Sunday Evening Worship & Word | Pastor Whitley “Death of the Sweet Psalmist”

how can he be all those things at the same time just as i can be a son to brenda whitley i'm a father to eastern whitley just as i'm a father to easton i'm a husband to ashley but there's just one of me thank the lord you don't want two of me or three of me around here but jesus can be all those things at once he can be the lion and the lamb at the same time he can be the first and the last at the same time he can be the alpha and the omega at the same time he could be the beginning and the ending at the same time he can be the father and the son at the same time he can be the high priest and the sacrifice at the same time i wish somebody right now at the same time would give jesus praise somebody give me praise somebody give me praise hallelujah hallelujah hallelujah hallelujah i'm thankful to be in the house of the lord who believes that there is this one god hear o israel the lord our god is one lord one more time would you clap your hands into the lord tonight you can be seated turn to your seat but just keep the same spirit of praise and worship great to be back in the house of the lord i'm thankful to be back here at home had to travel the last several weekends but always great to be back in the house of the lord and to be with god's people there's no greater place in the world than right here in knoxville tennessee at first apostolic church i want to say again this week tuesday night we'll kick off our kids quest camp it'll be wednesday night our wednesday night service is focused towards our children pastor wes comer who's originally from clinton tennessee who is now pastoring a great thriving church in newcastle indiana he'll be here ministering we're believing for our children to get the baptism of the holy ghost here at our kids quiz do you believe that i believe that we baptized a child from pia tonight amen another one baptized in jesus name if you've yet to register your children there's a poster out in the lobby all you have to do is open up your camera and point it towards that and it'll take you to the website where you can register your child to be a part of kids quest camp want to have a great time all of our volunteers for kids quest camp it'll be a very brief meeting right after service in our women's prayer room so meet us there right after service tonight i want to say this too it's been a great day celebrating all of our fathers a great father's day a great a great time where we can celebrate but there's something that i felt in the beginning of service tonight is i want to share this that there are those who don't know what it's like to celebrate father's day there are those who've had absent fathers or aloof fathers and there have been fathers who've passed away and you're on a day like today and where others are celebrating and have a great time you just don't know what to do with yourself i want to say that we love and appreciate you on this day and we're praying for you that you have a heavenly father that cares for you and there are men in this church that you can look to to mold and fashion your life after and i'm thankful for that i'm thankful for our pastors and our bishop don't you love pastor mccool and bishop mccool and pastor anthony all of our leadership amen second samuel chapter number 23 i'm going to read just one verse tonight second samuel chapter number 23 and verse number one [Music] now these be the last words of david david the son of jesse said and the man who was raised up on high the anointed of the god of jacob and the sweet psalmist of israel these are the last words of david the sweet psalmist of israel tonight i want to preach to you just for a short a short amount of time the death of the sweet psalmist the death of the sweet psalmist once you put your bibles down on your devices and right where you're sitting i want you to slip up your hand and one more time would you just talk to the lord for a moment father we thank you for a great a great day we've had here celebrating our fathers but we're here one more time to worship you the father seeketh such to worship him in spirit and in truth and i pray that your word would go forth and encourage and refresh us tonight in jesus name we pray and everyone said amen the sweet the death of the sweet psalmist there may not be another character of the bible quite as intriguing as david i would dare say that in all of scripture there wasn't anyone as gifted as david many who know anything about david would automatically mention goliath or perhaps bathsheba however there is much more to the life and the story of david i feel like the writer of hebrews when he says i do not have time to tell about gideon barrack samson jephthah david samuel and the prophets if we had the time we could study the life of david for several months and yet still not scratch the surface in our text this evening we read the introduction of the last words of david let's read them again and look what it says now these be the last words of david david the son of jesse said and the man who was raised up on high the anointed of the god of jacob the sweet psalmist of israel he's the son of jesse the man who is raised up on high the anointed of the god of jacob and the sweet psalmist of israel he was the son of jesse he was just a shepherd raised up to be the king of all of israel the second king of israel he was favored of god designed and purposed to do something great he was a prince and he was a prophet he was a king he was anointed of god and he was a serviceman to the people of god but he says and he titles himself this at the conclusion of his life that he was the sweet psalmist of israel notice that he doesn't include his extraordinary exploits and endeavors there isn't a mention of killing lions bears and giants there isn't a word written about his leadership of a nation or the reign of his throne but he mentioned and he calls himself the sweet psalmist of israel hear the last words recorded by israel's greatest king david the last words and he wants to be remembered as a