We turn to the Word of God in Judges chapter 7. It's been a few weeks since we've had a sermon on Gideon. I'm thankful that we can get back into this series once again. We're going to read Judges 7, beginning at verse 1. We'll read through verse 23. And the text consists of verses 16 through 22. Let's begin reading Judges 7, verse 1. Then Jerobail, who is Gideon, and all the people that were with him, rose up early and pitched beside the well of Herod so that the host of the Midianites were on the north side of them by the hill of Mora in the valley. And the Lord said unto Gideon, The people that are with thee are too many for me to give the Midianites into their hands, lest Israel vaunt themselves against me, saying, Mine own hand hath saved me. Now therefore go to, proclaim in the ears of the people, saying, Whosoever is fearful and afraid, let him return and depart early from Mount Gilead. And there returned of the people 20 and 2,000, and there remained 10,000. And the Lord said unto Gideon, the people are yet too many. Bring them down unto the water, and I will try them for thee there. And it shall be that of whom I say unto thee, this shall go with thee, the same shall go with thee. And of whomsoever I say unto thee, this shall not go with thee, the same shall not go. So he brought down the people unto the water. And the Lord said unto Gideon, everyone that lappeth of the water with his tongue as a dog lappeth, him shalt thou set by himself. Likewise, everyone that boweth down upon his knees to drink. And the number of them that lapped, putting their hand to their mouth, were 300 men. but all the rest of the people bowed down upon their knees to drink water. And the Lord said unto Gideon, by the 300 men that lapped will I save you and deliver the Midianites into thine hand and let all the other people go every man unto his place. So the people took vittles in their hand and their trumpets, and he sent all the rest of Israel, every man, unto his tent and retained those 300 men. And the host of Midian was beneath him in the valley. And it came to pass the same night that the Lord said unto him, Arise, get thee down unto the host, for I have delivered it into thine hand. But if thou fear to go down, go thou with Phura, thy servant, down to the host, and thou shalt hear what they say. And afterward shall thine hands be strengthened to go down unto the host. Then went he down with Phura, his servant, unto the outside of the armed men that were in the host. And the Midianites and the Amalekites and all the children of the east lay along in the valley like grasshoppers for multitude, and their camels were without number as the sand by the seaside for multitude. And when Gideon was come, behold, there was a man that told a dream unto his fellow and said, behold, I dreamed a dream and lo, a cake of barley bread tumbled into the host of Midian and came unto a tent and smote it that it fell and overturned it that the tent lay along. And his fellow answered and said, this is nothing else save the sword of Gideon, the son of Joash, a man of Israel, for into his hand hath God delivered Midian and all the host. And it was so when Gideon heard the telling of the dream and the interpretation thereof that he worshiped and returned into the host of Israel and said, arise for the Lord hath delivered into your hand the host of Midian. And now beginning verse 16 through 22 will be the text. And he divided the 300 men into three companies and he put a trumpet in every man's hand with empty pitchers and lamps within the pitchers. And he said unto them, look on me and do likewise. And behold, when I come to the outside of the camp, it shall be as I do, so shall ye do. When I blow with a trumpet, I and all that are with me, then blow ye the trumpets also on every side of all the camp and say, the sword of the Lord and of Gideon. So Gideon and the hundred men that were with him came onto the outside of the camp in the beginning of the middle watch. And they had but newly set the watch and they blew the trumpets and break the pitchers that were in their hands. And the three companies blew the trumpets and break the pitchers and held the lamps in their left hands. and the trumpets in their right hands to blow with all. And they cried, the sword of the Lord and of Gideon. And they stood every man in his place round about the camp. And all the host ran and cried and fled. And the 300 blew the trumpets. And the Lord set every man's sword against his fellow, even throughout all the host. and the host fled to Beth Shittah in Zerarath and to the border of Abel Meholah unto Tabith. And the men of Israel gathered themselves together out of Naphtali and out of Asher and out of all Manasseh and pursued after the Midianites. And thus far, we read God's holy and inspired word. God add his blessing to the reading of this word. And the text, Judges 7, verses 16 through 22, the account of the war and God's deliverance that he provided Beloved congregation, in our Lord Jesus Christ, the events that take place here in the text become the reason why God raised up Gideon to be judge. And here you remember what that word judge means. That word judge here in the book of Judges means deliverer. And God will use Gideon as a mighty man of valor and strength and courage and of faith to deliver the Israelites and to defeat the Midianites. And even though it's taken us many weeks of Gideon sermons, to get up to this