And verse 1 of Psalm 13, the Bible says, this is the Psalm of David. David says, how long? How long will thou forget me, O Lord? Forever? How long will thou hide thy face from me? I'll stop right there. I want to talk to a man with a similar thought. David's fight wouldn't discourage me. David's fight with discouragement. Let's pray. Father, I pray tonight for your help. I pray God for your guidance and direction. I pray God to take your word tonight and speak to every single heart that's here on this tabernacle, as well as those who are around us, Father, those who may be across the street, driving down the street, those who are watching live on the internet, those who will be watching later. God, we pray and ask God that your Holy Spirit will speak to each of us and draw us a little bit closer. I pray God that you will challenge us I pray God to convince us, change us, whatever needs to take place in us. I pray God that your Holy Spirit would do that work. And then God, there's somebody here or that's watching, or they've been watching later, they're not saved, but are born again and redeemed. I pray God they receive Jesus as their Lord, Savior, and King. And for that, Father, we'll thank you. Lord, help somebody, because somebody needs your help. And I pray God you start with me. Little of my left hand thing out. Yes, sir. Read that great deed as well. For through your son, David, we do pray. Not a weak Jesus, but mighty Jesus. Amen. Amen. May we see it. Amen. Our game is fight. with discouragement. I don't know about you, but like we hear the fire truck going down the street and perhaps even later, the paramedics, that means something. What does it mean for sure? There's somebody that needs some help. There's somebody that might be in distress and because of their situation, no doubt, they will become discouraged. And as we read here about David, the Bible's gonna show us that David, number one, he's a fighter, okay, we know that, but David is gonna be fighting with something called discouragement. David was not exempt from being discouraged. And as we look here in these scriptures, we also find out this, we ourselves are not exempt from being discouraged. You say, oh, I'm too blessed to be stressed. Well, stop lying, okay, because there are times you are stressed. Watch this now David exposes his true feelings David exposes his true feelings watch this to God And a lot of times when we pray, we're honest, we're not really told the honest of God when we pray. A lot of times we act like everything's okay and everything ain't okay. And here is David, a man for God's own heart. Here is David, who had been anointed king of Israel. Here is David, and not me, David says this, and I've said it too many times. David says in verse one, how long wilt thou forget me, O Lord? David feels as though God has forgotten him. And I won't forget him here, meaning to ignore or to be oblivious. David feels like God has forgotten him, that God's ignoring him, that God's oblivious to the situation that he is facing. He said, what is he facing? Well, if you remember, David, most scholars believe at this time, David was either being chased by his father-in-law or his son Absalom. But I don't know about you. If you've got your own family members chasing him, It ain't a good thing! Amen. That is enough to get you discouraged. And if you and I are honest here tonight, then sometimes it feels like our own family members are fighting against us. Our own flesh and blood, those who got the same DNA, are those who we've known since we've grown up. It seems like we're fighting against those who should be encouraging us. And here's David, and David's in a dogfight, and David feels like God's forgotten. I'm using the word feel on purpose. Because sometimes we do feel a certain way. And our feelings are real whether the situation is real or not. You're right. You can feel like nobody cares, nobody's concerned. We know that God hasn't forgotten about David, but that's how he feels. Right. Come on. He says here in verse 1 again, how long, it's been a long time, how long will thou forget me, O Lord? Forever? Are you never going to bring it back up to your mind and help me? Is it going to be forever? I've been seeing like you have ignored me and been oblivious to me. Then he goes on to say something else in the next part of the verse. Hello! Oh my goodness. Would thou hide thy face from me? Not only, Lord, does it seem like you have ignored me, but you have hidden your face from me. When you hide your face from somebody, y'all know how it is sometimes, especially you being pastors and preachers, sometimes you be in a Walmart or somewhere, and you see some of your church members you haven't seen in a long time, and they see you and they go like this. They hide their face. Or perhaps there's somebody that you see that you're like, oh, man, I don't feel like talking for a long time. And you hide your face like you don't see them. Or