Alright brethren, let's go to Psalm 138. Now last week we were here and we saw how the the Lord magnifies His Word. We're going to read that again, verses 1 and 2, so we can stay with the context here. And I'll remind you again that that word, God's, is the word that speaks of civil judges and rulers, as well as religious rulers. And men, by nature, think they are as God's, attributing to themselves things only God can do. All sinners in an unregenerate state think they are as gods. He said in verse 1, I will praise thee with my whole heart. Before the gods will I sing praise unto thee. I will worship toward thy holy temple. that temple pictured Christ. I'm going to worship looking to Christ. I'll praise thy name for thy loving kindness and for thy truth. For thou has magnified thy word above all thy name." Now David's saying here he's not ashamed to preach Christ before the gods. He's not ashamed to preach him before anyone, no matter how office, whatever high office they hold, or whoever they are, he's not afraid to speak of Christ because God's magnified his word to him. That's why. And here he's going to tell us how God magnified his word to him. He said, verse 3, in the day when I cried, thou answeredest me. and strengtheneth me with strength in my soul." That's why he's not ashamed to declare the gospel. That's why he's not ashamed. The Lord heard his prayer, the Lord answered him, the Lord magnified the word to him and the gospel of Christ to him, and so he's not afraid to speak before literal kings and princes as well as unregenerate men that think they're king. He's not afraid to speak this gospel, not ashamed anymore. And next he gonna say, now here's what the Lord is gonna do through this gospel. as he preaches the gospel to anyone that will listen. This is what the Lord's going to do through the gospel. Verse 4, all the kings of the earth, connect that. See, he said, I'm not ashamed to praise you before the gods, before the rulers, the kings, and the rulers, and the men that think they're his kings. And here's going to be the result. All the kings of the earth shall praise thee, O Lord, when they hear the words of thy mouth. Yea, they shall sing in the ways of the Lord, for great is the glory of the Lord. We'll reference those last verses, but I'll do that when we get to them. Now here's going to be our points. I'll try to preach just right from the Word. I want you to see what the Word says. Number one, the Lord answers the prayer of His people. He said there in verse three, In the day when I cried, thou answeredest me. Number two, the Lord strengthens us inwardly, inwardly. He said, and you strengthen us, me, with strength in my soul. And then by answering us and by strengthening us, making us look toward Christ the temple, seeing all his wonderful works, what he's done for us. We're not ashamed anymore to preach this gospel before kings, and this is what the Lord does through the gospel. All the kings of the earth shall praise thee, O Lord, when they hear the words of thy mouth. Yea, they shall sing in the ways of the Lord, for great is the glory of the Lord. Now, first of all, The Lord answers the prayer of His people. The Lord answers the prayer of His people. The Lord hears all the prayers of His people. He hears all our prayers, but this is specifically speaking of the cry of a sinner who's seen he's poor and needy and has no strength and needs the Lord to save him. This is the cry of all cries when you're poor and needy and you need Christ to save you. God before ordained. He before prepared every work that the Lord effectually brings his children to do. I'm working toward a point here to show you that, but when we pray, the Lord works prayer in the heart. He gives prayer into our heart. But I want to show you something. Go with me to Ephesians 2 and look here at verse 10. God before ordained every work, and then he brings his children to walk in those good works. He said in Ephesians 2, he said there in verse, he's talking about how the Lord quickened us, brought us, gave us life by the Spirit, and he said in verse 8, for by grace are you saved through faith, and that not of yourselves, it's a gift of God, not of works, lest any man should boast. For we are his workmanship. created in Christ Jesus unto good works which God hath before ordained, or before prepared, that we shall walk in them. That's what the word should mean, we shall walk in them. Now, he just before that spoke of him giving us faith, to walk by faith. Now what does he say after that? After this is where he speaks about how the Lord came The Lord Jesus, we were dead in our sins, the Gentiles, that's us, we were dead in our sins, just like the Jews were. Before his elect, Christ came forth and he worked peace for us, and then he came and preached peace to us, and he caused us to believe on him and to walk by faith, trusting him. The righteousness of Christ. Righteousness, perfect righteousness, which is the fulfillment of the law and perfection, perfect righteousness, also called justification. That is a work that God ordained that all his elect people shall walk in. And he before prepared it by the Lord Jesus Christ coming and working all righteousness for us, going to the cross and justifying us of all our sins. And when the Holy Spirit regenerates us, when he comes in spirit and regenerates us, and when of God, Christ is made