SPEAKER_00: God bless you, New Life Church.
SPEAKER_00: How are you feeling?
SPEAKER_00: Great.
SPEAKER_00: It's great to see you.
SPEAKER_00: And even if you're not doing good, it's still great to see you.
SPEAKER_00: I know that life happens during the week, but I'm so glad that you're here.
SPEAKER_00: I know that God has a special word for you, and He's brought you to this place for a reason.
SPEAKER_00: Now, watch this.
SPEAKER_00: Um, all throughout uh the Bible, and especially in the book of Revelation, the last book of the Bible, the Bible speaks that in in the coming days, in the end times, that the earth will shake, the earth will groan.
SPEAKER_00: Uh and and it's very specific.
SPEAKER_00: The Bible says that the earth will groan as as a woman in labor, about to give birth.
SPEAKER_00: And so uh the Bible tells us that there will be there will be signs and wonders and miracles that are going to happen on the last days.
SPEAKER_00: And so I just want to tell you that we are living those times right now.
SPEAKER_00: Uh, and God is moving in our church with signs, miracles, and wonders.
SPEAKER_00: Uh, just this week we got a testimony uh of a lady that uh she she had a hard time walking and a lot of pain walking.
SPEAKER_00: She she had a cane that she walked with, and I had the chance, the opportunity, the blessing of being able to pray with her.
SPEAKER_00: And so we prayed together and we prayed that God would restore her and and and give her her health.
SPEAKER_00: And she says that on on the Sunday last week, she didn't feel absolutely anything.
SPEAKER_00: Uh, she says, Okay, that was a prayer.
SPEAKER_00: Thank you for praying.
SPEAKER_00: She didn't no, no, no, I'm sorry.
SPEAKER_00: She didn't feel anything in her in her heart, like nothing happened.
SPEAKER_00: And and so she was like, Okay, so she went back home with the cane.
SPEAKER_00: I know that was that was a preemptive, preemptive.
SPEAKER_00: She went home, uh, and then Monday morning, the first thing she does when she wakes up is she reaches for her cane uh to get up and start walking.
SPEAKER_00: And and and that Monday, last Monday, she reached out and she was like, hold on a second.
SPEAKER_00: She put her feet down, she couldn't feel no more pain, that the pain was gone.
SPEAKER_00: She got up, she started walking around her house without the cane, and she was just like, What's going on?
SPEAKER_00: What's going on?
SPEAKER_00: And then she was just so excited that Monday she was walking around without a cane, no pain.
SPEAKER_00: Tuesday she was walking around without a cane and no pain.
SPEAKER_00: And Wednesday, as Jonathan was saying, as we were handing out the the backpacks for for all these children, it wasn't just backpacks, we were giving out shoes to every child.
SPEAKER_00: We were giving out food, hot dogs, popcorn, cotton candy, everything.
SPEAKER_00: She was serving the whole day on her feet.
SPEAKER_00: God is good.
SPEAKER_00: And in the goodness of God, in the miracles that He's making and the miracles that He's doing, it's just a question, it's it's not because, guys, it's not because Pastor Selvin prayed.
SPEAKER_00: No, I'll tell you what the secret is.
SPEAKER_00: It's Pastor Selvin was available, and that's you.
SPEAKER_00: And if you're available to pray for somebody, your prayer goes so far, and your prayer can do so much.
SPEAKER_00: It's all just a question of being available.
SPEAKER_00: Am I available to hear God's word, to hear what he wants me to say?
SPEAKER_00: Am I available to pray for somebody, even though I don't got it all together?
SPEAKER_00: But but I can pray for you and we can pray together and see God move in wonders.
SPEAKER_00: That's what's happening right now.
SPEAKER_00: And so the earth is trembling, the earth is shaking, and we see, we see this all throughout the news.
SPEAKER_00: We saw that uh a c a month ago, Venezuela was shaken by an earthquake.
SPEAKER_00: Well, several weeks ago, Colombia as well is shaken by an earthquake.
SPEAKER_00: And we're gonna join together and pray for our brothers and sisters, the churches that are in these places that are receiving these massive earthquakes that are happening throughout the world.
SPEAKER_00: Right now, crazy, crazy things are happening, but God prophesied it.
SPEAKER_00: The Bible says that the time is near, the time is coming, and I want to tell you, we're gonna do a series on the end times.
SPEAKER_00: And I want you to bring as many friends as you can, as many people as you know, because they need to hear this message.
SPEAKER_00: They need to know that Jesus Christ is coming back for his church, and that's you and that's me.
SPEAKER_00: He's coming back, and the earth is shaking.
SPEAKER_00: The earth is giving us these hints, these clues as to the timing of that.
SPEAKER_00: But it's not just in Venezuela and Colombia and South America.
SPEAKER_00: Two weeks ago we were we were rocked in Van in British Columbia, we were rocked by wildfires.
SPEAKER_00: And the wildfires just devastating, just taking so much property, so many, so much going on that that CTV News, uh, I'm sorry, uh City News, City News, uh, I say CTV because I'm just used to it.
SPEAKER_00: Sorry, Lori.
SPEAKER_00: Uh, this was the affiliate, um the competition.
SPEAKER_00: Uh City News published this article.
SPEAKER_00: Uh listen to this, listen to this.
SPEAKER_00: Look at look at how they know something is coming.
SPEAKER_00: Where does that word apocalyptic come from?
SPEAKER_00: The book of Revelation, the apocalypse, the last, the end time, the last thing.
SPEAKER_00: Apocalyptic BC family escapes Pear Lake Wildfire, but loses nearly everything.
SPEAKER_00: And this family, this is this is Steve Larrabee and Crystal Smith.
