14th Sunday after Trinity 2024

The church has a perpetual problem.

This is the problem.

God, the church cries out to God,

God acts, extending mercy,

the people are restored,

and then their fervor dies,

and the church ceases to look like the church

and more like the culture.

And then the church gets to a spot

where then they cry out to God

for restoration.

In his kindness, he extends mercy.

They get restored, and so on and so forth,

and so on and so forth.

It's the history of the church.

It's the history of God's people.

Before I continue on,

let's ask the Lord's blessing,

and then we'll continue in God's word.

Lord, we ask that you will make us people

of the book,

that we would rest under your truth.

We would submit to it, bend a knee to it.

Father in heaven,

as we explore what it means

to be a part of your people, the church,

help us to have tender hearts

to hear what you have to say to us this morning.

In Jesus' name, amen.

I bring up this story

as we were in our last psalm of the summer,

because this psalm,

Psalm 85,

it's a lament psalm,

but at its core,

it's a psalm

of crying out to God

for renewal and restoration,

crying out to God

to do what only he can do

and what he delights in doing.

A bit of a story before we continue,

just to illustrate the idea

that the church

has ebbs and flows.

It's a bit of a yo-yo

in terms of its religious fervor.

In the early 19th century,

there was a man named Charles Simeon.

He was at Cambridge.

He came to faith,

and he became an Anglican presbyter,

a minister in the church.

And you think,

at least my grandparents,

they would say stuff all the time like,

in my day,

things were a lot better.

Things were more holy.

There was more devotion to Christ.

And in my mind,

I just think that

that continued to grow,

and it's only our culture that is bad.

But in Charles Simeon's day,

he would make what we are going through

look a bit tame.

At Cambridge,

where he was studying,

he talked about being the only Christian

that he met for three years.

Because we have younger ears here,

there was all sorts of debauchery happening

in broad daylight,

drunkenness,

all sorts of crazy actions

that were happening

on the campus,

in the public areas

at Cambridge.

Religious fervor was at a big-time low.

When Charles Simeon

was ordained

and he was given a church to pastor,

he was locked out for a number of years.

Back, I guess in the day,

they would have locks on the pews

and you would own the key

to unlock that lock

and they would just keep it locked.

And Charles Simeon

was essentially locked out of his own church.

Religious fervor was extremely low.

Evil had its day

and this was some 200 years ago.

But then renewal

and revival

started to take root in England.

And it spread,

continued to spread,

and reform began to happen.

We'll touch a bit more

on what happened

with Charles Simeon,

but suffice it to say,

for him and really

just the generation before

with the Wesley brothers

and then the generation after,

saw incredible revival

and a renewal

of religious life

within England.

But it was not without prayer.

It was not

without

recalling the Lord's goodness,

without confessing sins.

It was not without

rejoicing in God's goodness.

And this is what our text

gets to this morning.

The psalm is

a prayer and appeal

to the Lord God

to do just that.

A bit of a background.

Not entirely sure,

but almost all the scholars

agree that this text

was written

after the return

of God's people

from Babylonian exile.

God had saved

his people once again

from exile,

bringing a large portion

of them back

into the promised land,

and only for them

to fall into

the same habits

that plagued them

from the very beginning.

So,

in many ways,

this text

is a key point

for us.

Religious fervor

is down

in North America,

in the West.

It truly is.

Not in all parts

of the world.

In the global South,

Africa,

Sub-Zaharan Africa,

parts of Iran,

parts of Latin America,

Christian fervor

and devotion

is up and growing.

It's incredible.

But in the West,

it's not.

So,

this text

is very timely

for us this morning.

And as I've said

in previous weeks,

we are studying a psalm,

which means

we ought to learn

how to pray this psalm.

So,

as we encounter

this psalm,

it'll help us

to pray

for the Lord's work

in our day

to reform

and to revive

the church

once again.

And we'll look at it,

the text,

and break it up

into three sections.

To pray this text

is to recall

the Lord's past

acts of salvation.

To pray this text

is to confess

our sins

and to seek renewal

from the Lord.

And finally,

to pray this text

is to rejoice

in the God

of salvation.

So,

grab a Bible

if you don't have it

already.

There's still

a few Bibles

on the back

welcome table,

so grab one

at any time

and follow along.

Let's read

verses 1 to 3.

