Bones & Arrows

Today we're going to continue in our series in 2 Kings, 2 Kings today. We're going to look at 2 Kings 13. I want to invite you to turn there in your scripture journal or your Bible or your apps.

You can follow along as I read. It's a great passage. You have foreign invaders. You have crying kings. You have prophetic arrows and resurrecting bones, all kinds of things happening today.

So excited to dive into 2 Kings 13 with you this morning. Please follow along as I read. Now hear the word of the Lord.

In the 23rd year of Joash, the son of Ahaziah, king of Judah, Jehoahaz, the son of Jehu, began to reign over Israel in Samaria. And he reigned 17 years.

He did what was evil in the sight of the Lord and followed the sins of Jeroboam, the son of Nebat, which he made Israel to sin. He did not depart from them.

And the anger of the Lord was kindled against Israel. And he gave them continually into the hands of Hazael, king of Syria, and into the hand of Ben-Hadad, the son of Hazael.

Then Jehoahaz sought the favor of the Lord. And the Lord listened to him. For he saw the oppression of Israel, how the king of Syria oppressed them.

Therefore, the Lord gave Israel a savior. So they escaped from the hand of the Syrians. And the people of Israel lived in their homes as formerly.

Nevertheless, they did not depart from the sins of the house of Jeroboam, which he made Israel to sin, but walked in them. And the Asherah also remained in Samaria.

For there was not left to Jehoahaz an army of more than 50 horsemen and 10 chariots and 10,000 footmen. For the king of Syria had destroyed them and made them like the dust of threshing.

Now the rest of the acts of Jehoahaz and all that he did and all his might, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel?

So Jehoahaz slept with his fathers, and they buried him in Samaria. And Joash, his son, reigned in his place. In the 37th year of Joash, king of Judah, Jehoash, the son of Jehoahaz, began to reign over Israel in Samaria.

And he reigned 16 years. He also did what was evil in the sight of the Lord. He did not depart from the sins of Jeroboam, the son of Nebat, which he made Israel to sin, but he walked in them.

Now the rest of the acts of Jehoash and all that he did and the might with which he fought against Amaziah, king of Judah, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel?

So Jehoash slept with his fathers, and Jeroboam sat on his throne. And Jehoash was buried in Samaria with the kings of Israel. Now, when Elisha had fallen sick with illness, of which he was to die, Jehoash, king of Israel, went down to him and wept before him, crying,

My father, my father, the chariots of Israel and its horsemen. And Elisha said to him, Take a bow and arrows. So he took a bow and arrows. And then he said to the king of Israel, Draw the bow.

And he drew it. And Elisha laid his hands on the king's hands. And he said, Open the window eastward. And he opened it. Then Elisha said, Shoot.

And he shot. And he said, The Lord's arrow of victory. The arrow of victory over Syria. For you shall fight the Syrians in Aphek until you have made an end of them.

And he said, Take the arrows. And he took them. And he said to the king of Israel, Strike the ground with them. And he struck three times and stopped.

Then the man of God was angry with him and said, You should have struck five or six times. Then you would have struck down Syria until you had made an end of it.

But now you will strike down Syria only three times. So Elisha died. And they buried him. Now bands of Moabites used to invade the land in the spring of the year.

And as a man was being buried, behold, a marauding band was seen. And the man was thrown into the grave of Elisha. And as soon as the man touched the bones of Elisha, he revived and stood on his feet.

Now Hazael, king of Syria, oppressed Israel all the days of Jehoahaz. But the Lord was gracious to them and had compassion on them. And he turned toward them because of his covenant with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and would not destroy them, nor has he cast them from his presence until now.

When Hazael, king of Syria, died, Ben-Hadad, his son, became king in his place. Then Jehoash, the son of Jehoahaz, took again from Ben-Hadad, the son of Hazael, the cities that he had taken from Jehoahaz, his father, and wore.

Three times Jehoash defeated him and recovered the cities of Israel. Would you pray with me once again? Heavenly Father, we thank you for your word.

We thank you that it is clear and sufficient, that it is authoritative and without error. We pray that you administer to us through your word this morning.

Focus our minds to hear from you and prepare our hearts to respond with faith. It's in Jesus that we pray. Amen. Well, for the past few chapters, we've been focusing on what's been happening in Israel's, sorry, in the southern kingdom of Judah, in the southern kingdom of Judah.

