Good morning, church family, visitors. Good to have you with us. We're going through the book of 1 Samuel, section by section. We come here to chapter 14. We've been watching God work out his plan of establishing a king. His plan to set a king over all of Israel. A king whose kingdom would be firmly rooted and set. But at this point in history, we quickly realize that Saul is not that king. We see it very clearly in chapter 13, chapter 14, chapter 15. It's a pretty sad trajectory, very steep. And we watch as Saul responds to the difficulties that the Lord allows in his life with impatience, with a lack of trust in God. In chapter 14 today, we will see how God shows his faithfulness to those who are confident in him. He leads those who put their confidence in him to victory, to deliverance. In contrast, we see Saul. He has self-reliance, cowardice, and it leads to burdensome and unreasonable actions. So, as the Philistines gather in Michmash, we will watch Saul respond to his next challenge with a fear, with a self-focus. Our scripture passage today will remind us that during every decision we make, both great and small, there's no error in placing our hope in God. You cannot go wrong placing your hope in God. We can trust God to save. So, this section on Jonathan will give us a contrast to Saul here this morning. It gives us an up-close look at Jonathan, his son. It's interesting to me, just a side note, how you have throughout 1 Samuel, a father who's serving the Lord, and then some rotten sons. And then you have Samuel himself serving the Lord, faithfully bringing the word of God to all the people. And then his sons, rotten. But here you have the inverse. It's flipped. You have a father declining in his spirituality. But you have Jonathan, who is in the act of planning a daring assault. That's what's happening here in 14. And one day, Jonathan, the son of Saul, said to the young man who carried his armor, come, let us go over to the Philistine garrison on the other side. Starting in verse one, we see from the very beginning, Jonathan's resolve to honor God. Jonathan's resolve in the form of decisive faith. He has a faith that says, come on, let's go over to the Philistine garrison. Now, we're talking about the Philistines who have weapons, who have horsemen, who have chariots. Come on, let's go over. Certainly, Jonathan's trusting the Lord. He's trusting the Lord. For the Lord your God is he who goes with you to fight, to fight for you against your enemies, to give you the victory, it says in Deuteronomy 24. What does this decisive faith look like in Jonathan's life and our lives? Here we see Jonathan's resolve, this decisive faith, in contrast to Saul. In contrast to Saul, who he did not tell that he was going, but Saul in verse two was staying in the outskirts of Gibeah, in the pomegranate cave. At Migron, the people were with him about 600 men. It's a small group compared to what was once following him. In contrast to Saul who found his pleasure in the pomegranates, who was cowering in the caves. Here's Jonathan who says, come on, let's go over. This faith is resolved to honor God. Here we see Jonathan's resolve, the decisive faith against the challenges that were before him. Rocky crags, it says. Let me tell you, in verse four, within the passes by which Jonathan sought to go over to the Philistine garrison, there was a rocky crag on the one side and a rocky crag on the other. We don't see anything like that here in flat Texas. It's very steep, very rocky. Instead of approaching from the pass, where most people would go, Jonathan proposes they turn eastward. They climb down Sena from the south, approaching from Geba, where Jonathan defeated a garrison earlier. And then they would climb up Bozes, heading northwest toward Mikmash, where the Philistines were encamped. Sounds easy enough, right? Just a little trek over some rocky crags. I mean, crags, literally the tooth of the rock. That sounds pleasant. In fact, I would suggest these were probably impassable outside of the work of God in their lives to enable them and help them. Even their names, Sina, meaning thorny. Bozes, meaning slippery. No easy trek, right? You got to go down the thorny one and then up the slippery one. My goodness. It's ought to give us a lot of reason to doubt Jonathan's plan at this point. Shouldn't it? I mean, what's up, Jonathan? Do you have a death wish or something? What's going on here? I mean, the pair would be hard-pressed to make this trek, only to face danger once they get to the other side of it. Down one, up the other, and then here's the Philistine army. Some might even say that Jonathan was stuck between a rock and a hard place. Some might. I wouldn't say that. But this faith, seriously though, this faith was confidently founded in God. Listen to what Jonathan said. He turns to the young man who's carrying his army and says, come, let us go over to the garrison of these uncircumcised. It may be that the Lord will work for us, for nothing can hinder the Lord from saving by many or by few. What confidence in God. Listen, friends, we don't ascribe to a blind faith. It's a faith that is decisively confident in our Lord and our God. It's not just being foolhardy. It's not just being brave or courageous, although it's probably both of those things a little bit. It's not that. This is a difficult