Well, good morning. It is so great to be with you. My name is Corey, and I get to serve on staff as our executive pastor, and we are winding down our summer series in the Psalms, and next week Pastor Anthony is going to wrap things up for us as he preaches through Psalm 23.

But as we begin this morning, I want to be kind of honest and open and transparent with you. And preparing for today, was praying about which psalm to preach through, and God kept nudging me in a certain direction. And as God was nudging me in that direction, I was like, really, God? I don’t, I don’t want to go there. Please don’t, don’t make me, me go there. Can you help me pick a different psalm than the one that you’re nudging me towards? Because I was like, hey, God, at God, there’s a hundred and fifty psalms. Can we just pick one? That’s a little more straightforward, a little bit, you know, simpler to walk through. And, and for those of you who don’t know what I’m talking about today: we’re gonna go through Psalm 119. And if you know that psalm, you get what I’m talking about.

However, if you are unfamiliar with Psalm 119, let me tell you why I wrestled with God a little bit. It’s because there’s no way in the time that we have today we can tackle or do justice or fully take in this psalm, because Psalm 119 is the longest chapter in the entire Bible. It has a hundred and seventy-six verses. Right? This one chapter is longer than the book of Esther, the book of Song of Solomon, Lamentations, all of the minor prophets except Hosea and Zechariah. Psalm 119 is, is two times as long as the book of Ruth. It has more verses than 17 of the 27 books of the New Testament. So that’s why I was like, God, can we do something else, please?

But he kept pushing me towards that, and when God does that, you just want to be obedient, because it means he’s got something he wants to do. And now, listen, with all of that background: if I tried to preach through one song, Psalm 119, verse by verse, we would be here till Christmas, or longer. And it’s hard to know what to say about Psalm 119, because it’s so magnificent. It takes one subject — the gift of God’s word — and it returns to it 176 verses in a row. And as a result, it is so expansive, so layered, so intentionally constructed, and so relentlessly focused, that, that we could spend a lifetime in this psalm and continue to find something new every time we looked at it.

So because of that, we’re not going to go verse by verse today, and we’re not even going to break it into sections. However, I have studied the context. We’re going to stay in that context, and from that context we are going to pull out the core of what this psalm is actually about, because its truth, its impact, its relevancy matters today just as much as when it was written.

Why? Because whether you’re a teenager or you’re in your 80s, all of us, all of us have sat in a moment where life stopped making sense. Right? And we didn’t know where to go. We didn’t know where to turn. We didn’t know what to do. And I’m not just talking about something small like an inconvenience. I’m talking about those moments where the, the decision is huge and the ground beneath you feels like it’s crumbling and falling apart, and we need something to grab onto and hold on to. Because after all, that’s something we will face over and over again in life, right? I’m talking about those, those moments we inevitably find ourselves in, where you’re like, hey, how am I supposed to make this decision? It’s so huge. How am I supposed to face this difficulty? How do I know what’s right or wrong in, in this situation? How do I keep from making a choice that I just can’t come back from? Well, Psalm 119 helps us navigate and answer life questions like that.

So with all of that in mind, here’s our big idea for today. It’s that God’s word doesn’t just describe truth, it holds me, it holds you up inside it. God’s word doesn’t just describe truth. It holds us up inside of it. And that’s our, our big idea, because what we’re going to see is at the psalmist, right, it is not writing truth from a safe distance. Rather, he’s leaning his whole life on it. And my hope for today is really simple. I want us to leave thinking about approaching and cherishing God’s word differently than when we walked in.

Now, because there is so much to tackle in this psalm, I’m gonna approach things a little bit different than I normally do. So with that in mind, I just kind of want to let you know the road map of where we’re headed as we work through Psalm 119. We’re going to look at context and background and structure. Then we’re going to look at some significant words that the psalmist use. Then we’re going to look at what God’s word does. And then we’re going to hit the application before we wrap up. So if you haven’t already, I want to invite you: go ahead, grab your Bible or your Bible app and find Psalm 119 with me.

As you make your way there, let’s, let’s start with the context, the background, and the structure. The background and the context of Psalm 119 is this, is that the author is unnamed. Scholars have debated for centuries who wrote Psalm 119, but no one really knows. And here’s what’s really worth noting as we kind of talk about that: it’s that if the author’s identity were essential to what God wanted us to know, then God would have given it to us. What, what’s most important is not who wrote Psalm 119. What’s most important is what’s in it.

And what we do know is this, is that it was likely written over some period of time and compiled later. Why, why do we know that? Because Bible scholars recognize that there is not a definitive flow of thought from the beginning to the end of the psalm. Rather, the, the sections and the verses, that, they’re not like a chain that, that interlocks, where all the links connect. But rather, it’s, as one commentator describes it, it’s like they’re a string of pearls, where each pearl is equal but independent in its value.

And the structure of Psalm 119 is really interesting. It’s actually an acrostic, with eight lines in each section. The sections are often called stanzas, and there’s 22 stanzas in total in Psalm 119. And each stanza corresponds to a letter of the Hebrew alphabet, and the first word in each verse begins with that same Hebrew letter. And so let’s take a look at a few of these sections, or, or stanzas, together. We’re going to have the verses up on the screen.

But the first grouping, or stanza, we’re going to look at is verses one through eight. The psalmist writes: How happy are those whose way is blameless, who walk according to the Lord’s instruction? Happy are those who keep his decrees and seek him with all their heart. They do nothing wrong. They walk in his ways. You have commanded that your precepts be kept diligently. If only my ways were committed to keeping your statutes. Then I would not be ashamed when I think about all your commands. I will praise you with an upright heart when I learn your righteous judgments. Verse 8 says: I will keep your statutes. Never abandon me.

These opening verses correspond to the first letter of the Hebrew alphabet, Aleph. And it focuses on devotion to God’s word. Here the, the psalmist shares how to commit and live in obedience to God’s word in this opening stanza.

Let’s look at another one together, verses nine through sixteen. Psalmist writes: How can a young man keep his way pure? By keeping your word. I have sought you with all of my heart. Don’t let me wander from your commands. I have treasured your word in my heart so that I may not sin against you. Lord, may you be blessed; teach me your statutes. With my lips I proclaim all the judgments from your mouth. I rejoice in the way revealed by your decrees as much as in all riches. I will meditate on your precepts and think about your ways. I will delight in your statutes, and I will not forget your word.

These verses here correspond to the second letter in the Hebrew alphabet, Bet. Right? And here the psalmist considers the ways that studying and applying and obeying the word of God leads to a life of purity. Stanza after stanza, this continues all the way through this entire psalm.

Let’s jump way ahead and just look at one more before we move on. I’m going to move all the way down to verse 161. It’s there that it’s written: Princes have persecuted me without cause, but my heart fears only your word. I rejoice over your promise like one who finds vast treasure. I hate and abhor falsehood, but I love your instructions. Uh, I praise you seven times a day for your righteous judgments. Abundant peace belongs to those who love your instructions. Nothing makes them stumble. Lord, I hope for your salvation and carry out your commands. I obey your decrees and love them greatly. Verse 168 says: I obey your precepts and decrees, for all my ways are before you.

Here this stanza connects with the Hebrew letter Shin. And the psalmist here is exploring his relationship to the word of God. He’s sharing that the Lord’s commands and the Lord’s instructions bring great peace, and they bring happiness, creating reassurance in times of persecution and when facing his enemies. And this is the structure that is there throughout the entire psalm and continues through the very last verse.

Furthermore, when we read through Psalm 119, what we begin to notice is that the psalmist doesn’t use just one word to describe God’s word. Rather, he uses several. And, in, here’s why that, that matters. Each word he uses reveals a slightly different facet of what God’s word actually is. I think about it like this: it’s like holding up a diamond to the light and rotating it — the same diamond, different angles, but you begin to see different things come into view.

And so these words that the psalmist uses, we’re going to take a look at here, and you’ll see words like this. We’re going to put them up on the screen here. The words like law, which refer to God’s overall instruction. The word instruction, which is how to think and how to live wisely. Commandments — this is what to do. Statutes are what God has established. Ordinances are what God has prescribed for his people. Precepts are how to apply God’s wisdom in everyday life. Judgments — this is what’s right and just in God’s eyes. Testimonies are reminders of, of who God is and what he’s promised and what he’s done. Ways are an invitation for you and I to walk in God’s character and his pattern of life. Decrees are what God has authoritatively determined. And lastly, simply, the word word. It’s everything that God has revealed.

Now, depending on which Bible translation you have, you may see slightly different English words used. And listen, that’s okay. Don’t, don’t get distracted with that, right? That’s just our English language trying to do the best that we can with, with Hebrew. What we care about is what the original language, with the original Hebrew, said. Right? And the psalmist is using his entire vocabulary, everything he’s got, to trying to describe God’s, God’s word. And while there’s overlap in these words, each has a slightly different emphasis. Nonetheless, they’re all used to describe the word of God.

In doing so, here’s what’s amazing: God’s word is referenced in at least 171 of the 176 verses in this song. Think about that for a moment. 171 out of 176 of these verses. The psalmist can barely write a sentence without referencing God’s word. This isn’t a song that occasionally mentions Scripture. It’s a song that is completely consumed by it, from beginning until end. God’s word is the subject of Psalm 119 — the anchor and the answer.

And we see these words used in verses like, like verse 96, where it says: I’ve seen the limit to all perfection, but your command is without limit. There’s one of those words used there, right? This is the psalmist saying, hey, God, there is no situation, no question, no circumstance that your word does not reach. We see these words used in, in verse 68, where it says: You are good and you do what is good; teach me your statutes. Right? This is the, the psalmist connecting God’s character directly to his word. He’s saying, the reason I trust God is because of who God is, and the word and the author cannot be separated. Verse 30 says: I’ve chosen the way of truth. I’ve set your ordinances before me. Right here, that’s a decision. The psalmist isn’t drifting into God’s word. He’s making it deliberate. He’s making a conscious choice to put God’s word in front of him, saying it doesn’t happen by accident. Verse 56 says: This is my practice. I obey your, your precepts. Verse 3 says: They do nothing wrong. I, they walk in his ways. There the psalmist is, is not claiming to be sinless or perfect. He’s saying a life oriented around God’s word moves in a different direction than one that isn’t. Verse 2 says: Happy are those who keep his decrees and seek him with all of their heart. And verse 9 says: How can a young man keep his way pure? By keeping your word. It’s about as straightforward and practical as it gets. Different words, all used to describe the word of God.

And here’s what I don’t want us to miss. Listen, this is more than just vocabulary. The psalmist isn’t describing a document. He’s describing a relationship. Every single one of those words — instruction, precepts, testimony, decrees, judgments, right? — points to a God who is actively — don’t miss this — to, points to a God who is actively communicating with the people that he made, us.

And the psalmist, I think, learned something that most of us are still trying to figure out. He learned that when we actually engage with what God has said — not just read it, not just know that it exists, but actually let our lives into it — it’s that his word does something. It performs. It moves. It changes things. And what does the word of God perform, change, and do in the lives of someone who takes it seriously? Well, I want to look at that together.

And as we look at this, as we look at what God’s word does, I’m going to move really quickly through these. We’re not going to analyze and, and take time on each point or each verse. And the reason for that is because once we get through these, as we’re going through these, I just want us to feel the weight of these passages of Scripture on us. So stay with me. What does God’s word perform, change, and do in the life of someone who takes it seriously?

It brings happiness. Verse one: Happy are those whose way is blameless, who walk according to the Lord’s instruction. Verse two: Happy are those who keep his decrees and seek him with all of their heart. God’s word keeps us from wrong, sin, and evil. Verse three: They do nothing wrong. They walk in his ways. God’s word keeps us free from shame. Verse six: I will not be ashamed when I think about your commands. God’s word will keep us on the path to purity. Verse nine: How can a young man keep his way pure? By keeping your word. It will help us avoid sin. Verse 11: I have treasured your word in my heart so that I may not sin against you. God’s word will give wisdom and counsel. Verse 24: Your decrees are my delight and my counselors. Verse 98: Your command makes me wiser than my enemies. God’s word helps us speak truth. Verse 29: Keep me from lying in deceit and evil; graciously give me your instructions. It brings pleasure. Verse 35: Help me to stay on the path of your commands, for I take pleasure in it. It brings hope. Verse 49: Remember your word to your servant. You have given me hope through it. It brings freedom. Verse 45: I will walk freely because I study your precepts. It brings comfort, and it brings life. Verse 50: This is my comfort in my affliction. Your promise has given me life. Verse 93: I will never forget your precepts. You have given me life through them. God’s word gives understanding. Verse 104: I gain understanding from your precepts; therefore I hate every false way. God’s word is a guide: Your word is a lamp for my feet and a light into my path. God’s word teaches what is righteous. Verse 172: My tongue sings about your promise, for all your commands are righteous. God’s word gives us joy. Verse 162: I rejoice over your promise like one who finds a vast treasure. It establishes our values. Verse 37: Turn my eyes from looking at what is worthless. Give me life in your ways. It gives us peace. Verse 165: Abundant peace belongs to those who love your instructions. Nothing makes them stumble. It steadies us. Verse 133: It makes steps — make my steps steady through your promise. It revives us. Verse 25: My life is down in the dust. Give me life through your word. Verse 107: I am severely afflicted, Lord. Give me life according to your word.

Here is what I want us to see in all of that. The psalmist is not describing a book that sits on a shelf. He’s describing something that touches every dimension of your life and mine — our decisions, our relationships, our emotions, our sense of direction, our identity. There is no category of human experience that God’s word does not speak into. That’s exactly why the Bible is described as living and active.

And here’s why this matters so much right now. It’s because we live in a world that is constantly changing. Emotions are all over the map. Truth gets redefined depending on who’s talking, and opinions shift with the cultural wind. And in the middle of all that, Psalm 119 tells us that God’s word is fixed, or settled, in verse 89. It tells us that God’s word is trustworthy, as it says in verse 138. It says God’s word has been thoroughly tested, as it says in verse 140; that it’s perfect, verse 142; and that it endures forever, verse 152.

This means, as we talked about earlier, right, when life starts to not make sense, those moments that everything seems to be falling apart and we need something to, to hold on to, to grab onto — the word of God is that anchor. It is that unchanging truth. It is that perfect truth. It’s a compass that will never point you wrong, and it’s a foundation that will not crumble.

And listen, as I’m sharing this with you, I’m not telling you that God’s word identifies every life example in every issue, in every problem, in every circumstance we face. But it does give us truth and principles to navigate every issue and every problem, in every circumstance, in every decision, in every season we face.

Listen, it’s one thing for the psalmist to make these claims about God’s word. It would be one thing for us to make these claims about God’s word. But it’s an entirely different thing to actually stake our lives on it. God’s word moves. It performs. It does something in us and in our lives.

And listen, here’s what I want to show us next. By every standard historians and scholars use, the Bible is not just some religious sentiment. The Bible is the most verified document or writings in human history. I want to, I want to show you something. I’m sure some of you have seen this, but for those of you who haven’t, I think this is going to blow your mind a little bit. I want you to look at the screen with me. Check this out. This is so cool.

Right, this here — this here is a diagram that shows every cross reference in the Bible. Right? That means every time the Bible connects directly or indirectly to another part of the Bible, it’s represented by one of these arcs. What we have here is 63,779 connections from one part of the Bible to another part of the Bible. You heard that right? 63,779 connections from one part of the Bible to another part of the Bible.

And I want to just draw your attention to something. Do you see all those kind of white lines on the bottom there that are going down? Those represent the chapters in the Bible. There’s one there that kind of stands out more than the rest. Anybody want to guess what chapter of the Bible that is? Psalm 119. Right? That’s a gimme for today.

Listen, I’ve been in ministry for quite a few years now, and every time I see this, man, it just, it makes me sit in awe. If somebody wrote a book that did this, we would say it’s a masterpiece. We would say this is the greatest author who has ever lived. But here’s the deal: the Bible was not written by one person. The Bible was written down over 1,500 years, over 60 generations, through 40 different individuals. Moses was an Egyptian prince. Joshua was a soldier. Samuel was a priest. David was a king. Job was a rich farmer. Amos was a poor farmer. Ezra was a scribe. Isaiah was a prophet. Matthew was a tax collector. Mark was an evangelist. Luke was a physician. John was a wealthy fisherman. Peter was a poor fisherman. And Paul was a tent maker. It was written across three continents — Europe, Asia, and Africa — in three different languages: Greek, Hebrew, and Aramaic. And with all of those things considered, it’s got one, one united story, and it has zero contradictions.

There is only one answer to how that can happen, and don’t miss this. Yes, it was written down by individuals who were inspired and carried along by the Holy Spirit. But it was authored — it was authored by the living God. Let that sink in. Let that sink in.

Listen, can we do one more thing before we go today? I want to ask some guys for some help. They’re gonna bring out something here on stage. And let them navigate all that’s going on — if they make it out here, this will be great, and they don’t fall over. Thank you, Nathan. Thank you, Todd, for your, your help here.

Do you know how historians validate the accuracy of ancient documents? Thanks, guys. There’s actually a standard for it. It’s called the bibliographical test. And here’s what’s important about this test: it wasn’t developed by pastors or theologians. It’s the same standard used to verify everything you and I studied in school — Caesar and Plato and the histories of Rome.

And, in, here’s, here’s how the bibliographical test works. You, you look at when a document was originally written. And you look at when we’ve got the earliest copies or manuscripts, when they were found. And then we look at how many copies exist. So the, the smaller the time gap between the original and the copies, and the more copies that we have, the more reliable a document is considered. So again, the smaller the time gap between the original and the copies we have, and the more copies we have, the more reliable a document is. It’s a simple standard used by everyone.

So here’s what I want to do. I’ve got on stage some of the writings historians consider the most reliable documents from the ancient world, and we’re going to run through the bibliographical test on each of these, right, and then we’re going to see where the Bible lands in all of this. And so what we’re going to use is — I’m going to use coffee beans to illustrate the number of copies we have. So lock in — me lock in with me here for a moment. So we’re going to start right here.

Right, this is Herodotus. Right? He was an ancient Greek writer known as the father of history. His famous work called the Histories — obviously not very inventive for titles back then, right — was written around 425 BC. The earliest copy we have is 1,380 years later. So there’s a 1,380-year time gap between when it was written and when the earliest copies show up. Now, how many copies do we have? Remember, that’s important. How many copies do we have? Well, we have around a hundred copies. So, got about a hundred coffee beans here. We’re just gonna dump those out right there. Okay. And you’ll see you got a fun little chart building out behind me up here on stage. Right. So that’s Herodotus.

Plato. Plato’s Dialogues. What’s the time gap? 1,270 years. How many copies do we have? 200. Caesar’s Gallic Wars — uh, we debated, it would have been way cooler if it was like Galactic Wars, right, but it’s Gallic Wars. Okay, so time gap 900 years, 250 plus copies. Lastly, Tacitus, 735-year time gap, just 33 copies. There you have it.

Right, very few people in the world question if we have the original message of these writings. These are considered historically verified. And just look. Look at the evidence behind them: small number of copies, enormous time gaps. But this is the gold standard.

Now, let’s talk about the Bible. And let’s just take the New Testament, okay? The Bible is written in the first century AD. And the earliest manuscript or evidence we have comes around a hundred to 150 years later. Some say it’s closer to even 50 years. Now, how many copies do we have? Well, when you look at the Greek New Testament, we have 5,800 copies. 5,800. 5,800. Right, 5,800 copies within 100 to 150 years. Ah, I forgot — that’s just the Greek. When we take other languages, like Latin and Coptic and Armenian, there’s another 15,000.

So, here’s where we land. The evidence the world considers the most historical and reliable manuscripts pale in comparison to just the New Testament, with over 20,000 copies. By every standard historians use, the Bible is the most verified document or writings in human history. And long before these tests and these graphics, the psalmist staked his whole life on it.

And after everything we looked at today, the question is not whether God’s word can be trusted or not. The real question is, what are you and I going to do with it? Because listen, if all this is true, if all this is, is reliable, if Psalm 119 and God’s word is powerful and sure and true, if it’s everything we talked about today — the question is, how is it showing up in your life and mine?

That’s the question, because here’s what I notice. And I just want to be honest with you, and I’m going to point the finger at myself first. Because most of us in this room, my guess is, we don’t actually doubt the Bible. That’s not the real problem. We believe, we believe it’s true. We defend it if someone talks to us about it. We teach it to our kids and our grandkids. But believing something is true, and actually let it function as a living part of our lives, our daily lives — those are two completely different things.

And I think if we got real honest, we’d admit, for most of us the Bible is more like a reference book than part of our relationship with God. We dust it off when things get hard. We flip to a familiar verse when we need some reassurance, and then it goes back on the shelf. But that’s not what we just read about. The psalmist wasn’t consulting God’s word occasionally. He was immersed in it. He meditated, meditated on it all day long. He treasured it. He turned to it during life’s ups and downs. He measured everything — his decisions, his relationships, his emotions, his sense of direction — against the word of God. And as a result, he tells us, it brought happiness, and it brought freedom, and it brought peace, and it brought wisdom, and it brought comfort and affliction. It brought steady steps when life was shaky, and it brought hope when everything else ran out.

Those are not things the psalmist was searching for everywhere else and occasionally stumbling across. Those were a direct result of a life built on God’s word. Now you contrast that where most of us actually are. We want peace, so we manage our circumstances. We want wisdom, so we ask everyone else that we know. We want freedom, so we try harder or try something new. We want our steps to be steady, so we white knuckle it all the way through, and it’s exhausting. Because what we go looking for in a hundred different places is what the psalmist found in one: God’s word.

And I know I’m being kind of tough and challenging us and stepping on some toes right now. But let me tell you why, because I’m just going to be real with you. Almost every adult that I sit with in my office, when we go through life struggles and we go through difficulties and we go through temptations — when couples come in and they say we’ve got these issues and these troubles and these things are off track in our lives, when students come in and they’ve got doubts and insecurities and hardship and, and everything they share, right, that is real. I’m not diminishing any of that. But I listen, and when they finish, I always ask one question. And that question is, hey, what’s your interaction with God’s word look like in your life?

And the responses vary, but nine out of ten times we end in the same spot, with somebody sharing, well, God’s word is really not part of my daily life. The very word of God that we’re talking about here today — inspired, inerrant, infallible, one of the primary ways we engage in our relationship with God, our heavenly father — most of the time it’s sitting on an end table collecting dust. It’s relegated to being an artifact and a decorative arrangement in our house more than something that’s authoritative in our lives. And we wonder why we are the way we are. We wonder why God feels distant. We wonder, how is his word really living and active?

Listen, this needs to change for us today, church. Today is a day where I just implore you, implore us, to grab our Bibles. Just, just pick a time to open it, to meet with God. Not some time in your day, not when things slow down, but pick a specific time. Morning before the, the house wakes up, lunchtime, or before bed. It doesn’t matter when. It just matters that you do it. Because what doesn’t get scheduled doesn’t get done. And this is too important to leave up the chance.

Find some place to connect with God. Pick someplace quiet, somewhere you can actually think and unplug from the world, something where your, your phone notifications aren’t going off. A chair in your bedroom, your back porch, a corner of a coffee shop. It doesn’t have to be perfect. It just has to be consistent. The psalmist meditated on God’s word all day long. That kind of depth does not just happen in distracted moments between notifications.

Have a plan. Don’t just open up your Bible and, and hope something jumps out. That’s an amazing way to stare at a page for five minutes and then give up. Start somewhere with, with intentionality. We’re in the Psalms — just stay there. Open up one of the Gospels, read about Jesus. But just pick something and start. The point isn’t to read everything at once. The point is to show up consistently, to meet with your heavenly father, to do what we just sang about — to abide and sit in his presence and let the word of God do what the psalmist says it does.

Because here’s what I’m learning, and I think the psalmist knew better than almost anyone: we don’t have to understand everything we read for it to start working on us. We just have to keep showing up, because God and his word are faithful.

Listen, we all know at some point life’s gonna stop making sense. You’re not going to know where to turn. The ground’s going to become unsteady, and you’re going to look for something to hold on to. Where will you go? Where will I go? Psalm 119 gives us the answer. 176 verses, one subject, every dimension of life touched — written down to show us it’s more than just believing God’s word is true. It’s something we can lean our whole life on and know that it will hold and change us from the inside out.

That’s the invitation today: not to admire God’s word from a distance, not to acknowledge that it’s historically reliable, or that it’s theologically important, and leave it on a shelf, but to actually climb inside of it. And to let it be what the psalmist says it is: our anchor, our compass, our comfort, wisdom, steady ground. Because God’s word doesn’t just describe truth. It holds us up inside of it.

Would you pray with me? Heavenly father. Lord, what a privilege to just spend time in Psalm 119 today, looking at your word. Lord, I pray, myself included, that we walk out of here a little bit more convicted than when we walked in. Not guilt, but conviction — the kind that comes from clearly knowing what you’ve made available to us through your word. Lord, help us to take full advantage of it. So today, Lord, we, we ask for your help to find time, to find a place, and to have a plan. And we ask, word, that when we show up, that you would meet with us. That you would revive us, steady us, give us wisdom, bring us peace, hold us up. We don’t have the strength to hold ourselves. God, you’re so good. You do what is good. Teach us to love you and love your word more and more. It’s in Jesus’ name that we pray. Amen.

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