And Father, now as we come to your word, we're reminded that your word is food for those who are hungry. So we pray today, Lord, for our daily bread. We pray that by the power of the spirit working within us, that we would receive our daily bread, that we would receive spiritual nourishment, that we would be edified, and that Christ would be glorified during this time. We pray that our hearts and our minds would be turned more fully to him. We pray, Lord, that you would help us to grow in our faith, to grow in our confidence in Christ and in your promises that are fulfilled in him for the glory of Christ. In his name we pray, amen. Well, if you have your Bibles with you, please turn to Psalms. We'll be looking at Psalm 20 today as we continue in our study of the Psalms, which we do on the first Sunday of every month. But one of the things that we started doing, you probably just realized it a couple minutes ago, in addition to praying for our specific congregational needs on a weekly basis, we've also started now praying for a member of our government. The plan is that we will pray for one different governing official every week. And from there, we will write a letter to them to let them know that we have prayed for them and to ask if there's anything else that we can be praying more specifically for them. And of course, many of our governing officials are unbelievers. So this is kind of a form of outreach to our governing authorities. Now, I understand if that seems kind of strange to you that we do this, because honestly, I can't say that I've seen that happen a whole lot in churches that I've attended, that I've visited. I mean, I've visited over the years, I've visited dozens, maybe 50 or more churches, And I think there's only one church that I visited where they prayed for our governing authorities. And yet God's word is actually crystal clear on this issue. We should be praying for our governing officials. God's will on this as recorded in scripture isn't vague. It's not... something that is implied but not explicitly instructed. Rather, it clearly shows that his desire is that prayers and intercessions be made on behalf of kings and those who hold a position of governing authority. The thing that makes it difficult to do this, especially maybe in a culture or in a time like ours, is that so many people Christians included, absolutely cannot stand those who are in positions of governing authorities. And sometimes that's very understandable. And nevertheless, God's word is clear that we must be praying for them. Paul writes in 1 Timothy 2, verses one and two, he says, first of all, then I urge that in treaties and prayers, petitions and thanksgivings be made on behalf of all men for kings and all who are in authority, so that we may lead a tranquil and quiet life in all godliness and dignity. So just with these two verses, we see that there's a very specific thing that we're called to do and a very specific reason that we're called to do it. A very specific reason for us to be offering prayers on behalf of those in authority. And that reason is this, it's so that they'll leave us alone. It's so that they will let us live out our faith peacefully without trouble. Now, of course, when Paul wrote that, that was in a time of increasing persecution. It was a time when Christianity was just on the verge of becoming an illegal religion in the Roman Empire. But it was beginning, Christianity was beginning to be viewed as a threat to the polytheistic religion of the Roman state. So persecution was increasing. And the answer was not to try to take over the government. It wasn't to pray against the king or the Caesar. It was to pray for them. It was to petition to the highest authority, to God Almighty who has ordained every governmental authority. So today we're gonna be continuing our study of the Psalms. by looking at another messianic psalm written by David, Psalm 20. Now this psalm is actually very different from the psalms that we've studied so far because this psalm is a prayer. Specifically, this psalm is a prayer for the king. And so with that in mind, it's good for us to be reminded before looking at this prayer for the king, that God is the one who ordains governing authorities. Paul writes this in Romans chapter 13, verse one. He writes, every person is to be in subjection to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except from God, and those which exist are established by God. So in other words, if we have a problem with the government, really what we're saying is we have a problem with the person God put in charge. So really our problem isn't with the government, really our problem is with God. which is a scary thing. But what this reminds us of is the fact that God is sovereign in who he puts in authority. Just like with election unto salvation, it might look like man has made a decision, it might look like man has done something, such as put a governing official in charge, but the truth is that God is the one who has done it. Therefore, we should pray to God for the governing authorities. And in one sense, that's exactly what this psalm is, in one sense. And yet we should also understand as we examine this psalm, that there is kind of a double meaning in this psalm. Yes, the psalm is a prayer for the king, but it's also a prayer for the king of kings. It is in all likelihood a prayer for David, but it's also a prayer that he himself offered on behalf of his offspring. who would not rule from an earthly throne, but from a heavenly throne, the king of whom David himself foreshadowed. And of course that is the Messiah, the Lord Jesus Christ. Now you'll recall back in Psalm 2, that Psalm 2 spoke of the Messiah as being the