We turn in the Bible to Leviticus chapter 12 and then Luke chapter 8. Let's stand the reading and hearing of the word. Leviticus chapter 12. Perhaps a less familiar part of your Bible, the book of Leviticus, and especially this chapter, but it has something pertinent to our understanding of the New Testament reading, which we shall see shortly. Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, Speak to the children of Israel, saying, If a woman has conceived and born a male child, then she shall be unclean seven days, as in the days of her customary impurities she shall be unclean. On the eighth day the flesh of his foreskin shall be circumcised. She then shall continue in the blood of her purification thirty-three days. She shall not touch any hallowed thing. nor come into the sanctuary until the days of her purification are fulfilled. But if she bears a female child, then she shall be unclean two weeks, as in her customary impurity, and she shall continue in the blood of her purification sixty-six days. When the days of her purification are fulfilled, whether for a son or a daughter, she shall bring to the priest a lamb for the first year as a burnt offering, and a young pigeon or a turtle dove as a sin offering, the door of the tabernacle of meeting. Then he shall offer it before the Lord and make atonement for her, and she shall be clean from the flow of her blood. This is the law for her who has born a male or female. And if she is not able to bring a lamb, then she may bring two turtle doves or two young pigeons, one as a burnt offering and the other as a sin offering. So the priest shall make atonement for her, and she will be clean. From Luke chapter eight, beginning at verse 40. So it was when Jesus returned that the multitude welcomed him, for they were all waiting for him. And behold, there came a man named Jairus, and he was a ruler of the synagogue. And he fell down at Jesus' feet and begged him to come to his house, for he had an only daughter, about 12 years of age, and she was dying. But as he went, the multitudes thronged him. Now a woman having a flow of blood for 12 years, who had spent all her livelihood on physicians, could not be healed by any, came from behind and touched the border of his garment. And immediately her flow of blood stopped. And Jesus said, who touched me? When all denied it, Peter and those with him said, Master, the multitudes throng and press you, and you say, who touched me? But Jesus said, somebody touched me, for I perceived power going out from me. When the woman saw that she was not hidden, she came trembling and falling down before him. She declared him in the presence of all the people, and the reason she had touched him, and how she was healed immediately. And he said to her daughter, Be of good cheer. Your faith has made you well. Go in peace. While he was still speaking, someone came from the ruler of the synagogue's house, saying to him, Your daughter is dead. Do not trouble the teacher. But when Jesus heard it, he answered him, saying, Do not be afraid, only believe, and she will be made well. When he came into the house, he permitted no one to go in except Peter, James, and John, and the father and mother of the girl. Now all wept and mourned for her, but he said, Do not weep, she is not dead, but sleeping. And they ridiculed him, knowing that she was dead. But he put them all outside, took her by the hand, and called, saying, little girl, arise. Then her spirit returned, and she arose immediately. And he commanded that she be given something to eat. And her parents were astonished. But he charged them to tell no one what had happened. This is the word of the living God. We turn in the word of God to Luke chapter nine and beginning at verse 40 and to the end of the chapter to preach and hear preach to miracles in the healing ministry of our Lord Jesus Christ. It would be good to note before we begin that this text comes in a series of three very similar eyewitness reports of the power and glory of our Lord Jesus Christ. Each of those reports have brought us face-to-face with Jesus Christ. The first was the stilling of the sea, where the great storm, brought mysteriously by the Lord of the storm who also slept in the ship, was quieted by the same Lord with a word, peace be still, and the wind and the waves ceased. And after that stilling, there was a confession a wonderment, a question. Supernatural divine power had been witnessed. Who is this that even the wind and the waves obey Him? And we saw that the answer from all the Scriptures is that this is nothing less. This one is God Almighty, whose voice is mightier than the mighty waves of the sea, Psalm 93. A second picture. Jesus encounters a man possessed by demons, perhaps thousands of demons. His name was given to be Legion. That was a Roman military unit, up