The Vanity of the Nations - February 1st , 2026

For the reading of God's word, if you are able, I invite you to stand. And we're gonna read five verses in the book of Nahum. And I'm gonna read chapter two, verses three to seven for us. And you have to pay a little bit of close attention, okay? The shields of his mighty men are colored red. The valiant men are dressed in scarlet. The chariots were enveloped in flashing steel when he is set up to march. And the Cypress spears are brandished. The chariots race madly in the streets, they rush wildly in the squares, their appearance is like torches, they dash to and fro like lightning flashes. He remembers his mighty ones, they stumble in their march, they hurry to her wall, and the mantlet is set up.

The great gates of the river are opened, and the palace is melted away. She, so it stands, fixed. She is exiled, she is carried away, and her maidservants are moaning like the sound of doves beating on their hearts. Let's pray together. Father, thank you for this morning where we can come to drink deeply from your spring of living water. And we're so thankful, O bread of life, that you call us to come and partake. I pray that you would protect our time, that our hearts would be softened, that our minds would not wander. And I pray especially for those of us who feel really beaten up and bedraggled, that you would especially minister to those who are feeling overwhelmed by the cares of this life.

Father, help us to not just know theologically that you are sovereign, help us to leave here, feeling that you are sovereign. And so bless our time. And as you feed us, help us to go out and feed others the truths of the gospel. So empower and enable us. I'm praying all this in Jesus' name. Amen. Go ahead and take a seat.

The definition of the word is this: a competitor thought to have little chance of winning a fight or a contest. The word underdog originated from the 19th century American culture of dog fighting. So two dogs were pitted against each other for sport, and usually the stronger and the faster dog gained the advantage by pinning the weaker dog on its back and then biting down on its throat. The weaker dog, which would usually lose the fight, was pinned on its back under the dominant dog, and it was extremely unlikely that the underdog would have a chance of winning, since the strong dog already had it by its throat. So very rarely did the underdog ever recover from his position, let alone prevail.

So normally, underdogs have no chance at victory. Today in our culture, we are led to believe that underdogs have a greater chance at victories than they actually do. Because of Hollywood and because of sports, there are many who prefer the underdog. And we like to root for the underdogs because we're led to believe that the underdogs have a chance.

So reality-wise, if a strong dog were a large pit bull, then the underdog typically would be a chihuahua, and that's life. The Chihuahua has no chance.

But why are we wired to like a good underdog story? Part of it is because the Bible is full of seemingly miraculous underdog stories. Underdogs typically need a miracle to prevail, and miracles have been a plenty in the history of Israel. Right? And I want to review a few of those stories with us. Israel should never have escaped Egypt unscathed. Right? But what happened? Ten miracles for the Hebrew people, and we call them ten plagues, caused the Pharaoh to finally let Israel go. And then when Israel, and then when Pharaoh had a change of heart, an entire sea split in two, and then drowned all of Pharaoh's army and his fearsome chariots. Israel should never have been able to escape. Israel should never have been able to take Jericho.

But what happened? A miracle happened. The people marched around and then shouted, and then the walls of Jericho came tumbling down. Archaeologists have found remnants of the wall that were six feet thick. That's my height. Thick.

Shouting. Then later, a skeptical young man named Gideon took a pared-down army of 300 untrained men, and these are the girly men. They're not the ones who go. They're the ones who took a cup of water from their hand and gently drank it. And then Gideon did the unthinkable by attacking a Midianite army, and then what happened? The trumpet blasts were amplified to painful levels. Their torch light became blindingly bright, and then all of those things hurled the Midianites into confusion and chaos, and they were easily defeated by the 300 people army. One more.

Yahweh, the God of hosts, the God of heavenly armies, is a flattener of mountains. Do you believe that? Even in modern recent history, Israel has continued to do the unthinkable. It's seriously the stuff of fairy tales. Is Israel still around? Yes. Dry bones have come back to life. It's important to remember that for over 2,000 years before 1948, Israel was not a geopolitical nation. They had no land, they had no country, and they had been zealously hated for most of those 2,000 landless years. Six million of them were killed in the Holocaust. But on May 14th, 1948, less than half a decade removed, Israel came together, gathered their wealth, established laws, and even formed a military. So here's another cool underdog fairy tale-like fact.

