If you'd like to follow along this morning, we're gonna be in the book of Job. And we're taking two chapters, 25 and 26. 25 is six verses long, so it's not very long, and they go together, so we're gonna be taking those as one unit. That's on page 433 of the ESV pew Bibles. So Job chapter 25 and chapter 26. And let's go to the Lord in prayer. Father, as we come before you and come before your word this morning, once again, we ask for the illuminating power of your Holy Spirit. We have eyes, but Father, we ask for spiritual eyes to see your truth, to see what you intend to teach us through your word. And we ask for the ability to put it and to practice to implement it. To walk and follow you with more faithfulness based on being fed from your word, this ordinary means of grace that you have provided for your church. One in seven, every Lord's Day, we come here and gather and worship you. And so Father, we trust in these good gifts that you've given us, and we look forward to hearing what you have to say to us this morning. In Jesus' name, Amen. Tom finally decided to fix the screen door on his back porch. It was the door that the dog pushed up against over and over and finally it pushed through and the screen just ripped through and it was just hanging loose. And so he looked at the door and he thought well this seems simple enough. He's never done it before but he thought I think I can do this and looks like he just needed to get some new screen and put on and replace the old screen. So he went to the hardware store and he bought some screen and he brought it home and he cut it to rough size and he laid it over the frame and he pulled out the old screen with the thin cord called a spline that was shoved in the groove that held the screen into place. He pulled that out and then he laid the new screen over and he went to push the screen in with the spline and it wouldn't really go in very well with his thumbs. It would kind of halfway go in or it would go in and then it would pop out. So he grabbed a flathead screwdriver and he started to push it in with that. made slow progress and also he ended up, because of the blade and how he had to put it almost completely parallel with the groove, he ended up kind of marring the spline and all of a sudden just pinching it and he said, well this isn't working. So he went out to the garage and he looked around and he saw an old block of wood and he thought, well that might work. So he took the block of wood and he kind of turned it on its corner edge and was trying to push that spline into place and it was just too thick and he couldn't get the right angle on it, so that wouldn't work. But he was not through trying to MacGyver his way through this project. So he went into the kitchen and grabbed a ballpoint pen. And he thought, well, that's about the right size. So he went out and he started pushing the spline in. But it would kind of fall off once in a while. And after about 10 or 15 minutes, he'd gone about five inches or so. And he thought, there's got to be an easier way to do this. And so he looked it up online, which he should have probably done at the beginning. And he learned that there was something called a spline tool. So he went to the hardware store and sure enough right there with all the other supplies was a spline tool. So he bought one and he brought it back home and it had a handle and then it had a wheel and the wheel had a tiny groove that was just the same diameter as the spline and so he pushed it in and then just rolled his way down the edge of the frame and he was done in about three minutes. What a difference the right tool makes. And I think maybe you've probably been in one of those situations where the right tool makes the job so much easier. In fact, there are some times, there are some jobs where if you don't have the right tool, the job is impossible to do. There are some very specially unique tools that are specifically made for a specific application. And if you don't have that tool, then you can't get the job done. You need the right tool. Job chapter 26 is about using the right tool. We have Bildad's final speech in chapter 25, and then we have Job's response. And Job starts off by telling his friends that their attempt to counsel him and to encourage him did not work. They were using the wrong tool. And then in the rest of the chapter, he tells us what the right tool is to use. Job comes out and tells us exactly what the right tool is for ministering to brothers and sisters who are suffering and in pain. Now, forewarning, we are going to get into the weeds this morning. There are some gems that are just lying on the surface of the Bible, and all you have to do is reach down and pick them up. And then there are others where you have to get the pickax out and do some digging through some rocky soil. So this is one of those Sundays. Stay with me, especially as we get to verses 11 through 13 of chapter 26. Let's read through the whole passage. These are both chapters. Bildad's final speech and Job's response. So starting at verse one of 25. Then Bildad the Shuhite answered and said, dominion and fear are with God. He makes peace in his high heaven. Is there any number to his armies? Upon whom does