For our scripture reading tonight, please turn with me to Isaiah chapter 44. We'll read together verses 6 through 23 and consider this portion of scripture in connection with the first commandment in Exodus 20 verse 3, you shall have no other gods before me. And I ask you also to turn to page 48 in the back of the Psalter hymnal. We'll confess that first. Questions and answers 94 and 95. But it's been a little bit of time, as you know, since we've considered the catechism together. And you may recall that we had begun to enter into the third section of the catechism, the section of gratitude or service, guilt, grace, gratitude, or sin, salvation, and service. Listen, we know that the two major things that we profess in the third section are the Lord's Prayer and the Ten Commandments. And as the one Lord's Day says with regards to prayer, prayer is the chief part of the thankfulness that God requires of us. The chief part. I think that's the older catechism rendition. But gratitude, we know then, is shaped by prayer and obedience to God's revealed will, and particularly the Ten Commandments. And through those commandments, we know that God clearly reveals what it is that is pleasing to Him. And therefore, tonight we consider that first commandment. The first commandment of gratitude that we are to observe. You shall have no other gods before me. And therefore, let's confess together with our voices what we believe with the answers of questions 94 and 95. Question 94 asks, What does the Lord require in the first commandment? That I, not wanting to endanger my very salvation, avoid and shun all idolatry, magic, superstitious rites, and prayer to saints or to other creatures. That I sincerely acknowledge the only true God, trust Him alone, look to Him for every good thing, Humbly and patiently love Him, fear Him, and honor Him with all my heart. In short, that I give up anything rather than go against His will in any way. What is idolatry? Idolatry is having or inventing something in which one trusts, in place of, or alongside of the only true God who has revealed Himself in His Word. Isaiah 44, beginning at verse 6 as we hear now the Word of God. This is what the Lord says, Israel's King and Redeemer, the Lord Almighty. I am the first and I am the last. Apart from me, there is no God. Who then is like me? Let him proclaim it. Let him declare and lay out before me what has happened since I established my ancient people and what is yet to come. Yes, let him foretell what will come. Do not tremble. Do not be afraid. Did I not proclaim this and foretell it long ago? You are my witnesses. Is there any God besides me? No. There is no other rock. I know not one. All who make idols are nothing. And the things they treasure are worthless. Those who would speak up for them are blind. They are ignorant to their own shame. Who shapes a god and casts an idol which can profit him nothing? He and his kind will be put to shame. Craftsmen are nothing but men. Let them all come together and take their stand. They will be brought down to terror and infamy. The blacksmith takes a tool and works with it in the coals. He shapes an idol with hammers. He forges it with the might of his arm. He gets hungry and loses his strength. He drinks no water and grows faint. The carpenter measures with a line and makes an outline with a marker. He roughs it out with chisels and marks it with compasses. He shapes it in the form of man, of man in all his glory that it may dwell in a shrine. He cut down cedars or perhaps took a cypress or oak. He let it grow among the trees of the forest or planted a pine. And the rain made it grow. It is man's fuel for burning. Some of it he takes and warms himself. He kindles a fire and bakes bread. But he also fashions a god and worships it. He makes an idol and bows down to it. Half of the wood he burns in the fire. Over it he prepares his meal. He roasts his meat and eats his fill. He also warms himself and says, Ah, I am warm. I see the fire. From the rest, He makes a god. His idol. He bows down to it and worships. He prays to it and says, Save me. You are my God. They know nothing. They understand nothing. Their eyes are plastered over so they cannot see and their minds closed so they cannot understand. No one stops to think. No one has the knowledge or understanding to say, Half of it I use for fuel. I even baked bread over its coals. I roasted meat and I ate it. Shall I make a detestable thing from what is left? Shall I bow down to a block of wood? He feeds on ashes. A deluded heart misleads him. He cannot save himself or say, Is not this thing in my right hand a lie? Remember these things, O Jacob. For you are my servant, O Israel. I have made you. You are my servant. O Israel, I will not forget you. I have swept away your offenses like a cloud, your sins like the morning mist. Return to me, for I have redeemed you. Sing for joy, O heavens, for the Lord has done this. Shout aloud, O earth beneath. Burst into song, you mountains, you forests, and all your trees. For the Lord has redeemed Jacob. He displays His glory in Israel. Beloved in the Lord Jesus Christ, What you believe is good and right and best for you is good and right and best for you. And what I believe is good and right and best for me is good and right and best for me. Right? Well, sounds good, boys and girls, doesn't it? Sounds like a great plan, I think. But you see, that's relativism in a nutshell, that