God Does Some of His Best Work in Caves

Isn't it wonderful to be in the presence of the Lord? I have so many issues. It's such a privilege to be here. My goodness. Brother Jordan and all of the district board, thank you for the opportunity. It's an honor to be here with some of my friends. I'm so looking forward to the ministry of Brother Tim Gaddy — his voice is heard all around our fellowship, and ministers so powerfully. And Brother Terry Shock this morning — we've already been blessed today and challenged. I thank God for that.

But I have so many issues. Oh my goodness. First of all, the preacher last night kind of picked on me. Did you notice that? He's my friend. I love Brother Jimmy Toney. In fact, I send him — if I see some crazy meme online, I send it to him and say, "This would make a good sermon," because he can preach just about anything from anywhere. I sent a graphic to him last night after service and just thought it would help him in his ministry.

I got so many issues. First of all, I'm a teacher. I'm not really a preacher. I'm a teacher. And when I grew up in New Brunswick, Canada, when they said, "He's a teacher," what they meant was, "He's a deathly boring preacher." That's what they meant. And then my other issue is, I'm a crier. I'm not a town crier — that would be awesome; get to yell at everybody. I'm just a crier. An old-fashioned, ugly crier. And when I get in the presence of God like this morning, my eyes leak. So grateful for Jesus and what He has done for us. So thankful for His presence. Oh my. Would you lift Him up right now? Oh my. It's here, because Jesus is here. Comfort is here, because Jesus is here. Strength is here. Oh my.

I'm so sorry. I just need to stay here one more moment. These singers and musicians have done such a wonderful job leading us into the presence of the Lord. Don't miss a moment in His presence during this camp meeting. You never know when He may show up and touch you. So one more time — and I'll let you be seated in a moment — would you lift up your hands and lift up your voice, and let praise ascend. Let praise ascend. Oh Jesus. Oh Jesus. You may be seated in the presence of the Lord.

Today, I have given away more copies of a little book called A Tale of Three Kings than just about any other book I've ever read. It's written by a guy named Gene Edwards, who used to live in Maine, and his masterpiece is by far my top recommendation for every young leader to read. At least in my opinion, Edwards does a better job than any other author in portraying God's purpose for one of the most difficult periods in David's life. Edwards' writing is powerful. It's poetic. I think it's even prophetic in many ways. And so, as I begin today, I want to borrow a few phrases from Gene Edwards, as we find David in the middle of a very difficult season. He's in what we call his fugitive years. And here's what Gene Edwards writes:

"God has a university. It's a small school. Few enroll; even fewer graduate. Very, very few indeed. In God's sacred school of submission and brokenness, why are there so few students? It's because all students in this school must suffer much pain. David was once a student in this school, and Saul was God's chosen curriculum to crush David. And so, as Saul grew in madness and malice, David grew in submission and brokenness. Perhaps you, like most people, have your eyes on the wrong King Saul. And as long as you look at your King Saul — whoever that may be — you will blame him, and him alone, for your present situation. Young leaders do this all the time when they get frustrated with God's process, because it's always easier to blame someone else, isn't it? But be very careful, because God has His eyes fastened on a different King Saul. Not the one who is throwing spears at you. Not the one who has forced you to flee into the wilderness. Not even the one who is trying to kill you. No, God is looking at another King Saul. He's looking at one who is just as bad, or maybe even worse, because God is looking at the King Saul in you. You see, David the sheep herder would have grown up to become King Saul II — except that God cut away the Saul inside David's heart. That operation, by the way, took years to perform, and was a brutal experience that almost killed the patient. And what was the scalpel that God used to cut away this inner Saul? Why, God used the outer Saul, of course."

And so today, we find David running. He's running through soggy fields and slimy riverbeds, through dark forests and dry deserts. He's drinking rainwater, digging roots, and eating the tough meat of every creature he can find in that barren wilderness. And we also find David hiding — crawling through briars and mud, sleeping in trees and fields, and hiding in dusty ravines and dirty caves. And he doesn't dare stop, or Saul will catch him and kill him.

