Well, this evening, our confessional lesson is gonna come from the Westminster Shorter Catechism. Actually, I have all kinds of errors in my notes here. It's actually question 102. I'm so sorry. I have no idea what I was typing this week, apparently. Question 102. What do we pray for in the second petition? In the second petition, which is thy kingdom come, We pray that Satan's kingdom may be destroyed and the kingdom of grace may be advanced, ourselves and others brought into it and kept in it, and that the kingdom of glory may be hastened. Well, the catechism is really super helpful in understanding the second petition of the Lord's Prayer, although it doesn't really help me with getting my numbers right. But what this catechism lesson teaches us in essence is that when we pray the second petition of the Lord's Prayer, we're praying for the advance of Christ's reign, in short, and the destruction of Christ's enemies. And we do that from two different perspectives. The first perspective has to do with ongoing history. And the other perspective has to do with the consummation of history. In terms of ongoing history, we are praying that in the here and now, the kingdom of Satan would be destroyed. Dr. J.G. Voss describes the kingdom of Satan as the sum total of everything in the universe that's contrary to the will of God. And that's a helpful definition because it reminds us that when we pray for Satan's kingdom to be destroyed, it doesn't simply mean that we want to rid the world of Satanists or actual devil worshipers. It means we're praying for the destruction of any organization, government, ideology, or worldview that sets itself up against the reign of the Lord Jesus Christ. That is to say, we pray for Satan's power and Satan's influence to be demolished in this world. To put it bluntly, when we pray the second petition of the Lord's Prayer, we're praying for the utter destruction. of God's enemies, which many of you probably know is simply another way of describing an imprecatory prayer. That's a prayer that calls down God's curses on evildoers, and the Bible's filled with them. There are no less than 20 psalms that are designated as imprecatory psalms, where the psalmist is calling down the curses of God to judge the enemies of God and the enemies of God's people. So when we pray, thy kingdom come, we're lifting our voices up to God, asking Him in part to either convert or curse the Lord's enemies. And that brings us to the positive part of the second petition. We're praying for Christ's kingdom to advance. We're seeking the Lord to work in power through his church to evangelize the nations and to preserve those he saves. It's seeking Christ to work in power to remove all hindrances, all persecutions, anything that would stand in the way of the gospel being preached so that all those who are appointed unto everlasting life might be brought into the kingdom of grace. Now, so far, we're dealing with the second petition of the Lord's Prayer from the perspective, as I said, of ongoing history. But when we pray the second petition, we're also praying for things that relate to the consummation of history. That's what the Westminster is getting at when it says that the kingdom of glory may be hastened. And this is speaking of the time when all of God's elect, Jew and Gentile, have fully and finally been brought into the kingdom of Christ. And how the earth and the universe will consummate at this great last day. We're told in passages like 1 Thessalonians, the Lord will descend from heaven with a great shout, the voice of an archangel and the sound of a trumpet, and He'll destroy every rule and every authority and He'll present the kingdom of God in full glory to His Father. And at that moment, when Christ returns, the kingdoms of the world will have become the kingdom of our Lord Jesus Christ, and He'll reign forever and ever. That's also a part of what we're praying for in the second petition of the Lord's Prayer. This evening when we return to our study in 2 Kings, we're going to get a glimpse of this. We're going to see Hezekiah model something of the catechism teaching on this second prayer. He's going to pray that the enemies of God will be destroyed and that the kingdom of grace will advance. Well, for now, let's continue praising the Lord, standing to sing number 520. What a friend we have in Jesus, 520. Well, brothers and sisters, let me ask you to open up your copy of scripture to 2 Kings 19. 2 Kings 19. This is really a chapter that ought to be preached altogether. I feel like I'm saying the same thing I said this morning, but it's really just too long. So we're going to look at verses 1 through 20 tonight, and then next time we'll come back and look at Isaiah's song of victory and sort of the consummation and fulfillment of some of the prophecies and the prayers that are offered. But this evening, 2 Kings 19, beginning in verse one. And so it was, when King Hezekiah heard it, that he tore his clothes, covered himself with sackcloth, and went into the house of the Lord. Then he sent Eliakim, who was over the household Shebna, the scribe, and the elders of the priests, covered with sackcloth, to Isaiah the prophet, the son of Amoz. And they said to him, thus says Hezekiah, this day is a day of trouble and rebuke and blasphemy. For the children have come to birth, but there's