And when the seventh month was come, and the children of Israel were in the cities, the people gathered themselves together as one man to Jerusalem. Then stood up Jeshua the son of Jehoshadak, and his brethren the priest, and Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, and his brethren, and built the altar of the God of Israel, to offer burnt offerings thereon, as it is written in the law of Moses. the man of God. And they set the altar upon his bases, for fear was upon them because of the people of those countries. And they offered burnt offerings thereon unto the Lord, even burnt offerings morning and evening. They kept also the Feast of Tabernacles, as it is written, and offered the daily burnt offerings by number, according to the custom, as the duty of every day required. and afterward offered the continual burnt offerings, both of the new moons and of all the set feasts of the Lord that were consecrated, and every one that willingly offered a freewill offering unto the Lord. From the first day of the seventh month began they to offer burnt offerings unto the Lord, but the foundation of the temple of the Lord was not yet laid. And they gave money also unto the nations, and to the carpenters, and meat, and drink, and oil unto them of Zidon, and to them of Tyre, to bring cedar trees from Lebanon to the sea of Joppa, according to the grant that they had of Cyrus king of Persia. Now in the second year of their coming unto the house of God at Jerusalem, in the second month began to rebel the son of Shealtiel, And Jeshua the son of Jehoshaddak, and the remnant of their brethren and the priests, and the Levites, and all they that were come out of the captivity unto Jerusalem, and appointed the Levites from twenty years old and upward to set forward the work of the house of the Lord. Then stood Jeshua with his sons and his brethren, Cadmeel and his sons, the sons of Judah, together to set forward their workmen in the house of God, the sons of Hinnadad with their sons and their brethren the Levites. And when the builders laid the foundation of the temple of the Lord, they set the priests in their apparel with trumpets, and the Levites, the sons of Asaph, with cymbals to praise the Lord after the ordinance of David, king of Israel. And they sang together by chorus in praising and giving thanks unto the Lord, because he is good, for his mercy endureth forever toward Israel. And all the people shouted with a great shout when they praised the Lord, because the foundation of the house of the Lord was laid. But many of the priests and Levites and chief of the fathers, who were ancient men, that had seen the first house, when the foundation of this house was laid before their eyes, wept with a loud voice, and many shouted aloud for joy, so that the people could not discern the noise of the shout of joy from the noise of the weeping of the people, for the people shouted with a loud shout, and the noise was heard afar off. Thus ends the reading of God's holy and inspired word. Now, this Lord's Day evening, we come to our third message in a series of messages on the post-exilic books of the Old Testament. And this Lord's Day evening, we come to our third message in the book of Ezra. For the last two Lord's Days, we've looked at chapter 1 and chapter 2, and we noted in those chapters that in approximately 539 BC, 539 years before Christ, King Cyrus released the people of God from Babylon and told them that they could go back, and he funded an expedition to go back under Zerubbabel and rebuild the temple that had been destroyed 55 to 60 years earlier. We saw that the Lord stirred up the heart of the king in chapter 1, and then last Lord's Day we notice that the Lord stirred the hearts of the people of God in chapter 2 to this work. Now, between chapters 2 and chapter 3, the people of God took a journey from Babylon to Jerusalem. They and their servants, their children, their wives, their animals, took a journey of about 500 miles. were told in Ezra 7-9 that it took Ezra about four months to make that journey. It must have taken at least that long for these more than 40,000 people to make their way from Babylon to Jerusalem. And yet, nothing is mentioned of this journey. God's Word is silent on what took place during that journey. But it's not silent about what they did shortly after they arrived. It's likely that they chose to travel in the spring, in the beginning of the Hebrew year. And so it's likely if they left in the first or second month in the spring, that they arrived in the fifth or sixth month of the Hebrew year. And here we see at the beginning of the seventh month, they begin the work What we have here in chapter 3 is an account of how the people of God began to re-establish the true religion and true worship amongst themselves. In verses 1-7 we note that they set up an altar. And then in verses 8-13 we note that they laid the foundation of the temple. A two-fold work. Very shortly after they arrived, they began by setting up an altar and worshipping God there. But that wasn't enough for them. They weren't satisfied with just having an altar. They began to prepare to build the temple and then they began laying the foundations of the temple in verses 8 through 13. Now let us look first at verses 1 through 7 and note that they set up an altar to worship God. They didn't need a temple to begin to worship God according to His will. Note in verse 1, it says, And when the seventh month was come, and we note in verse 6 that it says, From the first