how about when we're walking down the street and we see somebody that's panhandling, and they're trying to get our attention, and we're like, we don't see them. Or how about, now, I know we don't do this, but some other folks. Some folks will put earbuds in their ear, and they know music playing. But you know what they're trying to say? I'm busy, I don't want to talk, so it seems like I'm listening to somebody or talking to somebody, but I'm not, because I'm trying to ignore you. And what David says right here in this verse, he says, more. It seems like you're not only forgetting me, ignoring me, but you hide your face from me. He is exposing his feelings. And sometimes, brothers and sisters, that's how we feel. And David don't stop there in verse number two. David says, how long? Shall I take counsel in my soul, having sorrow in my heart daily? Wait a minute, preacher, what's going on here? David says, how long are you going to let me take counsel or advice or plans in my own soul, knowing that I'm in sorrow? That more sorrow means grief. The worst person to take advice from is yourself. When you're grieving. When you're in sorrow. And David says, I'm taking counsel from me. And you know what ain't a good thing. Okay. Why? Because I'm grieving. I'm hurting. Inside of me it says slap somebody. Okay. Because I'm hurting, okay. It means it says, my soul will say, hey, put somebody in a strangle, a stronghold around the neck and bring them down to the ground. Beat them down. That's the advice. that myself is giving me. Okay, there's the Lord. How long you gonna do that? Cause this ain't a good thing. And he ain't done now. He says here, how long should I take counsel in my soul, having sorrow in my heart? That word heart means of course your mind as well. He says daily. That's how I'm, I'm not feeling like this way every other day. David says, this is a daily thing I'm bowing with. And some of us know what it means to be bowing in your mind on a daily, daily basis. Not just Monday and Thursday, but I'm talking about Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday, and Sunday, and sometimes double time on Sunday. I feel the mind attacking me. That's what David's talking about right here. And then when he's done, David says, how long? So I take counsel in my soul, having sought in my heart, David. How long? So my enemy be exalted over me. Those who are hating me, those who are my foes, those who are my adversaries, it seems like they are exalting themselves over me. They're standing over me, looking down at me. So all my, look at little Pope David. Man up the guys on heart. The devil tells us stuff. Oh, you a Christian. Look how God treat you. You got that mail from the mailbox and it said NIMSCO and it wasn't a white piece of paper, it was green. Green don't mean go. Well, no, green doesn't mean you're about to go. Okay, go without some gas and light, amen. I mean, when you get that in the mail, I mean, you're not going, woo, ain't he good? Ain't he good? We go into ourselves, Lord, how you gonna make this be good? Okay, you said in your word that all things work together for the good of those who love God. They're called according to his word. You're not gonna just say your word. But boy, this don't look like a good thing. David says here in this verse, you know what he says? He says, how long shall my enemy be exalted over me? David is exposing his feelings to God. Let me ask us, when's the last time he exposed our feelings to God? Maybe it hurt. Have you exposed that to God? Maybe that's something that has a stronghold over your life. Have you exposed that to God? Maybe you're having nightmares at night. Have you exposed that to God? I've told my folks, they've heard this before. God knew when I was growing up, this hadn't happened in a long time, but you're talking about that mask. When I was a long time ago, yeah, I mean, even when I was a teenager, I would have these dreams. And then my dream is that the Hulk was chasing me. And I mean, I'd be far ahead of the Hulk. And he's coming, then all of a sudden, I get to the corner. Just as I'm going to the corner, all of a sudden, everything starts going slow. And the Hulk is catching up. I'm like, oh, no, oh, no. Then I wake up. That's a nightmare for me. Well, how many times have you been in a nightmare of a dream and you say, I'm a dreamer, so I'm going to wake myself up. And you wake up and you're in another dream. OK. You hadn't woke up, now you're in another dream. So I'm trying to wake up. Amen. Let me ask this. Have we brought God out of nightmares? When's the last time we brought God out of pain, or sorrow, or hurt, or disappointment? I can't tell God I'm disappointed, but that's how you feel. Why don't you tell him that? God wants to know how you feel. So he already knows. Adam! Adam! Where are y'all? You think y'all don't know where Adam was at? Did you know where Adam was at? And what did Adam say? Adam said, I'm hiding! Like I