Dwelling Place

Al Pittman: For other people, the Lord is a fire alarm. Break glass in case of emergency. The only time I really commune with God or seek the face of God is when I'm in an emergency, I'm in trouble. For other people, the Lord is a vending machine. He's there just to give me the stuff that I want.

But David says the Lord is a present help, the Bible says, in time of need. You are my dwelling place, dwelling place, dwelling place. You are my dwelling place, dwelling place, dwelling place.

Guest (Male): Thank you for listening to the Dwelling Place, a radio ministry from Pastor Al Pittman of Al Pittman Ministries. The purpose of this radio program is to encourage you, strengthen your walk with the Lord, and grow. To support this program financially or learn more about the ministry, visit us online at alpittmanministries.com. That's alpittmanministries.com. Thank you for partnering with us. Now, here's Pastor Al.

Al Pittman: If you'll turn in your Bibles to Psalm 27, we'll be looking at that psalm, and I've entitled this message, In God We Trust. In God we trust is a motto that we have on our money, but here's the real question this morning: Is it in your heart? Because if it's just in your money, it's no good.

In God we trust. Do we really trust God, or is it just a motto to you, a Christian cliché? Or is it really impressed upon your heart? We're going to talk about that this morning because we're going to consider the life of King David. One of the things that we all have in common—I don't care what color you are, where you come from, how much money you have in your 401(k) or don't have, who you work for, or status in life—none of that really matters. Here's one thing that we all have in common, and that is trouble. Amen.

Everybody has trouble. I've never run across anybody who says, "I don't have any troubles." Jesus told us that we would have trouble. Here's a promise that I know every one of us knows that is true in our own lives when He said, "In the world you will have tribulation, but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world." I've never met a believer even that has come up and said, "I don't know about that tribulation thing, I've never had any tribulation." If you are here, happen to be here this morning, and you've never had any trouble or tribulation, we hate you. No, I'm sorry. Pray for us, I guess.

Everyone has had trouble and tribulation and gone through tough times. The promise we have as a believer is the Lord said, "I've overcome the world," and we can overcome through Jesus Christ. King David here in Psalm 27 is overcoming trouble. He's actually in trouble. Yes, David, the one who slew Goliath, that we hear all the wonderful stories about. David was not a perfect man, many of us know that, but David also found himself many times in trouble. In Psalm 27, he's in trouble.

What's happening here? Here's the back story. He's being pursued by King Saul. King Saul wants David dead. He's jealous about David, he doesn't like David, and he wants David dead. David probably is hiding out, many scholars believe, at this time in a place called Ein Gedi. It is located on the western side of the Dead Sea in Israel. It's like a little oasis. If you've ever been to Israel, maybe you stopped at Ein Gedi.

It's like a little oasis in the middle of the desert. It has a waterfall and there's caves where you can hide out and a lot of vegetation and all. Many scholars believe at the time he wrote Psalm 27, he was hiding out from King Saul in fear of his life in Ein Gedi, at this place. That's the back story of Psalm 27 where we find David. Within David's life, we find five aspects, what I call aspects of faith, that is trust in God manifested through his life.

In his example of how to respond in faith in times of trouble, we look at what we can see what faith or trust in God looks like in troubled times. Maybe you came in this morning and you were excited and full of joy, and then I come here and this guy's talking about trouble. You're bringing me down, Pastor, you're bringing me down. I don't mean to bring you down. You may not be in trouble right now. There may be some of us who are going through a troubling time, but here's the reality: Trouble will come again.

We all face it at one time or another, but the truth is that trouble doesn't last always. How do we get through trouble? David shows us how in Psalm 27. How do we get through trouble? By faith. We're going to look at that this morning. If you would join me in prayer before we go any further and ask for God's blessing upon His word.

Father, we ask in the name of Jesus that You would speak to us through Your word. It is Your word; it is truth. Jesus said, "My word is spirit, it is life." Father, I pray that Your word would go forth and accomplish that which You send it to do and not return to You void. I pray, Father, that You grant to us as Your sheep, as Your people, ears to hear what the Spirit of God is saying to the church today.

Father, we live in troubled times. May we glean from David's example from Your word how to respond in troubled times that You may be glorified through our lives. We commit this time to You now and we ask it in Jesus' name. Amen. Praise the Lord.

The first aspect of faith that I find in David's life—and I've given each one of these aspects a different title—is what I call assured faith. That is assurance in God. David has assurance in God even though he's going through this time of trouble, and he recognizes this in verses one to three. If you read along with me in Psalm 27, verse one, he says, "The Lord is my light and my salvation, whom shall I fear? The Lord is the strength of my life, of whom shall I be afraid?"

