The Winning Hand

0:00:01.560 --> 0:00:02.840 Hey, this is Stephen Ferdick. 0:00:02.840 --> 0:00:05.840 I'm the pastor of Elevation Church and this is our podcast. 0:00:05.920 --> 0:00:07.760 I wanted to thank you for joining us today. 0:00:08.119 --> 0:00:10.719 Hope this inspires you. Hope it builds your faith. 0:00:10.800 --> 0:00:12.880 Hope it gives your perspective to see God is moving 0:00:12.920 --> 0:00:13.480 in your life. 0:00:13.880 --> 0:00:14.720 Enjoy the message. 0:00:17.840 --> 0:00:19.480 I was telling my friend that I wanted to preach 0:00:19.840 --> 0:00:22.440 a series on David and the Psalms. I said, I'm 0:00:22.480 --> 0:00:27.080 gonna call it bars and battles, and he goes, I 0:00:27.120 --> 0:00:32.599 didn't know David was in prison. I said, no, man 0:00:32.760 --> 0:00:40.880 like bars, like bars, like hip hop bars, music measures 0:00:40.880 --> 0:00:44.960 of music, four beats bars And you didn't get it, 0:00:45.040 --> 0:00:48.280 So I said, I kind of ruined the punchline. But 0:00:49.960 --> 0:00:52.199 I do want to set up one thing before I 0:00:52.200 --> 0:00:54.000 go to my scripture today, and that is I want 0:00:54.040 --> 0:00:57.560 to solve the debate of who is the greatest rapper 0:00:57.560 --> 0:00:59.800 of all time. Of course I'm qualified to speak to 0:00:59.800 --> 0:01:02.400 this subject, having grown up in Monk's Corner, South Carolina, 0:01:02.440 --> 0:01:09.039 the epicenter of hip hop and the greatest rapper of 0:01:09.080 --> 0:01:12.680 all time. Please withhold, suspend your judgment and throw stuff 0:01:12.720 --> 0:01:15.399 at the stage when I tell you this, But the 0:01:15.440 --> 0:01:21.120 greatest rapper of all time is not Biggie. Did I 0:01:21.200 --> 0:01:25.920 just break your heart already? The greatest rapper of all 0:01:25.959 --> 0:01:32.360 time is not Tupac. Sorry Poc. If you're watching from Cuba, 0:01:35.680 --> 0:01:40.000 Thacs thacks now, jay Z. 0:01:45.640 --> 0:01:51.280 Not Kanye, you seem to be in full agreement, not 0:01:51.400 --> 0:01:54.960 eminem now j Cole. 0:01:57.000 --> 0:01:59.520 I know that North Carolina pride makes you want to 0:02:00.840 --> 0:02:10.320 I know, not Kendrick. I love Kendrick. I love Kendrick Cleaners. 0:02:10.360 --> 0:02:14.880 But the greatest rapper of all time, of course, is 0:02:15.760 --> 0:02:19.560 King d King. 0:02:20.840 --> 0:02:21.600 David. 0:02:22.800 --> 0:02:27.920 His songs, his bars have been topping the charts for 0:02:28.040 --> 0:02:31.000 three thousand years. 0:02:32.360 --> 0:02:33.400 That's pretty strong. 0:02:37.760 --> 0:02:40.600 And I know what you think about the psalms, how 0:02:40.720 --> 0:02:44.679 comforting they are and how cute they are, But I 0:02:44.800 --> 0:02:46.959 want to show you that the psalms are more. 0:02:48.520 --> 0:02:51.519 Like hip hop than they are like Hallmark. 0:02:51.720 --> 0:02:57.600 Let's take a look today at Psalm fifty nine, and 0:02:57.639 --> 0:03:01.320 I'm really excited to share this with you. This series 0:03:01.360 --> 0:03:04.520 is going to help us get real with God. And 0:03:04.600 --> 0:03:06.519 this series is going to help us get past the 0:03:06.600 --> 0:03:08.360 nice things that we think we need to say to 0:03:08.400 --> 0:03:10.760 God to convince him that we're doing better than we are, 0:03:10.840 --> 0:03:13.160 even though he knows the full condition and intents of 0:03:13.200 --> 0:03:17.560 our hearts and show us how that some of the 0:03:17.600 --> 0:03:24.000 greatest bars come from some of the greatest battles. Of course, 0:03:24.040 --> 0:03:26.320 through the scriptures, we get a portrait of David, who 0:03:26.360 --> 0:03:34.000 is a victorious warrior and a giant slayer and a 0:03:34.040 --> 0:03:38.240 great king, the most beloved king that Israel ever knew. 0:03:38.880 --> 0:03:41.800 But we also have the benefit of reading not only 0:03:41.840 --> 0:03:45.440 what was written about him, but what was written by him. 0:03:46.280 --> 0:03:48.680 And so when you see that little book close to 0:03:48.720 --> 0:03:52.640 the middle of your Bible called Psalms, it is over 0:03:52.760 --> 0:03:57.840 half attributed to King David. And so we not only 0:03:57.880 --> 0:04:01.920 see what was going on in his life, but we 0:04:01.960 --> 0:04:06.400 see what was going on in his soul. And we 0:04:06.480 --> 0:04:09.520 all have things that people see that we go through. 0:04:09.560 --> 0:04:13.720 And then we have that other part, the stuff that 0:04:13.760 --> 0:04:17.480 we don't say, the enemies that we don't talk about 0:04:17.640 --> 0:04:20.680 in our e group because they're sitting next to us 0:04:20.720 --> 0:04:22.799 and they're called our spouse. Okay, let's go to Psalm 0:04:22.839 --> 0:04:26.440 fifty nine. Please look at this with me before I 0:04:26.520 --> 0:04:30.320 say too much. It's only week one. Pace yourself verdict. 0:04:30.400 --> 0:04:31.359 You are my strength. 0:04:31.400 --> 0:04:34.240 Verse nine. I watch for you. 0:04:34.240 --> 0:04:38.560 You God are my fortress, my God on whom I 0:04:38.720 --> 0:04:42.320 can rely in that nice Come on in that great 0:04:43.320 --> 0:04:46.400 don't you want to screenshot that and put it on 0:04:45.680 --> 0:04:48.200 your wallpaper and. 0:04:48.320 --> 0:04:49.719 Set it as your background. 0:04:50.240 --> 0:04:53.719 Put it in a cursive font, a pink cursive font, 0:04:53.760 --> 0:04:56.279 and croche it on a pillow and put a coffee 0:04:56.320 --> 0:04:58.880 mug behind it, and a bald eagle and. 0:04:58.839 --> 0:05:00.839 A rock climber and a hot air balloon. 0:05:00.960 --> 0:05:04.640 Make a motivational poster out of Psalm fifty nine. You 0:05:04.680 --> 0:05:07.839 are my strength. I can see this on Pinterest. Oh Lord, 0:05:07.960 --> 0:05:11.280 you are my strength. I watch for you. You God 0:05:11.360 --> 0:05:16.279 are my fortress, my God on whom I can rely. 0:05:16.480 --> 0:05:18.680 Don't you love the psalms? Raise your hand if you. 0:05:18.640 --> 0:05:20.640 Love that, to know that God is her strength and 0:05:20.720 --> 0:05:22.920 your fortress and you can rely on him. 0:05:23.320 --> 0:05:24.240 David goes on to. 0:05:24.200 --> 0:05:27.360 Say, God will go before me. How many are grateful 0:05:27.360 --> 0:05:29.760 that God has prepared the path before you and you 0:05:29.800 --> 0:05:32.720 don't know what's there, but He knows what's there. That's 0:05:32.760 --> 0:05:34.839 the only way sometimes that you can go forward is 0:05:34.839 --> 0:05:39.279 to know that God has already been there. You will 0:05:39.279 --> 0:05:43.960 go before me and will let me gloat over those 0:05:44.000 --> 0:05:50.080 who slander me. Whoh took a little turn, there, took 0:05:50.080 --> 0:05:51.960 a little turn. The bald eagle just flew off the 0:05:51.960 --> 0:05:54.600 poster and the hot air balloon just popped and now gloating. 