Please turn to Philippians 2. Philippians 2:7, just the first clause:
But emptied Himself.
Then verse 17, the first clause:
But even if I am poured out as a libation upon the sacrifice and service of your faith.
Psalm 131:
A Song of Ascents; of David.
O Lord, my heart is not haughty, nor mine eyes lofty;
Neither do I exercise myself in great matters, or in things too wonderful for me.
Surely I have stilled and quieted my soul;
Like a weaned child with his mother, my soul is with me like a weaned child.
O Israel, hope in the Lord from this time forth and for evermore.
Let us look to the Lord in prayer.
Our heavenly Father, how we praise and thank Thee that we may continue in Thy presence, beholding the glory of the Lord and listening to what He has to say to us through Thy Word. O Father, we do open ourselves to Thee and ask that Thy Holy Spirit will reveal Thy Word to us, reveal Thyself to us, lead us into all truth, and draw us into Thyself, that we may see Thee as we should, that Thou mayest be glorified in our lives. We ask in the name of our Lord Jesus. Amen.
I would like to share with you, dear brothers and sisters, this morning on something that I feel is most emancipating, liberating, and powerful. And that is absolute abandonment to God.
Well, it may be a surprise to you, but there is nothing in the world that is more emancipating than total abandonment to the Lord. There is no life more powerful than a life of total abandonment.
Now, it is true: we find it very difficult to abandon ourselves. We find it difficult even to abandon things that we have. And if it is so difficult to abandon, to give up things, how much more difficult it must be to give up ourselves.
How we hold on to ourselves. We are afraid of losing ourselves because we think that if we lose ourselves, we lose everything. To the flesh, this is true; but to the spirit, this is just the opposite.
Unless we know how to abandon ourselves to God, we will not be able to enter into the life that God has ordained for us to live.
I believe we all desire to be disciples of Christ. We want to follow the Lord. We want to be where the Lord is. We want to live as He lives. But what is the life of our Master?
If you see the life of our Lord Jesus, you will discover that His life is a life of absolute abandonment—a life totally abandoned to God.
We are familiar with that passage in Philippians 2. He who was equal with God—and that is not something to be grasped at, because He is the eternal Son of God, equal with God from eternity—and yet He emptied Himself.
He gave up His rights. He gave up His rights as God. He gave up Himself. He took the form of a slave, in the likeness of men. He humbled Himself, being obedient to God His Father even unto death—yea, the death of the cross.
The abandonment of our Lord Jesus to God was total. He never, throughout His life, demanded His rights.
He said, “I can do nothing by Myself, unless what the Father is doing. I cannot say anything by Myself, unless what I have heard of My Father.” Throughout His life, you find that He abandoned His freedom, His liberty, His rights, His reasons. He abandoned His whole being to God and let God have Him all.
This is the life of our Lord Jesus. But what a life it is! You find in His life there is no worry, no strain, no hesitation, no reservation. It is a life that is free.
He is beyond and above all temptations because He has abandoned Himself completely to God. It is a life so powerful that He has not only overcome sin, but He has defeated the enemy of the centuries.
What a most beautiful life, a most glorious life. And this life is characterized by one thing: self-abandonment.
Now, abandonment to God is very different from fatalism. You know, fatalism is passive. Just like some people will say, “Well, if this is Allah’s will, what can I do?” People just resign themselves to fate.
Now, this is very passive. It is not the teaching of Scripture. Self-abandonment, or abandonment to God, is very positive. Why? It is to give ourselves to God in such a way as to enable Him to fulfill His will in us.
In other words, if we do not abandon ourselves to God, God is not able to work out His will, His purpose, in our lives. The only way that God can work out His will in our life is that we give ourselves to Him completely.
Not just giving up things, but giving up ourselves. Not just giving up; it is giving to Him. Abandonment to God.
If you read the lives of the saints, both in the Old Testament and in the New Testament records, you will find there is a common trait in their lives. Everyone to whom God has borne witness has this characteristic in their lives: they have all abandoned themselves to God.
For instance, Job. Job was a perfect and upright man, one who feared God and turned away from evil.
One day, the sons of God—that is, the angels—gathered before God, and Satan came in their midst. Then God challenged Satan and said, “What have you been doing these days?” And you know what Satan said? He said, “I have been going to and fro, up and down the earth.”