told my folks, he don't know how to play hide and go seek. I mean, he said, I'm hiding! He said, why are you hiding? Because I'm naked! Who told you he was naked? That woman you gave me? Remember her? But wait a minute. God knew where Adam was at. But he wanted Adam to admit where he was at. God wants us to admit where we are. If we are hurting, if we are torn up from a pull-up, then say to God, God, I'm hurting. God, I'm miserable. God, my heart's breaking. God, I feel discouraged. I feel disappointed. I feel in disarray. I feel like my whole world is falling apart. I feel like I'm not going to make it. I feel like I just need to just simply give up. Hey, talk to God. That's what David's doing. He's exposing his feelings to God. Then the second thing we see is David's earnest prayer. David says in verse number three, consider, consider and hear me, oh Lord, my God. That word consider means to stand. It means to look intently at it. Say, boy, I want you to stand there. I want you to look intently at me. Consider me, he says, and then look back and hear me. Pay attention to me. Because God, it seems like you've ignored me. But pay attention to me. You ever been talking to somebody, and you know they ain't there? You can look in their eyes and know they're somewhere else. And you're like, pay attention. Pay attention. You want somebody to pay attention? David won't stop to pay attention to me. God, I'm crying out to you. I'm sitting here. I'm exposing my feelings. I'm exposing my emotions. God, I'm telling you exactly how I feel. I want you to consider this scaring me and pay attention to me. Oh God, hear me. You don't stop, man. Look what David goes on to say. He says, lighten my eyes. Lighten my eyes. He said, light my eyes, lest I sleep the sleep of death. Lord, it's dark. I can't see. I need you to turn the lights on. Thank God we got some lights on around here. My chair went up, the lights went up. And I was like, pew. I became the dark. I know I was in Pennsylvania here this year, preaching my Bible, and I was going around some curves in Pennsylvania, and it was pitch black, Amish country, Amish country. And we out there in Amish country, man, I'm driving around in curves, it's pitch black, and I was saying to myself, I wonder how dark it really is. Now listen, I'm 58 years old, I know better. But I cut the lights out! I cut the lights out, preacher! I ran in with a piece of black. I cut it right back on. I said, man, you crazy? One round of curbs, because there ain't no stoplights out there. No stoplights, but the light poles. And man, I almost had a heart attack. I said, man, that would have been really bad. Really bad. You had an accident. Listen, preacher, what happened? I'm like, uh. Forgive me for I'm about to say it. My lights just went out, amen. I can't tell them they went out, amen. But when the lights come on, now we can see. And David, and David is saying in verse 3, he says, oh Lord my God, lighten my eyes, turn the lights on so I can see, so I can see which way to go. What you talking about preaching? You do not know which way to go spiritually. Oh yeah. I mean you try to figure out which way, which way do I turn? What should I do? What should I not do? But it seems like there's a fog. It seems like there's a darkness. Or there's a mist. Or there's a cloud that's hanging over you. And it's hard to just simply break through. Sometimes I'll be praying and crying to God. And I'll just say to God, God clear my mind. God, there's so much stuff that's in my head, Pastor Jeff. There's so much stuff inside my head. I'm like, Lord, clear my mind. I can't focus. And I don't want you to clean my mind, because if you clean it, it might not mean nothing. I'm just clearing my mind. So I can see. So I can think clearly. David said, light my eyes, as I stood up there. And then verse number four, he's praying. Earnest prayer. That word earnest means serious. He's serious. I was listening to this one preacher talk about praying and how praying means asking. And when you look that word up, it means to ask. That's a common thing. He says sometimes we want to go through these long prayers. You know what? Oh, now God in the heavens, you that created the universe and you that gave us Genesis down to Revelation. You know what? That's wonderful. That's all good. But listen, if you're like Peter and you're drowning, Peter ain't got time to say, oh man. Oh, I fall and drop in heaven. Hallowed be thy name, thy kingdom. He don't, he did. He said, Lord, help me. That was his prayer. And the Lord helped him. Sometimes we think we've got to be eloquent in our prayer, or we've got to be distinguished in our prayer. No, God wants us to be honest in our prayer. He wants us to be real in our prayer. He wants us to be sincere in our prayer. He wants us to expose our heart and our mind to him in our prayer. And God says in his verse, he says, Lord, that's our secret, secret of death. Verse four, lest my enemies, I'm