But in our passage, in chapter 13, the narrator turns his attention to the northern kingdom of Israel. So I'll give you a map behind me so you can kind of keep track of where I'm at, keep you oriented.

Although chapter 12 ended with the assassination of Joash, chapter 13 starts by taking us back to the 23rd year of Joash's reign. So that's about 17 years before the end of chapter 12 when he was killed.

So that's what was happening in Judah. But in Israel, where we are, Jehoahaz, the son of Jehu, he is king. Now, some of you may remember Jehu from chapters 9 and 10.

Jehu was a king over Israel. He was zealous for the Lord, and he zealously fought the enemies of the Lord. And for this, God made him a promise that four generations of his sons would sit on the throne of Israel.

So Jehoahaz is Jehu's first son to take the throne. And we read that he ruled from Israel's capital city, Samaria. He ruled there for 17 years.

And in verse 2, we read how Jehoahaz ruled. It says that he did what was evil in the sight of the Lord, and he led the people of Israel into wickedness.

This pattern of sin has kind of become commonplace in 2 Kings. We kind of expect it as we read. We're used to it now. But this is no small matter to God.

We read that God's anger was kindled against Israel because of their wickedness. And in his anger, he brought judgment upon the people of Israel.

And this judgment came in the form of opposition, of oppression from Syria. This guy, Hazael, he was king of Syria. Syria is also called Aram, so that's what it's labeled as on the map behind me.

Hazael was king of Syria. And Hazael and his son Ben-Hadad, they had been marching their armies through Israel and Judah, capturing cities, bringing oppression against the people of God.

We read about some of their exploits last week as we read about the kingdom of Judah. Well, this was happening also in Israel because God gave his people continually into the hand of Hazael, using Hazael as an instrument of judgment.

But as Dale Roth Davis put it, with the oppression of Hazael, God aimed to discipline his people, not to destroy them. Hazael's attacks were really an opportunity for Israel to be humbled, to turn from their wickedness.

And it seems to have worked, at least for Israel's king. Verse 4 tells us that Jehoahaz sought the favor of the Lord. This phrase could also be translated, He grew weak before the face of the Lord.

Hazael's attacks brought Jehoahaz low. They humbled him, and he cried out to the Lord. And the Lord listened to the cries of Jehoahaz, and took notice because of the oppression of his people.

Though God's people deserved his judgment, God desired to show them mercy. Now, this was a mercy that was shown over time. This would kind of be completed long after the time of Jehoahaz.

But in this parenthetical comment in verse 5, it explains how God showed mercy over this time. It says, Therefore the Lord gave Israel a savior, and they eventually escaped Syria's oppression, and were able to return to their homes.

Gave Israel a savior. Now, who was this savior? I think our chapter gives us three main options. Jehoahaz is one, the king that we're talking about now.

Another option comes later in this chapter. Jehoahaz's son, Jehoash. Maybe he'll be the savior. Or later, Elisha comes bursting back into our story.

Maybe he's the savior. Well, I think the answer, like, are each of these men the savior? I think the answer with each of them is yes and no.

Although God uses each of them for some saving purpose, each one is really only a partial savior. Jehoahaz served a saving purpose when he sought God's favor.

That's a saving purpose. However, in verse 6, we see a problem with Jehoahaz. Jehoahaz was unable to lead his people away from their wickedness and pagan idol worship.

It says that Israel, even after Jehoahaz came before God, they continued to walk in their sin. And because of that, they would walk right back into God's judgment.

Furthermore, because of Jehoahaz's sin, with which he started his reign, the armies of Israel had become very vulnerable. You know, if we think back to the time of Ahab, you know, Ahab's army was once about 2,000 chariots and up to 100,000 footmen.

But our story tells us that Jehoahaz merely has 50 horsemen, 10 chariots, 10,000 footmen. They're more like dust than an army, the passage says.

Because of all this, Jehoahaz is only a partial savior. After Jehoahaz died and was buried, Jehoahaz's son, Jehoash, took the throne of Israel.

Now, sometimes Jehoash, in our story, he's called Joash. That's his shortened name. But for clarity's sake, I'm always going to call him Jehoash to help us keep track of what's going on.

So Jehoash took the throne in the 37th year of Joash's. So Jehoash took the throne in the 37th year of Joash of Judah's reign. And he probably overlapped a couple years with his dad.

