If you would please remain standing as we read from 2 Samuel 12, verses 15 through 31, as we continue our study through Samuel. Again, verses 15 through 31, the end of the chapter. Hear now the words of the one and only living and true God. Then Nathan went to his house, and the Lord afflicted the child that Uriah's wife bore to David, and he became sick. David therefore sought God on behalf of the child. And David fasted and went in and lay all night on the ground. And the elders of his house stood beside him to raise him from the ground. But he would not, nor did he eat food with them. On the seventh day, the child died. And the servants of David were afraid to tell him that the child was dead. For they said, behold, while the child was yet alive, we spoke to him and he did not listen to us. How then can we say to him that the child is dead? He may do himself some harm. But when David saw that his servants were whispering together, David understood that the child was dead. And David said to his servants, is the child dead? They said, he is dead. Then David arose from the earth and washed and anointed himself and changed his clothes. And he went into the house of the Lord and worshiped. He then went to his own house. And when he asked, they set food before him, and he ate. Then his servants said to him, What is this thing that you have done? You fasted and wept for the child while he was alive. But when the child died, you arose and ate food. He said, While the child was still alive, I fasted and wept. For I said, Who knows whether the Lord will be gracious to me that the child may live? But now he is dead. Why should I fast? Can I bring him back again? I shall go to him, but he will not return to me.' Then David comforted his wife Bathsheba and went into her and lay with her, and she bore a son, and he called his name Solomon. And the Lord loved him and sent a message by Nathan the prophet. So he called his name Jedidiah because of the Lord. Now Joab fought against Rabbah of the Ammonites and took the royal city. And Joab sent messengers to David and said, I have fought against Rabbah. Moreover, I have taken the city of waters. Now then gather the rest of the people together and encamp against the city and take it, lest I take the city and it be called by my name. So David gathered all the people together and went to Rabbah and fought against it and took it. And he took the crown of their king from his head. The weight of it was a talent of gold. And in it was precious stone, and it was placed on David's head. And he brought out the spoil of the city, a very great amount. And he brought out the people who were in it, and set them to labor with saws and iron picks and iron axes, and made them toil at the brick kilns. And thus he did to all the cities of the Ammonites. Then David and all the people returned to Jerusalem." This is God's word. You may be seated. It's been quite a while since we've looked at 2 Samuel. Just a reminder, this is a very familiar passage in 2 Samuel. But as you remember, you know, really David's been a military rock star for most of his career as king. He finally comes to the point where he decides to neglect his duty as a king and stay home from the war when he should have been out fighting with his people. And we know the story, David was out on his roof, he saw Bathsheba, he called to her, and he took her really as his own in a grand cover-up to hopefully make sure that nobody else would realize what he had done. He has Uriah, Bathsheba's husband, and basically puts him on the front lines, pulls back the rest of the troops, and then Uriah is killed. And David, it seems like he, you know, finally kind of got away with it, right? All the loose ends are disconnected and nobody seems to understand what had happened. But we know that nothing is hidden in the eyes of the Lord. And so the Lord sends Nathan, the prophet, to demonstrate to David this kind of story of a man who had many things, great riches, and this other man who had this small lamb who he cared for, he loved, he took care of. And the rich man just took this man's lamb, took it away from him. And David really self-indicts himself by saying, this man needs to die, restore all that has been taken. And Nathan said to him the famous word, you are the man. You are the one whom I am talking about. And the consequences of the sin is really what we see here with the child dying. And thankfully, as wicked and as terrible as David's sin was. This isn't glossing over it by any means, but it really shows us the nature of repentance in the Christian life. We'll see it throughout the rest of David's time as king, but David surely repented, asked for forgiveness. You read Psalm 51, you feel the weight of that Psalm and David's repentance, and he turns away from his sin. When we think about repentance, the Westminster Confession of Faith summarizes it really well in chapter 15, paragraph 6. It says, as every man is bound to make private confession of his sins to God, praying for the pardon thereof, upon which, in the forsaking of them, he shall find mercy. So he that scandalizes his brother or the Church of Christ ought to be willing by a private or public confession in sorrow for his sin to declare his repentance to those that are offended, who are thereupon to be reconciled to him and in love to receive him. Really see David demonstrating true repentance by going to the Lord by seeking the Lord in worship. And by his utter change, if you remember in chapter 11, he stayed back with the troops. And then later in the end of chapter 12, he's actually