WEBVTT - Ugly Trust 0:00:05.040 --> 0:00:06.280 Hey, this is Stephen Ferdick. 0:00:06.280 --> 0:00:09.360 I'm the pastor of Elevation Church and this is our podcast. 0:00:09.520 --> 0:00:11.840 Be sure to subscribe so we can get you these. 0:00:11.680 --> 0:00:19.920 New sermons every week. I hope you're blessed today. 0:00:20.800 --> 0:00:22.200 Oh man, it's good to see you. 0:00:25.840 --> 0:00:28.440 I want to do something kind of interesting today. I 0:00:28.480 --> 0:00:30.880 want to preach off of that song we were just singing. 0:00:31.760 --> 0:00:35.360 I want to preach on trust in God. Would it 0:00:35.360 --> 0:00:38.800 be all right if I expound a little bit on 0:00:38.880 --> 0:00:44.120 what we were just preaching. I'm gonna show you where 0:00:44.120 --> 0:00:46.800 that came from what you were just singing. And that 0:00:46.920 --> 0:00:49.760 is such a great confession to make. I sought the Lord, 0:00:50.400 --> 0:00:55.160 and he heard and he answered. I want you to 0:00:55.160 --> 0:00:57.720 put all of that right now in your heart. I 0:00:57.840 --> 0:01:01.440 sought the Lord and he heard and he answered. And 0:01:01.480 --> 0:01:03.520 if you're watching online, I want you to put it 0:01:03.560 --> 0:01:04.280 in the comments. 0:01:04.319 --> 0:01:05.760 Does anybody have a phone? 0:01:05.800 --> 0:01:08.759 I can pull up YouTube and make sure they're doing 0:01:08.760 --> 0:01:11.440 what I'm telling them to do. Cole, go to the 0:01:11.480 --> 0:01:16.360 Elevation Church YouTube make sure they're following instructions. Welcome to 0:01:16.440 --> 0:01:19.840 our epham around the world. Let's thank God for our 0:01:19.880 --> 0:01:26.120 family all around the world joining us right now. I 0:01:26.160 --> 0:01:28.640 think that that was like a six out of ten welcome. 0:01:28.640 --> 0:01:30.480 I think we could give them a better welcome than that. 0:01:30.680 --> 0:01:31.440 Let's warm it up. 0:01:34.360 --> 0:01:41.360 You got it, you got the comments. There is my 0:01:41.520 --> 0:01:44.400 marketing director right there. He was on it. 0:01:44.480 --> 0:01:51.440 He was ready. Wasn't elevation? Night's incredible cold? Yeah, just incredible. 0:01:51.920 --> 0:01:54.200 Everybody in here is a little salty. 0:01:54.240 --> 0:01:57.280 They're jealous they didn't get to come out to Toronto 0:01:57.400 --> 0:02:00.040 or Kansas City one day. I'm going to load the 0:02:00.080 --> 0:02:02.280 whole church up. You remember how Oprah used to take 0:02:02.320 --> 0:02:05.360 everybody to Australia one day. I'm gonna load the whole 0:02:05.440 --> 0:02:10.000 church up. Take y'all all eight nights, and you're gonna 0:02:10.000 --> 0:02:13.000 have to quit your job and believe God for a paycheck, 0:02:13.560 --> 0:02:17.400 because I'm gonna take you away for two weeks. I 0:02:17.440 --> 0:02:19.720 almost took today off to rest. I just got in 0:02:19.840 --> 0:02:22.840 late last night. But the Lord wanted me to release 0:02:22.880 --> 0:02:25.520 this word today, so I came on to church to preach. 0:02:30.440 --> 0:02:32.760 I know his voice. I've been doing this a long time. 0:02:32.800 --> 0:02:34.480 I know when he wants me to preach, and he 0:02:34.520 --> 0:02:37.400 wanted me in my pulpit today, so I came over. 0:02:37.880 --> 0:02:41.280 It's good to see you. I love y'all. If I 0:02:41.280 --> 0:02:46.160 say anything inappropriate, blame it on the sleep deprivation. All right, 0:02:46.919 --> 0:02:50.360 that's my explicit sermon, moarning like they have on the 0:02:50.440 --> 0:02:53.400 album explicit. Yeah, they're doing it all right, there go 0:02:53.480 --> 0:02:56.320 things cool. I just had to make sure y'all were 0:02:56.320 --> 0:03:00.600 there because this is gonna be very powerful from one 0:03:00.600 --> 0:03:04.680 of the most beautiful psalms in the Bible, Psalm thirty four. 0:03:05.120 --> 0:03:08.320 And hey, I'm doing it in the King James version. 0:03:09.600 --> 0:03:14.400 Uh oh. I just wanted to warn the devil I'm 0:03:14.400 --> 0:03:18.000 coming from King James today so he can go ahead 0:03:18.040 --> 0:03:22.360 and clear the building. This is. 0:03:26.440 --> 0:03:28.560 This is the psalm. I'm gonna give you eight verses 0:03:28.600 --> 0:03:28.840 of it. 0:03:30.600 --> 0:03:34.880 Say it. I sought the Lord, and he heard, and 0:03:34.960 --> 0:03:42.680 he answered, I will bless the Lord at all times. 0:03:44.520 --> 0:03:49.800 His praise shall continually. Don't get ahead of me on 0:03:49.840 --> 0:03:58.280 the scripture, follow the preacher. His phrase shall continually be 0:03:58.400 --> 0:04:02.680 in my mouth. My soul shall make her boast in 0:04:02.800 --> 0:04:08.680 the Lord. The humble shall hear thereof and be glad. Oh, 0:04:08.760 --> 0:04:14.080 magnify the Lord with me. Come on, don't watch me 0:04:14.240 --> 0:04:19.039 like I'm a movie. Magnify him with me. There's no 0:04:19.200 --> 0:04:23.600 popcorn here today. This is not big. George Foreman this 0:04:23.680 --> 0:04:28.920 is a house of God. Oh, magnify the Lord with me, 0:04:29.839 --> 0:04:36.040 and let us exalt his name together. I sought the Lord, 0:04:37.000 --> 0:04:42.520 and he heard me and delivered me from all my fears. 0:04:46.560 --> 0:04:50.400 They looked unto him and were lightened, and their faces 0:04:50.839 --> 0:04:55.839 were not ashamed. This poor man cried, and the Lord 0:04:55.920 --> 0:05:02.320 heard him and saved him out of his trucklebles. The 0:05:02.360 --> 0:05:06.600 Angel of the Lord in campeth round about them that 0:05:06.680 --> 0:05:14.680 fear him, and delivereth them. Oh, taste and see that 0:05:14.760 --> 0:05:22.040 the Lord is good. Blessed is the man that trusteth 0:05:23.200 --> 0:05:25.680 in him. 0:05:25.960 --> 0:05:28.159 I want to talk to you today about trust in God. 0:05:28.279 --> 0:05:31.240 Father. Our faith is in you, our hope is in you, 0:05:31.960 --> 0:05:36.880 our confidence is in you. You will never fail. Right now, 0:05:36.920 --> 0:05:39.120 I thank you that as high as the heavens are 0:05:39.160 --> 0:05:41.640 above the earth, so are your ways above our ways, 0:05:42.240 --> 0:05:46.280 your thoughts above our thoughts. And I thank you that 0:05:46.360 --> 0:05:50.760 you hear every prayer, you pity, every groan, you see 0:05:50.800 --> 0:05:56.159 every need in this room, at our campuses all over 0:05:56.200 --> 0:06:01.080 the world. As this word goes forth, thank you in 0:06:01.240 --> 0:06:06.400 advance for answering the prayers of your people, even the 0:06:06.440 --> 0:06:09.919 prayers they don't have words for, even the prayers they 0:06:10.000 --> 0:06:13.400 put away because they prayed a long time and nothing happened. 0:06:13.640 --> 0:06:19.800 We expect miracles today in your name, in your presence, 0:06:20.320 --> 0:06:26.920 by your word, by your hand, in Jesus' name, I pray. 0:06:27.080 --> 0:06:35.440 Everybody said together, Amen, Amen, you may be seated. I 0:06:35.600 --> 0:06:44.560 trust in God. I trust in God. I love watching 0:06:44.839 --> 0:06:53.440 you worship. I love it. I'm sorry if that sounds creepy, 0:06:54.279 --> 0:06:59.880 like I'm a stalker, but I just it's one of 0:06:59.880 --> 0:07:03.799 the joys of my job to get to see you 0:07:03.839 --> 0:07:10.320 sing to your God, so much so that I spend 0:07:10.440 --> 0:07:13.880 half of my time in my job writing songs for 0:07:13.920 --> 0:07:24.360 you to sing with our team. The song that we 0:07:24.560 --> 0:07:27.680 just put out, called trust in God, was a song 0:07:27.760 --> 0:07:32.840 that came quickly and then slowly quickly in the initial draft, 0:07:33.240 --> 0:07:37.160 slowly in the revisions. But to hear you sing it, 0:07:37.160 --> 0:07:42.080 it was worth every rewrite. It's really beautiful when you 0:07:42.120 --> 0:07:46.040 take something straight out of scripture. And I think I 0:07:46.080 --> 0:07:47.720 told you a few weeks ago, or I don't remember 0:07:47.760 --> 0:07:50.600 if I just said this on one of my basin recordings. 0:07:51.440 --> 0:07:54.240 I do these little recordings that I only send to 0:07:54.240 --> 0:07:56.320 a few people. Sometimes I put them online, but I 0:07:56.360 --> 0:07:59.240 don't remember where I said this, or if you know 0:07:59.320 --> 0:08:03.480 this or not but my job is to put God's 0:08:03.560 --> 0:08:10.559 word in your heart. That's my job. And sometimes it'll 0:08:10.560 --> 0:08:13.520 have a melody to it. Sometimes it'll be nice and calm. 0:08:14.600 --> 0:08:17.440 I just finished making you another one of those tracks. 0:08:17.720 --> 0:08:19.040 I don't know if you'll remember when I used to 0:08:19.120 --> 0:08:21.000 do these hype tracks that you could listen to at 0:08:21.000 --> 0:08:23.600 the gym, like I will fight and I will be confident. 0:08:24.520 --> 0:08:29.000 I just finished this new one. It's lethal you're going 0:08:29.040 --> 0:08:31.920 to be able to do eighty five close script pushups 0:08:32.080 --> 0:08:34.240 when you listen to this consecutively. 0:08:35.080 --> 0:08:36.240 It's gonna be amazing. 0:08:37.800 --> 0:08:41.240 But then when God gives our church a song that 0:08:41.320 --> 0:08:44.440 comes straight from the Word of God, I think that's 0:08:44.520 --> 0:08:49.160 wonderful because if I tell you go memorize these scriptures, you're. 0:08:49.000 --> 0:08:52.360 Like a a lank homework. I'm not good at memory. 