0:05:55.680 --> 0:05:58.800 But do not kill them, Lord, our shield or my 0:05:58.839 --> 0:05:59.520 people will forget. 0:05:59.560 --> 0:06:02.760 Oh that's an he's coming back to, coming back to 0:06:03.320 --> 0:06:05.720 that holy place. In your might. 0:06:05.800 --> 0:06:08.080 Uproot them and bring them down. For the sins of 0:06:08.120 --> 0:06:10.720 their mouths, for the words of their lips. Let them 0:06:10.720 --> 0:06:12.440 be caught in their pride, for the curses and lies 0:06:12.480 --> 0:06:15.480 they utter. Consume them in your wrath, Consume them till 0:06:15.480 --> 0:06:20.320 they are no more. And now I'm confused because this 0:06:20.480 --> 0:06:24.280 started as a devotion and it turned into a disc track. 0:06:24.960 --> 0:06:27.840 I don't know if this is David or if this 0:06:27.880 --> 0:06:28.359 is Drake. 0:06:28.400 --> 0:06:32.320 I'm so confused. I'm so confused. Help me, help me, 0:06:33.360 --> 0:06:34.240 help me understand. 0:06:35.680 --> 0:06:37.240 Then it will be known to the ends of the 0:06:37.279 --> 0:06:41.919 earth that God rules over Jacob. They return at evening, 0:06:42.120 --> 0:06:45.400 snarling like dogs and prowl about the city. They wander 0:06:45.480 --> 0:06:48.240 about for food and howl if not satisfied. 0:06:48.560 --> 0:06:52.080 But I will sing of your strength in the morning. 0:06:52.960 --> 0:06:56.920 I will sing of your love, for you are my fortress, 0:06:58.160 --> 0:07:03.039 my refuge of trouble. I want to let you know 0:07:03.120 --> 0:07:06.719 today that you have the upper hand turn to somebody 0:07:06.720 --> 0:07:07.960 and let them know I have. 0:07:08.080 --> 0:07:11.240 The upper hand. Come on, let's get started. 0:07:11.280 --> 0:07:13.800 Spirit of God, speak to our hearts today in such 0:07:13.800 --> 0:07:16.400 a powerful way that we will never forget this encounter 0:07:16.480 --> 0:07:19.080 with you. Show us who you are and who we are, 0:07:19.080 --> 0:07:21.120 and make up the difference in our lives for all 0:07:21.160 --> 0:07:23.800 that we are not. Be something God right now that 0:07:23.840 --> 0:07:26.320 we don't even know that we need speak something that 0:07:26.360 --> 0:07:27.000 we don't even know. 0:07:27.040 --> 0:07:28.680 We need to hear, deposit. 0:07:28.360 --> 0:07:30.640 Something that we didn't even know we were walking around 0:07:30.640 --> 0:07:33.440 with out. Speak to our souls and we give you 0:07:33.520 --> 0:07:35.360 praise in advance in Jesus' name. 0:07:36.240 --> 0:07:40.200 Amen. So the question I have is. 0:07:41.720 --> 0:07:45.280 What could David have been going through at this point 0:07:45.320 --> 0:07:49.000 in his life that would cause him to experience such 0:07:49.840 --> 0:07:51.640 a range of emotions. 0:07:51.680 --> 0:07:55.000 You saw it for yourself. It was a psalm sandwich. 0:07:57.360 --> 0:07:59.720 You saw it where he was talking about. 0:07:59.720 --> 0:08:04.600 The strength of God and the struggles of his life 0:08:04.840 --> 0:08:07.600 all in the same sum Now. I knew that David 0:08:07.680 --> 0:08:10.560 had range of motion because I saw him kill Goliath, 0:08:11.720 --> 0:08:13.440 and I knew that he had range of motion and 0:08:13.480 --> 0:08:17.080 the ability to take down giants. But what surprises me 0:08:17.920 --> 0:08:24.200 is his range of emotion that he experienced within himself, 0:08:24.240 --> 0:08:26.640 and I want to talk to you from three points 0:08:26.680 --> 0:08:29.840 today to help set up this series. And I usually 0:08:29.880 --> 0:08:32.280 don't show you the whole thing. I don't show my 0:08:32.360 --> 0:08:34.160 hand at the beginning of the sermon, but I'm going 0:08:34.200 --> 0:08:35.559 to give you all three points. I want to talk 0:08:35.559 --> 0:08:41.800 about the wars, the weapons, and the way the wars, 0:08:42.920 --> 0:08:44.920 the weapons, and the way. 0:08:45.400 --> 0:08:47.000 The Scripture declares. 0:08:46.559 --> 0:08:48.640 That I am more than a conqueror through Him who 0:08:48.679 --> 0:08:51.439 loves me. If that's the case, then why are there 0:08:51.480 --> 0:08:56.960 times where I do not feel his love? The scripture 0:08:57.000 --> 0:08:59.720 declares that God is my defender and that he will arise. 0:09:00.120 --> 0:09:02.640 No weapon formed against me will prosper. Why is it 0:09:02.679 --> 0:09:06.640 then that I feel under siege? It is into this 0:09:06.800 --> 0:09:11.520 tension that we must reconcile these lines that David wrote 0:09:12.440 --> 0:09:16.280 with the life that David lived. And so I want 0:09:16.320 --> 0:09:19.120 to take you over today to a scene in David's life. 0:09:19.120 --> 0:09:21.560 And you know, some of the psalms that are written, 0:09:21.920 --> 0:09:24.600 we don't really know what was going on at the 0:09:24.640 --> 0:09:27.760 time they were written, or what situations they refer to. 0:09:27.840 --> 0:09:32.080 But David's talking about all kinds of enemies and all 0:09:32.200 --> 0:09:37.880 kinds of battles, and the Bible says that this was 0:09:37.920 --> 0:09:40.640 written at a time, a particular time in his life 0:09:40.640 --> 0:09:45.520 that is recorded in scripture in First Samuel nineteen. Now 0:09:45.559 --> 0:09:51.400 please understand once again that God is not your refuge 0:09:51.960 --> 0:09:59.720 from trouble, but He is your refuge in trouble. That understanding, 0:10:00.120 --> 0:10:04.320 loan would answer many of our questions about the operative 0:10:04.400 --> 0:10:09.400 nature of faith. That God is not my refuge from trouble, 0:10:10.120 --> 0:10:13.480 but God is my refuge in trouble. Some of the 0:10:13.520 --> 0:10:15.800 times in your life that you think you're in trouble, 0:10:16.120 --> 0:10:16.440 you're not. 0:10:17.120 --> 0:10:17.920 You're in training. 