A Promise Kept - Joshua 10:1-15

A lot of exciting things happen in the month of July at Northland, mission trips and Bible school, all kinds of things. One is family worship. We give our children's workers a break in the month of July in some of our areas. We still have our nursery and our preschool available. But for our elementary kids, we have we call family worship, a chance for all of us to worship together. One thing we want to do for our kids to engage them in what we're doing.. We've provided the sermon note sheet for them to draw some pictures from the things they're hearing in the sermon notes they want to take. These are out in the lobby. Be sure when you come and you grab one. If you missed getting one, you can run out there and grab them. They're out on the table out there for your kids. And then what we want to do is display these. So kids, if you draw the pictures from the sermon today, take your notes today and you want us to hang them on the wall out there and display for everyone to see, you just give your sheet to one of our pastors today when you see them, when you're done, and we're going to make sure those hang out on the wall for everyone to see the great notes you're taking this month of family worship, as we all engage together in God's word. Back into Joshua today, Joshua chapter 10. When I meet people who have just moved to Kansas City, I'm always interested in where they came from, what brought them to Kansas City, how they're liking their new life here in Kansas City. And one of the questions I often ask is if they are a football fan, and particularly which team they cheer for. It's always important to me to learn that. It's always fun for me to hear who they're cheering for. But one of the things that I ask is, do you have a team you're deeply committed to And a lot of times people do. They say, well, I lived in this city and I've been been a fan all my life with this team. My dad was a fan of this team and always been a fan of this team. But a lot of people say, youou know what? I love football. I don't really have a team I cheer for. And what I do is I give them advice that they should ride away become a Kansas City Chiefs fan. And we'll allow that. We're not going to be like, hey, you can't be a fan of our team. And really, it's for your benefit that you become a Chiefs fan. If you if you're already committed, don't turn on your team of your dad or your childhood. Stay committed. But what I tell them is, you will be happier if you will just become a Chiefs fan because we are really obnoxious and really annoying. And you can either spend the rest of your days here in Kansas City being annoyed by obnoxious Chiefs fans, or you can just become one, and so give the invitation to just become one of us. It's kind of like the old saying, if you can't beat them, join them, you know, Rather than just fight you people and be annoyed by you, I'm just going to become one of you. Well, that's what the Gibeonites did. The Gibeonites in our story today, Josh were chapter 10, Jos 9, where it started last week, they took a, if you can can't beat them, join them strategy." The Israelites have marched into the land of Canaan. God had promised to give them this land, and as they entered the land, God began to give them great victory. The people of the town of Gibeon, the kingdom of Gibeon, looked up and said, "We're not going to be able to stand against these people. Our best hope is rather than try to beat them, is just to join up with them. You can read that story in Joshua chapter 9, or you go to our website, you can find the sermon that Rustin preached on that chapter last week if you want to get caught up on how we got here. But here's the really quick version of it. Israel has marched indic Canan. They immediately had victory over Jericho, followed right after that victory over the city of AI, and because of that, fear has now spread among all the remaining cities of the land, and those cities in kingdoms around there have formed an alliance against the Israelites with one exception. That one exception were the people from Gibeon. Gibeon decided that we do not want to try to fight against Israel. We'd rather just join up with them. And so they trick them into forming a treaty with them. You have to go back to chapter 9 to learn how they did that or be reminded how they did that. But by an act of deception, they have conned Israel into forming a treaty with them. God has now said, yes, you were conned to it. You should have been more discerning about how you got into this, but we're in it it, and we are going to honor the treaty that's been made with the Gibeonites. Now, the other cities, kingdoms, kings, and the land, have now learned about Gibeon's treaty with Israel, and they're not happy about it. And so what they're going to do, they're going to team up and form a coalition against Gibeon. And so a coalition of five kingdoms, five cities, get together, and they're going to come and and attack Gibeon because of the treaty they've made with