Sunday Morning Worship Service

I would like for every veteran that's in the house if you would please stand could we give them a great big hand now would you give them a standing ovation thank you for your service to keep us free that we may serve God according to the dictates of our heart and the freedoms that he has given all mankind thank you so much thank you Lord bless you and you may be seated again we give honor to all that's here especially to any firsttime guests that we have joining with us in the service thank you for taking the time out of your schedule to worship with us and to be in the house of God let me also on a personal note say a special thank you to everyone this week who have offered uh birthday wishes to me uh I uh uh I we have a Christian school so I like for our kids to get into high math so the way I'm now defining my birthday this current birthday on November the 10th was I'm twice 32 with one year to grow on so you can figure out what that is but I will tell you this when you get twice 32 and one to grow on about 6 months before that plan on getting all kind of telephone calls telling you everything that's available to you for Medicare A B c d i uh can I get a witness in the house so thank you uh fifth grade I looked at every one of those cards that you made for me thank you so much uh for all the cards the well wishes the gifts uh thank you uh for your kindness to to myself and to my family for the offering Lord bless you thank you so very much I'm excited to get into the word of the Lord here in just a few moments thank you Pastor Anthony for all of your help and keeping me straight uh with this service Pastor Anthony Pastor Whitley always uh help me with order of service and uh when one or the other is gone but Pastor Anthony thank you for keeping me directed in the right direction and uh oh I want to say welcome home sister Garder uh This is Home folk that lives in Louisiana we're glad to have you worshiping with us today I want to call your attention this morning to the book of 2 Samuel the 23rd chapter 2 Samuel the 23rd chapter we're going to begin reading at verse number 13 2 Samuel 23 we'll begin reading at verse number 13 and three of the 30 Chief went down and came to David in the Harvest Time under the cave of adulam and the troop of the Philistines pitched in the valley of riim notice verse 14 and David was then in a hold notice that statement David was then in a hold and the Garrison of the Philistines was then in Bethlehem and David longed and said oh that one would give me drink of the water of The Well of Bethlehem which is by the gate David was then in a hold oh that one would give me a drink of water from The Well of Bethlehem for a few moments this morning I'd speak to you on this subject when life gets put on hold when life gets put on hold and I would subtitle it thirsty in the wilderness of Judah let's pray savior I love you I'm so grateful for this wonderful crowd of Believers who've joined here on your day this Lord's day as every day should be God I pray that the power of the Holy Ghost would speak to our hearts I can say nothing I can do nothing save your word anointed speak through me God I pray that we would hear and receive what your word would tell us Lord then we would react and do all that your word calls us to do for fathers we're grateful and thankful in Jesus name we pray amen consider the dire situation David because of circumstances Beyond his control he is hiding in the cave of aulum in the wilderness of Judah he's not far from Bethlehem if you take the time to look at the geography of where he is he's not all that far from Bethlehem where the well that he desires to drink of is but because of his circumstance his life has been put on hold because he's in hiding in the cave of adullam under different circumstances he could have been shoulder toosh shoulder with King Saul and could have found himself drinking freely at The Well of Bethlehem but now life's On Hold by the way I might tell you in this house we all get a little sample of what it's like to be on hold just for a little I don't like being put on hold I mentioned earlier having a birthday and turning that magic age they'll call you all day but if you call them I feel a good spirit in the house I feel a kindred spirit you can plan on getting an answer by a robot that says your wait time is an hour and five minutes if you would like to do this quicker go online and figure it out for yourself what they basically say I I know what it's like to have your life put on hold but David's situation is much more dire for his entire existence depends on now being hiding in a hold in a cave not the place that David should be not the right-and man of King Saul not the one who had won so many battles his life shouldn't be on hold he should be flourishing but instead David is now hiding from those who should be his friends yes he has some mighty men with him he has some faithful Souls that have joined him some a ragtag bunch of elite Warriors that are with him and listening to his words and and David speaks out loud he says oh if I just had a drink from the water of The Well of Bethlehem that particular well that's by the gate he speaks out loud in the frustration of his life being on hold not only do I know what it's like in the natural sense to be put on hold I also know what it's like to be thirsty and not be able to get a drink you know those times where you go to that shopping mall one of those outdoor malls and you've got a $20 bill on you and the machine says correct change only I mean I've been so thirst that I would have been tempted to give 20 bucks and not a want change for a a bottle of water all for 75 cents just to get something to drink but to be on hold and to be thirsty David is in a dire situation and to make it further more complicated he's in a hold thirsty because of circumstances that he didn't create David's circumstances are Beyond his control in fact to review the circumstances