If you have your Bibles, let's return to the Psalms of Ascent together this evening, Psalm 132. We've been studying the Psalms of Ascent together in our evening services, and now we make our way to Psalm 132. Of course, the Psalms of Ascent are a psalm collection of psalms that are set, that are meant to be kept together, and that is clear even in the inscription that is above it, a song of ascents or a song of degrees you'll find there. They are the only Psalms in the entire Psalter that have this particular heading. There are 15 of them. And there are several themes that we will find kind of weave them together. Most Old Testament scholars, as we've noted each time, or many times at least, agree that these psalms were meant to be a deliberate collection of psalms meant to be sung as choruses by the pilgrims as they made their way each year, three times a year, to the feasts in Israel. And the psalms were meant to be preparing the traveler's heart for these feasts. Some said maybe it's almost like camp songs on the way to camp in the bus and you're kind of getting there. I think maybe there may be an element of truth to that, though I would imagine these are a little bit theologically more sound than some camp songs I have heard along the way. I heard one preacher describe them as a hitchhiker's guide to spiritual success. Maybe that would be a way to put it. Now, we are in the final section. of the Psalms of Ascent. And as we noted before, these come to us in waves of three. And this is the final three and the final group of these Psalms. And today's Psalm, 132, is probably the most unusual of the Psalms of Ascent. And I'll tell you why. If you look at the Psalms, even as we've reviewed them, you'll note that 14 of these 15 Psalms are just 9 verses or shorter. Very short, easy to memorize. In fact, the whole collection averages about 6 verses per Psalm. We're not talking about long psalms. Three of the last four psalms in this collection are just three verses. And then we come to Psalm 132. And Psalm 132 is very different. You can see it there in your Bibles. This is 18 verses long. That makes it the longest psalm in the whole collection of the Psalms of Ascent. In fact, it's twice as long as the second longest psalm, Psalm 122. So it's very long. It's very different than the other psalms. It stands out from the rest of these psalms, and it stands out certainly because of its length. We note that. It's so much longer than the rest. But it also stands out because of its complexity. It's a tough one to outline. It would have been the hardest of the psalms to memorize. And the psalm gives twice the space to this psalm, and it begs an important and appropriate question, one that we may seek to answer even in our sermon tonight. Why is this psalm so much longer and so much more complex? And I believe the answer is that Psalm 132 unveils God's promised plan for the ages, stretching from God's covenant with Abraham to Jacob at Bethel, to the construction of the ark and its subsequent journeys, to David's bringing the ark back to Jerusalem, to Solomon's building the temple, to the promised coming of Christ, to the fulfillment of all of God's promises through his people in Christ, we have a lot of ground to cover. And so no wonder it spends 18 verses to unpack. And you may even say, is 18 verses sufficient in light of how much material he is covering? So my job tonight is to unpack the 18 verses and show you how they relate to the full scope of biblical revelation and how they apply to your life today. And as I unpack them, I think you'll come to discover that no matter how we cut it, God's faithfulness is always greater. Psalm 132, beginning in verse 1, puts it this way. Lord, remember David. and all his afflictions, how he swear unto the Lord and vowed unto the mighty God of Jacob. Surely I will not come into the tabernacle of my house nor go into my bed. I will not give sleep to mine eyes or slumber to my eyelids until I have found a place for the Lord and habitation for the mighty God of Jacob. Lo, we heard of it at Ephrata. We found it in the fields of the wood. We will go into his tabernacles. We will worship at his footstool. Arise, O Lord, unto thy rest, thou and the ark of thy strength. Let thy priests be clothed with righteousness, and let thy saints shout for joy. For thy servant David's sake, turn not away the face of thine anointed. The Lord has sworn in truth unto David. He will not turn from it. Of the fruit of thy body will I set thy throne. If thy children will keep my covenant and my testimony that I shall teach them, their children shall also sit upon thy throne forevermore. For the Lord hath chosen Zion. He hath desired it for his habitation. This is my rest forever. Here will I dwell, for I have desired it. I will abundantly bless her provision. I will satisfy her poor with bread. I will clothe her priests with salvation, and her saints shall shout aloud for joy. There will I make the horn of David to bud. I have ordained a lamp for mine anointed. His enemies will I clothe with shame, but upon himself shall his crown flourish. Promises, promises, full of promises. Certainly we are used to our fair share of promises, and we're about to go into a political arena, and this year, we'll hear all kinds of interesting promises, some of them famously broken during the campaign trail. Maybe you can think of a few. Woodrow Wilson, for example, won reelection in 1916 with the slogan, he kept us out of war. You know what happened, right? A year later, he was in war in World War I. Lyndon B. Johnson promised in 1964, we are not about to send American boys nine