Good morning, everyone. I invite you to come in and find a seat as we get ready for worship today. Might be a little bit of excitement in the air as we had a little bit of rain last night. I hope you were excited about that. I was excited even though I left the window down in my vehicle. It's a good reminder that The Lord brought the rain as I sat in a puddle. But I'm glad you're here this morning. So as we come in and we get ready to worship, we're going to read the word of God this morning. We're going to read from Psalm 111 to prepare our hearts as we sing. But Psalm 111 says, praise the Lord. I will give thanks to the Lord with my whole heart in the company of the upright in the congregation. Great are the works of the Lord, studied by all who delight in them. Full of splendor and majesty is his work, and his righteousness endures forever. He has caused his wondrous works to be remembered. The Lord is gracious and merciful. He provides food for those who fear him. He remembers his covenant forever. He has shown his people the power of his works and giving them the inheritance of the nations. The works of his hands are faithful and just. All his precepts are trustworthy. They are established forever and ever to be performed with faithfulness and uprightness. He sent redemption to his people. He has commanded his covenant forever. Holy and awesome is his name. The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. All those who practice it have a good understanding. His praise endures. forever. Let's pray this morning. Our Heavenly Father, Lord, we thank you for who you are, Lord. We want to praise your mighty name, Lord, and give you the glory for the things that you have done, God, Lord. You have done mighty works, Lord, that we have been able to experience, Lord, especially the salvation that you provided, that grace that you have shown us, Lord, that unmerited favor, God. And as we sing about that this morning, God, I pray that our hearts would be inclined to you to give you praise, God, for what you have done. Lord, I pray that you would watch over our service today. Lord, I pray that you would guide us in our singing, and Lord, that you would fix our eyes and our hearts on you today, God. It's in your name we pray, amen. I invite you to stand as we open our service this morning and sing praise to the Lord. Praise to the Lord, the Almighty, the King of creation. O my soul, praise Him, for He is my health and salvation. Alleluia! Now to His temple draw near. Praise Him in glad adoration. Praise to the Lord for all things so wondrously rare. Praise to the Lord who doth prosper thy work and defend. Surely His goodness and mercy her daily attending. Oh, how to honor what the Almighty can do, if with Praise to the Lord, the Lord is in the altar. All that hath life and breath, come now, let praises be for him. Let the other stand from his people again. Mighty Lord, all we adore. Great is Your faithfulness, O God. You wrestle with a sinner's restless heart. You lead us by still waters into mercy. And nothing can keep us apart. So remember your people. Remember your children. Remember your promise, oh God. Your grace is enough. Your grace is enough. Your grace is enough for me. It is your love and justice, God of Jacob. You used the weak to lead the strong. You lead us in the song of Your salvation And all Your people sing along So remember your people. Remember your children. Remember your promise, oh God. Your grace is enough. Your grace is enough. Your grace is enough for me. Your grace is enough. Your grace is enough. Your grace is enough for me. So remember your people. Remember your children. Remember your promise, oh God. Your grace is enough. Your grace is enough. Your grace is enough for me. Your grace is enough. Heaven reaches out to us. Your grace is enough for me. God, I sing, your grace is enough. Am I covered in your love? Your grace is enough for me. Take the sound of greetings we want to know this morning. My daughter, Valerie, might need to take a nap. ♪ Amazing grace, how sweet the sound ♪ ♪ That saved a wretch like me ♪ I once was lost, but now I'm found. Was blind, but now I see. T'was grace that taught my heart to fear. And grace my fears relieved. How precious did your grace appear The hour I first believed My chains are gone, I've been set free My God, my Savior, has ransomed me Like a flood, His mercy rains Unending love, amazing grace The Lord has promised good speed His Word ♪ My hope secures ♪ He will my shield and force me ♪ As long as life endures ♪ My chains are gone, I've been set free My God, my Savior, has ransomed me And like a flood, His mercy rains Unending love, amazing grace ♪ Shall soon dissolve like snow ♪ ♪ The sun full bear to shine ♪ ♪ But God who called me here below ♪ ♪ Will be forever mine ♪ will be forever mine. You are forever mine. Check, check. Mic is good. Good morning. Thank you. Thank you. That was a pleasant return. Amazing grace just kind of reminds me of that little shower last night. It's just like that refreshing God's amazing grace to be here with you guys. It's like all the dry earth that we just walk through these days, all that brown grass and dry dust out there, just that relief that comes showered upon us. Coming here this morning, there's an amazing grace that we could just walk in and just enjoy. Enjoy the grace of the Lord, not just Sunday mornings, but every day. God's grace is always there. So we can be gracious to one another, mindful particularly of those folks online. Let's wave to the folks online. There's a camera right back there. Hi, folks online. We love you guys. It's amazing to me just to realize that we are being recorded and that people all around the world could be watching. There's people watching now, people watch later. I know I've gone on later and kind of brought it back up. I'll probably watch myself on there tonight and just say, how did I do up there? I'll just bring that up on YouTube. How did I look? Oh, that was a mess. So it's always there. We can go back and we can see pastor's sermon. If we forget something, it's there. We can go and refresh ourselves and just go, oh yeah, that's right. That's what we were learning last Sunday, the Sunday before last year. It's there for eternity or something. Anyway, greetings. You have your attendance forms there, if you'd be so kind as to fill those out. They're on the end of the aisles there. Get those filled out so we can know who's here. Let's do some announcements. There's a lot going on. Just coming in this morning, I had like three people, oh, oh, let's add this. Oh, one more announcement. That's just so exciting that there's so much excitement going on here at the Evangelical Free Church. So we'll start with the men. Not that men are necessarily first, but they're first on the list here. The Kingsmen invites all men of the church to their next large group meeting. It is this Tuesday. Yeah, a couple days from now. Tuesday, September 21st, from six to eight p.m., right here in the foyer. There'll be a time of teaching, fellowship, and worship. Dinner is included. We would kinda like to get a count. So if we could see hands for men planning to attend. Who's counting? Joe, you gonna get our count for us? You can count me in, too. We're good? All right. Got our count. Ooh, yes, men. Let's do this. The women as well. Women are, we want to make sure we prioritize prayer in our church life. Very important. The women's ministry will have their weekly 3M prayer meeting this week on Thursday, September 23rd from 630 to 730 p.m. at the Hensel home. You could, if you would be so kind as to talk to Carol Pencil or Peggy Schultz, they want to know how many lunches they're going to make, so if you would... Oh, next Saturday? Okay. Next Saturday? Okay. So make sure you talk to Peggy or Carol about that, and they want to know how many lunches to make. Also, women are invited to participate in the Prayer and Polish event on September 25th from 9 to noon. They will join together to clean the church and pray for the ministries of EFC. Oh, that's where you need the count for the bag lunch on that. Gotcha. I mixed those two. Copy that. Sorry about that. Yeah. She needs a count on who's coming to pray and polish, not on who's coming to the women's prayer meeting. Joe said I was going to make a mistake this morning and he was