Divorce (Matthew 19:1-12)
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Transcript
Well good morning uh my name is Chad I'm one of the pastors of mil City Church of Casey I'm glad you're here this morning if you have a Bible grab it and go to Matthew chapter 19 Matthew chapter 19 we're working our way through the Gospel of Matthew together now if I came to you and asked you who your favorite actor who has ever portrayed Batman is you would think about it but it's not that intense of a question and you would think there's really no wrong answer unless you said Val Kilmer.
But there's really no no way to get this wrong it's not that intense but if I came to you and said okay we're going to discuss your uh position on climate change that that question hits you a little bit differently if I walked up this morning and said all right today we're going to talk about guns immediately it's like okay this is this discussion is a little bit different and you realize that you're entering into a conversation that's been that's happening this isn't something that's just a conversation between us.
But there's a lot of words that have been said a lot of ink that has been spilled this conversation is ongoing and you already know some of the arguments on one side or the other and we're picking up in Matthew where the Pharisees are going to come ask Jesus a question that is just like that it's already a heated debate among the Jewish people so this question is asked and they they're asking him to enter in to weigh in on what your take on this situation that uh people already knew was a debate.
And so that's where we're going to jump in this morning and uh let's pray and then we'll start reading in uh Matthew chapter 19 verse1 God we ask that you would uh give us favor in this time that you would bless this time that we have together as your people to study your word and we pray that you would help us to uh trust you more love you more and to walk out in greater obedience what you have called us to we love you and we praise you in.
Jesus name amen Matthew Chapter 19 Verse one it says now when Jesus had finished these sayings so he just got done talking about Sin and forgiveness He Went Away From Galilee that's the upper part of uh the area he's been ministering in it says and he entered the region of Judea beyond the Jordan so he's headed down towards Jerusalem and large crowds followed him and he healed them there so he's continuing his Healing Ministry it's been a while since we've talked about him healing people.
But he wherever he goes he heals he shows the power of God and then in this when he's doing this when he's ministering often the Pharisees and we'll see as we keep going the Sadducees these different groups are going to come ask him questions and it says and Pharisees came up to him and tested him by asking is it lawful to divorce one's wife for any cause Okay so this is a test in that they're asking him to weigh in on a current debate they're asking him to hop in and to say all right where do you stand on this and there sometimes they ask him tests to weigh in on theological debates or.
This one they're looking at a specific passage in the Old Testament they're wanting him to kind of give his answer on sometimes they're trying to trick him they're just trying to trap him but this one seems a little bit more like hey come weigh in on this question and I'm glad they ask it and I'm glad as we read through it we get the answer we get and the response from the disciples we get because it's very comforting to know that this situation was as confusing and as painful.
For them as it is for us this question is relevant today we want Jesus to answer this question the reality is we want Jesus to step in and help us out in all of these difficult areas of life as painful as it can be and for some of us this morning this may be painful it may bring up uh past memories it may bring up current difficulties but we want Jesus like a good surgeon to go to the most broken places and to help sort them out.
For us and so I'm glad they asked I'm glad we get to study it together but Jesus knew the debate they were asking him to weigh in on uh wasn't just this one question but there was an ongoing debate primarily between two Jewish rabbis shemai and H I know two of your favorite rabbis um we have a lot of writing from shemiah and H on this topic and they were zooming in on Deuteronomy chapter 24 and they were trying to weigh in.
For people and say this is how we ought to understand approaching divorce and so when they ask this question for any reason they're asking him to answer where he stands in the shamai halel debate that's really what they're doing so let's read Deuteronomy 24 they're going to reference it later let's go ahead and read it together it says when a man takes a wife and marries her if then she finds no favor in his eyes because he has found some indecency in her and he writes her a certificate of divorce and puts it in her hand and sends her out of his house and she departs out of his house.
And if she goes and becomes another man's wife and the latter man hates her and writes her a certificate of divorce and puts it in her hands and sends her out of his house or if the latter man dies who took her to be his wife then the former husband who sent her away may not take her again to be his wife so this is the section in Deuteronomy where they're trying to build out an understanding of how to approach divorce and they're really focusing in on the beginning part.
