Please turn with me to the book of Jonah. Jonah chapter 2 will be our passage this evening. Jonah chapter 2. I want to begin with the following question to you. What is the greatest need of the church today? As we face these difficult times, we are drawn to ask that question. What is the church? What is the greatest need of the church today? And as we see in our day, it's not new ideas. It's not new programs. It's not new gimmicks. It's not a 2020, 2021 vision statement. But the greatest need for the church today, and in this season especially, we need to return to the Word of God and the God of the Word. that the church today needs to encounter the living God. That you and I, Christians, need to be men and women who are gripped by the word and moved by the word and stirred by the word. And as a result, we go proclaiming, redeeming love in the glories of his name to those around us. Now as we consider Jonah chapter two, it's a climactic scene in the book of Jonah. Jonah chapter two in the Hebrew, It actually begins in chapter 1 verse 17, if you look at the Hebrew text. So if you look with me, we see in verse 17 of chapter 1, now the Lord had prepared a great fish to swallow Jonah. And Jonah was in the belly of the fish three days and three nights. First, I just want to briefly show you in verse 17 two things. We see that In this scene, the Lord appointed a great fish. This fish, in one sense, was a judgment against Jonah for his sin. That he was under the discipline of God. That he went through this trial in the belly of his fish for his sin and rebellion against God. That's the first thing we see. But secondly, Out of God's gracious hand, he's preparing the prophet Jonah to be a minister of mercy and grace to the Ninevites. That in the belly of the fish, Jonah is confronted again with the God of mercy and grace. And God deals wonderfully with his soul. So we need to understand that as we consider this passage. That again, Jonah's heart was out of tune with the heartbeat of God for sinners. Why should sinners receive mercy? Why should the wicked Ninevites receive the mercy of God? His heartbeat was out of alignment with the heartbeat of God. Jonah was determined to run away from God, from his felt presence, from his will. For Jonah's life, he would rather die, be cast over into the sea, than to see the Ninevites receive mercy. I'd rather die than see sinners receive mercy. You can imagine his heart. It needed to be in tune with the heartbeat of God again. And thankfully, the God of mercy, he's determined for the Ninevites to receive mercy. And it's through the prophet Jonah that the Ninevites will receive this mercy that they will be evangelized. How? It's because God set his heart upon the Ninevites. Jonah was the assigned messenger that God appointed. So in chapter two, what I want us to really see is that before the Ninevites received grace, God first worked this grace upon Jonah's selfish soul. And then he proclaimed that grace in chapter three. In other words, Chapter 1, verse 17, that it was a miracle that God preserved Jonah for three days and three nights in the belly of the fish. But that wasn't the only miracle that happened in this narrative. The greater miracle was not only this, this preservation by God's grace, but God sculpting the prophet's heart. Sinclair Ferguson says that the deeper work of God took place not in the belly of the fish, but in the heart of the prophet. That's the greater work, not just in the belly of the fish. That was amazing in itself. The God of providence, sustaining creation. But now we see that God does this deeper work within the soul of Jonah. in the belly of the fish with his heart. Ferguson says it's not in the realm of nature, but in the realm of grace. And this book records a miracle characterized by restoration. In other words, this fish was also used by God to restore Jonah's soul. So as we think of that, I want you to see two points. First, I want us to consider the return to God. Jonah's return to God, we see that God's restoring grace brought Jonah back into God's presence. First, if you look with me in chapter 1 again, we see in chapter 1 verse 3 that Jonah fled from God's presence. Notice verse 3 of chapter 1. But Jonah rose to flee to Tarshish from the presence of the Lord. Again, we see this in verse 10. Then the men were exceedingly afraid and said to him, why have you done this? For the men knew that he had fled from the presence of the Lord because he had told them. So in chapter one, Jonah flees from God's presence, but in chapter two, the God of grace returns Jonah back into the presence of God. So we see him fleeing in one sense from God, but then in chapter two, we see him fleeing to God. The question is, how does Jonah return to God? By God's grace, how is the prophet moved back into God's presence? I suggest to you, it's by prayer. If you notice in chapter 2, verse 1, our text says, then, as Jonah was in the belly of the fish three days and three nights, it says, then Jonah prayed to the Lord his God from the fish's belly. Remember in chapter one, the pagans cried out to their false gods, but we see here that Jonah, he cries out to the Lord. He cries out to the sovereign Lord, Yahweh, in the fish's belly. Not to the pagan God, but to the covenant Lord. We see that Yahweh set his heart upon