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Speaker 1: Life Audio.

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Speaker 2: Hi thereon, Welcome to another Prayer through the Psalms episode

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Speaker 2: of the Praying Christian Women podcast. I'm Jamie, and we

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Speaker 2: get to kind of go backwards today. I accidentally recorded

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Speaker 2: Psalm fifty seven last week, and I skipped over Psalm

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Speaker 2: fifty six, so we're going to backtrack to Psalm fifty six,

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Speaker 2: and I'm excited about this one as usual. It seems

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Speaker 2: like a lot of them have so many similarities. So

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Speaker 2: you could look at first glance and think, oh, a

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Speaker 2: lot of the psalms are kind of the same, but

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Speaker 2: every single one has just another layer of i don't know,

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Speaker 2: just different things kind of stand out. And this one

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Speaker 2: has several things that are really unique to it, even

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Speaker 2: though there are some similarities to a lot of David psalms.

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Speaker 2: So this week we have another mick Tom of David,

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Speaker 2: and that is a epigrammatic poem or maybe atonement psalm.

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Speaker 2: I'm not sure how you get those two different things

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Speaker 2: out of it. Epigrammatic is kind of like witty or

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Speaker 2: something that has like a statement that ends with a

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Speaker 2: powerful punch, like a twist, a sharp observation, satire or

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Speaker 2: satirical remark, like it's just and it's hard for us

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Speaker 2: sometimes to see these in English and understand some of

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Speaker 2: the nuance of the language that it was originally written in,

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Speaker 2: which was Hebrew. So I don't necessarily see it, but

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Speaker 2: I think what happens is David makes kind of builds

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Speaker 2: his argument throughout and then just ends maybe with like

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Speaker 2: a powerful statement, which in this case is verse thirteen.

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Speaker 2: For you have saved my soul from death, indeed my

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Speaker 2: feet from stumbling, so that I may walk before God

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Speaker 2: in the light of the living. So maybe this is

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Speaker 2: kind of like a twist on how the enemies.

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Speaker 1: Were so powerful about to overtake.

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Speaker 2: Him, and then he kind of ends with this twisted plot,

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Speaker 2: like a twist meaning that what the enemy had intended

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Speaker 2: for evil kind of got turned around. At any rate,

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Speaker 2: let's read Psalm fifty six. Before that, we're going to

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Speaker 2: start with some prayer.

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Speaker 1: Though.

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Speaker 2: Let's pray, Lord God, we just thank you so much

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Speaker 2: for David, for his lived experience, for his imperfections, and

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Speaker 2: the ways that we can just borrow his words when

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Speaker 2: we are at the end of ourselves, how we can

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Speaker 2: look to him for permission to lament and grieve, permission

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Speaker 2: to kind of rail against you and ask how long

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Speaker 2: how long will we see the earth deteriorate in front

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Speaker 2: of us? How long will we see the wicked prosper?

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Speaker 2: How long will we face oppression and difficulty and not

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Speaker 2: see your hand move? And yet we can also see

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Speaker 2: permission and even a mandate to recognize your greatness in

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Speaker 2: the midst of it, the fact that you have already

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Speaker 2: accomplished the victory, even though it hasn't yet been revealed.

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Speaker 2: We can understand that you are timeless, and so to

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Speaker 2: you everything as exactly as it should be. Even though

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Speaker 2: while we're in the midst of this thing we call time,

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Speaker 2: it feels wrong and incomplete, and it feels like justice

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Speaker 2: hasn't been served. It feels like the wicked are prospering

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Speaker 2: while the righteous get trampled on. And so it takes

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Speaker 2: faith to stand on David's words in David's belief. So

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Speaker 2: thank you that when we don't have that faith in

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Speaker 2: our own hearts, that we can just pray through these psalms,

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Speaker 2: we can borrow some of David's faith, so that maybe

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Speaker 2: as we read those words, even reading them will strengthen

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Speaker 2: us and increase our faith and give us what we

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Speaker 2: need to move on.

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Speaker 1: And that we can.

