Setup In The Stronghold

0:00:01.560 --> 0:00:02.840 Hey, this is Stephen Ferdick. 0:00:02.840 --> 0:00:05.880 I'm the pastor of Elevation Church and this is our podcast. 0:00:05.920 --> 0:00:07.800 I wanted to thank you for joining us today. 0:00:08.119 --> 0:00:10.960 Hope this inspires you. Hope it builds your faith. Hope 0:00:11.000 --> 0:00:13.000 it gives you perspective to see God is moving in 0:00:13.039 --> 0:00:16.520 your life. Enjoy the message. 0:00:17.920 --> 0:00:20.880 This week's sam as Psalm on I got some good news. 0:00:20.960 --> 0:00:27.680 My oldest son has fallen in love with an album, 0:00:28.560 --> 0:00:31.040 something I feared may never happen because you know, we 0:00:31.080 --> 0:00:35.239 live in the day of the single. Nobody listens to 0:00:35.320 --> 0:00:42.240 albums anymore. But my son, having impeccable good taste, mostly 0:00:42.240 --> 0:00:45.559 informed by his genetic code, has fallen in love with 0:00:45.800 --> 0:00:49.240 an album. If we weren't in church, i'd tell you 0:00:49.240 --> 0:00:53.320 that it's a Kendrick Lamar album. But what was so 0:00:53.400 --> 0:00:55.400 good to me about that is I was scared that 0:00:55.480 --> 0:00:58.120 he would never have the experience that I had when 0:00:58.160 --> 0:01:01.800 I was about his age. He's twelve, and he uh 0:01:01.920 --> 0:01:04.640 and he would just listen to songs, you know, Spotify 0:01:04.720 --> 0:01:07.959 stream songs and just you know, garbage stuff that's out 0:01:08.000 --> 0:01:09.600 there now. I didn't know if he'd get into good 0:01:09.680 --> 0:01:12.320 quality music and and and I never knew if he 0:01:12.360 --> 0:01:15.200 would have the moment that Eric and I had growing 0:01:15.319 --> 0:01:17.640 up in the mean streets of Monks Corner, South Carolina, 0:01:19.160 --> 0:01:20.440 falling in love with. 0:01:20.200 --> 0:01:21.880 With an album. Uh. 0:01:22.120 --> 0:01:24.520 The first album that I fell in love with was, 0:01:24.560 --> 0:01:28.640 of course by the great Christian worship band Guns n' Roses. Uh. 0:01:28.760 --> 0:01:33.479 The prophet Axel Rose was the first preacher whoever touched my. 0:01:33.520 --> 0:01:34.800 Soul in a powerful way. 0:01:35.680 --> 0:01:38.440 And I wanted him to have that experience, to really 0:01:38.520 --> 0:01:41.039 get into the music. And and he looked at me 0:01:41.080 --> 0:01:43.280 the other day he said, I just feel like Kendrick 0:01:43.400 --> 0:01:48.000 gets me. Compton and Wax are just to light. But 0:01:48.400 --> 0:01:51.320 that point aside, it was good. It was good to 0:01:51.400 --> 0:01:54.880 me to see him get into I wanted him to 0:01:55.000 --> 0:01:57.800 know that, you know, I wanted him to feel that 0:01:58.000 --> 0:02:01.360 I've I wanted him to know that it's not just 0:02:01.880 --> 0:02:05.320 because see like in this series, I want you to 0:02:05.440 --> 0:02:10.920 know that God gets you, and I want you to 0:02:11.000 --> 0:02:14.919 get into God. Can you see how excited I am, 0:02:15.240 --> 0:02:19.400 or caffeinated or something in some combination of caffeine and 0:02:19.520 --> 0:02:22.919 Jesus Christ. You got me fired up to tell you 0:02:23.000 --> 0:02:26.120 that God gets you and touch somebody and say I 0:02:26.160 --> 0:02:27.920 don't get you. 0:02:29.280 --> 0:02:31.200 Thank God he does. 0:02:34.080 --> 0:02:36.359 And the more you get into God, you realize that 0:02:37.120 --> 0:02:41.600 God gets you all of you. And yet when we 0:02:41.639 --> 0:02:44.280 come into church, sometimes we read little fragments of scriptures 0:02:44.320 --> 0:02:46.640 and phrases and things that sound good. It's like people 0:02:46.639 --> 0:02:48.720 who say, oh, I don't listen to the lyrics, I 0:02:48.880 --> 0:02:49.640 just like the beat. 0:02:50.440 --> 0:02:51.400 I hate those people. 0:02:51.800 --> 0:02:57.320 You don't understand the depth the backstory. 0:02:57.880 --> 0:02:58.919 You just like the beat. 0:02:59.840 --> 0:03:03.560 And sometimes we're like that in church. You know, I 0:03:03.600 --> 0:03:05.799 will bless the Lord at all times, and his praise 0:03:05.840 --> 0:03:08.639 shall continually be in my mouth, not thinking about what 0:03:08.680 --> 0:03:09.320 that says. 0:03:09.360 --> 0:03:13.200 You're just like how it sounds like, yeah, I will. 0:03:12.960 --> 0:03:17.280 Bless the Lord as occasionally once in a while on 0:03:17.320 --> 0:03:19.920 Sunday for twenty eight minutes. I will bless the Lord 0:03:19.960 --> 0:03:22.239 at all time. I mean all the time, not all times, 0:03:22.280 --> 0:03:25.280 not like all the time all the time. I'm not 0:03:25.280 --> 0:03:26.440 going to get in front of people and do it 0:03:26.480 --> 0:03:27.600 or anything like that. But you know, I'm not not 0:03:27.639 --> 0:03:29.240 gonna lift my hands or any but you know it 0:03:29.280 --> 0:03:29.760 sounds good. 0:03:29.800 --> 0:03:35.320 I like to beat. So I thought what we do today. 0:03:35.400 --> 0:03:38.200 Last week we were focused on Psalm fifty nine, which. 0:03:38.080 --> 0:03:38.680 Was a banger. 0:03:40.120 --> 0:03:43.120 We discovered that not only is David a shepherd, but 0:03:43.240 --> 0:03:48.280 he is a goat, the goat the greatest. 0:03:48.240 --> 0:03:50.880 Of all times. 0:03:50.920 --> 0:03:54.560 Some people were offended by that assertation that David was 0:03:54.600 --> 0:03:57.760 the greatest rapper of all time. 0:03:58.680 --> 0:03:59.560 I stand by it. 0:04:01.480 --> 0:04:08.680 We are rocking to his mixtape, The Book of Psalms. 0:04:10.520 --> 0:04:12.360 Free Millennia. 0:04:13.160 --> 0:04:16.240 After he pinned these words, they still resonate in our souls. 0:04:17.480 --> 0:04:19.120 But this week we're going to look at some things 0:04:19.120 --> 0:04:21.800 that he said that might surprise us. In Psalm one 0:04:23.279 --> 0:04:25.080 and this is more of a ballad. 0:04:26.040 --> 0:04:28.120 The tempo is a little slower. 0:04:29.839 --> 0:04:35.320 Because David is conflicted and he cries out to God 0:04:35.360 --> 0:04:37.360 about it. I want to read all seven verses from 0:04:37.400 --> 0:04:42.719 Someone forty two where David says, I cry aloud to 0:04:42.760 --> 0:04:45.800 the Lord. I lift up my voice to the Lord 0:04:45.839 --> 0:04:51.880 for mercy. I pour out before him my complaint. Before him, 0:04:52.440 --> 0:04:57.440 I tell my trouble. When my spirit grows faint within me, 0:04:58.440 --> 0:05:02.280 it is you who watch over my way. In the 0:05:02.320 --> 0:05:04.840 path where I walk, people have hidden a snare for me. 0:05:05.480 --> 0:05:08.239 Look and see there is no one at my right hand. 0:05:09.040 --> 0:05:12.880 No one is concerned for me. I have no refuge. 