True Treasure

Good morning. Welcome to Cheyenne Mountain Presbyterian Church. My name is Matthew Capone

and I'm the pastor here and it's my joy to bring God's word to you today. If you are new or visiting

with us, welcome. We are glad that you're here and we're glad that you're here not because we are

trying to fill seats but because we are following after Jesus together as one community and as we

follow after Jesus together we've become convinced that there's no one so good that they don't need

God's grace and no one so bad that they can't have it which means that God has something to say to

everyone in his word whether we've been Christians our entire lives, whether we maybe have been

Christians for a few months, whether we would call ourselves not Christians, whether we have doubts or

questions or objections to Christianity, God comes and speaks to all of us in his word and so that's

why we come every week and take a look at what God has to say to us. We are finishing up a series in

the book of Psalms and as I've been telling you the book of Psalms is the hymn book and the prayer book

of God's people in the Old Testament, the Israelites, and continues to be used as all of the New Testament,

all of the Old Testament by God's people in the New Testament, the church. It's a guide for us in how

to worship God, how to talk to him, how to pray and like any song book it has all kinds of different

angles on it, all different ways we could think about it or look at it. And one thing we talked

about last week was the fact that the Bible, the Psalms, talk about our emotions. God uses them to

shape our emotions, to help us understand what to do with them, how to have right emotions, how to stir up

all kinds of emotions that we need to have, godly emotions, how to deal with emotions that

come and surprise us. And as the Psalms do that, one of the things that's unique about the Psalms,

maybe not unique but true, it's true of other parts of scripture, is that it's

incredibly raw and brutal and honest. The psalmist doesn't pull punches about what it's like to live

life in this world. In fact, I would suggest that the Psalms are more honest about the life of faith,

about the Christian life than we are sometimes. The psalmist is more likely to call a spade a spade

than we are. And we're going to come to a passage this morning, Psalm 73, which talks about one way in

which the psalmist has doubt. The Psalms are a reminder to us that God knows that we struggle with

doubts. He knows that sometimes we wonder if it's a good idea to continue following after him. Sometimes we

wonder if it would be easier and better to just step away, to not be call ourselves a Christian

anymore. And God also knows that when we look around at the world around us and we see people who

aren't following God, and we see how well they're doing in their lives, we're tempted to wonder whether

it's really worth it or not. And because the Psalms are so brutally honest and raw, the psalmist is going

to bring that specific struggle before us this morning in Psalm 73. And when we see people who

aren't following God and are doing well, we're tempted to give up on the Christian life and give

in to sin. We're tempted to give up on the Christian life and give in to sin. And so it's with that that

we come to Psalm 73. I'm going to read it now. You can follow along in your worship guide. It's printed

near the back or in your Bible or on your phone. And as we come to God's Word, remember that He tells

us that His Word is sweeter than honey, even honey that comes straight from the honeycomb, and it is

more precious than gold, even the finest gold. And that's the reason that we come to God's Word reading

now starting with verse 1. Truly God is good to Israel, to those who are pure in heart. But as for me,

my feet had almost stumbled, my steps had nearly slipped. For I was envious of the arrogant when I saw

the prosperity of the wicked. Verse 4. For they have no pangs until death. Their bodies are fat and sleek.

They are not in trouble as others are. They are not stricken like the rest of mankind.

Therefore, pride is their necklace. Violence covers them as a garment. Their eyes swell out through fatness.

Their hearts overflow with follies. They scoff and speak with malice. Loftily they threaten oppression.

They set their mouths against the heavens and their tongue struts through the earth. Verse 10.

Therefore, His people turn back to them and find no fault in them. And they say, how can God know?

Is there knowledge in the Most High? Behold, these are the wicked. Always at ease, they increase in riches.

Verse 13. All in vain have I kept my heart clean and washed my hands in innocence.

For all the day long I have been stricken and rebuked every morning.

If I had said I will speak thus, I would have betrayed the generation of your children.

But when I thought how to understand this, it seemed to me a wearisome task until I went into the sanctuary of God.

Then I discerned their end.

Verse 18.

Truly, you set them in slippery places.

You make them fall to ruin.

How they are destroyed in a moment, swept away utterly by terrors.

Like a dream when one awakes.

Oh Lord, when you rouse yourself, you despise them as phantoms.

When my soul was embittered, when I was pricked in heart, I was brutish and ignorant.

I was like a beast toward you.

Verse 23.