psalmist one who had a song in his heart and a praise on his lips he didn't want to be remembered as a giant killer he wanted to be remembered as a worshiper israel didn't just lose a warrior that day or a giant killer that day but they lost a worshiper and you'll see the rest of the history of israel from this time forward israel was without a worshiper true worship was removed with the death of the sweet psalms solomon was wise but he wasn't a worshiper like david other than solomon's prayer at the inauguration of the temple hezekiah and josiah's reform there is barely any mention of worship throughout the rest of the second samuel and first king second kings and the chronicles all we find is an abundance of false worship in the high places idol worship and desecration of the temple so when the sweet psalmist of israel died worship died with him the greatest service that david wrought for israel was not on the battlefield the strategy room or the throne room david's greatest service were the psalms david wrote at least 75 of the psalms found in the bible i can't imagine any songwriter who has had more hits in the last two thousand years three thousand years than david and you want to talk about covers the new testament quotes at least 69 of david's psalms in the new testament his psalms had an impact on generations and generations and generations alexander mclaren a great bible commentator says this and i quote the temple was built and built again and built again but for two thousand years now not one stone of that so sacred and so stately structure has stood upon another the very foundations have been raised out sown with salt and forever lost but the psalms of david shine to this day with the greater splendor than the first day they was first sung and long after the foundation of this whole earth shall be plowed up and removed from their place david's psalms will be sounding out end quote the desire of david's heart was the house of the lord and to worship therein david acquired the materials made the plans for the first temple to be built he organized the temple staff arranged the worship services invented the instruments to be played in the by the musicians and wrote the songs for the choir to sing david was perhaps the most thankful man in the old testament clarence mccartney said this and i quote in everything david gave thanks and called on all creation animate and inanimate winds seas mountains stars clouds cedars of lebanon beasts men and angels to praise god the universe was not big enough for david when his heart was filled with praise and thanksgiving end quote now david was guilty of many sins but there was if there was anything david was truly guilty of was that he was a worshiper a man after god's own heart is a man who loves god and lives to worship him the mark of a man after god's own heart is a man given to worship david ate drank slept and breathed the things of god he dreamed of god's house desiring just to be an usher just to open the doors it's the greatest place on earth david david lived and died as a psalmist in other words david lived and died as a worshiper can i say this tonight a church without worship is a church without life what sets us apart from the country clubs and the social clubs of this world is that this is a place of worship from the time we open up it's worship but the very time we close it's worship whether we're serving in sunday school or in production or at the doors or in song we're doing this for worship this is a house of worship this is not a place to socialize though we like to fellowship but this is a place where we come in contact with eternity and worship our i wish somebody was doing it right now come on preach and worship preaching's worship this is not time out for worship it's it's time in for worship during preaching whether there's a piano or there's a bass drum we are here to be worshipers i pray worship doesn't die with someone like it died with david our children brothers need an example of worship come on dads we need to be the best worshipers in the home don't let you don't let your wife out worship you well she's just emotional i like to watch you during a ut football game let's see how emotional you get when your team's winning or your team's losing but don't come in here and act like you're some better than holier than thou person who feels like they don't have to worship can i tell you we need some men who'll raise themselves up and say ask for me ask for me as for me i'm not sending my house to worship as for me and my house we're going to worship the law i wish somebody was going to do that right now come on me and we need some men who will be a worshiper who doesn't doesn't who's not afraid of the other man down the aisle but i'm going to be a worshiper not because i'm worthy but because he's worthy that's what worship is worship is because he's worthy and when you don't offer him worship you're saying that god you're not worthy but i want to know is there anybody in this place who'll be a true worshiper i wonder there's a psalmist in the house who will lift up there boy come on do you have to wait until all to call to worship do you have to wait till the song is to worship or is he worthy to be worshiped whether you're here or not come on somebody i wish a man would i was some husband i wish some father would stand to their feet right now and become a worshiper i want to be a worshipper in the house of the lord i don't want to be a spectator or a consumer i want to be a worshiper in the house of the lord let me worship with my service let me worship with my song let me worship with my being let me lift him up because he's worthy i wish somebody would clap their hands unto the lord tonight [Applause] before david killed a giant or wore a crown upon his head he was found with a harp in his hand oh jesus help me right now an evil spirit would torment king saul and they'd call for david to come and play for him don't bring your sling bring your heart jesus i i don't want your sword david i want your song saul said unto his servants provide me now a man