going to point his finger and laugh at me. Now's your time. Thank you. That's over with. Now we can just move on. All right, if you enjoy the time of fellowship after the service, which I think we all do. I see crowds of people enjoying so many stuff there, so much good stuff. Please consider helping with this ministry. We need more volunteers to ensure that there will be coffee and snacks each week. Many hands make light work. So sign up today to help out with this amazing and tasty ministry. Don't forget connection groups. They're a great way to grow in your faith and in relationships with other believers. Starting new groups soon, so if you're interested in joining a group, please sign up today on the clipboards available in the foyer. Indicate the days of the week that you are available, and there will be more information coming soon. So we need those signups so we can figure out who's going where. Awana, an amazing ministry of this church, is beginning on September 29th. It's a program that trains children in biblical truth and builds their character in the Lord. Parents, get your kids signed up and invite their friends to join. Contact Tim Giordano for more information. We could always use more volunteers as well. I'm leading the Sparkies. I need somebody to help with games. If anybody's really good and loves to play games with the kids, I'd love to have you come in. That would be great. Fall Festival, where the church and the school join together to have this amazing event. It's coming up. More information to be announced. But we do need candy, so if you can, there's some bins in the foyer there, if you could bring some candy next week, fill up those bins, there'll be plenty of candy to give out and sugar up our kids so they'll have a great time at the fall festival. Just what they need, more sugar. But that's okay, it's a joyful thing and we'll all have a good time. I got an announcement from Kerry Walden this morning that if you're interested in being a part of the Handbell Choir for Christmas, We'll have our first meeting in the music room following pastor's class at 12 noon next Sunday, September 26th. Really cool thing to do to be a part of those bells. I remember I was part of the bells as a kid. There's just something about the white gloves and the velvet and just the sound of those chimes. It's just a really beautiful thing. At that time, we'll discuss the best time to meet on a regular basis and start their first song. So contact Kerry Walden if you are interested in that. Pastor's class. Still doing a journey through the Bible, discovering the New Testament. Be held today during discipleship hour in the music room. We'll be in Second Corinthians, so there's plenty of room in there. Come join pastor's class. It's a good place to be. Reminder, there's an offering box right back there. If you care to give, that would be appreciated. There is a special offering going out to the Hope Center and the Rescue Mission. If you want to designate your giving to these or to any of our church ministries, please indicate that on the blue offering envelopes. They should be there in your chairs somewhere. Thank you for your faithful and generous giving to the Evangelical Free Church. We are blessed with a very, very generous church, and we are very thankful for that. So that's all of our announcements, which I think it is. We're going to move on to our invocation passage for today. We're gonna be reading out of Psalms 34, if you wanna start thumbing there. Psalms 34, in our Sunday school class, we make kids hold their Bible closed and we do a quick sword drill. Should we do a sword drill this morning? Anybody up for that? Mark's up for it, right Mark? No? Okay, I think half the people are already there, so it's ruined. All right, Psalm 34, one through 10. If you'd go ahead and stand for the reading of God's holy word, that would be appreciated. I will bless the Lord at all times. His praise shall continually be in my mouth. My soul makes its boast in the Lord. Let the humble hear and be glad. Oh, magnify the Lord with me and let us exalt his name together. I sought the Lord and he answered me and delivered me from all my fears. Those who look to him are radiant and their faces shall never be ashamed. This poor man cried and the Lord heard him. and saved him out of all of his troubles. The angel of the Lord encamps around those who fear him and delivers them. Oh, taste and see that the Lord is good. Blessed is the man who takes refuge in him. Oh, fear the Lord, you his saints, for those who fear him have no lack. The young lions suffer want and hunger, but those who seek the Lord lack no good thing. Thank you. You may be seated. Let's go to the Lord in prayer. Lord, we start with giving thanks as always, so much to be grateful for, for your many blessings over your provision for this church, truly blessed. We're thankful that there is growth in the ministries and new people joining us here at church. What a welcome, welcome thing that is. Thank you, Lord. And Lord, we confess our sins to you. We have not loved you as we should or served others as we should. We've held back from trusting you completely. We confess that we are far too often afraid and angry and selfish. The blood of Jesus cleanse us and may your grace empower us to live for you and your kingdom above all. Help us, oh Lord, to know you more. We continue to pray for revival in our church and the spiritual awakening in our land. May the Lord stir our hearts to confess our sins, turn from our wicked ways and idols and to seek your face more and more. May our church grow in holiness and unity, joy and sacrificial service for one another. We don't want to pray for Richard and Carrie Nakamura, our ministry partners of the month. Lord, may you give them wisdom and strength as they work among the Japanese people in Seattle and the surrounding areas. And Lord, may you bless their ministry and open hearts to the good news of the gospel. And Lord, we pray for the persecuted church in Afghanistan. May the Lord encourage, protect and strengthen his children in the underground church to stand firm in the face of great hostility and persecution. May you watch over your children and tear down evil desires of the enemy. Lord, we lift up our leaders of our city, of our state and of our nation. Our nation and our state are facing many dangers and challenges and struggles. May our leaders humble themselves before you, Lord, and recognize that they will stand before you one day, given in account for how they have governed. And Lord, grant them the wisdom that they need to govern well those under their charge. Lord, I want to lift up the schools, OCS and the schools here in our community. Lord, I just pray that you would strengthen teachers, that you would strengthen students, Lord, I pray that you would strengthen parents and that you would draw them to you. There's a lot of darkness out in our community, Lord, but we know there is a light and that there is a hope and that there is a future. And Lord, draw them to you, Lord. We pray for those that cannot be with us this morning because they're ill or hospitalized or homebound and pray that you would touch them with your mercy and comfort and grace. May they feel connected to us through the online services. We pray for our men's and women's ministries here at EFC. May you, Lord, empower them to stir, encourage, and build up the men and women of our church to grow in truth and unity. And God, may you use these ministries to build strong marriages and families in our congregation. We pray for those on the front lines fighting fires in our area. May they be upheld by the strength of you, Lord. And may you please send the rains again and again to refresh our land as you did last night. Thank you. We pray your blessing over the offering this morning. Bless those who give and grant wisdom to our leaders as they steward these funds. May all these resources of this church be used for your glory and for the blessings of your people, Lord. We pray for the sermon for Pastor Greg. We pray that your word would fall on open hearts, ready and willing to hear and to know you better. Lord, we thank you. We give you the praise and the glory today. We pray this in your name, Jesus. Amen. All right, our kiddos can be dismissed to their classes. The rest of you can stand