1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:01,840 Go to the Lord first. 2 00:00:01,840 --> 00:00:04,560 Lord, we thank you because you are good and you are faithful. 3 00:00:04,560 --> 00:00:08,160 Lord God, we thank you because who you are. 4 00:00:08,160 --> 00:00:10,220 Lord, thank you that you go before us, 5 00:00:11,140 --> 00:00:13,320 that you go with us. 6 00:00:13,320 --> 00:00:15,840 Lord God, we thank you that you give us an opportunity 7 00:00:15,840 --> 00:00:18,360 to come together and to worship. 8 00:00:20,760 --> 00:00:22,560 And so Lord, we need you right now. 9 00:00:24,440 --> 00:00:26,160 Lord, we need you to go in front of us right now. 10 00:00:26,160 --> 00:00:28,120 We need you to speak into our hearts. 11 00:00:28,120 --> 00:00:30,960 Lord, whatever we came for, 12 00:00:30,960 --> 00:00:33,640 Lord, we pray that you would challenge us, 13 00:00:33,640 --> 00:00:36,640 that you would move mightily through us, 14 00:00:36,640 --> 00:00:40,280 that you would open our ears and our hearts. 15 00:00:40,280 --> 00:00:43,280 And Father, I pray that you would go before me. 16 00:00:43,280 --> 00:00:45,920 Lord, you know that I am not capable to stand here. 17 00:00:45,920 --> 00:00:48,280 Lord, you know that I am not talented enough. 18 00:00:48,280 --> 00:00:50,840 And Lord God, we pray right now that it doesn't rest on me, 19 00:00:50,840 --> 00:00:52,720 but it rests on your spirit. 20 00:00:52,720 --> 00:00:54,400 And so Father, when it's all said and done, 21 00:00:54,400 --> 00:00:56,960 Lord, we pray that you would receive your glory. 22 00:00:56,960 --> 00:00:59,360 We thank you Lord for all things. 23 00:00:59,360 --> 00:01:01,160 In Jesus' name, amen. 24 00:01:03,560 --> 00:01:08,560 So we are looking at a series that you guys are going through 25 00:01:08,560 --> 00:01:09,480 through the book of Psalm. 26 00:01:09,480 --> 00:01:12,480 And so we're gonna look at Psalm 20 today. 27 00:01:12,480 --> 00:01:14,920 And as we look at this Psalm, what I wanna do is 28 00:01:14,920 --> 00:01:16,920 I wanna read through it in its entirety. 29 00:01:16,920 --> 00:01:19,080 And then I wanna kind of just give a little background, 30 00:01:19,080 --> 00:01:20,680 then we'll go through it verse by verse. 31 00:01:20,680 --> 00:01:21,520 Is that all right? 32 00:01:22,800 --> 00:01:24,400 Look, they participate well. 33 00:01:24,400 --> 00:01:26,560 I mean, they're not just a bunch of people. 34 00:01:26,560 --> 00:01:27,600 Oh, I like it. 35 00:01:28,680 --> 00:01:29,600 So let's read it. 36 00:01:31,360 --> 00:01:32,200 It says, 37 00:01:34,000 --> 00:01:37,040 may the Lord answer you in the day of trouble. 38 00:01:37,040 --> 00:01:40,800 May the name of God of Jacob protect you. 39 00:01:40,800 --> 00:01:44,080 May he send you help from the sanctuary 40 00:01:44,080 --> 00:01:46,280 and give you support from Zion. 41 00:01:47,200 --> 00:01:50,480 May he remember all your offerings 42 00:01:50,480 --> 00:01:54,720 and regard with favor your burnt sacrifices. 43 00:01:54,720 --> 00:01:56,680 May he grant you your heart's desire 44 00:01:56,680 --> 00:01:58,840 and fulfill all your plans. 45 00:01:58,840 --> 00:02:01,480 May we shout for joy over salvation 46 00:02:01,480 --> 00:02:05,280 and in the name of our God, set up our banners. 47 00:02:05,280 --> 00:02:08,440 May the Lord fulfill all your petitions. 48 00:02:08,440 --> 00:02:11,800 Now I know that the Lord saves his anointed. 49 00:02:11,800 --> 00:02:14,960 He will answer him from his holy heaven 50 00:02:14,960 --> 00:02:17,960 with the saving might of his right hand. 51 00:02:17,960 --> 00:02:20,560 Some trust in chariots and some horses, 52 00:02:20,560 --> 00:02:23,760 but we trust in the name of the Lord our God. 53 00:02:23,760 --> 00:02:28,000 They collapse and fall, but we rise and stand upright. 54 00:02:28,000 --> 00:02:30,400 Oh Lord, save the king. 55 00:02:30,400 --> 00:02:33,680 May he answer us when we call. 56 00:02:35,000 --> 00:02:37,440 Your series is about the faithfulness of God. 57 00:02:37,440 --> 00:02:38,880 And as we look at this text, 58 00:02:38,880 --> 00:02:40,760 let me give you just a little bit about what's going on here. 59 00:02:40,760 --> 00:02:43,640 When we read this text, we understand something here, 60 00:02:43,640 --> 00:02:45,960 and that is this, that it's most likely 61 00:02:45,960 --> 00:02:48,600 that this was a prayer request 62 00:02:48,600 --> 00:02:50,680 that went before the King David, 63 00:02:50,680 --> 00:02:52,600 before he would go into battle. 64 00:02:52,600 --> 00:02:55,000 And we don't think it was only used one time, 65 00:02:55,000 --> 00:02:56,360 but we think it was used often. 66 00:02:56,360 --> 00:02:58,480 And so the people were basically having 67 00:02:58,480 --> 00:03:01,920 an intercessory prayer for their King, for David, 68 00:03:01,920 --> 00:03:03,880 before he would go out. 69 00:03:03,880 --> 00:03:05,760 And as I begin to think about that, 70 00:03:05,760 --> 00:03:07,560 I am convinced of something. 71 00:03:07,560 --> 00:03:10,400 And that is that intercessory prayer is a good thing 72 00:03:10,400 --> 00:03:12,480 and a good posture for us to be in. 73 00:03:12,480 --> 00:03:14,640 You see, they were praying before the King 74 00:03:14,640 --> 00:03:17,800 so that he could go into battle and have a victory. 75 00:03:17,800 --> 00:03:20,480 But I also recognize that Jesus intercedes for us 76 00:03:20,480 --> 00:03:22,040 when we look at the priestly prayer 77 00:03:22,040 --> 00:03:23,640 that he prayed in John 17, 78 00:03:23,640 --> 00:03:26,360 he was interceding on our behalf. 79 00:03:26,360 --> 00:03:27,800 So then that leads us to wonder, 80 00:03:27,800 --> 00:03:31,960 in what way do we intercede for the church? 81 00:03:31,960 --> 00:03:33,640 Jesus interceded for us 82 00:03:33,640 --> 00:03:35,760 that we could be faithful followers of him, 83 00:03:35,760 --> 00:03:39,200 so in such a way that we would then be faithful followers 84 00:03:39,200 --> 00:03:42,080 and doers and going before him before his return. 85 00:03:42,080 --> 00:03:45,800 And so we are to intercede and pray on behalf of the church. 86 00:03:47,480 --> 00:03:51,000 But we get to look at this text, let's take a look here. 87 00:03:51,000 --> 00:03:55,880 It says, may the Lord answer you in the day of trouble. 