that can play well well we don't just put anybody up here y'all make a joyful noise unto the lord yes but we also make a joyful a joyful noise unto the lord with excellence give me somebody that can play well somebody who's practiced somebody who's talented but more importantly give me somebody who's anointed i don't care how tall i wish somebody would hear me right now i don't care how talented you are where you're serving out you better hit this prayer room you better get back here with these musicians and touch the touch heaven why because we want to play well but we want to be anointed well give me somebody who can play well i don't want somebody who's just going to go give me somebody who knows what they're doing bring him to me he said then answer one of the servants and said behold i have seen a son of jesse that is cunning and plain a mighty valiant man a man of war and prudent in matters a calmly person and the lord is with him that's it get him get him the lord is with him get him david played his heart saying his song to a troubled soul as david played before the lord the evil spirits began to depart you want to know how to soothe your troubled soul and drive away evil spirits worship you may not be able to carry a tomb but you can worship your way through some tough places come on the simple song that is found in your heart can alleviate evil spirits that vex your mind and your so i wish somebody would do it right now you might be going through something but you just get a song in your heart and a praise on your lips [Applause] come on david couldn't kill evil spirits with a slingshot but he could kill him with a harp and a song come on man we don't need warriors we need worshipers you know what would bring revival in this place not politics not government but worship i want you to know we're not going to win any war a spiritual war with slingshots and swords and guns we're going to defeat evil with worship you know what worship does it drives away evil spirits that shows them that they're not a welcome here you need to have a song on your lips [Applause] come on somebody come on you can kill some you can kill some evil spirits if you get a praise on your lips if you had tuned out the negativity and tune in to worship there would be a lot less vexing spirits in your home if you would turn off the horror movies [Music] the carnality in your home brother now i'm just so vex what are you watching that doesn't matter oh what are you listening to that doesn't matter oh how about you try something worship your way don't counsel your way you don't counsel the devil you worship your way out of a vexing spirit [Applause] can sit there if you want to but i'm telling you right now if you want victory in your life become a worshiper if you need victory in your home become a worshiper if you need victory in your marriage become a worshiper i wouldn't sit there i wouldn't have my arms crossed i wouldn't have a sour look on my face if i was going through something i'd show the devil he's worthy to be worshipped whether i'm going through it or i'm not going through it he's going to be worshipped i'm going to be a worshiper i'm gonna be a worshiper i'm gonna tell these evil spirits you're not welcome here i'm gonna be i'm going to invite the presence of the lord [Applause] i can remember oh lord help me right now mom i hope this is okay i remember when i was a kid i was like y'all don't know we went we don't know what we went through when i was growing up you don't know what we went through but i can tell you what i heard in my home gospel music we i remember a few years ago when before mom moved down here we went to go see mom and we walked in the door was unlocked downstairs and and ashley and i walked in and all you could hear was the base bumping in the house and she wasn't listening to hip-hop i like hip-hop but she was listening to some eddie james she was listening to some james i don't know what she was listening to but she had it so loud in the house mom don't care about decibel meters she says let me be a worshiper let me there's within my heart a melody come on you need to set an atmosphere in your home whether it's going your way or not your way well you know what you need to do is turn on some gospel music some some christian music and say you know what i'm going to do i want to worship my way through this troubling time i'm gonna i wish somebody was uh i'm sorry i'm not entertaining you tonight i wonder there's some men who say i don't need to be entertained i'm gonna be a worshiper i'm gonna be a worshiper [Applause] it's not time there's time to kill giants with stones but there's other times you need to kill it with a song don't let vexing spirits and troubled times kill your worship don't let the distractions drown out the song of your heart david wasn't singing just for him he was singing for saul you don't know what the neighbor sitting next to you is going through and they need to see you lift up your hand and say bless the lord oh my soul and oh that's within me bless his holy why because somebody might be vexed and your spirit of work [Applause] that's why we don't have time to sit around and go they're not singing last time that's not how we used to do things who cares get your hands up get your voice up somebody needs to live rich in this house it's not about you it's about them and it's about him i'm sorry we're not a jukebox this is a place where we come to worship the lord it's spirit and [Applause] truth i better move on before i make somebody mad you do that every time you get up brother nate good maybe i'll make you so mad you start worshiping maybe i'll get you so fired up you lose your you lose your traditionalism and worried about how we used to have church back in the 1950s can i tell you worship is not confined to times or errors what you got to do is say let me tell you there's a day there's going to be a day coming where we're not going to be able to gather in here again and you better have some songs in your heart there's within my heart a melody that you raise up and you say i'm going to be