Episode Transcript
[00:00:00] Amen. Amen. Church Go ahead and be seated. Well, good morning, Christ Church. How we feeling?
[00:00:08] How we feeling? Christ Church?
[00:00:12] Gosh. Well, my name is Chet Beetler. It is so good to see you guys.
[00:00:16] Just got back from Florida. Hanging out in the sun a lot, so grew some hair. But anyway, it's so good, so good to be with you. My name is Javon. I get the opportunity to serve on staff here at our Christ Church, and I am serving over at our old Brooklyn campus. So our old Brooklyn family says hello to each and every one of you guys. As Tina said, it is so good to be serving with you guys. It is so good to be with you. And again, if you're new, we got a gift for you. We want to help you. We want to direct you in the best way possible. Last week, and we're going to continue what we talked about last week, but last week we picked up on this idea about where do we draw our strength from.
[00:01:03] And we started a series last week called My God, My Strength, My God and My Strength. So we're in week two of that and we've been planted in Psalm 144. So if you have your Bible, you have your device, a phone or iPad, whatever it may be, go ahead and pull out. Pull it out. And we're going to be reading through Psalm 144. We're going to focus on the second half of this particular chapter and we're going to talk about this again. The idea of what it looks like to depend on God for the strength we often in life. So go ahead and open up Psalm 144. And it says it like this. It says, blessed be the Lord, my rock, who trains my hands for war and my fingers for battle. He is my steadfast love, my fortress, my stronghold and my deliverer. He is my shield in whom I take refuge, who subdues the people under me. Verse three is where we're picking up today. O Lord, what is man, that you regard him, the son of man, that you think of him? Man is like breath, his days are like a passing shadow. Verse 5. Part your heavens, O Lord, and come down and touch the mountains, that they may smoke. Flash forth your lightning and scatter them. Shoot your arrows and rout them. Reach down from on high. Set me free and rescue me from the deep waters. From the grasp of foreigners whose mouth speak is falsehood, whose right hands are deceitful. Verse 9. I will sing to you a new song, O God. On a harp of 10 strings I will make music to you to him who gives victory to kings, who frees the servant David from the deadly sword, set me free and rescue me from the grasp of foreigners whose mouth speaks falsehood, whose right hands are deceitful. Let's pray. Dear Heavenly Father, you remind us time and time again that those who dwell in the shelter of the Most high will abide in the shadow of the Almighty Father. Today we come to you realizing you and you alone are our refuge. You are the safe place. You are who we run to when life feels depleting. You are who we run to when we feel overwhelmed. You are who we run to and draw strength from when life is lifing.
[00:03:31] So, Lord, speak to every one of us, whether we are feeling the overwhelmed, whether we are feeling exhausted, whatever it may be. Lord, meet us.
[00:03:41] Fulfill within us what is needed. Bless us, oh Lord, and guide us sing. Your son's perfect name is who we pray. Amen. Amen.
[00:03:50] And amen. Well, again, we're in week two of my God, my strength. Where do you draw your strength from? Where does your strength ultimately come from? My son has been asking me for the last several weeks because school is about to pick back up. Thanks be to God, we survived another summer, all right. Couldn't start any sooner, you know. But thanks be to God, school is starting up. But he's been asking me to take him to Cedar Point, right? He inherited his mother's genes, and he loves roller coasters. Me, I hate him, okay? I hate them. I'm brown and I'm meant to be on the ground, okay? That's how it's.
[00:04:33] That's. It says it in the Bible, in the book of second opinions.
[00:04:37] It's out of. You know, I'll read it to you later. But I don't like roller coasters. I don't like that feeling that happens in your stomach, right? The sudden turns, the sharp turns. You know, at one point you're slowly going up and everything feels easy and fine. And the next thing you know, you're moving at 100 miles per hour, you're upside down, you're trying to figure out what happen and when is it going to end.
[00:05:03] I don't like roller coasters. And if you do, we'll pray for you after service.
[00:05:07] We'll get out the holy oil, you know, we'll take care of you. But.
[00:05:11] Right. I just. I guess I can say I don't like the unpredictable.
[00:05:16] I don't like the unpredictable.
[00:05:18] And isn't that sort of kind of what life is like?
[00:05:21] Right.
[00:05:22] Right. At one moment, things are steady, right? At one moment things are going well.
[00:05:30] At one moment things are fine. But then next thing you know, you get a phone call, or next thing you know, you get a text message.