SPEAKER_00: They're they're in their home, and and next to their home, their daughter lives as well.
SPEAKER_00: And they've got a company, a towing company, and and they see the wildfire coming, and and and him, he thinks, I've got enough time.
SPEAKER_00: So he calls his neighbors and he calls all the people around him and they start trying to move all the tow trucks.
SPEAKER_00: He's got a massive towing company, and they start to try to move all the tow trucks, and then as they're as they're getting ready to move the tow trucks, he remembers he forgot the cat in the house.
SPEAKER_00: So he goes back to the house to grab the cat because he forgot it there, and then and then as he's got the cat in his hands, he's looking out the fire.
SPEAKER_00: He didn't even have time.
SPEAKER_00: He just jumped in his car.
SPEAKER_00: The fire was at his doorstep.
SPEAKER_00: Like he thought he had enough time to move everything.
SPEAKER_00: He had no more time.
SPEAKER_00: The fire was at his doorstep, and at the doorstep, he just grabbed his keys, jumped into his car, him, his wife, and his daughter, and they drove off.
SPEAKER_00: They left everything behind.
SPEAKER_00: It's estimated that it's gonna be about$10 million in damages.
SPEAKER_00: His house, his daughter's house, and all of the trucks.
SPEAKER_00: And as I'm reading this article, it's so crazy.
SPEAKER_00: Well, Crystal Smith said, she said, after all of this, she says, you can't hang your head when there's so many people trying to hold it up.
SPEAKER_00: She had just lost everything.
SPEAKER_00: And she says, you can't hang your head when there are so many people trying to hold it up.
SPEAKER_00: I immediately went to Psalm 3.
SPEAKER_00: Psalm 3, David says this, but you, O Lord, are a shield about me.
SPEAKER_00: You are a shield around me, you are a shield for me, my glory, and the one who lifts up my head.
SPEAKER_00: The one who lifts up my head.
SPEAKER_00: And so we're gonna get into Psalm 3 today, and we're gonna go just the first five verses of chapter three of Psalms.
SPEAKER_00: But check this out.
SPEAKER_00: Um, if you're in an awesome season in your life, like like things are just going great.
SPEAKER_00: Like you walk out the door, there's a$20 bill on the ground, and you're just like awesome, and you pick it up, you turn around, there's another 10 somewhere close by.
SPEAKER_00: I dropped it, I dropped it.
SPEAKER_00: So if you could just turn it back.
SPEAKER_00: Um, but if if that's the type of season that you're in where you just have a thought and it happens, awesome.
SPEAKER_00: This message is for you.
SPEAKER_00: This message is for you to strengthen your faith, to strengthen what God has founded you on, because you're living in this miracle season.
SPEAKER_00: You're living in a season where God is answering your prayer, where God is being faithful and true to your prayers.
SPEAKER_00: Amen to that.
SPEAKER_00: And if that's the season you're living, let's go out for coffee.
SPEAKER_00: I mean, somebody invite me for a coffee because I want some of that to rub off on me.
SPEAKER_00: All right, so just invite me.
SPEAKER_00: We'll go to a coffee, we'll rub shoulders and pray that your anointing come upon me because that's the season that I want.
SPEAKER_00: And I think that's the season that we all want.
SPEAKER_00: And if you are living that, that's great, that's fantastic.
SPEAKER_00: I just want you to know that in a moment's time, and I don't want you to be uh uh like all weirded out about this, but but life happens.
SPEAKER_00: Life happens.
SPEAKER_00: The Larrabee family, they weren't expecting the fire.
SPEAKER_00: But life happens, and and when life happens, what you do in this season of your life, this miracle season of your life, what you do right now is going to is going to fortify you.
SPEAKER_00: It's going to strengthen you in the seasons to come.
SPEAKER_00: And so just like we have four seasons, there are seasons in your life that that maybe things are gonna start falling apart, maybe things are gonna be a little bit colder.
SPEAKER_00: Now, now I don't want you to get all pessimistic on me.
SPEAKER_00: Like life is good, life is awesome.
SPEAKER_00: In Christ, life is beautiful.
SPEAKER_00: What I'm saying is that life happens to us, and when life happens, what about that season makes it beautiful?
SPEAKER_00: And that's where we are right now.
SPEAKER_00: We're we're in a season where if if that's that's you, strengthen yourself.
SPEAKER_00: But but seasons change and can change.
SPEAKER_00: Hurt happens to everyone.
SPEAKER_00: Eventually, hurt visits every life.
SPEAKER_00: And if you're in a difficult season right now, this message is also for you.
SPEAKER_00: And it's a season, this message is to strengthen what you believe.
SPEAKER_00: Strengthen what you believe.
SPEAKER_00: Is God still good?
SPEAKER_00: Can I trust him?
SPEAKER_00: Is he still enough?
SPEAKER_00: And that's Psalm 3.
SPEAKER_00: Now, the Psalms are not written in chronological order.
SPEAKER_00: Okay, so just because it's Psalm 3 doesn't mean that David wrote this when he was 17 years old.
SPEAKER_00: In fact, David writes Psalm 3 after everything in his life have has happened.
SPEAKER_00: And if you've got a Bible, um usually on the on the header of each chapter, it'll say something about that chapter.
SPEAKER_00: And it says, uh Psalm 3, it says, a psalm of David when he fled from his son Absalom.
SPEAKER_00: A Psalm of David when he fled from Absalon his son.
SPEAKER_00: And so I just want to give you a little bit of context of this psalm.
SPEAKER_00: This psalm actually is written throughout 2 Samuel 15 to uh to chapter 18.