his light not arise? How then can man be in the right before God? How can he who is born a woman be pure? Behold, even the moon is not bright, and the stars are not pure in his eyes. How much less man, who is a maggot, and the son of man, who is a worm? Then Job answered and said, how you have helped him who has no power? how you have saved the arm that has no strength, how you have counseled him who has no wisdom and plentifully declared sound knowledge. With whose help have you uttered words and whose breath has come out from you? The dead tremble under the waters of their inhabitants. Sheol is naked before God and Abaddon has no covering. He stretches out the north over the void and hangs the earth on nothing. He binds up the waters in his thick clouds and the cloud is not split open under them. He covers the face of the full moon and spreads over it his cloud. He has inscribed a circle on the face of the waters at the boundary between light and darkness. The pillars of heaven tremble and are astounded at his rebuke. By his power, he stilled the sea. By his understanding, he shattered Rahab. By his wind, the heavens were made fair. His hand pierced the fleeing serpent. Behold, these are but the outskirts of his ways, and how small a whisper do we hear of But the thunder of his power, who can understand? So chapter 25 is Bildad's last speech, and it's really the last speech from all three of his friends. Remember, there's been three cycles or three sets of dialogue, and we're on the last set. We're on set number three, and we're on the last friend giving his last speech. So this is it. From here on out, the rest of the entire book of Job, we have Job, Elihu, who we haven't heard from yet, and God. That's it. We don't come back to the three friends. They're mentioned, but we don't come back to them speaking. And since this is his last speech, we might expect something profound, but really there's not a whole lot of new information. In fact, there's nothing new here. at all. So he begins by making some true statements about God's power, authority, and dominion. God rules, no one can escape his dominion. Sounds good. He makes peace in his high heaven, referring to God bringing order out of chaos. We kind of hear quiet whispers of Genesis 1 here, bringing order from the formless void. God created and set boundaries. He set limits on night and darkness. And now by his providence he sustains and governs and upholds the universe and all his creatures. So God rules. Is there any number to his armies? No, God's power is unlimited. Upon whom does his light not arise? The answer is no one. God's all-searching gaze falls upon all things and upon everyone. So it's so far, one through three, all of this is true. When Bildad's bringing this speech, this is really not anything new, but I want us to see that that first part is true. That's accurate. And then verse four. How then can man be in the right before God? How can he who is born a woman be pure? Now Bildad is expecting the answer to be no, none, no one can be pure. Man can't be right before God. And remember, once again, the book of Job is not designed to be teaching the doctrine of total depravity. Yes, we're all born with a sinful nature, but that's not what Bildad is saying. And Job is not attempting to argue that he is sinlessly perfect. That's not the whole point of this book. Job is saying that he has faith in his Redeemer, and that his Redeemer will enable him to one day stand before God in a right relationship. That's what Job is asserting, not that he's perfectly sinless. Job believes that he will have an arbiter or a mediator to stand between himself and God that will enable him to stand before him to be at peace with God and for God to declare him righteous. That's what Job is asserting. And Bildad is saying, no, uh-uh, impossible, nonsense. No one can be right, no one can stand in the right before God. Not even the moon or the stars are acceptable to God. The moon and the stars which shone so brightly in the ancient Near East. Can you imagine yourself out in the desert or the wilderness with no natural or no man-made light at all in the middle of nowhere and then seeing the moon and the stars? They would be so pure, so white, so bright. He says, no, not even the stars and the moon are pure before God. Man says, Bill Ded says, man is a maggot and a worm. A maggot and a worm. Man is an unclean worm, a larva that feeds off dead and rotting things. Again, is he bringing anything new to the table in his last speech? And the answer is no, there's nothing new. We have seen this hyper low view of man We've seen it pop up a couple times throughout the book, but it was first introduced back in Job 4. Remember, that's the first time we hit it, and I wanted to go back there just for a moment to remind ourselves of where we first saw this hyper-low view of man. It was suggested by the evil night spirit. Here's Job 4, 14 through 19. This is Eliphaz speaking. Dread came upon me and trembling, which made all my bones shake, A spirit glided past my face, the hair of my flesh stood up, then I heard a voice. Can mortal man be in the right before God? Can man be pure before his maker? Even if in his servants he puts no trust, in