I failed to mention this morning that we have a change of life status in one or two of our I want to say congratulations to Tyler Hacker and to Morgan Stallnaker. They agreed to marry each other this week. That's quite an agreement. They had a little party last night and we're so thrilled. I couldn't help but think, Tyler, as you played that beautiful, beautiful offertory, the king of love My Shepherd is and may both of you never forget that the king of your love is Jesus, and that it will show in your love for one another, but it will show ultimately in your love for Christ this morning. You know, it's very hard for finite, time-bound people to grasp eternity. No beginning, no ending, It's hard for us to really put our arms around that and grasp that just eternity. Time binds us. Time shackles us in many ways. Today, we're going to be bound to time. We're going to be bound to the moment that the clock hits 12 to say, come on, Pastor, hurry up, finish this, I've got to go to lunch. We're going to be bound to that. I'm going to try not to be bound to that, but some of you are already bound to that. I was reminded recently in my studies and in how God has been working in my own life that Israel was in Egypt for 400 years. We can read about that in Genesis 5.13. Think about this. Israel in Egypt for 400 years. That's a long time, to be bound by time. and before God brought them out of slavery. Can you imagine what that was like, to live in the middle of that, knowing that God said, I will deliver you, I will send a deliverer, 400 years of it. In our text today, it's been 70 years. that Israel was bound. Israel was grabbed and taken out of their country. Israel was dispersed and ruled by people and languages that they didn't know, the Babylonians. And then the Medo-Persians came and overtook the Babylonians, of which Israel was already captive of, so they were captive of captives. 70 years, that's a long time. And so to time-bound people, where they're in the middle of that time, and God doesn't seem to be near, confusion exists. Disillusionment. Apathy. A genuine sense of abandonment creeps in, and suddenly unbelief becomes a way of life. Unbelief is dangerous. Unbelief is the fertile ground for worshiping false gods. Unbelief is living in a false world of self-centered, self-serving world that simply doesn't really exist because it is based on the lie that we alone are God, and that we get to pick and choose how life ought to be, and that we really are in control of life. This is always very devastating. Always, always very devastating. You see, fear then becomes your master. Fear rules. Anxiety, stress, and doubt rules the very innermost parts of your very soul. And when God is not God of our world, we feel very abandoned, we feel forsaken, and we attempt to live life as if God doesn't have any part of our world, that God really doesn't care. And some of you are living that right now. You're facing that right now. And we become the final word on God. Listen to people all the time who define God. And they hand that definition back to God and say, God, this is who you are. You're not the person you say you are. You're not the God that you say you are. This is who you are. And we define God. You see, unbelief does this. But the reality is, God is God. And God does remember His people. And we were reminded this last week in verse one, but we're also reminded in our passage again in verse seven. The three names of the three people give us a very clear indication of God's words to Israel. If you remember with me, Zechariah means God remembers. God hasn't forgotten you. And then his father is Berekiah. And this means, God will bless. God doesn't just merely remember as a passing thought. God bestows His blessing on His people. And then the grandfather. Remember we talked about Grandfather Edu? What a name. Grandpa Edu. It's almost like... I won't go there, because it's Grandpa Eric. Funny names. Idu. But that means, in His appointed time. So God blesses. God remembers. But He does so in His appointed time. And here's where the line is drawn. Because we want it to be our appointed time. But regardless of how you feel, and regardless of your circumstances, listen carefully to me this morning. Only God is God. You are not God. You are not in control of anything. And it simply boils down then to faith. Faith and will are inextricably linked. You can't pull one apart from the other. Will we believe? Will we trust? Will we wait on the promises of God in His time? And this goes down to the very heart of unbelief. The very heart of unbelief is rebellion. It's sin. You see, sin demands. Sin invents. Sin insists. Sin won't wait. Sin seeks to control. Sin fears. Sin plots and schemes to get its own way. Sin seeks its own remedy. Sin lies and lives in fantasy. And we all know this because we live this every day. It just erupts out of us. We are so creative at times because of our sin. And so now we see that Cyrus has made a decree Israel, you can go back. All those that want to can go back and rebuild Jerusalem. And