Maybe Jehoash was Israel's savior. Well, we learn about Joash's potential in a couple of chunks in our story. The first chunk we see comes in verses 10 through 13.

Here we get a summary of the entire 16 years of Jehoash as king. It tells us that Jehoash walked in the ways of wickedness, led Israel into sin.

And then after a brief note about Jehoash's deeds being written somewhere else, including the battle with Judah's king, which we'll learn about later in chapter 14, we see that Jehoash died and was buried.

It's also noted that his son, Jeroboam II, he reigned right after Jehoash. Again, we'll learn more about Jeroboam II later in chapter 14. But in these few verses, this summary of Jehoash's reign, we see that it's not really looking good for him as a candidate for Israel's savior.

But in the second chunk of info we get about Jehoash, it seems more possible that he could be a savior figure. In verses 14 through 19, our narrator takes us back in time to the middle of Jehoash's reign.

But this story doesn't start with Jehoash, it starts with the prophet Elisha. Now, the last we heard about Elisha, he was anointing Jehu king of Israel in 2 Kings 9.

But at this point, it's about 40 or 50 years after Elisha anointed Jehu. At this point in the story, Elisha was an old man, and he had fallen sick.

Now, this wasn't some kind of low-grade fever, man-sick thing that's going on with Elisha. No, it was a serious sickness. He was dying. But still, Jehoash was anxious to meet with Elisha before he passed.

Hazael was wreaking havoc in Israel, and Jehoash was desperate. He burst into Elisha's room, frantically crying out, My father, my father, the chariots of Israel and its horsemen.

This is the same phrase that Elisha called out after Elijah while he was being drawn up into heaven. This was a cry of respect, acknowledging Elisha's position as the true man of God.

But it was also a cry of need. Elisha seems to have been more powerful, more effective than all the horses and chariots of Israel. After all, they've been made to dust now.

So if Israel was going to be able to withstand Hazael's attacks, they needed Elisha. And that's why Jehoash comes bursting in. Well, as Jehoash comes bursting in, Elisha, the man of God, he knew just what to do.

He gave Jehoash a string of commands. And these commands, they might seem strange to us, but he still rings them off. Here were the commands.

He said, Elisha told Jehoash to grab a bow and some arrows and to draw back the bow. Jehoash obeyed. Elisha then laid his hands on Jehoash's hands.

And then he told Jehoash to go and open the window eastward, and he was supposed to let his arrow fly. And Jehoash obeyed again. Now, at first glance, we might think that Elisha's directives are kind of nonsense.

Maybe Elisha's sickness was making him senile. We wonder if Jehoash was wondering the same things. But apparently, Elisha knew what he was doing.

Apparently, Elisha had received a prophetic word from the Lord predicting the future defeat of Syria. Now, with these strange actions, Elisha has been making Jehoash act out this prophecy of deliverance.

He was shooting an arrow eastward towards Syria in the east, signifying the Lord's coming victory. And that's what Elisha explained in verse 17.

He said, the Lord's arrow of victory, the arrow of victory over Syria. For you shall fight the Syrians at Aphek, which is the city, until you have made an end of them.

And that makes us think, maybe Jehoash is the savior God gave to rescue his people. Well, we learn a bit more in verse 18. We see Elisha has more prophetic acts for Jehoash.

Jehoash was told to take arrows and to strike the ground with them. This could have either been he was supposed to stab the ground with these arrows, or he was supposed to shoot the ground with the arrows from the window once again.

Either way, Jehoash obeyed again, but this time only partially. It says he struck the ground three times and then stopped. Now, we know this is only a partial obedience because of Elisha's reaction in verse 19.

The man of God was angry with him and said, you should have struck the ground five or six times. Then you would have struck down Syria until you had made an end of it.

But now, you will only strike Syria down three times. Now, we might ask, how was Jehoash supposed to know how many times to strike the ground?

Well, you and I might not know, but it's clear that Jehoash should have known. It could have been that when Elisha told him to pick up arrows, he was supposed to pick up six arrows.

And then Jehoash was supposed to shoot all six, or at least almost all six. Or it could be that since Israel had lost six major cities to Hazael's invasion, Jehoash was supposed to shoot six arrows, signifying the recovery of all six cities.

Now, that seems more likely to me, especially because in verse 25, we learned that since Jehoash shot only three arrows, Israel was only able to recover three cities.

