Our Law-giving, Life-giving God

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My name is Vaughn Woodson and I am a part of the Oakland Little Faith Group.

Today's scripture reading is from the book of Deuteronomy, chapter 5, verses 1-7 and 22-33, as printed in the liturgy.

Deuteronomy 5:1–7

And Moses summoned all Israel and said to them,

Hear, O Israel, the statutes and the rules that I speak in your hearing today,

and you shall learn them and be careful to do them.

The Lord our God made a covenant with us in Horeb.

Not with our fathers did the Lord make this covenant,

but with us, who are all of us here alive today.

The Lord spoke with you face to face at the mountain out of the midst of the fire,

while I stood between the Lord and you at that time to declare to you the word of the Lord,

for you were afraid because of the fire.

And you did not go up into the mountain.

He said, I am the Lord your God,

who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery.

You shall have no other gods before me.

These words the Lord spoke to all your assembly at the mountain,

out of the midst of the fire, the cloud,

and the thick darkness with a loud voice.

And he added, No more.

And he wrote them on two tablets of stone and gave them to me.

And as soon as you heard the voice out of the midst of the darkness,

while the mountain was burning with fire,

you came near to me, all the heads of your tribes and your elders.

And you said, Behold, the Lord our God has shown us his glory and greatness,

and we have heard his voice out of the midst of the fire.

This day we have seen God speak with man, and man still live.

Now, therefore, why should we die?

For this great fire will consume us.

If we hear the voice of the Lord our God anymore, we shall die.

For who is there of all flesh that has heard the voice of the living God

speaking out of the midst of fire, as we have, and has still lived?

But go near and hear all that the Lord our God will say,

and speak to us all that the Lord our God will speak to you,

and we will hear, and we will do it.

And the Lord heard your words when you spoke to me.

And the Lord said to me, I have heard the words of this people,

which they have spoken to you.

They are right in all that they have spoken.

Oh, that they had such a heart as this always,

to fear me and to keep all my commandments,

that it might go well with them and with their descendants forever.

Go and say to them, return to your tents.

But you stand here by me,

and I will tell you the whole commandment and the statutes and the rules

that you shall teach them,

that they may do them in the land that I am giving them to possess.

You shall be careful, therefore, to do as the Lord your God has commanded you.

You shall not turn aside to the right hand or to the left.

You shall walk in all the way that the Lord your God has commanded you,

that you may live, and that it may go well with you,

and that you may live long in the land that you shall possess.

The grass withers and the flowers fade,

but the word of our God stands forever.

Well, thank you, Vaughn, for that scripture reading.

Good morning.

My name is Andrew.

I'm one of the pastors here,

and it's good to be with you.

Will you join me in prayer as we come to hear what God has to say to us?

Lord God, it was good when they said to me, when they said to us,

let us go to the house of the Lord.

Father, I thank you personally this morning for the praises sung here

by my brothers and sisters in Christ,

exclaiming your holiness and your character and your awesomeness.

And I pray that we would encounter you as such today,

the God who reigns, the holy and awesome God,

who in many ways is terrifying,

but in Christ is also more tender than we could ever imagine.

Help us to know you as this kind of God.

Help us to know you not just as lawgiver, but lifegiver,

and to understand how those things are not opposed to one another

because of the gospel,

because of the good news of what you've done for us in Christ.

Would you bless and honor the preaching of your word

and fill us all with your spirit

as we listen to what you have to say to us.

And we pray these things in the name of Jesus.

Amen.

Well, Christ Church, we're continuing our series

in the book of Deuteronomy and these Hebrew scriptures,

this last book of the Torah.

And to get what Deuteronomy is about,

I know we've talked about it, but I just want to refresh us.

I want you to picture Moses.

Picture Moses and the people of Israel

on the other side of the Jordan River,

outside of the Promised Land.

And 40 years have now gone by.

40 years have now gone by since their people,

mostly their parents, mostly their grandparents,

were delivered from slavery in Egypt,

but then refused to enter the land

that God had promised them.

And so here in Deuteronomy,

you have this next generation of Israel.

Pretty much all their parents,

pretty much all their grandparents

have not survived long enough to get to this moment

where they're about to cross the Jordan River

and enter into the Promised Land.

But they're still led by their faithful leader,

their faithful prophet and shepherd, Moses,

who is now 120 years old,

and he's about to die knowing

that he is not gonna enter the Promised Land

with this people.

