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[0:00] Go with me to the book of, go with me to the book of 1 Kings, 1 Kings chapter 9, 1 Kings chapter 9. I'm going to pick up in the 10th verse, okay? 1 Kings chapter 9, verse 10.

[0:16] I'm going to read to the end of the chapter, which gets us to verse 28. It seems like a very mundane portion of scripture, and maybe it is. It's one of those that when we read it, we have to say, okay, the Lord put it there for us.

[0:28] And we are told that all scripture is profitable. So we desire to see the profit and application thereof, and hopefully we will. Now, I will go ahead and tell you that while I am a full believer that all scripture is profitable and good for proof and correction and teaching and admonition and all those things, sometimes the application is a little easier in other portions than it is in some other writings.

[0:54] But it doesn't mean that it's not there. But we don't want to stretch the text. We want it to say what it says, but we want to learn from it. So we're in 1 Kings chapter 9, starting in verse 10 and going to verse 28.

[1:06] But let's pray, and then we'll read our text with one of us. Let's pray together. Lord, thank you so much for this day. God, thank you that you've allowed us to gather together. We thank you that we have the opportunity to come.

[1:18] Lord, to just be encouraged, my brothers and sisters in Christ. And Lord, we thank you for the day which you've given us. And what a blessing it is. We pray now your blessings as we open up the word of God.

[1:29] I pray that as we study even the historical writings, Lord, that it would speak to our hearts and minds, that the truth would be clear, but the application would be there as well. And Lord, we would take the truthfulness of scripture.

[1:41] We would long to apply it to our lives, and you'd be glorified and honored in it. And we ask it all in Jesus' name. Amen. Let's put it in context. Okay, in context, Solomon has completed the construction not only of the temple, but also of his house.

[1:57] So the 20-year construction project that has just been finished up. We're in the 24th year. We'll get to this in just a minute from our text. We're in the 24th year of Solomon's reign. The temple has been dedicated.

[2:08] The Ark of the Covenant has been brought into the temple. The Shekinah glory has fallen upon the temple. There's been this wonderful 14-day worship celebration. They have celebrated the Feast of Booths or Festival of Tabernacles.

[2:20] And God has spoken to Solomon again, this reminder that God is faithful. He promises with his mouth. He fulfills with his hand.

[2:31] God has not only just reaffirmed his covenant, but is just encouraging Solomon to walk in faithfulness and obedience. Now, we are rapidly, it doesn't take us long.

[2:45] We come up in 1 Kings chapter 11, and we begin to see the falling away of Solomon. But there are things that we see that are being lived out in his life.

[2:57] So it's not like it comes by surprise. We can see kind of that, as you would say, the handwriting on the wall. We see these things coming into place. And I believe we see those here in our text this evening, starting in the 10th verse of the 9th chapter.

[3:13] And you say, well, how do we see that, Pastor? Hopefully by the time we're done, you can. It says, And it came about at the end of 20 years in which Solomon had built the two houses, the house of the Lord and the king's house. Hiram, king of Tyre, had supplied Solomon with cedar and cypress, timber and gold according to all his desire.

[3:29] Then king Solomon gave to Hiram 20 cities in the land of Galilee. So Hiram came out from Tyre to see the cities which Solomon had given him, and they did not please him. Then he said, What are these cities which you have given me, my brother?

[3:43] So they are called the land of Kabul. Kabul means worthless, some people say, or good for nothing. The land of Kabul to this day. And Hiram sent to the king 120 talents of gold.

[3:55] Now this is the account of the forced labor which king Solomon levied to build the house of the Lord, his own house, the Milo, the wall of Jerusalem, Hazor, Megiddo, and Gezer. For Pharaoh, king of Egypt, had gone up and captured Gezer and burned it with fire and killed the Canaanites who lived in the city and had given it as a dowry to his daughter Solomon's wife.

