Participants: Carlton P. Byrd
Series Code: BOL
Program Code: BOL000548A
|
00:03 BREATH OF LIFE MINISTRIES PRESENTS:
00:07 SERMON B548 "I Will Bless The Lord" 00:13 [BREATH OF LIFE THEME MUSIC] 00:20 PB: First Samuel 21, verse 10. The Word says, 00:23 "And David arose and fled that day for fear of Saul, 00:26 and went to Achish the king of Gath. And the servants 00:30 of Achish said unto him, Is not this David the king of the land? 00:34 Did they not sing one to another of him in dances, saying, 00:37 Saul hath slain his thousands, and David his ten thousands? 00:40 And David laid up these words in his heart, 00:42 and was sore afraid of Achish the king of Gath. 00:44 And he changed his behaviour before them, 00:46 and feigned himself mad in their hands, 00:48 and scrabbled on the doors of the gate, 00:50 and let his spittle fall down upon his beard. 00:53 Then said Achish unto his servants, Lo, 00:55 ye see the man is mad?" In other words, he's crazy. 00:59 "Wherefore then have ye brought him to me? Have I 01:02 need of mad men, that ye have brought this fellow 01:05 to play the mad man in my presence? shall this 01:08 fellow come into my house?" 01:09 Go to chapter 22, verse number 1, quickly. 01:12 Verse number 1. "David therefore departed thence, 01:14 and escaped to the cave Adullam: and when his 01:16 brethren and all his father's house heard it, 01:18 they went down thither to him. And every one 01:21 that was in distress"--everybody say "distress." 01:24 Aud.: Distress. PB: "And every one that 01:26 was in debt"--everybody say "debt." Aud.: Debt. 01:27 PB: "And every one that was discontented"- 01:28 -everybody say "discontented." Aud.: Discontented. 01:30 PB: "Gathered themselves unto him; 01:31 and he became a captain over them: 01:33 and there were with him about four hundred"--what, everybody? 01:37 Aud.: Men. PB: Four hundred men. 01:38 Now quickly, these are the companion texts 01:40 to this song. Psalm 34. You know it. 01:47 I will bless the Lord. [Aud. reaction] 01:50 PB: At all times. And His praise--His what, everybody? 01:54 Aud.: Praise. PB: His praise shall continually be in my--what, everybody? 01:58 Aud.: Soul. PB: My soul shall make her 02:00 boast in the Lord. The humble shall hear 02:03 thereof and be glad. O, come, and magnify 02:06 the Lord with me, and let us exalt His name together. 02:13 Everybody, read after me. Say, "I will bless the Lord." 02:15 Aud.: I will bless the Lord. 02:17 PB: Father, that's what we've come, God, 02:18 to do to You today, to lift the name of 02:21 Jesus and bless Your name. So, as we preach 02:23 this message, God, move in the aisles of this church. 02:26 May Your people be alive and alert to receive 02:29 Your Word. Forgive me of my sins. Hide me 02:31 behind Your cross. In the name of Jesus we pray. 02:32 Let everyone say amen. Aud.: Amen. 02:34 PB: Amen. Let me begin this way, quickly. 02:37 We can never praise the Lord enough. 02:40 [Aud. reaction] PB: We can never give 02:43 God too much faith. God's been better to us 02:49 than we've been to ourselves. There should 02:52 never be a limit to our praise and worship of God. 02:55 Do I have a witness in this place? Now, 02:58 I don't know about you, but I can't thank God enough. 03:01 If I had ten thousand tongues, it still wouldn't 03:05 be enough to say what? Thank you. But I promised 03:08 the Lord, I'm going to use the one tongue I've got. 03:10 Can you say amen? I will bless the Lord at all times 03:14 and His praise shall continually be in my mouth. 03:18 I've now been in the church all my life. 03:21 I am coming up now on 45 years young, 03:25 and I was born in the church. I must admit 03:30 and confess to you that I would see people, 03:32 when I was younger, praise God in church. 03:35 I would see people jump up and down and say amen 03:38 and sing to the songs. It ain't over till God says so. 03:41 I would see them clap their hands. I would see them 03:43 stomp their feet. And at that time, I felt it didn't 03:46 take all that. But then I got a little older. 03:51 [Aud. reaction] PB: I got some battle scars. 03:55 And I soon discovered that I was judging them 03:59 prematurely because I hadn't been through anything. 