Welcome to the Kerwin Baptist Church broadcast today. Our desire is for the Word of God to be spread throughout the world.
so that all may know Christ. Join us now. For a portion of one of our services here at Kerwin Baptist Church. Located in Kernersville, North Carolina. Historical context of Psalm 23.
Is found in the life of David. was written in a time of severe personal trial. What is going on? If you'll notice as it starts, the subscription, or what we call superscription in this passage. It says a psalm of David when he changed his behavior.
before Abimelech, who drove him away. and he departed.
Now, if you like to keep notes in your Bible, I would encourage you, just write down right by there that verse, 1 Samuel 21. That way you'll always have the reference where it points to of what he's talking about here. In 1 Samuel 21, David is being chased. by King Saul. His mentor, the man he loved, the man he could have killed many times.
And Saul was just eaten up with jealousy. And Saul comes after David, and David had made some mistakes at this point.
Now he's running for his life. from Saul and I gotta tell you, this is how desperate he became. David decides to run to Gath, which was a city of the Philistines. You don't have to be a rocket scientist or a church person to know that David's enemy was the Philistines, and that goes all the way back to David and Goliath. And David feared for his life, so he shows up there and Now he's in the area of the enemy, and so what he does is he knows that they're probably going to kill him.
Now he's just as in much trouble as he was with Saul.
So David acts insane. He just begins to do whatever it took, I guess, to convince them that he was out of his mind.
Some of you are familiar with what I'm talking about. And. I'm just picking. And so here he was avoiding harm. From the Philistines trying to avoid Saul, and now he's acting like a crazy person, and they realize.
And they see him as crazy, so they just say, just leave him alone. He's no threat to anybody. He's crazy. And so here's David in Gath. Then the Philistines, obviously, they recognized him as a warrior.
That he was a threat, but because now he was crazy and he was mad, there would be no. Uh glory in killing someone like that, so David was spared.
So David was alone. He was afraid. He was desperate. He had literally stooped to the level Of pretending to be mad and crazy. David Saul And Psalm 34, he saw his deliverance.
As the mercy and intervention of God. This psalm does not praise the fact that David deceived the Philistines and that David acted like a crazy. The psalm isn't defending that behavior. What this psalm, David, is saying is that in the midst of my mistakes, God in His mercy, saved me and delivered me. In other words, David saying, I know I was wrong.
But even though I was wrong, God in His mercy. Save me. Can I say this, by the way? Don't you think each of us have that testimony at some point in our life? That despite our behavior, It's not because of our behavior, but despite our behavior.
God still blessed us. and had mercy on us. Verses 1 through 3 is basically praise and worship. Verses 4 through 7 is David's testimony of deliverance. Verses 8 through 10 is David encouraging us to trust God.
Verses 11 through 14, David gives us instructions for righteous living. Verses 15 through 22. David describes how God cares for the righteous, but we're just going to deal with. With the first eight verses.
So, I want you to understand the context here. David had blown it, David's running for his life, David had ended up there with the Philistines, and in the middle of all this, God had protected him. Notice, if you would, verse 1. And we're going to start number one tonight. The praise.
of my mouth. The praise Of my mouth. Look what David says. I will bless the Lord. at all times.
Now, I know this is obvious, but it doesn't say sometimes. It says all times. Kerwin, let me say that again. It doesn't say, I will praise the Lord sometimes. It says, I will praise the Lord at...
Aww. times. You agree with that? Say amen. Is that the Bible?
Say amen. It doesn't say when you feel like it. It doesn't say when it's easy. It says, I will bless the Lord at all times.
Now, notice that. David says, I We'll bless the Lord. At all times. That means this is a personal process. Phrase.
This is a decision That was made.
Now listen to me tonight. This is not an emotional response to a circumstance. If it was, it wouldn't be a good psalm because he wasn't in a good circumstance. This is not an emotional response. This is a commitment and a decision that was made before the circumstances ever happened.
Let me say that again. Him praising God. Was not a reaction to a circumstance. It was a decision that was made before the circumstance ever got there. And what you and I need to do is, we need to determine right now: I am going to praise God at all times.