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Speaker 2: Borrow his joy or share in his joy as we

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Speaker 2: feel joyful ourselves. We just love the intricacies and the

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Speaker 2: complexities of the psalms and pray that you would use

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Speaker 2: these words God to help us to draw closer to You,

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Speaker 2: to meet us in the places that we're lacking right now,

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Speaker 2: to amplify the places where we're doing well, and to

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Speaker 2: just most of all, Lord, bring glory to you.

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Speaker 1: In Jesus' name. Amen.

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Speaker 2: Okay, let's read Psalm fifty six as usual. I am

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Speaker 2: reading from the Nasby nineteen ninety five. So the title

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Speaker 2: of this is pleading for help and grateful trust in God.

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Speaker 2: So again it's that contrast of plea for help the

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Speaker 2: victory hasn't been recognized, and yet grateful trust in God,

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Speaker 2: who's the author of victory. He's the one that we

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Speaker 2: know is the beginning and the end of victory. So

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Speaker 2: the subtitle is for the music director. So it's a

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Speaker 2: song according to Jonath LM. Rajokim, And what that means

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Speaker 2: is either the silent dove of those who are far

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Speaker 2: off or the dove of the distant terrabinths. A terrabinth

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Speaker 2: is a tree that was symbolic in biblical times. It's

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Speaker 2: like related to the cashew and pistachio. I think it's

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Speaker 2: funny because my daughter happens to be allergic to cashews

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Speaker 2: and pistachios. So I'm going to go with the silent

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Speaker 2: dove of those who are far off, But you could

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Speaker 2: also go with the dove of the distant terrabins, which

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Speaker 2: is a tree that is used to represent strength and

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Speaker 2: faithfulness or steadfastness, a very strong tree that's able to

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Speaker 2: withstand drought. So this is a tune that this was

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Speaker 2: to be set to. And then it's a miktam of David,

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Speaker 2: which is possibly an epigrammatic poem or an atonement psalm.

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Speaker 2: Like we said, epigrammatic meaning like that kind of witty

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Speaker 2: like twisted ending, or maybe you end with a powerful punch.

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Speaker 2: When the Philistines seized him in Gath, so this was

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Speaker 2: a time when David was literally taken by his enemies,

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Speaker 2: not just pursued, but he was taken. And he's reflecting

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Speaker 2: back on that, I guess, or maybe he wrote it

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Speaker 2: during that time, but it's referring to that time. Psalm

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Speaker 2: fifty six, be gracious to me God, for a man

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Speaker 2: has trampled upon me, fighting all day long. He oppresses me.

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Speaker 2: My enemies have trampled upon me all day long, for

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Speaker 2: they are many who fight proudly against me. When I

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Speaker 2: am afraid, I will put my trust in You, In God,

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Speaker 2: whose word I praise. In God, I have put my trust.

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Speaker 2: I shall not be afraid. What can mere mortals do

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Speaker 2: to me?

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Speaker 1: All day long?

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Speaker 2: They distort my words, and their thoughts are against me

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Speaker 2: for evil attack, They lurk, They watch my steps as

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Speaker 2: they have waited to take my life because of their wickedness.

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Speaker 2: Will there be an escape for them? In anger? Meet

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Speaker 2: the peoples fall down? God, you have taken account of

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Speaker 2: my miseries. Put my tears in your bottle? Are they

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Speaker 2: not in your book? Then my enemies will turn back

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Speaker 2: On the day when I call this, I know that

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Speaker 2: God is for me. In God whose word I praise.

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Speaker 2: In the Lord whose word I praise. In God, I

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Speaker 2: have put my trust. I shall not be afraid. What

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Speaker 2: can mankind do to me? Your vows are binding upon me. God,

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Speaker 2: I will render thanksgiving offerings to you, for you have

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Speaker 2: saved my soul from death, indeed my feet from stumbling,

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Speaker 2: so that I may walk before God in the light

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Speaker 2: of the living. This is so rich with meaning, and

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Speaker 2: I want to go back to the beginning when it

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Speaker 2: talks about when I am afraid, I will put my

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Speaker 2: trust in You, in God whose word I praise. In

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Speaker 2: God I have put my trust. I shall not be afraid.

