Daniel 6 - Ordinary Faith in an Extraordinary God

You are listening to a message from Southwood Presbyterian Church in Huntsville, Alabama.

Our passion is to experience and express grace.

Join us.

Amen.

It's a great, great day to look forward to, to be thrilled about and have our lives today

shaped by what's going to happen eternally.

That's a big theme in the book of Daniel.

We've made it this morning to Daniel 6 in the lion's den, as I mentioned to the kids earlier.

This is the final and climactic scene in the first half of the book of Daniel that recounts

the stories of Daniel and his friends living in Babylon and learning how to follow the true

king while living in another's kingdom.

You've heard this story before, I suspect.

Perhaps sung about it.

Perhaps told your kids about it.

But what is Daniel and the lion's den all about?

Let's pray and ask for God's help.

We'll read parts of the familiar story as we go.

Pray with me.

Father, we will recognize many of these words.

Our kids have told us what happens here.

But we need your spirit to speak to us through your word this morning.

We need not to hear things that are assumptions of our own hearts, that feed our own idols and our own desires.

We need to hear from you.

Would you speak clearly and powerfully?

And would you give us hearts to hear?

Hearts to be sensitive to what you would teach us.

Hearts to change and to become different people because we have encountered you in your word.

Do that work this morning, we ask in Jesus' name.

Amen.

Imagine for me this morning as we get started that you're a journalist back in the 6th century BC.

It's a very popular profession back then.

There were a lot of them.

Imagine that you are a reporter in Babylon for the Hebrew Herald.

You know, the Hebrew Herald, the one that prints all the news for all the exiles in Babylon.

That's their motto.

And you've been on staff for a while.

You've been stuck covering typical, unimpressive stuff.

You never make it past the bottom of page 8.

And then one day, you get your big break.

You hear that there's this story about a Hebrew prophet who has survived the king's lion's den.

And you've been told that you get the big interview.

You've got an exclusive sit-down with Daniel.

This is your big moment.

This is going to be the career-making interview and story.

Front page headlines for sure for the first time.

And so you get in your chariot and you drive across town to meet with Daniel for the interview.

And in your mind are all of these wonderful headlines and what it's going to look like splashed across the front page.

You know, you start thinking things like, ageless wonder, 90-year-old escapes again.

Yeah, that's what it's going to say.

And then you think, no, no, no, miraculous.

Hebrew shows overgrown cats what nine lives is all about.

That's what it's going to say.

Then you think, no, maybe what it should be is lion lunch turns lion whisperer.

That's what it is.

Daniel, he's going to be the cover boy for my new series of articles that's really going to show this.

And then you think to yourself, no, none of those.

The one that's really going to make it big is this one.

And you settle on this.

Cat food?

Not our profit.

And you've got it.

So there you go to your interview with Daniel, certain that these wonderful headlines are going to make your career.

You can't wait to talk to Daniel.

This extraordinary guy who's obviously done amazing things.

And you get to the interview and initially you're pretty unimpressed.

Daniel's no young fella.

He's pushing 90.

He's tired.

He's feeling weak the day that you talk with him.

But you launch in and intent on finding the story here in Daniel.

Tell me about the big night with the lions.

What did you do or say?

Daniel says, well, I patted a couple of them on the head and prayed for a bit.

And then I slept for a bit.

You think, all right, well, I'll try another angle.

Tell me, how did you prepare for that moment of being thrown in?

What did you do leading up to that moment?

And Daniel says, well, let's see.

I mean, I did pray a little bit.

But really nothing else.

I mean, I didn't have much time to prepare.

You say, well, Daniel, did you always know you'd be safe?

Maybe this is the angle, the faithful guy who was confident in the face of lions.

And Daniel says, no, not at all, really.

I was kind of wondering, actually.

I mean, I knew God could save me.

But I've lived a long life.

And I was kind of thinking this might actually be the end.

You're getting a little bit frustrated at this point.

It's not coming together the way you expected.

Make it political, maybe.

We'll go political with it.

Daniel, your decision to defy the decree, you know, when you decided to disobey the king,

you really hate that guy, don't you?

Tell me about that king, how awful he is.

Well, actually, I mean, I don't really hate him.

He's a pretty decent guy.

And I just, I didn't make a big decision.

I just prayed like I do every other day.

And with each answer from Daniel, your dreams of a front page career making story are dwindling, aren't they?