But it says if when this happens and if this happens and if this happens and if this happens and if this happens then it gives one clear this can't don't do this but there wasn't a lot of teaching in Deuteronomy on divorce so they're zooming in at the beginning of this trying to answer the question how how should we go about divorce they're really asking this passage to answer something it's really not trying to answer but they were zoomed in on it and they were asking.
So this is what they did shemai focused in on where it says some indecency which in the original Hebrew translates a matter of nakedness I would not encourage you to Google that but that is what it says it says some indecency and he read that as sexual sin this is sexual immorality that's the only thing that this would allow you to to find for her to lose uh what is it for find no favor in your eyes if there's some sexual sin that you find that's what his answer was.
So he was really narrow said some indecency means that helle looked at she finds no favor in his eyes and he focused in on the word some there and said that some indecency means any and so helle had these long list of let me give you examples of what it means that you basically don't like her anymore that's what he so he wrote out um if you find someone more attractive that fits the category if uh you just find out find you kind of don't like her anymore that fits the category.
If she consistently burns your food that fits the category it sounds like that's a joke I made up that's in the list you guys this is the stuff he would write out and he would say these are all the things that count and so they come to Jesus that's why they say for any reason who do you stand with can we do this for any reason or is there a specific reason or how do you view it that's the question.
So Jesus answers they're basically saying whose team are you on shemi or H's and they're going to be surprised to find although we shouldn't he's on Jesus's team he doesn't usually join our teams he just says here's how it should be so he answers verse four he answered have you not read my absolute favorite intro to every time he interacts with the Pharisees they had read it and they prided themselves on being the people who had read it but he does this all the time.
When he talks to the crowds he'll he assumes knowledge when he talks to the crowds he'll go you've heard it said he like hey random crowd y'all know the Bible when he talks to the Pharisees he goes oh y'all hadn't read this y'all didn't oh this was the part y'all skimmed through oh I'll catch you up that's what he does so I love that he does that he answered have you not read that he who created them for from the beginning made them male and female and said.
Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife and the two shall become one flesh so they are no longer two but one flesh what therefore God has joined together let not man separate they came in and said hey weigh in on this conversation you know exactly what we're asking about where do you stand on Deuteronomy 24 and he says oh y'all skip Genesis y'all oh yours starts in Deuteronomy no no no let let's go to the let's go to the beginning.
Let me show you y'all didn't read this part this is the part that answers your question and he takes them back to Genesis and he says here's what God intended for marriage and it's a very helpful positive picture of this is what marriage is supposed to be so we're going to run through this fairly quickly to just pull out what he is saying marriage ought to be because he goes to Genesis and says it's not in the law where we get this picture it's in Genesis where he says this is what it's supposed to.
Look like so he says have you not read that he who created them from the beginning so he he anchors it in creation it's he who created them from the beginning meaning that marriage is a creation ordinance bring that up at lunch sometime if you want to impress the people you're with it's a creation ordinance it means that God designed it for all people he instituted in creation before the fall and it's given to everybody meaning it's not just something that Christian Chans do or that only counts.
If you're Christians it's for everybody any marriage is a marriage God designed it for as a good gift for all of humanity so if you have non-believing friends and they're struggling in their marriage it's a marriage we treat it as a marriage we encourage them to follow through with what they're supposed to as a marriage because it's designed for all Humanity he keeps going he says that he created them Ma and made them male and female so he's saying God's original design design was one man one woman.
So it is uh Christian marriage God's design for marriage not just Christian marriage God's design for marriage is heterosexual and monogamous now culturally that's disliked but that's what he designed it to be heterosexual and monogamous that he made one male one female he brought them together and he joined them together for his own purposes and that's God's good design for marriage now I think some of the uh approach to homosexuality by the Church has been uh lacking Grace and so I would say to anybody in this room that struggles with homosexuality struggles with uh same gender attraction you are welcome here the same way that everybody else is welcome here as sinners in need of.
Grace in need of forgiveness in need of Jesus to help us and to change our hearts so we do believe it is a sin to practice homosexuality but we do not believe it is it is some super sin that cuts you out of being able to forgive be forgiven and to walk in openness and repentance the same way that all the other sinners in this room do so you are welcome here but this is God's good intent for marriage that it would be heterosexual and monogamous he says this.
If I can find it therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and hold fast to his wife it is a primary relationship that when you get married that is now your primary relationship that if you're a wife your primary relationship on earth now is to your husband not your mom not your dad not your children if you're a husband your primary relationship is to your wife not your mom not your dad not your children you are starting a new household together.