way forward, up and down these rocky crags to the Philistines. But trusting in God is the only way that truly makes sense. It's the only way they could go. God alone is all-powerful. God alone is all-wise. God alone has a steadfast love for his people and is faithfully caring for them, for you, saints. God is faithful to his promise. He's faithful to his covenant people. And in verse 6, we hear Jonathan echo this so clearly. He says, come, let us go to the garrison of these uncircumcised, these folks that are not in the covenant. Let's go. It may be that the Lord will work for us. You see, it's not that there isn't uncertainty. Well, there's a lot of uncertainty. We don't know if God will work or not. But we know this, nothing can hinder the Lord. Nothing can stop the Lord from saving by many or by few. It's like Jonathan's recalling the covenant blessings found in Leviticus 26.8. It says, five of you shall chase a hundred and your enemy shall fall before you by the sword. These men are not God's covenant people, but we are. We are the people of God who were called, called up out of Egyptian bondage. You remember that, armor-bearer? Jonathan could be speaking right to him. Do you remember how God called his people up out of Egyptian bondage with great signs and wonders? It was God who overthrew Pharaoh and his host in the Red Sea for his steadfast love endures forever. Psalm 136.15. Like God had done so many times before, and I'm certain Jonathan heard the stories of the judges of old. Not too long ago for him, right? Like Gideon and the 300 men who lapped up the water, God often works in mighty ways with very little. And why does he do this? To show the immeasurable riches of his grace towards us. To strengthen our faith. No sin, no struggle is too great for God to overcome. Trust God to save. Jonathan did. The verse of Hannah's song. must have been echoing in Jonathan's ear. He will guard the feet of his faithful ones, but the wicked shall be cut off in darkness, for not by might shall a man prevail. The adversaries of the Lord shall be broken to pieces. Against them he will thunder in heaven. What a beautiful song. We follow a God who can work, who can work when things are hopeless. We follow a God who can work when things are hopeless, when there is no way forward. And Hudson Taylor, a missionary to China, said, God isn't looking for people of great faith, but for individuals ready to follow him. This kind of trust is grounded in the assurance that God is greater than all we face. Following him's always the wise choice, saints. Following him is always the right choice, even when it involves uncertainty and personal risk. It says in 1 Corinthians 1, 27 through 29, God shows what is foolish in the world to shame the wise. God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong. God has chosen what is insignificant and despised in the world, what is viewed as nothing, to bring to nothing what is viewed as something, so that no one may boast in his presence. You see, nothing can hinder the Lord to save. even by a few, and he often uses just a few, a few flailing, frail saints to bring himself great glory. That's how he works, my friends. So we see Jonathan's decisive faith being contagious as well. Look here at the text. Look at this armor-bearer. After he gives this plan to the armor-bearer, the armor-bearer said to him, you convinced me. Do all that is in your heart. Do as you wish. Behold, I am with you, heart and soul. What wonderful display of humble loyalty here. Do all that's in your heart. This brother doesn't sit on the sidelines and let Jonathan face this battle on his own. No, this brother, he's in. No wincing and whining. No complaining or calling him out. No muttering or murmuring. No, he was all in. And why was he all in? Because he had the same confidence in God. That's why he was all in. Church, every leader needs faithful fellow soldiers like this. Every leader needs this encouragement, this refreshment, needs to hear you say, I'm with you, heart and soul, because I trust the same God. not blind loyalty, but trust in the same God, confidence in God. How encouraging to be laboring diligently with much sacrifice, with much toil, and to find earnest saints serving with the same energy right beside you. I tell you what, it's so encouraging. Let me tell you another thing from this text. This text reminds me of you. Wives, what a unique opportunity you have to strengthen your husband's faith. Do you see this? To powerfully fuel his confidence in God through some simple words of loyalty. How significantly impactful for your family and their spiritual life. How meaningful and intimate for your marriage to speak clear words of support like these. I am with you, heart and soul, because I trust the Lord. What a wonderful opportunity. Saints, may our unity in the church look like this. If one of us goes down, we all go down. If we're going into the belly of the beast, if we're going to face the jaws of defeat, then we're going with confidence in the Lord, and we're going together. May we stir one another up to good works. May we stir one another up to serve the Lord and be confident in Him with these sincere words. Do all that's in your heart. Do as you wish. Behold, I'm with you, heart and soul. It's contagious. Well, here we see Jonathan's decisive faith, his resolve to