to 6,000 men. And when Jesus cast out the demons out of this man, they went into at least 2,000 pigs who rushed into the sea in this strange picture of the invisible kingdom. Becoming visible through action in history this kingdom of headed by Satan the kingdom of darkness filled with demons who do his bidding which still exists today And with a word Jesus Cast them out matter of fact the text says you remember that he took on that ship that came through the storm he came to the other side he came and landed on the Dry ground and on the shore and he met the man and the first thing he did was command the demons to come out of him and they did. These demons recognized also and confessed Jesus to be the Holy One of God. And all those who saw this were amazed. Some in fear fled away and others, like the man who had been released, said, Jesus, I am your servant. I want to follow you. And Jesus sent him to preach the gospel. The disciples for the second time saw a kind of power and glory that they could not explain by any ordinary natural means. This is the Redeemer, Jesus Christ. This text is the third. Two miracles. And it's about life and death. Sickness and death. It's something we don't like to think about, but every one of us is dying. We're born. And we were born under the sentence of death. In the day that you eat of it, you shall surely die. You are all dying. Some of you don't think about it, probably. Maybe not at all. You should. I was rereading a sermon by Thomas Brooks this week that I sent to a dear friend and father in the faith by email. And in that sermon, Thomas Brooks, the old Puritan, talks about how to prepare and think about death and dying. And he says that the Christian should be often thinking about it. And we should be. Children, you should be. In the story we're about, you're about to hear preached, a 12-year-old girl dies. Children aren't immune from dying. None of us are. And unless Christ returns, we're all going to die. You're all gonna face the last enemy. It is inevitable. And as healthy as you might think you are today, you could be gone tomorrow. Sometimes God brings you to life circumstances that highlight that this is true. You get a cancer diagnosis and suddenly, You think about dying, don't you? You should. You get a car wreck and the Lord spares your life. Maybe you have some cardiac event or just the passing of years and you begin to feel the ebbing away of life. I'm not as strong as I used to be and if this continues, there's an end. It's coming. It's notable that our culture is fixated on undoing this. I have noticed a little slogan floating around, Make America Healthy Again. It's not bad to be healthy. It's not bad to be a steward of your body. It's good. It's a temple of the Holy Spirit. But we're not going to cure the problem of dying. It's a divinely imposed sentence. We're not going to. Only Christ has conquered this. Why? Do so many want to be healthy because they don't want to think about the wages of sin, which is death? And it's a deeply spiritual question. Our text teaches us that this basic human problem can only be met in and conquered by Jesus Christ. Sin in principle is rebellion against God. Our rebellion has brought a sentence. The sentence is the wages of sin is death. And that sentence can only be lifted by God. He's the only one who can give life, an eternal life. Sin means that we're guilty and polluted. And the principle of death is in us on account of that pollution and guilt. Moses said, We are brought to our end, to our death, by God's anger. Psalm 90. It's a divine act. As a matter of fact, He knows your days. He already set the beginning and the end. It's appointed for man once to die, then the judgment. Scriptures are very clear and experience is very clear. Sin infects, breaks down, and leads to death on account of the curse. This affects the whole cosmos, which is groaning and travailing under the curse. It affects your life, your body. Sometimes there's a direct connection between sin and rebellion and death. For example, you think of self-harm or suicide. That is the striking of ourselves. That is a very high and sinful form of rebellion that we ought to repent of in our thoughts and our actions. Anything that tends against the life that God has given. And sometimes it's our sins in other ways that end up in injury and death. If you think about driving drunk and you hit a tree and you break your neck. There's principles that are built in now under the curse into creation that remind us of this on every side. The effects of sin are signs of judgment. The Word tells us this very clearly. I'll give you an example. There's something curious in the book of Leviticus. If you were a priest, in a priestly family rather, but you were deformed in some way, you could be ruled unfit for priestly service. And you