"When the wicked came against me to eat up my flesh, my enemies and foes, they stumbled and fell." Verse three, "Though an army may encamp against me, my heart shall not fear. Though war may rise against me, in this I will be confident." Confidence in what, David? Confidence in his God. In this I will be confident.

I want you to note the phrase David uses here. He uses it twice. He says, "The Lord is." Will you just meditate on that for a minute? The Lord is. Not the Lord was, or the Lord used to be, or the Lord I hopefully will be, but the Lord is. He's talking about a present reality in his life. What the Lord is to him. The Lord is.

What is the Lord to you? For some people, the Lord is a business plan. I use principles in the Bible to help me to be a successful businessperson so I can make money. For other people, the Lord is a fire alarm. Break glass in case of emergency. Only time I really commune with God or seek the face of God is when I'm in an emergency, I'm in trouble. For other people, the Lord is a vending machine. He's there just to give me the stuff that I want.

David says what the Lord is to him. The Lord is a present help, the Bible says, in time of need. Those other explanations of what the Lord is are very demeaning definitions of what the Lord is. What does the Bible say about who the Lord is? Let me go through just a few of them.

Genesis chapter one, verse one says the Lord is Elohim. The Hebrew word Elohim means God, Creator. Everything that we see around us has been made from the resources, minerals, and everything else that we have in earth. Everything that's been made—the person sitting next to you, everything—God is the origin of all things, the Creator of all things. He's Elohim.

In Exodus chapter three, verse 14, it says that the Lord is Yahweh. Moses said, "Lord, who should I tell Pharaoh has sent me? What do I say to Pharaoh when he says who sent you to me?" He says, "Tell him, I am who I am." He is everything. I am who I am. He always was, He always will be. He's all that we need.

In Genesis 17, verse one, who is the Lord? The Lord is El Shaddai. What does El Shaddai mean in Hebrew? It means God Almighty. Think of it, the God who created the heavens and the earth, who holds the universe in the span of His hand. He is God Almighty. God Almighty who parts the sea, who brings down mountains, who changes the landscape of the earth. He's God Almighty.

In Genesis chapter 15, verse two, who is the Lord? The Lord is Adonai. He is Lord, literally Lord and Master. Is He Lord and Master of your life? The writer of the book of Hebrews, chapter 12, verse 28, calls God a consuming fire. That's our God. He's a consuming fire. He's Lord and Master, He's Creator, He's God Almighty. Who is the Lord to you?

Here's the most important thing God is to us because of the cross of Christ. Who is God to us? He's your Father. Did Jesus not teach us to pray, "When you pray, say Our Father who art in heaven"? Amen. He's our Father. That's the greatest title that we can give to God, that He is your Father. The Bible says in the Gospel of John that we've been given the right through faith in Christ to be called children of God. You are His daughter, you are God's son through faith in Christ.

Romans chapter eight, Paul the Apostle says the Spirit of God within us who bears witness with our spirit that we belong to God, crying out within us, "Abba, Father." Literally Abba, Daddy. Abba, Papa. Isn't that the greatest thing that God can be to you and to me, that He is our Father? Who is God to you?

Maybe you don't know the Lord today. Maybe you've never given your life to Jesus Christ and God is a judge. Oh, but in Christ, He's Daddy. Amen. Isn't that glorious? This mighty God wants to be your Father today, and you can know Him through faith in Christ by giving your life to Jesus Christ, by saying, "Lord, come into my life. I receive You as my Lord and Savior. I confess my sin to You."

The Bible says if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus Christ, believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, that you will be saved. God will not be your judge, but He'll become your Father. Amen. I pray that if you don't know the Lord today, that you would do that. The writer of the book of Hebrews says that He is a consuming fire. That also means that He destroys all of our iniquities, separates us from our sins as far as the east is from the west. Amen.

Thus we find three reasons why David has this great confidence. He knows God is with him. He knows that God is his assurance, and he says, "In this I will be confident," and he gives three reasons why he's confident. Number one, he says, "The Lord is my light." He says, "I'm confident because the Lord is my light." The Lord is my light, my salvation. He says the Lord is my light, my divine illumination for life, for prosperity, and for instruction in life. That's what God is to us. God is the light of my life.

No matter how dark the world gets, we're never in darkness as believers because we have God's word. His word is a lamp to our feet, a light to our path. Amen. It continues to lead and guide us no matter who's in the White House, no matter which party is in power. It doesn't matter. God's word is the lamp to our life and our direction.

Secondly, David says the Lord is my salvation. The word salvation from the Hebrew word Yasha means the Lord is my deliverance, my rescuer, safety, my welfare. Amen. God is my deliverer. Aren't you glad He's your rescuer? All the things God has rescued me from and what He's rescued you from. He's our deliverer, He's our safety. The safest place in the world right now and the safest place in the world ever is in Jesus Christ.

