I invite you to turn with me to the ninth psalm this morning, Psalm 9, as we turn to worship our God through the open and public proclaiming of His word. Two weeks ago, I finished our long series through the book of Judges. And in a few weeks, we're going to begin a new series on the Ten Commandments and the Christian life. But in the few weeks in between, we're going to take a few weeks to look at some psalms. Over the past few years, I've already preached through the first eight psalms, and so naturally, picking right up where we left off, we're going to look at Psalm 9 today. Psalm 9 and 10 actually were originally one psalm. They go together, so next week we'll look at Psalm 10, and we will go on from there. But Psalm 9 this morning, let's turn there and now let us also give our attention to God speaking to us in His Word. Psalm 9. To the choir master, according to the Muthlaban, a Psalm of David, I will give thanks to the Lord with my whole heart. I will recount all of your wonderful deeds. I will be glad and exult in you. I will sing praise to your name, O Most High. When my enemies turn back, they stumble and perish before your presence. For you have maintained my just cause. You have sat on the throne giving righteous judgment. You have rebuked the nations. You have made the wicked perish. You have blotted out their name forever and ever. The enemy came to an end in everlasting ruins, their cities you rooted out, the very memory of them has perished. But the Lord sits in throne forever. He has established His throne for justice, and He judges the world with righteousness, He judges the peoples with uprightness. The Lord is a stronghold for the oppressed, a stronghold in times of trouble. and those who know your name put their trust in you. For you, O Lord, have not forsaken those who seek you. Sing praises to the Lord who sits enthroned in Zion. Tell among the peoples his deeds, for he who avenges blood is mindful of them. He does not forget the cry of the afflicted. Be gracious to me, O Lord, see my affliction from those who hate me, O You who lift me up from the gates of death, that I may recount all Your praises, that in the gates of the daughter of Zion I may rejoice in Your salvation. The nations have sunk in the pit that they have made, and the net that they hid, their own foot has been caught. The Lord has made Himself known. He has executed judgment. The wicked are snared in the works of their own hands. Higeon shall lie. The wicked shall return to Sheol, all the nations that forget God. For the needy shall not always be forgotten, and the hope of the poor shall not perish forever. Rise, O Lord, let not man prevail. Let the nations be judged before You. Put them in fear, O Lord. Let the nations know that they are but men. Selah. Amen. Bow with me in prayer, would you? Almighty God, You do sit enthroned forever. And for this, we praise You. As our Father, we ask, like David prayed so long ago, would You be gracious to us? Would You grant us the knowledge of You that we too might sing Your praises and tell of Your wonderful deeds? Would You humble us with the reminder that we too are but men, mortal, sinful creatures? We pray that You would do this for Your children, even now. We ask in Jesus' name. Amen. Well, part of what makes us human, in distinction from the animal kingdom, is that we, by nature, are forward-looking creatures. None of us live as if there is no tomorrow. We carefully plan and order our lives for the future. We have hopes dreams and goals for tomorrow. We write stories, we make movies about what the future might be like. I believe it was the ancient philosopher Aristotle who said that we are at our very happiest in life when we are daydreaming about our hope for the future. Of course, this is natural. This is good. We were created for the future. Life was never meant to be the end of all things. Life here in this world, that is. God created us with an end. God created us with a goal. God created us with eternity in mind. And part of what longs, part of what longs, part of what's in us that longs for the future is what God Himself put into our hearts. This eschatological principle that's embedded into our very nature that we were fashioned and made for eternity. And yet, of course, like every other aspect of human nature, Unfortunately, this too has not escaped the stain of sin or the reality of living in a fallen world. Yes, we are fascinated by the future, but can't we also say at times we are also crippled by it as well? The reality of life is that we're often wracked with fear about what the future might hold. We have anxieties about tomorrow. We have crippling uncertainty about what might come. Just like daydreaming brings joy and ecstasy, dread of tomorrow can be like this dull, aching pain that just gnaws at us without ceasing. It gives us sleepless nights and much sorrow in this life. It's just a reality of life that because of sin, because of the curse, because of the fall, because of death, our contemplation of the future often brings as much pain as it does pleasure. And yet, despite this, in the grace of God, I want to assure you today, partly from this psalm, that the Scriptures do not turn a blind eye to this reality. Despite how it's sometimes said, God doesn't just command us be anxious for nothing and just walk away, leaving us to wallow in our own weakness. God doesn't leave us to ourselves as if our worries about the future, our childish, are just a manifestation of weak faith that we need to get over. God condescends to help us and to