Over the years, Jeffrey and I have learned that
the greatest battles we face are usually fought
in our minds, but won with our mouths. When we've
chosen to speak God's promises in the face of
our fears, failures, and problems, we've seen
God do what only He can do. This truth has changed
our lives, and it's why we wrote Talk to Your
Giants, to show you how to fight the good fight
of faith, speak in agreement with God's Word,
and discover the victory that comes when you
stop talking Today's message is entitled Magnify.
If you have your Bibles, turn with me to 1 Samuel
21, verses 10 through 13. We'll be reading here,
reading out of the New King James Version. It
says this, It went to Achish, I think, maybe.
We're going to go with that. Achish, the king
of Gath. King of Gath. Now David, right, he was
known throughout history as the greatest king
for God's people, right? A man after God's own
heart. He defeated Goliath as a young boy. He
was anointed to be king at a very early age.
But yet, there was a lot of time passed. between
when he was anointed to when he was throned,
right? To when he became the king. It was a lot
of time. A lot of things happened in his life.
And this is a part of his story, right? Often
there's time for the promises of God to be fulfilled,
right? There's a time of giving where you hear
the word spoken. Then there's a time of waiting.
Just like a seed that you plant in the ground,
you don't immediately plant it and then expect
there to be a lemon tree in the backyard the
very next day, right? That's not natural. If
it did, that would be really nice. But just like
that, when you receive the word, often there's
time before there's harvest, right? Harvest before
it produces fruit, for his promises are fulfilled
in your life. And often that's where the enemy
likes to come. Often that season of waiting is
the most difficult part. That's why we have to
stand on the promise and have hope and have faith,
right? That God is able. He's able. Somebody
say God is able. More than able. To perform his
word. to bring his word to pass, to accomplish
what it set forth to do in fulfilling the promises
that he makes. And David is at this place here,
but he's on the run from Saul. Though he was
anointed to be king, we know he served and under
Saul, and Saul became very angry towards David
as all of his successes after he defeated Goliath.
It was like everyone loved David more than they
loved Saul, right? Saul was supposed to be the
big, mighty protector, and then all of a sudden
David comes in and saves the day, you could say.
And he takes out Goliath, runs the Philistines
out. He does all kinds of conquest, and then
all of a sudden Saul gets very jealous. Starts
trying to kill David. Had several attempts on
his life, we know from the Word. And here he
is, he's running. As far as he can away from
Saul, because Saul just tried to kill him, he's
out in the wilderness. And, you know, it must
be pretty bad for you to return to Gath, right?
This is one of the five main Philistine territories.
And also, this is where you say, Goliath, he
was from the hometown. Like, this is his hometown.
And I want to point out too, earlier in this
passage, he had just received Goliath's sword.
So David is walking into the enemy camp. This
is how bad of circumstance David is in. He's
decided to flee, go into the enemy camp with
the sword that he defeated their prize giant.
Mind you, this is the same sword that he chopped
the giant's head off with. It's a big sword.
Right? He's carrying it into this village. Everybody
say, no hope. And for some reason, he was convinced
that he wasn't going to be noticed. But as we'll
find out, let's keep reading verse 11. And the
servants of Achish said to him, is this not David,
the king of the land? They're recognizing him
as the king. Right? Is this not David, the king
of the land? Did they not sing of him to one
another in dances, saying, Saul has slain his
thousands, and David his ten thousands? Get into
David's shoes a little bit, what all of a sudden
that happened. And as we read, we see what in
verse 12, Now David, listen, took these words
to heart. It says that he... Took them, he held
them, and what happened? He was very much afraid.
Very much afraid of the king of Gath. All of
a sudden, fear gripped his heart. Now, he was
already running away from Saul. He was already
feeling that pressure, that anxiety of what's
happening. Now, all of a sudden, they've spotted
him. He's caught. He's in a foreign city in the
enemy camp, and he's caught, and fear just comes
all over him. And how many of you know when you
get really scared, you start acting irrationally,
right? Sense kind of gets thrown out the window,
and you just kind of grab for like whatever.
We keep reading, so he changed David. He changed
his behavior before them, pretended madness in
their hands, scratched on the doors of the gate,
and let his saliva fall down on his beard. Everybody
say pretty bad. Pretty bad. So David, he's running
for his life from Saul. He's hiding out in enemy
territory. He's alone now. He's desperate. He's
afraid. And we find out as we read the story
that he just barely escapes. The king looked
at him and almost had pity for him and was just
like, get this man out of here. Like, he's no
threat to us. Just let him leave, right? I just
feel bad about this. So they closed him outside
the gate, and he escaped. But listen, escape,
though, is not always deliverance. He escaped
his problem, this present problem, but still
there was something internally that needed to
be dealt with. He was running for his life still.