[00:05:40] Next thing you know, tragedy strikes, loss takes place, disappointment sets in.
[00:05:48] And in that moment, everything changes. And I've noticed that in those moments that happen in our lives and the unpredictable and the sharp turns of life when things are steady, but then they take a drastic right or left turn, whatever it may be. I noticed that for a lot of us, one of the great questions that we wrestle with inwardly is, where is God?
[00:06:14] Where is God?
[00:06:15] Does God see me right? You hear about all these songs on Sunday, the goodness of God you're worshiping, you're enjoying your time. But then there's moments where you have a hard time really experiencing the goodness of God, especially when life becomes unpredictable.
[00:06:34] Where is God? Can I trust God? But what I love about this psalm today is, though it may not answer all of our questions, but it will direct us in this one place that we can look forward to more and more. It will direct us of what it looks like to continue to trust God in the unpredictable moments, what it looks like to trust God right when life feels uncertain. And here's where we're going with, and here's where we're landing at that life may be unpredictable, but God's faithfulness is always certain.
[00:07:12] That's what David, the writer of this psalm, the author of this psalm, he says that life, it has its unpredictable moments.
[00:07:20] You have them and I have them. And though we may not see them, there's one thing we can truly depend on is God continually being God.
[00:07:32] That God in his faithfulness, it is always certain. And that's where we're gonna be landing at. Last week we picked up in verses one and two, and I spent all 50 minutes in one and two, spent a long time in that. And so I'm gonna make sure I keep my sermon a little bit shorter, maybe 52 minutes.
[00:07:51] And the SP rest of the time preaching the rest of these verses. But what I love about what David is going to do, he's not just going to talk about strength from a theoretical point. He's going to talk about it in a practical way.
[00:08:07] Right? What does it look like to draw strength from God on Monday, on Tuesday, when your kids are getting on your nerves, when your boss is getting on your nerves, when you feel like doing the thing you know you shouldn't do, what does it look like to draw strength from God in a practical, everyday life and he begins with verse three. Verse three is something very powerful that he does. And it's easy to overlook. David says, what is man, that you should regard him? Some translations say that you should care for him, Right? Right. What is man that you should regard him or care for him, the Son of Man, that you should think of him. 4. He goes on and he says, he said, man is like breath, right? His days are like a passing shadow. I love what David is doing here as David. And some of you need to understand, David is in the midst of a battle, right? His battles were more kind of military forces that were coming to invade Israel and whatnot. But even as the battle is happening in his life, he stops and thinks about God. But he thinks about God in such a way that it's masterful and beautiful and it's purposeful as well. He says, what is, who am I, that God should care about me?
[00:09:39] That's what he says, who am I?
[00:09:43] Right? That God should care about me. What David is doing here, he is now directing his attention. Though he's in the middle of one of the. Probably a hard moment in his life, difficult moment in his life. He's not consumed with the circumstance, he's consumed with who God is in the middle of his circumstance. He's not allowing the circumstance itself to draw him away from who God is, is what I'm trying to say.
[00:10:08] He says, listen, listen. The battle, it is coming, it is here, it is threatening, it is scary. But my mind is on God.
[00:10:18] But I'm thinking about God, right? Yes. I'm not ignoring what's happening. I'm just bringing God in the middle of what is happening. I'm not letting what's happening to distract me from who God is. And he says, who am I that God should care about me? What this passage means, it speaks of God's intentionality.
[00:10:40] It speaks of how God is intimate.
[00:10:43] That God doesn't simply just know you exist, but that he is attentive to your very life.
[00:10:52] God doesn't simply know your name.
[00:10:54] He also knows your need.
[00:10:58] He doesn't simply just know who you are. He knows the things that you ultimately need in life. And he cares for you.
[00:11:08] Let me paint it in a better way.
[00:11:10] Not too long ago, I took My youngest, my 4 year old, I took him to a park, and we're at the park, and this park is crowded.
[00:11:19] Oh man, there's so many kids. They're running around, playing tag, climbing up all the stuff. And there's parents and whatnot. And right. There's A lot of kids, right? And it's just my son and I, right? And so he starts to play and he starts to run around and whatnot. I run into a buddy from high school I haven't seen in a while him, and I start talking and everything. And then all of a sudden, listen to this church. All of a sud, I hear a kid crying, Right? Right. Out of all the voices, I knew that was my son's voice.