[4:16] So Solomon rebuilt Gezer in the lower Beth-horon and Balaith and Tamar in the wilderness in the land of Judah. And all the storage cities which Solomon had, even the cities for his chariots and the cities for his horsemen.

[4:29] And all that it pleased Solomon to build in Jerusalem and Lebanon and all the land under his rule. As for all the people who were left of the Amorites, the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites, who were not of the sons of Israel.

[4:43] Their descendants who were left after them in the land whom the sons of Israel were unable to destroy utterly. From them Solomon levied forced laborers even to this day. But Solomon did not make slaves of the sons of Israel, for they were men of war, his servants, his princes, his captains, his chariot commanders, and his horsemen.

[5:03] These were the chief officers who were over Solomon's work, 550, who ruled over the people doing the work. As soon as Pharaoh's daughter came up from the city of David to her house which Solomon had built for her, then he built the Milo.

[5:16] Now three times in a year Solomon offered burnt offerings and peace offerings on the altar which he built to the Lord, burning incense with them on the altar which was before the Lord, so he finished the house.

[5:29] King Solomon also built a fleet of ships in Ezan-Geber, which is near Eloth, on the shore of the Red Sea in the land of Edom. And Hiram sent his servants with the fleet, sailors who knew the sea, along with the servants of Solomon.

[5:45] They went to Ophir and took 420 talents of gold from there and brought it to King Solomon. 1 Kings 9, 10 through 28.

[5:56] Just kind of a side note here. I know it's a completely side note and you probably didn't catch it. We noticed that when Solomon built this fleet of ships, he sent them out of the Red Sea.

[6:06] Right? Let's get our biblical geography. I could get Trace to come down here and share this with you just a little bit, a little bit better than I could probably. But our biblical geography, the nation of Israel has no natural sea port.

[6:22] There's sea coast, but there's no natural sea port. So Solomon did it out of the Red Sea going towards Edom. It wasn't until Herod the Great developed underwater concrete and built Caesarea Philippi, which was a natural sea, not an unnatural, but a man-made sea port, that the nation of Israel could do it off of that coast land.

[6:43] Just a complete side note. It has nothing to do with the message tonight. It's just, it's always amazing to me how scripture just coincides not only with history, but geography and all these other things.

[6:53] And we kind of see how it plays in and how it all lays in together. But anyway, let's get back to our text. Okay. I want you to see the way of the king because the question kind of begs to be answered is how does he who constructs and is used of the Lord to construct such a magnificent temple as Solomon's temple and such a wondrous work.

[7:17] How does he fall away? What leads to that? Now, I know that when we read the text, we're quick to point out that the multiple wives of Solomon aided in his falling away, and they did.

[7:30] But it was still Solomon who chose the multiple wives, right? And it was Solomon whose personality led him to these things. There are certain attributes or certain ways that we see of the king that kind of made him one that was prone to falling away or made him one that was prone to fall short of faithful obedience, which we will see when we get to the 11th chapter.

[7:53] And it's things that kind of help us understand how to guard our own steps, how to walk in these things, and how to live this thing. I'm reading an old book by a gentleman named William Law, A Serious Call to a Holy and Devout Living.

[8:08] And it's really, just to be honest with you, it's a very convicting book. It's such an old book, and it's just a serious call of what it looks like to live a holy and devout life and kind of how we could be intentional about that.

[8:19] Sure, there are things that the Lord does for us, but there's always intentionality upon the individual who seems to work out or who intentionally works out their own salvation.

[8:30] So we see this as a cautionary tale, but we also see this as kind of maybe a testing of ourselves. So let's look at the way of the king. The first thing that we notice is that his way is natural.

[8:43] That is, he is just doing what every other king does. His way is natural. We read here, let's just look at the historical aspects of it. Solomon had entered into a covenant with King Hiram of Tyre, not to be confused with the Hiram who was the craftsman who came down and did all the work on the temple, but he is King Hiram.