Just 12 days after the birth of their nation, on May 26th, Israel established its formal army, navy, and air force. So the IDF, the Israel Defense Forces, were formed, and that in and of itself is absolutely unthinkable. A people that had not been a nation for 2,000 years formed an army, a navy, and an air force, and that was a good thing because pretty shortly after, the entire IDF had to be mobilized. Because as soon as Israel had become a nation, an army from Egypt, Transjordan, Syria, Lebanon, and Iraq. Five nations joined forces and then attacked this newly formed nation. And that was the start of the Arab-Israeli War of 1948. So this new nation of Israel almost immediately found itself in Meshton war.

The Israel, the Israelis, as they're called now, were outnumbered, and then they fought back. And in the end, Israel ended up with an even larger territory than the UN had initially given to them. So even in our modern history books, there is record of these miracles for the nation of Israel. Israel had been victorious again, just like in the Bible. The things that have happened in modern 20th century is the underdog story. This is all stuff you can look up. So here's a series of important questions. If God is for a people, can they ever be considered underdogs? Can either Israel or the church ever be considered underdogs in this life? Does Yahweh of hosts, whom we read about in the Bible, does he today level and flatten mountains for his glory and for the good of his people?

Theologically, you and I may be able to answer correctly. But why is it that more often than not we always feel like underdogs in this life overwhelmed by the world? Why do we feel unmatched for this life? Some of us in here today may feel like underdogs with the enemy's jaws around our throats, and we're barely hanging on. And we're going to be addressing these thoughts as we go through Nahum 2, 3 to 7 together. And it's going to be helpful for you to visualize today's Nahum passage as Nahum's ringside seats to a fight between two heavyweights. Okay. Assyria, the longtime champion, is in one corner. Babylon, the new up and coming contender, is in the other corner. Do you have a visual? The prophet Nahum is being given a visual of a fight between global heavyweights, Assyria and Babylon.

Israel is actually not in the fight. Israel's the prize. The purse for the winner of this prize fight would be Israel and Judah. So here's the outline for today's sermon. First, through verses three to five, we're given a description of the fighters, especially the Assyrian army, who had been proven to be heavy champion, heavyweight champions of their day. So Israel is in or Assyria is in her corner, and Assyria looks impossible to defeat. So second, we're going to be looking at the fight, and that's verse six. So the prophet Nahum foresees the opening scene of the historical and epic battle of Nineveh in 612 BC. That's in all of your history books.

They would be supernaturally flooded. And then we'll find that third, Nahum discovers that this heavyweight fight had been fixed. This whole thing had been predetermined. Yahweh had fixed this match. So Assyria, the heavyweight champion, would be finished. They would go into retirement. So on the surface, the people of God should celebrate because this is good news. So this battle is gonna be the gospel to the people of Judah. And the word gospel is actually used. Okay. That's how chapter one of Nahum's prophecy begins, and I'll read it for you, or how it ends. Yahweh commanded concerning you, Assyria, there will no longer be seed from your name. From the house of your gods, I will cut off graven image and molten image, I will prepare your grave.

You are contemptible. Behold on the mountains, the feet of him who proclaims good news, who announces peace. Celebrate your feasts, O Judah, pay your vows, for never again will the vile one of Syria pass through you. He is completely cut off. So Assyria, the longtime heavyweight champion, will be cut off completely. There will be no seed from their name, their fame, their legacy will be wiped out from people's memories, their lifeless gods will be proven utterly powerless, and the entire city is going to be buried under dirt, rubble, and sediment. That's the prophecy here. So today's sermon outline, we're visualizing the battle of two heavyweights, which is to take place 612 BC. So first the fighters, then the fight, verse 6, and then the understanding that all of the events of Nineveh's history had been fixed and determined, verse 7.

So first we're gonna look at the fighters, and let's read verses 3 to 5 of chapter 2. The shields of his mighty men are colored red. The valiant men are dressed in scarlet, the chariots are enveloped in flashing steel when he is set up to march. And the cypress spears are brandished. The chariots race madly in the streets, they rush wildly in the squares. Their appearance is like torches. They dash to and fro like lightning flashes. He remembers his mighty ones, they stumble in their march, they hurry to her wall, and the mantlet is set up. So verse 3 begins with the description of the Assyrian army. The Hebrew word for mighty men is Gibor Rehu. Repeat after me.

