God's Sovereignty in the Psalms

So, I have a wireless because I'm like a jitterbug, and if I start moving too far to the left or right, so they've wired me up, but you might want to turn that volume down just a little bit. Okay, well, so thankful to be here with you this morning.

Certainly enjoyed Brother Mike's message, tough text, but the truth as it is. So, as we continue on in the sovereignty of God, I hope that we will be blessed. All right, for my time, and my subject is the sovereignty of God and the Psalms, I'm going to ask you if you would turn to Psalm 148.

Psalm 148. We will read the entire psalm, and for the most part, we will stay here. I will not ask you to turn to too many other passages, but I do want to read the psalm. Psalm 148, and right now I'm reading the King James Version, and let me just say this.

I do struggle a little bit with my eye lately, so if I stumble, please don't throw rocks at me. That's good.

Thank you.

So, let us read the word of God together. Psalm 148. Praise ye the Lord. Praise ye the Lord from the heavens. Praise him in the heights. Praise ye him, all the angels. Praise ye him, all his hosts. Praise ye him, sun and moon.

Praise him, all the stars of light. Praise him, you heavens of heavens, and you waters that are above the heavens. Let them praise the name of the Lord, for he commanded and they were created. He has also established them forever.

He has made a decree which shall not pass. Praise the Lord from the earth, you dragons, and all deeps. Fire and hail, snow and vapor, stormy wind fulfilling his word. Mountains and all hills, fruitful trees and all cedars, beasts and all cattle, creeping things and flying fowl, kings of the earth and all people, princes and all judges of the earth, both young men and maidens, old men and children.

Let them praise the name of the Lord, for his name alone is excellent. His glory is above the earth and heaven. He has exalted the horn of his people, the praise of all his saints, even the children of Israel, a people near to him.

Praise ye the Lord. And may God bless his word to our hearts and to our lives. So as I said, my subject is to consider the sovereignty of God from the Psalms, and that is why I chose this psalm. But sometimes in messages, you would think that as the message begins to unwind, that you will find out what the overall point of the message is.

Well, let me say to you today that the very first few things that I say are really the heart of what I wanted to present to you. So, if you would listen in the beginning, please listen towards the end also.

But, again, my point will be right out of the chute. And let me say this as we begin. The truth and the proclamation of the sovereignty of the living God is not to be set forth merely for our intellectual consumption.

The sovereignty of God is not something that we should just consider just to defend or enhance our doctrinal stance. It's not just to establish a good subject for a conference. The truth of God's sovereign rule is to be proclaimed for his glory, for his praise, and for his honor.

Anything less than that is an affront to the subject of the sovereignty of God. If you read that psalm with me, it is striking that the psalm opens up not with argumentation, not with an opinion, but it opens up with praise the Lord.

If you read it with me, you will see that in the first five verses alone, praise the Lord is shouted out nine times. Look at the seventh verse.

Praise the Lord.

Look at the 13th verse. Let them praise the name of the Lord, for his name alone is excellent. Look at the 14th verse. Praise ye the Lord. God's sovereign rule, God's sovereignty is to be front and center, and it is to elicit and cause us to praise him.

And the entire book of Psalms, if you read through the book of Psalms, you will find most interesting that how often God's sovereign rule is spoken of and how often there is to be worship in that understanding.

Matter of fact, let me just have you consider this. If you were to read the closing hymns, the closing psalms, here's what you will find. If you read Psalm 145, it begins with, I will extol you. If you read Psalm 146, it will say, praise you the Lord, praise the Lord, oh my soul.

In Psalm 147, it opens up with praise the Lord. In Psalm 149, it opens up with praise the Lord. In Psalm 150, it opens up with praise the Lord. I trust that that's why we're here today. I trust that we did not come here today just to become a better Calvinist, although I hope we do.

I trust we came here today to sit and humbly worship this sovereign God, for he alone is worthy. God's sovereignty, friends. Let me say this. Yeah, I get excited. If you know me, I will get excited. That's why they got me hooked up so I can move around.

Let me say this. God's sovereignty and God's rule never needs to be defended. It needs to be proclaimed. It needs to be declared. Instead, it needs to be, as Charles Spurgeon once said about the gospel.