[9:04] King Hiram of Tyre was a friend of David. He very quickly became a friend of Solomon. He provided, this is one of the wondrous things of the temple, he provided all the timbers and gold and things of that nature.

[9:20] Well, he provided all the timbers for the temple. You have to be cautious there and we need to say this right. He provided all the timbers because they were timber cutters and they would float them down the Mediterranean Sea and they would get them to the people of Israel.

[9:33] And then there were hewers of stone and things like that that Solomon got from the nation of Israel itself. But Tyre had been providing the timbers for the house of the Lord and then he provides the timbers for Solomon's house.

[9:46] He is doing a lot and as part of their agreement, we'd have to go back a few chapters and see that Solomon had agreed to pay him in food, right?

[9:57] Wheat and oil because while Tyre was a mountainous and forest region, it was not really a plenteous region of agriculture. So Solomon had agreed to send them food and all this, the barley and the wheat and things of that nature.

[10:11] And here, there's just really this bartering system of natural resources. But somewhere along the line, Solomon needs more gold. Now, it's Warren Wearsby in his Bible commentary that makes this really stand out to us.

[10:27] Solomon needs more gold because Hiram sends him, it tells us, 120 talents of gold. Now, this is, I think, if you do the math, around four tons of gold.

[10:42] We know that he does not need this gold for the construction of the temple. Because all of the gold needed to construct the temple, David had already set aside.

[10:55] David had set ample amount of gold aside for the temple. So more than likely, what takes place is that Solomon doesn't need the gold for the temple.

[11:08] Solomon needs the gold for the palace. And so he makes an agreement, now stay with me, with Hiram, because he needs some more gold for his own house.

[11:21] He gets the gold and in exchange for the gold, he tells him he will give him cities. Because what does it say? It says that he gave him 20 cities. Now, we can stop right there.

[11:34] Solomon gave Hiram 20 cities in Galilee. If you know anything about the promised land, you know that Solomon can't give away cities.

[11:48] There's this thing called the year of the jubilee. And the year of the jubilee that takes place every 50th year was so that if anyone had to sell their inheritance in the year of the jubilee, it would revert back to the family so that no one would ever lose their inheritance because the land doesn't belong to man.

[12:05] The land belongs to the Lord. But yet Solomon is giving away cities. Now, legally, according to the letter of the law, Solomon cannot give away the land, especially to a non-Jewish individual, because the land doesn't belong to the Jews.

[12:24] The land belongs to the Lord. This is why you have the promised land. God gave them the land. This is why we cannot say, well, God, that was unfair. That land belonged to the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Jebusites, the Hivites, and all the Hites.

[12:36] The land was not their land. The land was the Lord God's land. He was just changing the inhabitants of the land. The whole purpose of the year of jubilee was to ensure that the land remained with the nation of Israel forever.

[12:53] But yet Solomon is giving it away. Now, if we go and open up 2 Chronicles, when we get there, as we make our way through 2 Chronicles, evidently Solomon gets this land back because he rebuilds these cities.

[13:08] Because, as you know from our text, when Hiram goes and looks at it, he goes, what good are these? I don't want these. And he calls them Kabul. They're worthless. Some speculate.

[13:20] We get to the 10th chapter. The Queen of Sheba comes. Do you know how much gold the Queen of Sheba gives to Solomon? It's 120 talents, which is the exact amount that Hiram had sent him.

[13:31] Some speculate that more than likely what happened is that what the Queen of Sheba gave to Solomon, Solomon turned around and gave it back to Hiram and therefore got the land back. But we have to ask our question, why would he do that?

[13:43] Well, if we stay true to the text and we read the text, we will see. Because this is what every other king did. Do you notice there's a town that he rebuilds and the town's name is Gezer.

[13:56] And the way that Solomon comes in possession of Gezer is that Pharaoh, king of Egypt, went to Gezer, killed all of its inhabitants, and gave it to his daughter as a dowry when she married Solomon.