Lord,

you were favorable

to your land,

you restored

the fortunes

of Jacob,

you forgave

the iniquity

of your people,

you covered

all their sin,

you withdrew

all your wrath,

you turned

from your hot

anger.

The people

of Israel

are recalling

what God

has done

in the past.

Everything here

is past tense

and six verbs

are used

to describe

what God

has done

in the past,

his acts

of salvation.

It says that

he was favorable

to the land,

to the people,

to the nation,

that he restored

their fortunes,

that he forgave

their sins,

he covered

their sins,

he withdrew

his wrath,

he turned

from his hot

anger.

the people,

as I've mentioned,

they were exiled

not because of

geopolitical issues

that just kind of

happened upon them,

but because

they ventured

away from the Lord

and this is

what has happened,

he gave them over

to their enemies.

They were unfaithful

to the covenant

that God made

with them

at Sinai,

the covenant

that God made

with their father

Abraham.

They did not

want to worship

God as their God,

they wanted to worship

the gods

of the nations

around them,

so God said,

okay,

and he gave them

over to the gods

that they were serving,

to the people

that they wanted

to be like.

That should have

been the end of it.

I mean,

listen,

this wasn't the first

time Israel

went about things

this way,

thumbing their nose

at God,

acting in a treacherous

way.

It should have

been the end.

I mean,

growing up,

I used to play

video games a lot

and I used to

hate video games

that didn't have

continues.

You die

and it's over

and you have

to start

from the beginning.

That's what

should have

happened here.

No continues.

No second chances.

No starting

at level three

because you died

in level four.

They should be

completely axed

and yet,

they appeal

to what God

has done

in the past.

Appealing

to his

covenant-keeping

nature,

that that is

who God is

and they are

banking on

the fact

that God

is unchanging.

Interestingly,

the psalm

opens with

an address

to the Lord,

but in the

original language

it's not to

other names

of God

like Adonai

or Elohim,

not necessarily

generic names

of the Lord,

but lesser names

in a sense

than his covenant

name.

But here,

it opens up

by an appeal

to the covenant

name of the Lord,

which is an appeal

to the covenant

God who has

made his covenant,

reminding God

of what he has

done in the past.

They appeal

to God

because he is

the covenant-making

and covenant-keeping

God.

So they're appealing

to the merciful

history of God.

And if you remember

a couple weeks ago

we looked at,

I believe it was

Psalm 83

and explored how

God's history

is actually

our history.

So therefore,

this is

very instructive

for us

on how to go

about appealing

to God

when we need

renewal

for ourselves.

You see,

for the Israelites,

the past salvation

that they had

experienced

of God

informs

their present

prayers.

It helps them

to dispel

errors in their

thinking

and pulls them

out of a

spiraling fall

into discouragement

and despair.

prayer.

This is

a key bit

for us.

Christine and I

last week,

we talked about

the Lord's provision

in our lives,

specifically

just around

our needs

and how

in time

and again

the Lord

has

come through

not in

our timing

but in

his,

which turns out

to be the best

timing.

one example,

we were praying

for something

like six,

eight months,

some of you guys

know this,

I've shared this,

but six or eight

months with the

kids in the

morning,

almost every

morning,

we figured

we'd need a

new vehicle

sooner than

later.

Our car

was getting

old.

Nothing

worked out

in terms

of the

stuff I

was seeing

or there

was a

great deal

and it

was gone

before we

could snatch

it up

or even

contact the

person.

And then

I was with

Joseph on my

day off

and our

transmission

just blew.

I mean,

it didn't

blow up.

Like,

we're still

alive,

okay?

But there

was cranks

and scrapes

and grinds

and it

was like

weirdo

sounds

and the

car stopped

moving.

And anyways,

all I have to

say is that

night,

I put a

deposit on

a car,

I found

one on

Kijiji.

Was it

because my

Kijiji skills

are next

level?

No.

Because God

in his

kindness and

faithfulness

provided.

And we

were talking

about that

because,

you know,

there's other

things that

we need.

So what do

we do?

Do we spiral

into despair

or do we

recall God's

faithfulness

in the past

knowing that

he is

faithful

and unchanging

in the

present?

It's very

important to

recall the

Lord's past

acts of

provision and

favor and

salvation

in our

lives.

it's

always a

stimulant to

more faith.

Always a

stimulant to

more faith.

