I'll be leading the prayer and Bible study at 7.30 on Thursday, and next Lord's Day, God willing, Bradley Hammond will be our speaker. The psalmist writes in Psalm 99, the Lord reigneth, let the people tremble, he sitteth between the cherubims, let the earth be moved. The Lord is great in Zion, and he is high above all the people. Let them praise thy great and terrible name, for it is holy. Let's pray together. And if I will humbly beseech you that you present yourself amongst us tonight, by the power of your spirit, we pray, Lord, we may worship you in spirit and truth, and that you receive all the glory and the honor. We ask, Lord, that you would do our souls good, build us up in a most precious and holy faith. Again, we pray, Lord, that you'll bless those who are unable to be with us. May they know your sweet presence with them also. So, Lord, we ask again for your blessing and your smile upon our time together. In Jesus' name, amen. First hymn, please, will be on the screen. Praise Him, praise Him, praise Him, praise Him, praise Him. Praising for His grace and favor, to our fathers in distress. Praise Him still the same as ever, so to joy and sin to rest. Praise Him, praise Him, praise Him, praise Him, glorious in His faithfulness. where the feeble, frail he looms. In his hands he gently bears us, rescues us from all our foes. Praise him, praise him, praise him, praise him, while he does ♪ Some are struggling for a reach ♪ ♪ Most are weak and easy scorned ♪ ♪ But while mortals rise and perish ♪ ♪ God endures, continuing on ♪ ♪ Praise Him, praise Him, praise Him, praise Him ♪ Praise Him, praise Him, praise Him, praise Him. Right, you should turn to your Bibles tonight to Psalm 82. Psalm 82. Let's hear the word of God together. A Psalm of Asaph. God standeth in the congregation of the mighty. He judgeth among the gods. How long will he judge unjustly and accept the persons of the wicked? Selah. Defend the poor and the fatherless. Do justice to the afflicted and needy. Deliver the poor and needy. Rid them out of the hand of the wicked. They know not, neither will they understand. They walk on in darkness, for the foundations of the earth are out of course. I have said, ye are gods, and all of you are children of the Most High. But ye shall die like men and fall like one of the princes. Arise, O God, judge the earth, for thou shalt inherit all nations. May the Lord add blessing to his most precious and inerrant word. I second him. Thank you. Sing the name of Jesus Christ, King of liberty. His truths we saw were clear. It is a moment, spiritual, that counts the troubled rest. This man and sin, the lonely soul, On which I yield, a shield and hiding place, I'll never fail in treasuring you with boundless love. I share her brotherhood, my prophet, priest, and king. I know that I, I live, I am, I stand. lead us, O God, of grace, lead us, my Lord. Till then I look, I look to thee with every beating breath, Let's pray together. us gracious God and Father how we bless you for your mercies toward us. We thank you that your mercies are new every morning. Your mercy is great beyond our comprehension. Your God was tender towards his people. We thank you Lord that you are a great God. You are the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. You are the eternal God without being, without beginning, and without end. You are God Almighty. And we thank you for your mightiness, your glory, your splendor, and your majesty. We thank you that you are an awesome God. You are God of power and might, a God of infinite knowledge, and yet a God of infinite kindness. We thank you that you are not a God who is far off, who's not concerned for his creation and for his world and for his people and for his church, but you're a God who is intimate. You're a God whom we can approach. And we approach not by our own merits, our own worth, for they are but filthy rags, but we come in the merit and that worthy name of the Lord Jesus Christ, the eternal Son of God. And we come with boldness, yet with fear and trembling, for you are an all-consuming fire. And we thank you that we can call you Father, And yet we can call you Abba, Father. And we come in that precious name of the Lord Jesus Christ, that one who is the way, the truth, and the life, the one who is our advocate, the one who pleads and perfects our poor and feeble prayers. We come in all his perfections, in all his glory, and all his splendor, we come in the name of Jesus. We come in the name of Emmanuel, God with us. And we come, for you bid us to come. And we marvel, Lord, that you have an ear to our prayers. And so, Father, tonight we pray in accordance to your will and to your purpose. And we know your will and your purpose is that men should be saved. And so we pray, Lord, that as the word of God is preached, in this place, this Lord's Day, and in other places up and down our county, in our nation, and around the world. But the name of Jesus will be lifted up high, and sinners will be directed to Him as the only way of escape from the wrath of God. And we pray, Lord, for like-minded causes in Housham. We pray, Lord, a blessing upon wherever your people meet tonight. For those who will be preaching, they'll be given liberty and clarity of thought and speech. Above all, Lord, we pray your name will be high and lifted up. What we pray for