Okay, that's pretty good. Alright. So these are Assyria's champions. They're elite heroes, they're prize-fighting warriors. These are Assyria's special forces. Elsewhere in the Old Testament, we are given a list of King David's Gibor Rehu, his mighty men in 2 Samuel 23. King David had 37 of them. And here is a description of what kinds of things made David's champion men mighty. Okay. Chapter 23, verse 8. These are the names of the Gibor Rehu, whom David had. Joshe Bashebeth, a Tachemanite, chief of the captains. He was called Adino the Esnite, because of 800 slain by him at one time. Did you catch how many fighters this one mighty man killed by himself? Eight hundred in one sitting by himself.

That's the stuff of fairy tales. That's the stuff of legends. Abishai in verse 18 was David's nephew. If you watched the David movie that recently came out, Zeruiah, the little girl in the movie, David's sister, you guys have visual. Abishai is that little girl's son. So Abishai was King David's nephew, and Abishai, he's not as mighty, but still with a single spear, what did he do? He killed 300 men by himself. One more. Baniah, the son of Jehoiada. This man would later be King Solomon's personal bodyguard and executioner. This man was a stud. He voluntarily went into a pit in the snow, killed a lion, verse 20. Baniah was their modern-day Samson. Baniah also took on Egypt's version of Goliath.

What did he do? He ripped the spear out of Egyptian Goliath's hands and killed him with it. Interesting, huh? Stuff of fairy tales. So David had 37 of these men. And as an aside, Uriah the Hittite, the husband of Bathsheba was among these mighty men. So David did a very, very grievous thing when he took Bathsheba. He killed one of his loyal men. Okay. So the mighty men were the best of the best. The Gibor Rehu were the best of the best of every nation's military. So what is meant by Gibor Rehu? The Assyrians had an army of them who had dipped their shields in red copper, and they're standing there in ready defense at their corners, and the copper would make the sun reflect. So that's a blinding intimidating sight.

Okay. These valiant men were the leaders of these mighty men. So they were the mightiest of the mighty men. These were the captains. So for these valiant captains, it wasn't just their shields, their entire armor was dipped in copper. So this is an intimidating sight. A row of these copper shields made more terrifying by men dressed fully in copper, covered from head to toe, ready to fight you. In addition to that, the Assyrians had multitudes of chariots. The chariots were enveloped in armor, which is a new thing in this time. The emphasis there is placed on the flashing steel, and these chariots were covered in them with spikes. And the chariots could run over an army of foot soldiers, and then sticking out of these chariots were spears of Cyprus.

You see that in the text. Cyprus wasn't just ordinary wood. Cyprus was a thick, very sturdy wood. Cyprus did not crack or break easily. Cyprus was the building materials for buildings and palaces. So much Cypress was used to construct Solomon's temple.

And the Assyrians had made spears out of these.

They're standing all over the streets and in the squares of the city of Nineveh. That's a lot of glares, reflections of the sun from the shields, the armors, the chariots, and there were so many Assyrian warriors that the glare from all of this metal made the entire street look like they were covered with street lamps during the daytime, and they flash like lightning. So the word stumble that you see there in verse 5 is not a negative one where they're tripping. Okay. This word stumbling that is used there is to communicate that there were so many of these men and these chariots that they could not march without tripping on each other a little bit. So these mighty ones are in the streets, they're in the squares, they're at the walls, and they are even in their high towers, which the LSB translates as mantelits.

A mantalitz is a highly placed, nearly unclimbable defensive tower. So you are not getting past this wall, nor are you scaling these mantelits. So the language of verses three to five is one of terror-invoking confidence. The Assyrians were experts at combat. You guys know we we've gone over how cruel they were, right? They had been in many of these situations. And remember the Ninevites were famous for military strength and cruelty. And so this army is standing there at the ready. They exuded confidence and pride in their experience. And that's why chapter one opens with the stroking of the Assyrian ego as they're warming up and loosening up their. They're doing this. They're warming up and loosening up their punches.

And that's the vision that Nahum sees. Guard the fortification, watch the road. Strengthen your loins. Instill your power with exceeding courage. So there is that corner. You guys have an image in your head. In the opposite corner was Babylon. Babylon the Great was also loosening up and throwing jabs at the air, getting ready. Babylon was the underdog in the fight, but they were ready. But the Assyrians would soon discover that they're not only going to be fighting the Babylonian army, they're going to be overwhelmed by the God of Israel, the God of vengeance and wrath. He's going to start repaying them with his anger for all the years of violence that they had done to his people Israel. So Assyria the champion would be fighting not only the Babylonian army, but the God of heaven himself.

