels all the way

down to his heart.

God's word goes deep,

deep, deep down into him.

It gets in his bloodstream.

Now John Bunyan,

the great Christian thinker

and writer,

his contemporaries

used to say of him,

why this man

is a living Bible.

Prick him anywhere

and his blood

would bleed bibline.

And of course

what was hyperbolically

true of Mr. Bunyan

was absolutely true

in the life of Jesus.

The devil tempting him

in Luke 4,

what does he do

in response?

He quotes scripture.

He quotes God's word.

He defends himself

with Deuteronomy.

What does he do

when he's on the cross?

He quotes scripture.

Psalm 22,

Psalm 69,

Jesus literally breathed

and bled scripture.

So my question this evening is,

as his followers,

his example,

why would we think

it would be any different

in our lives?

Our Lord devoted himself

to learning

his father's words.

Mr. Sam 119,

all in

with all his heart.

Next,

see how he is

all in

with his knees.

He is one

that is so

dependent on God

and he comes

before him

humbly

and he takes

that posture

of humility.

Let me show you

how that works.

See him express it

in verse 12.

In those two

simple words,

teach me.

Teach me.

It's almost as if

he is saying,

Lord,

I recognize

my need

for you.

I need your help.

It's the language

of a pupil

before his teacher.

It's the language

of a man

who recognizes

that he doesn't

know it all.

He needs

God's help.

Let me ask you

this evening,

when it comes

to God's words,

are you teachable?

Do you stop

and pray

each and every

day as you

open God's

words?

Do you pray,

Lord,

teach me,

teach me,

teach me,

teach me?

Do you adopt

that stance

of humility

as you open

your Bible?

Friends,

let me ask you,

have you settled

in your understanding

of God's word?

Have you settled?

Are you pressing

into it?

Because the truth

this evening

is that there

is more and more

of God to know,

to love,

and enjoy

in his words.

Now let me tell you

how that worked

out for me this week.

I study two mornings

a week at the

Edinburgh Theological

Seminary,

and we started up

a few weeks ago,

and I've been going

to this new class,

and my lecturer

just opened one

of the Gospels,

I think it was John,

and his lecture

for the day was

the life of Jesus

in the Gospels,

something as simple

as that.

And he just opened

up the Gospel,

the Gospel that I

have read hundreds

of times in my life,

and I came away

thinking,

I have never

seen that before.

I have never

seen that before.

And the truth

is that there is

always new stuff

to see in God's word.

There's always

depths to plumb,

heights to climb,

things to savour

and enjoy.

And you see as well

how that humility

expresses itself

in prayer?

This is what he

writes,

verse 8.

Now you'll notice

that the word

prayer isn't

specifically used

there,

but the action

certainly is,

and the words

look at verse 8.

I obey your decrees,

do not utterly

forsake me.

Verse 10,

I seek you

with all my heart,

do not let me

stray from your

commands.

In fact,

I don't think

it's too much

of a stretch

to say that this

psalm is smothered

in prayer.

And the reason

that it is,

is that Mr.

Sam 119

is so aware

of his complete

and utter dependence

on God.

And that's how

humility expresses

itself.

Closed door,

on your knees,

hearts open,

conversing with God,

praying for ourselves,

praying for each other,

praying for this world,

because the thing

is that we need

God,

don't we?

We need God.

Christopher Ashe

puts it like this,

the place of

Christian prayer

is not the armchair,

but on the edge

of a hard seat.

Dependency.

Let me ask you

the question

that I've asked

of myself this week

is,

is your life

marked by reverent

and dependent

prayer?

Are you quite

comfortable?

Are you quite set

that you've got

this Christian life

figured out?

And how that will

show itself

will be in your

prayer life.

And we went away

as an eldership

a few weeks back

and we asked

ourselves the question

if there was

one area

of our church life,

one area of our

church life

that we would love

to see grow

in the next year,

what would it be?

And do you know

what came in at

number one

from each and

every single one

of us?

It was our

prayer life.

Our prayer life

both individually

and our prayer life

corporately

as a church.

Let me ask you,

if the Lord Jesus

were to return

tomorrow,

would he find

in us

that deep

longing for God,

that deep

dependence on God

that pours itself

out in prayer,

or would he

instead find

a bunch of

self-sufficient,

lukewarm,

respectables

who are going

through the motions?

It really is,

isn't it,

the litmus test

of where we're at

as a church,

our corporate

prayer life,

our dependency

on the Lord.

Mr.

Sam 119,

all in with his

knees.

And lastly,

let's see how he

is all in with

his feet.

Verse 1,

Blessed are those

whose ways

are blameless,

who walk

according to

the law

of the Lord.

Verse 9,

How can a young

person stay

on the path

of purity?

By living

according to

your words.

So he draws

the attention

to his feet.

Did you notice

that?

And do you see

the direction

of his feet?

He's a disciple

that is deciding

to walk

in the way

of the Lord.

Now what does

that mean?

That means he

obeys God's

word.

It means he

follows God's

word.

It means he

lives his life

in accordance

to God's

word.

