Jeshurun's Rock 

To Isaiah 44 verses one through 23.

You can find Isaiah 44 on page 604 in the chair Bibles around

you. In this chapter, we'll see many

similar themes that we have heard in the previous chapters.

Some themes like Israel as God's chosen servant, God as the maker

and Redeemer of Israel is God as the first and the last that that

no one compares to God. There's a, there's also going to

be an attack against idolatry, which has been happening quite a

bit. There's the theme of God

bringing his life, giving water upon dry ground.

And and then there's the comforting phrase again multiple

times the, the phrase fear not. There's a there's a There are a

few unique things in this passage, but much of it is

repetition, and that's intentional.

The Christian life isn't mainly about learning new things.

It's mainly about remembering the old things, right?

We remember them so that we can continually apply them to each

new season. So as we come back to some

familiar themes from this, from the past few weeks, come ready

to remember. The truths here are just simply

too important to ever forget. So given the length of this

passage, well, I'll start by reading the 1st 8 verses and

then we'll read the remaining verses as we continue to walk

through this passage. So please read along with me

Isaiah 44 starting in verse one. But now here, O Jacob, my

servant Israel, whom I have chosen.

Thus says the Lord who made you, who formed you from the womb,

and will help you. Fear not, O Jacob, my servant

Jesharin, whom I have chosen, for I will pour water on the

thirsty land and streams on the dry ground.

I will pour my spirit upon your offspring and my blessing on

your descendants. They shall spring up among the

grass like willows by flowing streams.

This one will say I am the Lord's, another will call on the

name of Jacob, and another will write on his hand the Lord's,

and name himself by the name of Israel.

Thus says the Lord, the King of Israel, and his Redeemer, the

Lord of hosts. I am the 1st and I am the last.

Besides me there is no God who is like me.

Let him proclaim it. Let him declare and set it

before me. Since I appointed an ancient

people, let them declare what is to come and what will happen.

Fear not, nor be afraid. I have I not told you from of

old and declared it, And you are my witnesses.

Is there a God besides me? There is no rock.

I know not any. Let's pray.

Oh heavenly Father, we come, and we ask that you would do what

you say in this passage, that you would pour out water on dry

ground. You would pour out your spirit

upon us, upon our offspring, Lord, that there would be true,

genuine life that would spring up, true worshippers who seek

after you. This we pray in Jesus name,

Amen. In 2009, I was living in the

Twin Cities when the biggest Ponzi scheme in U.S. history up

to that point broke the headlines.

It was orchestrated by the Minneapolis businessman named

Tom Petters, and it totaled $3.7 billion.

Petters convinced investors with promissory notes that their

money would be used to purchase discounted merchandise like

electronics, which then would be sold for a profit.

He promised returns of 15 to 20%.

The problem was was that there there was no merchandise, just

empty warehouses. Petters then lived a lavish

lifestyle with mansions, yachts, customized private jet and high

stakes gambling. After Petters was exposed, the

fallout was huge. Sun Country Airlines went went

bankrupt and so did Polaroid and several hedge funds folded.

Several local Minneapolis religious charities were hit

hard to like Minnesota Teen Challenge because they had

invested in in they had invested millions of donated money

through an organization called the Fidelis Foundation, which

put their investments in the Petters Ponzi scheme.

Now investing in an organization called the Fidelis Foundation, I

mean, that really sounds secure, doesn't it?

But behind all the promised security and success was

absolutely nothing. Petters is now serving 50 years

in prison. What gives you a sense of

security? Is it your your money, your job,

your relationships, your health, your grades, your church, your

country? Is that sense of security

actually founded upon something secure and unchanging and

trustworthy? Isaiah 44 is a prophetic call

from God to make Him your rock, a foundation that will never be

shaken. This prophecy foresaw a time in

Israel's future of great insecurity due to their sin.

They would be punished with the destruction of Jerusalem and and

the destruction of the temple, and people would be exiled to a

foreign nation. And here God makes a case to

Israel and to us that through all the instability in life that

He is to be our rock because he is our Redeemer, He is

sovereign. So in this passage, we'll see

four reasons to rest secure on in the rock.

Then we'll consider the deconstruction of idols.

And then we'll end with three ways we can rightly respond to

God as our rock. So first, four reasons to rest

secure in the rock from the 1st 8 verses of this chapter which

you just read. Now the first reason we're to

rest secure on God is our rock is because He is faithful to His

covenant of grace. He's faithful to His covenant.

