But I want you to notice verse number three there.
It says, For thou hast been a shelter for me, and a strong tower from the enemy.
The title for the sermon tonight is a strong tower.
Our Lord God is a strong tower from our enemies.
And you know this term a strong tower appears three times in the Bible.
So we're going to look at all three times as we go through this psalm and obviously
as Nicholas was reading this you obviously noticed it's not a very long psalm.
So we are going to be looking at other passages.
Even the psalms that are quite short, they're very doctrinal heavy.
You can stop at one verse and make it into an entire sermon really in reality.
And there are so many ways, different directions that I thought of taking the psalm.
But I want you to notice that if you can see as an introduction to the psalm it says to
the chief musician upon Naginah, a psalm of David.
So again once you see that David is the psalmist.
Now one thing I do, in fact I'll give you a little bit of more of an insight, many times
the psalms give us an introduction and they tell us, not always, but they tell us many
times a story in which you know this psalm was written.
Like what inspired David or the psalmist to write that based on some story of the Bible.
And I'm going to give you my thoughts as we go through this psalm, what event we see
David struggling with.
But it begins there in verse number 1, Hear my cry O God, attend unto my prayer.
And so obviously with these psalms they are songs, but many times these songs as it says
attend unto my prayer, many times these songs can be utilised as prayer.
And I've shared with this church a number of times, and the reason I share this is because
I think it will help your prayer life with God.
Have you ever had times when you know you've needed to go to God but you just can't form
the words.
I don't know about you brethren, but there have been times that I've been in my life
just maybe ashamed and not sure what to say to God, and I know I need to go to Him, but
I just can't formulate the words.
Many times I've just gone to the psalms and I've just read through the psalms, and I've
found a psalm that fits what I'm feeling, fits the situation that I find myself in,
and I read that psalm out loud, I read it and I speak it to God, and I say God this
is my prayer to you.
I don't know how else to word this, but this is what I want from you Lord, this is what
I'm trying to express to you.
Thank you for giving me your word to help me speak to you in return.
Thank you for giving David these words as he was moved by the Holy Ghost because I too
feel this way Lord.
And let me encourage you when that time happens and you're struggling in your prayer life,
you're not sure what to say to God, utilise the psalms.
The psalms is not just a songbook, the psalms are a prayer to God.
Many times the psalmist is seeking help and guidance from his Lord God.
And once again we see David in a tough situation, and he's crying out to the Lord, you know
he's lifting up his voice as he goes to God in prayer.
Now notice verse number two.
Now actually before we read verse number two, drop down to verse number, let me just think
about verse number six, and it says there in verse number six, it says, that will prolong
the king's life.
Now David is speaking of himself, so we know that at this time David is the king.
Because there are other psalms that we know where king's soul, remember, is seeking
the life of David.
Now David is a fugitive, and so David has not yet become the king over Israel, and we
know those psalms are at a time when David was not yet king.
Well now we see verse number six that David is the king of Israel, so this gives us an
idea of the time frame of when this was written, but back to verse number two, what I find
interesting is, he says, from the end of the earth will I cry unto thee.
Why do you think David is saying these words?
Say David, but you are in Israel, you are the king over Israel, you rule in Jerusalem.
You know you have the tabernacle of God, and you're a man of the gods, why do you find
yourself at the end of the earth?
Why do you think?
You know, remember when we are given the great commission, you know, and Christ says law
I am with you even unto the end of the world, okay, and that great commission is saying
wherever you go in the world, Christ promises that he's going to be there with you, well
David finds himself at the end of the earth.
You know what's it saying there?
I'm not in Jerusalem, I'm not in my kingdom, you know, and I'm running for my life, and
I find myself in the end of the earth, and what I love about these words is that it reminds
us that we can be anywhere, any place, and we can cry and pray unto the Lord.
That's what I love about it, right?
It's not like God commanded, you know, for them to, only in Jerusalem, only in the tabernacle,
only when the temple is built is where you can come and speak to me and pray before me,
forever, even if you find yourself at the end of the earth, in other places, you find
yourself in any nation, any difficulty that you go through, you can lift up your voice
and speak to him, and God hears us, isn't that wonderful?