it has now been 18 years since that decree. And they're back in Jerusalem. And within seven months, an altar was made, and sacrifices were now being made to God. And just after the beginning of the second year, they had begun to rebuild the walls of the temple, and the foundation was laid, and the face of the wall was up. But then, opposition came. Opposition. Lovely opposition. They couldn't handle it, and so they stopped the building. But God didn't want them to stop. And so He sends them a man named Haggai. Another funny name. Can you imagine Haggai? What is Haggai? Haggai comes, and He speaks to them, and He tells them, Get back to work! And then two months later, God sends another man, Zechariah. Not so funny of a name, but a man that God uses. We don't really know that much about him. There are tons of Zechariahs in Scripture. But this particular Zechariah is a priest, perhaps. And he speaks to the people. But his focus is not merely rebuild with material. His focus is on you rebuild by changing your heart. And oh my friend, today, this is where we must listen carefully. Because we can be very busy rebuilding. We can be very busy doing things for God. But our heart never changes. And God's not interested in mere physical temples. He's interested in spiritual, physical temples in our own hearts. And so He says to them, return. Return. But He doesn't just say merely return. He says, you return, and I'll return to you. God will return and what glorious hope to people who do not deserve hope. And this is the crux of the matter. We think somehow we deserve hope. We deserve to be people who are recognized by God. And so when God doesn't recognize us, it throws us into almost a temper tantrum. I've got to have my way. God must look like I think he looks like. I got to have my way, my interpretation. And God says, no, you return to me and I'll return to you. And they do return. That's the neat thing. They do return. And the flame of revival begins to flicker and God begins to map out through a series of eight visions. From chapter one, verse seven, through the end of chapter six, we're gonna see eight visions unfurled. And I don't think we'll take necessarily one vision at a time, but today we will just visit one vision. And he demonstrates his loving care for them by showing God's people what his care for them looks like and how he plans to fulfill his promises. And oh, my friend, to you today, if you're sitting in here today going, God, do you love me? God, I'm hurting so bad, I can't even hardly speak of my love to you. Because I don't even know if I love you. I'm hurting so bad. And I would say to you, my friend, because only God is God, He does remember. And He does care for His people. Always. Always. These eight visions were given to Zechariah in one night. I can't remember one vision. Can you? God gives him eight. Eight different visions in one night. And he does so because it was God's way of communicating a series of messages of hope and comfort. And this hope and comfort is not just for Israel. It's for you and me today. So let's look at the very first vision. Vision number one. And know this. True comfort for God's people is only found in the power and the presence of Christ Himself. True comfort for God's people is only found in the power and the presence of Christ Himself. And we see this in verses 7-17. You see, the fear of the people is very real. You think about this. You've been dispersed? You've been in foreign countries, overtaken by people who have overtaken the country that overtook you? Fear is very real. I'm not doubting the fear one iota. It's very real. And they had sinned in their unbelief, and their fathers pathetically ran from the presence of God. In fact, Jeremiah warned over and over and over that God would punish them with exile. should have been a huge red flag to them. You know what it is, folks? The reality is we don't really listen to the Word of God. Some of you have heard, and heard, and heard, and heard, and heard the Word of God, and you still don't listen. You still have your own will. You still are wanting your own world. And Jeremiah said in Jeremiah 29.10, For thus says the Lord, And the reason why that little phrase is in scripture, whenever you see that, that is saying, this is here for you to obey. This is here for you to listen to. And he says this, when 70 years are completed for Babylon, 70 years are completed, so you will be there for 70 years. When it's done, I will visit you and I will fulfill to you my promise and bring you back to this place. For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord. Plans for welfare and not for evil to give you a future and a hope. And they heard these words. They understood these words. These words were written down for them. So in God's loving kindness, the word of the Lord comes to Zechariah and it comes with authority. The Word is from God Himself. And so we see in verse 7, the Word of the Lord came to the prophet of Zechariah. This is from God. This is not a bad nightmare. This is not a