0:10:21.080 --> 0:10:25.920 What you see as trouble, God sees as training. And 0:10:25.960 --> 0:10:28.080 I'm going to try not to holler and scream today, 0:10:28.240 --> 0:10:29.160 just teach you a little bit. 0:10:29.520 --> 0:10:30.199 But go over to. 0:10:30.160 --> 0:10:33.840 First Samuel nineteen because when David wrote Psalm fifty nine, 0:10:33.920 --> 0:10:36.160 or at least the period of time he's referencing here, 0:10:36.880 --> 0:10:39.560 is a very successful time in his life. On one hand, 0:10:39.920 --> 0:10:43.959 I mean, he's been anointed to be king, and he 0:10:44.480 --> 0:10:49.360 got a pretty cool opportunity in front of all of 0:10:49.400 --> 0:10:52.960 his brothers to be singled out as the chosen one 0:10:53.320 --> 0:10:56.520 who is going to replace King Saul. He is called 0:10:56.520 --> 0:11:00.440 a man after God's own heart, and he's got oil 0:11:00.520 --> 0:11:03.240 on his head, which represents the way that God is 0:11:03.280 --> 0:11:06.080 going to use him the influence God has given him. 0:11:06.360 --> 0:11:08.360 And God didn't speak it to him like Joseph in 0:11:08.360 --> 0:11:10.400 a dream. God spoke it to him in front of 0:11:10.440 --> 0:11:13.160 his whole family. So when God spoke to Joseph and 0:11:13.160 --> 0:11:15.000 said I'm gonna make you great, Joseph had to try 0:11:15.000 --> 0:11:18.040 to convince people. But when David was spoken of, he 0:11:18.120 --> 0:11:20.640 was spoken of in front of his brothers, So everybody 0:11:20.679 --> 0:11:23.680 knows he's a little special. If they didn't know it 0:11:23.720 --> 0:11:26.240 when he was anointed, they certainly knew it after he 0:11:26.280 --> 0:11:27.520 got done with Goliath. 0:11:28.280 --> 0:11:29.080 How many of you. 0:11:29.000 --> 0:11:31.680 Have never heard a good Bible sermon about David and Goliath? 0:11:31.720 --> 0:11:33.840 I need to see if you never heard. 0:11:33.600 --> 0:11:35.480 This story about David and Goliath, well, I'm not going 0:11:35.559 --> 0:11:39.280 to I'm not going to go into it now because 0:11:41.240 --> 0:11:44.480 spoiler alert, Goliath goes down. By the way, for every 0:11:44.520 --> 0:11:46.920 Goliath in your life, spoiler. 0:11:46.480 --> 0:11:47.880 Alert, he goes down. 0:11:48.120 --> 0:11:51.240 He might be bigger, he might be loud, he might 0:11:51.280 --> 0:11:53.920 be defiant. You might have never seen a paddle like 0:11:53.960 --> 0:11:56.920 this before, but Goliath goes down. 0:11:58.960 --> 0:12:00.000 Heck, can I show you something? 0:12:00.679 --> 0:12:03.240 When David stood before Goliath before he hit him with 0:12:03.280 --> 0:12:04.520 a stone, he spit a few bars. 0:12:04.600 --> 0:12:06.560 Can I show you? Can I show you? 0:12:06.600 --> 0:12:09.319 Because you didn't know that David was the original battle rapper. 0:12:09.480 --> 0:12:10.600 You always saw him in your mind. 0:12:10.640 --> 0:12:12.840 You saw him with a harp and a lamb in 0:12:12.920 --> 0:12:15.480 his lap, and he's stroking a lamb with one hand 0:12:15.640 --> 0:12:18.360 and strumming a harp with the other hand. But before 0:12:18.440 --> 0:12:20.960 David was ever strumming a harp or stroking a sheep, 0:12:22.720 --> 0:12:24.960 he walked up to Goliath, and. 0:12:26.679 --> 0:12:27.080 Watch this. 0:12:27.920 --> 0:12:32.720 He looks at Goliath and begins to declare what God 0:12:32.800 --> 0:12:35.839 is going to do. Now, here's a principle, right your 0:12:35.920 --> 0:12:44.560 bars before your battle. Don't wait until things turn out 0:12:44.600 --> 0:12:47.679 positively in your life to give God glory. 0:12:48.360 --> 0:12:49.479 Don't wait until. 0:12:49.240 --> 0:12:52.080 Seized part in your standing on dry ground to declare 0:12:52.120 --> 0:12:56.040 that God is able to slit him. Don't wait until 0:12:56.080 --> 0:12:59.520 everything is perfect in your life to enjoy the presence 0:12:59.559 --> 0:12:59.960 of God. 0:13:00.000 --> 0:13:00.200 God. 0:13:00.760 --> 0:13:03.200 Don't wait until you don't have any hang ups to 0:13:03.280 --> 0:13:04.040 say to God. 0:13:04.400 --> 0:13:07.000 Here, am I send me? Use me? 0:13:07.440 --> 0:13:10.600 God is looking for somebody who will shout before the 0:13:10.640 --> 0:13:14.000 first brick falls, who will blow a trumpet while you're 0:13:14.040 --> 0:13:21.000 still looking at enemies in an occupied territory. So David 0:13:21.080 --> 0:13:23.280 stands up to Goliath, and I know you know all 0:13:23.320 --> 0:13:25.960 this already, but just in case nobody ever heard it, 0:13:26.120 --> 0:13:28.240 he goes up. He goes up to Goliath, and he 0:13:28.320 --> 0:13:31.760 grabs the mic, and he tells, Goliath, you come against 0:13:31.760 --> 0:13:34.480 me with sword and spear and javelin, But I come 0:13:34.520 --> 0:13:37.800 against you in the name of the Lord Almighty, the 0:13:37.800 --> 0:13:40.920 God of the armies of Israel, whom you have to fight. 0:13:41.120 --> 0:13:44.200 Next verse this state, the Lord will deliver you into 0:13:44.240 --> 0:13:47.600 my hands, and I'll strike you down and cut off 0:13:47.640 --> 0:13:49.280 your head this very day. 0:13:49.320 --> 0:13:50.720 Can't you hear a beat behind us? 0:13:51.000 --> 0:13:53.880 This very day, I will give the carcasses of the 0:13:53.880 --> 0:13:57.160 Philistine army to the birds and the wild animals, and 0:13:57.200 --> 0:13:58.400 the whole world will know. 0:13:58.600 --> 0:13:59.920 That there is a God in it. 0:14:00.000 --> 0:14:05.280 He's and David's. David's confidence is not only something that 0:14:05.360 --> 0:14:07.880 he speaks of, but it's something that he walks in. 0:14:08.240 --> 0:14:12.920 He has the kind of confidence to declare victory before battle. 0:14:17.800 --> 0:14:22.520 So when I praise God, I'm not praising God for 0:14:22.640 --> 0:14:29.920 outcomes that I'm currently experiencing. I am praising God for 0:14:30.120 --> 0:14:38.160 promises that are still to come. Can I preach a 0:14:38.160 --> 0:14:43.720 little bit today? I want to talk about the worst 0:14:43.720 --> 0:14:46.200 that David fought because he's doing great. 0:14:46.360 --> 0:14:49.600 He's annointed to be king. He kills Goliath, he cuts 0:14:49.600 --> 0:14:50.280 off his head. 0:14:50.520 --> 0:14:52.560 He goes to Sau's temp Casault told him he was 0:14:52.640 --> 0:14:54.840 just a little boy, and he tried to tell Saul 0:14:55.120 --> 0:14:57.200 that he had the winning hand, and Saul said, you 0:14:57.240 --> 0:15:00.000 don't have a sword. And David said, not now, but after, 0:15:00.120 --> 0:15:02.840 or I get done using what's in my hand to 0:15:02.920 --> 0:15:05.440 knock him down and take what's in his hand. I'm 0:15:05.440 --> 0:15:07.960 gonna cut off his head with what he came against 0:15:08.000 --> 0:15:10.720 me holding, and I'll take his sword and I'll cut 0:15:10.760 --> 0:15:13.400 off his head. And he stood at Sau's tent with 0:15:13.480 --> 0:15:16.600 Goliath's head. And if that wasn't proof enough, when he 0:15:16.640 --> 0:15:18.480 went back into the city, watch this. 0:15:18.960 --> 0:15:20.920 When David went back into the city. 0:15:21.240 --> 0:15:26.560 A whole group of women started following David into the streets, 0:15:27.480 --> 0:15:33.560 singing about his great victory. David is an anointed future king. 0:15:34.560 --> 0:15:40.400 He's a warrior. His music career is taking off. He's 0:15:40.440 --> 0:15:43.160 released a mixtape. He's being called to the palace to 0:15:43.200 --> 0:15:44.280 play the harp for Saul. 0:15:44.520 --> 0:15:45.960 Gasaw's going crazy. 