Well, today we return to our preaching series through the book of Hebrews. After a break of a little more than two months, with Missions Month and with uh December the focus upon the incarnation of Christ. But you remember that Hebrews was written to Jewish Believers in Christ.
some of whom were wavering because of persecution and being tempted to go back to the old covenant. and to let loose of their embrace of Jesus Christ and the new covenant. in order to relieve the persecution that was coming upon them. from their community. Among Jewish people who were not believers in Jesus Christ.
And so this Extensive epistle to the Hebrews is written to them. And basically, it says Don't turn back. Don't turn back. Persevere in your faith. It's fatal for you.
to turn back. And the entire epistle keeps emphasizing this point. the importance of faith. in all that has been revealed, not just a portion. In their case, not just the Old Testament scriptures, which they had known and embraced all of their lives, but also this new revelation, also from God.
Which now brings the culmination of the promises about Jesus Christ. You can't reject that. You can't hold on to part of it and reject part of it. But you must have faith in all that God has revealed. And when we come to chapter 11 of Hebrews, that great hall of faith, we have a record of name after name after name after name of Old Testament saints.
who pleased God by their persevering faith. And all of these names would have been well known to these who were. Hebrews. Students of the Old Testament. They were familiar with all of these names that you find.
in Hebrews 11.
Some of them are familiar to us.
Some of them are not quite so familiar to us. But I'm sure to those that this epistle is written to, all of those names were familiar. Abel, Enoch, Noah, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Moses, Joshua, Rahab, and there were too many actually to name. And so after listing a great number. The writer of Hebrews Throws six of them into one verse.
Up until now, it's been a verse or more for each of these people. to throw six of these names into one verse when he says, and what more shall I say? For the time would fail me to tell of Gideon and Barak and Samson and Jephthah, also of David. And Samuel and the prophets. He's winding down Now he just lists the names and doesn't really say anything about them, but he reminds them, and they knew these people from the Old Testament scriptures.
He reminds them that all of them are wonderful examples of faith who believed God. In difficult times, believed God with puzzling circumstances, but believed God and honored God, and who are commended for their faith. And Samuel is the last one in this list. He's the last one that has a name. That is attached to what he did, what others did in believing God.
From here on out, there's going to be a record of some of the other Exploits of faith, but in general terms and without any of these being attached to one particular person.
So, we actually today are coming to the end of the list. Of specific names of the Hebrews, heroes of faith. It's taken us a while to get here. But here we are. We come to Samuel.
Now, Samuel's life, as I've already mentioned, is spread out. The record of his life is spread out over 28 chapters of 1 Samuel. Not all of these chapters deal with Samuel. The record of his life is interspersed with the record of the reign of Saul. And then the beginning of the reign of David, all of these things are interspersed.
With this information about Samuel, but nevertheless. His life is spread out over 28 chapters, and I have one sermon to bring to you from all of this material. all of which was profitable. for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction and righteousness.
So you will excuse me if I condense a bit today. You will thank me. If I condense the bit. Today. And so there are four things that we're going to note in particular.
about Samuel's faith. Number one. A remarkable beginning. By faith? Number two, a faithful devotion, obviously by faith.
Number three, a painful obedience also by faith and Number four. A courageous defiance. By faith. A remarkable beginning by faith, and that's covered in chapters 1, 2, and 3. The first chapter I read.
And his beginning, of course, begins with his parents, and particularly his mother, Hannah. a woman of great faith, who produced a son who turned out by God's working in his life to be a man of great faith. And as you know, this mother, Hannah, had a very painful burden. She could not bear children. Her Husband Elkanah, who is presented to us, is a godly man who worshiped the Lord.
Faithfully according to the instructions of God's Word. Had two wives, that's another subject for another day, but he had two wives. All of the records of multiple marriages in the Old Testament. don't seem to turn out well. There's bad relationships in these These um Multiple wife relationships, but at any rate, two wives and one of them was Um What shall we say?
Very productive. She had a number of sons and daughters. And The other one, who seems to actually be the more spiritually minded, was unable to conceive a child. And Panina, the one that had several children, held that over Hannah. Taunted her with it.
Nye, nyah, nyeh. I've got lots of children. You don't have any. Nye, nyah, nih. And that went on.