anointed, as being the king. God says in Psalm 2,6, but as for me, I have installed my king upon Zion, my holy mountain. So when we see references to a king throughout the Psalms that ensue, they're all references to this king, to the Messiah. For example, Psalm 5.2 reads, heed the sound of my cry for help, my king and my God. for I pray to you. Similarly, Psalm 1016 says, the Lord is king forever and ever. Nations have perished from his land. So while this prayer in Psalm 20 would be a prayer for the nation's king as he prepared to go into battle, it was also a prayer that was for the Messiah, the one whose kingdom would never end. One of the indications that this prayer isn't just for David is seen in the fact that he himself joins in singing this prayer. In verse five, if you look down at verse five, we see that the noun is plural. We sing. So David is included in that. This was not just a psalm to be sung for David, but it was a song that he too sung for the Messiah. So the point of this psalm is simply to teach God's people to find their ultimate hope in that king, in the Messiah, in Jesus, and to have confidence that God would save his anointed king. So we start by reading verses one to four. It says, a psalm of David, for the choir director, a psalm of David. May the Lord answer you in the day of trouble. May the name of the God of Jacob set you securely on high. May he send you help from the sanctuary and support you from Zion. May he remember all your meal offerings and find your burnt offerings acceptable. Selah. May he grant you your heart's desire and fulfill all your counsel. So we're told right off the bat once again that this is a psalm of David. There's a little bit of a lack of consensus on exactly what that means. Some commentators have trouble with the fact that it says that and think that it must have meant a psalm for David rather than a psalm of David. But even though this psalm was very likely sung and prayed for David, there's nothing about that title which would nullify his authorship. David desired the prayers of the people, and he desired that those prayers be very specific. Who would know what he needed to be prayed for better than he does? Well, God. But David knew what people should pray for him about. I mean, didn't Paul also ask for prayer? Of course he did. Didn't Jesus also ask for his disciples to pray for him? Of course he did. In the Garden of Gethsemane, as he went to pray, he asked Peter, James, and John to pray for him, instructing them, keep watching and praying that you may not enter into temptation. The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak. So as we look at this psalm as a whole, what we find in this psalm are seven petitions, seven prayers. And of course, the number seven represents the perfection of God, which reminds us that only God can perfectly bless. All of his blessings are perfect, and there are no blessings that he gives us that could be improved upon, including the blessing of the Messiah. So starting with the first prayer, starting with the first petition, In verse one, we see that most of the petitions start with the word may. In this case, the first petition is, may the Lord answer you in the day of trouble. How many of you have faced a day of trouble? How many of you have reached the end of your proverbial rope? I mean, we all have at some time or another, or at least it's felt like a day of trouble. But isn't it comforting to remember that when we face days of trouble, we're not alone. In fact, even the greatest of men have faced days of trouble. What a comfort that is to know that it's not just us. Now you would think that someone upon whom God's favor rested would fear no such thing, wouldn't fear having a day of trouble, but neither God's favor nor the crown that represented his authority saved David from times of distress, from days of trouble, both on the battlefield and off, sometimes with his own family, sometimes with his own sons. This is something, by the way, that you can pray for on anyone's behalf, because everyone faces days in which they are tempted to despair, days in which all they feel they can do is cry out to the Lord for help. But what great comfort it brings to remember that the voice of the praying Christian is always heard by God. Above the sound of thunder and roaring waves in the storms that we're facing, Our voices rise above. Nothing drowns out the sound of our prayers for his ears. And it's more true, if it's more true that the common man faces sorrowful and troubling days, how much more true do you think it is that the governing authorities face days of trouble? If the common person faces days of trouble, don't you think somebody who's in a position of authority has even more? Of course they do, because with much power comes much responsibility. And with much responsibility comes a lot of adversity, a lot of criticism, a lot of tough decisions to be made. And sometimes they will make the wrong decision. And sometimes they will even know that they've made the wrong decision. and the well-being of the people is often at stake. So just as David desired for the people to pray this for him, so too, it seems to me, we ought to pray this for our own governing officials in this way also. And yet this is also, we have to remember, this is also a prayer for the Lord Jesus. David would count himself among the we in verse five, who sang this psalm as a prayer for the Messiah. As Charles Spurgeon, noted in commenting on this verse, he said, quote, all the Savior's days were days of trouble. And he also made them days of prayer. The church joins her intercession with the Lord, with the Lord's and pleads that he may be heard in his cries and tears, end