0:15:46.640 --> 0:15:49.840 He just held Goliath's hand and now the women are 0:15:49.920 --> 0:15:52.360 lying in the streets shaking tambourines. 0:15:52.400 --> 0:15:54.080 You want to see this, I promise you. 0:15:54.280 --> 0:15:56.360 In First Samuel eighteen, you think I make this stuff up. 0:15:56.480 --> 0:15:58.400 This stuff is in the Bible. You thought the Bible 0:15:58.480 --> 0:16:00.640 was boring. The Bible's not boring. Douch you nehbver say 0:16:00.640 --> 0:16:04.120 you're boring. Read the Bible. The Bible is awesome. David 0:16:04.200 --> 0:16:07.440 is rising in power, and he's proving he's proving the 0:16:07.480 --> 0:16:10.040 presence of God, not through what just he says, but through. 0:16:09.840 --> 0:16:10.360 What he does. 0:16:10.680 --> 0:16:12.520 And the women are lying in the streets, and they 0:16:12.560 --> 0:16:15.240 got this little song they're singing to Saul. They're shaken 0:16:15.640 --> 0:16:18.440 timbrels and liars and eight o waits, And as they 0:16:18.520 --> 0:16:22.200 dance verse seven, they sang, Saul is slain his thousands 0:16:22.400 --> 0:16:24.000 and David is tens of thousands. 0:16:24.000 --> 0:16:26.160 Well, Saul didn't like that song very much, and. 0:16:26.160 --> 0:16:29.320 So Saul shut that song down, and he actually wanted. 0:16:29.040 --> 0:16:29.720 To kill David. 0:16:29.760 --> 0:16:32.440 And so this brings us to First Samuel chapter nineteen, 0:16:32.480 --> 0:16:37.080 which is the historical context of Psalm fifty nine. And 0:16:37.120 --> 0:16:41.120 in Psalm fifty nine we see David calling on God 0:16:41.120 --> 0:16:45.360 to be his strength. But in First Samuel nineteen we 0:16:45.480 --> 0:16:51.720 see into his struggle. Okay, let's look into his struggle 0:16:52.360 --> 0:16:57.480 in order to understand his strength. So important that we 0:16:57.600 --> 0:17:04.360 understand his struggle, or we will understand his strength. As 0:17:04.400 --> 0:17:08.280 one great theologian has said, the presence of God is 0:17:08.320 --> 0:17:12.280 not the absence of trouble. If I could get one 0:17:12.280 --> 0:17:15.879 thing across to you in this series, it is that 0:17:15.960 --> 0:17:22.800 your greatest testimonies will come from your greatest tests. Your 0:17:22.800 --> 0:17:28.840 greatest bars will come from your greatest battles. Maybe we 0:17:28.880 --> 0:17:32.280 assumed that David killed Goliath and went to the beach. Now, 0:17:32.359 --> 0:17:37.920 so the Bible says that David, continuing to serve Saul, 0:17:38.560 --> 0:17:41.520 would go out look at verse eight, and he would 0:17:41.640 --> 0:17:44.879 fight against the Philistines. In fact, it says, let me 0:17:44.920 --> 0:17:47.240 read this from the new King James version, and there 0:17:47.359 --> 0:17:53.560 was war again, because it never stops, because you don't 0:17:54.240 --> 0:17:58.320 kill Goliath, get the gold medal, and go home and 0:17:58.359 --> 0:18:01.800 stare at his head for the rest of your life. 0:18:02.840 --> 0:18:05.720 Every time I heard Goliath preached as a little boy, 0:18:05.840 --> 0:18:08.879 it ended when he fell down. But you know what 0:18:08.920 --> 0:18:11.479 the Bible says was the reward for David's victory. 0:18:12.359 --> 0:18:13.040 More battles. 0:18:16.680 --> 0:18:19.359 Before you post, I know that some of you are 0:18:19.400 --> 0:18:25.160 about to get engaged. And before you post, the engagement 0:18:25.240 --> 0:18:29.880 pictures swipe left with eight different pictures, so everybody will 0:18:29.960 --> 0:18:33.760 omge down in the comments section and literally just died. 0:18:33.520 --> 0:18:34.600 And so happy to you. 0:18:36.040 --> 0:18:40.040 But before before you post that, make sure you are 0:18:40.440 --> 0:18:51.280 prepared because the reward for engagement, I mean, just ask 0:18:51.320 --> 0:18:52.440 Colley about. 0:18:52.160 --> 0:18:54.840 The reward for engagement. 0:18:55.760 --> 0:18:58.720 She will tell you that the process of becoming one 0:18:59.560 --> 0:19:01.159 is much grittier. 0:19:01.320 --> 0:19:05.000 Than the prospect of walking the aisle. 0:19:06.000 --> 0:19:08.960 So David kills Goliath. Guess what you get to fight again? 0:19:09.640 --> 0:19:12.159 You get the promotion. Guess what you get to manage people? 0:19:12.160 --> 0:19:18.520 Guess what people suck? You get the house, you get 0:19:18.560 --> 0:19:27.240 to clean it. I just love preaching the Bible like 0:19:27.280 --> 0:19:31.840 it really goes, because if we stop when Goliath goes down, 0:19:31.880 --> 0:19:33.040 we missed the whole point. 0:19:33.320 --> 0:19:36.000 He killed Goliath, and Saul said, now I got something 0:19:36.000 --> 0:19:40.359 bigger for you to do. You really want God to 0:19:40.400 --> 0:19:41.280 answer your prayer? 0:19:43.640 --> 0:19:48.879 And war broke out again, and war broke out again, 0:19:49.600 --> 0:19:51.240 and Saul needed somebody to fight. 0:19:51.280 --> 0:19:51.960 Here's the thing he did. 0:19:52.119 --> 0:19:54.080 He sent somebody that he didn't even like to fight 0:19:54.080 --> 0:19:55.680 a battle for him that he needed him to fight. 0:19:57.320 --> 0:20:01.480 And people will sometimes use you for what you can 0:20:01.520 --> 0:20:05.480 do for them while secretly hating the threat that you 0:20:05.600 --> 0:20:07.160 represent to them. 0:20:08.680 --> 0:20:10.240 And sometimes. 0:20:15.040 --> 0:20:17.240 Everything that appears to be a gift is not a gift. 0:20:17.240 --> 0:20:21.359 And Saul wanted to kill David. One of the ways 0:20:21.359 --> 0:20:22.840 he tried to kill him was he let him marry 0:20:22.880 --> 0:20:28.280 his daughter. He said, I'll give you my daughter if 0:20:28.320 --> 0:20:31.680 you go kill one hundred Philistines. David said, no problem, 0:20:31.760 --> 0:20:35.280 I'll kill two hundred because he had hustle and heart 0:20:35.760 --> 0:20:39.480 and ambition like that, and he came back, the Bible says, 0:20:39.520 --> 0:20:43.600 with two hundred Philistine foreskins. In case you did not 0:20:43.680 --> 0:20:46.280 drop your kids off at e kids, I will bypass 0:20:46.400 --> 0:20:49.119 the exact meaning of the text. Just let it be 0:20:49.200 --> 0:20:52.720 known that Saul's intention in giving David the gift was. 0:20:52.680 --> 0:20:55.119 Not to bless him. 0:20:55.320 --> 0:20:57.199 And some of the things in your life that appear 0:20:57.280 --> 0:20:59.000 to be battles are really gifts. 