I Will Sing
Psalm 13:6 | March 7, 2021
Have you ever had a moment when you thought, “Whoa! I did not see that coming!”
For a lot of us that moment came in 1980.
We were just sitting there watching a movie.
It was exciting and the plot was twisting back and forth – when all of sudden 5 words rocked our entire existence…
“No, I am your father.”
No one saw it coming that Darth Vader was Luke Skywalker’s father – no way.
And that happened right after Han Solo was frozen in carbonite – which is kind of like having a really bad accident with Flex Seal.
Here’s the thing, though – that kind of stuff doesn’t just happen in a galaxy far, far away – it happens in real life.
Look back over this past week…
- Did something surprise you?
- Did something shock you?
- Did something throw you for a loop?
- Did something stir up some anger in you?
- Did something stir up some fear in you?
- Did something stir up some sadness in you?
The plots of life twist back and forth and things don’t always end up like they started.
That’s that happened with King David.
About 3,000 years ago he wrote a song.
His song started like this…
- How long are you going to ignore me, God?
- How long are you going to abandon me?
- How long am I going to be stressed out?
- How long am I going to have ulcers over this?
- How long is my enemy going to gloat over me?
- How long am I going to feel like I’m dying?
- How long are you going to leave me for dead?
- How long are you going to do nothing, God?
That’s a pretty catchy song – I think I can dance to it – if the dancing is like angry mosh pit slam dancing.
David’s song sounds like the first grunge doom emo metal song ever written.
That’s how it started.
But how does it end?
And what does the end of his song have to do with you?
Let’s find out – listen to Psalm 13, verse 6…
6 I will sing to the LORD,
David hasn’t been doing a lot of singing in his song.
It’s been more like a lot of groaning.
He’s discouraged and down and frustrated.
He’s overwhelmed with the problems in his life and the problems in the world.
Ever felt that way?
Using modern language, we could say that David is deeply depressed – but he hasn’t lost his song.
I feel like Civilla Martin must have been reading these words from David when she wrote her own song in 1905.
Civilla Martin
Why should I feel discouraged,
why should the shadows come,
Why should I let Twitter discourage me?
Why should I let talk radio cast a shadow over my day?
Civilla Martin
Why should my heart be lonely,
and long for heav’n and home,
Why should I let the events of the world or any one person make me feel abandoned and lonely?
Why should we not surrender to those things?
Civilla Martin
When Jesus is my portion?
My constant Friend is He:
- Not casual friend
- Not co-dependent friend
- Not even consistent friend
- But constant friend
Hebrews 13:8
Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.
Civilla Martin
His eye is on the sparrow,
and I know He watches me.
That’s what was happening with David – he’s remembering what he knows.
- He knew that God was watching over him
- He knew that God cared for him
- He knew that God was his salvation
- He knew that God loved him with an everlasting love
So, he’s made it through the lamenting part of song.
The lamenting part is the part where you send your questions to God and you complain to God.
And now he’s remembering that he can trust God, so he’s singing…
His eye is on the sparrow and I know he watches over me.
The Chronicles of Narnia is a collection of books written by C.S. Lewis.
The fourth book, The Silver Chair, was published in 1953.
David Felker is a minister in Jackson, Mississippi.
His mom grew up a big fan of the Narnia series.
In 2013 she was diagnosed with cancer.
On her first CaringBridge post she talked about her favorite scene from The Silver Chair.
It’s where Aslan the Lion gives a challenge to a young girl named Jill.
This is what he said…
Aslan
Stand still. Remember, remember, remember the signs. Say them to yourself when you wake in the morning and when you lie down at night and when you wake in the middle of the night. And whatever strange thing may happen to you, let nothing turn your mind from following the signs.
Aslan
Here on the mountain the air is clear and your mind is clear. As you drop down into Narnia, the air will thicken. Take great care that it does not confuse your mind…That is why it is important to know them by heart and pay no attention to appearances.
What are you paying attention to these days?
- When cancer comes
- When gas prices rise
- When pandemic updates are announced
- When political battles are streamed
In those moments and all the other highs and lows of life, what are you paying attention to the most?
Is the truth of the Bible in the news feed of your heart and mind?
Are the promises of God in the news feed of your heart and mind?
David isn’t remembering the good old days of how things were in February 2020.