meet us in these needs. And in many respects, the Psalms serve as kind of a blueprint for navigating these types of troubled waters. The Psalms, as you probably well know, really get down into the day-to-day experience of God's people. They get down into the troubles and the fears and the anxieties and the uncertainties of life. And in this way, the Psalms provide with us medicine to treat this very common wound. I'm not saying here, of course, that we find a cure in the Psalms. In many respects, the problem of our anxieties about the future will never fully be cured until the last day. But here we do find help. We do find hope. And we do find a God who condescends to our weakness and gives His children the day-to-day strength that we need to face these realities. Here today in the 9th Psalm, what we find is a hymn of praise. But it's a hymn of praise that's written in the midst of great difficulty and trial. This should be evident by looking just initially at v. 3-5. David speaks of his enemies. He speaks about the wicked. He speaks about the nations, or maybe the Gentiles, the unbelievers. He speaks in v. 13 of the affliction of the needs of the poor and needy. In v. 18, David is in the midst of trouble. His current situation is not good. But I want you to notice, all throughout, where is the focus of this psalm? It's not on the present. It's not on what he's going through here and now. His focus of this psalm is on the past. But ultimately, it's on the future. And this is where this psalm is most helpful to us. This psalm is a clear call the best way I know how to put it, is to go back to the future. We are to look back at what God has revealed Himself to be, what God has done in human and redemptive history, for it's in the past that reveals to us the future. And it's going back to the future, which serves to instill in us that necessary hope and strength for navigating the present. Let me put it this way, if I were to reword it. The medicine, the help that we need to apply in the present is found in the past, and the past applied to the future. That's what I hope to open up for you today. That's what I hope you see from this passage. This is a psalm about the future and how the future in God's economy is known by looking at the past. And so in this respect, I want to point out three things that we see from this passage today. There's many things that we could say. In fact, I found one preacher who preached an 11 point sermon on this text, because there legitimately are 11 points that we could derive from this, probably more than that, but I'm going to narrow things down to three, and everyone said amen, I know, but narrow them down to three, three basic general kind of headings that kind of outline this passage for us. This is a psalm that invites us to recall his deeds in praise, to remember His person in faith, and to recite His promises in trust. So first, this is a psalm that invites us to recall God's deeds in praise. To recall His deeds in praise. Of course, we see that right away in verses one through two. David begins the psalm by expressing his intention to praise God. I will give thanks. I will recount your deeds. I will be glad and exult in you. I will sing praises to your name. Right away we see there's a future orientation to David's perspective here. This is helpful because David is essentially saying whatever happens today, whatever happens tomorrow, come what may, nothing is going to change my intention to praise you. This sets the tenor for everything that comes next in this psalm. All the troubles and all the worries are put in this context right here. That I will praise and recount and adore my God. But to break this down more specifically, notice he says, I will give thanks to the Lord with my whole heart. This is instructive to us. He speaks about giving praise and recounting God's works. He makes it clear this is not just lip service. He has no intention of just going through the motions. This is praise that comes from deep within. He's not a hypocrite who praises God when everybody is watching, when everybody is present on Sunday mornings, as it were, but forgets God in private. He's not just praising God in a superficial manner, only praising Him in the good times, only praising Him when things go well. He says, with my whole heart, because praise with half a heart is no praise at all. And praise that's based just simply on circumstances isn't genuine praise either. What David is saying here, right away, right up front, he's saying, no matter the circumstance, I will praise God. And not just on the outside, but on the inside. From deep within. This is a call for us to really come to that point where we acknowledge, where we come to grips with the fact that no matter what happens, we must praise the Lord. Though our worst nightmare may come true tomorrow, our intention must be to praise Him in all things. Yet, I will praise Him. Yet, I will praise Him. Come what may. But brethren, this only comes out of a heart that loves and trusts God as our Father. This intention to praise, no matter what, only flows out from a heart that knows the Lord. And so we might ask, how can David say this? How can he trust the Lord to such an extent? Well, that's where we get this focus here on God's past acts. David says, I will recount all of your wonderful deeds. Wonderful deeds. Wonderful deeds in scripture are most specifically referred to Things that require a supernatural explanation. This is recalling acts of creation where God called all things to be out of nothing. Or acts of