no strength to bring them forth. It may be that the Lord your God will hear all the words of the rabshakah, whom his master, the king of Assyria, has sent to reproach the living God and will rebuke the words which the Lord your God has heard. Therefore, lift up your prayer for the remnant that's left. So the servants of King Hezekiah came to Isaiah, and Isaiah said to them, thus you shall say to your master, Thus says the Lord, do not be afraid of the words which you've heard, with which the servants of the king of Assyria have blasphemed me. Surely I will send a spirit upon him and he shall hear a rumor and return to his own land and I'll cause him to fall by the sword in his own land. Then the Rapshaka returned and found the king of Assyria warring against Libna, for he heard that he had departed from Lachish. And the king heard concerning Turkaka, king of Ethiopia, look, he's come out to make war with you. So he again sent messengers to Hezekiah saying, thus you shall speak to Hezekiah, king of Judah, saying, do not let your God in whom you trust deceive you, saying, Jerusalem shall not be given into the hand of the king of Assyria. Look. You've heard what the kings of Assyria have done to all the lands by utterly destroying them. And shall you be delivered? Have the gods of the nations delivered those whom my fathers have destroyed? Goshen, and Haran, and Recep, and the people of Eden, who were in Telassar? Where's the king of Hamath, the king of Arpah, and the king of the city of Sepharvaim, Hina, and Deva? And Hezekiah received a letter from the hand of the messengers and read it. And Hezekiah went up to the house of the Lord and he spread it before the Lord. Then Hezekiah prayed before the Lord and said, O Lord God of Israel, the one who dwells between the cherubim, you are God. You alone of all the kingdoms of the earth, you have made heaven and earth. Incline your ear, O Lord, and hear. Open your eyes, O Lord, and see. Hear the words of Sennacherib, which he has sent to reproach the living God. Truly, Lord, the kings of Assyria have laid waste the nations and their lands. They've cast their gods into the fire, for they were not gods, but the work of men's hands, wood and stone. Therefore, they destroyed them. Now, therefore, O Lord our God, I pray, save us from his hand that all the kingdoms of the earth may know that you are the Lord God, you alone. Then Isaiah, the son of Amoz sent to Hezekiah saying, thus says the Lord God of Israel, because you've prayed to me against Sennacherib, king of Assyria, I have heard. And grass withers, the flowers fade, but the word of our God endures forever. May it bless it to our hearts this evening. Dearest congregation of our Lord Jesus Christ, we've learned that Hezekiah was one of the great reformers in all of redemptive history. His father, the wicked King Ahaz, had turned Judah into the land of idolatry. But as soon as his son Hezekiah began to reign as a solo king, his first act was to undo all that. He was truly a great reformer. But as a young king, he made some serious mistakes. When the Assyrian King Sennacherib marched his army into Judah and sacked Lachish, the second largest city in Judah, Hezekiah grew fearful and he attempted to pay the Assyrians off out of the temple treasury. And that was a serious, albeit temporary, lack of faith on Hezekiah's part. And Hezekiah was about to learn that you can rarely appease a tyrant. If you pay them, they'll want more. They'll want you to bow down before them. And if you bow down before them, they'll still want more. They'll want you to prostrate yourself before them. And if you prostrate yourself before them, they'll want to put their boot on your neck. That's the way of tyrants. Hezekiah paid. He gave Sennacherib just what he asked for, the tribute he required to leave them alone. And Sennacherib still sent his army to surround Jerusalem along with three officials whose task it was to threaten and intimidate the people of God. Well, in response to this, Hezekiah sent out his own three officials to engage in what became a rough and tumble negotiation. The Assyrian official that did most of the talking was the Rabshakah, which was a title for someone like a chief of staff. And his message was a simple one to Hezekiah's delegation. Hezekiah cannot deliver his people. Hezekiah's God won't deliver his people, and the only hope of the people is to surrender the city and be carried off to Assyria. And you may remember the Assyrian officials made sure to speak in Hebrew so that those who were guarding the city walls would hear the threats and be demoralized. was quite a psychological tactic. But despite hearing the blasphemous Assyrian pontificators, the men of Jerusalem said nothing because that's what Hezekiah had told them to do, answer them nothing. And at that moment, at the end of chapter 18, Judah, or at least Judah's soldiers, were faithfully standing behind their king. But that small show of strength and discipline didn't change the fact that a powerful enemy was surrounding Jerusalem and determined to take the city by hook or crook. And as soon as the negotiations were over, Hezekiah's three messengers returned to the king with desperate news. And it must have been immediately obvious to Hezekiah just how badly those negotiations had gone because his men showed up with their clothes