Saul was still chasing him. Yes, he had escaped,
but escape is not always deliverance. Because
listen, making it through does not mean you have
made it out. You can, you know, life happens
and you go through some things, right? We all
face trouble. We live in a fallen world. Amen?
Yeah? We live in a fallen world. We're all going
to face things. And sometimes, like, we get through
the storm, but the storm's still inside of us.
It still weighs heavy on us. The fear, the anxiety
is still on our hearts. And that's something
that we have to deal with. That's something that
the Word tells us that we have to deal with and
we have to address. Because when it's not addressed,
guess what? It'll just keep growing and growing
and growing. And it becomes more and more of
a problem in your life. David could have easily,
listen, he could have easily continued to let
this anxiety and this fear torment him. Could
have easily let all these things keep him from
continuing on. But, you know, he could have also
interpreted the circumstance as a sign that God
had abandoned him. I don't know about you, but
sometimes the way you see what you went through
is different than the way God sees it. And often
we look at our circumstance and we allow it to
define our view of what God did or what he hasn't
done or all those kind of things. We look at
our circumstance as an indication. We interpret
it as, man, God has abandoned me. I mean, just
think about David. Think about what's going on.
Supposedly supposed to be the king. God has already
given him this promise, this great promise in
his life, and now he's running for his life.
No one's with him. He's just abandoned. Just
seems helpless and hopeless. And he could have
sat back and almost been justified going, God,
where are you? When is this promise going to
come to pass? Like, you said all these things,
and here I am. Abandoned. Come on, let's be real.
Take off your Sunday school cap. I think we've
all been there a time or two. And if you haven't,
you will be at some point. Because it's interesting.
David, he could have interpreted his circumstance
that way. David could have easily been angry
at God. Because sometimes when you feel abandoned,
you just immediately, you know, the next thing
is just, I get angry. God, why? Could have complained
about his problem. He could have rehearsed all
his troubles and all the whys and why did this
happen? Oh, why, why, why? But Psalms 34 gives
us David's response. And that's what we're going
to be looking at today. So turn in your Bibles
if you have Psalms 34, but we're going to read
it all together. And it's interesting, the beginning
of Psalms tells us when David wrote this psalm.
It lays it out, a psalm of David when he pretended
madness before Abimelech, who drove him away
and he departed. Now, I had to look this up because
I was like, Achish and Abimelech, like, is that
the same thing? But Abimelech is a royal title,
a name used for kings. And then the name Akish
here is the name of Gath's king, right? So it's
referring to this time. And David's response
is very profound. Let's read it together. He
says this, I will bless the Lord at all times.
His praise shall continually be in my mouth.
My soul. Shall make its boast in the Lord. The
humble shall hear of it. And be glad. Oh magnify
the Lord with me. And let us exalt his name together.
I sought the Lord. And he heard me. And delivered
me. From all my fears. Amen. If that don't get
you happy, your wood's wet. It's good stuff.
The word is good. Amen. David, that's his response
in this situation. A lot of times we read that
passage of Scripture in Psalms, right? And we
just kind of read it as like, oh, everything's
good. David, you know, this is where David is.
All life is good, and now he's saying this. But
he's writing this at the end and in the middle
of... He didn't get, you know, he escaped Gath,
but he's still on the run from Saul. The promise
is still not fulfilled, and he's riding this
on. He had every right to magnify the problem,
the fear, and the circumstances, or he could
magnify his God. And instead of magnifying what
was against him, he magnified the one who was
for him. I had that visual of a magnifying glass,
and when you think about it, a magnifying glass
does not change the size of something, the size
of the object. It just changes how large the
object appears to you, right? So listen, say
it again, okay. A magnifying glass, listen, a
magnifying glass does not change the actual size
of the object. Like if you hold it up on an ant,
the ant does not all of a sudden get as big as
your shoe, right? If you hold it up, it doesn't
change the size of the object. It changes how
large the object appears to you. Right? How does
this apply to us? That if you and I, if we stare
at, if we replay, if we discuss and research,
imagine every possible outcome. of a diagnosis,
of that bill, of the work problem, of the problems
with your marriage or with your kids, right?
Or if you sit there and stare at and rehearse
and keep replaying over and over again that uncertain
future about what's next, guess what? Those things
begin to fill your field of vision. They begin
to consume everything in your life, what you
see, how you see the world around you. They talk
about rose -colored glasses. This would be like
your problems -colored glasses. And it becomes
this massive thing in your eyes. But I want us
to look now at each one of these things. Listen
to what David said. Listen to his response and
what David did, because I believe if we really
see this, It'll help you. If we really act on
this word from God, it'll transform your circumstance.