his angels he charges with error, how much more those who dwell in houses of clay, whose foundation is in the dust, who are crushed like a moth. It's that same hyper-low view of man. Now we've talked about this extensively in previous sermons, so we're not gonna go into too much detail this morning. God does not view mankind as maggots and worms. Mankind is the pinnacle of God's creation, more important than the moon, the stars, the earth, the trees, the animals. Man is vastly more important to God than any other aspect of creation. God loves man so much that he sent his one and only son to die for mankind, for the forgiveness of their sins so that they can be forgiven and reconciled to him. So that's just not true. But I want us to see something else that's going on here. So let's pan back for just a minute and look at the bigger picture. Job's persistence Joe's persistence, his resolute determination to hang on tight to the truth is starting to pay some dividends because his opponents, his friends, are running out of things to say. They're not bringing anything new to the table. Remember, there have been three speech cycles, but only two friends speak in this last cycle. Zophar's done, he doesn't have anything else to say. And Bildad's speech here is only six verses long, and they're getting shorter, they're shrinking, they're getting smaller. And what he does say is a repeat of what they've been saying all along. Here's this same hyper-low view of man argument. Even some of the same wording, they're retreading old words that they've used. Look at this in comparison. Here's Job 25.4 that we are looking at this morning, and there's Job 4.17. Almost word for word. Can mortal man be in the right before God? Can mortal man be in the right before God? Man be pure, man be pure. Yeah, it's the same thing. Job's persistence is paying off. They have very little new to say. They have no new arguments. They're out of bullets. There's no gas left in the tank. They're done. And yet Job remains. Well, here's Job's response. This is chapter 26 now. The first verses are Job saying, thanks for nothing. They are a series of sarcastic statements and questions designed to show that Bildad, you and the other two friends have not helped me at all. Your friendly counsel was worthless to me. How have you helped him who has no power? How have you saved the arm that has no strength? Job's without power. Job's the one without strength. How have you counseled him who has no wisdom and plentifully declared sound knowledge? It's just dripping with sarcasm. They haven't plentifully declared sound knowledge. They're speaking falsehood. It's the opposite. With whose help have you uttered words and whose breath has come out from you? Now, we can take this last line a couple different ways. One way is to say, well, you're so foolish and ignorant, you must have had some help with your lofty wisdom and good counsel. That's one way to take it, but I don't think that's it. Breath can also be translated as wind or spirit, as it is in the NIV, KJV, NASV, and ASV. They all translate it as spirit. That makes more sense contextually. Who has helped you? Whose spirit has come out of you? In other words, what you're saying to me, all this bad counsel, and specifically, what's the immediate context? This hyper-low view of man. He's saying, that's not from God. Where did that come from? It didn't come from God, it came from an evil spirit. And of course, we just looked at Job four, and that's exactly where it came from, the evil knife spirit. So, Job is calling them out. He said, you haven't helped me at all. You're being helped by an evil spirit. You came here, you've completely failed in your mission. If you really came here to help me, then you have failed. You've caused me more pain with your words than comfort. You've not spoken what is right. In fact, everything that's come out of your mouth is from the evil one. He's saying, thanks for nothing in these first four verses. Complete fail. What we're seeing in the first four verses is Job telling them, this is not the way that you counsel someone who's suffering and experiencing pain. In other words, you're using the wrong tool. You're struggling with the block of wood and the ballpoint pen, but you really should discard those because this isn't working. You're just making things worse. Now, Job lashes out and launches into verses five through 13, and there are going to be three topics, three subheadings within this section that we're going to look at. Number one, God's dominion knows no boundaries. God's dominion knows no boundaries. The dead tremble under the waters and their inhabitants. Verse five. The dead tremble under the waters and their inhabitants. The place of the dead, or Sheol, in the ancient Near East, this was their concept of where the people go after you die. They're called shades. These dark, shadowy spirits of people, they go down to Sheol, the place of the dead, and it was thought to be someplace very low, very subterranean, very underneath. And so, of course, it would be under, the waters, under the deepest sea. So that's where the dead go. He's talking about Sheol. Sheol is not naked before God. Excuse me, Sheol is naked before God. To be