ask, well, why would that be? Because that would be a sign of the judgment of God. Now, not the judgment of God, a particular sin on that person for doing a particular thing. No, we could make a mistake there. but yet is a public marker of the sin problem that exists in the human race. All death and dying and sickness is a public marker, by God, of this sentence. The opposite is true, that to appear in the presence of God, you need to be without blemish. Jesus is the lamb without blemish. He was the only acceptable offering. In the Old Covenant, an unblemished lamb was the only acceptable offering, symbolizing moral perfection. by the outward absence of the signs of judgment. Jesus Christ not only forgives sins, but he removes the judgment. He washes away the guilt and pollution, and He alone has the power to lift the curse. And that's what we learn from these miracles. We have two heartbreaking instances of the plight of fallen humanity here. We'll see two saving acts of Jesus Christ, and then the third we're going to see the tender mercies of God. So two instances of this heartbreaking reality, the plight of humanity. two saving acts of Jesus Christ, and then we'll meditate on the tender mercy of God revealed in his Son. Jesus has just come back. He's crossed the Sea of Galilee on that special mission, what the disciples didn't understand, through the storm. He calms the storm. He interestingly asks, where is your faith? And they marveled. Who is this that even the wind and the waves obey him? That trip had a purpose, to see the demon-possessed man, where Jesus again showed that power, I said a moment ago, but now they're back. They've left. And he went his way, the man proclaiming, and then verse 40, that's 3rd verse 39, verse 40, so it was, Jesus returned. And he has gone back again, away from the land of the demon-possessed man, and he is back with his people. As he comes back to the area of Capernaum where he was, he's immediately met by a crowd and a man in the crowd named Jairus. He was a ruler of the synagogue, so a notable public figure with some influence, probably some wealth. He's part of the ruling body of the synagogue, the elders of the synagogue. And he has a problem. And this is request number one, the first heartbreaking instance of the plight of fallen humanity. And it is one of the most heartbreaking situations you can be in. He fell down at Jesus' feet, begged him to come to his house for he had an only daughter about 12 years of age and she was dying. He believed that Jesus could stop his daughter from dying. It's interesting, he wasn't like the centurion who just said, you could speak a word. He said, please come to my house. Calvin said he had weaker faith than the centurion, but that doesn't matter because he had faith. And he has a problem. He's a dying child. One of the greatest problems you could have. He makes a request. He falls down at Jesus' feet. He begs him to come to his house. He goes with Jesus along with the crowd, verse 42. He had an only daughter about 12 years of age. She was dying. But as he went, the multitudes thronged him and they're being carried along and they're headed to this house. Jesus is beginning to answer Jairus' plea. The crowd surely has heard this conversation and with expectation that this Jesus would do something is sweeping along. And here we have that sense of family grief and urgency and deep pain, a public pain known to many, yet no one can help. And he's crying out, Lord, please come. And he went with him. The gospel of Mark says that explicitly, it's implied here, but he went with him. He said, I will come. The drama is palpable here, the daughter's dying and they're headed there. And the question we always ask, now we already know Jesus' power, but the crowd, quick, quick, hurry, hurry. Breathing is slowing down. She's about to die. Father, brokenhearted crowd's eager to see a miracle. On the way, rescue almost there. A second request. While this is happening, a woman, verse 43, having a flow of blood for 12 years, interestingly, 12-year-old daughter, flow of blood for 12 years. The problem started 12 years ago. The little girl's life started 12 years ago. She's not known, this woman. She's quiet. It's not public. She has a kind of problem that She might not want to be made known public, a chronic discharge of blood, debilitating, resulting, as we just read from Leviticus chapter 12, something that was called a customary impurity, a sign of uncleanness. Why would that be? Because it was part of a fallen world. This means that she was in urgent need of a physician. We know that she was because she had spent all her livelihood on physicians and could not be healed by any. And if you've ever had medical bills, this woman has had so many medical bills, she's got nothing left and she still has the problem. No