everybody decides what's best for themselves. And of course, if that's true then, that means that there is no such thing as absolute truth. There is no such thing as an absolute standard of right and wrong. And we can see from the very beginning that this is absolutely wrong. But you see, that way of thinking is a natural consequence of making God relative. Of saying that I can decide what kind of God is right for me and you can decide what kind of God is right for you. That's the problem of sin. Sin blinds man to the truth of God so that man makes a God that fits my own image of Him. And when that happens, you see, then everything crumbles. And especially the commandments of God. You see, God Himself tells us the truth of who is to be worshipped alone. He tells us the truth of that in the first commandment. you shall have no other gods before me or besides me. This commandment, you see, is foundational to the rest of the commandments. All of the rest of the commandments stand or fall with this particular commandment, even as our Lord showed us in the summary of the law in Matthew 22, when He said, All the law and the prophets hang on these two commandments, the two great commandments, to love God above all, and the one like it, to love our neighbor as ourself. To love God above all. You see, very simply, and this is no surprise to any one of us, I trust, but who we worship is the most important thing in life. Life itself stands or falls with this truth of who we worship. And therefore, knowing what's best for us, God commands us from the very beginning, He commands undivided devotion to God. And I trust you can see that I'm making an assumption here, and that's that we are all here on the same page when we're talking about this undivided devotion. to God, that we are talking about the one only true God, as the catechism says, who has revealed himself to us in his word. You see, beloved, love for God above all is demonstrated in putting him first, in worshiping only him, the true God. When he says, you shall have no other gods before me, he's not saying that this particular God is simply the best option among many. No, he is the only option. Nor is God saying that there are other gods and you just can't have any other one that's more important to you than him. Not at all. There are no other gods. But of course, we know that throughout history, man has invented other gods. As the catechism says, what is idolatry? Idolatry is having or inventing something in which one trusts in place of or alongside of the only true God who has revealed himself in his word. We know already in Old Testament history, the foreign nations had gods of their own imaginations, gods of their own makings. Egypt had a whole army of gods. The other nations had gods of the mountains, gods of the valleys, fertility gods. Not to mention all the gods that Paul runs up against in the New Testament. Gods of the imagination and of course and many of them we know had statues physical idols to represent them now of course you see as we read Isaiah chapter 44 that the Lord who is speaking there focuses on physical idols the idols that are crafted by the hands of men that can be held in your hand yet as the catechism points out idols can be unseen all idolatry magic superstitious rites and prayer to saints or to other creatures horoscopes those who read poems idols can be things they can be ideas even man himself or even a wrong or distorted view or conception of God some people say well my God is a God of love he would never send anybody to hell well that's idolatry because that's not the God who has revealed himself in his word but again even man himself becomes a God every time we twist Scripture to make it fit what we think is right, what we like to do in order to justify it. Every time we deny God's authority the Bible and do our own thing in disobedience to Him, that's idolatry. It's taking His place. Paul says in Ephesians 5, verse 5, no immoral, impure, or greedy person, then he describes them, such a man is an idolater. He takes those particular things to show us that disobedience to God, to shove God out of the picture, is idolatry. But God demands undivided devotion to Himself. And here in this passage, through Isaiah, He demonstrates the only benefit to you and me from this undivided devotion. And that is because of the foolishness of idolatry and the worthiness of the only true God. Those are the two things that I trust you see jump out at us from this passage. The foolishness of idolatry and at the same time the worthiness of the only true God. First, the foolishness of idolatry. The one who is speaking again is Yahweh. Israel's covenant God Himself. He is the one who performed signs and wonders that were beyond imagination that none other than the sovereign and all-powerful God could do. And this is the one, this covenant God challenges His people to compare and contrast idols with Himself. And again, although the focus is on physical idols in this passage, yet from this, it shows us that trusting in anything other than the true God only is foolishness. It's foolishness. And we see here that this foolishness is revealed in the idol-makers themselves. Now, maybe you remember this, but nowhere in Scripture does God compliment idol-makers. The very opposite. He says some pretty nasty things about them. We sang about that from Psalm 115. Psalm 115 and Psalm 135 say the very same thing about