He is a world traveler. He has been traveling up and down, to and fro throughout the whole earth, but he is not a tourist. He is doing all this traveling with a purpose.
So God said, “All right. Have you observed My servant Job, who is perfect and upright, who fears God and abstains from all evil? Have you observed him?”
Well, certainly. Of all the people in the world, there was no one that Satan observed more carefully than Job, because Job would be very nutritious food for him to devour. Such a good man.
Satan observed him very carefully, but could not find a place to attack. I often wonder whether God can use me to challenge His adversary. I am not worthy. God cannot use me to challenge His adversary. Can God use you to challenge that person?
But God could use Job to challenge Satan. Oh, how subtle Satan was. So Satan said to God, “No, of course there is every reason for Job to fear You. Why? Because You put a hedge around him.”
Now, everywhere Satan went, he tried to approach from the east, from the west, to the south, and the north. From every direction he found the hedge was around Job. He could not get in.
So Satan said, “Now You put a hedge around him. You protect him. You bless the work of his hands. You prosper him. Who would not fear You? He does not fear You; he wants Your blessing, that is all. If You take away all these things, he will curse You to Your face.”
God said, “All right, I will take up the challenge. You can do anything you like with him, but do not touch his life.”
And immediately Satan went out and, in one day, destroyed everything that Job had—not only all his property, for he was a rich man, but also all his children were gone.
Job rose up. He rent his garment, shaved his head, and worshiped God.
He was in great pain in his heart. He suffered a great deal, and yet he worshiped God. He said:
Naked came I out of my mother’s womb,
And naked shall I return thither:
The Lord gave, and the Lord hath taken away;
Blessed be the name of the Lord.
A man of abandonment to God.
Again, the sons of God gathered before God, and Satan was there. God again challenged Satan. He said, “Now, you have done it. What happened?”
Oh, how subtle Satan was. He said, “Skin for skin, yea, all that a man hath will he give for his life. But put forth Thine hand now, and touch his bone and his flesh, and he will curse Thee to Thy face.”
God said, “All right. You may touch his body, but you cannot take away his life.” And immediately Satan went out and smote Job with boils all over his body.
He sat in a heap of ashes, scratching his wounds. Even his wife came and said, “Curse God, and die.” But Job said, “What? Shall we receive good at the hand of God, and shall we not receive evil?” A man who was abandoned to God.
But abandonment was not easy. Job was strong before his enemies, but when he was surrounded by his friends, his abandonment to God was not total.
When his friends came, trying to comfort him, they ended up arguing with him. Then you find Job began to say, “It is true: though He slay me, yet will I trust Him. But I demand a hearing. I want an explanation. I do not understand why such things should happen to me.”
“I will accept it. I am willing to die, and I will not give up my faith. But I demand a hearing and an explanation.” Now, is that the attitude of a person who is totally abandoned to God?
If you are totally abandoned to God, you do not ask for an explanation. God is your explanation.
But through the trials, when you come to the end of the book of Job, in Job 42, you find that Job entered into the spirit of absolute abandonment to God.
Listen to what he said. He said, “God, Thou canst do everything, and no purpose of Thine can be restrained. Who is he that hideth counsel without knowledge? I have uttered that which I understood not, things too wonderful for me, which I knew not.”
“I had heard of Thee by the hearing of the ear; but now mine eye seeth Thee. Wherefore I abhor myself, and repent in dust and ashes.”
And when Job came to that point, he entered into the spirit of total abandonment. He did not even ask God for an explanation. He was satisfied with God. Total abandonment.
And, you know, at that point God gave Job a double portion of blessing.
Take Abraham. Read the life of Abraham, and you will find the whole life of Abraham is a call to abandonment to God.
You know, what is faith? What is faith? Faith is giving up yourself to God and trusting God for everything. Now, that is faith.
A life of faith is a life of abandonment to God, and therefore a life of receiving from God for everything.
When Abraham was in Ur of the Chaldees, God called him to leave his country, to leave his kindred, and to go to the place that God would show him.
Abraham responded with faith. By faith, he left his native place and kindred, abandoning his country and his kindred. He came out of Ur of the Chaldees.
He stayed in Haran for a number of years, until God took his father Terah away. Again, God appeared to him and called him, and he abandoned Haran.
He came to the promised land, and there was famine. He went to Egypt for food, and again God called him out of Egypt. He had to abandon Egypt.