naked is to be exposed, to be seen by God. Abaddon has no covering. Abaddon means destruction. In Greek, this Hebrew word is translated as apollyon, as it is in Revelation 9.11. If you remember from our journey through that book, it refers to Satan. the king of demons. Here's Revelation 9-11. They have his king over them, the angel of the bottomless pit. His name in Hebrew is Abaddon, and in Greek he is called Paulion, that's Satan, the devil. So look what Job's doing. He's saying that God's dominion extends over everything and everywhere, and he makes three stops right at the beginning. The dead, or death, the realm of the dead, Sheol, and the king of demons, Satan. He's saying God's dominion knows no boundaries. There's no place where God's power or dominion or authority does not extend and cover. The dead cannot escape God. They tremble before God. Sheol, the place of the dead, cannot hide anyone. It is naked before God. Even Abaddon, the devil himself, has no covering. So Job is declaring God's victory over death, Satan, and all evil. So that's number one. Number two, God authoritatively sets limits. God authoritatively sets limits. Verse seven, he stretches out the north over the void and hangs the earth on nothing. So the north is not a compass point heading in this verse. It's a different word. In this verse, it's a cosmological reference to the highest or the furthest reaches of the heavens or of existence, and it's where God's throne is. So it's not being used geographically, it's being used symbolically. So the highest heavens where God's throne is, that's where he stretches the north. And then hangs the earth on nothing. This is a rather advanced view of cosmology for the time period in which Job was living. The vast majority of the consensus of ancient peoples was that Earth was kind of this flat disk that was set on some kind of foundation. And Job was saying, here, look, no, it's set not on anything. It's just set in place. It hangs on nothing. Long before mankind would discover the nature of our planet and our solar system, here it is. So he's saying that God has fixed his dwelling place, the highest reaches of heavens in his throne, and he's also set the earth in his place. They both exist, but they have their limits. They have their boundaries. They have their set place. He sets limits on the weather. Verse eight, he binds up the waters as thick clouds, and the cloud is not split under them. Job declares how God is able to take something that's relatively heavy, like water, and have it simply float around in the sky. Have you ever thought about how that happens? I mean, scientifically, we've understood God's creation, we've assigned meaning to it, we've categorized it, but think about that for a minute. Think about how much rain, one inch of rainfall falling on Frankfurt, how much that would weigh. And God simply has that floating in the air, just nothing holding it up, it's just up there. And so God has these great amounts of water that he moves where he wants to, he waters the ground when he needs to water it, and he withholds the water, and he withholds the earth being washed away in a deluge, and he keeps the water up in the air when he desires. So he set limits on the weather, and particularly the rain and the rain clouds. God sets limits on his glory. Verse nine, he covers the face of the full moon and spreads it over spreads over in his cloud. It's a full moon or a throne. Did I mention that Job contains some of the most difficult Hebrew in the entire Bible? Did I mention that along the way here? It does. So that's why you see a lot of these translations that have different words. For example, ESV says cloud, KJV and ASV says throne. I think throne's the better choice here. God is covering his throne. He is shielding his throne in his glory. If we were as finite creatures to behold the infinite power and glory of God, we would not survive. He mercifully protects us from his glory by setting limits on our exposure and our contact with it. Verse 10, God sets limits on light and dark. He has inscribed a circle on the face of the waters at the boundary between light and darkness. So God drew a line, that's poetic language, God drew a line, meaning he set the horizon. This is talking about the horizon that is set between light and dark. The global horizon, the division between night and day. We've all seen a picture of the Earth from space and we can see that. There's this circle, there's this line. Half the globe is dark, half the globe is light. That's what he's referring to. He's set limits on light and darkness. It's always a continual circle around the globe. Again, we see creation themes, Genesis 1, 2 through 4, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters, and God said, let there be light, and there was light. And God separated the light from the darkness, setting limits. So those are the first two. God's dominion knows no boundaries, and God authoritatively sets limits. Now we're gonna turn to verses 11 through 13. This is where I said just stick with me here. The third category is that God powerfully subdued evil. So 11 through 13 all go together. Five and six, God's dominion knows no bounds, even over death, Sheol, Satan, they're