this rebellious prophet. Yahweh moved his very soul to urge him to pray, that in his very distress in the fish's belly, he sought the Lord. He entered into God's presence by prayer. Do you know the grace of God? You know, the grace of God that brings mere sinners into the presence of God. Those who have been separated from God. God did this miraculous work through His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. And what God is doing is He's in the business of bringing men and women back into the presence of God. Restoring them, bringing them into fellowship with God through what Jesus Christ has done. The greater prophet, the one who loved the Father with all his heart and mind and soul and strength is by his person and work and his cross work, bringing rebellious sinners into God's very presence. That he's opening the throne of grace for all to come by faith in Jesus Christ. So we fast forward, go to the cross, we see that God He's in the business of saving sinners. But the question is, did Jonah know about God's gracious dealings with sinners? Was this his first instance while he was in the belly of the fish that he realized he's a merciful God? Well, I'd suggest to you that Jonah knew God's grace before this instant. If you look in chapter 1, verse 2, again, we see the commission. The commission of God, arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and cry out against it, for their wickedness has come up before me." So Jonah knows that God, He wants to deal with these Ninevites. He wants to bring this message of wrath and mercy, yet 40 days in Nineveh shall be overthrown. But if they repent, they'll receive mercy. You see this in chapter 4, verse 2. Text says, so he, Jonah, prayed to the Lord and said, ah, Lord, was not this what I said when I was still in my country, when he was back in his homeland before this whole ordeal? Wasn't this what I said? Therefore, I fled previously to Tarshish, for I know that you are a gracious and merciful God, slow to anger and abounding in love and kindness, one who relents from doing harm. You see the heart of this rebellious prophet? He says, this is why I fled to Tarshish, because I knew you were a God of mercy. I knew you were slow to anger. I knew that if this message were proclaimed, that the Ninevites might receive mercy, that they might be brought into the people of God. And so Jonah knew much about the mercy of God for sinners. His grace was present in his heart. He was set apart by God as a prophet, but his heart was out of tune. He still needed to learn about God's grace, and so do we. Oftentimes our heart gets out of tune. Ferguson again writes that Jonah needed to feel the grace of God towards himself before he would be a suitable minister of grace to Nineveh. So what happens? How does God deal with this prophet's soul? He's cut off from God's presence. He's in the belly of a fish. He knows the absence of God. He knows his own sinfulness. Yet, through this dark night of his soul, God deals graciously. And it's through prayer, this prayer of deliverance, that God works about this restoring grace within his soul. If you look with me in Psalm 130, we see much similarities. We'll read Psalm 130. And see the parallels to Jonah's prayer of deliverance, this prayer of God to restore him. Psalm 130 verse 1 to 5. The psalmist says, Out of the depths I've cried to you, O Lord. Lord, hear my voice. Let your ears be attentive to the voice of my supplications. If you, Lord, should mark my iniquities, O Lord, who can stand? But there is forgiveness with you that you may be feared. I wait for the Lord, my soul waits, and in his word I do hope." Now turn with me back to Jonah chapter 2. We see that Jonah returns to God, but I want you to see three things about his returning to God under this first point. I want you to see the connection between Jonah's confession and God's restoring grace. If you look with me in Jonah chapter 2 verse 2, we see God returning him. How? Well, God hears his prayer. God hears the prayers of the broken and contrite heart. Look in verse 2 of chapter 2. He said, he cried out, he prayed. I cried out to the Lord because of my affliction. And he answered me. Out of the belly of Sheol I cried and you heard my voice. Similar parallel to the psalmist. That I cried out to the Lord because of this great affliction. This great trial, I cried out in God. He answered me. This was a humbling time. This was a trial for the prophet. He was brought to an end of itself. He was at the mercy of God. He was broken. He was humbled, yet God responds by grace to him. Notice again in our text, he says, I cried. What's the response? What's the response to his prayer to God as he calls upon God? I cried. I cried out to the Lord and he answered me. And again he says that in the belly of Sheol I cried and you Lord Yahweh have heard my voice. Notice he says I cried out. Out of the belly of Sheol I cried and you heard my voice. Well Sheol in the Old Testament is the place of the dead, the place of the dead under judgment. And so Jonah, he expected to be dead, to die from drowning as a punishment for his sin against God. And so he understands what he's done. He understands his own sinfulness before God, yet he cries out to him and God responds in grace. So the first thing is, we see God hears the