He’s not remembering how much he wants things back to normal – normal for David was constantly being threatened by armies and spies and eventually even his own son.
No, David is remember the real, true, verified, consistent, authentic, proven promises of God.
And when he remembers those promises he can’t help but sing.
Civilla Martin
His eye is on the sparrow,
and I know He watches me.
Now, some of you might be thinking…
- I don’t like singing
- I can’t sing those old hymns – they are too hard
- I can’t sing those new songs – they are too high
- I can’t sing any of those songs – I’m a terrible singer
The issue is not whether or not you can sing – the issue is do you have a song.
Or put another way…
Do you truly know God and is he working in your life?
If so, then you have a song.
I’ve been around music my whole life.
When I was little my family used to listen to Danny Davis and the Nashville Brass eating dinner on the weekend.
My sisters and I took piano lessons and sheet music was stacked up all around our piano – everything from hymn arrangements to Copacabana by Barry Manilow to Beth by Kiss.
The church I grew up in had choirs for every age group from kids to adults and robes for every choir.
I’ve sung in choirs and ensembles and quartets and praise bands and solos and school chorus groups and down on the corner and out in the street with Willie and the Poor Boys.
I’ve sung a lot and I’ve heard a lot of choir songs and solos in church and I’ve heard people clap after those choir songs and those solos, but some of the people singing those songs didn’t have a song.
They were performing a song about a God they didn’t really know.
One of my favorite Christian singers claims to no longer be a Christian.
So, you can sing songs about God and not have a song about God.
Don’t get hung up with the singing – just find your song.
15 years ago, my friends Doug and Karen had a big family get together at their house.
Karen’s mom, Betty, was there.
Her first husband had passed away and years later she remarried a builder named Fred.
After the party was over, Fred and Betty started to make their way back home – but they didn’t make it.
A tragic automobile accident claimed their lives instantly.
I was one of the pastors that spoke at their funeral.
I was leading a congregational hymn and I’ll never forget looking over at Betty’s son, Keith.
With tears pouring down his face, a huge smile on his face, and his hands reverently lifted to heaven Keith sang with me, “And then proclaim, my God, how great Thou art.”
His mother lost in a tragic accident, and still he sang passionately of the greatness of our God.
- God is great – in triumph and in tragedy
- God is great – in happiness and heartache
- God is great – in red states and blue states
- God is great – in high gas prices and low gas prices
Don’t get hung up with the singing – just find your song.
There are some Sundays that I don’t want to sing, so, I need you to sing.
And there are some Sundays that you don’t want to sing, and you need me to sing.
Whether you sing it right or wrong is not the issue, but we need to hear each other sing the promises of God.
We need to remember, remember, remember.
Nick Aufenkamp is a worship pastor in Minnesota.
Incidentally he was once chased by a walrus – sounds like that could be a good story.
Anyhoo, Nick once said that some of the most powerful worship leaders are in the pew not on the stage.
And he gave these examples…
Nick Aufenkamp
The expecting mother who suffered a devastating miscarriage the day before, but through the tears sings out, “In Christ alone my hope is found; he is my light, my strength, my song.”
Nick Aufenkamp
The young professional who, because of his Christian convictions on sexuality, was fired from his dream job on Friday, but who arrives on Sunday and belts out, “How firm a foundation, you saints of the Lord, is laid for your faith in his excellent word.”
Nick Aufenkamp
The divorced woman, battling loneliness and depression, who declares, “Jesus, Jesus, how I trust him — how I’ve proved him over and over.”
Nick Aufenkamp
The 76-year-old husband and wife who recently buried their youngest daughter and two granddaughters, but still sit in the second row on Sunday morning — as they have for the past forty years — and cry out, “He will hold me fast. He will hold me fast. For my Savior loves me so. He will hold me fast.”
Don’t get hung up with the singing – just find your song.
Remember, remember, remember the promises of God.
David found his song.
How?
He remembered one important thing…
6 Because He has dealt bountifully with me.
David is looking back over his life and even looking at his attitude in the moment and then comparing that with the goodness and kindness of God and he says, “Yeah. God has not dealt with me as he should. He’s been better to me than I deserve.”
Part of the reason that many people will not receive the salvation of Jesus is because they are not willing to admit that every day God is better to them than they deserve.
My friend Brad used to say it this way, “Everything above hell is icing on the cake.”
There is deep truth to that statement.
