God's Remedy for Troubled Times

Well, there's one thing that we can always count on in this world in which we live, and that is trouble.

Job put it this way in Job 5.7. He said, Man is born to trouble as the sparks fly upward. When the time comes that sparks in a fire stop going upward, then you can look around and perhaps see that trouble has ceased to exist. But there's no question that this fallen world is a troubled place, and all of us experience troubles in our lives of many, many kinds. It seems like the past several years in the United States have been especially troubled, more than those of us who have lived a number of years have experienced in a long, long time.

Some of the younger people might not know that it's ever been any different, but things have certainly been more troubled in these last years than they have been in my earlier years. And the question is, is there any solution for all of these troubles? And if by that you mean, is there a way to end troubles as long as the world is in its present condition? And the answer is no, there is not. There's only one solution, and that's the coming of Jesus Christ.

And until he comes, we are going to be in a world that is under the curse because of sin. And that means that there will always be difficulties, troubles, sorrows, disappointments, and heartaches of many, many kinds. But is there a solution to this troublesome world? And if by that you mean, is there a way to overcome troubles victoriously in our own lives?

And the answer to that question is yes, very much so. And the Bible shows us the way, and I think the beloved Psalm 46 is one of those places that will help us in this regard. Psalm 46, a very beloved Psalm for many, many people, and understandably so as you read the words of this great Psalm. It interestingly is not one of the Psalms of David.

Though it's in the section of Psalms, most of which were written by David, this one was not. We are told that it was authored by the sons of Korah. The sons of Korah were a family in the tribe of Levi, descendants of Korah who lived, actually was a brother to Aaron the high priest back in the days of Moses. And they were a family that was especially gifted musically. They were involved in the musical part of worship in the temple, in the choirs, in the orchestras, in the singing, in leading people in worship.

And this particular Psalm was composed by the sons of Korah. And it was addressed to the chief musician, the choir director, the minister of music for the temple. And that was a big responsibility because they had a whole lot more going on in that area than we do. When you realize that the Levites were all in essence full-time Christian workers, as we use that term today, and that several hundreds of them were involved in the ministry of music, then you can understand that the chief music director had a huge job. In fact, he had to have a lot of assistance in order to keep all this going because they were divided into divisions and they served at different times and they were different choirs.

But there was a lot going on. But all of that is to remind us that the Psalms were written to be sung. The Psalms are written for public worship. The Psalms are devised for God's people to join not only their hearts together, but their voices together in praise to God. This Psalm also, we are told in the introductory material, is a song of Alamoth. Not everybody is united in what they believe that is, but most believe that is a musical instruction of some kind. And probably related to young women, because that word Alamoth is related to the Hebrew word Alma, which is translated a young woman or a virgin. In Isaiah 7-14, behold a virgin shall conceive and bear a child, Alma, and that's related to this word. And therefore, probably the most knowledgeable guess at what this means is that this song was written for sopranos and was sung by a choir of young women. And I'd love to have heard it when it was first introduced into temple worship. We don't have that opportunity.

They didn't have recordings then, but we do have the words and we can consider that as we are doing this morning. The Psalm divides into three parts, and in that I think I find a threefold remedy for troubled times. God's remedy for troubled times, number one, renew your faith, verses one, two, and three. Number two, review God's ways, verses four through seven, and number three, examine God's works, verses eight through 11.

First of all, renew your faith. God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. Therefore, we will not fear, even though the earth be removed, even though the mountains be carried into the midst of the sea, though its waters roar and be troubled, though the mountains shake with its swelling. We have an affirmation of God's protecting power, a determination, which is our believing response, and a continuation, which is our unwavering perseverance in what we have learned. But it begins with a very important affirmation about God's protective power. God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. God is our refuge. That word means a strong fortress, a place of safety. God is our strength, that He is the one who empowers us in times of trouble.

He empowers us in our weakness so that we have the strength to face the trials that God brings into our lives. God is a very present help in trouble. He is exceedingly to be found, as one translator put it. He is exceedingly available. He is there. He is here.

He is with us. This is an affirmation of God's protective power. God is our refuge. God is the place of safety.

God is that impenetrable fortress through which nothing can reach us for harm as long as God is God. And He is involved in our lives. He is our strength.