04:03 And I was criticizing folk because I didn't understand 04:06 the things they were going through. And so, 04:08 I came to understand that I had judged them wrongly, 04:12 because after I had gone through some stuff for 04:15 myself--after I had been dragged through that thing, 04:19 after I had been lied on, after I'd been cheated, 04:22 after I'd been talked about, criticized, misused, 04:25 abused, and left confused--I better understood why 04:29 some people praise God the way they do. Because I 04:33 found out that if God has ever done anything for you, 04:36 you can't keep it to yourself, but you've got to 04:40 tell somebody. You can't help but praise His name. 04:45 Does anybody know what I'm talking about today? 04:48 [Aud. reaction] PB: You see, whenever you've 04:49 been through something and God has brought you out, 04:51 you stop trying to be cute. [Aud. reaction] 04:53 PB: You stop worrying about what folk are going 04:57 to think about you. You stop worrying about how 04:59 folk are going to talk ab out you. You just learn 05:02 to start praising God. As a matter of fact, 05:06 God has been so good to you that by now you don't 05:09 even have to wait until you come out of your situation. 05:12 But you've learned how to praise God right in the midst 05:15 of what you're going through. Do I have a witness 05:17 in this place? And you've made up in your mind 05:21 that you're going to praise God, and you don't 05:23 care what people say, think or do. 05:26 You see, brother, people who praise God and 05:29 are serious have stopped playing. They've been 05:31 through too much to rehearse their praise. 05:34 You see, you look at some folk, and you don't 05:36 know at Oakwood what they've been through. 05:38 You see their hats, ties, bow ties, their wardrobe. 05:42 But their wardrobe does not tell the story. You see, 05:45 some folk have been bruised, but they're here. 05:47 Some folk have been battered, but they're here. 05:50 Some folk have been laid off, but they're here. 05:53 There's somebody in this place who are at the 05:55 end of the month, and they don't have a dollar 05:57 to their name, but they're here. Some folk are 06:00 in stage 3 or 4 cancer, but they're here. 06:03 And it's difficult to relate to somebody who's 06:06 been the recipient of God's goodness, because 06:08 these are people who often express themselves 06:10 in ways other folk don't understand. 06:12 You see, when all else has failed you, 06:15 and everything has failed you, and you have 06:17 nothing else and nobody to sustain you but God, 06:20 you will learn how to praise God like you just don't care. 06:24 [Aud. reaction] PB: I will bless the Lord at all times, 06:29 and His praise shall continually--shall what, everybody? 06:33 Aud.: Continually. PB: Be in my mouth. 06:34 Now, when David wrote Psalm 34--'cause a lot 06:37 of us think that Psalm 34 is a standalone Psalm- 06:40 -but you need to understand, it is a companion 06:42 to First Samuel 21 and 22. And you need to 06:45 understand what was going on. David, in the text, 06:48 was in a political mess. Everybody say "mess." 06:51 Aud.: Mess. PB: Now, some of us--and I'm 06:52 careful--do not like mixing politics in the pulpit, 06:56 and there is some validity to that. Come on, say amen. 07:00 Aud.: Amen. PB: So I've got to be careful. 07:02 But let me remind you that politics is all in 07:04 the Bible. Oh, you don't believe me. 07:08 [Aud. reaction] PB: Moses defying Pharaoh, 07:12 the king, the president. Politics was involved. 07:15 Esther, being queen, to save her people. 07:20 Politics was involved. The fact that Mary 07:24 and Joseph couldn't find a hotel in Jerusalem- 07:28 -Washington DC--and the fact that our Lord and 07:32 Savior had to be born in a stable, 07:34 as the judge said, in Bethlehem, and then 07:37 they had to flee persecution from Herod, 07:39 let's me know politics was involved. 07:42 And so as we culminate black history today, 07:45 let us never forget that if it had not been 07:47 for the black preacher leading black congregations, 07:52 black communities and people in civic, community 07:56 and political affairs, we would still be in slavery. 08:00 Thank God Denmark Vesey was political. 08:04 Thank God Matt Turner was political. 08:07 Thank God Harriet Tubman was political. 08:10 Thank God Sojourner Truth was political. 08:13 Thank God Desmond Tutu was political. 08:16 Thank God Martin Luther King was political. 