I would REM remind you how he had become estranged from Saul 1st Samuel 18:6 we've preached a little bit about this in the past few weeks so I won't dwell there long but just to give the chronology of the story it's says and it came to pass as they came when David was returned from the slaughter of the Philistines that the women came out of the cities of Israel singing and dancing to meet King Saul with Tabet with joy with instruments of music and the women answered one another as they played and said Saul has slain his thousands David his 10 thousands and Saul was very raw and the same displeased him he said they have ascribed unto David 10, thousands and and to me they have ascribed but thousands and what can he have more but the kingdom and Saul eyed David from that day forward let me warn everyone in the house a root a spirit of jealousy can create a circumstance where even the most loyal will find themselves driven into hiding in the wilderness and your life on hold don't allow jealousy to ever cause you to hide or cause somebody else to hide I've stated it before but I'll repeat it again comparisons are not good in many situations meaning well meaning to exalt both David and Saul the ladies in their discourse and song ascribe 10 thousands to David and a thousands to Saul and David not anything of his doing suddenly found his King jealous of his success don't ever find yourself jealous of someone else's success don't ever let the enemy cause you to have this Spirit of enmity and a spirit of Envy because someone else has been successful I've stated it before but I'll State again had Saul been a good spin doctor he could have taken credit for all David had accomplished he could have said man I'm I'm a good choice of Warriors I hired a kid here I picked the kid out he he whipped a giant and look what a warrior he's become he's been slaying Philistines but now time has gone on because of a jealousy and a disconnect between David and Saul David's now with his life on hold hiding in a cave but brother M surely David did something that made Saul suspicious well scripture does not bear that out 1st Samuel 18:14 said and David behaved himself wisely in all things and the Lord was with him did you know sometimes you can be doing everything right the Lord can be with you and your life can get put on hold I'm talking to somebody today some of us have too shallow thinking that we think God is up here meeting out immediate punishment and reward for good and bad and it doesn't always work that way oh we like it when bad things happen to bad people but we don't understand why bad things can sometimes happen to good people let me tell you scripture tells us us that it Reigns on the just and the unjust that's part of life time and chance happen to them all just because you find yourself in a situation beyond your control that you feel like your life has been put on hold if you'll keep behaving yourself wisely before God there's Victory on the other side don't think everything that happens is the punishment of God sometimes life just happens right why do good people face difficult situations they've done nothing wrong God's not punishing them for sinning David had done everything right but now his life's been put on hold he's in a hole he's H in a cave he's thirsty you see it went on to say that David behaved himself wisely in all things and the Lord was with him wherefore when Saul saw that he behaved himself very wisely he was afraid of him the problems you're having may not be your spirit it may be somebody else's Spirit oh God don't ever let me have a spirit like Saul that I find myself envious and jealous over the success of someone else and I'm affecting them because of my ill will and the way I act but all Israel and Judah loved David because he went out and came in before them but I zoom back to our text David is hiding his circumstances he has no control over at this time time and he speaks out and says I'm thirsty oh and it wasn't just a thirst for any water I'm sure they knew that Wilderness of Judah well they knew where all the Oasis were they knew the watering holes but in his frustration of life being on hold he made a request and a statement saying oh if I could have water particular water from the well Bethlehem the water I'm familiar with the water from my homeland the water that now understand by fleshly Earthly standards most of us could find ourselves agreeing that David had a right David had a right to be offended at Saul he had a right he had done nothing wrong he by man's standards by our fleshly will David had a right to be offended at Saul but let me tell you no matter what rights you think you have you can still find yourself on hold and thirsty don't matter how you got there you're still on hold and you're still thirsty quit worrying about revenge quit worrying about getting even right now you need to take care of your circumstance after all the psalmist did say great peace have they that love which love thy law and nothing shall offend them before we exercise a perceived right to retaliate or be offended we can still find ourselves in the wilderness thirsty longing for a drink at home we can find our ourselves getting upset at an individual in the church maybe we had a right to you didn't you don't know what they posted about me you can't believe what they've been tweeting about me oh it's not tweeting him they've been exing about I used to call those folks tats but that's not nice you don't know what they've been addressing you don't know what they've been posting in don't matter you're the one that's put your life on hold and estranged yourself from the church the place you've been getting fed the place where the waters are flowing freely and you'll pull yourself and your family away from the house of God and find yourself on hold because of circumstances that you didn't even create there's other reasons life gets put on hold after I've made the case for it not being your fault sometimes