or 10,000 miles away from home to do what Asian boys ought to be doing for themselves. You know what happened in his tenure as president, don't you? He entered the Vietnam War. Maybe you can remember, I think the most famous campaign promise that was broken was George H.W. Bush. He promised in 1988, read my lips, no new taxes. You remember what he did? He signed a bill raising new taxes in his first year of that term. You know, promises, there's all kinds of them. We're almost used to politicians not keeping their promises. It's so common, we don't even expect them to keep them. Now, this is the longest psalm of ascent, and as we trace it, we'll find that it is full of promises, but they are not promises from a political leader who you can't trust. They are promises from God who you can trust. In fact, God's faithfulness is far greater than any human person who can stand and give you a promise. And in reality, because it's so powerfully packed with promises, it can be hard to outline. In fact, you can outline it a number of different ways. You could have a two-fold division if you want. You could talk about a prayer in verses 1 through 10, and then the answer to that prayer in verses 1 through 18. That would be one such way to outline this song, and I have no quibble with that way of dividing it. However, and maybe it's because of my Trinitarian worldview, or it's just an old habit that dies young, or I just have all heard too many sermons with three points, there is a threefold way to outline this psalm, and I like that one better. Here's how you could outline it in a threefold way. You could talk about the first section of the psalm, recording David's promise to God in verses one through nine. the second section of the psalm in verses 10 to 12, recording God's promise to David, and then that third section of the psalm, verse 13 through 18, recording God's promise to us. I like that one because it fits well with the overall theme or tenor of what's going on in this psalm. Now each of the Psalms of Ascent highlight the character qualities and stages of personal growth. It's interesting, as you read them, it can be almost challenging to preach a series of the Psalms of Ascent because many of the themes repeat themselves and they come back again and again. And at once it may be frustrating to go through a series where it continues to repeat the same themes, but at the same time it can also be compelling and comforting Because if these are themes that were true for them, I think we find them true for us. And so they're true even here. And here we read that David is determined to obey and honor God. Nothing will sway him from that objective. And so we almost have this three-part drama. I don't know if you like dramas and plays. I really do. If you would kind of paint this as a drama, it would be as if the curtain would rise and fall for three acts. Act one, David and his desire to build a proper temple for the Lord. You can see, if you will, David coming out on that great stage and giving how he wants to do the right thing for the Lord. And then the curtain drops. And Act 2 begins as the curtain rises. And Act 2 now is focused on the Ark of the Covenant. The reason for that focus is because that is the chief symbol of God's presence at that time. And so David had this desire to build something for that Ark, and now Act 2 kind of unfolds God's presence, and then the curtain drops, and it rises again for Act 3. And this is the final act. And Act 3 is God himself. If you can imagine God himself stepping forward on that stage, having heard others talk about him and his presence, now here he is. In act three, he comes forward and God himself reminds us of something, that we need to be reminded of again and again and again, and we have heard time and time again already in the Psalms of ascent. God steps forward on this final scene and he says, I am faithful. And so David promised God that he would stay faithful, and as a result, God promised David he would bless him. Now our problem is that we don't keep our commitments. And the point of this psalm is that God's faithfulness overshadows man's feeble attempts. And even the most devout believer is nothing compared to God. In fact, Ephesians 3, verse 2, 1, he says, now unto him that is able to do exceedingly, abundantly, above all that we could ask or think. All of our efforts would be in vain if God were not there. And even more to the point, God's own faithfulness is the glue that holds this together. And that's why true worship is always all about God and not about me. We sing songs, or at least you've heard them, that say like, I think you've heard the one, here I am to worship. That song really kills me. I don't like that song, because it's all about me. But worship isn't all about me. Worship is all about God. And that's exactly where this psalm takes us. I've given you kind of a longer introduction because I want to get to you the historical context of what's going on so that you can really sink in on what's being communicated. Here's what's being communicated. Because God has promised and delivered so much for you, you must live for him. Promises, promises. I ask you, are you fully committed to the God who is fully committed to you? And God wants you to live as one who is truly serving him. And in this psalm we read of the characteristics of someone who gets it, someone who understands a commitment to the God who is committed to him, and they desire, number one, to serve God. And number two, that desire gets shoes on and it walks around. And number two, they diligently serve God. And as they're walking, number