torn, which was a sign of deep distress and mourning. And that's where we pick up this evening. Again, glance there at verse one. And so it was. when King Hezekiah heard that he tore his clothes, covered himself with sackcloth, and went into the house of the Lord. Hezekiah understood clearly what the rabshakah had told his three emissaries, give up or be decimated. So he was faced with a distressing ultimatum. And in response, he kinged toward his clothes, again, which I just mentioned was a sign of mourning. But he also covered himself with sackcloth. Now, sackcloth was a dense woven material typically made out of the dark hair of goats or camels. And when it was worn, It sometimes indicated that the wearer was in the midst of a dire or serious situation. And sometimes when it was worn, really more frequently when sackcloth was worn, it was to demonstrate repentance. In Jeremiah 4 and Jeremiah 6, the prophet calls Judah to repent and clothe themselves with sackcloth. When Jonah preached to the Ninevites, right? The people repented and put on sackcloth. In all likelihood, that's the significance of Elijah and John the Baptist being clothed in camel hair. It was a kind of sackcloth, and these were both preachers of repentance. And the combination of distress and mourning and repentance seems to capture Hezekiah's disposition. And look where he goes, because this is so important, to the house of the Lord, which is what you would expect from one of Judah's godliest kings. There's troubles all around him, awaiting to assail him, and he goes to the house of the Lord. And what a powerful lesson that is for us. When circumstances are so dire, And everywhere you look, all you can see is hopelessness. There's no better place to go than the house of the Lord, particularly for worship, because it causes us to focus on God, on His glory and His majesty. And when we enter into God's presence for worship, it reorients us around His grace and His promises. Think about how we were greeted this evening from our God. Our help is in the name of the Lord, who made heaven and earth. That comes from Psalm 121, which we also read this morning as our call to worship. And it immediately tells us that we've gathered to the one who's created all things and by his providence controls all things. You see, when we gather for corporate worship, our perspective shifts in a very special and dynamic way. When we enter into the house of the Lord, we come into it from a hard week and often with a keen awareness that we're frail, we're weak, we have limited resources. And when we come into the presence of our God, we're immediately confronted with the fact that we have a covenant-making and covenant-keeping God who has unlimited resources and loves us with everlasting love. Coming to worship in your worst times is the best thing you can do. Hezekiah went to the house of the Lord because he knew his only hope was in Yahweh's divine resources. Now we also don't want to miss here that there's a sharp contrast that we're probably meant to pick up on. As I mentioned a moment ago, Hezekiah's initial response to Sennacherib's invasion was to plunder the temple to pay the wicked king. That's back up in chapter 18, verses 14 through 16. Now he goes to the temple to plead for protection from the righteous King of Kings. As one writer succinctly put it, he's now using the temple the way it was designed to be used, as a house of prayer. You see, by faith, Hezekiah knows Yahweh has infinite, omnipotent resources, and so he's going to turn to him in prayer. But he also, once God's prophet Isaiah, to be in prayer for him and for the nation. So we see there in verse two that the king sends a delegation to the prophet, Eliakim, who was something like the house steward, Shebna, the scribe, as well as some of the leading priests. And they too are all covered with sackcloth. And when they go to Hezekiah, it's their task given to them by their king, to communicate Hezekiah's concerns, and verses three and four really lay out the situation. First, Hezekiah describes their circumstances as a day of trouble and rebuke and blasphemy. And this is the language of lament. The people are dealing with the agony of a vicious enemy who's surrounded them, and they're also dealing with the reality that God's chastising them. And the posture of Hezekiah and his delegation is an acknowledgement that Hezekiah, his leaders, and Judah, they haven't trusted wholly in the Lord, but now they're repenting. But you see, their lack of trust, their lack of faith that the Lord would protect and deliver them from their enemies have left them in a state of utter exhaustion. And so Hezekiah tries to communicate that with a very vivid word picture. Did you notice that? He says, for the children have come to birth, but there's no strength to bring them forth. So in your mind's eye, or maybe not in your mind's eye, envision a baby just about to crown, right? Just on the verge of being delivered. The little one's there, but mom's exhausted. She has no strength. left to push. And this was Hezekiah's very poetic way of saying, we need delivery. We need your deliverance. We have no strength or ability to deliver ourselves. See, God's actually brought Hezekiah and Judah to that very sweet place where we look to God and all we have left to say is help, save. I have nothing, I