It doesn't mean I have to like all the times, and it doesn't mean I have to enjoy all the times, and it doesn't mean that everything in my life is going to be good and enjoyable. But what it does mean is that you better decide now that you're going to praise God at all times, or you're never going to praise Him at all. Because Satan will just continually bring things along your path. If Satan knows a bad circumstance is all it takes to get you to stop praising God, guess what's going to keep coming your way? I want you to notice this.
He says, I will bless the. Notice, Lord. This is a little bit different. This is capital L, capital O, capital R. Capital D.
When you see Lord capitalized with all the letters, it's the word Jehovah.
Now, many times in the Bible, when you see Lord capitalized L, but O-R-D is not capitalized, many times it's the word Adonai, which means master. But here, L-O-R-D all capitalized means David is saying, I will bless Jehovah at all times. That means what I'm going through. And when I go through something that I don't like, I can Think and look over the past. And I can remember what God's done.
I can remember the favor that God has shown me. What is David saying here? Even though my circumstance right now is bad, I can praise the God who was, the God who is, and the God who always will be. That means my circumstance might not be what I want right now, but he is Jehovah. That means he's the God who was.
And I can, I don't know about you, I can think back on a thousand things God has done for me. He's also the God that will be Jehovah. That means this: I always have hope. It doesn't matter what circumstance I'm in right now.
So, when David said, I can bless Jehovah at all times, I can praise him at all times, what that means is this: it doesn't matter what happened, it doesn't matter what's happening, and it doesn't matter what will happen. I always have something to praise God for. You see that means when I'm going through something I don't like. I can praise him. at all times.
My faith tells me That even though there might be some things going on right now that I don't like. God Jehovah who was, is, and always will be, that gives me hope. Yeah. And because of that, David's saying, because he's Jehovah. I can bless Jehovah at all times.
You know why? Because Jehovah has been with us. with you. at all times.
The praise of my mouth. Notice, secondly, David gets into the persistence of my praise.
So, first, he says, there has to be the decision that I am going to praise God.
Some of you right now in your life, listen, I'm trying to just give you the structure of this chapter without just trying to get real personal and everything, but some of you might right now, you might be saying, Preacher, listen, I can amen you all night long that God's good, and I know God is good, but you just don't know what I'm going through right now.
Well, you have got to determine before anything comes that you are going to praise God. at all times.
You've got to decide it now. Notice here, look at verse 1. He says, I will bless the Lord at all times. Notice his presence. Praise.
Shall continually be in my mouth. He said, I'm not just gonna Praise the Lord at all times. That praise is going to be continually in my mouth. There is not just the praise of my mouth, there's the persistence of my praise.
Well, preacher. That's a bit too much to ask. It's one thing to just say, hey, always just be able to say God is good. But to praise continually, well, he makes a specific claim here. Notice what it says.
His Praise. shall continually be in my mouth. Listen to me, Kerwin. That means whatever's going on, we can always praise. Him.
His praise. Listen, I might not always be able to praise people. And people might not always be able to praise me. But all of us can always praise God. Amen.
But let's go a little bit deeper. This means whatever's going on, I can praise him. That means whatever has gone bad, I know he isn't bad. Let me say that again. It means whatever has gone bad, or whoever has gone bad.
I know God isn't bad. It means whatever circumstance has become difficult, I know he helps strengthen me through that. It means that when we can't enjoy our circumstances, we can enjoy Him. Do you get it? Is there a light bulb going off right now?
For him to say his praise. Not just praise. His praise shall continually be in my mouth. And that means that even when I can't enjoy my circumstances, I can enjoy my God. Our praise is not centered around our circumstances.
Our praise should not be centered around our desires. Our praise should not be centered around our comfort. Our praise should be centered around Him. And because He never changes, we can always praise Him. And we can praise him continually.
Because he always stays the same. Notice number three.
Now we see the power. David says of my praise.
So first, David says, there's praise that starts in me, the praise in my mouth. Then he says, there's the persistence of my praise. It's not just a one-time thing. It should be a way of life. But notice the power that your praise has.
Look at verse 2. My soul shall make her boast in the Lord. Notice this. The humble shall hear thereof and be glad.