them. Listen close as I read the first eight verses of Psalm 115. Not to us, O Lord, not to us, but to your name be the glory because of your love and faithfulness. Why do the nations say, where is their God? The answer, our God is in heaven. He does whatever pleases Him. He does whatever pleases Him. And then the psalmist goes on to contrast that. But their idols are silver and gold made by the hands of men. They have mouths but cannot speak, eyes but they cannot see. They have ears but cannot hear, noses but they cannot smell. They have hands but cannot feel, feet but they cannot walk, nor can they utter a sound with their throats. They have all these things, but they cannot do anything. But our God does whatever He pleases. And then the psalmist goes on in verse 8, Those who make them will be like them, and so will all who trust in them. Those who make them are like them. There's no compliment there. And in verse 9 of Isaiah 44, the Lord says, All who make idols are nothing, and the things they treasure are worthless. And that word nothing there is the very same word as we find in Genesis 1, verse 2 when it says, Now the earth was formless. The earth was formless. Desolate, futile, barren, empty. That's what these idol makers are like. They are empty. They are without life. They are without meaning. And so is that which they craft. Idols are empty. Without life. Without power. But also we see the foolishness of idolatry in that idol-makers are senseless. They are spiritually blind. Listen again to what the Lord says in verses 19 and 20. No one stops to think. No one has the knowledge or understanding to say, half of it I use for fuel. I even baked bread over its coals. I roasted meat and I ate. Shall I make a detestable thing from what is left? Shall I bow down to a block of wood? He feeds on ashes. A deluded heart misleads him. He cannot save Himself or say, is not this thing in my right hand a lie? I trust you see the foolishness just by reading this. The idol maker is senseless. He sees this crafted idol. He holds it in His hands. He sees it with His physical eyes. But He cannot put two and two together to realize it's just an object. It's something that I made with my own hands. And it can't help me, it can't save me any more than I can help or save myself. Boys and girls, when you go home tonight, take one of your toys before you go to bed. Whether it's a doll, girls, or an action figure, boys, or whether it's your bicycle, I don't care what it is. Take one of your toys and hold it up and imagine that. That's what idol makers were doing, that's what he's saying here. Hold it up. And imagine thinking, well, this bicycle? This bicycle? Save me. And by holding it up before your eyes, I trust you will see how ridiculous it is. How utter foolish it is. Because that toy can be destroyed even quicker, even faster than what it was made. It's foolishness. Because as verse 11 says, it's just a man who made it. A man who is a dependent creature himself trying to make something to depend upon. You know, God, Psalm 8 says, made man a little lower than the angels and crowned him with glory and honor. What an awesome position. Yet man is not able to make something greater than himself. And those who reject God, all who reject God, all who reject God are idolaters. And those who reject God are fed with ashes, this Scripture says. Ashes are nothing, they're dust. They have no nourishing value. Those who reject God are starving spiritually. And as verse 11 says, they will be put to shame. On the day of judgment, they will then see the foolishness and the worthlessness of their idolatry. Because Jesus Christ will be revealed in all of His glory and splendor and victory as the one true God. But today, those who reject Him fail to see the utter foolishness of idolatry. But that foolishness is also seen, as we see from this passage, in the very process of idol-making, in the very process of working with one's own hands. It's hard work. And I think one of the reasons the Lord says it the way He does in this passage is because we are then to think back to God Himself creating mankind. He created man with such ease. He formed man of the dust of the earth and breathed into him the breath of life. But idol-making is hard work. Man works hard to make that idol, to pound that metal, to cut and shape that wood in his own image. He admires his own God-given beauty and thinks that the idol must look like himself. But in that process of hard work, as verse 12 says, he gets hungry and loses his strength. He drinks no water and grows faint. He simply wears out from making the idol. We'll come back to that in just a moment. But also, in this process of idol making, think of the materials. The materials used are created things. Again, all of this points to the foolishness. Created things like trees. Trees which, according to the passage, man thinks that he's responsible for. He planted and he takes care of them, but really it's God who has watered them. It might be the best wood in the forest, as verse 14 says, It might be cedar or cypress or oak. Yet, it's provided by the very God. The idol that's made out of it is supposed to be. And then think of the finished product. That finished product might be something fancy. It might be detailed. It might be colorful. It might be a gorgeous piece of art. But it's just an object that man has slaved over to get to look like what he thinks it should look