bad dream. These are words that come directly from God Himself. This should have been a clear sign of God's comfort and welfare, for God has clearly remembered them in His appointed time. It should have dawned on them, oh, I cannot believe this. It has been 70 years, and God is doing now what He says. You see, it was three months from Zechariah's first message that we talked about already in verses 1-6. And he gives the very specific date of the 24th of the 11th month, Shabbat. This 11th month is not like our 11th month of November that we're quickly coming to. It's not our 11th month because God had changed their calendar to align with the Passover when they were delivered from Egypt, which was probably then around the month of April. Passover is always probably around the month of our April. So this is probably the month of February, our month of February. And at night, he has these visions. And what are these visions about? Well, first of all, the thing that we see about this particular vision is that God shows to Zechariah His kind care. He shows to Zechariah His kind care. And we see this beginning in verse 8. And I saw in the night, and behold, a man riding a red horse. He was standing among the myrtle trees in the glen, and behind him were red sorrel and white horses. What we see here are three parts to this vision. First of all, there's a rider and a red horse. Now, you say red, we don't know, was it like red-red or was it reddish? That's not what's important, so don't get carried away with that. If you like horses, you just know that you've probably seen what looked like to you a red horse. But we see here, this is the main character in this vision. It's the one that as you read through the vision, it keeps coming back to over and over and over. In verses 11 and 12, they call this writer, the angel of the Lord. Whenever you see the word the Angel of the Lord, it's used throughout the Old Testament to identify the pre-incarnate Christ. And He appeared before He was born. And you can see this in Genesis 16 and Exodus 3 and Judges chapter 6. That our Lord actually appears. And when He appears, He's called the Angel of the capital L, capital O, capital R, capital D. The Angel of the Lord. And notice in verse 11, he's called the angel of the Lord. And then in verse 8, he's simply called a man. So what we see here is he's the God-man. This is Christ himself. This is Christ himself, right in the middle of God's people. So we see the rider on the red horse. Secondly, this is what he sees. God shows to Zechariah his kind care by demonstrating this is Christ, right in the middle. Secondly, where are they? They're in myrtle trees in the glen. They're amongst myrtle trees in the glen. Or if I can say this, the word glen is the word for ravine, in the gutter, in the gully, however you want to look at it. This is where the rider is. Commentators agree that the myrtle trees in the ravine symbolizes God's lowly people, the Jews. They're not the stately cedars on the mountaintop, but humble myrtle bushes, as it were, in a ravine under Gentile domination. For the Jews, to be ruled by Gentiles was always the sign of God's judgment. The myrtle tree is really more like a bush. When we lived in South Carolina, we had in our yard what we called crape myrtles. It's the same idea. It's a bush-type thing, but it can be shaped into a very tree-like plant. But one of the things about this particular myrtle tree is that when it was crushed, when the leaves itself were crushed, you could take those leaves and crush them. When it would, it would exude this beautiful scent, lovely smell, and it also would come from its flowers. And these bushes, God's people, are in a ravine. They're in a very low place of prominence. In other words, it's a very sad day for them. One of the things you see about Israel, that Israel is used by God to be prominently displaying His glory and grace. And so God would always put them out in front, leading literally hundreds of people, so that nations all over the world would see, this is God's people. But that's not how they are today. They're crushed. They're crushed with the idea of smelling the very aroma of the sweetness of God to nations, even while being crushed. Myrtle trees in a ravine. Thirdly, we see colored horses with riders. Colored horses. The horse throughout Scripture indicates war, or literally God governing the earth. Whenever you see horses being used, you see God governing. God warring. And the colors are significant here. We don't read too much into this, but as you begin to see patterns in Scripture, one of the things that you see that red often indicates blood, judgment, and vengeance. The white horse indicates victory or triumph. And the sorrel horse here is what most people think it's a combination of red and white. Perhaps even spotted, maybe even a palomino type horse. giving us an indication of a mixture of God's judgment and mercy, kind of combination, that whenever you see God's judgment, you also see His mercy. Quite often, when we see God's judgment, we