Wait, I am everybody's moving mm. Everyone is going somewhere with everything.
They're trying just to make it to a place where I am not there.
But when the noise is over, still the small point you were here.
I hope that you believe me when I tell y'all I won't handle long of
your can't just wait on me? Be still. I know that I am
God. Be still and know that I am God. Just try me.
I know that I know God and I'm in the control. I am still
God. Oh oh oh oh. Chasing your ambition, try your guests to
be there and that stop. If it's the intention that you really want,
then I already know who you are and I love you that way, even
what the noise though, Man me till small punch you we get it get
too und pard aging call, ain't you planking? Just give me up?
Pray that let me still wait on he be still? I had no did
I have God? Be still? I had no that I am just trust
that a God. I am God whom God shoulder. I see God,
you got paying a man playing on. I will be still for you are
with me. I will be still for you are with me. I will
be still for you out with me. I will be still, I will
be yeah, I will be still be still, I will I well,
I will be still, I will be still, class will be still.
Your wives still you? How well you stay with your time with you?
I'm gonna scarp Wapi stayd they still how they stay? They still up?
And still he's still let Then I got he still land that I had got.
Just try to stand. I'm in control. I'm in controul. I
am still in controul. So I see in control. So I still God,
God, I'm still God. I'm still God. I'm still God.
I have stayed mm hmm, wait on you, m hmm. I would
not be moved. Teach me how to wait on you. This is the
last Sunday and the last day of the year. We have made it through
yet another year, and I just want to say thank you. Thank you
to everyone that has Thank you to everyone who has been faithful with us,
who has endured throughout the year. I'm on what is this wisdom today?
It has been a while since I've been on wisdom because I haven't been able
to get everything together. But we'll build that back up. We thank God
for you all who are with us. I want it in the year.
I want it in our last message from the of the year, from the
Book of Psalms, the Book of Psalms. And I usually don't preach from
the book of Songs. But I woke up this morning and this message was
on This scripture was on my heart. And I've been dealing with I've been
doing a lot of writing, going to come up with some stuff. And
this particular message, this particular Psalm, it was all my heart, and
it reads thus, I will bless the Lord at all times, and his
praises shall continually be in my mouth. I'm gonna read the entire Chapholid song.
Bear with me, my soul shall make her boast in the Lord.
The Humbu shall hear thereof and be glad old. Magnify the Lord with me,
and let us itsalt his name together. Why because I sought the Lord,
and he heard me and delivered me from all my fears, they looked
unto him and were lightened, and their face faces were not ashamed. This
poor man cried, and the Lord heard him and saved him out of all
of his troubles. The Angel of the Lord in camp round about them,
that fear him and delivered it all taste and see that the Lord is good.
Blessed is the man that trust in him. Oh, fear the Lord,
ye his saints, for their is no want to them that fear him.
And it continues to press on the young lion do lack and suffer hunger.
But they that seek the Lord shall not want any good thing. Come,
you children, hearken unto me. I will teach you to fear the
Lord. What man is he that desires life and love? Many days that
he may see good? Keep your tongue from evil, and thy lips from
speaking God. Depart from evil and do good, Seek peace, and pursue
it. The eyes of the Lord are upon the righteous, and his ear
are open unto their cry. The face of the Lord is against them that
do evil, to cut them off from remembrance of them from the earth.
The righteous cry, and the Lord hears and delivers them out of all of
their trouble. The Lord is nigh unto them that are broken heart saving,
such as be of a contrite spirit. Many are the afflictions of the righteous,
But the Lord delivered them him out of them all he keepeth his bones.
No one of them is broken evil shall slay the wicked. And they
hate the righteous show and they that hate the righteous shall be desolate. The
Lord redeems the soul of his servant. None of them that trust in him
shall be desolate. The word of the Lord is blessed. I wanted to
read all of that, but I'm not going to preach all it. Put
it in the context. But when I do reference it, I want you
to be able to understand what I'm referencing. The word of the Lord,
I said, is blessed. This particular song was written by David, and
I find it amazing at what was going on in David's life when he wrote
this song. When he wrote the song, he was a leader of six
hundred men on a run from his mentor into the place where he found fame,
one of his enemies where he found fame. So he was running from
the king saw and he was going into Palestine. And he stays and settles
into Palestine for a year and a half, a year and four months.