We see this in the 1st 2 verses of Isaiah 44.

This chapter begins with a call for Israel's attention.

But now here, oh Jacob, my servant God was about to give

Israel a message that contrasted with His previous message.

To what was that message? Well, last week Pastor Chris

preached on Isaiah 43, and that chapter ended with the promise

of punishment for sin. Here's the last two verses of

Isaiah 43. Your first father sinned, and

your mediators transgressed against me.

Therefore, I will profane the Princess of the sanctuary and

deliver Jacob to utter destruction and Israel to

reviling. Jacob was going to face utter

destruction for their sins of idolatry and the wickedness that

was just so rampant in their day.

This pronouncement of utter destruction, well, it may be a

prophecy of the destruction of Jerusalem and of the Temple in

Fib 586 BC by the Babylonians, so that that devastating

pronouncement at the end of Isaiah 43 then gives way to a

new and different announcement here in Isaiah 44.

Even though utter destruction was coming for Judah, the story

wasn't going to be over. God's relationship with His

chosen people wasn't ending. God was going to stay faithful

to his covenant of grace even though his people had been

unfaithful. God calls Jacob to hear, to

listen, because help would be coming on the heels of

punishment. Look at verse 2.

Thus says the Lord who made you, who formed you from the womb,

and will help you, Fear not. Israel was not to fear that this

sentence of utter destruction would end their covenant

relationship with God. The story would not be over.

Judgment and exile were a part of a longer story, a history of

God's redemption of his people, a history that began with Adam

and Eve and it continued throughout the millennia and

would continue even after the Babylonian destruction of

Jerusalem. There would be life after exile,

mercy after judgment, revival after rebellion.

God's people are to find their security in Him as their rock

because He is always faithful to His covenant of grace.

His promise to hit to His people to to be their God when they

believe in the promised Savior Jesus Christ.

Even though God's people would go into exile and their

descendants would be scattered. God, because He is faithful to

the covenant He made with Abraham, He would pour out His

spirit on future generations so that they might put their faith

in the Lord. So brothers and sisters, you

cannot find anyone more faithful to their promises than God

himself. So read the Bible, read the

promises of God that are there for all who put their faith in

Christ, and then rest secure in those promises.

Rest in the faithfulness of God. That although we sin like

Israel, God is faithful to discipline us as a loving

Father. He will lovingly correct us and

restore us back to a right relationship with Him.

To rest secure in the rock, the one who makes and keeps His

promises. The second reason we should rest

secure in God our rock is because He loves His chosen

people. Look again at verse verses one

through 2 one and two. But now hear, O Jacob, my

servant Israel, whom I have chosen.

Thus says the Lord, who made you, who formed you from the

womb, and will help you. Fear not, O Jacob, my servant

Jeshurun, whom I have chosen. The Lord reminds Israel who they

are and whose they are. They are the chosen servant of

the Most High. He Himself formed them into a

people. He set His heart on them in love

and chose them out of all the peoples of the earth to be His

treasured possession. He blessed Israel so that they

became fruitful and multiplied. He rescued Israel from slavery

in Egypt. He He helped them in the

wilderness and gave them the Promised Land of Canaan as their

very own. And at the end of verse 2, God

calls them a very endearing name, I believe and calls them

Jesharan. What does Jesharan mean?

That's first used used in Moses song in Deuteronomy 32.

There's many parallels between Deuteronomy 32 in this in this

chapter, by the way, and there's some there's some uncertainty

about the exact meaning of Jesharan, but scholars generally

give it a positive, affectionate meaning, perhaps meaning upright

or beloved. Even though God has sent Isaiah

to prophecy to a rebellious people, God still affectionately

calls them Jeshurun, seeing them not so much as what they

currently are in rebellion, but who they will be one day.

By his grace, by his faithful covenant keeping Israel, who is

now turning their back on God, will one day be upright to

gesture an upright because of the mercy of God.

It's just, it's so comforting, if comforting and reassuring to

know that God sees us not, not just for what we are now, but He

also sees us for who we will be, His glorified bride, shining in

perfect holiness and righteousness.

So, dear Christian, rest in the rest, in the love of God for

you. He loves you and He chose you so

that he might forever love you. Rest secure in His love.