He came back with riches. He and his nephew Lot had so much cattle that they could not graze on the same ground, and the herdsmen began to quarrel. Abraham had to ask Lot to leave and let Lot choose whatever he wanted. He had to abandon Lot.
And what was his journey in the promised land? He had no son. God promised to give him seed as the stars of the heavens, yet he had no son.
Finally, he got Ishmael through Hagar. He loved Ishmael, and yet he had to abandon Ishmael. God said, “Let Ishmael go.”
Finally, God gave him a son, Isaac, the son of promise. All the promises of God were centered upon that son. Yet in Genesis 22, God called Abraham, tested Abraham, and said, “Abraham, go to Mount Moriah, which was three days’ journey, and offer your son, your only beloved son Isaac, as a burnt offering.”
A burnt offering is a total offering. When a burnt offering is offered, you have nothing left but ashes. And God said, “Present your son Isaac as a burnt offering.”
Here you find Abraham: without any hesitation, he rose up early in the morning. He traveled three days’ journey, had enough time to think about it and ponder it, but there was no looking back.
He went to Mount Moriah. He built an altar, bound his son, and took the knife. But God said, “That is enough.” Total abandonment to God.
As a contrast, you find Jacob. When Jacob was born, he came out following his brother, holding his brother’s heel. He wanted to get out first.
He was a supplanter, a heel-holder. Throughout the life of Jacob, you find he tried to hold everything in his own hands. He tried to grasp everything.
He cheated his brother of the birthright. He cheated his father of the blessing of the birthright. He outmaneuvered his father-in-law and got the riches of his father-in-law. He tried to bribe his brother Esau.
He devised plans for his family to escape. You find throughout the life of Jacob, he was trying to hold on to everything for himself. If there is anyone in the world that held on to things, held on to himself, that is Jacob.
But God was dealing with him. God was dealing with him to abandon himself, but he would not.
Even at Peniel, oh, how he wrestled with the Angel of the Lord the whole night, and he prevailed—until the Angel touched his thigh and he was crippled.
It was not until that time that you find he abandoned himself to God. And what a blessing he became. In his old days, he even blessed Pharaoh, the greatest king in the whole world at that time.
God was working in his life for that abandonment. That is the thing that God is after.
I can illustrate with many people in Scripture. Take a few from the New Testament. Think of Mary, the mother of Jesus.
In Luke 1, when the angel appeared and said, “Thou shalt conceive and bear a Son, the Holy One, the holy seed of God,” do you know what Mary said?
She said, “Behold, the handmaid of the Lord; be it unto me according to thy word.”
Now, if you understand the situation, you know that it was not that easy. Why? Because she was a virgin. She was betrothed, engaged to Joseph, but she was not married yet.
If she should conceive and bear a son, what would the world say? Nobody could understand. It had never happened before. People would say, certainly, she must have committed adultery or fornication before she was married.
According to the law of Moses, her fiancé, Joseph, should be the first one to throw the stone upon her. Not only would she lose all her name, but even her life. Everything would be lost.
But here you find a sister who was so abandoned to the Lord. She said, “I am just a handmaid of the Lord. Do whatever You want to do. It is up to You.” She was not thinking anything of herself, only of the Lord.
Now, oftentimes we think of Mary, but we forget Joseph. Actually, you know, Joseph—it was just as difficult for Joseph as for Mary.
Joseph was a righteous man. He heard about it. He tried to go around the law. He did not want to expose Mary. He did not want to kill Mary. He tried to find a way secretly just to divorce her, to let her go.
Because humanly speaking, he would not want Mary anymore, no matter how he loved her. But when the Lord appeared to him in a dream and told him that it was of the Lord, what did he do? He took Mary, covered her, protected her, until the child was born. Total abandonment to the Lord.
Think of John the Baptist. John the Baptist was in prison. He sent disciples to the Lord Jesus and said to the Lord, “Art Thou He that cometh, or look we for another?”
Now, it was not that John’s faith failed. He had testified, “This is the Lamb of God, who taketh away the sin of the world.” He saw the Holy Spirit descend upon Him, and God said, “This is He.”
Of course, John was not doubting, but he sent word. Why? Because he said, “Well, You have been doing all these things. You set the prisoners free. You open the eyes of the blind. You raise the dead. Now why do You leave me in prison and not do something for me?”