ourselves, here, Lord, we pray for your church worldwide. mindful Lord of your church, particularly in Sri Lanka, and to commend that work to you again tonight, Lord, that you would prosper as the word has gone out and as your people now have turned to rest, that the word of God will dwell in their hearts with richness and that much fruit will be gained for the kingdom of God. We pray, Lord, for all those who are faithful in preaching there in that nation, that they may stand fast, stand strong, despite the assaults of the evil one, despite persecution, opposition. We pray, Lord, your saints there would remain faithful to the charge that you have set before them. We pray for them, Lord, we pray for Our friends in Malaysia and Indonesia, we pray, Lord, for the church in Myanmar. We ask, Lord, that you would come amongst your people there and bless them richly. We pray, Lord, in their difficult days, that they may have much to rejoice in. We know many are suffering due to lockdowns and other restrictions. So Lord we pray for the bodily needs of your people that they may be met. We thank you Lord for those who are active in providing resources and relief for your people. So Lord we pray particularly that they may see much fruit again for their labours in the ministry of the Word of God. Again Lord we would pray for our poor sick nation We pray, Lord, that for all the confusion and the uncertainty and the dark days in which we live in, we pray, Lord, that gospel light will be shed abroad in the hearts of our leaders, of our Queen and the Prime Minister and the Cabinet. We pray, Lord, they would see how bankrupt they are in their own wisdom, and they would look to the wisdom of God in these difficult and dark days. Lord, We acknowledge we are under your wrath, and it's just. And yet, Lord, we will pray in wrath. Remember mercy. Oh, Lord our God, look down upon this nation with grace and favor and abundant mercy. Look down, we pray, Lord, upon our children and our families, our grandchildren, upon those whom we work with week by week, those we have meetings and discussions with. We pray, O God, that we may be that salt and light to our communities and to our families and to our friends. Lord, again, we pray that you give us a holy boldness to speak well of the Saviour. May we not be ashamed of the cause of Christ. May we not be ashamed of the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. May we be granted boldness and fearlessness to proclaim his worth and his splendour and his majesty. Again Lord we pray for those who are laid low at this time through sickness in body, mind and spirit. We pray Lord that you may come alongside and that you would bring a measure of restoration and restore them once more we pray. We do pray Lord for Sister Brenda tonight in the disappointment of being locked down once again. We pray, Lord, that she may have sweet thoughts of the Saviour. We pray, Lord, that through these coming days she will be kept safe and that, Lord, you will bless her and encourage her and build her up in her faith. We pray, Lord, for the preaching of your word once more. Pray, Father, you would speak to us through it and instruct us and encourage us And we pray, Lord, that your word may be relevant to our situation and to our circumstances. And so, Father, we again give you the praise and the honour and the glory for our liberties. We thank you, Lord, that you have preserved them through many generations. And we look to you, Lord, to continue, even for this small cause here in your vineyard. And so, Lord, we commend one another to you. through this coming week. We pray for one another. We pray, Lord, that we would be encouraged. We pray, Lord, we live to your praise and to your glory. And we ask all these things with the forgiveness of our sin. In the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen. Thank you. Next hymn, please. Thank you. ♪ My early children lost and gone ♪ ♪ Oh, say can you see by the dawn's early light ♪ ♪ What so proudly we hailed at the twilight's last gleaming ♪ to restless sleep and troubled sleep. Oh, teach me, Lord, that I may teach the precious and in my thoughts that they may reach the given day. ♪ O give Thy love, sweet rest to me ♪ ♪ That I may speak with smoothing heart ♪ ♪ Of what this season has brought me ♪ ♪ To give me what's dear to me ♪ Be brave, my foolish foe, until my very heart o'erflows. Rain, rain, it pours. I'm cold, it pours. I long to tell you. Just as Thou wilt, and then and there, Until Thine ends and days I see, Thy rest, Thy joy, Thy glory share. I'd like to turn your Bibles once again then to Psalm 82, the 82nd Psalm, as we continue our series through the Book of Psalms. As I've said many a time before, there's an order, an order of sequence to the Psalms. They're not just a jumble of Hebrew poetry or hymns put together, but they instruct, they carry themes through. In previous Psalms, we've considered some of those themes. Psalm 82 is a consequence of the previous Psalms. In Psalm 79, we looked there at the destruction of Jerusalem mainly of the people and the psalmist is lamenting that the saints of God have been slaughtered. In Psalm 79 we read there, the dead bodies of our servants have been given to be meats unto the fowls of the heaven, the flesh of our saints unto the beasts of the earth, their blood have