0:20:59.000 --> 0:21:00.000 And some of the things in your. 0:20:59.880 --> 0:21:08.159 Life that appear to be gifts are really curses. So 0:21:08.320 --> 0:21:12.040 David is out fighting the Philistines, and we all have 0:21:12.119 --> 0:21:16.320 Philistines that we must fight in our lives. We all 0:21:16.359 --> 0:21:21.240 have Goliath, not just one, but many. When we kill Goliath, 0:21:21.280 --> 0:21:23.159 here comes another and another, because. 0:21:23.000 --> 0:21:27.200 Goliath has brothers, and. 0:21:27.119 --> 0:21:30.080 In the midst of fighting the Philistines, because that's hard enough. 0:21:30.080 --> 0:21:33.440 It's hard enough to fight the external battles. 0:21:33.480 --> 0:21:35.439 But I didn't really want to talk. 0:21:35.320 --> 0:21:37.480 To you about the external battles because it seems that 0:21:37.600 --> 0:21:41.680 David had no problem fighting the Philistines. That's what he did. 0:21:42.960 --> 0:21:46.400 David was a killer. Give him a Philistine, he'll knock 0:21:46.480 --> 0:21:49.800 him down. Give him a rock, Give him five rocks, 0:21:49.800 --> 0:21:52.080 he'll only use one. You can keep the other four. 0:21:53.040 --> 0:21:55.760 Because David knew how to fight Philistines. And I'm ana 0:21:55.800 --> 0:21:57.199 proved to you over the course of the series that 0:21:57.200 --> 0:22:00.479 the biggest battles David never ever fought didn't stand in 0:22:00.520 --> 0:22:08.280 front of him. They lived within him. Because while he 0:22:08.400 --> 0:22:13.000 is fighting the battles without, there's another battle that is 0:22:13.040 --> 0:22:15.840 being waged within. Once more, war broke out, and David 0:22:15.840 --> 0:22:18.480 went out and fought the Philistines, and he did good. 0:22:18.680 --> 0:22:21.200 He struck them with a mighty blow and they fled 0:22:21.280 --> 0:22:24.879 from him. He sent them scattering running for cover. But 0:22:24.960 --> 0:22:27.440 verse nine says that while that battle was being won, 0:22:28.280 --> 0:22:29.880 another battle was being waged. 0:22:31.280 --> 0:22:33.520 On one hand, David is coming up. 0:22:35.240 --> 0:22:37.560 And as he comes up into a greater position, as 0:22:37.600 --> 0:22:40.800 he comes up into a season of greater usefulness to God. 0:22:41.080 --> 0:22:47.840 A distressing spirit from God has come upon Saul. On 0:22:47.840 --> 0:22:51.560 one hand, David is being blessed, and on one hand, 0:22:51.640 --> 0:22:55.640 David is in a battle. And the battle is happening 0:22:55.680 --> 0:22:59.639 because God's hand has been taken off of Saul and 0:22:59.640 --> 0:23:04.399 put on David. Now, David has the unique task of 0:23:04.440 --> 0:23:08.840 trying to serve someone who is threatened by his potential. 0:23:11.440 --> 0:23:12.000 That's tough. 0:23:14.359 --> 0:23:20.240 Not only that, but Saul is distressed. He knows that 0:23:20.320 --> 0:23:23.360 he's slipping, but he cannot do anything to catch himself. 0:23:24.760 --> 0:23:29.880 And because of this, he's acting crazy. He's doing things 0:23:29.920 --> 0:23:32.040 trying to you know how you do when you sense 0:23:32.080 --> 0:23:35.160 that you're losing control, and so you try to fix stuff. 0:23:35.160 --> 0:23:36.159 But everything you try to do to. 0:23:36.160 --> 0:23:39.119 Fix it and frustration only makes it worse. And you 0:23:39.119 --> 0:23:41.480 would do better to just leave it alone, but you can't, 0:23:42.160 --> 0:23:44.119 and so you try to control people, and then you 0:23:44.119 --> 0:23:47.040 sabotage yourself by creating the very result that you dread, 0:23:47.080 --> 0:23:49.640 by trying to take matters into your own hand. That's Saul, 0:23:50.560 --> 0:23:52.479 and he's going so crazy in his mind that the 0:23:52.480 --> 0:23:54.080 only way that he can get the voices in his 0:23:54.160 --> 0:23:55.960 mind to stop is if there's music play. 0:23:56.000 --> 0:23:56.679 Now, we don't do that. 0:23:56.720 --> 0:23:59.280 We don't occupy ourselves with anything to try to keep 0:23:59.280 --> 0:24:00.960 ourselves from having to be with ourselves. 0:24:03.560 --> 0:24:04.520 And David is in. 0:24:04.480 --> 0:24:07.760 The position that Saul's dysfunction has created, over in the corner, 0:24:07.760 --> 0:24:10.680 playing a harp for the king. Because David's kind of weird, 0:24:10.720 --> 0:24:12.959 because on one hand he can whip you with a slingshot, 0:24:13.640 --> 0:24:15.880 but on the other hand he can touch the strings and. 0:24:15.800 --> 0:24:16.440 Make you cry. 0:24:17.119 --> 0:24:20.800 And so he is the embodiment of both a warrior 0:24:21.720 --> 0:24:25.680 and a worshiper. And now his gift has brought him 0:24:25.680 --> 0:24:28.840 into a position that has created for him an opportunity 0:24:29.680 --> 0:24:35.359 in the form of opposition. And as the hand of 0:24:35.400 --> 0:24:38.000 God is leaving the life of Saul, and as the 0:24:38.080 --> 0:24:41.840 hand of God, the anointing of God is raising David up. 0:24:42.840 --> 0:24:48.520 The Bible says that Saul sat in his house with 0:24:48.640 --> 0:24:51.359 his spear in his hand. 0:24:52.880 --> 0:24:57.760 It's kind of creepy, Big old Saul. 0:24:59.080 --> 0:25:01.440 Sulkan in the corner with a spear in his hand, 0:25:02.040 --> 0:25:03.920 and watch what David had to do. 0:25:05.160 --> 0:25:10.480 David had to sit over there behind a harp, strumming 0:25:10.520 --> 0:25:16.280 a harp while Saul held a spear, and David was 0:25:16.320 --> 0:25:23.520 playing music with his hand. Verse ten then Saul sought 0:25:24.040 --> 0:25:29.359 to pin David to the wall with the spear, but 0:25:29.520 --> 0:25:36.240 he David slipped away from Saul's presence and he drove 0:25:36.359 --> 0:25:39.000 the spear into the wall. Let me ask you a question, 0:25:39.400 --> 0:25:45.040 who is Saul fighting? Because on the surface, it looks 0:25:45.119 --> 0:25:50.520 like he's fighting David. But I wonder how many times 0:25:50.640 --> 0:25:56.199 in my life I thought I was fighting someone, and 0:25:56.280 --> 0:25:56.880 I thought. 0:25:56.720 --> 0:25:58.159 I was fighting something. 