So here in Deuteronomy, you have Moses,

this great prophet and shepherd over Israel,

contemplating his death,

wishing better things for this next generation of Israel,

better things than for the previous generation,

and looking to speak a final and fruitful word to them

as they begin their next season of being the people of God

without him.

And so what Deuteronomy is,

is it's the record of this prophet Moses,

his final and most important parting words

to an Israelite generation

about to embark on a new chapter

in the story of God's people.

And so in the first chapters,

which we covered in the last couple weeks,

he pretty much, he retells the history.

He retells Israel what God has done for them,

how he brought them out of Egypt,

how he sustained them through the wilderness,

how he forgave them with all their whining

and all their rebellion

and all the ways that they failed to trust him.

But as we come here to Deuteronomy chapter five today,

Moses has moved on from retelling what God has done,

and he moves on to tell us what God has spoken,

namely his law.

Verse one says,

Now next week,

Jonathan is gonna talk about those 10 commandments,

specifically given at Horeb.

But what I wanna point out to us today

from Deuteronomy chapter five

is not the laws themselves.

Today, I want us to see the way that these laws

are actually framed as they're spoken to Israel.

And this is so important to see

because if we just go straight to the laws themselves,

and if we fail to see who communicates these laws

and why and how,

we'll completely misunderstand God's law,

we'll completely misunderstand God himself.

But if we pay close attention,

we'll notice that it's not just the law

that Moses wants to remind us about.

Here in Deuteronomy chapter five,

Moses also wants to remind us,

he wants to impress upon us

of who this God is who spoke to us,

and why he spoke to us,

and how he spoke to us.

Who, why, and how.

See, because Moses understands,

and we all need to understand

that unless we've been struck

by the reality of who God is,

and why he gave us his law,

and how he spoke it,

we'll never rightly relate to God,

we'll never rightly know him,

we'll only know him

as just some authoritarian law-giving God,

we'll never know him

as the affectionate, life-giving God

that he truly is.

And that's what Moses is up to this morning,

that's what he wants his people to see here

in Deuteronomy chapter five,

and that's what I hope we'll all see

in the preaching of God's word this morning.

So let's dig in and look at how,

before Moses even got to the what,

before he even got to the law,

he insisted on reminding them

of who it was who spoke to them.

Notice, he doesn't start with the what of the law,

he starts with the who of the lawgiver.

See, Moses had a bigger understanding,

a bigger view of the faith

and simply, here you go, Israel.

These are some Jewish rules and regulations

for you to obey and follow.

Moses' retelling of the law

is about so much more

than helping them brush up

on this religious manual

for the sake of good Jewish behavior.

In verse two,

Moses roots the statutes and the rules.

He's calling Israel to hear

and learn and do them.

He's rooting them in the covenant.

That's what it says in verse two.

Hear, O Israel,

the statutes and rules.

Learn them and be careful to do them.

Four, verse two.

The Lord, our God,

made a covenant with us in Horeb.

See, by invoking this covenant

that God made,

by invoking this life and death

binding commitment

of the sovereign God

to his people,

Moses is saying,

this is not primarily about rules.

This is primarily about relationship.

And that's the key thing about covenant.

Covenant is about relationship,

a personal, intimate, communicative,

and faithful relationship.

And so what Moses is doing here

is he's reminding these people

in verses four to six

of just how personal,

just how intimate,

just how faithful this God has been

in this covenant relationship to them.

He reminds them,

the Lord, Yahweh,

the God who appeared

and spoke to Abraham

and your forefathers,

he also, verse four,

spoke to you.

He spoke to you.

Face to face at the mountain,

he says.

And not only did he speak intimately

with his covenant people

face to face,

but Moses reminds them

of Yahweh's covenant credentials.

Look at verse six.

Before God even tells them

what they shall and shall not do

in the Ten Commandments,

God grounds his commandments

in who he is

and what he's already done

as their covenant God.

In verse six,

before giving out any commands,

God says,

I am Yahweh,

I am the Lord,

your God,

who brought you out

of the land of Egypt,

out of the house of slavery.

Moses wants them to see

that the law they've received

didn't just come from anyone,

not simply from him,

a mere man,

just another Israelite,

and certainly not from your typical

ancient Near Eastern pagan God.

No, it came from their covenant God,

Yahweh,

the God who had fulfilled

his promises to Abraham,

the God who rescued them

from Egypt,

and the God who was about

to bring them into the promised land,

the I am.