need you." That's where they are. And so there's a great grace behind this chastisement that Judah is enduring. They're being taught what they need to know to look to God. The Lord's brought Hezekiah to a place where he knows that whole paying off Sennacherib was a bad idea. And it's likely, particularly if you want to go home and cross-reference Isaiah 22, it's likely that Hezekiah had put too much stock in the preparations that he had made for the potential Assyrian attack. Not that his preparations were wrong. In fact, he was commended for them. But he seemed to be trusting in them rather than the Lord. And now he knows he and Judah are utterly dependent on the Lord's strength. It is almost always a painful place when God gets you to that point. And yet it's also the place where God gets you, where you find the richest communion with Him and the greatest blessing. And here's where Hezekiah really is a godly example for us. He's certainly asking God to deliver Judah, but I want you to notice something. He's preeminently concerned with God's honor and God's glory. We're told in verse four that the rapture God had been sent by the king of Assyria to reproach the living God, that is to mock, insult, scorn, maybe in colloquial language, make fun of. And Hezekiah's desire is that Isaiah will pray and the Lord will rebuke them. for their blasphemies. You may have noticed as we were reading through the text that there's a certain tentativeness in Hezekiah's request. He says, it may be that the Lord heard these sayings and will respond. But when Isaiah hears it, there's no may be in the prophet's vocabulary. He immediately tells Hezekiah's delegation, thus you shall say to your master, thus says the Lord. Do not be afraid of the words which you've heard with which the servants of the king of Assyria have blasphemed me. Surely I will send a spirit upon him and he shall hear a rumor and return to his own land and I'll cause him to fall by the sword in his own land. Now, Isaiah began his prophecy here by telling Hezekiah, don't be afraid. And this isn't a buck up and be strong exhortation. It's a command to trust that God is actually zealous for His honor, and He's heard everything that loudmouth blasphemer has said. He's heard it. He's heard it. And there's an important and comforting principle here. God always knows exactly what's going on in the lives of his people. He hears every mocking word, every threatening word. He heard everything that the rabbi said. And this rabbi will learn eventually, it is a fearful and dreadful thing to fall into the hands of the living God, but the comfort for us, is that nothing happens in God's universe that escapes his omniscience. He is an all-knowing God. He doesn't miss our troubles. He doesn't forget us in our times of distress. He doesn't turn his back to us when we're enduring hardships. I'm sure most of you are familiar with the name Corrie Tenboom. She was a Dutch Reformed believer, her family, lived in the Netherlands and they hid Nazis from, excuse me, hid the Jewish people from Nazis. Her family eventually was caught and they were arrested and Corrie and her sister were sent to Ravensbrück concentration camps. And these two women, while they were in the concentration camp, zealously evangelized other women. They led prayer meetings. They were truly a light in a very, very dark place. But just 12 days before Corrie would be released, her dear and precious sister Betsy died. And that one event, of all the things she had been through, that one event, losing her sister, it shook her to the core. And I heard her say in an interview that at that moment, she knew God's grace was sufficient, but she knew her courage was wavering. And she went outside and she looked up at the stars and she cried out, oh Lord, you control all these stars, but have you forgotten your child? Corrie Ten Boom. And she said at that moment, the Lord directed her thoughts to Psalm 147.4. He counts the number of the stars. He calls them by name. And she said, then the Lord directed her thoughts to Matthew 10.30 that says, the very hairs of your head are all numbered. And this brought her an enormous comfort that God had not forgotten her, that God knew her, not knew her perfectly. God knew what she was going through. He knew what she was experiencing. And she knew in that moment, Stressing as it was, that God had a plan, even if she couldn't grasp it in that moment. And it was a good plan. Hezekiah is actually given a privilege that the Lord didn't give to Corey. He tells the king what he's going to do to the Assyrians. First, he's gonna send a spirit into the Assyrian king, who's gonna hear a rumor that will result in his return to Assyria, where he'll eventually be killed by the sword. And we'll see when we come back next time to this passage, that's just what happens. It's actually recorded in the last verse of this chapter. So that part of Isaiah's prophet will actually be fulfilled a couple years in the future. But the first part of the prophecy begins to be fulfilled very quickly. There's a quick turn here of time and events that's difficult to keep up with, but Isaiah gives this prophecy. Then we're told right on the cusp of that that Rapshachah went to Lachish because he wanted to sit down and have a powwow with Sennacherib. Apparently, he wanted to talk about just what