Giving THanks

Jim Tollar
​Nov. 19,2023

Take your Bibles, and we're gonna be in Psalm 136. This morning we're going to be, I've titled this message, Giving Thanks to the Lord. And for obvious reasons, right? Thanksgiving holiday coming up. It's actually one of my, favorite holidays. it's kind of nice to reflect back and thank the Lord for his blessings and especially his spiritual blessings, right? Because I mean, that's one thing, no matter what your condition is, financially or whatever, we can always thank the Lord for our spiritual blessings we have, that we have in the Lord Jesus Christ. And this morning, I want to look at Psalm 136. And we're going to look at it though, of course, in light of Paul's gospel, in terms of the mystery, God's program for today. But there is so much we can learn from this psalm, as you'll see as we go along. But I want to begin this morning with a story about a little boy who told his uncle, thank you for the electric car or the electric, the electric guitar that you gave me for Christmas.

It's the best present I ever got. That's great, said the uncle. Do you know how to play it? Oh, no I don't, he said. My mom gives me a dollar a day not to play it during the day and my dad gives me five dollars a week not to play it at night. He was very thankful you know, he was very thankful I think, for a way to earn a little extra money on the side, right?

The Lord, when we think of thankfulness, if there's one inter-dispensational truth, one thing you can count on is that the Lord wants us to be thankful. He wants his people, whether it was Israel in times past or today as members of the body of Christ. He wants us to be thankful. And we see that so often reflected in Paul's letters. In 1 Thessalonians 5:18, we read there, And everything give thanks, for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you. Well, that's, that's pretty straightforward, isn't it? And in Ephesians, uh, five 20, giving thanks always for all things to God the Father, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.

And in Colossians three 17, we read, and whatsoever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the father. through him. And so, you know, so that means in any situation with, with, with whatever you're doing, maybe one of the hardest things not to do is to not complain, right?

But instead, God wants us to be thankful and to give thanks. We should be thankful for other members of the body of Christ. Just like Colossians 1:3 and in 1 Thessalonians 1:2. You see in those verses. Paul wrote to the church at Colossae, we give thanks to God and the father of our Lord Jesus Christ, praying always for you.

So you kind of see the correlation there between being thankful for them and at the same time praying for them as well. Because when you're thankful for someone, you're praising the Lord and you're thanking the Lord for them. And then in one Thessalonians one, two, we give, we give thanks to God always for, for you all making mention of you.

In our prayers, and as believers, we should be especially thankful for our spiritual blessings that we know of from verses like Ephesians one, three, where we see blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who have blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ. And let's face it, you can't read Paul's letters without noticing his thankfulness to God. You see it all throughout all of his epistles. You know, including things like praying and thanking the Lord for our food, of which, at least in our country, in the USA, we have an abundance of. In 1 Timothy 4, verses 4 and 5, Paul wrote, For every creature of God is good, and nothing to be refused if it is received with thanksgiving.

For it is sanctified, or in other words, set apart, By, by the word of God and prayer. So we should be thankful for our food. But, you know, the giving of thanks is not limited to Paul's letters. When the Lord fed the four thousand men and their families in, uh, in Matthew 15:36, what did, uh, what do we read there?

He says, and he took the seven loaves and the fish, and what did he do? He gave thanks. When the Lord healed ten lepers, In Luke chapter 17, verse 16. You know, the interesting thing about that account, and, and I'll address it in the notes, in the upcoming study Bible, was that only one came back. Stop and think about that.

There were 10 lepers, but only one came back and he was a Samaritan. And at that time the Samaritans were, were looked down on by the Jews, but we read in Luke 17:16 that he fell down on his face at his feet, at the Lord's feet, giving him thanks. And he was the only one that had a thankful heart about what the Lord did for him.

Now, in the book of Psalms itself, we see in passages like Psalm 92, verse 1, this was a psalm or a song for the Sabbath day. Now, we know we're not under the law. Obviously, and under, and under those, regulations. But still, it is a good thing to give thanks unto the Lord, and to sing praises unto, unto thy name, O Most High.