[14:09] So the king of Egypt would give cities to other people as payment. And now all of a sudden we see the king of Israel giving cities to other people as payment. It's natural.

[14:19] It's what everybody else is doing. It's the way they operate in that land, right? In exchange, if you give me this, I'll give you cities. This is exactly what other kings around them are doing.

[14:33] And this is a very natural manner of happening. The problem is, is that God had not called his people to operate by natural means. Solomon, let's just say it for what it is, Solomon is a good king.

[14:51] But that does not necessarily imply that he is a good man. Okay, he is a good king. We're not casting judgment here, but it does not mean he is walking in faithful obedience to the Lord.

[15:07] So there are some kings in which we open up, and we'll get to them very quickly, making our way through 1 Kings, 2 Kings, 1 Chronicles, 2 Chronicles, that we have no doubt whatsoever. This is not a good king, and this is not a good man, right?

[15:20] This man does what is wicked in the sight of the Lord. Solomon's kind of that transition. David's a king after God's own heart, a man after God's own heart, right? Not just a king. Solomon is a good king, but he's not the man that David is.

[15:33] Which, again, causes us to have a longing for a good king who is a great man. But Solomon is doing what is natural.

[15:45] He naturally behaves just like every other king, and it doesn't make him a bad king. It just means that he's behaving like everybody else, and that should be a red flag to us, because God has not called his people to live as is natural.

[16:01] He's called his people to live in the supernatural. Right? They were not to be like all the other kings around them. They were not to behave like all the other people around them. They were not to do all these other things. And naturally, Solomon wants his house to be glorious with all this gold.

[16:16] And naturally, the way he could do it is, since his kingdom is expanding, he has these cities that are, you know, their disposal. So he gives them away. And naturally, he's doing everything else every other king would want to do.

[16:29] It is striking that when the queen of Sheba comes, the thing that astounds the queen of Sheba is Solomon, his table, his servants, the way they're seated at the table, the food they eat, and the splendor of his kingdom, not the splendor of his God.

[16:48] It's natural. Because the queen of Sheba was rich too. And she was overcome by the natural wonder of the man. So the first thing that we see is that he is natural.

[17:02] He does what everybody else is doing. The second thing that we see, and this is where we have to be careful in our own land, is he was a national man. Right? So there's the natural aspect.

[17:14] There's the national aspect. That is, he was a man of the nation of Israel. He did a lot for the nation of Israel. As a matter of fact, the nation of Israel has not yet since, nor had they before, possessed and occupied and controlled the sheer amount of land volume other than during the reign of Solomon.

[17:32] This is the greatest amount of land volume that is under the control of the nation of Israel. And it had never prior to this achieved that success until Solomon's reign. And ever since Solomon's reign, it has never in history ever gotten back to that point.

[17:48] The nation was at its strongest during the reign of Solomon because, again, he is a good king. And we notice that what he does is he does everything that you would want him to do as a national leader.

[17:59] It says that he rebuilds these cities. These cities that he rebuilds are very instrumental cities. He rebuilds Jerusalem. He rebuilds Azor. Megiddo. Megiddo is Armageddon.

[18:09] The valley of Megiddo is where this great valley of Armageddon. And when we open up the book of Revelations, we see Gazer. And all these cities that he is rebuilding are cities that are at instrumental locations along the trade routes.

[18:22] If we were to take a map, we can see they are in varying portions and places. Tamar is a city that is kind of up in the air about where it is located. Is it the city of Tamar that is over here?

[18:33] Is it the city of Talmud that is over here? Depending on where it is on the map. But every one of them are instrumental cities to maintain safe trade. Okay.

[18:43] He even rebuilds the Milo. Milo, M-I-L-O, literally means heap. Heap of ruins. So it is the raised fortification of earth that is around Jerusalem.

[18:54] So he is fortifying Jerusalem. He builds storage cities. Think Joseph. Right? So he has these cities where they are storing food. It is pretty amazing. So he has all these storage cities and these storage vests.