That's why

reading

scripture is

a fantastic

practice,

not because

it's scripture

and it's the

words of life,

and it is,

but because

almost 50% of

the Bible is

narrative,

and it's story

after story of

God's provision

of the past.

That is our

past,

things that have

happened in

history,

but it's our

history.

And what it

does is it

stimulates our

faith to trust

in the God

that is unchanging

and is faithful

today.

It's also why

we ought to

read Christian

testimony and

examples of

missionary endeavors

or stories of

Charles Simeon

or talk to one

another and ask

them to share

instances in

their own lives

of how God

has been

faithful.

people.

We'll stick

around for

coffee for

30, 45

minutes.

It's nice.

Small talk.

I'm a fan of

small talk.

I don't think

it's bad

necessarily,

but maybe

enter a bit

farther past

small talk

and ask the

question,

give me an

example of how

the Lord was

faithful to you

in the past.

And it might

feel awkward,

but get somebody

to answer that

question,

or maybe you

share it,

and then listen

and hear how

God has been

faithful to

them,

and I bet you

there will be

connections with

areas in your

life where God

has been faithful

to you,

and what it

will do is it

will spur on

and stimulate

faith for you

to trust in

him in the

present and in

the future.

I'm telling you,

this is the way

it goes.

This is the way

it goes.

As we recall

what the Lord

has done,

we then have a

basis by which

we can honestly

recognize,

our present

situation.

And our

present situation

always calls for

confession,

because it's

always proper

to come to

the Lord

humbly

confessing our

sins,

but especially

in times of

renewal and

restoration,

when we need

him to break

in in a very

special,

significant way.

So,

the second

portion of

this psalm

teaches us how

to confess our

sins and to

seek renewal.

Look with me,

verses 4 to

7.

Blessed are,

oh,

that's,

sorry,

four here.

Restore us

again,

O God of

our salvation,

and put away

your indignation

towards us.

Will you be

angry with us

forever?

Will you prolong

your anger to

all generations?

Will you not

revive us again,

that your people

may rejoice in

you?

Show us your

steadfast love,

O Lord,

and grant us

your salvation.

I mentioned

the people of

Israel has,

they have run

afoul of God

so many times,

and yet,

the call of

God is always

to turn

towards him.

God does not

delight in the

death of

somebody who

does evil,

but rather that

they would turn

towards him

and live.

That is what

he desires.

And this is

what he is

calling Israel

to,

and this is

what they

are doing

here.

The sin of

the people

have caused

God to be

indignant

towards them.

That is what

we see in

verse 4,

that they are

recognizing God

is angry,

his anger,

his just anger

is burning

towards the

people because

of their

waywardness,

their treason,

their infidelity

towards him.

He is

betrayed,

and his

anger is

righteous,

and it's

kindled,

but God

does not

divorce his

bride.

Instead,

he extends

undeserved

mercy,

he seeks to

restore and

to renew.

They ask the

question,

will you be

angry forever?

Of course

he won't.

Likewise,

will you

revive us

again?

The answer

is obvious.

Yes,

he will.

He does

not cancel.

He does

not seek

revenge.

He is

not petty.

He is

not vindictive.

Again,

he does

not delight

in the

death of

an

evildoer.

He does

not want

their

destruction.

He

extends

mercy,

extends

mercy,

extends

mercy,

delights in

extending

mercy,

and undeserved

mercy at

that.

God is

waiting for

confession of

sin,

for us to

turn towards

him.

And this is

what we are

seeing here.

And if you

struggle with

thinking that

God is ready

to pounce on

you when you

do evil,

think about

the parable

of the two

sons that

Jesus tells

the father is

waiting for the

prodigal to

come home.

He is

scanning the

horizon.

His eyes

are glued to

the horizon,

just waiting.

He is

outside,

bending his

ear to hear

footsteps.

He is waiting

for his son

to come back.

And he sees

his son turn

towards him,

his son.

Obviously,

if you know

the story,

he is full of

guilt.

The father

runs to

him,

clothes him,

puts a

ring on

his finger,

has a huge

banquet for him,

rejoicing that

he has

returned.

This is

the God

who we

confess to.

This is the

God that we

turn towards

when we have

been wayward

and unfaithful.

He is the

one that will

revive and

renew.

That is the

Lord and

his goodness

and his

kindness.