This is not the guy, the star you expected to play big on the front page.

There's nothing extraordinary about him, really.

God seems to have done all of the hard work.

I mean, at least some of the heroes in the Bible got to do cool stuff like pick up a slingshot and several stones

or do cool things with their staff.

And Daniel didn't even get to do those things.

There's not much remarkable to tell about Daniel.

Now, we know this morning that Daniel is famous, right?

Particularly for this story, he's a hero of the Bible.

But what I want us to notice this morning is that even in this story,

Daniel does nothing grand or super spiritual.

He puts on display here what I would call a very ordinary faith.

But his faith, his ordinary faith, is in an extraordinary God who works beyond what Daniel or the rest of God's people could have ever imagined.

I mean, if you're a reporter interviewing Daniel for this story, you're realizing you've got the wrong hero, right?

And sadly, you don't have any great front page photos of this awesome lion silencing, king conquering God, do you?

That's not working out for you.

Notice how the story ends in Daniel 6.

Look at verse 25.

At the end of the lion's den story, King Darius wrote to all the peoples, nations, and languages that dwell in the earth,

Peace be multiplied to you.

I make a decree that in all my royal dominion, people are to tremble and fear before the God of Daniel.

For he is the living God, enduring forever.

His kingdom shall never be destroyed, and his dominion shall be to the end.

He delivers and rescues.

He works signs and wonders in heaven and on earth.

He who has saved Daniel from the power of the lions.

So this Daniel prospered during the reign of Darius and the reign of Cyrus the Persian.

What happens at the end of the story?

God is praised and honored, and Daniel gets a footnote, a brief mention.

If you're going to understand the point of the story, and what God wants his people to take away from it,

it's this great God they need to see in the lion's den story.

We learn here that God is the true king who is always on the throne and always able to deliver.

That's what that proclamation says, right?

The one we just read there at the end of the story, he is the living God with the eternal kingdom.

He delivers and rescues even when no one else can.

You see, Darius liked Daniel, didn't he?

They were buddies.

Darius got tricked into passing this law, and when he found out what it would do to Daniel,

remember how Darius responded, verse 14?

The king, when he heard these words, when he heard about Daniel praying,

was much distressed and set his mind to deliver Daniel.

The king said, no, I will deliver Daniel.

That's what I'm going to do.

I'm setting my mind.

That's what's going to happen.

And he labored till the sun went down to rescue him.

All day the king did nothing but seek to rescue Daniel.

But his advisors remind him of the law he's passed.

And at the end of the day, the king commanded, verse 16,

and Daniel was brought and cast into the den of lions.

Despite all the king's efforts, Daniel's cast into the lion's den.

And what does the king say to Daniel?

May your God, whom you serve continually, deliver you.

Why?

Because I can't.

I'm the most powerful man in the world.

And there's nothing else I can do for you, even though I'd like to.

The most powerful human leaders, even when they want to,

are often powerless to rescue.

But God, who is the true king through the reigns of Nebuchadnezzar,

Belshazzar, other kings, and now Darius,

the true king, God is always powerful and able to deliver.

Daniel, Darius says, has your God been able to deliver you?

Yes, he sent his angel to shut the lions' mouths.

God is the one doing the miraculous in this passage.

And Daniel has learned to trust him.

Just to trust him.

You see, Daniel knows who the true king is, doesn't he?

You've got to believe that Daniel helped Darius write this proclamation

at the end of the chapter, don't you?

First of all, it sounds like the ones at the end of most of the other stories

we've read already,

where one of these pagan kings writes a proclamation

about the greatness of Yahweh, Daniel's God.

It sounds like that.

It sounds like Daniel's been helping out.

I mean, after all, if you were Darius, wouldn't you ask for Daniel's help

and how to honor and praise Daniel's God?

So it's Daniel who knows and says in the proclamation

what he's experienced over and over.

The extraordinary reigning and rescuing nature of his God.

That's what we read about in this story.

It's knowing a God like that, that Daniel knows deeply and intimately.

It's knowing a God like that that enables Daniel to have the faith

he's so famous for in this story.

What is his faith like?

You know, what do I have to do to be as amazing and spiritual as Daniel?

Well, he doesn't do anything really remarkable.

It's just ordinary faith.

The kind of faith that you and I are called to have day by day.

And so we see in this story that knowing this extraordinary God

enables ordinary faith to be first daily faith.