serious boy, lest my enemies say I have prevailed against him. Unless my enemy, those who hate me, say I've overcome him. I don't want the devil to think he's overcome me. He goes on to say this, lest my enemy say that I have prevailed against him and those that trouble me rejoice when I am moved. or I need your help, because I don't want my enemy to, those that trouble me, those that cause me distress, I don't want them to rejoice. What does that mean, Richard? That word rejoice means to spin around. When somebody spins around, they're pretty happy. I mean, sometimes that cake, that Miss Sharon Earl, she got for Isaiah's birthday. It's from Costco. They got some good cake at Costco, especially with the stuff and the fillings on the inside. Man, it's funny, but I'll start eating that piece of cake and my foot start moving. That's when you know you're good. You know your legs aren't moving because you're eating like that, but it's some good stuff. He's like, yeah, this is all right, Eggman. I mean, you get excited, Eggman. Well, you know what David says? I don't want my enemies to be excited and happy, because I have slipped. I've moved. I've stumbled. And that word also means to fall. Yeah. Boy, I need you to help me, because I don't want my enemy rejoicing on me. David is earnest in his prayer. Let me ask us, are we earnest in our prayer? Sincere, wide-open, honest. Sometimes if we're not careful, I don't think we mean to do this, but sometimes we're not careful, we're praying to each other. Who's your favorite preacher? True story, there's a girl, and she was praying and asking God for a sermon, Torah. And she was praying loud as she could pray, And then all of a sudden, her mom yelled at her, you ain't got to pray that loud. God ain't deaf, he can hear you. She said, I know, but Grandma is. Who is she praying to? Grandma in the other room. She wanted her to hear her, amen. And sometimes when you and I pray, we're not careful. We don't know each other. We know somebody's amongst us that may be lost. And we say, we'll be praying, oh Lord, Help the ones who are lost. Help those that are struggling. Lord, Lord, help them. They know they need to get right. They know they need to come down to the altar and pray right now. Yeah, and they've been, wait, who are we talking to? When we talk to him, let's talk to God about the situation, amen? What are you saying, Christian? He was honest, open, and transparent, and he don't start there. Watch this. We see not only David exposes his feelings to God, David's earnest prayer, but then the last thing we see is David's encouragement to himself. He encourages himself. How does he do that, Preacher? The Bible says in verse 5 of Psalm 13, verse 5, he says, but! Now can you hear him changing directions? He says, but! What is he about to say, Preacher? He says, but! I have trusted in thy mercy. My heart shall rejoice in thy salvation. He says, Lord, I have trusted in your mercy, in your pity, in your kindness. He says, my heart shall rejoice in thy salvation. He said, wait a minute, hold on, hold on, hold on. He said, my heart will rejoice. He is expecting God to bring deliverance. He says, my heart, watch what he says. My heart shall rejoice in thy salvation. That word rejoice is the same word as rejoice in the other verse that we just read, which means to spin around. He says, you know what, Lord? I'm going to spin around when you bring me salvation. I'm going to spin around when you bring me deliverance. I'm going to be excited because deliverance is coming. Hallelujah. Yeah. Amen. Hallelujah. When I was away from the war, and the drugs, the alcohol, and all that kind of stuff I was involved in, I just knew, brothers and sisters, if I could just get to the church, if I could just get to the church. I said, preacher, were they trying to stop me from getting inside? No. Nobody had armed guards to stop me from getting in the church. But there was something inside of me, Brother Dennis, that was stopping me from getting in there. But I knew if I could just get to the church, I remember 1989, down in Georgia, North Cross, Georgia. I went to the church that was not too far from us, and when I pulled up at that church, and then I seen all the cars, and I seen all the people dressed real nice, and all that kind of stuff, and it reminded me of some of the churches I grew up in. We called them fashion show churches, because everybody was there about what they had on and stuff. And I don't forget seeing that, and I drove around several times, looked at what I had on, and said, you know what, I'm just gonna go back to the house. That's what I did. But thank God I had a wife. We would have married at the time, but she was my future wife. But thank the Lord, you know what? I got back to the house. She said, I thought you were in the church. I said, why did you say that? She said, well, you went to the whole monster's wedding and you're back to the church. But nonetheless, she