And Amen. Good evening to you. You can be seated. Thank you. Welcome. Glad you're here. Glad you're joining us online. Well, doubtless you have heard. I mean, it's just horrific and unthinkable. And actually, this is already outdated. And this was earlier this afternoon. So the death toll, of course, is increasing the missing, the number of missing. It is just unimaginable. And so before we get started, I wanted to first, we've had a lot of people that have reached out to us concerning the fires. And we just want to let you know, for those of you who don't know that, of course, we're on the island of Oahu and this is on the island of Maui. We are unaffected, but not really. I mean, this has affected us sort of by proxy because these are our fellow brothers and sisters there on that island. And it's like, it's not, it's surreal. Lahaina is gone. And so What we're going to do before we get started tonight is, of course, we're going to pray. But, and as Kapono already prayed as well. But there's a couple of things I want to mention. The first of which is we are in the process of getting food and supplies to Maui vis a vis Mattson and some of our contacts there on the waterfront. And we already have the pallets. We just have to kind of coordinate it. We would covet your prayers in that regard. As I understand it right now, it's not really feasible because on the receiving end there on Maui, there's really no infrastructure. There's no anything really set up. We're looking at all of our options. We've already made contact with some sources and we do think we do have one avenue and we already have half of a container ready to go. We can get the other half and send a full 40 foot container as soon as we have the ability to have it received on the other end. Now, from what I understand, there are many who are unable to even access you know, their homes, which many, many are gone, just gone. And even to see where loved ones are. And I mean, anyway, it's just, it's so hard and it's so horrific. And I do want to pray, but please, as God puts it on your heart, and I know He is. But the death toll is going to rise, and this island will never be the same again. And Lahaina, as it once was, is no more. And we're just going to pray very specifically that God, as only He can, in His mercy, will just show Himself faithful. in the midst of this unthinkable. I mean, it is unimaginable, just the horror. And I don't want to get too graphic, but it's just horrifying what has happened, what is happening. And the lives of many people who have survived this and are surviving this, their lives will never be the same again. So why don't we pray, if you would please join with me. Oh, and one more thing before, sorry, false alarm. This is really important. I can't believe I almost forgot. There's a lot of scams out there, right? You know how that works. Oh man, the Lord will take care of these people. But that someone would be that evil to take advantage of something as horrific as this. to scam money. So what I want to say particularly for our online viewers is that we never ask for money. If you see anything that has my name or this church's name or anything to do with us asking for money, it's not us. It is a scam and a fraud. We never do that. So please be very prudent, be very careful. And again, we are We're all ready. We're at the ready. We're prepared and we're going to do whatever we can as soon as we can, as much as we can. So that was it. Now let's pray. Father, we're so thankful that we can come to You at times like this and just cry out to You and just can't even imagine the suffering of the people on the island of Maui, and even some, I guess, in small measure on the big island as well, but particularly Maui, and particularly the west side of the island, and Kihei, and upcountry, and particularly Lahaina. Oh Lord, would You please be merciful. And first and foremost, if there's any survivors Lord, keep them alive until they're found and cared for and ministered to and treated. Please, for those that have lost loved ones, and many of whom have lost everything, God, I pray, and ironically enough, this chapter we have before us tonight, as we're going to see, deals with this very thing. It's a grieving, a mourning. But in that grief, in that pain, in that sorrow, in that suffering, Lord, You are always there. And I pray that many would turn to You for such a time as this, and that You would reveal Yourself and bring to salvation, many because of this. The whole world, I mean, this is worldwide news now, of course, and the whole world is watching this. Lord, only You can bring good and salvation out of something as just horrifying as this. So will You? Will You, Lord? Will You just miraculously meet the needs of those who have lost