0:08:52.800 --> 0:08:56.439 You memorize every single football player that was on your 0:08:56.480 --> 0:08:59.960 pretend lineup, but you can't memorize the Bible. I get it. 0:09:00.360 --> 0:09:03.520 I'm not mad about it. I didn't mean for that 0:09:03.559 --> 0:09:06.280 to come out harsh. I was just try and be funny, 0:09:06.320 --> 0:09:07.760 but it came out real mean. 0:09:07.800 --> 0:09:08.719 But I didn't mean it mean. 0:09:10.480 --> 0:09:12.480 If we put it in a way that you can 0:09:12.520 --> 0:09:15.440 sing it, I sought the Lord, and he heard, and 0:09:15.480 --> 0:09:21.440 he answered, Well, you were singing scripture, so you did 0:09:21.480 --> 0:09:28.680 scripture memory today. So gold star A plus. If you 0:09:28.679 --> 0:09:31.080 don't get around to anything else you were supposed to 0:09:31.080 --> 0:09:32.600 do this week, you did that. 0:09:33.800 --> 0:09:35.479 You memorize that scripture. 0:09:36.160 --> 0:09:41.600 I sought the Lord, and he heard, and he answered, 0:09:42.520 --> 0:09:48.680 he delivered me from all my fear. And this is 0:09:48.720 --> 0:09:52.280 not only a little verse, but it's from one of 0:09:52.320 --> 0:09:58.720 the most poetic pieces of literature that you could ever study. 0:10:00.040 --> 0:10:04.960 You see, Psalm thirty four is an acrostic poem where 0:10:05.200 --> 0:10:08.600 they take the first letter of the Hebrew alphabet and 0:10:08.720 --> 0:10:11.280 each one of the verses is the next letter of 0:10:11.320 --> 0:10:15.160 the Hebrew alphabet. You don't get that from the English 0:10:15.679 --> 0:10:20.080 because we don't speak Hebrew. So I mean, it's still beautiful, 0:10:20.760 --> 0:10:23.120 But imagine how we would be shouting if we really 0:10:23.160 --> 0:10:25.160 got to see how it was written, where it's like 0:10:25.760 --> 0:10:31.000 ooh ooh, technically like every single That's why I once 0:10:31.080 --> 0:10:34.520 called David the greatest rapper of all time. Some people 0:10:34.520 --> 0:10:38.600 think it's pot some people think it's Biggie. I definitely 0:10:38.640 --> 0:10:43.240 think it's David. I mean, who can do this? Every 0:10:43.320 --> 0:10:46.480 single verse is a different letter of the Hebrew alphabet, 0:10:47.160 --> 0:10:51.080 and so there's a technical component to this song that 0:10:51.240 --> 0:10:54.240 is just beautiful enough to let us know that he 0:10:54.400 --> 0:10:58.480 really worked on this. He didn't just throw this together 0:10:59.080 --> 0:11:01.880 or tear a page out of his diary. He really 0:11:01.920 --> 0:11:06.199 took the time to dissect these different elements and then 0:11:06.720 --> 0:11:10.920 put them together where we could learn from them about 0:11:10.920 --> 0:11:14.920 how to trust God in our own situations. While the 0:11:14.960 --> 0:11:19.439 psalm follows the form or the technique of a thanksgiving 0:11:19.480 --> 0:11:23.160 psalm for an individual, it's pretty clear from the form 0:11:23.280 --> 0:11:26.960 that it was written for a whole community, which means 0:11:27.000 --> 0:11:29.520 it wasn't just written through the filter of his own 0:11:29.559 --> 0:11:33.640 personal faith or fear, but rather it came through that 0:11:33.720 --> 0:11:36.880 funnel so it could be passed to us so that 0:11:37.000 --> 0:11:39.640 we could see what does it really look. 0:11:39.440 --> 0:11:42.760 Like to trust in God. 0:11:44.440 --> 0:11:48.880 So whenever this was written, it was not written while 0:11:49.240 --> 0:11:53.760 the author was going through his struggle, because nobody can 0:11:54.000 --> 0:12:02.280 pray in alphabetical order when they're going through hell. You 0:12:02.320 --> 0:12:08.439 don't pray alphabetical prayers when you have three different bills 0:12:08.679 --> 0:12:09.520 looking at you. 0:12:09.520 --> 0:12:10.960 And you can't pay any of them. 0:12:11.480 --> 0:12:14.960 You don't pray alphabetic prayers when your kids are acting 0:12:15.040 --> 0:12:19.439 like they need three different medications. You don't pray alphabetical 0:12:19.520 --> 0:12:23.120 prayers when they start firing people who are more qualified 0:12:23.160 --> 0:12:26.120 than you and you're wondering what if they fired them. 0:12:26.800 --> 0:12:29.920 I know I'm not, so you don't pray that's not 0:12:30.320 --> 0:12:32.760 That's not those King James prayers. 0:12:33.080 --> 0:12:33.360 Is it? 0:12:34.440 --> 0:12:40.079 You don't say words like I sought the Lord when 0:12:40.120 --> 0:12:41.880 you're really going through a difficult storm. 0:12:42.000 --> 0:12:42.560 Maybe you do. 0:12:43.120 --> 0:12:48.160 I don't. I don't say I trusteth the Lord. In 0:12:48.240 --> 0:12:51.320 my low moments. I may go back and look on 0:12:51.360 --> 0:12:55.040 them and say I'm so glad that I trusteth him, 0:12:55.960 --> 0:13:01.079 that I bequeathed my trust unto the divine. But when 0:13:01.120 --> 0:13:04.640 you're going through stuff, you don't say it that fancy. 0:13:05.360 --> 0:13:09.040 So it brings me to the question what does it 0:13:09.160 --> 0:13:15.440 really mean to say I sought the Lord? As I 0:13:15.520 --> 0:13:18.880 reflected on that this week, I thought we should definitely 0:13:18.920 --> 0:13:22.880 study it before I preach it like I feel it. 0:13:23.720 --> 0:13:27.640 Let me teach it just a little bit. When he 0:13:27.679 --> 0:13:32.000 says I sought the Lord, that definitely could mean that 0:13:32.040 --> 0:13:36.560 he went to the temple to pray. There are times 0:13:36.640 --> 0:13:40.839 in scripture where they will say I sought the Lord, 0:13:41.200 --> 0:13:43.880 and it means that they went to the temple offered 0:13:43.920 --> 0:13:48.720 sacrifices and prayed. But based on the context of this psalm, 0:13:48.760 --> 0:13:51.760 it's unlikely that that's what the psalmist means. 0:13:53.000 --> 0:13:54.680 Instead, he is. 0:13:54.679 --> 0:13:58.440 Probably talking about a type of seeking God that doesn't 0:13:58.480 --> 0:14:01.720 have to do with going to a phsy location. But 0:14:01.840 --> 0:14:07.320 it's a particular state of mind. This particular state of 0:14:07.360 --> 0:14:11.559 mind is not a singular state of mind, because he says, 0:14:11.600 --> 0:14:13.800 give me verse four again, let's take it apart. Let's 0:14:13.840 --> 0:14:16.440 break it down. Let's find out what we were singing about. 0:14:16.640 --> 0:14:18.280 It's one thing to sing it, but I don't need 0:14:18.320 --> 0:14:19.840 you just to sing it. I need you to really 0:14:19.840 --> 0:14:22.400 get it in your spirit. Kill those monitors back there, 0:14:22.440 --> 0:14:24.040 because I can hear it. It has given me a little 0:14:24.040 --> 0:14:26.680 slap back, and it's messing with my head. Verse four. 0:14:26.960 --> 0:14:30.760 I sought the Lord, and he heard me and delivered 0:14:30.800 --> 0:14:37.320 me from all my fears. Everybody say fears. It's interesting 0:14:37.400 --> 0:14:40.800 that he's so confident on one hand and so honest 0:14:40.880 --> 0:14:44.200 on the other. He said, I sought the Lord and 0:14:44.240 --> 0:14:48.480 he heard me and delivered me from all my fears. Well, 0:14:48.480 --> 0:14:52.240 if you're seeking God, what are you afraid of? If 0:14:52.240 --> 0:14:55.320 he heard you, what are you afraid of? If you 0:14:55.440 --> 0:14:59.640 trust him, what are you afraid of? This word fear 0:14:59.720 --> 0:15:04.160 has to do with dread. This word fear has to 0:15:04.200 --> 0:15:10.280 do with the anticipation of something bad happening. More particularly, 0:15:10.920 --> 0:15:14.280 it's a certain state of your soul or your thoughts 0:15:14.680 --> 0:15:15.480 that is trouble. 0:15:16.280 --> 0:15:18.080 So the Psalmist is saying. 0:15:18.120 --> 0:15:24.040 I had a troubled thought pattern, and I sought the 0:15:24.120 --> 0:15:29.160 Lord and he heard me. I don't think you know 0:15:29.240 --> 0:15:32.400 how good that was. I don't think you know how 0:15:32.400 --> 0:15:37.760 good that was. He said, I had thoughts of doom 0:15:38.520 --> 0:15:43.600 and gloom, but I sought the Lord even while I 0:15:43.720 --> 0:15:50.200 had the thoughts, and he heard me. So why that 0:15:50.280 --> 0:15:54.280 makes me happiest? Because the psalm started so beautiful. I 0:15:54.360 --> 0:15:57.960 will bless the Lord at all times, and his praise 0:15:58.080 --> 0:16:01.520 will continually be in my mouth. That I almost got 0:16:01.560 --> 0:16:03.600 intimidated when I read it, because I thought, well, I 0:16:03.640 --> 0:16:07.000 don't do that all the time. I don't always just 0:16:07.080 --> 0:16:08.600 walk around praising God. 0:16:08.680 --> 0:16:09.520 I'll bump my toe. 0:16:09.560 --> 0:16:11.600 Oh, praise the Lord for a coffee table to bump 0:16:11.600 --> 0:16:16.800 my toe on. Some people don't have coffee tables. Somebody would. 0:16:16.960 --> 0:16:19.360 Somebody would really be grateful for a coffee table to 0:16:19.400 --> 0:16:21.840 bump their toe on. And I don't say saw it 0:16:22.400 --> 0:16:24.200 When I bump my toe on the coffee table. It 0:16:24.200 --> 0:16:25.920 starts with an ask what I think in my head? 0:16:25.960 --> 0:16:37.800 But it's not sorry? So why I love it? Isn't 0:16:37.800 --> 0:16:39.720 that why y'all come to church here so we can 0:16:39.800 --> 0:16:44.400 talk for real? Because that's so beautiful, the acrostic praise 0:16:44.440 --> 0:16:47.400 of the Almighty God. I will bless the Lord at 0:16:47.400 --> 0:16:49.040 all time. I love it too, It's so beautiful. I 0:16:49.120 --> 0:16:52.720 love words. I love language, I love poetry. I love 0:16:52.840 --> 0:16:58.560 beautiful sounding words, beautiful sounding songs. I love watching you worship. 