commit to God for his glory. You see, the armor-bearer, he won our hearts with those words, didn't he? Oh, man, what a guy. Surely, though, at this point, he began to second-guess even Jonathan. When Jonathan turns to him and says, well, that's great. Behold, we will cross over to the men and we will show ourselves to them. And he's like, wait, what? No, why would we show ourselves? We had the element of surprise. Why would we do that? Well, I'll tell you why Jonathan would give up the element of surprise after such a difficult trek. Because the motive of his heart was to trust God. The motive of his heart was to be confident in the Lord. If the Lord wills, we will live, and we will do this or that, very literally. If the Lord wills, we will be alive at the end of this. It's not left to chance, and it's not left to strategy, and it's not dependent on personal achievement. If God works, he gets the glory. And friends, this is exactly how salvation works. It's not left to chance. It's not based on strategy or decision. It is not based on your personal achievement or merit. Your salvation is based upon the grace of God, and he gets the glory. Otherwise, we die. So this daring decision is set into motion, and the resolve of Jonathan turns into courageous and faithful action. They show themselves, and after some brief Old Testament trash talk, is what's happening here, You know, the sentries come up and we'll teach you a lesson. We'll show you a thing. Or as one version states, we'll show you a thing or two. Right? So they have a little banter there, and what follows is nothing short of miraculous. It's amazing. God gives them the strength to ascend and to slaughter. This is Cinema worthy scenes right here. The epic battle takes place over half an acre. 20 men are struck by Jonathan and the fatal blow administered by the armor bearer right behind him. And every young boy who picks up a stick that's actually a sword or a gun, we all feel that in that moment. You see, God's not done, though. He sends the entire camp into a panic with an earthquake, turning the Philistines' swords against themselves. Remember, only Jonathan and Saul had swords, and the Philistines had all these swords. And now God has taken those swords, and he's used them for his purposes, causing great confusion in verse 20. And this led many who had subjected themselves to the enemy to return and those who had hidden previously to come out and fight. Look at verse 21 and 22. Now the Hebrews who had been with the Philistines before that time and who had gone up with them into the camp, even they also turned to be with the Israelites who were with Saul and Jonathan. Likewise, when all the men of Israel who had hidden themselves in the hill country of Ephraim heard that the Philistines were fleeing, they too followed hard after them in the battle. So the Lord saved Israel that day." What a revival! Those who had been captive by the enemy and aligned with them brought out. Those hiding and hurting brought forward to fight. But victory did not come by resources. Victory did not come by cunning. Victory did not come by one path, and that is faith in God. A faith that was founded on a God mighty to save. So this foolish plan, even to some it would seem impossible. Any natural person would try to talk him out of it. This foolish plan became possible because with God all things are possible. And so it is with our salvation. I'll just remind us one more time, what a glorious truth. Being saved is not based on our strength, not based on anything but the power of one. And that's not Jonathan, it's Jesus Christ, who rose victorious from the grave. And in him, we place our trust, because he's overcome every enemy of our soul. Praise God for that. So we've seen the resolve of Jonathan, his decisive faith. And now we'll look at our second half. Saul's rash vow. A destructive vow. A rash and destructive vow given by Saul. In the middle of all this chaos on the battlefield, Saul took account of who was missing from them. Noted, oh, it's Jonathan and the armor bearer. So he calls the ark up. We can see this. He calls the Ark up, supposedly to inquire of God. But in verse 19, this was very short-lived. So Saul said to Ahijah the priest, bring the Ark of God here. Now I'm concerned because the last time the Ark of God was brought into battle, it didn't go well. You can remember that back a few chapters. But Saul said to Hijah, bring the ark of God here. For the ark of God went at that time with the people of Israel. Now while Saul was talking to the priest, the tumult in the camp of the Philistines increased more and more. So Saul said to the priest, cut it out. Enough, we gotta go. You see, Saul allowed all the activity that was happening to distract him from going to God and looking to God. He didn't have time to wait for God. Something's happening over there. We gotta go deal with it. Too busy for God. So we have Saul, instead of turning to God, lay an oath on the people, saying, Cursed be the man who eats food until it is evening, and I am avenged of my enemies. So none of the people tasted any food. What's happening with this strange oath? What's Saul doing putting this oath on this army? I'm gonna suggest to you this morning that we are looking at a textbook case of legalism. That's what we see here. Legalism, that is excessive adherence