Nevertheless, I am continually with you.

You hold my right hand.

You guide me with your counsel, and afterward you will receive me to glory.

Whom have I in heaven but you?

And there is nothing on earth that I desire besides you.

My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.

Verse 27.

For behold, those who are far from you shall perish.

You put an end to everyone who is unfaithful to you.

But for me, it is good to be near God.

I have made the Lord God my refuge, that I may tell of all your works.

Please pray with me as we come to this portion of God's word.

Dear Father in heaven, we thank you again, as we do every week, for your word that you've given to us.

That you haven't left us alone, but you've spoken to us.

And we thank you even more that you don't ask us to plaster on happy faces.

You don't ask us to pretend.

You don't ask us to ignore our doubts.

But instead, you name them for us.

And you help us to see them and discuss them and address them.

We ask that you would come this morning and that you would help us to do that very thing.

That you would use your word to speak clearly to us.

That we would leave understanding it more and knowing and loving and trusting you more as well.

So, we ask these things not because we have earned them, but because Jesus has earned them for us.

And so, we ask them in his name.

Amen.

If you are a sports fan at all, you know one of the great frustrations of sport fans.

Especially, I would say, if you're maybe a football fan or a basketball fan.

Not just one of the great frustrations, but one of the great excuses.

If your team doesn't win, there's always an easy scapegoat, right?

You can always blame the refs.

In fact, this is something that people constantly discuss and get outraged about.

There was a bad call in this game or that game.

We experienced it recently last year with the Broncos.

There was a big uproar about one of their games against the Kansas City Chiefs.

And how if the ref had made a different call at a different time,

they would have stopped the momentum from the Chiefs and the Broncos would have been able to win.

I'm sure many of you are going to carry that bitterness with you for years to come.

And one individual compares Psalm 73 to exactly that.

This is the psalmist accusing God of being a terrible ref.

When he looks at the world around him, he has his head knowledge.

Verse 1,

Truly God is good to Israel, to those who are pure in heart.

But then when he looks around, what he knows in his head doesn't seem to be true of the world around him.

That's what he thinks is true.

He says theologically God's good to Israel, but it just doesn't seem to be true in his experience.

In his experience, it seems like God actually is not good.

He's making some terrible calls.

And so that's why in verses 2 and 3 he tells us,

His feet had almost stumbled.

His steps had nearly slipped.

Why?

Because verse 3,

I was envious of the arrogant when I saw the prosperity of the wicked.

God knows that there are many times when we're going to question his goodness.

And God knows that there are times when we will look around and wonder if being a Christian is really worth it.

And God knows what the psalmist sees in verse 73,

that sometimes it seems like it's people who don't follow God who prosper and flourish the most.

And so that's where we get what the psalmist heads into in these following verses.

He sees all these terrible calls that God's making.

There are these evil people, these wicked from verse 3, verse 4.

They're incredibly healthy.

They have no pains until death.

They don't experience the problems that other people experience, verse 5.

And they do this even though they are violent and proud, verse 6.

Even though they're filled with foolishness, verse 7.

They seem to have all they need to eat and more.

Their words are terrible, verses 8 and 9.

And yet it seems like God isn't doing anything about it.

Instead, they're prospering.

And so this leads the psalmist to have all kinds of doubts.

We saw in verse 3, he's envious.

He wonders why those people have these things and he doesn't.

He's tempted again to wonder if God is really just.

Verse 11, how can God actually know everything?

If God was truly omniscient, if he was all-knowing,

why would he allow these things to happen?

And then he wonders, verses 13 and 14,

if it's really worth living the righteous life.

If it's really worth the sacrifice of following after God.

If this is what he gets for it.

Now, not all of us may face this kind of doubt,

although I'm sure many of us do some of the time,

and maybe all of us have at some time.

But there's many kinds of situations and places where we look around

and we see that those who don't know God,

who don't follow God, who don't trust him,

appear to be doing exceptionally well.

Now, it might just be a place where it feels unfair.

It may not have anything to do with sin.

It may be you and your spouse have struggled to have children

and you see people who are not Christians all around you

who are having children all the time.

And you wonder, how in the world could God be just?

I've given my life to him.

I'm following after him.

And yet he's giving his blessings, not to me, but to other people.

You may be facing all kinds of medical needs as you reach a certain age

and you look around your friends who are the same age that you are,

people who don't love God and follow God,

and they seem to be having these carefree, active lives.