like. And then the height of the foolishness in verse 17 that the idol maker bows down to it and worships. He prays to it and says, Save me. I have made you, but you save me. You are my God. And the emphasis in that phrase is the fact that what it is saying is the idol maker says, You are God and you alone. And the expectation of the idol maker is nothing but foolishness. Save me. Yet even more, that foolishness is illumined in the idol's usefulness. And I say that tongue-in-cheek because there is none. There is no usefulness of idols, only danger. An idol is lifeless. It's meant to replace God. We're not talking about idols that God is worshipped in. The second commandment covers that. But idols that are completely meant to be other gods than the only true God. But idols are lifeless. yet they're helpless objects, blind, deaf, dumb, paralyzed. An idol depends on its owner to move it around the house, to dust it off once in a while, to vacuum around it. It's lifeless and therefore it's also helpless if an idol can give no physical help. Again, the idol maker gets hungry and tired from working hard making that idol, but the idol itself that's supposed to save him can't give him any rest. It can't give him any relief or satisfaction. The idol provides no deliverance from enemies in time of trouble. In fact, if the worshiper has to run for his life, he has to grab his idol and carry it and protect it. An idol can give no spiritual help. It cannot do for man what man needs most, deliverance from sin and the wrath of God. Instead, it only brings one further under God's wrath. It's lifeless, it's helpless, and it's useless. It has nothing to offer its worshipers. Again, as Psalm 115 says, it simply cannot do anything. An idol has no knowledge of the past or the future. Look at verse 7 again. The Lord says, Who then is like Me? Let him proclaim it. Let him declare and lay out before Me what has happened since I established My ancient people and what is yet to come. Yes, let him foretell what will come. It's a challenge from the Lord. Let the idol do this. As if to say, I know he can't, but I can. The idol can give no direction, it can give no advice. Its only usefulness is seen in the material out of which it is made. Metal or wood which was created for the service of man. God has given the earth for man's use. To service man, to be used in service to God and his kingdom, but not to worship. He gave the wood, for example, to burn for warmth. and to cook food. And it's ironic, I think, that the idol should be thankful to the idol maker for not using that portion of the wood for its intended purpose. For what it was made for, to service man. Otherwise, it would be all burned up. It would be ashes. It ought to be thankful. Yet the idol itself is useless. It's lifeless and helpless and useless and therefore it is only dangerous as the catechism says that I not wanting to endanger my very salvation. That's the danger of idolatry to endanger my very salvation. An idol does not give true life because it's lifeless itself. It offers no help. Yet man becomes a slave to it. As Paul says in Galatians 4 verse 8 formerly when you did not know God you were slaves to those who by nature are not gods. So many people today we know are slaves to the things of this world. Slaves to their work. Slaves to their pocketbook. Slaves to their retirement accounts. Slaves to their employer. They depend and put their trust in the things of this life. They are slaves to these things. But idolatry only leads to destruction. Again, going back to that verse from Ephesians 5, verse 5, it says, For of this you can be sure, no immoral, impure, or greedy person, such a man as an idolater has any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God. No idolater, no one who puts their trust in something other than the one true God who has revealed Himself in His Word, has any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God. And that's true of anything placed before God, anything in which one can place their hope or place their trust. You see, beloved, you cannot reject God for this life alone without also rejecting Him for the next life. You cannot say, well, I'll depend on God for the life to come, but I've got things pretty well under control here, and I know what to do, and I know exactly how to carry things out. I can trust in the things of His life. No, as we've considered the last two weeks from Philippians 1.21, for to me to live is Christ, and only then is to die gain. No created thing, not even ourselves, knows what's best and needful and can provide what's best and needful. And to deny God in favor of idols is to deny His only way of salvation, Jesus Christ, is to say, I don't need Him. I've got a better way. And therefore, what is our attitude to be toward idols? As the Catechism rightly says, to avoid and shun them. First of all, to strive to stay away, to keep our minds focused on God, that our dependence is completely upon God, and to strive to keep from trusting in the things of this life. And when we are faced with the temptation to put our trust in the things of this life, to turn our back on it, to shun it. And instead, as the catechism says, to give up anything rather than go against His will in any way. Turn away from it. To recognize that the things of this life are only serviceable for man if they are seen as a gift from God. But when they are given God's place, then they will