So remember from the beginning of Nahum's prophecy, okay, of chapter 1. Yahweh, the God of heaven controls all the elements. He is Lord over creation. He is great in power. He is controller of the whirlwind and the storm. He rebukes the seas and makes it dry. He's the one that makes the blossoms grow. He controls the earthquakes.

And as it was prophesied there in Nahum 1 8, the waters are going to rise, and a flood would destroy Nineveh. Verse 8, with an overflowing flood, he will make a complete destruction of its place and will pursue his enemies into darkness. And that's exactly what God did in 612 BC against the mighty Assyrian army. He made the rivers swell.

That's the fight. Nahim chapter 2, verse 6. The gates of the rivers are opened, and the palace is melted away. That's it. The fight doesn't last long. So the ancient city of Nineveh is modern day Masul Iraq. It's an area known to us as the Fertile Crescent. And it's obvious why the Assyrians made their capital there. The city of Nineveh was located at a place where three rivers converged. The Tigris River was to the west of the city. And this Tigris River served as like a protective moat. Because it was about five to fifteen feet deep. So you could not attack Nineveh, the Assyrian capital from the west. The Kosar and the Biltu rivers ran through the city. So these rivers were not just convenient, but they also made the city look very beautiful.

So these were beautiful pools of water that people delighted in, Nahum 2 8. So Nineveh was a city where three rivers converged, and in 612 BC, at the beginning of the battle of Nineveh, the waters from both outside and from within, all three rivers flooded the entire city within her walls, and literally the floodgates of the rivers were open. Greek historian Deodorus Siculus wrote that a big portion of the wall near the Kosar River swelled with water because these waters were made with, they were made with like, I don't know, like dirt, right? So eventually they swelled, they cracked, and they burst, and then it gave the Babylonian army an opening to gain an entrance. The back part of verse 6 reads that the palace was melted away.

The palace had been built by King Sennacherit, it had 70 rooms, and had been known to be a palace without rival. You actually, they found the palace of Sennacherib in archaeological digs. Okay, so you could actually look that up. Three Greek historians all described the crumbling of the foundation of the palace because of the flood and the fall of the city. So literally the fight was over before it had even started. So no matter how many bronze shields, no matter how many Cypress spears, no matter how many chariots of flashing steel and army possessed, none of that mattered when you're going against the God of heaven. Because as it reads in Isaiah 54, 17, no weapon that is formed against you will succeed.

Proverbs 21 30 to 31. There is no wisdom, there is no discernment, there is no counsel against Yahweh. The horses set ready for the day of battle, but salvation belongs to Yahweh. So if God is fighting against you, imagine this.

So it stands fixed. She, Assyria, is exiled. She is carried away. Her maidservants are moaning like the sound of doves beating on their hearts. It's important to understand that this was 40 years written before that actually came true. Okay. The word fixed, Huzab is literally in the verse. English translations, it reads, other in other English translations reads, it is decreed, meaning that it will happen, it will come to pass. Because if omnipotent God decrees something, it can't not happen. Right? It's been pre-established, it's been fixed. And all of the other Old Testament passages concerning Assyria emphasize this predetermination. So it's important to pause here and remember, God is sovereign, like we just read, right?

No plan of his can be thwarted, Job 42.2. And it's important to remember that God changes the times and the seasons, he removes kings, he establishes kings and presidents, he gives wisdom to wise men and knowledge to men of understanding. So God's purpose in raising up Assyria had been to discipline his people to correct them.

But God is patient, he is slow to anger. It only took him a thousand years of giving chances to his people, but after he had given them chance after chance, God had finally said, enough, godless nation. And he raised up Assyria to discipline his people Israel, and that's Isaiah 10, 5 to 7. Woe to Assyria, my memestic, the rod of my anger, and in the staff in whose hand is my indignation. I sent Assyria against Israel, and commanded it against the people of my fury, to capture spoil and seize plunder to trample them down like mud in the streets. But Assyria does not intend to act as a memmestic. It does not think in its heart in this way. Rather, what is in its heart is to destroy and cut off many nations.