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Speaker 2: What song is it where it says, you know, I

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Speaker 2: will trust in you, I will trust in you. Let

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Speaker 2: the week say I am strong in the strength of

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Speaker 2: the Lord. I don't know if that comes from this

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Speaker 2: psalm or a different one, but I love that song

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Speaker 2: because it is a reflection of God's power being made

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Speaker 2: perfect in our weakness. God's strength overcoming any kind of

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Speaker 2: opposition that might come against us. And it's one of

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Speaker 2: those things that I hold on to when I am afraid,

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Speaker 2: when I don't.

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Speaker 1: Have trust that God is actually working.

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Speaker 2: These are the words that I love to borrow as

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Speaker 2: things like this, What can mere mortals do to me?

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Speaker 2: It's like the more I meditate on the bigness and

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Speaker 2: the greatness and the timelessness and the omnipotence and the

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Speaker 2: omniscience of God, the smaller humanity seems, the smaller. Even

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Speaker 2: the biggest problems that we face here on earth will be.

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Speaker 2: And this is what I love about the Psalms is

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Speaker 2: David presents his struggles. He doesn't minimize them. He talks

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Speaker 2: about the tremendous fear and frustration and opposition he faces

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Speaker 2: as large, but he presents it against the backdrop of

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Speaker 2: almighty God.

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Speaker 1: And that's so powerful.

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Speaker 2: And it's a trick that I use when I find

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Speaker 2: myself wallowing in self pity or wallowing in my circumstances,

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Speaker 2: or seeing something as insurmountably large as a problem that

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Speaker 2: I can't figure out and I don't see God working

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Speaker 2: in I kind of shift my focus from the problems

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Speaker 2: in front of me to the backdrop of God's bigness

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Speaker 2: and goodness and greatness and power and victory. And that's

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Speaker 2: what David does, and I think that is his secret.

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Speaker 2: Throughout the Psalms. It's an undercurrent of praise and acknowledgment

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Speaker 2: of God for who he is, even if he's not

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Speaker 2: doing anything that you can perceive at the moment.

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Speaker 1: So another thing that I love.

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Speaker 2: Is it has this very tender picture of God. In

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Speaker 2: verse eight, you have taken account of my miseries and

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Speaker 2: what it's actually like. The literal translation can also be

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Speaker 2: you have recorded my tossings, and or you have made

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Speaker 2: note of my tossings, and it's.

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Speaker 1: His wanderings.

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Speaker 2: When I saw tossings as one of the translations, I thought,

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Speaker 2: like the tossing and turning when you're sleepless and you

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Speaker 2: can't sleep and you're just tossing and turning and worrying.

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Speaker 2: I think what it accurately means is wanderings, being tossed

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Speaker 2: to and fro, being blown and tossed by the waves

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Speaker 2: or the wind, kind of like a wandering. But He

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Speaker 2: has made a record. He has kept a record of

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Speaker 2: your wandering, your aimlessness, your wonderings, your frustrations. He is

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Speaker 2: bearing witness to even the loneliest of experiences when you

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Speaker 2: think no one else is there, Because isn't that what

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Speaker 2: we all want in the end when we're suffering, you

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Speaker 2: want to tell someone like you want even if they

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Speaker 2: can't fix it, you want someone to bear witness to

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Speaker 2: your pain. And I think what David is saying here

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Speaker 2: is I have been so alone in so many dark times.

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Speaker 2: But God has made a record of every single one

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Speaker 2: of them. He has born witness to every single struggle,

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Speaker 2: and they're not forgotten, and they're not lost, and it

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Speaker 2: goes on to say, you've put my tears in your bottle.

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Speaker 2: And what's interesting is the word for bottle used here,

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Speaker 2: according to the lexicon, is I kind of picture the

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Speaker 2: tea being put in like a little vial, you know, like,

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Speaker 2: wasn't it.