quote. So keep in mind, by the way, that this was written approximately 1,000 years before Jesus took on human flesh and walked the face of the earth. And so it might seem kind of strange that the people would be praying for their Messiah who would be God in the flesh, but when we consider the things that he had to endure, why wouldn't they pray for him? After all, the saints of the Old Testament, they would have known a lot of things about the coming Messiah. There'll be things that they did know, there'll be things that they wouldn't know. But throughout the centuries, God would reveal more and more things about the Messiah through the prophets he would send. He'd reveal the Messiah's lineage, the nature of his virgin birth. He'd reveal the place in which the Messiah would be born, and so on and so forth. But beyond even these types of things, the prophets also revealed that the Messiah would be a man who faced many sorrows, many hardships, many trials. They knew that his life would not be one of comfort, but one of conflict, one of anguish, one of despair. and one of prayer. So again, why would they not join with him and pray on his behalf, knowing what he would be up against? But note the implication in this petition. The implication is that Christ would call out to God for help. And of course, we know that the father always heard the prayers of Jesus and he answered. Now, if you look down at the next Psalm, if your Bible's open, look down at the next Psalm, Psalm 21. You'll see this in verse two. You have not withheld the request of his lips. You have not withheld the request of his lips. See, that Psalm is very closely connected with this Psalm. Psalm 21 is very closely connected with Psalm 20. But on the other side of Calvary, which is where we are, We can still rejoice and we can still offer prayers of thanksgiving that the father always heard and always answered the prayers of his son. And we can know that in our times of trouble, the father still hears the son's petitions on our behalf. Praise God for that. What a comfort that is, knowing that he hears. as the sun intercedes for us from heaven's throne. The second petition is may the name of the God of Jacob set you securely on high. The idea here is one of safety. The idea here is that the Lord would be the king's protection. God himself would be the king's protection. Even though David had this enormous army with fierce and very experienced warriors by his side, his ultimate confidence was not in them, nor was it in himself, nor was it in the ability that he had or his commanding officers had to fight and to win. And it wasn't in his strength or their strength or their endurance or his endurance or skill. No, his ultimate confidence was in the God of Jacob. If any character in the Bible faced one hardship after another in the Old Testament. Had many days of trouble. It would be Jacob, wouldn't it? Throughout his entire life, Jacob faced one trouble after another, after another. And what got him through all of it? God did. David depended on God for that same divine power that delivered Jacob. to preserve him, to set him up in a high and secure place. But it was also the mighty and awesome power of God that delivered Jesus through his many hardships. Indeed, one could truly say that Jesus's life was one of hardships from the very beginning. He was born in a manger, a lowly manger. His family had to run off to Egypt to escape the efforts of King Herod to murder him. And such was his life throughout. But God always kept him secure. And to this day, the Lord Jesus is seated securely on high at the right hand of the Father where he is interceding for us. Thanks be to God. The third petition, look at verse two. Psalm 20 verse two. The third petition is, may he send you help from the sanctuary and support you from Zion. The Lord Jesus would face many hardships and many difficulties. His life would be so filled with so much calamity and so much grief that he would need God to send help from heaven. Think about when Jesus was tempted in the wilderness for 40 days. Who ministered to him afterward? Angels did. Help from heaven. There is no help, friends, like God's help. There is no blessing like God's blessings, like the heavenly blessings that God sends from his heavenly throne above. And thus, this is what the people prayed for on behalf of their king and their Messiah. This is more than simple, common providence. This is a special, specific type of providence that God extends only to his chosen people of spiritual Israel. And while the flesh of man hates the idea of help from heaven, both David and Jesus would have seen it as the single greatest assistance available to anyone, anywhere. Better than having the biggest army, better than having the wisest advisors, better than having the fiercest warriors by his side. He had God on his side. So what we see so far is the expectation that the King and the Messiah would face hardships, but that the Messiah would cry out to God for help from heaven, and that God would hear his cries and respond with help and support. In verse three, the fourth petition on behalf of the king and the messiah is, may he, that is may God, may he remember all your meal offerings, that's followed by the fifth petition, and find your burnt offering acceptable. Selah. Now, of course, sacrifices and offerings were commonly made as a king would prepare himself and his army to go into battle. David undoubtedly did this himself as he prepared his own heart and his own mind to go into battle on numerous occasions. And yet, we have to remember that neither offerings nor animal sacrifices ever pleased God. Rather, faith is what pleases God. Faith is what pleases God. The author of