day of the seventh month began they to offer burnt offerings unto the Lord. So we know it's the first day of the seventh month, September 11th, likely very shortly after they've arrived and gotten their breath from a four to five, six month journey. But now it says they met, the people gathered together, they gathered themselves together as one man to Jerusalem. They were one body and they expressed that unity in faithful attendance in the solemn assembly. They gathered together as one man. They put off their worldly business. Their priority was on worship. They didn't have their homes established yet. They didn't have their vocational situations worked out yet, but they knew they needed to start where we all should start. Worship was their priority. So, we note in verses 2 and 3a that they built an altar. Then stood up Joshua the son of Jehoshaddak and his brethren the priests and Zerubbabel the son of Shealtail and his brethren, and builded the altar of the God of Israel to offer burnt offerings thereon, as it is written in the law of Moses, the man of God." Note that the leaders took the lead. The leader in the ecclesiastical or church sphere, Yeshua, the high priest, and Zerubbabel, the civil governor, both of them and their entourages, they involved themselves in this building. They supported it. They initiated it and initiated the building of this altar. They took the lead. Notice in verse 2b, they did so to offer burnt offerings thereon as it is written in the law of Moses, the man of God. These people did everything by the book. They did it by the book. And so, we as God's people are called to do it by the book. We're called to obey God and to worship God consistent with what He said. We don't make up the rules. The rules have been given to us. There's one lawgiver in Zion. And we're called to obey His laws of worship." Now, note also that they built this altar, it says in verse 3, they set it upon His basis. It appears that when they arrived in Jerusalem, they could locate where the great altar was. They built the altar on its basis. There must have been something left in the rubble that they could discern where the temple was and where the altar was. And so they returned to that very location and built the altar there and started offering daily burnt sacrifices morning and evening. They could get those going. They could begin there. And they could follow in the footpaths of their forefathers, the patriarchs, in building an altar to God and worshipping God by sacrifice. Think of Father Abraham in Genesis 13.4. I encourage you to look there later. But we learn there in Genesis 13 that Abraham called upon the name of the Lord. When he built an altar, he called upon the name of the Lord there. Prayer was integrally related with worship. And then in Genesis 35, We learn something of Jacob's building of an altar. And there, when Jacob meets with God, when God meets with him in the place where he built an altar, we learn that God was present with him. God came and met with him. And so, he called that place Beth-el. Beth being the Hebrew word for house. and El being the Hebrew word for God. Jacob recognized it was the house of God because God came to dwell there. And so God comes to dwell among his people when we worship him corporately. Now I want us to note also we have one of the motives why they did this. They obviously did it because it was written in the law of Moses to do. But it says also in verse 3a, for fear was upon them because of the people of those countries. They were fearful. They recognized the antithesis between the true religion and the false religion of the Samaritans that had populated that area in the intervening 70 years since their forefathers' departure. They were not naive about the battle with the kingdom of darkness. And they knew that to succeed in that battle, to use of God to win that battle, they knew that the core of their being had to be focused upon worship. They had to be a worshiping people. They had to be a people that God made Himself known to, that God came to dwell in their midst. They had to be a people of worship. And I think there's a great lesson for us as His people in this. We're to do what we can in the worship of God when we cannot do what we would. We ought to do all we can even though we may not be able to do all that we'd like to. Now it's interesting, Matthew Henry, the great commentator, as he considers this, he brings out this point and he likens it to the situation of many in his day that had to worship God without a regular ministry. And he likens this situation to a situation in his own time when many Churches, particular churches, had to often worship God by the reading of His Word, by prayer, and by the singing of God's praise. They were without a faithful ministry of the Word. They were without the regular administration of the sacraments. And he likened this situation here in 530 B.C. to that situation, that the people of God have to be pleased to do We need to do what we can until they can have what they desire in worship. We need to do what we can when we cannot do what we like. But, they weren't satisfied with altar worship. That's where they began because that's where they could begin, but they weren't satisfied there. And we'll see that in just a minute. They offered sacrifices. They didn't just build the altar and then leave it there. They began offering burnt offerings morning and evening, consistent with the law of Moses in Exodus 29, 38 and following. They offered a burnt