unto us righteousness, we see he's our righteousness. From then on, We walk in this good work, we walk by faith in Christ, having his righteousness robed us, God robes us in his righteousness, and we walk by faith in this righteousness that God ordained we shall walk in, that he prepared for us to walk in. And then sanctification called holiness. That is one of those good works. We're going to walk in holiness, perfect holiness, what God calls holiness. God before prepared, he ordained for his children, for his elect, that we would walk in holiness. And Christ prepared it for us by fulfilling the will of God. You know Hebrews 10, by the witch will we are sanctified through the offering of Jesus Christ once for all time. by Him fulfilling the will of God. And then the Holy Spirit comes, and in the new birth, He sanctifies us. He creates a new holy man, and of God, Christ has made sanctification to it. We see that's what true sanctification of the heart is, is to make you look out of yourself, away from yourself, away from your works, to Christ who made you holy. He made us holy. And that's a work of holiness that God before prepared that His people shall walk in. Christ prepared that for us to walk in holiness. And when the Lord Jesus sanctifies His people, He told Paul, when He called Paul, He said, we're sanctified through faith that is in Christ. True sanctification of the heart makes you look to Christ in faith and trust He is your perfect holiness before God. He is your perfect help. Redemption. Redemption is deliverance from sin and death. That's what it is. Redemption. And it's by Christ our redemption. And when in the new birth, when the Holy Spirit of life gives you life and faith and frees you from the law of sin and death. He does it by making you look to Christ of God as Christ made redemption unto us. God will have us to walk in this good work Christ has prepared for us and Christ has fulfilled for us, the work of redemption that He's accomplished for us. And so He brings you to walk in this good work and as John 8 says, The Lord said, when he casts out the devil out of the house, and the Son of God abideth forever in our house, in us, he said, if the Son therefore shall make you free, you shall be free indeed. If he redeemed you, you're free indeed. If he delivered you, you're free indeed. See, every good work Every good work that God our Father before ordained, Christ Jesus our Savior, worked for us. He worked every good work, what the scripture refers to as good works. Christ worked every one of those good works and he is our righteousness and our holiness in every one of those good works. So that when God brings you to walk in those good works and do those individual good works that he ordained that you shall do, you are perfectly righteous and perfectly holy by Christ. He's the righteousness and holiness of those works that he brings you to do. because He foreordained it and He before prepared it that you would walk in it. Now, I said all that to say this. Our text is saying, I cried and He answered my prayer. Well, just like the Lord works everything else in salvation, worked it for us in Christ, by what Christ did for us, and then comes and works in us to make us look out of ourselves to Christ. Just like He does all of that work, It's God who brings you to pray to Him and cry to Him. We don't see our need. We don't see that we're poor and have no righteousness and no holiness or nothing but sin. We don't see that till God works that in you and makes you behold it. All right, look back at Psalm 27. I quoted this last time, but I want you to look at it. Psalm 27, and I'm gonna come back to this Psalm if you wanna mark it. Psalm 27, eight. When thou saidst, Seek ye my face, my heart said unto thee, Thy face, Lord, will I seek. I'll give you another scripture that goes right along with this. Romans 8.26, Paul said, The Spirit also helpeth our infirmities, for we know not what we should pray for as we ought. But the Spirit himself maketh intercession for us with groanings that cannot be uttered. And he that searcheth the hearts knoweth what is the mind of the Spirit, because he maketh intercession for the saints according to the will of God. So the Lord puts this prayer in our heart. He puts the cry, the need for Him, He puts that in our heart. We think we're self-sufficient without it. We think we are as gods without Him putting this cry in our heart. But when He puts this cry in our heart, you cry to Him in truth and lowliness and meekness. Bow down, poor in spirit, and He hears your prayer. He hears your prayer. He put the prayer there. He put the cry in our heart. So He promises this. And Isaiah, I want you to look at this too. Isaiah 65, verse 24. He promises us this right here. And I'm going to show you some examples of this. Isaiah 65 verse 24. He said, it shall come to pass that before they call, I will answer. And while they are yet speaking, I will hear. That's the Lord's promise. Before we call, He has answered us by making us see our need of Him. Before we call on Him, He's answered us already by making us see we need Him. and put that cry in our hearts. And while we're yet speaking, while we're crying unto him, he hears and he answers our petition. That's what David's talking about in our Psalm. In the day when I cried, thou answeredest me. This is how you magnified your word to me. This