we do create circumstances that estrange us and puts life on hold our own iniquity can put us in the wilderness of Judah Isaiah 591 and 2 says I behold the Lord's hand is not shortened that he cannot save neither his ear heavy that it cannot hear but your iniquities your immoral or grossly unfair behaviors to define the word iniquity have separated between you and your God and your sins have hid his face from you and he will not hear a sinful life will separate you and put your life on hold if you aren't careful and I find it a bit ironic that David is a not just any Wilderness he is in the wilderness of Judah all right anybody that was here last Sunday night if you were listening anybody remember what Judah means Judah means now will I praise the Lord now will I praise that's what Judah means and if we aren't careful we can get so put down by our circumstances we can find our life on hold we can be thirsting to death while there's praise all around us because we're having a pity party for little oh me I'm so sorry for me we'll break our arm trying to Pat ourselves on the back let me tell you don't let some circumstance estrange you from the house of God and keep you away from the wells of Bethlehem you're needing a breakthrough David said oh that I had a drink from The Well of Bethlehem and it takes us back to our text for here's what happened it says and three Mighty Men in second Samuel 23:16 and the three Mighty Men break through the host of the Philistines and Drew water out of the well of Bethlehem that was by the gate and took it and brought it to David there were some encouragers in the house with him I'd say those three men I I don't know how many a host is but I believe a host is more than three it said there was a host of Philistines and there were three Mighty mens that decided I'm going to do something about this circumstance that we're in God needs some mighty men and some mighty women that are willing to step up when they see a brother or a sister whose life's been put on hold and they find find some way to be an encourager David didn't need somebody to sit down with him said boy I'd like a drink too I'm thirsty too you know that old Saul uh he's keeping us from drinking I I I know how you feel David I David wasn't needing somebody to join with him on a pity party David had some mighty men that said we're going to do something about it we love you so much and we know your life's been put on and we're going to join and we're going to try to find a way to fix this thing it said they break through there may be somebody in the house needing a breakthrough and there may be somebody else that knows how to help somebody get a breakthrough God needs Mighty Men and mighty women who will help satisfy a thirsting and a drink from The Well of Salvation God needs Mighty Men and mighty women that have determination to break through for a long Soul Matthew 5 and6 said blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness for they shall be filled but I want you to notice what happened they went to this great risk they broke through for David and they brought the drink back to David David suddenly realized at what risk at what cost these three Mighty Men had gone to to get his life off hold and to quench The Thirst and notice what David did in the second part of 2 Samuel 2316 nevertheless he would not not drink thereof but poured it out unto the Lord now if you want to get carnal and put yourself in the place of the three Mighty Men here's the attitude you'd have well I tried I did all I could for him brought him water took all that risk broke through the Philistines I brought the water to him you know what did he poured it out let me tell you David didn't just pour the water out he poured it out with purpose and the purpose was it said he poured it out unto the Lord and he said be it far from me oh Lord that I should do this thing is not this the blood of the men that went in Jeopardy of their lives therefore he would not drink these things did these with that these things that these Mighty Men here's what happened he said I see that somebody cares about me and I need to pour myself out to the Lord one writer Adam Clark said this about that passage he said to make liation or to pour liquid in sacrifice both of water and wine was a frequent custom among this Society we have an almost similar account in aran's life of Alexander when his army was greatly oppressed with heat and thirst a soldier brought him a cup of water he ordered it to be carried back saying I cannot bear to drink alone while so many are in want and this cup is too small to be divided among the whole the example was Noble in both cases but David added piety to bravery he poured it out to the Lord I'm here to tell you when someone's willing to reach out to you you need to in turn know how to pour some things out to God somebody cares enough about you they're praying for you they gave you a call they patted you on the back you need to say God somebody does care about me and Lord now I'm going to pour my pride out before you I'm going to put a forgiving Spirit out there I had a right to get my feelings Hur but I'm going to pour it out on the Lord and let the Lord fix this thing he's going to get my life off hold he oh can you hear what the preacher's trying to tell you [Applause] today when we pour out and when we break through with purpose unto God God has Direction when circumstances have estranged you from the Lord his salvation and his church it's time to pour out all of your ills all of your grudges all of those things that are holy in you back give it back to the Lord you're going to get out of this circumstances life isn't going to forever be on hold for you there's a sacrifice that God's looking for you an effort on your part well I'm headed toward the close let me let our musicians our praise team and our baptismal candidates would you all go and get ready cuz we're headed someplace here you see d David wouldn't forever dwell