always think, oh, God, you are so bad. God, you're not good. And what we don't understand, it is in the very mercy of God, when God judges wickedness. It's a merciful thing for God to eradicate wickedness. So we learn here in v. 11 and v. 10, even, that the riders are angels whom God has sent to spy at the land. Look if you would in v. 10. He says this, So the man who was standing amongst the myrtle trees answered, These are they whom the Lord has sent to patrol the earth. Verse 11, And they answered the angel of the LORD, who was standing among the myrtle trees, and said, We have patrolled the earth, and behold, all the earth remains at rest. So these are angels. They are kind of unseen. but they're at work and they're patrolling. The word patrolled literally translated there is to and fro. They're going to and fro. And if that sounds familiar to you, it is the same word that's used in Job chapter one, verse seven, speaking of what the angel Satan himself did. He went to and fro before God and before the world, patrolling the earth. Second Kings gives us a glimpse of what this looks like. Second Kings 6, if you don't go there, but just remember with me this morning, Elisha was surrounded by the king of Syria, and his servant wakes up to Elisha and sees that he was surrounded, and he goes, what shall we do? God, we're surrounded here, what shall we do? And Elisha says to him, they that be with us are more than they that be with them. Can you imagine that? The servant sees the king of Syria going all around him. And he wakes up Elisha. And Elisha goes, Oh, no, no, don't be bothered by this. Because those that are with us are more than those that are with them. And you're like, there's two of us. There's just a little group of us. And there's all of them. So Elisha speaks to God. And he says, God, open the eyes of my servant so he can see them. What he saw was that there were horses and chariots of fire all over the place. There are angels that are given as a protection and a care for God's people. So what is the application? Why is God taking Zechariah and showing him this? The care of Christ is ever-present, even in the lowest times of God's people. This, my friend, is God working overtime, so to speak, to have these people know that they are tenderly cared for by God. Notice a couple things. First of all, understand that God has never forsaken his people. Can I say that again? God has never forsaken his people. Doesn't seem like that sometimes, does it? Some of you have undergone the death of a loved one and from time to time the emptiness of that death, that person is no longer here, just creeps up and it becomes huge in your heart. Some of you have had unbelievable, hurting experiences in your life to where that pain becomes so unbearable. It's the only thing that you see. It's the only thing that you hear. It's the only thing that you feel. And you don't feel that God cares for you. And you cry out at night, God, where are you? And what I would want to say to you is God cares for you. He's never, ever, ever, Forsaken is people. The people of God are in a very low place, feeling that place of forsaken, yet Christ is right in the middle. My friend, today I want you to understand that all of life really is all about God. When God takes and on purpose comes and brings to you great heartache, God is trying to get you to release your grip on your own life and your own world and see that He alone is God, that He cares for you in a way that you will never begin to understand unless you go through times like this. God is not seeking your demise. God is seeking to care for you beyond what you think you need caring. God's never forsaken His people. Secondly, God's messengers care and watch over God's people. Not only does God care, but God actually has messengers. I've been reading several articles about that this week, and there are those that believe that Scripture teaches that even in a room such as this, the angels come to hear the Word of God spoken so that they can learn of their God. And although we can't see them, they're here. I don't want to make anything spooky about that, but one guy I also talked about, he says, how many of you, he says this, he says, how many of you believe that there is music in this room right now? Raise your hand. How many of you believe there's music in this room right now? few of you? How many of you say there's no music in this room right now? Raise your hand. Some of you are just not going to answer are you? If I were to take my computer and bring it up here and it has Wi-Fi and press my iTunes it would play from the cloud Not the one that's going by right now, but the cloud. And it would play, because it is here, but now I have a mechanism whereby we see it, or hear it. You see, God is a spirit. And what He does is spiritually good for us. Just because we can't see them doesn't mean that God himself doesn't care and God's messengers that he sends are not caring for us because it's obvious that God was allowing these messengers to go to and fro caring for his