Now we see that the praise is beginning to affect people.
Now, the praise has a positive influence. on those around him. By the way, praise has a positive influence.
So does negativity. Let me just put it this way: if you have a church. that just naturally Organically praises God in the services. Can I tell you something?
Somebody coming into this church, it won't be long, they'll be praising. But if it's just natural and organic that we sit like a bump on a log in our services? I don't care how excited somebody is when they come in here, guess what's going to happen before too long? They're just going to start sitting like a bump on a log. David says here, the power of my praise.
It makes others glad. It brings joy. Notice number four, I want you to see the persuasion of my praise. Look at verse 3. He says, Oh, magnify the Lord.
Notice this: what? Oh, magnify the Lord. Let me ask it again. We have it on the screen. I don't know what else I can do.
Oh, magnify the Lord. With me. Let oh Yeah. Exalt his name together. Where did it start?
David said, I'm going to praise God with my mouth. And where does it lead to? Everybody's praising God. The personal has become corporate, and that's the power and persuasion that praise can have. He says, Let us exalt his name together, not just me.
Let us let's let's magnify the Lord together. There's always people watching, there's always people listening, there's always some that are watching how you handle situations, how you go through things, how it makes you feel, and how it makes you act. And they're watching your attitude and your spirit when things go through your life. But all of a sudden, when you begin to praise God continually, and when the praise of God is continually in your mouth, all of a sudden it begins to spread out to others. And now your praise doesn't just bring them joy before long.
Now they're magnifying the Lord with you. Kerwin, it can spread. But it's got to start with somebody. I was reading. about a missionary in Asia.
And I don't know who the missionary was, but... He said this quote: He said that on the mission field, I have found that people responded to Christianity not through logic. But when they tasted the love and joy of believers. Let me put it this way: the only God that some people will see. is through you.
The only Jesus some people will see is through your life. It starts with us. Hey, it did my heart good the other day when Bill Salter gave testimony and praised. Listen, I'm going to praise God at all times. That means even when part of your leg is amputated.
It means that Brother Johnny Wilkins, when he texted, I've been diagnosed with cancer, but God's always been good. He's still good, and he's just praising God there in the text. And can I tell you something? It's one thing to praise God when you got raised, and it's another thing to praise God when something really great has happened in your life, and you should praise God for those things. But there has to be something inside of us that's different than the world, that we can praise Him at all times, that His praise will always be in our mouth.
And guess what? If Kerwin Baptist Church becomes a group of people that just praise God, it doesn't matter what circumstances come, and it doesn't matter who has said what, or sent what, or criticized what, but we're just going to praise God, and we're going to have the praise of God continually in our life. Guess what? It's going to be contagious, and before long, it's not just going to be you, it's going to be us magnifying the Lord. People want to be around that.
Experience leads to encounter. Number five, I want you to look at verse four. We see the promise of my deliverance. He begins with praise, and notice as he continues to explain, look at verse 4. I sought the Lord.
And he heard me.
Now here's what David's doing. He says, I'm praising God with my mouth. His praise is going to continually be in my mouth. And that praise is going to spread. It makes others glad.
And I'm asking you to come praise God with me.
Okay, what are we praising God for? Look at verse 4. I sought the Lord, and He heard me. and delivered me from all my fears. They looked unto him and were lightened, and their faces were not ashamed.
This poor man cried, and the Lord heard him and saved him out of all his troubles.
Now, can I give you just a really good, simple, clear? It's just laying right there in front of you, outline of verse four. The promise of my deliverance. Notice first there is the seeking. He says, I sought the Lord.
I don't know about you, but I believe in our day and time, there should be a whole lot more seeking God. than calling people. Yeah. There ought to be a whole lot more going to God with this than going to everybody else with this. There ought to be more of that.
He said, I sought The Lord. There's the seeking. What it means is this, the rest of this doesn't come until the seeking starts. It starts with you. Hey, listen, quit saying, hey, God hasn't done this, God hasn't done that.
Have you sought Him? Have you gone to him? Have you reached out to him? Notice the seeking, second, there's the hearing. I sought the Lord.
And he heard me.
