Returning to Psalm 34, Psalm 34 together, please, we'll read a number of verses, not at all of the psalm, but we'll read a number of verses at the commencement of the psalm together. It is a psalm of David, and he changed his behavior before Elimelech, who drove him away, and he departed, we're told in the title. And so this is the psalmist, and this is what David paints on this particular occasion. He says, I will bless the Lord at all times. His praise shall continually be in my mouth. My soul shall make her boast in the Lord. The humble shall hear thereof and be glad. Oh, magnify the Lord with me, and let us exalt his name together. I sought the Lord, and he heard me and delivered me from all my fears. They looked on to him and were lightened, and their faces were not ashamed. The spare man cried, and the Lord heard him and saved him out of all of his troubles. The angel of the Lord encampeth round about them that fear him, and delivereth them. O taste and see that the Lord is good, blessed is the man that trusteth in him. O fear the Lord, ye his saints, for there is no want to them that fear him. The young lions do lack and suffer hunger, but they that seek the Lord shall not want any good thing. Come, ye children, hearken unto me, and I will teach you. the fear of the Lord. We'll conclude our reading at verse 11. Let's briefly have a word of prayer. Loving Father, we come. The word has been read. We pray, Lord, that even that will have been a blessing. Lord, we pray that thou wilt instruct us even now. Through thy word, helped by the Spirit of God, we pray, minister to every soul. May thy blessing be upon the preaching of the word, We pray now these are prayers in and through the Savior's precious and holy, wonderful, and glorious name. Amen and amen. Some weeks ago, we came to think about the holy angels. And on that occasion, on that particular Lord's Day, we made some remarks with respect to their obedient, cheerful, zealous, instantaneous, constant service, which they render onto the God who created them. While our focus on that particular occasion was on the angels that fell not from their first estate, I felt today that I needed to return to the subject of angels and to consider one angel specifically, one angel that appears repeatedly in the Scriptures Now the angel that we're not thinking about today, it's not Gabriel. We're not thinking today about Michael, the archangel. Neither are we thinking about Lucifer, the angel who fell and took a third of the angels with him. But the angel I want to focus my remarks upon is referred to in the scripture as the angel of the Lord. It is that very angel that the psalmist refers to in the 34th Psalm and in its 7th verse, where we read the words, and deliver them. Now, the name Gabriel appears some four times in the Old and New Testaments. The name Michael appears some five times in the Scriptures. But the title, the angel of the Lord, appears 68 times in the Word of God. I am told that the word angel appears more times in the New Testament than the word sin or the word love. And so, this is a study that needs to be considered. The repetitive appearance of this angel in God's word is therefore, I believe, worthy of our consideration. And so for the rest of this meeting, I want to preach today about the angel of the Lord. I must commence by saying that the term angel can also refer to or can be translated messenger. the messenger of the Lord, or the angel of the Lord. That must be kept in mind when we come to identify who this particular one is that is referred to as the angel of the Lord. In the first instance, I want you to think then about the appearances of the angel of the Lord. Now we're thinking here about the times whenever the angel of the Lord appeared in the scriptures. I can't be exhaustive, I've given you every reference when the angel of the Lord appeared, but let me be selective and point you in the direction of a number of instances where the angel of the Lord is mentioned in the scripture. Turn with me, first of all, to the first mention, to Genesis chapter 16. Genesis chapter 16. The angel of the Lord makes his first appearance in Genesis chapter 16, when he comes to the aid of Hagar, that mistreated maid of Sarai. Fleeing from Sarai's face, we're told in Genesis 16, from the verse number 7, and the angel of the Lord found her by a fountain of water in the wilderness, by the fountain in the way of Shur. And he said, Hagar, Sarai's maid, whence camest thou? And whither wilt thou go? And she said, I flee from the face of my mistress Sarai. And the angel of the Lord said unto her, Return to thy mistress, and submit thyself unto her hands. And the angel of the Lord said unto her, I will multiply thy seed exceedingly, and it shall not be numbered for multitude. And the angel of the Lord Notice there that the empathy, and notice with me the sympathy that is shown to Hagar by the angel of the Lord in this her time of distress. As you come to read the verses that relate to the angel of the Lord here in Genesis chapter 16, you become aware that the angel of the Lord was aware of certain personal details concerning Hagar that even Hagar wasn't aware of herself. In verse 11, the angel of the Lord informed Hagar that she was going to give birth. Now, she knew that. That was known to her. If you read the initial verses of chapter 