destroy us even as this world will be destroyed one day. And instead, beloved, we are called to be devoted only to God. The foolishness of idolatry is seen also then in the second place in the worthiness of the only true God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. You see, when you see the worthiness of the true God by faith, then you cannot help but at the very same time to see the foolishness of idolatry. It is this one true God who has said in Isaiah 42, verse 8, I am the Lord, that is my name, I will not give my glory to another or my praise to idols. This God, beloved, is the complete antithesis of idols and He is worthy because of who He is. Our Lord Jesus Christ says in John 17, verse 3, of the Father, He acknowledges Him as the only true God and eternal life. And through Isaiah, God reveals His own attributes. We see that in a number of places in this passage. Some of these attributes are revealed clearly and directly. Others of them are inferred as God offers challenges to the idols. Again, as if to say, I challenge you, idol, to do this and that and the other thing. Or He describes the idols are this or that or the other thing. But then says, but I'm different. And I can do what you cannot do. And one of those attributes is that God is omniscient. Boys and girls, He knows all things. And He knows all things perfectly. Past, present, and future. Look at verse 7 again. The Lord says, Who then is like Me? Let Him proclaim it. Let Him declare and lay out before Me what has happened since I established My ancient people and what is yet to come. Yes, let Him foretell what will come. Go ahead, do it, idol. I know you can't. But I can. You see, God knows our thoughts and our words even before we think them and say them. Boys and girls and young people, God knows every day of our life before even one of them came to pass. But not only does He know us perfectly, but as the Lord says in verse 21, He will never forget His people. Now think about that. That's beautiful. He will never forget His people. Another attribute of God that is inferred here is that He is omnipotent. All power belongs to Him. All power comes from Him. Even Satan cannot act unless God allows it. We see that with Job. Satan could not touch Job's body apart from God removing his restraining hand. And even then, he could not take Job's life. Well, the idol maker again, He gets hungry and he gets tired fashioning this idol. But the idol is without power. It cannot help him. It cannot satisfy him. But God provides rest and satisfaction for you and me. Our Lord said, Don't worry about what you eat and what you drink and what you will wear. For God clothes the lilies of the field. He cares for the sparrow. And how much more so will He do it for you? Idols themselves need to be cared for. polished, dusted. But God needs nothing from you and me. He Himself is our refuge and our strength. He provides protection under His wings as a mother hen, the psalmist says. He promises, as we read in Malachi 3, verse 10, to open the floodgates of heaven and to pour out His blessings in such abundance upon those who trust Him. He alone is strong to save. Another attribute of God that is inferred here is that God is independent. that again, He doesn't need anything. He doesn't need you. He doesn't need me. An idol needs man to invent it. An idol needs man to go and cut the tree and then to form it. An idol needs man to declare it to be a God. But our God, Jehovah, the One who indeed commands our confession of Him, is not dependent. He does not depend on man to recognize Him as God. He does not depend on man to declare Him to be God. He doesn't even depend on man's worship in order to be God. He is God, with or without us. And we also notice His immensity. Boys and girls, He is great. He is transcendent over all. The idol, verse 13 says, dwells in a shrine. It lives in a house. And if the worshippers want to see it, they have to go over to the house to see it. But God, God, our God, is the one before whom the nations are like fine dust, as Isaiah says in chapter 40. He is the one who holds the universe in His hand. He is the one who has not only set the stars in their courses, but He knows each star by name. He is the one of whom Solomon said, the heavens and the heavens of heavens cannot contain Him. He is everywhere. Yet at the very same time, He is with each and every one of His people. You don't need to go to this place or that place for Him to hear your prayer. He said, I will never leave you or forsake you. Verse 8 points to the fact that God is changeless. There is no other rock. He is a rock. He is changeless. He is immovable. He is a fortress. And therefore, as Psalm 62 says, He is our salvation. He is the same yesterday, today, and forever. And in verse 6, we read that He is eternal. I am the first and I am the last. Idols are created. Idols wear out. Idols become destroyed. Idols are not lasting. Beloved, these attributes describe the only true God. They do not describe created things like idols. And these are not descriptions that man has given to God, but these are God's self-description which He has given in His Word. And these attributes then point to God's greatness and worthiness because of what He has done. In this passage, He makes clear He is the Creator and the Redeemer. This is also who He is. But this is what He has done. He is the Creator. He is the Lord Almighty, verse 6. It also means