Charles Spurgeon once said that the gospel is like a lion. And he said, you don't have to tell a lion what to do. You just have to open the cage. And I say to you that the sovereignty of God does not need to be defended.

It needs to be declared.

And I trust that's why we're here today. To declare that the God who we worship, the God who we sing to, is not some impotent God, but he is the ruler overall. Even as Brother Mike brought out in his teaching that God does indeed do whatsoever he pleases to do in the armies of heaven and among the inhabitants of the earth.

And there are none that can stay his hand. And there are none that can say to him, what are you doing? And that order calls us as his people to praise him, to worship him. Isaiah says that the Lord has purposed and who shall know it?

His hand is stretched out and who shall turn it back? My intent this morning is to look at Psalm 148 and to break it down or to examine it on the three headings as I see it in the psalm. In verses 1 through 6, I want us to consider the sovereignty of God in the heavens above.

And then in verses 7 through 13, I want to ask us that we will consider the sovereign rule of God among the affairs of the earth. And then finally, to look at verse 14 and consider the sovereignty of God concerning the calling of his own people through the Lord Jesus Christ.

And that just as a way of introduction as we get there, I cannot, I will not separate God's sovereign rule in the predestinating work and calling of his people from the sovereign work of the Son of God on Golgotha's cross.

You cannot separate those two. So as we consider this, I hope this will be something that causes us to praise the Lord. I don't mean just jump up and put on some words or some outward demonstration. I mean cause us in our hearts to worship this God who is worthy of our praise.

The first section then in verses 1 through 6. And let me read it to you again since we're not really going to move from this psalm. The sovereignty of God in the heavens above. Or in the things above.

Praise ye the Lord. Praise the Lord from the heavens. Praise him in the heights. Praise him all his angels. Praise him all his hosts. Praise him sun and moon. Praise him all the stars of light. Praise him you heavens of heavens and you waters that be above the heavens.

Let them praise the name of the Lord that he commanded and they were created. He has established them forever. Forever and ever he has made a decree which shall not pass. God's sovereign rule is to be seen in the creation, sustaining of the things that are above.

In the heavens themselves. It is to be found in the rule over the principalities and the powers and the hosts and the things above. God's sovereign rule is to be acknowledged in the placement and the movement of the stars and the moon.

The principles of the causes of these things. The reality that God has established them. Who else but a sovereign God could proclaim that he hung the world upon nothing? Who else but a sovereign God could separate the waters that are above from the waters that are below and then say you can come this far but no further?

Look at it in verse 5 and verse 6. Exactly what it says. Speaking of the heavens and the waters above the heavens, let them praise the name of the Lord for he commanded and they were created. He established them forever and ever.

He has made a decree which shall not pass. Who else but a sovereign God can maintain and command myriads of angels? I don't know about you, but when I read about angels in the Bible, great powerful beings and principalities and armies in heaven and guess what?

They all do God's bidding because God is sovereign. He speaks and they obey. Now I want to also say this at this point. Up to now I would think that many, regardless of their theological premise, would say amen to that.

Well, I believe that. I believe that God is sovereign. Yup, God made everything. The angels, every one of them are from the hand of God. He alone is the creator. And I agree that God is sovereign in the movement of the stars and the causes of life and I believe gravity is in place because God is sovereign over gravity.

I would think that many people up to this point would say amen. But if you dig a little further down into their thinking, you might find that when it comes to the sovereignty of God as it pertains to the salvation of men, that all of a sudden they would begin to recoil.

They would begin to say, now wait a minute now. I believe that God is sovereign over the moon and the stars and even the angels. And I believe God is sovereign in all the things of heaven. But now when it comes to the salvation of man and his own free will and choice and all those other things, well, I'm not so sure.

Many of you know me, I'm not that bashful about the scriptures. So I want to say something to you. If that's your belief, if you believe that God is sovereign in the heavens above and the causes of the moon and the stars and the angels and principalities and among the armies of heaven, and yet you do not believe that God is sovereign in the salvation of a man's soul, do you really feel that comfortable to take God's sovereign rule and start putting it in little boxes and say God could be sovereign over this and God could be sovereign over that?

But he's not sovereign over this. If your theology begins to limit God's sovereignty, throw your theology out. It's not worth it. It's not worth anything. Either God is sovereign or he ain't sovereign.

