Leading The Way

Dr. Michael Youssef: Pride at its deepest root is wanting to be accepted by others, but the godly sanctified pride recognizing the fact that I owe everything to God, that I am filled with gratitude and thanksgiving for the one who gave me everything. I give God the full credit for every gift I have, for every achievement, for every accomplishment. And this is not something you do once and you move on; this is something you do every day. Beloved, that's where the praise-filled life comes in.

Guest (Male): Welcome to Leading the Way with Bible teacher, author, and international culture expert Dr. Michael Youssef. Earlier this year, World Cup fans donned their team colors and jerseys. They screamed together, they celebrated, they danced when the goals were made for their teams. Here's the question: do you show God as much excitement during your weekly worship service?

Today on Leading the Way, Dr. Youssef takes you right to a moment in King David's life that offers a clear picture of praise, pride, and allowing the spirit of God to be seen in life's activities. Locate this sixth chapter of Second Samuel in your Bible or your Bible app and listen along as Dr. Michael Youssef continues his series, Empowered by Praise, on Leading the Way.

Dr. Michael Youssef: Preaching for as long as I have been preaching, I'm aware of the fact that there are some messages, some topics, some texts, which touch some more than others, will relate to some more than others. And that's natural because we are not all on the same level of our faith. We have different experiences as we walk with the Lord. We're not all the same. That's very understandable.

But today's message, today's issue that I'll be preaching on, touches every single person at the sound of my voice. Whether you are young or old, this is a message for you. You cannot switch off and say it's for somebody else. It's for you. Whether you've been a believer for 50 years or 50 days, this message is for you because I'm going to be speaking about pride. Let me pronounce it correctly: pride. Now you understand why every one of us would be touched by this issue.

The only people who do not have pride are those who have died. The only people who don't deal with pride on a regular basis are those who have gone with the Lord or maybe are mentally incapacitated. So please, don't count yourself out and tune in very closely to what the word of God is going to teach us today. I want to use only two examples of two people. One had his pride under control; the other one did not.

To give you the biblical background to what I'm going to be talking about: King David. You remember King Saul died, and King David was sworn into office to become the King of Israel. He unified the nation, and the first executive order King David signed was to bring the Ark of the Covenant from the Philistine land where they stole it and to bring it back to Jerusalem. Now, the Ark is really, when you think about it—the Raiders of the Lost Ark popularized it—but it's really a very small box.

It contained the original Ten Commandments that were given by God to Moses. It had Aaron's staff and also had a jar of manna as a reminder of God's provision in the wilderness. Now, the Ark of the Covenant is a symbol, just like the Lord's table is a symbol. It's symbolic. And whenever the Ark was there, it was a symbol of the fact that God is present in Israel. It's a symbolic thing. Does it mean when the Ark is gone, God is not present? No, but it is symbolic in their mind, a symbol of the presence of God.

So what happened? The terrorist groups around the land of Israel saw how the Ark of the Covenant brought Israel victory and they made such a fuss about the Ark of the Covenant. They take it with them before they go to any war and then they have victory. So they said, "We can hijack that Ark and we have the victory." This is a clear illustration of how so many people around us want Christianity without Christ. They want Christianity without the cross. They want the trappings of Christianity without believing and obeying Christ.

They want all of the blessings of God without submission to the authority of God. This is happening right before us. They're not hijacking the Ark of the Covenant, but they're trying to hijack the truth. And they fail. So when the Ark went to the land of Philistia, it wasn't a blessing; it was a curse. They were cursed by the presence of the Ark of the Covenant in their country. So they were happy to want to return it. And David issued the order; it has to come.

In the coming of the Ark of the Covenant back to Jerusalem, King David ordered a national celebration and praise of the Lord God Almighty. He wanted to praise Yahweh for all of his goodness, for all his mercy, but especially for allowing him to have the Ark of the Covenant back. National praise of God was allowing them to bring the Ark of the Covenant back, and David appointed musicians, he appointed instrumentalists, he appointed singers to begin the celebration of publicly praising God.

During the celebration, David got so carried away in the praising of God, in the honor of God, in blessing the name of God, that he did the unthinkable—not the unthinkable in the eyes of everybody else, but unthinkable in the eyes of his wife, Michal. Now let me tell you about Michal in case you've forgotten who she was. Michal, David's wife, was the daughter of Saul, King Saul. Michal was her father's daughter. Michal inherited her father's self-centered pride. Michal inherited her father's poor, pathetic, insecure self-image.