Daily faith.

Daniel has been serving in leadership here in Babylon

for the better part of seven decades.

He's served multiple administrations and even different nations

since he first started.

And King Darius is about to set him over the whole kingdom.

He trusts him so much.

But then remember how the other officials feel about that.

How do they feel about Daniel getting promoted?

The high officials and the satraps sought to find a ground for complaint against Daniel.

They're jealous.

They want to complain against Daniel with regard to the kingdom,

but they could find no ground for complaint or any fault

because he was faithful and no error or fault was found in him.

Then these men said,

we shall not find any ground for complaint against this Daniel

unless we find it in connection with the law of his God.

They're jealous of Daniel.

They want to catch him in something.

But as they puzzled over this together,

they determined the only thing they could convict him of was what?

Faith in his God.

You know that old question,

if you were accused of being a Christian,

would there be enough evidence to convict you?

You heard that one before?

Well, Daniel can't get convicted of anything else.

There's nothing else that will stick.

He hasn't been disrespectful or disruptive about his faith.

He's been a trusted and faithful servant of multiple kings.

And at the same time,

those who work with him have learned over the years

that there's no compromise on his faith in God.

It's the one thing they know for sure about him.

In other words,

Daniel did his job with excellence day in and day out.

He was honest and above reproach in his dealings with people.

He persevered through transitions and difficult seasons.

And he didn't hide his faith in God from anyone around him.

Nothing really flashy there, is there?

Pretty ordinary, right?

Quite possibly what you are called to,

where you are,

day after day,

year after year,

faithful service in a pagan land

with an uncompromising commitment

to the true king.

Is that where God's called you?

As the story goes,

those who decide they want to get Daniel out of their way

resort to catching Daniel.

How are they going to catch him with his faith to God?

They say we're going to catch him praying, right?

That we can count on.

We're going to catch Daniel praying to his God

and we need to come up with something

so that it's a bad thing

when we catch him praying to his God.

So they tricked Darius into passing the law

that people should pray only to him

for the next month.

Look at verse 10.

When Daniel knew that the document,

that that decree had been signed,

he went to his house

where he had windows in his upper chamber

open toward Jerusalem.

He got down on his knees three times a day

and prayed and gave thanks before his God

as he had done previously.

This verse is a beautiful picture

of Daniel's praying faith.

If you like alliteration

and you want three D words in your blanks,

in your bulletin,

you can call it dependent faith.

But I didn't want us to miss

the importance of prayer itself

in this passage.

It is, after all,

what gets Daniel thrown in the lion's den, right?

The fact that he's praying to his God.

The fact that Daniel won't compromise

for even a month.

Just take a month off.

The decree will expire

and Daniel won't compromise

even for a month on his praying faith.

The kind of ordinary faith

we are called to have

trusts God enough to live daily

in a way that is faithful to God.

That God can take care of me

if I live day by day for him.

And at the same time,

it also prays regularly to God.

Because we know that he is the one

who does the extraordinary.

That he is the true king.

And so what my heart needs

is to trust and depend on him.

I need to be molded into someone

who trusts and prays.

Look at this verse more closely

and notice just a few instructive things

about Daniel's praying faith.

First, notice the windows

in the upper chamber

open toward Jerusalem.

What does that mean?

That's a strange detail to include.

Well, what it means is that

Daniel's prayers are focused

on God's glory and God's people.

You see, back in 1 Kings 8,

after King Solomon built the temple

to God in Jerusalem,

he prayed a prayer

dedicating the temple to God.

And it anticipated some of the things

that would happen to God's people,

including where Daniel is in exile.

In verse 48 of 1 Kings 8,

Solomon's prayer says this,

God, after they've gone into exile,

if they repent with all their mind

and with all their heart

and the land of their enemies

who carried them captive,

and pray to you toward their land

which you gave to their fathers,

the city that you have chosen

and the house that I have built

for your name,

then here in heaven

your dwelling place,

their prayer and their plea

and maintain their cause,

and forgive your people

who have sinned against you

and all their transgressions

they've committed against you.

Grant them compassion

in the sight of those

who carried them captive,

that they may have compassion on them.

For God, they are your people

and your heritage

which you brought out of Egypt.

It's not just speculation

that Daniel was praying this way.

In Daniel chapter 9,

Daniel 9 · chapter mention

a prayer of Daniel is recorded

from the exact same year

as the lion's den story,

and these are the things he's praying.