It'll transform your life. Say, I'm a hearer.
I'm a doer. I'm a hearer. I'm a doer. Amen? David
says, I will. Think about this, though. He's
not, you know, he's saying in the middle of the
circumstance, I just imagine him just shouting,
you know, he's getting beat up in his mind. It's
like he's going nine round in his mind. And it's
just like, it's getting tough. It's getting close.
And all of a sudden he remembers, he thinks about
who God is. Something rises up. He says, I will.
I will bless the Lord. Not I feel. Not I want
to. Not the situation change. Nothing's changed.
He goes, I will bless the Lord. Think of it this
way. He's choosing to tell his mind, his will,
his emotions. He's saying, look, you do not control
how I feel. You do not control what this situation,
how it's interpreted. You will not control me.
Because who I am, listen, I am so much more than
just a mind and my flesh and my body. The spirit
of the living God is in me. That's who I am.
I am in Christ. And so I will say, I will tell,
I will bless the Lord. Amen. He's telling these
things what to do. He's telling his soul the
direction that it needs to go. And he says, I
will bless the Lord. When? On Sunday? After the
promise is fulfilled, after he's delivered, I
will bless the Lord at all times, not occasionally.
His praise, someone say praise. If you want to
know what it means to bless the Lord, he's saying
it again. That word bless means praise, and he's
saying praise again. He says it twice, it must
be important. Saying I will. Praise the Lord
at all times. His praise shall continually be
in my mind. Is somebody here? Someone listening?
His praise, I'll just think about it until something
changes. Come on now. His praise. shall continually
be in my mouth. Is this what Scripture says?
Am I making this up? You mean in my mouth all
the time? Not my problems, not my struggles,
not my difficulty, not the pain, not the diagnosis,
not the lack? Not the concerns, not my insecurities,
not the job or myself. You mean I shouldn't talk
about myself all the time? Well, I just don't
know about that. Come on now. See, David made
a decision. He chose what would occupy his mouth.
He chose. It probably didn't feel good when he
did it the first time. You know, it was probably
tough. It's not easy that in the middle of the
worst thing, right, to all of a sudden open up
your mouth and praise a God that you, you know,
everything in you just won't be mad at, right?
Or just say, God doesn't even care about me and
just give up and walk, you know. But David made
a decision. He said, He's like, I will bless
the Lord. His praise shall continually be in
my mouth. Listen, the hardest time to praise
is the exact moment. The exact time. You must
praise. Because not praising in that moment.
The enemy will take you out. The hardest time
to praise is the exact moment you must praise.
You must make the decision. You must choose.
I will, I can, I must praise the Lord. Let's
continue. My soul. Shall make its boast in the
Lord. My soul shall make its boast in the Lord.
This word here is to praise again. Boast. He's
praising God. It means to boast. It means to
shine. It means to celebrate. It means to glory.
My soul shall make its boast. Hear this. decision
again. He's saying, soul, boast in the Lord.
Praise the Lord. Mouth, praise the Lord. Who
I am, praise the Lord. Come on. My soul shall
make its boast in the Lord. David is deliberately
redirecting himself by saying, my mind, will,
and emotions will praise, will boast, will radiate.
Imagine that, that your emotions just radiate
the Lord. That your mind, your thoughts just
shine bright, shine the light of God in our minds.
Help us to have your mind, Christ. Help us to
glorify you at all times. I want you to see the
progression here. See, the world wants to tell
you that your soul, which we define as your mind,
your will, and emotions, right? That you can
redirect your thoughts, for instance, by thinking
better thoughts. Okay? A lot of people are like,
well, just do a change, change in the way you
think. And then you can, you know, reframe things
and make things a little better. But the Word
says, listen, the Word places the mouth in front
of the soul. Because just, you know, think about
it. Just when you think about something, you
have no control over what you think about. Right?
Any thought can just fly into your head. It can
be a good thought. It can be a bad thought. It
can be a thought from the devil. It can be a
thought from the Holy Spirit on the inside of
you. Now, we can choose what we meditate on,
the thoughts that we rehearse, or the thoughts
that Scripture encourages us to cast down vain
imaginations. Right? So, we have control. And
how do we control? How do we control our soul?
How do we control our flesh? Can you control
the soul just internally? Or is there something
external? Something greater? Listen, to change
what you're thinking, to take captive that bad
thought, you've got to open up your mouth. What
does Scripture say? Who has control over your
mouth? You do. And what you say determines the
course of your life. How does that apply, right?