His love for you will not falter when you fail.

He sees the big picture of not not just who you are now, but

also who He's making you to be. He loves you, and He will always

love you. There is no rock more secure

than God's love. The third reason from this

chapter for why we should rest secure in the rock is because

His Spirit is the wellspring of life.

Let's look at verses 3 through 5.

Now. For I will pour water on the

thirsty land, and streams on the dry ground.

I will pour my spirit upon your offspring, and my blessing on

your descendants. They shall spring up among the

grass like willows by flowing streams.

This one will say, I am the Lords, another will call on the

name of Jacob, and another will write on his hand the Lords and

his name, and name himself by the name of Israel.

Here God says that He will help his people after they face

punishment by raining down a spiritual revival upon their

descendants. Israel in their rebellion is

like is like a wilderness, void of life, void of faith.

But God promised to pour out his Spirit upon that dry ground,

upon the offspring of Israel, so that they might come alive and

grow like trees beside a river of water.

God had brought about numerous revivals in Israel's history,

and he promised once again to revive his people, the Exiles

who were sent to Babylon. And who and who would return?

They they would identify themselves as the Lords, as a

people belonging to Him. Just as God had formed and

created his people with the calling of Abraham, Isaac and

Jacob, so also would God would would recreate His people after

the majority of them had fallen away from Him.

God is the Creator Savior, the one who saves his people by His

creative powers, by creating spiritual life and faith where

there was once nothing. God would perform the greatest

outpouring of of his Spirit at Pentecost in the book of Acts,

when he would give his Spirit to not only the apostles but also

to the Gentile. Peoples would hear the gospel,

believe it and be saved. And so even Gentiles, not non

Jewish people, they can become the offspring of Israel when

they put their faith in Jesus Christ, the true Israelite.

Jesus is the offspring of Abraham through whom all the

families of the earth will be blessed.

And Jesus said in John seven that whoever believes in him,

out of his heart will flow rivers of living water, which is

the Spirit of God. The Spirit poured out upon one's

soul to revive them, to bring them new life.

Do you have the Spirit of God? Is there within your heart faith

and trust in the Lord Jesus? Is he the security of your

heart? If so, then the Spirit has been

poured out upon you. Do you see yourself as a Sinner

in need of the gruesome cross of Christ?

Have you asked Him for forgiveness for your sins?

Then the Spirit is flowing in your heart like an ever flowing

supply of the life of God. Is your heart growing in in

loving what God loves, in hating what He hates, and growing in in

obedience to Him? Are you rejoicing in God and and

praying to Him as as as a child communicates to His Father?

This too is a sign that God has mercifully poured His Spirit

upon you. That's the third reason we are

to rest in the rock, for He is like the wilderness rock that

Moses struck and gushed out water for Israel.

He pours out His Spirit on his people, that they might have

abundant life forever. And 4th.

We should rest secure in our rock, because He is unique and

unmatched. Look at verses 6 through 8.

Thus says the Lord, the King of Israel, and his Redeemer, the

Lord of hosts. I am the 1st, and I am the last.

Besides me, there is no God who is like me.

Let him proclaim it. Let him declare and set it

before me. Since I appointed an ancient

people, let them declare what is to come and what will happen.

Fear not nor be afraid. Have I not told you from of old

and declared it? And you are my witnesses.

Is there a God besides me? There is no rock.

I know not any. God challenges His people to

find anyone who can compare with Him.

He is unique and unmatched. He alone is the King of Israel,

greater than any earthly king, and Jesus, an Israelite and

descendant of the kingly line of David.

He would come to be the everlasting King, to reign over

God's people forever. Verse 6 calls God not only the

King of Israel, but also Israel's Redeemer.

And so it is with the Lord Jesus Christ.

He is our King, Redeemer, the royal Son of God who put on

human flesh, was born of a poor insignificant family and live

the perfect life and died as an atoning sacrifice for the sins

of His people in order to redeem them, to make His beloved people

his own forever. God is the unmatched King and

Redeemer. He's also unmatched in his

eternality, His eternality. Look at verse 6.

He declares I am the 1st and I am the last.

You remember who else said that they were the first and the

last? We just read that, didn't we?

And Jesus in Revelation One Jesus.

Said I am the 1st and the last. He also is he's the he is.

He is the eternally existing son of God, the Alpha and the Omega.