These were David's darkest hours. We know them as his pre-king days, but he didn't. In his pain, David assumed that running and hiding would be his fate forever. But you see, suffering was slowly giving birth to royalty. For it was in those fields, and in those caves, that David the fugitive became the greatest hymn writer, heart comforter, and God worshipper that the world would ever know.

I could read a bunch of stuff like that. It wasn't so in the beginning. If they had had news magazines around when David was young in ancient Israel, for months, you know, their covers would have featured the handsome face of young David, the giant slayer. The feature articles would have interviewed the young women who sang about the exploits of their handsome national hero. Because young David was the man that women adored and men admired, and God had already chosen him and anointed him to follow Saul as the next king of Israel. So no doubt David thought all the fame and all the notoriety was all part of God's plan — all of the favor that he had with all of those people in those early days. That must have been God's shortcut to the throne for him. But then a few spears, aimed at David by a very jealous King Saul, changed everything. Saul's jealous rage caused him to become obsessed with destroying David. And after David survived several near-death encounters, he did the only thing he could think to do: he ran. He had to leave behind his best friend, Jonathan, and he had to leave behind his wife, Michal, who was almost immediately given to another man. The wilderness was the only place where David could survive. But the wilderness is a very unkind and inhospitable place.

So, after months of being on the run, David did something that is so unthinkable: he actually fled to his enemies for help. Imagine David, the giant slayer, showing up in Goliath's hometown of Gath, the capital of the Philistines, and he's asking for their assistance. Imagine how low David must have been at that moment, to go there and ask them for help. The danger was unimaginable. He had killed their national hero. David is taking a risk that is just unfathomable. Thankfully, at the very last moment, David realized: you know what? This is a very bad idea. So, when he was presented to King Achish of Gath, David changed his behavior, and he pretended to be a madman — letting spittle run down his beard, and scratching wildly at the gate of the city. And thankfully, they released this supposed madman, rather than putting him to death. But you make no mistake: that is one of the lowest points of David's life. He has hit bottom, and there seems to be no way out.

And that's how David ends up in a cave, surrounded by some men who are loyal to him — but they can't really help, because they've got all the same problems. First Samuel chapter 22 and the first two verses: "David therefore departed thence, and escaped to the cave Adullam. And when his brethren and all his father's house heard it, they went down thither to him." And here's David's small group, if you will: "Everyone that was in distress, everyone that was in debt, and everyone that was discontented — they gathered themselves unto him. And he became a captain over them. And there were with him about 400 men." Now, I know, in modern English vernacular, that this term means a little something different. We say, "That's a man cave." And in modern English parlance, a man cave is a garage, or a spare room somewhere in the house, where a man can retreat when he wants to be alone. A man cave is where male family members and their friends are supposed to be able to relax, and do as they please, without fear of upsetting any female members of said household with their activities, or their interior design choices. That's a man cave. But I've got to tell you that David's man cave is not nearly so comfortable. It is a place of crippling fear. It is a place of crushing loss, and shattered dreams, and inexplicable pain, and paralyzing discouragement, and mind-boggling questions, and soul-numbing doubts. It's not a pretty place. It's a place of dirt, and darkness, and cold, and confusion. It's a place of hurt, and hiding, and fear, and failure, and loss, and loneliness. This is a place that could easily devour a man's spirit. And David is stuck in that dirty, damp, dark cave for a long time — six long months.

Now, when the coast is clear, David can poke his head outside the entrance of that cave, and he can look eastward toward his hometown of Bethlehem. It's about 13 miles away, just on the horizon. And that's the town where he spent his boyhood years. Those are the fields where he tended sheep, and he learned to play the harp. Those are the hills and the valleys where he honed his skill with a slingshot, and he killed a lion and a bear to protect the flock. And when he looks into the distance, he can just see a hundred solitary places where he sang his songs and prayed his prayers to God, and carved out a relationship with the Almighty. And he became a man after God's own heart.