How does that take place? It's because what you
say determines what your mind thinks, where you
stay at. It determines your will and your desires,
like I want this, I want to move my life in this
direction, this is my future, this is my plans,
this is my understanding about the way the world
works. And then it's your mind, your will, and
then your emotions, right? What you say impacts
how you feel. That's why people can just talk
about, like I've been in all this like, you know.
labor stuff, you know, birthing stuff because
we're having a baby. And there was this thing
like the midwife said, she's like, you just need
to say like, well, I'm excited to have this baby.
Like, I'm excited to experience this. I'm excited
about what's ahead. Because just saying it, just
smiling, just like trying to even in the worst,
you know, situation and pain and all that kind
of stuff, if you can smile, she said. She was
telling me to make her laugh. I'm like, I don't
want to be punched. You know, like, I don't know.
But she was like, if you can just make her laugh,
it'll make the pain easier. It'll increase the
oxytocin level, and it'll make the pain, all
those other hormones that are like, okay, and
the nerves and all that, it's going to make it
a little bit. lighter, a little more bearable
by just changing your face, by just saying something
a little different. Science is just now catching
up to what we know in Scripture. It's nice when
the world proves Scripture's been right all along.
How great is that? But your mouth determines
what? Determines what you think, determines what
you desire, what you will. What moves you and
it determines how you feel. It changes how you
feel. So you have to open up your mouth. And
then what your mouth says and how you feel all
of a sudden changes your focus. Changes your
focus. And what you focused on, what your attention
is on, what you magnify in life. Your life moves
into the direction of your focus. Your greatest
focus, your greatest attention, the thing that
you think about all the time, the thing that
you feel all the time. Listen, your life's going
to move towards, move you in that direction towards
your feeling. How many of you, like you hear
something and it kind of upsets you? Right? And
all of a sudden you get mad about it and you
rehearse it. You start focusing on what that
person said and what that person did. Come on.
And what happens? It moves the direction of your
life towards, I'm going to get you. I hope something
bad happens. You know what I'm saying? Like that's
our flesh. Right? So if there's no gate, if there's
no hold back, if there's no control, listen.
Who are we supposed to yield our control to?
The Holy Spirit. As we learned in Galatians,
right? We're supposed to be Spirit -led people
of God. We're supposed to yield to Him. Yield
our minds. Yield our mouths to Him. That's how
He will lead us. Is He gives us the words to
say. Let's continue reading. My soul shall make
its boast in the Lord. The humble shall hear
of it and be glad. The humble shall hear of it
and be glad. I'll give you a little side note
here. If you start, if you go to work this week
and you start praising God and blessing the Lord,
you know, at all times, you're just talking about
how good God is. There's going to be some people
that get mad. But the people that get glad, listen,
those are the people you need to be around. Those
are the people who join in with you and say,
yes, God is good. He is so good. And you start
talking about and feeding off of his goodness
instead of each other's problems. Because fear
works the same way, right? It's like, you know,
you start talking about, hey, this is going on,
this happened, whatever. And they're like, yeah,
I did too. And you join in and it just builds
and builds and builds, right? But the humble
shall hear of it, the praise, the boast of the
Lord. Someone who is doing this, they shall hear
of it and be glad. And listen, others should
hear you talking about how great the Lord is.
This is our witness and our testimony. And we
defeat... The evil in this world, why? By the
blood of the Lamb and the word of our testimony.
You have to open up your mouth. People don't
know what's going on. People might see how you're
dealing with something. But look, that's not
going to transform somebody. That's not going
to defeat the enemy. The enemy would love for
you to be silent. The enemy loves to, when God
does something great in your life and you experience
something, to just keep your mouth shut. Well,
God is so good, but I'm just going to keep my
mouth shut. You know, I'm just going to, that
was great. Thank you, God. You know, you pray
it. Thank you, God. But listen, your family,
your spouse, your children, your co -workers,
your friends, They need, they need you to testify
about the goodness of God, even in the small
things. You know, when we see the goodness of
God on display, when we see it, even if it just
seems so insignificant, we need to open up our
mouth. Because listen, the people around you
are watching. People around you are listening.
They need to hear you praising God. They need
to hear it. Because guess what? They'll start
joining in. It'll bless them and it'll encourage
them to walk in this truth. And then notice this,
verse 3. Oh, magnify the Lord with me and let
us exalt his name together. This word magnify
means to grow, to become great, to magnify or
to promote. Listen, as we've said before, magnifying
God does not make Him bigger. We don't make God
bigger. He's already as big, right? We don't
make Him bigger by magnifying Him. It means,
though, to declare His greatness. When you boast
in the Lord, it means to lift Him high in our
estimation. When you boast in the Lord instead
of yourself, listen, Who are you exalting? Who
are you boasting about? Because who you're talking
about the most, the problem, yourself, whatever,
that's who you're lifting up. That's who you're
giving priority to. Are you lifting yourself
up? Who are you lifting up? But to boast means
to lift him high in our estimation, to cause
his greatness to be recognized in the earth.