offering, a lamb without spots, morning and evening. These people were not wealthy. This was an expense to them. It cost. It cost them dearly. But they were going to reestablish the worship that God had commanded to be established. And they offered these two lambs, two spotless lambs symbolizing Christ, the Holy and Harmless and Undefiled One. And they were offered to God morning and evening to symbolize the people of God's worship to God morning and evening as a sweet savor to Him. That our worship, our consecration of ourselves to Him. And so God's people began to offer these sacrifices symbolic of their personal and family worship of God. We note also in verse 4, they kept also the feast of tabernacles. They not only were concerned to begin again the daily burnt offerings morning and evening, they were concerned with re-establishing the three feasts that God had commanded in the law of Moses. So they re-established the feast of the tabernacle. And what's very interesting is They had spent at least four months, likely five or six months, in tents. They'd just arrived in Jerusalem, but they're willing to get back in booths or tents for the Feast of Tabernacles, because it's time. So whether their flesh liked it or not, they were going to do what God called them to do. And the Feast of the Tabernacles is a reminder to God's people of the fact that there are strangers and pilgrims in this land. Think of the words of Peter in 1 Peter 2.11, I beseech you as strangers and pilgrims. When Peter addresses the people of God, he wants to remind them of who they are. And one thing that we are as God's people are strangers and pilgrims in this land. We seek a greater city. We're citizens of another kingdom. Think of that great hall of fame of faith in Hebrews 11. In Hebrews 11 3 we read of those that they concessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth. Men and women and children of faith recognize themselves to be and identify themselves to be strangers and pilgrims. They live in such a way that their heart is somewhere else. It's not set upon this world and this kingdom. It's set upon the world that yet awaits. It's set on that spiritual kingdom. And so the Feast of the Tabernacles was a reminder to the people that they were but strangers and pilgrims. in the land. Also, on the tenth day of the Feast of the Tabernacles was the Day of the Atonement. Now, it's very interesting that the Day of Atonement is not mentioned here in Ezra 3. It's very interesting that the Day of Atonement and it being carried out is not mentioned in the Old Testament other than in Leviticus 16 when we're told how it's to be carried out. But we never see it carried out. We only see its fulfillment in Christ Jesus in the New Testament. We know God's people carried it out, but it's not displayed for us until it's displayed in its full beauty in the New Testament in Christ. when we see it's a fulfillment and accomplishment in Christ Jesus who atones for the sins of his people. We note also in verse 5 that they also kept the new moons, the feast of the new moons, the first days of the Hebrew month. And they also kept the set feasts of the Lord. They didn't just keep the feast of the tabernacles, they planned to keep the Passover. the Feast of Unleavened Bread, and they planned to keep the Feast of Weeks at the beginning of harvest. They couldn't have already done it because it's still speaking of this time here in the seventh month. But they must have committed themselves to keep the three set feasts that are laid down for the people of God in Leviticus 23 and Deuteronomy 16. The Feast of Unleavened Bread, the Feast of Weeks, and the Feast of Tabernacles. So we see that they worshipped God as they set up this altar. But also note that unique stewardship that these people recognized as they established and set up this altar and worshipped God. In verse 5b and verse 7. In 5b it speaks of everyone that willingly offered a freewill offering unto the Lord. They gave freewill offerings. They gave above and beyond the tithe to the work there, to reestablishment of biblical worship. And we see that same principle in 2 Corinthians 8, verses 1-5. Paul speaks to the Corinthians there in 2 Corinthians 8-1 and says, Moreover, brethren, we do you to wit of the grace of God bestowed on the church of Macedonia. how that in a great trial of affliction, the abundance of their joy and their deep poverty abounded unto the riches of their liberality." You see, God's grace was in the churches of Macedonia. And so, because that great grace, even though there was great affliction, it says, because of that joy, though they were poor, they gave abundantly. It says, for to their power I bear record, yea, and beyond their power they were willing of themselves, praying us with much entreaty that we would receive the gift and take upon us the fellowship of the ministering to the saints. And this they did, not as we had hoped, but first gave their own selves to the Lord and unto us by the will of God. You see the order there. The grace of God causing people to give of themselves. They gave of their own selves. And part of our own selves is what we earn by our labor. We give it back to God so that God's worship can be established and maintained in this wicked and perverse generation. It reminds us of Paul's words in 2 Corinthians 9.6. He which soweth sparingly shall also reap sparingly. And he that soweth bounteously shall reap bounteously. Think also of Paul's words in Philippians 4.18, where there