16, you'll know that she conceives. She has went in before Abram. She has conceived. And this is known because her mistress was despised in her eyes. And there is this relaying. There is this knowledge that this lady is pregnant. But there is a detail here that could never be known by Hagar, and that was the sex of the child. You see, the angel of the Lord informs this woman that she is with child and shall bear a son. and shall call his name Ishmael. You see, this detail reminds us that the angel of the Lord had a knowledge about things that no created being could have knowledge of. In fact, if you read on down the chapter, you'll see that Hagar discloses to us the angel's identity. Look at the verse number 13. Genesis 16 in the verse 13, and she called the name of the Lord that spake on to her Thou God seest me For she said have I also here looked after him that seeth me Hagar calls the angel of the Lord the one who spoke to her about Ishmael She calls him God thy God seest me she called the name of Jehovah that spake unto her thy God seest me The angel of the Lord makes a second appearance again in the book of Genesis, this time in Genesis chapter 22. Genesis chapter 22. This chapter details that most momentous day when Abram goes to Mount Moriah with his son Isaac. With Isaac bound to the altar, And with knife poised to be plunged into his son, we're told in Genesis 22 in the verse 11, that the angel of the Lord called onto him out of heaven and said, Abraham, Abraham. And he said, here am I. And he said, lay not thy hand upon the lad, neither do thou anything onto him. For I, now I know that thy fierce God, seeing thou has not withheld thy son, thine only son from me. the angel is speaking here and the angel speaks on to Abraham and he relates to Abraham that he is not withheld Isaac from me from me from the angel of the Lord now if you look back to the opening Verses in chapter 22, you'll find that it is God who demands the sacrifice of Isaac. Chapter 22, verse 1, And it came to pass after these things that God detempt Abraham, and said unto him, Abraham, and he said, Behold, here am I. And he said, Take now thy son, thine only son, whom thou lovest, and get thee to the land of Moriah, and offer him there for a burnt offering upon one of the mountains, which I tell thee of. And so the sacrifice of Isaac is demanded of by God. How can then these two statements be compatible with one another? Well, the only way in which they can be compatible with one another, is that the one who speaks to Abraham in verse number 2, is the same one who speaks to him in the verse number 12. And that is the case. Because if you then look down to the verse number 15, you'll find that the angel of the Lord appears a second time onto Abraham, after he had sacrificed the ram it says in verse 15 and the angel of the lord called on to abraham out of heaven the second time and said by myself have i sworn saith the lord for because thou has done this thing and has not withheld thy son thine only son in that in blessing i will bless thee and in multiplying will I multiply thy seed as the stars of the heaven and the sand upon the sea shore and thy seed shall possess the gates of his enemies and in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed because thou hast obeyed my voice and so this is God speaking here only God can bless only God can multiply only God can increase the seed Abraham and yet notice who it's termed who speaks to him here verse 15 and the angel of the Lord called on to Abraham out of heaven the second time and said by myself have I sworn saith the Lord this is Jehovah and Yet he is termed here as the angel of the Lord There is another appearance Genesis chapter 3. These appearances are familiar. Sorry, Exodus chapter 3. Exodus chapter 3. This is the appearance of God to Moses in the burning bush. Exodus chapter 3 verse 1. Now Moses kept the flock of Jethro, his father-in-law, the priest of Midian. And he led the flock to the backside of the desert and came to the mountain of God, even to Horeb. And the angel of the Lord, the angel of the Lord appeared onto him in a flame of fire out of the midst of the bush. And he looked and beheld, the bush burned with fire and the bush was not consumed. And Moses said, I will now turn aside and see this great sight, why the bush is not burned. And when the Lord saw that he turned aside to see it, God called onto him out of the midst of the bush and said, moses moses and he said here am i now verse two states that the angel of the lord was in the bush verse four states that god calls onto him out of the bush and what did the angel of the lord say from the bush we'll look now at the verse number six moreover he said this is the one speaking from the bush Moreover, he said, I am the God of thy father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, the God of Jacob. And Moses hid his face for he was afraid. He was afraid to look upon God. And so the one who's in the bush and the one who speaks in the bush identifies, self-identifies himself as God. The angel of the Lord who comes into the bush now comes to self-identify himself as the Lord. Four times he identifies himself as God. I am the God of thy father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob. And Moses is aware of this because Moses is afraid to look upon the bush and to