one helped her. So she makes a request of Jesus, verse 44. Here's the request. She came behind him and touched the hem of his garment, the edge of his clothing. That's her request. Completely silent, but it is a request. It's faith. We'll see later that Jesus says your faith has made you well. She makes a very quiet, private request. She believes that Jesus can heal. Perhaps she doesn't know how to approach him, but she knows that she needs him, and her hand reaches out for the only one who can deliver. There's a sense of private sadness that pervades the text, a deep sense of inward pain, Often this is a place where we have a lot of pain, where we say, Lord, why? Why is your hand heavy on me? Why, Lord? Why? The Bible teaches us that sin affects physical life. Sin, pain, and death. I said earlier, but they are the consequences of sin. These two cases before us bring us into the world of what we live in, urgent and chronic illness. Pains and sorrows, some that bring us suddenly to the edge of death and others that we live with in a state of pain and sadness and sorrow that never seem to go away. Both of which lead us often to the edge of wondering about the providence of God. What does the world say about this? Natural. What a hopeless world. That's all there is, it's natural. You're just gonna be eaten up by worms one day. All of this will come to its natural end, cancer, flu, allergies. Natural, it's just the way it is, cycle of life. No, we long for deliverance. I was talking to a high school friend of mine at my nephew's funeral. I don't know if I've told you this story. My nephew, Owen, when he died, and he was 10 years old, And last year I was at his funeral. As we were talking together, I went to high school with the funeral director. He had bought the place since I moved away. And he said, Peter, I do this all the time. I said, Sean, does it ever bother you? Does it ever get to you? All you do is you see tears and dying. And he said, you get used to it. But he said, Peter, something strange happened to me. My grandfather died. and we were gonna do the funeral, and I said to the staff, I can't do it, I can't take it. You do it, you prepare him for burial. And then he said, when I came into the chapel and I saw him, my knees gave out. It was interesting. He said, this is all I do, but here when it comes close, death and dying, I couldn't take it, Peter. It's not natural. It's a divine sentence, supernaturally imposed. And while we say it's natural in our age, we do what? Everything we can to stop it, back to the perfect health, the perfect food, anti-aging, cosmetics, and surgery, and science, and body preservation. We do everything we can to live. And at the same time, we paradoxically deny that death is a sentence. What the scriptures clearly teach is that God has imposed the sentence. It's the day that you eat of it, you shall surely die. It's God's active judgment against sin, against Moses. It's on the account of our rebellion, the wages of sin is death, Romans 5, 12. It's evident in sickness and death, chronic and acute, and the end of life and dying itself. It's a sentence that God placed on the human race. It's a sentence that you're presently living under. You need to hear me. It's going to come to you. Without exception. Sometimes it'll come to you because you've sinned against the Lord and He's bringing you a sickness to humble you. 1 Corinthians 11. Many of you among you are weak and sick because you come to the Lord's table inappropriately. It's God's Word. Miriam was leprous because of her rebellion. Other times it's a mystery. John 9, the man born blind. Who sinned that he was born blind? Jesus said neither he nor his father. It was part of the general suffering of humanity under the curse. We don't know. But what we do know is that it's coming. It can be traced to the root, which is God's response to sin, which is the curse. And the whole creation groans and travails under this, trembles under the curse, Romans 8, waiting for the day of its redemption. And we wait for the redemption of our bodies through the power of the resurrected Jesus Christ. But while we wait, we often weep. This in turn touches the human soul. And you should feel it deeply. And if you're listening carefully, you should feel some of it now. And you should be reminded by the word. It brings grief. When Hezekiah heard that he was going to die, he wept. He turned his face to the wall and he wept and he prayed. We shouldn't be afraid of death as Christians. We'll see that in a moment. But we should think about it. Here it is before us. We should pray to consider You can either adopt a worldly philosophy, ignore it, push it away, just prepare for retirement. Some people die before they ever use their 401K. Never thought about dying. We should have deep and humble reflection. We should