a worshiper whether it's my song or somebody else's song i'm gonna he's well i'll move on because i made you mad brother now you're just not nice you're not nice you know i'm telling you what i'm i'm telling you what i'm feeling right now is that we've made worship about entertainment and come on brother gil help me right now help me right now brother gil well here's what brother gibb would say oh you got those lights and all the things and all that back in my day what about your day didn't have carpet didn't have air conditioning didn't have running water i'm telling you something you can have those days if you want to oh no brother nate no uh oh what do you want let's do it at your house let's turn off the air conditioner at your house and see how long you'll worship you see you want the church you want the house of the lord to stay in time and be a monument while you move on with your life and go on with the technology and the rest of the world but let me tell you something god is not confined to your traditions and he's not confined to your preferences what he wants is somebody who will worship in spirit and in truth it doesn't matter what kind of song it is it doesn't matter the lights are on or not on i'm going to give him worship because he's worthy not because i'm worthy [Applause] somebody say amen you worship whether you feel like it or you don't feel like it and there's time when you need to worship when you're going through some things second to job not many in the old testament suffered like david suffered for a man who accomplished much he also suffered much but despite his suffering david worshipped no longer did he have to sing for others who suffered he would sing for himself the bible said that he encouraged himself encouraged himself in the lord when a jealous bloodthirsty king was chasing him david worshipped when his own son was coming against him david worship when david had to stay with the philistines he worshiped when someone stabbed him in the back he worshipped when david was in the wilderness needing shelter he worshiped when he was hiding out in the cave in fear of his life hanging out with the discontented the broke and the rejected david worshiped when david sinned against god and lost an infant to death guess what he did he worshipped suffering didn't stop david from singing worry didn't keep david from worshiping problems didn't keep david from praising and trouble and word issues in worry shouldn't keep you from the house of the lord or from worshipping [Applause] i'm going through it brother nathan worship brother nate i'm fighting something in worship brother neighbor going through some stuff worship you don't know what i'm suffering worship if she would just open up your mouth and remove worry and anxiety from your vocabulary and start saying lord you're worthy lord you're worthy i love you lord i'm telling you victory would come to your place oh yeah he worshipped he where he didn't matter if he was suffering or not he was worshiping let me tell you another thing that he worshipped through was prosperity he worshipped through suffering and poverty but he also worshiped in prosperity christians begin to quit worshiping not when times are tough but when times are good when david was finally crowned king of israel he could have put his hands down turned the volume down on a singing and propped his feet up but david didn't let didn't let prosperity put the fire out of his worship david recognized what was missing in his prosperity was the presence of god david knew that he didn't become king without god so he wasn't about to forget about god david went looking for the ark of the covenant the first thing he did when he got to jerusalem and says where's the ark where's the presence i'm not going to reign without the true king reigning right here with me in jerusalem can i tell you don't let poverty steal your worship but don't let prosperity steal your worship i'm afraid the greatest enemy of this world is not the devil it's not evil but it's prosperity because you know what prosperity does it allows us to make us feel like everything's okay comfort will rob you of your worship [Music] yeah let's go back about two years ago when we couldn't meet here just go back about two years ago when we were only allowed to have online church you were worshiping then but as soon as the economy leveled out and everything was going back to good all of a sudden church attendance went back to 2019. you can be there you can sit there if you want to i'm right because you know what prosperity will do it will rob you of your worship and i'm not against the things of god the blessings of god and the giftings of god but god's gifts and blessings shouldn't keep you from the house of god god's blessings and gifts should enhance your worship that's why we got all this stuff around here it's enhancing our worship we're not putting up more places for you to chill out we're here to worship we're here to serve we're here to lift him up don't let prosperity kill your worship seen people do it before he's listening to me now i'm going somewhere in the musicians want to come make everybody feel better they'll pray for something they'll pray for their husband to get saved and as soon as their husband gets saved they stop coming to church they start praying for a new job god i need a job god if you give me this job god if you'll give me this job god you do this i promise i'll do that and as soon as they get that promotion get that new job get that raise all of a sudden brother nate i can't be there on wednesday night you know i got you know i can't be in the choir because on sundays i got it would have been better had he not answered the prayer where it kept you hungry and it kept you on fire and it kept you closer you know what we need sometimes we need an enemy every once in a while we need an enemy every once in a while to make sure we have a have a thorn in our flesh that says you know what lord remove this storm from my flesh remove this thing and the lord let's look down and say i'm not answering that prayer because