On a clear day, David can look northward from that cave. And if he looks in another direction, he can just catch a glimpse of the Valley of Elah. It's only about two miles away. And that's the site of the greatest day in David's life. That's the day that's the subject of songs that every citizen of Israel knows by heart. The Valley of Elah is the spot where the enemy threatened, and the slingshot whirled, and the stone landed, and the giant fell, and the Philistines ran. That's the place where the victory was won, and the legend was born. That was the day. It was the greatest day of his life. That was the day he knew for sure: "I am anointed by God to lead a nation and impact my world." But you see, now those majestic moments are just misty memories for David. He has been declared a public enemy by King Saul, and he's been declared a cowardly fool by King Achish. So at this point in his life, David is a fugitive from two nations. He's been forsaken by the sovereign that he served, and by the soldiers that he fought beside. And now this crazy monarch has placed a bounty on his head. And Saul has marshaled all the resources of the kingdom of Israel to chase David down, and exact his revenge for something that David didn't even do. He's totally innocent. And that's why David the giant slayer has now become David the cave dweller.

He has joined a very select fraternity that all of God's chosen vessels have graduated from — all of them. It's called the fellowship of the cave. Every one of the vessels God ever uses has been in this fraternity. You might think you know David because of a giant and a slingshot. I would challenge you: you need to get to know David because of a cave and a harp. It wasn't his slingshot that made David a man after God's own heart. It was his harp. It was sitting in solitary places, strumming that instrument and singing songs of worship to his God.

David — he's not described in glowing terms because he was perfect. At the point of David's greatest failure, he was a liar, an adulterer, and a murderer, all at the same time. David was far from perfect. So how in the world does a man like that get to be described in both testaments as a man after God's own heart? It's because David was quick to repent. And our gracious God was quick to forgive. You see, despite all of his glaring deficiencies, David's greatest desire was always to live in God's presence. He was a worshipper first, and a warrior second. We talk a lot in our day about spiritual warfare — and we should — but spiritual warfare does not come from a position just standing still. Spiritual warfare grows out of the life and the heart, the intercession and the prayer, of a worshipper. David was a worshipper first and a warrior second. I would say we're going to get a lot further if we let our initiatives rise out of worship. And when we learn to be worshippers, then the warring will take care of itself.

And if you read David's psalms — there are so many of them, I don't have time: "I will call upon the Lord, for He is worthy to be praised." "The Lord liveth, and blessed be my rock, and let the God of my salvation be exalted." He writes, and he sings, and he worships, and he cries, and he carves out a relationship with God. It's amazing. "Some trust in chariots, and some in horses, but we will remember the name of the Lord our God. They are brought down and fallen, but we are risen, and stand upright." "Great is the Lord, and greatly to be praised in the city of our God, in the mountain of His holiness." David writes all these songs. "Bless the Lord, O my soul, and all that is within me, bless His holy name. Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all His benefits." "From the rising of the sun until the going down of the same, the name of the Lord is to be praised."

I'm so glad to be with you this morning. I know we've got believers all over the world, but quite frankly, Singapore already had their turn today, and the Philippines already had their turn today. But from the rising of the sun in our time zone, until the going down of the same in our time zone, we're going to pick up the baton. And the name of the Lord is going to be praised here in Indiana all day. It's our privilege. It's our joy. It's our responsibility to carry that water in our time zone. "I was glad when they said unto me, 'Let us go into the house of the Lord.'" David wrote those words. David sang those songs. I know you thrill to the story of the giant and the slingshot, and you thrill to that — but you need to get to know David because of his harp.

Isn't it amazing how quickly life can conspire against us, and it can push us into a cave? It is frustrating, to realize in life how fast you can fall from a high mountain of victory to a deep valley of discouragement. It's a little embarrassing — let's just be honest — to look back at some of those low moments of life, and remember our depressing thoughts, and our desperate feelings, and for some of us, our dumb decisions. It's a little bit embarrassing. Or maybe you don't have to look back, because maybe right now, something in your family situation, something in your life, has conspired against you to stick you in a cave right now. And it's not pretty, and it's not pleasant, what you're walking through. And it's not something that you delight in right now. Your life is dark. Your situation is difficult. Your mind is confused. And you've come to camp meeting, but your spirit feels a little cold. And it begs the question of all of us, because if you haven't been there, you will be: what are you supposed to do when you're stuck in a cave, and there's no way out?