Either way, Jehoash should have shot six arrows, and instead, he only partially obeyed Elisha. And because of Jehoash's partial obedience, Israel would only experience a partial victory.

That's what we're told. Jehoash is only a partial savior. But in our narrative, we still have hope. We have one more option. Elisha, the man of God, more powerful than the chariots and horsemen of Israel.

Maybe he is the savior. After all, in Exodus, when God saw the oppression of his people, he sent a man of God to deliver them, Moses. So it would be really fitting for God to send a new Moses, Elisha, to be the savior of Israel.

So when we turn with this kind of expectancy, we turn to verse 20, and we expect to see Elisha's saving work kind of laid out before us. Verse 20 says, So Elisha died, and they buried him.

Oh, well, that seems to rule Elisha out. Elisha certainly was a savior figure. He was the mediator between God and his people, the prophet of prophets through whom God worked mighty signs and wonders.

But still, even Elisha had his limits. He aged. He grew ill. He died before Israel's salvation was complete. Elisha is another partial savior.

Still, Elisha was a powerful partial savior, even after his death. At the end of verse 20, we read more about Elisha's powerful partial saving works.

We come across another man. We meet this other man. And we don't really know who this other man is. We don't know what caused his death. We just know that this man is dead.

And that's what's important. Because in our chapter, we've had several examples of people being humbled, people being brought low, being proven weak.

Well, you can't get any weaker than dead. You can't get any lower than the grave. That's what we see in this man. So while this man is being buried, a band of marauding Moabites, they come along and they're looking for trouble.

The burial party saw these Moabites approaching and they looked for a place to hide the man's body. And providentially, the closest hiding place for this man was Elisha's grave.

So they throw the man's body into Elisha's tomb. It's been some time since Elisha died, for only his bones remained. And we see that as soon as the man's body made contact with the bones of Elisha, look what happened at the end of verse 21.

He revived and stood on his feet. A resurrection. Elisha brought this man back to life from beyond the grave. But more than that, this miracle was connected to Elisha's prophetic word from verse 17.

Through Elisha there, God promised to save his people. But maybe, after a history of sinful behavior, after a string of only partial saviors, maybe God's people are beyond saving.

Well, this miracle shouted a resounding, No, if God had the power to bring this dead man back to life, using a band of Moabites and the bones of a long-dead prophet, he certainly has the power to rescue Israel.

Things might get worse than expected. It might take longer than expected. But God will save his people. And in verses 22 through 25, we see this beginning to work out.

Although Hazael opposed and oppressed Israel all the days of Jehoahaz, Hazael eventually died. His son, Ben-Hadad, began to rule in his place.

And during Ben-Hadad's rule, Jehoash, his partial saving work took place.

Verse 23 provides a wonderful summary of what was happening with Jehoash's victories.

And it's really a summary of everything that has happened over the course of this entire chapter. Verse 23 says,

The Lord was gracious to his people.

He showed them favor. A favor that could not be stopped by Hazael or Syria or faulty kings or partial saviors. The Lord had compassion on Israel.

Even though Syria's oppression was just and well-deserved, God took pity on his sinful people. And in his pity, God turned toward them, determined to show them mercy.

And we learned that this was not just to fulfill Elisha's prophecy. It was to fulfill a much older promise. A covenant that God made with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.

A promise to bless his people. To remain faithful to them. To give them a home where they could live in peace. God would not destroy his people or cast them from his presence.

Because God is faithful to his own. God keeps his promises. He is not a man that he should lie. Well, as we take a step back and as we consider everything that's happened in this chapter this morning.

The rise and fall of kings and prophets. The judgment and mercy of God. The miraculous and unexpected workings of God. I want to draw our attention to three summarizing truths.

And I hope by reviewing these three truths, God will bring his word to bear on our hearts this morning. So three summarizing truths. The first truth is this.

Though sin kindles the anger of God, God is merciful with his people. Though sin kindles the anger of God, God is merciful with his people.

We see many examples of God's anger against sin in our passage. Jehoahaz does that which is evil in the sight of the Lord. Lord, Jehoash will not depart from the sins of his fathers.

The people of Israel walk in the ways of wickedness. This is all sin. And all of these sins kindle the anger of the Lord. And that's because God hates sin.

Proverbs tells us that. Proverbs 5. For you are not a God who delights in wickedness. Evil may not dwell with you. The boastful shall not stand before your eyes.