0:05:13.920 --> 0:05:18.919 No one cares for my life. Elijah, nobody's praying for me. 0:05:21.080 --> 0:05:25.360 I looked around for help, and all I found was hardship. 0:05:26.680 --> 0:05:30.240 I cry verse five to you, Lord, I say you 0:05:30.320 --> 0:05:34.920 are my refuge, my portion in the land of the living. 0:05:36.279 --> 0:05:40.320 Listen to my cry, for I am in desperate need. 0:05:41.360 --> 0:05:44.440 Rescue me from those who pursue me, for they are 0:05:44.440 --> 0:05:47.440 too strong for me. Set me free from my prison, 0:05:47.720 --> 0:05:49.280 that I may praise or name. 0:05:49.640 --> 0:05:50.960 I want to so. 0:05:51.160 --> 0:05:56.520 Bad, but I can't right now. Set me free. Only 0:05:56.560 --> 0:06:00.000 you have the keys to do it. Then the righteous 0:06:00.120 --> 0:06:05.000 will gather about me because of your goodness to me. 0:06:07.000 --> 0:06:08.520 One more thing I want to read you before we 0:06:08.560 --> 0:06:11.000 talk about it for a few moments from for Samuel 0:06:11.040 --> 0:06:16.880 twenty two. This is the backstory. This is the backstory 0:06:17.040 --> 0:06:21.479 to the to the beat, and just one verse for 0:06:21.520 --> 0:06:25.719 now for Samuel twenty two, verse five. But the prophet 0:06:25.760 --> 0:06:29.640 God said to David, do not stay in the stronghold, 0:06:30.040 --> 0:06:33.480 go into the land of Judah. So David left and 0:06:33.560 --> 0:06:38.200 went to the forest of hered My subject for today is. 0:06:40.040 --> 0:06:42.640 The setup in the stronghold. 0:06:45.440 --> 0:06:48.520 When we started song, I don't know if you found 0:06:48.520 --> 0:06:51.560 yourself like me, wanting to tell. 0:06:51.440 --> 0:06:56.440 David that you're not allowed to do this. 0:06:58.200 --> 0:07:00.720 When he cries aloud to the Lord in verse one 0:07:00.800 --> 0:07:03.360 and lifts up his voice to the Lord for mercy 0:07:03.520 --> 0:07:05.240 in verse one. 0:07:05.520 --> 0:07:06.360 At this point in. 0:07:06.360 --> 0:07:11.280 The psalm, I have predicted this predicament. It is in 0:07:11.360 --> 0:07:15.400 verse two that I'm a little surprised when David says, 0:07:16.040 --> 0:07:20.440 I pour out before him my complaint. At this point, 0:07:20.800 --> 0:07:23.520 I want to pull David aside and say, didn't you 0:07:23.640 --> 0:07:26.640 know that you were supposed to bless the Lord at 0:07:26.680 --> 0:07:31.360 all times and his praise continually be in your mouth? 0:07:31.840 --> 0:07:34.720 And David said back to me, yeah, I wrote that 0:07:34.800 --> 0:07:38.160 psalm too, that Psalm thirty four. But this one's a 0:07:38.160 --> 0:07:41.880 little different, because sometimes before my mouth can be filled 0:07:41.920 --> 0:07:45.000 with praise, I have to pour out something else to 0:07:45.080 --> 0:07:48.600 make room for what I know seeing now disappoint of 0:07:48.600 --> 0:07:51.360 the sermon where people start getting real confused on me, 0:07:51.680 --> 0:07:54.960 because we have been taught sometimes that unless we can 0:07:54.960 --> 0:07:57.360 come to God the right way, we can't come to 0:07:57.480 --> 0:08:00.200 him at all. And the fact of the matter is 0:08:00.240 --> 0:08:03.840 a lot of us don't pray, don't worship, and don't 0:08:03.960 --> 0:08:06.360 enter into the presence of God in that specific and 0:08:06.400 --> 0:08:09.600 tangible way wherein He can heal the issues of your heart, 0:08:09.920 --> 0:08:12.800 because we are scared of what would happen if we 0:08:12.880 --> 0:08:15.800 really opened ourselves up and told him. In fact, I 0:08:15.840 --> 0:08:17.560 was talking to my friend. I'm not going to say 0:08:17.600 --> 0:08:19.600 his name. I don't want embarrass Eric Phillips, but we 0:08:19.640 --> 0:08:23.880 were talking the other day how for us, it's very 0:08:23.880 --> 0:08:27.880 difficult for us sometimes to tell God how we're feeling. 0:08:28.120 --> 0:08:31.560 Which is funny because I have a feeling that he 0:08:31.680 --> 0:08:35.679 already knows how I'm feeling. But I'm scared to tell him. 0:08:35.679 --> 0:08:37.280 And here's why I'm scared to tell him. I know 0:08:37.280 --> 0:08:39.200 why I'm scared to tell him because of something my 0:08:39.280 --> 0:08:41.920 dad used to say. My dad used to say whenever 0:08:41.960 --> 0:08:44.120 I would start crying. He had this line he would 0:08:44.160 --> 0:08:46.280 say to get me to stop, and the line was, 0:08:46.280 --> 0:08:48.400 finish it if you know it. If you don't stop 0:08:48.679 --> 0:08:54.480 that crying, I'll give you. Your dad was an abusive 0:08:54.480 --> 0:08:55.160 maniac as well. 0:08:55.200 --> 0:08:56.440 Now, my dad is a great time. 0:08:57.880 --> 0:09:03.679 And I get it, and I get it, But when 0:09:03.720 --> 0:09:06.520 David uses this image, I was surprised because I'm so 0:09:06.720 --> 0:09:09.839 used to the psalms being a place where we. 0:09:09.880 --> 0:09:11.559 Pour out our praise. 0:09:12.280 --> 0:09:17.240 I was surprised to see David pour out his complaint 0:09:18.920 --> 0:09:21.880 because I didn't think you were supposed to complain if 0:09:21.920 --> 0:09:22.920 God was good to you. 0:09:24.559 --> 0:09:25.960 And I read the whole psalm, and he. 0:09:27.640 --> 0:09:30.960 Started the song saying he was pouring out his complaint, 0:09:31.240 --> 0:09:33.760 and he ended the song by saying that God was 0:09:33.840 --> 0:09:36.160 good to him. And I couldn't put the two together, 0:09:36.240 --> 0:09:38.600 because what do you have to complain about if God 0:09:38.640 --> 0:09:43.960 has been good to you. I'm sometimes afraid to complain 0:09:44.000 --> 0:09:46.800 in the presence of God, and so I don't pray 0:09:47.360 --> 0:09:51.120 because I can't say what I know I'm supposed to say. 0:09:51.559 --> 0:09:54.040 So I don't say anything because I'm gonna tell you, 0:09:54.360 --> 0:09:57.880 I'm scared that if I say what I really want 0:09:57.920 --> 0:10:03.199 to say, God might give me something to cry about. 