going back out and fighting with his people, fighting on behalf of his people. And so we'll see really the nature of repentance in David's life in three ways this evening. First, the reality of God's judgment in verses 15 through 19. Secondly, the comfort of God's presence in verses 20 through 23. And then finally, or thirdly, the promise of God's restoration, verses 24 through 31, as we see David demonstrating godly repentance. Verses 15 through 19, really, you know, it's the reality of what God had declared would happen. And it really demonstrates the result of David's sin. Often we think that our sin only affects us, and sometimes our sin does only affect us, but often our sin reaches out into other areas of our life. It impacts others who are involved in our life. And so we see David's sin not only just affecting him, but it affects the life of another as well. We're reminded in Deuteronomy, however, that the Lord is the one who afflicts. The Lord is the one who strikes. He has every right and every reason to do this. Deuteronomy 32, verse 39. See now that I, even I am he, and there is no God beside me. I kill and I make alive. I wound and I heal. And there is none that can deliver out of my hand. And so we see the Lord afflicting this child with some type of illness. And we're not sure what the nature of the illness is, but it was obviously something that was incurable. He was sick and would not be able to come out of it. And this sickness, this type of illness that the child has is only used here in the Old Testament. So it's pointing to the fact that this was a divinely ordained illness upon this child. And in verse 18, we see that the child dies on the seventh day. If you think back to the the sacrament of the circumcision. This child was only one day away from being circumcised, receiving that sign and that seal of the covenant. And it should not surprise us either that it happened after seven days. Typically in the Old Testament, when you have seven being used, you think of completeness, you can't think of fullness. And so it's almost as if the fullness of God's judgment has now been inflicted upon David. And likewise, the elders are absolutely fearful to deliver this news to David. And you can almost feel the weight of David. And the elders whispering together, knowing that the child has died, and you can imagine David piercing their eyes, seeing their eyes in that moment, and realizing what has occurred, right? It didn't take much for him to realize that the child has now died. We all know that look when we see somebody who has bad news they're about to deliver. We can see it in their eyes, their face, and their emotions. And David's realizing, you can feel the weight of his judgment and the sin that he has committed in this child dying. We have to be reminded, though, when we think through death, even death in a child, that, as Paul says, the wages of sin is death. And we see this clearly. It's a clear, vibrant illustration of the wages of sin. The Westminster Confession likewise tells us in chapter 15, paragraph 4, it says, there is no sin so small, but it deserves damnation. So there is no sin so great that it can bring damnation upon those who truly repent. All sin requires justice. All sin requires judgment. There are times where we sin and God inflicts justice and judgment right there. in hopes that you will repent, in hopes that you will turn back to him. Other times, God is restraining his judgment until the last day. Sin doesn't affect us. It carries over into other aspects of our lives. Everything is of the Lord's, though, at the end of the day. Our spouses, our children, our possessions, everything is the Lord's. And so God was within his justice to take the child from David, were reminded from Job, just as God took everything away from Job, and Job's wife complains to Job. He says, but he said to her, you speak as one of the foolish women would speak. Shall we receive good from God, and shall we not receive evil? In all this, Job did not sin with his lips. It's really a reality check that we don't deserve some of the easiest, most wonderful things that we have in this life. God is holy and God is graciously giving us according to the love that he has. And often sin is kind of like a tutor in our Christian life. Again, we aren't perfect. We will never be perfect in this life. And just as we feel like we've conquered one sin, the Lord points out another that we have to conquer. It's a constant battle. But we also see the effects of sin. The effects are obviously eternal if you die in your sins and trespasses and do not believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. But there's temporal effects of sin in the now. You think of those who are alcoholics or smokers. And they can come to faith after being stuck in alcoholism for a long time. And though they come to faith, though they repent, though they turn away from abusing alcohol, some will get pancreatic cancer or other diseases, liver disease. And so they're bearing the weight of that alcoholism. They're bearing the weight, the effect of their sin. Yet at the same time, sin is supposed to drive us to Christ. it's supposed to remind us that we have no hope other than in Jesus Christ. For unbelievers, it pushes them to salvation. The law burns heaping coals upon their head. For believers, it turns us back to Christ when we err. It makes us find comfort in Jesus Christ. And so we'll come into a couple applications I'd like to make or things to focus on. And one is that there is comfort in the loss of a child. I'm pulling most of