is how you made me see every promise you made is sure and certain in Christ. When I cried, you answered my prayer. Look at Acts 9. You know the story of our Lord and His dealings with Paul when He was Saul of Tarsus. How did Paul come to cry to the Lord? The Lord arrested Paul on the road to Damascus. He shined the light and put Paul in the dust, brought him down to the dust, and He asked him, why are you persecuting me? And Paul was made to cry unto Him. The Lord did all that. The Lord answered him before Paul even called on him. He put the cry in his heart. Look here in verse 3. As he journeyed, he came near Damascus, and suddenly there shone right about him a light from heaven. And he fell to the earth and heard a voice saying unto him, Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me? That's the Lord answering Paul before Paul ever even called on him. What's he doing? He's gonna make Paul call on him. And the Lord said, and he said, Paul said, when the Lord said that, Paul said, who art thou, Lord? He cried to the Lord. Who art thou, Lord? And the Lord said, I'm Jesus whom thou persecutest. It's hard for thee to kick against the bricks. When he called on him, when Paul cried and said, who is it, Lord? Christ answered him. That's Isaiah 65. He answered him before he cried to him by putting a prayer in his heart. Then when he cried, who are you, Lord? He answered him. And verse six, and he trembling and astonished said, Lord, what will thou have me to do? You see this spirit of him now, what will you have me do? And the Lord said to him, Arise and go into the city, and it shall be told thee what thou must do. And Christ sent Ananias to tell him what he must do. Christ told Ananias, Behold, he prayeth. He's praying to me. I've answered him. Now you go forth and you preach this word to him. And we're going to see what the kings will do when they hear the words of his mouth. They're going to do what Paul did. They're going to bow down and worship him. Before he called, the Lord answered him. He brought him, he shone the light, he put him in the dust, and he made him say, who are you, Lord? And then the Lord answered him. In the day when I cried, thou answerest me. Let me show you an example with a believer, with one that he's already called, who's already one of his saints. Go with me to Daniel chapter nine. Daniel chapter nine. He does the same thing for you and me after He's called us. Look here in Daniel 9 verse 18. It's a little lengthy, but I'm actually not reading all of it. I'm just going to read Read some of it, but you go home tonight, read the whole thing. But Daniel 9, 18. Daniel prays, oh my God, incline thine ear and hear. Open thine eyes and behold our desolations in the city which is called by thy name. For we do not present our supplications before thee for our righteousness, but for thy great mercies. O Lord, hear! O Lord, forgive! O Lord, hearken and do! Defer not for thine own sake, O my God, for thy city and thy people are called by thy name. Now watch this. And while I was speaking, and praying and confessing my sin and the sin of my people Israel and presenting my supplication before the Lord, my God, for the holy mountain of my God. Yea, while I was speaking in prayer, even the man Gabriel, whom I had seen in the vision at the beginning, being caused to fly swiftly, touched me about the time of the evening oblation, and he informed me and talked with me and said, O Daniel, I am now come forth to give thee skill and understanding. At the beginning of thy supplications, the commandment came forth, and I am come to show thee. for thou art greatly beloved, therefore understand the matter and consider the vision." And he answered Daniel by preaching Christ, by declaring what Christ would accomplish. He said, verse 24, 70 weeks are determined upon thy people and upon thy holy city to finish the transgression and to make an end of sins and to make reconciliation for iniquity and to bring in everlasting righteousness and to seal up the vision and prophecy and to anoint the Most Holy." That's how he answered him. That's the strength in which he strengthened him. But did you see that? Before he called, the Lord answered him. He said, as soon as you began to speak, the commandment came to me to come to you and strengthen you inwardly. That's what Gabriel said. Reverend, He's done the same thing in us. He's magnified His Word to us by answering us before we called. He put the prayer in our heart to cry unto Him, and in the day when we cried, the Lord answered. The Lord answered. That's how He magnifies the Word of Christ Jesus to us. That's how He magnifies the Word. He answers the prayer we heard. Do you see this now? He puts the prayer in your heart before you call on Him. Then when you call on Him, He answers you. Now, what does He strengthen you with? We saw how He strengthened Daniel. He strengthened him with Christ, the gospel. Well, that's the strength. Verse 3 in our text says, and He strengthens me with strength in my soul. Christ is the strength. He's the power of God into salvation. He's the strength and He strengthens us inwardly. He strengthens us in that new man. Now, you know, natural man goes through some struggles. Natural men go through struggles in this world and they can usually bear up under them and they come out of them. But when they go through struggles and troubles and