0:26:00.600 --> 0:26:04.080 But the real fight, the real war, the real battle, 0:26:04.680 --> 0:26:08.399 was not the battle with them, It was the battle within. 0:26:10.400 --> 0:26:10.600 See. 0:26:10.600 --> 0:26:12.840 I want to preach about David, but before I preach 0:26:12.840 --> 0:26:14.120 about David, I. 0:26:14.119 --> 0:26:15.240 Need to confess to you. 0:26:15.680 --> 0:26:18.399 There have been times in my life where I have 0:26:18.520 --> 0:26:22.160 been Saul. I've been fighting the wrong battles. I've been 0:26:22.240 --> 0:26:26.400 trying to kill what God was trying to use. I've 0:26:26.400 --> 0:26:31.119 been exploding at people and freaking out on people, and 0:26:31.160 --> 0:26:32.000 in a bad. 0:26:31.880 --> 0:26:32.800 Mood with people. 0:26:33.119 --> 0:26:36.040 And if they would just know, if I would just 0:26:36.520 --> 0:26:39.000 if I would bless the Lord, if I could get 0:26:39.080 --> 0:26:42.480 myself right, if I could get my mind right, if 0:26:42.480 --> 0:26:45.200 I could get my eyes fixed, if I could get 0:26:45.240 --> 0:26:52.120 it together. Let's see, Saul, Saul is a walking, talking 0:26:52.240 --> 0:26:56.040 civil war, and he is taking out what is happening 0:26:56.080 --> 0:27:01.480 within himself on the closest available target. Parents do it 0:27:01.520 --> 0:27:04.800 all the time to their children. It's not that you 0:27:04.840 --> 0:27:07.680 don't love them. You love them more than you love yourself. 0:27:07.720 --> 0:27:12.880 But you don't love yourself, and so you cannot give 0:27:12.920 --> 0:27:14.400 them the love for them that you have. 0:27:14.480 --> 0:27:15.280 If there is not a. 0:27:15.240 --> 0:27:17.760 Love from God that flows to you, you are not 0:27:18.560 --> 0:27:22.720 fighting them. Stop yelling at your wife. And by the way, 0:27:22.840 --> 0:27:25.639 let me preach to myself. Stop with the road rage. 0:27:25.960 --> 0:27:29.240 It's not about the prius. There is something going wrong 0:27:29.280 --> 0:27:32.560 in your heartfverdict when a prius can make you freak 0:27:32.640 --> 0:27:41.720 out and speed up to eighty three. I am fighting myself. 0:27:43.160 --> 0:27:47.400 I am fighting myself. And when I am at war 0:27:47.520 --> 0:27:51.040 within myself, and when I am a wretched man, and 0:27:51.080 --> 0:27:53.919 when I am when I am when I am fighting 0:27:53.960 --> 0:27:58.960 with what Paul costs the weapons of this world, when 0:27:59.000 --> 0:28:03.800 I am fighting within myself and fighting against the very 0:28:03.880 --> 0:28:07.159 things that God is trying to use in my life, 0:28:08.400 --> 0:28:13.880 and slinging spears at David, the very one that God 0:28:13.960 --> 0:28:18.080 sent to fight my battles. I wonder, are you trying 0:28:18.119 --> 0:28:20.479 to kill something that God is trying to use in 0:28:20.520 --> 0:28:31.119 your life. I want to preach about David, but before 0:28:31.160 --> 0:28:34.439 I can get there, because I. 0:28:33.280 --> 0:28:35.840 I'm not gonna lie to you. I want to be 0:28:35.920 --> 0:28:39.320 David so bad. I want to be a man. 0:28:39.200 --> 0:28:45.760 After God's on her. I want to kill Goliath. I 0:28:45.840 --> 0:28:50.360 think it'd be cool to kill Goliath. I want to 0:28:50.400 --> 0:28:54.520 say tambourines. I want to I want. 0:28:54.320 --> 0:28:54.959 To be David. 0:28:56.320 --> 0:29:03.800 But sometimes I'm sold, some times I'm saw. Sometimes I'm 0:29:03.800 --> 0:29:16.600 fighting against what I should be fighting for. So now 0:29:16.640 --> 0:29:18.320 David has a choice to make, and so do you. 0:29:19.760 --> 0:29:21.720 And this is the decision that we see again and 0:29:21.760 --> 0:29:23.920 again in a series. This is just the syllabus, This 0:29:24.000 --> 0:29:24.760 is not the class. 0:29:27.400 --> 0:29:28.080 Is that. 0:29:29.720 --> 0:29:38.920 You have to decide which weapons to use when and Saul, 0:29:38.960 --> 0:29:42.480 in his attempt to spear David misses and hits the wall. 0:29:43.560 --> 0:29:46.400 I noticed a contrast, it said, I don't know if 0:29:46.400 --> 0:29:47.720 you could put it back up for me, where it 0:29:47.760 --> 0:29:50.200 says that Saul was sitting in his house with his 0:29:51.160 --> 0:29:57.200 hand on the spear, and David had his hand on 0:29:57.240 --> 0:30:01.200 the harp, he had his hand on the liar, he 0:30:01.240 --> 0:30:02.920 had his hand on the string instrument. 0:30:04.880 --> 0:30:06.080 Because I was thinking. 0:30:05.800 --> 0:30:08.640 That, you know, if this is a game of rock 0:30:08.680 --> 0:30:13.960 paper scissors, which one do you want spear. 0:30:15.200 --> 0:30:17.480 Javelin or harp. 0:30:18.640 --> 0:30:24.120 You choose, Come on, turn to your neighbor, rock, paper, scissors, spear. 0:30:24.280 --> 0:30:25.040 I want the spear. 0:30:28.720 --> 0:30:34.600 And when Saul misses, David has a decision because the 0:30:34.640 --> 0:30:35.520 Bible says that. 0:30:35.480 --> 0:30:40.680 His spear stuck into the wall. 0:30:40.720 --> 0:30:43.760 And now, so here's the decision that I have to make. 0:30:45.480 --> 0:30:49.760 Do I take my hand off the harp and grab 0:30:49.800 --> 0:30:53.040 the spear and throw it back. Because if there's one 0:30:53.080 --> 0:30:57.880 thing we know about David, he doesn't miss. Ask Eliath 0:30:57.960 --> 0:31:01.960 about David's aim. If you're gonna throw a spirit, David, 0:31:02.280 --> 0:31:06.200 you better lock it in because if he throws it back, 0:31:06.600 --> 0:31:09.720 I assure you it will not end up in the wall. 0:31:09.840 --> 0:31:11.440 He will off your head. 0:31:11.960 --> 0:31:15.520 So before you throw a spirit, David, take aim. You 0:31:15.640 --> 0:31:21.600 will not get a second chance. But David does what 0:31:21.920 --> 0:31:26.800 must have been the hardest thing he ever did. Nothing. 0:31:29.200 --> 0:31:33.000 Do you know how hard it is when you have 0:31:33.080 --> 0:31:39.080 a reputation for killing giants to not fight back when 0:31:39.160 --> 0:31:40.480 you have the opportunity. 0:31:41.760 --> 0:31:45.200 Do you know how hard it is when you have the. 0:31:45.200 --> 0:31:49.920 Opportunity to manipulate a situation and control a situation and 0:31:49.920 --> 0:31:51.480 to try to get people to do what you want. 0:31:51.640 --> 0:31:53.440 And they said this about me and I'm gonna say 0:31:53.480 --> 0:31:57.360 it back. Oh God, I wish you could see some 0:31:57.360 --> 0:32:00.120 of the replies I write the people on Facebook that 0:32:00.200 --> 0:32:01.680 I never publish. 