redemption, God delivering His people through the Red Sea. Acts of providence as well, God's ordering of history that we know fall out from His sovereign hand. I think most specifically in this passage, in verse 3 through 6, we see this elaboration on God rebuking the nations and making the wicked perish, with a very memory of them being erased. I believe this probably refers to the Exodus, or perhaps to the conquest, the victories of Israel in the land of Canaan. David is saying, I've seen the Lord act. I've seen God be faithful to His Word. I've seen God be faithful to His people. And God's past actions of victory and salvation and mercy and deliverance serve to provoke worship and praise in Him and trust. This is, of course, immensely helpful to us as we formulate a doctrine of worship. This right here is how we ought to praise and pray to God. This is the model given to us. And it explains how David can say such things that, I will praise you no matter what. So often our prayers are self-centered, self-focused. On things what we want God to do. But here the pattern is that prayer is to be fashioned after what God has done. So often in our worship music. Our focus is on us, our love, our joy, our victory, our strength. Well here, the focus begins and is centered on what God has done. Our prayers, our songs, our worship. ought to be recounting what God has done. What He's done as revealed in Scripture. What He's done in our lives through His mercy and power in our lives through the Spirit. What He's done in human history. Things that are written of even in secular history books that we know fall out because of the sovereign decree of God who has ordained all things that come to pass. David, as he looked back, as he recounts God's wonderful deeds, he says, I will be glad and exalt you here at the end of verse 2. I will sing praises to your name, O Most High. I will be glad. This is something that comes from within. This is something that's deep. You can't just be glad. This is not checking off a checklist. This is not just, I can't stand up and tell you, now be glad tomorrow. This is your duty. It's not exactly how this works. Gladness, exaltation is the fruit of the Spirit. It's something that comes from deep within. This comes from the long cultivation of meditating on God's works. That's what produces this gladness. And so, the outlet of meditating on these things, knowing God's wonderful deeds, is that He bursts out in song, I will sing praises to Your name. It's something that's inward, but it's also something that's outward. This is not just letting the band play while you quietly mouth the words. This is not singing along to the top 40 hits on the Christian radio station. This is not just making a great show on the outside while your heart is really somewhere else. This is both. We ought to long to cultivate this type of gladness and exaltation that's not based on circumstances, but is based upon how God has acted. And we ought to, having cultivated that, sing loudly so that others may hear. There's no legitimate excuse for doing otherwise. Recounting what God has done, is a way in which we are spiritually strengthened to face the present and the future. We grow in our trust and in our faith by praising God for His wonderful deeds. Just like King Saul, would call David in, the shepherd boy, to play his harp when an evil spirit would arrest him, and upon playing the harp, the spirit would flee from him. In the same way, so often doesn't our fear, our dread, our sorrows, our anxieties take flight when we take the praise of God upon our lips? That's what David is doing here. He's troubled, and so he sings. Also here, couldn't help but notice that once again, as we saw again and again in the book of Judges, we become what we worship. We become what we worship. We saw that. Idolatry leads to becoming just like the idol in which you, what you revere. In the very same way here, David is worshiping because he knows that he's shaped by what he worships. And in this respect, in our respect, we ought to know shallow worship creates shallow Christians. Worship that's focused on self. Worship that's focused just on circumstances. Worship that's just focused on warm fuzzy feelings. When things go well, will not prepare us for navigating life's difficulties. Worship, without a deep knowledge of God, without a deep understanding of how He has acted in history, will never mold and shape us in this way. We must strive for deep worship, a deep acquaintance of God's past acts, knowing that these work to fortify us for the present and for the future. And that's what's so clear here when David says, I will praise you. He knows that as he praises God for God's previous acts, he can do so because he knows God will act in the same way again. And this is what gives him hope. This is what gives him confidence. He realizes that God has revealed the future to him through how he has revealed the past. Well, this leads to our second point, then, after we see David begins by recounting God's wonderful deeds. Secondly, we see him remember his person in faith. Remember his person in faith. What do I mean by that? What does it mean to remember his person? What I'm aiming at is to remember God's character, to remember God's nature, His attributes. And we see this all over the psalm. You can probably pinpoint five or six things from the psalm where the nature and character of God is revealed here, but I just want you to see initially in verse three. He says, when my enemies turn back, they stumble and perish before