The heavens above, the angels, the moons, the stars, the heavens of heavens, all are under the decree of the one true God who takes counsel from no one. I'm going to quote from Brother Job a couple times.

You don't need to turn there. Listen to how Brother Job puts this. He stretches out the north over empty space. He hangs the earth on nothing. He binds up the water in his thick clouds, yet the clouds are not broken under it.

He covers the face of his throne and spreads his cloud over it. He drew a circular horizon on the face of the waters. At the boundary of light and darkness, the pillars of heaven tremble and are astonished at his rebuke.

He stirs up the sea with his power, and by his understanding, he breaks up the storm. By his spirit, he adorns the heaven. His hand pierces the fleeing serpent. Now listen to what he says. Indeed, these are the mere fringes of his way, and how small a whisper we hear of him, but the thunder of his power, who can understand?

I hope you're willing to say, praise the Lord, that God is sovereign over the heavens and the heavens of heavens. I hope that we came here today to bow down before his sovereignty, not to resist it, not to use it as a tool to, again, try to prove a theological stance.

Praise the Lord that the stars keep their course because God keeps the stars. That's my first point to us this morning, that God is sovereign in the things above, the things unseen, the things beyond us, the heavens of heavens.

God is the ruler. In the second place, I would ask us to then consider the sovereignty of God as it concerns the earth and all that's in it. And I see it here and again in the psalm, and I'll read it to you again.

And this is from verse 7 through verse 13. Praise the Lord from the earth, you dragons, and all the deeps, fire and hail, snow and vapor, stormy wind fulfilling his word, mountains and all hills, fruitful trees and all cedars, beasts and all cattle, creeping things and flying fowl, kings of the earth and all people, princes and all judges of the earth, both young men and maidens, old men and children, let them praise the name of the Lord, for his name alone is excellent, and his glory is above the earth and heaven.

Not only is God sovereign over the heavens that are above us,.

And all that therein lies,.

But God is the sovereign one over all the affairs of this earth and all that therein dwell. Look at it. I'm not making it up. Verse 7, look what it says. All that dwell in the waters. Look at verse 10.

The beast, the cattle, all that walks on the earth. Look again. All that creeps and crawls, all that fly. Who but the sovereign God could declare that the sparrow does not fall to the ground apart from his decree?

Now, I must tell you what happened here. As I thought of that very thought, that the sparrow doesn't fall to the ground without his decree, I began to think, I wonder how many sparrows there really are.

And so I began to do a little bit of research. And so I went to good old Mr. Google, and I started to look up birds. And I don't know how these people come up with the numbers they come up with, but I'm going to give them some lead way, latitude, but apparently there's somebody in this world that counts birds.

And so as I looked it up, here's what they said. They said that there are 10 ,000 species of birds. And that there's 400 million birds in the world today. 400 million. Well, I thought that's pretty amazing.

That's pretty astounding. God is sovereign over every single one of those birds. And remember, and I'll say it again and again, either God is or he isn't. Either he's absolute or he's not. Either he is God or he isn't God.

And so I thought about some other things, because he talks about the things that crawl and creep. So I said, okay, Mr. Google, let's look at bugs. And this one just blew my mind. And again, I don't know who counts all of this.

But as I looked up bugs and things that crawl, they say that there are 91 ,000 species of bugs. 91 ,000 species of bugs. And this will really get you. They say in their estimates that, you ready? There's 10 quadrillion bugs on the earth at any one time.

10 quadrillion. Okay. They might be off a quad or two, but. And so I kept on going. And I said, okay, I mean, talks about everything that's in the deep. And so I said, I'm going to look up fish. I like fish anyway, because, you know, I love to fish.

And they say, according to them, there's 34 ,000 known species of fish. So I said, I'm going to just keep on running the list. And I looked up animals. And they say that there are at least 8 million species of animals.

They say that there are at least 10 trillion ants on the ground at any one time. 10 trillion ants on the ground at any one time. Now, I didn't do that just so that you would get a chuckle. I wanted to sing.

I wanted to try to unfold. I wanted to try to work on my praise and my worship of my God. And when I read in this psalm that God has established all things, the dragons and the deeps, the fire and the hail, the snow and the vapor, the stormy wind, the mountains and the hills, the fruitful trees and all cedars.