Year after year. And Hannah was carrying a great burden, not only the burden of being barren, but now also the burden of her being taunted by her rival. And so, as they came annually to worship the Lord at Shiloh, where the tabernacle was at this time. Hannah was pouring out her heart to the Lord on one particular occasion. She may have done this previous, but the one that is recorded.
In chapter 1, she's pouring out her heart to the Lord in earnest prayer. Asking God to give her a son, promising God that if He will, she will give that son back to God. If you'll give me a son, I'll give him back to you. And as she's praying, we read, she's praying from her heart. silently, but her lips are moving.
And Eli, the priest at that time. observed this and he thought it was odd. Apparently that was not customary. People normally prayed out loud, evidently. But no sound was coming from her lips.
Her lips were moving. And he erroneously concluded that she was drunk. We can sometimes observe circumstances and observe things correctly and still draw the wrong conclusion. And that's what. What Eli did.
He accused her of being drunk. Put away your wine or any other form of intoxicating beverage. And she said, Oh, no, no, no, I'm not drunk. I've had no wine. I've had no strong drink.
I'm just filled with grief. I'm pouring out my heart to the Lord. I'm praying to Him, and Eli. said, go in peace, may the Lord grant your petition. And she went away.
not only with a burden lifted to some great degree by By her prayer, to the god that she knew was a Powerful God, a prayer-hearing and a prayer-answering God, but also with this benediction from Eli that seemed to seal her petition before God and to grant her some. expectation that this prayer was going to be answered as indeed it was. And as we read on the record, we find out that indeed she did. conceive and bore a son. Named him Samuel, which name means heard by God.
My prayer has been heard by God. We talk in that language. We talk about answered prayer. Meaning that the petition we asked for was answered the way we wanted it to be. When actually, we should realize that God answers all prayer, but He doesn't always say, Yes, I'll grant the petition the way you asked it.
Sometimes He says, No, and sometimes He says, I'm going to. Grants your request, but in a way that you could not have imagined. But in her case, God granted her petition in the normal way, and she. bore a son. and then refrained from going up to Shiloh for several years, we don't know how many.
It says until the child was weaned, and I understand that it wasn't terribly uncommon. for that weaning process to take as late as the fourth year. of a child in those days.
So it's possible. We know the child was young. The Bible says that. Of course, the indication by the termination of the weaning process indicates that. And the Bible specifically says that when Hannah brought the child to Shiloh to present him to the Lord, here I am, Eli.
You may not remember me, but, I mean, you see a lot of people, I know, she's saying. But you may not remember me, but I'm the woman. That You may remember, you accused of being drunk. He doesn't say that in the scriptures, but I'm the woman who poured out her heart in prayer to God, and you. You said go in peace, and may God grant your petition, and here's the answer.
This beautiful little boy. His name is Samuel. And I promised God that if He would give A son to me. I would give him back Yeah. And so I'm bringing him here to you to serve the Lord here in the tabernacle.
And thus began a lifelong devotion to God, a life of service to God by Samuel that began when he was. earlier than grade school years, we would say, in our Our Yeah. chronology of life that's customary to us today. And so she kept her promise. I'm sure there were many times when she was tempted to reneg, don't you?
The Bible doesn't say so, and maybe she wasn't. Her faith is remarkable, but several years she has with this child, several years to. Nurse him and to hold him and to love him and to play with him and to teach him and to become strongly bonded to him. Several years go by, but when the time comes when he can be away from his mother, there is no indication of hesitation on her part. She marches right back to Shiloh with her family and she says, Here he is, he belongs to the Lord.
That's quite an example of faith. She trusted God for a child and vowed that she would give the child to the Lord should he answer, and God answered her request, and she. fulfilled Her vow. to the Lord. and poured out her thanksgiving.
Her song of praise takes up a good portion of chapter two. It indicates a mature, godly woman who knew the Lord, who knew his word. And pours out her thanks to God for this wonderful answer to prayer. And the Bible tells us, subsequent to that, God opened her womb and she had several other children. We don't know how many, but they are plural sons and plural daughters.
So at the minimum, it had to be four, and it could have been more. The day may have come when she had more children than Panina, I don't know that, but the day may have come that she had more children than Panina, and she would have been tempted to. Say Yeah, yeah, yeah, I've got more than you do, but I don't think she did. She wasn't that kind of woman, was she? She accepted them from the Lord.
and went on in the godly way.