three, we'll see that they depend on God every time they put their foot down. And so firstly, we understand in this psalm, as we understand God's faithfulness is greater, that number one, those who live for God desire to serve God. David was determined to obey and honor God, and nothing would sway him from that objective. Now, the background of this psalm is David's desire to build a house for the Lord, which we read about in 2 Samuel 6 and 2 Samuel 7. If you're taking notes, I encourage you to go back and read 2 Samuel 6 and 2 Samuel 7 to understand the context of this. But nevertheless, it was not the Lord's will that David would erect the temple. That privilege would be passed on to David's son Solomon. And since that was the case, why would the psalmist sing about the desire that the Lord refused to let David follow through on? And the answer is that David's desire was commendable and God-honoring. Just the desire itself was commendable and God-honoring. And we honor God when we attempt great things for God's glory. How about you? Are you attempting to do great things for God? Will you give up even? Will you give up personal comforts to serve God? Hardships would not stop David in his pursuit. He says in verse one, as the psalm writes, Lord, remember David and all his afflictions. Now the word afflictions could be translated anxieties. It could also be translated hardships. We may be troubled, but nothing should deter us from trusting and serving God. And David certainly faced his fair share of hardships. He had to run for his life from Saul even after he was anointed as king. He had to flee to Jerusalem when his son tried to take his throne from him. However, all the hardships that he faced being referred to here, it is more likely that the reference here is David trying to get the ark to Jerusalem to build a temple. This, after all, is the theme of this chapter, as David has promised God he would build this temple and bring the ark to Jerusalem. He says in verse two, he swore unto the Lord and vowed unto the mighty God of Jacob. That's his heart. He wants to do that, but even in his desire, there have been difficulties getting the ark there. Can you remember some instances of that? The first attempt to bring the ark back to Jerusalem could be best described as an absolute abject disaster. They put the ark, rather, the covenant on a cart. When the oxen stumbled, Uzzah reached out and touched the ark. No one's allowed to do that. And the irreverent act caused God to strike him down, and he died beside the ark in 2 Samuel 6, verses 6 and 7. That would certainly dampen the festivities, wouldn't it? I don't know if you'd be all that excited about moving it any further after you watch that take place. Now once the Ark was finally safely returned to Jerusalem, you would imagine there was some excitement, and there was. But then David would spend years making plans and gathering necessary materials for the temple, but David was not allowed to ever build that temple. And so the psalm begins by asking God to remember these hardships. And I believe it is specifically related to his desire to do something that he has not yet seen come to be. And yet God honored just that. He was willing to sacrifice personal comforts, if you will, even personal ambitions, if it meant serving God. I think if we understood a little of David's heart, it would keep so many of us from what we call burnout in ministry. Oftentimes we see burnout because we don't see the success we thought we were supposed to see. I wonder how burnout would work for David Livingston. Remember how long it took David Livingston to see his first convert come to Christ? years upon years of toil and labor until he finally saw just one person. What about Adoniram Judson, another missionary hero? Another person who went through great trials and great difficulty. Here are men who vigilantly stood for God and said, personal comfort or personal ambition is not my goal. My goal is God's will for my life. What's your goal? What a great God we get to serve. Even the mundane things of life are worthwhile when done in God's name. Even as the New Testament writers tell us, even a cup of cold water given is done in God's name, is for his glory. You willing to give up that? Will you give up your personal commitments to serve God? David was 100% on board with his promise to God. And the repeated emphasis in verse one to five is upon zeal and dedication. And you find a suitable dwelling place for God, for Yahweh, is what David wants. In fact, we read in verse one, David's plea. I want this. He says, oh Lord, this is what I want. Lord, remember David and all his afflictions. And then in verses two through five, we read of the zeal that David had. Here's what he want, how he swear on the Lord and vowed in the mighty God of Jacob, surely I will not come into the tabernacle of my house or go into my bed. I will not give sleep to mine eyes or slumber to mine eyelids until I find a place for the Lord and habitation for the mighty God of Jacob. David was totally and completely zealous in his pursuit. Now this account of David making such a vow is not, we would say, precisely accurate if you take it in its strictly wooden sense. There is no biblical record that David made a vow that he wouldn't sleep until the temple was built. In fact, if David did make such a vow, it would have been a foolish oath because it would be impossible to keep such an oath. Nobody can go without sleeping for that long and live. But this is a song. This is poetry. And this is deliberate poetic hyperbole. And I don't think the point is very easily missed, is