point of the great battle against the Midianites, the events as recorded for us here in Judges 6 and 7 happen very quickly and transpire at a very quick rate so that from the appearance of the angel to Gideon when he was threshing wheat in his father's wine press, to Gideon's subsequent casting down of the altar of Baal and that idolatrous Asherah pole that was alongside of that altar of Baal, doing that in his own father's household to the sign of the fleece, to the whittling down of Gideon's army from some 30,000 men down to 300 men, And then Gideon and his servant, as we've read here in Judges 7, going down to hear the Midianites dream, all of those events would have transpired in probably a week, no more than two weeks. Probably the most consuming time was Gideon sending out messengers to all of Asher and Naphtali and Zebulun and gathering those original large army unto himself. But now the climax of Gideon's call to be judge. And he will lead his small band of 300 men against the Midianites who are down in the valley. God already making clear why he chose to have so few men in Gideon's army. Judges 7 verse 2. lest Israel vaunt themselves against me, saying, Mine own hand hath saved me. Because our God is a jealous God, jealous for His own glory, and He will not share any of that glory with the creature when there is a victory and a deliverance in the lives of God's people. And that same principle is even taught later in the Bible during the history of the kings in 2 Chronicles chapter 14 where you have King Asa who goes out to fight against the Ethiopians who have come against him. but the Ethiopians being 1 million in number and in 2 Chronicles 14.11 King Asa crying out Lord, it is nothing with Thee to help, whether with many or with them that have no power. Help us, O Lord our God, for we rest on Thee, and in Thy name we go against this multitude. O Lord, Thou art our God, let not man prevail against Thee. And now we finally come to this battle against the Midianites. Although as we recognize and as we read here in Judges 7, there hardly is a battle in the literal sense of the word. It's a type of warfare that's very strange and unusual. And this ranks right up there with The Israelites marching around the walls of Jericho and with the walls that came a tumbling down and here is Gideon with his 300 men and they are armed with trumpets and pitchers and lamps. Not the usual type of weaponry you might expect from soldiers going into battle. But here again, God making crystal clear to Gideon, to the 300 men, to all of the Israelites, and to the church of all ages, that salvation is not of him that willeth, nor of him that runneth, but of God who showeth mercy. The theme of the sermon, the sword of the Lord and of Gideon, that battle cry. Let's look first at many of the details of this nighttime battle. Secondly, let's examine this God-given victory. And then that final point, this was the sword of the Lord and of Gideon. And let's examine what that sword of Gideon is all about. but the battle cry, the sword of the Lord and of Gideon. We first start by examining some of the outstanding features of this battle with the Midianites. And I understand that this battle will spill over into Judges chapter 8 because there will be some 15,000 Midianites that escape this battle and will be able to flee and run away for a while and Gideon and his men will pursue them. But the text before us is the very heart of the battle and the time and the place that God vanquishes the majority of the enemy. In the first place, consider the timing of this battle. Gideon divides the men into three groups of 100 men apiece. Gideon instructs the men on what they ought to do, verses 17 and 18, and how they ought to follow his lead. And then verse 19 tells us when Gideon planned to attack. Gideon and his men came onto the outside of the camp in the beginning of the middle watch. And they had but newly set the watch. This wasn't the first time that Gideon had operated under the cover of darkness. You remember also that when he threw down the altar of Baal in his father's household, he and his servants did that in the middle of the night. And so also here. In the Old Testament, there were three watches throughout the night. There was the first watch, which was from sunset, approximately 6, 7 o'clock at night, to about 10 o'clock at night. That was the first watch. The second watch of the night was from 10 o'clock at night to two in the morning, and the third watch would have been from two in the morning till sunrise. Gideon and his men come to the camp of the Midianites at the beginning of the middle watch. And here at the beginning of the middle watch, it was late enough at night so that there would be no lingering light in the western sky and it would be too early for there to be any rays of sunrise in the east. It was therefore the darkest time of the night. And this would have been the time of the night when the majority of the Midianites would be fast asleep. And all of this is good for Gideon's men. They would be able to move about undetected, and that this would add to the element of surprise. In connection with the timing, it's notable that Gideon divides the men into three groups. He leads one of those groups of 100 men, and verse 21 says that these men stood every man in his place round about the camp. So with three groups, they would have covered the north side of the Midianite camp, the