as we continue in our worship. We sing before a pastor comes and brings the word to us. We're gonna continue in this theme that we've been singing of grace. The title of this song is Simply Grace. It might be new to some of you, but I believe it's a simple enough melody. You should be able to catch on to it and be able to join in with us, so. A voice that leads the sinner home From death to life forever And sings the song of righteousness By blood and not by marrow The place that reaches far and wide to every tribe and nation has called me hard to enter in. The joy of your salvation. The grace I am redeemed. The grace I am restored. I freely walk into the arms of Christ my Lord. A place that I cannot explain, not by my earthly wisdom. A place of life without a stain, one straight for the sin. A place I am redeemed, the grace I am restored. And now I freely walk into the arms of Christ my Lord. ♪ Praise rise up and overflow ♪ ♪ My song resound forever ♪ ♪ For grace will sing and welcome home ♪ ♪ To all peace that I see ♪ ♪ By grace I am redeemed ♪ By grace I am restored. And now I freely walk into the arms of Christ. By grace I am redeemed. By grace I am restored. And now I freely walk into the arms of Christ the Lord. Amen. You may be seated. spiritual betrayal of God. It started out with some level of promise and it just never got any better as Israel continued in this pattern of sin, plateauing for a season and then falling down to another level. And yet time and again the mercy of God shows up and surprises us As he continues to deliver Israel, showing a patience that is never deserved, but is rooted in the covenant-keeping nature of God. Well, how blessed we are today, my friends, to live on this side of the cross, where we have a covenant-keeping God who continues to show mercy to us because of Christ. And as the ultimate beneficiaries of God's mercy in Christ, we have the opportunity to reflect that in how we live and how we interact with others. Well, we've gone through quite a journey so far in the book of Judges. For many chapters, we saw that it was looking at individual judges and what they did and what they didn't do. And that started in chapter three, and it continued till the end of chapter 16, where we saw the end of Samson. Now we're going to get to a particularly difficult part of the Book of Judges with several chapters where the attention turns away from individuals and we'll focus more on tribes, particularly two, the tribe of Dan and the tribe of Benjamin, and a few other tribes besides. And it'll bring us to the end of the book. There's difficult passages ahead. They're not easy. They talk about very, very hard things. But this is the Word of God given for us under the inspiration of God, the Holy Spirit. And in his mind and in his wisdom and according to his providence, he wants us to have them. And so as we walk through and feel the revulsion of sin and the disgust we have towards bad behavior, it is meant to show us the ugliness of human rebellion so that we might look for the greatness of the Savior. There are, in fact, two sets of conclusions to the book of Judges. Chapters 17 and 18, the focus will be on the tribe of Dan, as the tribe of Dan is in this free fall, spiritually and morally, and even will end up on the edge, if not on the outskirts of Israel, and outside of God's blessings. And then in chapters 19 to 21, we will see the tribe of Benjamin, which is almost eliminated from the tribes of Israel. Tragedy is in the air. And four times over the next five chapters, we will see the grim verdict. Everyone did what was right in his own eyes. Which is just another way of saying what has been said through the first 16 chapters that everyone did evil in the eyes of the Lord. Over the next three weeks, as we cover these five chapters, we're going to see painful examples of sin and foolishness and pride, but unfortunately, very little mention of the Lord, which in itself is a form of judgment. That God can reach a point in His interaction with His people that He just gives them over to their sin, to the deepest desires of their hearts, and allows the sin to bring its own punishment upon His people. So we're going to see that the moral collapse was total. It involved both the political and the religious leaders who have misled the people of Israel and let them down. The book of Judges is not given to make us feel good about ourselves. It is not given for us to puff ourselves up following the gospel of Oprah and say, well, you know, really, actually, we're quite good. is to have the opposite effect, to show us as a mirror how bad we are, but how good God is. And then when we encounter the goodness of God, that good news really does become good news. Well, with that, I invite you to stand. We're going to attempt to get through two chapters today. We may read all of them, we may not, but we'll start with reading the first six verses of Judges 17. And the Holy Word of God says, there was a man of the hill country of Ephraim whose name was Micah. And he said to his mother, the 1,100 pieces of silver that were taken from you about which you uttered a curse and also spoke it in my ears, behold, the silver is with me. I took it. And his mother said, blessed be my son by the Lord. And he restored the 1,100 pieces of silver to his mother. And his mother said, I dedicate the silver to the Lord from my hand for my son to make a carved image and a metal image. Now, therefore, I will restore it to you. So when he restored the money to his mother, his mother took 200 pieces of silver and gave it to the silversmith who made it into a carved image and a metal image. And it was in the house of Micah. And the man Micah had a shrine, and he made an aphid, and household gods, and ordained one of his sons who became his priest. In those days, there was no king in Israel. Everyone did what was right in his own eyes. Oh God, now that we have read your word, we need you to give us understanding. So would you give us ears to hear, and eyes to see, and hearts to receive. We want to know that we have met with you, the living God, this morning through the teaching of your words. So guide us now in Jesus' name. Amen. Please be seated. As you follow along in your sermon outline, we get to our first major point this morning, anatomy of a false religion or anatomy of false religion. Verses 1 to 6 of chapter 17. The chapter begins as you see it. There was a man of the hill country of Ephraim whose name was Micah. Now this name is not to be confused with the prophet who bears the same name who is found among what we call the minor prophets in the Old Testament. That Micah was definitely a prophet. This Micah in Judges surely is not. This Micah that is mentioned here comes from Ephraim which is the largest and most powerful tribe in Israel. It's located near the geographic center of the country. So in a sense, as we have seen over and over again in the book of Judges, the individual represents the nation. And that's what we see today as Micah is coming from the heartland. What's interesting is that the longer form of his word, of his name, actually is Micaiah. Micaiah means who is like Yahweh. Now what is interesting is, this will be ironic, because we will see that Micah or Micaiah, it's shortened after the first mention, is not like Yahweh, nor is anyone else in the story. It starts out very poorly. He's committed theft, personal theft from his own mother. So the story starts out with Micah, whose name means who is like Yahweh, stealing from his own mother, just violating two of the top 10 of God. Do not steal, Exodus 20, 15. And honor your father and mother, Exodus 20, verse 12. The sins of greed and deception are found all throughout this book. And we're mentioned that the amount that he stole was 1,100 pieces of silver. Perhaps that is a nod to the story we've just read on Samson, because that's the exact amount of money that each of the Philistine kings was going to give to Delilah. You recall that Delilah's name means the knight. And her name became what she was. She led Samson into darkness. But that was bad enough. We had a Philistine woman who was betraying an Israelite man. But here it's worse. Micah, an Israelite himself, stealing from his own mother. So the fact that there was this much money involved at least hints that this was a family