in the cave he wrote A Psalm or at least one of the psalmist pinned this Psalm 631 it's called a Psalm of David when he was in the wilderness of Judah it said oh God Thou Art my God early will I seek thee my soul thirsteth for thee my flesh longth for thee in a dry and thirsty land where no water is to see thy power and thy Glory so as I have seen the in the sanctuary God I need to experience what I've been experiencing the house of God before I'm needing that same Sanctuary experience hear me God can move anywhere but there's a special move that takes place when we're in his house when you're in the sanctuary oh God let me return to that feeling because loving kindness is better than life my lips shall praise thee thus will I praise thee while I live I will lift up my hands in my name sometimes you're needing to call on the name of Jesus when circumstances seem to have your life on hold and you have no answers sometimes that you'll just say Jesus Jesus there's something about that name there's something happens when you start calling on the name of Jesus thus will I bless thee while I live I will lift up my hands in thy name my soul shall be satisfied as with tomorrow and fatness and my mouth shall praise thee with joyful lips I may look like I'm in a cave and life's on ho but I know there's something better on the way when I remember thee upon my bed and made it meditate on thee and the night watches when I go to bed and my eyes pop open worried about my situation I need to say Jesus I love you Jesus I know you're going to work this situation out because thou H has been my help therefore in the shadow of thy Wings will I Rejoice whop I'm going to be happy I'm in circumstance that that's under my not under my control but I'm going to Rejoice I'm going to be happy my soul followeth hard after thee thy right hand upholdeth me amen for you see this wouldn't be David's only situation in a cave God would give David an opportunity in a cave to learn from in 1st Samuel 24:1 it says and it came to pass when Saul was returned from following the Philistines that it was told him saying behold David is in the wilderness of inji then Saul took 3,000 chosen men out of Israel out of all Israel and went to seek David and his men upon the rocks of the wild goats man David's hiding in the cave I mean it must have been a tough place to get to the rocks of the wild goats that's where the wild goats live to survive nothing no Predators could get to them because they were uh dexterous enough to get around on the rocks and and David's hiding in this place and the spies come and tell Saul I know where David is and he came to the Sheep coat by the way where was a cave Saul got tired he didn't know where David was he knew David was in the general vicinity and he's still looking for him got 3,000 warriors with him Saul said I'm tired I'm going to go take a nap in the cave and David and his men his mighty men are hiding in that very cave it said that Saul went in to cover his feet and David and his men remained in the sides of the cave get the picture all the circumstance that David's been through all the being mistreated all that stuff that Saul has threatened him with and pursued him with the hard life that's put him in those circumstances got him hiding Saul has come as we say gift WRA ready for the taking David and his men those same brave men who had defended him and gone and got the water for him it says in the men of David said un him let me tell y'all notice this as we read it be careful of advice of folks that want to advise you for Revenge here's your oppos opportunity to get back here's your opportunity to get even and the men of David said unto him behold the day which the Lord said unto thee behold I will deliver thine enemy into thine hands thou that thou mayest do to him as it shall seem good unto thee David Being Human draws his sword but there was something in David's spirit that checked him David didn't run Saul through but he quietly slipped up he cut the skirt of Saul's garment tucked it away David was making a choice his men said here's your opportunity do what you want to we're with you it was David's Choice you've got choices to make hear me in this house you've got choices to make every one of us do we can go around with a spirit of Revenge and retribution or when God gives us opportunity we can have mercy and have a spirit of Mercy now if we Zoom back Saul had three ,000 soldiers at his beckon call David had a rag tag group Bible doesn't give the number of Mighty Men they were the mightiest of my they were Fighters had David Taken full advantage of Saul he could have ended Saul's life but he likely would have propagated Revenge killing after Revenge killing battle after battle his mighty men would have found themselves battling the 3,000 David killed Saul now we're going to get David and his Representatives verse five says and it came to pass afterward that David's heart smote him because he had cut off Saul's skirt he said oh god I've done too much even just cutting the corner of his skirt and he said un his men the Lord forbid that I should do this thing unto my master the Lord's anointed to stretch forth my hand against him seeing he is the anointed of the Lord so David stayed his servants with these words and suffered them not to Rise Against Saul but Saul rose up out of the cave and went his way Saul was sleeping so sound he didn't even know that David held his life in his hand verse eight and David also Rose afterward and went out of the cave and cried after Saul saying my Lord the king when David looked behind him David stooped with his face to the Earth in other words he bowed down and bowed himself and David said to Saul wherefore hearest thou men's words saying behold David seeketh thy hurt he said Saul why have you been believing these stories that I'm out to get you did you know sometimes boy this is going to be tough right here did you know sometimes the only way you can fix a problem is for some