prayers of the brokenhearted sinner. He hears your prayers, brothers and sisters, as you face an affliction or a trial of some shape or form or kind, as you find yourself in a dark providence, you cry out to the Lord and He answers. Why? Because of what Christ has done, of what Jesus Christ has done for your own soul, that you're clothed in the righteousness of Christ, that you're brought into the household of God, an adopted child of God. You cry out to Him and He hears your prayers. But secondly, how did Jonah return to God? Not only did God hear and answer, but we see, secondly, He restores His people. He restored this prophet. Notice in verse 3 to 6. For you cast me into the deep, into the heart of the seas, and the floods surrounded me. All your bellows and your waves passed over me. Then I said, I've been cast out of your sight, yet I will look again toward your holy temple. The water surrounded me even to my soul. The deep closed around me. Weeds were wrapped around my head. I went down to the moorings of the mountains. The earth with its bars closed behind me forever. Yet you have brought up my life from the peddow, Lord my God. And so Jonah, he fled from the presence of the Lord, but we see that the Lord never let him go. We see the great hope in this passage that Jonah feels like he's been cast out of God's sight forever. That he finds himself in this dark providence. There's this hope that he will again look toward God's holy temple, that God has brought him out of, or will bring him out of this pit. Amidst this darkness, amid the fall into sin, God didn't lose his grip on Jonah. We see this hope for those in Christ. that he doesn't let you go. When you stumble and fall into sin and you rise again in repentance and you move forward and you fall two steps back, God doesn't lose his hold of you. There's this picture of anger and judgment that Jonah deserves, yet he magnifies the delivering grace of God. Yet you have brought up my life from the pits. We can say that. that I deserved this judgment. I deserve to be cast out of your presence forever for my sin against you, O Lord. Yet out of mercy, you've brought me out of this pit. I failed you day by day. I fall back into sin again and again, yet you restore me. Yet you renew grace upon grace in my life day by day. And so God hears. He returns Jonah by hearing his prayers and restoring him. And then thirdly, We always see that God's people always return to the Lord. Jonah didn't just flee forever away from God's presence, but as a child of God, he returned to the Lord. If you look in verse 7-9, Jonah says, when my soul fainted within me, I remembered the Lord. My prayer went up to you and to your holy temple. Those who regard worthless idols forsake their own mercy. But I will sacrifice to you with the voice of thanksgiving. I will pay what I have vowed. Salvation is of the Lord." The question is, as God's loving hand of discipline comes upon the child of God, how do they respond and how should they respond? Will they abandon God forever? What's their response? Well, by grace, the child of God will eventually turn back to God. That by grace, they will eventually call out to God and to worship God. That though you slay me, I will praise you, as the hymn writer writes. So how does Jonah respond to God's hand of discipline in this time of affliction? Well, he praises God. Look again in verse 7, he says, I remembered the Lord. He didn't just turn his mind away from God forever. You can imagine how dark that would be. You can imagine the horrific scene in the belly of a fish, a literal fish, with all the seaweed wrapping around his head and the water coming over. You could think of the thought of drowning to death, suffocating. It was horrific, but he said, I remember the Lord. I look to the Lord, the God of grace. I remember the Lord. My prayer went up to you and to your holy temple. Those who regard worthless idols, those who look to anything other than the living God, they forsake their own mercy. What does he do? He sacrifices to the Lord. He joyfully praises God with the voice of thanksgiving. I will pay what I vowed, that he understands something. Salvation is is of the Lord. So what we see here in chapter two, what happens then when our heart is out of tune with the heart of God? Well, you could think of an instrument, you could think of a guitar, and if the guitar strings are out of tune, there has to be tension. You have to tighten the strings. It requires some force. Well, that's what happened in the heart of this prophet. God had to deal with his soul. He had to stretch him. He had to press him. He had to break this man in order for him to be a messenger of mercy to the Ninevites. The application from this is that this in many ways is God's method of training his servants, his children, Christians, to be useful servants in the world. It was through this horrific frowning providence that Jonah was fit to share the message of mercy Judgment. It was often said that before God can use a man, he often breaks them. That trials and suffering are a course in God's school of evangelism. It was that which drew him closer to God and got some sense of the heartbeat of God for sinners. They see their own suffering. They see their own sin in trials. And we know the power of God to save. Look with me in 1 