0:16:58.840 --> 0:17:01.120 You look so pretty when you worship. 0:17:00.880 --> 0:17:01.520 You really do. 0:17:01.560 --> 0:17:04.879 I mean, you have this RBF, this resting blessed face. 0:17:05.520 --> 0:17:09.080 It's just an amazing thing to see, just to watch 0:17:09.080 --> 0:17:11.920 you worship God. And I look around, I'm like, oh, look, 0:17:11.960 --> 0:17:14.960 this is so sweet, so beautiful. Here we are all 0:17:15.080 --> 0:17:19.720 trusting God, and different ages, different stages, different people, all 0:17:19.960 --> 0:17:25.639 just trusting God. I sought the Lord. What encouraged me 0:17:25.720 --> 0:17:28.879 about the psalm was not the first three parts that 0:17:29.080 --> 0:17:34.520 sounded so beautiful, but after he said his praise will 0:17:34.560 --> 0:17:39.000 continually be in my mouth that he went on to 0:17:39.160 --> 0:17:45.160 say that God hurt me when my heart was filled 0:17:46.320 --> 0:17:52.640 with fear the Psalmi says, my faith did not keep 0:17:52.720 --> 0:17:58.520 me from feeling afraid. Rather, my faith in God, my 0:17:58.760 --> 0:18:03.280 trust in God, was enough to get not only for 0:18:03.359 --> 0:18:06.439 me to seek Him in my fear. But he heard me. 0:18:07.840 --> 0:18:12.280 That's why I praise him. He heard me. That's why 0:18:12.320 --> 0:18:15.239 I love him. He heard me. He didn't wait for 0:18:15.280 --> 0:18:18.080 me to say the right words. He didn't wait for 0:18:18.080 --> 0:18:20.920 me to bust it out in King James. He didn't 0:18:20.960 --> 0:18:24.600 wait for me to memorize thirteen more verses. All I 0:18:24.640 --> 0:18:28.320 had to do was holler help. Had he heard me? 0:18:28.760 --> 0:18:33.000 It didn't even sound pretty. I just hollered help, and 0:18:33.160 --> 0:18:35.359 he heard me. I didn't even have much of a 0:18:35.480 --> 0:18:46.400 voice left. I just hollered he. Now I love him. 0:18:46.560 --> 0:18:50.040 I love him. That's why I trust him, because he 0:18:50.040 --> 0:18:50.560 heard me. 0:18:51.040 --> 0:18:51.399 Do you know? 0:18:51.520 --> 0:18:55.359 The Bible says that his spirit will intercede when you 0:18:55.359 --> 0:18:58.040 will have only a groan that you can't get a 0:18:58.040 --> 0:19:02.639 word to go around. Felt a groan and anxiety, a 0:19:02.840 --> 0:19:05.840 torment that you couldn't even name. But you called a 0:19:05.960 --> 0:19:08.920 name that was greater than the feeling that you couldn't name, 0:19:09.240 --> 0:19:11.639 And he heard what you wanted to say that you 0:19:11.680 --> 0:19:15.600 didn't have the words to say. But somehow God intercepted 0:19:15.880 --> 0:19:20.840 and interpreted your grown God. I'll be good. I'm sorry. 0:19:21.040 --> 0:19:23.440 I'm just on that tour energy. Y'all gotta be patient 0:19:23.480 --> 0:19:31.520 with me. Today I called on him and he heard me. 0:19:33.440 --> 0:19:37.040 You know how Alexa can hear you. You know how 0:19:37.080 --> 0:19:40.480 Siri can hear you. You say hey, Siri, and sirih 0:19:40.520 --> 0:19:43.800 starts telling you stuff. Well, you can say, Hey, Spirit, 0:19:44.160 --> 0:19:48.679 Holy Spirit, I need you right now. I'm appreciate this 0:19:48.960 --> 0:19:53.280 just to you. You can say, hey, Holy Spirit, I 0:19:53.359 --> 0:19:56.240 feel dry right now, but I need you to come 0:19:56.280 --> 0:19:59.640 through for me. You can say, hey, Holy Spirit, we're 0:19:59.640 --> 0:20:02.840 in this hospital room and we need a miracle. And 0:20:02.880 --> 0:20:04.960 if you don't give us a healing, we need a 0:20:05.040 --> 0:20:09.960 supernatural piece. You can be preaching your mom's funeral and say, hey, 0:20:10.000 --> 0:20:13.720 Holy Spirit, I need you, and he will hear you. 0:20:14.240 --> 0:20:21.360 He'll hear you from your heart. That's why I trust him. 0:20:21.560 --> 0:20:25.439 That's why I praise him. That's why I can't just 0:20:25.560 --> 0:20:29.280 sit there and charge. Sometimes I gotta throw up both 0:20:29.440 --> 0:20:34.960 my hands and say, hey, Holy Spirit, hear him. I 0:20:40.880 --> 0:20:44.679 high five somebody say he heard me. He heard me, 0:20:45.320 --> 0:20:47.639 And I'm glad because my friends got tired of me 0:20:47.760 --> 0:20:50.800 complaining so I had to stop talking to them or 0:20:50.840 --> 0:20:54.359 they wouldn't be taking my calls anymore. He can take it, 0:20:54.440 --> 0:21:02.199 he can hear me, he can hear me. Like I 0:21:02.240 --> 0:21:06.560 was saying, this is an acrostic song. I got off 0:21:06.640 --> 0:21:09.800 track a little bit there, but y'all come back. And 0:21:09.840 --> 0:21:15.240 it is contrasting the fear that the author felt with 0:21:15.320 --> 0:21:20.520 the response that God gave. And he summarizes this so 0:21:20.720 --> 0:21:23.280 simply that it is almost. 0:21:25.320 --> 0:21:30.280 Deceptive on the surface. I sought the. 0:21:30.240 --> 0:21:35.680 Lord and he heard me and delivered me. I will 0:21:35.720 --> 0:21:39.040 bless the Lord at all times. Remember, he wasn't talking 0:21:39.240 --> 0:21:43.920 like this while he was going through it. So when 0:21:43.960 --> 0:21:45.520 I told you I want to talk to you about 0:21:45.560 --> 0:21:49.960 trusting God today, I wasn't lying to you, but I 0:21:50.040 --> 0:21:52.679 was headfaking you a little bit. And I hope that's okay, 0:21:53.720 --> 0:21:55.360 Just to bring you to this point, because see, there's 0:21:55.359 --> 0:21:58.280 different types of trust. Can we all agree there's different 0:21:58.280 --> 0:22:02.680 types of trust. You trusted the chair to sit down 0:22:02.680 --> 0:22:06.160 in today, that is a level of trust. You will 0:22:06.200 --> 0:22:09.960 not trust the chair to get you home down forty five. 0:22:10.880 --> 0:22:14.080 That is a different type of trust. You will need 0:22:14.119 --> 0:22:17.399 something with wheels for that. You will not trust the 0:22:17.520 --> 0:22:20.960 chair or the car I hope to confess your deepest, 0:22:21.040 --> 0:22:24.680 darkest sins to That is a different level of trust. 0:22:25.359 --> 0:22:28.720 Hopefully you trust me to share with you what God's 0:22:28.720 --> 0:22:31.840 word means to the best of my ability today. But 0:22:31.920 --> 0:22:33.920 that's one type of trust, because it's to the best 0:22:33.960 --> 0:22:37.080 of my ability. Then there is another level of trust 0:22:37.520 --> 0:22:39.800 that knows that God will take what I say to 0:22:39.840 --> 0:22:43.280 you today and apply it to your life in the 0:22:43.320 --> 0:22:46.240 way that only you needed to hear it. That's another 0:22:46.320 --> 0:22:53.119 level of trust. So I don't want to talk to 0:22:53.160 --> 0:22:57.679 you today just about the moments where you totally trust God. 0:22:59.160 --> 0:23:02.760 I want to talk to those of you today who 0:23:02.760 --> 0:23:08.000 are having to trust God in a different way. If 0:23:08.040 --> 0:23:10.160 I were given this message a title which I am, 0:23:11.840 --> 0:23:22.679 it's called ugly trust. Ugly trust. Thankfully, for us, we 0:23:22.800 --> 0:23:26.879 not only have the psalms that were written, but in 0:23:26.960 --> 0:23:32.160 some cases we have records of the specific situations that 0:23:32.200 --> 0:23:36.320 those psalms were inspired by. Such is the case with 0:23:36.440 --> 0:23:40.560 Psalm thirty four. So if you want to know what 0:23:40.800 --> 0:23:45.000 happened in between the space where David said I sought 0:23:45.040 --> 0:23:53.879 the Lord and he answered, make some noise that was 0:23:54.040 --> 0:23:55.800 just above the line of where I feel like I 0:23:55.800 --> 0:23:58.720 should do it. I mean, it was right there. 0:23:59.080 --> 0:24:00.600 But I'm gonna tell you, I'll. 0:24:00.160 --> 0:24:04.680 You what happened with David was that God had called 0:24:04.720 --> 0:24:07.760 him to be a king. But as with anything that 0:24:07.800 --> 0:24:10.480 God promises you in your life, there is usually not 0:24:10.560 --> 0:24:11.960 a straight line between what. 0:24:12.000 --> 0:24:14.480 He speaks to you and when it comes to pass. 0:24:15.440 --> 0:24:17.879 Many of us will be familiar with the name Saul 0:24:18.040 --> 0:24:20.639 from Scripture, who was the first king. 0:24:20.520 --> 0:24:21.560 That Israel ever had. 0:24:21.840 --> 0:24:24.840 It wasn't a very good king. He was an insecure king. 0:24:25.240 --> 0:24:27.960 He didn't ask God what he should do. He did 0:24:28.000 --> 0:24:30.720 whatever he thought he should do, just to make sure 0:24:30.720 --> 0:24:32.520 that he kept what he thought he had. But that's 0:24:32.520 --> 0:24:34.919 the surest way to lose it, because if you keep 0:24:34.960 --> 0:24:36.440 an open hand to God, he can fill it. But 0:24:36.480 --> 0:24:38.359 if you close your fist around what God gave you, 0:24:38.440 --> 0:24:40.280 he will have to pry your fingers off of it. 0:24:41.320 --> 0:24:43.520 So Saul lost the kingdom that way. One of the 0:24:43.560 --> 0:24:46.080 worst mistakes that he ever made was that when God 0:24:46.119 --> 0:24:49.199 sent David to fight battles for him, he tried to 0:24:49.320 --> 0:24:54.000 kill what God sent him to help him. He chase David, 0:24:54.080 --> 0:24:56.800 I mean chase David. One day, David was playing the 0:24:56.840 --> 0:25:00.560 harp for Saul, right because David had this ambidexterous ability 0:25:00.720 --> 0:25:03.560 to play beautiful music, but he was also one of 0:25:03.600 --> 0:25:07.000 the baddest warriors to ever draw breath on the planet. 