Sermon Tone Analysis
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Intro:
I am always very prayerful about what I am to preach.
I never want to waste your time, my time, or God’s time, by just preaching “another” sermon.
Many of us have heard thousands of sermons.
I am not interested in preaching sermons, I want a message.
I want the Lord to speak to me.
I always ask, Lord, where do we need to go next, what do you want me to share with your church?
A couple of months ago, I was nearing the end of our study through the life of Joseph.
I had no idea where to go next.
I prayed for a few weeks, constantly asking the Lord for direction.
One day, I drove to Potosi and on the way I had worship music playing.
From Annapolis on, I sang along and I praised the Lord.
I did not ask anything from God, it was not my prayer time, but it was a praise time.
By the time I turned left on 21 to head toward Potosi, the presence of the Lord was so strong, had I not been driving, I might have danced a little bit.
One of my hands was raised, I praised the Lord in tongues, as God’s presence was SO thick.
Instantly I heard the Lord speak, “this is where you need to go next.”
I knew what He meant.
I have felt SO strong in my spirit over the past month, as a church and as individual believers, we HAVE to learn the value and importance of praise and worship before the Lord.
If we are to go where the Lord wants us to go, we have to learn to praise until His presence comes and then worship until the Lord releases us to move to the next thing.
After that car ride, I began to study and pray about what to preach.
And I want to show you something the Lord has showed me.
When it comes to “Praise in Progress” we develop a habit and attitude that says I will praise the Lord while my miracle, healing, victory, and need is in progress.
For a few weeks, we are going to look at a number of the Psalms that have helped me an encouraged me.
There have been many times I will walk in my office or in the sanctuary and I will recite these Psalms to the Lord.
In this particular Psalm, we will see how we can have confidence in the midst of conflict.
We can wait on the Lord, have courage, and watch God strengthen our hearts and lives.
The way we do this is learn to PRAISE in spite of the problems.
One of the greatest enemies of walking in all God has for us is FEAR.
David declared in praise, God is my light, He dispels the darkness
Something we must understand about fear, it is not an emotional problem, it is a spiritual matter.
Fear is not of the Lord.
The enemy will try to grip us with fear, and if we are not careful we will walk around through life consumed with fear:
afraid people will talk about us
I can’t pray for that person
afraid people might doubt us
afraid people will not trust us
afraid we cannot teach a class
afraid we cannot pray with power
afraid we cannot make it if we really get faithful to God with our money
afraid we cannot do anything beneficial because of our past mistakes or failures.
They enemy will do all he can to get us consumed with fear.
He tried this with David.
Think about what he faced in life.
One commentary (FB Meyer) suggests:
This psalm probably dates from the time when the exiled king, surrounded by unscrupulous foes, looked from his hiding-place beyond the Jordan to the Holy City, where the Ark abode.
Imagine, he was surrounded by enemies and armies who wanted him dead.
If anyone had an excuse to be afraid it was David.
Yet David knew the enemy of fear is faith.
David was able to have confidence in the face of fear because he learned that praise builds faith.
When he wrote this Psalm, it was not as an old man looking back and remembering how bad it was.
It was an individual who learned how to praise in progress.
David began by PRAISING that the Lord would illuminate the darkness, build his confidence, and protect him from his enemies.
David praise built his faith, because at the sound of his praise the Lord sent His power and presence to encourage David.
From the position of praise, we see three areas to build our faith: [The Place to Build Faith], [The Pattern to Build Faith], and [The Prayer to Build Faith].
Let’s begin
1.
The Place to Build Faith
If this took place when Absalom ran him out of town, I imagine David look toward the direction of Jersualem and reminding himself of what it was like to be in the house of the Lord.
Perhaps he thought back to the joy, excitement, and the overwhelming feeling of moving the Ark of the Covenant to Jerusalem.
Maybe he remembered dancing, whirling, and praising the Lord every six steps en route to Jerusalem.
Whatever his memories, he knew what it was like to be in the presence of the Lord.
But notice, he did not say this WHILE he was in the temple, he was not before the Ark, he was not in the middle of a service choosing to stand and testify about God’s goodness.
Instead, he was surrounded by enemies who were so vicious the could be compared to wild animals who wanted to eat his flesh and kill him.
The enemy would have loved to use this to make David afraid.
Had David allowed fear to take hold, he would have been stuck.
Instead, David wanted to be surrounded by the presence of the Lord.
He knew the place where this could take place, it occured in God’s house.
Whether David fully understood it or not, we know that God is not bound by buildings or locations.
Instead, He is present when two or three are gathered in His name.
He is present when His people praise Him.
Psalms 22:
David knew where he needed to go, he needed to get into the secret place of God’s tabernacle.
He did not pine for comfort or leisure in the home.
He wanted to get to the place where his faith could be built.
If he could get there, then the Lord would hid him, life him above his enemies and protect him.
Therefore, David learned the place to build faith is the place of praise.
David built his faith by singing praises and offering sacrifices of JOY to the Lord!
The place to build our faith is the place of praise, for when we praise, God’s presence comes, regardless of where we are, all alone or in church with God’s people.
2. The Pattern to Build Faith
By this point in David’s life, he was well aquatinted with what God desires of us.
David realized there are no shortcuts to doing and having all God has for us.
I told Bekah the other day, I have decided there are no shortcuts.
Bekah’s grandmother has an immaculately clean home.
We spent some time with her a few weeks back and I asked, when you cleaned professionally, what was your pattern?
I hoped for an easy answer, a few steps, and POW, there is no dust, no dirt, and no dishes in the sink.
She explained how she did it all.
I told Bekah, I have decided there are no shortcuts, people just have to do what needs to be done.
Bekah’s loving and kind response, Daniel, I told you that already.
You have wanted me to ask her for three years and I knew that would be the answer, we just have to keep doing what we are doing!
We keep a clean home, but I was just hoping there was an easier way.
But the fact is, there are no shortcuts to cleanliness, education, financial stability, and success.
It requires diligence.
Likewise, there are not shortcuts to becoming Godly people of great faith.
It requires diligence in prayer, study of the word, faithfulness to God’s house, and praise and worship.
When we follow these spiritual disciplines, God may accelerate our lives and pour out unmerited favor upon us, but it ONLY occurs when we are diligent to pattern our lives after His.
David reminded the Lord, there have been times You said, SEEK MY FACE.
My heart replied Your face and your presence will I seek, inquire for, and require.
David realized seeking the face of God means God will give His favor.
If God hiders HIs face, there is no blessing!
David had a pattern, when God wanted to talk, David was ready to listen.
So he trusted that the Lord would not change the pattern now.
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