we learn that giving is an act of worship. Now, we in our congregation, in our denomination, and many Scottish Presbyterians throughout the centuries have not believed that an offering is an element in public worship. And I believe that to be true personally. But too often, I think that we've, from that principle, failed to recognize that giving is still worship. There's still an element of worship in that sense. It's still worshipful to give to God what is His due. Paul says in Philippians 4.18, the things which were sent by you speaking of those gifts that have come to him so that he might continue to minister the gospel where it had yet to be preached. He says, these things which were sent by you, and then he identifies them, an odor of a sweet smell, a sacrifice acceptable, well-pleasing to God. Here a local congregation, at minimum, potentially a presbytery in the city of Philippi, They were financing Paul's ministry of the gospel. And he says that sending of monies to provide for him and his colleagues as they took the word of God to places that had not yet been was a sweet savor. It was an odor of a sweet savor. It was a sacrifice that was acceptable and well-pleasing to God. He likens giving to the sacrificial system. Here Matthew Henry says that these folks brought out of the furnace of affliction a holy heat. They were in the furnace of affliction in Babylon, and when they got out, they had a holy heat for seeing the worship of God re-established. They were willing to pay the price to see God's worship re-established. So they gave, but they also prepared for the building of the temple. Their leaders didn't allow them to begin helter-skelter to build the temple prematurely. There were preparations that had to be made, and we see that in verse 7. They gave money also unto the masons and to the carpenters, and meat and drink and oil. The church took in money, but it also gave out money because men were worthy labor, they gave unto them of Sidon and to them of Tyre to bring cedar trees from Lebanon to the Sea of Joppa according to the grant that they had of Cyrus, king of Persia. They had to begin to acquire the building materials to begin to lay the foundation and ultimately to build the temple again. So they weren't satisfied with that altar worship. They didn't wait until the temple was done before they began to worship God as they could. But once they began to worship God as they could, they weren't satisfied until they could worship God completely and fully in accord with all His commands in the five books of Moses. So they prepared for the building of the temple. They set up the altar to worship and then they gave and they prepared for the future building of the temple in verses 1-7. Then in verses 8-13, we see that they laid the foundation of the temple. Note in verse 8, now in the second year of their coming unto the house of God at Jerusalem, in the second month, about seven months later, they've acquired the building materials and it's time to lay the foundation of the temple. And it's interesting that they didn't do this in the first month in April or May of the year, but they did it in, excuse me, March or April, but they did it in April-May time period in the second month of the Jewish calendar. And I believe they did so because the first month was significantly taken up with the worship of God in the carry out of the Passover. The Passover was the feast, the set feast that was to be carried out in the first month. We learn in Exodus 12, 2 and following. So it's very likely, as we've learned, that they said they kept the set feasts, so they must have kept that. And then they began to lay the foundation. We see in verse 8 and 9, they laid the foundation, and they laid it quick. They prepared to do it, but they didn't hesitate to do it. When they could get around to building it, they got around to building it. Well done or well begun is half done. Isn't it sometimes the most difficult thing to get a project started? And once it's started, once you're off and running, it's halfway done. But the inertia to get it started, to get going, and to get it going well right away. Well begun is half done, as the old proverb goes. And when any good work is to be done, it's best that we start about it quickly. Because there's so many reasons that we can put up in our minds to hesitate to do good and to do right. to do what we're called to do in God's Word. We've got to be wise. We've got to lay those foundations. We've got to prepare. We've got to have the substance to build. But when we're ready, we ought not to delay. And the people of God did not delay. We learn also, again, that the church and the state were integrally involved in this task. Jeshua and Zerubbabel, we see in verse 8, were active in the building or laying the foundation of the temple. They took the lead and they appointed to the Levites from 20 years old and upward to set forward the work of the house of God. They were working, they were coordinating and supervising the work, the Levites from 20 years and upward. And actually, when the Levitical priesthood was originally established under Moses, the priests didn't take office until they were 30. The Levites didn't begin to carry out their work. But under David, we learn in 1 Chronicles 23-24, that the age was changed to 20. And so here they continued understanding God's will from the Davidic covenant that these Levites of 20 years and over are to assist in the work. They delegated and they strengthened the hand of the workers