Oh, magnify the Lord with me. Let us exalt his
name together. Notice the shift in the words
here. He goes from telling himself, hey, I will
bless the Lord at all times. His praise shall
continue. Then he's going, come, magnify the
Lord with me. Let us exalt his name together.
Who is he talking to? Who is He talking to? Or
was this a prophetic word for generations, for
everyone who would hear this song? Anyone who
would hear this, it was an invitation. Listen,
it was an invitation to say, come on, this has
done something in my life. You need to do this
too. Come magnify the Lord with me. Exalt His
name. Right? And then he says this, listen, I
sought the Lord and he heard me and he delivered
me from all my fears. Say, I sought the Lord.
He sought the Lord. This is so important, church.
He didn't seek the internet. He didn't seek AI.
As soon as he faced the problem, he's like, I'm
not going to run. I know he didn't have that.
Don't give me, don't look at me that way. Don't
look at me that way. But what do you do? You
get a little tickle in your throat, something
starts happening, what am I going to do? I'm
going to look on the internet? The first article
says I'm dead, I'm limp, I'm deaf, I'm, you know,
I'm never going to make it out. Might as well
just start, you know, burying me now. Chop off
my leg, you know. I mean, literally though, I
mean, it just goes, it spirals big time. And
that's why it's so important that who you turn
your attention to. Because that's what has power
over you. If you turn to the internet, listen,
you're exalting the internet. If that's your
first response, what? Seek his kingdom first.
Church, we got to learn the principle of first.
We need to turn to him first. Don't turn to Him
as your last resort. When all else fails, don't
turn to the Lord. Seek Him. Seek His kingdom
first. Say, God, what do You want me to do? He
knows how you feel. He knows what you ask before
you pray. Seek Him. I sought the Lord. Why? Because
He... He hears those who seek him. He hears you.
When you seek him, he hears you. When you knock,
he opens the door. When you seek Him, you find
Him. You experience Him. When you turn your attention,
and the greatest thing, if you're a believer
and the Holy Spirit lives within you, listen,
He is near. He is in you. He is so close. You
don't have to travel to the other side of the
world to go to some sort of place to experience
who God is. Come on. You can just, wherever you
are, in your car, in your plane, I don't care.
In a boat. In a submarine. You can turn your
attention. Listen, all you have to do is turn
your attention away from your problem, away from
your circumstance, away from the thing that's
held you down and keeping you captive, keeping
you up at night. As soon as you turn, he is there
and he hears you. Woo! And what does he do? He
delivers you. Amen? Delivered David. Notice that
David here, he does not attribute the deliverance,
though, to his plan, his understanding of acting
insane. Think about it. He doesn't say, well,
I'm glad I acted like a madman. I'm glad that
saliva ran down my beard and I was like... you
know, at the doorpost. Man, if I wouldn't have
done that, I would have just, would have never
made it, would have died. I mean, that's what
he was facing. But that's not what David says
delivered him. That's not what David said brought
him out. He sought the Lord. The Lord heard him
and delivered him. Listen. delivered him from
this. See, did David get delivered out of all
his trouble? Did his night just immediately turn
into day? He was still on the run. Still in the
same predicament that he was before he went to
Gath. On the outside, yeah. What did he get delivered
of? What does the scripture say? Delivered me
from all my fears. This word fear is unique.
It's dread. It's dread. Think of it as like the
anxiety of what bad thing will come. And you're
dreading it. You're dreading the outcome of something.
And he was delivered this. He was delivered from
this. How? He's saying, as I sought the Lord.
Look at this. It doesn't just say fear. It says
my fears, right? As I sought him, my fear lost
its power. My dread lost all power, all affliction,
all torment in my mind, all torment in my heart.
As I sought the Lord, as I turned, as I quit
looking at my problem, When I turned to Him,
when I turned back, He was faithful. He was just,
right? And He delivered me from my fears. And
get this, listen. For you not to turn to the
Lord, for you to just say, well, I'm just going
to try. Better to like get out of this. I'm going
to try as hard as I can. You know what you're
doing? You're turning to legalism. You're turning
to legalism. It's not just innocent anymore.
You're saying that I can do something to get
rid of this that I'm feeling. You're again trying
to use your soul. Listen, you're trying to use
your soul to change your soul. You're trying
to use your mind to change your mind. And that's
not going to work for you. And that's why many
have trouble and have difficulty because, listen,
it's not effective. It might last for a season.