And I would say to you: please know, first of all, that cave time is core curriculum in God's school of spiritual maturity. The Bible calls it by many names: the pit, the prison, the desert, the valley, the wilderness, the den of lions, the fiery furnace. But whatever you call it, the cave is basic training for all believers. And here's why: because the cave — it's not the mountain peaks in your life that do this — the cave is the place of death, where you die to yourself. It's where your motives are exposed. It's where your character is discovered. It's where your maturity is revealed. The cave shows you that you've mislaid your dedication. It strips you of all your dependencies, and it separates you from all of your misguided desires. The cave teaches you just how much work God still has to do in you, to get you ready for whatever it is that He wants to do next in your life. And so the cave, brothers and sisters, it breaks you down in order to build you up. It frustrates you in order to make you fruitful. It lets you know that when God is all you have, God is all you need. And the cave will almost succeed in killing you — but in the end, it gives birth to a man or a woman after God's own heart. I challenge you this morning: I know it's not pleasant, but let me tell you, God does some of His best work in caves.

However, if you're in a cave today, your life is not the easiest it's ever been. But if you're in a cave, and you're complaining to everybody else but God about it, then you're missing a great opportunity to grow. David wrote three of his most moving psalms during that six months in the cave of Adullam. We don't know what else he may have written, but we do know for sure that he wrote these: Psalm 142, Psalm 57, and Psalm 34. And I've read these psalms, as you have, over and over. And I think they show us David in three postures in that cave. First, he is on his face. Then he is on his knees. And finally, he is on his feet.

Let's go first to Psalm 142. If you've got your Bible, let's just open that up, and let's just soak in it for a moment. This says in the introduction to the psalm — this is a prayer, when David was in the cave — it begins, Psalm 142:1: "I cried unto the Lord with my voice. With my voice unto the Lord did I make my supplication. I poured out my complaint before Him. I showed before Him my trouble." There is nothing wrong with going to God with all of your distresses, and all of your depressions, and all of your difficulties. God isn't just interested in hearing from you when you're celebrating on a Sunday night. That's not the only time Almighty God is interested in hearing from you. You don't only want to talk to your kids when they're happy, and when everything's going well. You want to help your kids through all of the trials that they encounter in life. Your heavenly Father is not a dysfunctional or distant dad. He is there in your pain. He is there in your loneliness. He is there in your struggles. He wants you to pour out your complaints before Him.

But David doesn't just stop there. He says in verse 3: "When my spirit was overwhelmed within me — God, it was then that You knew my path. I've got some enemies out there, God. In the way wherein I walk, they have privily, secretly, laid a snare for me. And here's how I feel, God. Just let me be honest, Jesus. I looked on my right hand, and I beheld, but there was no man that would know me. Refuge failed me. No man cared for my soul." If you've ever been in a moment like that, when you felt like nobody else cared — you are in good company. You are part of the fellowship of the cave, and it's going to be okay, even though it doesn't feel okay right now.

He goes on in verse 5 and he says: "I cried unto Thee, O Lord. I said" — so you've got to picture David: he's laying on his face, and he's pouring out his complaint, and he has griped and grumbled about everything that's going on in his life. But then he said, "I cried unto Thee, O Lord, and I said" — this is all I could put my hand around — "'Thou art my refuge and my portion in the land of the living.' So, God, I can't get anybody else to listen, or feel for me. I can't get anybody else to help me. But God, here's what I'm going to ask: attend unto my cry, because, God, right now I'm brought very low. Please deliver me from my persecutors, because right now they are stronger than I." All kinds of things in life can knock you down and trip you up. And you encounter struggles, and you encounter diagnoses, and you encounter situations, and they make you feel like everything else is stronger than I am, and I don't know if I can get through this. But then David, as he continues, he says in verse 7: "God, I need You to bring my soul out of prison. I want to get through this. Not just so I can have a comfortable life. I want to get through this so I can praise Your name. I want to come through this so I can lift up worship to the God who brought me through it. When I get through it, I'm not taking credit for it. When I get through it, I'm not going to tell everybody, 'Look at me — I won the victory.' God brought me low enough that I know I don't have a hope without God fighting for me, but I believe You'll deal bountifully with me." That's one of the psalms David writes in that cave.