88 00:03:55,880 --> 00:03:58,360 You see, this day of trouble is battle. 89 00:03:58,360 --> 00:04:00,280 It's a battle that they were recognizing 90 00:04:00,280 --> 00:04:02,560 that the King was getting ready to go into. 91 00:04:02,560 --> 00:04:04,400 And so then I begin to ask myself, 92 00:04:04,400 --> 00:04:05,400 and I wanna ask you, 93 00:04:05,400 --> 00:04:08,320 what battles are you facing in life right now? 94 00:04:08,320 --> 00:04:10,640 What battles do you know that you're going through 95 00:04:10,640 --> 00:04:12,440 or what battles do you know that other people 96 00:04:12,440 --> 00:04:15,240 are going through that you could be interceding for? 97 00:04:15,240 --> 00:04:16,920 You see, when we think about battles, 98 00:04:16,920 --> 00:04:19,160 there are many different things in which we face 99 00:04:19,160 --> 00:04:20,560 on a daily basis. 100 00:04:20,560 --> 00:04:23,000 Some of us are facing a battle of health. 101 00:04:23,000 --> 00:04:25,240 Some of us are facing a battle within our marriages. 102 00:04:25,240 --> 00:04:27,640 Some of us are facing a battle within our children. 103 00:04:27,640 --> 00:04:29,000 Some of us are facing a battle 104 00:04:29,000 --> 00:04:30,480 hoping that our parents will do right. 105 00:04:30,480 --> 00:04:32,920 Some of us are facing all kind of battles. 106 00:04:32,920 --> 00:04:34,440 Pastor Jim mentioned a moment ago 107 00:04:34,440 --> 00:04:36,480 about the battles that we face in our country 108 00:04:36,480 --> 00:04:38,680 with people who wanna follow an elephant 109 00:04:38,680 --> 00:04:39,920 and someone to follow a donkey. 110 00:04:39,920 --> 00:04:43,200 I wanna encourage us to follow the Lamb of God. 111 00:04:43,200 --> 00:04:45,960 Because we recognize that there's battles all around us 112 00:04:45,960 --> 00:04:48,640 and how we're willing to engage and interact 113 00:04:48,640 --> 00:04:50,520 with these battles are so important 114 00:04:50,520 --> 00:04:53,720 because life and death matter on how we choose 115 00:04:53,720 --> 00:04:56,160 to face the battles that we face. 116 00:04:56,160 --> 00:04:57,520 So what do we do with those? 117 00:04:59,520 --> 00:05:02,840 You see, this first five verses here 118 00:05:02,840 --> 00:05:04,640 are all about intercessory. 119 00:05:04,640 --> 00:05:06,840 It's all about how we understand 120 00:05:06,840 --> 00:05:09,600 that Jesus is calling us to do something here. 121 00:05:09,600 --> 00:05:11,000 Notice what it says here. 122 00:05:11,000 --> 00:05:14,440 May the name of the God of Jacob protect you. 123 00:05:15,920 --> 00:05:17,720 You see, some people get this wrong 124 00:05:17,720 --> 00:05:19,720 when they think about the name of Jacob. 125 00:05:20,560 --> 00:05:23,640 You see, if you are praying in the name of Jacob, 126 00:05:23,640 --> 00:05:24,640 you're gonna miss it. 127 00:05:25,560 --> 00:05:29,280 You see, it's in the name of the God of Jacob. 128 00:05:29,280 --> 00:05:31,000 Because who was Jacob? 129 00:05:31,000 --> 00:05:32,760 You see, it's not about who Jacob was, 130 00:05:32,760 --> 00:05:35,000 it was about who God was and what God did 131 00:05:35,000 --> 00:05:37,760 to establish Jacob, which became the land of Israel, 132 00:05:37,760 --> 00:05:39,520 which became the tribe, which became, 133 00:05:39,520 --> 00:05:40,760 which became, which became. 134 00:05:40,760 --> 00:05:43,240 And so what we understand here is that the God 135 00:05:43,240 --> 00:05:45,800 who set up the nation is the God 136 00:05:45,800 --> 00:05:47,000 that will protect the nation. 137 00:05:47,000 --> 00:05:48,760 And so if they're gonna go to battle, 138 00:05:48,760 --> 00:05:51,040 it was great to have the God who set them up 139 00:05:51,040 --> 00:05:51,880 in the first place. 140 00:05:51,880 --> 00:05:53,920 And so I wanna encourage us to understand something. 141 00:05:53,920 --> 00:05:55,760 And how are you living your life 142 00:05:55,760 --> 00:05:57,840 in such a way that God can go before you? 143 00:05:57,840 --> 00:06:00,040 Are you calling on the right name? 144 00:06:00,040 --> 00:06:02,840 You see, I think about, the Bible talks about, 145 00:06:02,840 --> 00:06:05,120 you remember in Acts, it talks about, 146 00:06:05,120 --> 00:06:08,040 there's this guy, he had seven sons. 147 00:06:08,040 --> 00:06:09,720 His name was Sceva, okay? 148 00:06:09,720 --> 00:06:12,440 I don't know who named their kid Sceva, I don't know. 149 00:06:12,440 --> 00:06:14,400 But he had seven sons. 150 00:06:14,400 --> 00:06:16,360 And these seven sons, they were watching 151 00:06:16,360 --> 00:06:18,120 Paul do ministry, and they're like, 152 00:06:18,120 --> 00:06:21,040 ooh, yeah, look at him, he's casting out demons and devils. 153 00:06:21,040 --> 00:06:24,760 And so they decided that they would go into this man's house 154 00:06:24,760 --> 00:06:26,800 that was possessed with a demon, okay? 155 00:06:26,800 --> 00:06:27,880 Can you picture it? 156 00:06:27,880 --> 00:06:28,720 Can you picture it? 157 00:06:28,720 --> 00:06:29,720 Here's the house. 158 00:06:30,680 --> 00:06:32,880 There's a man inside of there with demons. 159 00:06:32,880 --> 00:06:35,280 These brothers over here, they've been like, 160 00:06:35,280 --> 00:06:36,760 look at that Paul guy. 161 00:06:36,760 --> 00:06:38,480 He's still, he's casting people out. 162 00:06:38,480 --> 00:06:41,240 And so like, hey, let's go in there, let's go get him. 163 00:06:41,240 --> 00:06:42,920 And so they come up in the house. 164 00:06:45,200 --> 00:06:46,040 They're inside. 165 00:06:46,040 --> 00:06:46,880 Can you see them inside? 166 00:06:46,880 --> 00:06:47,720 It's seven of them. 167 00:06:47,720 --> 00:06:49,600 It's one dude on the inside. 168 00:06:50,800 --> 00:06:52,880 And all of a sudden they're like, 169 00:06:52,880 --> 00:06:55,240 hey, you gotta come up out the man. 170 00:06:55,240 --> 00:06:57,600 And here's what the demon inside of the man said. 171 00:06:57,600 --> 00:07:02,120 They're like, listen, Jesus, we know. 172 00:07:03,120 --> 00:07:05,480 Paul, we know. 173 00:07:05,480 --> 00:07:07,960 But we don't know who you are. 174 00:07:07,960 --> 00:07:10,880 Man, that demon whooped them seven dudes so bad, 175 00:07:10,880 --> 00:07:13,440 they left the house naked and beat up. 176 00:07:13,440 --> 00:07:16,800 That's a bad beating if you get naked and beat up. 177 00:07:19,160 --> 00:07:22,800 You see, they went because they were talking about 178 00:07:22,800 --> 00:07:25,160 the God that Paul talked about. 