this from Richard Phillips on his commentary, but he provides a lot of godly wisdom when we think about this issue. And so the first thing he says, he says there's comfort in grief, but we are to avoid extreme grieving, right? David acknowledged his sin. David recognized what he did, yet at the same time, he didn't persist in the state of despondency and and lament. Even later in verse 23, David says the child's dead. Why should I fast? I can't bring him back. Right. The judgment and justice is done. There is nothing I can do. He's got to move on. He's got to move on from what has happened. Secondly, there is comfort in the hope for the salvation of covenant children who die. If you remember in Genesis 17, 7, God told Abraham, I will establish my covenant between me and you and your offspring after you throughout their generations for an everlasting covenant to be God to you and to your offspring after you. And here, David is confidently saying, I shall go to him, but he will not return to me. David's going to go to death, but the child's not going to return from death. And perhaps that was a comfort given to David. We don't know if there's any special revelation or anything like that, but there was some form of comfort that David had in recognizing that he would return to his child, although the child would never return to him. Thirdly, there's comfort in David's response that death does not cut off a relationship with children who have died. Puritan William Blakey comments on this passage. He says, the relationship between David and that little child is not ended, but their meeting is not to be in this world. The separation shall be temporary. And who can conceive the joy of reunion? Reunion never to be broken by separation forevermore. Obviously, David is recognizing the futility of bringing this child back, but also taking hope in the fact that he will be with this child again. Fourthly, there is comfort that grieving parents should trust their children in heaven are better provided for by God than with us. There's comfort in that. that we can recognize that the children affected or who die at a young age don't have to bear the weightiness of this world. They don't have to endure all the trials that we have to endure. And the Westminster Divines really struggled with this in thinking through, how do we deal with the doctrine of election? How do we deal with all of the doctrines we set forth and then deal with infant children? And this is what they've concluded with, elect infants dying in infancy are regenerated and saved by Christ through the spirit who worketh when and where and how he pleases. So also are all other elect persons who are incapable of being outwardly called by the ministry of the word. And there's no guarantee to know. I wish there was a Bible passage we could turn to and exegete and demonstrate, yes, 100 percent, without a doubt, they will be in heaven. But I think we can see God's character and we know God's nature. And I think we can be comforted when those tragedies happen, that God is merciful, that God is abounding in steadfast love. And yes, God is just and the justifier. Yet at the same time, there's comfort knowing that he will take care of those whom he calls. And then fifthly, likewise, there is comfort when God takes young children as they are being spared from any earthly crisis. We see this in first Kings 14, 13, the Lord taking a child away to prevent him from being inundated with that which they were about to incur. The text says that all Israel shall mourn for him and bury him for he only of Jeroboam shall come to the grave because in him there is found something pleasing to the Lord the God of Israel in the house of Jeroboam. And so there's obviously a bit of comfort that the text provides for us that although we may lose a child, although we may lose a loved one, there's comfort in God knowing that he is sovereign in all things. And likewise, we see it in suffering in general. Suffering pushes us to seek after God. It's a redirection of our worship, right? We can either stay in a state of utter despair because of what has happened, or our worship can be redirected upon the Lord. And we see this again in the life of Job. After this great tragedy has happened, everything of Job's has been taken away. In Job 1.20, we're told, he arose, he tore his robe and shaved his head and fell on the ground and worshipped. God's ways are mysterious. They're beyond comprehension. We will never truly know without a doubt why certain things have occurred in our lives. But God ordains all things according to the counsel of his will, and he does it for our good. Even in suffering, we can see the goodness of God in it. Likewise, suffering comforts us that God is in control. We have a serious problem if God is not in control of all things. Sproul famously says there's no maverick molecule just floating around in space doing its own thing that it wants to do. If we don't have a God who is in control of all things, we should be utterly fearful of whatever happens. He's not in control. Everything that happens surprises him, and now he has to react based upon what has happened. And this idea of suffering and taking comfort that God is sovereign works really well into what we've been looking at in Romans, specifically this morning, right? Paul says, in hope, rejoice. In tribulation, be patient. In prayer, be constant. These are ways in which we, although our circumstances around us point us in every other direction other than being joyful or being patient or seeking the Lord in prayer, we're going to