0:10:03.800 --> 0:10:06.760 I'm scared sometimes to pray to God before I come 0:10:06.840 --> 0:10:09.600 preach what I really feel like praying to God, which 0:10:09.679 --> 0:10:12.840 is I'm not feeling this today, because I'm scared if 0:10:12.880 --> 0:10:15.120 I say that to him, he'll put some on my 0:10:15.240 --> 0:10:16.880 voice box where I can't preach. 0:10:17.480 --> 0:10:18.400 I'm afraid if. 0:10:18.240 --> 0:10:21.680 I complain to God about my children, then he might 0:10:21.720 --> 0:10:25.120 look on somebody else who's been praying that they could 0:10:25.160 --> 0:10:28.160 have kids, and they can have kids. And here I 0:10:28.200 --> 0:10:31.680 am complaining about something that I pray and ask God 0:10:31.720 --> 0:10:34.240 to give me, and I feel kind of guilty. So 0:10:34.360 --> 0:10:37.000 now I stand at the distance and I won't tell 0:10:37.080 --> 0:10:40.760 God what I have to say. But I learned something 0:10:41.480 --> 0:10:48.240 about God is that he is the only safe place. 0:10:49.559 --> 0:10:51.600 Where I can pour out my complaint. 0:10:54.160 --> 0:10:56.200 And if I don't learn how to pour out my 0:10:56.360 --> 0:11:01.480 complaints in His presence, they will spill over somewhere else 0:11:05.040 --> 0:11:09.760 Where else can I go but his presence? Who else 0:11:09.840 --> 0:11:14.360 could I tell but the one who knit me? Where 0:11:14.360 --> 0:11:17.720 else where else is it safe? What are you gonna do? 0:11:18.760 --> 0:11:27.280 You're gonna go on Facebook and tell your troubles. The 0:11:27.320 --> 0:11:30.600 presence of God is not a place. 0:11:31.040 --> 0:11:36.600 To bypass your emotions. It's a place to process them. 0:11:38.280 --> 0:11:42.720 And what that means is this, The only way into 0:11:42.760 --> 0:11:45.920 the presence of God is from where you really are, 0:11:46.720 --> 0:11:47.360 not from. 0:11:47.200 --> 0:11:48.520 Where you wish you were. 0:11:49.000 --> 0:11:51.920 You can start your prayers with O Sovereign God of 0:11:52.000 --> 0:11:57.880 the Seas and Nemo and Dorian Sydney, Australia, Oh God, 0:11:58.320 --> 0:12:00.920 Sovereign Father. Can start there. 0:12:01.360 --> 0:12:02.360 That's preferable. 0:12:02.720 --> 0:12:06.640 But in case you can't, in cases one of those days, 0:12:07.080 --> 0:12:10.360 in case you don't even feel saved, in case you 0:12:10.400 --> 0:12:14.520 just want to bash some heads, bust some heads, in 0:12:14.600 --> 0:12:18.120 cases one of those stays, in case you don't feel 0:12:18.160 --> 0:12:20.720 God at all, you know it's okay to tell God 0:12:21.000 --> 0:12:24.440 I don't feel you right now, but I need you. God, 0:12:24.520 --> 0:12:27.680 come to my rescue. You know who I am, You 0:12:27.760 --> 0:12:34.080 know how much I need. How in the world are 0:12:34.080 --> 0:12:37.480 you gonna get to the place the attitude, the mindset 0:12:37.720 --> 0:12:39.960 that God wants you to have and where he wants 0:12:39.960 --> 0:12:41.440 you to be if you don't start from where you 0:12:41.520 --> 0:12:52.080 really are. So it gives me permission. If David did it, teuch, 0:12:52.120 --> 0:12:56.560 somebody say, if David did it, If David did it, 0:12:57.920 --> 0:13:05.360 so can I and pour out my complaint in his presence? 0:13:06.360 --> 0:13:11.600 And he said, he said, I I cried allowed to 0:13:11.720 --> 0:13:13.000 the Lord. 0:13:13.840 --> 0:13:14.400 Allowed. 0:13:15.640 --> 0:13:17.760 The word has different meanings. If you spell it, you 0:13:17.800 --> 0:13:20.440 know you're allowed to complain. 0:13:21.760 --> 0:13:22.280 Allowed. 0:13:24.360 --> 0:13:25.920 And this is something that took me a long time 0:13:25.960 --> 0:13:28.160 to learn because I always tried to fight what was 0:13:28.200 --> 0:13:31.319 going on in my mind in my mind. The only 0:13:31.360 --> 0:13:33.240 problem with fighting what's going on in my mind in 0:13:33.280 --> 0:13:37.040 my mind is that is enemy held territory because I 0:13:37.040 --> 0:13:40.920 have strongholds in my mind. And when I go to 0:13:40.960 --> 0:13:44.760 pray and my heart is overwhelmed, my mind. 0:13:44.520 --> 0:13:45.800 Can't keep up with my spirit. 0:13:47.000 --> 0:13:49.360 Because my spirit knows what I need to pray, but 0:13:49.440 --> 0:13:50.560 my mind gets in the way. 0:13:50.960 --> 0:13:53.319 Who am I helping? So far? Who am I helping? 0:13:56.440 --> 0:13:57.800 So what I do? I wish I would have brought 0:13:57.840 --> 0:13:59.200 him out. I didn't remember to bring him out. 0:13:59.240 --> 0:14:01.720 I have some airport that I put in my ear 0:14:02.840 --> 0:14:04.920 so people will think I'm having a conversation on the 0:14:04.960 --> 0:14:08.080 phone in case they look in my car, or in 0:14:08.120 --> 0:14:10.800 case they see me going through well. I don't ever 0:14:10.840 --> 0:14:12.440 go to Target, but if I happen to go to 0:14:12.480 --> 0:14:14.880 Target once a year my annual trip to Hell, I 0:14:14.920 --> 0:14:17.359 would put in my AirPod. 0:14:21.080 --> 0:14:24.000 And I don't fight my mind in my mind. 0:14:26.680 --> 0:14:29.640 Because I can't win the level on the level that 0:14:29.720 --> 0:14:35.560 I'm fighting on. I have to get altitude. I have 0:14:35.600 --> 0:14:41.680 to fight from an elevated place. So I fight my 0:14:41.840 --> 0:14:46.520 mind with my mouth. You can pray any way you 0:14:46.560 --> 0:14:49.920 want to, but when you really get in a situation, 0:14:51.280 --> 0:14:56.080 you don't fight in your mind. You pray out loud. 0:14:57.120 --> 0:15:00.480 I want you for the next seven days. The next 0:15:00.520 --> 0:15:01.960 seven days, you can do whatever you want after that, 0:15:02.000 --> 0:15:04.720 but for the next seven days, tell somebody for the 0:15:04.760 --> 0:15:09.440 next seven days you're allowed to pray. 0:15:09.480 --> 0:15:17.080 Allowed. I want you to stop. I want you to stop. 0:15:16.880 --> 0:15:23.400 Closing your eyes and worrying and calling it prayer because 0:15:23.760 --> 0:15:26.600 you can think a thousand things at once? How many 0:15:26.640 --> 0:15:28.640 can how many aren't even paying attention to me? 0:15:28.760 --> 0:15:30.040 Right now? You got something in the. 0:15:30.000 --> 0:15:38.520 Oven, but you can only say one thing at a time. 0:15:39.200 --> 0:15:41.440 So when I open my mouth. 0:15:41.720 --> 0:15:46.520 I'm not just being emotional, I'm being strategic. In fact, Well, 0:15:46.680 --> 0:15:49.280 this is a shout right now to let God know. 0:15:53.520 --> 0:15:56.040 Come on rock Hill, shout somebody. 