your presence. Here, I think the Hebrew is a little tricky. I think it's better to rim this as, when my enemies are turned back. In other words, to paraphrase this, he's saying that his enemies are turned back, and they do stumble and perish at the presence of God. When God shows up, his enemies crumble. David is looking forward here, and he's saying, It's the presence of God that gives him confidence in the face of his enemies. That it's the presence of God with him that is sufficient to turn back every foe and every fear that he might face. Here you can't help but recall Psalm 139. Where shall I go from your spirit, he prays. Where shall I flee from your presence? If I ascend to heaven, you are there. If I make my bed in Sheol, you are there. If I take the wings of the morning and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea, even there your hand shall lead me and your right hand shall hold me." David is comforted by the fact that he cannot escape the presence of God, and neither can his enemies. This is the ultimate comfort and hope that we have in the gospel. This is why the Lord, in His last words, as He departs to the Great Commission, lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age. No matter what we may go through, In Christ, we have the promise and the presence of God. And that is sufficient. So this points back to who God is in His person. In His person, He's omnipresent. He fills heaven and earth. There's nowhere we can go to escape Him. But most specifically for David, it's the fact that not only that God is present, but that God is present in love with him. We see this in verse 9 and 10 of our passage. David says the Lord is a stronghold for the oppressed, a stronghold in times of trouble. Those who know your name put their trust in you, O Lord, for you have not forsaken those who seek you. He recounts those who know your name. To know the Lord in Scripture denotes a covenant of love, an intimacy, a union. And it's the knowledge of this love and the experience of this love through the Holy Spirit that serves to strengthen our trust in times of trouble. That the loving God is with us. David is strengthened by knowing who God is. By knowing that he's present. That knowing that he knows the Lord and as knowing the Lord, the Lord is a stronghold, the Lord is a safety, the Lord's purpose is good for him. And that the Lord will defeat his enemies. Of course, we can break this down even further and ask why exactly is the nature and character and presence of God, particularly comforting in times of trouble. Knowing who God is can lead David to say in verse 7 and 8, that the Lord is enthroned forever. That He's established His throne for justice. Knowing who God is, is knowing that God is enthroned. Knowing the character of God is knowing that God is just. Here, David recounts that God sits on an eternal throne. He's ever ruling. He will always be ruling. Nothing will ever change that. And this is good news because not only is He always ruling, but He rules for good. He's established His throne in justice. This hearkens back to God's immutability, the fact that God does not change. The fact that your sin tomorrow is not going to change God's mind about you. The fact that the new scheme of the enemy tomorrow, the new temptation, the new plan of attack is not going to thwart the eternal and unchangeable God. God does not change. He is immutable. He is perfectly just. He is perfectly righteous. He's never swayed by partiality. He's never swayed by selfless interests or the schemes of men. He is infinitely just. He is infinitely perfect. And His rule is just and perfect as well. And what this means in this context is that although all hell may break loose here on earth, God is still on His throne, David says. And God is still ruling in justice, David says. And God is still meeting out all things according to His perfect will. God is present. God sees. He knows our affliction. He loves us, and He is just, and He rules. And this is what gives David comfort. If we know God, we know He loves us. If we know He is enthroned forever, we can be assured that He's reigning even in the worst of times. If we know God is just and immutable, we have the comfort of knowing that all things will be made right in the end, even though it doesn't seem so right now. That's why David can say that the Lord is a stronghold for the oppressed. That He has not forsaken those who seek Him. That He does not forget the cry of the afflicted. That verse 18, the needy shall not always be forgotten, nor the hope of the poor perish. Because of who God is. God is at the center of this psalm, God is at the center of this praise, God is at the center of this hope in the midst of difficulty, the nature of God. This is what serves to instill and strengthen him for the present and for the future, no matter what we may face here and now. As I said before, David realizes that God has revealed the future through how He has already revealed His own nature and character in the past. If we know who God is and He's immutable, then we know what the future holds. This is a matter of faith, not just knowing facts about God, but a deep, personal, experiential truth-based knowledge of God, who He is, and His covenant love. That brings us to our third and final point today. We see David recite God's promises and trust. He recalls his deeds, remembers his person, and he recites God's promises. And admittedly, there's a bit of overlap here. Part of knowing God is knowing what he promised to do. Part of the reason why David can