[19:07] He builds cities that would house his horsemen and his chariots. What is he doing? He is ensuring the security of the nation. Okay. He is a good king.

[19:19] He is not a man of war. He is a man of treaties. He is a man of delegation. And he is a man of fortification. He is rebuilding the cities. He is putting chariots, which are the modern day equivalent of tanks and airplanes.

[19:34] Right? He has got all these horses. He has got his horsemen. He has got his chariots. He has got storage cities. So that when battles come, the nation is prepared. On the national level, no king exceeds him.

[19:49] He not only takes care of their trade routes locally, he expands their trade routes. Because he builds a fleet of ships. And then they begin to go overseas.

[19:59] And this kind of agreement that he has with Hiram. Now Hiram sends his men down from Tyre because they already know the sea trade routes. And they get in the ships with them.

[20:11] And then they begin to take what we see when we get to the 10th chapter. All this gold and all this silver and all the... I mean, they bring back, you know, things that really are just there to promote prosperity.

[20:21] They bring peacocks back. Why do they bring peacocks back? Because nobody has peacock. Read the book of Ecclesiastes. It's almost like he has a zoo as well. And they start bringing all these varying animals there.

[20:34] Right? What a national time this is. But national pride does not mean faithfulness with the Lord. Right?

[20:44] Your first time... I know I'm thankful for the nation that we live in. And I'm very thankful for the land. And I'm thankful for those who pay an ultimate price. And I will always respect those who serve. And I will always cherish the opportunities we have.

[20:58] But the first allegiance isn't to the nation. The first allegiance is to the Lord. But what we see with Solomon is that he did what was natural. And he did what was best for the nation.

[21:09] And he did it in a good way. He did it in a good way. So we acknowledge that. But the danger comes in this last thing. Not only was he natural in his ways.

[21:21] He was national in his ways. He was also nominal. Because right in the midst of this. There seems to be this out of place thing. Right?

[21:33] And it's just kind of this out of place thing. That doesn't make sense. And you know when we begin to compare kings. And we get into the historical writings. When we read the accounts of David.

[21:46] Now we know that God uses different men at different times. For different seasons. And in different ways. Right? We read of David. And it highlights his dependence and his faithfulness upon the Lord.

[21:58] It highlights his failures. But it also highlights his repentance. It highlights his cries out to God in moments of desperation. We are now in the 24th year of Solomon's reign.

[22:09] And we're yet to hear a cry of desperation. Because there is none. It's a good season. We see him doing a lot of things politically. That are not necessarily wrong.

[22:21] Well. The building of the. Amassing horses and amassing chariots is wrong. Marrying a. Woman from Pharaoh.

[22:33] A daughter of Egypt is wrong. Getting his horses from Egypt is wrong. Because God had said all these things in the book of Deuteronomy not to do them. Making allegiance.

[22:43] With Egypt is wrong. God had said don't do this. But yet he's doing things that are. They're. Prospering in his hand. He's doing things that are causing the nation to prosper.

[22:57] And they're more affluent than they've ever been. But we do even have in our text. I almost brought this into the 10th chapter. But we don't have to. Because we see in our text. That he's also very nominal in the faith.

[23:09] That's a good way of saying he's lukewarm. Okay. It tells us here. In the midst of all this. It just kind of interjects this. In the 25th verse.

[23:19] We're reading of. What is his foreign affairs relations with Hiram. We're reading of the cities he's rebuilding. We're reading of. How he's fortifying this trade route.

[23:30] How he's. And right before we get into his sea travel trade route. We read this. Now three times a year. Solomon offered burnt offerings. And peace offerings on the altar. Which he had built. To the Lord. Burning incense with him on the altar.

[23:42] Which was before the Lord. So we finish the house. And then boom. And then we go back into his sea trade. So the author. Whoever he is. Some think that it's Jeremiah. Reminds us.

