Please take your Bibles and turn to the book of Judges, chapter six. The book of Judges, chapter six. As I mentioned, the theme of our sermon today is as thou hast said. These were the words of Gideon as he set out to test the Lord. As you have said. Before. Text, which is going to be verses 36 to 40. I want to just bring us back up to where we have been, from where we have been. The Lord has appeared to Gideon, the angel of the Lord, has promised him that he will be with him, that he will use him to deliver him. The Lord has shown himself to Gideon, given his word and his promises, and the Lord has given him his spirit. that he might be sure that the Lord is with him. And so now we come to this point where Gideon has blown a trumpet and has called other tribes to come and be with him, and the Lord God has even supplied that. And yet this is not enough for Gideon. All these things that the Lord has done brings us to verse 36, and we'll read verses 36 to 40, and this will be our text for our sermon. hear the word of the Lord holy and inspired by God himself verse 36 so Gideon said to God by my hand as you have said look I shall put a fleece of wool on the threshing floor if there is dew on the fleece only and it is dry on all the ground then I shall know that you will save Israel by my hand as you have said And it was so. When he rose early the next morning and squeezed the fleece together, he wrung the dew out of the water. Then Gideon said to God, do not be angry with me, but let me speak just once more. Let me test, I pray, just once more with the fleece. Let me test with the fleece, but on all the ground let there be dew. And God did so that night. It was dry on the fleece only, but there was dew on all the ground. Let us pray. Father God in heaven, speak to us now, Lord, through the reading and preaching of your word, that we might hear you and heed your voice. Fill us with your spirit, not only in these moments, but even as we leave today. Fill us, Lord, with your spirit that we might be faithful and that we might be believing and trusting that you are always faithful. Write these words, Lord, on our hearts. We ask in Jesus' name. Amen. That may be some counsel that you have heard before, maybe even given to people when they have come up against a very important decision, such as whom to marry, where to go to college or school, or where to work. Numerous decisions people come up and face like this. They're often counseled, well, why don't you lay out a fleece before the Lord, and He'll show you what to do. Well, the decisions that we make in this life can be made on better things than fleeces. They can be made on the principles of God's Word. That's what we're called to do, called to believe. Because the Bible tells us who you should marry. And nor should you expect God to tell you that, written in the clouds or something like that, whatever fleece you might lay before Him. but it gives you biblical principles, like only marrying those of your faith in Jesus Christ, to not be unequally yoked with an unbeliever. There's a biblical principle, the biblical principle and wisdom and will of God for Christians in marriage. The Bible does not tell you where to work or what kind of work you must do. But it does give you principles for that decision. Your work should be the type that doesn't harm people, that doesn't cause harm, unjust harm to others, or cause you or others to sin. Work that provides for you and your family and others. marriage, to pursue work, to pursue education. Certainly he wants us to go to him. Certainly he wants us to use other people in our lives that he has provided to help us with discerning those things and giving us wisdom. But he gives you freedom. Faith is not superstitious. We don't, as Christian people, rely on made-up ways of God dealing with us. And yet this is what we see Gideon doing here, and this is what oftentimes Christian people do here. This episode in Gideon's life is often used as a means to find out exactly what God has sought not to reveal to us. Laying out fleeces before God, we use as a means to get God to show us something that he has not shown us. Years ago I used to work with a man when I was working with Duke Energy in Indiana. His name was John and John had this job in our company of locating underground power lines. So he had this tool that he would walk around and this tool would sense underground power lines when somebody was getting ready to do construction in the area. And we didn't want those contractors digging up our power lines and being electrocuted and taking down the power system. So John's job was to take this tool and it would highlight and it would light up and buzz whenever he would come across a power line. And when he came across that power line, he would either paint that area of the line or he would stick a flag in the ground. One day, I knew John was a Christian, I knew him, and he came to me and a couple of others and said, hey, I'm seeking the Lord to know whether or not I should go into full-time ministry. And it wasn't but a few days later, he came back and said, now I know. The Lord has shown me a sign. When I was doing my job and I planted flags in the ground like I do all the time, the Lord revealed to me that I was supposed to be a flag bearer of the gospel. That was kind of his fleece that he laid out before the Lord, seeking to know what the will of God was. And people often do things like that. People often do things like that and say, well, I'm really