south side of the Midianite camp, and the western side of the Midianite camp. And we know that because in the confusion and melee that would shortly ensue, there would be 15,000 Midianites that would flee. And in what direction would they flee? They would flee straight east to the Jordan River, because in that direction, they did not hear any shouts. In that direction, they did not see any lamps. And that's the direction in which They fled, but imagine the terror on the part of the Midianites in the middle of the night, being startled out of their sleep and in their minds, they are surrounded by Gideon and the host of the Israelites. And then there are the instruments of warfare that Gideon and his men brought with them. And here again, you note that these instruments are very unusual. not the usual type of things soldiers bring with them into battle. Earlier in the Book of Judges, you read of instruments that were quite dangerous in their own right, and that judges used to fend off the enemy, so that you had Ehud, who had a small dagger on his right thigh that he used to kill King Eglon. You had the woman jail who killed Cicera with a tent stake. You had Samson who killed a thousand Philistines with a jawbone of a donkey. And then you had that Judge Shamgar who also killed many of the enemy with an ox goad, a sharp, if you will, cattle prod. Gideon and his men have no swords, no shields, no daggers, no spears, not even a cattle prod. And you understand that here, here is where you see Gideon and his men, but especially Gideon, demonstrating his great faith in Jehovah God. Gideon is a mighty man of courage and of valor. And in his courage and valor and faith, he goes up against 100,000 plus Midianites with trumpets and pitchers and lamps But the faith of Gideon is such that he knows and he is confident that God will give the victory. But what about these things that Gideon and the 300 men carry in their hands in the first place? They hold trumpets. Each man had a trumpet. This would not have been a nice musical trumpet made out of brass or some metal, but rather this was, and you recognize this name, a shofar. A shofar is a Hebrew word, but it refers to a ram's horn, a hollowed out ram's horn. And if you blow into it just the right way, it would make the sound of a trumpet. And these 300 men have these ram horn trumpets that they blow throughout the battle. In the second place, these men had pitchers. A pitcher was an earthenware vessel, a clay pot. These were probably some sort of pots of pottery made for carrying water. More than likely a decent sized pitcher because after all they had to put their lamp inside of it. And then that was the third thing that they took along with them. These men had lamps. And verse 16 says that those lamps were put within the pitchers. And this would have been some type of a torch that they could set inside that pitcher and that they lit so that it was ablaze, but that inside the pitcher, there was not enough light to give away their position. But just as soon as they were ready to shout out, They would take the torches out of the pitcher and they would hold those pitchers up high and smash them down upon the rocks. But those were the three things that Gideon and his men had with them. Trumpets, pitchers, and lamps. And with these instruments in their hands, the 300 men take up their position as Gideon commands. The men are divided into their three groups. Gideon heads up one of the groups. They stealthily take up their spot around the Midianite camp. And then, following Gideon's example, the silence and the darkness are suddenly broken. First, there is the sounding of the trumpets. In the middle watch, in the dead of the night, The first sound by Gideon and immediately afterwards the 300 blasts of the trumpet and being down in that valley the Midianites they must have heard that sound echo and reverberate giving the appearance of a large army. And those 135 Midianites are rudely awakened out of their sleep. And you can imagine the terror in their hearts as they imagine the host of an enemy, the host of the Israelites descending upon them, the sound of the trumpets. But then there is the smashing of the pictures that we read of so that these 300 men would have quickly taken those lamps out of the pitcher and lifted those pitchers up and threw them down to the rocks, smashing those pitchers to bits. But now you can imagine this was not smashing them down on soft earth where sometimes you take a picture and you might not even be able to smash it against the lawn or against the grass and if it would break it would not make a very startling sound. But when you smash it down against the concrete, against the rocks, well then that's another story. But you can imagine that the sound of breaking glass, the sound of breaking pottery, that's a very unsettling sound, a very disconcerting sound. And now the Midianites are aroused from their sleep, not only with the sound of the trumpets, but with this loud shattering going on all around them. And that was followed with the shining of the lamps, verse 20. And the three companies blew the trumpets and break the pitchers and held the lamps in their left hands and the trumpets in their right hands to blow with all. So that when the Midianites rushed out of their tents, they looked around in the foothills and saw all of these lamps glowing and flickering. And that gave them the distinct impression that