[23:53] That Solomon was offering. Three times a year. Now it wasn't Solomon doing the offering. Because he can't. The priests have to do the offering. But it's Solomon. Who is providing the. Sacrificial animals to the priests.

[24:04] So they may do the offering. And it's Solomon. Who is ensuring that the incense is. Burned. At the right times. But what we see in the text. It kind of implies. Now three times a year. He does this.

[24:16] And now the temptations. To go. Great. Awesome. Three times a year. He's doing this. Look at this king worship. Until we are mindful of the reality. That three times a year. Was the bare minimum. That God required.

[24:26] Every Jewish male. To attend. Three times a year. Those three main feasts. That they were to come. Three times a year. Every Jewish male.

[24:36] Was to go. To the temple. Three times a year. We get this. When they come into the promised land. And God dictated it. In the book of Leviticus. There were five festivals. But three times a year. They were. Every Jewish male.

[24:46] Was to come. And offer sacrifice. So when we look at it that way. We see that the. Solomon is doing the minimum. Okay. He's doing the minimum. That's.

[24:59] Not to cast stones. And say. He shouldn't have been doing it. But what we. Don't see. In the text. Is he's never. Doing it. Other than. Those three times a year.

[25:11] He's doing. What is. Minimally. Expected. And minimally. Required. Of the Lord. By every. Jewish. Male. The kings. That we encounter.

[25:22] Where it says. And this one. Walked. This one. Walked. According to the ways. Of David. These are those. Who are. Worshiping. As a matter. Of living. Not as a matter. Of. Just minimum.

[25:32] Requirements. We see this. Taking place. In Solomon's life. Because he is very. Nominal. In his faith. He excels. In the political realm. He excels.

[25:43] In the national realm. He excels. In acquiring things. With the wisdom. Of the world. But what he does not. Excel at. Is in his worship. He's very nominal. There.

[25:55] Because he's figured out. How to do all these things. He's given wisdom. He's doing all this. But the requirement. In the calling of God. Is a walk in obedience. When you go. To the 11th chapter. And you begin to see.

[26:05] That Solomon is falling away. The charge. That is brought. To Solomon. Is that his heart. Quote. That his heart. Was not wholly. Devoted. To the Lord. And then we read later.

[26:18] That he did not follow. The Lord. Fully. See the danger. Is with all of his. Natural behavior. For his national pride. But his nominal. Practice. Of faith.

[26:29] Eventually. Led to the reality. That he was not. Wholly. Devoted. To the Lord. And he did not. Follow the Lord. Fully. Why?

[26:41] Because half-hearted. Devotion. Or nominal. Devotion. Will inevitably. Lead. To a falling away. Just will. You can be good.

[26:51] In all the natural. Areas. You can be good. In all the national. Areas. And you can do things. Right. And do things. Good. In the spirit. Of the world. And you can. You can look good. In every other aspect. But when.

[27:02] Faith. Is nominal. And you do. The minimum. That's required. And you do. The minimum. That's expected. And you put a check mark. Three times a year. He's offering sacrifices. He's making sure. The incense is burnt.

[27:13] He's doing all those things. The check mark. Is there. But he's not. Doing anything. Above and beyond that. We should not. Be surprised. That the enemy.

[27:26] Uses the multiple wives. In connection. With the nominal faith. To lead his heart away. And that should not. Catch us off guard.

[27:37] Because this is the way. Of the king. This is how he behaves. This is how he looks. This is what he's doing. Wise. Beyond measure. Wealth.

[27:47] Sure. We'll see that displayed. For us in the 10th chapter. But what we notice. I know. Not only did he spend. Nearly twice. As long. Seven years. Building the temple.

[27:58] 13 years. Building the palace. He spent nearly. Twice as long. Building his own house. But so much. More of his energy. Is giving to ensuring.

[28:09] National security. And national expansion. Than it is personal worship. He put a lot more effort. Into making sure. The trade routes. Were secure. Than he did. In worshiping the Lord.