What was that unthinkable thing that the King did in her own eyes? David got so carried away in the praise of God, David was so exuberant in the praising of God, David got so excited in the praising of God, King David took off his royal robe and tossed it out, probably, before Yahweh in the praise of Yahweh. He danced before the Lord with all his might. If you turn with me in your Bibles to Second Samuel Chapter 6, verse 14, here's what it says: "David danced before the Lord with all," can you say "all"? All his might.

What does that mean, to dance before the Lord with all his might? David has forgotten who he is. Now that he's King, he's forgotten. He really didn't, but you understand. He's forgotten who's watching, that everybody's looking at him. He danced before the Lord as if he's all alone with God. David was so overwhelmed by the grace of God that he acted as if nobody else is around, just he and God. David was so overwhelmed with the goodness of God that he could not find words to express his praise to God.

The man who wrote some of the most magnificent poetry, the man who wrote some of the most magnificent prayers, the man who wrote some of the most significant psalms, he is now without word. Speechless. So much so that he stripped himself of his dignity and his skin. Why? To the honor of his Lord, to the praiseworthiness of his Lord, in adoration and thanksgiving for the grace of the Lord. The last thing on his mind was his own honor, his own dignity, or even his own position as a King. All he could think of was the glory of God, the praiseworthiness of God.

But then enter Her Majesty, Queen Michal. First of all, she was not in the celebration. She was not participating in the praising of God. She was not even giving a helping hand with what's going on. No, she was watching on television, or watching online. She was watching from her window. And when she saw what she saw her husband, King David, doing, she was livid. Livid. All she can think of was, "Just wait till he comes home. Just wait till I get hold of him."

Queen Michal was waiting for King David, not to bless him, not to thank God for him, not to say how great that you honored God and you didn't care about who's watching. No, she had both barrels of both guns loaded. And as soon as he got through the door: bang, bang, bang, bang, bang. Michal's pride was running wild. It was really running wild. And that is why she had a terrible, sick self-image and insecurity. There is a difference between a biblically healthy self-image and a sick self-image.

A biblically healthy self-image says, "I know that I am by birth and by nature fallen, have a depraved mind, and I'm prone to sin. But the King of all kings, the King of the universe, when I repented of my sins, he adopted me into his family. He gave me his last name. He forgave me all of my sins—past, present, and future. He has given me unearned and undeserved grace. He appointed me as an ambassador of the King, wherever you are." That is a biblically healthy self-image. And that's all the confidence you need.

A sick self-image says, "I'm very important in my own eyes. I might have some problems, but I'm not going to let anybody know about them. I feel terrible about myself, but I will not let anyone get close enough to me to see this. I am going to project an image of myself that I want people to see. I am going to keep that mask on and no one is going to let me take it off." I believe with all my heart, God can heal a sick self-image. God can redeem a sick self-image. God can transform a sick self-image. God, who's changed me, can change you, and he can change you from the inside out.

All has to begin with confession and repentance and humility before God. Second Samuel 6:20 shows an example of a sick self-image in Queen Michal. Here's how she did it: "How is the King of Israel distinguished himself today?" She's blowing it up so you can see it. "Disrobing himself of his royal robe in front of the servants? This is how a low-class, vulgar man would do." The Bible only gives us a summary of what she said; it doesn't tell us everything. But I'm going to take some liberty because, growing up in the Middle East, I am closer to the culture than you realize.

"You grew up as a poor shepherd boy, but I grew up in the palace." It's in Hebrew, of course, not in English. That's what a sick self-image does. It either forgets its roots or deliberately denies its roots. She didn't say anything about the fact that when Prophet Samuel found her father and made him King, he was only a donkey keeper, and a lousy one at that. He lost the donkeys that he's supposed to be taking care of when Samuel met him. She probably said to him, "Your family is a bunch of Yahoos, but I was brought up in the palace protocol."

Her out-of-control pride not only prevented her from the joy of participating in the praise of the Lord, but her out-of-control pride robbed her of the blessings that can only come from praising God. And she wanted to impose her misery on her husband. David's response is classic. I think David, if he spoke English, he would have said, "Protocol my foot. Protocol is the last thing that concerns me. I am made for the praise of the Lord. I am made to worship my God. I am made to honor my Lord. I am made for the praise of his glory. And furthermore, God honored me for honoring him first and foremost."