him regardless, despite the circumstance, despite whatever's happening to us. And likewise, suffering reminds us ultimately that the earth is not our home. We are pilgrims. We this is not this is not the end. We're not at our home. It's a reminder of the nature of heaven being with God, approaching God, seeing God, beholding him for all he is in his glory and his splendor. This is what Jesus proclaimed to his own people, especially or specifically with the thief on the cross. He said to him, truly, I say to you today, you will be with me in paradise. Right. The suffering of the crucifixion was nothing. He would be with him in paradise. And Paul gives us this this beautiful picture of the resurrection in First Corinthians 15, specifically verses 51 through 55. Paul says, behold, I tell you a mystery. We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we shall all be changed. For this perishable body must put on the imperishable, and this mortal body must put on immortality. When the perishable puts on the imperishable, and the mortal puts on immortality, then shall come to pass the saying that is written, death is swallowed up in victory. Oh, death, where is your victory? Oh, death, where is your stain? There's comfort. There's hope in the resurrection. There's hope in the glorification. You think about all the apostles, disciples, the 12 who died a martyr's death, except for John, and suffered, right? None of that meant anything. They knew who they were dying for. They knew it was for Christ, yet they also knew what their eternal destiny was. The pain and the suffering was nothing. In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, faster than you can blink, poof, there you are with the Lord forever. And so although God's judgment and justice is reality, there is comfort in God's presence as well. So we look first at the reality of God's judgment. Secondly, the comfort of God's presence in verses 20 through 23. Again, David had every reason to stay as upset and depressed as he possibly could. Yet what does he do? He gets up and seeks the Lord. That's his go-to. And this is somebody who's lived a life of being a man after God's own heart. This is why it's so critical for us to develop spiritual discipline so that when tragedy does happen, our reaction, our secondhand nature is to turn back to the Lord, to worship Him, to praise Him. And David's washing is fitting for the effect of sin, right? It's this full recognition that David has that he has to cleanse himself from the sin. He has to make himself pure. And it really looks forward to Christ and the one who has washed us with his own bloodstained robes and given us robes white and pure with no stain of sin on them. And likewise, We're reminded that we are very prone to avoid responsibility for our sin. This isn't the mindset of David. He goes and seeks the Lord. He goes and worships the Lord. Yet often we are very hesitant to take responsibility for the sin that we've committed against a loved one, against a brother, whether it's a private sin or a public sin. It takes a lot for us. Pride gets in the way. But David was not ashamed. David recognized it. He took it, right? He bore it. He took what he was rightly given and understood it. And then we see that David is anointed again. his his own anointing and cleansing himself and it's almost as if he's being reinstated into his role as prophet, priest, and king. We look at Jesus fulfilling these roles, if you remember the shorter catechism, prophet, priest, and king, and there's always these kind of aspects in which major characters in scripture represent this threefold office. David as a prophet is writing psalms. He's writing inspired scripture. As a priest, remember, he puts on the ephod many times. He makes sacrifices on behalf of the people. And as king, I mean, he's King David. He's fulfilling those roles. And so although he sinned grievously, and although God had every right, right there, to swash David, to raise up a new king, he repents and is restored by the Lord. Robert Bergen quotes or comments on this. He says, it is significant that David did not break his fast until after he had worshipped God. David's hunger for a right relationship with God exceeded his desire for culinary delights. David goes to the Lord, he's still in a state of fasting, and he still recognizes that there's nothing he can do. But we see the priority of worship in David's life. We see the priority of communing with the Lord. And worship is done despite our circumstances. Whether or not we feel like we want to worship or we feel like we should worship, we go to the Lord and worship regardless. God is always there for us. Only God's presence can ultimately provide us with the comfort that we need. We can't find comfort in social media or hobbies that we have. We can only find comfort when we worship him. It's a godly posture of worship. And so we see that worshiping the Lord in the midst of suffering, what does it do? It centers your affections on the Lord. Again, David could have spent his entire lifetime just in utter lament. Why, oh Lord, have you done this to me? And left it at there. But when we come to the realization that God is sovereign, that God is providential over all things, that just as futile as it is for a leopard to change his spot, so it is futile for us to think that we can change God's sovereign plan. And sometimes it's just time for us to move on. and to continue serving the Lord, right? When tragedy strikes, it's already happened. Let's lament. Let's understand and go through that process. But at some