So in this remarkable beginning, we start with a remarkable Mother and uh Godly Father. And it continues with a Childlike faith, as we see a little record, some record, I should say. Of Samuel's growing up in this strange context of serving God and Eli in the tabernacle away from his family. away from his parents. And he's devotedly serving the Lord.
We read that in chapter... Two verse 11. Then Elkhana went to his house at Rhema. But the child ministered to the Lord before Eli the priest. And there are other verses of a similar.
construction. As for example, verse 18. But Samuel ministered before the Lord even as a child. Wearing a linen ephod, that's what the Priests wore. And he was wearing that as well.
That had been given to him, evidently. And so he's serving the Lord as a young child, maybe age four and five and six and so forth, doing whatever tasks he's capable of doing, doing whatever is of service to the Lord, anything that Eli instructed him to do. And he is developing in a wonderful way in all of this context. You say, well, that's not. Good, that's not normal.
Children are supposed to be reared by their parents, and normally, of course, that's so. But there are exceptions that turn out very well, and this is a God-appointed exception. And this child is developing wonderfully. We read, for example, in verse 21 of chapter 2, and the Lord visited Hannah.
So that she conceived and bore. Oh, it tells us here three sons and two daughters. I said it didn't tell us how many, but it does. Three sons, two daughters.
So she's had six altogether, five at home now.
Meanwhile We read, the child Samuel grew before the Lord. And we read in verse 26. And the child Samuel grew. In stature. and in favor.
Both with the Lord and with men. What does that sound like? We read almost identical words of the Lord Jesus Christ in the Gospel of Luke. of how he grew. in wisdom and favor with God and man.
Samuel is growing and developing in such a way as a child. And this reminds me, therefore, that children can serve the Lord even from a young age. They can and they should. We have to be wise in what Tasks we assign to a child and what we expect from them, but they can serve the Lord, they should be taught to serve the Lord in whatever ways are appropriate. They should be included in our adult service to the Lord when it's appropriate to include our children as well.
They should be, I've said this to you, I say it again. They should be encouraged to learn to give to the Lord from an early age of their allowance or whatever comes to them. That's part of their training, and they can do that from an early age, and they should do that from an early age. And why are parents so reluctant to instruct their children in these obvious ways to teach them to serve the Lord? Samuel Serve the Lord.
And all of this before he was saved. In chapter three, we come to a sovereign calling upon his life. We read in chapter 3, verse 1 of the spiritual famine.
Now the boy Samuel ministered to the Lord before Eli and notice The word of the Lord was rare in those days. There was no widespread spread revelation. Translations say there was no vision. From the Lord. I insert Parenthetically.
A comment about that text that is often taken out of context. that says where there is no vision, the people perish. I remember. Attending a service more than 50 years ago. where the preacher was trying to Stir his church up to get started in a building program to raise money for a new building.
And I'm looking around, and the auditorium they were in then was not more than a third full. And I wondered why they needed a new building. But the preacher is waxing eloquent on how important it is to have a vision, a vision, a vision, a vision of great things, a vision of expansion, a vision of growth. The text is talking about Revelation. Where there is no divine revelation, people perish.
I'm afraid.
Some may have been perishing in that very church where I was hearing this Sermon on a text taken out of context. Where there is no Divine revelation, where there is no word of God, where the word of God is not. Readily available where the Word of God is not Strongly emphasized where the Word of God is not clearly taught. Where that happens, the people perish. Because of a famine.
of the word. And that was the condition in these days when Samuel was a little boy. But Samuel himself was unregenerate at this time. We read in verse 7.
Now, Samuel. did not yet know the Lord. Nor was the word of the Lord yet revealed to him. Boy, there's a text with both sides of the coin. He did not yet know the Lord.
Why not? Because God had not yet opened his heart and mind. to receive it, the word of the Lord. had not yet been revealed to him. It takes our attention to God's word.
It takes God's Spirit to open our hearts to receive the word of God. And Samuel was serving God and yet was not yet. a born-again believer as we would the language we would use. But divine revelation came to him, as you know, in chapter 3, the story of while he was in bed at night. God spoke to him and he thought it was Eli and he ran and asked Eli and Eli said, no, go back to bed.
And that happened three times. And finally, Eli figured out, Eli knew he wasn't calling Samuel.