[00:12:02] Out of all the noise, think about this. I knew, oh, that's my boy. Right?
[00:12:09] My mind wasn't just attentive to the crowd, it was attentive to my son.
[00:12:14] It was attentive to my son, right? And I just didn't hear him. I just didn't know it was him.
[00:12:21] I actually drew near to him and I went up to him. I said, get up. You're embarrassing me. No, I'm joking.
[00:12:31] I'm joking. I'm joking, right? See, what David wants you to know. For those who are questioning God's care in their life, here's what David wants you to know. And here's what can strengthen us today. The God of the cosmos, the God who is unseen, sees you.
[00:12:52] The God who created it all, who formed it all, who was in all. And above all, he is attentive to your life. He's not just aware of you. He's attentive of the very needs you have as well.
[00:13:10] He's not just aware of you. He's also attentive to the very things that you need in your life. That's where David is drawing strength from. He's drawing strength from this reality. God cares about me.
[00:13:25] God deeply cares about me. Yes, I may be in the middle of this hard situation, but it doesn't distract from this reality of God's deep care for me.
[00:13:36] God's deep love for me. And you want to know what Jesus does? Jesus amplifies this passage. Actually, you remember in Matthew 6 and Matthew 6, when Jesus says, look at the birds. Y' all remember that passage, right? What does he say? Your Heavenly Father feeds them, right?
[00:13:54] Then he goes on and he says, look at the grass. Why Jesus? Does he need cut like, what's going on? You know? No, he says, look at the grass.
[00:14:01] Your Heavenly Father, he clothes them and he goes on and he tries to. Or, sorry, he lands this reality. He says, how much more does your Heavenly Father care for you?
[00:14:16] And last time I checked, God didn't forget to feed the birds this morning.
[00:14:22] And he won't forget to take care of you as well.
[00:14:26] He won't forget to take care of you.
[00:14:28] This is where David is drawing strength from.
[00:14:33] Listen, I'm tempted to believe God doesn't see me, but I know he does. And I know he draws near. And I know he is ever providing for me in my life. What David is doing, he's doing this one thing a lot of us need to learn to do. David says, what is man? That you should regard him. What is man? That you should care for him. What is man? That you should even think of him, Right? What is David doing here? David is saying, why would a holy God care about me?
[00:15:05] Right? Because, spoiler alert, David thought he was great. He had a lot of flaws.
[00:15:12] What is David doing here? David is remembering the goodness of God in his life.
[00:15:19] He is taking the time. And he's reflecting on all the ways. When he talks about how God cares for him. He's talking about the past. He's talking about in the past tense. He says, man, like God has been so good to me. I don't know why I mess up.
[00:15:39] Right? I have my flaws, I have my issues.
[00:15:43] Right?
[00:15:44] But God has been so good to me. And I think the one thing that happens when you and I are facing life, one of the things we lose is perspective.
[00:15:56] We allow our present circumstances to distract us from God's yesterday's faithfulness.
[00:16:06] We allow our present circumstances, sometimes the moments that we're seeing, to keep us from what God has already done in our lives, how God has already provided in our lives, which I get it, which I understand.
[00:16:21] But what David is doing, he is drawing what we call confidence.
[00:16:26] And there's one thing we lose when life is beating us up. We lose confidence, don't we?
[00:16:33] We lose a bit of confidence.
[00:16:35] We lose a little bit of assurance. And David regains confidence not by looking at himself, by looking to who, To God, to the one who cares for him and to the one who has been good to him. And he does this by way of reflection, remembering.
[00:16:53] Remembering all what God has done in my life.
[00:16:58] Remembering the goodness of God. Because remembering. What does it do? It fuels your faith. It doesn't change your circumstance. It just reminds you that God is unchanging.
[00:17:10] He takes the time and he reflects upon all the ways God has shown up, all the ways God has provided, all the ways that God. God has been God.
[00:17:24] Right?
[00:17:25] Right.
[00:17:26] And I want you to write this down. We are strengthened when we remember. We find strength by remembering God's faithfulness.
[00:17:39] God has been faithful, friends.
[00:17:41] He has been faithful in your life.
[00:17:43] He has been good in your life. And what does faith, what does reflection do? It fuels our faith to keep trusting, go more and more continually as we move forward. And if you think about it, Scripture always, always tells us to remember.
[00:18:02] God always tells us to remember.
[00:18:05] There's a reason why. When God brought Israel out of Egypt, what does he tell Israel? Remember what the Lord has done for you on this day.