interested in this girl. I've been dating her for a long time. I think I might want to marry her. And I want to know if God wants me to do so. And so I'm seeking a sign. And the sign might be, if she says yes, then I know that's the Lord's will. Because oftentimes that's how we lay fleeces out before the Lord. Things that we know have a good likelihood of happening. But Gideon's not doing that. Gideon's not even seeking to know the Lord's will as he lays this fleece out. That's the first big problem that we as Christians must get away from here in thinking that, well, I need to know the Lord's will so I'm going to lay a fleece out like Gideon did. Gideon didn't lay that fleece out so that he could know the will of God. He also didn't lay that fleece out by doing something that was also likely to happen. Like some people say, well, if the sun comes up tomorrow, then I know I'm supposed to take this job. Well, the sun's going to come up. The Lord's already promised that to us. Rarely do you hear people laying out a fleece, even wrongly, about something that just could not happen. And Gideon does that, at least. Gideon does that when he lays out this fleece and asks for the fleece to be wet and the ground dry and the fleece to be dry and the ground wet. So he was not asking God in his fleece to do something that generally or likely could happen. He asked him to do something that never happens. He was asking God to show him some hidden thing for his life. He was not asking God to show him whether or not God had called him to deliver Israel from their enemies. He was not asking God that. He was not asking God to confirm that. He says, he already knows. He knows what God has said. He knows what is God's revealed will that he has made known to him. And 37, as you have said. I know, Lord, what you have said. So what's the problem? What is Gideon seeking to do? with this fleece. He's seeking God to show more power than he's already shown him, to confirm what he's already told him, that he will be with him, that God will be faithful. This is the test. This is the test that getting is laying before the Lord. Can you imagine laying such a test before the Lord and asking him to be faithful? We may sit in our seats and we may say, oh, that's incredible. We are Gideon. You are Gideon. Each time that you hear God's Word and know His will, and you say, well, I don't know if I can trust the Lord to do what He says here. I don't know if I can trust God's call in my life for God to be faithful. So Gideon knows God's will. We know know God's will is revealed to us in His Word. Yes, there are certain things that you don't know. God has not told you everything, even about Himself, or everything that He is doing all the time. Those things are secret that He holds to Himself, and they belong to Him, as the Scripture tells us. But the things that He has revealed, He does not need to be tested on. He has proven Himself faithful. And so Gideon here, been revealed to him, the question is, does Gideon know God well enough to trust him? Does he know God's faithfulness? You remember that in this chapter, in chapter 6, when God first came to Israel at this time in their life, when they were being raided by these marauders and thieves and taking all their produce seven years in a row, that the prophet came to them and said, remember the Lord, what He did for you in Egypt, how He delivered you from bondage, how He freed you from slavery. Remember that. The prophet was reminding them, the Lord is faithful. That was one of the first things that Gideon wouldn't buy. And he said, if the Lord is faithful, why are we suffering these things? It had nothing to do with the Lord's faithfulness. It had to do with their sin of idolatry and worshiping other idols. But this is still Gideon's problem. Even as he comes to this test. Is the Lord faithful? Can I trust him? And that's the thing that we are challenged with today as well. Do you know God in such a way that you can trust him? Such a way that when he calls you to do something revealed in his word and his will, that you can say, I know this God, I know him to be faithful, and I will trust him. Not just in word, but indeed, I will trust him by obeying and heeding his word as Peter says. So as we look at Gideon, we have to look at ourselves and look at our hearts and see whether we, as well as Gideon, do test the Lord by not trusting him in his faithfulness. And in this event, in these few verses, in verses 36 to 39, I want you to see two things. And one is that Gideon, as I mentioned, is testing God's faithfulness. We see this in verses 36 to 39. Secondly, we're going to see that God is giving Gideon grace to be faithful. God is gracious to Gideon here in his response to these tests so that Gideon might be faithful. And so let's first look then at Gideon's test of God's faithfulness. And Gideon tells us what he's doing. He's not embarrassed about testing the holy living and true God in verse 39 he says in his second part of this test he says do not be angry with me but with the fleece again God Gideon is not testing what to know He's not testing if he knows God's will or not. He's not asking God to reveal to him what the Lord wants him to do. The Lord with Gideon has already been so forthright, so upfront, so clear and patient with Gideon in showing him his will. And Gideon knows, you can tell by his language, be patient with me, don't be angry with me. because the Lord has already been patient with him. The Lord has already shown