SPEAKER_00: So if you want to know the context and the heart behind Psalm 3, read 2 Samuel 15 to 18, and you're gonna see the context, the heart behind David writing this psalm.
SPEAKER_00: And in that psalm, we get to see what's happening in his life.
SPEAKER_00: He's about to lose everything.
SPEAKER_00: This is King David.
SPEAKER_00: He's about to lose everything to his son.
SPEAKER_00: His son is is has rebelled against him, and his son is saying, You're no longer king, I am the king.
SPEAKER_00: And he starts murmuring and he starts gossiping and he starts leading the people's hearts to himself instead of to the king.
SPEAKER_00: And in that moment, David is aware of what's going on, and the Bible says in 2 Samuel 15, 13, the Bible says that the hearts of Israel had gone after Absalom.
SPEAKER_00: The hearts of Israel went after Absalom instead of staying with their King David.
SPEAKER_00: And so today's message title is Still After You.
SPEAKER_00: Still After You.
SPEAKER_00: And in this moment, David is cast out of his kingdom.
SPEAKER_00: He's got a best friend, he's got a buddy.
SPEAKER_00: And and I'm looking right at you, and I'm sorry I'm using you as an example, but you're right there, you're right there, Meg.
SPEAKER_00: His buddy's name is Ahithophel.
SPEAKER_00: Ahithophel, his buddy, he's a counselor, and he's a wise old man.
SPEAKER_00: So you're wise old man today.
SPEAKER_00: Uh he's a wise old man, his buddy, Ahithophel.
SPEAKER_00: He's been with David throughout his entire kingdom, and his buddy gets up and leaves and betrays David and goes after Absalom.
SPEAKER_00: And he says, I'm gonna follow Absalom instead of following you.
SPEAKER_00: So David is now in this moment where he just feels like everything is falling apart.
SPEAKER_00: There is, can I say this, a wildfire happening in his heart.
SPEAKER_00: There's a wildfire that's happening in his kingdom, and it's not fire necessarily, it's its relationships are being broken.
SPEAKER_00: His relationship to his son, his relationship to his counselor, his relationship to the people is being all broken apart, and David has no idea what's going on, so he leaves Jerusalem.
SPEAKER_00: And that's what happens sometimes in our own lives.
SPEAKER_00: And in our own lives, we feel like what is going on?
SPEAKER_00: Is is this God's doing?
SPEAKER_00: Is this an act of God?
SPEAKER_00: Is this a miracle of God?
SPEAKER_00: Is this is this a doing of God?
SPEAKER_00: What's going on in my life?
SPEAKER_00: And and I think David is also asking himself the same question, but he is he is down to earth.
SPEAKER_00: He he sees that you know his fingerprints are on this season that he's going through.
SPEAKER_00: You see, for all David did, and as great as David was, one thing that he he failed at in the early stages of his life was being a father.
SPEAKER_00: He's a great shepherd.
SPEAKER_00: But being a father, that's why Absalom's heart rebelled against him.
SPEAKER_00: And so David is looking back at his life and he sees his fingerprints all over the season that he's living.
SPEAKER_00: And sometimes we think, you know, what's going on in my life?
SPEAKER_00: And could it be that our fingerprints are there as well?
SPEAKER_00: That I'm living this season as a consequence to what I happened last week or what happened last month or what happened last year?
SPEAKER_00: Are my fingerprints over the season that I'm living in right now?
SPEAKER_00: And that's where David finds himself.
SPEAKER_00: Sometimes the season finds us, and sometimes our own decisions contribute to that season.
SPEAKER_00: So when we look at Psalm 3, it starts off like this.
SPEAKER_00: Ready, ready?
SPEAKER_00: Like, like, how do you how would you start the Psalms?
SPEAKER_00: A book of poetry and love and passion and and and praise and worship.
SPEAKER_00: How would you start it?
SPEAKER_00: Psalm 3 starts like this Lord, how many are my foes?
SPEAKER_00: How many rise up against me?
SPEAKER_00: Many are saying to me, God will deliver him.
SPEAKER_00: But you, Lord, are a shield around me, my glory and the one who lifts up my head.
SPEAKER_00: I call out to the Lord, and he answers me from his holy mountain.
SPEAKER_00: I lie down and sleep.
SPEAKER_00: I wake again because the Lord sustains me.
SPEAKER_00: That's how it starts.
SPEAKER_00: You're like, uh, it's not very poetic, but uh he's complaining.
SPEAKER_00: It sounds like there is a lot of complaining going on, and in this moment, David is saying, How many are my foes?
SPEAKER_00: How many have risen up against me?
SPEAKER_00: Many are saying of me, God will not deliver.
SPEAKER_00: David has just lost his kingdom, and everyone is saying, instead of watch this, instead of saying, You've lost it all, you you don't have a kingdom anymore, you lost your cars, you lost your house, you lost your family, you lost, you lost it all.
SPEAKER_00: What they're saying is God will not deliver you.
SPEAKER_00: And that's the that's the charge that's coming up against David.
SPEAKER_00: And and the heart of David is that even though you see, you see, the the the accusation that's happening to David, what they're pointing at at David is your God, it's theological, it's not material anymore.
SPEAKER_00: It's not you've lost your kingdom, it's not you've lost your your your chariots and your horsemen and your army, it's none of that.
SPEAKER_00: What people are attacking, and what the enemy attacks in you is your trust and your belief that God is still with you.
SPEAKER_00: That's what the enemy is attacking, and that's the charge that is coming up against David.
SPEAKER_00: God will not deliver him.
SPEAKER_00: It becomes a theological argument.
SPEAKER_00: Where is God when I'm at my most need?
SPEAKER_00: When I'm in the most need that I have, where is he?