everything as only You can? Lord, would You get the people that need to get to that island, to that island? And whatever supplies are needed, medically, food, water, whatever is needed, Lord, would You get it there, get those people there? quickly. Lord please, we're looking to You at a time like this. And this is close to home, literally for us. And we have many friends and loved ones and people we know that are on Maui. And so please God, we're begging You, we're pleading with You, we're looking to You, we're trusting in You. we're crying out to You. Hearken unto the voice of our cry, Lord. Be merciful, be gracious. Thank You, Lord, in Jesus' name, Amen and Amen. All right, well, chapter 19 tonight in our trek through the book of Ezekiel. And, of course, I hope you know I did not plan this. But well, it was about maybe, no, it was last week. Sometimes I'll try to get a head start on the teaching early. And I think last week was one of those times that I did. So I kind of start the process of seeking the Lord, praying about what it is that he would have me to do, and how many chapters he would have me to take. And so here I'm looking at Chapter 19. There's only 14 verses in it. I think, well, we'll do Chapter 19 and 20. So then I go to 20. How many verses are in Chapter 20? 43. I'm like, Lord, really? So, and then I'm looking at Chapter 19 going, and then Chapter 20, and it's like, no. I can't do both chapters and these poor people would, you know, be here all night. And so maybe I'm just supposed to do chapter 19. So then that was my first prayer. And so, okay, Lord, just chapter 19. But then I'm reading chapter 19, very short chapter, and it's, here we go again, another funeral dirge, two lamentations. songs of sorrow and grieving and mourning and lamenting. I'm like, Lord, really? Okay. This is, when you're teaching the Bible book by book, chapter by chapter, verse by verse, you can't skip over chapters like this. That's my story and I'm sticking with it. But oh my goodness, what a word fitly spoken for us tonight. So now I know why. You know how it is when sometimes you don't quite understand and the Lord's like, no, just wait, you'll see. Just wait, you'll see. I hate those words. Just wait, you'll see. I heard them a lot as a kid. Just wait, you'll see. Well, it's kind of like this is one of those times when the light bulb goes off and you're like, oh, Now I see why. This is all about grief, all about sorrow, all about pain, all about suffering. And I'm so glad that the Lord would have me to only take and teach just this one chapter tonight, though a short chapter because of what is woven into the fabric of this chapter. It is a powerful yet painful chapter. And the reason is, is that it deals with the matter of grief and sorrow, especially that which always ensues over a death, which in this case was the death of the Davidic kingdom, the death of these kings, this nation, Judah, Jerusalem, all because of its ungodly leaders. So the chapter that we have here tonight before us is in our Bibles for a reason. because it deals with a topic we really don't, if we're honest with ourselves, want to talk about. And that's the topic of grief. And one of the things it's going to speak to is a truth that God has been ministering to me over the years about grief, and how it is that the harder you grieve, the sooner you heal. You know, it's an oxymoron, right? But you've heard it said, or doubtless you yourself have said something to the effect of, man, I just had a good cry. That's an oxymoron. A good cry? Yeah. I mean, you know how when you have a good cry and after you have a good cry, you feel so much better, lighter. I was, I just needed to have a good cry. Do you know why it's a good cry? Because when we cry, our tears are releasing these built up stress hormones from all the pressure and the stress from the grief and the sorrow and the pain and the suffering. It's actually released. That's why God Jesus cried, Jesus wept. That's the one Bible verse that anybody can memorize. Two words, Jesus wept. And on more than one occasion and for different reasons when He did. We also know of the apostle Paul, that he wept, he cried a lot. In fact, in Acts chapter 20, we're told that he couldn't stop crying day and night for three years, knowing that after he left, there would come from within their own midst, in that flock, wolves in sheep's clothing that would not spare the flock. I think about David. If you want, in your own time in God's Word, read Psalm 6 and have some tissue on hand. I mean, David, he can't stop crying. He soaks his bed. I mean, it's pretty poetic, I guess, in its description. But he just cannot stop crying because of the situation that he's in. God made it so that we could cry because it's a release. And