Guess what? That's what God does. He listens. He hears. You know, often you and I just think God didn't hear me because God didn't do what we said.
Millicent, he hears. I sought the Lord, David said, and he heard me, the seeking, the hearing. Notice, third, the delivering. This is real deep. I sought the Lord and He heard me and delivered me.
Now, let's just stop for a second tonight. You don't need to say it out loud. In fact, please don't say it out loud.
Well, let's all think back to some times that God's delivered us. Oh my word, has he delivered me. Guess what he's delivered me from the most? Myself. I don't know about you, but I'm my worst problem.
Notice what he says here. and delivered me And here's what's interesting. Notice fourth, there's the remaining. You're like, okay, I don't see this in the passage. Oh yeah, I'll notice real close.
David said, I sought the Lord. The seeking And he heard me, the hearing. And he delivered me the delivering, but notice. Real close. What did he deliver him from?
Look what he said. He delivered me from all my problems. Didn't say that, does it? Guess what? David still had the same problems.
that he did before he sought God.
So God's answer wasn't to take him out of the problems. God's Answer God's solution. was to take away the fear. of those problems. Hey, listen, you and I have got to understand God a little bit here tonight.
God doesn't have to take something away from you for you to get victory over it. Yeah, right.
Okay, that was two of us. I don't know what, you know. Let's wake up tonight. Look at me, God doesn't have to take you out of a situation for you to get victory over that situation. Notice David said, I sought me, he heard me, and he delivered me, not out of the problem.
He didn't fix any of the problem. He delivered me from my fears. The promise of my deliverance. Listen to me. God's deliverance isn't always removing an obstacle in your life.
God's deliverance is giving you victory even when you're in the obstacle of your life. That's how God works. Number six, I can tell this is going over great. I want you to notice the protection by my deliverer.
So, I'm going to praise. Let me show you why I'm going to praise. Here's the. Here's the promise of my deliverance. But let's get real close to this.
I want you to notice the protection of my deliverer. The one that gave deliverance, notice this. Look at verse 7. And the angel of the Lord Jehovah. encampeth round about them that fear him.
and delivereth Them.
Now this is a beautiful comforting verse. about God's protective presence. Notice it doesn't say again that God removes every problem in your life. It just said God encamps round about us. Yes, sir.
Yeah. I got a few more amens. Don't you love the Word of God? Hey, it's there if you'll look into it. He never said, Hey, God's going to get rid of all your enemies.
He didn't say, Hey, God's going to, I'll tell you, you're not going to have to face any problems. No. In fact, he says that the angel of God encamps round about you. You know what that tells me? It tells me that God's not removing problems, it means more problems are coming.
It doesn't mean that God's going to remove your enemies. It means why else would He encamp round about you if you weren't going to face enemies? It means it's coming. But what it does mean. is that whatever may come, God will surround you.
in your life. No, this is different. The fact that God encamps around us shows. That we're not going to be pulled away from problems in our life. It just means that God will never be pulled away from us.
Amen, Terry Wright. Amen. Amen, preacher. Hey, when God encamps around us, that doesn't mean He's going to remove us from problems. It just means that no problem will ever remove Him from us.
He's not in front of me or behind me or beside me. He's everywhere. around me. The phrase encampeth round about means to surround on every side. It's like a military camp or a wall of defense that completely encloses someone in safety.
God doesn't stand at a distance and watch us. He surrounds us completely. He guards us from every direction. Can I have an old-fashioned amen right there? Let me put it this way.
I can see the things in front of me. But I can't see some of the things coming up from behind. I can't see the knives coming into the back. And I might not be able to see everything on either side. Oh, I can see some things to keep myself.
God says, a wise man foreseeth the evil and keepeth himself from it. There's some things I can see, but I am so thankful I serve a God that surrounds me. Because there's just a whole lot that you and I don't know. Missionary John Patton, I thought this was interesting. He was a missionary to the new Hebrides Islands.
And he wrote in his book One Night, a hostile natives surrounded his mission house. And they were intent on burning it down, and they were going to kill him and his wife because he was a missionary and they didn't want him there. That's still going on in the world, by the way. The patents saw all those people around their house and they did all that they knew to do. They got down on their knees in their house and they just began to pray.