look upon God himself. The angel of the Lord appears at other times. He appears to Balaam. Balaam, with the angel of the Lord appearing to Balaam. The angel of the Lord appears in the way with a drawn sword, prohibiting him in Numbers 22 from proceeding any further in his wickedness and in his perverse ways. It was the angel of the Lord who came and sat under an oak tree in Orpah and spoke with Gideon to commission him as one who would deliver the children of Israel or begin to deliver them from the hands of the Midianites. It was the angel of the Lord who would appear to Manoah and his wife to inform them of the birth of their son, Samson. Manoah comes to confess his fears to his wife after they have conversed with the angel of the Lord, because Manoah, he fears that they're going to die. And why does he fear? Because he gives this reason, because we have seen God. They had seen God. Manoah was convinced that the angel of the Lord was God himself. It was the angel of the Lord who would minister to the weary and discouraged prophet Elijah when he lay under the juniper tree, asking and seeking God to take away his life in 1 Kings chapter 19. Aye, and it was the angel of the Lord that in the days of Hezekiah who came to the defense of God's people and smoked the camp of the Assyrians, leaving 185,000 soldiers dead on the field of battle. He's termed as the angel of the Lord. But there's one final passage I want you to turn to, and that's to the book of Zechariah. Now, if you want to find Zechariah, find Malachi, and then turn back one book, and you'll be in Zechariah, and this is chapter number one. Zechariah chapter one. In these opening chapters, Zechariah is recalling the vision of the man riding upon the red horse and standing among the myrtle trees. Unaware of the vision's meaning, Zechariah the prophet, he asked the Lord to tell him what those things actually meant. As the angel is disclosing the meaning of the vision, we read in the verse number 12 these words. Then the angel of the Lord answered and said, O Lord of hosts, How long wilt thou have mercy on Jerusalem and on the cities of Judah against which thou hast indignation these threescore and ten years? And the Lord answered the angel that talked with me with good words and comfortable words. Now there are two entities here. There is the angel of the Lord who then addresses God himself, Jehovah himself. And what you have here in the verse number 12, is that there is a communication between the Godhead between God the Father and this angel, and we'll identify very soon who I believe this particular angel is. Now, the angel of the Lord, he self-identifies himself here in this book. If you turn to Zechariah 3 now, and the verse number one, it says, and he showed me Joshua the high priest standing before the angel of the Lord. and satan standing at his right hand to resist him and the lord said unto satan the lord rebuked thee oh satan even the lord that hath chosen jerusalem rebuked thee is not this a brand plucked out of the fire So what we have here is that the angel of the Lord addresses Satan, and notice how he is turned in verse number two, and the Lord, or Jehovah said unto Satan, the Lord rebuked thee. What we have is an insight, I believe, in these verses into the communication that takes place within the Godhead in the days of Zachariah the prophet. But whenever we bring all of these threads of information together, from these appearances of the angel of the Lord, We come to find that this angel isn't Gabriel, this angel isn't Michael the archangel, this angel isn't Lucifer, who himself was an angel, this angel isn't a cherubim, it isn't a seraphim, but rather this angel is divine. This angel is divine. With that thought, then let's move on to a second thought, the identity of the angel of the Lord. Who is it? Well, before we come to disclose the identity of the angel of the Lord, I want to impress upon your mind that the one that we're speaking about here is divine, the messenger of the Lord, termed here as the angel of the Lord. As we read the accounts of the angel of the Lord, we come to see that certain divine attributes are attributed to this angel or messenger that only God possesses. Let me develop that for a few moments. In the first sentence, we come to see that the angel of the Lord possesses the divine attribute of omnipresence, that he is all-present. Whenever Hagar ran away from Sariai, her mistress, the angel of the Lord was able to locate her. Genesis 16 and the verse number seven reads, and the angel of the Lord found her. He found her by a fountain of water in the wilderness. by the fountain in the way to Shur. By His presence in all places, God was able to locate this down-trodden woman. By His omnipresence, He was able to find her. He was able to locate her. He knew exactly where she was, and He came to her. Though she did not go to Him, He came to her, because that's what God does. We cannot find our way to Him. Our sin makes that as an impossibility. And yet, thank God, He comes to us. God comes to us. He finds us in our sin. And He deals with us, and He saves us, and He cleanses us, and He reconciles us unto Himself. He finds us where we are. I tell you, sinner, He knows where you are today. He knows where you are. He knows where to find you, wherever you are. Yes, I know you're here in this