It might change. But as soon as something bad
happens again, something will be triggered in
your mind and you'll go back to the same place,
if not deeper than you were before. You must
seek the Lord. Because that's really when fear
loses its power. Because talking about your troubles
keeps you living in them. It's so sad, but so
true. Talking about them, listen, rehearsing
them keeps you living in that place. It's like
regurgitating. And you're just saying the same
thing, saying the trouble, the same thing. It
just keeps coming up, keeps coming up. And you
will live in that same place. And not only it's
just coming up, each time you tell it, it'll
grow. Each time you tell it, your heart will
feel something. Your mind will feel a little
different. It keeps you living in there. Because
listen, numbness to something. Some people think,
well, if I just talk about it and talk about
it and talk about it, yeah, you'll grow a little
more insensitive to it. You'll get a little more
numb to it, maybe. It might not have affected
you as it once did. But listen, numbness to something
is not the same as deliverance from something,
as deliverance out of something. God has called
to set the captives free. Who the Son sets free
is free indeed. Jesus wasn't on earth walking
around breaking people out of jail. He wasn't
cutting locks and like, come on, what is he talking
about? What is he talking about? Because you
know what? The greatest bondage, listen, the
greatest bondage someone can have is not locked
up in a prison cell. Paul and Silas proved that
was, you know, that doesn't matter. The greatest
freedom you can have is God setting you free
in your mind, in your will, in your emotions.
And it doesn't matter where your flesh is at.
Listen, you're free. God has set you free. You
don't return to it. You don't pick it back up.
This reminds us of what it says in 1 Peter 5,
6 through 7. Listen, it says, Therefore, humble
yourselves under the mighty hand of God that
he may exalt you in due time. Man, I wish we
could go back and read this to David. He'd be
really happy about it. Therefore, humble yourselves
under the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt
you in due time, casting all your care upon him,
for he cares for you. Listen, this word care,
casting all your care, is actually directly translated,
you can look in your interlinear Bible, it's
translated anxiety. That's the first immediate
thing. It's anxiety. And upon, for he cares.
This is actually a different word. It's just
a bad translation error. But if you look at the
original Greek language, it's a different care.
It means he has thoughts towards you. Because
his mind is on you. He cares for you in that
sense. Not like a grandmother saying, well, I
just care so much about him. And it's really
just concern. And it's really just fearful of
what's happening. Right, we want to make it sound
differently, but this is two different words.
He's casting all your anxiety on him, upon him,
for he cares for you. But listen, I want to flip
this around. What is, if, you know, if casting
your care is humbling yourself, what is carrying
your care? It's pride. Because in some way for
you to carry it, is placing the responsibility
for you to dig yourself out. Humble yourselves.
Yield. Submit. This is so hard. I don't know
why it's so hard. The Word challenges us sometimes,
right? But it's so hard for us to just yield
to Him. Yield to the Spirit. Because we're so
patterned and conditioned to just live for our
flesh and for the world. Whatever we feel, whatever
we experience becomes our identity. The devil
wants to lie to us and tell us that, but really,
your identity in Christ has changed. You are
no longer yourself. You are no longer your flesh.
In Christ, you are a new creation. Old things
have passed away. All things have become new.
You no longer exist, for your sins were nailed
to the cross at Calvary. Because who you are
is a spirit being in Christ. Amen. And that's
why you have the right and the ability to do
what the Word of God says. Because you don't
do this on your own. This is not... Listen. You
don't do this on your own. You know how you're
able to cast your care on the Lord? You know
how that's possible? Because the Word of God
says you can. This Word says cast. He's telling
you to cast your care on Him. So what does that
mean? If God said it, I can do it. Don't let
the enemy, don't let anyone tell you that you
can't. Because he'll love to convince you against,
contrary to what the word of God says. But when
Peter, listen, when Peter was in the boat and
God said, come, it didn't matter what obstacle,
it didn't matter what natural law was in place.
When God said, come, listen, he stepped out,
not on the water, he stepped out on the word.
That's how he came. Defied all logic, defied
all possibility. Because the word of God allows
you to travel towards something that seems impossible
in your mind. God laughs at impossibility. He
says to cast your care. That means you have the
ability to cast your care on him. But what does
that mean? We bring our cares to God to release
them, not rehearse them. I don't know about you,
but like when I've prayed before, I've just used
it as an opportunity to be like, well, OK, casting
my care upon him means that I go to the Lord
in prayer and I say, God, this is my problem.
This is the you know, the situation I find myself
in. This person said this and it's you know,
and I'm really trying to get over. I need to
forgive him. I need to do this. I need to move
past this. God, help me. Right. All these things.