I speak to God many times as I'm driving, just by myself, driving from point A to point
B, got nothing else to do, what am I doing driving, getting to the next place, this is
a chance to speak to God, and no one else can hear me, there's no one in the car, just
a sweet time between me and the Lord, okay, and I guess people that are looking at me
think I'm singing along maybe, I'm just speaking to my Lord, and I just find it very liberating
as I'm driving, can God hear me in a car, of course, anywhere, anywhere you find yourself
on the earth, you can cry unto him, and then he says, as he continues, when my heart is
overwhelmed, lead me to the rock that is higher than I, so is his heart overwhelmed, yeah,
you know, David feels like he's in a situation that he just can't handle, it's overwhelming,
right, I mean, we all go through difficulties and challenges, and you know, when we're faced
with some struggle, you know, usually we're able to use our common sense and say, well,
this is how I'm going to work my way through this difficulty, you know, these are the steps
that I'm going to put into place to have a solution, but you know, there are some struggles
that you are just overwhelmed, you just don't know how to contain that difficulty, you don't
know what steps to take, you just feel like, man, I just, I can't do it anymore, Lord,
that's what David, my heart is overwhelmed, so he goes to the Lord, I don't know what
to do, in my own human reasoning, I don't know what the next step is, Lord, so he says,
to the rock that is higher than I, Lord, you take me, take me somewhere higher, put me
upon your rock, a strong foundation, you know, I don't know, I'm so distraught, I don't
know what to do, but if I just find your rock, then I have stability, if you can lift me
higher, then I don't have to be bogged down with these, you know, minor issues, but these
issues that I just can't understand, you can take me to a higher place, so I can see
it from a better perspective, I can see it from a heavenly perspective. What this kind
of reminds me of a little bit is my son Sebastian's got this video game, what's it called, something
simulator, battle simulator, what's it called? Ultimate epic, I mean, this must be awesome,
ultimate and epic battle simulator, and it allows you to create two different like armies,
or maybe multiple armies, I'm not sure how it works exactly, and you don't really control
it necessarily, but you let them, you know, you say, okay, I'll get a World War II American
soldiers, for example, battling the Roman Empire, or something like that, and you just
let them do what they have to do, and there are literally, you know, tens of thousands
of soldiers on the battlefield, and when you let the simulator take place, you can
watch, you can be very zoomed in, and you can watch the battery, you can see a certain
individual battling another one, and you can see it taking place, but when you're in that
zoomed in space, it's very messy, you know, you can't see the battle at large, you can't
necessarily see who's winning, you know, you can't really form tactics because of the fog
of war, but what it allows you, what the simulator allows you to do is to zoom out, and you can
get a bit further from the battlefield, a bit higher, as you get a bit higher, a bit
higher, and there you can see the whole battlefield, and there you can see how it's developing,
and there you can see who's winning, and there you can form tactics around, hey, maybe I
need to change my approach, I need to, you know, I can change my tactics, my strategy,
you know, to get a better outcome in this battle. It reminds me of that. You know, many
times, and, you know, I've gone through this, I'm sure you have, and you go through some
challenge, and you say, God, I just, I don't even know what to do anymore, Lord, what do
I do? And you're so overwhelmed with a problem, you say, why, Lord? But one of the beautiful
things that we have is the ability to zoom out. Well, we don't have to just be stuck,
you know, in this little issue, and not, I say little issue, but our perspective is little
is what I'm trying to say, and being a Christian, being a believer, having God at our side allows
us to zoom out and see things from a heavenly perspective. You know, you might be going
through a time when you might even be fearing for your life, but then as a Christian, you
can zoom out and go, oh, but if I lose my life, I never die anyway. I have eternal life.
You can zoom out and say, well, hold on, God told me this life is but a vapour. I've got
eternity to look forward to, right? You zoom out, and you say, hold on, God knows what
I'm going through. He knows what I'm feeling. God, you even know what my enemies or those
that are troubling me. You know what their reasons are. You know the weakness that's
in their heart, and Lord, you told me that vengeance belongs to you. And when you zoom
out, you can be like, oh, it's in the Lord's hands. I can safely rest in my Lord because
He's got the big picture, but we don't always have that big picture, do we? So we ask, Lord,
can you set me at a higher place? Set me upon your rock. If you can keep your finger there
and come with me to, of course, Matthew chapter seven, we've got to look at this passage.
You turn to Matthew chapter seven, and I'll quickly read to you from another famous verse
in Psalm 40 verse two. Psalm 40 verse two says, He brought me up also out of a horrible
pit, out of the miry clay, and set my feet upon a rock. And then the next words are important.
Set my feet upon a rock, then it says this, and established my goings. So once I am taken
out of that miry place, once I'm taken out of that problem, and God sets me on His rock,
now God can establish my goings. Now I know what I need to do to get through this difficulty,
to get through this sorrow. It was overwhelming me, but now I know what to do because God
has given me a path. God has given me direction. And then in Matthew chapter seven verse 24,
we know this story very well, don't we? Jesus Christ says, Therefore, whosoever heareth
these sayings of mine, and doeth them, I will liken him unto a wise man, which built his
house upon a rock. Reverend, how does God count you as wise? God is wise. God is wise.
Would you like God to say about you, you are wise, you are a wise child of God. Well, when
you hear the sayings of God, you do them. If you do them, God says that person is wise.
And he's building his life, his house upon a rock. Verse number 25, And the rain descended,
and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beats upon that house, and the rain descended,
and it fell not, for it was founded upon a rock. Listen, if we just do what God says,
God doesn't promise us no problems. The storms still come. Okay? Whether you're doing what
God says or you're not doing what God says, the storms still come. The storms of life.
The problems still come. But when you're founded on the word of God and you're doing God's
word, and you're on that rock, Reverend, those problems come, but your house still stands.
It doesn't get knocked down. Verse number 26, And everyone that heareth these sayings
of mine, and doeth them not. Reverend, that can be you right now in church. You're hearing
God's word, and you go home, forget all about it. Don't do anything. Remain the same.