all under his authority. Seven through 10, God authoritatively sets limits on light, darkness, heaven, earth, even his own glory. And now he's reaching a crescendo in verses 11 through 13 God powerfully subdued evil and chaotic forces that stand against his good creation. Now I'm gonna read 11 through 13 again, but before we do, I want to do just a little bit of prep work so that we're ready to read it and see it correctly. So the prep work is talking about poetic language in the Bible and bringing in two cross-references. So the first one is poetic language. So in the Bible, When we see words like sea, creatures of the sea, sea monsters, dragons, serpent, Leviathan, Rahab, and Rahab's helpers, when we see any of those words, especially when it's poetic, they often and most often refer to Satan, evil, and the evil chaotic forces that stand against God's good creation. It happens frequently. in poetic language. For example, Genesis 3, 4, the serpent said to the woman, you will not surely die. Was it a snake? Yes, but it was also Satan. I hope we all understand that from the fall. Serpent was Satan. We're gonna go to Isaiah 27. This is a verse about the end of the age when Christ returns and brings defeat and will inflict punishment on all his enemies. It's using poetic language. And this is especially relevant to our passage because it contains the exact phrase that is in our passage. So here's Isaiah 27.1. In that day, the Lord with his hard and great and strong sword will punish Leviathan, the fleeing serpent, Leviathan, the twisting serpent, and he will slay the dragon that is in the sea. We have six references just to that one verse. All of those things are talking about Satan, the devil, evil, all chaos aligned against God and his good creation. Revelation 12, Revelation 12, if you remember when we went through that New Testament verse, it starts off talking about a great dragon that was standing ready to devour the child when the woman gave birth to him. And some of our minds might be thinking, well, I wonder what the dragon is. I wonder what that, is that a real dragon? Is that what it means? No. It's a symbolic language. How do we know that? Well, we just have to keep reading. Because when we get to Revelation 12, 9, it says, and the great dragon was thrown down, the ancient serpent, who is called the devil and Satan, the deceiver of the whole world, he was thrown down to the earth and his angels were thrown down with him, his helpers. Once again, serpent, dragon, you see that language using It's used symbolically in Revelation, like a lot of the Revelation language was. Remember, we went through that. It's a lot of symbolic language in Revelation. And then Rahab, this is Job 9.13. We've already covered this when we went through Job chapter nine. God will not turn back his anger. Beneath him bowed the helpers of Rahab. You remember that context. It was, again, a personification of evil and chaotic forces aligned against God's good creation. and Job was declaring back in Job 9 that God is powerful enough to make the helpers of Rahab bow down to him, then how is Job supposed to stand before God? God is most powerful. So, when we see references to sea, sea creatures, sea monsters, dragons, serpents, fleeing serpents, twisting serpents, Leviathan, Rahab, and Rahab helpers in the Bible, and when it's used poetically and symbolically, it means Satan, the devil, and evil chaotic forces aligned against God's good creation. So that's number one of the prep work. Number two, cross references. Psalm 74. Psalm 74 is a lament. It's a community lament. It was designed to be spoken to by the people of God, and they were lamenting. They were crying out in sadness to God, and they were lamenting the fact that God had seemed to abandon them. This was at a point where the temple was destroyed. It had been burned. They were seemingly cast off from God. God had seemingly abandoned them. They were being treated almost as if they were one of his enemies rather than one of his friends. And with this lament, they call out to God to act. And as part of their cry out to God, they remember or review what God has done for them and what God has done in the past. And so they describe, using poetic language, God's dominion has no boundaries, God authoritatively sets limits within creation, and how God powerfully subdued evil and chaotic forces that are aligned against his good creation. Listen to Psalm 74. How long, O God, is the foe to scoff? Is the enemy to revile your name forever? Why do you hold back your hand, your right hand? Take it from the fold of your garment and destroy them. Yet God, my King, is from old, working salvation in the midst of the earth. You divided the sea by your might. You broke the heads of the sea monsters on the waters. You crushed the heads of Leviathan. You gave him as food for the creatures of the wilderness. You split open springs and brooks, you dried up ever-flowing streams. Yours is the day, yours also the night. You have established the heavenly lights and the sun. You have fixed all the boundaries of the earth. You have made summer and winter." Did you hear all three components in there? Number one, yours is the day, yours also is the night. God's