So, whether it's, you know, under the law with the Sabbath days, or in the dispensation of grace where there are no Sabbath days, it is a good thing to give thanks to the Lord, is it not? Amen, right? And this morning, I thought we would, look at one psalm in particular. So, in your Bibles this morning, let's go to Psalm 136, and we are going to look at all 26 verses.

Yeah, and you're thinking, well, how are you going to do that, Jim? Well, there's a method to my madness, so you'll just wait and see here. So we see these, and we'll see when, when we start reading it, I'm not going to read it quite yet, that, but the first three verses begin with giving thanks unto the Lord, and we will read them shortly here.

And the final two verses, or the final verse 26, says, give thanks to the God of heaven. And you're going to notice, too, that each verse ends with the phrase, His mercy. In other words, His kindness endures forever. You're going to see that at the end of each verse. And we're going to see as we go through this psalm, God's kindness to the nation of Israel.

But we're also going to see God's kindness to the body of Christ in the dispensation of grace. You know, the interesting thing about this psalm is that it was most likely a responsive reading psalm. I think probably most of you are pretty familiar with responsive readings. where the, the pastor or the minister would, would read a certain part of the Bible and then the congregation would follow suit and, and read the remaining part.

That's probably how this psalm was used, back in the days of, temple worship where the, where the priest would read God's Word. But anyways, let's go to Psalm 136 and I will read the first three verses here.

Psalm 136 beginning in verse 1. O give thanks unto the Lord, for he is good, for his mercy endureth forever. O give thanks unto the God of gods, for his mercy endureth forever. O give thanks to the Lord of lords, for his mercy endureth forever. So as I had just mentioned when, when we began here, that these first three verses Our thanks to God.

But if you notice though, they're addressed in three different ways. In verse one, it's to the Lord and the, and the spelling for Lord is all, is is in all capitals, in, in most translations of the Bible. In other words, it was to Jehovah, to uh, to Jehovah God, which is his personal name. And we know that that's God's personal name.

So just like we all have personal names. Mine is Jim. My wife's is Missy, you know, Randy. We all have personal names, but we read in Isaiah 42, verse 8, the Lord, the Lord says there, I am the Lord. That is my name. That is the Lord's personal name. In Exodus 15, verse 3, this is the song of Moses. It reads there, The Lord is a man of war.

The Lord is his name. So, God's personal name, just like we have personal names, God has a personal name and his name is Jehovah. He is also the God of small g gods. And he's also the Lord of lords. Or, you know, small l lords. Masters in verses two and three. You know who learned that lesson? King Nebuchadnezzar.

How many of you know about King Nebuchadnezzar or have heard of King Nebuchadnezzar? I'm sure, I'm sure most people have. He was the king of ancient Babylon. In fact, I think he's known for the seven, or he's known for the gardens in Babylon which were one of the seven wonders of the world. But King Nebuchadnezzar, I think he eventually believed in the one true and living God.

And I think someday we'll have an opportunity to meet him in heaven. But anyways, in Daniel chapter 2, verse 47, after Daniel had told the king what his dream was and interpreted it for him, The king answered and said unto Daniel of a truth, it is that your God is a God of gods. In other words, he's better than all those false gods that were out there and all, and the ones that are even out there today and, and a Lord of kings and a revealer of secrets, seeing thou kist reveal this secret.

But even at that time, king Nebuchadnezzar, even though he made this admission. I don't think it was until later on that he believed, really believed in the one true living God. We read, in Daniel chapter 4, King Nebuchadnezzar spent seven years as a beast of the field. Can you imagine that?

Because of his pride. God humbled him. We read in Daniel chapter 4, verse 33, It says there, the same hour was this thing fulfilled upon Nebuchadnezzar. In other words, he was turned into a beast, and he was driven from men, and he did eat grass as oxen. And after that, and after those seven years, after they expired, he finally learned his lesson.

We read in, verse 37 of that same chapter in Daniel 4. He says, Now I, Nebuchadnezzar, Praise and extol and honor the King of Heaven, all whose works are truth, and His ways judgment. And those who walk in pride, as Nebuchadnezzar was, remember he was, if you read that chapter, he was looking at Babylon and saying, Ah, look at the kingdom that I built, and look at all that I have accomplished.