But make

no mistake,

it is us

and he helps

us by his

Holy Spirit,

but we ought

to turn to

him and not

presume that

he will extend

mercy to us,

but appeal to

his mercy,

appeal to

his character,

appeal to

his very

person.

And what

are we

restored to?

We are

restored in

order to

worship.

We see this

in verse

six.

Will you not

revive us

again that

your people

may rejoice

in you?

notice that

the people

recognize that

their chief

end in

this

restoration

salvation

game is

not for

their own

benefit,

but first

and foremost

for the

Lord's

renown.

Of course

there is

benefit to

knowing the

Lord and

enjoying his

goodness and

his restoration,

but first

and foremost

it is about

his glory

and his

rejoicing in

his name.

God of

creation

again deserves

to be

rejoiced by

the people

he has

created as

they experience

his steadfast

love.

The Lord

does this

in the most

wonderful way

by not

denying who

he is,

for God

is what

he does,

and we'll

unpack that

in this next

section.

Look with me

verses 8 to

11, but

we'll just

read verse

8.

Let me

hear what

God the

Lord will

speak, for

he will

speak peace

to his

people, to

his saints,

but let

them not

turn back

to folly.

I'll pause

there.

The psalmist

knows that

God despises

the proud,

but gives

grace to

the humble.

He knows

that God

cannot deny

himself as

the giver

of good

things,

that God

is the

creator of

life,

so therefore

the psalmist

on behalf

of his

people inquires

of the

Lord,

expecting him

to speak.

And this

bit about

God speaking

peace, I

mean, it's

a beautiful

line, but

it harkens

back to

creation

itself.

God is

the

supernatural

creator who

creates

everything out

of chaos

and nothing,

bringing order

to the

world.

God is

himself

uncreated

and he

doesn't

take

materials

that are

pre-existing

and creates

what we

have in

this earth,

this cosmos,

but he

speaks and

things are

created.

And here,

the peace

that he

extends to

us, he

speaks to

us, for

he will

speak peace

to his

people, to

his saints.

Just a

couple

things.

The

estrangement

that we

have from

God is

not remedied

by doing

good works.

It can't

be remedied

by having

behavior

modification.

Very

important

aspects to

what it

means to

live in

obedience to

God is

to grow

in our

faithful,

obedient

behavior

towards the

Lord.

But it

can never

remedy the

estrangement

that we

have, because

the estrangement

we have,

the odds

that we're

at odds

with God,

it goes

deep, the

roots go

all the

way down,

it hits

the very

depths of

our soul.

Therefore,

God needs

to speak

peace to

us, which

is to say

that he

needs to

speak a

supernatural

creation

within us,

taking a

heart that

is made of

stone and

making it

into flesh.

We have

no ability

to know

and love

and turn

towards the

Lord by

our own

strength, so

he has to

help us

with that.

And here,

the psalmist

is recognizing

that a part

of the

salvation that

we get to

enjoy from

the Lord

is a

creative act

by the

creator of

all things.

You remember

the first

act of

God in

the pages

of Holy

Scripture

is creation.

And one

thing I love

about it is

that God

doesn't put

on a

carpenter's

apron or

a welder's

smock or

coveralls and

take some

pre-existing

material and

gets to

work.

No, he

just speaks.

And the

entire cosmos,

the entire

universe,

everything that

exists came

into being.

God just

spoke.

No more

chaos,

but order.

And

interestingly,

in Mark

Mark 4 · chapter mention

chapter 4,

we see

something similar.

Jesus is

in the

chaotic

winds and

the waves

with his

disciples in

a boat as

he is crossing

the Sea of

Galilee and

they cry out

to him for

salvation.

And he

gets up and

he says to

the wind and

the storm,

peace, be

quiet.

And that

same act of

creation is on

full display.

And this is

what is

happening here.

The psalmist

is saying,

for he will

speak peace

to his

people, to

his saints.

And then a

warning, let

them not

turn back

to folly.

Is this

not what we

desire?

To have

this

estrangement

with God

remedied?

To not

turn back

to our

folly?

Is

if you've

lived long

enough,

and hopefully

this isn't

your experience,

but if you've

lived long

enough,

you get

into some

kind of

issue with

somebody that

you love

or you're

friends with,

and you

become

estranged

with them.

And then a

week goes by

and you don't

talk with

them, and

you don't

remedy the

situation, and

then a

month, and

then maybe

a year, and

then maybe

it's a

decade.