to law or formula. Unlike Jonathan, whose resolve and faith was in God, Saul resorted to dependence on the law. How foolish Saul, to forget who really saves, it's God. Instead of humbly turning to God, you're going to look to secure victory by the strength of an oath? By the strength of the law? By the strength of your own arm? Establishing your own right standing apart from God's word? Getting your own righteousness apart from a heart that trusts in God? That's what's happening here. That's what Saul's doing. At the root of this thing, legalism is selfishly competitive. You see, Saul had to win, and he had to be in on this battle. Oh, man, there's something happening over there. I've got to be in on that. I want to win, and I'm willing to do whatever it takes at the expense of whoever's in the way. I'm going to win no matter what. I'm gonna have it my way. We could say it this way. I'm gonna have it my way. If I do these religious things, people will think good about me. I'll win favor. They'll like me, or they'll give me positive feedback. If I reform my life, it'll result in good fortunes. I'll win. I'll have success. I'll have ease. Legalism is so enticing. The vow here is self-reliance. The vow here is depending on self for selfish reasons. Saul does not search out and find true spiritual brokenness at the altar of God. He doesn't draw near to God. He can't even take a minute to consult with God. Instead, there's an effort to look and to act religious, hoping it would produce victory. If we're honest, we all do this in our Christian walk. We all do this, even some of us before we were truly Christians. We had lies of external goodness, but we did not really put our faith in God. We didn't really trust him. We were trusting in our external formalism, legalism, and ritual. Friends, we're not saved by what we do, but by grace alone. through faith alone, in Christ alone. If we stress sacrifice, if we emphasize service apart from faith and trust in Christ, it will produce legalism. It will. And this is what Saul did. And he led the people into a terrible state. Let me unpack this terrible state for you. First, it led them to discouragement. Look at how it led the people to discouragement in verse 25. Now when all the people came to the forest, behold, there was honey on the ground. And when the people entered the forest, behold, the honey was dropping, but no one put his hand to his mouth, for the people feared the oath. They were discouraged. They had a fear, a heaviness on them. There was honey on the ground, and they're starving. And rightly so, there was honey on the ground. This is the land flowing with milk and honey, after all, isn't it? Honey was dropping from the trees, but the people were afraid because of the oath. Here in this verse, we see the sweetness of God's promise, the sweetness of God's provision dropping all around. But they're so busy with their legalism, they can't enjoy it and savor it. Oh, taste and see that the Lord is good. Oh, fear the Lord, you as 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. Seek the Lord. The lost world and us broken sinners gathered here today, we need the sweetness of Christ, not the strictness of Saul. So here in verse 27 enters Jonathan again. He had not heard his father's charge. Why? He was too busy doing the Lord's work. He doesn't have time for oaths and legalism, empty rulemaking that only pleases the one making the rule. He knows nothing of such a command to be added to obedience and trust in God. He dips his spear in the honey, puts his hand to his mouth, and his eyes become bright all of a sudden. But the people, the people were faint. And Jonathan was right when he said, my father has troubled the land. We get our word turbulence from this word trouble. I don't know about you, but airplane turbulence is not pleasant to me. I do not care for it. But Jonathan sums it up in verse 30. How much better if the people had eaten freely today? How much better free grace than the restriction of law? Had they eaten freely, they have despoiled their enemies that they found. For now the defeat among the Philistines has not been great." The legalism imposed by Saul, the strict adherence to commands, it kept them from what was needed most, their nourishment, so they could have a great victory. What do you need most, Saint? You need to be nourished by Christ. You need to taste his sweetness. You need to have your eyes opened and brightened to his goodness and his mercy. That's what you need, say. Here's the warning to us all from Saul's action. If we add anything to the work of Christ, if we impose our personal convictions, if we put a set of preferences or demand anything that's not clearly communicated in God's word, then we are undermining the work of faith in others' lives. We know that a person's not justified by works of the law, but by faith in Jesus Christ. Saul has picked a very spiritual activity like fasting, hasn't he? It's honorable, it's religious, but I'll tell you what it did. It stunted the fruitfulness of the work of God for the people of Israel. Legalism is focused a lot more on personal performance and merit and not true heart growth, spiritual growth, true spiritual maturity that comes from the regenerating work of the Holy Spirit enlivening you. How foolish Saul. The very thing he had hoped to achieve, think