[28:19] Who was opening the door. Because one of the tragedies. That we find. One of the tragedies. Queen Sheba. Is going to come. In the next chapter. And she'll be amazed.

[28:30] And God. Is throwing. Open the doors. That the people of Israel. Are having access. In peace. In times of peace. Through the ships. And through the queen of Sheba.

[28:42] And through the people. That are coming. God is attracting people. But what we find. Is that the news. Of God's glory. And greatness. Doesn't. Go with it.

[28:54] An amazement. Of Solomon. Goes with it. But not. The wonder. Of who God is. It doesn't follow. It isn't.

[29:04] Until the church. Is born. In the fullness. Of times. That the trade routes. Become the gospel. Caravans. Taking the gospel. Message. To the world. Right.

[29:16] God wanted. To put himself. On display. Through his people. God. Longed. To make his people. Look different. So that all the peoples. Of the world. Would be attracted to him. But when faith.

[29:27] And practice. Is nominal. People begin. To hear more about us. Than to do about our Lord. God. And that's exactly. What happens. Because this is what. I mean.

[29:38] They knew. Of Solomon's wisdom. They knew. Of Solomon's wealth. They knew. Of Solomon's greatness. They all knew. Of his horses. And his chariots. And they were buying. Horses from him. They knew.

[29:48] Of his storehouses. They knew. Of the buildings. He built. But they don't. Know. Of his God. They don't know. And so. When we bring. That application. To us.

[29:58] We ask ourselves. How are we living? Are we living naturally? Are we living nationally? But are we worshiping. Nominally? Where are we at? What is our way?

[30:10] And what is it. That people leave. Us knowing? Because if we're not careful. We'll see in the 10th chapter. People leave. Solomon's presence. In all. But then.

[30:21] We notice in the 11th chapter. That Solomon. Begins to leave. The presence. Of the Lord God. And so. We want to understand. That how we behave.

[30:31] And how we live. What our way is. Will dictate. What people know. Of the Lord our God. But will eventually. Dictate how we. Live out our lives. For his glory. Or for ours. Either one. And we see this.

[30:42] Here. In 1st Kings. Chapter 9. Verses 10. Through 28. Okay. Let's pray. And then we'll be dismissed. Lord.

[30:53] I thank you so much. I thank you for this day. God. I thank you that we have the opportunity. To gather together. And to worship around your word. Lord. I pray that you help us. To be people of your word.

[31:05] That our greatest devotion. Our greatest way. Would be to the things of faith. That it would be to our walk with Christ. Lord. We know that there are things. That you call us to do naturally. That we're going to live in this world. We want to do it well.

[31:16] We want to do those things good. We want to do all that we do. As to the glory of the Lord. Not as to man. So Lord. Help us to do the natural things well. Lord. We know that you've put us in a nation.

[31:27] And we want to honor that nation. We want to obey its leaders. As you called us to do in the word. In the book of Romans. We want to pray for our nation's leaders. And we want to be an instrumental part of our nation.

[31:40] Lord. We want our greatest devotion. Our greatest allegiance to be to you. We want our faith to be vibrant. And we want that when people come into contact with us. Not for them just to see our national pride.

[31:50] Or our natural behavior. But Lord. We want them to see our Lord and Savior. Jesus Christ. So Lord. Help me to live my life accordingly. Help me to live my life fully devoted. Fully committed.

[32:01] For your glory and honor. And help us to leave here. Lord. Realizing that we are billboards. We are reflecting something. And may we reflect you. May people leave our presence.

[32:14] Not so amazed at who we are. Or what we've done. Or what we've accomplished. As a church. But Lord. May they leave our presence. In wonder of you.

[32:24] Oh God. Lord. Thank you for the day you've given us. Thank you for each and every opportunity. And may you be glorified and honored. Through all that we do. And we ask it in Jesus name. Amen.

[32:37] Thank you guys so much. Thank you. Thank you.