Hebrews, in fact, tells us that without faith, it is impossible to please God. So any favor that God granted David, it wasn't a reward. David was not manipulating God into giving him favor. Rather, any favor that David had was by grace, for God was only pleased by the faith by which the sacrifices were offered. And of course, Jesus would also present an offering himself, which was the only acceptable and pleasing sacrifice unto God. His sacrifice is still the only one that pleases God. That's why we no longer offer sacrifices unto God, because the ultimate sacrifice and the only acceptable sacrifice has already been made. and the scent of that sacrifice still lingers in heaven. It's still the only thing that pleases God. Now, the psalmist, you'll see that he inserts a Selah here. It's an invitation to think about this, to stop. And don't continue, don't go any further before you spend a few minutes thinking about what he just said, to think about why the sacrifice is necessary. In the Messiah's case, in Christ's case, to think about why the sacrifice presented on Calvary's cross is the only one that pleases God, the only one that atones for sin and washes the crimson stain of sin white as snow. The psalmist is saying, think about this for a minute. Don't go any further before you spend some time soaking this in. It's wise to spend much time, in fact many hours, reflecting on Christ's perfect once for all sacrifice. It's good for us to spend time at the foot of the cross, remembering why the cross was necessary, remembering what it accomplished, and remembering on behalf of whom it was accomplished. That leads us to our sixth petition in verse four. where David writes, may he grant you your heart's desire and fulfill all your counsel. Now that last part, fulfill all your counsel, that part might be a little bit difficult to understand. The ESV gives us a translation that's maybe a little bit easier to understand, translating that latter part, and fulfill all your plans. That's the idea there. How many political leaders do you think you could be praying this for? May God give you all the desires of your heart. If I'm being honest, that is scary. In fact, if you're being honest about it, it is terrifying to think of most political leaders getting the desires of their heart. I mean, when I think of our governing officials and what the desires of their hearts might be, I find myself feeling a little bit anxious about the idea of God giving them their heart's desire. I mean, To be frank, I don't even pray that God would give me the desires of my heart, because I know that my heart, just like your heart, just like everybody else's heart, is only constantly wicked apart from God's grace. If anything, we shouldn't pray that God would give us the desires of our heart, we should pray that God would save us from the desires of our hearts. But Jesus as the Messiah, as God incarnate, was the one exception here. He was a leader, he was a king who could be trusted, whose desires were good, whose desires were pure and righteous. What was the desire of Jesus' heart? The desire of Jesus' heart was to do the will of the Father. And with that in mind, His desire was the same as the Father's desire, the salvation of His people, the salvation of every one of His people, the redemption of those chosen by God in eternity past before the foundations of the earth. And this is what Jesus came to do. As He said, the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve and to give His life a ransom for many. That was the desire of his heart. That was his plans. And friends, it was accomplished. There has never, ever in all of human history and beyond, there has never been a single thing that God has desired and tried to accomplish that he did not actually accomplish. There has never been a single plan of his that has been thwarted. There's never been a single plan that he's made that wasn't entirely fulfilled. And what a great comfort that is. It reminds us that we can trust the desires of Christ's heart. We can trust in his desires, we can trust in his plans. They were all fulfilled and they continue to be fulfilled as the father draws his people to Christ through the preaching and the proclaiming of the gospel even today. Now if you look down at Psalm 21 again, look at the second verse again, you'll see that the second verse says, you have given him his heart's desire. Whose heart's desire? The king's. Verse one tells us in Psalm 21, it's referring to the king's desire, it's Jesus. Friends, how do you respond to that truth? How do you respond to the fact that the Messiah's prayers were all answered, and that God gave him the desire of his heart. The people of Israel rejoiced over it. Look at verse five with me. David writes, we will sing for joy over your victory, and in the name of our God, we will set up our banners. May the Lord fulfill all your petitions. See, the king represents the people. When the king goes into battle, he's battling on behalf of not just himself, but on behalf of the whole nation. And so if the king were to lose in battle, the entire nation as a whole loses with him. But if the king wins, the whole nation wins with him. And David knew this, and he was aware of this each and every time he went out into battle. And yet, we know that that's one of the purposes God had in choosing David to be Israel's earthly king. If he won in battle, and he very often did, the nation won. If he lost in battle, the nation lost. Now, I would encourage you to expand this a little bit further and to think of this in terms of Adam, who sinned in the garden. And when he sinned, scripture tells us all sinned. When he sinned, you sinned and I sinned. We all fell into sin