Israel. And so Gibeon, being attacked by this coalition of five kingdoms, is going to cry out to Israel and say, hey, remember the treaty we made? We need now you to make good on it and come and rescue us. Chapter 10 of Joshua is the story of how Israel steps in to rescue Gibeon because of the treaty they formed with them. Now, the people of Israel aren't happy about this. It wasn't their idea to enter into this treaty. They would rather say, "Hey, listen, you guys tricked us into this, you condescend this. This is null and void now. We We're not going to honor this treaty, but God honors commitments. God honors his promises." And so God says to the people of Israel, we are going to honor this treaty. You look back at chapter 9 the scripture says, but the people of Israel did not attack them. This is speaking of when they learned about the deception. They did not attack them because the leaders of the congregation had sworn to them by the Lord, the God of Israel. Then all the congregation murmured against the leaders, but all the leaders said to the congregation, "We have sworn to them by the Lord, the God of Israel, and now we may not touch them. We made a promise and God keeps his promises. That's the theme I want you to see today as we move into Joshua chapter 10, God keeps his promises. And our faith in our promise keeping God impacts the way we view the circumstances we face today Some of this room are facing difficult circumstances today. You feel you need to be rescued in some way. Maybe you feel you're up against insurmountable odds today. Maybe you're finding yourselves in a situation of desperation. I want to challenge you today, encourage you today, to put your faith, to put your hope in our promise keeping God. God keeps his promises. He is faithful to us. He is near to us in whatever we're facing. I hope today is that the story of the Gibeonites in Joshua chapter 10 will remind us of God's faithfulness, and will be an encouragement to us, and will be a challenge to us to trust in God, whatever circumstances we're facing today. Let's jump in and see what happened in Gibeon and then let's draw out of it what lessons we might find to be encouraging or helpful to us today. 10 verse 1. As soon as Adoni Zek, King of Jerusalem, heard how Joshua had captured AI and had devoted it to destruction doing to AI and its king, as he had done to Jericho and its king, and how the inhabitants of Gibeon had made peace with Israel and were among them. He feared greatly, because Gibeon was a great city, like one of the royal cities. And because it was greater than AI and all its men were warriors. Now, interesting just Bible trivia here. Chapter 10 verse 1 is the first time in all the Bible where Jerusalem is mentioned by name. Now, you're going to hear about Jerusalem from this point on, for the rest of the Old Testamentent, and all throughout the New Testament. Jericho, the city, is going to be central to so much of what happens in the story of the Bible. It's going to come up hundreds of times in scripture. This is the first time. So if you're ever playing Jeopardy and it's Old Testament History column, maybe this will come up for you. First time Jericho is mentioned. It's not under the control of the Israelites at this time, like it will be later. But the King of Jerusalemalem, at this point it faces great fear, because he's learned of the recent events. He learned about the fall of Jericho, he learned about the fall of AI, how they had been completely destroyed. And if that weren't back, bad enough, he's learned now that the Israelites have joined forces with Gibeon, and we're told that Gibeon was even greater than AI, and its men were even greater warriors. And it was a large city. It was a royal city, were told in these first couple of verses. And so if a city like Gibeon had fallen so quickly into surrender to the Israelites, what hope would there be for the rest of us? And so some had to be done and be done quickly. This nation that had so soundly defeated Jericho, N AI has now been made even stronger with their new alliance with Gibbeon. It was only a matter of time before they were coming for Jerusalem. And so what does he do? The king of Jerusalem sends word to the neighboring kingdoms to say,We have got to band together against this attack that we're going to come under, and we have to have a united front. Verse 3. So Adamon, Zedek king of Jerusalem, sent to Hoam, king of Hebron, Pirm, king of Jarmuth, Jiah king of Lachish to Deir, king of Egon, saying, come up to me and help me and let us strike Gibeon, for it has made peace with Joshua and with the people of Israel." Then the five kings of the Amorites, the kings of Jerusalem, the king of Hebron, the king of Jeruth, the king of Lish, the king of Eglon, gathered their forces and went up with all their armies and encamped against Gibeon and made war against them. So the king of Jerusalem sends messengers to four other kingdoms. Let's get together, let's preempt this thing, let's all go and attack Gibeon. We'll