And I want you to see the progression here. Psalm 57 — David writes this psalm in that cave. The introduction says this is a Miktam, a teaching psalm of David, when he fled from Saul and he landed in the cave. And in verse 1 of Psalm 57, something has changed in David. I don't know the distance between these two psalms, as far as measuring the days, but something has shifted. I think David — if you just need an image to visualize it — he's got up off of laying on the ground, laying on his face, pouring out his complaint, and now he's got up to his knees, and he's ready to do some praying. Verse 1: "Be merciful unto me, O God. Be merciful unto me." You hear the difference? He's not just pouring out his complaint anymore. He's still in the middle of the same trial, but he's saying: "My soul trusteth in Thee. Yea, in the shadow of Thy wings will I make my refuge, until these calamities be overpast." God, I'm waiting for the day that the storm passes over. Right now I'm under a thundercloud. Right now I've got a tornado warning in my life. I'm under a storm warning. But I've got Your wings that are sheltering me. I've got Your covenant, Your commandments, Your law, Your promises — and it's sheltering me. So I'm just going to learn enough to stay here, under the shadow of His wings, until the storm passes over. You can't control how long the storm lasts, but you can control where you seek shelter. As for me, I'm going to seek shelter under the shadow of His wings.

David said, "I'm going to cry unto God most high, unto God that performeth all things for me." He's got his confidence back a little bit. I think he's got some faith back, operating a little bit, because there's a different tone in this psalm. He's crawled up to his knees. He's still in a cave. He's still among all those men that are distressed, and in debt, and discouraged, and depressed. But here's what he's got now: "I'm going to cry unto the Lord, because I believe God is going to perform something in this cave. He's going to perform something in the middle of this trial."

Just let me grab one more verse, and we'll move on. Verse 7: "My heart is fixed, O God. My heart is fixed. I will sing and give praise." We have a problem with all of the verses in the Bible that have the word "heart" in them. We have a problem because we're Western, North American people. And when we say "heart," we mean something different than what the Bible means. When we say "heart," we think of Hallmark cards, and really syrupy, sappy, sloppy country songs. That's what we think of when we say "heart." You know — that heart — we write crazy things, because we think the heart is the center of our emotions. Your heart is not the center of your emotions. We talk about our heart like it's our feelings. So when David says, "My heart is fixed," it's like, "Oh, good — God's going to fix my feelings." God never promised to fix your feelings. Country songs promise to fix your feelings. I don't recommend them. In the Bible, "heart" is not your feelings. Your feelings are actually represented by another bodily organ in the Scripture. That's why we have some awkward scriptures: "bowels of compassion." Your feelings aren't your heart, in the Scripture. Your feelings are in your bowels, in the Scripture. It leads to some weird interpretations if you take all this literally. You know: "Greet the brethren with the bowels of affection." No. If you took all the country songs, and you reinterpreted them using scriptural parlance, it would be really bad: "I left my bowels in San Francisco." It's like, what hospital did you have your surgery in? Your heart, in Scripture, is not your feelings. That's where we mess it up. You know what your heart is? Your heart is your will, in Scripture. Your heart is your will. Your heart isn't your feeling mechanism. It's your deciding mechanism. And when David said, "My heart is fixed, O God, my heart is fixed," what he's saying is: "I decided. I've just made a decision. I don't know how long I'm going to be in this cave, but my heart is fixed. I have centered my heart on the promises of God." Can I just say: when your heart gets fixed, you're going to be okay, because you just fixed your will. God didn't change your feelings. God didn't change your cave. God didn't change your situation. But your heart is fixed on God. And I'm coming through this, and it's going to be okay. I wish somebody would lift up your hands, and lift up your voice like a trumpet for a minute: "My heart is fixed, God. I don't know how long I'm going to walk through this, but my heart is fixed on You. My heart — my will — has chosen. I'm not going anywhere beside the presence of Almighty God."