of means. And we'll see that throughout the story. Everybody in this story ends up crisscrossing and coming to this place. It must have been a place of some size that could accommodate guests. That would imply then that there was some means. Well, Micah intended to keep the money. That is until he heard his mother cursing or uttering a curse against the one who had stolen it, and it says he heard it with his own ears, the own voice of his mother. Now the common Canaanite, Philistine, pagan way of thinking of that day was that when words were uttered like this, they had a certain power. People were superstitious. They thought if you utter a curse against someone, it would actually come to pass. So Micah doesn't want something terrible to happen to him, so he confesses, as it were, his theft to his mother. But if he were really an Israelite following the law, first of all, he wouldn't have stolen, and he wouldn't have stolen from his mother. But if he was an Israelite really following the law, it was at that point that he was not to try to just go to his mother and confess his sins. He needed to do that. But he needed to go to where the tabernacle was to confess his sin to a priest and offer a guilt offering. That was what was provided for under the law. Instead, he just tries to do a face-saving gesture to keep the curse from falling upon him. Well, the mother gets the money back. We can imagine the worry that she had. This is actually a very large sum of money. You recall last week that if 5,500 shekels was what 550 men earned in an entire year, then this would be the sum of what 110 men earned in an entire year. It was a large sum of money that had gone missing. So she tries to reverse the curse by pronouncing a blessing and even invoking the name of the Lord, we might say, okay, so far so good. Except that this is just an apparent act of piety because of what she goes on and does with the money once it has been returned to her. This money that she would dedicate to the Lord. She gives it to her son so that they might create an idol. So neither Micah nor his mother are off to a good start. They're showing they really don't have a good knowledge of the law of God. What they should have done, if he should have gone to Shiloh, which is where the tabernacle was at this time, which, by the way, happened to be in the area of Ephraim, he would have confessed his sin and offered the sacrifice. She also should have gone to Shiloh and given the money to the priests, who would have then allowed her to fulfill her vow to the Lord. That was how vows would be handled according to the law. They would be handled publicly. So she loses the money. She gets the money back and she says, I'm going to dedicate it to the Lord. But she doesn't. At least not all of it. Because she only dedicates 200 pieces of silver to this idol. What about the other 900? We're not told. But we can see that the spirit of Ananias and Sapphira was not a new one in the book of Acts. That the idea of misrepresenting and misusing the wealth that God has given us just as part of our sinful human nature. Deceit is always right there at the door. She'd made a promise. She needed to keep it. Now, what did they use to make this? If you look at how the ESV renders it, it renders it as two things in verse 3, a carved image and a metal image. I'm actually going to suggest a little better translation, that rather than seeing this as two different idols, I think it's actually referring to two actions preparing the same idol, and I'll get to why. Because the first term means to actually carve out or hue or form something, sculpting something or forming of an object. And the second term that is used points to the melting of precious metal which would then be poured over an image or a carved image. And so I think we actually have two actions pointing to the same idol. But in any case, whether it's one or it is two, it is still a clear violation of Exodus 20 verses four and five, which says no graven images. But how these two same terms are used in Deuteronomy 27, 15 convinces me of it. It says, cursed be the man who makes a carved or cast metal image, an abomination to the Lord. What is clear, however, is that the making of idols is always wrong. Images are never to be used in worship for they can never properly represent the true nature of God. It is just simply the nature of man that if we have images that either represent God or the things of God properly, improperly handled, they will always lead to the worship of those idols, to those things. Superstition will arise and people will think there's magic just in the object itself. whereas those objects are meant to point us to God. Well, this Mike is busy. Not only does he make an idol or two, he goes on to make a whole bunch of other items that are all of idolatry. And we can see that he had a shrine and he made an aphid and household gods. He even builds a shrine, it says, in his own home. So think about it. This is a man whose name means, who is like Yahweh. He makes an idol. He places it in his own home, which he has now turned into a shrine, or a place of worship, and brings along other items of worship that were reserved solely for the priest of God to use, and not for him just to use in his own individual need. Everything's wrong about this story. The word for shrine, as we have it in the ESV and in verse 5, literally means a house of Elohim. And in this case, it means a house of gods or a house of idols. God had clearly stated where he wanted to be worshipped. And in this context, in this time, it was to be in Shiloh. That's where the tabernacle was. That's where the priests would be. It was not to be in his own home. And then it gets even worse when we realize that the word that is translated ordained in verse five, you can see it there, he ordained one of his own sons. There's a couple things wrong with this. First of all, it literally means he filled the hand of his son, and that phrase is gonna become very important as we look at the rest of the passage. But secondly, the priests were to be Levites, would come from the line of Aaron, not from the line of Ephraim. So who is like Yahweh? Certainly not Micah. At every turn, he's showing us that he is not fulfilling the nature and character of his namesake. But does that not pose a challenge for us today? Because we are called in the scriptures Christians, which means little Christ. Do we act like the name that we have? We've seen that Micah has failed again and again and again, though his name says who is like Yahweh, he's not. But are we like the one that we name and whose name we bear, whose title we bear? It's good for us to continually go back to the Lord and say, thank you for having mercy on me, oh God, a sinner, a rebellious sinner, before we're quick to lop off the head of somebody else because of the sins that we think that they are committing. Everything that's going on here in Judges 17 is wrong. It violates everything that Deuteronomy 12 talks about concerning the actions of the Israelites in the land. According to Deuteronomy 12, there were to be no idols or shrines in the promised land. They were to serve the Lord at the place that he designated. and they were to accept the inheritance that they had received from him. The priests were all to be Levites, and they were to be paid as it were equally from the shares of what had been given by the people of Israel. There was not to be a shrine in an individual home with a private priest and a personal form of worship. Oh, that we might have ears to hear what that might mean for us today. Prone as we are to individualism, an individual expression of all kinds of things, including what we might think is acceptable to God. And if we're not careful and not spending more time listening to the voice of God than listening to the idolatrous voices in our culture, we can very easily be led along to somehow God is obligated to accept whatever we want to give Him in worship. when he has clearly prescribed how it is that he wants to be worshipped through Christ, even today. And that we need to make sure that we never try to bring anything up to the level of God, to the level of Christ, or somehow mention it in the same context of Christ, because he alone is to be worshipped with all that we are. After all, that is the greatest commandment, to