they shed like water round about Jerusalem. and there's none to bury them. In Psalm 74, we considered the utter destruction of a temple. So Psalm 74 is speaking of the desecration of the house of God. In Psalm 79, we see the decimation of the people of God. And we saw that the destruction was political. The king had been taken into exile The nation no longer existed. The destruction was economic. The land was devastated. There was no one there to plant the seeds, to gather in the harvest. So the destruction was economic. And many families had been wiped out. So it was a social destruction as well. The dead bodies of our servants have been given to be meat unto the fowls of heaven. Destruction was religious. There was no temple. The place where God dwelt. This is where the Shekinah glory was, over the mercy seat. As the cherubim looked upon that mercy seat, that mercy seat made of gold, acacia wood, and the manna, and Aaron's rod was inside, and the commandments of God also inside the Ark of the Covenant. And that was the very presence of God. This is where the people of God went to worship. This was God's house. And the heathen had come in and they had destroyed. And again in Psalm 79, Asaph laments, we have become a reproach to our neighbours, a scorn and derision to them that are round about us. The heathen rejoiced that the temple and the people of God had been destroyed. The Canaanites, the Philistines, all those tribes with their false pagan gods rejoiced, and they laughed at them. It became a derision. And the psalmist cries out, How long, Lord? How long? Will they be angry forever? Shall my Jersey burn like a fire? You see, judgments have come upon the people of God because of their idolatry. They were idolatrous people. And that had been their history right through. Hence, the judges. God would raise up a judge. They would fall into idolatry. God would raise up a judge. The people repent. They fall back into idolatry. This is a continual pattern because they wanted to be like the other nations. They wanted to have a figure, a representation of their God. As we know, the commandments forbade such images. But they longed, they longed to be like the other nations. And so God is a jealous God. Hence he says, shall thy jealousy burn like fire? Now God is a consuming fire. And they'd lost the presence of God. And in Psalm 80, Again, Asaph, he cries unto God, Give ear, O Shepherd of Israel. Thou that leadest Joseph like a flock, thou that dwellest between the cherubim, shine forth. And Asaph has this longing, he longs to see God shining forth. And again, he's picking up that prayer from Aaron, which I often read in Numbers, chapter 6 this was the blessing but Aaron was instructed by Moses to give to the people and the Lord spake unto Moses saying speak unto Aaron and unto his son saying on this wise you shall bless the children of Israel saying unto them the Lord bless thee and keep thee the Lord make his face shine upon thee and be gracious unto thee the Lord lift up his countenance upon thee and give thee peace This is what the people expected, that God's face would shine upon them. As Moses requested that if it was possible that he would see God, and God said to Moses, it's impossible, but I will put you in the cleft of the rock and my glory shall pass by you. and as Moses was hitting her up, the glory of the Lord passed by and he saw the hind parts of the Lord God and his face shone. He had this glorious vision of God. And we're told that when he came down from the mount, but his face shone and it was so bright the people had to veil his face. And this is what God had promised his people, that he would shine upon them with blessings. but they would know him as their God. And yet, in their disobedience to his word, they long to be like the surrounding nations. The psalmist longs, he has this longing, this deep, heartfelt longing to see God. Hence he prays there in Psalm 80. Turn us again, O God, and cause thy face to shine and we shall be saved. Again in verse 7. Turn us again, O God of hosts, and cause thy face to shine and we shall be saved. Again, in verse 19 of Psalm 80, turn us again, O Lord God of hosts, cause thy face to shine and we shall be saved. So Asaph has this knowledge that the people of God, and he's including himself, that they've turned away from the true and living God. They've turned and he's asking God, And once more, turn them, turn us again. Three times that prayer comes from his lips. And again in Psalm 80, as he prays this prayer, his vision expands of the glory of God. O Lord God of hosts, Oh God of hosts, he says. And he says, oh Lord God of hosts. And as he thinks of God, his heart swells and he's full of God's glory, yet he prays, turn us again. In verse 14, Psalm 80, he asks the Lord to return. Verse 14, return We beseech thee, O God of hosts, look down from heaven, and behold, and visit this vine, this vine. And he's spoken about this vine, which has been broken, been decimated there in Psalm 80. Why has thou broken down her hedges? Now, he's praying this prayer, he's asking God this question. Why has thou broken down her hedges? Why have you taken away that protection, those hedges which were designed to protect the vine? God has broken down, so that all they which pass by the way do pluck her. Not only that, the bore out of the wood doth