an army was behind those lamps and that those lamps served as a guide for the rest of the army following right behind to rush down and descend into the valley. And then came the shout from the 300 men, the sword of the Lord and of Gideon. And if the Midianites had any doubts up to this point as to what enemy was coming upon them, now their doubts were dispelled. Now they know this is an Israelite attack. And they would have heard the sword of the Lord That word Lord is in capital letters, the Sword of Jehovah. And the Midianites know the history of Israel. And they know the wonderful things that Jehovah God has done for the Israelites, and how the Sword of Jehovah defeated the Egyptians in the Red Sea, and how the Sword of Jehovah defeated many of the Canaanites as they first took possession of the land of Canaan. That was all the Sword of Jehovah. And now hearing the name Jehovah would have evoked fear. In the hearts of the Midianites, the sword of Jehovah is now coming after us. And not only the sword of the Lord, but then we'll expand upon this in the third point, but the sword of the Lord and of Gideon. And the Midianites have a knowledge of this great man Gideon. Remember earlier in Judges 7 when Gideon and Phura, his servant, went down to the host and they heard the dream of one of these Midianite soldiers and the interpretation thereof. And the interpretation is, this is nothing else save the sword of Gideon, the son of Joash. These men, they knew about Gideon. They knew that he was the son of Joash. They were afraid of Gideon. And these two soldiers, the dreamer and the interpreter of the dream, they are indicative of all of the rest of the Midianites. And they know that destruction is coming for them. And now Gideon, assured in his faith after hearing that dream, strikes fear and terror into all the Midianites as they hear these cries reverberating all around them, the sword of the Lord and of Gideon. And now here is where we have to stop. And we have to take all of this together, all of these things, the blasting of the trumpets, the smashing of the pitchers into the ground, the raising of the lamps up into the air and the battle cry, and you might even add the terrified centuries of the Midianites who themselves no doubt would have been sounding the alarm that the enemy is approaching. It's in the middle of the night, so much is happening and it's simply too much. It's simply too much for the Midianites and they are stupefied. They're all in a frenzy and a melee takes place in their fright and confusion They start hacking away at one another. Verse 22, every man's sword was against his fellow. And this wasn't something that they normally do. This was the sovereign hand of God operating. But that's what was taking place. And from that point of view then, there's no need for Gideon and his men to go down into the camp and to start fighting the Midianites because the Midianites are doing that job all by themselves. And besides, at this point, Gideon and his men don't even have swords with them. But those are the details of the nighttime battle. And there Gideon and his men blow their horns and hold those lamps high, shouting out the sword of the Lord and of Gideon. And down in the camp, the Midianites are killing themselves left and right. And in all this, we see that God is the one who gives the victory. The victory that night over the Midianites was entirely a work of sovereign, almighty Jehovah God. that this is a work entirely of God is evident in a number of different ways. In the first place, when you consider what Gideon and his men had, trumpets, pitchers, lamps, have you ever heard of an army in the history of this world gaining the victory with those types of things? Of course not. And that tells us then that there is divine power being displayed in this battle. The victory belongs to God. In the second place, what did Gideon and his men do to secure the victory? Well, it was very important that they follow Gideon's lead, that's true. They blew the trumpets, they smashed the pitchers, they held those lamps high, but you can hardly say that's part of securing the victory. But when you look at verse 21, and they stood every man in his place round about the camp. Gideon and his men didn't rush down into the host of the Midianites and partake of the slaughter. They didn't start hacking away at the Midianites, no, but they stood right where they were. And they continued to cry out, the sword of the Lord and of Gideon. God secured the victory while Gideon and his men stood above and heard the cries of the Midianites as they slaughtered themselves. And the third place that this is a God-given victory is stated almost as clearly as it could be from verse 22. And the Lord set every man's sword against his fellow. The Lord set every man's sword against his fellow. Usually the Midianites, they were a very well-trained army. This wasn't the usual behavior of the Midianites. They had been doing this for some seven years in the land of Israel with great success. But this confusion amongst the Midianites is the direct work of God. He confuses their minds. using the strange circumstances that are taking place, the darkness of the night, the blare of the trumpets, the sound of smashing pitchers, the cry of Gideon and his men, the Lord uses all that so that each Midianite becomes confused and is fighting for his life and it's every soldier for himself. But this is