love God with heart, soul, mind, and strength. First, above all, over all, and for His glory alone. So we look at Micah, and we say, well, what was his problem? Well, it's the same as with all of Israel. In those days, there was no king, verse six, everyone did what was right in his eyes. So Micah does what he wants to do and it's not right. His mother does what she wants to do and it's not right. The thing is, we don't even gather that they understood that what they were doing was not appropriate and not acceptable to the Lord. And that's a challenge for us today because we are called to be imitators of God. That's what Paul told the church in Ephesus, be imitators of God. Are we? Does it show up in our worship? Does it show up in our affection? Does it show up in our desires? And all of us then, that's why we need the community of believers to speak truth into one another's lives, to call each other into account, to say, be careful brother, watch over your heart, be careful sister, don't be swayed by false teachers. Because we need to constantly be reminded that the battle for truth continues. And the battle for your heart is daily. And you need to fight it with the word of God and the truth of Jesus Christ. Now this phrase in verse six that says there was no king in Israel, there's kind of this underlying theme that if only we had a king, everything would be better. And of course this brings us then in the organization of the scriptures to where we do actually start to get to the kings. We get to Samuel, and then we get to Saul, and then we get to David, and we get to the other kings. But all we see in those stories is that the kings just help the people in perpetuating the same sins. So whether there's a good human king or not, The Israelites are still doing evil on the side of the Lord because they're not following the Lord who is to be their true King. And of course, that growing desire of having a good and true King is ultimately fulfilled only in the one who came to be the King of kings, even our Lord Jesus Christ. It is God's ways that we are to pursue with great passion in all that we do in our worship. anatomy of a false religion. Secondly, we see the tragedy of a greedy religion. Tragedy of a greedy religion. And the text goes on. Now, there was a young man of Bethlehem in Judah of the family of Judah who was a Levite and he sojourned there. And the man departed from the town of Bethlehem and Judah to sojourn where he could find a place. And as he journeyed, he came into the hill country of Ephraim to the house of Micah. And Micah said to him, where do you come from? And he said to him, I am a Levite of Bethlehem and Judah, and I'm going to sojourn where I may find a place. And Micah said to him, stay with me. And be to me a father and a priest, and I will give you ten pieces of silver a year, and a suit of clothes, and your living.' And the Levite went in. And the Levite was content to dwell with the man, and the young man became to him like one of his sons. And Micah ordained the Levite, and the young man became his priest, and was in the house of Micah. And Micah said, now I know that the Lord will prosper me because I have a Levite as priest. It's already off to a bad start. And the word that's actually used for this Levite priest is young man. Is the author trying to tell us something because according to the law, a Levite had to be at least 30 years of age before he could actually enter into the priesthood? We don't know. We'll let the rest of the story tell us about his qualifications. But he's young, and he's a Levite, and where is he living? The Levites were descendants of Aaron. They were to live in the allotted cities that were given throughout the 12 tribes of Israel, and there were 48 cities in which they could live, and Bethlehem was not one of them. So why is this Levite living in Bethlehem? But the story takes a more difficult turn, because if we understand the history of the golden calf, where the people of Israel couldn't stay faithful for very long as Moses went away, and they form a calf, and they cover it with gold, and they worship it, and God brings judgment, and it was the Levites who stood with Moses against the idolatrous worship. So the Levites at that time were setting the example to God and to God alone, away with the golden calves. And the Levites themselves were to follow the guidelines on how to carry out their ministry as they were given in the law in Deuteronomy 18. And here we have a Levite who is violating every one of those requirements in Deuteronomy 18. He's not in Shiloh, which is where he was supposed to be. He's not working with other Levites as the Levites were called to do, working among themselves as equals, as priests. He's not even serving in the name of Yahweh. He's not sharing in an equal portion with all of the other Levites. No, he's in a single home where there's an idol, serving in the name of Micah for a negotiated fee. It's not starting out very well for him. Even the priests we see in the book of Judges are doing what is right in their own eyes. And so this Levite, who's not where he's supposed to be, he's in search of work. Now granted, if there was all this disobedience going on among the people of Israel, as we have seen, perhaps it was hard for him to make enough where he was as priest. And so he had to go out and get some more income. We don't know, but he goes out looking for work. That is clear. He comes to Ephraim. He happens upon the house of Micah, who says, what are you doing? And basically he says, well, I'm a hired gun. I'm looking for work. And Micah thinks that good fortune has come his way. And so he asks them, he asks him, I should say, the Levite, he says, will stay with me and be, quote, a father and priest to me. And so Micah, a man of means, living in a house of means, he gives him a title of honor. He gives him a place of service. He gives him free clothing, a salary, and room and board. And he says, I'll even submit to your authority. But in reality, it is an attempt to manipulate and control him. And we see that both parties are simply being opportunistic. The Levite was to be involved in serving the nation within the proper confines of Israel for the good of all of Israel and the glory of God. Nonetheless, he takes this role to be a single family priest in a pagan shrine for a thief who steals from his own mother. There's so much that is wrong with this story. But maybe he's happy because his meal ticket is punched. And notice the change in terms. Micah had said to him, you will be like a father and priest to me. But we get down further in the context and he says he ordained him in verse 11. We already know what it means to ordain. And the young man became to him like one of his sons. So now it's changed from being a father to me to now being one of my sons. On a certain human level, both parties seem content. Micah says, I have a shrine. I have my idols. I even have a Levite who's my priest. At no time are we told in the story that he has ever sought the face of the Lord. And he even thinks that this, this, Levite is like a good luck charm. Now I know the Lord's gonna prosper me. My man-made religion is working out okay for me. And he's gonna find out that he's in for a big surprise. He thinks that he's on the verge of a great blessing. He doesn't know yet that he's actually on the cusp of a great catastrophe. He's going to find out you can't put your trust in your own way of doing things, in your own made religion, and just doing whatever your religious impulses tell you to do. And of course, we know in the context of the book of Judges that Israel is in a decline. And so we know that even as he says, I know that the Lord will prosper me because I have a Levite as a priest. It's very similar to an idea we might hear today among prosperity preachers. If you just give to the right person, in the right way, in the right amount, and you confess the right words, you're just gonna have abundance. And they fleece the sheep. But here, both parties are willing participants in this tragedy of greedy religion, and now we get to the trajectory of godless religion. Chapter 18 begins with a reminder that there's no king in Israel, and now the tribe of Dan comes into focus. Samson was from the tribe of Dan. Samson was the one who was called to begin to save