waste it, and the wild beasts of the field doth devour it. So he's got this vision of this vine, which God had planted. God had taken the people out of Egypt, and he prepared the land, the promised land, and he prepared it, and he dug it, and he cleared all the rubbish, the stones, so that he may plant this choice vine, Israel. And we're told that this vine spread from the Mediterranean to the Euphrates and it covered the whole land. It became like the cedars of Lebanon where a man could take rest and shelter from the heat of the sun. And it was God's doing and it was glorious. Verse 10 he says, the hills are covered with the shadow of it and the boughs thereof were like the goodly cedars. Why has thou broken down the hedges? Why does the boar of the wood waste it and the wild beasts of the field devour it? Because of their sin. Because of their iniquity. Because of their idolatry. And Psalm 80's speaking of this glorious vine which God had planted. Then goes into Psalm 81. Psalm 81, to the chief musician upon a githaf, which possibly could be a stringed instrument, but it was produced, that instrument was made in a place called Gath, where David ran and hid from Saul. And Gath means the wine press. the place of pressure and Psalmist is seeing here that God is bearing his pressure, his wrath upon his people because of their sin. Psalm 81, it starts off on a glorious note. Sing aloud unto God our strength. Make a joyful noise unto the God of Jacob. Take a psalm and bring hither the timbrel, the pleasant harp with the psaltery. Blow upon the trumpet in the new moon in the time appointed on our solemn feast day. Why? For this was a statute for Israel and a law of the God of Jacob. God had appointed days of celebration. He appointed days of sacrifice. Every day was to be a morning and evening sacrifice. And the people of God here, they are obeying the law. They are doing what God commanded. They are engaged in worship. This, he says, he ordained in Joseph for a testimony. when he went out through the land of Egypt, where I heard a language that I understood not. Again, he goes back, as often he does in these Psalms, Asaph. He goes back to their deliverance from Egypt. I removed his shoulder from the burden. His hands were delivered from the pots. They caused him trouble, and I delivered thee. I answered thee in a secret place of thunder. I prove thee in the waters of Moab. Hear, O my people, and I will testify unto thee, O Israel, if thou wilt hearken unto me. There shall no strange god be in thee, neither shall they worship any strange god." And this was God's message to them. This was His condemnation of them. Yes, they looked alive. They looked lively. Yes, they were obeying the commandments. But it was lip service. It wasn't of the heart. And when we come to worship, it's to be of the heart. What is in the heart comes out of a man. With our lips and our tongue. And God lays this charge upon his people. There shall no strange God be in thee. Neither shall they worship any strange God. Why? I am the Lord thy God. which brought thee out of the land of Egypt, open thy mouth wide, and I will fill it." This is the charge. They are guilty. And He's bringing to them this charge, and He's seeking their repentance. He's reminding them of where they've come from, and what is their reaction. Verse 11, Psalm 81, but my people would not hearken to my voice, and Israel would none of me. But my people would not hearken to my voice, and Israel would have none of me. What an indictment upon the people of God. And may I be so bold, this is the day in which we live it. Yes, we are small. Yes, there are churches which are bigger and appear to be more prosperous, more lively with contemporary worship, with the bands and the guitars and all the razzmatazz, you can go to churches, they've got clowns, they've got drama, they've got all these things which have the appearance of life. Yet God is not pleased. There shall be no strange God in thee, neither shall they worship any strange God. And the warnings have gone forth from many a pulpit, And warnings have not been heeded. So we can say, with verse 11, but my people would not hearken to my voice, and Israel would none of me. And here is the most terrible judgment upon the church and the people of God. Verse 12, God says, so I gave them up unto their own hearts' lusts, and they walked in their own councils. I gave them up. What a severe, what an awesome judgment upon the people of God. So I gave them up unto their own hearts. This is the climax of their sin and their disobedience to God. This is why the temple was destroyed. This is why the people were decimated. The land was destroyed. Families were lost because God gave them up. Awesome judgment. God gave them up and He continues to give them up. When a nation despises the Word of God, God will give them up. Romans 1, 24. Wherefore, God also gave them up to the uncleanness through the lusts of their own hearts to dishonor their own bodies between themselves, who changed the truth of God into a lie, and worshipped and served the creature more than the Creator, who is blessed forever. Amen. For this cause, God gave them up unto vile affections, For even their women did change the natural use into that which is against nature. Verse 28. And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a