He is our helper. And it was based upon this text that Martin Luther wrote that great hymn we sang a moment ago. A mighty fortress is our God, a bulwark never failing.

That's what is told us in the first verse of this psalm, an affirmation. Which is followed, therefore, logically by a determination which describes our believing response in the first phrase of verse 2, therefore, we will not fear. If God is our refuge, if God is our strength, if God is very presently here to help us in time of trouble, then why do we fear? Why do we worry? Why are we concerned?

Why are we upset? Therefore, we will not fear. Because there is, according to what we have learned in verse 1, there is no reason to fear. And we will not fear because we believe God. We believe His word. We will not fear because on the basis of this truth, we choose not to fear.

We can do that. Fear, of course, is an emotion. It's a strong emotion that comes upon us when difficulties are around us. And sometimes we have the sense that it's something that we can't help.

It just comes and we have no control over it. But that's not the sense of scripture. That's not what the Bible tells us. The Bible tells us that if in our mind we will by faith reach up and lay hold on God and His promises and who He is, then we can make a conscious decision that on the basis of that truth, we are not going to fear.

We refuse to do that. Verse 2 tells us that if verse 1 is believed, the result is fearlessness. And I chose that word carefully. Fearlessness.

That almost sounds too strong. Surely you're not expecting anyone to be fearless in the face of all that is going on in the world today and in the face of the many things that are going on in our lives today. But that's exactly what we are told. If God is our refuge and strength, is He? If God is our very present help and time of trouble, is He? Then we will not fear. May God help us to believe His word and to act accordingly. May God help us to choose not to fear. May God help us to reject fear. The normal natural response to these kinds of troubles.

But nevertheless, it does not have to be the response of the children of God. Let the world fear. Let the world be overcome with worry. And they really are.

They really are. I read just recently, someone did a poll among people to see what their level of fear was in the face of COVID. How much do you fear COVID? And what they found out was that there's a correspondence between the level of fear and people's political orientation. And the more leftists were people and their political beliefs, the higher was their level of fear. The progressives were the most fearful. The normal leftist people were slightly less fearful. As you move to the middle, the fear goes down. As you move to the right, to more and more conservative people, the fear became less and less.

It didn't completely disappear. But isn't that an interesting observation? Now, they related it to political matters. I suspect that there's probably even underlying correspondence. Underlying correspondence probably has more to do with how strong people's faith is in the living God and the God of the Bible.

And it just happens to generally work out in a political spectrum. But I think probably what we're looking at is the stronger a person's faith is in the Bible, the stronger a person's faith is in the word of the living God, the more people who believe the Bible is God's word. And I read another interesting poll.

These things are interesting. I read another interesting poll that even yet in America, in spite of all that's going on, something like 57 percent of Americans still believe the Bible is God's word. I'm amazed.

All the attacks that have come and continue to be upon us, I would think we'd probably be down to just a little bit. Maybe 20 or 25 percent that still believe the Bible is God's word. 57 percent at least say when they're asked the question, do you believe the Bible is God's word?

They say yes. But that leaves 43 percent filled with fear. Because they don't know this. They don't believe this. They have no refuge in strength.

They have no present help in time of trouble. And so they are filled with fear. And so we have an affirmation in God's protective power. We have a determination, which is our believing response to God's power.

But there is a continuation. It goes on to describe that we will not fear. You know, it's one thing to say I won't fear when I stub my toe. It's another thing to say I won't fear when everything that I have known, everything that is stable, everything that represents normalcy and stability in my life is crumbling all around me.

But here we read, therefore we will not fear even though the earth be removed. And though the mountains be carried into the midst of the sea. Though its waters roar and be troubled. Though the mountains shake with its swelling. Much of what is described here sounds like the granddaddy of all earthquakes.

It is just completely shaking the world in every way. But of course this is poetic and that's really poetic language for all of the things that crumble around us. The cultural norms that we have known that are crumbling around us. The political situation that we have known that is crumbling around us.

The family structures as we have known them that are crumbling around us. And on and on and on it goes. And sometimes those things begin to add up, don't they? And we don't fear at the beginning, but then we have this one added to this one added to this one added to this one. And pretty soon we're not so sure anymore and we're beginning to cave in a little bit. We're beginning to fear. And the psalmist tells us we don't need to do that.