And you wonder, God, why haven't you given that to me?

I'm the one who's following after you.

You might be struggling to pay and finance your life in retirement

and you see people around you who have not a care in the world.

And you wonder why God did not help you store up in the same way that they did.

It might be that you're struggling to find a job that has purpose and power,

work that's actually going to pay enough for you to support yourself and your family.

And it seems that the doors are closing.

And yet you see people who do violent things and deceitful things.

And it seems to be not a problem at all for them to find a job that gives them enough.

Maybe it's something that is the result of sin.

You've committed, you've followed God to be ethical in your business.

And it only seems to be harming you rather than helping you.

All you're doing is falling behind.

You've decided to honor God by remaining faithful in your marriage.

And you look around and you see people who've chosen to not do that.

And it seems like they are having an amazing life.

You go and you watch videos about and movies about people whose lives become better

when they forsake their marriages.

And so you wonder,

why is God asking me to do that?

Maybe you have decided you are not going to commit your life to work.

You're actually going to observe a Sabbath.

There are going to be times when you rest.

And all it does, it seems to be getting you behind as other people sprint ahead.

Maybe you've embraced God's call to sexual integrity and faithfulness.

And when you're at work,

your coworkers are constantly discussing the sexual experiences that they're having.

And it seems to be harming them in no way.

And so you wonder why these are the blessings that other people are experiencing

and you are not.

The psalmist here in Psalm 73 sees that the righteous suffer and the wicked flourish

and he is confused.

He's confused and that's what leads him to this envy.

Verse 3, this questioning of God and his goodness.

And then his wondering whether it's really worth it.

He says in verse 13,

all in vain I have kept my heart clean and washed my hands in innocence.

All this trouble that I've been taking to live a faithful life

and do what God's asked me and commanded me to do

has been for nothing.

Because when I look at the world around me,

it's clear that the calls that God's making,

when God is a ref,

he's actually giving the blessings to the wicked.

And so that's why we're told in verses 2 and 3,

his feet had almost stumbled,

his steps had nearly slipped.

Why is God allowing the world to work in this way?

Why did he tell us in Psalm 1

that if you're righteous,

you're going to be like a tree planted by streams of water

and everything you're going to do is going to prosper,

but not so the wicked.

If that's true,

why does the world look as it does?

And the psalmist is honest enough to say this and write it down,

and God is good enough to us

and knows enough that we're just dust

to put it in the book of the psalms.

And the psalmist comes with the entirety of his doubts

and his fears,

and he brings them to God.

But then he has a turning point.

He has a new perspective,

and what is it that brings his new perspective?

Well, verse 16,

he tells us how difficult this is.

I thought, how would I understand this?

It seems to be a wearisome task.

He's exhausted with thinking about this.

Verse 17,

until.

Until what?

What is it that gives the psalmist clarity?

Until I went into the sanctuary of God.

In other words,

the psalmist was overwhelmed and confused,

tempted to abandon God in his ways

until he showed up to worship.

And when he showed up to worship,

he gained a new clarity and a new perspective.

It's like someone who's not been able to see

for a long time.

Things have been getting blurrier and blurrier.

And maybe you experienced this

if you're someone who wears glasses like me.

The first time you got them,

you put them on,

you thought, wow,

everything is much more clear

than it's ever been in the past.

And I can see farther away

than I've ever been able to see before.

That's what happens to the psalmist here.

When he shows up to worship,

he's able to finally get a new perspective.

He's able to see reality as it is.

So I'll just pause here for a second

and say part of the reason

that we come to worship every Sunday

is it helps us get back in touch with reality.

That we live in a world

where we have all sorts of messages

being given to us all sorts of,

all the time,

some of which are true

and some of which are not true.

And we come to worship every Sunday

because God has commanded us to,

but also because he loves us.

It's for his glory

and it's also for our good.

He uses worship to help us

remember and understand

what is most true in this world.

He uses worship not necessarily

to change our circumstances,

but he uses it to change our perspective.

And that's what happens here to the psalmist.

He has all these questions about God.

He sees the circumstances around him.

He comes into the sanctuary.

His circumstances don't change.

He doesn't suddenly become someone

who's fat and sleek, verse four.

He doesn't necessarily become someone

whose eyes swell out through fatness,

but he does become someone who understands.

Because, verse 17,

what is it that he gives him new vision?

He discerned their end.

In other words,

the psalmist begins to have

an eternal perspective

of everything that he's seeing around him.