So this means and I find this is a bigger issue in younger couples don't bring your parents into your arguments first of all they are not helpful second of all even if they are they ought not to be there because you're supposed to be setting up the new primary relationship that you have this also means that your spouse is not to be compared to your mom or your father this ain't how my mama cooked it well you didn't marry your mama.
Well my daddy used to always could fix a truck well I ain't your daddy but I have a job and I know where Pet Boys is well blam that you get to set up a new primary relationship and there is joy in that and there's difficulty in that but this is now who you are primarily relating to and you are stepping out on your own that he set it up to be a monogamous primary relationship then he says this and the the two shall become one flesh.
So it is a one flesh Union and he follows that up says so they are no longer two but one flesh so this is one flesh Union and this means a couple of different things this is referring to sexual intimacy Paul uses it that way in First Corinthians it does intend to cover that it means that that that is where uh intimacy is supposed to be um hedged in is inside of a marriage covenant but that physical act is a representation a physical representation of an all of life Union an all of life surrender that everything I have belongs to you all of me.
So this is one house One bank account this is all of this comes together and is physically reenacted in this way but it's an all of life Union they have become one flesh and this is also carried out practically in children that's where two become one flesh they show up you have child that is now two become one and it's really cool to see with my children all the wonderful qualities they got from me and then the stuff they got from their mom.
And if y'all know us you know that is inaccurate but you do you see it come together in this way so it's a one flesh Union keeps going he says therefore whatever what therefore God has joined together together all marriages are sealed by God there's a spiritual reality to marriage to this physical intimacy that God seals and makes one and it doesn't matter if you if you just had a notary do it while you were at the bank or if you went to the courthouse.
God oversees marriage whether you stand in front of people and Proclaim that it's in front of God and acknowledge that or you don't it's sealed by God and this is some very encouraging news because for most of us we got married and I mean we were gidy and butterflyyoutube it's turned out to be extremely difficult it turned out to be extremely painful and because of the way our media works because of the movies you've watched because of the books you've read one of the questions that often begins to plague people as they realize that the person they married to is kind of terrible at a lot of things as they start asking is did I.
Make a mistake are they not really the one because you know we've seen enough television I've seen enough television to know that when you find the one everything works out perfectly so since this isn't perfect you must not be the one that's what begins to happen God has joined you together I have very good news for you if you are married you found the one there you're one he intends for you to stay married for it to be good for you to fight.
For it to be good for you to make it good together this is a blessing that God joins us together when we're married and that you have that to stand on there's encouragement in that you don't get to second guess that I make a mistake this is the one so make it good then he says this what therefore God has joined together let not man separate marriage is meant to be a lifelong Covenant it's meant to be a commitment to one another that we do not break and in Jesus's answer that's where he stops in his answer.
When we say what about what about what about his answer is no this is what it was meant to be this is how it ought to work this is what God designed it for and whatever situation we throw at it he say no this is what it was meant to be it was meant to be lifelong and I know there's a there's a uh people started writing their own vows for their wedding which is fine if they write good ones so I've seen some and they' they've read their own vows and I'm like that's beautiful and I've seen other ones and they're just like love notes here's how I feel about you right.
Now and I'm like no no no no no no no nope no nope nope that's a note you give to them the day of your marriage that's not what you stand up in front of everybody and say this is promise time this isn't how I feel right now time no no you're not going to feel like that later not all those feelings not all the time and you can't promise to feel something all the time but you can promise what you're going to do and what you're going to stick to that's this is richer or poorer in sickness and in health time that's why marriages are.
So beautiful when we have a wedding service and they promise this is what it's going to be and I'm stick it out even if it's bad and the reality is that's what we want marriage to be that's what you want that's what you want love to be a feeling that's followed up by a promise that someone sticks to that's what he says it's supposed to be that it's a lifelong Covenant that it's a picture of commitment and this is what it's supposed to.
Look like so that's his answer this is what marriage is meant to be so he says it's not this passage in Deuteronomy that you're talking about it's this section in Matthew verse 7 they said to him why then did Moses command one to give a certificate of divorce and to send her away okay we read Deuteronomy 24 earlier is that what Moses commanded is that what he said he said if if if if if if they shouldn't get remarried now that was the command was at the end the beginning part was not a command he was just saying as this situation unfolds.