Israel, but Samson only thought about himself. And the Danites, his fellow tribesmen, will show that they are becoming very much like their would-be deliverer. And so we start out by seeing the Levite and the search, the Levite and the search. And since time allows, I'll go ahead and read this next passage. In those days, there was no king in Israel. And in those days, the tribe of the people of Dan was seeking for itself. in inheritance to dwell in. For until then, no inheritance among the tribes of Israel had fallen to them. So the people of Dan sent five able men from the whole number of their tribe, from Zorah and from Eshtoel to spy out the land and to explore it. And they said to them, go and explore the land. And they came to the hill country of Ephraim to the house of Micah and lodged there. Verse three. When they were by the house of Micah, They recognized the voice of the young Levite and they turned aside and said to him, who brought you here? What are you doing in this place? What is your business here? And he said to them, this is how Micah dealt with me. He has hired me and I have become his priest. And they said to him, inquire of the Lord, please, that we may know whether the journey on which we are setting out will succeed. And the priest said to them, go in peace, the journey on which you go is under the eye of the Lord. Then the five men departed and came to Lash and saw the people who were there, how they lived in security after the manner of the Sidonians, quiet and unsuspecting, lacking nothing that is in the earth and possessing wealth, and how they were far from the Sidonians and had no dealings with anyone. And when they came to their brothers at Zorah and Eshtoah left, their brothers said to them, what do you report? And they said, arise and let us go against them for we have seen the land and behold, it is very good. And will you do nothing? Do not be slow to go to enter in and possess the land. As soon as you go, you will come to an unsuspecting people. The land is spacious for God has given it into your hands, a place where there is no lacking of anything that is in the earth. This passage starts out with an ominous warning. We're told that the Day Knights are seeking an inheritance for themselves. Why? According to Joshua 19, they were already given an inheritance from the Lord in the land of Canaan. But according to Judges 1, verses 34 to 36, they would not drive out the inhabitants of the land from their territory. They were forced to remain in the hills. So as time goes on, they need more space because they are growing, and it is their own disobedience that is harming them. They're blocked to the one side by the Canaanites, another side by the Philistines, and they've not taken over the land that was given to them. The tribes of Israel are also forming around them, so they only have one direction to go, or so they think, which is north, and they're heading towards the boundaries of Israel, and as we will see, I think they actually go beyond the boundaries of Israel. Now, what they should have done at this point was repent of their lack of faith. The text clearly says they would not drive out the inhabitants. God had said, drive them out, and I will be with you. So rather than driving out the people that were there with the land that had been given them, they're looking for another way. Instead of following God's ways, they wanna try their own. And then we have some similarities here between what we see in Numbers 13, where the people get to the edge in the wilderness, to the edge of the land of promise, and the spies are sent out. But in that case in Numbers 13, it is God who clearly sends out the spies. Here there's no mention that God has sent out the spy, the spies. It's as if the writer of Judges is using Numbers 13 as a foil and saying, Numbers 13 was how it should have been done. But notice that's not what they're doing here. And these spies came from the region of Zorah and Eshtoel. We should remember those names because that's where the story of Samson began and where it ended. You see, there hadn't been the deliverance that was supposed to come. This seems to be purely a human enterprise. So they go out. They happen to arrive at the same place in Ephraim where there's a Levite. They lodge with Micah. They figure out that he must be a rich man. They see the accoutrements around his place. And he obviously has a place that can handle many visitors. And then they hear this Levite speaking and they quickly recognize that he's not from that area. It's very likely that his accent gave him away, because everybody has an accent, even if they don't think they do. So they're hearing this Levite speaking, and they're thinking, you're not from around these parts, are you? What are you doing here? You know, I had a funny experience when I first went overseas in 1989. It was going to be my first Christmas away from home. And I was gonna be alone, and then a fellow missionary from Australia had pity on me and says, well, hey, come down to our missionary compound and spend Christmas with us. And all of them were from either England, or Australia, or New Zealand, and they sung all the Christmas carols wrong. They had the wrong notes, they had the wrong rhythms, and the wrong pronunciation. At least that was my point of view. I knew something was up when I was just talking to my friend very casual, and I walked in and somebody said, who brought this American in here? It was my accent, of course, that had given me away. I think something similar is going on here. But again, a Levite should not be living and serving in the house of a pagan. And these men, these spies, seem to recognize that, like, why are you even here? But the Levite could have turned around and asked the same question. Why are you even here? Why are you not in the land that God gave you? And so as we see the interaction going on, we see that nobody here is following the path of God. So Levite says, well, I'm here because that's where the money was, that's where the job was. He hired me, the text says, he hired me, filled his hand with me. It's almost, we can almost imagine, because this is the expression that's used in the original Hebrew, he filled his hand, he filled his hand. You can almost imagine Micah saying, well, here's what the job was, he filled my hand. As if he's holding it out to see if there's a better offer that might be coming. And so, they ask him to inquire of the Lord. Inquire of God, please, that we may know whether the journey in which we are setting will succeed. Does it mention that he prayed to the Lord? Not in my reading. It just says, and the priest said to them, go in peace. And then there's ambiguity in this next phrase. The journey on which you go is under the eye of the Lord. Is he just telling them what they want to hear? Because even in the original, it is not clear that this is saying go and you have the Lord's blessing. or go and just keep in mind that God sees everything you do. And I think there's some tension in the text here, that there's not the clear hand of favor of God upon them. So they hear what they wanna hear, and they say, we're gonna go get this land for ourselves. But we know, because we know the story, there was no need to inquire here, because God had already revealed His will for the Day Knights. He had already revealed to them where they should be, and already commanded them to do what they were to do. They should not be asking for a new land, unless they had conquered all of that land, and they needed more. And we see that in the Scriptures. If the land that you possess is too small for you, we'll get more land. They didn't even try to take the land that they were to possess. And so they come to this city, And they find that these are people living in peace. And there's certain phrases in there that indicate that they weren't bothering anyone. They're quiet. They're unsuspecting. They're far away from the Sidonians, probably about 30 miles, but on the other side of the mountains, when we know where this village is, the other side. Sidon would have been on the coast of what we know as Lebanon today. And they're about 30 miles away. but they live in good land. That's what the people of Dan are looking for. And so the spies return and they say, well, it's good land, let's go. God, they evoke the name