And that's what he tells us

in verses 18 through 22.

How is it that I can make sense

of the fact that the people around me

who don't follow God

seem to be flourishing?

What is it that worship helps me understand?

Verse 18,

Truly you set them in slippery places.

You make them fall to ruin.

Verse 19,

How they are destroyed in a moment,

swept away utterly by terrors.

Like a dream when one awakes,

O Lord, when you rouse yourself,

you despise them as phantoms.

Before, the psalmist was maybe

only remembering part of Psalm 1.

The part of Psalm 1 that says

that the righteous are going to prosper.

Everything that they're going to do

is going to prosper.

But he'd forgotten the other part of Psalm 1.

That the wicked are like the chaff

that the wind blows away.

And so we see why Psalm 1

is the introduction to the Psalter

because it's the psalm

that sets out at the beginning

that there are only two ways to live.

And that those who follow after God

will live with God.

But those who rebel against God

will perish.

And so the psalmist sees

that all these things

that are happening to the wicked,

their wealth,

their prosperity,

their health,

is temporary.

And while they experience it now,

God's judgment is coming.

And so while he thinks

he's tempted to believe

that God is a poor ref

making bad calls,

he actually sees that God

is the ultimate ref

making good calls.

Verses 18 and 19,

these are people who are not going

to get away with what they're doing forever.

And so their prosperity

is only for a moment.

If someone is prospering,

no matter how much

they're prospering,

if they don't know God,

it will all disappear in a moment.

It's of little value.

On the other hand,

the psalmist doesn't just understand

the end of the wicked,

he also understands

that God is with the righteous.

Verses 23 and 26,

The psalmist realizes something

that maybe some of you

have experienced at times,

especially if you're a parent.

There are times

when you have a child

and the child wants

maybe your things,

your possessions,

your support,

your finances,

but the child doesn't want you.

A child is interested

in the things

rather than the relationship.

When the psalmist comes

into worship,

he understands

that he has been interested

in the things

that God can give him,

but he's not been interested

in God.

He's been interested

in the things

that God can give him,

but he's not been interested

in God.

Notice what he doesn't say

in verses 23 through 26.

Oh, I understood

that God is actually

going to give me a blessing

on faith in a few years,

and if I just wait

for it patiently enough,

I too will also prosper

in my health

and my finances.

No, he doesn't see

God's justice

as giving him

what he sees

the wicked as having.

Instead, he realizes

that God's offer

to him isn't stuff,

but God offers him himself.

As one person puts it,

what the wicked get

is this wealth

and this health.

What the psalmist gets

is God.

The wicked get health

and wealth.

What the psalmist gets

is God.

And so the wicked get health

and riches temporarily.

The psalmist gets God

permanently.

The wicked get riches

and health temporarily.

The psalmist gets God

permanently.

Verse 23,

he has God's presence.

He gets God.

He's in the sanctuary.

In the Old Testament,

the sanctuary would have

been the place

that represented

God's presence

among his people.

And that foreshadows

when God would become

even more present

with his people.

We don't have

a sanctuary anymore.

The curtain of the temple

was torn in two

when Jesus died

because Jesus came

to be God's presence

with us.

That if we have

any doubt

of God's presence

in his relationship

and his love

for us and with us,

we only need to remember

that his presence,

as the psalmist

experiences it

in part in the sanctuary,

we see it

and know it

in full

because Jesus came

and actually lived

as a man

on this earth

in a human body

with us

to show us

God's presence.

Now you might be thinking,

well that doesn't do me

a whole lot of good,

right?

Jesus isn't here

right now.

But Jesus tells us

in John 16

it's actually better

that he would leave

because he's given us

the Holy Spirit

to guide us

in all truth

is what he says

in John.

And so the psalmist

has God's presence here.

We, people in the New Testament,

have God's Holy Spirit

that he gives us

to guide us

and be with us

and comfort us.

The Holy Spirit

empowers us

to obey God.

It enables us

to do what God's

commanded us to do.

If we're in difficult

circumstances

like the psalmist

and discouraged

and afraid

we can pray to God

to send his spirit

to help us.

If we don't know

what to do

God tells us

in James chapter 1

James 1 · chapter mention

that we can pray to God

and he will give us wisdom.

Notice the psalmist

doesn't say

that he looks at the wicked

and he sees all the wisdom

that they have.

He doesn't even say

that he sees the peace

and joy

and contentment

that they have.