This could be you. This could be me. Okay? It could be any of us. Shall be likened unto
a foolish man which built his house upon the sand, and the rain descended, and the floods
came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house, and it fell, and great was the fall
of it. Great was the fall of it. Do you want to be likened unto a foolish man, a foolish
woman? I don't want God to say that about you, Reverend. Well, when you hear God's word,
do it. Put it into practice. You say, there's too much to do. You know my instruction, one
thing at a time, little by little, line upon line, precept upon precept, one thing at a
time. Okay? Establish yourself one thing. Listen to this sermon tonight. Just take one
thought, alright, I'm going to do that one thought, that pastor said. Okay? That's the
right approach. But with these words of Christ, that rock which is, we have to build our life
and our house upon, is the word of God. And not just the word of God, hearing God's word,
but doing, doing God's word, being a doer of God's word is what establishes your life,
your house upon the rock. The house there represents, you know, what's house represent?
Many times the Lord uses the word house for family. If I want my family to be stable and
grounded, right, and even when the storms of life come, we still are able to manage
ourselves through that, we need to be based on that rock. What else is the house named
in the Bible? The church. This is the house of the Lord. We want New Life Baptist Church
to remain next year and in five years and in ten years and in twenty years and fifty
years forever in this church must be established upon the rock. Yeah,
preaching great doctrines is great, but doing them is even better. We're all building something.
Back to Psalm 61 verse number three. Psalm 61 verse number three. Now remember the Psalmist
wants the rock that is higher than him. Yeah, higher than the floods, you know, higher than
the storms and it obviously makes sense when we get to verse number three that the Psalmist says,
And thou hast been a shelter for me and a strong tower, tower, what's that, height again,
alright, zoomed out, heavenly perspective on things, an eternal mindset and a strong
tower from the enemy. So we see here that King David is facing an enemy. This is why
he's overwhelmed and boy, you know, the Lord is a great shelter. You know,
there's been times in recent times for me where I've just had to go to God and say,
God, I just need you. I need to hide myself in you. You know, I'm too weak,
I'm too overwhelmed. I don't know what to do, Lord, but it's a shelter, a place where I can hide,
a place for safety. Boy, and the Lord comes through, I tell you what, he comes through.
It's a real place of shelter. It's a place to be nourished, it's a place to be refreshed,
our Lord God, and a strong tower from the enemy. Now I told you that there are three references in
the Bible that has this phrase, a strong tower. So let's look at all three of them, okay? And again,
this idea of zooming out from our day-to-day problems and having that heavenly perspective,
being higher on the rock that is higher than I, gives us a good perspective of the challenges
and the battles that we go through, and from there God will establish our goings. So if you can,
keep your finger there and come with me to Judges chapter 9. Come with me to Judges chapter 9 and
verse number 50. Judges chapter 9 and verse number 50. And one of the famous men in the book of
Judges is Gideon. You may recall that he was a great man, won great battles, and then he had
70 children, 70 boys, 70 sons. Okay, man, poor lady. He had a few wives, but he had a lot of
children, 70 sons. And then we have the story here, I won't go into all of it obviously,
but we have one of his sons was quite wicked, Abimelech, okay? And instead of the nation being
ruled by Gideon's 70 sons, he said, you know what, I want to rule this nation myself. And so
he organises basically the murder, okay, the assassination of his siblings, of his brothers.
So Abimelech, he's a wicked man, okay? He's trying to attain power in the land of Israel,
the land of Canaan at this time. And in Judges chapter 9 verse 50, then went Abimelech to
Thebaz and then camped against Thebaz and took it. So Thebaz here is a city. He says he took it,
okay? So he's getting victory here, like he's winning the battle, alright? Like this is a
wicked man. Now, if you're in this city, and you've got this man who's trying to take over
the nation, trying to enforce his rule as some type of dictator of the land, of course, there's
going to be fear in the land. And many times, brethren, when you go through problems, it feels
like my enemy is winning. It feels like it, Lord, why? So what do the people do in verse 51? It's
says, but there was a strong tower. Okay, now the strong tower is not the Lord, but I want you to
understand what a strong tower represents, okay? When it comes to just from an earthly means, okay?
A strong tower, this is a place of fortitude, within the city, and thither fled all the men
and women, and all they of the city to shut it to them and get them to the top of the tower.
Everybody in the city flocks to this strong tower, and it is able to house all of them. But everyone,
what's wonderful about the Lord is that our Lord God can be a strong tower for us all. All of us,
at once, if we're all going through a time of difficulty and hardship and overwhelmed by life's
problems, if we all ran to God together, all the believers ran to our strong tower of the Lord God,
there's plenty of room for us all. So we know this strong tower is a high place. What happens,
verse number 52, and Abimelech came unto the tower and fought against it, and went hard unto the door
of the tower to burn it with fire. Look, if Abimelech gets his way, he lights that place on
fire, they're all going to burn up. Everyone that fled in that tower is going to burn to death,
right? But I want you to notice the strength of the strong tower, and it says in verse number 53,
and a certain woman cast a piece of a millstone upon Abimelech's head, and all to break his skull.
Boy, you know, you put this woman in the battlefield with Abimelech, Abimelech will
slay her. She's not a warrior, she's not a soldier, okay? But what, she finds herself in the strong
tower, she's up high, she's got a high position, she's zoomed out from the battlefield, and she
goes, you know what, this strong tower is giving me courage. This strong tower is not only protecting
me from Abimelech, but from here I know what to do. So she finds a heavy piece of rock, a millstone,
drops it. He can't see it, he's down on the ground. But she can see him from the high tower,
she drops that millstone, cracks his skull. He's not in a good place. I mean, I don't think his
head looks formed properly, I would say. I mean, I don't think it looks very good at this point
because what we see here in verse number 54, then he called hastily unto the young men, his
armour-bearer, and said unto them, draw thy sword and slay me. I mean, he knows he's about to die.