And you

move on to

an extent, but

the estrangement

is a monkey

on your back.

You feel it.

Something's

wrong, something's

not right,

there's a

relationship that

is chaotic.

You can

pretend it's

not a

problem, but

it's a

problem.

Do we

not all

wish to

have no

estranged

relationships in

our lives?

God is

offering this

to us.

We are the

ones who have

wronged him, but

he is the

one who reaches

down to us to

remedy the

situation.

And not

just with us

in him, but

as we come

into a

proper, restored,

renewed

relationship with

him, our

other relationships

begin to

look less

chaotic and

more orderly.

That's not a

promise, by the

way, that all

your relationships

will cease to

be chaotic or

estranged, but

your heart will

be turning towards

restoration, not

away from it.

the world

begins to be a

place where

you want to

extend God's

order and his

goodness and his

mercy and his

love and his

steadfastness and

his faithfulness and

his righteousness

everywhere.

Going back to

Charles Simeon, so

Charles Simeon, he

comes to faith, he

goes through a

really, really

difficult time trying

to pastor this

church.

Eventually, they let

him in after years

and years and

years, which is

crazy to think.

If you guys want

to lock me out, I

mean, that would

be a horrendous

experience for a

week.

He went on, you

know, for years, but

slowly, people were

converted.

Slowly, this renewal

started to take

root in England, and

not only did people

come to faith, but

Charles Simeon and a

group called the

Clapham sect, you

can look them up

there.

It's a wonderful

testimony to the

Lord's renewal

movements in

history.

But this group of

ministers, which

included William

Wilberforce, among

others, they

started evangelistic

ministries like the

Bible Society.

They started the

Christian Mission to

the Jews, among

other things, and

other missionary

movements.

They also started

organizations that

would eventually

stop animal cruelty

that mattered to

them, to stop the

transatlantic slave

trade.

It really found its

momentum in this

group that were so

touched by and

renewed by the Holy

Spirit that they

extended the grace and

goodness of God to

every aspect of, of

every sphere of their

influence, every aspect

of their society.

And things changed.

It was an unbelievable

season in the church,

church, going from

darkness to light.

You see, the blessing

of God always extends

out to include others

who are also

experiencing this

estrangement.

So we get right with

God, we get right with

others, we tell people

and bear witness to

them about God's, his

restoration plan, and it

continues on.

This is the way the

Lord works.

Look with me in verse

nine.

Surely his salvation is

near to those who fear

him.

The glory may dwell, that

glory may dwell in our

land.

The people of Israel,

they want, they want

God's presence back

amongst them.

And God's presence has

always been amongst his

people, first in the

tent of meeting, the

tabernacle in the, in the

desert years, and then

eventually the temple

that was built by King

Solomon.

And they, it seems that

they want something

similar to that, but,

but this verse here, it's

this prophetic, this, this

prophetic announcement

that there's something

more that God has in

store with his glory, with

his presence amongst his

people.

It seems to imply that the,

that the glorious presence

of God himself would pay

his people a visit, but

then extend to all the

nations.

Interestingly, the, the

word here, dwell, is the

same Hebrew root word for,

for the glory of God that

came upon the mountain,

Mount Sinai, of, when, when

Moses went up to get the

law, that it was the

Shekinah glory, the, the

unapproachable light, and

this is what the text is

getting at, that God is

going to dwell amongst his

people.

But will he be in

unapproachable light?

I think what this is, is

it's pointing prophetically

to Christ.

Consider these two verses,

Hebrews chapter 1, verse

Hebrews 1:3

3, he is the radiance of

the glory of God and the

exact imprint of his

nature, and he upholds the

universe by the word of

his power after making

purifications for sins, that

is, his life, death, and

resurrection, he sat down at

the right hand of the

majesty on high, John 1, 14,

and the word, that is

Jesus, became flesh and

dwelt among us, and we

have seen his glory, there's

that term glory, glory as

of the only Son from the

Father full of grace and

truth.

You see what's happening

here is God is promising

salvation, and that his

presence would again dwell

with his people, but not

like in the past, that he

would take upon him

humanity, take humanity up

into him, and that God, the

Son of God, Jesus Christ,

fully man and fully God,

there's the incarnation

again, we talked about that

last week, he would dwell

among his people, and then

his people would be

transformed, renewed, and

restored to him, and then

this goodness and glory would

be extended to Judea, Samaria,

to the ends of the earth.