0:32:01.880 --> 0:32:10.320 They are poetic. Throw it back. I can hit you 0:32:10.400 --> 0:32:12.080 with this. I do words. 0:32:12.400 --> 0:32:13.160 I can talk. 0:32:13.400 --> 0:32:15.960 I can't fix a car, I can't bake a cake. 0:32:16.280 --> 0:32:17.400 But I can talk. 0:32:21.240 --> 0:32:27.240 And David can throw and he doesn't. He does something weird. 0:32:29.080 --> 0:32:34.400 He ducks. David ducks. 0:32:37.120 --> 0:32:46.320 David. Let's do it ducks because he has no other choice. Really, 0:32:46.360 --> 0:32:49.240 the harp is not a portable instrument, so he can't 0:32:49.280 --> 0:32:52.160 sidestep the harp or the spear. 0:32:53.800 --> 0:32:58.680 You see it behind harp, And the hand of Saul 0:32:58.960 --> 0:33:03.080 is on the sphere and the hand of David is 0:33:03.120 --> 0:33:06.800 on the harp. And I want to know who has 0:33:07.680 --> 0:33:13.720 the upper hand, who has the winning hand, because if 0:33:13.720 --> 0:33:18.080 the hand of Saul is on the spear and the 0:33:18.200 --> 0:33:22.360 hand of David is on the harp, it seems to 0:33:22.400 --> 0:33:28.959 me that spear beats strings. So I got one hand 0:33:29.800 --> 0:33:33.920 on the sphere and one hand on the strings. 0:33:34.600 --> 0:33:35.880 And I know Saul. 0:33:35.640 --> 0:33:39.640 Didn't miss David if he was at close range sitting 0:33:39.680 --> 0:33:43.760 down behind the harp. So how could the one with 0:33:43.880 --> 0:33:47.960 the spear lose to the one with the How could 0:33:48.120 --> 0:33:52.200 Saul have his hand on the spear and David have 0:33:52.400 --> 0:33:56.240 his hand on the harp and David get out. There 0:33:56.320 --> 0:34:00.120 must have been another hand in the room that it 0:34:00.200 --> 0:34:04.880 is not mentioned in the text. How many know that 0:34:05.040 --> 0:34:06.760 the hand of God. 0:34:06.840 --> 0:34:08.040 Is on your life? 0:34:08.480 --> 0:34:12.239 The hand of God was on David. The hand of 0:34:12.320 --> 0:34:15.640 God grabbed the sphere of Saul and said. 0:34:15.719 --> 0:34:17.840 Not him, not now, the. 0:34:18.000 --> 0:34:21.080 Weapon for to gets me shall behave. 0:34:21.200 --> 0:34:22.680 I feel like creature. 0:34:27.760 --> 0:34:31.239 Keep your hand on the harp, and God will put his. 0:34:31.239 --> 0:34:32.400 Hand on the sphere. 0:34:32.920 --> 0:34:35.800 He won't let it kill you. He will not suffer 0:34:35.880 --> 0:34:38.360 your foot to be moved. The Lord who it is 0:34:38.480 --> 0:34:42.760 keep with me. He will not slaugh, bird nor sleep 0:34:45.560 --> 0:34:49.400 if you keep your hand on the hearth. See I 0:34:49.560 --> 0:34:53.440 thought that David had an instrument and Saul had a weapon. 0:34:53.920 --> 0:35:00.760 But maybe worship is a weapon, Maybe Tad, maybe David. 0:35:00.000 --> 0:35:03.960 If I keep my hand on the harp, if I 0:35:04.080 --> 0:35:08.560 let God fight my battles, I cannot be defeated. 0:35:12.280 --> 0:35:14.880 Are there any worship person in the house. 0:35:16.200 --> 0:35:18.680 How about back here, any worship person? 0:35:18.800 --> 0:35:21.440 No, he'll fight my paw. 0:35:32.239 --> 0:35:32.399 Sha. 0:35:34.320 --> 0:35:41.759 Well that's just emotional. No is survival because if you 0:35:41.760 --> 0:35:42.719 don't learn how to duck. 0:35:45.040 --> 0:35:52.480 If you don't learn how to say God, the weapons 0:35:52.480 --> 0:35:53.880 of our warfare are not cardinal. 0:35:55.480 --> 0:35:59.919 I don't throw spears back. I got the winning hand. 0:36:01.640 --> 0:36:02.160 And when I. 0:36:02.160 --> 0:36:07.400 Clap my hands, my praise confuses the enemy. 0:36:08.040 --> 0:36:11.080 My praise, my praise. 0:36:12.360 --> 0:36:15.759 When I lift my hands in worship, the hand of 0:36:15.960 --> 0:36:23.600 God is on you. And David knew that the same 0:36:23.680 --> 0:36:27.080 hand that had plucked him from the sheep field, and 0:36:27.200 --> 0:36:30.120 the same hand that had delivered him. 0:36:29.719 --> 0:36:33.719 From lions and bears and goliaths, and. 0:36:33.760 --> 0:36:36.680 The same hand that held the flask that poured the oil, 0:36:37.040 --> 0:36:42.279 the hand of God is on my life. And Saul 0:36:42.880 --> 0:36:47.040 cannot kill what God has crowned. 0:36:57.920 --> 0:37:01.439 So the way I fight is this. I don't fight 0:37:01.520 --> 0:37:08.720 for victory. That's the way the world fights. I fight 0:37:10.480 --> 0:37:17.960 from victory. My worship is my weapon. 0:37:21.239 --> 0:37:25.160 I don't have to prove myself to people in situations. 0:37:26.640 --> 0:37:30.040 If I take this spear in my hand, throw it back. 0:37:30.239 --> 0:37:33.320 There's somebody in here who's got a spear in the 0:37:33.360 --> 0:37:35.440 wall right next to your head, and you are trying 0:37:35.960 --> 0:37:39.520 to decide right now whether to do it your way 0:37:39.560 --> 0:37:41.640 or God's way. Can I give you a little piece 0:37:41.640 --> 0:37:44.200 of advice, Dug David. 0:37:49.080 --> 0:38:00.319 Don and let God have his way. 0:38:00.560 --> 0:38:03.520 How did David keep his hand on the harp? 0:38:04.440 --> 0:38:08.040 And how do you keep your heart at peace with 0:38:08.120 --> 0:38:14.560 spears flying at your head? David knew that if I 0:38:14.600 --> 0:38:20.399 can win the battle within my soul, God will fight 0:38:20.480 --> 0:38:22.320 my battle with Saul. 0:38:24.320 --> 0:38:29.840 That's where the real battle is. The war is within, 0:38:31.200 --> 0:38:32.360 and so are the weapons. 0:38:34.280 --> 0:38:37.120 And over the course of this series, are you coming back, 0:38:37.160 --> 0:38:45.560 By the way, if you come back, I want to 0:38:45.560 --> 0:38:48.680 show you, over the course of the next four hundred 0:38:48.680 --> 0:38:50.759 and seventy three weeks or however long it takes us 0:38:50.760 --> 0:38:55.760 to complete this series, how to do what David learned 0:38:55.760 --> 0:38:56.080 to do. 0:38:57.400 --> 0:38:58.120 How to live in. 0:38:58.080 --> 0:39:01.200 A place where you constantly feel it were within yourself. 0:39:02.280 --> 0:39:05.560 Learn how to speak to yourself what God has spoken, 0:39:06.080 --> 0:39:08.960 instead of letting yourself tell yourself. 0:39:10.640 --> 0:39:17.960 What you fear. You can't fight fear with fear. And 0:39:18.000 --> 0:39:21.680 so when David says, when. 0:39:21.600 --> 0:39:27.200 David says, God, you are my strength, I'm so glad 0:39:27.239 --> 0:39:32.319 for Psalm fifty nine because for Samuel nineteen gives me. 0:39:32.400 --> 0:39:37.120 The picture of what David did is that with Saul's 0:39:37.120 --> 0:39:40.800 spears flying at him. 0:39:40.160 --> 0:39:42.239 David was able to keep his hand on the harp. 0:39:42.840 --> 0:39:47.520 It's a picture of being able to remain in a 0:39:47.560 --> 0:39:51.879 place of trust and surrender in a time of turbulence 0:39:51.880 --> 0:39:55.080 and trial and frustration. It's a picture. It says that 0:39:55.160 --> 0:39:59.160 Saul's hand was on the spear. That's me trying to control. 