Timothy 1. First Timothy chapter one, we see that the Apostle Paul, he knew of this. Apostle Paul was brought to an end of himself. First Timothy chapter one verse 15, he says that this is a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners of whom I am chief. Paul knew that he was the chief of sinners. This didn't just come naturally, this came by a work of grace in his soul by God. He was brought to an end of himself. He knows that he's the chief of sinners, he calls himself that. Christ Jesus came into the world to save the chief of sinners of whom I am the foremost. This fostered humility within the Apostle Paul. It magnified the mercy of God. John Bunyan, he says on this text that The Apostle Paul could only call himself the chief of sinners because he never met John Bunyan. We can say that to ourselves. The Apostle Paul, he could never say that because he never met Joshua Mills. He never met you and I. This is what fits men and women for service. We know what we were outside of grace, but we know what we are now because of grace. The grace of God shapes us and fashions us and makes us useful in the service of God. We realize that when we look in this dark world, we see the sin around us, that there's no difference between us and the most wicked sinner in the world, apart from the mercy and grace of God given to us. The apostle Paul says that to the Corinthians, that such were some of you. Don't think of yourself too highly. And Jonah, there was no difference between Jonah and the Ninevites apart from the grace of God at this point. And so it is with us that Jonah needed to be reminded of this grace. in order to share this grace with others. How do we do that as we think of implications from this first point? We need to return to God. How do we do that? Well, number one, we grow in grace. Very quickly, as we grow in grace, we know of God's grace afresh, and as we experience his grace and think of this grace and meditate on it, we're compelled. We're compelled to share this grace. We set the cross before our eyes. So we want to return to God while we grow in grace, we grow closer to him. But secondly, we need to live Coram Deo. The word Coram Deo means before the face of God. We see in the book of Jonah that Jonah lives before the face of God, that the sovereign God is ruling and reigning over all things, that he's omnipresent, present everywhere. Well, that will change how we live the Christian life. We realize that God is before us in all that we do, that everything we do as a believer in Jesus Christ, our Father's looking upon us. We want to walk closer with Him. We want to be satisfied with Him. We want to be obedient. We live in the presence of God. We live under the authority of God. We live to the glory of God. So how do we return to God like Jonah? We want to grow. continually in grace, and we want to live before the face of God all of our days. So that's the first point, this rebellious prophet, he returned to God. But secondly, I want you to see that he returned also to the Word of God. Again, in chapter 1, we see this parallel between chapter 2, that Jonah turned from God's living, commanding voice. Go to Nineveh, that great city, and cry out against it. But in Jonah chapter 2, we actually see him returning to the word of God. And what we'll see here under this point is that Jonah is literally praying scripture. That he is crying out to God and his prayer is shaped by the Psalms. Notice in verse 2 again it says, Jonah chapter 2 verse 1, sorry. Then Jonah prayed to the Lord his God from the fish's belly and he said, We want to ask, well, what did he say? What did he pray? How did he pray? Did he say anything? Well, if your Bible has cross-references, you can look through chapter 2 of the entire prayer, and you can see all the cross-references with all the various Psalms, and we won't go through them all, but But he references the Psalms. He prays out. It was as if he was picking a Psalm here and there, and here and there, and it was flowing out of his very soul. That this prophet breathed out Scripture. It flowed out of him in prayer. That Scripture must have been the meat and drink of his very soul. He knew the Psalter. And so if you look in verse 2, it's a quotation of Psalm 65, verse 2. And Psalm 120 verse 1. Verse 3 is Psalm 42. Verse 4, Psalm 31. Verse 5, Psalm 69. Verse 6, Psalm 16. Verse 7, Psalm 18. Verse 8, Psalm 31. Verse 9, Psalm 3. And Psalm 50. Again and again and again, his very soul is praying out the Word of God back to God. And what we see is he not only returns to God, but he returns to the Word of God. This prophet is using the resources of God's Word to shape his prayer life. And Jonah here is a good example of prayer for you and I then. What is prayer? Well, one way to pray is to take God's Word and pray it back to God. That the Psalter, the psalm book, filled his very soul. And prayer and the Word then was a key component to his own devotional life. So we pray God's Word back to God in faith. that he will perform his word in his faithfulness. And so two exhortations for us under this point. First exhortation, as we return to the word of God as Jonah did, we want to pray scripture. We know prayer is hard work. We've all done it. We know that it takes effort. It takes concentration. It takes discipline. We often