That man say not of me, a woman slew me, and his young men thrust him through and he died. So he
didn't want the shame that a woman beat him in battle. So he says, you men, you kill me. He's
going to die. I guess without being too graphic, I won't say anything. But obviously his head's
not in a good place and so he dies. Like he didn't want anybody to know that a woman beat him. But
then the Lord records it in the Bible for all eternity, for everybody to know that he was
defeated by a woman. But how could she defeat him? She could only defeat him by hiding in the strong
tower. She could only defeat him by having a higher perspective on the battle below and she
took a chance. The Lord established her goings. She said, I'll do this. And when you find yourself
in the shelter and you find yourself in the strong tower, God will give you courage. He'll give you
boldness. He'll give you direction. He'll show you how to get through this time of difficulty.
The other, sorry, keep reading verse number 55. And when the men of Israel saw that Abimelek was
dead, they departed every man unto his place. So back to peace so he's dead. Finally good.
They go back to life as normal. And that's what it's going to be. When you find yourself in a
place of difficulty and the Lord gives you the answer, the God gives you the solution and you're
able to get through that time of challenge, that difficulty, whatever it is, then you can get back
to normal. Back to your day-to-day activities and to the next battle to fight. But the third
reference, I'll just read it to you, the third reference of a strong tower, because we looked
at a strong tower on the earth and what it represents, a place of fortitude, a place of
defense. But Proverbs 18 verse 10 says, the name of the Lord is a strong tower. That's Proverbs
18 10. The name of the Lord is a strong tower. It says this, the righteous runneth into it and
is safe. It's safe in the Lord's presence, in the Lord's name. Brethren, the righteous run. It's
okay to run in a time of fear and confusion and uncertainty. You know, it's not, it's, you know,
it's a time, yes, it's a time of weakness sometimes. But we know our strength comes from
the Lord. So Lord, you empower me, you protect me, you keep me safe. We run to it and it is safe.
The Lord is safe. You want safety in this world? Run to the Lord. Hide yourself in him. Ask him to
protect you. Ask him to lift you high, to have a high perspective on the challenges you're going
through day by day. Back to Psalm 61 verse number 4. Psalm 61 verse number 4. I will abide in thy
tabernacle forever. I will trust in the in the covet of thy wings, Selah. Look, David is not in
Jerusalem. He's in the end of the year. He's running. He's a fugitive once again. But you can
see his heart. He just wants to be back in the tabernacle. Remember the temple is not yet built.
It's a tabernacle. And just a reminder, Reverend, what's the tabernacle? The house of the Lord. The
temple gets built. That gets given the title, the house of the Lord. In the New Testament,
the local church, it's the house of God. This is that tabernacle. Church is a place of safety.
There is a protection in God's house that I don't fully understand, but I know it's there.
Okay? You can see as the Psalmist is speaking of being protected, right? Look at verse number 4
again. I will abide in thy tabernacle forever. So that's God's house. Reverend, you know,
until I die, I'll always want to be in church. Because it says I will trust in the covet of thy
wings. The house of the Lord is a place where God covers us with his wings, keeps us safe.
Church ought to be a place of safety from this world. There is a special blessing in the house
of the Lord. Let me encourage you, brethren, if you don't find yourself in New Life Baptist
Church, I don't expect everybody to be at New Life Baptist Church till the day you die. But
have this in your heart, that wherever I go, wherever life leads me, I'm going to find a
good, solid church to get under to be in the safety of my Lord God. Make that decision for
yourself, that you'll find yourself in the tabernacle of the Lord forever, in the house
of the Lord forever. This is something that David repeats over and over in the book of Psalms. Can
I show you some other examples? Keep your finger there. Come with me to Psalm 23. Psalm 23, very
famous Psalm, of course. Psalm 23. There's a pattern that I want you to see, a place of danger,
and then the Psalmist says, but I just want to be in God's house. That's where safety is. That's
where I'm going to find protection. Psalm 23 verse 4. You know this one. Yea, though I walk
through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil. For thou art with me,
though I ride in thy staff, they comfort me. So we can see here, the Psalmist is in a place,
again, of darkness, the shadow of death. He's fearing for his life. This is not a good place
that he's in as he's writing this Psalm. But then he says, thou preparest a table before me,
in the presence of mine enemies. Thou anointest my head with oil, my cup runneth over. Surely
goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the
Lord forever. David says, I'm going to be there till the day I die. I'm always going to be in
the house of the Lord forever. But again, he's coming out of a place of the shadow of death.
And he says, you know what? I just need to be in God's house.
Come with me to Psalm 27. Psalm 27 verse number three.
Psalm 27 verse number three. Though in host should encamp against me, my heart shall not fear.
Though war should rise against me, in this will I be confident. He goes, one thing have I desired
of the Lord, that I will seek after, that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my
life. You see the consistent pattern. A man of the God's own heart. What does he want to do?
He wants to be in the house of the Lord. Brethren, he wants to be in church. And he says, to behold
the beauty of the Lord. And to inquire in his temple. He says, I just want to
experience God's beauty. His majesty. I want to learn. I want to have my questions answered.