If you are one of God's people, if God is your refuge, that's very personal, isn't it? If God is your refuge, if God is your strength, if God is your very present help in time of trouble, then you don't need to fear even though everything that you have known in this life just completely collapses around you. Though the earth should change, though the mountains should crumble, though earth's waters threaten, though the mountains quake, though everything stable around us collapses, we will not fear. Renew your faith, dear friend. And then to help with that, we go on in the second section to review God's ways.

And this is like looking back over the past and seeing what God has done. This will help you to strengthen your faith. And in verses four through seven, there are three certainties about God. They are, number one, God provides for his people. And number two, God defeats his enemies. And number three, God protects his people. God provides for his people. There is a river whose streams shall make glad the city of God, the holy place of the tabernacle of the Most High. God is in the midst of her. She shall not be moved.

God shall help her just at the break of dawn. The nations raged. The kingdoms were moved. He uttered his voice.

The earth melted. The Lord of Hosts is with us. The God of Jacob is our refuge.

God provides for his people. Perhaps a more literal translation of verse four, which says, there is a river, would be something like, lo, a river. Behold, a river. Where'd that come from? I can tell you where it came from. It comes from the throne of God, a stream of never-ending grace. And that figure is used all throughout the Bible.

You'll find it many places. We can go to the prophetic section in Ezekiel, where he tells us about the temple, describes the temple in beautiful terms, and then what do we see? We see pretty soon a trickle of water that is coming out from the temple, and it gets deeper and deeper.

At first it's just you can touch your toes in it, and then it's up to your ankles, and then it's up to your waist, and then you have to swim. And it's a river, a river of grace. And you can go into the Bible, to the book of Revelation, and you read there about the new heaven, Jerusalem, and out of that is a crystal river. And this figure is used many times of the life-giving streams that come from God, which are a picture of God's goodness, God's grace that is ministered to His people. So we have a lot of songs about rivers, don't we? Like a river, glorious is God's perfect peace, over all victorious in His bright increase. Where there is a river, bum, bum, bum, bum, bum, bum.

I can't remember all the words, but you know that one, I'm sure. And this river, we're told, supplies the city of God, and that's a figure for the people of God. We're told, for example, that the new Jerusalem comes down out of heaven, and then we're told the new Jerusalem is the bride. I don't want to get into prophetic issues here, because so much of it is symbolic, and it's not always easy to unravel. And I think anybody who's too dogmatic about it is probably being very foolish, because there are a lot of questionable and interesting possibilities here.

But you have to consider this one. That is, that city is not, we're not going to see that as a city. That's a figure for the bride of Christ, the people of God.

In some respects, they're like a city, a strong city, and that's the same language that is used here. This river that supplies the city of God, that is the people of God. And God is in the midst of her. Again, that would parallel the figure that we see in the book of Revelation, that God is in the middle of this city. That is, He is in the middle of His people. And God faithfully delivers His people. This river, this river of grace shall make glad the city of God, the holy place of the tabernacle of the Most High. God is in the midst of her, and she shall not be moved. Are you part of that city?

Are you part of the bride of Christ? Then you shall not be moved. Why? Because you're strong?

No. Because He is. We're like little children who to Him belong. We are weak, but He is strong. God faithfully delivers His people. Oftentimes at the last minute, God is in the midst of her.

She shall not be moved. God shall help her when? Just at the break of dawn. Just when you've just about given up hope. Just when it seems like the darkness will never end.

It just is going on and on and on without end. But just at the break of dawn, always at the right time, always to rescue, to deliver, to save, to protect, to provide what is needed for His people, always at the right time, God comes to His people. God's presence is like a quiet, powerful, life-imparting river. In contrast with those roaring waters of the world that are in turbulence and tumult all the time, I will not fear, though its waters roar and be troubled, though the mountains shake with its swelling. The waters roar and be troubled. That's a figure of the turmoil that's constantly going on in this world. It's like a flood.

It's like a storm at sea. It's like waves crashing out of control and the waters rolling in that cannot be stopped seemingly, except they can be, by God Almighty who has all things in His control. And then by contrast, flowing out of the throne of God is a quiet, peaceful river.