SPEAKER_00: And the people around David are saying, God will not deliver you.
SPEAKER_00: But what we know of David is that God chose him, and that David is a man after God's own heart.
SPEAKER_00: So, what makes David a man after God's own heart?
SPEAKER_00: And it's this that he is still after God.
SPEAKER_00: Through it all, he's still after God.
SPEAKER_00: And so in this moment, David leaves the city and and he goes into a valley.
SPEAKER_00: And that valley, you may have heard it before, but that valley is called the valley, the Kindra, the Kidron Valley.
SPEAKER_00: And that's just outside of Jerusalem.
SPEAKER_00: So so if if the stage up here is the city of Jerusalem, David exits the city through the east gate.
SPEAKER_00: He exits through the east gate and goes into the valley, the Kidron Valley.
SPEAKER_00: And and in this moment right here, this is where he starts to pen Psalm 3.
SPEAKER_00: While he's in the Kidron Valley.
SPEAKER_00: And the Bible says this, that in that moment, in the moment that he's there, he writes these words, but you, O Lord, are a shield about me, my glory and the lifter of my head.
SPEAKER_00: Doesn't that just beg the question, though?
SPEAKER_00: Like, like, but you, Lord, are a shield around me.
SPEAKER_00: What is a shield good for?
SPEAKER_00: Protection.
SPEAKER_00: And usually, if you've ever watched Captain America, uh, usually he carries it right here.
SPEAKER_00: I mean, he throws it and it breaks the laws of physics, I know, but but he usually carries it right here.
SPEAKER_00: And so it's protecting.
SPEAKER_00: What is it protecting?
SPEAKER_00: His heart.
SPEAKER_00: And so when David says, You are a shield about me, what he's saying is, you're not only a shield in front of me, but you're a shield beside me, you're a shield behind me, above me, all around me.
SPEAKER_00: You are a shield about me.
SPEAKER_00: And what is this shield protecting from?
SPEAKER_00: It's not protecting from it's not protecting from his son that is going to kill him.
SPEAKER_00: He has no idea the intentions and the ability of his son, and he knows that his son, as soon as he sees him, he's gonna kill him and usurp, take over the kingdom.
SPEAKER_00: But yet David says, You are a shield around me.
SPEAKER_00: You are a shield around me.
SPEAKER_00: What is that shield protecting?
SPEAKER_00: Well, the verse just before it tells us, so verse two says, Many are saying, God will not deliver him.
SPEAKER_00: The shield that God is placing over your heart is a protection so that you would know that God is with you.
SPEAKER_00: He is with you no matter what season of life you're going through.
SPEAKER_00: God is with you, he will protect your heart.
SPEAKER_00: Heart from thinking that he is not with you.
SPEAKER_00: He will protect your heart from believing that God has abandoned me.
SPEAKER_00: There is no God.
SPEAKER_00: Where are you?
SPEAKER_00: He's going to protect your heart from that moment.
SPEAKER_00: Because if that moment comes into your heart, then doubt starts to settle in.
SPEAKER_00: Questioning starts to settle in.
SPEAKER_00: And you start to think, yeah, maybe.
SPEAKER_00: Maybe there is no God.
SPEAKER_00: Maybe, maybe it's my fault that I'm living all of this.
SPEAKER_00: It's the consequence of my sin.
SPEAKER_00: And that's where God is saying, No.
SPEAKER_00: Let me protect your heart.
SPEAKER_00: Let me guide you.
SPEAKER_00: Let me let me cover you.
SPEAKER_00: Let me let me show you that that's not the case.
SPEAKER_00: You're going through this season.
SPEAKER_00: You don't know why.
SPEAKER_00: God knows why.
SPEAKER_00: You don't know why.
SPEAKER_00: But you will find out today why it is you're going through that season.
SPEAKER_00: The specific details of your life, I don't know, but I do know why you're going through this season in your life.
SPEAKER_00: And I'm going to show you today through the Bible what that means for you.
SPEAKER_00: And so God is showing him, he's going through this moment.
SPEAKER_00: He has no idea what's going on.
SPEAKER_00: And yet he says, You are a shield about me.
SPEAKER_00: You will protect my heart from the words that people are saying, that you are no longer with me.
SPEAKER_00: And that is the word of the enemy over your life.
SPEAKER_00: He's saying, Where is your God?
SPEAKER_00: You're you're a Christian?
SPEAKER_00: Weren't you just at church like last week?
SPEAKER_00: And you're still going through this, you're still living this.
SPEAKER_00: Those are the words and the dialogue of the enemy.
SPEAKER_00: And God is protecting your heart from those words.
SPEAKER_00: He's saying, Don't listen to that.
SPEAKER_00: That's garbage.
SPEAKER_00: I am with you.
SPEAKER_00: I will be with you, and I will surround you in this season.
SPEAKER_00: And so that's what God is protecting us from.
SPEAKER_00: And then what's interesting, if we go back to the verse, my glory.
SPEAKER_00: But you, oh God, but you, Lord, are my glory.
SPEAKER_00: If there is a man that knew glory, it's David.
SPEAKER_00: Now, I don't know about you, but uh if I ever slay a giant, like I don't, I think I'd want like some sort of monument or something.
SPEAKER_00: I'd be like, yeah, that was me.
SPEAKER_00: Um and and and we see this all over the place.
SPEAKER_00: And and I I had the privilege of of being um in Chicago with with my Fred, uh my Fred, my friend Fred, and and and and look, my he's my Fred.
SPEAKER_00: He's my Fred.
SPEAKER_00: Uh with my friend Fred and Lori.
SPEAKER_00: We were in Chicago, and and for all uh that that that I love, I love basketball, and we were in Chicago, and and there was one gift that that I wanted, and it was just to go to the United Center.