say, Lord, use this in my life to teach me to number my days, to give me a heart of wisdom, to remember your mercy and ask for it. You will not fight against it successfully. It one day will overcome you. Physical death will. Back to the crowd. Problems. There's a girl dying. There's a woman sick. What is Jesus going to do? If you read the text, he already did something. Verse 44, he came from behind this woman, touched the border of his garment, and immediately the flow of blood stopped. Immediately, the hand of faith, the trembling, cautious, quiet hand touches the Savior. Ceremonially, she could have been unclean. What happens, as with the leper earlier, she touches the holy and the clean. She becomes clean, holy, and healed. She receives salvation. She believes in the Lord Jesus Christ. And it's more than just the salvation from her temporal problem. The hopelessness of 12 years is immediately changed to salvation in life. How do we know that it's more than just healing? Verse 48, He said to her, "'Daughter, be of good cheer. Your faith has made you well.'" That's the language of full salvation. Faith in Jesus Christ. Faith is a simple act. I will touch him, and he will heal me. I know his character and his power. Surely she heard about him. And she went, and she believed. A simple picture of a true Christian immediately affects, she felt the healing. Immediately also, Jesus perceived, verse 45, who touched me. Peter and those with him, after everyone denied it, said, Master, what are you thinking? You're in a crowd. People have been touching you all day. Jesus knew exactly what he was asking. Who in faith touched me for healing? What was he doing? Well, he already knew. He knew who he had healed. He knew about her faith. He knew everything. He was asking her to step forward. He was asking her to testify. He said, someone touched me, a perceived power is going out from me. When the woman saw that she was not hidden, she knew that Jesus knew. She came trembling, falling down before him. She witnesses like the disciples in the boat, like the man of legion. She declared to him in the presence of all the people the reason she had touched him and how she was healed immediately. Daughter, be of good cheer. Your faith has made you well. Go in peace. She is unashamed now to bear public witness to the saving power of Jesus Christ. And he commends her with peace and blessing for she believed. Saving act number one. Jesus heals the woman. The problem is, you feel the tension, this has been a scene in the middle of a scene. And the result of the scene in the middle of the scene is that the problem, number one, got worse. Sometimes we ask God, why? And there's another question we ask him, and it's how long? How long will you wait, Lord, to answer my prayer? You could imagine that the ruler of the synagogue was biting his lip as he thought about his girl, his only daughter, dying, and Jesus taking his time. in his view. While he had healed the woman, while he was still speaking, someone came from the ruler of the synagogue's house saying to him, your daughter is dead. Don't trouble the teacher. You're too late. Here's the question. Can Jesus be too late? Why did he wait? Compassion on the woman. He couldn't turn her away. He needed to speak these words to her. Daughter, go in peace. Your faith has healed you. He needed her to know that he knew her. His compassion slowed him down. He's never too busy, by the way. Children, if you think about Jesus ruling the whole universe, he's never ever too busy to hear your feeble cry. He was calling Jairus to a more focused faith in Christ. As I said earlier, Calvin said he had evidently weaker faith than the centurion because the centurion said, just speak the word. Jairus is now being pressed. He's being tested. He's being pushed hard. It also, third, revealed the reason that many people flock to see Christ. Notice the skepticism all of a sudden in here. Don't come. She's already dead. As a matter of fact, when he gets to the house, the people who are mourning are going to ridicule him. He's exposing the unbelief of those who say, he couldn't do this, he's too late, he doesn't know what he's doing, he's not what he says he is, he's not what you think he is. All of this is coming to light just by waiting. And then an unmistakable miracle. First he says, don't be afraid, only believe, she'll be made well. Notice the emphasis of faith. We'll come back to that. And he came into the house. He went in with Peter, James, and John, the father and mother. They all wept and mourned. Again, they ridiculed him. He said, she's not dead, only sleeping. They knew she was dead. Jesus was using the language of sleeping like Paul uses it to the Thessalonians, to fall asleep, to die, but under the sovereignty of God to be raised again one day. He kicked them