Someone would look at that and they would say, what is this quiet, peaceful river in comparison to the mighty floods of a turbulent ocean, the powers over there with the flood waters, the powers over there with the ocean roaring and raging and breaking through its levees, and what is the power of this quiet, peaceful river? I'll tell you what it is. It's the power of God. And God takes the things that seem by the natural eye to be insignificant and He makes them powerful and significant. So what is the Church in comparison with all of the powers of this world that are sailed against it?

I'll tell you what it is. It is the power of God in the midst of His people. And we shall not be moved.

That's what it is. So God provides for His people in verses 4 and 5, this grace in the river that just flows and flows and flows. And God defeats His enemies, verse 6. The nations raged, the kingdoms were moved.

Oh yeah, they were in a big uproar. They thought they were going to overthrow God and overthrow the people of God. God spoke and what? The earth melted. That's all it took. That's all it took. God spoke.

Boom. It reminds me of Psalm 2. Why do the heathen rage?

Why do the nations imagine a vain thing? The days of the earth have set themselves against God and against His anointed saying. We will cast their bands off from us. We will toss their cords asunder.

He who sits in the heaven shall laugh because of the appointed time He's going to speak and all of this is going to just collapse. All the opposition. All the danger. All the mischief. All the ill intent. God says, enough!

Stop! That's it. We saw a little glimpse of that when Judas and the soldiers came to arrest Jesus in the garden. And He said, who are you looking for? And most of these soldiers didn't know Jesus. They didn't recognize Him. They hadn't been around Him. So, who are you looking for? And they said, Jesus of Nazareth. And Jesus spoke two words in the Greek. Ego ami.

I am. Bang. They all fell to the ground. They were powerless. They were helpless when Jesus spoke.

It would have been kind of interesting if He had kept that up. They get up out of their feet and He says, I am. They fall down again. They get up on their feet.

He says, I am. They fall down again. I wonder how many times it would have taken for them to decide they can't overcome this one in their power. Sometimes people are stubborn.

It takes them a while. Remember, was that in the days of Elijah or Elisha? I think it was Elisha. When the king sent out a company of 50 men to arrest him on the mountain. He spoke the word and they all were consumed in fire. Then he sent out another group, another band of soldiers to get one man. They came to arrest him and he gave the word and bang.

They all fell down dead. That third group had a very humble attitude. If it would please you, Sir Prophet, if it wouldn't be too much trouble, the king would like to have audience with you. We're not here to make any trouble. Please don't say anything that would kill us like you did the folks before us. They're beginning to catch on that God Almighty is more powerful than any force on earth and the people who belong to Him are invincible because of Him, not because of us. And that God's enemies are our enemies, or turn it the other way around, our enemies, those who are against everything that's godly, those who are against the word of God, those who are against Jesus Christ, those who are against biblical morality, those who are against all these things in this world. And we look at those and we say those are mighty forces and they are our enemies. Yeah, they're our enemies.

If we're Christians and we're living for God and we're lined up with His truth, yes, they're our enemies because they're His enemies. And just don't forget that all God has to do is say, boo, and they're gone. Review God's ways. God provides for His people, God defeats His enemies, God protects His people. Verse 7, the Lord of hosts is with us.

It's not like the psalmist or psalmists, it may be a company of people who may have been a committee who wrote this psalm, the psalmist have to keep reminding us of this because they know that we, though we know it, we tend to let it slip out of our active memory. The Lord of hosts is with us. The God of Jacob is our refuge.

Don't forget that. That's really a restating of what he said in verse 1. The Lord of hosts is with us, the God of refuge and strength, the very present help and trouble.

Now he says it a different way. The Lord of hosts is with us, the God of Jacob is our refuge. God protects His people. He is with us always. He is our refuge always, not some of the time, always. Occasionally we have sung Jim Ellef's hymn based on this psalm.

We sing it more often. O God, my ever-present help in floods of pain and trouble, You are my refuge and my strength, though mountains round me crumble. I don't know where the other part went here. O God, and You I cannot fear, though mountains fall around me, the waters of adversity that roar and foam surround me, always present, always helping, always Lord Almighty. O God, while kingdoms rage, my secret doubts may overtake me.

But You are here. I will not fall. At break of day, You'll save me, always present, always helping, always Lord Almighty. O God, You make my wars to cease.

One word brings desolation. Be still, my soul, and know He's God. In Him find consolation, always present, always helping, always Lord Almighty.

