Beloved congregation of our Lord and Savior and Jesus Christ, prayer day service is always an interesting service to lead. And for me, it's always a struggle. Now together we've gone through six of the seven letters to the seven churches, and on Sunday, the Lord willing, we will bring that part of Revelation to a close. But we've noticed that the life in those churches has something to say to us in the life of our churches today. And in a number of those churches, we have seen together that there was this marriage of the dark and the light, of white and of black, of Christianity and paganism. And we saw there the detestable practices that came with it, the debauchery that came with it, but with paganism there always comes with it the manipulation of the God. The reason they did all these lewd and lascivious things was to arouse the God, and especially in the mother cult, and the fertility cult, the idea was to arouse the gods so that they would come together in a man and woman way and then impregnate the earth and then the earth would give forth its bounty, its regeneration, its reproduction. And so they normally had spectacular and debauched spring services and ceremonies and feasts and all of the like. So why am I telling you all of this? Well, I struggle a little bit within my heart, and I don't know if you do, but why are we doing this tonight? Because it's spring, and we're looking forward to the coming to life of the earth, a blessing for the planting, so we can have food and we can have drink. But there's this part in me that's going, we know that the Bible teaches that everything we have is by the grace of Almighty God. that we need to come to God in the expectation of His glory, and the hallowing of His name. And if there's even just a little part of me in this tonight, and you tonight, and us as a group tonight, that we're doing this because if we don't do it, we won't get blessed, then we should go home now. Then we've missed it. What is Jesus doing in heaven? Is Jesus simply about feeding us? Making sure that we have a nice place to go home to tonight? That we have a beautiful church building? That we have a lovely piano? That we have the clothes and everything else? Is that really what all of this is about? Is that what this is about tonight? Do you remember when you were children? Some of you are children. I remember when we would eat, and then if you would start eating before we prayed, at least in my house, there was a discussion about that. And I think mom and dad probably did that with a little bit tongue-in-cheek, but I think some of you have heard that if you eat before you pray, there'll be no blessing on the food. And sometimes even worse, depending on who your parents are, there might be cursing on the food. You didn't pray for it, you know, it's gonna make you sick. Is that why we pray? Is that why we pray before we eat? So that the food would be blessed, so that I get something out of it? I understand it, and I understand there's some truth in it, but is that the deep truth? Many of us were raised that way. If we pray for something, it's more likely we'll get a better something, or at least we'll get the thing that we want. And that, beloved, is where I'm struggling, because that is full-fledged paganism. That means we're praying to manipulate the gods. So in the last two weeks, we have talked about God our Father from Lord's Day 9, the creator of everything, and then together with Lord's Day 10, the one who controls everything, provides everything for body and soul, everything that we need. In fact, even through disaster, it will turn out for my good. That's the God and Father that takes care of me. Nothing happens outside of His will, nothing happens by chance, including this prayer service, including my prayers. Do my prayers change the mind of God? Is that why I'm doing it? I don't like what I have, so Father in Heaven, I need You to change this for me because, well, I don't like the way it's going. Father in heaven, I need to talk to you about this because we're gonna put in a lot of work, and we're gonna put in a lot of seed, and I'm gonna put in a lot of sweat equity over the summer, and I really need you to bless me on this. I would like it if you would take care of me. Because you can do that. But is it now he ought to do that because we've prayed? Is that why we're here together? And then you go to Psalm 145. Did you know? that Psalm 145 is the last Psalm of David in the Psalter. Most of the Psalms of David are in Book 1 and Book 2 of the five books of the Psalms, but then there's a group of the last Psalms that whoever edited the book of Psalms, from Psalm 138 you can see, if you have your Bibles open, a Psalm of David, and then it finishes with Psalm 145, and then you go to Psalm 146, and then we don't know who those authors are. And what is that last Psalm of David? A praise. A praise of David to do what? To praise the living God. I will extol you, my God, O King, I will bless your name forever and ever. Isn't that why we came together tonight, beloved? If it isn't, then let's change our mind. Let's think about why we're gathering together Psalm 145 is broken into an A-B structure. So the first three verses talk about God, the great and glorious King. And then you have verses 10 through 13, which then form a beautiful couplet together in that greatness and glory of our King. And then verses four through nine, and then 13 through the end, talk about the covenant faithfulness, the compassion, the glory of our God who is King. So Psalm 145, by means of David the king, reveals to us who really is the king, what kind of king our God is over against human kings, and then this God that we can trust so that then we can get to our text, verse 15 and 16. The eyes of all look expectantly to you, and you give them their food in due season. Do you believe that? The eyes of all. All, by the way, means not people only. Everything, all the creation, the plants, the animals, everything. They all look expectantly to you and you give them their food in due season. You open your hand and you satisfy the desire of every living thing. Remember when John fell