So Israel would be punished for their sins and given over to Assyria for discipline. They are called godless. They are described as what is a what does it say here? How does God describe Israel? The objects of wrath, the people of my fury, right? But is Assyria, because they think that they're the ones in charge, God would next declare woe on Assyria, the nation he used to correct Israel and trample them like mud on the street. Isaiah's prophecy was given a hundred years before Nahum. So this outcome had been fixed long before Assyria's mighty men had even been born. So again, God speaking through Isaiah a hundred years before, he had prophesied that in a single day, Isaiah 10, 17, Assyria's glory would come to a sudden end, and that they would waste away forever.

Isaiah 10, 17 to 18, and the light of Israel will become a fire and his holy one a flame, and it will burn and devour his thorns and his briars in a single day. He will bring to an end the glory of Assyria's forest, of his fruitful orchard, both soul and body, and it will be as when a sick man wastes away. So there's a language of screaming. Assyria will pass away like a diseased man, screaming, and they're gone. So if God has decreed it, if he has fixed it, it will come to pass. The battle of Nineveh was a battle between Assyria and Babylon. The prize, the purse, the belt, would be the kingdoms of Israel and Judah. But sovereign God had fixed the fight, predetermined the outcome. So in this fight between Assyria and Babylon, who is the underdog?

Both of them. Assyria was an underdog whose throat was crushed. Babylon too would be an underdog with its throat crushed. As long as Yahweh loved Israel, Israel would never be the underdog.

You are guaranteed victory. Amen. This is not just for the people of the old and the new testaments. This is truth for God's people today. But the problem is there's a disconnect in what we see in the Bible and what we believe in our hearts. But the Bible is very clear, we are never the underdogs, Israel or the church. So Exodus 14, 13 to 14 reads.

Stand by and see the salvation of Yahweh, which we he will accomplish for you today. For the Egyptians whom you have seen today, you will never see them again forever. You know where this is? Think of the army of the Egyptians coming after the Israelites, and then what happens? And they're all dead for eternity. Verse 14. Yahweh will fight for you, and you will keep silent. Isaiah 41, 10. Do not fear, for I am with you. Do not anxiously look about you, for I am your God. Anxiously looking about means for help. Who can help me? Who can help me? I am your God. I will make you mighty, like Gideon. Surely I will help you. Surely I will uphold you with my righteous right hand. So as it says in Psalm 118, verse 6, the Lord is on my side.

What can man do to me? So here's an important fact, okay? God's people have never been, are not at present, nor will they ever be the underdog. God may allow his people to take some hits, they will never be knocked out. God's people may lose a couple of rounds, but they will ultimately prevail in every match. God may allow his people to lose a few battles, but they will ultimately prevail in the war. Amen? Now, I'm gonna revisit that all-important question I posed in the beginning. Do you believe this to be true? Do you believe that the God of hosts, the leveler of mountains, is mighty to save even today? The quiet objections that may be obstructing your heart may be this kind of a thought.

I've done too much for God to be on my side. Or God hasn't done much for me lately. He hasn't shown himself to be faithful. This is just theology is not my life. Where is God in all of my trials and my struggles right now? Two years ago it was worse, or it was okay, and it was hard. Now it's even worse. What has God done for me lately? Another objection. Things are so chaotic around me in my life. Where is God? Why do I feel like an underdog? Satan has his way with me. Darkness is surrounding me. How can I not be an underdog? You won't ever say it. But those are the things that creep into our minds and our hearts.

So sometimes when we have these quiet objections, it's because our short-sightedness and our immaturity and in our immaturity, we still kind of walk by sight and not by faith. We forget that even in having been redeemed out of this world, we still live in a world that's fallen and cursed. Knock your heads if you know that you live in a fallen world. What did the Lord Jesus say, Himself say in John 16, 33? These things I have spoken to you, so that in me you may have peace. In the world, you have tribulation. And that's not a small word. It's not inconvenience. The word is tribulation. But take courage. I have overcome the world. In this life, you will have trouble. The word have is in the present active tense, meaning that it is a condition.

If something is ever in the present active indicative, means it is just fact. So we have trouble in this world. That's not going to change. It is fact. It is a condition. You have trouble, you will always have trouble in the world. The Lord did not come to save us from trouble or from trying circumstances. Amen.

Because the Bible is very clear that He did not come to make our lives comfortable. He came to deliver us from sin. He came to deliver us out of this world and into glory. So if your hope in God is centered on the outcomes for this life, then of course you're not going to have peace.