that's why you feel good after a good cry. Let me flip it around and we will get to this. Remember there's only 14 verses, so take heart. But you know what I'm going to do. I'm going to extend it out as long as I possibly can. It's a gift. You know what they're finding is, is that the people who stuff it in and don't let it out. Um, oh my, it will down the road. But if, you know, and especially us guys, right? What were we taught as boys? Big boys don't cry. That's a problem. That's a problem. Because see, God gave us crying, weeping as a release. And if you stuff it in, and research has proven this to be true. When you don't deal with the grief, and you don't let it out as God designed you to let it out, and intended for you to let it out, and you just keep stuffing it in. it'll come out. And when it does, it's not pretty. All you're doing is delaying the inevitable. One of the things I'm learning again, as I mentioned in my own life, is that grief can be good, good grief. I'm not trying to quote Charlie Brown here. And I know that's another oxymoron. But I know that when our daughter died, we grieved hard. And in that grieving came the healing. It's in and through the grieving that God does that healing work. The harder we grieve, the sooner we heal. And that's what we're going to see in this chapter tonight. So you ready? Verse one. Moreover, take up a lamentation for the princes of Israel, doesn't even call them kings, princes, the leaders. And say, what is your mother? A lioness. She laid down among the lions, among the young lions. She nourished her cubs, She brought up one of her cubs, and he became a young lion. He learned to catch prey, and he devoured men. The nations also, verse four, heard of him. He was trapped in their pit, and they brought him with chains to the land of Egypt. Okay, So this lamentation again, it's a lament, a song, a dirge, a mourning, a lamenting, a weeping. And it's the weeping over this lioness. That's Israel. and the princess of Israel. Those are the kings. And we're even told about one specific king, this young king, and we're provided with this detail about how he was trapped. And then they put him in chains. Actually, you'll forgive the graphic nature of it, but we have it recorded. I think it's in second Kings chapter 23, if my memory serves me correctly, it probably doesn't. But this is actually speaking very specifically about King Jehoahaz, who only reigned as king for about three months. And then he was taken captive to Egypt they put the chains around him and pierced and impaled him and dragged him to Egypt where he would die. This was the beginning of the end of the Davidic kingdom. Let me maybe take just a moment to explain what the Davidic kingdom is. So David, the Davidic or David kingdom, that the kings of Israel would always come from the lineage of David. And then even more so, when David wanted to build a house for God, God said, you have too much blood on your hands. You will not build Me a house, but I'm going to build you a house. And what he was talking about is something that's not quite understood in our culture. But when you talk about, I'm going to build you a house, you're talking about a lineage. So growing up as a kid, I was always known as being from the house of Faez, my father's name, the house of. the house of Saud, the Saudis. They would refer to the family, the lineage of the Saudis, the house of Saud, Beit Saud, Beit House. So no, David, you're not going to build me a house. I'm going to build you a house. From your lineage, your family line, your house will come the King of Kings. Jesus the Christ, the Savior of the world is going to come from you. He's in fact Jesus in the Gospels referred to as the Son of David, the Son of God, the Son of Man, the Son of David, from David's lineage, from David's house. So you have these kings that were the Davidic kingdom at the time but it has now come to an end. And the prophet Ezekiel is lamenting the end, the death of the Davidic kingdom, starting specifically with this King Jehoahaz. Now, verse five, When she saw that, she waited, this is the lioness Israel, that her hope was lost, She took another of her cubs and made him a young lion. So now this is now going to be another king of the lioness slash Israel. He roved, verse six, among the lions and became a young lion. He learned to catch prey. He devoured men. He knew their desolate places and laid waste their cities. The land with its fullness was desolated by the noise of his roaring. So who's this king from the lioness Israel in the Davidic kingdom? Well, it's King Jehoiakim. These were evil kings who did that which was evil in the sight of the Lord. And he too, though his reign was longer, he was also an evil king, and with him it brought the