was in the church. When she went to Galilee Baptist Church. I heard Dr. Talmaud preach the life-changing word of God. And she told me, you need to come to that church. You need to come to that church. Man, I said, I don't know about that. So I came to that church. Dr. Talmaud was preaching. He's a real short guy. Man, he pulled up one pants leg. He pulled up the other pants leg. Man, he got to preaching the word of God. I knew all about excitement preaching, but this preaching not only had excitement, but it had content. He was saying something, hallelujah, on my soul. Before I knew it, I came back to the second service. And then the assistant pastor, a brother, I believe his name is Chuck Hardeman, Bill Hardeman, Bill Hardeman, he was preaching. The same power of God grabbed a hold of my heart. Before I knew it, I come running down the aisle, almost sliding in the home plate, amen. I come running down to that altar, I started crying, I mean, I was crying, smiling, saying, man, I did not care. I'm thinking right now About the other night, it was Thursday night, we was getting some things together. It was Thursday, Friday night, one of those nights. We'd be in the church like every night, just sweet. But nonetheless, I seen the van pull up. And then the van pulled up, and the car pulled up, and I was wondering who they were. I was talking to my wife, Jolene, and DJ was there. We were about to leave his family. And so I asked him, is everything all right? He said, yeah, everything's all right. But I noticed something. I noticed that the van was filled with stuff. I said, well, I think it's just been moving or something. So I came on back over. I told him who I was. I was the passenger and everything. And so then after a few moments, they came over and said, passenger, talk to me. And long story short, They had been evicted out of their house. They had nowhere to go. They thought it was okay. They just parked in the corner of the church parking lot. They had all their stuff there, and all this kind of stuff. They was home. They'd been home for a little while. I said, yes, fine. I'm going to park over there. And then the next night, I came back to the church, and I was there. Same scenario. And they was like, this is okay, Pastor. I said, it's okay. We talked about some situations that was going on in their life and some serious things that were going on. I thought to myself, you know what? They need some help. They need somebody to show them some compassion. They need somebody to show them the love of Jesus Christ. But isn't it sick how often times we run people off? And we don't know their story. Oh, by the way, we all have a story. Everybody's got a story. Now we might look a certain way on the outside, but we all have a story on the inside. We all have a past. We all have a back. We all got a present. Yeah, I'm trusting in your mercy. The last time I checked, I think God wants us to also have some mercy toward others as well. He says, Lord, I'm trusting in your mercy. My heart shall rejoice in my salvation. And then he comes home and says this, I will sing. I will sing at this moment. I will sing unto the Lord. Why? Why? Because He has dealt, as all past tense, He has dealt bountifully with me. I will sing because of what He has done for me, and because of what He has done for me, I know He'll do it again for me in my present situation. Isn't it amazing how we can all start off praying defeated and discouraged, but keep on praying. All of a sudden, you start getting some strength. Amen. All of a sudden, You start thinking back to what God did for you. Amen. That's what he said. That's what he said. I will sing. Those two words will save you. They mean this. It means to stroll. I mean, really, you'll just stroll in the darkness. My first thought was that guy. I can't remember his name. I think it was Gene something. But that song, singing it. Gene Kelly. Gene Kelly, you know? And he's all on the light poles and all that kind of, just singing it going down. And David says, you know what? I will sing. I'm going to just take a stroll. Woo! Woo! Amazing grace, how sweet the sound. that saved a wretch like me. I once was lost, but now I'm found. Was blind, watch this, but now I see. Amen. You start thinking about how God brought you in that darkness. How God put a soul in your heart, but a song in your soul, you start thinking about all that God has done, and then all that God is doing. I know we're facing some rough times. I mean, a lot of our folks from the churches here, I know some of their stories that back up, facing some rough times. But in the midst of our rough times, in the midst of our battles, we can sing, we can rejoice, because our God has dealt bountifully with us. But what does that mean, really? The word dead bountifully means to reward. It means to recognize. She says, Lord, you have reward. When I take a stroll back in my mind, the life that I used to live, the cocaine, the