"The New Song We Sing" Psalm 149

Today's reading comes from the book of Psalms, chapter 149.

Psalms 149 · chapter mention

Praise the Lord.

I was 24 or 25.

I think I was 25.

I did my first big overseas trip.

I went to visit some family in Tel Aviv, some family in Israel.

So I went to Montreal.

I went to Amsterdam.

It was the layover.

I had 12 hours.

I poked around the city.

It was kind of cool until I got hungry and lonely.

I didn't have any money to really get some good food in me.

Anyways, I flew to Tel Aviv.

I took a bus up to Jerusalem to visit my uncle.

And then from there, we went back to Tel Aviv.

And then the next day, I had a friend who was teaching English with his wife.

They were pretty well newlyweds in Istanbul.

And the next day, I jumped on a plane and I flew to Istanbul.

And then I flew back to Tel Aviv and like four days later.

Anyways, it turned out that in something like three or four days, I visited five countries.

And it was remarkable to me at how different these experiences were.

Again, first time I've done a big trip.

I mean, we did a family vacation in Mexico when we were 11.

It was cool, but it wasn't exactly where you're enjoying a new culture or experiencing a new culture.

It was remarkable, especially I remember when we were crossing the Bosphorus in this ferry.

I was drinking sweet tea and it was dusk.

And I looked at the horizon and it was lined with minarets.

Something I've never seen before.

It was a remarkable experience.

And yet, in reflecting upon that, not long after, I couldn't help but realize that different cultures, different foods, different regions, different dress, so many things that were different.

And yet, the similarities of all these different cultures was this, that they were inherently religious.

Whether it was the modern West where the arts and culture were elevated, Europe, this autonomy that is so deeply ingrained, going to the old city, seeing these centuries-old mosques.

Human beings, our default setting is that we are religious.

We desire to have these incredibly deep longings met.

And we desire to connect with the transcendent in some way, shape, or form.

Whether or not we can articulate this, this is what marks out humanity from any other living thing, living organism.

It's that we are religious.

We are more about merely enjoying food and drink and survival.

We want to have meaning.

And that meaning transcending this world.

And yet, not all roads, not all religious pursuits are equal.

In fact, it's not even as if there is a spectrum of some that are on the right path and some on the wrong path.

We would say that there is only one true spiritual destination.

There is only one ability to have our longings deeply and eternally met.

So the question is, can the Christian faith achieve this?

Can the Christian faith satisfy our deepest longings and help us to connect with the transcendent?

Maybe put another way, is Christianity true?

Does it check the boxes of what we need?

We're looking in Psalm 149.

And Psalm 149, as Brian read, it truly is a psalm of praise.

The last five or six psalms in the Psalter are psalms of exuberant praise.

They begin and end with a praise the Lord, a declaration, a call to praise.

And in this case, it is certainly a call to praise.

But I'm going to make a case through Psalm 149 that the Christian faith is actually the only faith that will really, truly satisfy our deepest longings.

And the only faith that will truly connect us to the transcendent.

I'm going to do this in two points.

The text neatly breaks up into verses 1 to 5 and 6 to 9.

And the first point is this.

We'll ask the question, what do we receive in the Christian faith?

And then the second question, we'll ask a similar and related question.

How do we participate in the Christian faith?

So what do we receive in the Christian faith?

How do we participate in the Christian faith?

If you have a Bible, please turn with me to Psalm 149.

Again, I may mention that there's some Bibles at the back welcome table.

Feel free at any time to grab one.

Phones can be distracting if you're following along on your phone.

So Psalm 149.

I'll read verses 1 to 3.

Praise the Lord.

Sing to the Lord a new song.

His praise in the assembly of the godly.

Let Israel be glad in his maker.

Let the children of Zion rejoice in their king.

Let them praise his name with dancing.

Making melody to him with tambourine and lyre.

So the psalm begins with this declaration that the company of God's people gather to worship him.

Our faith is indeed a very personal faith.

But it can never be divorced from a corporate understanding of the faith.

We come into this faith individually.

But we certainly participate and enjoy this faith.

Indispensably together.

An early writer and thinker in the Christian faith, Cyprian of Carthage,

had this saying that became an adage of the church.

One cannot have God as father without church as mother.

Which is to say, you can't truly be a Christian by yourself.

You're a part of something bigger.