dominion knows no boundaries, day and night. You have fixed the boundaries of the earth. That's talking about setting limits. And number three, you broke the heads of the sea monsters and Leviathan. So doing evil. All three components. And interestingly, in a community lament, but with language that sounded a lot like Job crying out. Psalm 89 is also a community lament. The people of God are lamenting the fact that God has seemingly cast them off and abandoned them. They're asking how long God will hide himself from him and withhold his steadfast love. God had promised David and his lion that he would be with them, and they're asking God to make good on that promise, make good on your covenantal faithfulness and your steadfast loving kindness to David and his anointed. And so they cry out to God, and as part of their cry, they recount or review what he's done in the past using poetic language. They describe how God's dominion has no boundaries, how he authoritatively sets limits, and how he subdues evil. So here's Psalm 89. O Lord God of hosts, who is as mighty as you are, O Lord, with your faithfulness all around you. You rule the raging of the sea. When its waves rise, you still them. You crushed Rahab like a carcass and you scattered your enemies with your mighty arm. The heavens are yours, the earth also is yours, the world and all that is in it, you have founded them. All three components. The heavens are yours, the earth also. Domini knows no boundaries. When the waves rise, you still them, you set limits on those waves. You crush right half, you defeat evil. Okay, prep work's done. Now, let's look at 11 through 13 again. Job 26, 11, 13, the pillars of heaven tremble and are astounded at his rebuke. By his power, he stilled the sea. By his understanding, he shattered Rahab. By his wind, the heavens were made fair. His hand pierced the flaying serpent. I think we should all have a pretty good idea of what that's talking about by now. That's not talking about God blowing clouds away to make the skies clear, to clear up the weather and give us a sunny day. He's not talking about literally making the sea calm and still, although God does, and He has the power to do that. He's talking about powerfully subduing evil and evil chaotic forces that are aligned against His good created order. And that completes the third section, So now in Job, what we have are all three. Five through six, God's dominion knows no boundaries. Seven through 10, God authoritatively sets limits. 11 through 13, God powerfully subdued evil, chaotic forces, and Satan himself. Now let's bring it back into the whole passage. Verses one through four were Job telling his friends, thanks for nothing. Remember? Sarcasm, questions and statements designed to point out that they have been using the wrong tool. That's completely not helpful. And then five and 13 is Job saying, here's what you should have said. Five through 13 are Job saying, here's the right tool. Here's what would have been helpful. Here's what you should have said if you genuinely wanted to comfort me. This is what people need to hear when they are suffering. This is the right tool to use. When someone has placed their faith and trust in Jesus Christ and find themselves in a place of extreme suffering or hurt, this is how you are to minister to them. Tell them that God's dominion has no boundaries. This pain, this problem, this crisis, this suffering, whatever you're going through is not beyond God's reach. If God can reach to the highest heavens and to the depths of hell, then he can reach your suffering and pain. Tell them that God has set limits on all his creation, and that includes limits on their suffering and pain. God who stilled the sea, who will also still their life and give them peace. God will not allow them to endure one second more than what he has allotted for them, and it's always for their good. God's steadfast love is with them. He will not allow the oppressive darkness that is surrounding them to cross the threshold of horizon that he has set on their life. It will not creep over one inch more than he allows it to. Tell them that God is more powerful than they could ever imagine. God is more powerful than their suffering. He's more powerful than evil. He's more powerful than devil. The Satan is a defeated enemy. The Leviathan has been slain. The fleeing serpent has been vanquished. Tell them that death itself doesn't even have power over God's people. You can trust him. This is what Job was telling his friends the right tool is. This is good and proper counsel for someone who's experiencing suffering and pain. This is what we can tell believers who are going through even the darkest of times. It's what God's people turn to in their laments. This is the exact same pattern that Israel used in their community laments. God's commanding he has no boundaries, he sets limits, and he has defeated and subdued all evil. On this side of the cross, we can rightly connect these truths to Jesus. Jesus is the one who achieved victory over death by rising from the grave. Jesus is the one who defeated the ancient serpent, the devil, Satan, when he went to the cross. Jesus is the one who calmed the raging sea. Jesus is the one we can