This is what Jesus said…
Matthew 10:28
Do not fear those who kill the body but are unable to kill the soul; but rather fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.
Listen, there are brilliant men and women who have made some very intelligent arguments against the existence of hell and the validity of that harsh statement from Jesus.
I cannot force you to believe in Jesus and his words.
But I can plead with you to believe them and I can pray that God will make them real to you and bring you to salvation.
I can also graciously declare that there are far too many details about the life and words and actions of Jesus that affirm his existence and the consistency of his teachings and his attitude and his actions.
So, when it comes to the concepts of the reality of hell and the reality of a death that never ends, a death marked with pain and torture that never fades – I am compelled to agree with this statement Jesus and hell…
Geoff Thomas
I cannot believe he was crying wolf.
Things in life were hard and frustrating and sad and frightening and nerve-racking and discouraging, but things between him and God were good, so David could sing.
He was right with God and that changed everything.
I was reading something this week and circled two words that really caught my eye.
Then I kept reading a farther down the page unrelated to one another I found two more words that really caught my eye and I circled them.
And although there was a couple of paragraphs between them, I drew a line between those two circles because they are a unique match for March 2021.
I’m going to start with the second two words…
Denying reality.
The reference was toward people who criticize Christians for denying reality – and let’s swallow the harsh truth that it is not just people.
Every week I hear Christians turning against Christians and saying that you or he or she is denying the reality of what’s happening in the world or what’s happening in the church or what’s happening at the taco food truck.
After I circled denying reality, I glanced up at the other two words and thought, “I did not see that coming.”
Those other two words were a perfect match…
Deliberately trusting.
I can’t speak for anyone else, but I can tell you the joyful fight that I’m in all day every day…
I’m not denying reality, I’m deliberately trusting.
I’m fighting to deliberately trust in God.
I’m fighting to remember, remember, remember.
I’m fighting to tell my heart, “His eye is on the sparrow, so I know he’s watching over Dow.”
Today is the anniversary of the birth of Holland Avenue.
On February 4, 1955, the first official meeting to start Holland Avenue Baptist Church was held.
Six days later on February 10th, the second meeting was held.
The minutes of that meeting record the first song this church sang together.
On that Thursday night, those folks sang these words…
John Newton
The Lord has promised good to me
His word my hope secures
John Newton
He will my shield and portion be
As long as life endures
Dear Christian, may we be bold and daring and courageous enough to deliberately trust in that truth.
Dear Christian, may we remember, remember, remember.
Because when we’ve been there 10,000 years we will not be overwhelmed with cancer and political arguments and gas prices and the economy.
When we’ve been there 10,000 years we will be overwhelmed with the glory of God in the face of Jesus and the joy and excitement and satisfaction we will experience will leave us saying over and over and over again, “Whoa! I never saw that coming!”
Message by Dow Welsh
March 7, 2021
© Holland Avenue Baptist Church
Above are pre-sermon manuscript notes, not transcript
Sermon scriptures NASB unless otherwise noted
Lots of help from many pastors and theologians
https://www.desiringgod.org/articles/your-church-needs-you-to-sing
His Eye Is on the Sparrow - Getty
His Eye Is on the Sparrow - Larnelle Harris
a Have you ever had a moment when you stopped and went? Whoa, I did not see that coming. Ever had a moment like that for some of you parents and grandparents and kids, that moment came in 1980. Yeah, in 1980 you were. You were just sitting there at the movie theater, minding your own business, watching a movie, and the movie was exciting. The plot was twisting and turning, and there's so many things happening. And then all of a sudden, five words happened that changed your existence as you knew it. And those five words were this. No, I am your father. No. One, No. One in the movie theater Saul. Darth Vader as Luke Skywalker's fought. Nobody saw that coming. Nobody that came out of nowhere and more strange than that is that happened right after Han Solo was frozen in carbonite. I mean, you're thinking this huge bad accident with Flex Seal was the big part of the movie, and nothing could get worse than that. Within all of a sudden, something more amazing happened. Here's the thing, though. Things like that don't just happen in a galaxy far, far away. Things like that happen in real life? We have moments in real life or we say, Well, I didn't see that coming. Just think back over this last week. Have you had something surprise you. Have you had something shock you? Have you had something kind of throw you for a loop? Have you had something that stirred you with anger? Have you had something Stirred you with fear? Have you had something that stirred you with sadness? You see the plots of life. They twist and they turn their ha. They're low, They're exciting. They're there. Horrible. But that's that's how life works. It