08:22 [Aud. reaction] PB: I thank God they were political, 08:24 because if they had not been political slavery 08:27 would not have ended, segregation would still 08:29 be the law, apartheid would still be official 08:32 in South Africa, Brown versus Board of Education 08:35 would have never been passed, Voting Rights 08:37 Act wouldn't be passed. And just in case you 08:42 have forgotten, I thank God for going to 08:45 Oakwood University. When I was a student 08:48 here there was a man, young people, 08:49 by the name of Dr. E.E. Cleveland, and 08:52 he taught us preachers how to be political like Moses, 08:57 political like Isaiah, political like Jeremiah, 09:01 political like Micah, and politically correct like Jesus. 09:05 We are called to lift the name of Jesus, which is 09:10 our number one mandate while we are called to preach 09:12 the message of Jesus, live the life of Jesus. 09:14 Let us never forget where we've come from. 09:17 We've come this far by faith, leaning on the Lord. 09:26 Can I be real today? If we had gone along to get 09:30 along on every issue of injustice, where would we be? 09:34 Some people that to follow Christ means that we have 09:37 to take a vow of suffering and slaughter. Just roll over, 09:41 play dead. But as Dr. King said, oppression is never 09:44 voluntarily given by the oppressor, it must be demanded 09:47 by the oppressed. Even Jesus, in the temple, had to 09:52 take His belt off and whip a ___ out of the unjust 09:57 money changers, who had made His house a house of 10:00 den of thieves. Let us never forget that while we're 10:03 lifting Jesus, after we leave Jesus, we've got to 10:05 learn to lift each other. What does the Lord require of us? 10:09 Do justly, love mercy, and walk humbly before God. 10:15 Do I have a witness in this place? Some folk don't 10:18 want to talk about politics, but yet they're the 10:19 beneficiaries of political movements, political 10:23 actions and agendas. There are some people who say- 10:25 -I heard it. When we brought Al Sharpton here, 10:28 I got all kind of letters. There are some people 10:32 who say that black activists are not activists but agitators. 10:38 That it's 2017, and we live in a post-racial society, 10:43 and we don't need all that social justice talk today. 10:47 But don't you ever forget that because of black activists' 10:52 agitations in the '60s, all cultures today, from all places, 10:59 are able to benefit today. You'd better learn how to 11:04 support each other. You'd better learn how to build 11:08 each other up. Stop tearing people down. Stop with 11:14 the crowd mentality. Let me go some more. 11:18 You're going to get mad, but that's all right. 11:21 Stop all this black versus white, all this white 11:24 versus black. Stop all this black versus black. 11:30 And speaking of black versus black, stop all 11:32 this black versus West Indian, and West Indian versus black. 11:35 [Aud. reaction] PB: We all came from the same place. 11:39 We just got dropped off on different shores. Hallelujah, somebody! 11:44 [Aud. reaction] PB: Be careful when you say you 11:49 don't like politics. Not all politics is bad, 11:52 but politics divorced from ethical beliefs, 11:54 moral stands, and biblical principles is wrong. 11:56 In the text, David is in a political mess. 12:00 Saul, king of Israel, is trying to kill David. 12:04 Saul is trying to kill David because 12:07 Saul is jealous of David. So David flees from Saul, 12:10 but he runs into the kingdom of one of Saul's enemies. 12:14 First Samuel 21:10 says that David ran and went to 12:18 King Achish of Gath. Everybody say "Gath." 12:21 Aud.: Gath. PB: Now, in Psalm 31, the companion text, 12:23 Achish is called Abimelech. Abimelech was the official 12:27 name or title of the Philistine kings, 12:30 so just like Pharaoh was the official title 12:32 of the Egyptian kings, Abimelech was the official 12:35 title of the Philistine kings. So David runs 12:37 from Saul to Abimelech, who he was afraid of as well. 12:42 David is in a mess. And not only that, 12:45 David's haters were quick to point out that 12:48 David was considered a hero in Israel. They quoted, 12:51 "Saul has slain his thousands, but David his ten thousands." 12:55 Let me remind you today that haters are quick to stir up some mess. 13:00 [Aud. reaction] PB: Haters, when they see you down, 13:03 they will do everything to keep you down. 13:06 David's haters ran to Abimelech and told him 13:09 who David was, so David, fleeing from Saul, 13:12 runs to Abimelech. He jumps out of the firing 13:15 pan into the fire. One king wanted to kill him 13:18 because he was jealous, and the other king was 13:20 not happy about him being there because of what 13:22 he was hearing about him. David was in a mess. 13:25 And in case you didn't know, like David, 13:28 we're in a political mess. Alternative facts. 