All he can see

is their health

and their wealth.

24,

you guide me

with your counsel.

God gives us

his word

to show us

how to walk

in this world.

And that's not

what the wicked have

in Psalm 73.

Instead,

they have a very bad

surprise waiting

for them

because verse 19

they're destroyed

in a moment.

And then finally,

verse 24,

afterwards you will

receive me to glory.

The psalmist realizes

that while the wicked

will perish,

while they've set

in slippery places,

he is in a solid place.

Because he's taken

refuge in God

even though he doesn't

experience all the benefits

and prosperity

that he wants to experience

now,

he has the hope

that he is going

to be with God

forever.

that when he dies,

God's going to receive

him to glory.

He's going to take part

in the new creation.

When God comes

and makes everything

right in this world,

the psalmist

is going to be

a part of that.

And so he has

something greater,

far greater,

and far more glorious

than those in the world

around him

that he looks at.

That's the realization

he has

as he comes

and he comes

into the sanctuary

and discerns,

verse 17,

therein.

He understands

that God

is bringing judgment

and destruction

on the wicked,

but bringing salvation

to the righteous.

And so that's how

he comes to understand,

to give this new perspective.

He has an eternal perspective

now on the circumstances

around him.

Again,

his circumstances

haven't changed,

but his perspective has.

Coming and worshiping God

helps him to understand

what is most real

and most true

in this world.

I said earlier,

if some of you

are parents,

you've had this experience

potentially of a child

being interested

in your stuff,

but not in you.

But you also know

if you've interacted

with young children

that often

the opposite is also true,

especially when they're

small and little,

that they will choose

their parent

over anything.

that a young child,

the weaned child

that we talked about

last week

in Psalm 131

would rather be

with its mother

than with anyone else,

no matter how much wealth

and health

and prosperity

that they have.

And that's what happens

to the psalmist here.

I am continually with you,

verse 23.

He would rather be with God

than have all the prosperity

with someone else.

He'd rather be with his parent

than anywhere else.

He understands

that there's something

more important

and valuable

than wealth

and status.

If you're not a Christian,

this psalm is telling us

no matter how much money

and health you have,

you lack God now

and you will one day

have ultimate poverty.

No matter how much health

and wealth you have,

you lack God now

and you will one day

have ultimate poverty.

If you are a Christian,

it doesn't matter

how much you lack.

You have God now

and you will have him forever.

It doesn't matter

how much you lack,

you have God now

and that is ultimate wealth.

Notice that the psalmist's solution

is not for God

to give him things

he doesn't have now,

but for God

to be with him

and for him.

And so if you're struggling

as the psalmist is,

if you're struggling

in verse 3

being envious

of the arrogant

and the prosperity

of the wicked,

if you're struggling

with verse 11

wondering if God

is truly just,

if he truly knows

what's going on

in this world,

and if you're struggling

with verse 13

wondering if it's actually

worth it to live

a holy life,

then on the one hand

you're in good company

here with the psalmist.

But God never

leaves us where we are.

He always takes us

somewhere

and he does that

in this psalm.

And he shows us

that our hope

and our trust

is not in a change

in circumstances,

but a change

in perspective.

The psalmist here

reassesses

what is valuable

and worthwhile.

Verse 1,

he says,

truly God is good

to Israel,

to those who are

pure in heart.

So theologically

he believes

in God's goodness,

but experientially

in his heart

he does not see it

or know it

until he comes

to the very last verse.

If you've heard me

teach and preach

for a while,

you know I'm a big fan

of bookends.

And the word good

shows up in the first verse

and the last verse.

verse 1,

this good

is just a theological

statement

that's completely

divorced from

the psalmist experience.

I know God's good.

I don't see it

because he seems

to be giving his goodness

to everyone else.

In 28,

the very last verse,

he now knows,

but for me

it is what?

Good

to be near God.

I have made

the Lord God

my refuge

that I may tell

of all your works.

As he goes

through this psalm,

as he pours out

his lament,

as he reassesses

everything in the

perspective of eternity,

the psalmist gets

a new definition

of what good

is.

And so he can say,

not just with his head,

but with his heart,

verse 1,

truly God is good

to Israel.

Why?

Verse 28,

because it is good

to be near God.

I have made

the Lord God

my refuge

that I may tell

of all your works.

His refuge

is the one

who protects him.

And he's telling

of all of God's works.