him several things, and here he is, once again, questioning the Lord's faithfulness. Listen to how the Lord has already revealed himself in this one day, in this next day, with Gideon. Remember these things that we have read. The Lord has already revealed himself as the angel of the Lord. Not everybody gets that as confirmation of who's speaking to you. The Lord has already revealed himself as the angel of the Lord. sending him, that Gideon wasn't going on his own, and when the Lord says, I'm sending you, He's not just saying, I'm telling you to go. He's saying, I'm the one with the authority, with the plan, and with the power, I'm the one sending you to go and deliver Israel from the enemies. The Lord miraculously revealed that Gideon offered to him to be swallowed up in fire from the rock. These are the things the Lord has done. When the Lord told him to go down and tear the altar of Baal in his father's house down, Gideon knew there was going to be trouble. But there wasn't trouble. There was a call for his life, but the Lord spared him and protected him. The Lord has promised him an overwhelming victory over these enemies, like as if he was going to be fighting one man. Gideon, don't fear. It'll be like you're fighting one man. The Lord has been revealing himself to Gideon all this time. The Lord revealed himself to Gideon graciously, telling him that he is a jealous God for his people, that he would not tolerate another altar beside his altar. He would not tolerate another God being worshipped. He was jealous for his worship. He was jealous for his people, and that he was going to protect his covenant people and deliver them. And finally, the Lord gives Gideon his spirit. How significant is that? He literally gives him his spirit to be with him, to empower him, to take on the task that he has called him to. And yet for Gideon, this is not enough to prove to him that God will be faithful. Gideon is not sure. Gideon wants to see more, wants more signs to prove that God will be faithful. In verse 36, Gideon says, you have said it, but I need proof you'll do it. Could there be a more insulting response? Even men and parents feel this way. You do things for your children. You give your life for your children. And sometimes they rebel against you. And you say, what more could I do? How could I have proven my love for you anymore? And yet your child takes that and spurns that and goes away and goes and opposed to you and opposes you personally, whatever it might be. That's insulting to a parent. But parents are sinners. Parents fail. They don't do all that they even claim to do, having done right. But God does. God has proven himself to Gideon. And with this test, Gideon pushes God, tests Him to see if He will be faithful to His Word. And you know this Gideon. You know Him because you are like Him at times. You are too often like Him. You can look back, you can look back at the history of your life with this God who is faithful, and you can look back and you can see all the ways in which He has proven Himself to you. Not once, not twice, but over and over and over again. You can look back at your own life, your lives of your family and your children, and you can see how God has worked, how God has spoken to you in his word. You can look back at your life and see how God has carried out word and you can see and hear and know his will through his word you can know and yet times in our life come up where we say I know what he said I don't know about you but I've even had these conversations in my mind I know God but I'm not sure I'm not sure that if I do what you call me to do that you will prove yourself faithful So we still at times struggle to live our lives in accordance with his word in ways, why? Because some situations seem more difficult. And you tend to say, God, prove yourself just a little bit more. That's what Gideon was doing with this fleece. And that's what we do when we test God by knowing his revealed will, but not responding to it with obedience. Gideon is seeking to manage God. We seek to manage God at times. We seek to manipulate God in His way when God has said, okay, here's my word, here's my promises, and that will be enough. We seek to manipulate God and say, just show me something more. The people of Jesus' day were asking for that. Give us a sign so that we know who you are and by what authority you do these things. But you notice about getting here, it's always, Just give me one more thing. When the angel of the Lord appeared to him, he said, Hey, okay, I hear you speaking to me. I even know now that you are the Lord. But I'm going to make a meal. Wait until I come back and give you this offering. Gideon was looking for God to do something. To prove to him once again that he was the Lord. That he had power and strength. And then he comes to these other tests and doing the same thing. Now, we don't make light of Gideon's situation, right? The eighth year is coming up in which the expectation is that these other nations, these other marauding, raiding nations who steal and plunder their people and their produce and their food and their cattle and everything they own, each year these people come to the nation and take it, causing them to be impoverished, causing them to be extremely poor. We know this is because of God's judgment, because of their idolatry, but it's still a reality. It's still a situation that they are facing, and it is the situation in which God says to Gideon, I'm going to use you to stop this