drugs, the alcohol, all that stuff. Never thought for the days that I'd have a wife, never thought I'd have children. But you know, God has blessed me. I've got a wife, I've got three children, I've got six grandchildren. I never thought, growing up in the west side of Chicago, over the Olson area, I never thought, I mean, listen, when we was walking the streets, we didn't know if we were going to see the next day or not. We always prepared. We're walking by an alley, I'm preparing myself. If somebody jumps out the alley, I'm preparing myself for what I'm going to do if they jump out. I'm preparing myself, somebody comes to me with a knife. I just came to one of those Bowie lines right here, and I'm right there on my side, so you know what? They might shoot me, but you know what? I'm going to try to catch somebody at the same time. Listen, that's what happened to me. That's how I grew up. I never thought, never thought that I would live to sleep past 21. When I think about the people that I hung out with. The neighbors that I had, my best friend, his mom and his dad, they sold cocaine and they sold heroin. I remember many times I rode with him when he would make the drops and I'd give it to people. They'd go back that night, he'd bring the cocaine, then later they'd need to go to sleep and he'd come back, bring the heroin and bring it back down and all that. They'd get some cocaine and get it back up in the morning, all that kind of stuff. Do you know, I know what it means. I've seen people who've been shot and laid out on the streets. Yep, I'm not. God is good. What do you say? David was fighting with discouragement. The brothers and sisters, it seemed like to me now, he's been encouraged. He's expecting God to bring deliverance. He's going to rejoice and he is rejoicing because of what God has done. Let me ask you a question in writing. Have you been discouraged? Have you been defeated? Having been depleted of his strength, there's a God that wants us to expose our true feelings to him. Stop messing around, stop playing around, and be honest, be open, be genuine. That's how David was, and David got some help. I've got three questions tonight. The first question is this. Number one, do you feel like the Lord has forgotten you? Do you feel like the Lord has forgotten you? The second question is this. Does it seem like the enemy is prevailing? Does it seem like the enemy is prevailing? And the last question is this. Do you need encouragement for your discouragement? Do you need encouragement for your discouragement? Notice as it were, God, he says, come unto me all ye that labor, and I'll have you laid. He didn't say I might give you rest. He said I will give you rest. Oh, that is. if you come. I hope and pray we come tonight. We can, you know, we can, if we really can, we can stand by the altar, or maybe we can sit around some of the tables or whatever, but we can come talk to the Lord tonight. Let's come talk to him. He says in his word, if you have not, you call us, we ask not. You say, Preacher, I've asked before. Yeah, but the Bible says over there in Matthew chapter seven and verse number seven, he says, ask, seek, and not. All three of those words are present paradigms. Their command is, number one, to do something continuously. Continually ask. Continually seek. Continually not. That means don't give up. It means don't quit. Don't throw in the towel. As a matter of fact, not only is our life depending on it, but there are other lives also that are depending on it that we do not quit. Amen. Amen. When we're talking about preaching, David's fighting with his gut. You may even be here tonight, but you're not saved. You're fighting a disparagement. There's a Savior that wants to save your soul, and that is self when he marries you. When you admit that you are a sinner and you're a Savior, and that Jesus Christ is the Savior that you need, and you call out to him and trust him, the Bible says in Romans chapter 10 verse 9, if thou shalt confess in thy mouth the Lord Jesus hath believed in thy heart, that God hath raised him from the dead, Thou shalt be saved. Amen. I don't know about you, but just that word, saved, brings peace of mind. Amen. If you're not saved today, you can trust Christ today as your Savior. And you may already be saved, but you need some strength for the journey. Let's talk to him next. Father, thank you, Lord, for giving me another lesson. And God, as we get this invitation to come in, perhaps God is supposed to look down on His altars. Father, this is a little unconventional, but I pray, Lord, if you're looking up, talk to Him. They can stand around these altars, they can sit around the altar, or even kneel. Father, I pray that we talk to you. Why does you really want to pay attention to us? You're listening. You're listening. I pray that we respond. Look, sir, for some listeners there, we do pray. Not only Jesus, but mighty Jesus. Amen. Amen. Let's all stand together.