SPEAKER_00: Uh I'm a huge Michael Jordan fan, the greatest player of all time.
SPEAKER_00: Uh and uh and and we got a chance to be at the United Center, and I saw the statue, the monument that they made for Michael Jordan, the jump man, uh, for all his accolades and everything he did.
SPEAKER_00: I'm thinking David was greater than that.
SPEAKER_00: And he could have built a huge monument in his own honor because he slayed the giants.
SPEAKER_00: He built, he, the city was named after him.
SPEAKER_00: It's called the city of David, Jerusalem.
SPEAKER_00: And he he didn't only just build a city, he built a nation.
SPEAKER_00: He united 12 tribes, he extended the land of Israel, he brought the presence of God back into Israel and saw much success through the wars, through through all of the enemies that came up against him.
SPEAKER_00: He would rise up and defeat them all.
SPEAKER_00: All of them.
SPEAKER_00: This man knew glory.
SPEAKER_00: They in his early stages of his life, they would sing, they would sing, Saul killed a thousand men, and David killed ten thousand.
SPEAKER_00: So even when he wasn't king, he knew what it was to receive glory, and yet all of that he puts it to the side and he says, God, you are my glory.
SPEAKER_00: And the lifter of my head, anxiety, pain, suffering, hurt, lack of forgiveness, that those are all things that make our heads bow down, make our heads weigh heavy, rejection, disappointment, grief bows our heads down.
SPEAKER_00: And yet David says, But you, God, you lift mine up.
SPEAKER_00: And so in that moment, David is writing this, and he's now outside in the Kidron Valley.
SPEAKER_00: He's out here in the Kidron Valley, and one of his buddies, I like this guy.
SPEAKER_00: This guy's this guy's cool.
SPEAKER_00: And and you know, we have baby dedications coming up, right?
SPEAKER_00: And so um I want you to know that that if you're pregnant, let us know so we can count you as two people for the report.
SPEAKER_00: Um uh but but we are we are having baby dedications, and and and this guy, this guy's cool.
SPEAKER_00: If you're gonna name your child, if you have a boy, Zadok.
SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
SPEAKER_00: Zadok is a high priest in in the kingdom of David, and uh, and and Zadok sees that David is outside of the city, and Zadok, fast on his feet, he says, I got you, David.
SPEAKER_00: Don't worry, I'm with you.
SPEAKER_00: Don't worry, nothing bad is gonna happen because I'm gonna do something.
SPEAKER_00: I'm gonna do something for you.
SPEAKER_00: I'm gonna, I'm gonna grab the ark, I'm gonna grab the ark of the covenant, and I'm gonna I'm gonna I'm gonna steal the ark of the covenant, and I'm gonna take the ark of the covenant with a bunch of friends, with a bunch of the Levites.
SPEAKER_00: We're gonna take the Ark of the Covenant and we're gonna bring it to you.
SPEAKER_00: So Zadok, this awesome dude, brings the Ark of the Covenant to David.
SPEAKER_00: And this Ark of the Covenant represents the presence of God, represents the favor of God, represents that God is with them.
SPEAKER_00: In fact, in some of the wars, in some of the wars, when they were losing, they would bring the Ark of the Covenant, and all of a sudden, with the Ark of the Covenant there at the front of the war, they would start to win.
SPEAKER_00: And so the people started to see the Ark of the Covenant as a lucky charm.
SPEAKER_00: And so Zadog brings the Ark of the Covenant to David and he says, David, I brought you the ark, you're gonna be okay.
SPEAKER_00: You're gonna be okay, don't worry.
SPEAKER_00: This is this is what God has called you to do.
SPEAKER_00: Here is the ark, and in that moment, David says, Whoa, stop.
SPEAKER_00: No, take it back, take it back.
SPEAKER_00: And I mean, if I were David, I don't know if I if I would have taken it back.
SPEAKER_00: But David said, take it back, because he doesn't want to use the ark, the presence of God, as a lucky charm.
SPEAKER_00: David says this, he says this to Zadok.
SPEAKER_00: He says, he says in in uh 2 Samuel 15, uh 26, 25 to 26, let there be light.
SPEAKER_00: Then the king said to Zadok, Take the ark of God back into the city.
SPEAKER_00: Watch this.
SPEAKER_00: If I find favor in the Lord's eyes, he will bring me back and let me see it in his dwelling place again.
SPEAKER_00: But if he says, I am not pleased with you, then I am ready.
SPEAKER_00: Let him do to me whatever seems good to him.
SPEAKER_00: Talk about maturity, talk about focus.
SPEAKER_00: He could have taken the Ark of the Covenant and shown Absalom and said, Hey, Absalom, I am the king, I've got the presence of God with me.
SPEAKER_00: But he didn't do that, he returned the ark back to its rightful place, and he says this that may God do with me as he pleases.
SPEAKER_00: Let him do to me whatever seems good to him.
SPEAKER_00: And so in that moment, David knows what he wants.
SPEAKER_00: He wants his family back, he wants his kingdom back, he wants restoration back, he wants all of that back, but more than that, he wants God.
SPEAKER_00: He places the outcome of his life into God's hands, not into his own.
SPEAKER_00: He doesn't take a lucky charm with him.
SPEAKER_00: He says, Let God do what he wills, and if I have found favor in his sight, then he will let me see the ark again.
SPEAKER_00: Listen, the Ark of the Covenant was David's most precious holding, his most precious treasure.
SPEAKER_00: He went and fought so many people just to get it back.
SPEAKER_00: And in this moment, this was going to be the last time he would ever see the Ark of the Covenant.