say that God is a stronghold for the oppressed is because he knows that God has promised to be such. Rather than rehashing every aspect where this comes out here in this passage, I just want to point out how it relates to the future here. In verses 7 and 8, David recounts how he has established his throne for justice, that he will judge the world with righteousness and the peoples with uprightness. This is instructive because it entails both a present and a future judging. In the present, he comforts himself knowing that God is working justice, despite how things may look on the outside. And that's why he speaks in verses 15 and 16 about how the wicked are ensnared in the plans that they make. How the trap that evil men set falls back on their own heads. He's saying, God, you're executing justice now. You reap what you sow. God has a way of repaying evil for evil in this life. But that's not the end of it because it doesn't always happen that way. And that's why this also must entail a future judgment as well. He's looking forward to where one day God will judge righteously in the days ahead. In fact, this entire middle section of the psalm here is bathed in final judgment imagery. This is why the Apostle Paul in Acts 17 31 quotes this passage when he's preaching about the final judgment. David knows. We know. God has fixed a day in which He has promised to judge the world in righteousness. And on that last day, God will execute perfect justice. He will right every wrong. He will render to every person according to their deeds. That's why one of the most central exhortations in all of Scripture is that we must prepare ourselves for the final judgment. We are to continually go, once again, back to the future. We are to live in light of that future reality of the final day of judgment. If we don't plan ahead, if we don't prepare for that day, If we don't be reconciled with God right here, right now, we're going to be cut off guard. And we're going to perish forever. God has told us He will judge the world in righteousness. We must believe that. That is a matter of faith. And this must play a part in ordering of our lives. In faith. In repentance. In obedience. and perseverance. So David, again, strengthening his faith for the present by reciting what he knows God will do in the future. That's why he can say confidently in verse 17, that the wicked will return to Sheol and that the needy will not always be forgotten, though it all certainly appears it's that way right now. If we walk by sight, It looks as though evil is winning. We turn on the news, and we see there seems to be no end to depravity, to wickedness, to unbelief. We see the righteous suffer. It appears as if God has forgotten the needy and the poor, spiritually speaking. We may feel at times that God has forgotten us, that everybody's forgotten us. We may feel alone in this world, all alone in this world. There are times in our life where we will feel that way. Even those closest to us we don't feel a connection to. We don't feel like they're with us. We feel utterly and entirely alone, but the promise of God in this scripture, we have this assurance that we may feel like nobody hears our cries, that nobody cares. We are not alone. God has not forgotten us. And this is what David comforts himself with, with this promise that God will not and has not forgotten us. He knows what God has done. He knows who God is. He knows what God has promised to do. And this is what strengthens him to face the day with gladness. praise, with exaltation, with singing, because none of those things are based on circumstances. They're based upon unchanging realities. The immutable character of God and the fact that His Word will never return to Him void. It will always accomplish what is purposed in which He sent it. One of the surest marks of unbelief is when people believe that because God doesn't act on their timetable that He's never going to act. One of the surest marks of unbelief is thinking, believing that because God doesn't instantaneously punish sin that it's never going to be punished. But when we know God and we know His Word, we can be confident of other things. Justice denied, excuse me, delayed is not justice denied. We are not capable in our own strength, from our present perspective, to accurately judge what God is doing in His invisible hand of providence. So this is how the psalm calls us to go back to the future, to see how God has acted, to see how He has revealed Himself, and to see what He has promised, rather than what we think, rather than what we feel, rather than what we see. And this gives assurance to us for today, and for tomorrow as well. How then does David wrap up this psalm? Well, notice finally on this last point, that in light of all of these things, after recounting all of these things, we see in verse 13, David finally offers a petition. Isn't that so different from our own prayers often? Where we begin right away saying, Lord, I need this, I want this, help me here, answer here. He doesn't get down to a petition until verse 13. And what is that petition? Be gracious to me. Pay attention to my affliction. Prayer, he understands, is a means by which he's going to have strength to face today. And the essence of that prayer is not just a request to fix his circumstances, It's simply a prayer to be gracious and to turn God, to turn His face and see what He's going through as He relies upon the grace of God. And what is the reason, ultimately, why He wants God to answer His prayer? That. I've circled it in my Bible. That. Be