goes back and forth. And sometimes things don't end up like they started. That's what happened to David about 3000 years ago. David wrote a song, and this is how his song began. How long are you going to ignore me? God. God, How How long are you going to leave me by myself? How long am I going to be stressed out? How long? And got me to get anxious. How long am I going to have ulcers over this thing? God, how long is my enemy going to stand over me and gloat? How long? God I'm not going to feel like I'm dying. God, how long are you just going to leave me for dead God? How long are you going to do nothing? That's a catchy song, right? I think I can dance to it. So that's how the song begins pretty heavy. So how does it end? How does the song end? And how does the end of the song have anything to do with you? Why does the end of David's song have anything to do with your life today? We'll see if we can find out some 13 Verse six David says. I will sing to the Lord. David hadn't been doing a whole lot of singing, and it's been kind of groaning. He's been groaning a lot in this song so far. He's down. He's discouraged, he stressed out. He's anxious. He's overwhelmed with the problems in his personal life, and he's overwhelmed with the problems of the world. I've never been there. I never felt that way. So David, he's overwhelmed and using modern language, we might just say David is deeply depressed. He's deeply depressed. I feel like Sevilla. Martin was probably reading Psalm 13 when she wrote her own song in 19 Oh, five. The words of that song go a little bit like this. Why should I feel discouraged? Why should the shadows come again using updated language? Why should I let Twitter discourage me? Why should I let talk radio overshadow my day? Bring shadows to my day, she goes on. Why should my heart be lonely and long for heaven and home? Why should I let the events of the world or even a particular person make me feel ignored, abandoned and alone? Why should we not given to those things? Well, she tells us when Jesus is my portion, my constant friend. Is he not a casual friend, Not a co dependent for him, Not even a consistent friend. Constant, that's who. Jesus is constant friends. The Bible says Jesus is the same today, yesterday and forever. He is constant. He's not consistent, he's constant, he doesn't change. And so because all of that is true civil rights, this his eye is on the sparrow, and I No, he watches me. That's what's happening with David. David's remembering what he knows. He knows that God was watching over him. He knows that God cared for him. He knew, without a shadow of a doubt that God was his salvation. He knew that God loved him with an everlasting love, and he didn't feel it. He's grown in in his song. He's not feeling it, but he knew it was true. He remembered that it was true. David's made it through what we might call the lamenting part of the song to lament means you take your questions about the pandemic and you take your questions about politics and you take your questions about problems in your family or at work or at school or wherever you take those problems first and most you take them to God. That's what it means to lament you take them to God and you complain to God. It's part of what lamenting means. That's what David. He's complaining to God. He's taking all of his junk and says God here to do something with this. So he takes his questions. He takes his complaints to God. But then there's the shift in the action, and he begins to trust God, and he begins to sing. I know he watches me like it's happening, that the moments happening David's There. Chronicles of Narnia is a collection of books written by C. S. Lewis. The fourth book, The Silver Chair, was published in 1953. I was reading this week about David Felker. He's a minister in Mississippi. His mom grew up a huge Narnia fan. In 2013, she got cancer, and the first post that she put on her caring bridge page was about a moment from the Silverchair. And it's a moment where Aslan the lion is talking to a girl named Jill, and he's giving her some advice about how to do life. And this is what he says to her. Stand still, remember, remember, remember the signs. Say them to yourself when you wake in the morning and when you lie down at night and when you wake in the middle of the night and whatever strange thing may happen to you, let nothing turn your mind from following the signs. I think of David's mom telling herself in the midst of new medicines and new doctors and new doctor visits. Remember the signs. Remember the signs. Remember the signs as it goes on here on the mountain, the air is clear and your mind is clear. As you drop down into Narnia, the air will thicken. Take great care that it does not confuse your mind. That is why it is important to know all of these things by heart and pay no attention to appearances. Pay no attention to appearances. What are you paying attention to the most these days when when sickness comes when the gas prices go up, when a new conflict from Washington erupts all over the news? What are you paying attention to the most is the truth of the Bible. In the news feed of your heart and mind are the promises of God in the news feed of your heart and mine. Are you remembering remembering, Remembering? Listen, David is not just remembering the good old days of February 2020. Okay, David's not remembering the time when everything could get back to normal because again, for David Normal was being threatened all the time by armies