reprobate mind. to do things which are not convenient, being filled with all unrighteousness, fornication, wickedness, covetousness, full of envy, murder, debate, deceit, backbiters, haters of God. Wherefore, God also gave him up. And I believe as a nation, God has given us up. God has given us up. So, back to Psalm 81. So he gave them up unto their own hearts' lust, and they walked in their own counsels. And then the Lord echoes this plea, and we echo this plea. Oh, that my people had hearkened unto me, and the Israelites had walked in my ways. I should soon have subdued their enemy. and turned my hand against their Ephesus. The haters of the Lord should have submitted themselves unto him, but their time should have endured forever. He should have fed them also with the fines of the wheat and with honey out of the rock, should I have satisfied them. Instead of eating of the finest of the wheat and of the honey, again in verse 5 of Psalm 18, God feeds them with the bread of tears and gives them tears to drink in great measure. God wants the best for his people, but because of their unbelief and unrighteousness, God feeds them with the bread of tears. It's quite gloomy, isn't it? come here to be made to feel miserable. But God always gives us hope, always gives us an encouragement. So again in Psalm 80, we read these words in verse 17. Let thy hand be upon the man of thy right hand, upon the son of man, who thou madest strong for thyself. Let thy hand be upon the man of thy right hand, upon the Son of Man. Who is the Son of Man? That's the title the Lord Jesus took to himself. This is the Messiah. This is Israel's hope. This is our hope. Let thy hand be upon the man of thy right hand, Jesus Christ, who sits at the right hand of God. the one who was crucified, dead and buried, who rose again from the dead, now sits at God's right hand, interceding for His Church and for His people. Let thy hand be upon the man of thy right hand, upon the Son of Man. There is a hope. There is a hope. And the Church and the people of God need to return to look and to plead the mercy, the rich Generous, mercy of God, that the Son of Man may visit us in all his glory. So hence, with this psalmist, surely we should pray, turn us again, turn us again, turn us again, O Lord, God of hosts. He is our hope. He is our only hope. He is our eternal hope. He is our rock upon which we are to build. So we see a world who hates God, a world which is doing its own thing, every man is doing right in their own eyes, a world which hates God, which hates the law of God, We live in a country which has been blessed through many, many generations, through centuries, where God has come in for his people. World Wars, armadas, under attack, God has come to defense of his people. Days of prayer called. God has been faithful. God has provided. And I believe he will. he will return to his church. Is that the prayer of our hearts? When we come to pray on a Thursday night, is this our prayer, is this our desire? Turn us again, oh God. Is this our prayer? Return we beseech you, God of hosts. Look down from heaven and behold and visit this vine. We're just a small corner of the vineyard of God. Is it our desire that God will visit us? here in this place. We manifest His power and His glory. We stand amongst us. And we will worship and praise the true and living God. So Psalm 82 is a consequence of all that has gone before us. The idolatry, the willfulness, the utter unbelief of the children of Israel. And part of God's judgment, because they would not hearken to my voice, and Israel would none of me, so I gave them up unto their own hearts' lusts, and they walked in their own councils." Psalm 82 is a natural progression. God standeth in the congregation of the mighty. He judgeth among the gods. How long will you judge unjustly and accept the persons of the wicked? As a consequence of man's rebellion and unbelief, God gives us unjust, unsound, unrighteous judges, unrighteous leaders of the nation. And Psalm 82 reminds us that there is an account to be reckoned. Psalm 82, the commentator suggests, is a court scene where God standeth as a supreme God and he calls all the judges of the earth to give an account. Now, there are various views on this. In verse 6, he says, I have said, ye are gods, and all of you are children of the Most High. Now, some commentators, particularly over the last 100 years, are suggesting that these gods, with a small g, are demons, principalities and powers. There are certain arguments which can back that argument up. but I think it falls down on verse seven, but you shall die like men and fall like one of the princes. And we know that demons don't die, they go into punishment, but they don't die. Prior to this new thinking of 100 years plus, the old commentators believe that this referred to the judges, the judges of Israel, those who sat at the gates and pronounced judgment on affairs disputes over land and property, etc. Even our Lord Jesus underlines that, where we find in John 10, 34 to 36, referring to the Pharisees. He says, you are gods, you are in the place, you are those who make judgment, you stand in the place of God, you are vice-regents, you are gods, representative to the people. And what we see here in Psalm 82 is judges, leaders, who are unjust. For the judges were there to defend the