The Lord of hosts is with us. The God of Jacob is our refuge. So review God's ways, verses 4 through 7, and then examine God's works, verses 8 through 11. Similar, but verses 4 through 7 are thinking more in terms of what has taken place in the past. Review past events and remind you of who God is and what He does. And then this has to do with examining present things. More recent, examine God's works presently. Verse 8, come behold the works of the Lord. They're all around you.

Are you seeing them? Who has made desolations in the earth, who makes wars to cease to the end of the earth, He breaks the bow and cuts the spear in two. He burns the chariots in the fire. Be still and know that I am God. I will be exalted among the nations. I will be exalted in the earth.

And then this refrain again. The Lord of hosts is with us. The God of Jacob is our refuge. An invitation to examine, come. Let us behold the works of the Lord.

Take a good long look. There's some that think that the historical event that was in view at this particular writing of this psalm was that time when King Sennacherib came up against the people of Israel with a mighty army. And Israel's king Hezekiah, I think it was, went to the Lord in prayer and spread out his petition before God. In fact, he actually took the very letter, the epistle that the king had sent with his threats and boasting that nobody could stop him. And he just spread it out before God and said, God, take a look at this. We can't do anything about this, but you are God Almighty.

Please do something about this. And remember what happened? The children of Israel got up the next day. The King James language is hilarious, but I'll read it from my New King James. It's in Isaiah 37 verse 36. Then the angel of the Lord went out and killed in the camp of the Assyrians one hundred and eighty-five thousand. And when the people arose in the morning, there were the corpses all dead. Come, examine the works of the Lord.

Take a look at this. Just take a look at what God did during the night while you were sitting there filled with fear. Come, behold the works of the Lord. An invitation to examine. And then it goes on to give us a report of the examination.

Having examined, what do you report? Well, he makes desolations. He makes wars deceased. We read in verses eight and nine. He brings deserved justice upon the unbeliever, the one who will not bow the knee, the one who will not believe, the one that will not surrender, the one that will not relinquish his own independent personal sovereignty to the one who is truly sovereign overall.

God is amazingly gracious to let such people go on for a long time, but finally the time comes and bang. And look at the desolation when all God does is speak. He makes wars to cease.

He destroys the weapons of war. Think about the children of Israel going across the Red Sea on dry ground. And then the Egyptians decided that they would try it. And so they followed into the same path, and before God let the flood waters loose on them, we read that their chariot wheels were wobbling and coming off and that, what's causing that to happen? You don't know?

You don't know? Come behold the works of the Lord. Things aren't going the way they planned. And then bang, in comes the flood and all of them are destroyed. And therefore the result of this examination of the works of God is that we can relax. Be still and know that I am God.

That's the way one translator translated it. He translated be still. Relax. Relax. God is God. Relax and know that God is God. Stop worrying, stop fretting.

Or some believe that this word is actually spoken to God's enemies rather than to God's people, in which case it should be translated desist, not be still, but stop, desist. Stop all your futile opposition. How futile it is. You keep trying, you keep raging, you keep fighting against Almighty God.

Stop it if you know what's good for you. You can't win. Who's going to win? God is. Who's going to win? Everybody who's on God's side. Everybody who's with Him, that's who.

That's who's going to win. We can all have renewed confidence in God, that He is God. A lot of people don't believe that, but He is. Be still and know that I am God. We can have confidence that He will be exalted. When is that going to happen, O Lord God? We pray, Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. We long for that to happen. And year after year and decade after decade and century after century roll on and we think, perhaps our faith gets weak. We begin to falter. Is this really going to happen? Is this really what the Bible is teaching us?

And the skeptics mock and say, You are foolish to believe that. Just hang in there. Just hang in there. Be still and know that I am God and I will be exalted. I will be exalted above the nations and I will safeguard my children. You have nothing to fear. And so we have the refrain again, verse 11, The Lord of hosts is with us.

The God of Jacob is our refuge. This is the remedy for troubled times. Shall I tell you again? What's the remedy? Number one, renew your faith. Number two, review God's ways.

Number three, examine God's works and apply that to your situation, whatever it may be. What's troubling you? COVID? It's real. I can't believe there's some people who act as if it's all a hoax.

It's real. But so what? God is greater. God is sovereign. God sent it. God has a purpose for it. And it's under God's control.

It's not out of control. And God will safeguard his people. So stop worrying and fretting.