my grace is sufficient for thee i want you to know sometimes we need to say lord i don't want you to remove this thing because it keeps me worshipping musicians get ready oh they're upset tonight talking about all that brother nate i want cool stuff hip stuff i'm gonna tell you something man we need some worshipers in the house don't let full bellies and fat bank accounts silence your voice we need some men who'll say you know what i'm going to do i'm going to worship we need men and dads he'll be worshippers listen david didn't want to be remembered as goliath killer he didn't want to be remembered as the bear and the lion killer david didn't even say he wanted to be known as the king he said these are the last words of a worshiper you stand to your feet tonight it's been father's day today let me ask our men right now what legacy are you going to leave your family what legacy you're going to leave your family what's the thing that can be written on your epitaph do you want to be remembered as the warrior or as the worshiper do you want to be the be known as the the powder or the praiser i want to know if there's going to be anybody in this house who says i want to be known as a worshiper i want my legacy is that i took my family to church and i didn't need a cheerleader to worship i didn't need to have the right key the right song or the right atmosphere because that's not what it's about that just enhances it but i want to be a worshiper is there any men is there any dads i know it's father's day is there any dads in this place who say you know what i want to be known as i want to be a worshiper you know i i don't like sitting on the platform i'm i'm glad we don't have the chairs up here anymore and that i'm not trying to be defensive being kind of thing but you know why i want to be down here worshiping because if you can't worship without the spotlight on you you're not a worshiper you're an entertainer [Applause] i want to be down here with you worshiping that's why i like sitting down here front up front i want to worship i want to be the first one there and i'm not doing it because i'm just trying to be somebody i'm doing it because i want to be an example and i want my little girl and i want [name redacted] and hopefully one of these days [name redacted] come up to me and say hold me i'll hold them i hold all three of them i have to you know why i want them to feel comfortable worshiping i want them to feel like that this is okay to do i want them to feel like you don't have to be a weirdo to come up front and be a worshiper but i'm not going to send my kids up front i'm going to leave my kids come on we got some men right here deciding right now he said i want to be a worse i want my legacy not that i was a ut fanatic but i was a jesus fanatic i don't want my legacy to be that he had a fat bank account but i want my legacy to be that he was a worshiper and he loved jesus that he worshipped jesus and spirit come on man that's it come on man that's it we're setting the example we're setting the example that we're gonna be worshipers i'm not gonna sit back and send my family my wife's not gonna out worship me she's not gonna be more dedicated to me than me i'm gonna be a worshipper in the house of the lord come on man lift up your voice right now come on lift up your voice come on revival's gonna be here when men decide i'm gonna be a worshiper i'm going to be a worshiper i'm going to lift up my voice i don't need the right atmosphere i'll create the atmosphere i'm not waiting on something i'm going to be the initiator i'm going to feel i wish somebody come on lift up your voice come on lift up your voice man come on dance lift up your voice [Music] [Applause] [Music] this is [Music] [Music] [Applause] come on man i wonder if there'd be some man right now some dad who had lift up their hands lift up their voice truck come on i want you to lift up your voice so loud that your wife can hear it i want you to lift up your voice so loud that your kids can hear they should know that we're going to be worshipers they should know that we're going to dedicate our lives and our families to worship i'm dedicating [Music] i'm not a warrior i'm a worshipper [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] is [Music] [Music] i wonder if there'd be some men some husbands some dads who would take their family by the hand right now take their family by the hand right now and pray with them i want them to be able to hear your voice i wonder about what did you say i'm not going to be a bashful i'm not going to be shy but they're going to hear me pray would there be some man who would do that [Music] but i know there are some who are here without a dad can i tell you this right now you need to make up your mind that an apostolic family is going to come from me i'm deciding right now that an apostolic family is going to come out of me i may not have the example but i'm going to be the example come on maybe there's somebody who's lost their dad you step in and say i'm going to be the dad in this family i'm going to be the father of this family and we're going to worship together come on man lift up your voice right now come on lift up your voice right now i'm going to be known as a worshiper i'm going to be known as a worshiper i'm not going to be afraid i'm not going to be shy i'm not going to be ashamed i'm going to worship us come here [Music] come on somebody lay your hands upon somebody we're gonna pray apostolic families are coming out of us apostolic families are coming out of us we'll be the ones we'll be the ones we'll be the [Music] come on husband come on dad come on i'm gonna [Music] my house we will serve we will serve we will serve come on as a breakthrough come on there's a breakthrough happening there's a breakthrough happening there's a breakthrough happening when men pray within worship when men pray things begin to happen i'll worship if i'm suffering i'll worship whether i'm going through something or not i'll worship when i come to prosperity but nothing will take away my worship or my dedication of my services