and deliver your people from those enemies. So we don't make lies. But Gideon's afraid. He's afraid that what God has promised may not do. He's afraid because on human terms he knows that in and of himself he will not win. He's afraid because if God will not win, he not only will not win, he and others will die. And he is wrong in testing God about it. He is acting out of fear that God will not be faithful. I want you to think about that for a minute. God will not be faithful. As we sit here and think about that, that's almost an incomprehensible idea. How could God not be faithful and be God? It's an impossibility. It is who he is. It is his attribute. Gideon is not wrong in his deduction that without God coming with him, he will fail. But he is wrong in knowing what God has said, knowing God's will, and not believing that God would be faithful. And I want to ask you, do you find yourself in this position at times in your life? Where you are facing something that is greatly difficult, and yet God's word tells you how you are to respond to it, how you are to deal with it. And you say, I know, Lord, but This is where Gideon is. And I hope to show you that if we say but and know the will of the Lord, if we say but the situation is too grave, if we say but I'm not sure you'll be with me, then we are denying the very attribute of who God is. He is faithful. He can not be anything but that towards you, towards His people. And so when it happens that we do act this way, like Gideon is, when it happens, we are sinning against God in attacking who He is. Testing God is something the devil wants you to do. It's something he wanted Jesus to do. Remember when the devil tempted Jesus out in the wilderness, the scripture tells us, taking Him up and said if you are down for it is his angels their hands they will bear you up lest you dash your foot against a stone the devil wanted Jesus to test God I want you to think about that Try to remember that when you come across a situation where you begin to test God and His faithfulness. Jesus' response to Satan was, it is written again, you shall not tempt the Lord your God. And the word tempt here means to test, to prove someone's character. And that's what the devil was trying to get Jesus to do, to deny God and His faithfulness. And this is exactly what Gideon was doing. Gideon said, I heard what your will is, but I am afraid of trusting you completely. Can you just prove yourself to me once more? And if you don't mind, do it a second time. See, testing God will never be enough. Testing God is not the relationship that a Christian has with his faithful God. Testing God is not the way. Trusting God is the way. In all situations, trusting God is the way. And that's what we should be taking away from this life of Gideon, not laying out fleeces to know God's unrevealed will. Because if you do that, you'll never be satisfied. And Gideon proves to himself that he could not be satisfied. And what is he testing with? Is this a hard test for God? Does this prove anything? It proves that God can do something that goes against nature. But it's not a hard test for the Lord. He who created all things, he who sustains all things, maintains all things, this is not no more than it was for him to make fire come up out of that rock and burn up that meal. This is a nothing test. It proves nothing to Gideon. Gideon's test was more not about giving God an opportunity to prove himself, but the actual test proved that Gideon was not trusting in God's faithfulness. It reveals more to us about Gideon than it does about God. Okay, so God made the fleece dry and the ground all around it wet. Okay, so God made the fleece wet and the ground all around it dry. What does that prove to you about God? He is the Creator. That is nothing for Him because He can do all things. And the fact that Gideon had to test him and test him once again reveals that the test really didn't prove anything to Gideon. He says, as you have said, he knows God's will, he's heard it, but the real problem is he doesn't want to do it. He doesn't want to do it because he's not sure that he can trust God. And so it is with you, God's people. When you know God's will for your life, when you know He wants you to live a certain way because we see it in His Word and we hear it in His Word, we read it, we hear it preached, and yet we will not do His known will, we must admit to ourselves, you must admit it to yourself, that it is because not of God's unfaithfulness, because I don't trust Him. I don't trust him to, as the psalmist says, when I do your word, I know I will not be ashamed. I don't trust him to support me in what he's calling me to do. And that's what Gideon is doing here. Gideon's laughing here. This is not something you are to be following Gideon in. Gideon knows God's will. For you have said, I just need more proof that you'll be faithful." That's not something you are being encouraged to do by Scripture. And Gideon himself shows us that even in his testing of God's faithfulness, he is being unfaithful. Verse 39, he says to God, he knows what he's doing, and he knows what he's doing is worthy of judgment. He knows it is worthy of God's anger and God's discipline upon him, so he says, do not be angry with me, verse 39, but let me speak just once more, let me test, I pray, just once more. After God answers the first test, Gideon asks for more proof, knowing. that what he's doing is worthy of God's wrath. So he's pleading that God would not show him his