I want to hear Bible preaching. Because then look at verse number five, four. Remember,
four is a conjunction. Or because in the time of trouble, he shall hide me in his pavilion.
In the secret of his tabernacle shall he hide me. He shall set me upon a rock.
Notice the consistency of the Bible. What is the tabernacle? The house of the Lord. What is the
New Testament church? The house of the Lord. Brethren, this is a place where you can hide
from trouble. This is a place of safety. In the secret of the tabernacle shall he hide me.
This is a place of God's protection. The church. It may not seem like, I'm not going to go and
fight a battle for you. You know, get in church, surely pastor will fight for me. I don't know,
I'm hiding with you. Right? I'm seeking the Lord to step in for us and keep us safe and protected
as we come to learn of him. And then he shall set me upon a rock. Why? Because it's that church
that you hear the preaching. It's a church that you learn God's word. You know, and then you're
challenged to do what God is asking you to do. And you know that means that you're building your
house upon a rock. David says, man, I need to get back on that rock. And the first thing I need to
do is make sure I'm in the house of the Lord all the days of my life. There is protection.
There is safety in the house of the Lord. Please never forsake the assembling of yourselves
together. And I'm not saying if you miss out of service, that's it, you've lost the protection.
I'm talking about people that have just completely removed themselves from God's house.
Again, if you can't be here for whatever reason, get yourself in a good church.
Get yourself in church. All right? Seek the Lord's protection. Seek the Lord's safety.
Something else I kind of want to touch upon.
Sorry, Amy, can I grab that? Can we meet to 1 Corinthians, please?
Can we meet to 1 Corinthians chapter five?
So it's not in my notes, just something that's come to my mind. 1 Corinthians, please.
1 Corinthians chapter five. I just want to show you the reality of God's protection in his house.
And 1 Corinthians chapter five deals with people that get kicked out of church.
Okay? Now, in this situation, or I won't even go into the situation that I need to right now,
but I want you to notice here in verse number, let's, 1 Corinthians chapter five, verse number
four, please. 1 Corinthians chapter five, verse number four. Paul is right into the
Corinthian church. It says, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, when ye are gathered together
and my spirit with the power of our Lord Jesus Christ, to deliver such and one unto Satan
for the destruction of the flesh, that the spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus.
This is about church discipline, kicking someone out of church.
Paul is saying, look, if we kick this individual out of church because of his grievous fornication,
all right, we're delivering that person unto Satan.
Again, there is something about removing yourself from God's house,
where you will open yourself up to a greater attack from Satan,
even to the destruction of the flesh, even to the point where that brother could lose their life.
Hey look, but the spirit is saved. They're a believer, but they may end their life early
by being disciplined out of the house of the Lord. There is a protection in God's house
that is not fully understood. Again, I don't fully understand it, but the Bible says it's there,
so I believe it. I believe we need to be in God's house. I believe we need to be in church.
The question sometimes, I guess this was kind of on my mind because I've been asked a few
questions a few times. There is a list of sins where we would need to kick someone out of church,
like in verse 11 it says, but now I have written unto you not to keep company if any man that
is called a brother be a fornicator or covetous or an idolater or a railer or a
drunkard or an extortioner with such and one know not to eat. Verse number 13, when it comes to
these people, but them that are without God judge, therefore put away from among yourselves that
wicked person. Just put them away. Don't allow them in the congregation. Don't spend time in
fellowship with them because we're giving them over to Satan. Now, ideally they get right with
God. They repent and they're welcome back in church. They're welcome back in the shelter of God's house,
but you know, I'll give you some situations that have, you know, that I've gone through in the
almost six years of the past that I'll share. You know, I won't go into any grave details or anything
like this, but let's say, and this has happened, there's a brother in the Lord or a sister in the
Lord who is involved in one of these sins, yeah, and they come up to me, say, pastor, look,
I'm struggling with one of these sins in my life. They're in 1 Corinthians 5.
I'm struggling. Actually before, sorry, let me backtrack a little bit. Brother so-and-so or
sister so-and-so doesn't come to church for a while. Look, if you don't, if you miss one service,
I'm not going to call you. If I don't see you for several services, I'll probably call you at
that point, okay, but I'm not going to bother you if you miss one or two services in a row or
something like that, okay, but we don't see someone for a while. I might call, hey brother,
hey sister, you know, I haven't seen you. Hope all is well. You're welcome to church,
and again, these things have happened, but pastor, look, the reason I've not been in church,
I'm struggling with one of these sins,
and I just don't feel right being in God's house because I know what the Bible contains.
So that's not why, so that's why I've not been at church.
Do you think I'm going to kick that person out of church?
I don't have to kick them out. They acknowledge, look, what they're doing is wrong,
and they need time. They need to get right with God, and I'll be like, brother or sister,
I'll be praying for you, you know, you know, look, thanks for making it easy for me. Yeah,
you're right, you know, you shouldn't be in the house of the Lord. You shouldn't be in fellowship,
but look, you know, Lord willing, you get over this situation, and you can,
you're welcome back, you know, as soon as you're able to overcome that challenge,
you're welcome back. Look, I don't have to kick that person out, do I?
