Our reading today from God's Word is in the book of Hebrews. Hebrews chapter 11, we will be starting at verse 23, going through verse 29. So let's listen to the word of God by the Spirit of God. By faith, Moses, when he was born, was hidden three months by his parents because they saw he was a beautiful child and they were not afraid of the king's command. By faith, Moses, when he became of age, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh's daughter, choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God than to enjoy the passing pleasures of sin. Esteeming the reproach of Christ's greater riches than the treasures in Egypt, for he looked to the reward. By faith he forsook Egypt, not fearing the wrath of the king, for he endured as seeing him who was invisible. By faith he kept the Passover and the sprinkling of blood, lest he who destroyed the firstborn should touch them. By faith they passed through the Red Sea as by dry land, whereas the Egyptians, attempting to do so, were drowned. Amen. You may be seated. Let's bow before the Lord. Our Heavenly Father, as we come to the time of searching the scriptures before us, we desire to hear your voice through the pages of Holy Writ and your spirit to apply to our minds and hearts the truths that you declare there. You tell us in your scriptures, Father, that your thoughts are not our thoughts. Neither are your ways our way. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are your ways higher than our ways and your thoughts higher than our thoughts. And so, Father, just as you then enlighten the heart and mind to comprehend those things that transcend Our feeble frame, our sinful nature as those who are born again from above by the Spirit. Those who are indwelt by the Holy Spirit and even the Spirit of Christ. Father, may you give us the mind of Christ. May you cause us to think your thoughts after you. May you produce in us by the power of your Word the faith that is described here in Hebrews chapter 11, that we too, Father, might show forth the marks of your handiwork in our lives, just as you formed it in Moses before us. May you form the same thing in us. And Father, as We see types and shadows of Jesus Christ in the Old Testament. They looked and believed in these promises from afar. We, Lord, have the new covenant whereby we see these things in accomplishment in Christ's coming and in anticipation consummation at his return. And so, Father, won't you fill our minds and hearts with a panting after the things of God with our innermost being. Won't you ride upon our hearts, Father, that which is holy unto the Lord? And make in us, Father, those things that would be declared this day as not to be merely the words of man. But, Father, as The exposition of the text takes place, and as the preaching of the word occurs, that it would be as it were the utterances of God. For it is you, Father, who speaks and enables and strengthens and supplies in all these things by your great grace and spirit. And so now, Lord, won't you cause this scripture to come alive unto us this day, as your book of Hebrews elsewhere in chapter four describes, that it be living and active and working so much in us it is, as it were, sacred surgery that you do within our very soul. Now, Lord, unto you be all glory and honor. In Jesus' name, amen. the title of the sermon this morning, Almighty, over creation and kings, idols and armies. As we look at these two verses, really, just 28 and 29 of Hebrews chapter 11, as we dealt with the previous verses two weeks ago, I'd like for us to look in verse 28 and consider, first of all, the life and the man of God's calling and enabling grace upon him, Moses. And the lessons that it instructs us in about what faith is. Remember this chapter is an illustration in many aspects, like a diamond turning that diamond to a new gleam of a different facet as we turn it this way and that. And today we look at how God worked in Moses' life preparing him to lead by God's power and grace in the exodus and the great event, the Passover, which was the thing which commemorated it and caused it. But even to look beyond that to that great event at the crossing of the Red Sea. And so this morning, first of all, I'd like us to consider in verse 28, faith's growth Yes, burning bush to the Lord's Passover. If you've read the book of Exodus lately, or if you just remember its details, You remember the way when God appeared to Moses in the burning bush, remember? He said, take off your shoes, the ground you're standing on is holy ground. I am the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. And he said, I have come down to deliver the people of Israel from their bondage. Their moaning and cries have come up before me. I have remembered my covenant to Abraham, and therefore I have come down to deliver them, so I'm sending you. Now up to that point, Moses was excited about it, no doubt, until God said, therefore, I'm sending you. And you find that as we come to that point, you see Moses filled with doubts. Where it was during that time, he says, first of all, I'm not a good speaker. I'm a very poor speaker. And furthermore, he said, your name, Yahweh or Yehovah, He said, nobody knows you. The children of Israel and the king don't know you by that name. And he goes on to talk about it. He says, even when I go, no one's going to believe me that I have seen you and that you have sent