make an example of them, lest any other other city or kingdom in the land decides to also join forces with Jerusalem. So they agree, and they're united armies. These allied armies prepared to attack the Gibeonites. For six the Gibonites now, as strong as it is, as strong as their warriors, there are going to be no match for this united army they're facing. So the men of Gibeon sent to Joshua at the king camp in Gilgal, saying, "Do not relax your hand from your servants. Come up to us quickly and save us and help us For all the kings of the Amorites who dwell in the hill country are gathered against us.. So here's what happens. The Gbeonites saw the coalition forming against them. They cry out, and they send word, and they say, don't give up on us. Don't abandon us. You must deliver us. Remember the treaty you made with us. Honor the treaty you've made with us. We are no match for the combined forces of these five kingdoms. Verse 7, Joshua went up from Gilgal. He and all the the people of war with him and all the mighty men of valor. And the Lord said, do not fear them, for I have given them into your hands, not a man of them stand before you. So even though they're deceated in the treaty, they could have said, "Listen, you guys made this treaty under false pretenses, and right away, you need us to come help you forget about it. We're not going to do it. They honor the treaty. Joshua says, gets all the people of war with him, verse 7, all the mighty men of valor, his very best soldiers, and they begin the march from Gilgal to Gibeon. Starting deep in the Jordan Valley, they're going to make over 3,000 foot climb, a 20 mile march through the darkness, several hours. They're going to make the march to Gilgal, to Gibeon, to rescue the Gibbonites. But they do it with hope and great courage because the Lord has promised them victory. Look at verse 8. The Lord said to Joshua, do not fear them, for I have given them into your hands. Not a man of them shall stand before you. five united kingdoms. They have no chance against you. Remember, I said a few weeks ago, God plus none is a majority And so he says, I'm on your side, I'm going to give them into your hands. He's made this promise many times in the opening verse verses of the book, Joshua 13, "E place that the soul of your foot will tread, I've given to you. Rahab the harlot in Jericho told them, I know the Lord has given you the land. The spies came out of Jericho and said to Joshua chapter 2, "Tuly the Lord has given the land into our hands." He said in chapter 6,Jericho has been given into your hands. Verse 8, Shi chapter 8, AI has been given into your hands. Over and over, God is promising victory. You can make the march through the darkness, through the night, because on the other side, there's going to be victory. And so they head out verse 9. Joshua came upon them suddenly, having marched up all night from Gilgal. And the Lord threw them into a panic before Israel, who struck them with a a great blow at Gibeon and chased them by the way of the ascent of Bethharan and struck them as far as Azekah and Mak ada. So he surprises them, gets the element of surprise, but it wasn't just the surprise. The Lord has also thrown them into a panic when they see the troops show up. They begin to flee, and rightly so, God gets the credit here. God's the one who throws them in this panic, sends them fleeing, and look what God does in verse 11. And as they fled before Israel, while they were going down the ascent of Bethharan, the Lord threw down large stones from heaven on them as far as Azacah, and they died. And there were more who died because of the hailstones than the sons of Israel killed with the sw.' going been caught in a hailstone storm before. This this hailstone so large, I just got to dent some cars and damage a roof, and you may get insurance roofed salesmen coming around for the next few weeks. These are so large that people are dying and it seems to be that God has great aim here. He's with precision, is taking out with the hailstorms, the opposing army. And it says, "God takes out so many with the hailstorms stones. It's more than even Israel killed with the sword. It's kind of like this. It's kind of like a military campaign today, where the ground troops would be pinned down, and they would call in the air support from above. That's what we have here. We've got the Israelite ground troops. We've got God in heaven as the heir support raining down these hailstorm stones on them as they flee. Now, look at verse 12. If that's not enough, you've got God sending them into a panic. When the army arrives. We have God raininging down hailstones. Look what happens verse 12. At that time, Joshua spoke to the Lord, in the day when the Lord gave the Amorites over to the sons of Israel. And he said, in the sight of Israel, "Son stand still at Gibeon, and moon in the valley of Ajalan. And the sun stood still, and the moon stopped until the nation took vengeance on their enemies. Is it not written in the book of Jar,The