0:25:07.640 --> 0:25:10.159 He was really cool because he could pick up a 0:25:10.320 --> 0:25:13.359 sword with his left hand, or he could strum a 0:25:13.400 --> 0:25:17.359 harp with his right hand. Now that is multifaceted. But 0:25:17.480 --> 0:25:19.960 one day, as he was playing a beautiful song for 0:25:20.080 --> 0:25:22.479 Saul to get the evil spirit that was resting on 0:25:22.560 --> 0:25:25.600 him to dissipate for just a few minutes, Saul picks 0:25:25.640 --> 0:25:28.080 up a spear throws it at David across the room. 0:25:28.359 --> 0:25:36.160 David's athletic he missed. David's athletics he miss God is sovereign, 0:25:36.960 --> 0:25:43.600 he missed. Not only does David have grateful lexibility and 0:25:44.119 --> 0:25:48.880 catlike abilities to dodge, but also God has supernatural wisdom 0:25:49.240 --> 0:25:51.919 so that he will never allow anything to happen in 0:25:51.960 --> 0:25:58.720 your life that doesn't first pass through his hand. Saul 0:25:58.800 --> 0:26:02.120 hates David so much that he gets his daughter, who 0:26:02.240 --> 0:26:04.240 is one of David's wives, and we won't talk about 0:26:04.240 --> 0:26:05.040 polygamy today. 0:26:06.480 --> 0:26:08.440 The Old Testament kind of vibe on that. 0:26:08.600 --> 0:26:11.920 But he tries to get him trapped and that doesn't work, 0:26:11.960 --> 0:26:15.560 and David takes off running in caves and Saul tries 0:26:15.600 --> 0:26:18.640 to hunt him down. And there's this one specific incident 0:26:18.680 --> 0:26:20.640 that I wanted to tell you about as we talk 0:26:20.680 --> 0:26:25.679 about I Trust in God, where David found himself in 0:26:25.760 --> 0:26:32.359 a unique situation where he has God's spirit and seal 0:26:33.119 --> 0:26:37.840 of approval, but he's having to run from Saul in 0:26:37.880 --> 0:26:42.840 the process of waiting for God's promise to come to pass. 0:26:43.680 --> 0:26:47.439 God sent me to preach to somebody today who is 0:26:47.560 --> 0:26:51.480 having to trust God in between something that you believe 0:26:51.520 --> 0:26:55.960 he spoke to you and something that you are going 0:26:56.040 --> 0:26:58.359 through on the way to what He spoke to you. 0:26:59.440 --> 0:27:02.840 So who's a I need to know who's this message for? Okay, 0:27:03.960 --> 0:27:06.600 here's what David had to do. He had to go 0:27:06.800 --> 0:27:12.720 down to a place called Gath that's in the territory 0:27:12.800 --> 0:27:15.800 of the Philistines. Do either of those ring a bell 0:27:15.920 --> 0:27:18.840 for anybody in the room, just even if it's one person. 0:27:19.760 --> 0:27:24.159 Do you remember a famous Philistine in the Bible that 0:27:24.280 --> 0:27:29.159 David had an encounter with. Starts with Goli, ends with 0:27:29.680 --> 0:27:35.200 f Goliath, the famous giant that David had to kill. 0:27:35.560 --> 0:27:42.240 He was from Gath in Felictia. Now David is running 0:27:42.280 --> 0:27:45.080 from the King that he wants to be serving and 0:27:45.200 --> 0:27:47.800 helping and fighting for him and playing music for him. 0:27:48.920 --> 0:27:52.280 And he has to run to the place where the 0:27:52.400 --> 0:27:56.040 enemy lives that he was destined. 0:27:55.600 --> 0:28:00.399 To kill, to hide for a little while. The Bible 0:28:00.440 --> 0:28:03.560 says that when he got there, they recognized him. They're like, 0:28:04.000 --> 0:28:05.879 this is the dude that killed Goliath. 0:28:07.040 --> 0:28:09.600 This is that little boy who was keeping shit, came 0:28:09.680 --> 0:28:13.639 up with a sling and a stone. Your enemy recognizes you. 0:28:13.640 --> 0:28:16.680 Your enemy knows what you're capable of, sometimes more than 0:28:16.720 --> 0:28:20.680 you do. They said, this is David. What's he doing here? 0:28:20.880 --> 0:28:24.000 He was trying to hide out, get some cover, buy 0:28:24.080 --> 0:28:27.160 some time to figure out what God was gonna do next. 0:28:27.400 --> 0:28:29.960 They said, this is David. And David was like, oh no, 0:28:30.280 --> 0:28:32.520 I'm in trouble. They know who I am. So watch 0:28:32.560 --> 0:28:34.920 what he did to get away. This is in First Samuel, 0:28:35.160 --> 0:28:38.360 chapter twenty one, verse number Yeah, go back to twenty 0:28:38.360 --> 0:28:40.400 one that late one I sent, y'all. I didn't send 0:28:40.480 --> 0:28:41.959 them this, so they didn't have it ready, But then 0:28:41.960 --> 0:28:45.040 I sent it to him, So put it up there, y'all. Yeah, 0:28:45.160 --> 0:28:45.480 I had to. 0:28:45.480 --> 0:28:49.640 Show you what it looks like to really trust God. 0:28:50.120 --> 0:28:53.760 David took these words to heart and was very much 0:28:53.800 --> 0:28:57.000 afraid of Akish. Akish is not a name, Akesh is 0:28:57.040 --> 0:29:00.120 a title. It's like Pharaoh or something like that. For 0:29:00.120 --> 0:29:03.560 the Philistine rulers. He was very much afraid of Akish, 0:29:03.680 --> 0:29:08.560 King of God. Watch what he did. He sought the Lord, 0:29:10.040 --> 0:29:16.680 so he pretended to be insane in their presence. Repeat 0:29:16.720 --> 0:29:27.520 after me. David went crazy. I will bless the Lord. 0:29:27.320 --> 0:29:31.680 At all times. If this is David. 0:29:32.800 --> 0:29:37.440 Blessing the Lord, watch, watch, watch King David. Back up 0:29:37.480 --> 0:29:39.880 on the screen, y'all. He pretended to be insane in 0:29:39.920 --> 0:29:42.120 their presence, and while he was in their hands. 0:29:41.840 --> 0:29:45.280 He acted like a madman, making marks on. 0:29:45.240 --> 0:29:50.720 The doors of the gate and letting saliva run down 0:29:50.760 --> 0:29:58.520 his beard. I thought about acting this out. I prayed 0:29:58.520 --> 0:30:05.280 about it. The Lord said, let them use their imagination occasionally. 0:30:06.720 --> 0:30:12.480 But you get the picture. He's running from Saul. 0:30:13.320 --> 0:30:20.959 And he's seeking the Lord, with saliva running down his beard, 0:30:24.560 --> 0:30:29.280 scratching the door, trying to get out of a situation 0:30:30.160 --> 0:30:34.520 that he really doesn't have an answer for yet. I 0:30:34.600 --> 0:30:38.560 felt compelled to show you that picture for several reasons. One, 0:30:38.880 --> 0:30:43.440 you feel like you're going crazy right now, not everybody, 0:30:44.760 --> 0:30:49.760 but some of you. So when we sing I sought 0:30:49.760 --> 0:30:54.720 the Lord and he heard. You are not yet sure 0:30:54.920 --> 0:30:58.680 about he heard yet, And to be honest, you're really 0:30:58.720 --> 0:31:03.960 not sure if you're seeking him because sometimes you don't 0:31:04.000 --> 0:31:08.360 feel like you're seeking him. Because not everybody that listens 0:31:08.360 --> 0:31:11.440 to me preach has a three hour prayer time every morning. 0:31:13.040 --> 0:31:16.320 Not everybody who listens to me preach quotes the Bible 0:31:16.400 --> 0:31:20.600 in Hebrew across tics. Not everybody that listens to me 0:31:20.680 --> 0:31:24.400 preach goes home and listens to elevation worship as they 0:31:24.400 --> 0:31:27.040 walk around the kitchen, blessing the Lord at all times. 0:31:27.720 --> 0:31:30.360 Even this morning, I was pretty tired, so on my 0:31:30.400 --> 0:31:35.600 way to church, I listened to Metallica. Sorry, I needed 0:31:35.640 --> 0:31:38.560 something to wake me up, just one song and then 0:31:38.600 --> 0:31:42.360 I switched to worship. But I needed James Hetfield to 0:31:42.400 --> 0:31:47.480 get me started. I'm sorry, I just needed energy. It 0:31:47.600 --> 0:31:50.480 was early and I'm low on sleep, and it helped me. 0:31:50.880 --> 0:31:54.520 And I'm telling you that because sometimes we talk so 0:31:54.840 --> 0:32:02.080 fancy about faith. I soaped the Lord, did you? Or 0:32:02.120 --> 0:32:04.720 it's guilty? And me? He's like, you're not seeking God. 0:32:05.040 --> 0:32:08.600 You don't pray enough, you don't worship enough, you don't 0:32:08.640 --> 0:32:11.280 praise Him enough, you don't really love him. 0:32:11.520 --> 0:32:16.080 David's got spit in his beard in enemy territory and 0:32:16.160 --> 0:32:20.080 he's talking about I sought the Lord. So before you 0:32:20.200 --> 0:32:24.160 get ashamed of the fact that sometimes it feels like 0:32:24.280 --> 0:32:28.040 you're losing your mind, can we celebrate the fact that 0:32:28.160 --> 0:32:31.520 at least you're losing it in church. At least you're 0:32:31.600 --> 0:32:35.440 losing it in a room with some other crazy Christians 0:32:35.680 --> 0:32:39.160 on a Sunday morning when it was raining just enough 0:32:39.440 --> 0:32:41.560 to tell you I'm not going, but just said, no, 0:32:41.960 --> 0:32:42.640 I'm going. 0:32:43.000 --> 0:32:53.520 I'm not going crazy without God. Don't you love knowing that? 0:32:55.160 --> 0:33:01.479 Oh? Oh, technical difficulties trying to stop me from preaching today. 