building, thank God for that, but He knows where to find you on the journey of life, wherever you are today, He can find you. He wants to seek, and He wants you to seek Him, and He is seeking after you. I trust that you'll be found of Him. And so there is this attribute of His omnipresence, but not only that, there is the attribute of His omniscience. This angel, the angel of the Lord, this messenger of the Lord, he is all-knowing. Did you notice how the angel addresses this woman? He says, Hagar, he knew her name. The angel of the Lord knew her name. Nobody else knew her name. No one else was aware of who she was, but he knew who she was. He knew her name, and I tell you today, he knows your name. He knows your name. He knows your name. You're gathered in this house and you think, nobody knows me. No one knows my name. No one's concerned about me. No one's concerned about what I do and where I live and where I am in life's journey. And really nobody cares about me. But listen, the angel of the Lord, he knew her name, Hagar. And not only that, he knew that she would have a son. I've already said that. With foreknowledge, he was able to say that a son would be born, not a daughter, but a son. It's a son. In your womb, there is a son. And this is his name, Ishmael. And not only that, but I know all about his future. Because it goes on to say in Genesis chapter 16, I know we're hopping about a bit, but in Genesis chapter 16, in the verse number 12, he says, verse number 12, and he will be a wild man. His hand will be against every man, and every man's hand shall be against him, and he shall dwell in the presence of all his brethren. He knew all about him before he was born. Think of it. Before Ishmael was born, the angel of the Lord, whoever it is, knew all about him. He knew what kind of lifestyle he was going to live, what kind of upbringing he would have, where he was going to live, and who he was going to associate with. He knew all about the details, the angel of the Lord. And God knows all about your life. And you're maybe like Ishmael, you're maybe a wild man. You're someone that your parents haven't been able to tame. Maybe society hasn't been able to tame. And you're like him. Well, God knows all about you. He knows all about you today. And thank God by His Spirit and by His grace, He can tame you, and He can subdue you, and He can fill you with His Spirit, and He can give you a new nature, a different nature, a completely different nature like this young man Ishmael. A nature that is controlled by God and directed by God. God can change you radically, transformationally, eternally through the gospel of Jesus Christ today. But the angel foreknew all about this mannish male. For knowledge is seen again when the angel of the Lord converses with Samson's mother. He is able to inform her that the son who was yet to be born unto her, Judges 13 verse 5, would begin to deliver Israel out of the hand of the Philistines. The angel of the Lord knew it. Before he was born, knew the course of his life, the direction of his life, the purpose of his life had already been ordained by God. Is that a marvelous thing? That things don't happen to us by chance, but by the providence and sovereignty of God, all things are working out in our lives. And God has a purpose, just like he had for Samson. God has a purpose for you, child of God. And God knew all about it. Is that not the case with regard to God's servant, Whenever he spoke to Jeremiah, before I formed thee in the belly, I ordained thee to be a prophet unto God. There is a purpose for which we exist. Thank God for that. And so we find that the angel of the Lord had foresight as what was going to take place well into the future. In the third instance, we come to see that the angel of the Lord possesses the divine attribute of omnipotence. And we see that in the days of Hezekiah. Whenever the Assyrians came against God's people Judah, the angel of the Lord, we're told, went out into the camp of the Assyrians that night and slew 185,000 men. Soldiers, heavily armored soldiers, slain by one angel known as the angel of the Lord. The omnipotence. And then there is the authority. There is the divine attribute of authority. And I speak of authority with regard to the forgiveness of sins. Exodus chapter 23. Would you turn there, please? Exodus chapter 23. We're reading the verses 20 and 21. God's speaking here to Moses, obviously, from and in the Mount, in Mount Sinai. The moral law has been given, directions are being given with regard to the tabernacle, but this is what God says to Moses. Behold, I send an angel before thee to keep thee in awe in the way and bring thee into a place which I have prepared. Beware of him, beware of the angel. and obey his voice. Provoke him not, for he will not pardon your transgressions, for my name is in him. I believe that this is the angel of the Lord again. Moses is told to obey the angel. We are not to obey angels. We are to obey God. And so I believe that this is God, the angel. This is the angel of the covenant. This is the messenger of Jehovah. And he notes that if the angel is provoked, Moses is told that the angel would not pardon their transgressions. And so this angel believed to be the angel of the Lord had the authority and the power to forgive sins. Who can forgive sins but God only? That was the settled