sun stopped in the midst of heaven and did not hurry to set for about a whole day There has been no day like it before before or since. When the Lord heed the voice of a man, and the Lord fought for Israel. some really remarkable scene. It says that in the sight of Israel, in the hearing of all of Israel, Joshua prays a bold prayer And these rhetorical words of the prayer are addressed at the Son. If he says He says to the Son, Son stands still. Moon stands still. But it's really a prayer to God to stop the sun, to stop the moon. And we're told as a result of the prayer, the sun stood still and the moon stopped until Israel achieved total and comp complete victory. And then the author of "Jhua reminds his readers that you could also read the same story in the book of Jashar. Now, what is the book of Jashar? We're not entirely sure because we don't have it We haven't found any copies of this. It's mentioned here. It's also mentioned in 2nd Samuel, chapter 1, verse 18. You go to 2nd Sam 118 to read about it. It appears to be a book that chronicled the victories, the exploits in battle of the Israelite people, and we've lost it. It's been lost somewhere. I think it'd be a great It'd be pretty cool to find it today. It'd be a cool plot for an Indiana Jones sequel or a national treasure sequel. One of those franchises needs to go find the Book of Jar and unpack the mysteries of that for us. What does the Book of Jar say? What is happening here? Is that somehow the sun stopped in the midst of heaven and did not hurry to set for a about a whole day. Now, what's going on here? The sun's stopping in the sky. There are several ideas. If you study this and read up on this or just Google it or chat GPT, you're going to find all kinds of theories as to what's going on here. Some suggest that the author is speaking a language of perspective. It appears as if the sun had said stopped. It doesn't necessarily literally mean the sun has stopped, but it appears as if the sun is standing still in the sky. We used language like that a little bit today. I was at the lake this week, and I said, it feels so good when the sun goes behind the clouds But the truth is the sun doesn't go behind the clouds. The clouds go in front of the sun. But we don't usually say, I wish the clouds would would go in front of the sun. We'd say, I'm really glad that the sun went behind those clouds. So we're speaking a language of perspective. It seems as if the sun is hiding behind a cloud. That's not really what's happening. That might be what's happening here. If that's what's happening, somehow God is illuminating the sky. This could be some suggests some reflection. The sun had gone down, but was somehow reflected back into the sky from its position. Some suggest even maybe a divine illumination, like we have with appearances of angels, where the sky is just suddenly lit up, that it looks like the sun. The author is trying to describe it the scene, but that really isn't the case. Some suggest maybe that the language doesn't mean that the sun stopped in its position, but it's stopped it shining. The storm that brought the hail brought dark clouds that blocked the light of the sun, and it gave the soldiers coolness of the shade to fight in and the heat would have been the heat of the day. Some see us just poetry. It's metalaphorical, rather than historical or scientific. There are places in the scripture where it says things like the trees of the forest sing for joy or the trees clap their hands that it's poetryry that we see in scripture. Others say, and I would be in this camp, and I'll tell you why, that the sun just stood in its place in the sky longer than it normally does. You say, well, that would mean the planet would have to stop turning and then we have all kinds of problems with the laws of nature at that point. I get all of that. I would say this. The opening verses of the Bible, in Genesis chapter 1, tell us that God created everything And I think once you do that, you get to do whatever you want for the rest of the book. And so I would say that if you suddenly get to Joshua 10 and have problems with the laws of nature, you read past a bunch of other stuff that should have stopped you long ago in you're reading of the Bible. So I would say if you get past chapter one of the book the rest is a walk in the park. And so that's what I would say. If chapter 1 says, God made it all, then God can do about whatever he wants. I I think that Mother Nature bows to Father, God in the scriptures, and he can do what he wants. I also, this is just what Matt does, okay? You can do what you want to do with these pastors like this. I like to try to take, I try to err to the most conservative position, because if I'm going to be wrong, I want to be wrong on that side of the line. I might get to heaven, and God says, Matt, you missed it on that sermon on July 6th. That was poetry. And I can say, I'm sorry, God, I just took yet your word. I'd rather say that than God said, you said that was poetry instead of