all out, except those. Took her by the hand and said, little girl, arise. Children, maybe there's been a time where you've thought about dying and you've been afraid to die. It's not unusual. Look at Jesus' power. If you were to die, a little word, little girl, arise. He has the power to raise you up again. If you believe in Him, you don't need to be afraid to die. None of us do. This is the power that belongs to Christ. An unmistakable miracle. He not only says, little girl, arise, but when He says it, her spirit returns, she rose immediately. The words of our Savior so often, just like when He stepped onto the ground and just said to the legion, come out of him, command is implied in the text, and He immediately comes out, same thing, arise, and immediately arise, and then He says, take care of her, give her something to eat, don't just stand there. She needs some food. She's alive. This is the power of Jesus Christ. One more great purpose for the delay. There's this John 9 principle, I referred to it earlier in the ministry of Jesus. Why was the man born blind? It wasn't that he or his parents had sinned, it was a general falling under the curse, but that the works of God might be made manifest in him, that the glory of Jesus Christ would shine when he gave him life, when he gave him sight again. And that's the same thing here. Jesus is waiting in order that he would silence his critics, those who ridicule him, and comfort his people to say, death is under my control. Watch, little girl arise, immediately her spirit comes back and she rose up and he gave her something to eat. He commanded her to have something to eat. This is the power of Christ. He wished to communicate to you and to me that death will be and has been conquered by him. Parents are astonished. They testify to Christ. And he commands the Messianic secret. For now, keep this quiet. One day, my full glory will shine. Some things we can learn from the text. Especially about the tender mercies of God, but first a reminder. Drumbeat in the text, as I said at the beginning of the sermon, is this. Jesus Christ is the God-man. Power over the storm. power of the kingdom of darkness, power over death, the wages of sin, an unmistakable, unconquerable, relentless power. In all the situations that you find yourself in which you are powerless, I mean, we can't stop a storm with all the technology we have. We can't raise the dead with all the technology we have. We can't detect, let alone resist, the kingdom of darkness with the technology we have. Sometimes, actually, we use the technology to promote the kingdom of darkness. Jesus Christ with a word, with a word, with a word, conquers all our enemies. With a word, peace be still, come out of him, little girl arise. And even when, think of this tenderness and power, when he simply knows that the faith is expressed in the silence of the heart, the woman with the issue of blood, he still heals immediately. Who is this? The demons confessed him. The region is terrified. The man preaches Jesus as God, formerly legion. The woman speaks to the power and glory of Jesus Christ. The parents are astonished. Testimonies pour forth. This is God who has the power of salvation. As the psalmist says, Psalm 68, to the Lord our God belong escapes from death. This is Jesus Christ being pointed out to you as having unlimited saving power. Number two, notice how this power is laid hold of, received and gained. It's by faith. You believe in Him. There's a building picture of the importance of faith in the Gospel of Luke. When the four friends lowered down the paralytic, we read these words, when he saw their faith, he said, man, your sins are forgiven you. This salvation comes by faith in Jesus Christ. So, when Jesus healed the centurion's servant, And he said, just come. He marveled at him and said, I say to you, I've not found such great faith, rather just say the word, such great faith, not even in all Israel. In chapter seven, again in verse 50, the woman who was the sinner who washed his feet, Jesus said, truly, your faith has saved you. Go in peace. And he forgave her sins. The disciples are rebuked for having little faith. They should have had greater faith. Faith, again, is emphasized even there in the negative. Then in chapter 8 and verse 48, your faith has made you well, the one with the issue of blood. And then Jesus called to Jairus, do not be afraid, only believe and she will be made well. Have faith in me, trust me, lean on me, believe in me. Faith, the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen, knowledge, assent, and trust. Only believe and she will be made well. And we have two believers here in the text. An urgent prayer and a reaching hand. Maybe she heard about the leper. When the clean touched the unclean and he became clean and she said, if I just touch