If this situation unfolds this can't happen if we were reading Deuteronomy and it said when two people enter into a Business Partnership and if the partnership goes bad and if one of them stabs the other one then this and later you said now why did why did Moses command us to to stab our business partners when we were mad at them we would say that you read that wrong that's not what that says and you would say yes well the reason we know that's not what that says is that he's already told us we already know that stabbing is bad that's Jesus's response we already know what marriage was supposed to.
Look like you should know that this is not how this is supposed to play out we already have an answer of what this is supposed to be and therefore this is you're you're reading that wrong so this is what he says verse 8 he said to them because of your Hardness of Heart Moses allowed you to divorce your wives but from the beginning it was not so he says no no no no no Moses was stepping into a messed up situation where there is Brokenness and sin that is not God's good design.
For marriage that's not what it's supposed to look like in the midst of Brokenness Moses gave some regulations he allowed it that's not God's intent so to answer their question of how should marriage work how should divorce work he answers it this is what marriage is supposed to look like and so when they try to push on it he says no that's not what that's meant and then he he takes it even further and I say to you whoever divorces his wife except.
For sexual immorality so it seems like he's lining up with Shmi there he's given the the if there's sexual sin and marries another he takes it further commits adultery so what he's saying is that this consistent divorce this getting together splitting up this first wife second wife he said all that ends up doing is making sin run rampant it's painful and difficult and harmful and Moses stepped in and tried to give some regulations around it but all it does is increase Brokenness and it shouldn't happen it's not the way.
God designed it and for many of us we find ourselves in that situation where we have had a divorce where there was sexual immorality or there wasn't sexual immorality some people in here today with your second spouse and this is a painful thing marriage was meant because it was meant to be so good it is so painful when it goes wrong because it was meant to be something beautiful and a good gift to humanity it is painful when it goes wrong and we're going to talk a little bit as we come to a close this morning on how we get to respond in the midst of some of this Brokenness.
But I want us to follow this story as it goes so verse 10 the disciples said to him if such is the case of a man with his wife it is better not to marry now many of his disciples were young this is a very cynical way to look at marriage oh wait what you got to be married to the same person the whole time I'm I'm not getting married that's their answer that that's that's the response they at least took it seriously they said.
Well it's okay if that's the case then it's better not to marry and he responds he said to them not everyone can receive this saying we'll see that he doesn't mean that this only applies to some people what he means is that some people are meant to get married and some people are are meant to be single that's what he means and we'll see he clears it up at the end not everyone can receive this saying but only those to whom it is given as a gift that's what that's what that's getting at.
For there are Unix who have been made so from birth and there are Unix who have been made Unix by men so he says marriage isn't for everybody and then he moves the the conversation to celibacy a unic is a male who's been castrated for a specific purpose um or some that that had happened prior uh happened at Birth but he's basically saying that there are people who choose to not have any sexual activity or that can't have any sexual activity.
So he looks at his disciples and says yes not everybody has to get married but on the other side you do know you're you're stepping into abstinence and celibacy but he holds it up as as a legitimate answer now I want to make one quick comment here I think sometimes the way Christians treat sexual intimacy people in our culture act like we devalue it that we act like it's bad or we' we've debased it somehow the reality is we value it.
So we place guardrails around it similar to if I found out you had $100,000 in a safe and I said you put it in a safe you're so ashamed of your money that would be silly you'd say no it's valuable and you're a and so that's kind of our answer in this situation is no this is valuable it means more than you think it has more power than you think it's more spiritually active than you think and that's why we guard it.
But he says for there are Unix who have been so from birth and there are Unix who have been made Unix by men and there are Unix who have made themselves Unix for the sake s of the kingdom of heaven so he adds a category they were unfamiliar with which is there are some who have chosen this route for the sake of the kingdom and that's a perfectly valid route let the one who is able to receive this receive it you can be single and a complete full person you can never have physical intimacy with another person and be a complete full person.
Jesus holds this up as a legitimate good way to walk through life Paul doubles down on it Paul doesn't just say it's legitimate and good he says it's actually preferable so we're going to read that real quick First Corinthians 7:2 this is Paul picking up some of this same discussion that Jesus is in but he says but because of the temptation to sexual immorality each man should have his own wife and each woman her own husband he explains somehow to fight uh sexual immorality and Temptation even in marriage.