So he said, it must be God calling him. When he calls again, say, speak. Lord, I'm ready to hear. I'm listening. I like the old King James wording, speak, Lord, for thy servant heareth.
I'm eager to hear what you have to say. And when Samuel said that, God did speak to him. God apparently called him. Out of darkness into light. God regenerated him by the word of his power, by the regenerating work of the Holy Spirit.
And God gave to him. A revelation which was primarily a rebuke to Eli for not rearing his sons. In the ways of the Lord, or maybe that's the wrong way to put it, for not rebuking his sons for deviating from the path of righteousness which they had been taught. He was too soft. He wasn't willing to confront his sons.
He wasn't willing to discipline his sons who were being. ungodly and unfaithful and a very very egregious way. And again, this seems a bit strange. Why, God, would you speak to a child Yeah. The words of condemnation that apply to the older man Eli about his.
failure to be faithful in His family relationships. And expect this child to convey that communication to Eli and for Eli to receive it from a child. And yet, that's exactly what happened. And Eli shows remarkable. Humility and spiritual insight, and he recognizes this as God's word, and he said, Whatever God deems best, let him act accordingly.
He yielded. to this stern revelation from God. But from then on, God was with Samuel in a special way. We're still in chapter 3, verse 19.
So Samuel grew. We've seen that language before, but now there's something added to it.
So Samuel grew, and the Lord was with him. And let none of his words fall to the ground. Even at this age, whatever age is now referred to in verse 19. God is revealing things to Samuel, and Samuel is speaking them. He's now become a prophet.
And whatever he declares from God comes to pass. God brings it to pass. God is with Samuel. God is in Samuel, verse 20. And all Israel from Dan to Beersheba knew that Samuel had been established as a prophet of the Lord.
And God is with them now in their worship in a new and special way. Verse 21. Then the Lord appeared again in Shiloh. For the Lord revealed himself to Samuel in Shiloh by the word of the Lord. People have been coming to Shiloh.
They'd been sacrificing in Shiloh. Offerings were being made to God. The Levitical Religion was being carried out ceremoniously. And yet, there seemed to be something missing. There didn't seem to be the presence and power of God, but now there is.
Now, their worship is attended with God's presence.
Now, their worship is attended with God's power. That makes all the difference in the world. It is important that we do what God commands us to do, but it's also important that we recognize God must bless this. God must accompany this. God must attend this with His presence and blessing.
for it to have eternal impact. And indeed, that's what's going on now, even when Samuel is still a youth.
So a remarkable beginning, and we can see faith in this. Faith by Hannah, faith by Elkanah, faith by Eli. Faith brought by God to Samuel and he exercises faith. Faith Beginning with godly parents and faith. that continues in a godly child.
It's important. That we Instruct our children, bring them up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord. That's a duty. That's a responsibility. We dare not neglect it.
It's also important that we recognize that God must attend this with His power, or they will grow up in a Christian home and be well educated, knowledgeable, Heathen. And that happens. That happens. I read a si uh such an account on line just recently about a Young man that grew up in a pastor's home that had been carefully taught by his parents, and when he was a junior in college, he declared to them that he was now an atheist. That happens.
Now, the remedy that was suggested for this, I think, missed the main point, and that is, unless the Lord accompanies that training unless the Lord brings the new birth, unless the Lord regenerates. All of our instruction doesn't guarantee anything, but it is our responsibility as we call upon God, and God often does, I would say usually does, bless A faithful home of faithful parents in the teaching of their children. There is something to that promise no matter. What exactly it's been bandied about as to what exactly it means, but there's something wonderful about that verse in Proverbs: train up a child in the way he should go. and when he is old he will not depart from it.
Keep that in mind. And that is what we see in the life. of Samuel. But now we move on. We move from A remarkable beginning by faith to A faithful devotion, and this is the record of Samuel's continued faithful service of the Lord in chapters 7 and 8.
In chapter 7, we've got Samuel's... Leadership established, and I can only just hit the main points. We find in verse 3 he preaches to the nation of Israel. We find in verse 5, he prays for the nation of Israel publicly. We find in verses 6 and 15, 16 and 17 that he judges the nation of Israel.
And we find in verses 7 through 13 that God uses him to deliver the nation of Israel from their enemies in a serious battle. All of this God is doing through the life of Samuel. God is using him Mightily. You say, what was Samuel? What category does he fit in?