No one is like Him. In verse 7, God also declares

that no one is like him in his sovereign power and omniscience.

He appointed an ancient people, He formed all the peoples of the

earth, and He is uniquely and He uniquely called and appointed

Abraham to have descendants as numerous as the stars.

God alone can declare what is to come and what will happen, for

He alone not only knows the future, but declares and ordains

it to be. No one is like Him.

He is infinite in power. Let us rest in this unique and

unmatched rock. Isaiah's prophecy then takes a

turn toward the topic of idolatry.

Idolatry was a rampant problem in Israel, as we've seen

throughout the book of Isaiah. And so God wanted to make it

crystal clear that no one is like him, not even the idols.

Idols are nowhere near anything like Him.

Before Israel entered the Promised Land, God commanded

them in Deuteronomy 7 to destroy all the nations living there,

because otherwise they would tempt Israel, often through

intermarriage, to follow their Pagan gods.

God warned His people about this in Deuteronomy, but the people

did not listen, and they never fully eradicated the Pagan

nations. And just as God had predicted,

they struggled with idolatry ever since.

Here is here in Isaiah 44. God is going to condemn idols

again, as he has been doing a lot here.

But this time he's going to use a really interesting and

persuasive argument against idols.

He's going to deconstruct them. He he exposes them for how they

came to be and what they really are.

Idols had a had a certain mystical ethos to them because

of their appearance, perhaps, and, and definitely because of

the Pagan culture that, that, that taught that, that, that

these idols were, were something, something powerful.

They're kind of like, you know, voodoo dolls or tarot cards

today. If someone gave you one of

those, you'd probably be uncomfortable uncomfortable

having them in your possession because of their appearance and

the the mysterious and evil culture associated with them.

The idols of Israel's day had the same mysterious ethos to

them that made people fear them. And so God pops the bubble of

their empty ethos by revealing what they truly are in their

nature. Mere pieces of metal and blocks

of wood, nothing more. As we look at this next section,

we'll look first at what idols actually are in verses 9 through

17, and then in verses 18 through 20, we'll see what idol

worship does to us. Let's read with Read with me

verses 9 through 17 as God deconstructs these idols.

All who fashion idols are nothing, and the things they

delight in do not profit. Their witnesses neither see nor

know that they may be put to shame.

Who fashions a God, or casts an idol that is profitable for

nothing? Behold, all his companions shall

be put to shame, and the Craftsman are only human.

Let them assemble, let them stand forth, they shall be

terrified. They shall be put to shame

together. The ironsmith takes a cutting

tool and works it over the coals.

He fashions it with hammers and works it with his strong arm.

He becomes hungry and his strength fails.

He drinks no water. In his faint.

The Carpenter stretches a line. He marks it out with a pencil.

He shapes it with planes and marks it with a compass.

He shapes it into a figure of a man with the beauty of a man to

dwell in a house. He cuts down Cedars, or he

chooses a Cypress tree or an oak and lets it grow among the trees

of the forest. He plants a cedar and the rain

nourishes it. Then it becomes fuel for a man.

He takes a part of it and warms himself.

He Kindles a fire and bakes bread also.

He makes a God and worships it. He makes it an idol and falls

down before it. Half of it he burns in the fire.

Over the half he eats meat. He roasts it and is satisfied.

Also he warms himself and says aha I'm warm.

I've seen the fire and the rest of it.

He makes into a God his idol and falls down to it and worships

it. He prays to it and says deliver

me for you are my God. Idols are nothing like our God.

Idols are created by man while God is the uncreated one, the

first and the last who himself created man.

Idols are physical things, meddler wood shaped with the

great effort of man, but God transcends space and time and

matter. In verse 15, God mocks idols by

giving the scenario of a man who who grows trees for for fuel for

his fire so that he can break his bread and be warm.

But when he discovers he has a leftover piece of wood, yeah, he

spontaneously decides to make a God out of it.

And he worships the very thing his own hands made.

He even calls out to the idol to deliver him.

This sounds absolutely absurd, doesn't it?

And it is absurd when you deconstruct it like this.

Deconstructing something or someone that appears to have

transcendent power is a powerful technique and exposing it for

what it truly is. So take for instance, items that

people think give them good luck.

Now, as Christians, we don't believe in good luck.

We don't believe in luck. We believe in God's Providence.