0:33:02.600 --> 0:33:05.920 But you know what, sometimes in my life I have 0:33:06.080 --> 0:33:09.040 found that it is when I am in the sloppiest, 0:33:11.360 --> 0:33:16.680 most scramble. They used to say that I preached better jetlagged, 0:33:17.920 --> 0:33:20.160 and I said, I wonder why that is because my 0:33:20.320 --> 0:33:24.760 mind wasn't in the way so much, because I would 0:33:24.760 --> 0:33:27.360 just let it come from the spirit. And then they say, well, 0:33:27.480 --> 0:33:32.200 just let the spirit flow through you. Easier said than done. 0:33:32.440 --> 0:33:36.800 And I think seeking God is like that sometimes, because 0:33:36.840 --> 0:33:41.520 the question becomes when we say I sought the Lord, 0:33:42.200 --> 0:33:49.160 what to sought? Even mean? It doesn't mean just that 0:33:49.200 --> 0:33:51.960 I went to church. It doesn't mean just that I 0:33:52.000 --> 0:33:54.600 sung a song. It doesn't sang a song. It doesn't 0:33:54.600 --> 0:33:57.640 mean just that I quoted a Bible verse. It doesn't 0:33:57.720 --> 0:33:59.960 mean just that I had a wish. It doesn't mean 0:34:00.160 --> 0:34:02.320 just that I made it a prayer request. It doesn't 0:34:02.360 --> 0:34:06.480 mean just that I had a desire. It means something 0:34:06.920 --> 0:34:16.360 very different to David, because he wrote that about a 0:34:16.400 --> 0:34:21.680 situation where spit was running down his beard and he 0:34:21.760 --> 0:34:26.840 had no idea what was next. That's where some of 0:34:26.880 --> 0:34:31.480 you are today, and when you go to pray about it, 0:34:32.200 --> 0:34:33.560 you don't really feel like you. 0:34:33.480 --> 0:34:34.400 Get a clear answer. 0:34:37.160 --> 0:34:39.920 And there are some things that you're singing. I sought 0:34:39.920 --> 0:34:45.640 the Lord, and he heard and he answered, And there 0:34:45.680 --> 0:34:48.600 are some things that you're singing. I sought the Lord, 0:34:53.600 --> 0:35:00.319 and I hope he heard. But right now now I 0:35:00.360 --> 0:35:07.640 don't see any evidence to support the conclusion that he heard. 0:35:10.920 --> 0:35:14.400 Because when Jesus was asleep on the boat and they said, Master, 0:35:14.480 --> 0:35:18.319 don't you care? It lets me know that there will 0:35:18.320 --> 0:35:22.480 be times in my life where it will appear that 0:35:22.520 --> 0:35:27.319 he doesn't hear me, and I will conclude that he 0:35:27.360 --> 0:35:34.120 doesn't care. But in some of these spaces, your seeking 0:35:34.400 --> 0:35:38.920 is defined by what you do in the space between. 0:35:40.680 --> 0:35:44.600 When you seek him and when he says yes. 0:35:46.880 --> 0:35:50.799 So if you are there today and it's not a 0:35:50.800 --> 0:35:56.600 pretty situation, the psalmist wants you to know that one 0:35:56.600 --> 0:36:00.480 of the most beautiful psalms in the Bible came from 0:36:00.480 --> 0:36:04.760 one of the ugliest situations and some of the most 0:36:04.880 --> 0:36:08.719 beautiful testimonies that you will have in your life. Where 0:36:08.760 --> 0:36:11.720 you will be singing two years from now. I sought 0:36:11.760 --> 0:36:17.080 the Lord back in April twenty twenty three, I was 0:36:17.120 --> 0:36:20.920 standing in church singing. I sought the Lord, and I 0:36:21.000 --> 0:36:24.160 was seeking him, but I couldn't see him, and I 0:36:24.280 --> 0:36:28.000 was groping but I couldn't feel him, and I was 0:36:28.040 --> 0:36:30.680 stretching my hands in faith, but I didn't feel it. 0:36:31.680 --> 0:36:35.560 And I sought him, and there was a space for David. 0:36:35.600 --> 0:36:40.319 There was a seven year space. Did you hear what 0:36:40.400 --> 0:36:46.040 I just said, Not seven minutes, not seven months, seven 0:36:46.440 --> 0:36:50.200 years that Saw chased him, seven years that he made 0:36:50.239 --> 0:36:54.200 his home in caves, seven years that he dealt with depression. 0:36:54.520 --> 0:36:57.400 You say David wasn't depressed. He blessed the Lord at 0:36:57.440 --> 0:37:00.319 all times. Thank God, I've got a Bible. I don't 0:37:00.360 --> 0:37:05.799 just have to go off of one little verse. Look 0:37:05.840 --> 0:37:09.319 what David did. One time he ran to the King 0:37:09.400 --> 0:37:12.719 of Death. He lets spit run down his beard, so 0:37:12.800 --> 0:37:16.279 the king let him go. A period of five more 0:37:16.360 --> 0:37:21.520 years elapses, Saul is still chasing him. Three times. David 0:37:21.560 --> 0:37:24.800 has the opportunity to take matters in his own hands 0:37:25.000 --> 0:37:27.680 and kill Saul, but he won't do it because he 0:37:27.760 --> 0:37:33.000 trust in God. Three times he could take him out, 0:37:33.200 --> 0:37:35.680 but he doesn't do it because he said I trust 0:37:35.719 --> 0:37:39.320 in God. He's not saying I trust in God meaning 0:37:39.400 --> 0:37:42.600 I never feel fear. He told you I had fear. 0:37:42.920 --> 0:37:46.640 That disturbed me to my core. It wasn't a feeling 0:37:46.719 --> 0:37:50.160 of trust. It was a decision of trust. It was 0:37:50.239 --> 0:37:54.319 a decision to keep doing it God's way despite the 0:37:54.440 --> 0:38:06.919 evidence that God's way wasn't working. So David has It's 0:38:06.920 --> 0:38:09.839 been seven years he's been running from this guy. It's 0:38:09.880 --> 0:38:12.040 been three times he was close enough to kill him. 0:38:12.120 --> 0:38:14.000 One time he caught Saul going to the bathroom in 0:38:14.000 --> 0:38:18.160 a cave. That is a vulnerable position to be in. 0:38:20.920 --> 0:38:22.759 I don't know, man, for me, I probably would have 0:38:22.800 --> 0:38:25.759 just ended it right there. If I see the king 0:38:25.760 --> 0:38:28.279 who's been trying to kill me, and he's in the 0:38:28.360 --> 0:38:32.719 process of relieving himself. I am going to relieve him 0:38:33.160 --> 0:38:36.759 of his duties as king and kill him so I 0:38:36.800 --> 0:38:38.960 can get some relief from the situation. But David said, 0:38:39.000 --> 0:38:42.640 I trust God. It's got to be his timing. It's 0:38:42.680 --> 0:38:45.520 got to be his way, it's gotta be his route, 0:38:45.600 --> 0:38:47.719 it's got to be his means, it's got to be 0:38:47.800 --> 0:38:50.960 his strength, it's gotta be his power. I'm not gonna 0:38:51.000 --> 0:38:53.759 do this David's way. I'm gonna do it God's way, 0:38:54.040 --> 0:38:57.600 because if it's God's will, if it's God's hand, if 0:38:57.640 --> 0:39:00.759 it's God's favor, then I can have God's strength to 0:39:00.880 --> 0:39:05.160 support me as I go through each season. Trust in God. 0:39:07.120 --> 0:39:09.600 Talk about ugly trust. You're in a cave with a 0:39:09.680 --> 0:39:13.239 king who is defecating while he is trying to decapitate you, 0:39:13.520 --> 0:39:15.200 and you have the opportunity to kill him, but you 0:39:15.239 --> 0:39:20.359 walk away. One time, he stole Saul's water jug and 0:39:20.400 --> 0:39:22.600 his spear just to show him I could kill you, 0:39:22.640 --> 0:39:25.480 but I didn't leave me alone. Why do you keep 0:39:25.520 --> 0:39:30.279 messing with me? Why do you keep doing this? And 0:39:30.320 --> 0:39:34.759 Saul shouts back to him. He says, oh, David, thank 0:39:34.800 --> 0:39:38.680 you so much for sparing my life. You're gonna do 0:39:38.840 --> 0:39:44.200 great things. Nothing like encouragement from somebody who tracked you 0:39:44.239 --> 0:39:47.160 out into the desert to kill you. That'll bless you. 0:39:49.320 --> 0:39:54.279 God's gonna do great things through you, David. And look 0:39:54.320 --> 0:39:58.000 what the Bible says about David who trust in God. Hey, 0:39:58.840 --> 0:40:02.520 I'm trying to bring you into a conversation today to 0:40:02.640 --> 0:40:05.160 let you know that this trusting God thing is trickier 0:40:06.600 --> 0:40:10.319 than it sounds on the surface, and that none of 0:40:10.360 --> 0:40:13.080 us totally trust God all the time like we wish 0:40:13.120 --> 0:40:16.200 we did. That all of us have this back and 0:40:16.239 --> 0:40:19.440 forth battle. If I can't get you to see anything 0:40:19.480 --> 0:40:23.080 other than that, today I did my job because when 0:40:23.120 --> 0:40:26.759 you go into those moments where you toggle between trusting 0:40:26.920 --> 0:40:32.560 God and having a I don't know what you call 0:40:32.640 --> 0:40:42.919 these moments, but I call these moments humanity. I don't 0:40:42.960 --> 0:40:46.040 call these moments moments of weakness anymore. I call them 0:40:46.080 --> 0:40:52.480 moments of humanity. And they don't mean I don't love God. 0:40:53.600 --> 0:40:56.759 And these moments don't mean I don't trust Him. But 0:40:56.800 --> 0:40:58.759 we're in a world where we're having to figure things 0:40:58.760 --> 0:41:05.960 out by step and faith is not always fancy. I 0:41:06.000 --> 0:41:12.040 don't always seeketh him, if I don't always have a 0:41:12.120 --> 0:41:17.920 king James courage. Sometimes I'm caught in conflict this or 0:41:17.920 --> 0:41:22.760 that or the other. Okay, God, maybe it's option. See so, David, 0:41:23.440 --> 0:41:24.840 I just want to bring you up to date with 0:41:24.880 --> 0:41:28.440 what it means when he says I sought the Lord, 0:41:29.560 --> 0:41:34.480 and he heard and delivered me from all my fears. 0:41:36.560 --> 0:41:39.680 When Saul told David after seven years of David running, 0:41:40.120 --> 0:41:42.800 he said, God's going to do great things for you. David, 0:41:42.800 --> 0:41:44.520 You're a better man than me. Thank you for not 0:41:44.640 --> 0:41:49.880 killing me. Look what David did for Samuel twenty seven, 0:41:50.320 --> 0:41:56.759 verse one. But David thought to himself, one of these 0:41:56.880 --> 0:41:59.560 days I will be destroyed by the hand of Saul. 0:42:02.360 --> 0:42:07.840 Read it again, He thought to himself, Saul's gonna kill me. 0:42:09.760 --> 0:42:13.600 The same guy who said I sought the Lord and 0:42:13.719 --> 0:42:21.600 the answer thought to himself, I'm gonna die. What have 0:42:21.640 --> 0:42:26.880 you been thinking to yourself? I am not done with 0:42:26.920 --> 0:42:31.399 that verse. Put it back on the screen. They're trying 0:42:31.400 --> 0:42:33.840 to take me out of this scripture so quick today. 