Was he prophet, priest, or king?
Well actually We've already seen he was a prophet. We realize he was a priest. He was of the the line of Levi and he was now serving as a priest in the temple. And he wasn't a king because kings hadn't been established yet, but he was a judge. He was the, I guess you'd say, the.
The equivalent, the closest equivalent to a king before God established kings in Israel, so he was all three. Quite a remarkable man. as God used him. And so his leadership is established, the records in chapter seven. But in chapter 8, his leadership is rejected, and this had to be most painful.
The nation of Israel comes to Samuel and demands a king. Why do you want a king? Why do you think you need a king? God leads you. In his appointed way, he raises up his leaders, he raises up judges, he is leading this nation.
It is a theocracy. Everything that God has designed points to God being the ruler. Why are you demanding a king? But they did. And one of the reasons they They give for this demand is because Samuel Your Sons are not walking before the Lord.
Uh oh. Samuel wasn't a perfect man. As Eli's sons. We're wicked men. And so God did not.
passed spiritual leadership on to them, but raised up Samuel. in the place of those sons.
Now Samuel's sons Are not walking with the Lord either. And so the children of Israel say, We need a king, we want a king. What will happen if the leadership passes to your sons? And so they do. demand a king, but think about this.
I don't know why Samuel didn't think to say this, but he was probably so personally involved in this sorrow. that his sons were not walking before the Lord. But I think Samuel should have said, Look, When Eli's sons didn't walk before the Lord, That didn't hinder God. God raised up. Another leader who was godly and faithful.
I regret that my sons are not walking before the Lord, but do you think the remedy is to demand a king that God has not? Indicated is his way of ruling this nation. Don't you? Trust God to raise up an appropriate leader when my When I'm gone, even if my sons are not what they ought to be, That should have been apparent, but it wasn't. We've got to have a kid.
And they were using this wickedness of Samuel's sons as their... Reason The rationale for demanding a kig. And I've noticed in my own life, and I've noticed in the lives of others. That when we want to do something that we suspect, either know or suspect is not. Right.
We can almost always find some. to justify it. The reason I'm doing this is because you failed here. The reason I'm doing this is because so-and-so has done that. The reason I'm doing this is because the church isn't perfect.
Really? It isn't? Wow. How did that happen?
Okay. Always, always some way to justify. our sinful desires But not in a God-pleasing way. We cannot justify as right that which God says is wrong. Remember, didn't your mother or grandmother say, Two wrongs don't make a right.
Correct? Two wrongs don't make a right. But they demanded a king. And so Samuel gives that request to God. He passes it on to God.
And um God tells Samuel to yield to Israel's demand. In other words, and this is another lesson. What they're doing is sinful in demanding a king. But It's part of my plan. I can't bless them.
Ford Demanding what is contrary to my revealed will, but I can tell you that I am a God who is so great that I can take even things that are sinful and Turn them into good. And think about it. There had to be some way for Israel to transition to a king. How else is there going to be A Messiah to sit upon the throne of David, if there never was a king in Israel. But Israel's wrong in demanding a king.
And God makes it clear to Samuel Samuel, don't take this personally. They're not rejecting you. They're rejecting me. This feels very personal. You feel the sting, you feel the hurt.
It's like they are disapproving of the way you have led This nation, when you have led it so faithfully and so justly, so righteously, in such an exemplary way, there really is no reason for anyone to complain, but they're demanding a king that sounds to you like they're saying, We're not satisfied with your leadership, Samuel. But God says to Samuel, that's not really what's going on. They're not rejecting you. They're rejecting me. That's pretty serious.
And so Samuel warns them what the king is going to be like. He's going to take their sons and daughters. He's going to tax them heavily. He's going to make life. more hard for them.
But Israel persists in demanding a king. And Samuel reports all that to God. That's an interesting lesson in prayer. I know we're going to run out of time before we get to the end of this.
Sorry. And I will quit. I won't force all of it into a longer than normal timeframe. But A lesson on prayer. What was it?
I've forgotten now. Oh, Samuel takes all of these things that are said to. him by Israel and he goes and reports them to God.
Well, don't you think God heard them? Why do you do that? Why do you have to do that? Of course, God heard them. Of course, God knows them.