But then he goes in verse six he says now as a concession not a command I say this he's not commanding everybody to get married but he is saying most of you should if you can't control yourself no if you can't control yourself you should I didn't want to leave room for there someone who couldn't control himself that that was okay so all right now as a concession not a command I say this I wish that all were as myself but each has his own gift from.
God one of one kind and one of another so Paul says I wish everybody was like me and could control themselves but a lot of people are really tempted they should get married everybody has a different gift GI from God that's the same thing that Jesus says whoever can receive this receive it whoever receives this gift receive it Paul's saying some people have this gift some another verse 27 he keeps going are you bound to a wife do not seek to be free are you free from a wife do not seek a wife.
But if you do marry you have not sinned if a betroth woman marries she has not sinned yet those who marry will have worldly troubles oh you missed your chance to say Amen but that's cool we'll keep going and I would spare you that this is what I mean Brothers the appointed time has grown very short he's saying that if you get married you your focus changes but we know that there's a Gospel to be proclaimed there's an eternity that is coming he keeps uh explaining this in.
Verse 32 I want you to be free from anxieties the unmarried man is anxious about the things of the Lord how to please the Lord but the married man is anxious about worldly things how to please his wife and his interests are divided the unmarried or betrothed woman is anxious about the things of the Lord how to be holy in body and spirit but the married woman is anxious about worldly things how to please her husband that's true and that's okay it's.
Okay if you're married you should be concerned about your husband or your wife you're bad at marriage if you're not I mean you learn this some when you first get married with simple things like you walk in the house eating a Snicker bar your wife says oh you got snicker bars and you're like Snicker bar there's no s why didn't you get me one I didn't think about you while I was buying it well y'all are going to fix that you start thinking about each other you work on it this is the way it's supposed to work Jordan satat who's in our Church family got a phone call from a friend from another state who.
Said said hey we're about to go on a foreign mission trip and somebody dropped out do you want to go they're leaving in like 3 or 4 days Jordan worked it out and went if someone had called me and asked that I would have laughed do I want to do what in three or four days I'm not even talking to my wife about that other than a funny anecdote at dinner listen to what this person who doesn't understand how my world Works called and ask it's not easy to do I got small children there are things that you have to consider we don't you ever been stuck in traffic and a motorcycle just goes riding.
Through many Vans don't do that many Vans get straight up stuck in traffic and not bobbing and weaving that's what he's saying is that if you get married you have things that you have to be concerned with you have things that slow you down you have worries and cares and things that you ought to work on and devote yourself too and he said I would save you that and I would let you be wholly devoted to the Lord single people if you are not married you are not freed up to be devoted to video games and Facebook and hobbies.
If you belong to Jesus he's saying no he's given you a gift and even if it's just for a season it's a gift to be devoted wholly to the Lord don't waste it bear appropriately the weight of responsibility of being single and believing that there is an eternity to come just as those who are married ought to Bear appropriately the weight of being married and Care well for their spouse and love Jesus help display that you believe to your spouse and to your children that there is an eternity to come and that.
Jesus matters more but put it on display in a way that shows them love and grace and care and it's a difficult line to walk and single people he says you just get to be freed up that's a thought process you don't even have to walk through you get to be devoted to the Lord so each has his own gift and we find ourselves in different spots this morning if you are currently married your marriage is a marriage I don't care what number we find you on I don't care.
If it's one two three that your marriage is a marriage all marriages are treated like marriages Jesus talks to the woman at the well he says you've had five husbands any minute then he clarifies well this last one's not your husband but every single one that she had had was an actual husband was an actual marriage and if you are married then it is supposed to look right now what it's supposed to look like which is lifelong care Covenant that you give all of yourself to them that you do not withhold that you join together and that you fight to make it good many of us have rented a house before.
And when you rent a house you don't knock down a wall and build an extra room you don't put a deck out back you talk about if I own this house here are the things I would work on if you buy the house maybe you build a deck the reality is some of us are in a marriage and we keep acting like there may be a time that we leave so we're not working hard enough this is your marriage this is the one fight and by the grace of.