And the Lord said, “Blessed is he, whosoever shall not be offended in Me.” “I am not going to do it. I just leave you there. Will you be offended? If you are not offended, you are happy. You are blessed.”
And John the Baptist was not offended. He gave his head up because of this.
Think of Peter. Herod killed James and found that the people were happy about it, so he seized Peter. It was the time of the Feast of Unleavened Bread, so he put Peter in prison, thinking that after the seven days of the feast were over, he would take out Peter and behead him.
So Peter was in prison for seven days. On the last night, because it was the next day that he would be taken out and beheaded—dear brothers and sisters, if I were Peter, and I was in prison for seven days, and I knew that the next morning I would be out to be beheaded, do you think I would sleep at all?
If I were not murmuring, I would be afraid. But here you find Peter was sound asleep. His sleep was so sound that even after the angel had taken him out of prison, he still thought he was dreaming. Now, what a sound sleep that must be!
How could a man sleep so soundly, knowing that the next day he might be beheaded? Total abandonment to God. He gave himself to God completely.
Think of Paul. Read 2 Timothy. Here is Paul, almost just before he was martyred, and how triumphant he was. He said:
I have fought the good fight,
I have finished the course,
I have kept the faith:
Henceforth there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness,
Which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give to me at that day;
And not to me only, but also to all them that have loved His appearing.
How could it be? Total abandonment to God.
You know, this is the kind of life that God is calling us into. This is the kind of life that His Son, our Lord Jesus, lived. This is the kind of life that, throughout the centuries, those whom God has borne witness to have all entered into: this life of self-abandonment. They abandoned themselves to the Lord.
It is not passive; it is very active. Because through self-abandonment, God is able to do what He wants to do with these lives.
You know, Brother Watchman Nee was helped greatly in his early life by a dear sister, Margaret E. Barber. Now, Margaret E. Barber was a very strong character. She was not a weak person. She had strong opinions.
But one day, when Brother Nee was praying with Margaret Barber, Margaret Barber at that time had a controversy with God. God had a demand upon her, but she had her own idea.
And Brother Nee heard this prayer. She prayed, “Lord, do not give up yet. Just wait for me. I will come back. I will give You.”
She was not willing to give at that time, but she asked the Lord not to give her up. Just wait for her. She would give. She would give herself.
It is not natural for anyone to give up himself or herself. It is not easy for us to give up things, and how much more difficult to give up ourselves. We think if we give up ourselves, that is the end.
But remember: it is giving up, giving to God. There is the beginning.
The reason why God is not able to do what He wants to do with us, God is not able to work with us as He wants to, is because we are not willing to abandon ourselves to Him.
We hold on to ourselves. We hold on to things. We will not let them go. And because of this, what kind of life do we live? We worry all the time. We are anxious. In anxiety, we strive, we struggle. There is no rest. There is no peace. There is no joy—no joy.
Isn’t that the life we want to live? Now, why is it that we do not abandon ourselves to God? Why?
I think the one reason why we do not abandon ourselves to God is because of unbelief.
You remember Hebrews 3:12. It is said:
Take heed, brethren, lest haply there shall be in any one of you an evil heart of unbelief, in falling away from the living God.
Now, our God is a living God, but we turn away from Him. Why? Because we do not believe. We believe in ourselves. We think that if things are in our own hands, we can manage them better.
We think that if we hold our lives in our own hands, then we are more sure about it. If we let go and let God, well, what can God do? We circumscribe God with our limitations. If we cannot do it, we think God cannot do it.
We do not trust Him. We do not believe in Him. It is unbelief. The greatest sin that we ever commit is the sin of unbelief.
And this is, I believe, the sin that Hebrews mentions in Hebrews 12. It says, “Lay aside the sin which doth so easily beset us.” Now, what is this sin? It is the sin of unbelief.
We do not believe Him. Therefore, we will not give to Him. We will not give up ourselves to Him. We will not let go and let God. It is unbelief. May the Lord deliver us from such unbelief.
Now, brothers and sisters, how can we abandon ourselves to God? I think there are three things which I would like to share about. I will give you three C’s again.
Number one is consider. Consider what? As Hebrews says, “Consider the Apostle and High Priest of our confession, even Jesus.”
The reason why we cannot give up ourselves is because we do not consider Him. We consider ourselves. We consider our circumstances.