[00:18:16] Listen, as a matter of fact, go to the Lord's Supper.
[00:18:19] Jesus says, this cup and this bread, do this in what remembrance?
[00:18:25] The Bible is always trying to get you to know that the one thing you can have, even when life is coming at you, is that you can always have a perspective that God has been good.
[00:18:38] And because God has been good, God will continue to be good.
[00:18:44] God will continue to be good. Because the God who fought the battles yesterday is the God who's in my battles today.
[00:18:54] The God who was present when my marriage was struggling is the God who's going to be present even in this hard situation. The God who was present and providing when I was hurting is the God who's going to be the same today as well.
[00:19:13] We're strengthened by remembering.
[00:19:16] Remember how the Lord has been good to you in your life. And you want to know what's interesting, friends? Here's what's interesting. Here's what's interesting.
[00:19:24] God's goodness is not because you're good.
[00:19:29] I know you don't like that. Don't worry. Chad will be back next week, all right? Don't worry.
[00:19:33] Right? I know you don't like that. Listen, my son is always saying. He's always saying this, dad, if I'm a good boy, can I get ice cream? Literally? Right?
[00:19:44] If I'm a good boy, can you buy me a toy? Right? Right.
[00:19:48] And his mindset is thinking, like, if I do this, well, then I'll get that. But the gospel teaches us a very different truth, an even better truth, a truth that says this. God's faithfulness is not because you are faithful, it's because he's faithful.
[00:20:08] God's goodness. What does David do it? David is remembering not just God's goodness, but how God has been gracious even on our worst days. Think about this.
[00:20:19] Even on our worst days, goodness and mercy pursued you. Still, even on the days you got it wrong. And don't act like you don't have them.
[00:20:31] Some of you had it this morning getting the kids together, right?
[00:20:34] Am I the only one that used colorful language this morning and realized, oh, I have to preach?
[00:20:40] Right. Right. The goodness of God followed me not because I was a Good boy.
[00:20:46] Because he's a good God.
[00:20:50] Because he's a good God.
[00:20:51] And that's where David draws this confidence.
[00:20:55] God, he has been good.
[00:20:58] And God won't stop being good.
[00:21:02] And you and I, we are strengthened by remembering, by remembering this God who sees you, who knows you, and he who is for you as well.
[00:21:16] This is where we draw strength, right? And in David, what he does here, he contemplates, he remembers, he reflects, he thinks about God. He's not allowing that, whatever it may be, the threats that are coming at him, he doesn't allow it to distract him from God. And because he's thinking about God, he moves on to this next passage, this next section. And now he begins to pray. But I want you to hear this prayer. This prayer is so beautiful. Look at what he says in verse five. Verse five, he says, part your heavens, O Lord, come down.
[00:21:51] Touch the mountain that they may smoke. Flash forth your lightning and scatter them. Shoot your arrows and rout them. Reach down from on high. Set me free and rescue me from the deep waters. So there it is. There's the context. Deep waters indicates overwhelm.
[00:22:08] He says, rescue me from the deep waters and the grasp of foreigners whose mouths speak falsehood, whose right hands are deceitful. David, this is what we would call a bold prayer. Now, if you're new to the Bible, this is very much what we call a symbolic language. All David is saying is, God, you have to intervene.
[00:22:33] But there's something that's here that's very powerful. See, this might have been written, this psalm might have been written probably early on in David's career as a king. He became the king of Israel. And this psalm probably was centered around his early days. And around that time, Israel had what we call hostile nations. The Philistines, the Canaanites, Jebusites, the Hittites had all the ites, the cellulites. Everybody was there, okay?
[00:23:08] Everybody was there. And these nations, they were hostile.
[00:23:12] These nations, they were strong opponents.
[00:23:16] They were mightier than Israel.
[00:23:20] They were stronger than them, right? They weren't just bigger than them. They can overpower them at any moment.
[00:23:29] And what I love about this prayer, all David is saying is this. There are some battles God calls me to engage in. Remember we talked about that last week, that the Lord trains my hands for wars and my fingers for battle.
[00:23:45] He says this. Listen to me. This is so important because this is where our strength is going to be found this week. This is where you and I can endure this week. David says. David says there are some Battles I'm meant to engage in.
[00:23:59] And then there are some battles that belong to the Lord.
[00:24:03] Does that make sense?