What if in conversation, I'm having a conversation with a brother in the Lord,
and look, these have happened either here or blessed up at the church. I'm giving you real
scenarios. I'm having a conversation, and in that conversation, oh, oh man, you're actually
committing one of these sins here, and I say to that brother or sister, look,
this is what the Bible says. This is a sin where you're not actually permitted to be in the house
of the Lord. So for the time being, please withhold from coming. I love you. I'll be
praying for you. You know, you need to find victory in this sin, and then when you find
victory, you're welcome back to church. And if that person says to me, you're right, pastor,
I see now that I'm in this sin, and I can't be in the house of the Lord,
am I going to kick that person out of the church?
Again, I'm not going to do that. Like I'm not going to get behind the pulpit and announce
brother so-and-so has been kicked out of church, because they acknowledge, look, what I'm doing
is not right. And you're right, I shouldn't be in the house of the Lord. I need to get this right
with the Lord, and then I'll come back. I'm not kicking them out formally, right? In the way that
1 Corinthians 5, where it's documented, and then it is exposed to the entire church, where this
person is being kicked out for this particular sin, I'm not interested in just highlighting
everybody's sins in church, am I? At what point will I actually document and then publicly
announce to the church that brother so-and-so or sister so-and-so has been kicked out of church?
The only times I've had to do that is when that person digs their heels in and says, no,
I'm not in the wrong, or they continue, or they're trying to involve the church in their rebellion,
or whatever it is. At that point, that is leavened, trying to leaven the whole lump.
Because if you look at 1 Corinthians 5, again, look at it again, when this person actually gets
kicked out, it says, look at verse number two, and ye are puffed up and have not rather mourned
that he that have done this deed might be taken away from among you.
He goes, instead of the church going, oh, man, that's not right. The church is puffed up.
They're proud about it. They're fine with the sin on show. They're fine with it being publicly
declared that this man is in such grievous sin. Look at verse number six, your glory is not good.
Know ye not that it'll leaven, leaveneth the whole lump?
So what's the problem in this church? The person in that grievous sin,
he's got no problems. He's got no remorse. He's full of pride. And not just him, the whole church,
it's leavened the whole lump. The whole church is like, we're fine with that. No problem.
Then we have the recipe. Paul says, look, you've got to kick him out.
So the times that I've had to kick people out of church,
it's not like I'm on this trigger to just kick people out and then to formalize it,
document it and share it. I want to give people mercy. I want to give people time.
Sort yourself out. If someone's willing to acknowledge it, you know what? I'm not going
to glory about this. You're right, Pastor. I'm struggling with this. Don't sort yourself out.
You know, I'm not going to promote your sins. I'm not going to tell everybody your sins.
You go out there, sort it out. When you sort it out, come back.
I want you to understand why I might do things in different ways. It's not favoritism. It's just
that one is willing to acknowledge. I need time. I need to sort this out. The other's rebellious,
dig their heels in, try and make things worse, try to cause division in church, whatever it is.
Back to Psalm 61, please. Psalm 61, verse number 5. Psalm 61, verse number 5.
Thank you, Emmy. Psalm 61, verse number 5.
For thou, O God, has heard my vows. Thou has given me the heritage of those that fear
thy name. I was wondering what this means for David to say, you've given me the heritage of
those that fear thy name. It could be. It could be that he's just speaking about the fact that
he's the king and he's been given, you know, the nation as a heritage. And obviously,
obviously not all, but many of those people, they're meant to be God's people under the
old covenant and they have the fear of the Lord, right? They've got God's commandments.
You know, they've got a godly king over them at this point in time. And so it might be that he's
just reflecting on God. God, remember you've given me this heritage. Lord, you've given me a promise
and I want to be able to fulfill that. Or it could be that he's speaking deeper, more spiritual.
And of course, if we're going to apply this verse to ourselves, we can take that spiritual
application. For example, in Revelation 21 7, we saw this on Sunday. Was it Sunday?
I can't remember right now. Revelation 21 7, he that overcometh shall inherit all things and I
will be his God and he shall be my son. So there is an inheritance as well, a heritage that God has
given us. He's telling us when it comes to heavenly things that he's going to allow us
to inherit or he's given us to inherit all things. All things. You know, Ephesians 1 11,
speaking of Jesus, in whom we have obtained an inheritance. So what kind of heritage or
inheritance do we have? We have it in Christ Jesus, being predestined according to the
purpose of him who worketh all things after the counsel of his own will. You know, it could be
that as we're going through these difficulties and struggles and we seek to do what is right,
that we say to the Lord in our prayer, but Lord, you've promised me your heritage, your inheritance.
Lord, I am one of your children here. Lord, I'm going through difficulties and one
great way to help you through a time of difficulty is to remind you that you are yourself a child of
God and God wants you to inherit all things. God has a future for you. God has not forgotten you.
Now, Psalmist is encouraging himself in the fact that God has given him this heritage.
Look at verse number six. Thou will prolong the king's life and his years as many generations.
What is he asking there from the Lord? He just grabs that promise. He says, Lord,
I'm not going to die. In fact, you're going to prolong my life. What does that mean? To prolong.
I mean, we know that God has a set time for things. You know, we are all going to pass away
one day. There's a time for that. But when the Psalmist says, Lord, you're going to prolong it,
what is that asking of the Lord? Lord, not just a set time, but can you give me more time than
what you've given me on this earth? Is that a good prayer to pray? Say, pastor, I'm excited
to get to heaven. I'm praying, Lord, short of my time. It's biblical to ask God to prolong.