179 00:07:25,160 --> 00:07:28,240 They didn't know the God that Paul was talking about. 180 00:07:28,240 --> 00:07:30,680 And so what I'm trying to communicate here is this. 181 00:07:30,680 --> 00:07:33,480 You can't have your parents' relationship with God. 182 00:07:33,480 --> 00:07:35,960 You can't have your wife's relationship with God. 183 00:07:35,960 --> 00:07:37,800 You can't have the pastor's relationship. 184 00:07:37,800 --> 00:07:39,240 You can't have the elder's. 185 00:07:39,240 --> 00:07:41,480 You gotta have your own relationship with God 186 00:07:41,480 --> 00:07:43,280 if you're gonna do battle for God. 187 00:07:43,280 --> 00:07:44,720 If you're gonna do battle in the things 188 00:07:44,720 --> 00:07:47,720 that you're going through, you gotta know him personally. 189 00:07:52,840 --> 00:07:54,760 All right, all right, all right. 190 00:07:56,840 --> 00:08:01,760 You see, verse two says, may he send you help 191 00:08:01,760 --> 00:08:05,000 from the sanctuary and give you support from Zion. 192 00:08:05,000 --> 00:08:07,160 You see, help comes from the sanctuary. 193 00:08:07,160 --> 00:08:08,840 Why does the help come from the sanctuary? 194 00:08:08,840 --> 00:08:12,280 Because that's where God dwelt, God dwelt in the sanctuary. 195 00:08:12,280 --> 00:08:15,120 And so he recognized that because God is holy 196 00:08:15,120 --> 00:08:17,200 and he has a holy order about himself, 197 00:08:17,200 --> 00:08:19,760 he's calling you and me to draw near to him. 198 00:08:19,760 --> 00:08:22,080 And why we draw near to him, we understand 199 00:08:22,080 --> 00:08:24,400 that it's because of his love and his grace. 200 00:08:24,400 --> 00:08:26,080 God doesn't change for us. 201 00:08:26,080 --> 00:08:28,520 He came and he still remained holy 202 00:08:28,520 --> 00:08:29,680 even when Jesus was on earth, 203 00:08:29,680 --> 00:08:32,200 but he's calling us into proximity with him. 204 00:08:32,200 --> 00:08:33,920 And there's help when we go to God. 205 00:08:33,920 --> 00:08:35,680 There's help when we go to the sanctuary. 206 00:08:35,680 --> 00:08:39,640 There's help when we trust the God of the sanctuary. 207 00:08:39,640 --> 00:08:42,320 And so he's saying, if you're doing battle, 208 00:08:43,800 --> 00:08:44,640 you need help. 209 00:08:46,360 --> 00:08:48,000 Go to the sanctuary. 210 00:08:48,000 --> 00:08:49,920 Go to the place where God dwells. 211 00:08:49,920 --> 00:08:51,720 But I wanna encourage you to remember something. 212 00:08:51,720 --> 00:08:54,000 Second Corinthians gives us a hint of something. 213 00:08:54,000 --> 00:08:57,000 Second Corinthians tells us that we have become 214 00:08:57,000 --> 00:08:59,000 the temple of the living God. 215 00:08:59,000 --> 00:09:01,600 You are the temple of the living God. 216 00:09:01,600 --> 00:09:04,400 So now the building is not where the sanctuary 217 00:09:04,400 --> 00:09:09,400 where God dwells, but God is where the people of God are at. 218 00:09:09,920 --> 00:09:13,960 And he calls us and he encourages us to go to him. 219 00:09:15,000 --> 00:09:17,880 Do you recognize that the Holy Spirit dwells in you? 220 00:09:17,880 --> 00:09:21,760 And so now if you're gonna go to battle, don't go alone. 221 00:09:21,760 --> 00:09:23,960 You gotta take the Holy Spirit with you. 222 00:09:23,960 --> 00:09:25,440 You gotta take God with you. 223 00:09:27,080 --> 00:09:28,520 Let's move on. 224 00:09:28,520 --> 00:09:31,160 Look what it says here in verse three. 225 00:09:31,160 --> 00:09:33,200 May he remember all your offerings 226 00:09:33,200 --> 00:09:37,200 in regard with favor your burnt sacrifices. 227 00:09:38,960 --> 00:09:40,280 May he remember all your offerings. 228 00:09:40,280 --> 00:09:42,920 You see, the offerings were not just nothing. 229 00:09:42,920 --> 00:09:45,360 The offerings were this thing that you were given 230 00:09:45,360 --> 00:09:47,240 for the atonement of your sin, 231 00:09:47,240 --> 00:09:49,600 or they were given for a gift for God. 232 00:09:50,760 --> 00:09:53,000 And so the offerings that were being given, 233 00:09:53,000 --> 00:09:56,080 you had to calculate, you had to know what you were given. 234 00:09:56,080 --> 00:09:58,120 You couldn't just say, you know, I'm just gonna show up 235 00:09:58,120 --> 00:10:00,880 and you know, I didn't come prepared, 236 00:10:00,880 --> 00:10:03,720 but I got a quarter. 237 00:10:04,760 --> 00:10:06,920 Man, I grew up in church and listen, 238 00:10:06,920 --> 00:10:08,720 we grew up in different areas, okay? 239 00:10:10,440 --> 00:10:12,120 Baby said, yeah. 240 00:10:12,120 --> 00:10:14,080 And sometimes people would, 241 00:10:15,200 --> 00:10:16,840 Mark, do you remember this? 242 00:10:16,840 --> 00:10:20,800 People would put in a dollar and ask for 75 cent back. 243 00:10:20,800 --> 00:10:23,480 I kid y'all, y'all think I'm lying, I'm not lying. 244 00:10:23,480 --> 00:10:26,960 People would put in a 10 and say, let me get five back. 245 00:10:26,960 --> 00:10:29,320 What is this, a change agency? 246 00:10:29,320 --> 00:10:32,880 Listen, you can't show up with your offering 247 00:10:32,880 --> 00:10:36,040 if you haven't thought about what you're doing with it. 248 00:10:36,040 --> 00:10:38,400 Your offering is something important. 249 00:10:38,400 --> 00:10:40,520 Your offering is a gift to God. 250 00:10:40,520 --> 00:10:43,720 How many of you have been to a baby shower before? 251 00:10:43,720 --> 00:10:46,280 How many of you have been to a wedding shower before? 252 00:10:46,280 --> 00:10:49,040 How many of you have been to a birthday party before? 253 00:10:49,040 --> 00:10:50,400 How many of you thought about the gift 254 00:10:50,400 --> 00:10:52,040 before you were gonna get there? 