SPEAKER_00: And so he could have held on to it and said, I'm not letting go of this.
SPEAKER_00: This is mine.
SPEAKER_00: But he released it, he let it go, and he said, Let it go.
SPEAKER_00: Even if this should be the last time I see it, let it go.
SPEAKER_00: And I imagine as he's he's watching the presence, the Ark of the Covenant go out of sight, down past the mountain, he starts to see it and his heart starts to break.
SPEAKER_00: Because that could be the last time he sees or is in the presence of God.
SPEAKER_00: He doesn't know.
SPEAKER_00: But what he does know is that his fate is in his hands, in God's hands.
SPEAKER_00: His fate is in God's hands, and that's where his faith is.
SPEAKER_00: Let him do to me whatever seems good to him.
SPEAKER_00: That speaks to us of surrender, complete surrender.
SPEAKER_00: And that's a word that we don't use often.
SPEAKER_00: We don't talk about surrender.
SPEAKER_00: We don't talk enough about surrender.
SPEAKER_00: What does it mean to surrender?
SPEAKER_00: What does it mean to give up?
SPEAKER_00: It means to give up that one thing, the treasure that you most hold on to and to give it to God and say, you take it, you take it.
SPEAKER_00: I would rather be in your presence.
SPEAKER_00: I would rather have your presence with me in my heart than hold on to something that just gonna, I think is going to bring me luck.
SPEAKER_00: I want your presence.
SPEAKER_00: I need your presence.
SPEAKER_00: There was a song that said uh many years ago, I need you, Lord, more than yesterday.
SPEAKER_00: I need you, Lord, more than words can say.
SPEAKER_00: And Lord, as time goes by, I will be by your side because I never want to go back to that old life.
SPEAKER_00: I need you more.
SPEAKER_00: And is that our prayer?
SPEAKER_00: You know, David goes on to write another psalm, and he says, This as the deer panteth for the waters, so my soul longeth after thee.
SPEAKER_00: You alone are my heart's desire, and I long to worship thee.
SPEAKER_00: So I wonder if in those moments, if that's what comes out, in the valley, what is happening?
SPEAKER_00: And so the question then becomes do you believe in God or do you believe God?
SPEAKER_00: Two little letters make a whole difference.
SPEAKER_00: One little word, do you believe in God?
SPEAKER_00: You see, believing in God is acknowledging that he exists.
SPEAKER_00: Everybody does that.
SPEAKER_00: Even the demons do that, even the evil spirits acknowledge that God exists.
SPEAKER_00: What they don't do is they don't believe God, they don't trust him with their lives.
SPEAKER_00: And so believing God means to trust God with my entire life, with everything that I have and everything that I don't have.
SPEAKER_00: I am trusting him, and I need to know that the outcome is in his hands.
SPEAKER_00: I don't know what the future holds, but I know who holds my future.
SPEAKER_00: And so the outcome of this season is in his hands.
SPEAKER_00: So pray boldly, ask, believe, hope, and then surrender the outcome to him.
SPEAKER_00: Let him do with your prayer, with your asking, with your belief, with your hope, what he wills, what he knows that is good for him, for your heart.
SPEAKER_00: May my heart belong to him forever.
SPEAKER_00: That's our prayer.
SPEAKER_00: And so David keeps on walking.
SPEAKER_00: And in that moment, we see David walking.
SPEAKER_00: I like that.
SPEAKER_00: Guys, you gotta take a picture of this.
SPEAKER_00: This is this is awesome.
SPEAKER_00: Hold on, hold on a second.
SPEAKER_00: You got it?
SPEAKER_00: David is in the in the Kidron Valley right now.
SPEAKER_00: He he leaves Jerusalem, he's in the Kidron Valley, and he's about to go up.
SPEAKER_00: Uh if you know a little bit of of Isra Israel geography, uh, he exits the the city through the east gate, and then he goes through the Kidron Valley.
SPEAKER_00: After the Kidron Valley is a mountain, and that mountain is called the Mount of Olives.
SPEAKER_00: The Mount of Olives.
SPEAKER_00: At the Mount of Olives, 3,000 years later, we find a garden called the Garden of Gethsemane.
SPEAKER_00: You guys are awesome.
SPEAKER_00: Gethsemane.
SPEAKER_00: And so so David starts going up the mountain.
SPEAKER_00: And watch this.
SPEAKER_00: David is an anointed king.
SPEAKER_00: This is this is the journey of David.
SPEAKER_00: He is the anointed king, God's anointed king.
SPEAKER_00: David is now rejected by the people.
SPEAKER_00: He's rejected by his son and the people and the high priest.
SPEAKER_00: Like he's being rejected all over, his counselor.
SPEAKER_00: Um, and he leaves.
SPEAKER_00: He crosses the Kidron Valley.
SPEAKER_00: Uh, he leaves Jerusalem, he goes up the mountain, he climbs up the Mount of Olives, weeping.
SPEAKER_00: He's crying, he's seeing the presence of God leaving, and he's crying over his city, over his son, over everything that's going on.
SPEAKER_00: His best friend, his buddy Ahithophel betrays him.
SPEAKER_00: And this dude ends up hanging himself.
SPEAKER_00: And so Ahithophel hangs himself after the betrayal that he did to David, and David surrenders and he says to God, Let him do to me what seems good to him.
SPEAKER_00: Does that sound familiar?
SPEAKER_00: And so the path that David walked was a shadow of the path that Jesus would walk.
SPEAKER_00: Jesus is the anointed king, Jesus is rejected by his people, Jesus crosses in John, John chapter 26.
SPEAKER_00: Jesus crosses the Kidron Valley in the same manner that David did it.