the work of God. This is the work of God, delivering his people from the enemy. But then there's this too, there is the fear of the Midianites. And that fear as well is the work of Almighty God. Those soldiers in that army of Midian, they were fearful of Jehovah God. And they were fearful of Gideon. God was the one who gave that dream to the Midianite soldier. And part of the purpose of that dream was to give expression as to what lived in the hearts of all of the Midianites so that Gideon could know. But what lived in the hearts of the Midianites, they were scared. They were frightened. It was a fear and terror of the true and living God. Because God did give them to know, in measure, that they were not worshippers of that one true God, and instead that they worshipped idols. And they knew, in measure, that judgment was awaiting them, and that now it was even going to be coming early for them. What's coming upon us, the Midianites would have known, is the sword and the judgment of Jehovah God. And God gave a great victory that night. Gideon and his men observed it. Well, as much as they were able to see what was going on, they probably heard more of the victory than they saw it during those dark hours. But God putting dread fear in the hearts of the Midianites, and the Midianites themselves in a frenzy, they fight as those who were blinded and terrified, and they fight themselves in one gigantic, colossal battle of self-destruction. And here is the fulfillment of the dream of that Midianite, that lowly barley bread tumbling into the camp and the tent lay along and is destroyed. This is according to the word of God. This is according to the word of God in Psalm 83. even though at this time of Gideon Psalm 83 had not been written. But Psalm 83 verses 1 and 2, we read this, Keep not thou silence, O God, hold not thy peace, and be not still, O God, for lo, thine enemies make a tumult, and they that hate thee have lifted up the head. And now, down in the valley of Jezreel, God is not keeping silent. God stands up, as it were, and shouts at the Midianites, roaring at them through the sound of the trumpets, roaring at them through the smashing of the pitchers and through that battle cry. And the enemy makes a tumult. And God does not keep silent, but He comes and rushes to the aid and defense of His people. And then, so that's Psalm 83 verses 1 and 2, and then the last two verses of Psalm 83, 17 and 18, let them be confounded. This is the enemies of Jehovah God, the enemies of the church, let them be confounded and troubled forever. Yea, let them be put to shame and perish, that men may know that thou, whose name alone is Jehovah, art the most high over all the earth. And that night, God confounded the Midianites, and God troubled the Midianites, and you can be sure that they knew, and Gideon and his men knew, that there was one God who reigns in heaven and in earth, and that God is Jehovah. And in this battle with the Midianites, we see God's providential and sovereign control over all things, over even the enemies of God and the enemies of God's people. The extent of God's sovereignty, the extent of God's sovereignty isn't limited to a small or even to a large area of this world and universe, but God's sovereignty extends over all. God's sovereignty extends over the events and details of your life and mine, over all of God's people. And that sovereign hand of God extends also to the actions and decisions and emotions of his own enemies. And that doesn't strike us as strange. That doesn't strike us as unusual. This is the God whom we know and whom we love. So that Satan, could not lift a finger against Job apart from the sovereign direction and permission of God. God is sovereign. And then with regard to the most cruel sin committed in the history of this world, the crucifixion of God's own son, the Lord of glory, The wicked Jews in crucifying Jesus operate under the sovereign control of God. And what they did was wicked and heinous to crucify an innocent man. and they are responsible for that sin, but that was all in God's counsel. Acts 4, verses 27 and 28, the Christians pray to God for of a truth against thy holy child, Jesus, whom thou hast anointed both Herod and Pontius Pilate with the Gentiles and the people of Israel were gathered together for to do whatsoever thy hand and thy counsel determined before to be done." God is sovereign over all his enemies, sovereign over their thoughts, sovereign over their deeds. The Midianites, when they exclaim, the Israelites are attacking us, the Midianites and their emotion, we are fearful of what is happening, God is sovereign. And he placed that fear. And the book of Proverbs says that the heart of the king is in the hand of the Lord. And like a river, the Lord turns it whether so ever he pleases. And God had the heart of every last Midianite soldier in his hand that night. And God in His sovereignty orders and arranges and executes all things for the good of His Church, for His great purpose of saving His Catholic worldwide body of the Lord Jesus Christ. And God destroyed the enemy that day in Israel. so that the Israelites would be preserved, so that specifically the tribe of Judah would not be destroyed, so that in the generations to come From the line of Judah, from the loins of David, there would come one who would be ruler and king over all and in the fullness of time the Lord Jesus Christ would come. God giving the