end to the Davidic kingdom. And that's what's being mourned and grieved here, is the end of that kingdom. Verse eight, Then the nations set against him from the provinces on every side, and spread their net over him. He was, look at the detail again, he was trapped in their pit, They put him in a cage with chains and brought him to the king of Babylon, not Egypt, Babylon this time. They brought him in nets that his voice should no longer be heard on the mountains of Israel. That lions roar, the lion of the tribe of Judah, Israel likened to this lion. And now again, this king Jehoahaz, instead of being taken captive to Egypt, pardon me, like Jehoahaz before him, this is Jehoiakim. And he was taken captive to Babylon. And this is the reason for the lament. This is the reason for the mourning. This is the reason for lamenting the death of the Davidic kingdom in Israel. And by the way, this Jehoiakim, we've talked about him in our study through Jeremiah. We, even in Lamentations, which is, the whole book of Lamentations was a memorial service. We studied the whole book of Lamentations. It was like a funeral. The whole, the whole book was a funeral. And that's what this is. This whole chapter is a lamentation. But these kings were told, don't fight against Babylon. You're going to be taken captive into Babylon. And this Jehoiakim would not listen. He would listen to the false prophets who said, don't listen to the prophet Jeremiah. They were false prophets. You know what false prophets do? They they have false prophecies, because they're false prophets. They're false. What were they saying that was false? Oh, Jeremiah is wrong. Yeah, we might be taking captive into Babylon, but we're not going to be here for 70 years, like Jeremiah said. We're not going to, don't get too, you know, comfortable here. Don't buy houses. We're going to go back to Jerusalem. Like God's going to destroy the temple and let us be taken captive into Babylon in three sieges, mind you. Like God's going to let that happen. That's not going to happen. We're God's people. That's God's temple. Well, guess what? It happened. So you've got this king and he goes against Babylon, which God through the prophet Jeremiah said, don't try to fight him. If you try to fight him, you're going to die. I mean, that's pretty clear. You may not want to hear that, but it's the truth. And so what does he do? He does the very thing that the prophet Jeremiah warned him and prophesied to him not to do. What ends up happening to him? Well, he tries to run, but they caught him. They spread a net over him. He tries to escape, but they trapped him in their pit. Well, now what are they going to do? Well, now they're going to take him, put him in a cage, like a kennel, with chains. And they're going to take him to the king of Babylon. And that's where he would die. and with Him so too would the Davidic kingdom. Well now, verse 10, we turn a corner of sorts. This is the second of two lamentations. Aren't you glad there's only two? Now we're still lamenting, mourning, grieving, But this time, instead of the grieving of the death of the Davidic kingdom, we're grieving the death of Judah and Jerusalem. So different lament. Instead of a lion, it's a vine. Your mother was like a vine in your bloodline, planted by the waters, fruitful and full of branches because of many waters. She had strong branches for scepters of rulers. She towered in stature above the thick branches and was seen in her height amid the dense foliage. Well, what a beautiful description. What a poetic description of this plentiful, fruitful vine that God planted. This is Israel. This is Judah. This is Jerusalem. And she towered. Every reference to Jerusalem is up to Jerusalem, not just geographically or the topography of the landscape. Because you do go up to Jerusalem and then down below, of course, are the valleys. But it was the most beautiful and splendid and fruitful vine with the branches that were strong and looked upon. Well, this is Judah. This is Jerusalem. But, verse 12, she was plucked up in fury. She was cast down to the ground, and the east wind dried her fruit. Her strong branches were broken and withered. The fire consumed them. Boy, that's hard, isn't it? After, and now, verse 13, she is planted in the wilderness, in a dry and thirsty land. I'm sorry for verse 14, but fire has come out from a rod of her branches and devoured her fruit, so that she has no strong branch, a scepter for ruling. This is a lamentation and has become a lamentation. And that's the end of the chapter, not the Bible study, just the chapter. We're almost done. The second of two lamentations of this once fruitful vine, speaking of Judah, drying up, being broken down and rooted out. And this is where I want to go with this