SPEAKER_00: Jesus goes up the Mount of Olives and at the Garden of Gethsemane is is is crying and praying, and his his sweat is like blood that is coming down from his forehead.
SPEAKER_00: Judas, his buddy, betrays him.
SPEAKER_00: Judas ends up hanging himself, and Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane says, Not my will be done, but your will be done.
SPEAKER_00: And so isn't it so interesting that David is walking the same path that 3,000 years later Jesus would then walk.
SPEAKER_00: And so I promised you, I don't know what you're going through today, I don't know what season you're living today, but I promise you it has a reason, it has a purpose, and that purpose is that Jesus be glorified.
SPEAKER_00: Why?
SPEAKER_00: Because whatever season, see, David had no idea why he was going out this way.
SPEAKER_00: You have no idea why you're going through this season.
SPEAKER_00: But let me tell you something.
SPEAKER_00: What season you're going through right now, the season you're going through right now is going to be a mirror for somebody tomorrow.
SPEAKER_00: Whatever you're going through today is not going to destroy you.
SPEAKER_00: He is a shield around you.
SPEAKER_00: It's not going to destroy you, it's not going to define you.
SPEAKER_00: Your past doesn't define you.
SPEAKER_00: What it's doing is it's it's creating this mirror effect for somebody tomorrow in your life that needs to know the season that you went through.
SPEAKER_00: David crossed it, but he stopped short.
SPEAKER_00: Jesus went all the way.
SPEAKER_00: David stopped short at crying.
SPEAKER_00: Jesus is the fulfillment of the shadow of David.
SPEAKER_00: David crosses all of this land, crosses all of this, and he says, Let him do what he seems good to him.
SPEAKER_00: Let that be our prayer.
SPEAKER_00: But trust God that he can do what's good.
SPEAKER_00: Because he is a good God.
SPEAKER_00: David is a glimpse of surrender.
SPEAKER_00: Jesus perfectly revealed what that looks like.
SPEAKER_00: To give up your life.
SPEAKER_00: And so at the front end of this message, we talked about what season you're in.
SPEAKER_00: And I want to show you this.
SPEAKER_00: Maybe, maybe this is you.
SPEAKER_00: Maybe you're over here.
SPEAKER_00: Resurrection land, hope land.
SPEAKER_00: Maybe you're living on this side of the screen.
SPEAKER_00: This is this is our lives, guys.
SPEAKER_00: The screen, this is my thing.
SPEAKER_00: Uh maybe you're living on this side where where you're just going through miracles, and and God is answering your prayer.
SPEAKER_00: And and that prayer that you had, God answered it, and you're just living uh uh your life right now, and you're just like, man, everything is good.
SPEAKER_00: The the the road is made of gold and it smells like butterflies and flowers every single day when I wake up.
SPEAKER_00: Maybe that's you, maybe you're living here, and if that's you, you know what to do.
SPEAKER_00: Coffee, coffee with pasture, coffee with pasture.
SPEAKER_00: Okay, so if that's you, if that's the season you're living in, watch this.
SPEAKER_00: Watch the path that you have walked, watch the path that you have to walk next.
SPEAKER_00: Okay?
SPEAKER_00: Stay with me.
SPEAKER_00: So you're here, you're living in the glorious moment of the promises of God over your life.
SPEAKER_00: Amen.
SPEAKER_00: Yeah?
SPEAKER_00: Okay, though that moment, that moment came about through the resurrection, the hope.
SPEAKER_00: Psalm 3.5.
SPEAKER_00: Let me just read it real quick to you.
SPEAKER_00: Psalm 3.5b.
SPEAKER_00: We're gonna go Psalm 3.5B says, Um, I wake again because the Lord sustains me.
SPEAKER_00: I wake again because the Lord sustains me.
SPEAKER_00: That's Psalm 3.5.
SPEAKER_00: I'm gonna take my Bible.
SPEAKER_00: Um Psalm 3.5, Psalm 3.5b.
SPEAKER_00: I wake again.
SPEAKER_00: When I wake up, the Lord sustains me.
SPEAKER_00: When I pray, the Lord sustains me.
SPEAKER_00: Everything I do, the Lord is sustaining me, and I can see him, and he's working in me.
SPEAKER_00: And this is wonderful to be a Christian, and that wonder, that beauty is purchased because of the cross.
SPEAKER_00: Because of the cross.
SPEAKER_00: You can live that glory because of the cross, because Jesus didn't stop at the Kidron Valley, he didn't stop at Mount of Olives, He went all the way to the cross.
SPEAKER_00: And and this is 3A, 3 Psalm, Psalm 3, verse 5A.
SPEAKER_00: I lie down and sleep.
SPEAKER_00: Now, We used to read this verse as kids.
SPEAKER_00: I lie down and sleep.
SPEAKER_00: I wake again because the Lord sustains me.
SPEAKER_00: We would read that as children, but the reality is this is Jesus.
SPEAKER_00: Jesus lies down and sleeps for three days.
SPEAKER_00: He lies down, he's dead.
SPEAKER_00: Sleep in the Bible is another metaphor for death.
SPEAKER_00: I lie down and sleep.
SPEAKER_00: I wake again because the Lord sustains me.
SPEAKER_00: And so if the Lord is sustaining you, it's because of his sacrifice.
SPEAKER_00: Now watch this.
SPEAKER_00: That happened.
SPEAKER_00: You are in the glorious moment.
SPEAKER_00: Remember, we're going left to right, right to left.
SPEAKER_00: Because you trusted in him, you put your trust in him.
SPEAKER_00: I call out to the Lord, Psalm 3:3.
SPEAKER_00: But you, Lord, are a shield about me, my glory, and the one who lifts up my head.