me. And fourthly, he said, who am I that I should deliver the children of Israel from Pharaoh and that I should bring the children of Israel out of Egypt? In other words, he was tempted to abandon hope before it even begun. Such was the faith of Moses. Weak, indeed. And so when God called him, God didn't make a mistake. God knew exactly what he was doing. But every time God calls, he also enables to fulfill that call. And so we see, furthermore, God's reconstruction of Moses. He tore him down, these various things, his doubts and his excuses, he tore them down and he redirected his gaze, turned his eyes away from the doubts, to God himself, the Lord Almighty. Let me give you the things that the Lord said to him. When Moses said, you know, I'm slow of speech, I can't speak. I'm not a good speaker. I'm not eloquent. I love the way the Lord responds. The Lord says, am I not the one who created your mouth? I will be with your mouth. Well, there went that excuse. And then when he talks about the name, and he says, I am that I am. Now we talked about this before, the aseity of God in theology, but the whole point is that he is the one who is absolutely independent, the only independent, self-sufficient, self-existent that is. And from everlasting to everlasting, he is the everlasting I am. And so he says, this is my covenant memorial name. Look it up in Exodus 3.15. In other words, when you hear this name, this is a reminder. That's what memorial is about. To remind you, I have promised and I have bound myself by promise, by my word, my nature, my being, that I'm holy, I cannot lie, that I will perform what I have promised. And therefore, every time you mention my name, you're mentioned that it is my covenant memorial name. What more do you need? Hebrews 6, remember, men swear by one greater. God cannot swear by one greater. There is none greater. So he swore by himself. And so the covenant memorial name of God is what it rests upon. That's where your faith belongs, Moses. I promised. And furthermore, I am. I am able to perform what I promised. And furthermore, It is the promise itself. God said, I have remembered my covenant to my people, Israel. Their cry has come up before me, I have remembered, it's not that he's forgetful, that is covenant language that remains. I will acknowledge them, I honor them, and I will perform what I have promised to do. Remember at the very beginning where it talks about the definition, if you will, of faith. Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen. And that hope, remember, we talked about it, that it's rooted in the promises of God. Not something that we create of our own imagination, but it is that which God has promised, and therefore we have hope and do not despair. And so as the Lord talks to him, his promises to his redeemed people, there is the content and his confidence. That's where we place the faith. Moses had to learn that. By the way, we do too. I heard someone ask this from a pulpit recently. I'll ask you. How many of you can name a half a dozen promises of God? Don't stand up and try. Just think through it. I forget how many promises there are. Someone count it. Now, there is a research project, but they're in the thousands, the promises of God. And it says, God has promised. And so there's the content, there's what it sweeps away the doubt and excuses Moses and Lelden and you. And so that's the way God presents it to us, the promises to his redeem. And furthermore, the presence and power of God, there's the source. There's where you find the power. There's the one who sustains it through it. And so as God was calling Moses, and as he calls you and me, and he's the one who would lead us in the various things in our lives, we look to him as the source of all things. He as a sustainer of all. That's the proper place and proper object of our faith. We depend upon him in this regard. And furthermore, it's a faith that grows and that follows, no matter what the challenges. We can see those lessons in Moses' life, can we not? Without much digging, those things become apparent. And so the Lord said, I created your mouth. I will be with your mouth. In other words, I will enable you to speak. I will give you that ability. Furthermore, I am the covenant memorial name forever. Therefore, I have bound myself to perform what I have called you to do." And thirdly, the Lord said, I will stretch out my hand and strike Egypt with all the wonders which I will do in his midst or in their midst. And afterward, he, the king of Egypt, will let you go. So in other words, Moses, you're my mouthpiece. I'm sending you to perform and believe what I've said I will do. I will deliver them, and I'm sending you. And so reluctantly, by the way, after giving more excuses, Moses went. Now as we think of this by way of application, what was Moses' problem? Maybe I have it, you have it, the same problem to some degree. He was very self-conscious. Very self-conscious. Not a good speaker. I'm not, you know, one of those dynamic personalities. I'm not someone who is, you know, a natural leader. I'm not someone that people listen to. I'm kind of like a, you know, I blend into the woodwork, whatever the case may be. What the Lord is getting across is we don't need self-consciousness, we need God-consciousness, Christ-consciousness. There's where we need consciousness. And by the way, when we look at, set your minds on things