him, I believe. The simplicity of faith, the object of faith here is Christ himself and the power that he has to save. Notice the knowledge required for this kind of faith. It's not great knowledge. I often think about that woman and the simplicity of the illustration of faith when she reaches out to touch. She knows this, he's a savior with power to heal. I know it, I believe it. And with that simplicity, she receives the salvation that He came to give. If you're here this morning and you've never reached out in faith to Jesus Christ in that simplicity, believe in Him. Trust Him. Reach out to Him. Expect His help in the darkest condition that you might find yourself. Third, pulling together again the testimony of the Gospel of Luke, what is salvation? It includes forgiveness, also healing of the body, and rescue from the devil. Salvation, what does it include? Forgiveness, healing. and rescue from the devil. Jesus Christ is a comprehensive Savior. In His incarnation, by His work, He came to deal with the full scope of salvation. As the God-man, He took our sins, He took our sorrows. He conquered our spiritual enemies. There are no limits to the saving power of Jesus Christ. How did He accomplish this? By the cross. by taking our guilt and our sorrow. Surely he has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows. He carried the curse. He had a crown of thorns pressed into his head so that we might be free from the guilt and power of sin and its wages. He rose again to conquer death. All of this is prefigured in every one of his miracles. This power belongs to him. He exercises it for salvation. If you're a believer, this means you don't need to be afraid to die. To die is simply to fall asleep in Jesus, to wake again, a better day, a better place, the presence of God forever. This is what Jesus came to do. This is who He is. And in this, finally, you see the tender mercies of God. The tender mercies of our great God and Savior in this rapid fire series of two healings, we see accounts of the deepest kinds of personal grief and sadness that you could have. The woman with the issue of blood and the parents losing a child. Both heartbreaking, humbling, bring us to the end of ourselves. Personal and intimate sadness. It's about life in this world. It's like the woman who came before him and was weeping over her sins and the brokenness of her life and condition before she washed his feet. There's tears all over these chapters. The man who's captured by Satan, it's tragic. Sin is the root cause. The gospel says Jesus came to heal it all, to take care of it all. When Hezekiah prayed, Isaiah came back and the Lord said, what? I've seen your tears. You'll be healed. Psalm 56, the Lord keeps our tears in his bottle. That means he doesn't forget them. all of them. He remembers and He sees and He's the God of mercy and help. You've redeemed my soul from death, kept my feet from falling. You've known the tears in my eyes, as the psalmist says in Psalm 116. In Revelation 21.4, the ministry of Jesus will culminate in wiping the last tears and all the tears from our eyes forever. And if you have wept those, and if you have any sensitivity in this life, you should have wept them and you will weep them again. Remember that it's Jesus, who in the simplicity of faith, the hand reaching out, the Father's request, answers with power and deliverance. What is God like? You might ask this question, what is God like? And the two images that you might have in your mind would be, The hand reaching out, the fearful father. Some of you might be the same today. The word of God tells us in Psalm 145, Psalm 145. Word of God tells us in Psalm 145 the following about the character of God. The Lord is gracious and full of compassion, slow to anger and abundant in mercy. The Lord is good to all. He is tender mercy over all his works. This is clear in Jesus Christ. Let's pray. Lord our God, come to you asking that your word would be hidden in our hearts. Lord, we pray that even today we might grab hold of it in faith and believing. Lord, we look to you for such saving mercy that can only be found in Christ our Lord. We pray for all those who, through this valley of weeping that this life is, have reached out to you in faith that you would comfort them even this morning by your word and with the promise that you will overcome even death itself. Lord, we pray that you would help us in our present weaknesses and trials and lift our hearts closer to you. And Lord, we thank you that you have revealed yourself to be the God of tender compassion through your Son, our Savior, Jesus Christ. in whose name we pray, amen. But go with the blessing of the triune God, the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God the Father, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit. Be with you all, amen.