Once again, we see God's

presence and salvation at

work, extending and inviting

and including all that would

but turn to him.

His faithfulness is expressed

in his mercy, and his

righteousness will be

satisfied in Christ Jesus.

Verses 10 to 11, and we're

going to wrap things up.

Some of the most beautiful

poetic words in scripture, this

is how it reads, steadfast

love and faithfulness meet,

righteousness and peace

kiss each other, faithfulness

springs up from the ground,

and righteousness looks down

from the sky.

This is who our God is, and

what I mentioned before that

there's an appeal to God to

not deny who he is, this is

it, for God does not just do

works, but he is what he does.

God is the creator, he doesn't

just create.

God does not just bring peace,

but he is peace himself.

God does not just extend

steadfast love, he himself is

love.

He's unable to be anything

other than faithful.

He has made promises, he will

keep promises, he is righteous in

all he does because he himself is

the only righteous one.

So you see that God, that Israel

rather, is appealing to God to not

deny who he is because he cannot.

So they don't presume mercy, but

they say, God, do what only you can

do.

They are throwing themselves at the

very character and person of God.

God.

And this speaks to us this morning

because the renewal that we need

and desire in our families and in

our own personal lives, but in our

families and in our neighborhoods,

the renewal is not something that we

can get, but a person that we find.

That is Christ our Lord.

The psalm concludes like this,

yes, the Lord will give what is good

and our land will yield its

increase.

Righteousness will go before him

and make his footsteps away.

Like in the 1800s, in Charles

Simeon's day, we live in what

a political commentator, a guy named

Aaron Wren, calls the negative world

that we cease to have a place at the

table as Christians that are genuinely

trying to follow the Lord.

Our society has embraced the culture

of death.

And although there are wonderful

redeeming things about our culture,

by and large, it has turned away

from God in a very, very, very

obvious way.

We live in the negative world.

Being a Christian makes us suspect.

It makes us a force of ill and evil.

So how ought we to respond?

I think we need to respond by

remembering who the Lord is and

appealing to his very character.

Verse 13, it says,

righteousness will go before him

and make his footsteps away.

I read, and I think this was Charles

Simeon in the persecution that he

faced, but he, I could be getting

this wrong, but I think it was

Charles Simeon.

He said, listen, if I have to go

through a bramble of hedges or a

hedge of brambles,

a very prickly bush,

as long as I can get my head in

and my shoulders to the other side,

I'll get scraped up a little bit,

but I'll be okay.

And he says, Christ, my head,

has made the way for me.

He has already gone through,

and I simply am going to get

scraped up a little bit.

And here, verse 13 is saying that

he himself has gone before us,

he has made the way,

and we are simply following him

and being faithful because he

was faithful to us.

So as we seek the Lord's face,

we first remember what he has

done in the past, we second,

confess our sins, and then third,

we rejoice in the God who delights

in renewal and restoration.

A church that is not perfect,

but is seeking to follow the Lord,

it is an apologetic to the world

that God is not dead,

and that he is extending mercy

to all that would turn to him.

Friends, as we submit to and grow

and rejoice in the incarnate God,

it is bound to happen that renewal

and restoration will take root

in our lives and in our families

and in our church community

and will continue to extend

and extend and extend and extend.

Let us pray for such a thing.

Let us pray now.

Lord, thank you so much

for the examples from the past,

both in Holy Scripture,

but also in the history of the church,

of your faithfulness and your goodness

and your restoration

and your renewal

and your mercy

that you have extended time

and again to an undeserved people,

but a people that you have

committed yourself to.

A people that you have sent your son

to die on their behalf

so that we might live in him.

Lord, help us to remember

that Christ has already gone before us

and that we will never suffer

like he has suffered,

but that we can suffer in part

and it is a great joy to do so

for your glory, for your name.

And Lord, help us to be brave as well.

Lord, we live in a negative world,

but here we have the very gift of life.

Not a gift of life,

not a way to heaven,

but the way to heaven.

The way that we can have this

eternal estrangement

dealt with forever.

So Lord, we ask that you would

bless us as your people.

We don't presume to receive your mercy,

but Lord, we appeal to you

to do what you delight in doing.

And we pray this in Christ's name.

Amen.