The I am who said,

I am yours.

I am your God,

O Israel.

See, Moses reminds them

that these laws

are so much more than rules.

They're a way of life.

They're a way of life

meant to reflect

and cultivate

a sacred relationship

between God and his people.

Think of it this way.

If you're about to enter

into a relationship

with someone

and you want to nurture

that relationship,

what do you do?

Do you just kind of

plop a manual

into their lap

with all your likes

and dislikes,

all your preferences

and pet peeves

and say,

hey, memorize this,

live by this.

If you want a relationship

with me that's going to work out,

just follow these rules.

Go try that out

and see how it works, right?

No, you unfold to them

who you are

if you want a deep relationship

with them.

You unfold to them

who you are.

You show them your character

and you connect with them

in the deepest ways possible.

You knit your hearts together

around the things

that unite you

and that's what God's doing

in the giving of his law.

It's not a list

of God's pet peeves.

It's a reflection

of who he is.

It's a reflection

of his character.

So when God says,

thou shalt not kill,

it's a reflection of him

as the giver of life,

as a God

who values life.

Or when he says,

you shall not bear

false witness,

you shall not lie,

he's reflecting himself

as a God of truth,

a God of integrity.

And see,

just as these laws

reflect his character,

they also reflect

the intended character,

the intended way of life

for all those

who are made

in his image.

Image bearers of God

meant to enjoy

a harmonious relationship

with him.

See, God's law

is not an oppressive

straitjacket.

No, it's actually

the truest,

most original,

most authentic way,

the best way,

God's intended way

for human beings

to live.

So don't you see

that this book,

this book,

the scriptures,

this law,

even with all the laws

and rules

and statutes

and demands upon our lives,

it's not just

any other book,

it's the word of God.

It's the word of God,

the God who loves us

and gives himself to us

and desires a personal

and intimate relationship

with us.

And the who,

and who these laws,

who these laws come from,

this makes all the difference.

It makes all the difference

in how we should understand

and receive this book

and all the rules

and statutes

that are in it.

You know,

the history of the world,

the history of world religions

is fraught

with a bunch of magic,

impersonal formulas

for how to get what you want,

how to attain that blessed life,

which hoops you have to jump through,

which obstacles you have to overcome,

which sacrifices you have to make.

But this is not so

with the Christian faith.

Christianity is different.

It's not about doing

all the right things

and following a list of rules

from an impersonal,

distant God

who only exists

to place impossible demands

upon our creaturely existence.

The faith of Moses,

the faith of all God's people

is grounded,

not in rules,

but in a relationship

with the one true

and living God

who graciously covenants himself

to belong to

an undeserving people like us.

Do we know this God?

Do we know this God?

This is the God

who rescues his people

from all kinds of slaveries,

from slavery in Egypt,

from slavery to our own sin,

our addictions

and our sinful habits,

from our enslavement

to the regret

and the shame

and the depression

that plague us

over all our inadequacies

and our imperfections

and our failures.

leaders,

if you are down this morning,

if you are depressed

this morning,

overwhelmed by the weight

of your flaws

and your failures,

and if your understanding

of the Christian faith

is simply that

of a legal code

that you have shamefully broken,

Moses has good news for you.

The Spirit of God

speaking through him

and maybe even through me

preaching to you today,

we have better news for you.

Good news

of the covenantal,

relational God

who before even uttering

his Ten Commandments

broke the chains

of his beloved people.

And if we only ever have eyes

to view the Christian faith

as but one among many other

religious systems

filled with pious rules

and rituals,

then we will only ever

find God's law.

We will only ever find

God himself as burdensome

and oppressive

and ancient

and irrelevant.

But if we are struck

with the larger,

truer reality

of this covenant God

that the Lord Almighty

so desired

to bind himself

in a life and death

relationship

with his people,

including people like us,

this changes everything.

This changes everything

about how we are

to understand

the law of God

and it opens our eyes

to see him not just

as the law giver

but as the life giver.

Our covenant God,

he breaks the chains

of all those

who belong to him.

His law is,

it's a picture,

not merely of

the limitations

that are placed upon us.

Actually what it is,

is it's a way

to live out

our liberation.

That's what the law is.

It's a way to live out

our liberation.

And this brings me

to the why question.

Why did God speak to them

and give them his law?