by spies, even by his own family. Know what David was remembering were the authentic, proven constant, never changing un breaking promises of God. He was remembering who God is. He was remembering who God was. He was remembering who God will always be. He was remembering. He was remembering. He was remembering and he was singing. I know he watches me. He was there. David was there. He wasn't confused. He was down. He was discouraged. But he was singing. Some of you may say I don't like singing. It's not my thing. Others are saying, I can't sing. I can't sing those old hymns. They're just too hard. Some reason why can't sing those new praise songs. They're just too high. So recently I can't sing anything. I'm a terrible singer. Listen, the issue is not singing. The issue is Have you found your song? What does that mean? It means this. It means, Do you really know God and is God really working in your life? Do you really know God and is God really working in your life? If so, you've got a song, you have your song. I've been around music my whole life when I was a kid on I think on Sunday, afternoons after church, maybe Saturday nights for dinner. We have one of those big, huge stereo players, and my dad would throw on the old records of Danny Davis and the Nashville brass. Alright, Yeah, we'd sit there and listen to those are some of my earliest memories. When I was a kid, the church I went to, we had choirs for every age group, three year old, a senior adult and everybody had their own robes. You know, we we had choirs for for anybody and everybody. My sisters and I, we all took piano lessons and and there's stacks of sheet music all around our piano. Everything from him. Arrangements to Copacabana by Barry Manilow to to Beth by Kiss. Yeah, there was sheet music for that. I've sung in kids choirs and middle school choirs and youth choirs and adult choirs at church. I've sung in ensembles and quartets I've sung in the chorus at school I've sung solos I've sung Down on the Corner and out in the street with Willy and the Poor Boys. I've sung and been around music my whole life, and I've sung a lot and I've heard a lot, son. And there have been times, sadly, that I've heard Song song about God from someone who does not have a song about God, meaning a song has been sung a solo. Acquire a course, whatever it may be by a group of people, and it was sung great and people applauded and it was fantastic. But then that person didn't actually have a song. They were singing a song about a God they didn't know. One of my favorite Christian singers from the last 30 years proclaims not to be a Christian anymore, and there's more than just one, so don't get hung up on the singing. The singing is not the issue. Do you have a song? Is God working in your life? Do you know God? Are you in relationship with him? Do you have a song? 15 years ago, my friends Doug and Karen had to have a family big family get together at their house. It was a New year's thing. Karen's mom, Betty, came hurt. Karen's dad had died many years before, and her mom had remarried. A great guy named Fred, Fred and Betty were there that night and and they left to go home, but they never made it. There's a car accident, and they lost their lives instantly. I was one of the pastors that spoke at Fred and Betty's funeral also was asked to leave the Congregational hymn. I'll never forget this moment where I was standing in the funeral home chapel there in Simpsonville and I was leading this congregational hymn and across the front row we're Betty's kids and Keith was there, her son and just tears pouring down from his eyes and the biggest smile I've ever seen in my life and hands in front of him turned up to heaven. And he's saying with great joy and there proclaim, My God, how great thou art. Keith had just lost his mom in a tragic accident, but he didn't lose this song. He's still saying of the greatness of God in the middle of his heart. God is great and triumph, and God is great in tragedy. God is great in happiness, and God is great and heartbreak. God is great in the red States, and God is great in the Blue states. God is great when the gas prices go up or when the political battles start. God is great, period. Exclamation point. God is great all the time, and we need to sing about the greatness of God Some Sundays. I don't want to sing has done. You know, it's been one of those days one of those weeks. I don't want to say it's like it's not there. Something's not right. You know what I need Then I need you to sing. I need you to say on the days that I don't feel like singing, I need to hear your voice. And you know what? There's some Sundays you don't want to sing. You don't You know what you need. You need me to sing. See, we need to sing about the greatness of God together. It doesn't matter whether you sing it right or wrong. That's not the issue. Do you have a song and if so, singing? If there's anything we need from each other, it is singing about the truth and the greatness and the majesty of God. We need to hear each other saying the promises of God. We need it and we need to do it together. It's how God designed we need to remember. Remember, Remember Nick Often Camp is a worship pastor in Minnesota. For some reason, I know that a walrus chased him once. I don't know anything about the story, but I kinda want to find out That just sounds interesting, but Nick was writing something that went along these lines, he said. Some of the best worship leaders are never on a stage, never