God fight and it is a good gift of Grace that he's given you this marriage and he wants it to be good and fight and make it good labor and if you're going to be married for 60 years it's worth 10 that we're really really hard that you work some things out in because he means for you to have a lifelong marriage before him and he gives the grace of his good gift for it to be good single people who have married friends encourage them encourage them to love and to serve don't let them sit and talk bad poorly about their spouse parents do not let your children drag them drag you into their household.
Say no no no leave and cleave bye I don't want to hear it I don't want Christmas to be awkward because I know all the weird stuff that's going on I want to show up free and happy single people you get to display in a way to our world that Jesus is better that our world does not understand we think that you have to have romance that you have to have a significant other in order to be full and to be complete you have the opportunity to display that.
Jesus is better than all of that even if it's for a season some of you it's for a lifetime that you get to hold out I believe there's an eternity to come I believe that Jesus has a bride and it's the Church so I'm in it we have a covenant that I get to lean into I believe that he gives me hope and Grace to work through what I'm in and I can display in a way that the Gospel is good news and that.
Jesus fulfills me and fills me up in a way that you can't in marriage and a way that you can't in a relationship and so while that is your time do it and while you have the freedom and the time devote it to the Lord do not become level 700 on some online video game men you level up in a video game you level down in real life life they are okay as a hobby they are not to have your life devoted to that involves married men as.
Well you have things that are worth carrying the weight of existence for you have things that are to come don't sit and just prepare yourself for a spouse follow and serve the Lord if you are currently in the midst of a divorce if you have been divorced that term or that thought brings up excruciating amounts of pain if it is messy for you there is Grace for where you find yourself there's Grace in Christ that you are fulfilled and complete in him that you can trust him to work in this situation.
For those of you who have lost a spouse for those of you who have walked through a divorce that was of your doing or none of you are doing you are not marked forever you can be forgiven you can walk out in peace and you can have the grace if you allowed to if it fits for you to be married again you can have the grace for that to not turn out like the last one and for some of you if you're not meant to be married again.
If if the Lord does not allow it he will give you Grace to face the singleness that he has offered you and you need to devote it to the Lord he is sufficient and you will be okay and in the midst of pain he does really really good work I love that they bring up Moses and that Jesus says he only allowed that because of the hardness of your heart you know what Moses can't do you know what the law can't do you know what rules and regulations can't do they can't fix our hearts.
Jesus did not come to give us a bunch of new rules he came to fix our hearts he came to step in into the midst of Brokenness and not to outmaneuver them or out clever them he came to have them have the full force of the wrath of God land on him as he took our sin and our pain and our shame on the cross so that we might all be forgiven and we might all receive the grace that we need to move forward.
So wherever you find yourself look to Jesus he is better he is sufficient and he will give you Grace for this moment and the moments to come and if you feel marked by your sexual sin if you feel marked by your marriage history if you feel like it has claimed you and dirtied you and sullied you I want you to know that in Ephesians 5 it says that Jesus loves the Church that he gave himself up for her that he might present her without any spot or blemish or any such thing.
If you have a marriage that you feel like has spot spots and blemishes if you feel like you have spots and blemishes and you belong to Jesus you do not there is no such thing not for those who've been washed clean by by Christ not for those who he's paid the penalty there is no spot or wrinkle or any such thing we are free and we are forgiveness forgiven and there is Grace for what's ahead let's pray God we thank you we thank you that you step into the Brokenness of the world and you don't just give give good explanations you don't just teach us better.
But that you join us in the Brokenness and that you are broken for us that we might have forgiveness and that we might have life that all that we have done wrong and all that has been done wrong to us can be washed away and we can be clean we pray Lord that those who don't have not yet trusted in you for salvation have not yet asked you to clean them that they would repent now of their sin that they would ask you to wash away what they have done and what others have done to them and that they would be brought into your Church as a spotless dazzling bride without wrinkle or blemish we.
Pray for the marriages in this room that are struggling right now that you would give them Grace and energy that they would bear well the ra the weight of responsibility of marriage and that they would make it look the way it's meant to look by your grace we pray for the single people in this room who are lonely who are sad who are frustrated we pray for those who have decided that they are going to spend a life of singleness that you would give them energy and courage that you would help them to feel the grace they need.
For this moment we pray for those who have walked through a divorce or are in the middle of one that they would see you so clearly healing forgiving protecting love loving and coming to rescue because we cannot live up to your standards so you came to pay for our debt and to set us free in Jesus name amen.