point, we have to move on. We have to continue serving the Lord. Secondly, worshiping the Lord in the midst of suffering is evangelistic. Remember, Jesus calls us to be salt and light. We're not all called to just run out and preach the gospel on the streets throughout Stuttgart. Jesus commands us to do it in the way in which we currently live, the various ways that you've been called, and the interactions that you have with co-workers, and they realize and understand that you're going through a particular trial. But the joy that you have in Christ, the joy that you have in God, is being salt and light to them. It's demonstrating that although, yes, I have every reason to be upset, I have every reason to lament over this, I will still choose to serve the Lord today. I will still worship the Lord and be joyful. And even in studying our Sunday school in apologetics, regardless, we're supposed to be prepared to make a defense for the hope that's within us. Why do you have hope? Why do you have joy when you're suffering? perfect opportunity to explain and defend why you have it. And thirdly, worshiping the Lord in the midst of suffering is God glorifying. Man's chief end is to glorify God and enjoy Him forever, even in suffering. That's not just for when things are going your way. It's not just when your blood sugar has been low and you've had a good meal. It's always. And we see this in Psalm 73, the Psalm of Asaph, verses 23 through 26. This is what he says. Nevertheless, I am continually with you. You hold my right hand. You guide me with your counsel. And afterward, you will receive me to glory. Whom have I in heaven but you? And there is nothing on earth that I desire besides you. My flesh and my heart may fail but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever. So we've looked at the reality of God's judgment, the comfort of God's presence, and then finally, the promise of God's restoration in verses 24 through 31. Oddly enough, this is the first time since 2 Samuel 11, that Bathsheba has now been named by her name and not the wife of Uriah. And so there's probably an element of legitimacy now to the marriage, God condoning the marriage. But nonetheless, we see David being restored despite losing his child with her. And who do we see that through but through Solomon? Solomon will uphold the promise of David. You remember, David wanted to build a temple for the Lord, recognizing that the Lord was dwelling in a tent outside of Jerusalem, outside of where the temple should be. And excuse me, the Lord says, you're not going to be the one who builds it, but I'll build a house for you. But then we have Solomon finally come on the scene where he will be the one who builds the temple. And his name in Hebrew, Zedediah, means beloved of the Lord. And obviously over the course of a few more weeks and months, we'll see this major transition from David's kingship to that of Solomon. And likewise, we see David, he's back in action. I mean, this, I think, demonstrates true repentance from David. He's recognized his sin. He sought the Lord and his forgiveness. The Lord has now restored him back to where he was and where previously David was hiding from battle, was seeking after the lusts of his own eyes and his heart. Now David goes back out with his people. He fights on behalf of his people. God's restoration of David, though, is a reminder of God's own restoration towards us when we do sin. There's not a day where we go by where we don't sin. Yet God is constant in his grace and his mercy to restore and to forgive. And even in instances where leaders in the church or Christians who have been rock stars in the Christian life fall in error, God will even bring them to repentance as well. And we also see David's kingship is restored. He receives this crown from the king. Now, oddly enough, the weight of it was about 75 pounds, about, what, 32 kilos-ish, and so the crown that he received probably wasn't something he'd be wearing constantly, but it obviously demonstrates the weightiness of this kingship, a relic that they would have taken from the Ammonites. And so as we look through and as we see God's restoration in the life of David, as he's repented, we are reminded of the assurance of God's love. There's a reminder that our salvation and our assurance is eternal. It's everlasting, although we will fall maybe in grievous sin, Christ is still willing and able to forgive us. Confession. Chapter 18, paragraph four says, true believers may have the assurance of their salvation, diverse ways shaken, diminished and intermittent as by neglect in preserving of it, by falling into some special sin, which wounded the conscience and grieveth the spirit. There may be times where we grieve the spirit by falling into sin. And it continues by some sudden or vehement temptation. Sometimes it's a sudden temptation. Sometimes it's a temptation that's been building in our hearts. And we, instead of repenting and seeking the Lord and seeking Christian fellowship, give into that. It says by God's withdrawing the light of his countenance and suffering, even such as fear him to walk in darkness and have no light. And we see the effects, that our assurance is rattled, it's shaken, and sometimes God will remove himself in his presence and his light from us. We see this in Peter and his own denial of the Lord as Jesus is being tried. Peter saying, I don't know the man. Yet there's a contrast between Peter, one of the disciples, and Judas, one of the disciples. Judas is non-repentant. Peter is restored by the grace of God, even though he cursed and