people and they just didn't see it. God cares for his people. There are angels that are given as a protection and a care for God's people. But notice secondly, not only does God show Zechariah, but God explains to Zechariah. And this is the kindness of God. God doesn't merely show a film and say, okay, I hope you get it. He explains it. explains to Zechariah this care. And we see this in verse 9 through 11 in the vision. There is an angel who narrates to Zechariah what's going on. Thank God for this, because I wouldn't know what he's even meaning. And there's enough difficulties in understanding these visions if it wasn't for this guy who is an angel who is telling Zechariah what's going on here. And so he says this. Notice if you would, when the question is asked, what are these? What is going on? What are these, my Lord? Verse 9, the angel who talked with me said to me, I will show you what they are. So the man who was standing among the myrtle trees answered, these are they whom the Lord has sent to patrol the earth. Notice first of all, the angels on the colored horses are on a mission. God is sending them on a mission. They are God's unique patrol to watch over and protect and to detect what's going on with God's people and just how the enemy is advancing and who they're reporting to. Who are these angels reporting to as they go to and fro? They're reporting to Jesus himself. You see, every Jew would know exactly what the Messiah would save them. They would understand exactly the Messiah would come and defend them and to deliver them. Why? Because the Old Testament is filled with that kind of words. Isaiah 19-20, when they cry to the Lord because of the oppressors, He will send them a Savior, a Defender, and He will deliver them. They've been so long without a sense of God, and now all of a sudden the angel of the Lord is back. And they were chastening. They were being chastened. And now they've repented. And they're building God's temple. And look who shows up ready to defend his people. Christ himself. What a glorious day. for people who've been buffeted, people who have been beaten down, people who have been in the ravines of life. And what a glorious thing to understand the angels are there on a mission to remind the Savior of all the stuff that's going on. And he's there right in the middle of them. But notice what they say. They come back, and they report to Christ that the earth is at peace. Verse 11. Now, if we were to stop right there, we'd go, whoo-hoo! How about that? The earth is at peace. Great! At first glance, it looks like a good report. But look down with verse 15. Notice what God says. And I am exceedingly angry with the nations that are at ease. For while I was angry, but a little, they furthered the disaster. Therefore, thus says the Lord, I have returned to Jerusalem to have mercy." Verse 15 gives us a different take. The word's at rest. It was used in the Old Testament, and it's used often for what is termed as selfish inactivity. Selfish inactivity. In other words, the nations around Jerusalem, our inactivity, selfishly. We see this in Jeremiah 48 11 or in Ezekiel 16 verse 49 where the words are used, careless ease. They could care less about what God was doing. I'm just doing my own thing. You see, the whole goal, the whole mission of the Jews was to proclaim to the other nations that there is one God. But these are people who have rejected God. These are people who have said no to God. And by all appearances, it looks like they're at ease. Man, they're making it well. Look at us, Israel could say. We're in bondage. We're God's people? I don't think so. Look at us. These are the nations around Jerusalem that seem to be at rest, at ease. What's the application here? Why does God explain this to Zechariah this way? Because this is real life, people. This is exactly where we live. When things seem the most upside down in life, as it did for these people. We're the people of God and yet we are in bondage. We are the ones that are in the ravine. When it seems the most upside down in life, it is never so with God. There is never time when God is upside down. Never a time when oops happens to God. You say, how is that hopeful? Because this providence of God in their lives was designed by God to help them release their own view of God and see God as He really is. That, my friend, seeing God as He really is, is what life is all about. When the wicked seem to have everything under control with ease and believers feel the most defeated, God's promise and His presence is our only source of confidence. It's our only source of satisfaction that we run to Him at that very dark time. and find our rest in Him. And so what does that rest look like? That's when we come to the third thing. And that is God's promises to Zechariah, His kind care. And we see this in verse 12 through 17. Before Zechariah could even get a word in edgewise. Look at verse 12. I mean, God just says this to him, that this is the way it is, and then the angel of the Lord, this is Christ himself, speaking to