You're a part of a family as you gather to sing the Lord's praises.

So therefore the first thing that we receive as we come to faith is a community.

A family.

We share a king.

We recognize who made us and we praise him together.

Looking at verses 2 and 3, we see this.

Let Israel be glad in his maker.

Let the children of Zion rejoice in their king.

And then it goes on to say, let them praise his name with dancing,

making melody to him with tambourine and lyre.

The king.

He is also a maker.

So we have here a creator king.

And what's remarkable about this creator king is that he does not demand loyalty from a throne afar.

As if he is some kind of tyrant.

Whether or not he knows your name, it doesn't matter.

You owe him your allegiance.

This isn't the type of king envisioned here.

The king is not in the capital if this is an empire and we are merely provincials.

No, no, no.

The king is close to his people.

He rules amongst them.

This creator king says that he takes pleasure in his people.

That means to know them in an intimate way.

You cannot take pleasure.

You cannot delight in someone that you've never met or barely know.

This king deeply knows his subjects.

He's concerned with their affairs.

He takes interest in their condition.

He knows their needs.

He is deeply, deeply, deeply concerned with his people.

In short, we once again get the impression from last week

that this creator king is this deeply relational and loving God.

And because the Lord is God, the creator of heaven and earth,

he knows our needs, in fact, greater than we do.

He is not a know-it-all who thinks he knows our needs greater than us.

He knows our needs far more intimately than we know our needs.

He is the one with a window into our souls.

So then what does he give us?

If he knows our need, what does he give us?

Look with me at verses 4 and 5.

For the Lord takes pleasure in his people.

He adorns the humble with salvation.

Let the godly exult in glory.

Let them sing for joy on their beds.

What does the Lord give?

What does this creator king bestow to his people?

Well, he gives them salvation.

He gives them glory.

And he gives them joy.

We're going to spend a bit of time on these two verses

and take a look with a bit more depth of what this means.

So let's look first at salvation.

What does it say?

For the Lord takes pleasure in his people.

He adorns the humble with salvation.

Before we can consider how the Lord adorns us with salvation,

we need to answer the question, how does one become humble?

Nobody is born humble.

Nobody comes out of the womb as a very humble being.

What happens when a child comes out of the womb?

Screams for attention.

Demands it.

Now, of course, there's biological factors involved.

Kids need to eat.

They're absolutely, absolutely helpless when they come out of the womb.

But nevertheless, our initial reaction once we are born is not,

dearest mother, how was your labor?

I'm caring so deeply about you.

It is not this at all.

Right?

It is this immediate me.

Me, me.

I need everything you'll give me and then some more.

I'll even take your sleep.

Give it to me.

So what does it mean then to be humble?

How do we become humble?

It is not our default.

How do we become humble?

At its core, becoming humble in a biblical sense is agreeing with reality.

Not being deceived.

And what do I mean by that?

It means recognizing that we are not the main character of the story we find ourselves in.

That we are incapable of living in complete harmony as the main character.

In complete harmony with ourselves, with those around us.

And most importantly, that there is a God who created all things.

He's good and loving.

That he takes pleasure in his creation and yet we cannot live in harmony even with him.

It means recognizing that there is a thing called sin.

A missing the mark.

A failure to extend love and charity.

It means falling short of God's own standards.

And that this issue affects our thoughts, words, and deeds.

And like it says in the opening bits of morning prayer, there is no health in us.

There is no spiritual vitality within us.

We are proud people.

It is recognizing that.

It is recognizing that we need to be reality, people rooted in reality.

It is only then that the Lord can adorn us with salvation.

What does it say in the book of Proverbs?

That God opposes the proud, but he gives grace to the humble.

We agree with the standard of the Lord.

Recognizing our need for his life-giving salvation.

This is what humility is.

And what does he do when he finds the humble heart?

The heart turned to him.

He adorns the humble with salvation.

Adorning is a wonderful word.

It's a beautiful word.

Some of the other English translations use words like crown.

I guess that works very similar to adorning.

I like in the King James, it says that the Lord beautifies.

Something incredible about that.

He beautifies the humble with salvation.

However you translate the Hebrew, there is great care and tenderness and love in how God bestows salvation.

His desire is to bestow salvation.

The collect for last week, it doesn't exactly say this, but it gets to the point.

And if you remember the collect for last week, it said that God is more ready to hear than we are to pray.