down as though dead and then Jesus puts his hand on him and comforts him. Now Jesus is putting his hand out. I want you to think about that just for a minute. The eyes of all look expectantly to you, and you give them their food in due season." I want you to think about God. I want you to think about God the Father, God the Shepherd, God the Great Provider, walking out into the jungle. And He walks out into the jungle during the day. And as He walks out in the jungle during the day, He feeds the toucan one way. the exact right food that it needs. And he feeds the parrot another way, with the exact right food that it needs. and all the different birds that are in the jungle, and the snakes that are creeping around during the daytime. If you go just outside of the jungle, you're going to find the antelope, you're going to find the water buffalo, you're going to find the hippo, and you're going to find the rhino, you're going to see the elephant. And God feeds all of them Exactly what they need in the right way. He feeds the mosquito in its way, and he feeds the tzitzi fly in its way. Have you ever thought about that? And the eyes of the animals look to God. Instinctually, they bring glory to God, eating what they are supposed to eat. Taking from the Lord from His hands, so to speak. Now, I know sin has brought violence. Because God also has to come in the night. And when the lions are hunting during the day, the tiger begins to hunt in the night, and so does the panther. And snakes are slithering. And there's a whole life at night in the jungle, and the Lord holds out His hand, and they eat too. And now because of sin, the predator kills the prey. but that by the hand of Almighty God. And the prey eats and destroys the plants and vegetation, but that by the hand of Almighty God who replenishes and brings more and brings renewal, so that even the plants are fed by the hand of Almighty God. And whether it's the snow falling or the rain, whether it's the nitrogen that comes in that rain, whether it comes from the waste and the manure of the animals that feed, the carcasses that rot, the trees that deteriorate and then become part of the terra firma, and now life continues again. The Lord holds out His hand and they all eat at the right time, in the right season. Do you believe? Because what's interesting is that brute animals understand this instinctually. They can't tell you about it. but they obey God instinctually. So now let's go to the farm, because the Lord God works in a different way with the farm. I had to laugh the other day. I went to visit one of you, and I parked by a fence, and all of a sudden the cows came running over. I thought, what's that about? Some said, well, that's because they think you're going to feed them. I thought, oh, that's interesting. They came, and I thought about this psalm. that when the farmer goes out, and I was able to help in one of the dairies and to bring the feed, and they're ready, and they know, and they trust that they're going to receive the right food at the right time, and then the farmer knows, doesn't he? that the cow that's going to milk needs a certain kind of food, and the cow that's going to become beef is going to need a certain kind of food. And then when they're expecting, or when we hope that they're going to be impregnated, they need certain kind of food. And then the cows are different than the hogs, that are different than the chickens, that are different than the sheep, that are different than the goats. And the farmer knows, just as God knows, because it's not the farmer who's feeding the animals, God is feeding the animals through the farmer. And he opens his hand, and the sheep, and the chickens, and the geese, and the goat, and your dog, and your cat. God feeds them all. Do you really think it happens outside of his control? Do you really think that we feed our pets? That we take care of the animals? That when we put the fertilizer on the grass, that's us making it grow? Does God use us? Absolutely. But is it of God or not of God? If it isn't of God, then let's go home, because all we need to do then is work harder. But there's not a man or a woman in this place that can make a carrot grow. We can't make a cherry form. We can't make the wheat happen. We can't make a chicken have an egg. The eyes of all look to God, but here's the problem of being human, and it's pride. I want to go back just for a minute to those opening words. I will extol you my God and King. I will bless your name forever and ever. Every day I will bless you. I will praise you and your name forever and ever. Great is the Lord, greatly to be praised. His greatness is unsearchable. Let's go to verse 10 right across. All your work shall praise you, O Lord, and your saints shall bless you. Verse 10, we're struggling with, aren't we? Do we really bless God? They shall speak of the glory of your kingdom and talk of your power, because I want to talk about what I do, and the sermon that I write, and the catechism that I teach, and the house that I built. And yet, the son of David writes, unless the Lord builds the house, they labor in vain who build it. There isn't my bank account, there's only God's money that He lets us have. There isn't my food, there's only the food that God lets us have. And then you can keep adding to that list. And we like it when people say he's good at what he does. And how do we know he's good at what he does? Well, he's blessed. He receives more. Is there blessing on hard work? Absolutely. But it's a grace. We don't deserve it. Which one of us works that hard that we could say, in light of the greatness and the glory of God, you didn't give it to me? That you didn't provide it for us? Why are we here today? To get a better growing season? No, because we're acknowledging God as the giver of all good things, and we expect that He's going to take care of us. How He's going to do it, the abundance of it will leave to Him. But we expect that He will take care of us exactly for what we need for the building of His kingdom. I will extol you, God my King, I shall speak of the glory of your kingdom. That's why Jesus Christ died on the cross. That's why the new Adam came down and was given the keys of death in Hades. He's the one who was dead and he's alive. He's the Son of God who became the Lamb of God. Oh, I think about that. Jesus Christ became the Lamb of God. The Son of God had to be fed by God the Father. And then what did he teach us to pray? Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be your name. Your kingdom come and your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Please, Father, give us this day our daily bread, because I look expectantly to you. By the way, the Lord's Prayer is all over Psalm 145, and Psalm 145 is all over the Lord's Prayer. In a Profession of Faith class on Tuesday night, we talked about that. Scripture interprets Scripture, and as you bring it together, you can see the beauty of it. Hallowed be your name. I will extol you. Notice we shall speak We will make known. That's why we're here tonight. We're here to tell you children, as adults, we have nothing to give you. Look to God and His providence. Look to God and His care. Look to God and His compassion. Did you see that? The beauty of that? One generation shall praise your works to another and shall declare your mighty act. We're doing this together to declare to God and the world, but we're also doing this as One generation to tell you the next generation that next time you eat a meal, praise God for His mighty act of feeding you. You see, I don't extol God enough, and I don't bless His name because I take a meal for granted. In fact, I don't know about you, but there's time I don't like my meal. I wish my wife would have made something else. Or I would have had something else. How many times have you gone to the cupboard in your life, be honest, and looked in there, and it's full, and you go, I got nothing in there to eat. It's a kid thing to do, right? What is that about us, that we're not really thankful, that we want more? And then what are we teaching the children? Because children, what we have, it's all a gift from God who gives to us at the right time in due season. Verse 8 and 9, the Lord is gracious and full of compassion, slow to anger, great in mercy. The Lord is good to all. And his tender mercies are over all his work. You see that? Verses 15 and 16, the eyes of all expectantly look to you. You open your hand and satisfy the desire of the living thing. See, people who don't know Jesus Christ, people who don't love God, don't look to him. But God still feeds them. And you're going, well, why does that happen? God is feeding the world because he's feeding his saints. He's feeding his saints so that they can do the work of the kingdom. so that they, being alive and productive and vibrant and filled with life on this earth, are the joy and the wonder that God is our God, a great and glorious King, full of compassion, who gave His Son to die on the cross for our sins, that whoever believes in Jesus Christ, though he die, yet shall he live again, the God who forgives us for all the terrible, rotten things that we do, especially when we're not thankful for food or when we think we're all of that and we did it, still loves us. And He forgives us. And He remembers that we're just a bunch of little kids, a lot of spoiled brats. And yet He's still there with us so that we would acknowledge Him and call out the world. The world is blessed because you're here. The kingdom of God is why the earth still exists. That fight that's going on between Satan and Michael, between Jesus Christ and the kingdom of darkness, will work for time, times and half a time, until the last of the number of the elect has been called and has been saved. And then the work will be done. And then there will be no more grace and there will be no more blessing for those who do not know the Lord. Psalm 1 is again here. The Lord knows the way of the righteous, but the way of the wicked will perish forever. But all receive their food from Almighty God. And will we show them the way? Will we show them the way of righteousness? And by the way, we satisfy the desire of every living thing. That word desire there doesn't mean everything you think you want or everything that just pops into your head. It is the need that you have and the desire for life. And then God will provide all of that so that you will extol Him, that you will see His graciousness, that you will give Him glory. And then you see now it makes sense why we're here today. We're here today to thank God. The Catechism says that prayer is the chief part of what? Thankfulness. And that we pray, Father in heaven, give us this day our daily bread, because we have no other place to go. Hunger and thirst for righteousness, and then set your heart on the things of heaven, and then don't worry about what you'll eat and drink and what you'll wear. The Lord God will take care of all that, even as he did for Solomon. Noble love, when we think of the greatness and the glory of our God, then we come in prayer out of a surety that what we need, He will give. There's a peace in it. You know the beauty of prayer when you really start getting it and figuring it out? The Lord is near to all who call upon Him, to all who call upon Him in truth. He will fulfill the desire of those who fear Him. He will also hear their cry and save them. There's somebody greater than me. I don't have to be self-reliant. I don't have to do everything. I only have to do what God asks me to do, knowing that He will do the greater thing. He will do the better thing. He will do the glorious thing. I praise God that there's a God, and I praise God that He is the Lord, the great I Am. Tonight's about Him. Prayer's about Him. Our life is about Him. Eating and drinking is about Him. And then you think of the catechism when it talks about the word Amen. And Amen means this shall surely and truly be. It is much more certain that God has heard my prayer than I feel in my heart that I desire such things from Him. Amen and Amen. I will extol You, O my God and King. The eyes of all look expectantly to You. And how do we end? my mouth shall speak the praise of the Lord, and all flesh shall bless His holy name forever and ever. Amen.