How many people do you know allow their so-called dignity to keep them from honoring and praising the Lord? By the way, a person who is not honoring the Lord publicly is because probably they're not praising God privately. How many people do you know who shout themselves silly in a ball game, but when it comes to praising God, they can't move the lips? How many people do you know who literally lose all inhibition at a stadium, but then in the presence of God, they put their hands in their pockets? Pride that is not under the control of the Holy Spirit has robbed many a people of the joy of praise and a praise-filled life.

But then there are others who can make up a show of public worship, just words. Their heart is far from God. Only God knows. Their heart is still filled with anger, with hatred, with envy, with lust, and with the rest of it. They may be able to mouth the words, but that's it. The first thing you need to do if you want to develop a praise-filled life is to come clean with God. Surrender your intellect, surrender your feelings, and yes, surrender your will. Then you do the same thing all over again every single morning.

That, my beloved friend, is the sacrifice of praise. Have you ever thought about why the Bible calls it the sacrifice of praise? You don't just get up and sing; that's because we don't understand what a praise-filled life is. One of the hardest things for me personally—and I've done it maybe three or four times in my years of preaching—is Abraham offering his son Isaac as a sacrifice. Other than the cross, the cross just makes me fall apart because I recognize that my sins were carried on that cross and because I've been set free by the blood that was shed on that cross.

But preaching and teaching about Abraham offering Isaac, I have to confess to you, next to the cross, is the most difficult thing I've ever done. God is asking Abraham to offer the object of his love. He's asking him to offer the object of his joy. He's asking him to offer the object of his life. Listen to me, it is painful enough to lose a child. Even though it was a common practice back then in the time of Abraham—even pagans did it to their gods—it is hard, it is difficult. You can't imagine willingly doing that.

But the Lord often teaches me some things when I get to that passage. Did God want Abraham to really sacrifice Isaac? No. Did God let him sacrifice Isaac? No. Did God need Isaac? No, he gave him Isaac after 25 years of waiting. He gave him to him as a fulfillment of that promise he made 25 years earlier. In many ways, praise is a sacrifice. That's why the Bible calls it the sacrifice of praise. Why is it a sacrifice? Because praise, genuine praise, costs us something. Genuine thanksgiving and praise to God costs us our pride. It does.

Genuine praise-filled life costs us the self-made label. Praise costs us our own self-importance. Praise costs us our own self-sufficiency. Praise requires us to say to the Lord, "Lord, I yield all my possessions. I yield all my dreams. I yield all my goals. Lord, I yield all of my relationships. Lord, I yield my all. My all. My all." Beloved, that is the praise-filled life that's worthy of the name. Mouthing few words, that's not it. Developing a praise-filled life costs us something.

Guest (Male): Thank you for taking time in your day for Leading the Way with Dr. Michael Youssef. What you heard today is part of a life-altering series from Dr. Youssef. It's called Empowered by Praise. The content isn't just available on this radio program, but also through our audio stream, which you can find at LTW.org, as well as on the Leading the Way app and the podcast. You can find out more about all of these at LTW.org. Also, as a response to Dr. Youssef's message on praise, we want to praise God and thank you for your generosity. We thank you for your ongoing support of the ministry of Leading the Way. In fact, right now, Dr. Youssef is offering an opportunity for you to be a part of the Open Door Campaign.

Guest (Male): Leading the Way is mobilizing for the next great awakening in North America. Join Dr. Youssef in this bold five-year mission to passionately proclaim uncompromising truth in three strategic areas: here at home, the Middle East, and remote villages. It's the Open Door Campaign. Thanks to generous ministry partners like you, we are seeing a dramatic increase in Gospel impact in North America.

Guest (Male): We've stumbled and we've gone a different way, but we can always come back and God is there and he's willing to bless our communities, bless our neighborhoods.

Guest (Male): And even greater opportunities on the horizon through Wake America rallies in key cities, cutting-edge tools like My Faith Assistant, timely biblically-based resources, LTW's new Smart TV, and biblical teaching on every available platform.

Guest (Female): I had lost my first love for so many years. Now, I've rededicated my life to Jesus after listening to your messages.

Guest (Female): I want to thank you for your ministry counselor who called me back within 24 hours. He answered my questions about Jesus.

Dr. Michael Youssef: The door is open, and only God in heaven knows when will it be closed. Will you commit to joining me to boldly walk through these open doors together?

Guest (Male): Learn more at LTW.org. This program is furnished by Leading the Way with Dr. Michael Youssef, passionately proclaiming uncompromising truth around the world. Learn more at LTW.org.