Waiting for the doors and the windows to crash and fire to engulf their house, and they just prayed. When morning came, they were astonished to see that the house was still there. And all the attackers had left. A year later, the chief of that tribe became a Christian through his ministry, and when Missionary Patton asked him why they didn't attack that knife. The chief said.
Because of all those men you had with you. Patton replied, There were no men, just my wife and me. But the chief insisted he had seen hundreds of tall men. In shining garments with swords drawn, standing all around the house. And the chief said, We didn't feel like.
fighting an army like that. Can I give you just a few verses to help you understand this a little bit better? When it says that the angel of the Lord encamps, by the way, this ought to encourage you tonight.
Some of you need to hear just this tonight. That I don't care what you see and what's going on and what you think is going on in your life. We have a promise from God that the angel of the Lord surrounds us. But just in case you think, well, you're just taking a passage and going with it. It means when God encamps around us, number one, it means He is before us.
Deuteronomy 31, 8 says, And the Lord, he it is that doth go before thee. Number two, it means God is beside us. Isaiah 41.10 says, Fear thou not, for I am with. The Third, it means he's behind us. Isaiah 30:21, and thou shalt hear a word behind thee saying, This.
is the way Walk ye in it. It means this, that God goes before you to guide you. God walks beside you to fellowship with you, and God stands behind you to guard you. It means this. You mean there's more?
Yeah, there's more. It means you're never exposed. You're never unprotected. and you're never alone.
Some of you oughta Get a little victory over. worry and fret and discouragement and fear and Anxiety, some of you ought to get a little victory over that tonight. You need to be reminded Satan doesn't have the power God has. God can be before you, in front of you, beside you, over you, under you. He's everywhere.
Satan can only be one place at a time. God can be everywhere all the time. Greater is he that is in me than he that is in the world. You get your victory tonight. Last, I want you to see the personal invitation.
Verse 8. I'm going to praise I'm going to start this whole thing off. Praise is going to be in my mouth. And not only that, it's going to be in my mouth continually. And it's going to encourage those around me and it's going to make them glad.
And now I want you to magnify God with me, and I want us to exalt His name together. What do we praise him for? Because of our deliverance. I sought him. He heard me.
He delivered me. And even though the problems were still there, he gave me victory through that. He encamps around me. How can I be afraid of what's going on? He's ahead of me and He's behind me.
And everywhere I look, He's there. And everywhere I go, He's there. And I can't see all my enemies, but God sees every one of my enemies.
So verse 8. This is just a praise testimony. Oh, taste and see. That the Lord is good. Let me just stop right there and say: many of you, you've been through some things, probably, if you're like me, you've been through some things recently that you're starting to wonder: is God really that good?
I'm here to tell you he is. But I love this verse, and let me tell you why. It opened up to me in a different way this time. It says, Blessed is the man that trusteth in him. Here, this verse, we find how it is.
that you and I taste. the goodness of the Lord. It's one thing for us to look at everybody, hey, oh, taste and see that the Lord is given. What does that mean? To a person that's never been in church, what is that?
A piece of candy I eat? What do we, is this a popsicle I get? What do you mean, taste and see that the Lord is good? What are you talking about?
Well, this verse tells me how I can taste and see that the Lord is good. And there's only one way for that to happen, and that is for you. to step out by faith and trust him. Oh, taste and see that the Lord is good. Blessed.
Is the man That trusteth You'll never taste and you'll never see how good God is. Until you're willing to trust him.
Now I don't know what's going on in your life right now or what maybe you're going through. But I want to encourage you tonight. You can't fix your problems. And I know you would love to, and you can't change your circumstances. I know you would love to.
Been there, done that, bought a t-shirt. But I can tell you this. Thank you for listening today. We hope you received a blessing from our broadcast. The Kerwin Baptist Church is located at 4520 Old Hollow Road in Kernersville, North Carolina.
You may also contact us by phone at 336-993-5192. or via the web. at Kerwin Baptist Church.com. Enjoy our services live and all our media on our website and church app. Thank you for listening to the Kerwin Broadcast today.
God bless you.