turn to to give us peace and salvation. And finally, we come to the very last verse. You'll notice that I skipped over that earlier. This last verse, verse 14, this is just a tagline at the end. This is a postscript from Job to his friends. P.S. from Job. Verse 14, behold, these are but the outskirts of his ways, and how small a whisper do we hear of him. Job is saying, everything I just mentioned, all the grand majesty and grandeur of God, all the glory that I just talked about, that's just a little bit. That's just a small portion of what he allows us to see. It's a whisper compared to the thundering of his power and the totality of who God is. We hear a little whisper. And so what he's telling his friends is, don't try to explain the things of God as if you have him all figured out because you don't. Don't try to sit there and tell me and speak the things of God because you don't know the things of God. This is a little PS from Joe. The right tool. I'm sure we've all picked up tools to help people when they're suffering and in pain. Maybe you've brought somebody a plate of food. Maybe you've given them a card with a note inside or some flowers. Those are good tools. Those are good tools. They're good tools for showing someone that they're not alone, that you care for them, that you love them, that you're remembering them. They're good tools for showing people something nice towards them and to make them know that they're not alone. So we should stop doing those tools, but those tools aren't words. And sometimes people will say, well, I don't know what to say. If something really bad is happening, I don't know what to say. So they'll use some of the non-word tools. Those are good. Let's not stop using those tools. Please hear me. Don't stop doing those things for people. Those are good tools. But they're not word tools. They will not redirect and shape our response to the pain and suffering. They will not center our minds on God's sovereignty and providence. They're not unchanging truths about God's power and authority and protection and deliverance. So if we have an opportunity to share words, Now we know what that tool is. Now we know which tool to pick up and use. This is the tool to use when it's time to speak words. Because here's the thing, I've had unbelievers share the non-mortar tools with me. I'm sure we all have, right? I've had unbelieving friends and neighbors give a plate of food or a card or something like that, and that's good, those are good tools. I've never had an unbeliever tell me that God's dominion has no boundaries. I've never had an unbelieving neighbor tell me that he authoritatively sets limits so I can be encouraged because God is not going to allow this pain to overstep the bounds that God has set in place. I've never had an unbeliever tell me that God has vanquished all evil. So if you're one of those people that say, well, I never know what to say, say this. Put it in your own words, of course. You don't have to make a three-point sermon out of it. But, you know, as needed, elaborate. Put in your own words, God's got you. Just even that little short phrase, God's got you, that communicates the truths of what we're saying here. If you have more time, share some more. Share Scripture itself. Take them to Job 26. Use this as a passage to minister to somebody who's in pain. Explain what that means, and then explain how it applies to them. Take them to Psalm 74. Take them to Psalm 89 and say, this is how God's people have reached out and called out to God in the past when they've been experiencing pain and suffering, and you can too. And somebody might respond to that and say, well, they're believers, they're mature believers, they already know all that. I understand that. Remind them. Because they're not going to hear it from a believer Unless they're working with Christian brothers and sisters, they're not gonna hear it at work, they're not gonna hear it anywhere else, they're gonna hear it from you. And they may be hurting so much that they don't know up from down or if they're coming and going. They need to hear the truths of God being spoken into their life by someone else who has the spirit of God in them. Does that make sense? Remind them. Remind them. I would benefit from somebody speaking these truths into my life. I know them. But to hear another brother and sister speak now is powerful. Sharing these anchor truths with our brothers and sisters who are hurting is a tool that God has supplied for us in his word. Let us pick it up and use it. God's dominion has no boundaries, he authoritatively sets limits, and he has subdued and defeated all enemy. Amen. Heavenly Father, we thank you for your word. We thank you for your Holy Spirit who powerfully works through your word to minister to us. Because at some point in our life, Lord, we're all there. We all go through dark times. We need to be reminded of your power, of your glory, of your majesty, of these anchor truths that will enable us to redirect our hearts and minds to you. They will keep us from despair. They will keep us from hopelessness. They will bring glory to you. So Father, help us to use this right tool in our own words to our brothers and sisters We're suffering. Amen.