it? What's the point? The point is not to record David saying, I won't sleep until it's built. That would be impossible. You have to sleep. What's the point? The point is to express the deep, passionate, longing David had to serve his God. When's the last time we had a church men who were so deeply passionately longing to serve God, they were not going to be swayed by obstacles. No one could get in their way and nothing could get in their way to serve God. That's how committed they were. Their heart was so on fire for God that when you touch them, it was like touching fire itself. Dr. G. Campbell Morgan said this about believers who are reluctant to commit themselves wholeheartedly to Christ when he preached from Psalm 132. Here's what he said in his sermon on Psalm 132. When our convictions are yielded to him completely, he is about to give himself to all of us in his fullness. Until that is so, he cannot trust us. How true it is that we often miss the joy and strength of our Christianity because by withholding ourselves from Christ, we make it impossible for him to give himself to us in all the fullness of his grace and truth. That's a fun way of saying what the old country preacher used to say, God is not in the business of pushing parked cars, but steering moving vehicles. Some of us just need to get moving. I wonder what our churches would look like if our members were so committed to follow God that we would not rest until we found God's presence dwelling among us. I wonder what your life would look like if you took like Jacob and you just wrestled with God and said, I will not let you go until you bless me. Are you fully committed to the God who's fully committed to you? Our problem is we don't keep our commitments. By the way, no one is entirely sure who wrote this psalm. When we get to heaven, we can ask that question. Walt Kaiser believes it was written to commemorate the completion of the temple, the highlight of which would be the placement of the Ark of God into its newly constructed dwelling place. I'm inclined to agree with Kaiser's conclusions. It fits the context quite well. In fact, the pageantry of such an historic day in thorough detail you can read in 2 Chronicles, and the themes of this psalm are better suited to that event than almost any other moment in Israel's history. So I'm inclined to agree with Kaiser. That's how I understand this psalm. It commemorates the day when Solomon opened and inaugurated the temple for the first time, and oh, what a day that must have been. And what they start to sing about is this guy, David, who wouldn't quit. Can you think of heroes of the faith? I know I named a few already. who were just so on fire for God, they wouldn't quit. They just pushed forward and we still see ministries serving God as a result of God using the instrumentation of men and women who were just so on fire for God and their desire for Him that their zeal impacted others centuries later, decades later. I would say this church is at least one fine example of that. We certainly wouldn't be here if it hadn't been for some who had the fire and the inadequacy and the desire and the zeal to say, we need a church here, and we're going to reach those for the lost. And as we join, I wish we could bottle up each one of our new members with the same kind of zeal that those people must have had. What a desire that is. Are you fully committed to that God? And if you are, will you serve him? Because those who live for God diligently serve him. We move in this psalm from David's promise to God to God's promise to David. And the second portion of this psalm is almost a mirror image of the first. In the first section, David has been concerned about building a house for the Lord. In the second section, the Lord promised to build a house for David. And both of these sections, however, point to David's diligence in following through with God's mission. And if you are dedicated, you will be diligent. If you desire, you will move. In other words, nobody has something that's inside of them that they're really excited about that they don't also do. And so as they move, you diligently follow God, and as you diligently follow God, you follow him in your actions before him. Verse 9 outlines the clothing that was worn by the priest. It says in verse 9, let thy priest be clothed with righteousness. And the idea is that in the service of God, the priest, the ministers of religion, should be holy. In the honor of the Lord they serve demanded such holy reverence. And those not in the priesthood would surely rejoice when the services were conducted with a spirit of reverence and holiness. In fact, they did that at the beginning of verse nine and as a result, it says in the end of verse nine, let thy saints shout for joy. And the word saints here refers to God's covenant people. And the whole picture in this verse is the beauty of pure and joyful worship before God in your actions. Now, worshiping the Lord with the purity of heart and reverence and action is a consistent theme in scripture. It's interesting that when Solomon prayed to dedicate the temple, he used the same words as Psalm 132 in his dedicatory prayer, which is the reason why I believe part of this psalm is for that. He says in 2 Chronicles 6 verse 41, as he dedicated the temple and prayed, He's quoting from here. And so we read Solomon striving to diligently follow God with righteous actions, And by the way, when we come over to the New Testament, that theme carries through because God never changes. In fact, in the New Testament, the author of Hebrews echoes the same message when he says, Hebrews 12 