of God, but it's Elohim here. It's not Yahweh. Every time there was a promise of covenant, of relationship, where God is acting on behalf of his people, the name Yahweh is used, because that is the name of the covenant keeping God. Here, it's just the generic name of God, Elohim. Is that significant? I think it is. They don't have this awareness of what they are supposed to be doing before God. And right away, we are told that 600 men, there probably were a lot more in the tribe, but 600 men pick up weapons, and it's obvious that this is not for peace. My question is, if they're so willing to pick up weapons to go take over this one city, why didn't they go take over the areas that actually were given to them? because they're doing what's right in their own eyes. You see how that phrase comes up always throughout, that the people do what is right in their own eyes. And so we get to the 600 men now and the Levite. And for time's sake, I'm just gonna ask you to follow along as we look at what's going on in verses 11 to 20. We'll pass over it fairly quickly and then close with the end of the chapter. But as we summarize what's happening in these 10 verses, these men set out to conquer a city that was at peace. And they arrive at the house of Micah in Ephraim. And the five spies say, wink, wink, nudge, nudge. There are homes here that have lots of booty and lots of wealth. Now consider what you will do. The idea is very clear. This is a way to line your pockets. And so right away, they set out to steal what they can find, and they take the stuff from Micah's house. And it's at that point in that the priest speaks up and says, well, what are you doing? After all, this is his meal ticket that's walking out the door. And then they say to him, hold your silence, be quiet. Think of the context, 600 armed men, who are on a way to conquer a city, who are stealing the stuff out of your house, and you say, what are you doing? And they say, be quiet. Can you feel the threat that he would feel, that he's not going to push it much further? But then they go on, and it's almost as if they make him an offer that he can't refuse. They say, well, why just serve one little pagan house when you could serve a tribe? And so Micah jumps at the chance. We're told that he actually took it gladly, in verse 20, and went along with them. Wasted no time. His loyalty was not very deep. His loyalty was as deep as the paycheck, the one that would fill his hands. And so he quickly switched his sides. And then we get to Micah loses it all. Verse 21 of chapter 18. So they turned and departed, putting the little ones in the livestock. I'm just gonna have to read. I don't believe I prepared the slides for you. Okay, so I did. So they turned and departed, putting the little ones in the livestock and the goods in front of them. And when they had gone a distance from the house of Micah, the men who were in the houses near Micah's house were called out and they overtook the people of Dan. And they shouted to the people of Dan who turned around and said to Micah, what is the matter with you that you come with such a company? And they said, and he said, listen to these words. You take my gods that I made and the priest and go away and what have I left? How then do you ask me what is the matter with you? And the people of Dan said to him, do not let your voice be heard among us, lest angry fellows fall upon you and you lose your life with the lives of your household. And the people of Dan went their way. And when Micah saw that they were too strong for him, he turned and went back to his house. So we see the military strategy here. They've come. They've pillaged the homes there. They send their property and their children on ahead. They leave the warriors in the back because they anticipate some type of response. And they get it, as Micah and his neighbors run after him and say, what are you doing? Give me my stuff back. Why have you robbed me? And so they turn around. And it's obvious they're in no mood for negotiating with this guy. And they say, what is wrong with you? And the reason why I drew attention to those words when I was reading just a moment ago is that Micah convicts himself with his own words. And now we see the gig is up. Now we see what this is really all about. He said, you take my gods that I made. He admits here that this has all been his own doing, his own religion, his own process. He wanted to set up something that would suit him and that he could serve. And he's finding out that gods that are made by human hands, things in which we put our trust that we make with our own hands, will fail us. Only God will never fail his people. Only God is one who will never let his people down. Micah had thought that he could use his own creativity and that his own religious arrangements would give him everything. Remember he said, now I know the Lord will prosper me. Actually he says, now I know I shall prosper. But he found out that everything that he made with his own hands cost him almost everything that he had. And so you can imagine the scene, right? These 600 men are determined to win. They turn around and they say, what are you doing here? You took my own gods. And they're like, you know, you might want to keep it down. We got some hot-headed people among us, and you never know what they might do. It's almost as if they're saying to him, you got a nice little house there. It'd be too bad if something happened to it. And then it just abruptly says, they turn and departed. like conversations over and they turn and walk away and all he could do is go back and the way it's written in the original is lonely he went back to his house alone he'd been stripped of everything except his life but there's some type of poetic justice here is they're not remember how the story started with this Micah he robbed from his own mother And now on the justice of God, who cannot be mocked, not in the false religions of men, we find that the robber has been robbed. He put his trust in the wrong things. But you know what'll get worse? He robbed from his mother, the Day Knights robbed from him, but Dan will lead Israel into grave sin. And it would not be very much longer before the entire tribe of Dan itself would be robbed when the Assyrians came and took everything away. You see the cycle of sin? You think you get away with it. You think you're clever enough. You think you've covered all your bases. You think you've done all the right things. But our sin will always find us out. And so we get to Dan's tragic legacy. But the people of Dan took what Micah had made, and the priest who belonged to him, and they came to Lesh to a people quiet and unsuspecting, and struck them with the edge of the sword, and burned the city with fire. And there was no deliverer, because it was far from Sidon, and they had no dealings with anyone. It was in the valley that belongs to Bet Rehob. Then they rebuilt the city and lived in it. And they named the city Dan after the name of Dan, their ancestor, who was born to Israel. But the name of the city was Lesh at the first. And the people of Dan set up the carved image for themselves. And Jonathan, the son of Gershom, son of Moses, and his sons were priests to the tribe of the Danites until the day of the captivity of the land. And they set up Micah's carved image that he made as long as the house of God was at Shiloh. And so we're told again that this was an unsuspecting people. They were peace-loving. They were quiet. They were not looking for a fight. The Bible clearly describes the events, but we don't see God's imprimatur on it. We don't see his hand of blessing. These people were isolated. They were far away. They were quickly destroyed. And notice that the Danites very quickly put their priests in place and their idols of worship, and Dan would become a cult center, a place of idolatry that would snare Israel for generations. And so in a strange way, though on a military level, Dan won. On a spiritual level, Dan lost. because they were serving, not the God of Israel, but serving their own gods and the gods of the people of the land. Remember how Judges started out? The people of Israel were to conquer Canaan. And over and over again, we see how it is actually Canaan that is conquering Israel. Think of how terrible this is getting, when now for the first time