pray each day and find that we're praying for the same thing. We feel like there's no flavor within our own prayer life and no real devotion. There's nothing new to say. Nothing resonates with our own very soul. Like any personal relationship, we need to We need to deepen it. If we want to truly know someone, it takes time. You need to deepen this relationship, spend time with one another. And as we grow in our intimacy with God, as he speaks to us in his word, we speak this word back to him. We bathe ourselves in the very word of God. This divinely inspired word of God, it shows us how to pray. One way is to pray the scriptures. We see in chapter two, that Jonah applied the petitions of the Psalms to his very present need. He was going through a dark night of his soul, and what does he do? He takes the word of God and applies it to his very own situation as a launching pad for his prayer life. And so look with me in Jonah 2, verse 2 again. He says, I cried out to the Lord because of my affliction, and he answered me. Now look at Psalm 120, verse 1. Psalm 120 verse 1, very similar. In my distress, I cried to the Lord and He heard me. He delivered my soul. Again and again, you can go through this tonight or tomorrow and see how Jonah uses the very Word of God to shape and fashion his own prayer life. So the question is then, how do you pray? Are you encouraged to pray the Word of God? Have trouble praying? Do you not know what to pray? Well, you apply the very promises of the Word of God to your own life, and bring your needs, and pray as Jonah did, relying on the Word of God, that, God, You are faithful to Your Word, and I will pray these promises that You've given me. I'll look at the psalmist, and I'll look at other men and women who have gone before me, and who are recorded in the Word of God, and pray these petitions. And so, are you weak? You feel weak. Think of the promise of 2 Corinthians 12 verse 9. God says, my grace is sufficient to you. Well, what do you do? You take that promise and Lord, you've promised that your grace is sufficient. That your grace is there for my every need. I feel weak. I don't know what to do. I feel insufficient for this task in this day. But you promised your grace is sufficient. Give me abundant grace, sufficient grace for today. You've promised it in your word, O God. And so you're weak. You take a promise and plead it back to God and shoot it back to God's throne of grace. Maybe you're feeling condemned again. You remember Romans 8 verse 1, Lord, you've promised that there's no condemnation for those in Christ. I feel condemned. Satan tempts me. He assails me. He attacks my very soul. Help me know this truth. Help me know of the pardoning mercy that you've lavished upon me more and more. Maybe you want to pray for the work of the gospel. Isaiah 55 verse 11, that the word of God never returns void. That when God's word goes forth, he accomplishes everything in which he sent it out to do. So you take that word, you share the gospel with someone. You share scripture with someone. And you pray that promise. Lord, you've promised that as your word goes forth, you will accomplish everything in which you send it out to do. Lord, build up your church. Strengthen this weary saint. Call this sinner to yourself. We want to return to the word of God by praying the scriptures. But then secondly, the second exhortation is for us to memorize the scriptures. Again, we see this truth in Jonah chapter 2. Jonah's prayer in the belly of the fish shows us how important it is to hide God's very word in our own hearts. Remember the context. He's not in some ivory tower. He's not back in Joppa. He's not in Tarshish. He's not on the ship. He doesn't have this quiet little study space and a lamp and a desk and the manuscripts and the Old Testament and the Psalter before him. He's in a belly of a fish. It wasn't glamorous. It was horrific. He says again, the thought of death suffocated him. The floodwater surrounded him. Weeds wrapped around his head. There was no books for him to read. Yet we see the Psalms flowing out of his very soul. And I would suggest to you, then, he must have had the Psalms memorized. He must have had God's Word treasured up in his heart. He didn't have the Word of God, per se, in his hands at that very moment. But he had it stamped upon his heart. It was memorized in his very soul. So the Psalms, the word of God were memorized so that he would use it as fuel for the day of trouble. For his day tomorrow and for the next day. Joel Beeky writes that, all that Jonah prayed in the darkness and disgust of the belly of the fish, came from what he committed to memory. Becoming saturated with the very Word of God in times of Bible study and personal devotion will enable us to use and rely on God's Word in times of crisis. You and I don't know what we're going to face tomorrow. We don't know what we're going to face tonight. We need to take seriously the discipline of memorizing Scripture so that it's at our use and at our disposal in times of crisis. So do you and I memorize Scripture? Are we growing in this discipline? Yes, I need to grow in this discipline, this memorization of the Word of God so that we can rely on God's very Word when we have no Bible in our hands. And so Spurgeon, Spurgeon talking about John Bunyan, this