conclusion of the scribes in Mark chapter 5 verse 7. Only God has the divine authority to pardon and to forgive sins. Having established then, I trust that You now see that the angel of the Lord is divine in nature. The question arises then, who within the Godhead is the angel of the Lord? Well, I'm convinced that the angel of the Lord is none other than the Lord Jesus Christ, the second person of the Holy Trinity. You see, in Old Testament times, God the Son appeared in what theologians called Christophanies. These were pre-incarnate appearances of the Lord Jesus Christ. And so what you have here in the Old Testament is a pre-incarnate revelation or a pre-incarnate manifestation of Christ, the angel of the Lord, who will appear as God in human flesh in the New Testament. Now, he's not a created angel. He's the messenger of the Lord. He's a messenger or the servant of Jehovah. One preacher said this, if you were to chart the ministry of the angel of the Lord, you would find that his ministry throughout the Old Testament parallels the ministry of Jesus Christ in the New Testament towards his people. For example, the angel of the Lord gave revelation, revealing God's word and calling men to follow him. Christ came and preached the gospel of peace to them that were afar off. And he called man unto himself. The angel of the Lord delivered. He delivered God's people through men like Moses and Gideon and Samson, and even him himself delivered in the days of Hezekiah. Christ came to be the deliverer, delivering men and women from their sin. The angel of the Lord is said to protect those who fear the Lord. In Psalm 34 verse 7, in camping round about them, Christ is the one who surrounds and protects his people, the saints of God. The angel of the Lord interceded for the people of Israel in Zechariah chapter 1. Christ is our heavenly intercessor, whoever liveth to make intercession for us. The angel of the Lord, he takes on the role of an advocate. in Zechariah chapter 3 as he advocates for Joshua the high priest in light of Satan's accusations against him. Christ is our advocate before the Father. 1 John 2 and the verse number 1. If any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous. The angel of the Lord in Genesis 22 confirms the covenant with Abraham Jesus Christ sealed the covenant in his own precious blood. Do you see the parallels? Protector, defender, deliverer, interceder, advocate, the covenant-keeping, making, and keeping God. The parallels, I believe, point to the fact that the angel of the Lord's identity is none other than the Son of God. You may be asking, so what? That's what you might be asking, so what? All very interesting, Reverend Stewart today. When you think finally and very quickly about the ministry of the angel of the Lord, the ministry of the angel of the Lord, a few weeks ago I preached upon a text, a very familiar text. It's found in Hebrews chapter 13, the verse number eight, and reads as follows, Jesus Christ, The same yesterday, and today, and forever. Jesus Christ, he never changes. And since the angel of the Lord, I believe, is none other than Jesus Christ, then he never changes. And what the angel of the Lord was to his people in the Old Testament days, then so he is to his people in New Testament days because Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever. And so my questions are to you, they are these. Do you find yourself in a place that Hagar found herself? Do you find yourself in a place Where Hagar found herself by the fountain in the way of Shur, downtrodden, alone, mistreated through no fault of your own. But that's where Hagar found herself, alone, mistreated, maligned, downtrodden. Well, the angel of the Lord knows where to find you today. Jesus Christ knows where to find you. and he knows where to minister to you in your wilderness. Do you find yourself where Abraham found himself? On top of Mount Moriah, perplexed, confused. tried and tested in your faith, for that's where Abraham finds himself. He has to take his own son and offer him upon the altar. I'm sure he was perplexed. I'm sure he was tried. I'm sure he was confused. I'm sure his faith was taken to its uttermost limit. And maybe you find yourself there today, just like Abraham. Can I say to you that God, Jesus Christ, the angel of the Lord, knows where to find you today. just as he found Abraham in his situation. Or maybe you find yourself where Moses found himself at the backside of the desert, directionless, purposeless, maybe feeling useless, having failed the Lord, could God ever use me ever again? The angel of the Lord, Jesus Christ knows where to find you today. Where he found Moses there, he'll find you there, He'll have a word for you there. He'll speak to you. He'll have something for you still to do. And so maybe you find yourself like Moses, or maybe you find yourself like Gideon, there in the threshing wheat under cover in a wine press. Maybe today you're like Gideon, bewildered and questioning and fearful. If God's with us, why are all these things happening to us? And here I am, here I am, just an unknown man from the little tribe of Manasseh, and God could never use me. Listen, the angel of the Lord found Gideon. just where he was, in his despair, in his questioning, in all of his fears. Jesus Christ can find you there. Maybe you find yourself like