And by the way, I looked up trees. According to the same people who count bugs, there's, I guess, a department of tree counting. And they say that there are 3 trillion trees at any one time. So just imagine that they're close, okay?

We are told that not a sparrow falls to the ground without God's sovereign rule in place. And if they're even close, can you consider how that order elicit and draw from us praise that there are some 400 million birds in the world today?

There are 3 trillion trees at any one time.

And here's what I believe.

And here's what the elders here believe. We believe that not one leaf of those 3 trillion trees falls to the ground without God's decree. You see this reality of the sovereignty of God ought to humble us.

We begin to see how puny we really are. And even as we sang, how great is our God. How exalted is this King of kings and Lord of lords. The one even whom Brother Mike spoke of that would use the evil of evil men to fulfill his purpose for his ultimate glory and ultimately for the good of his people.

And I wanted to ask you, do you believe that this morning? Oh, it's easy to say we don't believe that there's a single molecule outside of the sovereign decree of God. And I know we do, and we believe that.

I hope we believe that. But do we really believe it? I found myself driving here this morning. My wife was going to come a little bit later, and I'm driving here. And I'm thinking about this whole COVID thing.

And I found myself as I'm driving, and here I am coming to preach on the sovereignty of God. And I'm going to mention that God rules in every single aspect of life. And what do I find myself thinking of as I'm driving down 17th?

Wow, I wonder if a lot of people will show up because of this COVID thing. I almost had to pull off to the side of the road and say, man, are you that stupid?

Do we believe God is sovereign?

Do we really believe that our God is ruler of all things? And check this out. Not one of those 10 trillion ants that are on the ground at any one time will ever bite your feet apart from the decree of God.

Now, if I step in a pile of fire ants, the first thing that I'm going to say is not praise the Lord. But the reality is praise the Lord. Because they're his ants. Because they're his sparrows. This is our God.

Listen, friends, this ought to lift us off the ground.

Rules. Isn't that glorious?

Sometimes I wonder, and my background is more from a Baptist church. But I wonder sometimes what are we? Are we really the worshipers of God? We talk about the sovereign rule of God and his majesty and his glory and that everything is by his decree.

And sometimes we sit there and say, yep. Praise the Lord. That's why the psalmist says it this way.

Praise the Lord.

He can't get away from it.

Cannot get away from praising the Lord. God's rule not only is in the creatures that he commands, but God's rule is in the things that pertain to the people who live on the earth also. Look at it in verse 11 through verse 13.

Kings of the earth. All people. Princes. All the judges of the earth. All the young men and maidens, old men and children, let them praise the name of the Lord for his name is excellent. His glory is above the earth and heaven.

You know that scripture that we all seem to know, at least most of us and to most part, the one that says that the heart of the king is in the Lord's hand like a river of water. He turns it wherever he wills or cause us to praise the Lord.

Not just a memory scripture.

God rules.

God reigns. So let me go back to my question that I asked before. Do you still believe that God is sovereign in this but not in that? Do you still believe that man can frustrate the sovereign God of the universe?

Isn't that really the issue with man?

I will be my own sovereign. I will bow to none. I will praise none if I decide to believe in Jesus. And that's why I say to you, if that's your theology, throw it away. It's not going to help.

It's going to hurt you.

I'm going to go on a far, far ledge and I'm going to say there isn't a single Arminian in heaven. How's that? Every child of God is a Calvinist in heaven.

I will even say this.

There's no such thing as an Arminian when he prays. When that person who believes that he can control his own destiny gets down on his knees and begins to cry out to God to do a great work in the lost souls of their own children or grandchildren or friends or neighbors, they're not asking God to do something that they can do.

They're asking God to do something that only he can do. He's the sovereign one. God says, he says, do you really think that I'm like you? God is not only sovereign over the ten trillion ants that walk on the ground, but he's also sovereign over every single soul.

All are empowered according to his purpose and will.

Look at it.

It doesn't miss much, right? Kings, all people, princes, judges, young people, old maidens, old men, children. Listen, I don't care if you're a doctor or a lawyer or an Indian chief. I don't care if you're black, blue, yellow, or polka dotted.

God is sovereign over you. God does whatever he pleases to do with you and me. And I don't know about you, but praise the Lord. Could you imagine if this was not true? Could you imagine the condition we'd be in? If God was not the sovereign ruler over all?