And I love what he says, and his years as many generations.
You know, it's wonderful being a father, seeing the next generation.
I'm starting to think, hey, what about grandkids now? You know, that's kind of the next step,
right? Am I going to see great grandkids? Am I going to be able to live through many generations?
I would like that, if that's God's will for me. I would like to not just be able to influence my
kids and teach my kids about God. I'd love to teach my grandkids about the Lord. I'd love to
teach my great grandkids about the Lord. If God can use me in multiple generations, you know,
one thing we know when you go sowing in, who are those that are most receptive to the gospel?
Who are those that actually get saved the most? It's usually the younger generation, isn't it?
And so as I get older and older and I get further removed from the generations,
I hope God will utilize me when I'm an 80 and 90 year old man, if God willing, if he prolongs
my days that long, that I can be an influence to the next generation, giving them the gospel.
It's interesting to me that he wants his days prolonged. He wants them longer.
And, you know, when it comes to the Bible, I want you to, you know, I'll give you a familiar
passage that people often quote. And, you know, and this passage is true as well. But Philippians
1 verse 21, for to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain. But if I live in the flesh,
this is the fruit of my labor, yet what I shall choose, I what not. You know, Paul says, you know,
if I could choose between going with the Lord right now or just staying on this earth,
I don't even know which one I prefer right now. All right. It's kind of like between, because
it says in verse number 23, for I am in a strait betwixt two, because I don't know which one I
prefer between the two. Having a desire to depart and to be with Christ, which is far better,
nevertheless to abide in the flesh is more needful for you.
Now, of course, being with the Lord is far better. Of course it is.
But it is needful for you to stay in this flesh as well. You see, we're trying to work the kingdom
of God. We're trying to bring people into the kingdom. We're trying to be a blessing to our
brothers and sisters in the Lord. Look, if the Lord took you today, now praise God you're in
heaven, but your influence on this earth is no longer. What I want you to understand is
a lot of Christian ideas and thoughts, you need to have a balance. You know, I've talked to a
lot of people and often people that are going through, maybe they hate their life. They just
hate life. They hate what they're going through. I just want to die. I'd rather be with the Lord,
which is far better. The Bible says that. And it is far better. But you're not balanced,
because God has given you breath. God has given you life today. If God has given you life,
it means he wants you to do something in your flesh. Reverend, we're not going to get,
look, eternity we're going to have forever. Whether you go to the Lord today or you go
to the Lord in 50 years, that is forever and ever and ever. You know what is not forever and ever
and ever? Your life right now. Appreciate the life you have right now. God's given it to you,
because you can be profitable to him. You can be profitable to New Life Baptist Church.
You can be profitable to your brothers and sisters. You can be profitable to lost souls.
God can use you. Your life is not a waste.
At the same time, to one extreme, God just takes me home, I'd rather die. The other extreme is,
Lord, prolong my days because I'm just interested in the things of the earth. Lord, prolong my days
because I want to amass greater wealth. Lord, prolong my days because I want to travel the
whole world. Look, the right balance is somewhere in the middle. Lord,
prolong my days so I can be utilised by you. Lord, prolong my days because,
Lord, you've given me this life and I want to appreciate what you've given me, Lord.
At the same time, Lord, if you were to take me, man, it's going to be far better.
Can't wait for that time when I'm with you. Because then you have the right perspective.
You'll be enjoying your prolonged life in light of eternity to come. You'll be doing
works on this earth because you know the value that it contains for all eternity.
You see, these two elements, they come together. A lot of things in the Bible,
you need to understand. Where is that balance? Sometimes believers are over here.
Prolong my life, earth, earth, earth, temporary things, temporary things wrong.
Why would God prolong your life for that? Don't we have a story like that in the Bible from Christ?
The guy that tried to build bigger barns, thou fool. God calls him and he died that very day.
But at the same time, Lord, just take me home. I can't deal with this life. No, you can. You
just need to set your feet on the rock. You need the high tower. Go hide yourself in his shelter.
Seek his safety and then God will establish your goings and you can do a great work for him.
You know, I mean, there are things like, you're in Psalms, so come with me,
just come with me to Proverbs. You're not too far. Come with me to Proverbs chapter 3.
While you're turning to Proverbs 3, I'll quickly read to you from Ephesians 6 verse 1. You guys
know this. Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right. Honor thy father and
mother, which is the first commandment we've promised, that it may be well with thee and
thou mayest live long on the earth. What? Yeah. Honor your parents and God says you can live long
on the earth. There's a promise. First commandment we promise. So does God want us to use this time?
Yes. You're there in Proverbs chapter 3 verse number 1. Proverbs 3 verse number 1. My son,
forget not my law, but let thine heart keep my commandments for length of days and long life
and peace shall they add to thee. Add. Well, the more I keep the commandments of God,
the more you're going to add days in my life, Lord. Yes.
Say, pastor, why would I want more days on this earth?
Number one, you can do greater works for him. You have more time to build your rewards in heaven.
But the second one, which we're learning from this Psalm,
this is the only life where you're going to suffer. You're not going to suffer in eternity.
This is the only life where you're going to suffer and you can be comforted by God.