But God humbled him. And he says, and those who walk in pride, He that is God is able to abase and Nebuchadnezzar learned who the God of gods was and he learned who the Lord of lords is. Now also notice in verse 1 what it says about God and who he is. It says that he is good, you know, that God is good.

Now, when a rich young ruler approached the Lord, Jesus Christ, in his earthly ministry, and asked him in Matthew, uh, chapter 19, verse 16, he said, Good Master, what good thing shall I do that I may have eternal life? And he said unto him, Why callest thou me good? There is none good, one, that is God. But if thou wilt enter into life, keep the commandments.

Now notice this rich young ruler. He called Christ good master. So he had an idea that the Lord was a good teacher and Christ responded that there's only one good. And who's that one good? That's God, right? None of us in our, in and of ourselves, are good. Because God's standard of goodness, you know, just to use that term, is different than our standard of goodness.

You know, when, when we think of good, we compare ourselves, uh, what, you know, we compare ourselves to somebody else. We might say, Well, you know, I'm not as bad as my neighbor. Boy, my neighbor, you should see the things he does, and... The people he hangs out with, he's not very good. But then, you know, we might look at someone and say, Well, that person is really good.

They do all these nice things and they help people. They're very generous with their time and with their finances. But yet, you know what? Compared to God's standard of good, it falls way short. I sometimes like to use the example of Carl Lewis. How many of you remember Carl Lewis, a track and field athlete from the 1980s?

I remember him specifically only because when I was 14 in 1984, I had a bad case of the chicken pox. And because of that, I had to watch the Summer Olympics on the couch, and that's all I could do, you know. That wasn't the days where we had Amazon Prime or movie channels where you could watch movies. I was literally stuck watching the Olympics for a whole week because I couldn't do anything else.

But, you know, the case of Carl Lewis, though, he could long jump, 18 feet and he would win all kinds of medals. But let's suppose for a moment that to cross the barrier to God, He had to jump 20 feet. Would he, would, would he make it? No, he would have fallen short, right? Even if he jumped 19 feet and 6 inches, if God's standard of righteousness is 20 feet away, he falls short.

Now at that time, and you know, even in my younger years, even if I could run and jump, I probably could only make it maybe 10 or 12 feet, right? And, but that was like way short. So, no matter how close you think you can get to God, our goodness, in and of itself, is not good enough. Because God's standard of righteousness is perfection.

So, anyways, you know, Paul, you know, Paul uses this same idea of the word good in Romans chapter 3, verse 12, where he says, They are all gone out of the way. They are together become unprofitable. There is none that doeth good, no, not one. So again, according to God's righteous standards, we fall short, even, even the best of men and women fall short too.

But Christ is the good master, because he met God's, uh, the Father's perfect standard of righteousness for us. And that's why Paul can say, in 2 Corinthians 5 21, about the Lord Jesus Christ, for he that is God. Hath made him Christ to be sin for us who knew no sin, that we might be made the righteousness of God in him, and God is patient with mankind.

He's not giving us what we deserve, despite mankind, sin and unbelief. You know, if you're sitting here this morning or if you're watching on video, either now or later, and if you haven't trusted the Lord Jesus Christ. You need His righteousness. Simply believe the good news that Christ died for your sin, was buried, and that He rose again the third day.

And the moment you trust Christ for your salvation, you're eternally saved. Isn't that something to be thankful for? Amen. It really is. I'm thankful that... That, God sent His Son to pay the penalty for our sin. Now, let's look at, verses 4 through 9 here, because we've got to get moving along in this psalm.

To Him who alone doeth great wonders, for His mercy endureth forever. To Him that by wisdom made the heavens, for His mercy endureth forever. To Him that stretched out the earth above the waters, for His mercy endureth forever. To him that made great lights, for his mercy endureth forever. The sun to rule by day, for his mercy endureth forever.

The moon and stars to rule by night, for his mercy endureth forever. You know, after deliverance from Pharaoh and his armies, in the Song of Moses, we read in Exodus 15, verse 11, Who is like unto thee, O Lord, among the gods? Who is like thee, glorious in holiness, fearful in praises, doing wonders. Many signs and wonders were done by the Lord, in Egypt and in the wilderness.