about why he made this oath, so he could get that victory over his enemies. The very thing he had hoped to achieve was missed. because God was not trusted in simple faith. Had the time been taken to truly seek the Lord, to truly trust the Lord, there would have been a great defeat of the enemy. Well, secondly, legalism leads inevitably to disobedience. Well, night came and once the people could eat, they were so faint and famished, verse 32 tells us something very interesting. The people pounced on the spoil and took sheep and oxen and calves and slaughtered them on the ground and the people ate them with the blood. My goodness, that sounds grotesque, doesn't it? But before you get these images of William Golding's Lord of the Flies and these castaway boys just devouring raw pig meat, This is actually less gruesome than it sounds, but still very much terrible. Why is it terrible? I'll tell you why. Because they were sinning against the Lord by eating with the blood. Leviticus 17.11 tells us the life of the flesh is in the blood, for it is the blood, by reason of life, that makes atonement. They were supposed to, according to God's law, drain the blood before eating. This can be found in Leviticus 19. This idea, this principle is even found all the way back in Genesis 9 verse 4. So the fact is, because they were so focused on keeping Saul's command and oath, they disobeyed God. You see that? We can be so focused trying to look right and religious to one another, in our hearts we've failed to keep before God. Do you see how legalism led to this disobedience? They couldn't eat the honey, so they rushed to eating the meat. Now don't be fooled and don't be ensnared. Legalism sounds so spiritual. But forbidding people from doing what God allows will always tempt them to do what God forbids. In short, it's a trap. Here's a king with no heart for God. He doesn't humbly love God. He doesn't love his word. He's willing, think about this, he's willing to add to God's word rules and laws and expectations and oath. He's willing to add to God's word. Well, I tell you people who are willing to add to God's word will have no problem subtracting from it as well. And that's the problem. The habit of adding to God's word leaves a lot of room for changing it up however you please. And saints, given the power of this God, I'd rather not change a thing here. Let's submit to this and have faith in this Christ proclaimed from his holy word. This happened, you know, in Colossae in the New Testament. It happened there. And Paul said these acts of Legalism, they have indeed an appearance of wisdom in promoting self-made religion and asceticism and severity to the body. But here's the verdict. They are of no value in stopping the indulgence of the flesh. They add no value to that. Adding rules only distract and exhaust you. Look to Christ. Adding rules leave you with no strength to fight the true fight of faith. Holy, trust in Jesus' name. Trusting in a list of religious activities is only gonna wear you out. It can't save you. It will not save you, it has no power to save. But the God that I put my faith in, that Jonathan put his faith in, is powerful to save, mighty to save. Only God can save you from your disobedience, and it's by his blood, the blood of Jesus Christ, that is, to be clear. Third, this legalism led to distance. Look in verse 33. And then they told Saul, behold, the people are sinning against the Lord by eating with the blood. And he said, you've dealt treacherously. Roll a great stone to me here. And Saul said, disperse yourselves among the people and say to them, let every man bring his ox and his sheep and slaughter them here and eat, and do not sin against the Lord by eating with the blood. So every one of the people brought his ox with him that night, and they slaughtered them there. And Saul built an altar to the Lord. It was the first altar that he built to the Lord. Sounds good, some very spiritual activity, but hidden in here, I hope you notice, there's a little bit of a blame game going on. He's passing it around. You know, oh, don't you sin. You stop that. Let me fix this with more religious activity. You see, that's what's happening here. Saul turns his attention back to his goal of glory after handling this little issue with some more legalism. Saul says, let us go down after the Philistines by night and plunder them until the morning. My goodness, the food hasn't even settled in their stomachs. I mean, yes, Saul did makeshift an altar here to drain their dinner, but the people They seem compelled to agree. Thankfully, the priest steps in. He says, let us draw near to God here. What a wise counsel. Let us draw near to God here. But what's interesting is Saul inquires of God, shall I go down after the Philistines? But look in verse 37. But he did not answer him that day. There was a distance that was created. Legalism always distances us from true fellowship with God. set it aside, with no man-made rules, with no good deeds of your own, come to God freely through Christ. Fourth, this legalism led to division. Legalism threatens to separate those who can do no wrong from those who can do nothing right. And we see Saul, he gets this temper, he lashes out, And he knows that there's got to be sin somewhere in this camp. There's got to be some wrong in verse 38. Saul said, come