deliverance that day so that his purposes would be fulfilled in sending the Lord Jesus Christ and that God's people would be delivered. And so God governs the enemy sovereignly. God governs all things for the good and salvation of his church. And now here in the final point of the sermon, I want to underscore that this victory was entirely of God. And we know that when the Israelites cry out, the sword of the Lord, The sword of Jehovah, the victory is his, but now let's do justice to that final phrase, and of Gideon. The sword of the Lord and of Gideon. Now what does that mean? Does this mean somehow that that God gets credit for a certain amount of the victory. His sword has accomplished the victory, but then right alongside of it there's another sword, which is the sword of Gideon, and that Gideon can also get some of the credit for the victory and for defeating the Midianites. Is that the idea? And the answer is no, that's not the idea at all. The sword of Jehovah and the sword of Gideon, they're not two different swords. But the sword of Gideon and the sword of Jehovah, they are one and the same sword. And it's here where we see the beautiful, glorious truth that Gideon is a type of Jesus Christ. Gideon is a picture of the Lord Jesus Christ. And in that vein, it's entirely appropriate. I would say not only appropriate, but even necessary that we say Gideon defeated the Midianites. Gideon delivered the Israelites from the hand of Midian. It was his sword. And we are entirely right in saying that, because after all, that's what the angel says to Gideon. In chapter 6, verse 14, the angel says, Go in this thy might, and thou, Gideon, shalt save Israel from the hand of the Midianites. The angel says, you, Gideon, you're going to save Israel. And then the angel says in 6 verse 16, surely I will be with thee and thou shalt smite the Midianites as one man. Well Gideon is judge in Israel and that word judge means deliverer and God will use Gideon as a mighty man of valor to defeat the Midianites. And this same Gideon becomes a picture of the Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord Jesus Christ who defeats our enemy, which would be the enemy of our sins, our sins that rise up against us by Jesus laying down his own life on the cross of Calvary and providing a miraculous delivery and they're destroying the power of sin. And as Colossians 2 verse 15 says that Jesus, having spoiled principalities and powers, he made a show of them openly. And you can't help but think and apply that here to the deliverance that God provided in that dark valley of Jezreel that night. God made a show of the Midianites during that dark night. And so Jesus Christ made a show of his enemies during those three hours of darkness by enduring the wrath of God. And by enduring that wrath and exhausting God's wrath, for us men and our salvation and giving us the victory that can never be taken away. And so when Gideon commands the men, do as I do, say as I do and follow my speech, follow my example and say this, the sword of the Lord and of Gideon, that this wasn't Gideon puffing himself up and placing his sword, he had none. But by placing his sword alongside the sword of Jehovah, no, but this was Jehovah God. Teaching Gideon and those 300 men and the rest of the Israelites and the church throughout all ages that the victory comes from God alone through Jesus Christ whom he has sent. To him be all the glory. Amen. Let us pray. Our Father which art in heaven, we thank thee to hear thy word. We are thankful to hear that thou art Lord and sovereign over all and that the heart of the king and of the enemy is in thy hand and thou dost turn it whithersoever thou pleasest. We thank thee for redemption full and free in Jesus Christ and thankful that thou dost make it so unmistakably clear as we read through the history of the Old Testament of thy wonderful deeds and works to deliver thy people and to teach the church of all ages that salvation is of thee. We thank Thee for Jesus Christ. We thank Thee for our Deliverer. We thank Thee for His Holy Spirit that lives within us so that each and every day it also becomes our battle cry against sin and Satan and our flesh, the sword of the Lord and of Gideon. Forgive our sins. Bless us in this night. We pray this in Jesus' name alone. Amen. We sing Psalter number 31. Psalter number 31. We sing in stands of five. My enemy, grown strong in pride, would take my life away, a lion lurking by my side, most greedy for his prey. Confront and cast him down, O Lord, from evil, save me by thy sword. Let's sing stanzas one, two, and then five, six, and seven. Stanzas one, two, five, six, and seven, Psalter number 31. ♪ In a world behind my back ♪ ♪ I swear nothing's in sight ♪ ♪ Still I am home ♪ ♪ The God I adore ♪ ♪ I have a heart I choose for God ♪ ♪ And hope that work is true ♪ ♪ For help, O God, I cry to Thee ♪ ♪ Blessed art Thou, blessed art Thou ♪ His reign. On yon deck fastened now, O Lord, Thou me, O Savior, In labor's joys and wealth content, ♪ To you the glory set abide ♪ ♪ And then I shall be satisfied ♪ We the mighty one, the home of God on this high hill, for Thee alone, best understood, Blessed be this glorious day, Long as the ages shall endure, For all the earth and sky this day. Amen, amen. God bless thee and keep thee. The Lord make his face shine upon thee and be gracious unto thee. The Lord lift up his countenance upon thee and give thee peace. Amen.