As we read my favorite story from the life of David, I'm in awe. I see David at his best, offering the most humble, God-honoring request, and God telling him "no". But the story doesn't stop there, because God offers him something so much better! And it will result in our good as well!

Although the main purpose of this story being included in Scripture is that we would understand the Davidic Covenant and how Jesus Christ will reign eternally, I also think we can find such comfort in the fact that when God tells us "no" or shuts doors in our lives, His Word tells us that He's working all things for our good.

We didn't have enough time to cover Psalm 29 today, but I encourage you to read it and look for the 7 statements about the voice of the Lord!

Today's Reading: 2 Samuel 6-7, 1 Chronicles 17, and Psalm 25 and 29

Scripture Read or Referenced:

2 Samuel 6:16, 20-23

2 Samuel 7 (all)

Isaiah 55:8-9

Psalm 25:4-5, 8-10, 12-14, 21

Could you use some encouragement to follow God in your parenting? Maybe you'd like to know more about how you can guide your child in righteousness? Entrusted with a Child's Heart will do that! This quick episode explains how this biblical parenting study can guide moms, bless your church, and actually help the leaders! https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-again-podcast-for-christian-moms-encouragement-in/id1700555502

Don't forget to check out the Again Podcast! https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-again-podcast-for-christian-moms-encouragement-in/id1700555502

Commentaries Most Referenced: Moody Commentary, MacArthur Commentary, Spurgeon's Treasury of David

This is The Dwelling Place from Entrusted Ministries.

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I'm Stephanie Hickox.

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Today, we're looking at Second Samuel

six and seven, and First Chronicles 17,

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and we'll finish with Psalms 25 and 29.

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As we read my favorite story from

the life of David, I'm in awe.

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I see David at his best, offering

the most humble, God-honoring

7

request, and God telling him no.

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But the story doesn't stop there, because

God offers him something so much better.

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And although the main purpose of this

story being included in Scripture is

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that we would understand the Davidic

Covenant and how Jesus Christ will

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reign eternally, I also think we can

find such comfort in the fact that

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when God tells us no or shuts doors

in our lives, His Word tells us that

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He's working all things for our good.

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In looking at Second Samuel chapter

six, we already read about David

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bringing the Ark to Jerusalem in

Chronicles, however, there are a few

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details about Michael, David's wife,

that if we're wise, we'll take heed of.

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David was worshiping the

Lord with all his might.

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He was in full-out praise mode, humbling

himself before the Lord, and his wife

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was concerned with the appearance of it.

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In 6:16, " As the ark of the Lord

came into the city of David, Michael,

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the daughter of Saul, looked out the

window and saw King David leaping

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and dancing before the Lord, and

she despised him in her heart."

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After David blesses all the people

and gives them gifts, in verse 20,

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he comes home to bless his household.

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But Michael comes out to meet him

and shames him for the way he took

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off his royal robes, wore a linen

ephod, and danced in what she

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considered an undignified manner.

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And the account concludes, " And

Michael, the daughter of Saul, had

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no children to the day of her death."

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We don't know if it means that they were

never intimate again or that the Lord

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closed her womb for how she treated David

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Speaker 17: Once again, the life

of David teaches us that man

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looks at the outward appearance,

but the Lord looks at the heart.

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Our main passage today

is Second Samuel seven.

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The same story is told in First

Chronicles 17, but we'll focus

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our reading here for today.

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Now when the king lived in his house

and the Lord had given him rest from

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all his surrounding enemies, the king

said to Nathan, the prophet, " See

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now, I dwell in a house of cedar, but

the ark of God dwells in a tent."

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And Nathan said to the king, " Go,

do all that is in your heart,

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for the Lord is with you."

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But that same night, the word of the

Lord came to Nathan, " Go and tell my

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servant, David, thus says the Lord,

' Would you build me a house to dwell in?

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I have not lived in a house since the

day I brought up the people of Israel

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from Egypt to this day, but I have been

moving about in a tent for my dwelling.

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In all the places where I have moved

with all the people of Israel, did I

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speak a word with any of the judges of

Israel, whom I commanded to shepherd

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my people Israel, saying, "Why have

you not built me a house of cedar?"'

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Now therefore, thus you shall say to my

servant, David, thus says the Lord of

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hosts, ' I took you from the pasture,

from following the sheep, that you

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should be prince over my people, Israel.

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And I have been with you wherever

you went and have cut off all

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your enemies from before you.

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And I will make for you a great name, like

the name of the great ones of the earth.

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And I will appoint a place for my

people, Israel, and will plant them

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so that they may dwell in their

own place and be disturbed no more.

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and violent men shall afflict them no

more as formerly, from the time that I

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appointed judges over my people, Israel.

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And I will give you rest

from all your enemies.

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Moreover, the Lord declares to you

that the Lord will make you a house.

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When your days are fulfilled and

you lie down with your fathers, I

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will raise up your offspring after

you, who shall come from your body,

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and I will establish his kingdom.

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He shall build a house for my

name, and I will establish the

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throne of his kingdom forever.

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I will be to him a father,

and he shall be to me a son.

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When he commits iniquity, I will

discipline him with the rod of men,

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with the stripes of the son of men.

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But my steadfast love will not depart

from him, as I took it from Saul,

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whom I put away from before you And

your house and your kingdom shall

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be made sure forever before me.

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Your throne shall be established forever.

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In accordance with all these

words, in accordance with all this

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vision, Nathan spoke to David.

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Then King David went in and sat

before the Lord and said, " Who am

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I, O Lord God, and what is my house,

that you have brought me thus far?

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And yet this was a small thing

in your eyes, O Lord God.

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You have spoken also of your servant's

house for a great while to come.

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And this is instruction

for mankind, O Lord God.

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And what more can David say to you?