13:34 A mess. Fake news. A mess. Russian relationships. 13:43 A mess. Proposed border walls. A mess. Travel bans 13:50 for select people from select countries. A mess. 13:55 Like David, we're in a political mess. 14:00 If man will stop Muslims, don't you think man 14:04 will try to stop Adventists? We're in a political mess! 14:11 So what does David do to get out of this mess? 14:14 The Bible says he pretends to be crazy. He pretends 14:19 to be mad and insane. The Bible says, saliva. 14:23 He starts foaming at the mouth. Saliva falls 14:28 from his beard. David, why did he do this? 14:31 David knew--I was reading Ellen White's 14:34 Patriarchs and Prophets. She says David 14:35 knew that the Philistines had a law regarding 14:37 the release of a madman. So they let David go, 14:41 and David now flees to the cave of Adullam, 14:44 in First Samuel 22. Now, when he gets to the cave, 14:46 the Bible says in First Samuel 22, that everyone 14:49 there with him was in distress, debt, and discontent. 14:57 So he's running from a mess, but he runs to a mess, 15:00 because everywhere he runs and the place he lands, 15:04 everybody is in distress, debt, and discontent. 15:09 So he's now in personal misery, and out of his pain 15:12 he pens this song of praise. I will bless the Lord 15:18 at all times. You all don't hear what I'm saying. 15:22 [Aud. reaction] PB: And His praise shall continually 15:25 be in my mouth. In his mess, I will bless the Lord 15:30 at all times, and His praise shall continually be 15:33 in my mouth. In other words, I can't stop. 15:36 I won't stop praising the Lord, but I will 15:40 bless the Lord. Everybody say "I will." 15:43 Aud.: I will PB: Now, it's important to understand 15:46 what is meant by "I will bless the Lord." You see, 15:49 there's a difference between I will and I shall. 15:54 "I will" states that an event is occurring right now. 16:01 "I shall" implies that something is likely to happen 16:05 in the future. David says "I will bless the Lord" 16:11 right now. So, in other words, even though he says 16:14 I don't see the conclusion of my situation, 16:16 while I have breath in my body I will bless the Lord. 16:23 You all don't hear what I'm saying. I will bless the Lord. 16:27 Because when I look back over my life, and I think 16:31 things over, all of my good days outweigh my bad days. 16:37 I won't complain. I will bless the Lord. 16:42 So I'm not going to wait until the bills are paid, 16:45 I will bless the Lord now. I'm not going to wait 16:48 until my body is healed, I will bless the Lord now. 16:51 I'm not going to wait until I get a job, I will 16:54 bless the Lord now. I'm not going to wait until 16:56 my finances are sufficient, I will bless the Lord now. 17:00 I'm not going to wait until that student loan is paid off, 17:03 but I will. Don't wait till the battle is over; shout now. 17:15 I will bless the Lord at all times, and His praise shall 17:17 continually be in my mouth. Now, notice also in the text. 17:20 I want you to quickly look at who David is talking to. 17:23 And then I want you to look at who and what he's talking about. 17:28 Look at who he's talking to and then look at who and 17:31 what he's talking about. Now first, look at who he's 17:35 talking to. First, David in Psalm 34 is talking to 17:37 the folk who are marginalized. Everybody say "marginalized." 17:40 Aud.: Marginalized. PB: If you read the text when you go home, 17:46 you will recognize he wound up with his brothers 17:48 and members of his father's family. The Bible says 17:50 there were 400 of them who were not a part of 17:51 the in crowd. The king didn't like them. 17:55 Understand the parallels, I wish I had time. 17:57 The king didn't like them because they were 18:00 related to David. The king didn't like them 18:03 because they weren't on good terms with the government. 18:06 The king didn't like them because they were 18:08 on the outside looking in. They were in the margins; 18:10 they were marginalized. Is there anybody here 18:13 who knows what it's like to be marginalized? Okay, 18:18 everybody, you don't know, so let me help you. 18:20 Marginalized means being a female in a man's world. 