And so those, those filthy socks that you aren't washing because

your team's been on a winning streak ever since, ever since

you wore them, they aren't lucky at all.

They're just dirty socks. They're made by someone overseas

and they're heading to a landfill soon.

They are powerless. OK, well, what about some modern

idols that are that that people more commonly worship today?

Things are a little more subtle. Let's take social media

influencers, even Christian ones in some ways.

They they make thousands, if not millions of dollars promoting

the kind of lifestyle that you wish you had.

So let's get, let's deconstruct these idols, expose them for

what they really are. And these influencers, so many

of them, they have, they have a meticulously staged life and

they often have a staff to help them with every photo, every

video. Their pictures are photoshopped.

Their videos are filmed with professional lighting and

editing techniques. There is so much life.

They're not living with their friends and family because

they're putting so much time into being an influencer.

They only show you what they want you to see.

But behind, behind the scenes, they're just normal humans.

They send, they get hungry, they thirst, they cry.

They're the people who long for something more than what they're

getting in this life. The same goes for the

celebrities that people idol idolize today.

What? What do those famous musicians

and actors look like if they don't have makeup on like Dolly

Parton? What does she look like?

What they what would they look like if they if they if they

weren't wearing their their designer clothes with their

professional lighting and Photoshop and video editing?

Who are they without their professional production and

marketing team propping them up to appear to be more than what

they really are? They're just humans, nothing

more. Athletes we we admire for for so

long. Many of them, you know, turn out

to be womanizers or abusers or addicts.

Celebrities who seem to have it all have many broken

relationships, high divorce rates, and terrible egos.

Do not idolize people. See them for what they really

are by nature, merely human and centers like the rest of us.

They have not transcended the universal human experience of

suffering or reach plateaus of joy and satisfaction that cannot

be reached with a simple godly life.

What about the idol of sexual immorality?

It is a vice. If that's a vice that you

struggle with, then deconstruct that idol.

Think about what it really is by nature, not what you are being

sold in an image. Behind the pixels are abused

women, modern day slavery, daughters who hate their fathers

for not loving them. Well, if you break down what's

really going on, you'll find drug addiction, suicide, St.

DS, abortions, eating disorders, adultery, divorces, and death.

They offer a transcendent experience of pleasure, but it

is a lie from Satan himself. Behind the mask is a world of

pain and suffering and evil. Deconstruct the idol of

immorality. Remind yourself of the evil that

it truly is, that to participate in it is to participate in the

abuse of women and other people. Deny yourself.

Take up your cross and pursue the true and lasting pleasure of

seeing the beautiful face of God.

As Jesus said in the Sermon on the Mount.

The pure in heart shall see God pursue that.

Idols are empty and powerless. They are a Ponzi scheme that

offer no real security. Deconstruct your idols.

Don't ruin your whole life chasing after the life that you

that that that you think that they're going to give to you.

They are a vanity of vanities, as the author of Ecclesiastes

would testify. So what does idol worship do to

us? Idols may be empty and

powerless, but worship is very powerful.

So idol worship can and does make a huge impact on us.

Let's read about this in verses 18 through 20.

They know not, nor do they discern, for He has shut their

eyes so that they cannot see, and their hearts so they cannot

understand. No one considers, nor is their

knowledge or discernment to say Half of it I burned in the fire.

I also baked bread on it, on its coals.

I roasted meat, and I've eaten. And shall I make the rest of it

an abomination? Shall I fall down before a block

of wood? He feeds on ashes.

A deluded heart has led him astray and he cannot deliver

himself or say, is there not a lie in my right hand?

This is what idol worship does to our hearts and minds.

We become blinded. We don't think straight.

We let ourselves get sucked into the mystery or beauty of

something or someone. We we admire them.

We're so in awe of how much greater they are than us, and we

start to imitate them. Psalm 115, verse 8 says of idols

Psalms 115:8

and idol worshippers that that those who make them become like

them. So do all who trust in them.

Those who make them become like them.

Idols are thoughtless and senseless.

They cannot see and they cannot hurt here.

And so when we worship idols, we become like them.

We lose our spiritual sight, we lose our minds, we lose our

reasoning. We become deaf to hear what is

right and true. We're like the man in verse 20

whose heart is so deluded that he becomes enslaved to the very

idol that he asked to deliver him.