when Adam sinned. He was a representative, a federal head of the entire human race. And so when his nature fell, the nature of all of his sons and all of his daughters fell with him. But where Adam failed, Christ, the better Adam, succeeded. By granting victory to the Messiah, rescuing and raising him from death on the third day, God was also rescuing and raising and blessing all who would repent and believe in Christ as well. Jesus won the victory, and as such, we also have the victory. But what is this victory? Well, the Hebrew word that gets translated victory can also be translated salvation. In fact, look down at Psalm 21 again. You'll see that verse five says, his glory is great through your salvation. Splendor and majesty you place upon him. So the word salvation there is the same Hebrew word that gets translated as victory in Psalm 20. Christ won the victory over death and sin and yet in our salvation, it is also ours to rejoice in. That brings us to our seventh and final petition. May the Lord fulfill all your petitions. Friends, he's referring to Jesus's petitions here, the petitions of the Messiah. You need to know, and you need to know not only intellectually, but you need to know in your heart as well, and believe in your heart. You need to know that you can trust Jesus with your life. Because to this very day, He is offering petitions on your behalf, if you are His. He prays, He petitions for you in heaven, interceding on behalf of His people at the right hand of the Father. And He always, always, always wants and prays for what is best for us. That's what he petitions the Father for on our behalf. Romans chapter eight verse 34 says, Jesus Christ is he who died, yes rather who was raised, who is at the right hand of God, who also intercedes for us. As Spurgeon noted, quote, be it never forgotten that among those petitions is that choice one. Father, I will that they also whom thou hast given me be with me where I am. He prayed for us in the Garden of Gethsemane, petitioning the Father, saying, Holy Father, keep them, speaking of his believers and those who would believe on account of their testimony, Holy Father, keep them in your name, the name which you have given me, that they may be one even as we are. You think the Father answered that prayer? He did, of course he did, and he still does. Jesus went on to pray this for us. Sanctify them in your truth. Your word is truth. And that's why I don't get up here and preach my ideas and my philosophies and my opinions. No, I get up here to preach the word of God. And we as a congregation, as a church, we love studying the word of God because it is truth and because we are sanctified by it. And the Father is still answering that petition on our behalf as well. The point, friends, the point is that Christ has interceded for you before heaven's throne, and He continues to do so if you are His, if you have repented and put saving faith in Him. And friends, you can trust Him. You can trust Him for what He is praying for on your behalf. You can trust Him with your life. You can trust Him with your heart. You can trust Him with your soul. Now as we continue, you'll see that there's an interesting change that takes place in verse six. Let's look at verse six. David writes, Now I know that the Lord saves his anointed. He will answer him from his holy heaven with the saving strength of his right hand. You catch the change? It moved from plural, it moved from we to singular, I. Now commentators aren't exactly sure why there's a change in tense here, but the most common understanding or explanation seems to be that the people would sing verses one to five together as a whole, and then verse six would be sung by a single individual, either the king or more likely the high priest. But either way, this verse is an expression of confidence in God, confidence that God will save his anointed. Save His King. Of course, this was true of David. How many times was David in a situation where it looked like the end was certain? How many times was he in a vulnerable situation in which really only God could save him? More than we're aware of, I'm sure. And David humbly recognized that he only survived the many attempts on his life because God himself preserved David. But in a fuller sense, We also know that David was only a foreshadowing of a greater king, the King Lord Jesus. He is in the fullest and truest sense God's anointed and David knew that God would save him. God would save his anointed because God had made this promise to David that we find in 2 Samuel chapter seven verses 12 and 13. God made this promise to David. When your days are complete and you lie down with your fathers, I will raise up your descendant after you who will come forth from you and I will establish his kingdom. He shall build a house for my name and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever. Now how would it last forever? only if God saved him, only if God preserved him. So of course, this was a reference to the Messiah. David knew that God would save his anointed because the kingdom of the anointed would last forever. So as surely as God answered David's cries for help from heaven, God would answer the prayers of the Messiah with the strength of his right hand. What a beautiful thing it is to read the gospel accounts and to see how powerfully and profoundly true this was. A thousand years before Jesus was born, David looked forward to the day of Christ. He looked forward to Christ's life with eyes of faith. He knew that the Messiah would suffer. but he also was confident that God would rescue him. And so David prayed for his distant descendant and he trusted in the salvation, the victory that his descendant would