God, O Lord of hosts, how long will you have no mercy on Jerusalem and the cities of Judah against which you have been angry these 70 years? Christ goes to the Father. And here's a beautiful picture of what is all throughout Scripture, and that is the Trinity is at work for the ultimate care of the believer. It's not just Christ. It's Father, Son, and Holy Spirit that works hard at bringing us to reconciliation with God. And what better love and care is there than this? That we have the God of gods, the Creator, the God-man, the Father, the Holy Spirit at work bringing us to repentance. I love what Charles Wesley says, the father cannot turn away the presence of his son. His spirit answers to his blood and tells me I am born of God. So as he cries out to the father, the father hears him. So the father answers, and the father answers with gracious words and comforting words. Isn't that just like the father? He picks up his hurting child and he draws him ever so close to his chest. And he speaks comforting words and gracious words. Do you hear the father this morning? Speaking gracious and comforting words to you. Then he elaborates on this. What we see here is the father promises The father's promise rather speaks of gracious love. Look at verse 14. He says this, so the angel who talked with me said to me, cry out. Here's what the Lord of hosts says. I'm exceedingly jealous for Jerusalem and for Zion. I'm exceedingly jealous. The father speaks of his jealous love. His jealous care, the word literally is the Hebrew wording here, I am jealous, jealous I am with jealousy. I am jealous, jealous I am with jealousy. And he gives us these very strong words, this whole idea of jealous means with a slow burn and glow red to the face. That God's love is a jealous love that's slow to burn. He doesn't react quickly. And my friend, you and I ought to be glad that God doesn't react quickly to His wicked enemies. We ought to be glad about that. Why? Because we, in our sin, are no different than the wicked enemies, their sin. And God is slow to act in anger towards us. And if you're here today, and you've heard the Word of God, but you've rejected, and you've heard the Word of God, and you've rejected, and you've heard the Word of God, and rejected, and you're still here, it means that God is slow to react. You ought to be filled with gratitude towards God, that He doesn't react to you in His anger, in His wrath. This is gracious love, because we don't deserve it. Then he adds, exceeding, giving us strong words of emotion about his relationship with his people. Literally, God loves his people so much, he hates anyone who hurts them. And God is a fierce He is fierce about His love, which is so undeserved. And He is gracious in His love towards us. And the only reason that God's love doesn't satisfy us is because we, in our rebellion, think we deserve more than that. So God's love doesn't satisfy us, because we're angry at Him, because God doesn't do other things for us. My friend, the very fact that you, in your sin, are still breathing It is because God set His love on you. Those are gracious words. Those are kind words. Then it goes on. The Father's promise also speaks of comforting love. Comforting love. And we find this in verses 15-17, when God acts explicitly out of His character. In other words, who He is. He reveals who He is. It is the believer's great source of comfort. When the wicked are justly taken care of and the people of God are restored, this is out of God's loving character. God in His holiness cannot stand wickedness. And so He takes care of the wicked. But He does so in Christ. Our sin is what put Christ on the cross. And so He gives us this wonderful picture of Christ And he speaks of his just anger toward Israel for their sin. And he speaks of his just anger towards the enemies of Israel, who, as he says here, literally went too far. In other words, he took Israel, put them under bondage, but then these people in their wickedness took it too far with their bondage of Israel. And so God is angry at them. And what we're gonna see in the visions to come is that God's gonna take care of his enemies. So God, but in His comforting love, but God in His comforting love offers time-bound people four present promises that I want you to see. Notice what He says here. Therefore, thus says the Lord. Look at verse 16. The first promise, I have returned. I've returned. You returned? You repented? I've returned. And notice what He says here. It's not, I'm going to return. Someday I'll return. No, no, no. I have returned. He's presently there right now with you. This means that the Shekinah glory of God is back. You see, one of the things that was always seen where Israel was, was the glory, the very presence of God himself. And he says, now when you were in bondage, when you were taken away, no, my glory wasn't seen. And he used words like Ichabod, the glory is departed. But because they've returned, he says, I have returned. This is the lesson of repentance, my friend. You come in here this morning, your