we learn the name of this Levite, whose name is Jonathan. Given of God is the meaning of his name. He and his sons now become priests in Lesh, but this was not just any Jonathan. This was the descendant of Gershom, who was the son of Moses. Think of how bad things have gotten. So far away from the ways of God that even the descendants of Moses, through whom the law was given, through whom the promise of land was given, that now those very descendants are involved in serving the gods of the land and not God of the covenant. In Judges chapter two, we were told that there was a generation that rose up that did not know the Lord, and now we see it is so bad it even included the descendants of Moses. My friends, there is a warning here, that each generation must intentionally, specifically, with great effort and prayer, pass on the faith to the next generation. It is the primary responsibility of parents to pass it on to their children and to encourage their children to pass it on to their grandchildren. It is our number one priority in life. In the 70 plus years that we may be given, that is nothing in light of eternity. And if we have not lived for eternal things, and our kids and our grandchildren have been left without a heritage or not hearing of it, Woe is us. As D.A. Carson says, who is one of the primary or premier New Testament scholars in the world today, he said, one generation knows the gospel. The next one assumes it. The third one loses it. And it remained like this in Israel until 734 B.C. when God finally had enough of his people. Is this still on? When God finally had enough, his patience had run out. In 734 BC, he sent Tiglath-Pileser of the Assyrians to come and carry away these tribes into exile. They had continually done what was evil in the sight of the Lord. They had continually done what was good in their own eyes. And it cost them greatly. And that verdict is affirmed by the very last word that is mentioned in Judges 18, Shiloh. You see, in the original languages, word order is important. And we believe that every word is inspired by God in any case. All throughout, there was this false place of worship with false priesthoods, with false idols. And right there in Ephraim had been the very place where they were to worship at Shiloh, where the tabernacle was, where the priests were. And there we see that it was at Shiloh that we have the house of God. And there's a definite article in the original language that makes it clear it's referring to the house of God, where God wanted them to be, not like in the house of Micah, where it was a house of the gods. And Dan took property that if it was in the territory of Israel, was right at the very edge, but most scholars say that it was actually beyond. the promised territory that Israel had been given. And if that's the case, they shouldn't have been there. And it's as if physically they're outside of the land and spiritually they're outside of the blessings. These are painful, painful stories we have seen in chapter 17 and 18. And they do not receive the sanction of God. But God has just faithfully recorded them that we might learn from them. We see stealing from parents, pagan curses, homemade idols, a private shrine, private religion and idols, stolen idols, slaughters of unprotected people. Micah himself was bad, but the Danites committed all of the sins of Micah and on a grander scale. And we need to be careful, my friends, because idolatry is always a problem knocking at the door of our hearts. And it is subtle. and we can turn even important and good and use properly good, righteous things and turn them into idols if we put any of them in an improper relationship to the Lord. The Lord is lavish and good in His grace, but He still must be first above everything and the ultimate treasure and pleasure that we seek. So what are some things that we can learn from this passage this morning? I think, first of all, we can learn that success does not always mean God's blessings. We can fall into that trap today of thinking, well, I got a little more money, I got a little more property, I got a little more stuff, God is blessing me. And it might just be that God is giving that as a test to see if your heart will actually be faithful to Him. And even when we talk about spiritual things, We need to be careful that we don't presume that success means God's blessings. If that were the case, my friends, God is blessing the Mormons and the Muslims because they are growing faster than the church of Jesus Christ. And I know all of us reject them as heretical cults. Secondly, nothing can be substituted for the one true God. If Jesus is your king, Live under his kingly rule in every aspect of your life. Thirdly, where God's will is clearly stated, as it was for the Day Knights in this chapter, do not seek something else. If God has commanded it and stated it, it is done. Now do it in his power. Because we need to be careful. Because the human heart is an idle factory. And I'm not immune, and neither are you. We can create idols in a, figuratively, a heartbeat that then steals our hearts. And so we need to be careful that God is the one who has a heart. We will all worship, we do worship, the question is what or who do we worship? And lastly, integrity in our actions is important. It's not enough to just do the right things, we need to be the right people. And that only happens as we're declared righteous in Christ, united in Christ, where we are righteous, but then we need to follow the pathway that Christ has walked before us in the power of God. So that what we do and what we say and where we go and with whom we go is consistent in living out Christian life, the name that we carry. I plead with you, my friends, let God do a work in your heart this week to root out that which shouldn't be there, to help cleanse the mind of things that should not be meditated upon. But at the same time, give you a heart so overflowing with love for Him and His Word that these other things just fade away because Jesus is so good. He's so wonderful. And He's our true treasure and true pleasure. Let's pray. Father, thank you for the reminder that even in difficult times, you are at work. You are at work even today, and we trust you. But Father, we know that if we try to do things in our own way, with our own creativity, we will make a mess of it all, just like Israel did again and again. And so, Father, this morning, as best we know how, we repent, we turn to you and say, oh God, have mercy on us, and thank you for the mercy in Christ. But then Father, we want to live lives that show to whom we belong and for whom we live. And so we ask that you would continue to inflame our hearts for the truth of your word, guided by your spirit, with a love for the Lord Jesus Christ that not only is undying, but is just a fragrant aroma to all around us of sweetness and light. We commit ourselves to you, Father, this morning, anew and afresh. In Jesus' name, amen. Would you stand as we close out our service with one final song? And as pastors reminded us, it's, you know, but it's the grace of God that restrains us from the same sins that we've seen here in this passage. And let this be our prayer. As we say in college, Christ, I need thee every hour. I need thee every hour, most gracious Lord. No tender voice like thine can peace afford. Every hour I need Thee, O bless me now, my Savior, I come to Thee. I need Thee every hour. Stay Thou nearby. Temptations lose their power when Thou art nigh. I need Thee. Oh, I need Thee. Every hour I need Thee. Oh, bless me now, my Savior, I come to Thee. I need Thee every hour, enjoy all Your pain. ♪ Come quickly and abide ♪ ♪ Of love is pain ♪ ♪ I need Thee, oh I need Thee ♪ ♪ Every hour I need Thee ♪ ♪ Oh bless me now my Savior ♪ ♪ I come to Thee ♪ Oh, make me Thine indeed, Thou blessed Son. I need Thee, oh, I need Thee. Every hour I need Thee Oh, bless me now, my Savior I come to Thee I need Thee, oh, I need Thee And now, may the God of peace, who brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus Christ, the great shepherd of the sheep, by the blood of the eternal covenant, equip you with every good that you may do His will, working in us that which is pleasing in His sight, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen. Let us go in peace and have a wonderful Lord's Day.