verse 28, serve the Lord with reverence and godly fear. Someone once wrote, reverence is one of the signs of strength. Irreverence is one of the surest indications of weakness. But no man will rise high who jeers at sacred things. The fine loyalties of life must be reverenced or they will be forsworn in the day of trial. For the Christian, the fine loyalties of life are the things of God, and I'm afraid much of the church today is trifling with sacred things. And the holiness and majesty of our God demands a diligent pursuit of reverence and awe. And when we lose that pursuit, we lose a core component of what it means to follow a holy God. We follow him in our actions, which are draped in fear and reverence. And would you diligently follow God in your acceptance of him? The next part of this psalm begins with a reminder of God's promise of the Messiah and his promise to establish David's throne when he says in verse 10, for thy servant David's sake, turn not away the face of thine anointed. The Lord has sworn in truth unto David. He will not turn from it. Of the fruit of thy body I will set upon thy throne. If thy children will keep my covenant and my testimony that I should teach them, their children shall also sit upon my throne forevermore. Now in the immediate context, the anointed one refers to the present king, in this case, likely Solomon. But if you're a Bible student, you know that in the broader context, the anointed one refers to something else entirely, something more special, the Messiah. In fact, the word Messiah actually means the anointed one. And so this is a prayer, not only in acceptance of the present king, but also in acceptance of the coming king. And notice the psalmist seeks God's favor, not on the basis of himself, but he says, for thy servant David's sake. And even so, as we approach God, we do so not on our own basis, but through the anointed one. That's the only way. You want to come to God, you come to him his way or not at all. And there is only one way, despite what many now believe. I found it troubling. The Barner Report had a report on what Americans believe. They do this every year. It could be interesting. I wouldn't park here all the time, but it can be interesting, at least enlightening. In their most recent one, they indicated that 74% of Americans strongly agree that there is only one true God who is holy and perfect and who created the world and rules today. 74%. But that was pretty neat until I read the next stat. I don't know if it was on the same page, I can't remember. You'll have to look it up for yourself. But it said 65% strongly agree that there is no such thing as absolute truth. You can't have it both ways, can you? As Lewis put it, Jesus is either a liar, a lunatic, or a lord. You can't have it both ways. And dear friend, have you accepted Jesus as the anointed savior? Do you know him as your Messiah? Are you fully committed to the God who is fully committed to you? You depend on God and his faithfulness into us who is greater. And notice how the flow of the psalm is. It starts with a prayer for God to remember in David's favor all of the hardships, and it ends with an absolute certainty that God always keeps his promise. And in a way, this psalm, like many of the psalms before it, is a prayer that contains its own answer. And I think that's why we love the Psalms so much. They don't just open up the difficulty of the human condition, but they also answer our troubles. And so, thirdly, even though it says number two, it is actually number three, those who live for God depend on him. I told you there's two ways of outlining it, and I like number three, and apparently technology likes two better, because they put two twice. We've looked at David's promise to God, we've looked at God's promise to David, and now finally let's look at this promise and it guides and protects us today. And the psalmist now describes the Lord's response to the prayer that was made in verses seven through nine. And the Lord's reply is giving him the confidence to fully depend on God for all that he needs, both now and in the future. And again, the question comes out, are you fully depending on God? And it can be difficult for many of us to take our hands off and let God guide. But as we do, the Bible tells us we can rely on God. He is trustworthy. And we can depend on God's presence. God's presence is there, it says in verse 13, for the Lord hath chosen Zion. He hath desired it for his habitation. Originally, Zion was a Canaanite location. It illustrates the sinful background of all of God's people. Yet in his wonderful mercy, the Lord chose to dwell there. And verse 14 indicates that this dwelling of God will be eternal. He will be content, permanently delighted to dwell among them. He redeemed are there to be his companions and his joy forever. It says in verse 14, this is my rest forever. Here will I dwell for I have desired it. Jesus, the Son of God, chose to dwell with us. And I want you to note something, because I only just passed by it. He chose to dwell, here it says, in Zion, the former Canaanite place. I think a picture of sin. And he chose to come there, and even so, our Messiah chose to come to sinners. He chose that. John 1, verse 14, it says, the word was made flesh and dwelt among us. And we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth. And I'm thankful I'm not the first preacher to ever preach this psalm, so I can quote another preacher who preached this psalm. We quoted one before. Let me quote Spurgeon. Here's what he says in his reference to this psalm on these particular verses. He says, it is a double