0:42:34.200 --> 0:42:37.160 Let's stay here a minute. I'm not scared of the 0:42:37.239 --> 0:42:39.360 uncomfortable silence, are you? 0:42:39.480 --> 0:42:39.680 Y'all? 0:42:39.680 --> 0:42:41.919 Don't intimidate me looking at me like you always seek 0:42:41.920 --> 0:42:42.239 the Lord. 0:42:42.239 --> 0:42:45.399 I know you don't I know you seek some other 0:42:45.440 --> 0:42:48.520 stuff too, in some other places. Don't make me prophesy. 0:42:48.600 --> 0:42:53.920 I will get specific. The Lord will show me. You're 0:42:53.960 --> 0:42:56.440 seeking some food in the pantry, stress eating at night, 0:42:57.840 --> 0:43:03.799 seeking some comfort on some different websites, stuff too. But 0:43:03.880 --> 0:43:05.719 I want you to know something about all of that. 0:43:06.400 --> 0:43:09.680 I don't say that to shame you. I say that 0:43:09.760 --> 0:43:18.000 to show you that famous David spear dodging. David got 0:43:18.040 --> 0:43:23.160 to a point of seven years of waiting where he 0:43:23.280 --> 0:43:28.200 thought to himself, one of these days I will be 0:43:28.280 --> 0:43:32.359 destroyed by the hand of Saul, and this phrase, Oh God, 0:43:32.440 --> 0:43:34.759 this is why I got up here today. This is 0:43:34.760 --> 0:43:36.719 why I flew in Layton, got up early and listened 0:43:36.719 --> 0:43:41.000 to Metallica to appreciate you. Y'all didn't like that I 0:43:41.000 --> 0:43:43.440 listened to metallic I got. I could tell you a judgment. 0:43:43.520 --> 0:43:50.920 I don't care sought the Lord. Watch me, watch me, 0:43:50.960 --> 0:43:54.719 watch me, watch me. David thought to himself. One of 0:43:54.719 --> 0:43:57.319 these days I will be destroyed. I will bless the 0:43:57.360 --> 0:43:59.680 Lord and Author. David thought to himself, one of these 0:43:59.760 --> 0:44:03.359 days a praise shall continually. It's kind of hard for 0:44:03.400 --> 0:44:06.839 God's praise to continually be in my mouth when this 0:44:06.920 --> 0:44:10.520 God keeps trying to kill me. It's kind of hard 0:44:10.600 --> 0:44:13.200 for God's praise to be in my mouth when my 0:44:13.320 --> 0:44:17.160 life keeps going backwards. It's kind of hard for God's 0:44:17.200 --> 0:44:20.080 prayse to be in my mouth right now? That's okay, 0:44:20.200 --> 0:44:23.359 David thought to himself. One of these days, and I 0:44:23.400 --> 0:44:25.520 know we have a lot of thoughts about the future. 0:44:25.800 --> 0:44:28.040 You know, one of these days this is gonna catch 0:44:28.120 --> 0:44:30.560 up with me. I can't keep doing this. I can't 0:44:30.600 --> 0:44:33.400 keep going like this. I can't keep holding out like this. 0:44:33.760 --> 0:44:36.000 I can't keep I can't keep I can't I'm doing 0:44:36.040 --> 0:44:38.640 pretty good right now, but I can't keep running like this. 0:44:38.960 --> 0:44:43.400 I can't keep pretending like everything's okay. David thought to himself, 0:44:43.640 --> 0:44:46.239 This does not end well for me. How could you 0:44:46.360 --> 0:44:49.480 think that, David, you have the promise of God? How 0:44:49.480 --> 0:44:52.040 could you think that, David, you had the oil of 0:44:52.080 --> 0:44:54.960 the annoying thing from the prophet Samuel that was on you. 0:44:55.320 --> 0:44:57.680 Don't you remember he said he would raise you up? 0:44:58.040 --> 0:45:02.240 How can you think that, David? Because seeking God doesn't 0:45:02.280 --> 0:45:12.080 mean you will never think fearful thoughts. Seeking God does 0:45:12.120 --> 0:45:15.200 not mean that you will never feel like you're going crazy. 0:45:16.120 --> 0:45:19.200 The truth is Nobody knows what you really go through. 0:45:19.560 --> 0:45:23.080 Nobody knows what you really pushed through. Nobody knows all 0:45:23.120 --> 0:45:25.759 the things that you didn't say that would have been 0:45:25.760 --> 0:45:27.759 worse than the thing that you said that you had 0:45:27.800 --> 0:45:32.319 to apologize for. Nobody really knows how crazy it is, 0:45:33.760 --> 0:45:37.080 how close you came to quitting, how much you struggle 0:45:37.120 --> 0:45:40.439 with feeling like enough, how much, how hard it has 0:45:40.520 --> 0:45:44.080 been for you to fight for these fourteen months of sobriety, 0:45:44.440 --> 0:45:46.840 how hard it has been for you to continue to 0:45:46.920 --> 0:45:50.960 go home to a situation where you're underappreciated, at a 0:45:51.040 --> 0:45:56.800 job where you're undervalued. Nobody knows. But he heard. 0:45:57.320 --> 0:46:02.840 He heard when you cry, he heard when you prayed, 0:46:03.239 --> 0:46:07.239 He heard when you said I can't He said I 0:46:07.320 --> 0:46:08.920 can't heard. 0:46:14.120 --> 0:46:17.960 What a word for somebody who has felt like you're 0:46:18.000 --> 0:46:22.360 going crazy. You're not going crazy. You're building faith. See 0:46:22.400 --> 0:46:26.319 you're building faith. You're getting strong in your spirit, You're 0:46:26.320 --> 0:46:29.560 getting strong in your beliefs. You're learning to walk not 0:46:29.680 --> 0:46:33.960 by what you see, but by what God spoke. Jesus. 0:46:35.800 --> 0:46:38.359 I'm trying to find five people who really need this word. 0:46:38.360 --> 0:46:46.880 I'm trying to find five people. Now give me my 0:46:47.000 --> 0:46:50.400 verse one more time and David thought to himself, one 0:46:50.440 --> 0:46:52.640 of these days I will be destroyed by the hand 0:46:52.640 --> 0:46:52.920 of Saul. 0:46:53.280 --> 0:46:54.320 The fear is real. 0:46:56.200 --> 0:46:58.360 When he said he delivered me from all my fear, 0:46:58.560 --> 0:47:09.080 he doesn't mean he kept me from feeling it. 0:47:09.080 --> 0:47:10.680 It was on a loop in his head. 0:47:10.880 --> 0:47:14.920 He thought to himself that the language means he continued thinking. 0:47:15.120 --> 0:47:18.400 If he didn't think this once, he thought it so 0:47:18.520 --> 0:47:20.759 many times that he began to believe that the lie 0:47:20.880 --> 0:47:24.799 was true. Because Saul couldn't kill him, because God had 0:47:24.840 --> 0:47:31.400 crowned him. Who needed to hear that Saul can't kill you. 0:47:33.360 --> 0:47:35.920 God called you. 0:47:35.920 --> 0:47:36.880 You know what the Bible says. 0:47:37.040 --> 0:47:39.720 It says, humble yourself under the mighty hand of God, 0:47:40.920 --> 0:47:48.160 that He may lift you up in due time. But 0:47:48.239 --> 0:47:51.920 it's been seven years and David doesn't see a clear 0:47:51.960 --> 0:47:55.400 path to what God has committed to him. 0:47:55.520 --> 0:47:58.399 So he thought to himself, one day, Saul's. 0:47:58.080 --> 0:48:01.920 Going to kill me. And here's the phrase, the best 0:48:02.719 --> 0:48:09.640 thing I can do. Everybody say that the best thing 0:48:10.440 --> 0:48:16.319 I can do. What this means is David's situation is 0:48:16.360 --> 0:48:19.960 not ideal and yours may not be either. That you're 0:48:20.000 --> 0:48:22.399 looking at a range of options where you really want 0:48:22.480 --> 0:48:27.160 God to do this but it's not happening. So David says, 0:48:27.440 --> 0:48:31.719 the best thing I can do is escape to the 0:48:31.760 --> 0:48:35.279 land of the Philistines. It's not where he wanted to be, 0:48:37.560 --> 0:48:40.200 It's just the place he had to go. For now, 0:48:41.920 --> 0:48:46.759 everybody say, next, I don't know how God is going 0:48:46.840 --> 0:48:49.360 to deal with Saul. Some of you are awaiting legal 0:48:49.480 --> 0:48:52.400 verdicts right now. Some of you are awaiting resolution to 0:48:52.480 --> 0:48:55.520 relational situations. Some of you are waiting to see if 0:48:55.520 --> 0:48:57.640 you're going to have to move or not. Some of 0:48:57.680 --> 0:48:59.680 you are waiting to see what the doctor says in 0:48:59.719 --> 0:49:02.640 three weeks, and you're waiting for that. So I wanted 0:49:02.680 --> 0:49:04.719 to get this in your spirit as a new way 0:49:04.800 --> 0:49:07.720 to look at what it means to seek the Lord. 0:49:09.200 --> 0:49:11.680 To seek the Lord doesn't mean that you will know 0:49:11.880 --> 0:49:15.320 exactly what He's going to do every step along the way. 0:49:16.040 --> 0:49:18.799 David said, the best thing I can do is to 0:49:18.840 --> 0:49:22.439 go to the land of the Philistines and to escape there, 0:49:23.440 --> 0:49:26.360 and then Saul will give up searching for me anywhere 0:49:26.400 --> 0:49:29.120 in Israel and I will slip out of his hand. 0:49:30.600 --> 0:49:32.719 Is it possible that. 0:49:32.760 --> 0:49:36.760 David in this moment isn't even really sure where God's 0:49:36.800 --> 0:49:40.480 hand is working? But all he knows is I've got 0:49:40.520 --> 0:49:44.080 to get out of here. And when he says I 0:49:44.239 --> 0:49:49.040 sought the Lord, he's referring back to this incident where 0:49:49.040 --> 0:49:51.520 he had to go to the Philistines, the enemies that 0:49:51.600 --> 0:49:56.040 he wanted to kill, and live with them for a 0:49:56.120 --> 0:50:00.120 season while he waited for God to do what he 0:50:00.160 --> 0:50:04.319 had promised to do. And is it possible that you 0:50:04.360 --> 0:50:07.920 are in a season right now where you're seeking the Lord, 0:50:08.800 --> 0:50:12.680 but he hasn't exactly shown you what's going to happen 0:50:13.600 --> 0:50:16.759 in a sequence of events that you can logically understand. 