above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of the Father on high. Or as we'll see in chapter 12, at the very beginning of chapter 12 of Hebrews, where it says, set your eyes on Christ, the author and finisher of our faith. And he goes through everything about him. That's where we set our gaze, faith. It's pointed that way, the way it's described. So that's the focus of faith, not self-consciousness, God-consciousness, Christ-consciousness. Furthermore, if you were to look at coming through this point, we were going through, and it just so happens providentially, in Sunday school we're going in Exodus. And as we're going through various plagues, you look at the plagues that were taking place. And remember that Moses came before Pharaoh. Remember God said, all right, here's what you're going to do, Moses. He gave him three signs. Remember the staff turned into a serpent, the hand turned leprous, and then healed. And he also talked about water turned into blood. And he says, you come before Pharaoh, you perform these things. And so he comes before Pharaoh, and he's too timid to talk. And so God said, talk through Aaron. Tell Aaron what to do, and Aaron will be your mouthpiece. So he does. And so, God said he would deliver them, right? So he walks in, all of this is done, and he says, God has said in chapter four, Israel is my firstborn, let my son go. If you don't let my firstborn son go, I will kill your firstborn son. And that's not very mild, direct. And what does Pharaoh say? God promised he'd be delivered. And he says, who is this? Yahweh or Yehovah, I don't know him. I don't know him. And by the way, they're my people. They're not your people. They're not his. I'm going to, in fact, increase their labor. And so the whole thing, and so Moses goes out. And then what happens? All the elders, he got together to join him in this. They said, why are you a troubler of us? Now we have more work to do. And so everything turned sour, which brings me to another point. Faith. in apparent setbacks. Notice I said apparent, what appears to be a setback. And so these setbacks are also geared or designed by God to build our faith. It's also to soften the heart of believers, but it exposes the unbelief and hardens the heart of unbelievers. And so as we look at how is this used, God said, I have hardened Pharaoh's heart because that way I'll multiply my signs. This is something you and I need to get right off the bat about faith, your faith, my faith. You, my dear one, whether you're a child, whether you're a parent, whether you're a grandparent, whether you're not even married. Anywhere you have this orbit of friends and contacts and those you're involved with, certainly here in the body of Christ, and your faith is not in isolation. You've heard the saying, we're not an island unto ourselves. And so you see, each one of us is having an impact on other people around us. And so God says, what I'm going to do is I'm going to multiply my signs. Pharaoh's heart will be hardened. Therefore, I bring sign after sign, plague after plague. And not just Pharaoh will learn, he will be hardened in unbelief. But you see, others will see, and they'll see your faithfulness, Moses, and they will be affected by it. And the elders will be encouraged of seeing how I humble Pharaoh, how I multiply my signs, how I keep my covenant, how I'm working in your life. And so as you see the whole story of Moses, and we don't have time to go in detail, you see that Moses here starts out as one who will only speak through Aaron. And Aaron is the one who speaks and does the staff. halfway through, you see both of them are working together. And now you see Moses is the one who does all the talking. And Moses is the one who uses the staff, and he's the one who raises his hand to heaven, and God performs it. You see how God is working in the life. And the elders come forth. And by the time you get to the Passover, and that's what it's talking about. By the time you get to that final plague, the 10th one, the death of the firstborn, you see the elders saying, we believe you. We are dressed. We're eating dressed, our staff in hand, ready to leave as soon as this Passover is over. Because God has promised. God is the one we trust. We have faith now. Whereas before we didn't. You see, beloved, that's the way God works. So when it looks like a setback to us, it's not. It is in the providence and power of God at work in each one of us, various levels and different ways. It's amazing how God works in our lives with his infinite wisdom and almighty power. like parceling out his gifts to each one of us, forming us in a way that we ought to be together to fulfill his will. I think it was Thursday we were talking to some of us. I kind of hit on this sort of thing. Any of you ever had a jigsaw puzzle with like hundreds of pieces? This is the way my wife would torture me to have one of these puzzles, you see, because I cannot stand that. I can't do it. I'm not any good at it, and I don't have the patience. And you think of all these pieces that look so similar, and they all fit together, and they only fit together one way. But if I'm able to cheat and turn it over where I can see the picture and put them into the picture, now I have a chance of getting it in. You see, beloved, God looks from the picture side, and he knows how we're all fitting together. And he fits, each one of us are