Maybe we could rewrite it a bit to say that he is more ready to extend salvation and to beautify us with salvation or adorn us with salvation than we are to admit our need for his salvation.

He does not do this begrudgingly.

This is what he delights in doing.

He makes men and women, those who have no business even approaching him because of their sinfulness, he makes them godly.

Or he turns them into saints.

So the humble become godly.

But what about the next bit?

So we've covered salvation.

This is what God gives.

Okay?

Right?

This is what the Christian faith offers, salvation.

But then it also offers glory.

But glory, I mean, how do we approach this?

We might become godly, but if God, he gives us glory.

I thought glory only belongs to God.

I mean, to God alone be the glory.

I mean, do we have this?

Grace alone through.

Anyways, it's one of the solas.

It's one of the key parts of our reformation.

That God alone is the one who is to get the glory.

So then how do we understand this?

How do we understand verse 5 here?

I think it's important that we take a look at two problematic ditches when we're talking about glory.

The first is vanity or what we call vain glory.

This idea that we think too much of ourselves.

We hold an exaggerated view of our importance and our status among those we live and work with.

Our primary motivation is to glorify ourselves, to honor ourselves, to receive praise.

So we can become consumed with our appearance, with our achievements, with the things that elevate us, our standing.

So our pride often goes unchecked.

Our pride often goes unchallenged.

And when we are praised, we are elated.

Okay?

We're puffed up.

When we do not get the praise, we can be smitten with just feelings of depression or anger.

How dare they not give me the honor that I deserve?

In short, we have this inordinate desire for things and praise.

And it's rooted in placing our own glory above all.

So what's interesting is that amongst the saints, the saints give praise to the king.

But the one who is riddled with vain glory cannot and will not rejoice in their king being God.

For they are the king on their own throne, in their own kingdom.

The second ditch is a glory of perversion.

Where we embrace certain pleasures and look for love in ways that are very contrary to God's good and righteous design.

They are rooted in not love, but in lust.

It is not self-giving pleasure, but a self-consuming pleasure.

People become ends to our means.

There's an unhealthy curiosity.

And ultimately, either explicitly or implicitly, we say that God's good design for humanity isn't good at all.

But it's actually problematic.

It's getting in the way.

And in doing this, again, if the saints worship God for being not just their king, but their maker,

somebody who has a glory of perversion can never praise God for being the maker.

Because ultimately, his design is flawed.

It needs fixing.

These are the two false glories rooted in overt sin.

But I think there's a third.

So I said two, but I think there's a third.

And I think this is maybe a type of glory or a denial of glory that is found in more pietistic circles.

Maybe more fundamentalist circles.

Circles that are full of people who want to truly follow the Lord and have a desire to honor him.

But what ends up happening is Christians deny any kind of glory.

It takes the form of a kind of asceticism.

A counterfeit humility.

This is what it ends up looking like.

It's a denial of God's good intention for us.

Often this kind of false humility is, it doesn't result in greater humility,

but actually a type of covert pride.

The fact is this.

We can't get around our need to connect in some kind of way with glory.

Okay, so if we are trying to deny glory, we will ourselves get puffed up at how humble we are,

which is just another form of pride.

Consider the religious man in one of Jesus' parables.

He's at the place of worship.

He is telling God with his head held high,

look how wonderful I am.

I tithe, I go to the religious meetings,

I do all the right things, I read the scriptures, I pray.

And thank you, God, that you made me, I made me,

not like this guy behind me, this tax collector.

Now what's interesting is that there's no,

we assume he's saying it out loud as if the company is all around him,

but I want to suggest that maybe that those words were said,

maybe under his breath or in his heart.

The fact is this.

Because we are made in the image and likeness of the one true God,

we are, we cannot get away from glory.

St. Augustine, in his commentary on this verse,

he says,

there is no one who loves not glory.

There is no one who loves not glory.

We were made to enjoy and pursue the glory of God.

In all of its fullness.

Okay?

In all of its fullness.

In fact, Romans chapter 3 says,

Romans 3 · chapter mention

sin at its core is the failure to properly pursue the glory of God.

God bestows glory upon his people because we are made in his image.

And he delights in us.

He delights in us.

So on one hand,

we do not have any standing to go before God and somehow puff up our chest.