And while he was in Palestine a number of things began to happen. And
it was here that he journaled this song. What happened while he was there.
As I said, he had six hundred men with him. If you
know anything about David, he got on a map by defeating Goliath. I
said, Palestine, Philistine. Sorry, that's the same region of Philistine as
Saul and his brother's coward and the army coward, because they were afraid of
Goliath, who was a giant. He hurts him in the head with a
rock. And now some years later, on the run from Saul, he
ends up in Philistine or Philistine camp, goes into covenant relationship with the king
of Philistine, the Philistines at the time, and they catch out him a
piece of land, and while he's on that piece of land, he declares
his allegiance from Saul to the king of the Philistines. And in this time
frame, after he pledges his allegiance, war breaks out, and now he
has to go against the man that he loves and and keep his word and
show the Philistines that he is who he said he was. When I say
he had six hundred men, that includes the wives and the children. That
does not include the number of wives and children. Where at this time David
has two wives with him. On the way to battle, encounters the Philistines,
journeymen or soldiers whom the king refers to as his lords, who tells
him we can't trust David, send him back and this king and David gets
into this argument because David really wants to go and prove himself because he found
refuge within this nation. David becomes the first king of Judah after this year
and a half, and the third king of Israel. I want to give
the historical context and make it made sense to the end of the year.
And that's why I keep repeating, all of this happened in one year.
While he was arguing, he didn't understand the providence of God was bringing him
back to his place of refuge, his home which had been invade invaded while
he was gone, and when he came back, everything was gone. The
six hundred men turns against him and said, look, because of your leadership,
we lost our children. The Bible says that all of the children in
this reference can be found in First Samuel. We lost the children, we
lost the things that we had. And David doesn't move out of haste,
but he prays, and we talked about prayer extensively as we ended. As
we moved towards the close of this year, he praised, and he had
Scott who was okay for him to pursue, and he gets the okay,
he goes and pursue. God said that you will recover all. He goes
and pursue, and out of the six hundred, because they went on a
three day, three night journey with no food, two hundred of the men
couldn't continue on with the journey. So they went into this battle with four
hundred men. David begins to faint, but he's so angry that he pushes
forward and he sees a man from his enemies camp, another enemy. This
man from his enemies camp provides David with food and food for his men,
and he begins to tell David. Because David really had no idea where he
was going, but he knew that the Lord told him that he would get
the battle, and he had to pursue, and he pursued, and divine
providence now and again kicks in and God now allows the enemy to get David's
strength, and not only does he get his strength back, the guy that
he encounters on his way to pursue his enemy was betrayed just like David was
by his king, and he was left to die in the wilderness. He
fainted. So he makes covenant with David, and he says to David,
I'll show you where they are if you promise to help me, or you
promise to keep me, and you promise to allow me to make covenant with
you and sustaining. Now, David had just found favor with his enemy,
so now he has to give favor back in kind. You see how that
works that parallel. So this man gives David the information, David goes into
the camp. David now does everything that the Lord promised him that he would
do. He wins his wives, and he wins his spoilers, and he
takes all that these enemies have. And as he's penning this psalm, I
can imagine because this is out of this time and will bless the Lord at
all times. Notice what he doesn't say in the text. He doesn't say
I had a bad year. I cursed Scott. He doesn't say why me.
He takes inventory of everything that happened, and it be kings to lead
with gratitude. I don't know what you've been going through this year. I
don't know how your year is ending, and don't have the mindset I'm so
glad that the year is over. I'm so glad this, oh man,
this was a long year. It was the same three hundred and sixty five
days, the same twenty four hours, the same seven days, the same
sixty seconds, the same sixty minutes in the hour. It was the same.