Praying for the people of God.

God, forgive us.

God, bless us.

God, restore us to your land

and the temple where you dwell with us.

Your presence with your people

is what I long for and hope for.

God, bless, forgive,

restore your people.

Do you pray that way?

Do you pray for God's glory

through His care for His people?

Do you get reoriented

by focusing on God's glory

and His kingdom?

Is that what centers you?

Is that what's most important?

That's how Daniel prays.

Next, notice that he got down

on his knees three times a day

and prayed and gave thanks

before his God.

Thanking God?

You may take that for granted

in prayer,

but seriously?

For what?

You're in exile.

People are trying to kill you.

No one you live with

honors your God.

And you're thanking God

three times a day?

Every day?

This is the eternal focus

of Daniel's prayers.

Thanking God

despite the current circumstances

because he trusts God's

eternal promises

to His people.

He looks toward Jerusalem.

He knows God has promised

to restore His people.

He knows despite the pain

of the day,

He has a promise

of a brighter future.

And so he thanks God

over and over

and over in prayer.

Does God hear more gripes

or gratitude

from us?

Listen, He does invite us

to pour out our hearts

before Him.

But our prayers

should be bathed

in the promises

of His Word

so that our hearts

pour out not only

pleas for help

in the difficulties

of life,

but also promises

of God

that ground us

with an eternal perspective

in the midst

of those difficulties.

Listen, life is hard

and God wants

to hear about it.

But He wants you

to see His Word

and to know

His promises

to care for you

and His eternal hope

stands sure.

And Daniel

holds on to that,

thanking God

over and over,

looking towards

the promised land

and saying,

I know God

has something

for me.

Finally,

notice that he prays

three times a day

as he had done

previously.

This isn't something

Daniel like all of a sudden

starts to do

because it's a big crisis,

is it?

This is Daniel's pattern.

Not some magic formula,

kneel down,

face Jerusalem

three times a day

and God will hear

your prayers.

No, that's not the point.

But this is Daniel's pattern.

No decree from any human king

is going to change

his commitment.

It's Daniel's pattern

developed in the easy days

that carries

through the hard days.

If we pray in peace,

we will pray in peril

when it's harder to start.

If we depend on God

in private,

we will depend on God

in public

as we have seen Daniel do

time and again already.

His public faithfulness,

being able to live

day by day for God,

is rooted in what's going on

up in his room

facing Jerusalem,

pleading with his God,

his private faithfulness,

where he entrusts himself

to the true king

and centers his heart,

brings it back

day after day

and moment by moment

to what really matters

and who really reigns.

That's what Daniel

re-centers on every day.

What really matters

as I go into

where God's called me today

and who really reigns?

Who's in charge today

even if it doesn't

feel like it?

That's vital for us.

Again, though,

I mean,

it makes it sound good

but nothing really remarkable,

right?

He prays.

I mean,

I was told

when I was like two

that God's people

were supposed to pray.

My daughters pray.

They've been praying

since that was

one of the first things,

ways they learned to talk.

That's not really

that impressive.

Daniel prays.

But in getting down

on his knees

day after day,

Daniel reminds us

that in the kingdom

of the true king,

greatness and heroism

looks like bowing down,

not stepping up.

Greatness is not

remarkable feats of strength,

some wonderful,

amazing things

you've never imagined

doing before.

It's not shutting

lions' mouths

with your wonderful skills

or your magic powers.

God does that stuff.

God does those

extraordinary things.

But it's faithful dependence.

That's what greatness

looks like

in the kingdom

of the true king.

Faithful dependence.

Ordinary prayers

to an extraordinary God.

Finally, of course,

we actually get to

the lion's den.

Better get there.

See briefly

Daniel's desperate faith.

His faith

when the crisis hits.

What does it

look like then?

He's trusted his God

day in and day out

for decades.

He's been praying

to his God

over and over

and then

the crisis comes.

Your world

is suddenly

turned upside down.

Your life

is all of a sudden

in the balance.

what happens?

Verse 23.

The king comes.

Daniel's

safe

and he's exceedingly glad

and commanded Daniel

be taken up

out of the den.

So Daniel was taken up

out of the den

and no kind of harm

was found on him

because

he had trusted

in his God.

Because

even in the midst

of the lions

he had trusted

in his God.