This is the only life where you're going to have financial difficulties
and you're going to see the hand of God's provision come and see you through. This is
your chance to experience something that you won't need to experience in eternity.
I'm not saying the comfort of the Lord's not there. I'm not saying that. But comfort in a
time of difficulty, comfort in a time of trouble, comfort in the time of storms.
This is the life where you get to experience that. And you want to miss out on that?
For even the troubles are hard, I know, but greater than the troubles is the love,
the guidance of our Lord. And then you truly understand my Lord loves me. I'm a child of my
Lord. He's never forsaken me. I've forsaken him at times. I've gone my own ways at times,
but the Lord's always been there. He's always been ready to receive me. His mercies are new
every morning. This is the time when you can go to God in prayer and say, Lord, can you do this
for me? And the Lord does something supernatural in his realm. And he answers your prayer.
This is your chance to experience the hand of the Lord in a way that you will not experience
in eternity. Remind yourself because it's such a beautiful thing when you're going through
difficulties and sadness and sorrows and hardship and betrayal and whatever it is that you're going
through. And you say, Lord, I am overwhelmed. Seek the safety of the Lord. Seek his protection.
I'm telling you, he will love you and you'll know and he'll guide you and you'll know.
It's such a special process to go through. It is so special.
Back to Psalm 61 verse 7. Look, eternity is waiting for you. Don't worry about it.
Suicidal thoughts, they're not necessary. You're going to be with the Lord. This life is a vapor.
But appreciate the vapor that God's given you. Prolong it if you can. Ask the Lord,
give me more days, Lord, to experience difficulties. Give me more days to share in the
sufferings of Christ. Give me more days where I can be comforted, Lord, in a time of trouble.
And I can rejoice in that. There is rejoicing in that, brethren.
You'll never experience it in heaven. You're not going to go through tribulations in heaven.
You're not going to go through financial difficulties in heaven. You're not going
to go through relationship problems in heaven. But the Lord's presence will always be there.
It's far better. It's far better because we don't have to go through all that.
But that experience and the opportunity to serve God faithfully, even in the times of difficulty,
for everyone will just add in rewards, our treasures are in heaven more so as we live
this life, as He prolongs our life. Verse number seven, back to Psalm 61, verse number seven.
He shall abide before God forever. That's the king with the prolonged days.
Oh, prepare mercy and truth which may preserve Him. So if we want prolonged days, we want further
preservation of our earthly life. We need God. Can you prepare your mercy? I need your mercy,
Lord, because, man, I need your mercy. I do need me. Boy, I need your mercy, Lord.
I need you to just don't come too hard on me, Lord, when you chastise me. I'll learn my lesson,
Lord. It doesn't have to be too difficult, Lord. And truth, I want your truth. What is your truth?
What is your way? How do you want me to live a righteous life?
And those things will preserve you in life. Truth will tell you where to go, what to do. The mercy
is what we need when we mess up. I mean, Lord, just be patient with me. Lord, help me. Yes,
I'm wrong, Lord. I confess my sins to you. Forgive me, Lord. Set me on your path once again.
These are elements that we need to live a prolonged, God-filled life. And I love verse
number eight. So will I sing praise unto thy name forever. Now, this is interesting. That I may
daily perform my vows. Does God want us to follow him daily? Of course. But one thing that you might
be missing in your Christian walk is the singing of praises. Look, I know you come to church and
sing praises. It's good. All right. I'm glad we've got an extra soul, a song leader these days,
right? It's awesome. I love singing with you guys. I love hearing, I'm telling you, one day,
go upstairs during the singing and it sounds even better up there. Honestly, it sounds great. I don't
know why. It's not about the acoustics. It all goes into that room. It sounds wonderful. But
if you want to perform daily for the Lord, again, let's read it again. So will I sing praise unto
thy name forever that I make daily perform my vows. The Psalmist has found a secret ingredient.
When I sing, it helps me. It gives me the ability to do the vows that have set before my Lord.
And I'm not teaching make vows. But we understand that there are certain things that God wants us
to do in our Christian life. We understand that God had a task for us today. He's got
tasks for us tomorrow. He's got tasks for us next week. How are you going to accomplish that?
Start to learn to sing some praises to the Lord. We've got spare hymnals here. If you need a
hymnal, let me know. Take them home. Learn songs. Sing them to the Lord. And God says,
buy that singing. I know this works. Like one of the reasons I song lead on a Sunday morning,
I shared with you why. When I sing, when I song lead and I'm pushing myself to lift my voice,
it prepares my heart and my body to preach God's word. Because on Sunday, I'm doing two sermons.
And I know when I just get up here and I just give it my all, because in the pew, I can kind of hide.
But up here, I've got to project my voice. It gives me that ability to go, all right,
now I can preach those two sermons on Sunday for you, Lord. I know it works. But you see,
it doesn't just work on Sunday. It works on Monday and Tuesday and Wednesday,
all the way to Saturday. So, brethren, let me encourage you to sing praises to our Lord God
forever. The title for the sermon was A Strong Tower. Our Lord God is a strong tower. It's not a
shame when you need to run to Him. That is what God wants you to do. And He'll establish you. He'll
lift you in a higher place. You'll be on a rock. You'll be stable. And then God will show you what
you need to do to get through those difficulties. Let's pray.