they don't, Christ don't teach them anything. They come out ragging on themselves, you know, oh, I was just a strong-willed. Or if they're religious, falsely religious, they'll say, you know, God did his part and I did my part. You know, all these things like this. What the Spirit declares in Ephesians 2. What did He say? He said Christ came and He preached peace to us. That's how He brought us to walk in the good work of faith. That's how He brought us to walk in Christ's righteousness alone and in Christ's holiness alone and being freed by Christ alone. He came and He preached peace to us and He made it effectual in our inward man. That's the strength. He magnified His Word inwardly to you. And by that, He made you see your need of Christ. He made us see that we have no righteousness of our own and no holiness, and we began to cry to the Lord. And it was Christ and His finished work that strengthened us inwardly. That was the strength of our heart, Christ and His finished work. Psalm 28.8 says this, The Lord is their strength, and He is the saving strength of His anointed. That's the Lord. The Lord is their strength, and He is the saving strength of His anointed. Psalm 73, 26. You know this one well. My flesh and my heart faileth, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever. Look with me at Romans chapter 5. From the day the Lord called us and strengthened us inwardly and made us see Christ is all our strength, all our salvation, From that day forward, in every trial we've gone through, the Lord has been teaching us more and more that He is truly all our strength, and all our righteousness, everything we need, He's teaching us that more and more. And so He brings you to actually be thankful for the trouble. Look here, Romans 5.3, He said, and not only so, What's he saying? He just said we glory in the Lord for having saved us and justified us and brought us into this grace wherein we stand. And he said, and we don't only glory in that, but we glory in tribulation also. We praise the Lord for tribulation also, knowing that tribulation worketh patience. He gives you a heart to wait on the Lord. He works perseverance in you, patience. And patience works experience, character. He gives you a better understanding of how weak we are and how strong our Lord is, that He's our only strength. And experience hope. He grows us to know we have a sure hope in Christ. and hope maketh not ashamed. Remember last time we saw, you won't be ashamed for trusting Christ, to trust Christ and confess Christ, and you won't be ashamed for trusting Christ. Hope makes not ashamed, because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost, which is given to us. Let's hear David say that in our Psalm. Look at Psalm, back to Psalm 138. Listen, that's what he says at the end of this Psalm. The Lord taught him, so as he declared the Lord Jesus before the gods, as he declared Christ before men who thought they were his gods, or before his friends who were kings, Hiram, you know, who came and brought him some timber from Lebanon. David would preach the gospel to these men. And this was David's patience, this was his experience, this was his hope right here, verse 6. He said, Though the Lord be high, yet hath he respect unto the lowly. But the proud he knoweth afar off. Though I walk in the midst of trouble, thou wilt revive me. David learned that over and over and over. Though I walk in the midst of trouble, thou wilt revive me. Thou shalt stretch forth thine hand against the wrath of mine enemies, and thy right hand shall save me. The Lord will perfect that which concerneth me. Who's David saying his strength is? He's saying the Lord's his strength. You're right, hand Lord. The Lord will perfect that which concerneth me, meaning he'll work everything that concerns me. Thy mercy, O Lord, endureth forever. Liloquy says, forsake not the works of thine own hand. We're His workmanship. And David's praying for all his brethren and for himself. They're saying, don't forsake us, Lord. We're the work of Your hands. You're working all this in us. You're working all this for us and in us. Christ taught Paul that. So here's what Paul told the Ephesians. Back in Ephesians 3, Paul taught him that. The Lord taught Paul that over and over. And so Paul prayed this right here. Ephesians 3.16 He prayed that the Lord, he said, I bow my knees to the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, of whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named, that he would grant you, according to the riches of his glory, to be strengthened with might by his Spirit in the inner man. That's the strength we're talking about. That Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith. that ye, being rooted and grounded in love, may be able to comprehend with all saints what is the breadth and length and depth and height, and to know the love of Christ which passeth knowledge, that ye might be filled with all the fullness of God." That's the strength he works in the hearts of his people. Over and over you experience trouble and he teaches you this over and over. So you're able to strengthen your brethren with these words. He did that for Peter. Look at 1 Peter 5 and verse 10. He magnified his word to Peter. He brought Peter to cry. He brought him through the trouble and he strengthened him in his heart and saved him through his trouble. So Peter then, he was able to comfort his brethren with these words. 