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Speaker 1: I don't know.

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Speaker 2: There was some reference in the Lord of the Rings

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Speaker 2: to like the tears of the elves or something, and

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Speaker 2: it was like this, like bright light, you know, I'm

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Speaker 2: picturing this this bottle, this clear bottle with these tears

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Speaker 2: that are just beautiful and held. But it's actually a

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Speaker 2: wine skin. So it's let's see in the Hebrew, it's

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Speaker 2: actually okay, So the word bottle is in Hebrew, it's

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Speaker 2: node and od it's a rugged wine skin, like a

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Speaker 2: skin bottle. And something interesting to note is that that

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Speaker 2: kind of bottle it was used for water, like for survival,

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Speaker 2: like a canteen.

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Speaker 1: It was used for wine.

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Speaker 2: And so when you put new wine in, as it fromments,

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Speaker 2: it stretches out the wine skin. So it's stretched at

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Speaker 2: age it was worn. And so it's not this idea

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Speaker 2: of just a sentimental afterthought like OK, I'm gonna save

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Speaker 2: your tears just as a token. No, I am going

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Speaker 2: to carry these tears, and they're going to be in

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Speaker 2: this rugged wine skin. And as they grow, as your

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Speaker 2: tears grow, this wine skin is going to stretch and

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Speaker 2: it's going to hold them all. And the stretches, the

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Speaker 2: stretch marks on that wine skin, they're going to prove

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Speaker 2: your suffering, but they're also going to be a symbol

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Speaker 2: of survival.

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Speaker 1: And this kind of.

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Speaker 2: Thing like wine, water and even blood and oil, in

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Speaker 2: these different kinds of liquids, they were witness bearing in covenants,

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Speaker 2: in rituals. So in addition to this picture of this

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Speaker 2: ruggedness of these tears, it's showing the ruggedness of you.

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Speaker 2: That wine skin, I think might be symbolic of us

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Speaker 2: and our human flesh and our resilience, but that God

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Speaker 2: is carrying us. He's literally carrying us through those times,

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Speaker 2: and it's also symbolic of it again bearing witness, bearing

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Speaker 2: witness to your pain and maybe even and this is

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Speaker 2: me with my focus on prayer and spiritual warfare. As

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Speaker 2: God carries that, he's holding it up to our enemy

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Speaker 2: and saying, look at this, despite these tears and these trials,

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Speaker 2: this child of mine is resilient. She stretches, she doesn't shrink,

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Speaker 2: and because of me carrying the wine skin, she can

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Speaker 2: hold these tears and she can face what's in front

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Speaker 2: of her because I'm carrying her. This is the imagery. Now,

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Speaker 2: I am not a theologian, and I am simply telling

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Speaker 2: you what it says to me based on looking at

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Speaker 2: some of the Hebrew symbology and some of the historical context.

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Speaker 2: But maybe God is saying something different to you. But

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Speaker 2: that idea is biblical, that when we come to the

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Speaker 2: end of ourselves, to the end of our flesh, God

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Speaker 2: picks us up. His power is made perfect in our weakness.

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Speaker 2: And the idea that even when I'm alone, even if

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Speaker 2: there are things that I carry that I could never

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Speaker 2: share with anyone else, God is there to bear witness,

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Speaker 2: and because of Him I can bear it and I

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Speaker 2: can move on. I think that's what David is saying

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Speaker 2: to me through this, and then I also love this

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Speaker 2: that God is for me, and God I have put

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Speaker 2: my trust. I shall not be afraid and verse eleven again,

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Speaker 2: what can mankind do to me? When God is for us?