0:40:00.560 --> 0:40:04.120 David's hand stayed on the harp, and he played his hand. 0:40:05.800 --> 0:40:07.880 He knew that if I keep my hand on the harp, 0:40:07.960 --> 0:40:10.640 I cannot be defeated. If I keep my hand, if 0:40:10.680 --> 0:40:12.320 I keep my heart at. 0:40:12.160 --> 0:40:19.160 Peace, it will not matter what spears fly my way. 0:40:19.760 --> 0:40:24.120 He said, God, you are my strength. Can we read 0:40:24.160 --> 0:40:28.520 the Psalm again? Look at this. I'm fifty nine, verse nine. 0:40:28.840 --> 0:40:29.799 I watch for you. 0:40:30.040 --> 0:40:35.160 Now that's interesting because David seems to be saying, I 0:40:35.280 --> 0:40:42.880 wasn't watching Saul. I wasn't watching the spears. I was 0:40:43.000 --> 0:40:50.640 watching the one whose hand. How many believed the hand 0:40:50.680 --> 0:40:58.520 of God is on your life? Now we know this, 0:41:00.480 --> 0:41:03.560 We know this from our side of the cross, that 0:41:03.640 --> 0:41:06.319 the victory has already been won by our King, our 0:41:06.320 --> 0:41:09.759 greater David Jesus Christ. We know that David was not 0:41:09.840 --> 0:41:12.319 the last king to come out of Bethlehem. We know 0:41:12.400 --> 0:41:14.400 that he was a king who was pointing to a 0:41:14.480 --> 0:41:17.040 king of kings. We know that the spirit of Him 0:41:17.080 --> 0:41:19.960 who raised Christ is from the dead, and we've already 0:41:19.960 --> 0:41:24.080 got the victory. We don't fight for it, we fight 0:41:24.800 --> 0:41:29.080 from it. And the hand of God is on your line. 0:41:29.160 --> 0:41:31.560 And you say, well, I'm not David, but you are. 0:41:33.640 --> 0:41:39.399 Because David's name literally means beloved. And the same love 0:41:39.440 --> 0:41:46.280 that crowned David has crowned you. And Saul cannot. 0:41:46.080 --> 0:41:52.840 Kill what God has already crowned, and perfect love cast 0:41:52.920 --> 0:41:54.240 out fear. 0:41:55.239 --> 0:42:01.560 So so here's what David did. He said, I watched 0:42:01.600 --> 0:42:04.160 for you, and a lot of stuff coming in my head. 0:42:05.480 --> 0:42:06.840 I got battles. 0:42:07.920 --> 0:42:18.640 And problems, brokenness ninety nine problems, and Bathsheba is one. 0:42:18.680 --> 0:42:26.080 We'll get to that lights. But he said, bring it home. 0:42:26.120 --> 0:42:32.200 Ford. You are my fortress. Next verse my God on 0:42:32.280 --> 0:42:34.719 whom I can rely. 0:42:35.760 --> 0:42:40.319 But but watch this verse eleven, verse eleven, do not 0:42:40.480 --> 0:42:42.040 kill them Lord our. 0:42:43.760 --> 0:42:48.440 Shield. Wait a minute, David did have a weapon. 0:42:50.960 --> 0:42:56.840 David did have a weapon, because when Saul's spears started flying, 0:42:58.239 --> 0:43:04.640 David God behind his shield. Come on, I need you 0:43:04.719 --> 0:43:11.280 to receive this because you got some stuff flying at you. 0:43:09.640 --> 0:43:13.640 You got some doubts in your soul. Come on, but 0:43:13.840 --> 0:43:18.680 stay behind your seal. Come on, duct David, hit behind. 0:43:18.360 --> 0:43:21.520 Your seal, Paul said, it's the shield of faith. 0:43:21.920 --> 0:43:25.760 We're with you. Shall quitch the fierys are of the wicked. 0:43:26.320 --> 0:43:30.279 I gotta seal there is anybody sealed it by the 0:43:30.280 --> 0:43:35.640 power of God. And if I stay behind my shield, 0:43:37.640 --> 0:43:42.000 soul cannot kill what God is crowding. 0:43:42.040 --> 0:43:48.759 I got the winning and I might not look like much. 0:43:48.800 --> 0:43:52.279 I might just be a shepherd boy, but I got 0:43:53.400 --> 0:43:58.000 the winning and and God is my shield. 0:44:00.360 --> 0:44:00.640 Father. 0:44:00.680 --> 0:44:04.520 I thank you for your awesome presence in this place. 0:44:06.000 --> 0:44:09.680 I thank you for your awesome power within us. Everyone 0:44:09.800 --> 0:44:12.600 stand to your feet and lift your hands. This is 0:44:12.640 --> 0:44:18.360 a worship moment. After all has been said and done, 0:44:20.040 --> 0:44:25.240 with spears, flying, storms, raging doubts, the sailing winds blowing 0:44:27.320 --> 0:44:30.760 in the midst of all of it, you have a shield, 0:44:32.080 --> 0:44:37.399 say a lot them, shielded by the power of God. Father, 0:44:37.480 --> 0:44:41.520 we declare victory in this place, not because of battles 0:44:42.040 --> 0:44:45.920 that have been won, but because of battles that are 0:44:45.960 --> 0:44:48.800 already in progress. Father, I thank you for the ways 0:44:49.200 --> 0:44:51.879 that you are working in our life today. I thank 0:44:51.920 --> 0:44:55.080 you for hiding us. I thank you for the shield 0:44:55.320 --> 0:44:57.640 that you have been. I thank you for the promise 0:44:58.040 --> 0:44:59.640 that you have given God. 0:44:59.640 --> 0:45:00.880 I thank you you in this moment. 0:45:01.120 --> 0:45:04.720 Then, no matter what soul throws, with our hands lifted 0:45:04.880 --> 0:45:07.960 up and our hearts full of praise, come on, bless 0:45:08.040 --> 0:45:12.000 the Lord, oh my soul, and all that is within me, 0:45:12.520 --> 0:45:16.920 I will bless so Lord had all times hands his praise. 0:45:17.520 --> 0:45:19.759 Stop continuing see in my. 0:45:19.840 --> 0:45:22.960 Mouth, mom back to find the Lord with me. 0:45:23.680 --> 0:45:25.160 Let us say, solt. 0:45:24.920 --> 0:45:26.080 Is now so. 0:45:27.560 --> 0:45:39.239 Screen, Holly, thank you for joining us. 0:45:39.560 --> 0:45:42.000 Special thanks to those of you who give generously to 0:45:42.040 --> 0:45:45.560 this ministry. Is because of you that this ministry is possible. 0:45:46.000 --> 0:45:48.200 You can click the link in the description to give 0:45:48.280 --> 0:45:52.200 now or visit Elevation Church dot org slash podcast for 0:45:52.280 --> 0:45:56.280 more information and if you enjoyed the podcast, you can subscribe. 0:45:56.520 --> 0:45:57.840 You can share it with your friends. 0:45:58.160 --> 0:46:00.160 You can click the share button, take a screen shot 0:46:00.360 --> 0:46:02.399 and share it on your social stories and tag us 0:46:02.400 --> 0:46:03.479 at Elevation Church. 0:46:03.520 --> 0:46:05.200 Thanks again for listening. God bless you