And when you consider yourself, consider circumstances, consider people, and consider all these things except God, you will find yourself getting tighter and tighter, and holding tighter and tighter.
But, oh, brothers and sisters, if we learn to consider Him, the Author and Finisher of our faith, if we can only see Him—if we can see the One who is invisible—then all these visible things will not get in the way.
You know, our problem is, we see all these visible things, and these things blind our eyes to see the One who is invisible.
When Job saw the Lord, when the glory of the Lord appeared to Job, Job said, “Now I see Thee.” Once he saw, he abandoned himself completely to God. No more questioning, no need for explanation, because God is the explanation.
Abraham was able to abandon, and abandon, and abandon. And this is a life of abandonment. It will get deeper and deeper and deeper; and when it gets deeper and deeper, it gets higher and higher. It is because the Lord of glory appeared to him.
Moses was able to despise the riches of Egypt—and the riches of Egypt at that time can be compared with the riches of this country. He despised the riches of Egypt, the wealth of Egypt, and was willing to bear the reproach of Christ with his brethren, slaves.
He did not fear the fury of Pharaoh because he saw the One who is invisible. Dear brothers and sisters, what we need is a sight of the Lord. Consider Him. See Him.
You know, our problem is, we talk a lot about Him. We hear a lot about Him. But do we see Him?
When we consider Him, and when we see Him in our spirit—He who is invisible—dear brothers and sisters, there is nothing more logical, there is nothing more reasonable, there is nothing easier than to abandon yourself to the Lord.
Not to do that would be foolishness. Because it is not something that you can just convince yourself of with your mind. It is something: you have to consider Him and see Him. A sight of Him—that is all you need.
And all these things will drop off. Abandon yourself to Him.
Number two: constrain. Not only are we to consider Him, but when you consider Him and see Him, you will be constrained by His love.
Second Corinthians 5:14-15 says:
For the love of Christ constraineth us; because we thus judge, that one died for all, therefore all died;
And He died for all, that they that live should no longer live unto themselves, but unto Him who for their sakes died and rose again.
Oh, dear brothers and sisters, how we need to be constrained by the love of Christ. You know, in Christian life, duty is not good enough. Christian life does not live on the level of duty. Christian life lives in the atmosphere of love.
Unless we are constrained by the love of Christ, dear brothers and sisters, you will not be able to abandon yourself. You may be able to give up a little of something, but you will never be able to abandon yourself.
The reason why Christ died on the cross is because of love. It is not duty. Duty did not require it of Him, but it was love that constrained Him to do what He did.
We need to be constrained by the love of Christ. Whenever we lose our first love, everything becomes external, superficial, routine. It loses all its spiritual value.
We need to be constantly constrained by the love of Christ.
And number three: compose. Compose. You know, in Psalm 131, he said, “I have stilled and quieted my soul, like a weaned child with his mother.”
I love Psalm 131. It is a beautiful psalm. But, you know, it is a most unnatural psalm. It is supernatural.
Why? Because the psalmist begins and says, “O Lord, my heart is not haughty, nor mine eyes lofty; neither do I exercise myself in great matters, or in things too wonderful for me.” Now, that is not natural.
What is natural? “My heart is haughty. My eyes are lofty. I exercise myself in great things and in things too wonderful for me.” That is natural.
No matter who we are, no matter what we are, even the humblest man in the world, the poorest man in the world, the most ignorant man in the world, you will find naturally our heart is haughty. Now, do not tell me you are humble.
Our heart is so wicked, it can deceive us. Only God knows, and God knows how our heart is haughty, our eyes lofty. We always like to delve into things too wonderful for us, in great matters. Now, that is what we want to do.
But how comes the psalmist declares, “My heart is not haughty, mine eyes not lofty; neither do I exercise myself in great matters, or in things too wonderful for me”? How did it come about?
Verse 2 is the secret: “Surely I have stilled and quieted my soul.” You see, that is the answer.
How comes that he is not haughty and lofty? How comes that he is not after great things too wonderful for him? He becomes so simple. He becomes, you know, like a child. How does it come about? He said, “Because I have stilled and quieted my soul.”
Like a weaned child with his mother.
Now, a child with his mother before he is weaned will give you a very different picture from the picture you can imagine here.