18:25 Marginalized means being a black person or a person 18:29 of color in a white world. That's marginalized. 18:32 Marginalized is, you're on the outside of a 18:34 society where the rich get tax breaks and the 18:37 poor get back breaks. That's marginalized. 18:40 Marginalized is, you live in a neighborhood 18:43 where you can't count on police protection, 18:44 but you count on police harassment. 18:47 That's marginalized. Marginalized is, 18:49 you can't go to the airport or the store 18:51 because you're afraid you might be separated 18:53 from your family. Marginalized. No job, 18:56 no health care, no influence. A minimum wage 19:02 per hour that is equal to what a United States 19:05 senator makes every second. Marginalized. 19:08 You have to work twice as hard to make it 19:12 simply because you don't come from the right family, 19:15 the right zip code, the right schools, or the right color. 19:19 Marginalized. Is there anybody here who knows what 19:23 it's like to be marginalized? If you're here, 19:26 David is talking to you. Marginalized. And David 19:31 is saying, Look, despite being marginalized, 19:35 O magnify the Lord with me, and let us exalt 19:43 His name together. Look at who David's talking to. 19:47 People in distress, people in distress who have 19:50 experienced misfortune. People in distress who are 19:54 in a state of danger. People in distress who are 19:56 in painful situations. Is there anybody here who 19:59 knows about a painful situation? A marriage that's 20:03 messed up--that's a painful situation. Addictions 20:06 that you have, you're bound--those are painful situations. 20:09 Habits that have you in shackles--those are painful situations. 20:13 Being on a job where your best is never 20:16 good enough, but yet you're good enough to 20:18 train the folk under you who are then promoted over you. 20:20 That's painful. Being on your job, where you've got to 20:25 do twice as much because of your skin color and three 20:27 times as much because of your gender to make one-half 20:30 as much as somebody with less education than you. 20:32 That's painful. A broken heart--that's painful. 20:36 Broken families--that's painful. Broken dreams- 20:40 -that's painful. A broken child, a death of a child- 20:45 -that's painful. Domestic violence--that's painful. 20:49 These were the people who were at the cave of Adullam, 20:54 who were trapped in painful situations. They were in distress. 20:58 Let me remind you that everybody in our world today, 21:05 particularly every black person in America, lives 21:07 in a constant state of distress. A constant state of danger. 21:13 You can get hurt while you're driving. You can get 21:15 killed while you're walking. You can get deported 21:20 while you're traveling. Tornadoes, earthquakes, 21:25 tsunamis, every second of every minute of every hour, 21:27 we're in constant danger. Look at who David's talking to. 21:29 These are people in the caves, who are in desperate needs. 21:30 In need of jobs, in need of housing, in need of health care, 21:33 in need of minimum wage, in need of a gang-free environment, 21:38 in need of quality education, in need of dental care, 21:41 in need of food on the table, in need of clothes for 21:44 their children, in need of respect, in need of dignity, 21:46 in need of a lift-up and not a put-down. And so, 21:52 if you're here today, and you're here in a state of danger, 21:56 a state of desperate need, and you're here and you know what 22:00 it's like to be in a painful situation. I can hear David, 22:03 a man after God's own heart, saying, O magnify the Lord with me. 22:09 In distress, O magnify the Lord with me! In misfortune, 22:14 O magnify the Lord with me! In a painful situation, 22:19 O magnify the Lord with me! Marginalized, O magnify 22:24 the Lord with me! But he continues in First Samuel 22. 22:30 And he's not only talking to those in distress, 22:32 but now the Bible says he's also talking to those 22:34 who are in debt. Now, I know I'm bowling down somebody's 22:38 alley right now. Don't sit there and act like you don't 22:41 know what I'm talking about. Today's the 25th. 22:44 You can't wait till the 28th, 'cause you got some 22:45 bills to pay, you are in debt. Come on, say amen. 22:48 Somebody's got credit card debt, student loan debt, 22:53 mortgage debt. There's a student who has unpaid 22:57 apartment rent debt. You've got two months' late car note debt. 23:03 Medical debts. You've got bills up the wazoo, and you 23:09 are so poor, you can't even pay attention. 