a piece that fits only that place. Not the other pieces fit there. You do, only that place. You fill that space. That's the way God's working in each of our lives, in his church, in his family, in the world, in his kingdom. And so as you think then of what's going on here, God is working. The apparent setback is the advancement of the will of God. And furthermore, the greater the opposition, the opposition to us and God's holy calling. The greater God is glorified in the triumph. And so as we think of what we see here, he talks about faith he kept, the Passover, understand from calling, I'll go this way, from calling to Passover, a lot of territory has been covered. Ten plagues, increasing in severity, and God dividing, distinguishing between Israelite and Egyptian. Whether it is boils that are on the Egyptians and the Israelites, don't have any. Or if you look at, you see that the livestock, the hail comes in, or the livestock are infected with the muraine and they have the disease. Theirs die, Israel's don't. You see the hail falls from the sky. It destroys the crops of the Egyptians, not the Israelites. You see that God, they're under the blood on the door, on the lintel and on the doorposts of Passover. You see those under that shelter of God and the blood of the lamb. long as they're inside, they're safe under the blood. But all the Egyptians in every Egyptian house, from Pharaoh the king to the lowest slave girl, it says, and even to the animals, the firstborn died. And you see, in all of that, God led to this place of the Passover. And so redemption, Secondly, redemption of slaves by the payment of the freedom price, a ransom. The redemption or setting free of slaves by the payment of the redemption price. You look in, it says here, and they kept the Passover. Read chapters 11 and 12 of Exodus, I urge you. And you find there the recording of what takes place. And remember, all of these things that occurred, it was against, all the plagues were against the gods of Egypt. We went through a number of them in Sunday school. Whether it's Hecate, you know, the frog-headed goddess. Or you're thinking of Isis, the goddess that was the goddess of the Nile. Or you think of the Apis bull, the god of the Nile. Or you go through all of these, whether it's Canun, you know, the guardian of the Nile. And here God turns water into blood. The guardian couldn't defend. The goddess couldn't stop it. The god of the Nile couldn't stop it. Why? Well, first of all, they are no gods. They are merely idols. And if anything, the Bible says there are demons. It says they sacrifice unto demons when they sacrifice to idols. But there is one almighty God. He was almighty then, and by the way, he's almighty now. And so as we see, The Passover. I already mentioned what he said to do. Here is a God. The almighty king. Above all earthly powers. Sounds like a hymn. And here he shows himself mighty. And he says, there's one last one. Remember, God said, if you do not let my people go, I'll kill your firstborn. Moses went in with that, and Moses was threatened with death. Now, this is the one who was timid and said, who am I to come before Pharaoh? He comes before Pharaoh. And what happens is Pharaoh says, the Lord had better be with you when I let you and your little ones go. Beware, for evil is ahead of you. That was in chapter 10, verse 10. But then when you get to verse 28, Pharaoh said to Moses, get away from me. and take care that you see my face no more, for in the day that you see my face, you shall die." That was a warning. And so he warned him about the firstborn. And so God said, take that lamb, and I want you to slay it, catch the blood, and paint the lintel, the entrance to the door, to the house, The entrance, paint the lintel with blood of the lamb, this innocent, sinless animal as a substitutionary atonement and sign, and paint the doorposts. Go in and celebrate the feast of Passover to me. Worship me. Believe in me. I'm the one who my wrath passed over, but every house that does not have the blood shall experience the death of the firstborn." It says, a cry went out to all Egypt. Doubtless it was mournful. And yet God did not touch a single Israelite. Beloved there, Christ is the one who's portrayed. John the Baptist announced Jesus Christ, behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. When Jesus Christ went to the cross, he went in Passover season. As his disciples said, you're leaving us? We will go with you. And he says, no, I have an exodus to perform that you cannot do. And so when he went to that cross, and as he bore our sin and shame, as he bore the wrath of God, the death angel pierced him instead of us. And so through faith in Jesus Christ, we too are under the shelter of the blood forevermore. God's keeping his covenant of grace, his covenant of redemption in Jesus Christ, the lamb. And so Moses kept the Passover, by faith. Well, beloved, remember, remember this, and it says there, God told them, he said, your firstborn are mine. I have redeemed them. I own them. What kind of a master do we have? One who loves us with an everlasting love, one who bought us with the price of the blood of his own son. But I come thirdly to verse 29, the almighty creation over his creation and kings and armies. You've already seen how he's almighty over the gods of Egypt and put them to shame and showed they were powerless. They were nothing. He