God is the sovereign ruler over every single person, of every single background, of every single time, every single culture. He's the sovereign one over the healthy and the sick. And our brother read it.

Who makes the halt and who makes the lame?

And who created the ear?

And I love to do when we pray, I love to say that. Shall not he that made the eyes see? Shall not he who created the ear hear? Friends, it's all by decree.

And that does not destroy our responsibility.

Matter of fact, it gives greater weight to it. Again, even as our brother, and I'm sure our brother Keith will highlight that. That God's sovereign rule in no way frustrates, inhibits, or causes sinful man to act.

But every man acts of his own will, and yet God is behind there. And God is decreeing that all things will come to pass in the affairs of every single life. Let me read again from Brother Joe. You know, I thought it was interesting.

A couple of sections to read from Job, and I thought about that a little bit. And I said, you know something? If anyone learned about the sovereignty of God, it was Job. I mean, if you want to talk about someone that God dragged through the mud, it was Job.

You know, when you think about the book of Job, it's not until you get to the end of the book.

Because you remember his friends. They were helpful enough to hurt him. Do you remember the end of the book of Job? And God says to Job, you get up. I'm going to ask you some questions. And God begins to take him down that path.

He says, where were you when I created the heavens? And God walks him through the creatures. He says, where are you when the deer gives birth up on the hills?

Can you tell?

And Job's initial response is basically he says, uh-uh. I don't want a part of this. And then he even says, I'm vile. Don't ask me, Lord. You know, God comes back a second time. And God says, no, no, I'm not done with you.

Stand up again. I'm going to ask you more questions. And it's not until he gets to the very end where Job begins to realize. So Job is a very good example of one who learned the sovereignty of God by experience.

Let me read again from Brother Job concerning how all things are decreed. And that, friends, even the personality, the character, if you're short, it's by decree. If you're tall, it's by decree. If you're heavy, stay away from Dunkin' Donuts.

I don't know what else to say. If you're bald, it's by decree, unless you shave. It's all by decree. This is what he said. And it's God who is behind it. And I hate to say behind it because it makes it sound like God is somewhere in the distance.

No, no, friends. It's God. Listen to what it says. It says, the wing of the ostrich waves proudly. But are her wings and pinions like the kindly stalk? For she leaves her eggs on the ground and she warms them in the dust.

And she forgets that a foot may crush them or that a wild beast may break them. And she treats her young harshly as though they were not hers. Her labor is in vain without concern.

Here it is.

Because God deprived her and did not endow her with understanding. But when she lifts herself on high, she scorns the horse and the rider. Now, I want to be careful. But I want to say this. Some of what we are experiencing today as a country, where we have all these groups basically vying against one another and the things that we're talking about, this life matters and this one has privilege and this one is this and this one is that.

Let me tell you what I think. In part, I think it's an attack against the sovereignty of God. You know why? Because God made me, a man, a white man. Doesn't mean I'm any better or any worse.

But that's what God made me.

Am I supposed to be sorry for it? God is sovereign, isn't he? God made you a different color? Will you speak a different language?

Will you come from a different background? Praise the Lord.

Let me read again from Brother Job. With him are wisdom and strength. He has counsel and understanding. Listen. If he breaks a thing down, it cannot be rebuilt. If he imprisons a man, there can be no release.

If he withholds the waters, they dry up. If he sends them out, they overwhelm the earth. With him are strength and prudence.

Listen.

The deceived and the deceiver are both his. This is our God. The deceived and the deceiver are both his. He leads counselors away plundered. He makes fools of the judges. He loosens the bonds of kings and binds their waist with a belt.

He leads princes away plundered. He overthrows the mighty. He deprives the trusted ones of speech. He takes away the discernment of the elders. He pours contempt on princes and disarms the mighty. He uncovers deep things out of darkness and brings the shadow of death to light.

He makes nations great and destroys them. He enlarges nations and guides them. He takes away the understanding of the chiefs of the people of the earth and makes them wander in a pathless wilderness. My friends, this is our God.

I was talking with Brother Mike, Mark, during the break. We were just talking, and we were talking about the sovereignty of God. And I said it to him, and he said it back to me. I don't know where I'd be if I didn't understand that God is sovereign.

I don't know how I could get up anymore in the morning.

I don't know how I could look out in the world.