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Speaker 2: There's nothing and no one in this world that can

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Speaker 2: be against us. When you're surrounded by struggles, by enemies,

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Speaker 2: by difficulty, try as hard as you can to look

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Speaker 2: past that wall of what the world has to throw

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Speaker 2: at you to the backdrop of God's goodness, his greatness,

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Speaker 2: his power, and remember that He is ultimately so much bigger,

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Speaker 2: so much greater, so much more powerful. His plans are

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Speaker 2: so much higher, his wisdom so much wiser than anything

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Speaker 2: we could ever fathom. And if you can't borrow David's

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Speaker 2: for you have saved my soul from death even as

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Speaker 2: he is still in captivity. Indeed, my feet from stumbling,

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Speaker 2: even though he has stumbled. But he is saying, you

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Speaker 2: have saved me because I know that you're timeless, and

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Speaker 2: I know that in your book the victory has already

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Speaker 2: been one. And so I'm going to stand on that

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Speaker 2: and it will keep me from despairing even when I'm

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Speaker 2: in dark times, so that I may walk before God

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Speaker 2: in the.

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Speaker 1: Light of the living.

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Speaker 2: And I love this idea because it kind of reminds

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Speaker 2: me it's reminiscent of Psalm twenty seven thirteen. I remain

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Speaker 2: confident of this. I will see the goodness of the

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Speaker 2: Lord in the land of the living. Your hope, Yes,

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Speaker 2: it's in heaven. It's being delivered from all of the

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Speaker 2: pain and the imperfection of earth. But that isn't the

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Speaker 2: end goal. The goal is for us here, from the

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Speaker 2: moment we become believers, from the moment we are regenerated

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Speaker 2: and brought from death to life, to see the goodness

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Speaker 2: of the Lord in the Land of the Living, and

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Speaker 2: more than that, to partner with him to see that

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Speaker 2: come to pass through our faith, to bring glory to

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Speaker 2: him by praising him in the midst of difficulty, and

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Speaker 2: through partnering with him through prayer, to actually see God's

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Speaker 2: kingdom come here on earth as it is in heaven,

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Speaker 2: in the land of the Living. We've got work to do,

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Speaker 2: and we're doing it right now, as we read God's word,

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Speaker 2: as we glorify Him with our faith and our prayers

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Speaker 2: and our praise, and as we come before Him in

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Speaker 2: prayer on behalf of the world.

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Speaker 1: Let's pray, Father God.

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Speaker 2: We praise you that we can see your goodness here

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Speaker 2: in the land of the Living, that we don't have

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Speaker 2: to wait for heaven to see your kingdom come. Your

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Speaker 2: will be done here on earth as it is in heaven.

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Speaker 2: Give us assignments, Show us how we can be praying

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Speaker 2: more faithfully, Show us how we can praise you in

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Speaker 2: the midst of difficult times, even when it's hard, and

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Speaker 2: we just pray that as we come together now, that

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Speaker 2: we would just be in agreement that you are good,

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Speaker 2: that you are on the throne, that what the enemy

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Speaker 2: has intended for evil on this planet, in our countries,

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Speaker 2: in our towns, in our individual lives, in our churches,

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Speaker 2: what the enemy has intended for evil.

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Speaker 1: Is nothing.

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Speaker 2: It doesn't stand a chance because you are so much

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Speaker 2: more wise and creative and powerful. And that what he

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Speaker 2: is intended for evil is even now at this moment,

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Speaker 2: we declare it.

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Speaker 1: We claim it. We proclaim it.

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Speaker 2: Being used for good, for your good purposes, for our

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Speaker 2: good purposes, for the good of those who love you,

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Speaker 2: who are called according to your purpose. We claim that,

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Speaker 2: and we stand on it, and we are joyful in

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Speaker 2: knowing that you're there and that you're at work, and

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Speaker 2: that the victory has already been one.

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Speaker 1: Thank you God. Amen.

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Speaker 2: We'd like to take just a quick second to thank

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Speaker 2: the team at Life Audio for their partnership with us

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Speaker 2: on the podcast. If you go to lifeaudio dot com,

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Speaker 2: you will find dozens of other faith centered podcasts in

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Speaker 2: their network.

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Speaker 1: They've got shows about.

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Speaker 2: Prayer, Bible study, parenting, and so much more. That's life

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Speaker 2: audio dot com.