And yet,

and yet God in his incredible sovereign omnipotence decides to bless us by bestowing upon us some of that glory

so that we can praise him for what he has done and for who he is and how he made us.

It's really interesting that,

you know,

verses 4 and 5 are separate sentences,

but in many respects,

it's the same continual thought.

So what we see here is that this glory is linked to salvation.

So verses 4 and 5,

back to back,

it really conveys this single thought that God in his goodness gives us his glory,

and this is connected deeply to how he saves.

He makes an unglorious people glorious.

And what does this result in?

Well, we see,

if we continue on,

Psalm 149,

Psalms 149:5

verse 5,

let the godly exult in glory,

and then this is the third thing,

so God gives salvation,

God gives glory,

but then God gives joy.

Let the godly exult in glory,

let them sing for joy on their beds.

The line's a bit difficult to interpret for,

Hebrew scholars,

it's a tough one,

but some of the suggestions for translation has to do with

the wicked conspire and plan rebellion,

plot rebellion at night,

but the godly have clean consciences,

and they rest easy in joy.

St. Augustine,

again,

I leaned on his commentary quite a bit for this psalm.

He understands this as true worship,

for the beds here symbolize the heart of a person,

the most intimate area.

So here we have somebody who is able to worship God properly in their hearts.

Whatever it may be,

what I think is being articulated here

is the soul that is at ease,

and that is at rest.

And the soul that is at ease,

and that is at rest,

is the soul that has known

the salvation of the Lord

extended to him or her.

And it results in joy.

I mean,

if anything,

you come away with anything from this morning,

hear this,

that the Christian faith,

above all,

is a joyful faith

that gives joy,

a deep joy,

a heart joy,

an eternal joy.

That's what salvation is,

ultimately,

to take joy and pleasure in our maker.

So we see that,

if we ask the question,

what does the Christian faith offer,

what does it give,

we see a faith that gives a new family,

bestows salvation,

bestows upon us glory,

and then ultimately a joy

that is found in our hearts,

that is the result of a clean conscience.

It's a faith that is not earned,

but is rightly received by faith

and worship with a humble heart.

It's a gift that is intended to be enjoyed.

So our longings,

they're satisfied,

satisfied,

but what about this connection to the transcendent,

right?

I said,

if all religion seeks to have our longings satisfied,

but also to have this connection to the transcendent,

where can we find that in the rest of the psalm?

Well,

we'll get to our second point here,

how we participate in the Christian faith.

Read with me psalm six,

sorry,

verses six to nine.

Verses six to nine.

Let the high praises of God be in their throats,

and two edged swords in their hands,

to execute vengeance on the nations,

and punishments on the people,

to bind their kings with chains,

and their nobles with fetters of iron,

to execute on them the judgment written,

this is honor for all his godly ones.

Praise the Lord.

Is this a call for holy war?

That we are now on the right side,

and now there are enemies that we recognize,

and we have to deal with them?

Is this what this psalm is calling us for?

Is this how we participate in the Christian faith?

I think the answer is both a yes and a no.

But first,

we need to understand something.

We are at a bit of a disadvantage here in the West,

because we are so saturated with materialism.

This idea that what we see is all that there is.

That there is no spiritual realm.

There is no spiritual,

there's no angels,

there's no demons,

there's no sight unseen,

there's no paranormal,

there's no metaphysical.

There is just the material world.

And we would never deny this,

but because we can't affirm it in public,

by and large,

it shows us what we truly believe,

and what we truly hold on to.

It is easy at church to talk about Jesus,

we can talk about heaven,

we can even potentially talk about angels,

talk about demons,

all these different things.

At work,

these are fine to believe,

but as long as they're at home.

Leave those beliefs at home.

These aren't public beliefs.

We are at a bit of a disadvantage

in the Enlightenment West.

However,

the overwhelming teaching of Scripture

is that the material world

is indeed important,

and it exists, obviously,

but that it is actually less substantial

and more flimsy than the spiritual,

plain,

the spiritual world.

That there is indeed one,

and in fact,

that is where the thickness is,

so to speak,

in reality.

Therefore,

the enemies of God

and his people

aren't primarily those

who pull triggers

or wield machetes,

but rather,

it's the spiritual beliefs,

the spiritual influences,

the spiritual powers

that seek to oppose the Lord

as king and maker.