here, all you leaders of the people, and know and see how this sin has arisen today. He's looking for a sin. So lots were cast with Urim and Thummim. We can talk more about that after service if you want to understand those. Very mysterious, very interesting. But it's enough to say that God used these things at this time as a means to indicate to his people yes or no, true or false. So the Urim and Thummim indicate that Jonathan is the one who broke the oath by the time we get to verse 42. So Jonathan said, cast the lot between me and my son Jonathan, and Jonathan was taken. Jonathan was taken here. Nevermind that this was an unreasonable oath not directed by God. Saul doesn't care about that. Saul doesn't care there's an unnecessary oath It served no purpose except to exalt Saul, right? Never mind that it was an unhealthy oath because it led so many to discouragement and disobedience. At this point, Saul is too far in his pride and would not allow him to admit he was wrong. That's when you know that you're too far in your pride, saints. You cannot admit that you're wrong. Then legalism led to that last and most terrible result. Remember the discouragement, the disobedience, the distance, the division that it led to? Now it leads to death. Instead of admitting Saul's own folly, Jonathan says, I tasted a little honey and I will die. Could perhaps read a little sarcasm into that. This is ridiculous. But Saul would rather kill his own son than admit that the vow was rash and destructive and was not done in faith. Well, as we wrap up the story here, we see God who is rich in mercy to deliver. We see the resolve of Jonathan's determined faith. We see the destructiveness of Saul's rash vow, and now here we see God rich in mercy as he provides deliverance by the people. So the people, seeing the mighty work of God in salvation, rescue Jonathan from death. Then the people said to Saul, Shall Jonathan die, who has worked this great salvation in Israel? Far from it! As the Lord lives, there shall not one hair of his head fall to the ground, for he has worked with God this day. See, they give an oath of their own to counter Saul's foolish oath. They say, Far from it! That's what they cry. On the evidence of faith, the people rightly judge this matter. Where is their trust in the Lord? It's with Jonathan and how God has worked mightily this day with Jonathan. Exhibit A was presented and Jonathan was saved on account of his faith and trust in God to work salvation. So the people at personal risk, right? They're opposing their king. They step in and they oppose the strict adherence to the oath, to the vow. The royal law by the king that was hastily given in selfish legalism is nullified so that Jonathan did not die. Ultimately, this message is not so much about Jonathan's faith. It's not so much about Saul's legalism. And it's not even really about how the people responded. It's about how God is faithful to work, his purpose is, whether by many or by few. Even in the face of failed leaders and foolish legalism, God is able to work. Nothing can hinder him. We saints do not trust in our works, but we trust in God who's mighty to save. And as I close up, I wanna cover the remainder of this chapter, the downfall of Saul. In closing, we see in these verses the tragic decline of Saul's leadership. It tells us that Saul had taken the kingship over. He fought enemies on every side. Wherever he turned, he routed the enemies. He was valiant. He struck the Amalekites. delivered Israel. He had fighting sons. He had daughters who could make political alliances. He had commanders under him. There was hard fighting. And as Saul saw any strong man, in verse 52, or any valiant man, he attached him to himself. All of this sounds really good for Saul, doesn't it? But I'm telling you, that's what's wrong with this section, my friends, is that all of this sounds really good for Saul. And I don't see anything here about God. I don't see anything here about how God works in Saul's life. Because at this point, Saul is doing what he wants to do. He continues on this trajectory that we see in 13, 14, and next week we'll see in chapter 15. a trajectory of not trusting the Lord, a trajectory of not giving glory to God. And all of these references simply speak to what Saul has done. May our story be filled with different references, references of what Christ has done and how we have trusted God to save. Let's pray. Heavenly Father, Do ask, Lord, that through your word, you would strengthen your people's faith today, their resolve and confidence in you because of who you are, because of your mighty works, because of your mighty hand. Lord, I pray that any form of legalism that may be hindering us will be put aside, Lord, that we would see the dangers of it, that we would be clearly warned from your word today. Lord, we do thank you for your deliverance, for your Son, Jesus Christ, and how you have saved us, and you've called us to trust in your name. Lord, we do not want to trust in our works today, or our own goodness, or our religious activity. Lord, we want to trust in you, in you alone. Lord, we thank you for your dear son who did die for us, absorbing your wrath, saving us, calling us to yourself. Lord, we praise you today for your wonderful deliverance, and we do trust and hope in you. It's in Christ's name we pray. Amen.