telling people I can really stop the sun. I'd rather be on the other side. So when I don't know whether it's poetry or God literally stopped the sun from shining, I'm going to go with God just stop the sun from moving in the sky for a little bit, because I think God's capable of that. I know that creates all kinds of problems, but if you want to say it's poetry, I think you can make that case. If you want to say it's a matter of perspective, I'm just going to go in the camp of somehow, some way, the sun stopped in its position a little longer than it normally does, and God kind of took care of however else that problems that would have caused for us. And so that's what happened. Now, here's what I would say. Whatever position you take, don't miss the point because I think you can take any of these positions, okay, and still get to the point that the author is given us and notice that the end what he says. There was not been a day like it before or since. Again, that's why I think the sun really stopped shining. But notice what he's points out. What is the author of the book Marvel at At the end of 14, the Lord heeded the voice of a man and fought for Israel. We think it's kind of cool that the sun stops shining, and we can kind of debate that figure out Lou and I, sometimes I'll listen during the week that I'm preaching. When running or working out, I'll listen to sermons of other people on that passage. And one pastor I was hearing this week, he said he was typing a sermon, and he was using one of these AI grammar tools that corrects your grammar, and he said, he types the sentence.The sun stood still and the programs corrected it to the sun appeared to stand still. He said, even his AI grammar program wouldn't let him type those words, because, well, the sun does it stop. It could just stand still, okay? Whatever it does, here's what was marveled that. God did it because a man asked him to. The author marvels at not the cosmic scale of this, but the earthly scene, that God heard the prayer of a person and answered him. What astonishes the narrator is that God hears and responds to the request that we make, that God listens to the voice of people, is what blows the mind of the narrator, not the sun standing still. So what do we learn from all this? Let me suggest four lessons that we can pull out of this might help us today in what we're facing, or what we might face down the road. The first is this, that faith in God's pride promises sustains us in the face of adversity, that if we believe that God keeps his promises and if we will get into the Word and read his promiseises, if we will commit the promises of his Word to memory, to hide those in our hearts, those become a great sustaining force in times of adversity. verse 8,The Lord promised Joshua, I have given them into your hands. Verse 9 they make a 10 hour, 20 mile uphill, march through the night. The long march of verse 9 was a step of faith in response to the promise made in verse 8, that God's faithful to his promises and knowing that he's faithful to us, promises, strengthens us to endure temporary difficulties. Whatever uphill march you're making through darkness right now, you can make it believing the promises of God that he's with you and there is victory, and there is joy on the other side. Have you learned, as I have, that sometimes the most difficult pathaths in life lead to the most beautiful destinations? Some of you might be going on vacation this summer, maybe you have to a national park or state park, or you've gone a long, you've taken a long strenuous, difficult hike, to be rewarded at the end of that hike with a beautiful destination that that path ultimately led you to. I think metaphorically, we can see that in here, that we can make a long, difficult march on the promise of something beautiful on the other side. They can march through the night on the promise of victory at the end of the trail. What are the promises of God's word that you're claiming today in the face of a diversity? Get in his word and claim and trust in his promises. Let me suggest a couple to you that might be helpful to you. One, that's been a verse for our family the last few months, and the loss of our granddau Oakley, is Romans 8:18. It's actually the scripture, if you visit her grave site that's on her headstone, for I consider this sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed in us. You can claim that today. The suffering of your present moment is not not worth the ultimate glory that you're going to understand someday on the other side. Maybe that's a verse you would commit to memory. Maybe 2 Cothians 4:17 for this light, momentary affliction is preparing us for an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison. What adversity are you up against today? Will you believe that that God is in control, that God is near you, that he's with you, in the face of it as he was with Israel? Second, faith in God's promises compels us to action, compels us to action. While God promised the victory, they