255 00:10:53,960 --> 00:10:55,560 Now the card you might've filled out 256 00:10:55,560 --> 00:10:57,560 on the steering wheel when you got there, 257 00:10:57,560 --> 00:10:59,760 but you thought about the gift before you showed up. 258 00:10:59,760 --> 00:11:01,680 You didn't just show up and say, ooh, on the way in, 259 00:11:01,680 --> 00:11:03,280 what do I got in my back seat? 260 00:11:03,280 --> 00:11:04,920 Let me grab this empty fry can. 261 00:11:06,360 --> 00:11:09,040 No, you showed up prepared and in the same way 262 00:11:09,040 --> 00:11:10,120 that you had to understand that 263 00:11:10,120 --> 00:11:11,320 when they were bringing their offerings, 264 00:11:11,320 --> 00:11:12,760 they thought about what they were giving. 265 00:11:12,760 --> 00:11:14,080 It meant something about what they gave. 266 00:11:14,080 --> 00:11:16,520 And in the same way, if you want God to be faithful 267 00:11:16,520 --> 00:11:18,680 and look and say, may he remember your offerings, 268 00:11:18,680 --> 00:11:22,080 ooh, wait a minute, may he remember all your offerings. 269 00:11:22,080 --> 00:11:25,080 Ooh, if God were to remember your offerings 270 00:11:25,080 --> 00:11:27,680 and you came up one team, 271 00:11:27,680 --> 00:11:30,080 you don't want him to remember your offerings, do you? 272 00:11:30,080 --> 00:11:32,280 But if you're giving something good, 273 00:11:33,800 --> 00:11:35,840 something that costs you something, 274 00:11:35,840 --> 00:11:38,440 you're like, yeah, God, go ahead and remember my offerings. 275 00:11:40,240 --> 00:11:41,600 I ain't gonna press too hard on that 276 00:11:41,600 --> 00:11:43,480 because I'm not at home right now. 277 00:11:44,600 --> 00:11:45,440 I'm the guest. 278 00:11:46,600 --> 00:11:49,040 But the guest is getting in your business a little bit. 279 00:11:50,960 --> 00:11:54,280 Sometimes, sometimes it takes courage. 280 00:11:54,280 --> 00:11:56,520 Sometimes it takes courage from the guest to say it 281 00:11:56,520 --> 00:11:59,360 because it's hard to bring up when it's amongst family. 282 00:12:00,440 --> 00:12:01,600 They might not bring me back, 283 00:12:01,600 --> 00:12:05,880 but I'm not here for your offerings. 284 00:12:07,040 --> 00:12:08,000 But God is. 285 00:12:09,040 --> 00:12:10,280 You bring your offering 286 00:12:10,280 --> 00:12:12,080 because you've prepared your offering 287 00:12:14,160 --> 00:12:15,520 because it meant something. 288 00:12:17,480 --> 00:12:18,920 Let's jump down, verse four. 289 00:12:19,840 --> 00:12:23,840 May he grant you your heart's desire and fulfill your plans. 290 00:12:23,840 --> 00:12:25,080 May he grant you. 291 00:12:25,080 --> 00:12:26,440 You see, what I'm convinced of is this, 292 00:12:26,440 --> 00:12:28,360 is that God does bless those. 293 00:12:28,360 --> 00:12:31,920 He grants things to those who are obedient to him. 294 00:12:33,600 --> 00:12:35,760 When you think about the obedience of God, 295 00:12:35,760 --> 00:12:39,760 it takes me to Deuteronomy chapter 28, verses one through 14 296 00:12:39,760 --> 00:12:41,320 because from one through 14, 297 00:12:41,320 --> 00:12:44,120 it's all about when people who are being obedient to God, 298 00:12:44,120 --> 00:12:46,280 the blessings that he gives to them. 299 00:12:46,280 --> 00:12:47,200 Listen to what it says. 300 00:12:47,200 --> 00:12:48,360 Let me give you a few of them. 301 00:12:48,360 --> 00:12:52,720 It says, blessed shall you be in the city. 302 00:12:52,720 --> 00:12:56,120 Blessed shall you be in the field, 303 00:12:56,120 --> 00:12:57,720 in the fruit of your womb, 304 00:12:57,720 --> 00:13:00,360 the fruit of your cattle, your herds. 305 00:13:00,360 --> 00:13:02,640 Blessed shall your basket be. 306 00:13:02,640 --> 00:13:04,040 Blessed your kneading bowl. 307 00:13:04,040 --> 00:13:06,760 Blessed shall you be when you come in and when you go out. 308 00:13:06,760 --> 00:13:09,360 Blessing will cause your enemies to be defeated 309 00:13:09,360 --> 00:13:10,920 and to come out. 310 00:13:10,920 --> 00:13:12,240 They come against you one way, 311 00:13:12,240 --> 00:13:14,400 but they'll leave and flee seven ways. 312 00:13:14,400 --> 00:13:17,920 Blessed, blessed, blessed, blessed. 313 00:13:17,920 --> 00:13:20,000 Whoo, it says that word a whole lot. 314 00:13:20,000 --> 00:13:23,880 In your barns, everything that you undertake, 315 00:13:23,880 --> 00:13:26,560 he will establish you as his holy people. 316 00:13:26,560 --> 00:13:28,080 You, the people of the earth will see 317 00:13:28,080 --> 00:13:30,680 that you are called by the name of the Lord. 318 00:13:32,280 --> 00:13:36,320 Whoo, but that's all about being obedient. 319 00:13:36,320 --> 00:13:38,240 There's a whole section after that 320 00:13:38,240 --> 00:13:41,120 of if you're not obedient and you got some curses coming. 321 00:13:41,120 --> 00:13:42,920 Now I'm not here to bring the curses on you. 322 00:13:42,920 --> 00:13:44,400 I want you to have the blessings. 323 00:13:44,400 --> 00:13:51,400 So I'm just telling you, obedience is better than, close. 324 00:13:51,560 --> 00:13:54,360 In the Bible it says obedience is better than sacrifice. 325 00:13:55,560 --> 00:13:58,280 But obedience, obedience. 326 00:13:58,280 --> 00:14:01,400 We wanna be a people who are obedient to God 327 00:14:05,160 --> 00:14:06,920 because he causes the rain to fall. 328 00:14:06,920 --> 00:14:09,200 You see here, we don't care about rain that much. 329 00:14:09,200 --> 00:14:10,120 We don't want it. 330 00:14:10,120 --> 00:14:12,640 But if you lived in the middle of the desert 331 00:14:12,640 --> 00:14:16,040 and your livelihood was connected to what you could grow, 332 00:14:17,280 --> 00:14:18,880 you want rain. 333 00:14:18,880 --> 00:14:21,320 You want the favor of God to rain down on you 334 00:14:21,320 --> 00:14:22,640 and you're like, oh yeah. 335 00:14:23,880 --> 00:14:28,880 And so all of this that we have read so far, 336 00:14:28,880 --> 00:14:34,880 it's all about wanting this God to bless them. 337 00:14:34,880 --> 00:14:38,600 May we shout for joy over your salvation. 