0:15:55.560 --> 0:15:58.080 In the back of Valentine, shout. 0:15:57.720 --> 0:16:03.680 In the overflow. Let's tell the place with praise. And 0:16:03.760 --> 0:16:05.480 see what I love about God is. 0:16:06.040 --> 0:16:08.080 I don't have to start with the script of the 0:16:08.360 --> 0:16:13.880 mightiest onliest Goddess. One is stuff, the sunniest and the stars. 0:16:14.600 --> 0:16:16.720 I can look at God and said God, I hate 0:16:16.760 --> 0:16:17.680 myself right now. 0:16:18.920 --> 0:16:21.360 Did you see how I just acted? And God will say, yeah, 0:16:23.120 --> 0:16:27.080 matter of fact, I did. And I see how you're 0:16:27.080 --> 0:16:33.560 gonna act tomorrow. And I decided to send my son 0:16:33.960 --> 0:16:35.280 to die for you, with. 0:16:35.480 --> 0:16:39.280 Complete foreknowledge of all of your false. 0:16:39.640 --> 0:16:43.240 If I make my bed in hell, you are there. 0:16:43.720 --> 0:16:46.400 If I say out dwell in the othermost parts of 0:16:46.520 --> 0:16:46.960 the sea. 0:16:47.520 --> 0:16:51.000 God is in the depressed place. God is in the darkness. 0:16:51.560 --> 0:16:57.240 God is in the cave. And David starts writing this 0:16:57.480 --> 0:16:58.080 song and. 0:16:58.160 --> 0:16:59.920 He has good acoustics, because you know you can sing 0:17:00.160 --> 0:17:02.040 good in the shower, because the acoustics make you think 0:17:02.040 --> 0:17:05.080 you can carry a tune. You ever did that you 0:17:05.160 --> 0:17:08.000 got in the shower, You like I should probably I 0:17:08.040 --> 0:17:09.240 should probably get an agent. 0:17:10.160 --> 0:17:17.520 I sound just like the recording. But the acoustics in 0:17:17.640 --> 0:17:18.600 the shower make you think. 0:17:18.680 --> 0:17:24.600 Okay, David has good acoustics because he's under attack. 0:17:24.800 --> 0:17:26.240 But he's in a cave. 0:17:26.400 --> 0:17:31.920 And some of the best expressions of your relationship with 0:17:32.119 --> 0:17:39.640 God will be born not when you are crowned in victory, 0:17:41.160 --> 0:17:50.240 but when you are hiding in despair. So David is 0:17:50.280 --> 0:17:54.040 a giant killer, and David has a future as a 0:17:54.119 --> 0:17:56.840 leader of an entire nation that God has called out 0:17:57.840 --> 0:18:05.840 his people. Have you ever had your calling in conflict 0:18:07.320 --> 0:18:13.720 with your circumstances? This is David's situation. 0:18:14.760 --> 0:18:15.000 In PS. 0:18:17.240 --> 0:18:19.119 I mentioned briefly, but I want to go back to 0:18:19.280 --> 0:18:24.520 it the historical record in First Samuel twenty two, because 0:18:24.600 --> 0:18:31.400 David is in a safe place, a cave, in a duel, 0:18:31.560 --> 0:18:36.600 the Bible says in verse one, David left Gath. Hey, 0:18:36.640 --> 0:18:38.879 you want to do something real cool this week, go 0:18:39.040 --> 0:18:42.120 and study where Goliath was from. 0:18:43.040 --> 0:18:44.440 Okay, I'm go ahead and tell you now because I 0:18:44.480 --> 0:18:46.080 studied it for you. It's Gath. 0:18:47.520 --> 0:18:52.800 So he has to go hide in the place where 0:18:52.840 --> 0:18:56.600 he just defeated an enemy. He has to go hide 0:18:56.640 --> 0:18:58.760 for a little while in a place that he doesn't belong. 0:18:59.160 --> 0:19:02.000 The problem with Dave that going to get this when 0:19:02.040 --> 0:19:06.119 they see him. He's still got Goliath's sword that he 0:19:06.240 --> 0:19:08.639 took after he cut off his head and maybe a 0:19:08.680 --> 0:19:09.560 little bit of blood on it. 0:19:10.080 --> 0:19:12.040 And David is on the run from Saul. 0:19:11.840 --> 0:19:14.600 Who's throne he is going to occupy, and so he 0:19:14.760 --> 0:19:17.080 can't stay in the place he belongs because the king 0:19:17.160 --> 0:19:17.919 wants to kill him. 0:19:18.320 --> 0:19:20.840 But he can't stay with the enemies that he's fighting against. 0:19:21.200 --> 0:19:23.520 Have you ever felt like you didn't fit anywhere? Just 0:19:23.680 --> 0:19:26.440 kind of quite fit? Are there at least three weird 0:19:26.480 --> 0:19:29.280 people like me in here? Do you ever feel like 0:19:29.320 --> 0:19:33.320 you don't fit where you came from, you don't fit 0:19:33.600 --> 0:19:38.000 where you're going. Have you ever felt too churchy to 0:19:38.119 --> 0:19:42.800 be worldly, but a little too worldly to fit in 0:19:43.000 --> 0:19:53.240 some churches where you have to And so David I 0:19:53.320 --> 0:19:59.840 had something right there, and David he escapes. But watch this, 0:20:00.000 --> 0:20:02.679 This is the phrase that got my attention. Everybody say escape, escape, 0:20:02.720 --> 0:20:07.520 because everybody has a way that they escape. That's what 0:20:07.640 --> 0:20:10.560 guns n' roses was for me. That's what that's what 0:20:11.960 --> 0:20:14.040 Elijah's headphones are for him. 0:20:14.480 --> 0:20:16.520 It's a way for me to escape just for a 0:20:16.600 --> 0:20:17.120 little while. 0:20:17.560 --> 0:20:19.600 I can get out of my situation and get into 0:20:19.680 --> 0:20:24.960 something else. But the way that you escape, here's the principle, 0:20:25.600 --> 0:20:30.800 could lead to greater captivity. So it is it is 0:20:31.080 --> 0:20:39.280 so important where you go when you run, because sometimes 0:20:39.359 --> 0:20:42.960 what you run to will end up running you. 0:20:45.520 --> 0:20:46.600 The Bible says. 0:20:47.880 --> 0:20:52.800 That David escaped from the land of God and he 0:20:53.000 --> 0:20:57.920 was safe from the sphere of Saul, and he escaped 0:20:58.800 --> 0:21:05.399 to give me my verse the cave, which is a 0:21:05.480 --> 0:21:10.040 safe place, but he escaped to something that he was 0:21:10.119 --> 0:21:17.840 trapped in. Now we understand what David had to complain 0:21:17.840 --> 0:21:21.560 about in Someone forty two, because he's supposed to be a. 0:21:21.680 --> 0:21:26.280 King and he's stuck in a cave and he's safe, 0:21:27.200 --> 0:21:32.200 but he's stuck and he knows there is more to 0:21:32.400 --> 0:21:36.840 me than this, and he is shocked. Now watch this. 0:21:37.640 --> 0:21:43.360 David is not surprised by the enemies that surround him. 0:21:44.440 --> 0:21:48.600 He's surprised by the friends that didn't. 0:21:53.720 --> 0:21:57.320 David was not expecting that it would be easy to 0:21:57.440 --> 0:22:01.000 be a king. He was not expecting to ascend to 0:22:01.119 --> 0:22:06.640 the throne without any battles. He wasn't expecting cotton candy, lollipop, 0:22:06.840 --> 0:22:10.879 Santa Claus yahweh. He wasn't expecting to be able to 0:22:11.000 --> 0:22:15.040 take the moving sidewalk to the throne to rule the people. 