man who bathed in Scripture, he says that that, oh, that you and I might get into the very heart of the word of God and get the word of God into ourselves. Is that your prayer? As you not only return to God, but return to the word of God, is it your prayer that we would get the very word of God into our heart and into our soul to actually get it into ourself? Spurgeon says, I would quote to you John Bunyan. His very soul was saturated with Scripture. Why, this man is a living Bible. Prick him anywhere and his blood is Bibline. The very essence of the Bible flows from him. His soul is full of the Word of God, and I commend his example to you, beloved. It cannot be said about you and I that if someone were to come and prick us right on the finger and get some blood out of us. Would we bleed bibline? When you're oppressed, when you face trial and tribulation, when you lose a loved one, when you face the loss of a job, will scripture flow out of you? Will the promises of God come to the forefront of your mind? in times of crisis. We want to be like John Bunyan. Our very soul will be saturated with Scripture. Now we would be a living Bible. People would say those people are people of the book, of the Word of God, that it flows out of them. And all that they do, that our soul would be full of the Word of God. So is your soul full of the Word of God? What if they were to take our Bibles away in 10 years? What if you were caught in some trial or tribulation and you had no access to the very Word of God to read from. What would it be in your mind? What if you were brought to prison? You're in a cell. There's no way you can get the Bible there. Will it be stored up in your heart? Well, how can we do that? We want to prepare for days of trouble and crisis. We want to be men and women of the book. We want to memorize. Well, how do we memorize scripture? Find a verse. Maybe once a day, maybe once a week, once a month, you can figure it out. Find a verse, find a promise, chew upon it, think upon it, be amazed upon it, bring it with you throughout the day, and you'll be amazed of what God can do. That a verse may pop in your mind by God's grace in time of need. That His promise would remind you and lift you up. And so we want to let God's word loose in our life, to let it out, to absorb everything we do. So we can simply bring the word of God to bear upon every situation of our life. So as we've studied Jonah chapter two, we've seen two truths. Jonah, this rebellious prophet, he returned to God. God heard his prayer. God restored him. God held him. But he also returned to the word of God. He prayed scripture. He memorized scripture. We want to take this exhortation. We want to be like this man. We wanna grow in this discipline. But what if you haven't turned to the Lord? What if you don't know the word of God? What if you don't know the words of eternal life? The Bible says that today is the day of salvation, not tomorrow. It doesn't say when you think you're at your last breath. When you think you're at good age, when you've lived a good life, and when you've done all the things you wanted to do and see and enjoy, then that day should be the day of your salvation. The Bible says very clearly, today is the day of salvation. The next minute, your next heartbeat is not guaranteed. So your response from this very word, from God's call to you, is to turn to him. Turn to him for the first time. Receive the forgiveness of your sins. The God of grace extends this call to sinners. He says, look to me, turn to me. Turn from your sin and your idols and your idolatry. Turn to me and be saved. It's a promise. Turn to me and you surely will be saved. Saved from the wrath of God. Saved from your sin. Saved from God himself. Look to me and be saved. All the ends of the earth, for I am God and there is no other. Whatever kind of sinner you are, you come to him today, big or small, and the Savior can save you. And so you return to him. You turn to him for the first time. You look to his word for the first time. We believe that he's willing and able to save you from your sins. Let's pray. Heavenly Father, we thank you for your very word. We pray that you would help us, strengthen us, that we would continually return to you and to grow closer to you and to use your word as balm for our souls and as a weapon for our warfare. And we pray, Lord, that you would continue with us now. For Jesus' sake, amen. Well, to conclude, we'll sing How Deep the Father's Love. ♪ Mercy on your men and women ♪ ♪ And each in his own destiny ♪ ♪ To bring the wretched to their knees ♪ ♪ How great a sin it was ♪ ♪ The blood of a cursed man ♪ ♪ We praise you as you were born ♪ ♪ We praise you as you go on in ♪ ♪ A chamber here, a loving place ♪ ♪ A note among the stars ♪ ♪ It was my sin that held it there ♪ ♪ Until it was accomplished ♪ I will always love. I'll die for Moses and Jesus. Let's pray. Father in heaven, we ask that you would dismiss us now from this day. We thank you for what has been proclaimed, what has been sung and prayed and read, and we ask, Lord, that you would receive all glory, that you would strengthen us for this week to come, that you would continue to save those who do not know you, and that you would bring much honor and glory to your name. We ask in Jesus' name, amen. Amen. you you