[00:24:05] There are some things that I am. Listen. That require my effort.
[00:24:10] And then there are just some things that need to be left in God's hands.
[00:24:16] There are some things that, hey, you know, I got to put my work in, I got to invest in and all of that. But, David, at the end of the day, this prayer is a prayer that says, God, you have to show up.
[00:24:30] It is in your hands.
[00:24:33] Because here's the truth, friends. There are moments in our lives where we will do all that we know to do.
[00:24:39] We will invest, we will seek counsel, we will work hard, and we remain faithful. And eventually we come to the end of ourselves.
[00:24:49] We come to the end of ourselves. And we have to say to ourselves, and sometimes we say to ourselves, there's nothing more I can do.
[00:24:56] And here's what I want you to know. That's a good place to be.
[00:25:00] Because that's not the place where faith goes and dies.
[00:25:03] That's actually the place where faith begins.
[00:25:09] That's actually the place where faith actually begins. Because here's the thing. Strength is knowing when to place what you cannot carry into the God who can carry it.
[00:25:26] Cause that's what strength is.
[00:25:30] Strength is doing this. Strength is doing what First Peter says. Remember one Peter chapter, chapter five, I believe it's verse seven.
[00:25:37] Says, cast all your burdens onto him because he cares for you.
[00:25:45] Cast all your burdens onto him because he cares for you. Because strength often looks like this. Strength looks less like holding onto something and more like letting go.
[00:26:02] Does that make sense?
[00:26:03] Strength looks less like, let me just. Let me keep trying to change them.
[00:26:08] Let me keep trying to change the situation.
[00:26:12] Let me keep trying to change the future.
[00:26:14] Let me keep trying to change this. Let me just keep trying to change that. No strength, David says this, and he's the king.
[00:26:22] He's the man.
[00:26:24] And even he knows there were some battles I can't win unless the Lord is in it.
[00:26:32] And strength looks less like holding on and more like letting go. Letting go of what? Letting go of the illusion that you are in control.
[00:26:46] Cause can I tell you right now, friends, one of our biggest issues and why strength leaves us is because we're trying to control everything.
[00:26:54] Can I just say this about myself? I can't say about you because I don't know you that well, but I can tell you about me.
[00:26:59] I'm a control freak.
[00:27:01] Things don't go my way, I lose my head.
[00:27:04] I'm A control freak.
[00:27:06] I'm a control freak. I want to control everyone. I want to control everything. I want to make sure that I'm the one that's involved in every plan and every decision and all of that. But here's what David teaches us about prayer and why prayer is so essential. Especially. Especially when life is lifing and things are hard. Prayer is releasing. Releasing to God what was never yours to carry.
[00:27:29] That's what prayer is.
[00:27:31] It's releasing to God what was never yours to carry. And I'm at that point when it comes to my kids. Lord, I can't raise these kids.
[00:27:38] I don't know why you gave them to me. But you know what, Lord? You have a plan for them before you set them and you've given me to them. But at the end of the day, they're in your hands.
[00:27:48] And maybe there is something in your life where it looks less like effort and it looks more like faith, looks more like God.
[00:28:01] You're in this, and I'm gonna wait for you.
[00:28:06] I'm gonna wait on you.
[00:28:08] I'm gonna be patient with all of this. I'm gonna trust you with it. Yes. I can't see, I can't know. I can't map out. I can't control. But I can trust in the one who is faithful, who is good, and who is gracious to me.
[00:28:29] That's what David says.
[00:28:31] But then David does something powerful, does something amazing. He says, part the heavens, part the heavens, come down.
[00:28:41] God literally come down.
[00:28:44] And guess what, friends?
[00:28:46] This foreshadows the gospel, because Jesus did come down.
[00:28:52] Jesus parted the heavens, and he fought a battle, and he fought enemies. You and I could never, ever defeat sin, Satan and death.
[00:29:08] This foreshadows Christ.
[00:29:11] This first shadow is Christ himself, who was the strong one for us, who fought battles for us, battles we could never win. I said it last week, and I'll say it again. This is what Christianity is. Christianity is God doing for you what you cannot do for yourself.
[00:29:28] It's God doing for you what you inevitably can't do for yourself.
[00:29:33] And that's the whole idea of this God. Part the heavens and come down.
[00:29:39] And then David lands beautifully.
[00:29:43] David says in verse nine. Look at verse nine, friends.
[00:29:46] David says. He says in verse nine, he says, I will sing to the Lord.