are we going to do about these Jerusalemites and this rebellious Hezekiah. But when the Rapshachah got there, he discovered that Sennacherib had sacked Lachish, and he had moved to go siege another city in Judah, the city of Libna, which was probably northeast of Lachish. And he did this. The reason Sennacherib had moved is because he had received a troubling intelligence report. Glance here at verse 9. And the king heard concerning Terhaka, king of Ethiopia, look, he's come out to make war with you. So here's what Sennacherib thinks is happening. He thinks the Ethiopians were planning to make a move on Assyria. Interestingly enough, that shouldn't have concerned him in the least. That would be like saying Guatemala is about to attack the United States. But God's at work here. And so he takes the threat seriously and he moves north to go to Libna because he's got to get back home to Assyria so he can fortify the national defenses. What I want you to get at this point, what do I invite you to do at this point is to be in awe and wonder at the power and wisdom and majesty of your God. As I said, Sennacherib thought he was dealing with a real threat that came from a real intelligent report. But what's happening, as it says down in verse 28, we'll read that next time, is that the Lord has put a hook in his nose. and is leading him back to Assyria, exactly where the Lord wants him to be, where he will eventually be judged by his blasphemy and died by the sword in his own nation. Amazing, isn't it? God is working out his purposes. This king is moving here and there, he's hearing reports, he thinks he's acting as an independent agent, and God's working his sovereign purposes through this situation, in his case, a purpose that will lead to judgment. I want to borrow a bit from Dr. Phil Riken because he offers some helpful applications from this section. He writes, some of our problems that we encounter seem beyond the hope of any solution that we can fathom, health problems, family problems, social problems. In fact, sometimes I think we can even doubt that God can do anything about them, that God can do whatever He pleases. Even the king's heart is like a stream of water in the hand of the Lord. He turns it where he wishes. Assyria thought he was the mightiest being on the planet. The Lord's moving him off the chessboard. That's his power and majesty. And you see, no matter how powerful our enemies or our troubles may seem, They're incomparable to an infinite, omnipotent God. And when we hear about the enemies of God taking these stands, we need to know they're in a greater danger than they can begin to imagine. Because God's not for them, he's against them. And the same mighty God who diverted Sennacherib by turning his thoughts toward home is more than able to direct our problems toward the outcome that will bring him the most glory and us the most good. Well, while Sennacherib is being distracted He decides he better take a moment and send his messengers back to Jerusalem to let Hezekiah know he still intends to take Jerusalem. Don't let my momentary diversion think that you're going to get a pass. And so the messengers come back and they basically repeat many of the similar blasphemies that are recorded up in chapter 18. Only this time, they're even more wicked in their blasphemies in so much as they basically call God a liar. Listen to the wicked hubris in verse 10. Do not let your God in whom you trust deceive you, saying, Jerusalem shall not be given into the hand. of the king of Assyria. That's a shocking statement because he's essentially saying your God is a liar. Again, two weeks ago, you may recall, I said the Assyrians represent the kingdom of Satan. They represent the kingdom of our adversary. And it's remarkable that the Assyrians, the one who's representing the kingdom of Satan, representing the kingdom of deception, what they're saying to God's people, don't let your God deceive you. That's how twisted his lies are. And the basis for this profane accusation is this, none of the other gods have been able to deliver them from the Assyrian might. That's the Assyrian logic. If those many nations and their gods, all those that are recorded in verses 12 and 13, if those nations and those gods, if they can't stand against my master, the king of Assyria, what in the world would make you think that Jerusalem and her god could stand? That's the message they have. And presumably that's the message that's contained in the letter that Hezekiah received. And again, the way Hezekiah responds, the way he prays, really is a model of godliness. And if you listen carefully to this prayer, you'll hear echoes of our catechism lesson. He's concerned with the glory of God's kingdom. And he's concerned that the enemies of God's kingdom be destroyed for their blasphemy. Well, in verse 14, Hezekiah received a letter, he read it, and then he went immediately to the house of the Lord and he spread it before the Lord. And my friends, what a picture. And invites us to ask the question, how do we respond to a crisis? Because this is a picture perfect example of what we ought to do. Hezekiah presents his problem before the Lord. He's going to God in prayer. And at this point, this is again the grace that's worked in Hezekiah's life. There's no attempt on Hezekiah's part at this point to deal with Sennacherib