poor. Verse three, this is your duty, defend the poor, the fatherless, do justice to the afflicted and the needy. Again in the book of Moses, they're instructed to defend the widow, defend the orphan, defend the stranger, the sojourner, when a person comes into your territory, you'd show hospitality, friendship, you'd provide. All these things have been lost because God gave them up unto their own hearts' lust and they walked in their own counsels. So God is holding the judges to account. There will be a day of accounting. And we live in a day and age, this is our day, this is our age, where God has given us up and we have judges who are unjust, the rich get richer upon the oppressed, the poor get poorer. Instead of defending the poor, they're taking advantage of them. This is a shame. which is not in accordance to the Word of God. So God will hold them to an account. God will have that day of reckoning. And when he says there in verse 7, but ye shall die like men and fall like one of the princes. He's speaking there of those leaders of the world, of governments, who are full of their pomp and their pride and their arrogance. And he says, but you are just a man, and you will die like an ordinary man, and fall like one of the princes. So a consequence of these unjust judges is this, in verse five. They know not, neither will they understand. They walk on in darkness. All the foundations of the earth are out of course. They know not. They have no moral conscience. They've lost their moral compass. They are bent, they are biased. Neither will they understand. That nation is going through hard and difficult days. because our leaders do not understand. Why do they not understand? Because, again in verse 5, they walk on in darkness. They are benighted. They have no light. They have rejected the light. And so we have these crazy laws coming in. Contrary to the Word of God. of being told you can make up your mind whether you're a boy or a girl. They've been instructed from the age of five, from the age of five, been indoctrinated. Is it any wonder the nation is as it is? I had a phone call from NHS. Are you male, female or other? That's where we are. Other. Other what? By our accounts, there's a lot of others. We are confused and because we walk in darkness. In the beginning, God created male and female. That's been rejected. We're old-fashioned. We're out of date. Get with it, is the call of the day. Get with it, get with it, get with it. But the Bible says, get out of it. Get out of it and get out of it. We live in desperate days. We need to pray for our children. We need to pray for you and your unborn. The days are hard. We need to pray for God's mercy and God's grace. We need to pray earnestly that God would come down. We need to pray as Asaph cries here, verse eight, arise, O God, judge the earth, for thou shalt inherit all nations. And again, that's just the burden of Asaph's heart. He wants God to arise. He wants to see the glory of God. He wants to see God honored. This is the need of the hour. This is the need of our hour. That God would arise and that he would bear his mighty arm. Let thy hand be upon the man of thy right hand, upon the Son of Man, whom thou madeest strong for thyself. Pray God he'd reveal a strong man. And the church of Jesus Christ. We call upon Him. Even so, Lord Jesus, come quickly. Is that our prayer? This was Ephesus' prayer. He'd gone there in Psalm 80, bring before us the glory of the vine that God had planted into Psalm 81, to the church. in the vine press, a place of tribulation, of crushing. I believe under God's judgment there is a sifting, there is a crushing of the church, there is a sorting. We live in difficult days, but exciting days. For we have one who sits upon the throne, We have one who is the shepherd of Israel, the one who is tender towards his flock, the one who knows our needs and our circumstances. He knows where to lead us besides still waters. He knows where the best grazing is. He knows when we go through the valley of the Shepherd of Death, he is with us. So he's that shepherd with that intimate knowledge, the one who's cared for the flock, the one who knows that flock by name. who knows you by name, knows your circumstances, he knows your fears and your joys, for he is the Good Shepherd. But also remember there in Psalm 80 verse 1, thou that dwellest between the cherubim, he is God Almighty, he is King of heaven and earth. And no man, no government, no army, will dethrone that glorious king, for he sits there through eternity. And with the psalmist, we cry, shine forth. May the Lord use his word to encourage us, to spur us on to pray more earnestly, for his appearing. Amen. Thank you Matty. in this special moment For me to intercede His all-redeeming love, His precious love to me, His blessing, His ransom, grace, ♪ And sits before the throne of grace ♪ ♪ And sits before the throne of grace ♪ ♪ The Father gives him praise ♪ ♪ He's filled the mountains with praise ♪ His Spirit answers to the call, And tells me I am born of God, And tells me I am born of God. His loving voice I hear, He calls me for His strife, I can no longer fear, With confidence I bow. And the Lord bless thee and keep thee. The Lord make his face shine upon thee and be gracious unto thee. The Lord lift up his countenance upon thee and give thee peace. Amen. you