And all of those days wasn't down days. So we gotta learn like
David to even in the midst of our down days, to say, I
will bless the Lord, not sometimes, but at all times, and his
praises shall continually be in my mouth. I want to leave us this this
this day, by sharing with you that the world of science is now catching
up with the world of David. The Bible declares that David was a man
after his own heart. And we see here now David in the act of
gratitude practice. He wasn't praising the universe, he wasn't praising the most high.
He wasn't praised. He was praising the God that brought him out.
And he says, I will bless the Lord. He was gracious, not
sometimes, And we just went through the historical nature of what it was that
he was going through. He could have said, oh, the Lord allowed
my mentor to turn against me. Oh, the Lord allowed me to go
and my men upset with me. I came back home and everything was gone.
Oh I had to go into a fight. And then these events that
took place in this year in four months didn't cause him to throw his hands
up. I had to repent as I began to really put this together because
there were some events that happened in my life. I've had some years in
my life that caused me to throw my hands up, not even say I'll
bless the Lord. I said, oh, Lord, why have God forsaken
me? But David had the resolve to say, I will bless the Lord
at all time and watch this and his praises shall continually be in my mouth.
Most of you who are listening to us, whether you're listening on our
podcast later on, or you're listening on oh, whatever platform you're listening on,
I'm a mindfulness coach and it has fascinated me in this last year as
I begin to put some stuff together because we're pushing out more content and we're
going to be doing some amazing things. Is that we've got inundated now,
especially in the West, with this concept of gratitude practice and journaling and the
benefits of gratitude practice are improvement to health. If we regularly express gratitude,
it links to increased levels of happiness, and it's a reduction of depression,
and it lowers levels of stress. And we understand that gratitude practice, a
healthy gratitude practice, leads to better physical health. Being grateful reports to better
sleep, reduction in blood pressure, it strengthens our immune system. Having a
gratitude practice not only improves our mental health, not only improves our physical health,
but it improves our relationship because it enforces social connections and empathy, and
it leads to stronger relationships and increase satisfaction in those relationships. And it also
increases resiliency. It helps individuals cope with challenges, and it helps individuals state
with a positive outlook when emotionally they should be reduced to negativity and fall apart.
But it has neurological effects because the study of gratitude shows that the brain
produces doper meanings that reinforce positive feelings and motivation. So look at what David
says in the text, I will bless the Lord at all times, and
his praises shall continually be in my mouth We see that he was able to
endure the battle. We see that he was able to endure loss and hardship.
We see that he was because of his mindset. He doesn't just stop
there, but he says, my soul shaw make her boast in the Lord,
and a humble shall hear thereof and be glad. And then he invites
those the social aspects. He invites those that are with him in community.
Oh, magnifa, the Lord with me, and let us exalt his name
together. I lost my stuff, but I sought the Lord, and he
hurt me. And then not only does he hear me, but he delivers
me from all my fears. They looked upon me and were lightened, and
their faces were not ashamed. See, when we have an effective gratitude practice,
we can have an effective praise practice. When we have an effective gratitude
practice, we are effectively thankful, we are effectively lifting, We are effectively
understanding that in all things we should give thanks. Then what happens is that
the mind begins to shift and things begin to happen within us. And before
we couldn't explain it, but science has caught on, and it amazes me
that now the church is talking more about scandals and what's going on in the
world, instead of saying, I will bless the Lord at all times.
I understand what the news is saying. I understand what's going on, but
his praises shall continually be in my mouth. I'm not praising man or humanity.
I will bless the Lord. The problem is that our praise is focused
on man and what man is doing. We love to praise the new movie.
Everybody's praising the color purple, and everybody's talking about Oprah Winfrey, and
everybody's talking about this, and everybody's talking about that. But if we took
on, oh, brother David's mindset, we would not. First of all,
we would understand that the practice of gratitude is not something that is new,
That the practice of gratitude came from the man that invented the human He
said, praise me because I'm praiseworthy. Who loves praise. He inhabits the
praise of his people. So David, who is a man after his own
heart, now becomes the mentor for the church. Has God been good to
you this year better than you have been to yourself. Have God helped you
to get through some trying times that you can just stop and say, you
know what, instead of holding my head down, I will bless the Lord
at all times, and it's praise as shall continually be in my church.