0:22:15.560 --> 0:22:19.160 But he was expecting that the people God called him 0:22:19.200 --> 0:22:22.879 to serve would have his back. And he looks around 0:22:23.280 --> 0:22:27.200 in Psalm from the Cave of Adullam and says, I'm 0:22:27.240 --> 0:22:31.320 not surprised by who's surrounding me to kill me. I'm 0:22:31.400 --> 0:22:35.159 surprised that nobody is surrounding me that cares about me. 0:22:35.760 --> 0:22:38.120 Have you ever looked around and been surprised? 0:22:38.640 --> 0:22:41.720 Where are the people I helped? Where are the people 0:22:41.880 --> 0:22:45.080 I prayed for? Where are the people? This is what 0:22:45.280 --> 0:22:46.679 it's like to be a parent. 0:22:54.920 --> 0:22:57.560 I thought it must be lonely for David in the cave, 0:22:58.440 --> 0:22:59.800 to be aul alone in the cave. 0:23:00.000 --> 0:23:03.119 And then I kept reading and I discovered he wasn't alone. 0:23:04.640 --> 0:23:07.960 Can I show you I have a seat, I'll show you. 0:23:09.760 --> 0:23:11.119 I love this stuff, man, touch. 0:23:11.000 --> 0:23:13.639 Somebody, say get into it, get into it, get into it. 0:23:14.320 --> 0:23:16.920 Don't just settle for a little a little cassette single, 0:23:17.600 --> 0:23:20.359 a single. Yeah, don't just settle for a little, a 0:23:20.400 --> 0:23:22.159 little This is the Dane the larn me. 0:23:24.440 --> 0:23:25.400 Because you like to beat. 0:23:28.280 --> 0:23:31.600 The backstory is this David is in the deepest place 0:23:32.000 --> 0:23:36.639 of despair, not because he's surrounded by trouble, but because 0:23:36.640 --> 0:23:43.000 he can't find his support, and he's in a stronghold, 0:23:43.960 --> 0:23:48.680 looking for a support system, looking for somebody to be 0:23:48.840 --> 0:23:53.520 there for him. You mean I I killed this giant 0:23:54.200 --> 0:23:58.840 that was defying the whole nation. You mean you mean 0:23:58.920 --> 0:24:03.840 I helped you move, was trying to make it practical 0:24:04.240 --> 0:24:05.760 or something we can live with, because most of us 0:24:05.800 --> 0:24:07.200 aren't hiding from wicked kings. 0:24:09.160 --> 0:24:10.760 But it doesn't mean that we can't relate. 0:24:14.480 --> 0:24:14.840 Mm hm. 0:24:18.760 --> 0:24:22.000 David says, I looked around and nobody was there, But 0:24:22.119 --> 0:24:26.080 it wasn't true. Just read the whole rest of the verse. 0:24:26.240 --> 0:24:29.720 Verse one, same verse. He's in the cave of Adullum. 0:24:30.040 --> 0:24:32.240 That's where he was. He says, I looked to my 0:24:32.320 --> 0:24:33.080 right and nobody was there. 0:24:33.160 --> 0:24:36.760 That's what he wrote some forty two, and his brothers 0:24:36.800 --> 0:24:38.640 and father's household herd about it, and they went down 0:24:38.680 --> 0:24:44.760 to him there. So he was surrounded. But there is 0:24:44.800 --> 0:24:55.520 a difference between being surrounded and feeling supported. And God 0:24:55.640 --> 0:24:57.840 sends David some people in a cave, and maybe he 0:24:57.960 --> 0:24:59.240 wrote that before they came. 0:24:59.160 --> 0:25:00.600 And maybe he wrote it a they came. Here's one 0:25:00.640 --> 0:25:01.240 thing I know. 0:25:01.720 --> 0:25:06.440 Everybody in that cave needed something from David. 0:25:10.480 --> 0:25:11.359 Here's how I know. 0:25:12.240 --> 0:25:18.280 The Bible describes David's team in verse two. It says, 0:25:18.359 --> 0:25:21.200 not only did his brothers and father come, who, by. 0:25:21.119 --> 0:25:22.239 The way, didn't believe in him. 0:25:23.359 --> 0:25:25.199 His dad didn't even bring him in on draft day 0:25:25.200 --> 0:25:27.480 when Samuel came through town with a horn. 0:25:27.320 --> 0:25:28.479 Of oil looking for the next king. 0:25:28.600 --> 0:25:30.359 Now you want some help in the cave because Saul's 0:25:30.359 --> 0:25:32.040 gone crazy, and you think maybe I can defend you 0:25:32.080 --> 0:25:32.800 because I'm good with a. 0:25:32.800 --> 0:25:33.680 Sword in a slingshot. 0:25:34.400 --> 0:25:36.600 You feel like people only call on you in certain times, 0:25:36.680 --> 0:25:38.720 like you don't hear from them for two years, and 0:25:38.800 --> 0:25:40.480 when they call you, you kind of want to say, 0:25:40.680 --> 0:25:42.320 why don't you just cut the crap and tell me 0:25:42.400 --> 0:25:43.879 what you want? Because I know you didn't call me 0:25:43.920 --> 0:25:45.800 to check on me. I know there's no way in 0:25:45.880 --> 0:25:47.280 the world you just called me to see how. 0:25:47.240 --> 0:25:47.720 I was doing. 0:25:47.880 --> 0:25:49.320 Then let's just skip through the preliminaries. 0:25:49.320 --> 0:25:51.400 How you doing bro, how I'm doing is just tell 0:25:51.400 --> 0:25:52.719 me what you need, and I'll tell you whether I'm 0:25:52.720 --> 0:25:54.320 gonna do it or not. But let's just cut through 0:25:54.359 --> 0:25:55.960 all this so I can save the time that you 0:25:56.000 --> 0:25:57.800 would spend pretending like you care about me. 0:25:58.280 --> 0:26:01.960 Maybe it's just me. I would bless the Lord at 0:26:02.040 --> 0:26:02.840 all times. 0:26:06.920 --> 0:26:13.080 And and David is surrounded, but he does not feel supported. 0:26:16.080 --> 0:26:19.120 He's got a full email email inbox. Does anybody still 0:26:19.119 --> 0:26:23.560 email anymore? By the way, Okay, And it's not that 0:26:23.640 --> 0:26:27.120 he's not getting any text, it's just that they're all transactional. 0:26:29.720 --> 0:26:32.960 It's not that he doesn't know anybody, it's just that 0:26:33.880 --> 0:26:39.880 nobody really knows him. Nobody cares. He didn't say nobody came. 0:26:41.040 --> 0:26:48.440 He said nobody cares. I got a crowd around me, 0:26:49.960 --> 0:26:53.040 and I smile so good. They have no idea that 0:26:53.160 --> 0:26:58.280 I feel like it's all fake, so quiet it's getting 0:26:58.760 --> 0:27:01.040 That's when I'm preaching my bad when they're standing up 0:27:01.080 --> 0:27:03.560 and shouting and all that, I ain't saying nothing really important. 0:27:04.119 --> 0:27:10.760 When it gets like that here, you're that funeral vibe. 0:27:12.359 --> 0:27:20.920 After that, that's what I like. Who really cares? 