alone is the almighty. I am. Well, then, if you were to look in chapter 14 of Exodus, you see the description. And all of you know this extraordinary thing that happened. And so I'll just hit some high points. Is that OK? So Moses, by God's command and power, leads the children of Israel out of Egypt. Remember, there was God himself, the angel of the Lord, leading them in a pillar of fire during the day. our knight, excuse me, in a pillar of cloud that day. He led him to a particular place. And he led them to a point there by the Red Sea. It was a funnel, if you will, where they would camp there by the sea. Well, you find that Pharaoh's heart had hardened again. And his people said, why have we let them go? We need our slaves. And so they get the chariots, 600 in all, and they get the charioteers to go with them and a captain with each. And they got the army. And these three all took off after the Israelites, moving slowly, deliberately with old men and women, with children, with flocks of animals, going slowly and deliberately through the wilderness and being led to the Red Sea. And then you find in Scripture in Exodus chapter 14, maybe I can read it, is that all right? In Exodus chapter 14, it reads this way. In verse 10, Pharaoh drew near the children of Israel, and they lifted their eyes. And behold, the Egyptians marched after them, so that they were afraid. And the children of Israel cried out to the Lord. And then they said to Moses, because there were no graves in Egypt, have you taken us away to die in the wilderness? Why have you so dealt with us, bringing us up out of Egypt? Is this not the word that we told you in Egypt, saying, let us alone, that we may serve the Egyptians? better for us to serve the Egyptians than we should die in the wilderness. And Moses said to the people, do not be afraid, stand still and see the salvation of the Lord, which he will accomplish for you today. For the Egyptians whom you see today, you shall see again no more forever. The Lord will fight for you and you shall hold your peace. And so the Lord told him, tell the people to go forward. Verse 16, he lifted his rod and stretched out his hand over the sea, divided. And then the children of Israel shall go across on dry ground through the midst of the sea. Beloved, as we see this, did you hear the people? They regretted that they followed. You see here that the Lord dealing with these people and their faith or lack thereof. And so when you see the expression, and this is something we should learn, never regret following the Lord. That's what they regretted. They regretted following the Lord. Never regret the following of the Lord. Nor complain about Him. Secondly, notice their fear and their turmoil. The song that came to mind as soon as I saw that was Be Still My Soul. You know that song? Be still and see the salvation of the Lord. But I like what the Lord said to them. By the way, prayer. Isn't that a good thing to do in times of turmoil instead of reacting in fear and panic? Instead, prayer. Going to the one who is all sufficient, who is all powerful, who does keep his promises, who is all mighty, et cetera, to pray to him. But I like what it says in there in verse 15, quit crying out to me, go forward. Did you get that? I love that. In verse 15, I'd never noticed it before till like, I'm sure I've read it, but I mean, I've never, it never dawned on me before the Lord says, okay, enough time for praying, enough time for calling out to me. Now march and follow and see the salvation of the Lord. Now remember what we saw. What you see here in the text is you have the Egyptian army to the West in pursuit And they're bottled up. They can't go North. They can't go South. And to the East is a Red Sea. To their eyes, it seemed impossible. But of course it wasn't, was it? It was a providential direction of the Lord in everything. And this is another thing we need to learn about our faith. Has the Lord ever led you to the end of your own resources, the end of your own ideas, the end of yourself, and he boxed you into circumstances? And obviously God works all things together for good, right? For his people. And he leads us into those places. Why? To take away all the crutches. So if he's the only one we can look to in faith and trust. And that's what he would have us to do. That's what he would have them to do. And so he led them to the end of themselves so that their only hope was the salvation at the hand of the Lord. In verses 16 and 21 of this chapter 14 of Exodus, it says, But you know, the path was one through the sea. That looked terribly dangerous. And yet that was a direction God set to go. To trust in the only way of salvation, which is miraculous. Anyone who thinks that they can contribute or cause their own salvation isn't talking about salvation. They're talking about self-help. Salvation is divine rescue. of taking those who are helpless, those who have no resources, nothing to contribute to the whole thing except their own sinfulness and need. But he's the one who reaches down and rescues. And so they walk across on dry ground, but it wasn't over. If you're to read through the context, and you can read it on your own, you'll see that Pharaoh's heart was hardened. God hardened his heart. God hardened his heart three times, you read about that, at least three times. Prior to that, in the plagues, really four times. And here you see God hardening