before we bring the Bible study to an end, because I want to share with you about why it is. that we have a chapter like this in our Bibles. I think we would do well. Do you do this? I do. Well, of course, I have to because I'm teaching the chapter. So I'm always asking, Lord, why is this chapter in the Bible? I mean, it's here for a reason because we know all Scriptures God breathed and it's there for a reason. God's not trying to fill up the book. I just need an extra chapter in the book of Ezekiel. So we'll just, we thought we'd throw in a short 14 verse chapter. Well, it'll later on be numbered chapter 19. We'll just put a couple of lamentations in there, just to, you know, kind of as filler. No, no, it's here for a reason and it's here for a purpose. And here's why we have a chapter like this in our Bibles. First, I think I'd be grossly remiss were I not to mention that Jesus Himself was a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief. You know what I'm referring to, don't you? Isaiah 53. He, verse three, Isaiah 53, speaking of Jesus, is despised and rejected by man. a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief. Stop right there. Can we just use our God given imaginations and just ponder this? I think about when Mary was told by the angel that she was pregnant as a virgin and would give birth to the Savior of the world. And she in protest says, I've never known a man. This cannot be. And then after the angel assured her that it was, we're told very interesting detail in the account that she pondered it in her heart, meaning that she just processed it and she had to just let this sink in. Could you imagine? Well, can we just ponder this for a moment? Can we just let this sink in? that Jesus would drink deeply from the cup of sorrow and suffering and pain and grief. The wording that Isaiah, inspired by the Holy Spirit, is using here to describe this, um, acquainted with grief. We would say it in our day this way. Well, I'm well acquainted with that, meaning I know that well. Of Jesus, He knew grief well. He was a man of sorrows. Wait, this is the Savior of the world. But He knew sorrow He was tempted in every way. I know this is hard for us to wrap our mind around, but we need to wrap our mind around this. He knew sorrow. He knew what it was like to grieve. He experienced pain and suffering. And by the way, not to even mention the physical excruciating pain of the crucifixion. That aside, how about the emotional pain that he was in? It was so intense that we're told that he perspired his own blood. Do you know how much stress and intense pain you have to be under in order for those blood vessels to actually perspire blood. When he's praying, what's he praying? Father, if it be Your will, let this cup of suffering pass from me. But then he says this word, and it's a word that should be in every single one of our prayers. Nevertheless, not My will, but Thy will be done. He knew what He was about to face. I think about, and please, please, I beseech you, I implore you, never imagine Jesus as He's pictured. He was a man's man. so much so that when he had been whipped and brought out before Pilate, Pilate was flabbergasted and almost speechless. But when he did speak, he said, behold the man. I've not seen this before. you know, some Bible scholars have, and we owe them a debt of gratitude for doing so. They have done in depth studies into just the description that we have recorded for us in Scripture of what Jesus went through. And it's believed that he was not even recognizable, even as a man. He had been beaten and bludgeoned so badly, so brutally. I mean, he had been whipped, he had been hit. I'm sorry, I can't be sorry because it needs to sink in. You know, we have this image of the crown of thorns. These things were long. For those of you that have been to Israel, I actually have one of these in my office, the thorns that they would have put on His forehead. And by the way, the forehead is the most, one of the most vascular parts of the human anatomy. I know this firsthand because I split open my forehead. No, I did not receive an implant or anything, but I was at a, anyway, it's a long, it's very complicated. I don't want to get into the details. I'm still scarred for life. In fact, I still have the scar. Don't look at me like that. Don't look for the scar. I'm very insecure about it all these years later. But I stepped up and I just opened up my forehead on the mirror of a truck. And I'm sitting there and, you know, of course the shock, I'm sorry, but blood is pouring out. It's puddling. It's not, I'm not, I'm not bleeding. I'm pouring. There's a difference. And I'm sitting there, they say, sit down. Okay. You know, calling for an ambulance. And it's puddling. And I'm thinking to