Of course you're not going to have peace. If your hope in God is for this world, the world is cursed. It is destined for judgment, and we are waiting. The whole creation eagerly waits with groans for what? The revelations of the Son of God, right? The Lord Jesus actually said it's only going to get worse. Then it's only going to get darker for the people of light. Truth, yes? That's all over the Bible. But peace comes from understanding that we are not for this world. So if God is for us, who is against us? That's a good rhetorical question that is a fact for us. But even if he is for us, our time in this world will eventually come to an end, possibly painful. If you get a disease, your life could end payfully.

You are aware of this, right? We have older people in our church. You are a lot more aware of this than our 10-year-old kids. That your life could end physically in pain. We will all physically die. But the scriptures say that physical death still cannot separate us from this love. That is why we take courage because he has overcome this world.

You will not stay dead. So our struggle, our fight is not against flesh and blood. It is against rulers and authorities and the powers of darkness in the present world. And we are never an underdog in that. Why? 1 John 4 4, because greater is he who is in us than he who is in this cursed world. And the Lord has fixed the outcome for this. God's people, both Israel and the church ultimately win. Permanently.

Revelation 12, I've mentioned it three times in the last, or I mentioned it about three times in the last month. Revelation 12, the woman in that prophecy is the israel. She has seed. That's the church. The dragon that's looking to devour her is Satan. But Satan the dragon has been trying to kill and extinguish the woman and the seed from all time since his fall. But how does revelation end? Satan and his angels are what happens to them. They're thrown into the lake of fire permanently, the door is shut. God's people win. So we are more than conquerors. We don't just barely squeak out a victory. We are overwhelming conquerors. And that's what the apostle says before that famous verse that we all have memorized.

In all these things we overwhelmingly conquer through him who loved us. I am convinced that neither death nor life, nor angels, nor rulers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing will be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. Conquerors will physically die. Death and loss do not mean failure. A martyr is someone who is slain in battle and temporarily dead, but he will be one who permanently and forever is raised to glory. No martyr has ever been an underdog.

And there are things that are happening in the world and in the church today that are not easy to understand or to navigate. But if you read your Bibles, you'll discover that there are all these things have been foretold to us in his word. So our job, as the scripture says, is do not be deceived, do not be alarmed, and ultimately do not be afraid. We walk by faith, not by sight.

Amen. What does it say in verse 28 of this chapter? He is orchestrating all things for the good of those who love him. So God is working out his plan for your good or for good. You need to just be quiet. Watch in reverence and awe, the unfolding of God's gospel plan to restore the lost himself and to do away with sin once for all. Your prize is not for this life. The sooner you come to realize that, the joyful you will be.

So for the young parents, please don't transfer that to your kids. Don't pass on a foolish dream for your kids.

And he's accomplishing that in your life. So fix your eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of your faith. So right now, especially if you're really tired, if you're feeling very faint and you need some encouragement. There are many who have gone before us, but here in chapter 12 of Hebrews, it says, We are surrounded by a cloud of witnesses. Chapter 2, or chapter 12, verse 2. Therefore, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. Consider him who has endured such hostility by sinners against himself, so that you will not grow weary, fainting in heart.

Jesus was a son of God. He still endured hostility. Right?

But he did so with the joy set before him. And at present, he is seated at the right hand of the throne of God. He has defeated both sin and death.

Jesus will not die again. And the God of heaven is for his people. Do not grow weary or lose heart. He has delivered his people before. He continues to deliver his people now from sin. He will not deliver his people going forward. So as it says in Psalm 20, verse 7, some trust in horses, some in chariots, but we trust in what? In the name of Yahweh, our God. Amen. The fight has been fixed. We're just awaiting for the fulfillment of the prophecy. He is in our corner. He will fight for us.

Trust, obey, watch.

You are his purse. The Lord will fight our battles. And that's why we continue on. He is the God of heaven, and he is God full sovereign over the earth. Let's pray together. Father, I ask for your help for us to remember this going forward. That our hope would grow more and more from the things of this life towards eternity. We thank you, Lord, if you are using the failures and the hardships of this life to wean us from this world. But would you increase our faith? Lord, even youths grow tired and weary, young men stumble and fall. But you have said that those who trust in the Lord will rise on the heights like eagles, they will run and they will not fall. So you are the source of strength for those who are fatigued.

So we trust in you to do your mighty work in our lives. And we all pray all of this in Jesus' name.