The secret things belong to the LORD our God, but the things revealed belong to us and to our children forever, that we may follow all the words of this law. Deuteronomy 29:29.

Do everything without complaining and arguing, so that no one can criticize you. Live clean, innocent lives as children of God, shining like bright lights in a world full of crooked and perverse people. Philippians 2:14-15.

Your lovingkindness, O LORD, extends to the heavens, Your faithfulness reaches to the skies. How precious is Your lovingkindness, O God! And the children of men take refuge in the shadow of Your wings. For with You is the fountain of life; in Your light we see light. Psalm 36:5, 7, 9.

And continuing our 351 Old Testament prophecies, promises of God, fulfilled in Jesus Christ, we come to number 74: Forsaken because of sins of others. Psalm 22:1: My God, my God, why have You forsaken me? Far from my deliverance are the words of my groaning. And, 2 Corinthians 5:21: He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.

Yesterday in the sermon, we heard as a thread running throughout the word proclaim: to declare or announce something publicly, officially, or forcefully. Through the partaking of the communion together, we proclaim His death until He returns. We proclaim He rose. We proclaim our love for Him and one another as we come together to worship Him. We proclaim His love as we help others. And inwardly and outwardly, we proclaim what was also given in the sermon: Peace is not the absence of conflict. Peace is the Presence of Jesus. That resonated deeply. He is our peace. Knowing His peace, it’s easier to see the absence of His Presence in my own anxious thoughts and in our world. And that is how it should be. Only Jesus brings the peace so needed because it is Him so needed and He is here as we turn to Him. Him we proclaim!

***I ARISE TODAY I arise today through a mighty strength, the invocation of the Trinity, a belief in the threeness, a confession of the oneness of the Creator of creation. I arise today through the strength of Christ’s birth and His baptism, through the strength of His crucifixion and His burial, through the strength of His resurrection and His ascension, through the strength of His descent for the judgment of doom. I arise today through the strength of heaven, light of the sun, splendor of fire, speed of lightning, swiftness of the wind, depth of the sea, stability of the earth, and firmness of the rock. I arise today through God’s strength to pilot me, God’s might to uphold me, God’s wisdom to guide me, God’s eye to look before me, God’s ear to hear me, God’s word to speak for me, God’s hand to guard me, God’s way to lie before me, God’s shield to protect me, God’s hosts to save me from snares of the devil, from temptations of vices, from everyone who desires me ill, afar and near, alone or in a multitude. I summon today all these powers between me and evil, against every cruel, merciless power that opposes my body and soul, against the teaching of false prophets, against the craft of idolaters, against the error of heretics, against every knowledge that corrupts man’s body and soul. Christ, shield me today so that reward may come to me in abundance. Christ with me, Christ before me, Christ behind me, Christ in me, Christ beneath me, Christ above me, Christ on my right, Christ on my left, Christ when I lie down, Christ when I sit down, Christ in the heart of every man who thinks of me, Christ in the mouth of every man who speaks of me, Christ in the eye that sees me, Christ in the ear that hears me. Patrick of Ireland, (c. AD 389-461). Adapted.***