And if this seems a bit outlandish,

you know,

consider how the Kim family

gets into power,

or how Mao Zedong

gets into power,

or how Adolf Hitler

got into power.

It wasn't just

a whole series

of propositional beliefs,

propositional points

that they put forward

in a rational way.

No,

their ideology

was religious.

It was religious.

There's a spiritual reality

behind what we see

in this material world.

To deny it

is not to live

a humble life,

right?

If a humble life,

if humble living

is rooted in

respecting reality,

understanding reality,

walking in reality,

then this is the way

to truly understand

the world we live in.

There most certainly

is a spiritual realm.

And here's where

the holy war

comes in,

where we talk about

the church militant

comes in.

Because to recognize

this does not

then mean

we sit idly by.

We do not sit by

and fret.

No,

in fact,

the call of

the Christian faith

is to participate

in the work

of God himself.

And this is where

the connection

with the transcendent

comes in.

Because God doesn't

just give us

all of the blessing

of salvation,

of eternal life,

but then he calls

us to participate

in seeing his

goodness

and his grace

and his love

extend,

to see his light

extend and darkness

expelled.

To see death

itself

start to diminish

in the world.

For it was conquered

by Christ.

See, Christ,

he conquers

death in such a way

that he defeats

it,

hoisting it,

so to speak,

on its own petard.

He kills death,

he destroys death

by death.

And then he invites

us

into

this

cleanup.

We're the

cleanup crew

in many ways.

If you've read

The Return of the King,

the last of the

Lord of the Rings

trilogy,

the ring

is destroyed.

All right?

The day is won

and yet the

hobbits go back

to the Shire

and they find it

in complete disarray,

but they are

transformed.

They're no longer

fearful.

The victory

is already won

and now they

participate

in the final

victory of the

Lord.

It's called the

scouring of the

Shire.

It's a really

remarkable thing

that was cut out

of the movie.

Nevertheless,

this is very

similar to

what we do

when we

participate

in the

work of

the Lord.

So how is

it done?

How do we

participate in

this spiritual

battle?

Look with me

at verse 6.

Let the

high praises

of God

be in

their

throats

and two

edged

swords

in their

hands.

Our weapon

is twofold.

It's

worship

and God's

word.

Worship

and the

word of

God.

Looking

first at

worship.

It's

very

important

that we

understand

worship

is more

than

singing

and

playing

instruments

on a

day

like

today

when I'm

leading.

That's a

very good

thing.

It's a

very good

thing.

Worship

is more

than singing

and playing

instruments.

Clearly it

involves that.

We see

the opening

of Psalm

149.

There is

singing,

there is

instruments,

there is

dancing.

It's not

like a

crazy

jumping

around

dance.

It's

more

like a

festive

dance of

some

sort.

Nevertheless,

that's

included in

worship,

but it's

much more.

In fact,

worship is

the

reorientation

of your

life towards

the service

and joy

of the

triune

God,

Father,

Son,

and Holy

Spirit.

As we

worship this

one true

God,

we also

proclaim

that we

are not

worshiping

the false

gods

of our

age.

We are

not

worshiping

the gods

that

promise

eternal

life,

but could

never

give it,

the gods

that

promise

pleasure

forevermore,

but only

leave us

broken

and weary.

In our

day,

this

worship of

the Lord

means to

no longer

worship or

participate in

the culture

of death

that permeates

our society.

when we

worship,

it is

very much

a political

act,

very much

a declaration

of war,

the worshipping

of the

one true

God.

Now,

how about

God's

word?

Again,

what does

it say?

A two-edged

sword in

their hands.

Hebrews

Hebrews 4:12

chapter 4

verse 12

says this,

for the

word of

God is

living and

active,

sharper

than any

two-edged

sword.

piercing to

the division

of soul

and of

spirit,

joints and

marrow,

and discerning

the thoughts

and intentions

of the

heart.

You see,

God's word

does a

remarkable

thing.

It convicts

us of

sin.

It shows

us,

it's like

a mirror

showing us

where the

blemishes

are,

where the

brokenness

are,

where's

the wounds

that need

to be

bound up

by the

Lord.

Scripture

also acts

as a

window

for us

to see

who

the Lord

is,

who the

one true

God is,

to understand

his holiness

and his

goodness.

Again,

then that

acts as a

way of

conviction

of sin,

but also

a means

of praise.