A baby that is still sucking at the mother’s breast—when you put that baby to the mother, immediately you find how agitated he is, how he will struggle and try to find the breast and try to suck as much as he can. In other words, it is a restless picture.
But, after some time, it is time for the child to be weaned. Why? Because the child is growing up. The mother’s milk is not sufficient for his growth. He needs something more, something more solid. But the child does not understand.
So weaning is a very difficult process. Weaning causes a lot of tears—not only the tears of the child, but the tears of the mother too.
The mother has to use some kind of device, some kind of trick, you know, to wean the child. Maybe put something bitter on the breast, or something, to make it difficult for the child. How the child will kick and cry, thinking that mother does not love him anymore. And that hurts the mother very much.
But gradually, when he is given some solid food, some other food, and gradually as he begins to grow, he comes to a point that he begins to restrain and compose his soul. In other words, he accepts the discipline—self-control.
When he comes to that point and he has been weaned from his mother’s breast, then when you put that child to the mother, what will happen?
You will find that instead of seeking the mother’s breast, the child will just rest in the mother’s arms, maybe just look up at the mother. He has no demand. He does not want anything.
But there you will find a flow of mutual love, mutual affection, mutual understanding, flowing back and forth from the mother and the child. It is a picture of peace and joy and harmony: a weaned child with his mother.
Dear brothers and sisters, this is what God is trying to do with us. At one time, we were babes. There is nothing wrong with babyhood; that is where we come from. You cannot escape babyhood.
There is only one man who came out full-grown, and that is Adam. Aside from Adam, we all grow up from babyhood.
But we cannot remain babes. It is the will of our God, our Father, that we grow up to be full-grown. That is the reason why He has to wean us.
He has to wean us from holding on to things. He has to wean us from strongly holding on to ourselves. Our souls have to be composed and restrained.
You remember the Lord said:
Come unto Me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.
Take My yoke upon you, and learn of Me; for I am meek and lowly in heart:
And ye shall find rest unto your souls.
Oh, our souls refuse to rest. Our souls are always struggling and striving. Think of our emotions. Think of our mind, our imagination. Think of our wills and desires. You will find that these things are just like waves, just like rolling seas. They never are at rest.
But, dear brothers and sisters, the Lord says, “Take My yoke upon you, and learn of Me. I am meek and lowly in heart, and you will find rest unto your souls.” That is a weaned child.
Brothers and sisters, have you been weaned?
If you have not been weaned spiritually, it is true that you receive much from the Lord, but the Lord has not got anything from you. He cannot use you.
You know His grace, but you do not know His purpose. It is only when we are weaned, when we really abandon ourselves to God, that we can look up to Him, and there will be a flow of love, of understanding.
That is the life that God calls us into.
Verse 3 says:
O Israel, hope in the Lord
From this time forth and for evermore.
Now, is that not strange? After David himself experienced that total abandonment to God, then he said, “Let Israel hope in God.” In other words, his own personal experience is for the whole of Israel.
If the Lord should lead us, lead you, into a life of abandonment to God, you will find you will affect the household of God and help the household of God into the blessed hope.
You know, hope comes from abandonment to God. We may think if we abandon ourselves, then we are hopeless. Oh, brothers, if we abandon ourselves to God, then hope begins.
Because our hope is in Him. He is the hope of glory. Let Israel hope in the Lord from henceforth and forevermore.
What are you hoping for? Whom are you setting your hope upon? Are you looking for yourself, or for other people, or for your circumstances to change? Is there where your hope is? The sinking sand?
Hope in God. But how can you really hope in God if you are still hoping in yourself? We have to abandon ourselves to God, and then we find all our hope is in Him.
He who trusts Him will find Him trustworthy.
So may the Lord help us, dear brothers and sisters. There is only one life that is worth living. It is a life like our Lord’s: a life of absolute abandonment to God.
Because our God is worthy. Shall we pray?
Our heavenly Father, we do praise and thank Thee, for Thou dost call us to live a life like Thy Son, because it is Thy Son who lives in us. It is a life of total abandonment to Thee.
Oh, Thou art so worthy. Is there anything that Thou dost not deserve? Father, we praise and thank Thee because Thou dost call us to abandon ourselves to Thee, that Thou mayest give Thyself to us, to be all.
O Father, do Thy Holy Spirit speak to us and lead us into Thy truth, that Thy name may be glorified. We ask in the name of our Lord Jesus. Amen.