myself, I wonder how much blood is in the human body. Because there's a lot of it right there. And I don't know how much more is left inside, but it's coming out. And because it's so vascular, the forehead is so vascular. Now picture this. They put that and they plunge those thorns into, I cut my finger just putting this, somebody sent it to me. What does that mean? I open it up and I put it in my office. It's on the shelf. They're so sharp, I cut myself just taking it out of the package. I'm not mad. I just, you know, they're so sharp. And they impaled his head with those thorns. His face, it was already swollen and beaten and bludgeoned. And now you've got all that blood that is just covering his entire face. And he's still standing. And he's carrying his cross until he cannot carry it any longer. But that's after. Here's Pilate, behold the man, behold the man. I have never beheld a man such as this. Well, this man, a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief. Now watch this. And we hid, as it were, our faces from Him, as if to say, I can't look at Him. He was despised and we did not esteem Him. Surely He has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows. Yet we esteemed Him stricken, smitten by God and afflicted. But He was wounded for our transgressions. He was bruised for our iniquities. The chastisement for our peace was upon Him. And listen, by His stripes we are healed. Wow. Is that not chicken skin? And it's not just the AC. So He took that upon Him, all of that grief, all of that sorrow, all of that pain. He bore all of our griefs, carried all of our sorrows, all of our affliction. And He did it for us so that we could be healed. because that's what he came to do, set the captives free. He's, we affectionately refer to him as the great physician. And there's that breathtaking account where he says, you know, I came for the sick. I came for them to heal the sick. You know, when John has that crisis of faith, this is John the Baptist, as we call him. He wasn't a Baptist. He wasn't a Southern Baptist. He was John the Baptizer, better understood. This is actually technically the cousin of the Savior of the world, born to a barren couple that couldn't have Children. And then she gets pregnant. And then when they get together for a barbecue with Joseph and Mary, he kicks them in the womb and they'd be like cuz, hey cuz. Now he's in prison and he's starting to wonder, wait a minute, why am I still here? So he sends a message to Jesus, our Are you the one? Is there one coming? And Jesus sends message back, doesn't even really answer the question. All He does is basically quote the prophecies about Him, that He's setting the captives free and He's healing the sick. And what He was basically saying to John is, I am the Savior in your affliction, in your moment of doubt and despair and pain and suffering and grieving, I'm still the Savior. And by the way, I love this Oswald Chambers quote, God never faults a man for despair. Never imagine for a moment that when we're grieving or hurting or mourning or suffering, that God ever looks upon us with any kind of disdain. In fact, the opposite is true. He's well acquainted. He knows that sorrow more than we could have ever known sorrow, what He endured. Well, this brings me to the question again of why do we have a chapter like this in our Bibles? And here's the short answer. It's because our sorrow and grief leads us to Jesus who is close to and heals the broken hearted. This is Psalm 34 verses 18 and 19. One of my favorite. passages of Scripture and Psalms and all of the book, along with all of the other songs. But this one in particular, because tonight it's my, and then the next one too. But verses 18 and 19, Psalm 34. Listen very carefully. The Lord is near to those who have a broken heart, And saves such as have a contrite spirit. And I love verse 19. I love verse 19. I love verse 19. Many are the afflictions of the righteous, but the Lord delivers Him out of them all. I don't like that word many, but I guess it's okay if it's in the same sentence with the word all. So many are the afflictions of the righteous. What if I told you that the more righteous you are walking uprightly and in righteousness, not your own righteousness, but Christ's imputed righteousness, the more afflictions you're going to have. Those who live godly in Christ Jesus will suffer. It's through many afflictions that we enter the kingdom of heaven. I would dare say that the godliest saint is the one who experiences the most affliction. That's not to say that if you don't have many afflictions that you're unrighteous. I didn't say that. David might be saying that, but I'm not saying that. I mean, many are the afflictions of the righteous. The more righteous you are, the more