[00:29:52] I will sing to you. You know, I'm always a good singer in the shower, but I'm always.
[00:29:58] I love singing sometimes, right?
[00:30:01] I love just sometimes just going, you know, singing. And my kids would tell me, like, dad, who sang that Song. I'm like, oh, such and such, dad. It's like, well, let's keep it that way. And I'd be like, do you want to get adopted today? Anyway, I say, hey, I will sing to you a new song. Oh, God.
[00:30:20] I will sing to you a new song, oh, God. On a harp of 10 strings, I will make music to you. You know what's amazing is that this seems abrupt.
[00:30:31] This seems like, all right, David, what are we doing here?
[00:30:34] I mean, you got enemies coming after you broke.
[00:30:38] What are you doing singing?
[00:30:40] Because nothing in this passage indicates. Listen to me, friends. Nothing in this passage indicates David's enemies disappeared.
[00:30:49] If you actually take the time and you study and you read and you evaluate and you look and you do the cross references and all of that, nothing indicates things changed.
[00:30:59] Nothing indicates things got easier.
[00:31:03] But yet David doesn't remain silent.
[00:31:07] David just starts worshiping God.
[00:31:11] He just starts worshiping God.
[00:31:14] He gives it all to God. And he says, lord, I will sing to you. I will sing to you a new song.
[00:31:22] And he doesn't sing to God to get God's attention.
[00:31:25] Why does David sing to God? Because God has his deepest affection. He doesn't sing to God because things changed. He sings to God because God is unchanging.
[00:31:40] David sings.
[00:31:42] My wife and I, years ago, before we were trying to have children, we went through multiple failed attempts, multiple disappointments.
[00:31:55] I remember one specific moment when we left the doctors, we were driving in the car and after them telling us that it failed.
[00:32:08] I remember crying.
[00:32:11] I remember weeping.
[00:32:14] I remember being frustrated.
[00:32:17] But I wasn't silent.
[00:32:21] My wife and her, because she has such a beautiful faith to her, she put on this song.
[00:32:29] And the song was, this is how I fight my battles.
[00:32:34] This is how I fight my battles.
[00:32:38] Told you I'm not a good singer.
[00:32:41] That's why they're here.
[00:32:45] And I remember in that moment, our circumstance didn't change, but we were reminded that God was good.
[00:32:59] We were reminded that the battle belonged to the Lord.
[00:33:02] We were reminded in that moment, in that time that it was scary and it didn't feel good and it didn't seem like anything good was going to come. We were reminded of what is true and what was true. That God is good and he will be faithful to the end.
[00:33:26] And as we close today, I want you.
[00:33:29] I want to close with worship.
[00:33:32] Not because it fills the space, because it fills our hearts.
[00:33:38] Not because we need to fill the dead space before we close. No, because we need to declare God, you are still worthy.
[00:33:49] And that's what worship Is worship, is declaring that God is still worthy even in the middle of the battle.
[00:33:58] God, you are still worthy.
[00:34:01] This is how I fight my battles. I don't fight my battles by worrying. I don't fight my battles by ignoring. I fight. I don't fight my battles by indulging. I fight everything in my life through worship, through worship, by fixing my eyes on the One who was above all, who is in all, and who was working all things according to his perfect wisdom and his fatherly care.
[00:34:27] That's what I need to do today.
[00:34:29] And maybe for some of us, we need to release to God. God, it is not in my hands anymore. I'm scared to death. I don't know what is the outcome. I don't know what happens next. But I do know this. You are faithful, you are good, you are gracious, you are kind. And I will worship you because of who you are, not because of the temptation of the circumstances that is leading me from you.
[00:34:57] That's our response today.
[00:34:59] Not just to hear a crafty message, but to respond to your heavenly Father, who knows you, who cares about you, who is involved, who is attentive, who is aware. This is how we fight our battles, Church, we fight our battles through worship.
[00:35:21] We say to ourselves, God, you are good.
[00:35:24] Things aren't great, but you alone will remain great.
[00:35:30] So I invite you in this moment, I invite you in this time.
[00:35:33] Don't just be a bystander, be a worshiper.
[00:35:36] Don't just be someone sitting in the seats that's just staring but looking more to God, my God, my rock, who was my steadfast love, who was my refuge, who is my fortress, who is my shield, and whom subdues all the enemies under me.
[00:35:59] That's what David proclaims.