Well, Moses wants them

to know that the reason why

was out of their covenant

God's loving kindness,

out of his desire

for his children

to flourish.

See, when we understand

who this God is,

the why question

actually becomes quite clear.

Look with me

at the last two verses,

32 and 33.

You shall be careful,

therefore,

to do as the Lord

your God

has commanded you.

You shall not turn aside

to the right hand

or to the left.

You shall walk

in all the way

that the Lord your God

has commanded you

that you may live

and that it may go

well with you

and that you may live

long in the land

you shall possess.

Every good parent

makes laws.

Every good parent

makes rules

for their children,

not for their harm,

not for their frustration,

but for their good.

Like when I say,

Kami and Leah,

thou shalt not

come near to the oven

when we're baking cookies

for you

because you will

harm yourself.

You will get burned

and we don't want you

to get burned.

I mean, think about it.

No one actually wants

to live in a world

without laws.

No one actually wants

to live in a world

without laws, right?

No sane person

who's honest about

their finitude

and their fallibility

even wants to live

in a world

where they themselves

get to make up

their own laws.

Our aversion

is not to laws

if we think about it.

It's not actually

to laws in and of themselves.

You know what it is?

Our aversion

is to imperfect laws

given by imperfect lawgivers.

But what if

there was a perfect lawgiver?

What if there was

a perfect lawgiver

whose laws worked

for the good

of all people

truly without fail?

Might it be

that the one true God

is a good father

who wants our good

and who is for us?

Can you hear

his fatherly longing

here in verse 29?

His fatherly longing

for his children's good

when he says to Moses,

oh, verse 29,

oh, that they had

such a heart

as this always

to fear me

and to keep my commandments

that it might go well

with them

and with their descendants

forever.

What if,

what if we didn't

simply see

the law of God

as a list of limitations

but as a liturgy

of life?

A good way,

a good pattern

to commit ourselves to,

a way to give ourselves to,

a law that's been given

to us

by an infinitely wise,

an infinitely good,

an infinitely loving

father in heaven?

What if we saw

the law of God

in that way?

But maybe you question that.

Is God really good?

Can I really trust

this law

that he's given us?

Is the God of Moses,

the God of the scriptures,

is he truly good?

Is he truly for us?

Well, having considered

the who

and the why,

I think it's really

when we understand

how he spoke

that we begin to see

just how much God

is actually

for his people,

just how much

he desires our good

when he gives us

his law.

I want you to notice

how Moses,

he details the

dramatic experience

of Israel's encounter

with God

and he details it

with a lot of

like darkness

and terror

when God spoke to them

at the Mount Horeb,

right?

In verse 22,

these words,

the Lord spoke to

all your assembly

at the mountain,

out of the mist

of the fire,

the cloud,

and the thick darkness

with a loud voice.

This wasn't just

some casual encounter,

this is what theologians

call a theophany,

a visible,

sensible manifestation

of God

in creation

to humans.

Of all the ways

that God could have

communicated his law

to them,

he didn't drop a scroll

down from the sky,

he didn't send

just an angel

and a prophet

as his messenger,

he didn't just speak

with a loud voice

from heaven,

he revealed to them

his glory

and his power

and his presence

palpably

with the nearest exposure

that anyone had had

with God

since the first humans

originally walked

with him

in the Garden of Eden

before the fall.

And it was an absolutely

overwhelming encounter

to hear this law

from God

because things were

different now

than in the garden.

They were different now

compared to when

God's people once

strolled with him

through the Garden

Paradise.

Moses reminds Israel

of not just how

awesome this encounter

was,

but also of how

absolutely terrifying

it was.

It was terrifying.

Verse 23,

Moses says,

And as soon as you

heard the voice

out of the midst

of the darkness,

while the mountain

was burning with fire,

a whole mountain

on fire,

you came near to me,

all the heads

of your tribes

and all your elders,

and you said,

Behold,

the Lord our God

has shown us

his glory and greatness,

and we have heard

his voice

out of the midst

of the fire.

This day we have seen

God speak with man

and man still live.

They're surprised.

They continue in verse 25,

Now therefore,

why should we die?

For this great fire

will consume us.

If we hear the voice

of the Lord our God

any more,

we shall die.

For who is there

of all flesh

that has heard

the voice

of the living God

speaking out of the

midst of fire

as we have

and has still

lived.