0:27:22.680 --> 0:27:24.560 If I couldn't provide for them? 0:27:24.720 --> 0:27:30.840 Would they care? I think I wonder sometimes if I. 0:27:30.880 --> 0:27:35.520 Couldn't pick up the mic, if I couldn't do what 0:27:35.720 --> 0:27:37.359 I did, who would I be. 0:27:38.840 --> 0:27:41.280 And who would really love me? If I didn't have 0:27:41.400 --> 0:27:42.119 a big church. 0:27:42.640 --> 0:27:45.680 I'm just trying to tell you I'm not David, but 0:27:45.880 --> 0:27:46.399 I can. 0:27:46.400 --> 0:27:48.119 Relate, and I have a feeling. 0:27:48.200 --> 0:27:52.120 Every husband can relate, every wife can relate, every friend 0:27:52.200 --> 0:27:52.760 can relate. 0:27:53.119 --> 0:27:55.000 I know every parent can relate. 0:27:55.440 --> 0:28:00.560 To look around in wonderm does anybody really care about 0:28:00.680 --> 0:28:02.120 me as a person? 0:28:02.560 --> 0:28:08.639 When are they gonna ask me? How were you? And 0:28:08.840 --> 0:28:15.120 everybody around me needs something from me. Look who God 0:28:15.240 --> 0:28:17.120 sent to David in the cave. Thanks a lot, God. 0:28:17.200 --> 0:28:17.880 Look at verse two. 0:28:18.320 --> 0:28:21.320 All those who were in distress, or in debt or 0:28:21.440 --> 0:28:23.240 discontented gathered around him. 0:28:23.680 --> 0:28:27.040 Really, this is my team. 0:28:32.840 --> 0:28:39.840 Huh. Really, I don't know the sequence. Nobody does. But 0:28:40.000 --> 0:28:40.960 what's God messing with? 0:28:41.080 --> 0:28:41.400 David? 0:28:42.400 --> 0:28:46.000 Nobody surrounds me, And God said, all right, I'm gonna 0:28:46.040 --> 0:28:48.160 put four hundred. The Bible says there were four hundred 0:28:48.200 --> 0:28:52.160 of them. I'm gonna send four hundred rough the roughest 0:28:52.400 --> 0:28:55.240 thugs you've ever seen in your You're gonna have some 0:28:55.360 --> 0:28:58.600 company in the cave now, David Hey, make some room, 0:28:59.080 --> 0:29:02.200 get the cot red. I heard you, David, here comes 0:29:02.280 --> 0:29:02.920 some backup. 0:29:03.240 --> 0:29:18.640 But God one David didn't. No, can I preach? Can 0:29:18.720 --> 0:29:27.040 I preach? These men would be the same men who 0:29:27.040 --> 0:29:35.160 would bring him to the throne. These men. 0:29:36.560 --> 0:29:41.160 That God sent to David in the cave would be 0:29:41.280 --> 0:29:46.240 the same man who would chase down lions in pits 0:29:46.320 --> 0:29:47.560 on snowy days. 0:29:47.800 --> 0:29:52.480 And rip their mouths open. And if they wouldn't have 0:29:52.560 --> 0:29:57.560 been rough, they couldn't have been relentless. And if David 0:29:57.640 --> 0:30:00.720 hadn't been in the cave, they wouldn't have come. Damn. 0:30:01.400 --> 0:30:03.800 It was a setup, That's what I'm trying to say. 0:30:04.800 --> 0:30:05.800 It was a setup. 0:30:06.040 --> 0:30:09.800 There are some things that can only come together in 0:30:09.960 --> 0:30:13.040 the cave when you get alone and you feel alone, 0:30:13.240 --> 0:30:15.760 and you say God, I needs you, And God says, 0:30:15.840 --> 0:30:18.920 now that you know that, I'm what's Indeed, I can 0:30:19.040 --> 0:30:21.440 give you what you don't even know they pray for 0:30:21.960 --> 0:30:25.720 if you'll get deferent and open your mouth and get real. 0:30:26.000 --> 0:30:28.360 Come on, is anybody ready to get real with God? 0:30:29.120 --> 0:30:41.960 I'm done pretending. I'm done playing do it by faith, 0:30:42.000 --> 0:30:43.600 touch by people say you got what you need, You 0:30:43.680 --> 0:30:45.120 got what you need, You got what you need. 0:30:45.960 --> 0:30:47.600 Come on, you see you got what you need. You 0:30:47.680 --> 0:30:48.360 got what you need. 0:30:48.720 --> 0:30:52.120 It might look like debt, it might look like disorientation, 0:30:52.640 --> 0:30:56.320 it might look like discontent. But those were David's mighty 0:30:56.440 --> 0:31:00.520 men in disguise. I'm telling you, a little boy, lunch 0:31:00.960 --> 0:31:03.920 isn't all you can eat buffet with God puts his 0:31:04.160 --> 0:31:04.720 hand on it. 0:31:05.120 --> 0:31:08.440 What you have is what's your need for where you are. 0:31:08.840 --> 0:31:11.960 You are not stuck. It is not over, so can't 0:31:12.080 --> 0:31:15.680 kill you. And you're not alone. Shout about it. Come on, 0:31:15.880 --> 0:31:27.960 shout about it. So David is not alone. Touch somebody, 0:31:28.000 --> 0:31:30.560 say you're not alone. You're not alone. Look them in 0:31:30.600 --> 0:31:33.959 the eyes, say you're not alone. You're not alone. 0:31:35.880 --> 0:31:37.240 The person on the other side of you that you've 0:31:37.240 --> 0:31:38.600 been ignoring every time I told you to turn to 0:31:38.600 --> 0:31:40.400 your neighbor, look at them and say you're not alone either. 0:31:40.480 --> 0:31:49.720 Don't leave him. You've been in a stronghold. David doesn't 0:31:49.760 --> 0:31:53.320 know what's next, and he says something real crazy. He 0:31:53.400 --> 0:31:57.239 says something real crazy because the men come to him, 0:31:57.920 --> 0:32:03.760 the broke relatives come to him. Everybody wants a piece 0:32:03.800 --> 0:32:12.720 of David now that he's got a contract, right, And 0:32:12.840 --> 0:32:18.719 he's like, I don't know I'm in this place right now. 0:32:20.000 --> 0:32:24.920 I'm in this cave. And he leaves the cave with 0:32:25.120 --> 0:32:36.280 these folk, and he's got to do something with his 0:32:36.440 --> 0:32:37.080 mom and dad. 0:32:38.280 --> 0:32:40.160 So he goes down to Moab, where they have good 0:32:40.240 --> 0:32:43.720 retirement communities assisted living. 0:32:44.120 --> 0:32:46.560 I don't know he went there. 0:32:46.800 --> 0:32:49.960 He had a tie there because his great great grandmother 0:32:50.160 --> 0:32:51.400 was a moabike. 0:32:53.320 --> 0:32:54.800 You can study this as much as you want. 0:32:54.880 --> 0:32:58.720 There's a lot of connections here, and which ones you 0:32:58.800 --> 0:33:02.920 see determines is determined by how you look. When he 0:33:03.040 --> 0:33:05.600 drops his parents off in Moab, I want to read 0:33:05.600 --> 0:33:07.080 you this. I didn't really get to keen on this 0:33:07.200 --> 0:33:09.120 last time, but I want to. 0:33:09.120 --> 0:33:12.120 Say it here. He tells the king of Moab. He's like, 0:33:12.240 --> 0:33:15.720 I need a place, a safe place for my family 0:33:15.800 --> 0:33:16.120 to stay. 0:33:17.520 --> 0:33:22.240 So will you look after mom and dad who weren't 0:33:22.280 --> 0:33:26.720 really looking out for me, who demean me. You know 0:33:26.760 --> 0:33:29.040 how it says David was a man after God's own heart. 