Don’t you know that you yourselves are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit lives in you? 1 Corinthians 3:16.

The Lord delights in those who fear Him, who put their hope in His unfailing love. Psalm 147:11.

Lift up your eyes to the heavens, look at the earth beneath; the heavens will vanish like smoke, the earth will wear out like a garment and its inhabitants die like flies. But My salvation will last forever, My righteousness will never fail. Isaiah 51:6.

This morning in our Friday Zoom Retreat, we listened to John Ortberg’s video about helplessness – that helplessness and prayer are inseparable and our inadequacies unite us with God; and that doubt is faith-distress that helps us realize our helplessness – and our need to come to Jesus. And to keep coming to Jesus. And as we shared what that video meant to us, our understanding was enlarged. And realizing my own helplessness to overcome my own faults and fears helps me better understand the faults and fears of others. We are all of us helpless in the things that truly matter. I can’t make the sun rise; I can’t heal anyone’s disease; I can’t stop the hate in this broken world. I can’t save myself or you. But I know Creator God – Father, Son, Spirit can. He is working in us in ways we cannot see or comprehend but His work is being done. And reading our chapter, Ezekiel 32, is about that very thing then and that very thing now. This chapter is a lament for Pharaoh and for every world leader who thinks they are in charge but who are ultimately just as helpless as we are. In the twelfth year, in the twelfth month on the first day, the word of the Lord came to me: “Son of man, take up a lament concerning Pharaoh king of Egypt and say to him: ‘You are like a lion among the nations; you are like a monster in the seas thrashing about in your streams, churning the water with your feet and muddying the streams…With a great throng of people I will cast My net over you, and they will haul you up in My net…When I snuff you out, I will cover the heavens and darken their stars; I will cover the sun with a cloud, and the moon will not give its light. All the shining lights in the heavens I will darken over you; I will bring darkness over your land, declares the Sovereign Lord. I will trouble the hearts of many peoples when I bring about your destruction among the nations, among lands that you have not known…’” v. 1-3, 7-9. All the mighty leaders who cause such fear then and now will all experience the same fate of all of us and will go down to the grave to be welcomed by those already there, v. 17-21. Pharaohs had massive pyramids built for themselves for their comfort in the afterlife, but they too went to the same grave. And then it goes on to describe the other nations, Assyria, Elam, Meshek and Tubal, Edom, all the princes of the north and all the Sidonians, v. 22-30. In the notes below: “Elam was a nation of fierce warriors from the region east of Assyria. They were conquered by Nebuchadnezzar (Jeremiah 49:34-39) and eventually rebuilt themselves and became part of Persia. Meshek and Tubal were territories located in the eastern region of Asia Minor, now eastern and central Turkey. The princes of the north were probably the princes of the Phoenician city-states.” “‘Pharaoh – he and all his army – will see them and he will be consoled for all his hordes that were killed by the sword, declares the Sovereign Lord. Although I had him spread terror in the land of the living, Pharaoh and all his hordes will be laid among the uncircumcised, with those killed by the sword, declares the Sovereign Lord.’” v. 31-32. It seems strange to read these verses and find hope but hope there is! In this life we are given life by God. This planet He created is our home. He gives us everything we need to survive that we cannot provide for ourselves. He gives us minds and capabilities varied and needed. He gives us hearts to love and care and hurt and long for something better. And when we come face to face with our own helplessness, He is here. And as we keep coming back to Him, something remarkable happens. Trust is built. Hope ignites. In that quiet place in our spirits, He speaks gently reminding us we are His. We are loved. We are understood. All of the Old Testament is a record of the futility of living for the law alone. We are helpless. God is not. We sin. And then we judge others so harshly and condemn them for the very things we ourselves do. A vicious cycle. And as we see this broken world unraveling again and again, we experience deep faith-distress. Come to God. And come to Him again and again and again! He will be your help – because we need Him! For what the law was powerless to do because it was weakened by the flesh, God did by sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh to be a sin offering. And so He condemned sin in the flesh, in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fully met in us, who do not live according to the flesh but according to the Spirit. Romans 8:3-4. How do we live according to the Spirit? We keep coming to God and we keep coming back to Him. Life lived with the Spirit helping us. And as we do, our hearts praise Him again and again and again and forever!