still had to get in the fight. You notice the scene is not this. Messengers go from Gibeon to Gilgal and say to Joshua, we are under attack, come help us. And then Joshua from the city of Gilgal, calls out to the Lord, God, could you please help them? And then while Joshua and his troops remain in Gilgal, God rains down hell storms on the opposing armies of the Gibeonites. That's not what happened God said, get ready, start marching. I'll meet you in Gibeon. And you'll see what I do when we get there. And so knowing that God was with them, they began to make the march. Their faith was met with action It's almost like God's promise motivated them to action. Their action, the faith of their action, then motivated God's next response in the fight. And we see that if you compare these scriptures. Vukes 9 and 10. They marched all night When they got there, the Lord threw the the opposition into a p.anic. They had to march, but when they got there, God took over and sent them into a panic. Verse 11. Yes, there were stones coming from the sky, but there are also swords in the hands of the Israelites on the ground ground Verse 13, God caused the sun to stand still so that the nation of Israel could avenge themselves. You see the interaction between their steps of faith and God's sovereign activity on their behalf. God is the hero of the story. Make no mistake. God's the hero of the story but he fights alongside those who get into the fight in their faith in him. So many times I see the scripture in my own life, as if God says, number one, I can do it without you. I can do it without you. Number two, you can't do it without me, but number three, we're going to do it together. We're going to do it together. God can win the victory with without you. And without him, you are powerless. But so many times, God says, you start marching I'll rain down the hailstorms. You keep fighting, I'll hold the sun still. We can know that there is no need for fear when God is on our side. There's no match for his strength. There's no limit to his power. He is in the fight with us. What step of faith can you take believing that? What will you do in response, if you truly, really believe this? You see, the scene unfold every summer. If you to go to the pool or to a lake with your kids or there's kids there, you'll always see that scene of that dad in the water, treading water, pleading with his son to trust him enough to jump from the edge of the pool or the diving board or the boat. I saw it even this week with Marcy standing on the edge, her dad in the water, and she would say, "You got me? He'd say, " I got you.You got me, I got you." Okay, and off she jumps into his arms. I think there are some in this room who are standing at the edge of the pool, wondering will God catch me if I take this sleep? Will God catch me if I take this sleepp? They marched from Gildilgal to Gibeon, believing that God had them. Do you believe that today? Your faith in God's promises should compel you to action, knowing that he's with you in the fight, whatever that looks like, for you. Three, Third, faith in God's promises motivates us to pray big prayers. It motivates us to pray big prayers. You see, verse 14, the author marvels most at the fact that one person can get God's attention. We can debate the exegetical, historical, and scientific issues related to the sun standing still in the sky, but do not miss in all of that the real point, that God listened to the voice of a man and moved in response to that prayer. God moves in response to the prayers of his people. You know, for someone to come to our aid, there are three things that are essential. Any problem you have, that you need someone to help you with, three things have to be in place. Number one, you have to find a person who has the ability to help you Someone who has the power or the resources, the ability to intervene in your situation. Number two, you have to find someone who cares enough about it you to help you. And you have to have both of those, right? I had a friend this week whose car broke down, and he called me, I was out of town, and he said, I was going to see if you could help me. I said, man, I would love to. I would be there in a heartbeat. I'm out of town. I can't help you. I had the desire to help my friend I was not in a position to help my friend. While we're on the phone, I imagine he's being passed by hundreds of people who have the ability to help my friend, but no desire to help my friend. What he needed is someone who cared about his situation and could jump in and help his situation. You have to have a third thing, and that is the person who has the ability to help you and cares enough to help you, has to answer the call right? You're going to have a friend that you know this person can help you and they will help you. They just won't answer their phone right now. And so all their ability and all of their compassion doesn't know you one bit of good. If they can't answer your call. We stopped at Hardy's for lunch