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In the name of
the Father, and of

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the Son, and of
the Holy Spirit.

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God is at work
overcoming sin with

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grace, beating down
judgment with mercy.

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We in Christ's church
must do the same.

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We must give up
showing partiality to the

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favored and the
protected, to the elite whose

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company we long to
keep, all while we neglect

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or even put down those
who are bowed down,

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those who are
marked with low status.

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Mercy seeks to help
the poor, lift up those

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who are bowed down and
heal or comfort whatever

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maladies persist.

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It is not afraid to
associate with the lowly,

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not only of financial
but also of social credit.

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Our lectionary this
week exhorting us by the

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mouth of James
yesterday, showing Christ's

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work in Galilee of the
Gentiles in the gospel,

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foretold today in prophecy
from Isaiah, instructs

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us concerning
the shape of that

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Christian mercy we
heard about yesterday.

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Christian mercy is not
limited by the trends

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or the boundaries
of society, just as our

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Lord's kindness was
not limited to the lost

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sheep of the house of
Israel to whom He was

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sent first.

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And neither does Christian
mercy destroy society

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in the process, as if it
ever could be righteous

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to take your child's
bread away and starve

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them for the sake of
helping someone else.

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The hymn of the day
chosen for this week,

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which is mostly a
paraphrase of today's passage

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from Isaiah, it
confirms this, doesn't it?

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It comes from the society
section of the hymnal.

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But a closer look,
why is today's

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hymn in the society section?

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This hymn is a catalog
of works which do not

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belong to men in our
societies, but to God

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alone.

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We did not sing
praise, social action, nor

41
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did Isaiah say we are
to be the hands and

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feet of Jesus, bringing
either vengeance and

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recompense or opening
to eyes and ears and

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loosing to legs and tongues.

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Isaiah says, Behold your God.

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Put Him in your eye.

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Praise the One we sang.

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Strongest of all today
are these marvelous

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repetitions in Psalm
146, which even rhyme

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in Hebrew by our standards.

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Adonai matir asurim,
Adonai pokeahivrim, Adonai

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tzokef keifufim, Adonai
ohev tzadikim, Adonai

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shomer etkerim.

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That's a full Torah
of the Lord does its.

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This is how the
Songbook of David ends in

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anticipation of all
that was promised him

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concerning his son.

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It ends in this final
Hallel of praise, rich

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in speaking about what
our God has been doing.

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It ends in Christ
Jesus Himself coming

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and saving as
Isaiah also foretells.

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These scriptures
and today's hymn

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sing about God,
not about society.

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Now, in our Psalm,
there is one phrase that

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I think we have heard
before, trust not in

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princes.

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It is the season for
banding this saying about.

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The reason for
that matters most

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because in them
there is no salvation.

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As concerns heaven,
this is obvious.

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As concerns the
societies of this earth.

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Well this sentence,
dear Christians, must

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severely temper
our political optimism.

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Managers may preserve
the world in some

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semblance of order at
best, but never save it.

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And yet this is not yet
the complete phrase.

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It says put your trust
not in princes nor

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in the son of man in
whom there is no help.

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Do not use this phrase
then only to express

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your frustration that
you think you've been

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given bad candidate choices.

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These verses give us,
who in our society are

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supposedly free and
self-governing citizens,

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it gives us very little room
for our boasting either.

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When we pray this, we temper
trust in ourselves also.

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Even though as
Christians we really do

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desire to be of some
help to this world.

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The ballot box is among
our smallest opportunities

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for Christian mercy
and to take up all the

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hodgepodge of merciful
acts that are suggested

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in the other hymns
of the society section.

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Our psalm continues further.

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It says that the prince's
breath goes forth

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and he returns to
his earth and that very

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day his thoughts perish.

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Princes die.

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They return to their
earth, it says, their

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dust, both the dust of
Adam's death and the

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dirt that they had
amassed under their

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rule, whether that
was for good or for ill.

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The societies that
they plan and that they

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manage also rise and
fall, and that's because

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every son of man
returns to dust also.

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Only the Lord is King forever.

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We are right now very
anxious because the

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polity and the
conversation of our society

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is like a haunt of jackals.

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It is wild and compassionate.

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It is full of beasts.

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Isaiah has been
playing with just

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these images for
the last few chapters.

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In 34 he foretold God's
day of vengeance and

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recompense against
all the proud, arrogant

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princes of Edom.

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He promised to hand
their precious land over

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to owls and desert
things, literal dumb beasts

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who he thinks
could probably rule

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at least as well
as they were.

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Today we hear that the
days would come when

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God's mercy would
again beat down judgment

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and turn the desert
places into fruitful living

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fields in which there
would also, most especially,

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be cleared a highway
to Zion, leading His

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ransom saints into His
tabernacles with singing.

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Now would any of that
happen by the princes

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of Judah or through
their social cultivation?

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Certainly not.

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By the glory of the
Lord and the majesty of

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our God, he says,
blessed is he whose help

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is in the God of Jacob, whose
hope is in the Lord his God.

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It is good for us to
use this instruction

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in Psalm 146 to rebuke
our political and our

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social anxieties.

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It is helpful for us to
take a moment to mark

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all of the signs around
us, reminding us what

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lies in the heart of man.

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Rather than run around
with perpetual disappointment

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or rage about it,
perhaps we might instead

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gain a heart of wisdom,
maybe even a degree

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of indifference without
smothering Christian

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mercy, which,
remember, need not

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wait for any prince
to get started.

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But Isaiah pushes us on to
more than just this rebuke.

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A prophet's work is
not only to correct false

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hopes and the weak
in faith, but it is also

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to set forth the
sure object of trust to

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purvey real hope to
the hopeless, to inspire

148
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freely given love and
mercy and the praise

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of his name among all
who receive from him

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their very being, as
the Psalm says, opened

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and set right by his
word and by his blood.

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Be strong and
fear not, O saints of

153
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Christ, you who
have an anxious heart.

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Put your trust in the Lord.

155
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Put your trust in the Son of

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Man in whom
there is salvation.

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Does he not do
all things well?

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Then don't you pray
as if he were powerless

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and hopeless, waiting
for some trustworthy

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prince to arise that
he could make use of.

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Christ reigns now, and
He will come and He

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will save at the last
day, if not sooner.

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The word anxious heart
here is literally a hasty

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heart, now flighty, now
jumping to conclusions,

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now running away in terror,
now giving up in a moment.

166
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Do not, dear saints,
do not so quickly give

167
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in to those who mock
your prayers and your

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waiting for the Lord
as if he were not living

169
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and reigning as he
truly is, as if society

170
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should save
itself without Him.

171
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Do not so hastily fall
for that false choice

172
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that suggests that
Christian trust in the

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Lord was ever a hindrance
to Christian acts of mercy.

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Neither be impatient
to see the way of the

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wicked brought to
ruin, as if the Lord were

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Himself a mortal
with limited time.

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The Lord reigns to
all generations, and He

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loves His righteous
ones for Christ's sake.

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So behold your God.

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Behold by the strength
of His promises.

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Let your anxiety be
replaced by trust and

182
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expectation, because
the Lord is at hand,

183
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and this is to make
us reasonable.

184
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We never stop
singing about the

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one who does all things well.

186
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And even if society
should crumble, this is

187
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a week that tells us
that those who trust

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in the Lord still
live from his crumbs

189
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and are fully
satisfied by them.

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In the name of
the Father and of

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the Son and of
the Holy Spirit.