Remember, for sure, we know about the ten plagues, we know about all the things that the Lord did for them, with the parting of the Red Sea and things like that. You know, even today, you know, speaking of wonders today, isn't there a hymn called, The Wonder of It All? I think those of you who know music might know that one.

And one of the main, one of the main lines of that song goes something like this, Just to think that God loves me. Isn't that one, isn't that something that's, that's wondrous to think about? To think that God loves us? Romans 5. 8 tells us that God commended, or He directed His love toward us. And that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.

That's a wondrous thing, if you stop and think about it. You know, He does, just by making salvation available to all, that's a wonder, that's a wondrous thing of the Lord. The Lord Jesus Christ, He gave Himself for us, and we can thank the Lord for His, His wondrous works. Now, the psalm continues, in the part that we just read, that by the Lord's wisdom, He made the heavens.

He stretched out the earth above, the waters, and he made the sun and the moon. The prophet Jeremiah wrote in Jeremiah 32, verse 17, Ah, Lord God, behold, thou hast made the heavens and the earth by thy great power, and stretched out arm, and there is nothing too hard for thee. You know, so often today, man, they, they look to different theories of evolution as how, as to how things came about.

But we know the answer is so simple. Why spend millions and billions of dollars trying to figure things out, where, when all you have to do is look God's word and you can see how God created all things, the heavens and the earth, they were created by the Lord Jesus Christ. It's not on your sheet, but in Genesis 1:1, we know that in the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. You know what? The Lord Jesus Christ was there. In Colossians 1, verses 16 and 17, we read there, For by Him were all things created that are in heaven and that are in earth, visible and invisible. So there are invisible things that God's created.

Whether they, whether they be thrones or dominions. Or principalities or powers. All things were created by him and for him, and he is before all things. And by him, all things consist. Now when it says that by him, all things are held together and that, they consist. In other words, Christ holds everything together.

The universe as it is right now. God's holding it together. You know, that's probably why we haven't had a big giant asteroid come and destroy the earth. Because the Lord Jesus Christ holds creation together. And today we should thank the Lord for his creation and that we can enjoy his creation. Even when things start dying this time of year in, you know, in, in the fall and going into winter.

I mean, I woke up this morning and there was all kinds of frost all over the car and, and we had to go outside and, and get the vehicle warmed up and, you know, put the defrost on. But yet, this is all part of God's creation and we can take trips out west and south and different parts of the world. And even in the sin, sin condition that the earth's in, God's creation is beautiful.

And we can thank the Lord daily for it. But I can tell you one thing, though. Someday, when God unleashes his wrath on this Christ rejecting world during the time of the Tribulation, things aren't going to be quite so held together, so to speak. A writing of that day, the prophet Isaiah wrote in chapter 13, verse 13, Therefore I will shake the heavens.

And the earth shall remove out of her place in the, in the wrath of the Lord of hosts and in the day of his fierce anger. And we also read in Revelation chapter 6 in verses 12 and 13. And I beheld, when he that opened the sixth seal, and lo, there was a great earthquake, and the sun became black as sackcloth of hair, and the moon became as blood, and the stars of heaven fell unto the earth.

You know, we can thank the Lord today for his mercy, for his kindness, in that the body of Christ, we have not been appointed to that day of wrath. And we'll be raptured out before the fearful day of the Lord takes place. Now, the psalmist continues to thank the Lord for Israel's deliverance from Egypt.

We read in, verse 10 in your Bibles, in Psalm 136, and I'll read through verse 15. To him that smote Egypt in their firstborn, for his mercy endureth forever, and brought out Israel from among them, for his mercy endureth forever, with a strong hand and with a stretched out arm, for his mercy endureth forever.

To him which divided the Red Sea into parts, For his mercy endureth forever and made Israel to pass through the midst of it for his mercy or his kindness. So every time you see that word, mercy here, think kindness, the kindness of God. His mercy endureth forever and finally, verse 15, but over through Pharaoh and his host in the Red Sea, for his mercy, endure it forever.

You know, we know that lamb's blood, that lamb's blood, was used to cover the doorposts in Egypt. when the Lord smote the, firstborn of the Egyptians in, their land. And the Passover, when the Passover feast itself was instituted in Exodus chapter 12, verse 5, we read there, Your lamb shall be without blemish, a male of the first, of the first year.