You hate all evildoers. Sin brings the anger of God because he hates sin. And the anger of the Lord is worked out in the judgment of the Lord.

You know, in this passage, we see that happen as Hazael is raised up against Israel. That's an act of judgment against the people. The people lose their cities and their homes.

That's an act of judgment. Jehoahaz, his army becomes like the dust of the earth. That's an act of judgment. God's judgment. God teaches us over and over again in Scripture that sin kindles the anger of God.

That sin brings God's wrath. And for those not in Christ, that is a wrath that will be experienced fully on the last day. When they will be cast away from God, suffering the just punishment for their sin eternally.

Sin kindles God's anger. It is a lasting anger. Our passage is very clear about the seriousness of sin. But while our passage is serious about the ramifications of sin,

it also has much to teach us about the mercy and compassion of God for his people. Though sin does bring God's anger, he is a God that is merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness.

Though Israel deserves God's judgment, God listens to their cries. He is gracious to them. He has compassion on them. He turns to them. He gives them a Savior.

Our God is a gracious God. He is a loving God. He is an unfathomably merciful God. Well, as we think about this truth this morning, maybe you need to be reminded of the seriousness of sin.

Satan may want you to think that sin is a small matter because he wants to see it destroy you. He lies about the seriousness of sin. Pornography isn't really a big deal.

At least you're not actually with someone. Or he lies and says, God is fine with same-sex relationships as long as they are monogamous and consensual.

Or he lies and says, fudging the numbers on your tax return will let you be more generous. These are lies from Satan. That he uses us to convince us to keep walking in the ways of sin.

Walking toward the anger of God. Because Satan hates us. We have to reject the lies of Satan this morning. We have to remember the seriousness of sin.

We have to remember that sin kindles the anger of God. But maybe this morning, maybe you understand full well the seriousness of sin. But maybe you need to be reminded of the mercy and compassion of God for his people.

God really does want to show mercy. God really does want to show you mercy. God really does love you. He has declared that in the sacrificial death of Jesus.

Paul wrote this in Romans 5. But God shows his love for us. And that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Since therefore we have now been justified by his blood, much more shall we be saved by him from the wrath of God.

Jesus died for you. Knowing full well that you were a sinner, a failure, a repeat offender, he died to bear the anger that God has for your sin.

Through Jesus, you really will stand forgiven on the last day. Through Jesus, you really can receive the mercy of God. God in his boundless compassion desires to turn toward you.

That's what our passage teaches us. So would you turn toward him today and receive his mercy? God is a merciful God. Our second summarizing point this morning is this, point number two.

We need a perfect Savior to provide complete salvation. We need a perfect Savior to provide complete salvation. In this passage, God promises his people a Savior.

And we see these three partial Savior figures. Each one of them performs some saving function, but also each one of them falls short. Jehoahaz falls short because of a lack of character.

He walked in wickedness and made his people to sin. And even later on, when he does experience a change of heart and he cries out to God for mercy, he is unable to lead his people out of their wickedness.

He's a limited Savior. Jehoahaz also was a limited Savior because he lacked character too. He also walked in the ways of wickedness and made his people to sin.

And though he does eventually humble himself before the man of God, he obeys his directives, his obedience is a partial obedience. Since he didn't strike the ground enough, Israel experiences a partial deliverance.

Elisha is the closest thing we get to the real deal in our chapter. He faithfully mediates God's word. He directs kings wisely. He even brings our unnamed man back to life after his own death.

But even still, he still has his limits. His work as a Savior is limited. It's limited by the incomplete obedience of the king. It's limited by the finiteness of his frame.

He dies. Even the miracle of resurrection that he provides, it's limited in that it's only experienced by one man. All three of these are imperfect saviors.

And all three only provide partial salvation. But we need to be saved like the people of God. And for us to be truly saved, we need a perfect Savior who can provide us complete salvation.

And God has provided just such a Savior in his Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. He is a perfect Savior. He perfectly humbled himself, always submitting to the will of the Father.

He was righteous, pure, without sin. He never led others to sin. And he empowered others to turn from the paths of wickedness and walk in newness of life.

He was not limited by the actions of others. He's able to accomplish his will no matter what others do. And he was thorough in obedience, even to the point of death, death on a cross.