Elijah. You're under the juniper tree, exhausted and discouraged and maybe even suicidal. Well, the angel of the Lord Jesus Christ knows where you are today. He came to him. He ministered to his servant. He found him. He encouraged him. He fed him. He touched him. He spoke to him. Maybe you find yourself like Hezekiah and the people of Judah found themselves. Maybe you feel outnumbered and outwitted and outflanked by the enemy. Well, the angel of the Lord can step in. Jesus Christ can come into the situation whatever it is. He can defeat the enemy. He can drive out the foe. He can deal with your adversaries. Maybe you find yourself like Joshua. He found himself before the Lord harassed and accused and maligned by Satan. Maybe the devil's been on your back in the week that has passed, accusing you of things that have been forgiven. The angel of the Lord, Jesus Christ, he'll come and meet you at the point of your need and he'll remind you of what he has done for you by his death upon the cross of Calvary. Beloved, let me say this very, very simply. Jesus Christ is interested in our affairs. He's touched with our sorrows. He understands where we are. He knows our needs and he'll come. He will come with his assistance and with his help in his own good time and in his own good way. As the hymn writer put it, in just the time I need him, he's always near. He's always near. In just the time I need him, he's always near. He was near to Hagar. and Abraham, and Moses, and Gideon, and Elijah, and Hezekiah, and Joshua, and all of these dear folk, and many, many others. Study it out for yourself. He appears whenever we need Him, because that's my Savior. That's my Jesus, and that's your Savior, and that's your Lord, and that's your Master. I don't know what you're going through today, but thank God, the angel of the Lord, or the messenger of Jehovah, or let's put it like this, Jesus Christ Himself can draw near and go with you. Isaiah 63, verse 9, in all their affliction, he was afflicted, and the angel of his presence saved them. In his love and in his pity he redeemed them, and he bared them and carried them all the days of old. The angel of his presence, Christ, Christ saved them. Christ loved them, Christ redeemed them, Christ bear them, Christ carried them. And in our affliction, he identifies with us. May we prove the reality of those words in Isaiah 63 verse 9. Not only today, but in the days that lie before us. the angel of the Lord, the Savior. With his people, helping them through, encouraging them, meeting them at the point of need and at the time of crisis, he himself drawing near. I trust that the word has been a comfort to the hearts of God's people. And if you know not Christ, then it is my prayer and the prayers of others that what I've said about the ministry of Christ, the angel of the Lord, that you'll come to experience as you come to trust in him for salvation. He'll meet you. The point of need. He'll save you. He'll redeem you. And he'll carry you. He'll bear you through all of life's journey. And then he'll bear you safely across death's river and he'll bring you right into the very presence of the king of kings and of the king of angels. He'll bear you through. Well, may God help us then to lean more and more on our savior and love him more and more. And may we come to prove the ministry of such a one today and in the days that lie before us for Christ's sake. Amen. Let's bow our heads in prayer together. our most loving and gracious Father in heaven, and in through the name of Christ our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. We thank thee for the messenger of Jehovah, the one who comes and meets his people in their time of need. We rejoice for one who rallies to us when we find ourselves in trouble. We thank thee that the angel of the Lord encampeth round about them that fear him. and deliver them. We rejoice in this. We live by faith upon this promise and we bless thee for our God. We thank thee for the one who came into this world We thank Thee for His ministry in the world, not only in the New Testament, but in the Old Testament, helping Thy saints through, bringing them and sustaining them. O God, sustain us, for Thou art the same. Thou art a God who has not changed. Lord, draw near to all who find themselves in need today. Maybe they find themselves like Hagar, or maybe they're like Elijah, or maybe there's someone, and they're like Moses. We thank Thee that it was the same one who met each one of Thy people, the same one. Not a different messenger, but the same angel, the same one. Because whatever our need is, we thank Thee that Jesus Christ is the one who meets us at the point of our need. Lord, bless Thy people. Bring us again to God's house. Save us from just coming to God's house once on a Sunday. Remove it from us, Lord. It's a terrible scourge upon the church of Christ. Lord, give thy people a burden to hear the gospel and a burden for loved ones and family members. And may we see this house filled not only with people, but filled with thy presence and filled with joy as God comes and rescues men and women from their sins. To answer prayer and partisan the favor of God, and may the blessing of the triune Godhead, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit be with all who love and know thee, until the daybreak and all shadows flee away.