his heart. He saw the Israelites, he thought they were helpless. What God had done is he had taken that, remember the fiery pillar? And he had encamped behind the Israelites, between the Egyptians and the Israelites. And as the wind blew, and as the waters parted, and as the ground was dry, God said, go. And they walked across. And as they're about across, what happens? The Lord's burning presence, he moves aside. The Egyptians say, oh, well, this is going to be easy. Let's go. Let's follow. He hardens their heart of the army, it says, and of Pharaoh to follow. And once they get into the midst of the Red Sea, it says, God starts to make their wheels come off. and that God starts confusion among them. And then he says to Moses, bring your staff back across. And he does. And those water that had been like walls on each side of the Israelites fell in and crashed upon the Egyptians. And it says, all equipment, dead bodies washed on the shore. You see, the Lord fought for them, the almighty God. We see his grace to the Israelites, but his justice to the Egyptians. And so the almighty covenant God overthrew that day, Pharaoh and his army in the sea. Oh, beloved. What can we learn from this? Can I give you part of a read more on Exodus chapter 15? I've got a few minutes. You don't mind, do you? What was the reaction of the Israelites? They couldn't believe it. The power of God demonstrated in the plagues, the power of God, the almighty God in wiping out an entire army. And it says there we see the salvation of the of God, the salvation of the Lord for his people. They worshiped, they rejoiced, they sang. In chapter 15, verse two, I will sing to the Lord, for he has triumphed gloriously, the horse and its rider, he has thrown into the sea. The Lord is my strength and song, and he has become my salvation. He is my God, and I will praise him, my Father's God, and I will exalt him. As you go through the whole text, that's pretty well the way it works out. In verse 8 it says, With the blast of your nostrils the waters were gathered together. The floods stood upright like a heap, and the depths congealed in the heart of the sea. Verse 11, Who is like you, O Lord, among the gods? Who is like you, glorious? in holiness, fearful in praises, doing wonders. You stretched out your right hand, the earth swallowed them. You and your mercy led forth the people whom you have redeemed. You have guided them in your strength to your holy habitation." Do you see how God worked faith in his people who started in complaint and doubt, unbelief? and how they end up with a song of faith and joy. Well, beloved, just a few more things to ponder and we close. Standing firm in trust while others are faltering and questioning God. That's what we're called to do. Not to falter and question. but to stand steadfast in faith and trust, and to be an encouragement and an example to them. Furthermore, quiet our souls in prayer, not yielding to fearful panic. That's what God has called us to do. And thirdly, unbelief may even accuse God of evil intent and deception. Have you led us out in the wilderness to die? Are there no graves in Egypt? That won't be the first time unbelievers would accuse God. Oh, a serious thing indeed. But that's the way unbelief talks. Unbelief says it's better to be a living slave than to die following the Lord. Well, you say today, which is better? It is better to die following the Lord than to be a living slave. Remember reading in a historical document once, it said, those who trade freedom for security are worthy of neither. It goes for Christianity, too. And so, beloved, we see the song of God's triumph, the song of Moses. Let me give you one other idea about this. This is a paradigm for salvation. And this is a miniature of the salvation that the Lord will bring at the end of the age. But in Revelation chapter 15, they sing two songs. It mentions two songs anyway. You know what the two songs are? They sing the song of Moses and the song of the Lamb. And so, beloved, as we look into faith, the faith in the God who's almighty over creation. and kings, almighty over idols and armies. Bow and believe. Pray and follow. Not self-consciousness, but God-consciousness is what we must have. May God give us the grace for it. Amen. Let's pray together. Holy Father, as we bow before you, having heard your word, your very written word by your finger, O God, preach to us. We pray it to be your guiding application upon it, upon our hearts and our minds. We think of the psalmist, declaring, he who dwells in the shelter of the Most High will abide in the shadow of the Almighty. I will say to the Lord, my refuge and my fortress in whom I take refuge. Again, the psalmist, by your inspiration, O Lord, says, It is better to take refuge in the Lord than to trust in man. It is better to take refuge in the Lord than to trust in princes. And so, as we have looked into your precious Word, we ask that we would do just that in the midst of whatever would cross our path, We would trust in you, not being pulled aside by the world, but being at peace, the peace of you, O God, that surpasses all comprehension. We pray it to be so for all of your people. In Jesus' name, amen. I receive the benediction of the Lord. May the Lord bless you and keep you. The Lord make his face to shine upon you and be gracious unto you. The Lord lift up his countenance upon you and give you peace. Amen.