And then there's one more psalm. We know for sure David wrote these songs in that dark cave. We know for sure. We know that he wrote Psalm 142, and we know that he wrote Psalm 57. But my favorite is Psalm 34. And the introduction to this psalm literally says: "A psalm of David, when he changed his behavior before King Abimelech, the Philistine king, who drove him away, and he departed." This is exactly what David has come from. And he's now in the cave. And so, in the cave, we have David's three psalms. And they're kind of like his journal. And I think they paint a wonderful picture. First of all, David is laying on his face, and he's pouring out his complaint to God, and his tears are soaking the dirt floor of that dark cave. And you've been there before, and I've been there before. It's not something to be ashamed of, because God allows all the vessels He uses to walk through some cave curriculum now and again. If you've gone through a trial, here's what I know: you probably have said — if it's a trial that you've already come through, you've probably said this: "I hated every minute of it. I didn't know what I was going to do. I almost lost my mind, and I didn't know what God was allowing this for, and I never want to go through that again." But you've said this: "But when I came out of that trial, I've never been closer to God." We really get it, if we think about it long enough.

And so something changes in this third psalm that David wrote in this cave, because it starts out with a different tone. I like to picture David: that he's got up from crying on his face, and he's got up from praying on his knees, and now he's worshipping on his feet, in that cave, with about 400 men looking at him like he's probably lost his mind. That's what I picture. Psalm 34 — he writes this in that same cave. Verse 1: "I will bless the Lord at all times. His praise shall continually be in my mouth. My soul — hey guys — my soul shall make her boast in the Lord. The humble shall hear thereof, and be glad." You feel the shift? David's still in the same cave. He's still in the same trial. Saul is still trying to kill him. He still has enemies everywhere. But something just shifted. David stands to his feet and says to those 400 men, "I'm going to bless the Lord at all times — including this time. I'm going to bless the Lord at all places — including this place." Verse 3 — picture him talking to those guys: "O magnify the Lord with me, and let us exalt His name together." Come on, guys. It's like your pastor trying to challenge the church to worship and pray and praise on a Sunday, and you've got depressed, and in debt, and distressed, and they're all just kind of sitting there, and your pastor saying, "Oh, come on — magnify the Lord with me." Anytime your pastor or your worship leader gives you a chance to magnify the Lord, can I just tell you: if God's been faithful to you, you should be the first one on your feet. You should be the first one with your voice lifted. You should be the first one with your hands in the air. My God has been good to me.

Now, you know, if you take a magnifying glass — and some of you may have one right now, to read your Bible; I don't know, there's a few elders in this room — you take a magnifying glass and you look at something: you just made it bigger, didn't you? No, you did not. You made your perspective of it bigger. When you magnify the Lord, you don't increase His glory one bit. When you magnify the Lord, you don't increase His power one bit. He's always been all-powerful. So you're not increasing anything with God, when you magnify Him. But here's what you're doing: when you magnify the Lord, you're changing your perspective of the God that you serve. That's why we need to magnify the Lord. We need to worship the Lord. We need to praise the Lord. It doesn't change Him. He's already almighty, all-powerful. He's already omniscient and omnipresent. He already has all that. But when we magnify the Lord, something shifts in our perspective.

David had some experience with this, by the way, because when he was just a young man, and he walked out into the Valley of Elah, and Goliath was on the other side of the valley, and he'd been threatening Israel for 40 days — David walks out into that battlefield, and he sees what apparently nobody else sees. Because everybody else sees a little trembling, scared-to-death, scared-out-of-their-wits Israelite army, and a great big, massive giant. That is not what David sees, because this is the man that magnifies the Lord. When he looks at the same battlefield, he sees a little teeny-tiny giant, and a great big almighty God who fills the universe. And so this kid — not King David; he's not there yet — it's just kid David. He walks out into the middle of that Valley of Elah, and he said: "You come to me with all your armaments. You've got a shield, and a spear, and a sword. But I come to you in something far more powerful. I come to you in the name of the Lord God of Israel. I come to you in the name of the Lord of hosts." Oh, we love to preach about David and the giant. Oh my goodness. We've got all kinds of theories, all kinds of sermons, and they're all good. You know, I've heard pastors preach that David picked up five smooth stones because Goliath had four brothers. That'll preach. I've heard preachers preach that's a five-fold ministry. That'll preach, if you say it right — guess, in your preacher voice. All kinds of theories. I have no idea, because the Bible doesn't tell us why five smooth stones. But I think — if I remember right — there was a penalty for blaspheming the name of the Lord in ancient Israel: death by stoning. So, just a theory — it's as good as all their theories. I got it from, what is it, "Rabbi on Demand" or "Rabbi on Retainer" — whatever it is. I think David just said: "That giant has defied and blasphemed the name of my God for 40 days. Somebody give me some rocks. I'm going to look after this guy. I'm a crack shot with a slingshot. I've honed this skill. I'm walking out into this valley, and he's going down." You know what David was doing on that day? He was magnifying the name of the Lord. The victory wasn't won because David was such a pro with the slingshot. I think Almighty God grabbed that first rock, and He took it like a guided missile into the forehead of that opponent, and Goliath went down, and Israel went free, and David won a victory — because he magnified the Lord. And he's doing the same thing in the cave. "O magnify the Lord with me, and let us exalt His name together."