And as

we engage

with evangelism,

we proclaim

God's word,

and all of a

sudden,

what does it

do?

It is like,

again,

a two-edged

sword.

It starts

to cut

away and

hack away

and pierce

all of

the false

foundations,

all the

false

supports

of false

religion,

of false

belief,

of our

culture of

death.

Again,

I mean,

St. Augustine,

some wise

words,

this is what

he says,

and I'll

read the

quotation at

length.

It says

this,

quote,

see whether

vengeance,

and again,

he is

quoting,

I believe,

verses five,

or commenting

on verses

five and six,

sorry,

six and seven.

He says

this,

quote,

see whether

vengeance have

not been

done on the

nations,

daily it is

done.

We do it

ourselves by

speaking the

word of God.

Let the

sword twice

sharpened go

forth from

you.

Delay not.

Say to your

friend,

if yet you

have one

left to

whom to

say it,

what kind

of man are

you who

has abandoned

him,

that is God,

by whom you

were made,

and worship

what he made?

Better is

the workman

than that

which he

works.

When he

begins to

blush,

when he

begins to

feel compunction,

you have

made a

wound with

your sword,

it has

reached the

heart,

he is

about to

die,

that he

may live.

See,

God has

enemies,

but what

does God

do with

his enemies?

He makes

his enemies

his friends.

God did

not die

for his

friends,

God sent

his son

Christ to

die for

his enemies,

and in

doing so,

all who

have

humbly

received what

Christ has

done on

the cross,

they are

eliminated off

of the

chessboard,

so to

speak.

They are

instead made

into soldiers

on the

king's side.

It's a

remarkable

thing how

God does

that.

So,

how do we

connect with

the transcendent?

Well, we get

to participate.

First,

we know

him,

we connect

with him,

we are

united to

him in

Christ,

but then

we participate

in his

acts.

I'll

close with

this.

Although

Christ

certainly

does make

enemies

into

friends,

there is

a final

judgment

as the

scripture

talks about,

whereby

there will

be those

who will

not,

will not

bend a

knee to

the king.

At the

end of

the age,

there will

be a

final

judgment,

and those

that are

not friends

with the

Lord God,

the triune

God,

Father,

Son,

and Holy

Spirit,

will not

sing the

new song,

but instead

will enter

into eternal

torment.

One of the

things that

we pray,

if you pray

morning prayer,

it's a

section from

Psalm 95,

and what it

says there

is this,

harden not

your hearts.

Harden not

your hearts.

Put not

your trust,

as we

read last

week,

in the

war horse.

Put not

your trust

in the

soldier.

Put not

your trust

in the

things that

promise to

get you

into eternity

with joy

everlasting,

but can never

do it.

Put not

your trust

in those

things.

Instead,

put your

trust into

Christ.

you see,

the end

is already

set.

All of

creation

will sing

the Lord's

praises.

The new

song,

in the

opening

section of

Psalm 149,

is what will

be sung

forever.

Why?

Why will it

always be a

new song?

Because for

all of

creation,

salvation

will be

ours,

it will

never end,

it will

continue on.

That's why

we say

world without

end.

And this

is the

new song.

Revelation

Revelation 5:11–14

chapter 5

verses 11

to 14,

it says

this,

then I

looked,

this is

the

apostle

John,

then I

looked and

I heard

around the

throne,

and the

living

creatures

and the

elders,

the voice

of many

angels,

numbering

myriads

of myriads,

thousands

of thousands,

saying in a

loud voice,

worthy is

the lamb

who was slain

to receive

power and

wealth and

wisdom and

might and

honor and

glory and

blessing.

Verse 13,

and I

heard every

creature in

heaven and

on earth and

under the

earth and

in the

sea and

all that

is in

them,

all of

creation,

singing this,

to him who

sits on the

throne and

to the

lamb,

be blessing

and honor

and glory

and might

forever and

ever.

And the

four living

creatures said

amen and the

elders fell

down and

worshiped.

Friends,

harden not

your hearts.

Sing the

new song.

put your

trust and

hope in

the Lord

Jesus Christ.

There is

no other

faith,

there is

no other

ideology that

can offer

what Christianity

in Christ

can give.

There is

no longing

that you

have that

will not

be met.

There is

no desire

to touch

the transcendent

that will

go unfulfilled.

Put your

trust in

Christ.

may

may