The people

were amazed,

yes,

to encounter

and to hear directly

the voice of God,

but gone were the days

when sinless humanity

could encounter

the Almighty God

in all his glory

and all his holiness

without dread,

without terror,

without the fear

of getting consumed

by his overwhelmingly

holy presence.

A holiness

that cannot,

a holiness that will

not tolerate sin

and evil

and injustice

and unrighteousness.

Moses reminds them

of the terror

that they felt

when they heard

the voice of God

and met him

at the burning mountain

and received

his holy law.

He reminds them

of this

in order to impress

upon them

the seriousness

of coming before God,

the seriousness

of an encounter

with God,

the weightiness

of what was spoken

to them,

given to them,

the law.

The law

is not something

to be received

nonchalantly.

It's not a mere

suggestion,

something to

flippantly try out.

Like, hey,

I'm gonna try keto

this week.

I'm gonna try

intermittent fasting

for months.

See how it works

out for me.

No.

When God told Israel

at Mount Horeb

to consecrate

themselves for two days

and to wash

all their garments

and then on the third day

to come near

to the mountain

but not to touch

the mountain,

not even their animals,

lest they surely die.

And when God came near

and revealed himself

to them

and spoke to them

from this burning

mountain of fire

with flashes of lightning

and thunder

and darkness

and a deep,

dark cloud of smoke,

this was all meant

to indicate to them

that the words

spoken to them

were not

a mere suggestion

but the words

of the holy,

almighty,

creator God,

words that were

a matter

of life and death

and in fact,

too hot

to even handle.

Moses reminds them

that they were surprised.

They were surprised

to even have encountered God

and hear him speak

directly to them

and still have survived.

And by reminding them

of how God

so dramatically

spoke to them,

by reminding them

of how terrifying

God's voice was

when he met them

and spoke his law

to them,

Moses was also reminding them

of really the great conundrum

they faced

as recipients

of God's law

and this was the conundrum.

On the one hand,

Israel recognized

that it was only by

God's word and law

that they could live.

They needed him

to speak to them.

They recognized

that God's voice

was absolutely necessary

for life

and yet on the other hand,

they also recognized

that they could neither handle

nor survive

God's holy word

and law.

That it was impossible

for them

to remain in God's presence

and continue listening

to his voice

much less live up

to this law

he was giving them.

On the one hand,

to hear God's voice

and receive his law

was wonderful

and absolutely necessary

for life

and well-being

but on the other hand,

it was absolutely terrible

and impossible

to survive

and this is really

the whole conundrum

of the Christian faith.

This is the whole conundrum

of all of life

that we human beings

made in God's image

are absolutely dependent

on the word

and the presence of God,

his word

and his voice

of the very thing

that created us,

the very thing

that sustains us

and yet,

his holy word

and his presence

present a deep,

dark threat

to all of us

because we've all

violated his holy standards.

We have not loved him

with our whole heart,

soul, mind

and strength

nor loved our neighbors

as ourselves.

We have not put God first

nor trusted in him.

We've lived first

for ourselves

and then only occasionally,

right,

only opportunistically

for the good

of our neighbors,

our image of God

bearing neighbors.

This conundrum

is at the heart

of the Christian faith

and if we don't understand

this dire conundrum,

we have not understood

what Christianity

is about.

If we only know God

as a tender teddy bear

and not as a terrifyingly

transcendent God,

we have not understood

him or his law

or how far we've gone

astray from him

and how far

and how much

we need him.

I mean,

do we,

do any of us,

do any of us realize

what a wonder

it is

that we are all

still breathing

today

as we've come

into the house of God

before the presence

of God

to worship him

and to hear his word

this morning.

Most of us

probably came

far more casually

than any Israelite

would have dared

approach

the living God

at Mount Horeb

or in his temple.

Myself included,

we come half-hearted,

we come half-awake

on our own time,

on our own terms,

coming to consume

more than to bow down.

When reminding Israel

of what God spoke,

Moses wanted to remind them

of how God spoke,

reminding them

of the conundrum

inherent in any encounter

between the holy God

and wayward humanity.

But see,

the beauty of this

is Moses didn't just

remind them

of the problem

they face

in verse 26.

For who is there

of all flesh

that has heard

the voice

of the living God

speaking out of the mist

of the fire

as we have

and has still lived?

But he also reminds them,

he also reminds them

of how they still

happen to live

while encountering

this holy God.

Go back down

to verse 4.