338 00:14:39,600 --> 00:14:42,000 Do you guys practice your shouting 339 00:14:42,000 --> 00:14:45,400 for what God has done in your life? 340 00:14:46,800 --> 00:14:48,200 Are you shouting about it? 341 00:14:57,600 --> 00:14:58,840 I got an idea. 342 00:14:58,840 --> 00:15:03,840 I got an idea. 343 00:15:03,840 --> 00:15:06,840 You might not like it. 344 00:15:06,840 --> 00:15:09,840 I was just wondering if we could just give a shout to God. 345 00:15:11,840 --> 00:15:14,840 Just something like, yay. 346 00:15:16,840 --> 00:15:19,840 If you're happy because of what God has done in your life 347 00:15:19,840 --> 00:15:21,840 and you know him as the one who has saved you 348 00:15:21,840 --> 00:15:25,840 from your sins, can you give him a yay? 349 00:15:25,840 --> 00:15:28,840 Yay. 350 00:15:28,840 --> 00:15:32,840 Ooh, I like it. 351 00:15:32,840 --> 00:15:34,840 I like it a lot. 352 00:15:35,840 --> 00:15:38,840 Now, all that was this intercessory part. 353 00:15:38,840 --> 00:15:40,840 Now watch how this text transitions. 354 00:15:40,840 --> 00:15:42,840 It's about to be a big transition here 355 00:15:42,840 --> 00:15:45,840 because now it's about to go from May to all of a sudden 356 00:15:45,840 --> 00:15:47,840 they're about to make some strong declarations. 357 00:15:47,840 --> 00:15:49,840 They're about to make some statements here. 358 00:15:49,840 --> 00:15:50,840 There are some statements of faith. 359 00:15:50,840 --> 00:15:52,840 There's three statements of faith in the next three verses. 360 00:15:52,840 --> 00:15:53,840 Watch what it does here. 361 00:15:53,840 --> 00:15:58,840 Verse six, now I know that the Lord saves his anointed. 362 00:15:58,840 --> 00:16:00,840 Do you know that the Lord saves his anointed? 363 00:16:00,840 --> 00:16:06,840 Do you know for a fact, do you know that God saves his anointed? 364 00:16:06,840 --> 00:16:08,840 If yes, say yes. 365 00:16:08,840 --> 00:16:12,840 Have you experienced the saving power, the grace of God, 366 00:16:12,840 --> 00:16:14,840 in who he is and all that he has done 367 00:16:14,840 --> 00:16:17,840 and how he has taken you from one place to another, 368 00:16:17,840 --> 00:16:19,840 how you used to be a sinner but now you're saved, 369 00:16:19,840 --> 00:16:21,840 how you used to do wrong but now you're doing right, 370 00:16:21,840 --> 00:16:24,840 how you were separated from him but now he's brought you in. 371 00:16:24,840 --> 00:16:26,840 Do you know him as the one who went to the cross? 372 00:16:26,840 --> 00:16:28,840 Do you know him as the one who gives life? 373 00:16:28,840 --> 00:16:30,840 Do you know him as the one that is a healer? 374 00:16:30,840 --> 00:16:33,840 Do you know him as the one that can restore marriages? 375 00:16:33,840 --> 00:16:35,840 Do you know him as the one that can go before you? 376 00:16:35,840 --> 00:16:38,840 Do you know him as? 377 00:16:38,840 --> 00:16:40,840 Yes. 378 00:16:40,840 --> 00:16:42,840 You see, you see, here's the thing. 379 00:16:42,840 --> 00:16:44,840 When you know him, then I want to encourage you 380 00:16:44,840 --> 00:16:46,840 to give your testimony about him 381 00:16:46,840 --> 00:16:48,840 because why would God do something for you 382 00:16:48,840 --> 00:16:51,840 if you're not going to share what God did for you? 383 00:16:51,840 --> 00:16:54,840 You see, sometimes our pride gets in the way of us 384 00:16:54,840 --> 00:16:56,840 sharing the things of God. 385 00:16:56,840 --> 00:16:58,840 We say to ourselves, look at what I have done. 386 00:16:58,840 --> 00:17:01,840 And if you're saying that, then you're robbing God of his glory 387 00:17:01,840 --> 00:17:05,840 and woo, that's not good, people. 388 00:17:08,840 --> 00:17:11,840 We give credit to where credit is due. 389 00:17:11,840 --> 00:17:13,840 We never rob God of his glory 390 00:17:13,840 --> 00:17:15,840 because that's actually taking the third commandment in vain. 391 00:17:15,840 --> 00:17:17,840 When you take his name in vain, 392 00:17:17,840 --> 00:17:19,840 when you're robbing him of his glory, 393 00:17:19,840 --> 00:17:21,840 that's taking his name in vain. 394 00:17:21,840 --> 00:17:23,840 I know some of us think that taking his name in vain 395 00:17:23,840 --> 00:17:25,840 is only using profanity. 396 00:17:25,840 --> 00:17:28,840 Oh, you got to press into that word a little bit more. 397 00:17:28,840 --> 00:17:30,840 When you rob God of his glory, 398 00:17:30,840 --> 00:17:32,840 and if you're not willing to tell somebody, 399 00:17:32,840 --> 00:17:35,840 hey, listen, this is where I was, but this is what God has done 400 00:17:35,840 --> 00:17:38,840 because you got so high and mighty and I've arrived now. 401 00:17:38,840 --> 00:17:40,840 If you're not willing to tell people, 402 00:17:40,840 --> 00:17:43,840 hey, listen to what God did in my marriage because I was here 403 00:17:43,840 --> 00:17:46,840 and we were struggling, we were on the brink of divorce, 404 00:17:46,840 --> 00:17:48,840 got to give him his glory. 405 00:17:48,840 --> 00:17:50,840 And so this is what this was a big statement here. 406 00:17:50,840 --> 00:17:51,840 There was a big statement. 407 00:17:51,840 --> 00:17:56,840 He said, hey, and now I know that the Lord saves. 408 00:17:56,840 --> 00:17:59,840 Verse seven, some trust in chariots, some in horses, 409 00:17:59,840 --> 00:18:01,840 but we will trust in the name of the Lord our God. 410 00:18:01,840 --> 00:18:03,840 And so here's the second one. 411 00:18:03,840 --> 00:18:05,840 The second statement is trust God. 412 00:18:05,840 --> 00:18:09,840 I trust God, I trust God, I trust God, I trust God. 413 00:18:09,840 --> 00:18:11,840 And when you think about trusting God in all he is 414 00:18:11,840 --> 00:18:14,840 and all that he has done, it's a big statement here. 415 00:18:14,840 --> 00:18:17,840 You see, some trust in horses and some trust in chariots, 416 00:18:17,840 --> 00:18:20,840 some trust in their power, some trust in their status, 417 00:18:20,840 --> 00:18:23,840 some trust in their bank accounts, some trust in their connections, 418 00:18:23,840 --> 00:18:25,840 some trust in where they've been and some trust in their parents 419 00:18:25,840 --> 00:18:28,840 and some trust in a lot of different things, 420 00:18:28,840 --> 00:18:30,840 but we got to trust in God. 421 00:18:30,840 --> 00:18:32,840 You know, when I think about Saul, we remember Saul, 422 00:18:32,840 --> 00:18:35,840 when Saul was, he had a problem. 