secure for all of his people. Let's continue verses seven and eight. David writes, some boast in chariots and some in horses, but we will boast in the name of the Lord our God. They have bowed down and fallen, but we have risen and stood upright. So you'll notice that these two verses are filled with contrasts between God's people and God's enemies. See, there's a difference. between God's people and God's enemies. There's a difference between worldly people and godly people. First, there's a difference in what we trust in. The world trusts in things. The world trusts in objects. In this case, chariots and horses. That's what they represent. In today's world, maybe we'd say that they trust in the speed of their airplanes, or they trust in the accuracy of their missiles, or the power of their bombs, or in the accuracy of their surveillance information gathered by drones. But the confidence of God's people has never been in those types of things. Rather, our confidence is in the name of the Lord, our God. Isaiah said this of those who trust in worldly things. Isaiah 31.1, he said, woe to those who go down to Egypt for help and rely on horses and trust in chariots because they are many and in horsemen because they are very strong, but they do not look to the Holy One of Israel nor seek the Lord. So the first difference is what they trust in, the object of their faith. The second difference is the outcome of that confidence or that faith. Those who do not trust in Christ, who do not look to the Holy One of Israel, nor seek the Lord, end up in shame. And that is the fate of the world, ultimately. But those who put their confidence in the name of the Lord will be exalted. The things of this world are going to end up in ruin. Why would you put your trust in them? Horses die of diseases. Chariots break and become obsolete. They become overpowered by bigger and stronger, faster, sturdier chariots. But the strong arm of the Lord, is mighty to save, and all who trust in him will be stood upright in the victory, in the salvation that their King, their Messiah has won. Friends, this psalm was written to teach us. to teach God's people through the ages, to find their ultimate hope in the Messiah, and to have confidence that God would save his anointed king, and that every plan that he has made from eternity past will be fulfilled, that nobody and no thing will ever thwart any of his plans. And that's the theme that gets repeated in this final verse. Look at verse nine with me. David concludes by writing, save O Lord, may the King answer us in the day we call. David knew a few things about the Messiah, and he believed with a heart filled with faith that the Messiah would be victorious, that he would accomplish what he came to accomplish. He didn't know, though, what the Messiah's name would be. We do. His name is Jesus. He was born in Bethlehem of a virgin. He was fully man and fully God. He was a man of many sorrows and yet he lived a perfect, sinless life, always abiding in the will of the Father. He was tried and crucified under Pontius Pilate. But he was raised, he was resurrected from the grave on the third day. He ascended into heaven after having spent 40 days with the disciples after his resurrection. And he's now seated at the right hand of the father where he is reigning over his kingdom. We are not waiting for him to reign over his kingdom. He is currently reigning over his kingdom and he will come again and he will judge the living and the dead. Friends, I pray that you would be found among the living, that you, like David, would put your trust in this Messiah, that you would put saving faith in Jesus Christ. We praise and we thank God that he did indeed save the King of kings and Lord of lords, the Messiah, the Lord Jesus, and we look forward to the day that he finalizes his victory over sin, saving us not only from the penalty of sin, and not only from the power of sin, but also from the presence of sin, as he receives all who have believed in him into the fullness of his glorious presence forever. Let's pray. Our most gracious God and Father, we thank you for your word. We thank you for your faithfulness, Lord, as we consider this psalm. Your faithfulness to fulfill every plan that you have made through your king, through the anointed one, the Messiah, the Lord Jesus Christ. Thank you for the confidence that this gives us. Thank you for the comfort that it gives us when everything feels like it's out of control. It's not out of the king's control. So teach us, oh Lord. Teach us to count our blessings in him. Teach us to find our greatest confidence for the present and the future in him. Help us, Lord, to lean on him, whether times are good or times are difficult, in order that he would be glorified, yes, but also so that we may become more and more like him. Father, we thank you that that is your desire and his desire, to conform us to his image. We thank you for the assurance that you are causing all things to work toward that end. for those who love you and are called by you according to your purposes. Thank you that you are making us more like him. Thank you that you are teaching us to submit our lives more fully to him. We pray God that by the power of the Holy Spirit working in us, we would more fully believe, we would more fully submit to his lordship in our lives in order that he would be glorified. Thank you for answering the petitions that he makes on our behalf from your right hand. We pray, Lord, for his return in your time. And we pray that we would be found faithful until the end. Not because of how firmly we hold on to Christ, but because of how firmly he holds on to us. May he be glorified in our lives. In his name we pray. Amen.