23:11 Somebody here knows about debt. David is talking to you, too. 23:20 David is talking to those who are discontented, disrespected, 23:24 dismissed, dismayed. Anybody know about discontent? 23:28 You can't find peace, you can't get peace. Not only 23:34 are you in debt, not only are you distressed, 23:37 but you're discontented. You're disrespected. 23:41 You're dismissed. You're dismayed. You're disgusted. 23:45 You're just dissed! And you know what it's like to live 23:48 on the street. David is talking to you. David says, 23:51 discontented--O magnify the Lord with me. Disrespected- 23:56 -O magnify the Lord with me! Dismissed--O magnify the 24:02 Lord with me! Dismayed--O magnify the Lord with me! 24:06 Disgusted--O magnify the Lord with me! Dissed-- 24:11 O magnify the Lord with me! 24:15 But notice in the text, David doesn't just say 24:21 O magnify the Lord with me, but he also says, and let us--let what? 24:29 Aud.: Us. PB: Come on, let whom? Aud.: Us. 24:32 PB: Exalt His name. Together, somebody got it, 24:35 but for the rest of you all, let me help you. 24:37 David says, I know how to praise Him by myself. 24:41 I've had practice as a shepherd, walking outside 24:46 and seeing God's handiwork. I've had practice, 24:50 David said, when He helped me fight against lions; 24:53 He helped me fight against bears. I had some practice 24:57 in praising Him by myself. And I've had practice when 25:03 He prepared a table before me in the presence of mine enemies. 25:07 I've had practice, that every time my cup ran over. 25:11 I've had practice that every time I looked around, 25:15 I saw surely goodness and mercy following me. 25:19 I've had practice. Is there anybody here that's 25:23 had the joy of praising God by yourself? 25:27 You see, some of us will only shout when we have a crowd. 25:31 Some of us can't praise God unless we're in a certain seat, 25:36 in a certain section, among certain people in the sanctuary. 25:40 But let me tell you this in the name of Jesus:e prhh 25:44 A true worshipper doesn't need a crowed to praise God. 25:49 A true worshipper doesn't need a praise team to pump 25:54 them up. A true worshipper doesn't need a band to get 25:58 them to praise Him. A true worshipper doesn't need 26:02 to be in a certain seat, in a certain section, 26:07 in the sanctuary. All the true worshipper has to do is, 26:09 when I think of the goodness of Jesus, and all He's 26:14 done for me, my soul cries out. Hallelujah! 26:20 A true worshipper will praise God by him or herself. 26:25 In the choir stand or in the car. In the pew or in 26:29 the parking lot. In the prayer room or in the living room. 26:32 In the living room or in the board room. When I think of 26:36 the goodness of Jesus, I can praise Him all by myself. 26:40 Hey, hey, hey! Let me tell you something. I've been in 26:45 some church situations, and some of my travels- 26:48 -you know I travel all across the country and the world- 26:50 -where I've had to ignore bad music. It wasn't like this today, 27:00 it was bad. I mean, it was awful. It wasn't the Aeolians, 27:08 it wasn't Maurette Brown Clark. I'm convinced that 27:12 some people read Psalm 100 and think it says make 27:15 an awful noise unto the Lord. [Aud. reaction] 27:18 PB: In my travels, I've had to ignore some mean faces. 27:27 I've had to ignore cruel, hard, cold faces. 27:33 Ignore the scowls and the I-dare-you body language. 27:39 You ought to see it sometimes. You don't believe it, 27:43 stand up here with me sometimes. And you can see some 27:47 folk who come to church with this I-dare-you-to-make-me-sing look. 27:51 I-dare-you-to-make-me-stand look. I-dare-you-to-make-me-smile look. 27:56 I-dare-you-to-make-me worship. But I've learned how to 28:01 ignore all of that. Even if I have to praise God by myself. 28:09 [Aud. reaction] 28:10 PB: I will bless the Lord at all times, 28:15 and His praise shall continually be in my mouth. 28:17 >: Thank you for joining us for another exciting 28:19 Breath of Life television broadcast. 28:20 Tune in next week at the same time, 28:23 as Dr. Byrd will deliver another dynamic message from the Lord, 28:26 just for you. Until next time, may God bless you. 28:30 END |
Revised 2017-03-09