1 Peter 5 verse 10. He said, But the God of all grace, who hath called us unto his eternal glory by Christ Jesus, after that you've suffered a while, will make you perfect, establish, strengthen, and settle you. To him be glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen. Peter learned that through trouble. He learned that through trouble. That's how Christ is teaching us more and more through the trouble, that he's all our strength. He's all our salvation. In every way, He's our salvation. So, whereas the earthly man, he'll come out of the trial and he's praising himself and patting himself on the back for how strong he is, the Lord's child's coming out of the trial and saying with David, it's good for me that I've been afflicted, that I might learn thy statutes. I'm seeing more and more, Lord. You're my strength. You're my righteousness. You're my wholeness. You're everything. Go with me back there to Psalm 27. Now we value the word of these prophets and these Old Testament saints. We value their word, but I think we forget sometimes that they learn these things that they speak through a lot of sorrow and trouble. The Lord's saving them through all these little trials. We heard David declare, when the Lord said, seek ye my face, my heart said unto thee, thy face, Lord, will I seek? Well, look how this psalm begins. Verse one, he said, the Lord is my light and my salvation, whom shall I fear? The Lord is the strength of my life. Of whom shall I be afraid? When the wicked even mine enemies and my foes, the gods, those that think they're God, when they came upon me to eat up my flesh, they stumbled and fell. Though a host should encamp against me, my heart shall not fear. The war should rise against me. In this will I be confident. What he just said, the Lord being the strength of my life, that's my confidence. It's not me. We're the circumcision who worship God in the spirit, rejoice in Christ Jesus, and have no confidence in the flesh. Our confidence is the Lord is the strength of my life. But how did David learn that? He was accomplished about by enemies. And the Lord showed him, the Lord taught him. The Lord will give strength to His people. The Lord will bless His people with peace. He will. Now, let's go back to our psalm. There's a purpose. God has a purpose in all of this. He's not just randomly putting you through trials. And it's not only for your benefit. It is for your benefit. You're going to profit through it by what He teaches you. But it's so that we will be We will be strengthened to declare his word when he puts you before somebody that thinks they are his gods, whether they be a literal king and a literal prince or just somebody that thinks they are, so that you won't be ashamed to speak the gospel because Christ has shown you over and over he's your strength. And He can make the word effectual. He'll bring them to cry unto Him. If they're His, He'll bring them to cry unto Him. He'll answer them before they cry, make them see their need, and then as they're crying to Him, He'll answer them. He's shown you that. He's taught you that. And so He says here, verse 4, This is what he's gonna work through this gospel. All the kings of the earth shall praise the old Lord when they hear the words of thy mouth. Yea, they shall sing in the ways of the Lord, for great is the glory of the Lord. Does he mean literal kings? Well, Paul said in 1 Corinthians, there's not many mighty and there's not many noble, but there are some. He didn't say there weren't any. There's not many, but there are some. Yeah, there's some literal kings and princes that the Lord shall save. When Paul told Timothy to pray for all men, because God will have all men to be saved, he told him pray for kings and those rulers in authority, and what he was saying was, is God will save all his people from the king, those elect that are kings and princes, and those that are paupers, and every one of them in between that are hid. He's gonna save them. And so pray for them. You don't know who they are. And you may be praying for the king that he may be God's elect that God's going to bring to bow to Christ. Wouldn't it be amazing if God brought our president to bow to Christ and for the first time really understood the gospel and proclaimed the gospel? He can do that. He has done in the past. David is the one writing our psalm. He did it for David. This also applies to the fact that all unregenerate sinners think they are kings. They think they are kings. And He's going to make you see you're poor and needy. He's going to put a cry in their heart, and He's going to make them see Christ is the King of kings and Lord of lords, and He alone is salvation. Look at Psalm 72. That's what this psalm appears to me to say. The kings of Tarshish and of the Isles shall bring presents. Psalm 72, 10. That's Gentiles is what he's saying here. And everywhere, if you start looking this up in the scripture where you see him talking about saving kings, he always mentions that he's talking about the Gentiles. So I don't necessarily think he's just talking about men who hold the office of a king. I think he's talking about elect Gentiles who think they're kings, who think they're sovereign to do what they will and boasting in their will. And he says, but he is talking about men that hold office of