That's part of what

he's doing

in the sanctuary.

And so as he understands

that God

is his safety

and his hope

and his treasure,

that the things

that the people

around him have

that he doesn't have

are temporary

and the things

that he has

that they don't have

are permanent.

He's able to take

refuge in God

and sing of God's works.

Now for those of us

who are in the New Testament,

the people of the church,

taking refuge in God,

we would talk about this

as having faith in Christ.

In the Old Testament,

he knew that God

was the one

who was going to save him,

that would receive him

into glory,

verse 27.

But he did not know

exactly how that

was going to happen.

We now know

that God's refuge

to us

is a refuge

that he gives us

through Jesus.

That because Jesus

had no refuge

when he died on the cross,

because God

poured out his wrath

and his punishment,

the destruction

in verse 19

that the wicked received,

Jesus received

on our behalf,

we can look to Jesus

as our refuge.

And no matter

what happens,

no matter what other people

have that we don't,

we know that that's something

that we cannot lose.

While wealth and health

are things that we can.

And the work,

verse 28,

that we tell of,

the work that we praise God

for more than anything else

is his work

of sending his son,

of sending Jesus

to live as a man

in this world,

to live a perfect life

that we didn't live.

to die the death

that we deserved

so that everyone

who has faith and hope

and trust in him

would be able

to be near God,

to make the Lord God

our refuge

and tell

of all his works.

If you were

following the news

last fall,

you may have

not just heard

about the Broncos,

but you may have

also heard

a strange

story in the world

of art history.

There's an artist

named Banksy,

it's his nickname,

and he painted

a painting called

Girl with a Balloon,

and it was sold

at auction

for 1.4 million.

And there's many

auctions that happen.

This was at an auction

house, I think,

somewhere on the east coast,

probably New York City,

and usually these auctions

end without event.

The person who wins

the auction

takes their prize.

They take what they've

earned and paid for

and bought,

and they keep it.

They have it.

But something very

different happened

at this auction.

As soon as it was over,

and this 1.4 million

dollar purchase

was completed,

an alarm started going off

in the auction house.

And immediately

after the alarm

went off,

the painting started

dropping out of the

bottom of the frame.

And as it came out

of the bottom of the frame,

it came out in pieces.

In other words,

as soon as this buyer

purchased the painting,

it was destroyed.

Come to find out,

the artist had planted

a shredder in the frame,

and he had decided

that if his painting

was ever set up

for auction,

he would destroy it.

And so he waited

until the moment

when it was done,

he planted someone

in the audience,

and they had a remote

control that they could

press it.

So as soon as the purchase

was complete,

the artwork would be destroyed.

This great investment,

this 1.4 million dollar purchase,

was gone in an instant.

The psalmist is telling us

in Psalm 23

that if we put our hope

in health and wealth

and prosperity,

it may work for a time,

but it will be gone

in an instant.

that what seems precious

to us will be destroyed.

Those who put their hope

and their investment

and their trust in God

will have something

that cannot be destroyed

and that will last forever.

And so Jesus tells us

in Mark chapter 8,

Mark 8 · chapter mention

in calling the crowd

to him with his disciples,

he, that is Jesus,

said to them,

if anyone would come to me.

If anyone would come after me,

let him deny himself

and take up his cross

and follow me.

For whoever would save his life

will lose it,

but whoever loses his life

for my sake

and the gospels

will save it.

For what does it profit a man

to gain the whole world

and forfeit his soul?

For what can a man give

in return for his soul?

For behold,

those who are far from you

shall perish.

You put an end to everyone

who is unfaithful to you.

But for me,

it is good to be near God.

I have made the Lord God

my refuge

that I may tell

of all your works.

Please pray with me.

Dear Father in heaven,

we thank you

that you're a good Father.

You don't give up on us

when we doubt you

and we question you.

But instead,

you've given us

the words

to do that very thing.

But you also don't leave us

in our doubts

and our questions,

but you call us

to hope and faith

to follow after you

and walk

in the way

that Jesus has set

for us to walk.

And so we ask

as we struggle

with doubts and fears,

as we wonder

whether you're good

and just,

that you would use

your word

and your spirit

to build us up

and give us faith

and trust in you

as we understand

that what you've given us

is more valuable

than anything else

and that what we envy

from others

are things

that will not last

and cannot satisfy.

We ask these things

not because we have

earned them,

but because Jesus

has earned them for us

and so we ask them

in his name.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.