Went another. But I still will bless the Lord at all times, and
it's praise shall continually be in my mouth. I lost my business, but
I will still bless the Lord at all times, and his praise shall continually
be in my mouth. My girl walked out my job, Let me go.
I will bless the Lord at all times, and his praises shall continually
be in my mouth. Not during the end result. It's easy to bless
them on the other side of victimy. It's easy to bless them when we
get to the other side of the journey. But David now takes the time
out to journal and chronicle what it is that he went through, which leads
me to my second point. He cries to them to magnify. He invites
them to taste and see that the Lord is good. He invites them to
fear the Lord, because as we begin to relate with him, we can't
help but to respect him. And as we respect him, we can't help
but to reverence him. And as we reverence him. There comes a part
of us that fears him, and not fear as a lord who is the
lording over his community, like Saul was, but fear out of respect,
fear and trembled out of terror for who he is, his reverence, his
holiness. When he comes into the presence of Isaiah, Isaiah had respect for
his king, and he says, in the day that the king Aziah died,
I saw the lord and his train filled the temple. Isaiah is moved
with fear. When the fishermen encountered Jesus, they were on the boat and
they were casting their nets, and nothing was happening. And in Jesus telling
them to cast their nets on the other side, they were naked, they
were finishing up, they were tying up their nets, they were done for
the day. And when he said casting that to the other side, oh
man, we've been fishing all day. We know this business. And they
did it anyway, and they got more from trusting, and Peter and the
boys threw themselves off the boat out of fear, because who is this man?
What manner of man is? This type of fear is one that comes
from a reverence. This type of fear is one that produces a praise.
This type of fear is one that produces a praise. And if the one
who is revered saying, I will never leave you nor forsake you. I
don't care what the year looks like. He never left me, nor for
sake me. I don't care what pushing towards. He will never leave me,
nor for to sake me. So praise now helps to translate the mentality
of the praiser, ah Man, Gratitude helps it translate the mentality of the
one that's being gracious. That's why we say grace before we eat. That's
why we are thankful when we get home. That's why we're grateful for another
day. That's why we're grateful for another year and this year comes to a
close. What is it that you can say, I will bless the Lord
for but don't just bless him for the thing. Learn to bless him at
all times. He pens and goes on, and he says, what Man
verse twelve, is he that desires life and love many days that he may
see good. Keep your tongue from evil. When you bless the Lord,
you keep your tongue from evil, and you keep your tongue from speaking God,
because if you're blessing at all times, you can't be cursing anything else.
And that's what happened in the early Church. When God now calls and
asks Peter, what have I created that you now deem to be bad?
Challenges Peter's world, How dare you call something that I created bad? And
just cries unto the Lord and he hears. Notice the anthropomorphic language that David
uses. Verse sixteen, He talks about the face of the Lord. The
face of the Lord is against the eagle duers. Verse sixteen, he says
that it is this face that cuts off the remembrance of them from the earth.
Verse seventeen, he talks about the Lord hearing from delivery from their troubles.
He talks about the Lord saving those who have a contrite spirit. He
talks about the Lord during close to them that have a broken heart. Has
this year year brought you broken heart? Has this year broken your spirit in
some way? Did you know that the Lord those that has a contrite spirit,
that's why we bless them at all times. Did you know was your
heart broken? Did you know that that he draws close to those that have
a broken heart? That's why we bless him at all times, because he's
moving even when we can't trace him, even when it feels like all hope
it's gonna even if it feels like everyone has turned their back on it,
he moves. And then out in here verse nineteen, many are the affliction
of the righteous, but the Lord delivers him out of them all. Yes,
somebody, this year has been challenging for you. You had many afflictions.