423 00:18:35,840 --> 00:18:37,840 The problem was there was a giant in the land 424 00:18:37,840 --> 00:18:40,840 and Saul was like, man, listen, I don't want to go fight that, man. 425 00:18:40,840 --> 00:18:44,840 You ever have a battle that was too big for you to fight 426 00:18:44,840 --> 00:18:47,840 and you're hoping that somebody would come alongside of you, 427 00:18:47,840 --> 00:18:49,840 but you were too afraid and so you're like, man, 428 00:18:49,840 --> 00:18:51,840 if I could get a little help here. 429 00:18:51,840 --> 00:18:53,840 And all of a sudden God sent David and David was like, 430 00:18:53,840 --> 00:18:55,840 dude, I ain't afraid of nothing. 431 00:18:55,840 --> 00:18:59,840 In my mind, David was a little, he was a little out there. 432 00:18:59,840 --> 00:19:01,840 You know, like that dude that's on a playground 433 00:19:01,840 --> 00:19:04,840 and he ain't afraid of anything? 434 00:19:04,840 --> 00:19:09,840 In my mind, I could see David just there and he's like, 435 00:19:09,840 --> 00:19:12,840 I don't like that guy. 436 00:19:12,840 --> 00:19:14,840 Maybe it looked like this. 437 00:19:17,840 --> 00:19:21,840 Y'all just going to keep letting him talk about our God like that? 438 00:19:21,840 --> 00:19:27,840 That's how y'all, yep. 439 00:19:27,840 --> 00:19:32,840 David was like, I don't like when people talk about my God. 440 00:19:32,840 --> 00:19:35,840 I will protect my God even if it costs me my life. 441 00:19:35,840 --> 00:19:38,840 I will go to battle for my God even if it costs me my life. 442 00:19:38,840 --> 00:19:41,840 I will go and fight a giant. 443 00:19:41,840 --> 00:19:44,840 I don't care what may happen, 444 00:19:44,840 --> 00:19:47,840 but you ain't just going to talk about my God like that. 445 00:19:47,840 --> 00:19:51,840 And in that moment, he was like, I'm going. 446 00:19:51,840 --> 00:19:53,840 I'm going. 447 00:19:53,840 --> 00:19:56,840 And so I was like, okay, yeah, yeah, yeah, why don't you go ahead and go. 448 00:19:56,840 --> 00:19:58,840 Here, put on my armor. 449 00:19:58,840 --> 00:20:00,840 Here, take my sword. 450 00:20:00,840 --> 00:20:02,840 Take my breastplate. 451 00:20:02,840 --> 00:20:08,840 And David was like, I don't know this stuff. 452 00:20:08,840 --> 00:20:09,840 This is not mine. 453 00:20:09,840 --> 00:20:11,840 I've never tested this before. 454 00:20:11,840 --> 00:20:12,840 I've never perfected this before. 455 00:20:12,840 --> 00:20:14,840 I've never used it before. 456 00:20:14,840 --> 00:20:16,840 I can't go with something that I don't know anything about. 457 00:20:16,840 --> 00:20:20,840 I can't go with your armor because that's not what got me to this point in my life. 458 00:20:20,840 --> 00:20:22,840 I got to go with what I know. 459 00:20:22,840 --> 00:20:26,840 And what I know is the power and the presence of Jesus Christ in my life. 460 00:20:26,840 --> 00:20:28,840 I know that God won't fail me. 461 00:20:28,840 --> 00:20:31,840 I know that you trust in this stuff, but I trust in my God. 462 00:20:31,840 --> 00:20:33,840 And my God will be the one that will go before me. 463 00:20:33,840 --> 00:20:35,840 My God is the one that will save me. 464 00:20:35,840 --> 00:20:38,840 My God is the one that will give me life. 465 00:20:38,840 --> 00:20:41,840 And I will defeat this man because this man is coming against my God. 466 00:20:41,840 --> 00:20:42,840 So my God is going to be. 467 00:20:42,840 --> 00:20:43,840 Give me some rocks. 468 00:20:43,840 --> 00:20:44,840 Just give me some rocks. 469 00:20:44,840 --> 00:20:49,840 I know about rocks. 470 00:20:49,840 --> 00:20:53,840 Baby said, what about rocks? 471 00:20:53,840 --> 00:20:54,840 We're training them up right. 472 00:20:54,840 --> 00:20:56,840 I want to talk back to the preacher. 473 00:20:56,840 --> 00:21:00,840 I like it. 474 00:21:00,840 --> 00:21:01,840 Let me move. 475 00:21:01,840 --> 00:21:03,840 Let me move. 476 00:21:03,840 --> 00:21:05,840 First, it says. 477 00:21:05,840 --> 00:21:11,840 They will collapse and fall, but we will rise and stand upright. 478 00:21:11,840 --> 00:21:13,840 We will rise and stand upright. 479 00:21:13,840 --> 00:21:17,840 You see, when we think about this here, he's saying all that other stuff won't make it. 480 00:21:17,840 --> 00:21:23,840 And so we got to have a strong statement here that we will rise and stand upright. 481 00:21:23,840 --> 00:21:26,840 We will rise and stand upright. 482 00:21:26,840 --> 00:21:29,840 We will rise and stand upright. 483 00:21:29,840 --> 00:21:31,840 I don't care what battles you're facing in life. 484 00:21:31,840 --> 00:21:32,840 I don't care what you're going through. 485 00:21:32,840 --> 00:21:34,840 I don't care what you've been through. 486 00:21:34,840 --> 00:21:36,840 It doesn't matter what's in front of you. 487 00:21:36,840 --> 00:21:38,840 It doesn't matter if you have a Goliath in your life right now. 488 00:21:38,840 --> 00:21:43,840 You will rise and you will stand and you will say, I am not going to move. 489 00:21:43,840 --> 00:21:45,840 I'm still standing. 490 00:21:45,840 --> 00:21:46,840 The devil wants to take you out. 491 00:21:46,840 --> 00:21:48,840 He doesn't want you to have success. 492 00:21:48,840 --> 00:21:49,840 He doesn't want you to have joy. 493 00:21:49,840 --> 00:21:54,840 But you look at him and you say, I'm still standing. 494 00:21:54,840 --> 00:21:55,840 Why? 495 00:21:55,840 --> 00:21:58,840 Because God is going with you. 496 00:21:58,840 --> 00:21:59,840 You see, I'm convinced of this. 497 00:21:59,840 --> 00:22:03,840 I am so convinced that the thing about God is this. 498 00:22:03,840 --> 00:22:08,840 God won't remove the situations and circumstances from our life. 499 00:22:08,840 --> 00:22:15,840 He won't remove the hardships from our life, but he will prepare us to go through them. 500 00:22:15,840 --> 00:22:18,840 You see, sometimes we want all that stuff to be easy street. 501 00:22:18,840 --> 00:22:21,840 We thought when we came to Jesus, we were like, okay, it's going to be easy. 502 00:22:21,840 --> 00:22:23,840 Now, no, Jesus never said that. 503 00:22:23,840 --> 00:22:25,840 God never promised you that it would be easy. 504 00:22:25,840 --> 00:22:30,840 As a matter of fact, when we look at the text, I don't know if anybody's got to watch. 505 00:22:30,840 --> 00:22:31,840 I don't know how much time I have. 506 00:22:31,840 --> 00:22:32,840 I got a couple more minutes. 507 00:22:32,840 --> 00:22:33,840 I got a couple minutes. 