Idol worship is enslavement, but the worship of the one true God

is freedom. So what are your idols and what

are they doing to you? The perfect antidote is to

pursue the worship of God and to find your security in Him and

Him alone. In the last three verses of this

section, God takes the focus off of idols and back on to his

people, Israel and how they should respond.

In the next 3 verses he gives 3 commands, one command for each

verse that that instructs them and us and how we are to rightly

respond to our rock. So first we are to remember.

We are to remember verse 21. Remember these things O Jacob

and Israel, for you are my servant.

I formed you, you are my servant, O Israel, you will not

be forgotten by me. So notice the chiastic poetry in

this verse. The the 2 middle lines have the

same phrase, You are my servant, and the first and last lines

both have two words that are opposite of each other.

Remember and forgotten. Israel is to remember all these

things in this prophecy, who God is, who God is for them as their

rock and Redeemer and king, and who they are.

They are the chosen and beloved servants of God.

We find our identity not so much by asking who we are, but by

asking whose we are. You belong to whoever or

whatever you worship. Your heart is able to rest

secure when you learn and then remember daily that you belong

to God as His chosen servant, His beloved bride, His adopted

child. There is no greater security

than to know that that God holds you in His hand as His treasured

possession, as the apple of His eye.

We may forget who God is, but as the last line of verse 21 says,

God will never forget us, His beloved, and God is disciplining

us or having us go through dark trial.

It may feel like God's forgotten us.

But a few chapters later in Isaiah 49, this is what God says

to you who feel that God has forgotten you.

But Zion said the Lord has forsaken me.

My Lord has forgotten me. Can a woman forget her nursing

child, that she should have no compassion on the son of her

womb? Even these may forget.

Yet I will not forget you. Behold, I have engraved you on

the palms of my hands. As surely as a mother would

never forget her nursing child, so also God will never forget

you. Even in the midst of your dark

trial. He sees you, and He's with you,

although you cannot see him. As I said earlier, the Christian

life is more about remembering the old things than about

learning new things. And so remember, dear Christian,

the promise of God written right here before your very eyes.

God will never forget you. Next we're to respond to God,

our rock, by returning to Him. Verse 22.

I have blotted out your transgressions like a cloud, and

your sins like mist. Return to me, for I have

redeemed you. Have you wandered from following

the Lord Jesus? Have you been living your own

way? Have you squandered all that God

has given you on your own desires and passions?

Then it's time to remember who God is, whose you are, and it's

time to return to the Lord in repentance.

The last phrase here is so amazing.

God calls us to return to Him, and then he gives this reason

for I have redeemed you. I have redeemed you.

That's in the past tense, isn't it?

Even though this prophecy is 700 years before Christ, the

redeeming work of Christ on the cross was considered a done

deal. I have redeemed you.

I have blotted out your transgressions.

God's plan of of redeeming His people through the cross was as

good as accomplished because He promised to do it.

Return to the Lord. Repent from your sins.

Cast off the guilt of your sins upon the crucified Christ.

Rest secure in his forgiveness. 3rd And finally, we're to

respond to God by our rock by rejoicing in all that God has

done for us. Verse 23 Sing O heavens, for the

Lord has done it. Shout, O depths of the earth,

break forth into singing you mountains, O forest, and every

tree in it. For the Lord has redeemed Jacob

and will be glorified in Israel. How can we keep from singing the

praises of God after we've heard all of these amazing truths?

God has ultimately redeemed us for His own glory, to display

His matchless worth, to make Him known, to honor Him, to love

Him, to praise His name around the whole world.

To worship God is to live out the very purpose for why you

exist. There's no greater security for

your soul than to find that ultimate purpose and to live it

out. So let us praise our triune God

today, tomorrow, and every day, as long as we live forever and

ever in the everlasting Kingdom of heaven.

Let us pray now and then let us rejoice in the Lord at the

Lord's table. Let's pray.

Oh Lord God, we praise you for what you have done, for who you

are. You are the King above all.

You are matchless, and you have set your love on us.

You chose us, we who were sinful people not, not worthy to be

called your people, Your treasured possession.

We thank you for redeeming us through the cross of Christ.

Lord, I pray that you would continue to pour out your spirit

upon us, that if there is yet any dry ground here, Lord, we

pray that you would pour out your spirit upon that dry ground

and bring about that new life, that faith in you, Lord Jesus.

Thank you, Lord, that you are our rock.

There is no one like you. Amen.