And that's why John the Baptist said in John 1:29, We read there that the next day John seeth Jesus coming unto him and, and saith, Behold the Lamb of God which taketh away the sin of the world. And that all ties in, of course, with the Passover feast and with, Psalm 136:10, with the Lord who smote Egypt in their firstborn and what did the Lord use?

He used lamb's blood to protect them at the time. And you might be wondering, well, what in the world does that have to do with the body of Christ today? Well, the Apostle Paul writes in 1 Corinthians 5:7, yeah, in this, at this point of this letter, he was, he was writing to the Corinthian church about their brother in Christ.

Remember, they were approving of his immoral lifestyle. He told them to purge out there for the old, old leaven. That ye, or the group of them, may be a new lump, as ye are unleavened. For even Christ, our Passover, is sacrificed for us. It's because of the shed blood of Christ that God the Father can pass over our sins because he sees the righteousness of the Lord Jesus Christ.

Christ was made sin for us and, we just read that verse. in, 2 Corinthians 5, 21, not too long ago. So the Passover, while it is a Jewish feast, but yet we have the spiritual benefits of that as well. Now after that day, back in the time of Moses and the Exodus, the Lord brought Israel out of Egypt. out from the world, so to speak. And today, we know that the Lord calls believers out of the world as well. Because doesn't he command us to be separate from the world? Even though we live in the world and we still have to live life, but yet we're to be separate from the world as well. In 2 Corinthians 6, verses 14 and 17, Paul writes, Be, be not unequally yoked together with unbelievers for what fellowship?

Half righteousness hath righteousness with unrighteousness and what? Communion Half light with darkness. And then verse 17, come out from among them and be separate. Now, Paul wasn't only talking just only about marriage, many times we use this. And, you know, for an unbeliever shouldn't marry a believer and vice versa, but, you know, and that is true, but he's also talking about all areas of life.

We want to be very careful with who we associate with in our, you know, in our business dealings and just in our, in our lifestyle in general. And that's why Paul calls us out to be separate. Now, continuing with the wilderness journeys, the psalmist writes in verses, We're going to look at 16 through 24 here. To him which led his people through the wilderness, for his mercy endureth forever. To him which smote great kings, for his mercy endureth forever. And slew famous kings, for his mercy endureth forever. Sihon, king of the Amorites, for his mercy endureth forever. And Og, the king of, of, of Bashan, for his mercy endureth forever.

And gave their land for an heritage, for his mercy endureth forever. Even an heritage unto Israel his servant, for his mercy endureth forever. Who remembered us in our lowest state. Now, when Israel was in the wilderness for those 40 years, the Lord gave them many victories. over their enemies. And you read about that in just, in the psalm we read here, the famous kings, Sihon, king of the Amorites, and Og, the king of, king of, king of Bashan. And there were other kings too that the Lord defeated.  It wasn't Israel that defeated them because Israel in and of themselves, they were a small group and these kings were mighty and powerful. But yet the Lord showed His kindness to Israel, to His chosen people, and He led them through the wilderness.

You know, today, we have victory in the Lord Jesus Christ, too. Just like how Israel had victory in the wilderness, we have victory in the Lord Jesus Christ. I want you, in your Bibles, To turn to Romans chapter 8, I didn't put it on the cross reference sheet because it's a bit too long and Randy would have had to print off a third page.

But go to Romans chapter 8 verse 31. So just like how God gave Israel victory in the wilderness over all those kings in the land, We read in Romans chapter 8 beginning in verse 31. What shall we say, or what shall we then say to these things? If God be for us, who can be against us? He that spared not his own son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also freely give us all things? Who shall lay anything to the charge of God's elect?

It is God that justifieth. Who is he that condemneth? It is Christ that died. Yea, rather, that is risen again, who is even at the right hand of God, who also maketh intercession for us. Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, Or nakedness, or peril, or sword?