The Lord spoke with you

face to face

at the mountain,

out of the mist

of the fire,

verse 5,

while I stood

between the Lord

and you

at that time.

See,

the way that Israel

survived this conundrum

was by a mediator.

They had someone

to stand between

them and God,

someone to stand

between sinful them

and their holy God,

a substitute,

someone to face

and encounter

their fiery God

even more intimately

than they ever dared.

The people of Israel

knew that this was

a holy God

when they saw the fire,

when they heard the voice,

and so they pleaded

with Moses

in verse 27.

You,

go near

and hear all

that the Lord

our God will say

and then speak to us

all that the Lord

our God

will speak to you

and we will hear it

and do it.

We cannot handle

his voice anymore,

Moses,

but we desperately

need it,

so you go,

please,

go and try

in our place.

You go,

expose yourself

to the fiery God.

You go meet him

on the mountain

in the dark cloud

for us.

And God says

in verses 28 to 31,

they are right.

It is good

that they said this.

Tell them to return

to their tents,

but you,

Moses,

stand here by me

and I will speak

with you

so that you

may teach them.

See,

Moses rehashes

all of this

because he wants

them to remember

not only the terror

they felt

in the presence

of God,

in the presence

of his law,

but also

he wants to remind

them of the

sacrificial mediator

that they needed

who made it

possible for them

to hear

from this

terrifyingly

holy God

who made it

possible for them

to enter

into a relationship

with this

awesome God.

See,

no one just

encounters God

on their own

without a mediator.

We all need

someone to stand

between us

and God.

He is far

too holy.

We are far

too sinful.

We all need

someone like

Moses,

someone who will

go into the fire

and the darkness

in our place

and restore

our relationship

with God.

Really though,

we need someone

greater than Moses.

God allowed Moses

to serve as a mediator

but in one sense

it was a burden

too great

for him to bear

and he died

without entering

the promised land

with his people

a consequence

of his own sins

and the sins

of his people.

But thanks be to God.

You know why?

Thanks be to God

that he has not

left us

without a better

mediator.

The Apostle Paul

says in 1 Timothy

1 Timothy 2 · chapter mention

chapter 2

for there is

one God

and there is

one mediator

between God

and men.

The man

Jesus Christ

who gave himself

as a ransom

for us all.

And this is the gospel.

This is the gospel

that the conundrum

of the Christian faith

is solved

by the ultimate

mediator

Jesus Christ.

The one who

faced the fiery

judgment of God

and went into

the darkness

in our place.

And came out alive

dying and yet

rising again

to bring us

into the promised land

of new creation.

The gospel

the good news

of Jesus Christ

is that though

God is far holier

than we could

ever comprehend

and though we are

more sinful

than we could

ever dare

to imagine

the terrifying

law-giving God

of Mount Horeb

has still

chosen

to pour out

his sacrificial

love

upon us.

A love

greater than

we would

ever dare

hope

because he

is the

life-giving

God

not just

of Mount

Horeb

but he's

the life-giving

God of

Mount Zion

in Christ

the mediator

of a new

covenant

initiated

by his

blood.

So Christ

Church

my prayer

is as we

continue in this

series in

Deuteronomy

as we

continue to

examine

God's

law together

in the weeks

ahead

we'll do it

with this

proper

framework

remembering

our covenant

God

who broke

our chains

even before

giving us

commands

to live

out our

liberation

remembering

his tender

heart

and his

good intentions

for us

his desire

that we

experience

his abundant

life

and remembering

how he

sacrificially

sent forth

his one

and only

son

as a

mediator

to solve

the ultimate

conundrum

presented

by the

heights

of his

holiness

and the

depths

of our

sin

this is

the

gospel

will you

pray

with me

Lord what

will we

do without

the gospel

the good

news that

you have

sent a

mediator

for us

help us

never to

presume that

we could

have a

relationship

with you

on our

own

show us

the wickedness

of our

hearts

show us

the holiness

of your

character

and make us

tremble before

you

and

help us to

hear your

tender voice

your desire

to be with

us

give us

eyes to see

how far

you've gone

to pursue

us

to bring us

into your

family

to allow us

into your

presence

to commune

with you

at this

table

Lord let us

not take

this lightly

show us

the heights

of your

holiness

the depths

of our

sin

and the

overwhelming

abundance

of your

grace toward

us in

Christ

our perfect

mediator

we pray these

things in his

name

amen

and

so

we

never

let's

go

Oh

oh

Oh

oh