Therefore, we will not fear in the face of COVID. What is troubling you? Politics? We can't escape it. We're all affected by it. We can't shut it out, pretend like there's nothing going on in the political world that has anything to do with me.

Oh, yeah, it has a lot to do with all of us. But are we fearful? Are we afraid? Do we think things are spinning out of control? Are we wringing our hands?

Are we desperately trying to do something to make things go our way? Cut it out. God's in control. Just be still.

And know that God is God. Are you troubled about world affairs? Things are breaking out in Israel again. Yeah, with great interest. But again, anybody who thinks they've got it all figured out as to what this means prophetically, I would urge you to be cautious, be careful with your pronouncements and predictions. I've been around a long while. We were talking about this the other day at our church staff meeting, and I said, let me show you something. And I went into my other room and pulled a book off the shelf that one of our church members gave me in 1980. Dear ladies, now with the Lord, gave me this book that somebody had given to her, and it was by a well-known prophetic preacher, well-known in those days.

If I said his name, some of you older folks would know who it is. And the title of the book was 1980's Countdown to Armageddon. And he wrote a whole book proving that that was the case, from prophecy, from scripture. There's no doubt about it.

Before this decade is over, Armageddon will be here. Here's the evidence from the Word of God. That dear church member asked me what I thought of it, and I said, well, let me read it and we'll talk about it. And I put it on my shelf and just let it sit there. And she didn't say any more about it.

And about 1990, I pulled it down and looked at it. I don't think you've got it figured out, but something's going on. There's something's going on, and I'm interested in what's going on in the Middle East. And I'm very jealous for Israel and their protection and safety. But I don't get all upset or concerned about that. Be still and know that I am God. God's in control of all that.

I don't need to be concerned about that. What has got you upset? Problems with your marriage? God can fix them. Be still and know that I am God. Problems with your children, wayward children that are not trusting God? I know that's a great burden indeed.

But God is able, be still and know that I am God. Problem with your finances? You are struggling and you don't know how you're going to make things come together. I know that's a great difficulty. I've been there, done that at times through the years.

And I know how distressing that can be. But be still and know that I am God. God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. God will be with us. The Lord of hosts is with us.

The God of Jacob is our refuge. Are you concerned about illness? Do you have a disease that may take your life if God doesn't intervene?

Well, I don't know what God's will is. I had a disease like that that I thought was going to take my life back in the 80s. And thank God's goodness it didn't. Here I am. The doctors at Duke told me I should be dead a long time ago. That doctor, excellent doctor, outstanding doctor who treated me. I think he's now retired.

I don't even know if he's still living. But I am. And I'm still going on. Now, that doesn't always happen. Sometimes it's God's will to take us by way of these illnesses. But one thing is sure. Nothing is going to happen outside of God's perfect will and perfect control. Nothing is outside of God's control. And finally, for us as a church, I'll just say a couple of things before I conclude.

How does this sum apply to us? Well, sometimes we look at what's going on in the world today and we say, are we going to lose our freedom? Are we going to lose our religious protection that we've enjoyed in this country? Is that going to destroy us? Is that going to destroy the church, this one, or others as well?

Nope. Jesus said on this rock, I will build my church and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. Now, I can't promise you that the church may not have to change its form and change its way of conducting itself as it has in other countries today where churches are meeting in homes and behind closed doors and in fear of persecution. But the amazing thing about it is that the ones I've been in contact in those situations seem to have less fear than we do. We're enjoying all this freedom and afraid it's going to end.

They don't have it and are in danger of being arrested and thrown in prison, and they aren't fearing anything. They are trusting God. God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. Well, if God doesn't do this, I don't know how our church is going to continue.

God doesn't bring us more young people, and on and on it goes. God knows what we need. God knows how to maintain, how to build, how to bring about transitions when they come, because they always do in this world, and we have nothing to fear. God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. Therefore, we will not fear.

Right? We will not fear. Amen? We will not fear, because God is with us. Tis grace has brought us safe thus far.

Tis grace will lead us home. Shall we pray? Oh, Father, increase our faith. Oh, Father, forgive us for our doubts. Forgive us for our fears. Help us, oh Lord, to trust in You and in Your word, for that brings honor and glory to Your Son, as we ask it in Jesus' name. Amen.