kings, but he's talking about men that think they're king. He said, the kings of Tarshish and of the Isles shall bring presents. The kings of Sheba and Seba shall offer gifts. Yea, all kings shall fall down before him. All nations shall serve him. He's talking about his elect from all nations. You know Revelation. He called us out of all, every tribe tongue kindred on the earth. Look, Now look, for he shall deliver the needy when he crieth, the poor also, and him that hath no helper, he shall spare the poor and needy, and shall save the souls of the needy. That's where he's gonna bring the kings. Whether they hold a little office of a king, or they just thank their king and thank their little gods, he's gonna bring them to see they're poor and needy, and they have nothing without Christ. So Christ came, He made Himself a servant to men who thought ourselves all-powerful. Look at Isaiah 49. We thought ourselves all-powerful, and He made Himself a servant to serve for His people, though we abhorred Him and despised Him. But look what He says here in Isaiah 49, 7. Thus saith the Lord, the Redeemer of Israel, And His Holy One, this is the Lord Jesus, the Redeemer of Israel, the Holy One, to Him whom man despiseth, to Him whom the nation abhors, to a servant of rulers. See there, He made Himself the servant of rulers. Was that just those men that held office, some high office? That's me and you. We thought we were the rulers. We were as guides. But he said, kings shall see and they'll arise. Princes also shall worship. Worship means they'll bow down. They'll bow the knee to Christ because of the Lord that is faithful, the Holy One of Israel, and he shall choose thee. You see what he's saying? He gonna bring his elect. I don't care if you hold the greatest office in the land, in the world. or if you're just a poor sinner who thinks he is as God, He's going to bring you to see you have nothing without Christ. You are poor and you're needy, and He's going to bring you to cry on Him. And the sure result, back in our text in verse 5, He said, Yea, they shall sing in the ways of the Lord. They'll sing in the ways of the Lord. They're going to praise the Lord for His ways, for what He's worked. for choosing His people, and for sending His Son to redeem His people, and for sending the Holy Spirit to irresistibly call His people, and for giving us faith, and for bringing us to walk in His works that He's before ordained, for answering our prayer before we call it, putting that prayer in our heart, and making us cry to Him. All these are the ways of the Lord. It's how the Lord works, and He's gonna bring His people to praise Him for that. They are going to sing in the ways of the Lord, for great is the glory of the Lord. Revelation 15 verse 4 says, this will be my last scripture. Revelation 15 verse 4 says, Who shall not fear, O Lord, and glorify Thy name? For Thou only art holy, for all nations shall come. and worship before Thee, for Thy judgments are made manifest. All His elect people that He redeemed, they're going to come by His Spirit, by His grace. They're going to be made to cry to Him for mercy, and He's going to give them mercy, robe them in His righteousness, make them see He's their holiness, and keep them and save them till He brings them home to glory. And as far as the rest, everybody, everybody, little would-be kings and would-be gods are going to all bow the knee in the Day of Judgment, and they're going to confess, He is the King of kings and the Lord of lords, through the praise and glory of God. But then they'll be cast out. But everyone that's His, He's going to bring us to bow to Him. When He cried, when you cry, He hears you. And Christ is the strength of your heart. His gospel, what He's accomplished, who He is, what He's done for you, that's the strength of the heart. And when you were walking around like you were a king and a god, you were about to bow down and worship Him and sing of all His ways and glory only in Him. That's what the Lord works through this. And the reason He's doing that for you, putting you through this trouble, and saving you out of it, and showing you He's never gonna let you go, is so that when you come in contact with anybody that He's opened the door for you to speak of Him to them, you'll speak the gospel and won't be ashamed. That's why He works this. There's a purpose in it. Not only for your benefits, for the benefit of those He's gonna call through our Word. That's what He's doing. Father, we thank You for this Word. Lord, Your ways are They're high, they're holy, they're perfect. Lord, we thank you for your ways. Thank you for the way in which you save your people. Lord, we thank you for the troubles you teach us through the affliction and make us see Christ is everything that we need, that he is all. You keep us looking to him and him alone. Lord, Give us the strength. Give us the faith to speak Your name and the glory in You before men, to speak to men about what You've done, what You've accomplished, who You are. Pray that You will call them out, Lord. Give them a heart to cry to You and answer their prayer. Lord, give us hearts to speak of You. to anybody you give us opportunity to speak to. And Lord, bless your word. We thank you, we praise you in glory in your name. For Christ's sake, we pray this, that you hear us and keep us, Lord. Amen. All right, Brother Adam.