And you you're just. word vomiting, right, to
God. You're just throwing all your problems towards
him, but you're still holding on to them. And
then the next time you come back in prayer, you're
going to go, well, nothing changed. So I'm just
going to keep doing it, and I'm going to keep
doing it, and I'm going to keep, let me say the
same thing again, because I guess he didn't hear
me this time, you know? So let me tell him all
my problems again because I guess he didn't really
know. I guess he really doesn't care. Come on.
Prayer is not an opportunity to magnify the problem
in God's presence. It is an opportunity to release
the problem. and magnify the one who cares for
you. You have to turn from the problem. You have
to get that problem out of your mouth. You've
got to get that circumstance out of your mouth.
And you've got to turn your problem into praise.
You have the power to do that. God has given
you control over your mouth. It's up to you.
He's made it available. His words here offering
it to you, that's His promise. Right? It's yours
in Christ. You don't have to work for it. You
don't have to earn it. You don't have to deserve
it. All you have to do is cooperate with the
promise by faith and take hold of it. And you
do that by saying, I will bless the Lord. I'm
not going to bless the problem. I will bless
the Lord at all times. His praise shall continually
be in my mouth. My soul boasts in Him. You know,
everything that could cause David to worry, fear,
and have anxiety, it was all still present. But
the miracle was not an external rescue. It was
an internal freedom. And that's what God wants
for you. He wants you to be free. Just because
you pray, it doesn't mean your whole problem
just magically disappears. It doesn't mean that
he manipulates the hearts of men and forces them
to say the right thing at Thanksgiving this year
so you can have a good, loving thing. You know
what I'm saying? Like, there's no matter how
much you can pray to just all, you know, that
family vacation or that thing. You know what
I'm saying? He's not going to intervene in that
affair. But what can happen is, though, you can
walk into the storm with a better perspective
on life and determine to magnify God. Listen,
you can determine to magnify who He is and what
He's done. And listen, some things will change.
Some internal things will be different, even
if those around you don't join in. Fear, listen,
fear magnifies your threat. Anxiety magnifies
your uncertainty. But pride magnifies yourself.
But humility magnifies the Lord. Faith does not
pretend. The problem isn't real. Some people
just want to act like, oh, okay, so I'm just
now because of Christ, I'm just supposed to act
like it didn't affect me, act like I didn't feel.
You just say something different. That's not,
no, it's not what we're talking about. Faith
is not pretending. It's not make -believe. It's
grounded in the truth of God's Word, and you're
determined. Faith is determination that God's
Word is true, and it will be true, and you believe
it so much that you can act on it. You can take
it to the bank. Faith refuses to make the problem
greater than God and realizes that whatever you
rehearse, You reinforce. That's why the next
time you face something, maybe this morning you
carried something in with you, right? It's time
to change the subject. It's time to step into
the freedom of God. It's time to step into the
deliverance because God wants you free. Not because
your problem isn't real. Not because you are
pretending. But because you have already given
the problem enough attention. At some point,
you just got to say enough is enough. Enough
is enough. This thing, this outside thing, I
no longer, because God has given me control and
the ability, His Word says it. So I agree with
the word and I say, I'm not going to let that
control me. I'm not going to let that determine
my future and what I want to do and my desires.
I'm not going to let it affect my emotions. You
turn from it. You say, we're going to change
the subject here. I'm not going to look at that
anymore. I'm not going to talk about that anymore.
I'm not going to deal with it anymore. Not because
it didn't happen, but because there's something
more important my focus has to be on. How many
of you have had this problem? I call it the 3
a .m. dilemma. You know, the problem. How many
of you experience this? It's interesting that
we all experience kind of the same things. But
how many of you have like... Something's happened
in the course of a day or the week or whatever,
and you're just kind of like, man, it's hard
to go to sleep, but I'm just going to force myself
to go to sleep, not think about it. And then
at 3 a .m., for some reason, it's always 3, or
at least for me, it's always like some crazy
time. You know, you wake up at 3 a .m., and your
mind, there's no filter on it, right? It's just
all these things are just like, boom, boom. What
if, what if, what if, what if? It's like an alarm
goes off in your heart, and all of a sudden your
body follows suit, right? You start thinking
about something, all of a sudden your heart rate
starts going up. You're sweating. You wake up.
You're like, man, it's cold in here, but I'm
just pouring sweat. I'm like in a puddle. I feel
like a bear just attacked me, you know? I feel
like I've been running from a bear, right? Your
mind starts, like, what if this happens? What
if that thing that, like, has to happen doesn't
work? How are we going to afford this? This,
like, bill, this thing? Like, how are we going
to afford this next step? This thing that has
to happen? What did that person mean? What did
my spouse mean when they said this? Did they
mean more than they said, right? Did they, like...