0:50:18.160 --> 0:50:20.440 So the word of the Lord for you is what 0:50:20.680 --> 0:50:28.040 is the next best thing for you to do? The 0:50:28.080 --> 0:50:33.960 next best thing? Because for David, what he really wanted 0:50:34.480 --> 0:50:37.759 was to be the leader of Israel. But sometimes you 0:50:37.800 --> 0:50:42.360 can't do exactly what you want to do, and sometimes 0:50:42.400 --> 0:50:44.319 the will that God has for you is still in 0:50:44.360 --> 0:50:48.319 the process of unfolding. And sometimes the person that you're 0:50:48.360 --> 0:50:59.520 supposed to marry hasn't even moved to Charlotte yet. And 0:50:59.560 --> 0:51:03.560 sometimes the job that you're supposed to have isn't even 0:51:03.680 --> 0:51:09.320 opened yet. So you get rejected three times for jobs 0:51:09.320 --> 0:51:12.759 that you think you'd be a perfect fit for. But 0:51:12.800 --> 0:51:15.359 the truth is if you got that job, it would 0:51:15.360 --> 0:51:18.200 become a snare to you for the door that God 0:51:18.280 --> 0:51:26.640 is going to open. I'm talking about trusting him. I'm 0:51:26.680 --> 0:51:29.359 talking about trusting him. I'm talking about I sought the 0:51:29.400 --> 0:51:33.880 Lord and there was a space and I didn't know 0:51:33.880 --> 0:51:38.800 if he heard. So what did David do? The next 0:51:38.840 --> 0:51:43.200 best thing. I would love to be fighting Sauls battles 0:51:43.280 --> 0:51:46.799 right now. I would love to be killing Philistines like 0:51:46.840 --> 0:51:49.680 I did with Goliath. I would love to be taking 0:51:49.719 --> 0:51:52.120 my kids to school every day, but I only get 0:51:52.120 --> 0:51:55.040 to see him every other weekend right now. So when 0:51:55.080 --> 0:51:57.960 I get him every other weekend, I'm gonna make that 0:51:58.120 --> 0:52:03.680 count because that's the next best thing. I would love 0:52:03.760 --> 0:52:06.520 to have somebody to take long walks on the beach with, 0:52:07.080 --> 0:52:09.720 but I don't have somebody and I don't have a beach, 0:52:10.000 --> 0:52:12.200 So I'm gonna get on this treadmill and get a 0:52:12.239 --> 0:52:16.160 podcast and take myself on a walk, because that's the 0:52:16.200 --> 0:52:20.360 next best thing. I would love to have a heeled 0:52:20.360 --> 0:52:23.120 body right now, so I could be in church with 0:52:23.280 --> 0:52:26.320 Pastor Stephen. But right now I can't leave the house 0:52:26.719 --> 0:52:29.760 because I'm confined to this bed. But I'm gonna lift 0:52:29.800 --> 0:52:32.160 my hands because even though I can't get out of 0:52:32.200 --> 0:52:37.239 this bed, I'm gonna do the next best thing. 0:52:37.840 --> 0:52:39.799 I would love to be further along in. 0:52:39.880 --> 0:52:43.120 My finances by now, but I did just say it 0:52:43.160 --> 0:52:47.320 in that season because nobody taught me. But I'm trusted God. 0:52:47.960 --> 0:52:49.880 Can I've ever see. 0:52:49.680 --> 0:52:55.880 The rights forsaken nor seed begging bread. So I'm gonna 0:52:55.880 --> 0:52:59.000 do the next best thing. I'm gonna get. 0:52:58.880 --> 0:53:02.279 In what I'm I can't trust him with one of 0:53:02.280 --> 0:53:04.920 them knocks, I will bless the law. 0:53:06.200 --> 0:53:11.719 That all God, good times bad God. 0:53:12.920 --> 0:53:16.400 As fall in silence. I'd love to be out of 0:53:16.480 --> 0:53:20.640 this prison, but they didn't release me yet. So let's 0:53:20.680 --> 0:53:25.080 do the next best thing. You praise him on the 0:53:25.160 --> 0:53:28.840 first first, I'll raise him on the second. First. You 0:53:29.080 --> 0:53:33.439 sing the chorus, I'll sing the bruise. I'm gonna do 0:53:33.640 --> 0:53:36.640 what he gave me to do with what I've got 0:53:36.680 --> 0:53:47.040 to do with Yes, sir, the next best thing for you, 0:53:48.520 --> 0:53:51.600 that's all you gotta do. You have to figure out 0:53:51.640 --> 0:53:54.719 the next fifty things. That's God's job. He said, you're 0:53:54.800 --> 0:54:05.319 fired from trying to be God. And I just want 0:54:05.360 --> 0:54:09.319 you to think about it. I just want you to 0:54:09.320 --> 0:54:12.200 think about it. What's the next best thing you can do. 0:54:13.360 --> 0:54:19.360 Go complain about it, or praise him like he already knows. 0:54:21.120 --> 0:54:27.160 What's the next best thing. I sought the Lord. Oh 0:54:27.200 --> 0:54:31.400 it wasn't pretty. My fears were terrible. The word fears 0:54:31.440 --> 0:54:33.520 that he uses is only used three other times in 0:54:33.560 --> 0:54:37.359 the Bible. It is a state so intense that it's 0:54:37.360 --> 0:54:39.400 only used three times in the Bible. 0:54:39.640 --> 0:54:40.960 It means horror. 0:54:42.920 --> 0:54:47.320 He said, I was in a horrible place, a lonely place, 0:54:47.920 --> 0:54:51.320 an isolated place. I was talking to a brother yesterday. 0:54:51.480 --> 0:54:53.560 He said, I'm creative, but I can't find anybody to 0:54:53.600 --> 0:54:55.799 collaborate with. I wanted to tell him, well, the next 0:54:55.800 --> 0:54:57.719 best thing is going to be you got to open 0:54:57.800 --> 0:55:00.360 up some kind of app on your phone and just 0:55:00.400 --> 0:55:06.520 start collaborating with your phone. Y'all don't want me to 0:55:06.520 --> 0:55:10.880 teach this because we just want. We want, We want magic, 0:55:11.120 --> 0:55:12.000 wand God. 0:55:14.280 --> 0:55:14.720 We want. 0:55:14.920 --> 0:55:19.480 I sought the Lord any hurt? I saw the herd? 0:55:21.440 --> 0:55:28.080 But sometimes should I do it? Should I do it? 0:55:28.400 --> 0:55:30.440 I can save it. I can save it. I plan 0:55:30.560 --> 0:55:32.040 to be here next week. I can save it. I 0:55:32.040 --> 0:55:34.360 can say that you want to now, you want to 0:55:34.400 --> 0:55:36.400 next week? Do you want it now? Or do you 0:55:36.440 --> 0:55:39.440 want to next week? Do you want it right now 0:55:39.680 --> 0:55:43.600 while I'm freshly annointed with this holy sphory to break 0:55:43.640 --> 0:55:46.279 a saint off of you going I can't go here, 0:55:46.560 --> 0:55:49.120 I can't go there. I don't have a degree. I 0:55:49.160 --> 0:55:52.080 can't start the business. I can't get out of the contract. 0:55:52.200 --> 0:55:54.520 I shouldn't have signed the lease. Why don't you just 0:55:54.560 --> 0:55:57.680 turn the apartment you're in into a habitation of a 0:55:57.760 --> 0:56:07.400 holy God while you wait on another one. 0:56:08.080 --> 0:56:15.359 Because the next best thing for you to do is 0:56:15.400 --> 0:56:18.799 connected to the next thing that God is going to 0:56:18.880 --> 0:56:21.040 do that you don't even know about yet. 0:56:25.920 --> 0:56:32.040 God killed Saul. David didn't have to. Oh, oh, oh, 0:56:32.120 --> 0:56:34.399 it's better than that. You don't even know how good 0:56:34.400 --> 0:56:40.520 God is. Saul fell on his own sword. So you 0:56:40.640 --> 0:56:44.360 do the next right thing. You have integrity, you have character. 0:56:44.800 --> 0:56:47.520 You just move on. You forgive you be bigger than that. 0:56:48.000 --> 0:56:53.960 You look back and forth with Saul. What a word? 0:56:54.000 --> 0:56:57.080 What a word? What a word? It's hard for me 0:56:57.120 --> 0:56:58.920 to preach it to you while the Holy Spirit is 0:56:58.960 --> 0:57:02.359 still giving it to me. I'm just trying to decide, Lord, 0:57:02.400 --> 0:57:04.440 what should be said out loud and what should I ponder? 0:57:06.600 --> 0:57:08.920 Because he said they don't know what they're singing the 0:57:08.960 --> 0:57:11.400 power of it. When they say I sought the Lord, 0:57:11.640 --> 0:57:15.560 they think that's what they're doing only in church right now. 0:57:18.240 --> 0:57:21.800 But this seeking the Lord thing is sometimes gonna look 0:57:21.800 --> 0:57:30.640 like you spitting and scratching. Nobody really knows what it's 0:57:30.720 --> 0:57:35.800 like to be on those tours except Holly. Nobody knows 0:57:35.840 --> 0:57:38.960 what it's really like to look up at an arena 0:57:39.000 --> 0:57:42.760 full of people and go, Jesus, this is wonderful. And 0:57:42.840 --> 0:57:47.720 I'm terrified, except the woman that was back there with 0:57:47.800 --> 0:57:53.080 me two hours before. When I'm saying, it feels like 0:57:53.160 --> 0:57:55.960 razor blades in my vocal chords, and I don't want 0:57:55.960 --> 0:57:58.040 these people to feel cheated tonight. I don't want it 0:57:58.040 --> 0:58:00.120 to feel stale tonight. And I don't feel like I 0:58:00.200 --> 0:58:02.680 have the energy. And sometimes before you preach, you feel 0:58:02.720 --> 0:58:05.040 like you get the flu, but it's not in your body, 0:58:05.120 --> 0:58:08.680 is in your mind. And for her to be with me, 0:58:08.760 --> 0:58:12.640 she'll say come over here, and sometimes she'll just put 0:58:12.640 --> 0:58:15.640 her hand on my shoulder, and sometimes she'll press strength 0:58:15.680 --> 0:58:29.280 into my mind. I know we're supposed to be better 0:58:29.320 --> 0:58:32.480 than that, We're supposed to float on the stage on 0:58:32.520 --> 0:58:42.560 a cloud of Chicaina glory. But sometimes I'm scribbling and 0:58:42.600 --> 0:58:44.240 scratching and spitting, just like you. 0:58:46.800 --> 0:58:58.440 But I'm seeking him. David thought to himself, Saul's going 0:58:58.480 --> 0:59:01.720 to kill me. But he kept seeking God even while 0:59:01.720 --> 0:59:03.720 he was thinking crazy stuff to himself. 