But the reason why we bless the Lord at all times is because the
Lord has delivered us out of all of those afflictions. Big Mind used to
say, when I look back over my life and I think things over,
I can truly say that I've been blessed. And that's why I will bless
the Lord at all times. As we close out twenty twenty three and we
begin to set our sights on twenty twenty four, don't go go in with
the mentality of not being grateful. Don't go in waiting for something to happen
for you to start praising. Go in with the mentality that I will bless
the Lord at all times. I started the message by saying that David journals
this particular portion of his life new Age. We talk about journaling and the
importance of journaling and the benefits of journal When they come out of the battle,
to four hundred men wanted to keep all of the stuff and leave out
the two dred man. This is why David was a great king. The
four hundred said they didn't do no fighting, why should they get a part
of the spoils. David said, we all together. They didn't do no
fighting there, but they held down the fort where we were at, because
if somebody would have came, it would have been on them to hold it
down. And we have to see ourselves as one. And he distributed amongst
the group. And this is before David becomes king. He journals this experience.
And I want to encourage you in twenty twenty four, if you haven't
begun to journal yet, begin writing things down, because the science is starting
to see the emotional benefits or the brain benefits of journal. One is an
emotional outfit. Two, it provides clarity and focus. Three, it brings
us to a place of self reflection. Before, it helps enhance our memory
vib it helps reduce our stress, and the last to it boosts our creativity
and it also tracks our progress. The reason why we can't bless the Lord
at all times is because we forgot some of the great things that He's allowed
us to do, and we are only measuring his blessing or measuring our blessing
him based upon what he has done for us. But all One Ministries and
those who listen to me going on One Ministries podcast, those who listen to
me wherever you are, will you take the time out to start journaling and
chronicling, start today so that you can get the testimony that all of my
good days outweigh my bad days. And I will bless the Lord at all
times because even when my heart was broken, found out that he says or
draws close to those who are broken heart. Even when my spirit was contrived,
I found out that He delivers us from all of our trouble. I
know now that my afflictions the afflictions of the righteous, the afflictions of the
righteous, who is the righteous of our times, We are covered in the
righteousness of Christ. David now was a type of Christ who would come,
and he now extends. The kingship of David. David dies, But our
Christ lives, and only does he live, doesn't live in the building.
He doesn't live in the Philistine camp, he doesn't live in the temple that
Solomon builds. He lands and dwells inside of us. So when we walk
up around with a contrite spirit, he's already in us. So he's already
not to remind ourselves that we don't want to leave the spirit that lives inside
of us. So I will bless the Lord at all times. I'm ending
this year, and I'm starting the year blessing the Lord and his praise as
shall continually be in my mouth. I don't have enough time to talk about
what somebody else is doing. I will lift him up because he said it
be lifted up. I'll draw all men unto thee. I hope this message
bless you. I hope that you it was something that you can take away.
I hope it something that you can add. I hope that you begin
to have a gratitude practice. I hope that you understand that the gratitude practice
is not from without, the gratitude is from within. Because he says,
if you pray in secret, I will bless you openly. So my mind
now from within shall see the goodness the Lord. Even when I feel there's
nothing good going on. I will bless the Lord how at all times his
praise shall be in my mouth continually our soul will make its boasting. The
Lord humble will hear thereof and be glad. Lord, I thank you for
another year. If it be is the same. In the next few hours,
some of us will enter into twenty twenty four. I pray for our
children who are out. I pray for those who don't know you. I
pray for those that felt like this year is a loss. They're making resolutions
for next year. They're trying to get this stuff together, and they're anticipating
a change of years so that they can have a change of circumstance. But,
oh Lord, I thank you that in the scriptures you remind us to
bless you at all times and let your praise continually be in our mives.
So we lift you, so we praise you, so we magnify you,
so we adore you. We come together as one body, drawn nah by
the blood of the lam, come together as one praise team, lifting you
up because you're worthy to be lifted. Forgive us of our sins, for
our sins are many. We sin against you alone, creating us a clean
heart and renew the spirit. Thank you, Lord for another year's journey.
Thank you for every financial blessing. Thank you for everything that you've done for
us, and most of all, thank you for redemption bringing us into full
and complete fellowship. What a fellowship, What a joy divide. We lean
on your arms, and we magnify you, and we glorify you, and
we bless your name. For the Lord is good, your mercy is everlasting,
and your truth endures to all generations. Have a blessed to everyone who's
listening in God bless you. If y'all want to come on and say good morning,