And even then, in his death, he was not limited by his death, for he rose from the grave, never to die again. Jesus is a perfect Savior. And as a perfect Savior, God provides us complete salvation through faith in him.

Through faith in Jesus, we are saved from the wrath of God. For he, Jesus, has satisfied it completely through his atoning death. Through faith in Jesus, we are saved from our sins.

For he is the once-for-all sacrifice, dying for our past, present, and future sins. Through faith in Jesus, we are saved from slavery to sin.

For he redeemed us and gave us a new master himself. Through faith in Jesus, we are saved from the powers of evil. For he put them to open shame on the cross.

Through faith in Jesus, we are saved from the sting of death. For he is the firstborn from the dead and gives us eternal life. Gives eternal life to all who would believe in him.

Jesus is the perfect Savior, and he provides complete salvation for any who would believe in him. And this is really important for us to remember this morning, because we are tempted, we're tempted to look for salvation in false, imperfect saviors all the time.

We're tempted to think that government leaders can save us from evil forces. We're tempted to think that family and children can save us from loneliness.

We're tempted to think that good works can save us from sin. We're tempted to think religious practices can save us from despondency. We're tempted to think technology can save us from death.

These can all be good things, and God often uses all those things for our good, but these are imperfect. They're imperfect saviors. They only provide an incomplete salvation.

Jesus alone is our perfect Savior. Jesus alone can provide complete salvation without fail. And our third point this morning, point number three, God's humbling hand prepares us to receive his grace.

God's humbling hand prepares us to receive his grace. In our passage, we see a host of people being humbled, and it's only after they've been humbled that we see God provide mercy.

Jehoahaz is humbled through the advance of Hazael, and in humility, he sought the favor of the Lord, and it's only after this, this act of humility, that God listens to his cry.

Or consider the people of Israel. They are humbled through the Syrian attacks. Only after their oppression does the Lord give them a Savior and allow them to return home.

They're humbled. The threat of Elisha's death humbles Jehoash. It's then that he lowers himself and weeps before the man of God for help. It is then that he receives help from God.

Or consider our nameless man. He is brought low in death. He's humbly thrown into Elisha's tomb. It's then that he receives new life. This reminds us, these are pictures that teach us what God tells us in his word over and over again.

God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble. The humble receive God's grace. That's because the humble are in a position of dependence upon God, acknowledging God as their only hope.

The proud are in a position of dependence upon themselves. They fail to acknowledge God as their only hope. God is too loving to give grace to the proud, for pride leads to our fall.

No, he tells us that he gives grace to the humble. And we often need help in pursuing humility. We need help in being humble before the Lord.

So God, in his mercy, brings humility to us. When we experience humbling events, we can think that God is punishing us, or that God no longer cares about us.

He's forgotten about us. But the passage teaches us that that is not true. God humbles those whom he loves to prepare them to receive his grace.

Maybe this morning you are in a season of being humbled. Maybe you've been passed over for that job you really wanted, that you felt you really deserved.

Maybe you've had a health scare. Maybe you're no longer able to do something you were once able to do really well. Maybe you've had to reach out to others for help.

Maybe you're at a loss for what to do next. When you are in the midst of these difficult situations, I want to encourage you to ask if the humbling hand of God is directing what's going on.

If God is humbling you, know that he is preparing you in unique ways to receive his grace. Because God humbles those he loves in order to provide more grace to them.

That's what James wrote in James 4, 6. He said, But God gives more grace. This it is why it is said, God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.

This morning we're going to turn our hearts back to worship. I want to invite the worship team to come back up and they're going to lead us in a closing song.

But before we sing together, I want to invite you to pray with me once again. Let's pray together. Heavenly Father, we thank you that you are merciful and compassionate, that you are slow to anger, that you are abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness.

We thank you that in your love for us you provided a Savior, a perfect Savior, your Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. We thank you that because of his saving work, his life, his death, his resurrection and ascension, we can receive complete salvation by grace through faith in him.

We pray this morning, Father, that you would lead us to deeper faith in Christ, that you would help us to hide in him, appreciate him as the perfect Savior, appreciate the complete salvation that you provide for us in him.

And Father, we ask that you would give us humble hearts. We pray this morning that you would break our pride, help us to look to you, to depend on you for all that we need.

Prepare us to receive the grace that you desire to provide and help us to cling to you even when you bring us low. Be glorified in us as we sing.

It's in Jesus that we pray. Amen.