Why did Daniel

trust?

Because God

is always

on the throne

and always

able

to deliver.

He can be trusted

even when it appears

all is lost.

Even when

all other options

seem to have

been exhausted.

Even when you

look around

and there's no good

reason for hope.

He can be trusted.

We could suspect

Daniel was probably

like his friends

in the face

of the fiery furnace.

Not certain

how

God would

deliver

but confident

God would

deliver.

Daniel didn't know

what the lions

would do

but he knew

that God

could be trusted.

He didn't depend

on his own strength.

He didn't trust

his own plans,

try to come up

with a way out.

He didn't hope

in his power

or position

to use his influence

to rescue him.

He entrusted

himself

to God

which as we learned

last week

is always

the safe place

to be.

Even in the

lion's den.

Even in your

crisis

or tragedy.

See Daniel

may have been

spared from

the lions

but he's

still in exile

in Babylon.

There's still

a crisis

for Daniel.

He still

hasn't seen

some remarkable

repentance

or restoration

on behalf

of God's people

the way a faithful

prophet might hope

to see in his

lifetime.

He's 90 now

and not really

seeing much

change.

He's still

in a crisis.

But God

has reminded him

again

that Yahweh

is the true

king.

He's still

on the throne

and still

able

to deliver.

That's what we

want our kids

to know

isn't it?

Daniel and the

lion's den

is one of those

stories that

kids love.

It's a great

story to tell

our kids

isn't it?

But what is it

that we want

them to hear?

Listen

if the message

of the story

of Daniel

is about

how great

Daniel is

in the face

of lions

we got two

problems.

First of all

that's not

the point.

We've missed

the whole point

of the story.

Second of all

how many

of your kids

have been

thrown into

a lion's

den recently?

I could have

asked them

up here

and they

all would have

said no.

How great

Daniel was

when he

hit the

lion?

No.

Never been

there.

But what you

have an

opportunity to

do when you

look at the

stories of the

Bible that

your kids

love is to

see what they

learn about

God.

Who is God

there in the

story of Daniel

in the lion's

den?

And when you

find there a

God who can

be trusted in

all kinds of

circumstances

then your

kids are

helped to

trust him in

whatever difficult

circumstances they

face.

When they see

God as the

true king

always on the

throne always

able to

deliver then

they have a

king they

can trust

wherever they

are.

One of the

reasons I

started out

having you

imagine being

a journalist

with all those

silly headlines

is that there's

definitely a story

to be told

here in

Daniel 6

isn't there?

Who recognizes

that there's a

story to be

told?

Darius a

pagan king

sees there's a

story to be

told he knows

it at the end

remember verse

25?

Darius wrote

to whom?

To all the

peoples nations

and languages

that dwell in

all the earth

you got to

know about

this there's a

story to be

told a story

that should be

told to everyone

by very

ordinary people

about the

true king

about the

God they can

trust

about how

this story

is a picture

of God's

ultimate rescue

and deliverance

of his people

through Jesus

what's your

story?

Is it

very

very

ordinary?

Do you feel

much less

spiritual

than Daniel?

I do

God hasn't

called us

to be

extraordinary

by definition

most of us

on most days

will be very

ordinary

we feel that

don't we?