on his own. And good, because that would have been a fool's errand. Assyria as a military force would have decimated them. All Hezekiah knows to do at this point, all he has left to do, all he wants to do is to cry out to God. And Hezekiah, in doing this, was following the instructions of his father, David, in Psalm 55, 22. There, David said, cast your burden on the Lord and He shall sustain you. He shall never permit the righteous to be moved. And this is just how Peter tells the church to pray, isn't it? In 1 Peter 5, 5, cast all your cares on Him, for He'll care for you. That's what Hezekiah is trusting in, and that's what Hezekiah is doing. I want to briefly walk through some of the highlights of this prayer. In verse 15, Hezekiah begins his prayer with adoration and with an acknowledging that God is unique. There's none other like Him. And that becomes a central tenet in this prayer. Oh, Lord God of Israel, the one who dwells between the cherubim. You are God, you alone, of all the kingdoms of the earth, you've made heaven and earth. You see, he's saying, my God, I know you are sovereign. I know you dwell in the high and holy place. You see, Hezekiah understands something about Yahweh that the Assyrians don't understand. They believe in national deities and mountain deities spread throughout the region. No, no, Hezekiah understands there's one God over all, the one who made heaven and earth, and all of the kingdoms of the earth belong to Him. And Hezekiah is crying out to this God, to the one who has power, to the one who's sovereign. In verse 16, Hezekiah appeals to God's own zeal for His glory. Incline your ear, O Lord, and hear. Open your eyes, O Lord, and see. Hear the words of Sennacherib, which he sent to reproach the living God. I should have mentioned this earlier, but that language, reproach, is actually used four times in this passage, and it's the same word that's used in 1 Samuel 15, when David is about to go up against Goliath, who was reproaching and defying and mocking the armies of Israel. And Hezekiah is saying, for your glory, O God, don't let them reproach your name. That was the thing that was the greatest concern to Hezekiah. Not simply that they were surrounded by an Assyrian army, but that these uncircumcised Assyrians would reproach the living God. Hezekiah wanted none of that. You see, it was true that the Assyrians had defeated all the other nations, and they had destroyed and discredited their gods. But that's not who Yahweh is. He's not just another god. He is the true and living God. See, Hezekiah acknowledges the problem with their gods is they're the figment of man's imagination. They're wood and stone that men created with their hands. They have no power other than to sit there as deaf, dumb idols. But Hezekiah was praying to the living God. And look what he prays in verse 19, therefore, O Lord, excuse me, therefore, O Lord, our God, I pray, this is so simple and so profound, save us from his hand that all the kingdoms of the earth may know that you are the Lord and you alone. So Hezekiah presented this petition to the Lord. He presented this petition to the Lord. Make your name glorious throughout the whole world. Save your people. Destroy your enemies. Make your name famous. And I know most of our Bibles separate verses 19 and 20, as though there ought to be a disconnect there. I think that's a mistake. Because I think verse 20 gives us the resolution to this prayer. Then Isaiah, the son of Amoz, sent to Hezekiah saying, thus says the Lord God of Israel, because you prayed to me against Sennacherib, king of Assyria, I have heard. My friends, we've been here about 35, 40 minutes. And if you don't take anything from here this evening except this, take this, because you've prayed to me, I have heard. What a privilege and blessing that is. I think about the song we sang, are we weak and heavy laden, cumbered with a load of care? Precious Savior, still our refuge. Take it to the Lord in prayer. When we come back, Isaiah is going to provide Hezekiah a victory song and an answer to this prayer. God is faithful. What we have to believe is that God will always answer our prayers. And what we have to accept is that he often won't answer them exactly the way we want to. And part of growing in grace and faith is depending and trusting on his character, on who he is for us, and to know that even in things that are inexplicable to us, he is working powerfully and sovereignly for our good. May the Lord make us men and women who wear out our knees in prayer, amen. Well, as you know, I give you a couple minutes after the service to answer any questions if you have any, or comments. All right, let's pray. Our great God in heaven, we thank you for this text. So often we read these passages from So many centuries passed, and the connection can sometimes seem distant to us, but not here. We are men and women who need to be trained to learn to be utterly dependent on our faithful God and to rely on Him through the means of prayer. Oh, make us, God, to be men and women a prayer for the glory of Jesus. Amen. Well, let me ask you to stand, dear ones, to hear the Lord's benediction. The Lord bless you and keep you. The Lord make his face shine upon you and be gracious to you. The Lord lift up his countenance upon you and give you peace. And all of God's people said, you