the Lord of hosts. He has made all things. Everything is under Him. Even the materials that the idols are made of, God has made it. And He knows and He cares for His creation perfectly. but also He is the Redeemer. As He makes clear in verses 6 and 22, He is the Redeemer in the full sense of the word. Something has been purchased. The price has been paid. And the payment has been accepted as paid in full, resulting in the forgiveness of sins and freedom from slavery to sin for you and for me. And beloved, that has been accomplished by His Son, our Savior and Lord Jesus Christ. And that redemption, we know, was foreshadowed in Israel's deliverance from the bondage of Egypt. And that redemption, the beauty of that is that it is testified to by the offended God Himself. The very one who was offended says in verse 22, I have swept away your offenses like a cloud, your sins like the morning mist. The very one against whom we sinned, just as easily as the wind blows the clouds away, He has swept away our sins because of the work of Jesus Christ. He has done so completely. He has done so forever. As far as the east is from the west, He remembers them no more. Because Jesus Christ paid every last portion of our debt. And we are free from sin. And beloved, that's amazing. That's amazing because even as redeemed people, we still tend to drift at times. We still tend at times to put our trust in ourself or in our employer or in our government or in our savings or retirement accounts or in our good works, to put our trust in these things before God. And therefore, it is amazing that He sent His only begotten Son to save those who rejected Him and who continue from time to time to reject Him. But that too is our comfort. The idol cannot save us any more than man can save himself. But we cannot, we will not lose our salvation because it is secure in Christ Jesus. That's what He has done for us. And His worthiness also then points to what He deserves. Answer 94 says again, that I sincerely acknowledge the only true God. Trust Him alone. Look to Him for every good thing, humbly and patiently. Love Him, fear Him, and honor Him with all my heart, in short, that I give up anything rather than go against His will in any way. Beloved, this God alone deserves our undivided devotion. Our life, this life, and the life to come depends entirely and completely on the mercy and the grace and the love of God which has been demonstrated in Christ Jesus. And He has shown you and me over and over and over again that He alone is the great provider and the great protector. He has proved to you and me again and again that His Word alone satisfies. He has not only said you are forgiven, but He has actually done it. And He confirms to you and me by the power of His Holy Spirit that He gives us joy in times of hopelessness. He gives us peace that passes understanding. He gives us contentment with our lot in life. He gives us hope. He gives us comfort. And we are called to demonstrate our gratitude to Him for such a great salvation by worshiping and serving only Him, recognizing that there is no life apart from this God and this God alone. Beloved, to see Him by faith, to see Him in all of His majesty and glory and grandeur, again, is at the very same time to see the foolishness of man, the foolishness of idols, that they offer no hope, but only destruction. only the true God gives us a living hope to those that He has created to those that He has redeemed to be His own special people to those who are new creatures in Him it's not the creatures we make of our own hands that are to be worshipped but the God who has made us to be new creatures only this true God has the answers for life and for living and has given His Holy Spirit to direct us in this life giving us confirmation when we are in His will giving us correction when we are not in His will and giving us wisdom to learn from our mistakes in order that we might live more gratefully and we can only know Him, beloved, through the Lord Jesus Christ by faith in Him who has said, If you have seen me, you have seen the Father. People of God, only the true God is good and right and best for you and me, not the gods of our own making. Because only this God has done what is good and right and best for us as He has sent His Son, Jesus Christ, to save us from all of our sins. And it is this God alone that says to you and me, I am the Lord your God. Worship and serve only me. Let's pray together. Heavenly Father, the only true God, as we bow before You again in this evening hour, we praise Your most holy name for indeed revealing Yourself to us in Your Word by the power of Your Holy Spirit. Revealing Yourself to us through our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, that we might know who You are in truth and the beauty of Your holiness. We do confess that at times it is so easy to take our eyes off of You and You alone and to put our trust in the things of this life. To think, if I only have a little more money, what I can do. If I only have a few more skills, I can do this. If only this or only that. Father, we pray that You would help us to trust only and always in You and You alone. We thank You for the means that You have given to us to lead us and guide us and protect us throughout this life. but all these things are given from Your hand, O Lord. May our trust be only and always in You. Hear us for Jesus' sake and in His name alone. Amen.