SPEAKER_00: So I'm lifted up.
SPEAKER_00: I'm looking up to the Lord.
SPEAKER_00: The reason I'm living that season over there is because of his hope, his sacrifice, his trust, because I prayed.
SPEAKER_00: And so I gotta continue to pray.
SPEAKER_00: I gotta continue to pray.
SPEAKER_00: Don't forget that just because you're living over here, getting a workout, just because you're living over here, don't forget why you're living over here.
SPEAKER_00: The Bible says, do this in remembrance of me.
SPEAKER_00: So whatever glory that you're living right now, it's because of his sacrifice, because you trusted in him, because at some point someone or you yourself prayed, and God answered that prayer.
SPEAKER_00: That's why you're over there.
SPEAKER_00: But know this, know this, and and and we're not masochists, okay?
SPEAKER_00: Um, and I don't want you to be a pessimist either, but know this a season is coming, and so I am strengthening my hope in his sacrifice, and I'm placing all of my trust in him because I know not that I'm looking for it, but I know that that there is a valley that's coming, and there's a moment in my life that I'm gonna need to know that I have hope, that his sacrifice is enough, that my trust is in him, and I've prayed over this moment, or I've developed a prayer group that needs me in this moment, and that's why I can live the glory on that side.
SPEAKER_00: Or maybe you're on this side, and your path didn't start over there, it's starting right here, right now.
SPEAKER_00: And I'm in a valley right now.
SPEAKER_00: I'm in hardship right now, and though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil.
SPEAKER_00: For your rod and your staff, they comfort me.
SPEAKER_00: Lord, many are my foes.
SPEAKER_00: How many have risen up against me?
SPEAKER_00: Many are saying of me, God will not deliver you.
SPEAKER_00: Maybe that's where you find yourself today, but I want you to know that that there is a path that Jesus walked, and that from that path, pray.
SPEAKER_00: I call out to the Lord, and he answers me from his holy mountain.
SPEAKER_00: Pray.
SPEAKER_00: That's the life of the believer is prayer.
SPEAKER_00: And if you can't pray, call me, we'll pray together.
SPEAKER_00: If you can't pray, ask the person next to you, they'll pray with you.
SPEAKER_00: Ask any Christian, we will pray with you because that's what we are.
SPEAKER_00: We are available to pray.
SPEAKER_00: I cried out to the Lord, and he answers from his holy mountain, and then I can put my trust in him.
SPEAKER_00: You, oh Lord, are a shield about me, my glory, and the one who lifts up my head.
SPEAKER_00: I raise my eyes up to the hills.
SPEAKER_00: Where does my help come from?
SPEAKER_00: My help comes from the Lord, the maker of heaven and earth.
SPEAKER_00: I place my trust in him, and when you place your trust in him, when you surrender your life to him, guess what?
SPEAKER_00: His sacrifice is enough.
SPEAKER_00: His sacrifice for your life is going to give you the victory that you need.
SPEAKER_00: And you know that it's gonna have a victory because he's not dead, because on the third day he rose in victory, he rose up from the grave to let you know that the path that you're walking has an end, and that end ends in glory, ends in resurrection, ends in power and miracle and life for you.
SPEAKER_00: There is hope for the season that you're living in, whether you start here and remember, or you start there and start the path all over again.
SPEAKER_00: There is hope for your life in Jesus Christ because of his sacrifice.
SPEAKER_00: David stopped short at the Mount of Olives.
SPEAKER_00: Jesus went all the way to the cross, and then he didn't stop at the cross, he went all the way to the tomb, and he didn't stop at the tomb, he went all the way to hell and Hades, and he didn't stop at hell and Hades.
SPEAKER_00: He went down there and proclaimed, I am Jesus, I am the risen King, I am the one that humiliated you on the cross, I have risen, and he rose up on the third day, and he didn't stop at rising up, he opened that door and walked out of that tomb so that you could have life, an everlasting life, and you could have a relationship with the one who protects you, the one who is a shield about you, all around you, within you, through you, above you, below you, beneath you, beside you.
SPEAKER_00: He is with you, he is with you, he is with you.
SPEAKER_00: Can you trust him today?
SPEAKER_00: Can you put your trust in him and surrender your life to him?
SPEAKER_00: Church, I would invite you to stand to your feet.
SPEAKER_00: He is wonderful, amazing counselor, provider, giver of life, lover of your soul.
SPEAKER_00: He's altogether lovely.
SPEAKER_00: And the cry of our hearts is to see him.
SPEAKER_00: He's coming back, he's coming back, and we're gonna see him, and you're gonna be able to bow down before him, shout before him, dance before him, cry before him.
SPEAKER_00: He's so good, and he has walked that path for you.
SPEAKER_00: He has walked that path for you.
SPEAKER_00: So when you're in the moment of glory, we can sing I trust in God.
SPEAKER_00: When you're in the moment of need, we can sing I trust in God.
SPEAKER_00: And when you're in this moment, you can also sing all I have is a hallelujah.
SPEAKER_00: All I have is a hallelujah.
SPEAKER_00: I don't know what else to say, but hallelujah, praise the Lord.
SPEAKER_00: And I put my trust in him.
SPEAKER_00: And as we sing this song, I want to invite you to really just don't sing it.
SPEAKER_00: If you don't mean it, don't sing it.
SPEAKER_00: But if you do mean it, just put your trust in him and watch him act in your favor.
SPEAKER_00: David said, if I have found favor in him, I will see his glory one more time.
SPEAKER_00: And let me tell you, you have found favor in God.
SPEAKER_00: And you have found favor in him.
SPEAKER_00: Place your trust in him as we sing this song.