in a choir loft, never holding a microphone, he said. Some of the best and most powerful worship leaders are sitting in the pews, and then he shares some stories of times that he's seen that Listen to these stores, the expecting mother who suffered a devastating miscarriage the day before But through the Tears, sings out in Christ alone, my hope is found. He is my light, my strength, my song than this one. The young professional who, because of his Christian convictions on sexuality, was fired from his dream job on Friday but arrives on Sunday and belts out how firm a foundation you Saints of the Lord is late for your faith in his excellent word than this one. The divorced woman battling loneliness and depression, who declares, Jesus, Jesus, how I trust him, how I've proved him or an order. And one more. The 76 year old husband and wife, who recently buried their youngest daughter and two granddaughters but still sit in the second row on Sunday morning, as they have for the past 40 years, and they cry out, he will hold me fast. He will hold me fast for my savior loves me so he will hold me fast. Listen, don't get hung up on the singing. Don't get hung up on the singing, Find your song, Find your song and it doesn't matter what the song is. Doesn't matter what's being sung. Doesn't matter if it's too high or too loud or too soft. You can still sing because your song has nothing to do with the music. Your song has everything to do with the fact that you know God and God knows you and he is working in your life. Remember, remember, remember the promises of God. David was. David found this song he was singing the whole time, but he hadn't found this song that it was kind of groaning. But then he found it. And what helped him find it? Equity says in the last part of her six, because he has dealt Bountiful e with me. Plus, it's David says I will sing because God has dealt Bountiful e with me. Here's what's happening. David's having this moment where he's like God, where are you? Where are you? Where are you? God, why aren't you working? God, why are you leaving me alone? And then he stops and he starts to remember his life. He starts to look at his entire life. He starts to remember his attitude in the middle of the song, his attitude in the middle of the moment, his attitude in the middle of the year, in the middle of the sickness, in the middle of whatever it may be. And David stops, and he compares his attitude. He compares his history with the goodness and the kindness and the grace and the mercy of God. And he goes, Oh, yeah, I forgot the math. God has always dealt with me better than not deserved. God always been bountiful to me. He's always been better me than I deserve. You know why some people will not come to faith in Jesus because they're not willing to say that they're not willing to say God's been better to me than I deserve David. He just got it. She just realized it. My friend Brad, he used to put it this way. He said. Everything above hell is icing on the cake. Everything. So if you are going to escape hell through salvation, then everything above hell is icing on the cake. There's a lot of truth in that. This is what Jesus said, Matthew, Chapter 10 do not fear those who kill the body but are unable to kill the soul but rather fear him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell. Listen, there are some extremely brilliant people that have argued against the existence of health some extremely brilliant people that have argued against the validity of statements like this from Jesus. So I I can't convince you to believe in Jesus. I can't convince you to believe in death. I can't believe get you to convince you to believe in hell. But I can plead with I can plead with you to believe that these words from Jesus are true. And I can pray that God would help your heart and your mind see these truths and he might bring you to salvation. And I can also plead with you that the evidence about the existence of Jesus is strong. You have to have crazy faith to deny Jesus. You have to be a deeply faith centered person to deny Jesus because the evidence is she's dead. And the evidence of his actions and his words, his truth, the consistency that the constancy of who he is, those things are highly authentic. So I would say that although I cannot convince you of the concept of hell, the concept of a death that never ends pain, that never fades. I can't convince you of those things. But I will say because of the high evidence and authenticity of Jesus, when it comes to the nature of hell and eternal death. I tend to agree with this statement about what Jesus said about health. Nick has like this. I cannot believe he was crying Wolf. It's highly unlikely. Jesus was just trying to start a church. See, David? He was stressed out. He was anxious. He was down. He was discouraged. He was depressed. He was angry. He was sad. He was just about everything. All of that was happening. Life was nerve wracking. It was discouraging. But things between him and God were great. Things between him and God were great. So since things with him and God were great sent. Things were right between him and God. It changed every other thing in his life. All of it. Everything changed because David knew he was right with God. He remembered that he was right with God. I was reading something this week and and top left of the page, and I came across these two words. I was like, Oh wow! And I circled them. And then I kept reading, like, two paragraphs down, maybe and came