Sometimes it

hurts

but being

extraordinary

is his

job

not ours

I think

of the

amazing things

God does

with ordinary

faith

and I

think of

the

elderly

church

member

who

can't get

out much

anymore

but trusts

God for

every breath

wakes up

and faithfully

gets through

the day

with the only

activity more

consistent than

doctor's appointments

being

prayer

day

after day

after day

ordinary

faith

and an

extraordinary

God

who does

miraculous

things with

those mundane

prayers

I think of

the young

single mom

who works

so hard

and in the

face of

seemingly

overwhelming

daily

struggles

tells her

kids the

story about

a great

God who

provides

better than

she can

and then

praise to

that God

for her

kids

over

and over

and over

ordinary

faith

and an

extraordinary

God

I think of

the government

engineer who

goes to the

same office

every day

for the

28th year

doing things

that many

days don't

seem to

matter at

all

and like

Daniel most

of those

days not

seeing any

of the

amazing

things that

God is

doing

no evidence

of him

at work

at all

but praying

for his

co-workers

working

faithfully

sharing his

struggles with

them over

and over

even when

they mock

his trust

in God

ordinary

faith in

an extraordinary

God

I think of

the blog

many of you

will have

read

a young

mom

and PCA

pastor's

wife named

Kara Tippetts

who died

last year

of cancer

who through

her blog

which you

may know

as mundane

faithfulness

shared her

story with

thousands

an honest

story of

weakness

sickness

struggles

and faith

in the midst

of cancer

in a God

who would

deliver her

forever

and care

for her

husband

and kids

when she

was gone

I think of

the letter

one of our

members sent

to co-workers

this week

after getting

transferred

at work

it begins

this way

someday

everything

will make

perfect sense

so for now

laugh at the

confusion

smile through

the tears

and keep

reminding yourself

everything happens

for a reason

my life has

always brought

change at

inopportune times

that don't line

up with what I

think should

happen

the Lord does

that for me

to teach me to

trust him

on a deeper

level

pretty ordinary

people

telling the

story

story

of an

extraordinary

God

who is

worthy

of their

trust

in some

tough

times

just like

Daniel

I think

making the

hall of fame

of faith

alongside

Daniel

because that's

all he did

isn't it

faithful

in work

faithful

in prayer

faithful

in crisis

watching

God

do the

extraordinary

all

peoples

nations

and languages

need to

hear the

story

of this

delivering

God

that's

the story

that is

your story

just like

it's the

story

that's

Daniel's

story

will you

tell that

story

of how

he has

rescued

you

through

Jesus

of how

he

delivered

you

from

your

most

desperate

crisis

and your

greatest

enemies

how he

endured

the cross

for you

and you

just

entrusted

yourself

to him

that's

the story

isn't it

he did

the amazing

work

you just

entrusted

yourself

to him

I don't

think one

ordinary

housewife

in the

1700s

in England

could have

foreseen

how she

would tell

that story

to peoples

and nations

and languages

she was

the 25th

of 25

children

in her

family

that wasn't

hard enough

she had

19

children

of her

own

only

10

of those

however

survived

infancy

she

buried

11

children

in her

life

her

husband

left her

for a

season

and she

raised the

others

alone

then

during

that

time

she

faced

poverty

constantly

sickness

often

and tragedy

regularly

but she

told her

children

about

God

and changed

diapers

and prayed

for them

and made

meals

and prayed

for them

and cleaned

the house

and prayed

for them

she hardly

had time

for praying

to be honest

but they

would find

her

all the

time

with her

apron

thrown up

over her

head

and they

knew not

to interrupt

that was

the way

she got

private time

with God

throwing her

apron

over her

head

and talking

with him

for a while

they knew

who she

was talking

to and they

knew she

was probably

talking to

God

about them

and they

waited

until she

was finished

she never

did anything

the world

would call

extraordinary

never

published

a book

never

made

a fortune

but

Susanna

Wesley

is called

the mother

of Methodism

two of

those

19

kids

John

and

Charles

Wesley

began

the Christian

movement

that has

told the

story

of a

great

God

who does

extraordinary

things

for ordinary

people

to millions

upon millions

around the

world

you know

what story

they told

they told

the story

that they

heard

from their

mom

they told

the story

of

praying

all the

time

in the

midst of

everything

and a

God who

could be

trusted

who would

listen

and act

she didn't

get to

see the

millions

God

used her

story

to impact

but you

know

neither did

Daniel

not during

their

ordinary

lives

on this

earth

but God

worked

he worked

in extraordinary

ways

we serve

an

extraordinary

God

in very

ordinary

ways

most days

when we

face lions

when we

go to

work

tomorrow

morning

when we

kneel

to pray

tonight

may

that

reality

give us

great

hope

let's

pray

father

that you

listen to

our

prayers

that you

care about

our lives

that you

act

on our

behalf

that you

are the

one on

the throne

today

is our

only

comfort

that there

is a

hope

because of

that for

the future

is a

great gift

of your

grace

to us

that in

sending

your son

you have

rescued us

forever

thank you

give us

hearts to

trust you

give us

hearts that

trust you

while we do

very ordinary

things

while we do

things that we

wish were

greater

and gained

more notoriety

and fame

for ourselves

give us

hearts that

are delighted

for you

to be the

one that

gets all

the headlines

whose glory

is promoted

ahead of

ours

Jesus

meet us

and remind

us that you're

working in

great ways

right where

we are

we give you

thanks for

that

amen

for more

information

visit us

online

at

southwood.org