Holy Ghost filed folks that have a misunderstanding to get together and talk it out with the Holy Ghost guiding them oh no Pastor M no we we need four gu counselors and a referee to take care of us listen Holy Ghost filled people will sometimes have differences because you're flesh but if you're really spirit filled there are times that you can get together and reason some things out and talk about it and let the Holy Ghost guide you some of us the reason the Holy Ghost can't guide us it's been a long time since we've been to the Altar and let the Holy Ghost speak to us and through us oh preacher you're being rough you better know I am the Holy Ghost needs to be in our lives daily we're going to have faults we're going to have failures we're going to have mouths on us sometimes we're going to be too quick to use our thumbs and hit sin and sometimes we need to man up and woman up and go talk to somebody and say I'm sorry I'm messed up let's fix this thing I honor Holy Ghost fill people when there's a sit situation that they can get together and civy and spiritually man oh man is he preaching or meddling probably a little of above he said unto his men the Lord forbid that I should do this thing done to my master the Lord's anointed to stretch forth my hand against him seeing that he's anointed of the Lord so David stayed his servants with these words so suffered them not to Rise Against Saul but Saul rose up out of the cave David also Rose afterward went out and he cried after Saul said my Lord the king and when Saul looked behind him David stooped with his face we read all of that then verse 10 says behold this day thine eyes have seen how the Lord hath delivered thee unto into today into my hands in the cave and some B me kill thee but my eye spared thee and I said I will not put forth my hand against my Lord for he is the Lord's anointed verse 11 moreover my father see Yay see the skirt of thy robe in thy hand for in that I cut off the skirt of thy robe and kill thee not know thou and see that there is neither evil nor transgression in my hand I have not sinned against thee Thee I have not sinned against thee yet thou hunted my soul to take it he's talking it out he said I I didn't say that that's I I didn't do that that was not my intentions I've been trying to behave myself wisely you've been listening to the wrong voices and the Lord judged between me and thee and the Lord avenge me of thee but mine hand shall not be upon me this is in God's hand I will not attack you I will not try to take your life and it came to pass let me pause right there without doing violence the word of the Lord you know there's some things that come along to pass it's not going to be that way forever and it came to pass there's some stuff that if you'll keep serving God keep doing the right thing eventually God's going to give you the opportunity to deal with a situation with your circumstance with Grace with forgiveness notice what happened and when David had made an end of the speaking these words unto Saul that Saul said notice these words so beautiful stand with me you'll think I'm quitting we've got a baptizing of three here in just a few minutes but I want us to hear what's going on and it came to pass when David made an end of speaking these words unto Saul that Saul said is this thy voice notice he didn't say my enemy David he didn't say that guy that everybody likes more than me David he said is this the voice of my son David suddenly that old familiar spirit that Saul had had in his care for David the Bible had told us at one time David was like a son to him just as Jonathan was his blood son that David was also like his son suddenly because of David's Act of mercy and forgiveness his circumstance is being changed he's poured out before the Lord he's about to come out of the cave because there's forgiveness has taken place on David's part Saul lifted up his voice and wept and he said to David Thou Art more righteous than I for thou Hast rewarded me good whereas I have rewarded thee evil and thou has showed this day how that thou has dealt well with me for as when the Lord had delivered me into thine hand hands thou kill me not for if a man find his enemy he will let him go well away wherefore the Lord rewarded thee good for that thou Hast done unto me this day and notice verse 20 and now behold I know well Thou shalt surely be king what an admission by Saul this is the king speaking Saul the king speaking is now admitting saying God's revealed it to me you're going to be the next king and that the kingom of Israel shall be established in thy hands could I appeal to everybody in this house I know not your circumstance I know not if it's a shortterm hold or you've been a long long time in a hold in a situation let me tell you the only thing that you can do is pour it out into God today leave it with God some of us have been trying to fix too many things when we'll just take it to the Altar and say God I need you to fix this I don't know what else to do there's nothing else I can do God I need to pour this thing out I'm needing to turn it over to you is there somebody like to pour out something before the Lord step out right now maybe you've been dealing with a health situation maybe you've been dealing with a financial situation maybe it's an interpersonal relationship in your family whatever it is would you come and pour it out before the Lord God's wan to fix whatever you've got a problem with God's wanting to repair it maybe there's someone has ought against you maybe you're needing to pour out before the Lord and take care of that situation come on right now God's wanting to fix some things God's wanting to repair some things in this house hallelujah hallelujah hallelujah yeah yeah Hallelujah yes yes yes Lord hallelujah hallelujah yes Lord yes Lord hallelujah we hear you Lord yes Lord the Hallelujah that's right pour it out to the Lord right now pour it out to the Lord right now pour it out to the Lord right now