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For you know your servant, O Lord God.

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Because of your promise and

according to your own heart, you

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have brought about all this greatness

to make your servant know it.

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Therefore, you are great, O Lord God,

for there is none like you, and there

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is no God besides you, according to

all that we have heard with our ears.

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And who is like your people Israel, the

one nation on earth whom God went to

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redeem to be his people, making himself

a name and doing for them great and

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awesome things by driving out before your

people, whom you redeemed for yourself

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from Egypt, a nation and its gods.

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And you established for yourself your

people Israel to be your people forever.

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And you, O Lord, became their God.

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And now, O Lord God, confirm forever

the word that you have spoken concerning

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your servant and concerning his

house, and do as you have spoken.

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And your name will be magnified

forever, saying, ' The Lord

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of Hosts is God over Israel.'

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And the house of your servant David

will be established before you.

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For you, O Lord of Hosts, the

God of Israel, have made this

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revelation to your servant,

saying, 'I will build you a house.'

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Therefore, your servant has found

courage to pray this prayer to you.

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And now, O Lord God, you are God,

and your words are true, and you have

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promised this good thing to your servant.

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Now therefore, may it please you to

bless the house of your servant so that

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it may continue forever before you.

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For you, O Lord God, have spoken, and

with your blessing shall the house

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of your servant be blessed forever."

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This passage doesn't tell us why God

said no to David But we'll get an

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answer later to that in scripture.

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It's the first time that the Davidic

covenant is mentioned, and it's the

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fourth of five everlasting covenants.

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When God tells David that his kingship

is forever established, it doesn't

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mean there won't be an interruption

in it, but that it is eternal.

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Jesus Christ came from the line of

David, and he will reign forever.

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There are several aspects

of the Davidic covenant.

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God appointed a place for his people.

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He prevented oppression

from his people's enemies.

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, And he ensured the certainty

of the Davidic throne.

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some of the promises that God

spoke relate to Solomon, but much

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of it relates to the Messiah's

reign, and we have to have a little

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discernment about where the line is.

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David's heart seems so reasonable,

doesn't it, that he would want to

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construct a permanent dwelling for the

Ark of the Covenant and for the Lord?

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But God isn't requiring this yet,

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But I see in David a desire

to serve God however he can.

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In fact, it's in this passage that for

the first time, God refers to David

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as my servant, which puts him in the

camp of Moses and Joshua and Job.

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And seven times in David's response,

he refers to himself as your servant.

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His will is to do

whatever God asks of him.

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It's so fascinating to me that what

seems like the purest of requests

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and of ambitions that God says no to.

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In essence, he says, "No, David,

you can't build me a house."

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I will build a house for you.

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Who is this God that chooses

to bless us over and over?

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Isn't it absolutely humbling?

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Psalm 127 is the theme verse

for Entrusted Ministries.

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" Unless the Lord builds the house,

they labor in vain who build it."

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And most often we apply this

to building our families on

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the foundation of the Lord.

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From the time I was a little girl, One

of my greatest aims in life has been

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to have a family that glorifies Jesus.

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, And I felt like I made all the right

choices to pursue this, often laying

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down what I wanted for what I thought

would bring God the most glory.

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As I look at so many circumstances

for my family, often it feels like

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God has issued a resounding no to what

I thought was my holiest of prayers.

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But as I keep reading in this

passage, it reminds me to trust God,

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that my ways are not His ways, and

my thoughts are not His thoughts.

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And what might feel like a painful

no, He can actually be working

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for His glory and for my good.

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One of my dear friends is a biblical

counselor, one of the most common phrases

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she hears in all of counseling is, " I

didn't expect my life to be this way."

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You probably have something in your

life that's not what you expected.

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But together, can we trust this

God that not only sent His Son to

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die for us, but also promises to

work all circumstances for good?

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Philippians 1:20 says, " My every hope and

expectation is that Christ be glorified."

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And when we pray together

today, we'll pray to that end.

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While we're on that theme of God's

ways not always being our ways,

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I'm grateful for the way that Psalm

25 points us to the paths of the Lord.

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Perhaps the most overwhelming

aspect of motherhood is the

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amount of decision-making,

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And I love the way the

psalmist prays for wisdom.

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" Make me to know Your ways, O Lord.

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Teach me Your paths.

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Lead me in Your truth and teach me,

for You are the God of my salvation.

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For You I wait all the day long.

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Good and upright is the Lord.

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Therefore, He instructs

sinners in the way."

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He leads the humble in what is right

and teaches the humble His way.

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All the paths of the Lord are steadfast

love and faithfulness for those who

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keep His covenant and His testimonies.

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Who is the man who fears the Lord?

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Him will He instruct in the

way that he should choose.

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His soul shall abide in wellbeing, and

his offspring shall inherit the land.

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The friendship of the Lord is

for those who fear Him, and He

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makes known to them His covenant.

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May integrity and uprightness

preserve me, for I wait for You.

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Heavenly Father, if most of us

are honest, there are circumstances

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in our life that we didn't expect.

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But I pray that our ultimate hope would

be in Your Son, Jesus, and that we could

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trust in the uprightness of His reign,

knowing that He will set all things right.

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And when there are circumstances where

it seems You're telling us no, I pray

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we would hope in You for a better yes

being more concerned about your glory

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than our own legacies, comfort, or plans.

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May our every hope and expectation

be that Christ is glorified in

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our homes and in our hearts.

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Thank you for the promises that

you will lead us in your path and

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that wisdom is available for us.

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Guide us to walk in discernment

and wisdom in the fear of you.

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and we pray that the pursuit of your fame

on this earth would be contagious to our

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children, and that it would be the aim

and expectation of their lives as well.

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Help us to build upon the

foundation of your Son alone.

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It's in the perfect name of Jesus we pray.

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Amen.