heart is so cold and indifferent towards God. The lesson of repentance is for you. You turn from your own idols. You turn from your own godness, and you turn to Christ, who is in the center of his people. Second thing he says is, I will restore. He says, my house will be built. My house will be built. It will be built. These things will be made right. Don't we long for this day when the things of God will be made right? We look at the world today and we look at our own sinfulness and we go, man, nothing is as it ought to be. We were out driving around and we were even at the zoo yesterday, a beautiful day that God has given to us. It's so good to have my brother and sister-in-law here and they're visiting us. And so we took them around Columbus and just went into the zoo and enjoyed that. And I was looking around there and I thought, you know, as neat as this is, All of this is touched by the fall. None of it is as it should be. And someday God's going to give us a new, what? Heaven and a new Earth. It will be perfect. We will be perfect. And we will enjoy that forever. This is the lesson for you and me today. I will restore. This is the lesson of what it means to wait. But they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength. They shall mount up with wings as eagles. They shall walk and not be weary. They shall run and not faint. The reason that we're weary and the reason that we're fainting often is because we are not waiting on God. We're wanting God to do as we've demanded. The lesson of waiting. Thirdly, I will rebuild. He says the measuring line. That's just like a yardstick or a tape measure. What's he going to do? He's going to go out and remap out Jerusalem. It's going to get done. It's going to get built. I will rebuild with this measuring line. And this is a lesson of dependence. My friend, God is going to do this. We're not going to do this. We can't make it happen. God is going to do this. God is going to make things right. God is going to rebuild His church. And we must be people who depend on God. And my friend, this is why we get to depend on God for every little tiny thing. Because God is doing the measuring. I'm a terrible measurer. I have a hard time putting up blinds. I'll drill a hole and go, oh, that's not... I measured wrong. You know, the blinds are this way. They're going down, and he goes, what's the matter with that blind? Oh, nothing. Nothing's the matter with that blind. Terrible. No, no, no. God's doing this. God's doing this, and He's perfect. He will rebuild. Depend on Him. Fourthly, I love this. Verse 17. Cry out again, thus says the Lord of hosts, my city shall again overflow with prosperity and the Lord God again will comfort Zion. I will comfort, I will comfort. How does God bring them comfort? How does he bring them comfort? His presence. I will bring them comfort. I'm not going to give them riches. I'm not going to give them wealth. I'm not going to give them popularity. I'm not going to give them a job. I'm not going to give them that I will bring them comfort. This is why, my friend, I'm telling you that God wants us to go to Him. This is the lesson of rest. In your relationship with God, you find satisfaction in God alone. Some of you are searching for satisfaction in things. You search for satisfaction in your job. You search for satisfaction in riches. You search for satisfaction in being liked. And you just want to be right. You have to be right. That's where your satisfaction is. And God says, I will bring you comfort. We were designed for God. So I ask you a question. Does this sound at all familiar? If you've read the Bible any, you should know this sounds very familiar. Revelation 21, 1-4. This is why they call Zechariah the apocalyptic book of the Old Testament. John's writing, and he says this, Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth. For the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more. And I saw the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God. He will wipe away every tear from their eyes. and death shall be no more, neither shall be any mourning, nor crying, nor pain any more, for the former things have passed away." That's the lesson of rest. We don't know this kind of rest here on earth, do we? We struggle. The pain is so hard sometimes. It's so unbearable sometimes. Someday, because God is God. All that will be gone. Take your order of worship with me this morning. I want to draw your attention to the last verse of Merciful God. And I want us to finish singing this. I want us to sing this last verse. Listen to these words. Merciful God, O abounding in love, faithful to keep us from falling, guiding our ways with your fatherly heart, growing our faith with each... what? testing. God speed the day. Struggles will end. Faultless will gaze on your glory. Then we will stand overwhelmed by the mercy of God. This is our God. This is what he has prepared for those who love him. Do you love him this morning? I can't wait, but we must wait and let's be faithful while we're waiting. Stand with