across two more words. I was like, Oh, wow, circle those. And then I drew a line between the two circles that they didn't have anything to do with one another, completely different thoughts on the page. But I drew a line because I had this moment where when I got to the second words, I went, Oh, I didn't see that coming. I didn't. So here's the first act. I'm going to do the second two words first. Here's the second two words, sir. Denying reality denying reality. I circled that It's like, Oh, and in those two words were in a question. Talking about people who challenge Christians, criticized Christians for denying the reality of everything that's happening in the world. Everything that's happening in the church or everything that's happening at the Taco Food truck, whatever it is, just denying reality. But let's be honest. It's not just people. It's also Christians. Every week I am in conversations with people somewhere somehow this state, another state, another county wherever. Where I, here Christian challenging Christians say, Man, you're just denying reality Yours denying what's happening in the world. You just keep acting like God, and faith in God is the answer to everything. You're denying what's going on. I hear it all the time. But that's why the second two words were We're so cool because I'd already read those words when I got to the bottom and served like Oh, man, I didn't see that. Here's the second two words deliberately trusting deliberately trust him. Listen, I can't speak for everyone, but I can tell you the fight of my life right now. The fight of my life is making sure that I do not deny reality, but likewise that I deliberately trust. It's what I'm fighting to every day. Try not to deny reality, but trying to deliberately trust, deliberately trusting in the promises of God not denying reality but remembering, remembering, remembering the promises of God. I'm fighting to deliberately trust in God because CNN and Twitter and Fox News and every other person on the planet is trying to tell me, Stop Dow! Stop trusting God. Don't trust him. Be afraid. Be angry. Be worried about everything that's going on in the world. Kaur to all of listen, I've never had a moment where I'm afraid to get covid or I'm afraid to die from Covid. I don't wear a mask because I'm afraid I'm wearing a mask because it just seems like one thing I can do to help others. And I could care less if it helps others. And if you don't wear a mask, great. If you do wear math, great. But I'm not afraid. I'm deliberately trusting and taking my mask off doesn't make me a better Christian. And putting my mask on doesn't make me a better Christian. Neither one have anything to do with trusting God. They're just thanks. We're just stuff we did. We don't deny reality. We deliberately trust. We look at everything and we fight to say I know he watches me. I know it. That's what we're fighting for. I don't know. Maybe I'm alone. Maybe you don't have to fight that fight. Maybe life's easy. Easy for you. It's not for me. I gotta fight. I gotta fight. There's a good fight. You know. That's a good fight because it keeps bringing me back to the one who made me the one who loves me. The one who saved me, the one who cares for me, the one who will deliver me from evil. Today is the anniversary of the birth of our church. On February 4th, 1955 the first group of people gathered to talk about starting Holland Avenue Baptist Church. They voted to buy 100 folding chairs and I support it. Alright, somebody, you got somewhere to sit. The second meeting was six days later, and the notes about that meeting say that they closed that meeting that night with the first song that this church ever sang first song. So on that Thursday night, these were the words that those folks say the Lord has promised good to me, and nothing you'll see on social media can change that today. The Lord has promised good to me his word my hope secures he will my shield and portion be as long as life endures there, Chris, can I just say, Can we be this bold from the From the very beginning the first week of this church, those were the words in the air. Can we throw them back up in the air in our lives Can we be so bold and so courageous and so daring to live in deliberate truth? That all of that It's correct. Can we deliberately trust in God in such a way that we say all of his promises are true and nothing can take those promises away from me? Can we remember? Remember, Remember the signs? Can we remember? Remember, remember the promises. And here's why. Because as that song goes on to say when we've been there 10,000 years Look, I'm honest. I'm just trying to get through the next 10 minutes. Okay? Next 10 days, 10,000 years when we've been there 10,000 years, we will not be thinking about mask when we've been there 10,000 years. We will not be thinking about politics when we've been there 10,000 years. We will not be thinking about gas prices, so why not start today? We don't have to deny reality to deliberately trust. We can engage with reality and deliberately trust, because when we've been there 10,000 years, bright shining as the sun, we will have no less days to sing God's praise. And when all of that first begun, in other words, when we've been there 10,000 years, we'll be looking around with deep, rich, joyful satisfaction over and over again, looking at the glory and the beauty and the power, the authority, the grace and the love of Jesus. And we will just keep saying, Wow, I did not see that coming.