wrath. Don't give me what I deserve because I'm going to ask you again. I'm going to question your faithfulness again, but don't give me your wrath. I know that's what I deserve. Give me proof of your faithfulness. The real thing for us to consider today is, are there points in my life, any point in my life now, where I know God's revealed will and I'm not trusting Him? We may ask then if that's the real thing going on here. If Gideon is so wrong in what he's doing, Then why does God give him what he asked for? Why does God not only answer the first test, but then he answers the second test? Why does he prove himself to Gideon? Why doesn't he say, I'm not putting up with these little trivial tests that you would give to me. These are nothing, and they prove nothing. Why doesn't he say something like that? because God is gracious. And in his response to Gideon, we see in verses 39 to 40, that God gives grace to Gideon, that Gideon might be faithful to his calling. And God...dry and the fleece dry and the ground wet. He was being gracious to Gideon. so that Gideon would go and do and be faithful and do what God had called him to do. You remember last week, if you were here, last week the sermon was about the earlier parts of Judges 6, where we learned that the Lord... and for his worship, jealous for them, and he's going to preserve them, and this man Gideon is not going to change that. God is not going to respond to him as he deserves and say, okay, you are so pitiful, you are so unfaithful, that I'm going to destroy you and I'm not going to deliver Israel by your hand. God has a plan, and even in Gideon's weak faith, even in Gideon's unfaithfulness, God is responding faithfully and graciously to Gideon. so that God might continue to show his faithfulness and that Gideon might prove himself to be faithful. And does not the Lord do this to you? Does not the Lord show you grace and mercy when you are not trusting him? When you know his will and you have not done it, is not the Lord gracious to you? I know that He is because you are here looking at me. I know that He's gracious to me when I have done that because I am here as well. Because that is worthy. Not trusting the Lord is worthy of being removed from the Lord's presence and removed from the Lord's sight. But the Lord does not wipe you off the face of the earth when your faith is weak. And there are times when we all have weak faith. When you are facing difficult circumstances and you decide to go the way that seems right in your own eyes, which is what has been declared over and over again about Israel, rather than following what you know to be to do the Lord's will, does not the Lord show grace to you? Does not He continue to work with you as He's doing with Gideon? Does not He continue to remind you as Peter did in the chapter that we read in 2 Peter? stir you up, to remind you of the things that God has done, and how God has been faithful, and how He is calling you to trust Him. I have to say that's almost an ongoing, consistent, continuous thing in our sanctification, that we would grow in our trust of God's faithfulness. Now this is no excuse, even though the Lord has shown grace to Gideon, it is no excuse for Gideon's testing God's faithfulness. He did it out of fear. He does it at a point of weakness of his faith. And Gideon is not yet the man he needs to be. He's not yet the man he's gonna be when God uses him. He's gonna have periods of high levels of sanctification and low levels, and we're going to see that even yet. God is not finished in His ministry to Gideon. He's not finished in His ministry to us in building up our faith and trusting in His faithfulness. We're going to see in the coming weeks, Lord willing, in Judges 7, verse 12, where the Lord realizes that Gideon is still afraid. You see, a test of God is never enough. And He's going to say, hey, if you're still afraid, go down to this camp where these others are and listen to what these people say. And Gideon's going to hear a man say to another man, I had a dream. A loaf of bread came into the camp. This is quite a dream. A loaf of bread comes into the camp and destroys the camp. And the other person says, that has to be Gideon. Gideon hears that. He says, okay. Fire out of a rock? Not enough. Receiving God's Spirit? Not enough. Dry fleece, wet fleece, not enough. A crazy dream that nobody could imagine, and one guy saying, that's Gideon, that's enough. God is still working with Gideon. God is gracious towards Gideon, and he knows he's fearful, and he knows his faith is weak, but he is still working in his life, and that's God's grace to you as well. That is grace. that God continues to work and continues to sanctify and to build up His people. And how many times do we find ourselves in the same kind of situations that Gideon finds himself here? In difficult situations because we do not do what we know to be God's will. God does not come with us, to us with his word and his will and saying, hey, I'm thinking about doing this. What's your opinion? Do you think this will be right? It's non-negotiable. The things that God has revealed, they're not negotiable. God says, this is my will. This is what I'm doing. This is how I'm going to use you and I want you to do these things. And he says, trust me in this. Trust me and you will not be ashamed. But sometimes we think we are oftentimes, we are tempted to believe that we know better than God. In a situation you might be in, you clearly know what God's Word says, and you