afflictions there are. But the Lord delivers Him out of them all. Why, you ask? Oh, that's verse 18, because He's close to those who have a broken heart. And Jesus knows a thing or two about having a broken heart. We devalue broken things. We throw away broken things. The opposite is true with the Lord. In fact, God values brokenness. And actually God is the closest to those who are the most broken. Could it be argued then that the opposite is true, that He's further away from those who are not, whose hearts are not broken but hard? I would say yes. And save such as have a contrite spirit. And then to follow it up with this truth that many are the afflictions of the righteous. But then there might be many afflictions, but the Lord is going to deliver you out of them all. Aren't you glad it doesn't say, but the Lord will deliver him out of most of them? No, all of them. I like that word all. How about Psalm 147 verse 3? And we'll close with this. I think this sums it up perfectly. I mean, it just, it puts a beautiful bow around the wrapping of this chapter. He heals the broken hearted and binds up their wounds. He's the God who heals Sunday I was talking to somebody and they shared with me about how they too had a daughter that had trisomy 18, like Noel. And we were talking back and forth about how, you know, the world says, well, time heals. That's not true. God heals, because He's the God who heals. But God can use time to heal, because God is the God of time. God lives outside of time. And over time, yes, He will heal. But it's not time that heals, it's God that heals. He's the one that heals the broken hearted. So let Him. When it comes to grief and sorrow, being well acquainted with with grief. I'll speak for myself. I know it's been my own experience in my own walk with the Lord, that though they were such painful experiences in my life, so painful, I would never want to go through them again. But so too would I never in a million years trade the closeness that I experienced, the intimacy I had with Jesus during that time of pain and suffering. Oh, so painful. But oh, the Lord was so close. In fact, I look back on those times of just pain, I mean deep, deep pain. I mean, where literally your tear ducts dry up because there's no more tears. And you can't shed tears, and you can't even really cry now because the pain is so deep. It's more like a moaning, if you can even do that, and a groaning. One called crying liquid prayers. Sometimes those kinds of prayers where there's only tears and moans and groans are more powerful than the prayers with words, because they come from a broken heart. And He's so close. And I almost look back again. Please, Lord, I never want to go through that again. But I would never want to trade how close I was with you then. There's almost like a fondness when you look back on it. You know, if there was any way that I could have that intimacy and closeness with you without being so broken hearted, sign me up. But it comes packaged with being so broken hearted. The Lord is so close to you. And He's not just there, close to the broken hearted. He's healing the broken hearted. He's binding up the wounds and He's healing because He's the God who heals. When we grieve, when we're, when we sorrow, God is right there. And I don't want to say it like this, but it's almost like Jesus says, I feel your sorrow because I know your sorrow, because I know sorrow. I feel your pain because I know your pain, because I know pain. But He doesn't just feel your pain or feel your sorrow. He heals it. The harder we grieve, the sooner we heal, because He's the God who heals. And that's why we have a chapter like this in our Bibles. Why don't you stand? Capone will come on up. We'll close in prayer. Father, ah, timely this chapter, as I know many of us are grieving and mourning and in deep sorrow for those who are suffering so. Lord, many even just brothers and sisters that are going through such difficult and painful experiences, deep, deep pain, pain in their broken marriages, their families, their homes, and just the sorrow and the grief. Lord, I pray that tonight would be that much needed reminder. We need to be reminded of how it is that that's when You're the closest to us. And not just for the sake of being close to us, but because You want to heal and bind up those wounds and heal that broken heart. Lord, I thank You for the Holy Spirit that is the comforter, that comforts us in those times. And Lord, I thank You for the closeness and the intimacy during those times. Lord, thank You for this chapter. You wouldn't think that we'd be thankful for a chapter like this, but it's here for a reason. And I think we all know now that reason. And so Lord, thank You. We love You so much, in Jesus' name, Amen.