So the governing

metaphor of

the life of

faith,

according to

Mr.

Sam 119,

is to walk

the way

of the Lord.

That's what

he's saying.

So let's just

bring a few

of these strands

to close.

Mr.

Sam 119,

all in with

his mind.

He is all

in with

his mouth.

He is all

in with

his heart.

He's all

in with

his knees.

And he's

all in with

his feet.

He is all

in.

And I'll

be honest,

I reflected

on this

week,

having gone

the last

two weeks

looking at

this,

Sam,

and having

seen his

affection for

God,

having seen

his devotion

for God,

I wonder if

you're thinking

what I was

thinking,

that I could

never do

that.

That I

fall so

far short

of what

he is

writing here,

that his

life and my

life,

they seem a

million miles

apart.

Well,

let me ask

you a question.

How would

you have

ended that

psalm,

this psalm?

If you were

the guy that

wrote it,

if you were

Mr.

Sam 119,

how would

you finish

this psalm?

Well,

if you've

got your

Bible,

say,

why don't

you turn

to verse

176,

it's a

very long

one after

all.

Because if

it were

me,

I would

have ended

this psalm

on a real

high.

As if to

say,

listen to

me,

look at

this incredible

bit of

literature that

I've written,

look at my

victorious Christian

life,

look how I've

got it

sorted.

I'm the

guy that

you want to

book at

your next

church weekend

away.

But where

does the

psalmist end?

Does he

end in a

real high?

No,

he ends

in real

life.

Now let

this encourage

you.

For the

man who

has penned

this great

psalm,

is he a

colossus of

the faith?

Is he a

spiritual

giant?

Well,

he may

well be

all in,

but his

confession at

the end,

do you

notice it?

He is a

lost

sheep.

Mr.

Psalm 119

is so,

so aware

of his

weakness,

of his

fragility,

and his

complete

reliance,

utter dependence

on God's

grace.

And is that

not the

authentic

Christian

life?

In your

walk with

God,

do you

know that

to be

true?

That one

minute you're

singing,

and the

next minute

you're

straying?

This is

not a

man,

this is

not a

man who's

got this

Christian

life thing

sorted.

And that

should massively

encourage us.

He is

praying,

verse 147,

what does

he say?

Seek your

servant.

Seek your

servant.

So he's

praying that

God would

seek him

out and

save him.

And how

does Jesus

speak of

himself and

the reason

that he

came?

He is the

one who

has come

to seek

and to

save the

lost.

Jesus

came to

save you,

he came

to save

me,

and he

came to

save Mr.

Sam 119.

And as we

draw this

evening to a

close,

and our

time I guess

in this

psalm to a

close,

I hope that

you've been

inspired in

your confidence

in God's

word,

that you can

trust it and

you can love

it.

And I hope

you've been

praying that

God would

help increase

your affection

for his

words,

that you want

to be

delighting in

it,

you want

to desire

it,

you want

to depend

on it,

and in

your Christian

life,

I hope after

this evening,

I hope that

we've seen

that we want

to give our

all and do

everything according

to this word.

But if that's

all that we've

taken away from

this little

series,

then friends,

we have massively

missed it.

We cannot

wholeheartedly sing

this psalm,

even on our

best days,

even on the

days that you

have your quiet

time,

we cannot sing

this psalm

wholeheartedly.

Only Jesus

can honestly

sing this

psalm.

He is the

ultimate

psalm

119 man,

the blessed

man,

the obedient

man,

the man who

was and

fully delighted

in God's

word,

and the man

who came

to seek

us out

and bestow

on us

life.

You see,

the word of

God is where

life is,

because at the

heart of the

Christian faith

is a God

who speaks,

and what

is it he

speaks about,

the heart of

what he speaks

about is

Jesus Christ

and him

crucified and

risen.

And as we

encounter him

and his word,

as we know

that forgiveness,

as we experience

that new life

and come to love

that amazing

grace,

he transforms

us.

He puts a

new heart

in us,

he takes out

the heart of

stone and

gives us a

new heart

that beats

for him.

And in

Jesus,

because Jesus

is delightful,

only in

him and

through him

can we

sing the

song of

amazing

grace,

of our

wonderful

saviour who

sought us

out,

who came to

save and

to seek

the lost.

So let's

be people

who devote

ourselves to

God's word.

Let's be

people who

love God's

word.

Let's allow

God by

his spirit

to transform

us as we

open his

words.

Let's pray

that we can

see Christ

everywhere in

this book.

Let's make

it the supreme

beauty and

the driving

force and

thing that we

value most in

our lives.

And we're

going to stand

to sing in

just a second

our closing

hymn.

But let me

read you just

the first verse

of this song

before we do.

And let's make

this our prayer

as we go into

this week.

My heart is

filled with

thankfulness.

to him who

bore my

pain,

who plumbed

the depths

of my

disgrace

and gave

me life

again,

who crushed

my curse

of sinfulness

and clothed

me in his

light and

wrote his

law of

righteousness

with power

upon my

heart.

Let's pray

together as we

close.