by kind words and good words. And then I want us to note in verse 10 and 11, the place of praise amongst the people of God. when they had laid the foundation, when the builders laid the foundation of the temple, when they had completed that foundation. It doesn't appear that it took very long, because they were energetic to accomplish it. They had the materials to do so. They laid the foundation of the temple, Lord. Then they set the priests in the reparel with trumpets and the Levites, the son of Asaph, with symbols to praise the Lord after the ordinance of David, king, of Israel. They had recognized the streams of mercy that had flowed to them. And they looked back to where those streams found their fountain in God. God was the fountain of the mercies that had accrued to them. He had stirred their hearts to return, to reestablish biblical worship. He had stirred the heart of King Cyrus to see this work re-begun. He had given the people of God leaders in the ecclesiastical or church sphere and also in the civil sphere to aid in this work. And so they recognized that the fountain of all these blessings, all these mercies upon them was God. And so they called upon God. They praised the God of mercy. And they did so after the ordinance of David, king of Israel. They continued to do everything by the book. They did things according to the law of Moses, but they did things according as well to the ordinances of God that were established under David. Those ordinances related to the praise of God. In 1 Chronicles 6, 31 and 25, when we learn about the ordinance of the singing of praises, and we learn who is to sing the praises of God under the old covenant, we learn it was the Levites, the priests that were to sing. And in 1 Chronicles 16, 7, we learn what they were to sing. David appointed them songs to sing. And then in 2 Chronicles 29, 27 and 29, we learn about the specific instruments that those specific men of one tribe were to play while the sacrifice was being offered. Symbolic of that once for all sacrifice the Lord Jesus Christ himself, the Lamb of God. But they sang a psalm here, and clearly in verse 11 it alludes to Psalm 136. And they sang together by course in praising and giving thanks unto the Lord, because he is good, for his mercy endureth forever toward Israel. They sang with grace in their hearts to the Lord, as Paul commands us to do in Colossians 3.16, to sing psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs with grace in our hearts to the Lord. It's not enough to sing God's words, to have God's words coming out of our lips to Him, if grace isn't in our hearts. And if we're not singing to Him, Yes, we sing these things to edify our brethren. We're to speak psalms and spiritual songs and hymns to one another. But our singing of them is to the Lord. Our worship is God-centered. And we must sing with grace. Because of the grace of God in our lives, we must sing with grace to Him, to the Father of mercies, whose mercies endure forever. They're unchangeable. They've been from eternity and they're unto eternity to God's people. Children, do you remember us speaking this morning about the immutability? We learned about what mutable meant. It means ability to change. And for something to be immutable, it means it can't change. God's mercies towards His people are immutable. God doesn't have mercy towards His people on a whim and then take it away from us. No, His mercies extend to His people forevermore. And so they sang of God's mercies. They praised the God who had allowed them to build this foundation. They weren't done, but they had gotten started. And they sang praises to their God. It's interesting in verses 12 and 13, the end of verse 11, we see how the people were affected by this completion of the foundation and the singing of psalms consistent with the ordinance of David, king of Israel. It says, And all the people shouted with a great shout when they praised the Lord, because the foundation of the house of the Lord was laid. There was great joy. And we ought to be thankful for the beginning of mercy even though the perfections of those mercies haven't yet been fulfilled. When we see God beginning to work in our lives, in the lives of those that we love, in the lives of people in His church, do we wait until the fulfillment of those mercies? Or do we thank our God when we begin to see what God is doing in grace in our lives, individually in His family, and as a family of God. We need to be thankful for the beginnings of mercy. God's people were. Even though the fulfillment was yet to be complete. And yet we see, there were many of the priests and Levites and chief of the fathers, in verse 12, who were ancient men that had seen the first house. Now, the first house, what you have to remember is that 70 years since the captivity But the temple wasn't destroyed when the first captivity was taken. The temple was probably destroyed 55 to 50 years from this period, about 15 to 20 years after the first captivity. So there were some men older than 55, probably older than 60, to be able to remember this. And these were men that were priests and Levites and chief of the fathers. These weren't Johnny-come-latelys on the periphery of the house of God. These were rulers amongst God's people. These were men that had seen that temple before, and they had longed to be back in their city and to worship God. those years in Babylon. And yet many of them, it says, when they saw the foundation of this house that was laid before their