marvel that the Lord should choose and desire such poor creatures as we are. the indwelling of the Holy Ghost in believers, is a wonderful grace of parallel to the incarnation of the Son of God. God in the church is the wonder of heaven, the miracle of eternity, and the glory of infinite love. And so as we read verses 13 and 14 of God's promises to dwell with his people, we know God dwelt with us symbolically through the ark and the temple. He dwelt with us physically through the incarnation of the Holy Spirit. He dwells with us spiritually today in the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, and he dwells with us ultimately in the new heaven and the new earth, and I can't wait for that. But every time God's presence is reliable, he's always there, and his presence and his provision also. depend on God's provision. In the dwelling place of God, there will be no starvation. The members of God's family are described as poor, poor in spirit, poor in themselves, but in their God, they have plenty. In verse 15, it says, I will abundantly bless her provision. I will satisfy her poor with bread. I will also clothe her priests with salvation and her saints shall shout aloud for joy. Further, this psalm says that a Messiah would come that would provide the necessary provision for salvation. Verse 17, there I will make the horn of David to bud. I have ordained a lamp for mine anointed. His enemies will I clothe with shame, but upon himself shall his crown flourish. And that is the climax of this psalm. All of these promises come together and are fulfilled in heaven where Christ reigns as king and where we will dwell with him forever. But there are some wonderful pageantry to the words the psalmist used. The horn, the lamp, and the crown. The horn in the Old Testament was a symbol of strength, of power, of rule. The lamp, was a symbol of light and life and goodness. It was a necessary provision. It's still a necessary provision, but certainly more so pre-electricity, I think you'd agree. And the crown, you know what a crown is. And this crown will flourish because it reflects God's eternal glory, who has been given a name, which is above every name, that at the name of Jesus, every knee should bow. Notice the contrast at the end of the Psalm between the people of God and the enemies of God. God will clothe his people with righteousness, but he will clothe his enemies with shame. And the Bible tells us there are only two types of people in this world, and don't be deceived, there are only ever two. Those who are on God's side and those who are not. Let me ask you, which clothing will you receive? Salvation or shame. And it all depends on whether you are fully depending on God for salvation through Jesus Christ. Because those who are clothed in his robes of righteousness will be clothed with salvation. But those who would try to attempt to piece work together their own clothing will be clothed with shame. Revelation 21 verse 3 says, And I heard a great voice of heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. Promises, promises. We know what it is like to make and break promises. We know what it's like to have promises made to us, and we know what it's like to have people break promises, and we know what it's like when we break promises. Even politically, we only gave three illustrations. I could have given a lot of them. In fact, factually, there's only ever been one president who never broke a campaign promise. You know who that was? Gerald Ford, because he was never elected through the campaign trail, so he had no campaign promises to break. Our promises will be faulty. Man's promises are sure to let man down. Psalm 132 is a beautiful psalm filled with promises that stretch, if you had the time, and I wish we had more, that stretch from cover to cover in our Bible. In fact, if you wanted, if all of the Psalms of Ascent, you could do almost an entire series just on these 18 verses, because they are so rich, and all we've done tonight is skim the surface. But we've learned, as we've skimmed, a very compelling truth. All of God's promises, he will keep. This is what we cling to in similar fashion to the first people who sang this song. Pilgrims who gathered for the feasts in Israel could look forward to the coming Messiah and be comforted by knowing that during his reign he would flourish in Zion. They would comfort themselves in that. And we too are pilgrims anticipating the feast that will take place at the marriage supper of the Lamb. And when that feast takes place, we will crown him gladly, and we will join with him with the rest of creation, confessing Jesus is Lord, and we will rejoice. Let me ask you, are you fully committed to the God who is fully committed to you? I trust this evening that you will be. Let's pray. Lord, we thank you so much for your word. And Lord, for the opportunity it is even to reflect in some ways anew, on the glory of the divine salvation that's offered to us, the anointed Messiah. Lord, even as we look back to an Old Testament song, we are reminded of truths that are ever present and ever real, even today. Lord, even now during this invitation time, may we respond, may we be fully committed to the God who is fully committed to us. With every head bowed and every eyes closed, the instruments are going to begin to play. As they play, would you respond as God has touched in your heart? Would you be fully committed to the God who is fully committed to you? Lord, we thank you for your word. May we use it well. We love it even this week. Bring us back together, Lord, even on Wednesday as we continue through the book of James.