Psalm 34, and verse 4, he says: "I sought the Lord, and He heard me, and delivered me from all my fears." David's still in the cave. Saul's still chasing him, to try to kill him. The armies of Israel — other than his 400 loyal men — are chasing him to assassinate him. David has not been delivered out of his trial. He has not been delivered out of his situation. He has not been delivered out of that cave. He has not. But here's what he has been delivered from: "I sought the Lord, and He heard me" — and before I ever got delivered from my trial — oh my goodness — God delivered me from all my fears. I speak to somebody in the Holy Ghost this morning, in this Bible class, in this morning service, and I say to you: God may not have delivered you from your sickness yet. He may not have delivered you from your situation yet. He may not have delivered you from your family dysfunction yet. He may not have delivered you from your financial setback yet. But if you let God deliver you from all your fear of that situation, you're going to be okay. Most of us don't need to get delivered from the situation; we need to get delivered from the fear of the situation. The devil's told you you're going to die. That's not the word of God. That's the word from the enemy. But if God delivers you from your fear, you can stand on Scripture and say, "I shall not die, but live, and declare the wonderful works of the Lord." I wish you'd reach up, like you were trying to pull something down from heaven. And I wish you'd lift up your voice and say, "God, deliver me from all my fear. God, deliver me from all my fear." I'm just bold enough — or dumb enough — to come against the spirit of fear that's attacking the saints of God. The global situation is in the hands of God. Your life is in the hands of God. Your family is in the hands of God. Your health is in the hands of God. Today is in the hand of God. "I sought the Lord, and He heard me, and He delivered me from all my fears. Watch me, devil. I may still be in this cave, but I'm not afraid of you anymore."

Couple more verses. Verse 7: "The angel of the Lord" — oh my goodness, his prayer is different. This third psalm: "The angel of the Lord encampeth round about them that fear Him, and delivereth them." And he turned around — he's talking to these dirty, stinky, smelly, sweaty men that have been buried in this cave for weeks — and he says, "O taste and see that the Lord is good. Blessed is the man that trusteth in Him." David's got his praise back. David's got his worship back. David's got his victory back. David's got his joy back. "Taste and see that the Lord is good." My situation isn't good. It's awful. My trial — it just makes me sick to my stomach. I don't like any of it. But I've got one thing in the middle of it all: "O taste and see that my Lord is good." He's better to me than I've been to myself. He's better to me than this world could ever be. "Taste and see that the Lord is good."

Just a couple more verses here. We're headed for the runway and the landing. Not sure about which airport just yet, but we're headed there. Verse 17: "The righteous cry, and the Lord heareth, and delivereth them out of all their troubles. The Lord is nigh" — He's near — "unto them that are of a broken heart. He saveth such as be of a contrite spirit." Here it is: "Many are the afflictions of the righteous, but the Lord delivereth him out of them all." God never guaranteed that you would have a seamless, painless life. God never guaranteed that every day would end with you going to bed, kind of skipping into the bedroom, with great joy in your heart. There will be some nights you're still wiping tears when you pillow your head. This is real life. "Many are the afflictions of the righteous." Why don't you give up, David? Here's why: because the Lord delivers him out of them all. Would you lift up your hands for a moment? I'm inches from done. Would you lift up your hands for a moment? Lift up your voice for a moment. As I've told you, lift up your voice higher than your hands. Your hands don't do it without your voice. Oh my. I speak to someone that's in the trial of your life this morning. I speak to someone that's had a setback. It's so awful. I speak to you: "Many are the afflictions of the righteous, but the Lord delivereth him out of them all."