yesterday, on the way back from a trip, and Micah said, hey, Dad, in the restaurantroom. He said, the drive through guy left his headset on the back of the toilet in the thing. And I'm like, well, these guys are out of luck, you know? Like, there's a drive through line around the block for the drive through guy's headsetets on the back of a toilet and do many any good, right? Until the guy puts the headset on, you're not getting your hot ham and cheese. Here's the deal we have in God. We have a God who can help you, who cares about you, and here's when you call out to him. Here's the story. If I could summarize this point, it's simply this. He can, he cares, he hears. He can, he cares, he hears. What would you ask of God if he really believe this? That God can, if he can stop the sun and hold it in the sky, however he did that, I'm sure your problem's not that big of a deal to him, and that he cares for you. He honors promises. And he hears. That's what the narrator marvels most at. Do you believe this? If God stop the solar system for one man, what can he do for you? He hears you. He cares for you. He can help you. And finally, we ask the question, how does this point us to Jesus? And what you consider, the picture of the gospel in Joshua chapter 10, how faith in God's promises gives hope to helpless sinners. Faith in God's promises, gives hope to helpless sinners. How does Joshua tend point us to Jesus? Look at their desperate situation, the Gibeons were facing. Verse 6, do not relax your hand from your servants. They ask in verse 6. So they plead in verse 6. Come to us, quickly. Save us and help us. For all the kings of the Amorites who dwell in the hill country are gathered against us. And even though they deceived Israel into this treaty, God still allows the Israelites, in fact, commands the Israelites to show them grace. In the same way, we're much like the Gibbonites, if you think about it. Our sin has put us in a helpless, desperate place And this place we're in, because of our sinful rebellion, is a position of our own making. We have gotten ourselves into this situation. And yet God showed us grace by sending Jesus to be our Savior. We're like the Gibbonites, helpless and weak, deceptive sinners. Yet God comes to our rescue. And look at Romans 5. Blake read this earlier in our service. For while we were still weak, at the right time, Christ died for the ungodly. For one will scarcely die for a righteous person, though perhaps for a good person, one would dare even to die. But God shows his love for us and that while we were still sinners Christ died for us. Our sin put us in a desperate situation. Our sin put us in a position in which we were helpless to save ourselves. And because of our dececeit, because of our rebellion, we were unworthy of God's grace, yet God came to our rescue in a supernatural way, suspending the laws of nature to bring Jesus Jesus back from the dead. That's why I have no problem with the sun standing still, because the story for me as a f Jesus started with God creating everything, and ended with God bringing a dead guy back to life again. The sun's sitting still for a few hours is a piece of cake. God supernaturally has intervened in the desperate situation your sin has put you in, and he sent Jesus to down the cross for you, and Jesus to raise back to life, proving his victory over sin and death today, you can call out to him for His grace and His mercy for his salvation, to rescue you from your desperate and sinful position, and bring you into a position of forgiveness in his family. Let's pray together. What is your prayer to God today in response to what we've seen in His Word, maybe today? You feel like you're on an uphill march through the darkness, and just need to say, God, I know that you keep your promises. I know that you will bring some greater glory out of this. God, I know that you will with me in the midst of it. God, I know that you will be with me along the path. What is your prayer today? God, maybe your prayer is, God, I need you fighting for me right now. I'm powerless to do this on my own. Maybe God's reveal to you a step of faith you should take, if you truly trust and believe believe what's that step he's calling you to make. Maybe there's a big prayer that you're not sure he would hear. verse 14 reminds you that God heeds the prayers of people. Or maybe today, in your desperation in your sinful condition, you would say, God, I need your forgiveness. I have rejected you and rebelled against you, and there's no way I climb out of this hole, but God, I believe that you sent Jesus, you took on flesh, you dled across and rose from the dead. by your grace, you might rescue me from my sinfulness. Jesus, come into my life, be my Savior. What is your prayer today? God, I believe big prayers are being offered right now in this room. and I believe that we learn in Joshua 10 that you hear big prayers. So I pray you'll hear the the prayers of your people, and you'll move in response. We pray this in Jesus' name. Amen.