508 00:22:33,840 --> 00:22:34,840 I'm good. 509 00:22:34,840 --> 00:22:35,840 All right. 510 00:22:35,840 --> 00:22:36,840 Don't be lying to me now. 511 00:22:36,840 --> 00:22:39,840 Don't tell me you talk way too long up in the church. 512 00:22:39,840 --> 00:22:40,840 Don't be setting me up for failure. 513 00:22:40,840 --> 00:22:42,840 Pastor told me to keep going. 514 00:22:42,840 --> 00:22:51,840 Let me jump over to Corinthians real fast. 515 00:22:51,840 --> 00:22:53,840 Second Corinthians. 516 00:22:53,840 --> 00:22:56,840 Let me hit you with chapter one and chapter six real fast. 517 00:22:56,840 --> 00:23:01,840 Watch this. 518 00:23:01,840 --> 00:23:12,840 Blessed be the God and the father of our Lord, Jesus Christ, the father of mercies and the God of all comfort. 519 00:23:12,840 --> 00:23:15,840 You see, you wouldn't need comfort if you're not going through anything, 520 00:23:15,840 --> 00:23:18,840 but you need comfort because you're going through some stuff. 521 00:23:18,840 --> 00:23:20,840 You follow what I'm saying there? 522 00:23:20,840 --> 00:23:23,840 And he is the God of comfort. 523 00:23:23,840 --> 00:23:26,840 So you got to know the character and the nature of God if you're going to live this life. 524 00:23:26,840 --> 00:23:29,840 The character of God is that he is a comforter. 525 00:23:29,840 --> 00:23:31,840 Now notice what it says here. 526 00:23:31,840 --> 00:23:33,840 Who comforts us in all our affliction. 527 00:23:33,840 --> 00:23:36,840 Anybody had some of that before? 528 00:23:36,840 --> 00:23:39,840 Now this next part right here is important. 529 00:23:39,840 --> 00:23:42,840 It's so that, so that. 530 00:23:42,840 --> 00:23:43,840 That's a powerful statement. 531 00:23:43,840 --> 00:23:44,840 So that. 532 00:23:44,840 --> 00:23:46,840 Well, what do you mean so that? 533 00:23:46,840 --> 00:23:50,840 So you got the God of all comfort who comforts you in all your affliction for a reason. 534 00:23:50,840 --> 00:23:51,840 Here's the reason why. 535 00:23:51,840 --> 00:23:55,840 So that you may be able to comfort those who are in any affliction. 536 00:23:55,840 --> 00:24:00,840 So you've been afflicted and God went with you so that you could walk with others who are going through it 537 00:24:00,840 --> 00:24:04,840 with the comfort in which we ourselves are comforted by God. 538 00:24:04,840 --> 00:24:13,840 For as we share abundantly in Christ's suffering, so through Christ, we share abundantly the comfort too. 539 00:24:13,840 --> 00:24:23,840 So I guess we're not going to get a pass on this whole affliction thing, but we will get a partner. 540 00:24:23,840 --> 00:24:25,840 Let me jump to chapter six. 541 00:24:25,840 --> 00:24:26,840 Watch this. 542 00:24:26,840 --> 00:24:32,840 Look at what it says here. 543 00:24:32,840 --> 00:24:34,840 He says, this is Paul. 544 00:24:34,840 --> 00:24:35,840 He's writing. 545 00:24:35,840 --> 00:24:38,840 He's talking about some different things and he's like, hey, listen, let me tell you something about life. 546 00:24:38,840 --> 00:24:43,840 He said, by the service of God, we commend ourselves in every way by great endurance. 547 00:24:43,840 --> 00:24:45,840 What do you need endurance for? 548 00:24:45,840 --> 00:24:47,840 You ever need some endurance? 549 00:24:47,840 --> 00:24:49,840 Listen, you ever had a tough life? 550 00:24:49,840 --> 00:24:50,840 You had a tough life? 551 00:24:50,840 --> 00:24:52,840 Tough moment? 552 00:24:52,840 --> 00:24:53,840 Tough week? 553 00:24:53,840 --> 00:24:54,840 Listen to what he says here. 554 00:24:54,840 --> 00:24:56,840 Listen, let me tell you why I need some endurance. 555 00:24:56,840 --> 00:25:03,840 Because in afflictions and hardships and calamities and beatings and imprisonments and riots, 556 00:25:03,840 --> 00:25:06,840 some of us got riots going on in our hearts right now. 557 00:25:06,840 --> 00:25:09,840 One way is one trying to do this and the other side of us trying to do that. 558 00:25:09,840 --> 00:25:10,840 We got riots going on. 559 00:25:10,840 --> 00:25:11,840 But they were real riots that they had. 560 00:25:11,840 --> 00:25:15,840 Oh, we got riots in our country and now we got people that are going to be mad. 561 00:25:15,840 --> 00:25:18,840 How are you going to handle it? 562 00:25:18,840 --> 00:25:20,840 And labors and sleepless nights. 563 00:25:20,840 --> 00:25:23,840 You ever have a sleepless night and hunger? 564 00:25:23,840 --> 00:25:27,840 And then there's this key word here, by. 565 00:25:27,840 --> 00:25:30,840 By means this is how we had that endurance. 566 00:25:30,840 --> 00:25:40,840 By purity, knowledge, patience, kindness, the Holy Spirit, genuine love, truthful speech, 567 00:25:40,840 --> 00:25:47,840 the power of God with weapons of righteousness for the right hand and for the left. 568 00:25:47,840 --> 00:26:00,840 Weapons of righteousness, not fingers of texting, of social media posts, of righteousness. 569 00:26:00,840 --> 00:26:03,840 That righteousness is how we overcome all this stuff. 570 00:26:03,840 --> 00:26:06,840 What is the weapon that you're trying to go into battle with? 571 00:26:06,840 --> 00:26:10,840 Are you trying to come at your spouse because you guys are having difficult times? 572 00:26:10,840 --> 00:26:14,840 Are you coming at your spouse with weapons of hatred and meanness? 573 00:26:14,840 --> 00:26:19,840 Are you coming at your spouse with weapons of hatred and meanness and just ugliness? 574 00:26:19,840 --> 00:26:21,840 Are you coming out with weapons of righteousness? 575 00:26:21,840 --> 00:26:23,840 I'm going to serve you even though it's not right. 576 00:26:23,840 --> 00:26:26,840 Are you coming with weapons of righteousness at your job? 577 00:26:26,840 --> 00:26:31,840 Are you coming with weapons of righteousness when they don't treat you right, when they don't talk to you right? 578 00:26:31,840 --> 00:26:34,840 Weapons of righteousness is what God calls why? 579 00:26:34,840 --> 00:26:38,840 Because he told us that we should be his righteous. 580 00:26:38,840 --> 00:26:41,840 We are the righteousness of God. 581 00:26:41,840 --> 00:26:48,840 We fight with righteous weapons because that's where we get results. 582 00:26:48,840 --> 00:26:51,840 And it goes on. 583 00:26:51,840 --> 00:26:56,840 He says, hey, listen, though we slander, we praise. 