proclaimed that he did not know Christ. The confession continues, yet are they never utterly destitute of that seed of God and life of faith, that love of Christ and the brethren. That sincerity of heart and conscience of duty out of which by the operation of the spirit, this assurance may in due time be revived and by the which and by the which in the meantime they are supported from utter despair. Why? Why bring this up? David's been restored. And we are restored when we sin. And there's great assurance in God's love that he has for his own people and keeping us and holding us until the end. And there are times and seasons that we may go through where we continue in sin. And God leaves us to those desires. He passes over us in judgment with the hopes that we will repent and come back to him. And there's hope in this assurance. Jesus himself says in John 6, 44 through 45, no one can come to me unless the father who sent me draws him and I will raise him up on the last day. It is written in the prophets and they shall all be taught by God. Everyone who has heard and learned from the father comes to me. All that are given to Jesus will be raised. And the wonderful passage in John 10. Jesus says, my sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they will never perish. And here's the thing, no one will snatch them out of my hand. Now, the caveat, though, to be sure, is that you must be in Christ for this to have effect. We can't think that we can go on sinning, that grace should abound. We can't think that we can continue to push aside the gospel, to treat it with contempt. We need to repent and believe in the truths of the scriptures and the truth that Christ Jesus has died for sinners of whom we are the chief most. And so we see, though, that despite our sin and shortcomings, Christ promises restoration. Again, the good shepherd lays down his life for his sheep. He restores us. The gospel is the only message that provides us with any inkling of assurance in this life. Even Peter says there's salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which they must be saved. Only in Christ alone are we saved. Likewise, despite our sin and shortcomings, Christ promises forgiveness. We are forgiven. Christ went to the cross to forgive you. Of your past sins, yes. Of your present sins, yes. And even your future sins. The sins that you don't know that you will commit. Christ has paid it out. Jesus paid it all. All of it. In its entirety, its completion. Thirdly, despite our sin and shortcomings, Christ promises perseverance. And we really need to hold on to this. It's not a license to sin by any means. Don't take assurance as a license to go on sinning. But Christ does promise us perseverance until the end. He says, come to me all who labor and are heavy laden. I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me. For I am gentle and lowly in heart and you will find rest for your souls for my yoke is easy. and my burden is light." Really, as we look through the ways in which we can compare and contrast David with Christ, we really see where David is utterly failed. Christ exceeds in all aspects, right? He was tempted in every way, yet without sin. David, although we lift him up on a pedestal and he does many great things, he's still a man. He's not God. He's not God-man. And so where he fails, Christ exceeds. And where David's faithfulness really ebbs and flows, it kind of changes. David was really faithful for a time, and then he's unfaithful by committing adultery. Christ is always faithful. He never lets us down. He will never fail us. He will always be with us. And David's sin, which is the cause of the death of an innocent, reminds us likewise that our sin brought Christ willingly to the cross. The one who is truly innocent. The one who is truly without sin. Our sin was born upon Him on the cross. He endured it, yet He despised the shame with joy that was set before Him. Endured it. And we see, as we see sin in the Bible, it really brings even more to light the brightness of the gospel. I'm sure you've heard the analogy before, but if you go to a jeweler and want to look at a diamond, a precious gemstone, the jeweler will show it to you, but then eventually they'll lay out this pure black mat And as they put the diamond on the mat, the intricacies and the various ways in which it shines and glistens and glows is brought out all the more full when it's encompassed in this darkness. And also we see the gospel, even though there's darkness in this world and suffering that we have to endure, the gospel is all the more bright as it's brought to us in the darkest of darks. And with that, let us go to our great high priest in prayer this evening. Lord God in heaven, again, we thank you for this wonderful gift of salvation. Father, in full recognition that we could not atone for our sins, that we could not be righteous enough to free ourselves from the bondage of sin, Yet Lord, out of the great love that you have for us, a love that is incomparable, we can't even understand it, oh Lord. The love that you have for wretched sinners, you saved us, you redeemed us, you restored us. And Father, likewise, remind us through the power of your Spirit that when we do fail, when we err, when we give in to temptations, Lord, that you remind us that we can be restored again. Pick us up, O Lord, when we stumble. Help us to persevere in this life. And Lord, let us always be joyful amidst such suffering and persecution, as Christ himself was joyful when he endured the cross. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen.