Community Praise Night

It took a little while to get your attention, but they got your attention finally. Welcome to Psalm Praise Night. And we are excited tonight about looking at God's Word through the specific lens of the Psalms and allowing His Spirit to direct our time of praise and prayer and our time of declaring His glory. The first thing I want you to do, however, is to kind of give one another a jolt of blessing. Let's all stand. It says in Psalm 18 that I will declare His glory in the assembly of His saints. And I want you to find someone other than your spouse or the dearest friend in the world that walked in with you, someone other than that person, and tell them one reason why tonight you're here to praise His name. One thing God's done for you this week that's worthy of giving Him praise. And if you can't think of one, take a deep breath, all right? All right, you may be seated. Bear with me for a few moments as I give you some background on why we're going to sing psalms tonight. There's a very specific reason, and I think as you come to understand some of the history, we'll give a little more of a context for the wisdom of what we're doing. How many of you know we don't want to do things just because someone said to do it that way? There needs to be a wisdom from God's perspective as to why we do these things. And I'm going to run through on an overhead with you, if you're ready, Debbie and Sam, the historical synopsis of psalm singing. Do you have that one? Now, those of you who are secretarial will get this all. Those of you who aren't just get the highlights. But I want you to know that people have been singing psalms for 4,000 years. Now, this isn't some rap, okay? It just started in the last couple of years, all right? So all the way back before the times that the Bible records specifically, the Babylonians and Egyptians and others, not God's people, not the Israelites, but others were singing psalms way back then. The Hebrew psalms that we know of date from the time of Moses. In fact, Psalm 90 was written by Moses. How many of you never knew that? Go ahead, be honest. Thank you very much. We have about 300 honest and 200 dishonest. I didn't know that until I read it. Psalm 90 was written by Moses. So it's not just David or Solomon or ones we usually associate. It's even all the way back to Moses. He was writing psalms, and that's how the Hebrews communicated to God. They sang these psalms in kind of a broken. If you've been to any kind of a Hebrewish kind of worship, you know it's almost a chant kind of a thing. Now, psalms really caught on when David began to write, and most of our psalms are written by him all the way back to 1,000 B.C. How many of you believe David had an anointing when he was writing those psalms? Oh, I was just flipping through some on an airplane yesterday, and almost every emotion that I feel from great rejoicing and delight and victory to terrible loneliness and discouragement, all of it's caught in David's psalms. Tell someone your favorite psalm right now. Tell them. What's your favorite psalm? How many said Psalm 23? Is that because that's the only one you know? I thought so. There are some great psalms. You've got to know the psalms and study them. I've wanted to do a series on the psalms, and may do that next year on Wednesday night. But listen to this. It wasn't until the time that David brought the Ark of the Covenant and put it in the tabernacle where it rested, that's when they began to sing the psalms formally. Did you know that? Prior to that time, it was just here and there. But remember the story when David came and he was worshiping and dancing before the Lord, and it was really quite a display of his unguarded affection for God. From that moment, he appointed singers from the tribe of the Levites to worship and praise. Their full-time job was to sing psalms of praise, full-time, right in front of the Ark. And I learned something about that when I was studying for this. Prior to that, what did they always do when they had the Ark? What did they always do to say that they worshiped God? They sacrificed animals and cut them all up. Now, they continued to do that, but the Ark raised and put up on its resting place in the tabernacle was a symbol of the rest of God, which is also a picture of grace. See, the Ark came and rested in a place, and that was a picture that the work of God was done. It had come to rest, and that's why they began to sing. And that's why now it's appropriate for us to express our thanksgiving for God's grace in our life by singing psalms and not cutting up pigeons and goats. But we won't have any of that tonight, okay? But psalm singing kept on. Solomon's magnificent temple was always full of psalm singing, and that went on for several hundred years. Then number five, the Babylonian exile. And how many of you remember some of the incredible psalms, the Lament, Psalm 73? When the children of God lamented their sin as they were in exile. Have you ever sung out to the Lord in your hurt, anyone? That can be a very moving thing when you're really hurting, not just when you're celebrating. Then when the second temple was built, it was just a shadow of the first, number six, but it also was a time of reviving the singing of the psalms among the people of God. And that carried on for a number of years. And then we don't know a whole lot about the intertestamental period, but we know that even at that time, the really pious Jews, the really holy ones, kept the psalm singing alive. Then Herod's temple from 19 B.C. This was in Jesus' time. There was psalm singing still going on at that time. And in the synagogue, the worship, congregational singing of... And I might add here, by the way, it was right around the period of the intertestamental time when it wasn't just the Levites, but all the people started to sing. Like, let's just, for the sake of analogy, say these are the Levites. Awesome bunch, isn't it? But it's not just the Levites that sang. It was the people that began to enter in. And in the New Testament church, we hear Paul say things like, Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly as you sing to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs. It's Colossians 3.16. So for those years, 4,000 of them, from all the way back before the time of Moses till now, the people of God have been singing psalms. And I want you to know something very important. When you sing God's word, some things start to happen in your life. It's more than just kind of generating some emotion. God's word is never-changing, never-to-be-broken covenant word comes alive in your life. One more thing before we really launch in here. The next outline, Sam, talks about three things that God's word will do in you. And I just want to tell you the first one right now. All right? As you sing God's word, it's a witness to the power of God. When we sing these psalms coming up, we're going to be saying publicly, all of us, that these things are true about God. Now, let's pull down and show them the verses there, the psalms. We have four psalms listed. Everyone, open your Bibles right now. If you didn't bring a Bible, nudge the person next to you and say, I'd love to look over your shoulder and look up one of those psalms. And if you don't like those, pick one of your own. For the mighty acts of God are recounted. Listen to this one, Psalm 106. Are you there, wherever you are? Praise the Lord, give thanks to the Lord, for He is good, and His love endures forever. Who can proclaim the mighty acts of the Lord or fully declare His praise? Who can do it? Who can do it? We can. We're going to be the ones that are going to do it tonight. We're going to fully declare it with all of our heart. And Psalm 148 says this. Praise the Lord, praise the Lord from the heavens, and praise Him in the heights above. Praise Him, all His angels, and praise Him, all His heavenly hosts. Let them praise the name of the Lord. Folks, let's add our voices today to all the generations that have preceded us in psalm singing. And as we go along, we're going to direct some of this great power into the needs that we face as a body and as individuals. And let's believe God to change us tonight. Let's pray. Lord, we thank You for the psalms. We thank You, Lord, that literally, when we sing the psalms, when we declare the psalms tonight, power is going to be released in our life. Lord, we thank You that literally, the psalms mean songs of praise. And may we be filled tonight with great and glorious songs of praise. In the name of Jesus, and everyone said, Amen. Go ahead and let's begin Psalm 148, and then we'll all join together. Psalm 148 Praise the Lord. Praise the Lord from the heavens. All the angels sing, Praise the Lord. Praise the Lord from the heights of creation. We shall praise the name of the Lord. He abandoned them, and the heavens were made. He established them, and they won't pass away. The sun and moon praise the Lord through their light. The stars of the world keep shining through the night. Praise the Lord. Praise the Lord from the heavens. All the angels sing, Praise the Lord. Praise the Lord from the heights of creation. We shall praise the name of the Lord. And on the earth, let all nature agree, that nothing comes to the depths of the sea. Through the wind and rain, and the fire and the lightning, all the peace, all the fear, all the darkness, and the fire. Praise the Lord. Praise the Lord. The King in all, who lives heaven and the world, the Holy King, sing our glory to Him now. The young and old, join in praise to His name. For the Lord is supreme, with creation proclaim. Praise the Lord. Praise the Lord from the heavens. All the angels sing Praise the Lord Praise the Lord From the height of creation We shall praise the Name of the Lord Praise the Lord From the warmth of heaven All the angels sing Praise the Lord Praise the Lord From the height of creation Can we all stand together and join our voices in Oh magnify the Lord. I know you can put your instruments together. Let's do that together. Oh magnify the Lord, for he is worthy to be praised, for he is worthy to be saved. Hosanna, blessed be the rock, blessed be the rock of my salvation. Just a minute. Oh magnify the Lord, for he is worthy to be praised. Okay ladies. Oh magnify the Lord, for he is worthy to be praised. Everyone. Blessed be the rock of my salvation. Hosanna, blessed be the rock, blessed be the rock of my salvation. Hosanna. Hosanna, blessed be the rock, blessed be the rock of my salvation. Hosanna, blessed be the rock, blessed be the rock of my salvation. One more time. Oh magnify, oh magnify the Lord, for he is worthy to be praised. Oh magnify the Lord, for he is worthy to be praised. Hosanna, blessed be the rock, blessed be the rock of my salvation. Hosanna, blessed be the rock, blessed be the rock of my salvation. How majestic is his name, y'all know that? Ready? Oh Lord, oh Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth. Oh Lord, oh Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth. Oh Lord, we praise your name. Oh Lord, we magnify your name. Lift up these mighty arms, oh Lord God Almighty. Oh Lord, oh Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth. Oh Lord, oh Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth. Oh Lord, we praise your name. Oh Lord, we magnify your name. Lift up these mighty arms, oh Lord God Almighty. Oh Lord, we praise your name. Oh Lord, we magnify your name. Lift up these mighty arms, oh Lord God Almighty. I will sing of the mercies of the Lord forever, I will sing, I will sing. I will sing of the mercies of the Lord forever, I will sing of the mercies of the Lord. With my love will I make known my faithfulness, my faithfulness. With my love will I make known my faithfulness to all generations. I will sing of the mercies of the Lord forever, I will sing, I will sing. I will sing, I will sing of the mercies of the Lord forever I will sing of the mercies of the Lord With my mouth With my mouth will I make known Thy faithfulness, Thy faithfulness With my mouth will I make known Thy faithfulness to all generations I will sing of the mercies of the Lord forever I will sing, I will sing I will sing of the mercies of the Lord forever I will sing of the mercies of the Lord Can we give the Lord a clap offering this first? Mercies over us, Lord! We sing of your mercies, O Lord! For Thy faithfulness we make known to you, Lord Our praise with the fruit of our lips, Lord, we give to you Hallelujah! We glorify your name, Lord Jesus For your faithfulness, your mercies forever and ever Praise the name of Jesus Praise the name of Jesus He's my God He's my Lordness He's my deliverer in whom I trust Praise the name of Jesus Just the man with all your heart, praise the name Praise the name of Jesus Ladies, lift your praise Praise the name of Jesus He's my God He's my Lordness He's my deliverer in whom I trust Praise the name of Jesus Everyone, praise your name Praise your name, Lord Jesus Praise your name, Lord Jesus You're my God You're my Lordness You're my deliverer in whom I trust Praise your name, Lord Jesus We praise the mighty name of our God We bless you, Lord Jesus We worship you We give you praise, Lord We declare the mighty acts of our God We declare the great redemption of our God in our own lives tonight We thank you, church, thank you for your own salvation right now Lord, I thank you for your salvation And I declare it, Lord, from the bottom of my heart, Father That you are my Savior and my God and my Lord and my King And I thank you and praise you for redemption We thank you for the mighty acts, oh God That have called us each to be in this place in this night, Lord And many of us to be part of this church This expression of your living body We praise you, Father We declare that you've healed many of us, Lord You've delivered many of us, Lord You've set many of us, God, into a path of purposefulness and fruit bearing We give you praise in Jesus' name and everyone's Amen, let's be seated Who knows what it means to get blessed? Alright, most of you know Who knows what it means to be a blessing? You know, tonight, one of the things we want to do is to be a blessing to God Now, there's a couple of words I could get into the fan You know, you got impressed when we used Hebrew and Greek You said, wow, wow, wow Don't be, you know, you can buy the same dictionaries Do the same things But, you know, the original language Yulegeo, from which we get eulogy That Greek word means literally to convey a gift Now, listen, by a potent utterance To convey a gift by a potent utterance In other words, you say it with power As an expression of how much you mean the gift that you're giving And the Psalms exhort us literally hundreds of times to bless the Lord Come, bless the Lord, all ye servants of the Lord who Stand by night in the house of the Lord Lift up your hands in the sanctuary If you're a visitor tonight, we're glad you're here And I'm sure you're already wondering, wow, what are all these people doing? Lifting their hands and singing out loud like they really mean it Well, we really do, and we're glad that You're going to share this time with us Hang in there with us, you'll learn some things I trust most of all You'll be blessed Because the other part of blessing is this Every time the Bible talks about being a blessing to God It's always with an eye toward God blessing you back Not so that you can get it, but it's always with the eye of faith Knowing that as you bless God and lose yourself in Him How many know God will always take care of you? I mean, if you learn to bless God with all of your heart And soul and mind and strength You can count on the fact that He's going to bless you like you can never imagine I will bless you, my God the King, David writes I will bless your name forever and ever Every day I will bless you and extol your name For great is the Lord and most worthy of praise His greatness no one can fathom We're going to move into a time of blessing God with potent utterance So that person behind you is not being potent, turn around and tell them Be more potent All right, praise the Lord Come bless the Lord Bless ye the Lord Are ye still there to wait for the light and the love of the Lord? Bless ye the Lord Bless ye the Lord For we stand like Abraham in our own A righteous man's face has dressed us In holiness, bless ye the Lord He becomes His chosen one by our faith In things unseen, praise His gift of sanctity Bless ye the Lord Bless ye the Lord Bless ye of faith For the credit of righteousness comes to you as your reward Bless ye the Lord Bless ye the Lord For we stand like Abraham in our own A righteous man's face has dressed us In holiness, bless ye the Lord He becomes His chosen one by our faith In things unseen, praise His gift of sanctity Bless ye the Lord He who can see what is unseen shall behold glory He who can see what is unseen shall behold glory For we stand like Abraham in our own A righteous man's face has dressed us In holiness, bless ye the Lord He becomes His chosen one by our faith In things unseen, praise His gift of sanctity Bless ye the Lord Bless ye the Lord Oh, bless ye the Lord Oh, ye servants of the Lord Lift up your hand in the sanctuary and bless Bless ye the Lord Oh, bless ye the Lord Oh, bless ye the Lord Oh, ye servants of the Lord Lift up your hand in the sanctuary and bless Bless ye the Lord Oh, bless ye the Lord Oh, ye servants of the Lord Lift up your hand in the sanctuary and bless Bless ye the Lord Oh, bless ye the Lord Oh, ye servants of the Lord Lift up your hand in the sanctuary and bless Bless ye the Lord I will bless the Lord with glory Oh, I will bless the Lord with glory Oh, I will bless the Lord and give Him glory Oh, I will bless His name and give Him glory The Lord is gracious and merciful Great in kindness and good to all The Lord is righteous in all His ways Oh, bless the Lord and give Him praise I will bless the Lord and give Him glory Oh, I will bless His name and give Him glory He's near to all who will call on Him The Lord is righteous in all His ways He'll reign forever as Lord and King Lift your voice with praise and sing I will bless the Lord and give Him glory Oh, I will bless His name and give Him glory I will bless the Lord and give Him glory Oh, I will bless His name and give Him glory Oh, I will bless the Lord and give Him glory Oh, I will bless the Lord and give Him glory To be the Lord God Almighty Who reigns forevermore We lift Your name in all the earth Your kingdom be established in our great land As we go to pray Your mighty word Let's be the Lord God Almighty Who was, is, and is to come Let's be the Lord God Almighty Who reigns forevermore I will love You in all the earth Your kingdom be established in our great land As we go to pray Your mighty word Let's be the Lord God Almighty Who was, is, and is to come Let's be the Lord God Almighty Who reigns forevermore Let's be the Lord God Almighty Who was, is, and is to come Let's be the Lord God Almighty Every day and every moment of every day that you call it to mind, may we bless the Lord. Lord, may we give to You, Lord, ascribe to You praise and blessing. And Lord, might we, as Your people, understand what it means to be blessed by the King of Kings. Lord, we thank You. Who can fathom Your greatness, Lord? No man can know it, but we bless God and we give Him praise. Hallelujah. In Jesus' name. Let's be seated once again. In the first part of the special that the gals sang, wasn't that a great special? There was a line in there that I didn't fully get, but it said, He who sees the unseen, what, what, what? Something unseen? You shall behold the glory. You see, folks, the battle that we fight in our own lives isn't the things and the people and the stuff and the temptations that we have around us. It's the unseen things. Now, you all, most of you all know this. A lot of you, perhaps, are newer to these things. But our Bibles tell us that there's a huge, vast, unseen reality that's going on. What's unseen controls, literally controls what's seen. And that's our conviction. I've taught about this in years past. We believe that the real essence of our walking out our faith in Christ comes when we lay hold of what's happening in the unseen. Now, one day, God's going to kind of lift the scales from our eyes and help us to see what's out there. How many of you ever had a glimpse of that? You've kind of seen the battle for what it really is. I know some of you have. You've been there. The unseen. You know, yesterday, flying in from Denver, as I did, we got near Pittsburgh, and we got slowed down a while. And I looked out my window and saw several airplanes kind of at different altitudes. And I could see them. I could read what it said on their tails. I didn't like that. But I knew that somewhere, someone unseen was controlling which aircraft was going to go in next and all the rest. And I had a confidence. Well, if we see what's unseen, in other words, if God gives us faith, and that's how you see it, by faith, you can change the course of your own personal destiny. We're going to pray together now for a little bit. And the Bible tells us that our prayer and our praise together are like an instrument in God's hand to smash strongholds in the unseen, to cause unseen strongholds and fortresses and obstacles to be annihilated. By the way, if you're a third through sixth grader, it's time to go, Pastor Jeff. Speaking of annihilating things, folks, we need to believe that God inhabits these praises here tonight and that He's going to give us special faith even as we pray tonight for those things which maybe have been obstacles in our life. I don't know your personal one. I really don't. Some of you, maybe I have an inkling. But most of you know far more deeply exactly what it is that you need to see God do, what job He needs to provide, what relationship He needs to heal, what bit of wisdom you need to have, what forgiveness needs to come, whatever it is, what insight, what provision, what breakthrough. How many need a breakthrough tonight? Let me see it again. Hey, Lord, it's all but Rich Meyer. He's fine. The rest of us, Lord, pray for us. Now, there's a few of us who probably feel pretty content right now. In fact, even a little bit over-blessed. But most of us need breakthroughs tonight. Well, as we stand in the moment and pray together, I want you to pray for your personal, that unseen thing that you want God to show you in faith. And if you can, those of you who are praying in that group, if God gives you a psalm, an answer to that, share it with Him. If a psalm comes to mind, let's say someone's saying, I need deliverance, I need to get out of this thing that's really holding me. Well, maybe the Lord will bring Psalm 18, verse 2 to your mind. The Lord is my stronghold and my deliverer. And you can share that psalm with Him, whatever comes to your heart. And then there's three things, and I don't have these on overhead, unfortunately, but three things I want you to pray for after you've prayed for one another. So this is going to be seven or eight minutes, all right? Number one, I believe, I believe with all my heart, that God has allowed our property just to be held up long enough for all of us to get serious about prayer. And most of us are getting there, and I want us tonight to say, Lord, you know, we are right in the edge, folks. I mean, can I do it for you here? We are ready to make that leap, but there's just, it's so close. But our prayer tonight, one last unified prayer. I'll tell you what, I'm going to change the whole plan here. I'm going to pray with you on that. I want you just to stand right now and pray for your personal need, and then I'll bring us back together in five minutes. Turn into a circle of three or four. If you're a visitor, please participate. Don't check out. Just tell them your personal need, and let's pray together. The Lord is like a strong tower. The righteous shall run unto it and be glad. Let's believe it together as we sing this for that personal need tonight. In the name of the Lord. The Lord is like a strong tower. The righteous shall run unto it and be glad. In the name of the Lord. The Lord is like a strong tower. The righteous shall run unto it and be glad. The righteous shall run unto it. The devil pours in, he told me. The child and we know that he is coming. The devil pours to break down the gates of hell. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. We are the army of God. Glory to your name, Lord. The first ones to think of praise as an instrument of change. I don't have time tonight to develop this teaching. But I want everyone to face that direction. Because if you knock those couple of walls out of the way, you'll be looking at the property we're believing God to give to us in order to make room for all that he's sending. And here's what the Bible says. All the way back in the book of Chronicles. When the Israelites faced what seemed to be an immovable foe. One so large they had no chance. God loves desperate people, folks. That's why he loves you so much. And me. And here's what he said. Listen to me, Judah and people of Jerusalem. Have faith in the Lord your God. And you will be upheld. Have faith in his prophets. And you will be successful. And after consoling the people, Jehoshaphat appointed men. Who? Men to sing to the Lord and to praise him. For the splendor of his holiness. As they went out at the head of the army saying. This is a song. Give thanks to the Lord. For his love endures forever. And they began to sing and praise. And the Lord sent ambushes against the men. And the Lord delivered the land to them. Hallelujah. Now Lord, in the name of Jesus. In the name of Jesus, Father God. We lift our voice in one accord. Over this property. Lord, we speak the name of Jesus Christ. The name of the Lord God Jehovah. Jehovah Jireh, our provider. He'll supply this land. He'll deliver it into our hands. He is the one in whom we trust this day. God, our eyes are upon you. Our eyes are fixed upon you, Lord. We trust you tonight. Lord, be mighty in our behalf. Be a mighty deliverer, Father God. In the name of Jesus. Hallelujah. He's arising. Arising in our midst. As a mighty man of war. Both in battle and on earth. And with his two-headed sword. He's conquering all our enemies. And raising them up to his feet. Oh, rise, oh rise, oh rise. As a man of war. As a man of war. Oh, rise, oh rise, oh rise. As a man of war. He's arising. Arising in our midst. As a mighty man of war. Both in battle and on earth. And with his two-headed sword. He's conquering all our enemies. And raising them up to his feet. Oh, rise, oh rise, oh rise. As a man of war. As a man of war. Oh, rise, oh rise, oh rise. As a man of war. As a man of war. Oh, rise, oh rise, oh rise. As a man of war. As a man of war. Oh, rise, oh rise, oh rise. As a man of war. He's arising. Arising in our midst. As a mighty man of war. As a mighty man of war. Let God, Let God, let His peace descend Joyful, gladness, and joy of life be Oh, let God, let God, let God, let God Let peace be scattered, and let the righteous be glad Yes, let them rejoice in heaven, God triumphs, I believe Oh, let God, let God, let God, let God, let God Joyful, gladness, and joy of life be Oh, let God, let God, let God, let God, let God Let peace be scattered, and let the righteous be glad Yes, let them rejoice in heaven, God triumphs, I believe For we believe tonight that by the blood of your son Jesus, God, you have purchased us and redeemed us and provided for us, Lord, all things necessary, all things, Lord, every enablement of love, Father God, every grace, O God, of caring and of serving and of giving, Lord. Father, you've provided for us every measure of long-suffering and patience, Lord, that we lack in the human frame. And, Lord, you've provided in the blood of Christ every vision for this people, Lord, for this neighborhood and community, God, and for this city, Lord, which you love, the city of Pittsburgh that you love, God. In the blood of Christ, Lord, you've provided all that's necessary. And so, Lord, we choose this night to not see the obstacles, Lord, to not see the deficiencies of organization or man's ideas, Lord, but, God, our eyes are upon you. And so, Lord, we receive tonight, by faith, Lord, we receive by faith tonight, Lord, every provision to be the people of God that you desire us to be. God, that you'd supply leadership, you'd supply caregivers, Lord, you'd supply teachers and staff members, Lord, you'd supply for us home group leaders, Lord, and church planters and missionaries. Lord, they just come out of us, God. They just pour out of us, Lord, by your grace. And every gift, Lord, every spiritual gift, every word gift and miracle gift, every leadership gift, Father, provided, Father. In the name of Jesus, I ask you, let's worship the Lord's church. The Psalms teach us to bear witness to the power of God, to do warfare for the purposes of God, and to worship the person of God. As we prepare just tonight to conclude this time, let's present him our very best. Let's give him our hearts tonight. Let's exalt his name. Exalt the Lord, our God. Exalt the Lord, our God. And worship at his footstool. Worship at his footstool. Holy is he. Holy is he. Exalt the Lord, our God. Exalt the Lord, our God. And worship at his footstool. Worship at his footstool. Holy is he. Holy is he. Some worship at his footstool. Worship at his footstool. Worship at his footstool. Holy is he. Holy is he. Let us worship and bow down. Let us kneel before the Lord, our God, our Maker. Come, let us worship and bow down. Let us kneel before the Lord, our God, our Maker. For he is our God. And we are the people of his blessing. And the sheep of his hand. And the sheep of his hand. Let us worship and bow down. Let us kneel before the Lord, our God, our Maker. Come, let us worship and bow down. Let us kneel before the Lord, our God, our Maker. For he is our God. And we are the people of his blessing. And the sheep of his hand. And the sheep of his hand. Let us worship and bow down. Let us kneel before the Lord, our God, our Maker. Come, let us worship and bow down. Let us kneel before the Lord, our God, our Maker. For he is our God. And we are the people of his blessing. And the sheep of his hand. And the sheep of his hand. Lord, we worship you. We love your presence, Lord Jesus. We delight in you, Lord. We worship you. We wait on the Lord if he should prompt. One of you who travels among us will wait another moment for his word to come. For behold, ahead of you is a river, and even I am the river. And I would say to you tonight that there are some who have ventured into the river up to your ankles. And there are then some who have ventured in up to your knees. And then there are those that have come up to their waist. But I would say to you that I would have a people that have abandoned themselves into the river. For in the river, in the water, you become weightless. And when you rest and put your weight on me, then I carry all the weight and all the burdens and all the heavy things that you carry through life. And when you cast yourself then upon the river, which is even me, then I lift you to be trees of righteousness along the side with roots that go deep. And you will be a planting of myself. You will be able to go out, and even your leaves will heal the nations if you will but venture in and not fear. For in me you will find rest. You will become weightless, and you can become all that I would have you to be to go to a hurting nation that needs healing. I'm not showing my true compassion. I love the deliverer, not your love. Come, be made love of them that hurt. Who may ascend to the hill of the Lord, and who may stand in His holy place, He who has made matter of pure heart, may ascend to the hill, may ascend to the hill, may ascend to the hill of the Lord. Bless my hands and my heart, O Lord, come and purify me in Your love. Fill my life with Your righteousness, so that I may ascend to Your hill. Who may ascend to the hill of the Lord, and who may stand in His holy place, He who has made matter of pure heart, may ascend to the hill, may ascend to the hill, may ascend to the hill of the Lord. Acknowledge tonight that it's by Your cleansing blood that we come, not by the purity of our own efforts, Lord, or by that which we have even wanted to do by our own will, Lord, but by faith in the blood of Jesus Christ, that we come tonight with clean h