I don't know how I could look at my own soul and not believe that God is the ruler over all and that he's a good God and he rules sovereignly and he's blessed forever. I could just not believe that. I don't have any sort of sanity.

God rules in the heavens above. God rules in the things of this earth. And then in the last point that I wish to make, it's found in verse 14. He has established the horn of his people, the praise of all the saints, even the children of Israel, a people near to him.

Praise ye the Lord. God's sovereign rule concerning his people through the work of the Son of God. And I struggled a little bit with this verse trying to understand exactly who was in view. And so I read some commentaries, and here's what I found, that some of them will say that this directly is speaking about God's elect people.

I don't have any problem with that.

Others will say, well, it speaks and points more to Christ as the savior of his people. So here's what I'm going to do at this point. I'm going to take the middle road. But it's not really the middle road.

You see, because I said to you this morning earlier, when it comes to God's sovereign rule, I do not believe you can biblically or in any sort of reality separate the work of the Son of God on Golgotha's cross from the people for whom he came to Golgotha's cross.

And that God is sovereign in the affairs of his people, because as, again, my brother mentioned, the cross was not a second. The cross was not a reaction.

And by the way, isn't that great?

A sovereign God never reacts. A sovereign God acts. A sovereign God decrees. And so I will say this. I believe it's speaking in this verse, that he has exalted the horn of his people, the praise of all the saints, even the children of Israel, people near to him.

Praise ye the Lord, and that it is to be understood in light of God's sovereign work, not only in the sending of his Son and of the cross, but in the salvation of his people. And I will offer this text just as a point.

Listen to what it says. In the New Testament it says, Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ, just as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love, having predestined us to the adoption of sons by Jesus Christ himself, according to the good pleasure of his will, to the praise, and listen, to the praise of his glory and his grace, by which he has made us accepted in the...

You know what convinced me that God is sovereign? That he saved me. I can't get over how God took my dead soul and breathed life into it. I can't get over it. I can't get over those words,.

It is finished.

Can you? I can't get over the words, my sheep hear my voice, and I give unto them eternal life. The good shepherd gives his life to the sheep. No man plucks them out of my Father's hands. Friends, this is our God.

Never be ashamed of the sovereignty of God. And even Brother Keith said it Wednesday, Don't be ashamed to call yourself a Calvinist. Just make sure you make the other person understand what a Calvinist is.

Okay?

Because a Calvinist is none other than someone who believes that God is the sovereign God over all. Then you might have some messed up doctrines along the way. There isn't any perfect Calvinist either, by the way.

I don't care if you're a six-point Calvinist. Oh, wait a minute, there isn't six points, right? The best you could be is a five-pointer. But that's what convinced me that God is sovereign, friends, is that he took my dead soul, for no one else but a sovereign God could have.

It says that I was found of those who sought me not.

Sought me not.

Even when we were dead in trespasses and sins, he made us alive together in Christ. By grace, you have been saved.

And that, out of yourselves, is the gift of God.

What? Not of works? Why is it not of works? Because God is sovereign! God's not going to share his glory with some puny little worm like me! You see, my whole point, as I close, is this, my friends. The sovereignty of God ought to draw worship from us.

As we grow deeper in the grace and knowledge of the Son of God who loved us and gave himself for us, we ought to become in humility and with more humbleness of mind, praise you, the Lord! Praise you, Lord, for the fire ants!

Praise you for the dust ball! Praise you for the flame-throwing squirrels, for that matter! You see, friends, God's sovereignty is not just a doctrinal stance. Praise God it is something that we can hold on to.

Thank God, praise God, that the sovereignty of God is the anchor for our theology. But never let your theology, never praise your theology, praise the God of your theology! Praise the sovereign God. Let everything, and that's the way the book of Psalms closes, by the way.

And years ago I made business cards for when we were pastors in churches, and my business card still today reads the last verse in Psalm 150. Want to know what the last verse in Psalm 150 says? It says, let everything that has breath praise the Lord.

I'm not going to disappoint my brother Mike, so I'm going to close this way. Do you know God? I'm not asking you if you know about God.

Do you know God?

If not, then I bid you to come, come to the Savior. Come to the cross. Come to the sovereign Son of God who so loved us that He gave Himself for us. If you don't have peace in your soul today, then before you leave may God grant it to you.