You try to get into their thoughts and try to,
like, analyze, like, what actually was going
on here? Is this a cause of a bigger problem
in our home or in our marriage? Oh, you know.
Your kid says something to you, and you're just
like, is that the way they really feel? You know,
like, and you're up at night going, like, really?
Something manageable, you know, at dinner can
become very catastrophic. at 3 a .m., if it's
not reined in, if it's not protected. And the
problem didn't get any bigger from when you put
your head down on your pillow. I can promise
you that. The problem didn't get any bigger while
you were asleep, right? It's just you magnified
it. You focused on it. You let your mind control
what it wants to do instead of telling your mind
what it has to do. I don't care if it wakes someone
up or not, but sometimes you just got to tell
your mind to stop. Sometimes you got to look
in the mirror and just say, you got to quit.
Whatever's going on here, it's done now. Whatever
I'm feeling, it's done now. Like, I got to, wait,
I got to straighten up, you know? Like, I got
to sort this out. But you know, if you're just
doing that on your own, it's just pride. It's
just legalism. It's not the will of God. What
God wants you to do instead of saying like, okay,
now you need to stop. I'm going to do something
better. I'm going to pull myself up by my bootstraps
and get in there and act like it didn't bother
me. No, what God wants is for you to turn to
him and say, I will bless the Lord. Not for the
problem, not for the situation, not for whatever's
going on. No, you just, you've got to praise
the Lord because he's worthy of all praise and
all honor and all glory. You just say, God, I
praise you. I thank you. I love you. And if it
doesn't, just keep saying, God, I praise you.
I thank you. You know this situation. You know
this hurt. You know what's bothering me right
now. And I thank you for caring about me. I thank
you for knowing me. You knew me in my mother's
womb. You know me now. You know me now. You will
deliver me. In Christ, I am free. This addiction,
this thing that's keeping holding me down, listen,
in Christ, I am free. This is not who I am. It
might be what I did today. It might be what I
did last week. It might be what I've done for
four years. Listen, but in Christ, listen, I
am free. I will no longer carry the guilt, the
shame, the condemnation. Why? Because Christ
has crucified it on the cross. He did that so
you and I don't have to live in it. And you say
with your mouth, in Christ I am free. Amen? In
Christ I am free. You need to change what you're
magnifying. Instead of rehearsing what if, begin
to say, God is faithful. God is faithful. God,
you're so faithful. God, you're with me. You're
here. God cares for me. He knows all the hair
on my head and how many went down the sink when
I took my last bath. He cares for me. His thoughts
toward me outnumber the grains of sand. I am
his masterpiece, created anew in Christ Jesus.
I'm his treasure. I am his. God leads me. He
leads me into the truth. He leads me into the
light. God is my source. That job, oh, that job's
not my source. If God is for me, who can be against
me? What can man do to me? Hmm. If God's your
source, what do you have to worry about? Hmm.
I bless you, Lord. You're the master, the boss,
the one in charge. I praise you, God. I thank
you. Go ahead and get happy about what's coming.
Go ahead and get happy about the promise before
it's even fulfilled. I love you, God. That's
what casting your care is. That's what David
did. That's what David's making his decision
in Psalms 34. He's saying, You know, I will bless
the Lord at all times. I will. I'm going to do
it. I'm doing it right now. It's with his mouth.
Don't let the enemy defeat you and keep your
mouth shut. I don't care where you are, who's
around you. The humble will hear it and be glad.
And David... I think he's prophetically inviting
us today to just magnify the Lord. Exalt his
name. Lift him up. Somebody in the house just
begin to praise God. Thank you, God. Thank you,
God. Hallelujah. You've brought me out. You are
faithful, God. You are my deliverer. You are
my help. God, you're so good. Bigger than my
problem. Bigger than this pressure. Bigger than
this circumstance. God, bigger than anything.
Bigger than this, than all. You are so worthy.
You are so holy. Why'd you stop? What's continually
coming out of your mouth? Don't stop when you
leave here. Don't stop when the pressure comes.
Just keep praying through it. Because listen,
if you do this now, if you start doing this now,
it'll be really easy when something comes up.
You know what's hard is when the thing has already
came up, then you got to jump on it. It's like,
I got to catch up. Come on. Because listen, When
we praise him, when we turn to him, our problem,
our situation is not going to just immediately
turn around. But the promise in the word is that
our affliction will be light and momentary. It'll
be light and momentary. Because you can extend
the length of your affliction. You can extend
it. It'll go on as long as you give it. Magnification.
As long as you focus on it, you'll live in it.
And that's not God's will for you. He wants you
to be free. This online worship experience was
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