gracious to Me. That. So that. In order that. I may recount all Your praises, that in the gates of the daughters of Zion I may rejoice in Your salvation." His ultimate aim, His ultimate desire, His ultimate petition is the glory of God. And the public manifestation of that glory before the people in Zion. This right here is like the perfectly suited model prayer for every occasion that we ever may find ourselves in. It's focused on God, it's focused on his past acts, it's humble, it's indicative of a need for grace, and it's ultimate aim, the glory of God. I long for people to see your glory. I long for people to see who you are. I long for your name to be made great. I long to join with other people in singing your praises. So hear my prayer and be gracious so that I can do that even more. Act again as you've acted before so that you may receive an abundance of praise. And this is where it really comes together in regards to navigating the present and dealing with our fears for the future. All of this lies in beholding someone greater than ourselves. getting our eyes off of us, getting our eyes off our troubles, getting our eyes off of what's going on in this life, and fixing them on someone who's infinite in glory, who's infinite in perfection, who's infinite in good, and is working all things according to the counsel of His own will. When we see that, how can we not burst out in praise? How can we not long and petition others to praise God with us and to see His glory in such things. This is the end, the encompassing prayer of David in the midst of difficulty as he comforts himself with God and the certainty about the future. Well, brethren, as we draw this to a conclusion, I just want to bring it down finally to here and now. I want to bring it down to here and now into our perspective as living on this side of the cross. As I've made the point with all of the Psalms, the Psalms are the prayers of Jesus Christ. They're not just the prayers of David. We see in the Psalms the prayers of Christ as he walked through this life. when He lived on earth. These are the things that were on His lips. These are the things that reveal Jesus Christ to us. It should be evident on the surface of the psalm when we think about, is there anything greater than God's wonderful deeds that He accomplished at the cross? That's the epitome of God's wonderful deeds that we ought to recount. Is there anything fuller than the revelation that God has given through Jesus Christ when the Word became flesh and dwelt among us? Is there anything more clear than the announcement of the promises that we have in the Gospel that our sins are forgiven and that we have the hope of eternal life? We have much greater revelation than David did. How much greater are we to praise God in all circumstances? This is why the New Testament itself looks back at the cross and it says, there you will find the revelation of who God is as both holy and punishing sin, but as merciful and forgiving sinners. There you will find how serious God takes sin. and how sure His Word is that the final judgment is coming because He even judged His own Son for the sins of His people. There you can look and find all the assurances of God's promises. For all the promises of God find their yes and amen in Christ. The cross is where everything comes together. And the cross is where we ought to also come and see the revelation of God's work, God's person, and God's promises in their fullness, in order to burst forth in praise. And so ultimately, at the end of the day, this is a psalm that reveals Jesus Christ. Because it speaks of what will come in Christ. But it also reveals Jesus Christ because the experience of this psalmist reveals Jesus Christ as well. Because Jesus is the one who ultimately prayed this prayer. He is the one who faced this affliction. He is the one who praised God perfectly in all circumstances. He is the one who strengthened himself with the knowledge of his Father and who he is and what he promised to do. He is the one who looked forward. He looked forward to the joy that was set before Him. And He became obedient to the point of death, even death on the cross, because He saw that eternal exaltation that waited for Him on the other side of the cross. Jesus Christ brings about what this psalm speaks of, but Jesus Christ also reveals how God will deal with us if we are in Christ. God answered His prayers and ushered Him into glory despite His suffering. God will do the same for you if you are in Christ, if you are resting and trusting in Him. You have assurance that how God treated Christ, He will treat you. You will go through suffering. You can be assured of that. You will have enemies rise up against you. You will feel forgotten. My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? You will feel left alone. Your prayer is unanswered. You will feel that way at times. You will see evil winning the day. But you can look at Christ in His resurrection and being ushered into the glory of God and know that God will do the same for you when you cling to Him in faith. That's the promise of this psalm. That's how you can know the future. And that's how we are called to live in light of this future. Trusting in. our Lord and his love for us in Jesus Christ. Well, may God give us grace, be gracious to us. May God give us the eyes to see and embrace these things. May God help us to live in light of the future that we too might see his hand at work, sing his praises and bring glory to his marvelous and matchless name. Amen. Let's pray.