say, but does God really know the consequences if I follow His will? Does God really know what this is going to cost me? Does God really know how this is going to look on me if I follow His will? Will He be with me? Just a couple weeks ago, I was talking with someone, just to clarify, not in this congregation, who was feeling beat down. getting tired, worn out, frustrated that he was not able to do the things that God had called him to do. He was a parent, so not having the energy to parent well, to be a good husband, to be kind to people, to be able to give thanks for all things, for his family, for his job, his life, to pray, to be in the Word, to lead his family in the Word, all Christians, and the part of his life that was not in line with God's revealed will was rest. Physical rest. Working himself. Not getting sleep. Not getting the rest that he needed. And God has spoken to us regarding rest. And I'm just using this as an example. This is not the point of the sermon. But God has spoken to us, His will, regarding our body needing rest. Psalm 3, verse 5. I awoke, for the Lord sustained me." Jesus took time to rest from the most important work in all of history. He took time to rest. He took time to make sure His disciples could rest. He rested on a boat in the midst of a storm when others were in chaos and confusion and fear. He took Himself and His disciples away from opportunities to minister to people so that He could rest. This is God's will. But sometimes we think, oh, I can do without rest. I can do without rest and still do what God has called me to do, and eventually we find out different. And so I give you that example just to ask you this. What are areas of your life, and I don't mean in the past, but I mean right now, that are not in line with God's known will according to his word? where you are finding yourself having difficulty heeding it, practicing it, obeying it, because a situation you're waiting to see if God will prove himself faithful first. Can you trust him? Can you trust God to practice His known will? Are you asking God to show you more proof before you will follow that will? And do you want God to prove His faithfulness to you in some way other than what He's already done before you'll do what you know to be His will? Rather than testing God like Gideon, I exhort you to trust God. like Jesus Christ did. The Lord has been proving His faithfulness to us ever since He began communicating with man, keeping His Word, fulfilling His promises from Genesis to Revelation. It is a record of God's faithfulness. And even beyond the days of Scripture, into the lives of His people, into your life, it is a record of God's faithfulness. Do you need another sign? to do God's will, to believe in His faithfulness. 1 Corinthians 1.9, the Apostle Paul by the Holy Spirit says, God is faithful. That's different than saying God will be faithful. God is faithful. It is His nature. He can be no other. And so when you know that about God, and He calls you to do something revealed in His Word, then you can know that it is not possible for Him to be unfaithful, and you can trust Him. You can do what He says to do, difficult as it may be, according to His revealed will. because He is faithful. Jesus said, my sheep hear my voice and follow me. That's the manifestation of being in the body of Christ and being by faith, trusting in the Lord Jesus Christ for your salvation. The manifestation of that faith is not testing God, but following God. Jesus said, my sheep hear my voice and they follow me. Now there are goats. They may even sound like sheep, but the distinction between them and the sheep of Jesus Christ is that the sheep follow Jesus according to his word. The goats do not. And if you are not in Christ today, You cannot follow Him. You cannot trust Him to do things in your life because until you come to Christ and putting your faith in Christ and seeing God's faithfulness to save you through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, you won't see the sign that you're looking for. The sign that God has provided is the resurrection of His dead Son. whom He received as a sweet-smelling sacrifice on your behalf, that He also might receive you. That's the sign of God's faithfulness. Today is the Lord's Day. Brothers and sisters, I would exhort you that on this day Today, you ask the Lord, is there anything that you have said, revealed in your word, your will, that I in my life have not trust in you to fulfill, to be faithful in? Is there anything that I know your word has revealed that I'm not sure I can trust you in? I would encourage you to do that this day and let no time escape so that you may not be testing God or trying to prove God, but that you may be trusting God. May the Lord help you do it. Let us pray. Father God in heaven, help us, Lord, Help us to trust you. Help us, Lord, to hear your word, understand and to know your word and your will. And these things, Lord, that you have revealed to you, revealed to us, rather, help us, Lord, to trust you. And if there are places in our life, Lord, where we know it, we've heard it, we see your will, and yet we are not practicing it, we pray, Lord, that you would point these things out to us. that we may, rather than test you, we may trust you. Lord, I pray that you would do these things in the lives of your people, that you would show yourself strong on our behalf, and by your spirit, lead us to truth, and lead us to repentance, and lead us to faith in your faithfulness.