There's a purpose in your pain. There's significance in your suffering. God is doing something. First Samuel chapter 22:5 — First Samuel 22:5: "And the prophet Gad came by that cave, and he said to David, 'Abide not in the hold. David, don't stay here in this cave anymore. Depart, and get thee into the land of Judah.'" Any of you Pentecostal folks been around long enough to know what Judah means? It means praise. It means worship. Here's what the prophet said to David: "You don't have to stay in this cave, David. God's done what He needs to do. God has accomplished what He needs to accomplish. So the next place you go, out of your cave, isn't into introspection. It isn't into analysis. It isn't into history. It isn't into evaluation. The very next place you go is the place of praise. David, when you leave this cave, you get your little self into the land of Judah. Get yourself into the place of praise."

Can I tell you: God would love it, for His people to trust Him enough that, even while we're still feeling like, "I'm in the cave, I've got depression and darkness all around" — He'd love us to look ahead and say, "But I'm headed to the place of praise. I'm headed to the place of rejoicing." "Let the weak say, 'I am strong.' And let the bound say, 'I am free.'" Man, oh my. If you ever doubt that God can use your dead-end cave to open a great door of deliverance, just remember: there's an empty cave on the north side of the city of Jerusalem, just outside the ancient walls. That cave was as dead-end as you could get. For three days, it held the mangled body of our Savior. But don't you ever forget: God does some of His best work in caves — including restoration, and resurrection, and redemption. If you handle the cave correctly, it becomes the door to your destiny, and it will become the reason for your rejoicing. And just like Jesus called Lazarus to come forth out of his cave, out of that tomb, out of that grave — the first thing He said to everybody was, "You need to loose that man, and you need to let him go." That's what you need to do.

I would say to you that you can praise God on credit. You can worship God on the installment plan. You may not be all the way there, but you can keep putting a down payment, and a deposit, on the victory that you know that God is going to bring you out into. And so you can say, "I'm just going to get a little loose right here. I'm just going to shake off a few bands and bonds right here, and I'm going to praise God on credit." If He's ever brought you out before, He's going to bring you out this time. If He ever delivered you once, He can deliver you twice. If He ever answered a prayer seven years ago, six weeks ago — God can answer the prayer you're praying right now. Stop letting the devil tell you the cave is eternal. The cave isn't eternal. You're just taking a course in God's university, and God is building something great in your life.

Stand to your feet right now, all over this sanctuary. Thank you for your kind attention. But right now, I need more than your kind attention. I need your apostolic participation. Would you grab the hand of somebody beside you, propel your hand into the air with theirs? And would you lift up your voice, and begin to praise the God who is the Deliverer? Praise the God who is the Victor. Praise the God. Oh my. Oh my. Oh my. Oh my. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes, God. Yes, God. Yes, God. Yes, God. Are we okay?

We're going to have an ordination service in just a moment, but I can't think of a better atmosphere than a bunch of victorious saints of God, preachers of the gospel, celebrating Jesus. So we can clear the altar quicker than we can assemble. So would you assemble right now around the altar? We'll go into ordination momentarily, but I'd like you to take a little walk of victory right now. Would you do that? And when you get here, don't bury your head in the carpet. It's not that kind of prayer meeting. Lift your hands. Lift your voice. Lift your heart. Lift your spirit. Lift your praise. Lift your worship. Because the God that allowed you to be in the cave is the God that's going to deliver you out of the cave. And when you come forth — "I shall come forth as gold." Keep coming. And those of you that are in the front, keep stepping forward. We still got people coming up the aisles. Please just step forward, just for a moment. Thank you, Jesus. Come in real close. Those of you that are in the center aisle, just push your way through. Those of you that are here, just move maybe to one side. Let all of our brothers and sisters get in the altar today. Thank you, Jesus. Thank you, Jesus. Thank you, Jesus. That's so good. Thank you. Keep coming, folks. That's beautiful. That's wonderful. We got room right over in here. Now, one more time: would you reach over, grab somebody by the hand, and lift it up as a sign of victory? Lift it up as a sign of faith. Lift it up as a sign of confidence. God is going to bring you out.