0:33:30.040 --> 0:33:31.920 You know how Jesus is called the son of David. 0:33:32.600 --> 0:33:35.360 They had one thing in common. They did it for 0:33:35.480 --> 0:33:38.400 others who wouldn't do it for them. Wow. 0:33:40.400 --> 0:33:42.959 They were willing to die for the people who were 0:33:43.000 --> 0:33:43.840 willing to kill them. 0:33:45.880 --> 0:33:50.680 And so David makes arrangements for his parents to stay 0:33:50.800 --> 0:33:53.160 in Moab. Only problem with Moab is not really a 0:33:53.240 --> 0:33:56.120 bad place. I don't want you to conjure up images 0:33:56.120 --> 0:33:58.200 of Ninevu where they would impale their enemies. 0:33:59.120 --> 0:34:01.160 I don't want you to think Nero or. 0:34:01.120 --> 0:34:04.680 Anything like that was persecuting the New Testament Church, frying 0:34:04.720 --> 0:34:05.640 them in vats of oil. 0:34:05.680 --> 0:34:11.760 But Moab Moab was a place where they worshiped other gods. 0:34:13.640 --> 0:34:17.120 And so David goes down to a place that's not 0:34:17.360 --> 0:34:22.480 necessarily bad, but sometimes you go places to survive. 0:34:24.560 --> 0:34:27.720 That end up imprisoning you in the process. 0:34:29.440 --> 0:34:31.839 And he drops off his parents and he says verse three, 0:34:32.000 --> 0:34:39.040 verse three, can they stay while I or until I 0:34:39.320 --> 0:34:44.880 learn what God will do for me? David, you know 0:34:45.480 --> 0:34:47.080 that you're destined to be a king? 0:34:48.960 --> 0:34:51.880 Yes, I do, but right now. 0:34:53.800 --> 0:34:58.880 I'm in this cave of confusion, and what I know 0:34:59.080 --> 0:35:02.440 God has promised me does not take away the confusion 0:35:02.560 --> 0:35:07.840 of wondering how he will bring it to pass. So 0:35:07.960 --> 0:35:11.920 I need a safe place to stay while I figure 0:35:11.960 --> 0:35:17.200 out how is God going to do this? And he 0:35:17.280 --> 0:35:19.759 drops his parents off and he's got everything verse four 0:35:20.400 --> 0:35:23.600 under control. The king says, sure, and what else are 0:35:23.600 --> 0:35:26.000 you going to say to David, hit you with a 0:35:26.080 --> 0:35:26.680 rock or something. 0:35:26.719 --> 0:35:27.640 You don't help him. 0:35:27.520 --> 0:35:32.279 Out, and they stay with him as long as David 0:35:32.400 --> 0:35:36.520 was in Oh, there it is the stronghold. God sent 0:35:36.560 --> 0:35:38.719 me to preach to somebody today who's in the stronghold. 0:35:39.840 --> 0:35:43.200 The stronghold is not a bad thing. Please understand that 0:35:43.239 --> 0:35:47.200 when Second Corinthians ten four says we demolish strongholds, you 0:35:47.239 --> 0:35:49.440 stick around church a little while. You hear us say 0:35:49.520 --> 0:35:52.040 some churchy things, these little vocabulary words that we have, 0:35:52.360 --> 0:35:55.080 and we'll talk about pulling down strongholds. 0:35:55.440 --> 0:35:58.319 But before you pull them down, understand what they actually are. 0:35:58.680 --> 0:35:58.759 Now. 0:35:58.800 --> 0:36:01.759 I know you understand the military term that a stronghold 0:36:02.239 --> 0:36:03.760 is a fortified place. 0:36:04.280 --> 0:36:08.080 A stronghold is a place where opposing forces can't get 0:36:08.120 --> 0:36:11.600 to you. But a stronghold that protects you from one 0:36:11.800 --> 0:36:16.120 enemy might imprison you to another one. So the Prophet 0:36:16.960 --> 0:36:19.160 God says to David in one of the only two 0:36:19.239 --> 0:36:21.879 times that we see him in scripture, the Prophet God 0:36:21.960 --> 0:36:24.320 says something to David that I believe the spirit of 0:36:24.320 --> 0:36:26.720 the Lord might be saying to you today. Lake Norman 0:36:27.040 --> 0:36:33.200 University Online, Kansas, Nebraska. From sea to Shining Sea, I 0:36:33.280 --> 0:36:37.080 want to make an announcement teenagers, people who are not 0:36:37.320 --> 0:36:41.239 teenagers anymore, people who have lived several lifetimes since your 0:36:41.320 --> 0:36:43.920 teenage years. I want, I want to. I want to 0:36:43.960 --> 0:36:45.920 declare the word of the Lord to you, and the 0:36:45.960 --> 0:36:48.040 word of the Lord to you as this for Samuel 0:36:48.120 --> 0:36:54.840 twenty two five. Do not stay in the stronghold because 0:36:54.960 --> 0:36:59.640 it's a setup. Because if you stay in Moab too 0:36:59.719 --> 0:37:02.680 long now, state of mind, it may not be a 0:37:02.719 --> 0:37:03.600 physical location. 0:37:03.960 --> 0:37:05.320 I'm not talking about your marriage. 0:37:05.320 --> 0:37:07.279 I'm not telling you to get a divorce and blame 0:37:07.320 --> 0:37:08.919 it on God because he said leave Moab. 0:37:09.239 --> 0:37:17.279 I know people take my message and say twist them, but. 0:37:17.400 --> 0:37:21.799 The stronghold is usually something that you ran too. 0:37:23.200 --> 0:37:27.600 To protect you. Let's see how real you're willing to 0:37:27.640 --> 0:37:27.960 be now. 0:37:29.320 --> 0:37:34.040 I want all the pessimists to raise your hand right now, 0:37:35.719 --> 0:37:41.960 all the pessimist, all the spouses a pessimists, grab the 0:37:42.080 --> 0:37:45.719 wrist of your partner and make them play along with 0:37:46.800 --> 0:37:52.080 high interactive sir men. I'm gonna tell you why you're 0:37:52.120 --> 0:38:01.359 a pessimist. It's a defense mechanism. It protects you from disappointment. 0:38:08.040 --> 0:38:12.520 It protects you, like the gin Blossoms used to say, 0:38:13.560 --> 0:38:15.560 if you don't expect too much from me, you might 0:38:15.640 --> 0:38:21.040 not be let down. So I got let down and 0:38:21.160 --> 0:38:24.520 I didn't like how that felt. So now I just 0:38:24.719 --> 0:38:27.640 expect people to suck, and when they do, I'm not surprised. 