eyes, they wept with a loud voice, even though many shouted with joy. There were still many that were shouting for joy, but this small minority of men who had seen the former glory of the temple, what they saw in that foundation didn't enthuse them. It wasn't going to be as grand and glorious to the eye as what they had seen in the past. It was not what their ancestors had. The new temple was not going to be what their ancestors had, but that new temple was going to be much more than they deserved as God's people. They didn't deserve this. It was less than what their ancestors had, but it was more than they deserved. These leaders of God's people, the ancients, not fly-by-night new leaders in God's house, men that had been leading the people of God in the captivity in a very a very trying time. And yet they came back and they wept because of the disproportion between this temple and the temple that they had seen before. And I would contend that they despised the damn small things. They failed to recognize what we can much more clearly see in the New Covenant. That God was beginning to show to His people that the glory of the temple would no longer be an outward and visible glory, but that it would be a spiritual and internal glory. This temple foreshadows Christ and His glory, but also the glory of Christ's body, the church. We are, Peter says in 1 Peter 2, a temple. We're being built up together to be a temple of God's people where we offer spiritual sacrifices. Peter takes old covenant worship and applies it to new covenant worship. God is just as much, He's actually more present with His people under the new covenant in worship than He ever was with all the glory of the tabernacle of meeting and of the temple. Do you realize that God is as much with us as He was with the people of God, children in the wilderness, when He led them by a cloud and by fire? I think if we think about that, we have to in our heart of hearts say, we don't really believe it, do we? We really don't believe it. We need to cry out with the apostles, Give us more faith. I have faith, but increase my faith that God is with His people. He sent His only begotten Son to tabernacle, to dwell in the midst of His people. He's Emmanuel, God with us. And though He's no longer with us in body, He sent His Comforter, the Holy Spirit, to dwell in the midst of every one of his people, to be in our hearts, but also in the midst of his people corporately. So God was doing a new work. Just as we're going to see the prophecies pale off, and Ezra and the scribal preaching is going to take priority, we're going to see in Nehemiah chapter 8, there's a transition taking place in the post-exilic books. an emphasis on God's Word written and applied, not on new prophecies and new words, but on the exposition of the Word already given and on a temple of less visible glory to show forth the glory of the future new covenant, consummate temple of the people of God. Now, in closing, I've applied many of these things to us throughout the message, but I would, in closing, just have us apply this one point. We need to ask ourselves, as God's people, are we putting first things first, as the people of God did under Zerubbabel and Jeshua's leadership? Their priority was seeing the worship of God established and maintained in its purity. They were, in the words of Jesus Christ, seeking first the kingdom of God and His righteousness. That's what they were doing. And in that passage where we find those words in the Sermon on the Mount, in Matthew chapter 6, really verse 33 there in Matthew 6 is the summary of what Jesus has been teaching through that second half of that chapter. He's calling us to have a vision for eternal things, to not put our eyes upon the things of the world. And in that section, in verses 20 and following, he tells us that we're to lay up for ourselves treasure in heaven where neither moth nor rust So, where's our treasure? Is it in our God, in His Church? Do we seek first His Kingdom and His righteousness? Individually, as His families, and corporately as the people of God? Are we laying up treasures for ourselves in Heaven? And that's not just speaking about giving. Predominantly, that's not what it's speaking about. It's speaking about giving ourselves not our money, ourselves to God's work? Are we committed to faithful attendance and preparation to worship our God? And are we hopeful and prayerful that we'll see the true worship of God reestablished in our land in its purity? Is that our desire? And are we working diligently to that end? Are we willing to spend and be spent that we might see God's kingdom expanded? That we might see God's will done on earth as it is in heaven? That we might see in the visible church, professing believers doing what God has commanded? In our midst and in the midst of congregations throughout this land and throughout this world, isn't that our chief To love our God and to see our God's name hallowed throughout the world. To see His knowledge spread as the seas cover the earth. That should be our goal. Are we seeking first His kingdom? Are we putting first things first? Are we more concerned about our secular affairs? Would we be like those people? As soon as we got there, would we be giving and getting the work started of worshiping, we'd be more concerned about what we had going on at home or in the business. Whatever other things can so easily distract us from what ought to be our focus, our God and worship of our God. Let's pray. Please rise for prayer.