584 00:26:56,840 --> 00:27:06,840 We are treated as imposters, yet are true, as unknown, yet well known, as dying and behold, we live, 585 00:27:06,840 --> 00:27:11,840 we are punished, and yet we are not killed, as sorrowful, and yet always rejoicing, as poor, 586 00:27:11,840 --> 00:27:18,840 yet making many rich, and not having nothing, and as having nothing, yet possessing everything. 587 00:27:18,840 --> 00:27:20,840 You see, here's the thing. 588 00:27:20,840 --> 00:27:22,840 I'm convinced of two things from this section here. 589 00:27:22,840 --> 00:27:24,840 First, it doesn't matter what you go through. 590 00:27:24,840 --> 00:27:29,840 Your circumstances don't dictate your behavior. 591 00:27:29,840 --> 00:27:30,840 And the second thing is this. 592 00:27:30,840 --> 00:27:35,840 It doesn't matter what I'm going through because who I am is not what I go through. 593 00:27:35,840 --> 00:27:41,840 And so when you remember that in life and you understand that although you may go through something, 594 00:27:41,840 --> 00:27:44,840 did you see all those yet's that I just read? 595 00:27:44,840 --> 00:27:52,840 You see, the word yet appears in the Bible 434 times and 424 verses. 596 00:27:52,840 --> 00:27:54,840 So there's a lot of yet's. 597 00:27:54,840 --> 00:27:56,840 Does that make sense? 598 00:27:56,840 --> 00:28:01,840 And if I think about the yet's in life, if I were to just come up with my own yet's for a moment, 599 00:28:01,840 --> 00:28:06,840 this is what I would begin to recognize, that Jesus was God, yet he was man. 600 00:28:06,840 --> 00:28:11,840 He was 100% man, yet he was God 100%. 601 00:28:11,840 --> 00:28:18,840 You see, when I understand about Jesus, I understand that he was the king of the world, 602 00:28:18,840 --> 00:28:23,840 yet he let a local governor named Pilate question him. 603 00:28:23,840 --> 00:28:33,840 He was the one that said his burden is light, yet he took on the sins of us. 604 00:28:33,840 --> 00:28:39,840 He was the one that would be lifted up, but yet it would draw all men to him. 605 00:28:39,840 --> 00:28:44,840 He was the one that was used to be the sit on the throne in heaven, 606 00:28:44,840 --> 00:28:49,840 yet he found himself in a tomb on earth. 607 00:28:49,840 --> 00:29:00,840 He was the one who on Friday gave up his spirit, yet on Sunday early morning he had life. 608 00:29:00,840 --> 00:29:10,840 He was the one who walked on earth, yet he's the one that ascended back to heaven. 609 00:29:10,840 --> 00:29:19,840 When I think about us, I recognize that we were dead in our sin, yet we are alive in Christ. 610 00:29:19,840 --> 00:29:27,840 When I think about we were once hostile to God, yet now we've become lovers of God. 611 00:29:27,840 --> 00:29:39,840 When I think that we were yet perplexed, we were once worried, yet we are comforted and we have peace. 612 00:29:39,840 --> 00:29:52,840 You see, when I think about heroes like Job, who said, although he may slay me, yet I will trust in him. 613 00:29:52,840 --> 00:29:58,840 When I think about Moses who's seen a burning bush, yet it did not burn up. 614 00:29:58,840 --> 00:30:05,840 When I think about Joseph, who was forgotten by the cup bearer and was left in prison, 615 00:30:05,840 --> 00:30:09,840 yet the king requested his presence. 616 00:30:09,840 --> 00:30:19,840 When I think about Ezekiel, who found himself in the middle of a valley of dry bones, yet they came back to life. 617 00:30:19,840 --> 00:30:28,840 Here's when I am convinced, the battle that you're facing may be hard, yet the battle belongs to God. 618 00:30:28,840 --> 00:30:38,840 And if you're willing to allow God to be a part of the battles of life that you go through, that is where you will find your peace. 619 00:30:38,840 --> 00:30:40,840 Will it be easy? No. 620 00:30:40,840 --> 00:30:45,840 But can you stand up mightily and boldly and declare because of all that you have been through 621 00:30:45,840 --> 00:30:51,840 and all that you remember who God is and you say, God has never left me, he won't leave me now. 622 00:30:51,840 --> 00:30:55,840 And I will trust him. 623 00:30:55,840 --> 00:30:59,840 Sometimes God will ask you to do some things that don't make no sense. 624 00:30:59,840 --> 00:31:04,840 Because one of the way that God fights battles, he will say to you, hey, you're down on the ground 625 00:31:04,840 --> 00:31:10,840 and I know it don't make no sense, but just go ahead and look up at the treetops because my armies are marching across the treetops. 626 00:31:10,840 --> 00:31:15,840 I know that you're trying to fight the battle of Jericho and you're wondering when do we draw our swords, 627 00:31:15,840 --> 00:31:19,840 but I just want you to walk around and then just blow the trumpets horns. 628 00:31:19,840 --> 00:31:27,840 It'll make no sense, but I'm God and I never asked you if I needed to make sense in your mind. 629 00:31:27,840 --> 00:31:32,840 I'm God. I won't work things out the way that you think that they should be worked out. 630 00:31:32,840 --> 00:31:36,840 I'm God. I would do something that will blow your mind. 631 00:31:36,840 --> 00:31:39,840 I'm God. I don't need your permission. 632 00:31:39,840 --> 00:31:42,840 I'm God. You're in a box. I am not. 633 00:31:42,840 --> 00:31:48,840 I'm God. I can do whatever I want to do, whenever I want to do it, however I want to do it. 634 00:31:48,840 --> 00:31:52,840 And I don't need your permission because before you were ever born, I already was. 635 00:31:52,840 --> 00:31:55,840 And long after you're gone, I will always be. 636 00:31:55,840 --> 00:31:58,840 I'm the one that went to the cross. I'm the one that gave up my life. 637 00:31:58,840 --> 00:32:03,840 I'm the one who died. I'm the one who came back to life. I'm the one. 638 00:32:03,840 --> 00:32:08,840 So stop thinking it's all about you because it's not. 639 00:32:08,840 --> 00:32:12,840 But I'm willing to go with you because I love you that much. 640 00:32:12,840 --> 00:32:19,840 I fought the battle of death so that you could live and this is the power of the gospel. 641 00:32:19,840 --> 00:32:24,840 And we take great comfort and courage when we reflect on Psalm 20. 642 00:32:24,840 --> 00:32:43,840 We remember that God is faithful.