As it is written, For thy sake we are killed all the day long. We are accounted as sheep for the slaughter. Nay, in all these things, We are more than conquerors Through him that loved us. For I am persuaded, That neither death, nor life, nor angels, Nor principalities, nor powers, Nor things present, nor things to come, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

So just as Israel had victory in, in the Lord in the wilderness, We have victory in our lives now and in the future because nothing can separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus. You know, in verse 21 in this psalm, in Psalm 136, in verse 21 we read about how Israel inherits the land. You know, in Israel they can give thanks to the Lord for His mercy, His kindness endures forever.

Well, what's our inheritance as members of the body of Christ? We've inherited the heavens, have we not? That's our heavenly, that's our inheritance. In Philippians 3, verse 20, we read, For our conversation, or our citizenship, is in heaven. From whence also we look for the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ. So, just as the psalmist writes in verse 21 about Israel inheriting the land, And he thanks the Lord because his mercy endures forever.

We can thank the Lord for our inheritance in the heavens because the Lord's kindness endures forever. Isn't that, isn't that not... You know, God has a plan and a purpose, both for the earth and for the heavens as well. You know, compared to God's vast universe, the earth is... Man, I don't even know if it's even the size of a pinhead.

That's how, that's how small we really are when you think of God's vast universe. And even nowadays, they discover more and more things that are out there. And you would think that man would be like, Oh, there has to be a creator God. But no, man still refuses to believe. that God created all things. You know, someday though, God's gonna bring both the heavens and the earth together in Christ.

Paul writes in Ephesians 1:10, that in the dispensation of the fullness of times, he might gather together in one all things in Christ. Both which are in heaven, and which are on the earth, even in him. And, you know, we can give thanks to the Lord, because His kindness endures forever. In verse 23 in Psalm 136, that verse there, it reminds us of our lowest state.

Now, when you hear that term, lowest state, it means you've been brought to a very low position. If you've ever watched the movie The Christmas Story, you'll hear the father use that, that term lowly estate. And, you know, that's the idea of being brought very low. You know, Paul writes in Romans 5:6, For when we were yet without Christ, in due time, Christ died for the ungodly.

You know, without strength and ungodly. To me, that sounds like a very low estate to be in, doesn't it? It sounds like, it sounds like a position we don't want to be in. But here's the good news, a couple verses later in Romans 5:8, But God commendeth His love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.

We can give thanks to the Lord, because His kindness endures forever. In verse 24, it's, in Psalm 136, it speaks of Israel's redemption from their enemies, and At that time, that was Israel's hope, and in the future, that's going to be their hope. As Paul writes about in Romans 11:26, where he says, And so, all Israel shall be saved, as it is written, There shall come out of Zion the Deliverer, and shall turn away ungodliness from Jacob.

But today, in the dispensation of grace, even though we're still waiting, for that final step of redemption that we read about in Romans 8:23, where the, where we read, And not only they, but ourselves also, which have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves, we grown within ourselves, waiting for the adoption, the redemption of our body.

And I know all of us are waiting eagerly for that day. But currently though, we are justified freely by His grace. In Romans 3:24, we know it says being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus. And because of that redemption, we are complete in Christ. As it says in Colossians 2:10, that ye are complete in him, which is the head of all principality and power.

So once you're in Christ. You've been redeemed, and you can't get any more complete than what you already are. You can't add anything to it. You can't subtract anything from it. God sees His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. We should give thanks to the Lord for His kindness, because it endures forever. And finally, you know, for our Thanksgiving meal today, and for this Thursday when you're eating with family and friends.

And, you know, and for all the food we enjoy, the final two verses of this psalm, we read there in Psalm 136, verses 25 and 26, Who giveth food to all flesh, for His mercy endureth forever. O give thanks unto the God of heaven, for His mercy, His kindness endures forever. Let's close in prayer. Heavenly Father, Lord, we just thank You for Your kindness to us, Lord.

We're thankful for, as we read this psalm about your kindness to the nation of Israel in their time in Egypt and in their wilderness wanderings, Lord. And we're thankful for your kindness to us today and the dispensation of grace and all the spiritual blessings we have and our position in your Son, the Lord Jesus Christ.

And Lord, just help us to remember that as we live our daily lives, Lord. During this Thanksgiving holiday, Lord, let us, let it be a reminder to us to be thankful. For all that we have in Christ. And it's in His name we pray. Amen.

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