0:38:30.080 --> 0:38:35.080 Come on, how many pessimists in the house. And it's 0:38:35.160 --> 0:38:39.239 fine to be realistic. But what you don't know when 0:38:39.280 --> 0:38:43.319 you developed the pattern of pessimism neurologically in your brain 0:38:43.400 --> 0:38:47.239 and spiritually in your heart. When you hide in that stronghold, 0:38:47.719 --> 0:38:53.239 it protects you, but it traps you. It protects you, 0:38:54.000 --> 0:38:58.239 but it also ensnares you because you now create the 0:38:58.360 --> 0:39:02.560 reality that you projected through your expectation. So you are 0:39:02.640 --> 0:39:05.640 not surprised that life sucks. But life sucks because you 0:39:05.760 --> 0:39:09.600 were not prepared to be surprised by anything other than 0:39:09.640 --> 0:39:12.879 the fallen condition of sinful man. And so when God 0:39:13.040 --> 0:39:15.399 really wants to show you his goodness in the land 0:39:15.440 --> 0:39:17.920 of the living, you can't see. 0:39:17.760 --> 0:39:20.959 It because you're in the stronghold. 0:39:24.000 --> 0:39:27.480 So pessimism protects you from disappointment. 0:39:27.160 --> 0:39:31.480 But it imprisons you as it protects you. 0:39:33.640 --> 0:39:39.480 Every addiction is, at its root a form of self defense. Wow, 0:39:41.320 --> 0:39:45.440 because I'm taking something, or I'm seeing something, or I'm doing. 0:39:45.360 --> 0:39:47.440 Something or I'm saying something. 0:39:47.160 --> 0:39:49.360 Because you can be addicted to a whole lot of 0:39:49.400 --> 0:39:52.160 stuff more than pills. I got some friends that are 0:39:52.239 --> 0:40:00.839 addicted to problems. If it even looks it's like it's 0:40:00.920 --> 0:40:03.360 going to be a good day, they will spike the 0:40:03.440 --> 0:40:06.520 coffee just to screw things up so they can feel 0:40:06.600 --> 0:40:13.480 normal in a state of self sabotage. I'm preaching like 0:40:13.560 --> 0:40:18.080 I know you now. Only God could show me this 0:40:18.239 --> 0:40:21.880 about you. You are addicted to drama. 0:40:22.000 --> 0:40:23.000 It protects you. 0:40:24.000 --> 0:40:27.280 The drama protects you from having to be productive and steady, 0:40:28.400 --> 0:40:30.960 because if you create drama, you'll have something to blame. 0:40:33.920 --> 0:40:36.440 It's a way of escape. That's why a lot of 0:40:36.560 --> 0:40:40.719 us blame others. It's a stronghold. It's a stronghold. It's 0:40:40.800 --> 0:40:43.440 a way for me to not have to take responsibility 0:40:43.760 --> 0:40:45.040 because if I. 0:40:45.120 --> 0:40:47.520 Blame you, I don't have to deal with the shame 0:40:47.600 --> 0:40:52.759 of me. And now I'm imprisoned to bitterness. 0:40:53.560 --> 0:40:57.800 And David, if you stay in the cave, you won't 0:40:57.840 --> 0:41:03.799 be able to save the people of Kayla. David had 0:41:03.840 --> 0:41:04.400 a battle to. 0:41:04.480 --> 0:41:07.680 Fight in Judah that he didn't know about. 0:41:09.640 --> 0:41:12.560 He had an army that God was forming that he 0:41:12.640 --> 0:41:15.800 couldn't see for what they were because he was in 0:41:15.880 --> 0:41:18.920 the stronghold. And there are things that God has surrounded 0:41:18.960 --> 0:41:23.640 you with that you can't see in the stronghold. So 0:41:23.800 --> 0:41:26.280 the prophet says, you gotta. 0:41:26.080 --> 0:41:29.640 Go to Judah. You gotta go to Judah. 0:41:30.920 --> 0:41:33.239 If I had a fired up church, I would preach 0:41:33.360 --> 0:41:38.879 this saying, if this was code Orange Revival. Oh, if 0:41:38.960 --> 0:41:41.880 I was at Matthew's right now, if I was at 0:41:41.960 --> 0:41:44.759 Lake Norman, I would have you touch seven people and 0:41:44.840 --> 0:41:47.439 tell him get to Judah. Get to Judah as quick 0:41:47.480 --> 0:41:50.439 as you can. Get to Judah. Judah is the place 0:41:50.520 --> 0:41:55.359 that represents praise. In fact, the very word Judah means praise. Now, 0:41:55.440 --> 0:41:59.440 I see what David was doing in Somes is what 0:42:00.040 --> 0:42:03.600 it was saying in First Samuel twenty two. I'm leaving 0:42:03.680 --> 0:42:09.120 this stronghold. I'm stepping outside of myself, outside of my feelings, 0:42:09.520 --> 0:42:13.160 outside of my circumstance, and I'll step it in my 0:42:13.360 --> 0:42:14.480 future hits. 0:42:14.600 --> 0:42:19.480 Anybody going to Judah today, come on, get it, pray, 0:42:26.800 --> 0:42:29.560 get to Judah. Get to Judah. 0:42:30.760 --> 0:42:33.719 You won't see what God can do for you in 0:42:33.880 --> 0:42:34.560 this cave. 0:42:35.000 --> 0:42:36.400 You gotta go to Judah. 0:42:36.800 --> 0:42:39.560 You gotta get back to the place where you will 0:42:39.640 --> 0:42:43.000 be crowned as king. You gotta get back to the promise. 0:42:43.080 --> 0:42:47.640 See Thithan starts stand up and help me close this sermon. 0:42:48.640 --> 0:42:50.840 He starts some. 0:42:53.120 --> 0:42:58.000 Trapped in a cave, but he ends put verse seven up. 0:42:58.920 --> 0:43:02.720 He in someone for forty two coming out of prison. 0:43:04.400 --> 0:43:10.520 He starts some one forty two behind bars, but he 0:43:10.719 --> 0:43:14.120 ends someone forty two riding bars. 0:43:15.360 --> 0:43:21.960 He starts some one forty two in a cave that 0:43:22.080 --> 0:43:22.720 seems safe. 0:43:23.960 --> 0:43:27.360 He ends someone forty two knowing that God is my 0:43:27.520 --> 0:43:31.800 refuge and nothing can by any means harm me. 0:43:32.520 --> 0:43:40.160 Nothing nothing nothing nothing nothing nothing, nothing, nothing, no one, 0:43:40.640 --> 0:43:45.760 nothing can stand against the promise of God. He started 0:43:45.840 --> 0:43:48.400 with complaint, but by the time he got. 0:43:48.360 --> 0:43:50.520 Done, he was filled with praise. 0:43:51.080 --> 0:43:54.000 I know you came the third turning, but why. 0:43:53.880 --> 0:43:56.680 Not lift your hands and praise out. 0:43:59.440 --> 0:44:01.480 I'm not stop where are starting? 0:44:02.480 --> 0:44:04.520 JP not stand where I start? 0:44:12.920 --> 0:44:15.400 Thank you for joining us special thanks to those of 0:44:15.480 --> 0:44:17.560 you who give generously to this ministry. 0:44:17.920 --> 0:44:20.280 Is because of you that this ministry is possible. 0:44:20.800 --> 0:44:23.239 You can click the link in the description to give now, 0:44:23.880 --> 0:44:27.200 or visit Elevation Church dot org slash podcast for more 0:44:27.239 --> 0:44:29.600 information and if you enjoyed the podcast. 0:44:29.920 --> 0:44:32.600 You can subscribe. You can share it with your friends. 0:44:32.920 --> 0:44:35.200 You can click the share button, take a screenshot and 0:44:35.280 --> 0:44:37.319 share it on your social stories and tag us at 0:44:37.400 --> 0:44:38.239 Elevation Church. 0:44:38.320 --> 0:44:39.920 Thanks again for listening. God bless you.