0:59:04.880 --> 0:59:10.320 And that's what I want you to do, Church. I 0:59:10.360 --> 0:59:14.320 want you to say, I sought the Lord and I 0:59:14.320 --> 0:59:18.960 saw him again. And I saw him even as I 0:59:19.080 --> 0:59:24.320 thought he didn't hear me, even as the devil told me, 0:59:24.480 --> 0:59:28.600 you're never gonna be free from this. Your dad did it. 0:59:29.000 --> 0:59:31.640 His dad did it, and you will die an alcoholic too. 0:59:32.240 --> 0:59:35.880 Even while you are thinking that to yourself, you do 0:59:36.000 --> 0:59:42.560 the next best thing. That's all you gotta do. 0:59:44.600 --> 0:59:45.280 I promise you. 0:59:46.320 --> 0:59:50.640 I'm giving you a testimony. I saw it in my family. 0:59:50.960 --> 0:59:53.680 I saw it when my dad was dying of als. 0:59:53.920 --> 0:59:56.520 I wanted God to heal him. God didn't heal him. 0:59:56.760 --> 0:59:59.120 I wanted to take care of him. That didn't work out. 0:59:59.160 --> 1:00:01.520 For two years, I couldn't take care of him. My 1:00:01.600 --> 1:00:05.560 mom was taking care of him. He became abusive toward her, 1:00:06.280 --> 1:00:08.200 so we had to put him in a nursing home. 1:00:09.240 --> 1:00:10.920 And he was way too young to be in that 1:00:11.000 --> 1:00:13.520 nursing home. I was crushed the day I walked in 1:00:13.560 --> 1:00:16.080 and he was calling bingo in a nursing home when 1:00:16.080 --> 1:00:20.200 I knew I wanted him down the street with my mom, 1:00:20.280 --> 1:00:24.760 but they couldn't be together. It wasn't safe for her. 1:00:25.440 --> 1:00:27.920 So why were we doing a Thanksgiving dinner in a 1:00:28.000 --> 1:00:30.560 nursing home with my dad while he was dying with 1:00:30.640 --> 1:00:33.280 an uncertain time limit left? And why were we eating 1:00:33.320 --> 1:00:36.160 off of paper plates a microwave meal in a nursing 1:00:36.160 --> 1:00:39.360 home with a man who was in his sixties. That 1:00:39.480 --> 1:00:42.840 wasn't what I wanted. It was the. 1:00:42.720 --> 1:00:47.760 Next best thing. 1:00:49.280 --> 1:00:52.280 That's what it means to seek him. 1:00:52.480 --> 1:00:55.840 It's oh, it's such a good quote. 1:00:55.920 --> 1:01:00.520 He said that faith doesn't show you the whole styse, 1:01:00.760 --> 1:01:05.640 just enough to take the next step, the next best thing. 1:01:05.720 --> 1:01:07.640 My camera operators are usually better in this. I want 1:01:07.680 --> 1:01:10.920 them to show you the stairs. Can y'all not get 1:01:10.920 --> 1:01:14.000 that shot? I'm gonna buy some more cameras before next week. 1:01:14.760 --> 1:01:17.000 Come over to this side. I wanted that illustration. But 1:01:17.080 --> 1:01:19.520 let me do the next best thing. I use this 1:01:19.600 --> 1:01:25.080 side of stairs. Yeah yeah, yeah, just like that, Just 1:01:25.160 --> 1:01:31.320 like that, Just like that, just like that, just like that, 1:01:33.080 --> 1:01:34.240 And watch this, watch this. 1:01:35.320 --> 1:01:38.440 It's gonna be ugly. It's gonna be ugly. Sometimes it's 1:01:38.480 --> 1:01:39.160 gonna be ugly. 1:01:39.240 --> 1:01:41.120 Sometimes every prayer is not gonna be pretty. 1:01:41.120 --> 1:01:42.560 Every prayers are gonna happen in church. 1:01:42.760 --> 1:01:45.480 Every faith experience isn't gonna happen in a controlled environment. 1:01:46.000 --> 1:01:49.960 But the Bible says to humble yourself under his hand, 1:01:50.760 --> 1:01:58.680 because Saul's hand is nothing compared to his hand, and 1:01:58.760 --> 1:02:08.000 one Peter five us. In due time, he will lift 1:02:09.600 --> 1:02:19.000 you up, one next best thing at a time. That's 1:02:19.040 --> 1:02:28.680 how he's going to bring you out. Ugly, trust, spitty beard, 1:02:28.880 --> 1:02:35.800 trust trust in your eyes, but went anyway, tears on 1:02:35.840 --> 1:02:42.520 your pillow, sleepless nights. But I'm not giving up on God. 1:02:45.960 --> 1:02:52.600 Ugly trust. You know what that means to me, ugly 1:02:53.440 --> 1:02:58.160 Put it on the screen, y'all. It means trusting God 1:02:59.280 --> 1:03:03.120 until God lifts you. 1:03:11.280 --> 1:03:12.040 In due time. 1:03:13.120 --> 1:03:17.880 He raised David up, but in the meantime, David had 1:03:17.920 --> 1:03:19.480 to go to a place that he didn't want to be. 1:03:20.680 --> 1:03:23.520 Who is this I'm preaching to that you are in and. 1:03:23.920 --> 1:03:34.720 Until God lifts you, Until God lifts you, humble yourself. 1:03:35.680 --> 1:03:37.600 And seek him. 1:03:37.800 --> 1:03:40.840 Stand all over the room, lift your hands to your father. 1:03:41.720 --> 1:03:45.240 He said, I will bless the Lord at all times. 1:03:46.160 --> 1:03:49.680 When salt spears are flying when my heart is breaking, 1:03:50.440 --> 1:03:54.000 when answers don't come easy, I will bless the Lord 1:03:54.120 --> 1:03:59.280 at all times. This is ugly trust. Some of you 1:03:59.320 --> 1:04:01.360 need to have, you know, they have ugly cry. Some 1:04:01.400 --> 1:04:05.560 of y'all need to have ugly praise. Just say, God, 1:04:05.600 --> 1:04:08.040 this is what it looks like for our family right now, 1:04:09.000 --> 1:04:09.600 even right now. 1:04:09.640 --> 1:04:11.280 My whole family isn't in church with me. 1:04:11.360 --> 1:04:14.080 Even right now, I can't get everybody together, even right now, 1:04:14.120 --> 1:04:16.760 I can't get everything worked out. But my hands are lifted. 1:04:16.840 --> 1:04:18.800 Lift him up, Lift him up, Lift them up, lift 1:04:18.840 --> 1:04:23.760 him up, Lift him up. This is ugly trust because 1:04:23.760 --> 1:04:27.400 he said, I will bless the Lord at all times. Oh, 1:04:27.640 --> 1:04:34.480 magnify the Lord with me. Let us exalt. What does 1:04:34.520 --> 1:04:40.600 exalt mean? To lift him up? So until he lifts 1:04:40.640 --> 1:04:44.280 you up? What do you do? What do you do? 1:04:45.320 --> 1:04:48.439 Lift him up? I want you to begin to lift 1:04:48.480 --> 1:04:51.160 him up right now in your heart. I want you 1:04:51.200 --> 1:04:53.600 to begin to praise him right now with your own mouth. 1:04:54.240 --> 1:04:58.040 I will bless the Lord at all times. I trust 1:04:58.120 --> 1:05:02.320 you God. I trust you with my future. I trust 1:05:02.360 --> 1:05:05.680 you with my family. I trust you with my children. 1:05:06.200 --> 1:05:06.439 God. 1:05:06.440 --> 1:05:09.440 I trust you with this decision. I trust you with 1:05:09.520 --> 1:05:13.240 this economy. I trust you with this move. I trust 1:05:13.280 --> 1:05:15.960 you with this transition. Come on and lift him up, 1:05:16.000 --> 1:05:17.600 Lift him up, Lift him up. 1:05:17.640 --> 1:05:20.680 This is ugly trust. It doesn't have to be pretty. 1:05:21.040 --> 1:05:23.880 It doesn't have to be in an alphabetical order. It 1:05:23.920 --> 1:05:27.120 doesn't have to be King James English. Just say, I 1:05:27.200 --> 1:05:30.000 need you God. I trust you God. 1:05:31.000 --> 1:05:36.600 Here's my life, Lord, here's my dreams, Lord, here's my heart. 1:05:36.760 --> 1:05:42.480 Lord, it's yours. Lord. 1:05:49.200 --> 1:05:55.520 I saw the Lord and the her I sought the Lord. 1:06:05.920 --> 1:06:06.600 That's why. 1:06:08.360 --> 1:06:08.840 Look at me. 1:06:09.280 --> 1:06:12.880 I don't trust him because of how long it took 1:06:12.960 --> 1:06:16.320 him to answer it. I don't trust him because he 1:06:16.440 --> 1:06:19.240 answered it when I wanted him to answer it. I 1:06:19.280 --> 1:06:22.280 don't trust him because he answered it how I wanted 1:06:22.360 --> 1:06:26.400 him to answer it. I trust him because he is God. 1:06:28.240 --> 1:06:32.960 And he is the highest, and he is the greatest, 1:06:33.600 --> 1:06:36.959 and I'm gonna seek him as long as it takes 1:06:37.320 --> 1:06:41.200 is and I'm not letting God of the word that 1:06:41.320 --> 1:06:41.840 he's fall. 1:06:43.080 --> 1:06:47.720 That's why. That's why, just that's why, that's why, just 1:06:48.000 --> 1:07:03.040 because he's solely and hear because he's great. Lit up, 1:07:03.960 --> 1:07:19.080 fine cats fly see thank God for you. Make God 1:07:19.160 --> 1:07:21.840 tell over you. 1:07:20.000 --> 1:07:27.439 Hey, I hope you enjoyed the podcast, and if you did, 1:07:28.000 --> 1:07:30.600 make sure to share it and subscribe so we can 1:07:30.600 --> 1:07:33.200 get you all of these new messages as soon as 1:07:33.200 --> 1:07:34.000 they're available. 1:07:34.400 --> 1:07:36.560 I also want to take a moment and thank all 1:07:36.560 --> 1:07:37.880 of you who are a part of Elevation. 1:07:38.400 --> 1:07:41.720 Whether you support us financially, or serve with us, or 1:07:42.160 --> 1:07:44.840 just share these messages, it's because of you that we're 1:07:44.880 --> 1:07:45.640 able to reach. 1:07:45.520 --> 1:07:48.560 People all around the world. And if you want more 1:07:48.600 --> 1:07:51.760 information on how to be a part of Elevation, click 1:07:51.880 --> 1:07:54.760 the link in the description. Thanks again for listening. 1:07:54.760 --> 1:07:58.160 Make sure to leave a review, share the message, and subscribe. 1:07:58.400 --> 1:08:00.080 God bless you.