But God has told us to do this. Get it? How long is it going to take us to get this through our thick skull? If God Tells us to pray, it's not because he doesn't know our petitions. It's not because he doesn't know what's on our hearts, it's not because he doesn't know everything, it's because he wants us to come to him and relate these things to him.
He has a purpose in that.
So do it. Whether you understand exactly how it all works or not, do it. Same thing with um Evangelism. You have God sovereign in salvation, of God. If the doctrine of election is true, I don't see how you can escape it if you read the Bible carefully.
But if that's true, then why do we evangelize? Why should we need to evangelize? God's going to bring this about whether we do or not. No, He's not. What?
I thought he was sovereign. He is. He's sovereignly chosen the result, and he has sovereignly chosen the means by which he's going to arrive at this result. And the means is for his people to preach the gospel, for his people to evangelize.
Well, I don't see the purpose for that. You don't need to see the purpose for that. Obey. What's so hard about that? Problems here, isn't it?
We're always looking for Justifications and rationalizations not to do what God has said. Get it through your thick skull. If God says it, He expects us to obey it. And the way to honor him is to believe his word. and act accordingly.
I didn't remind you of the definition of faith. But I'll stop now to do that. What is faith? Faith is believing the revelation of God and. Acting accordingly, good.
You're good, good pupils. You got it. You can say it.
Now do you do it? You can say it.
Now, are you doing it? You can say it.
Now What? Area of God's revelation are you? backing up on and not willing to do. Faith believes the revelation of God and acts. accordingly, right?
Right. Well, I will quickly, in just a minute or two, summarize my third point. which is a painful obedience by faith in chapters 9 through 15. Wow, can I condense that into a short? Short uh sentence or two.
This is where Samuel At God's command, Anoints Saul King. Samuel New That this is in Disobedience to God's revealed will. Samuel knows that God's people are sinning and demanding a king. But Samuel is commanded by God to anoint a king.
Now that's a tough one. What does he do? He does it. How? By faith.
He believes the revelation of God. And acts accordingly, and says, God, you figure it out, you straighten it out. It's not my responsibility to figure it out, it's my responsibility to obey what you say. A painful obedience. By faith.
And now number four. See, I did do it. Number four. A courageous defiance, and this involves Samuels Command to anoint David as king in the place of Saul.
Now that was dangerous. Chapter 16 we're at now. Let's find that and I'll read a A verse or two. 16, verse 1.
Now the Lord said to Samuel, How long will you mourn for Saul, seeing I have rejected him from reigning over Israel? Fill your horn with oil, and go, I am sending you to Jesse the Bethlehemite, for I have provided myself a king among his sons. And Samuel said, How can I go? If Saul hears of it, he will kill me. This is a dangerous assignment.
Okay. And we know Saul was fully capable of that. Note how many times in the record he tries to kill David. And only God's protection kept him from doing that. And Samuel knows that if he knows, if Saul knows, that Samuel has anointed somebody else as king, that Saul is going to do his best to kill Samuel.
Or hears that he's going to do this, he'll do his best to kill him to prevent that from happening. You talk about a dangerous assignment, this is it, and what does Samuel do? He says, yes, sir. Speak, Lord, for your servant heareth. Speak, Lord, I hear what you said.
Where does this oil go? And just point him out to me. Send me to Bethlehem, send me to Jesse. Let me survey his sons. Show me which one.
And I will anoint him, even knowing that this is defying. Saul the king, but I'm doing it in obedience to the king of kings. By faith. What an example. A courageous defiance by faith.
Saul obeys God's. Come on, Dam. And then he dies, that's recorded in chapter 25. Verse 1. But all of this is what is summarized just by His name.
mentioned in Hebrews 11.32. And what more shall I say? For the time would fail to tell me of Gideon. And Bayrak. And Samson.
And Japhtha. Also of David, And Samuel And the prophets. And here we see Samuel's remarkable faith. Samuel's exemplary faith, may we follow his example. Samuel's fruitful faith, how God blessed and used his faith and faithful actions to bring about His will.
In this world, and he will do the same. For you and for me, so let us commit ourselves to being men and women. of faith. Shall we pray? Father, thank you for your word.
Thank you for its clarity. Father, we confess that our flesh sometimes bucks against it. Help us, O Lord. to submit sweetly. and to trust you.
So your sovereignty. for bringing about all things according to your perfect design. as we ask it in Jesus' name. Amen. Yeah.