I know people are building bunkers and all, and no condemnation for preppers. Amen. There's no condemnation in Christ. But the reality is the safest place for my soul is in Jesus. He's the safe place. I know young people many times tout the idea of needing to have a safe place. I think about this younger generation and I think about my generation; there was no safe place for us.

We rode bicycles without helmets. Our parents drove cars and we didn't have any seatbelts. The only seatbelt you had was your mom holding you back from hitting the dashboard when your dad slammed on the brakes. We drank from water hoses out in the yard. We did all kind of crazy stuff, ate bugs, whatever. Amen. There was no safety.

In fact, your folks would get sick of you sitting around the house. "What are you doing in the house? Get outside and play." Go jump off the tree or a roof or something there, whatever, break a leg. I think when they said "go break a leg," they meant it back then. Amen. But we did all kind of crazy stuff. The safest place that we have really is in Jesus Christ. Thank God. He is our deliverer, our rescuer, our safety, and our welfare.

The third layer of David's confidence comes from the fact that the Lord is my strength. The Lord is my strength. Aren't you glad He's your strength? You may have come in here this morning and you're just barely making it. "Pastor, you don't know, I almost didn't come. Instead of turning right, I was going to go left. I was going to go maybe to a restaurant or something, but I'm here. I just barely made it in." I have good news for you: When you have no strength, He becomes your strength.

Isaiah chapter 40, verse 29 says that He gives power to the weak, and to those who have no strength, He increases strength. Amen. You say, "I've got no strength." God says, "I've got you exactly where I want you." Because when we come to the end of ourselves, that's where God begins. When we come to the end of our efforts, we come to the end of what we can do, that's when God begins to do His best work.

He does His best work in our lives in weakness, not in strength. We like to be in control, but that's not the way He works. Paul the Apostle said, "Lord, take this thorn out of my flesh," this weakness that Paul wrestled with. "Take this thing away from me, I'll be a better Christian if You just take this away from me." Jesus showed up and said, "No, My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is perfected through your weakness, your utter dependence upon God." Amen.

So when I am weak, Paul said, "I will boast in it because when I'm weak, I'm strong." That's an affront to our human way of thinking, but that's where our strength is. Our strength is in the Lord, it's not in ourselves. In troubled times, we have an anchor that holds. Amen. That anchor is Jesus. David looked to that anchor and said his confidence is in that anchor that holds through these troubled times.

The second aspect of faith and trust in God that David expresses is what I call intimate faith. David is seeking intimacy in the midst of his trouble. Verse four says, "One thing," David says, "I have desired of the Lord, and that will I seek after. That will I seek after: that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to behold the beauty, the beauty of the Lord, and to inquire in His temple." Verse five, "For in the time of what? Trouble. He shall hide me in His pavilion; in the secret place of His tabernacle. He shall hide me; He shall set me high upon a rock." Amen.

One thing David desired. What did he desire of the Lord? He desired intimacy with the Lord. That will I seek after. He wanted to draw close to God. In troubled times, trouble has a way of bringing a distance between you and God. In other words, in troubled times, we seem to not want to read the Bible, pray, go to church, or witness. We don't want to do anything, and there's this distance that takes place.

But David, rather than be pulled away from God, he pressed into God and he drew near to God. He wanted to be even more intimate with God in troubled times. There's something called Newton's Third Law of Motion. Sir Isaac Newton. I had to look this one up, but it makes sense because this is what it says in Newton's Third Law of Motion. Many of you probably know this. It says, "With every action there is an equal and opposite reaction."

It's so true. You can apply it spiritually as well. James chapter four, verse eight says it this way. James says if we draw near to God, what's the other equal and opposite reaction? If we draw near to God, God will draw near to you. In troubled times, we separate from God. No, God says that's when you need to press in. David, rather than drawing away from God, is drawing near to God, seeking intimacy with God.

In fact, when we are hurting, the Bible says in Psalm 51 that God delights in a broken and contrite spirit. He doesn't leave us when we're broken or when we're going through a difficult time. That's when He draws near even closer in those times. David understood that in troubled times, if God is not the one thing—he said, "one thing I have desired of the Lord"—if God is not the one thing, then the devil will give you another thing.

The devil gives you options. There's a way that seems right to a man, but it leads to destruction and death. If God is not the one thing in your life, the devil will give you an option for other things. He must be the one thing. In fact, Jesus demands to be number one in our life. He demands it; it's not a suggestion, it's a commandment.

In Luke chapter 14, verse 26, Jesus said this. Now, there's a lot of things that Jesus said that pastors who want to really grow the church today would never say. If you really want to pack them in, you've got to say things that make them feel good and they'll come back because you make everybody happy. Jesus said this. It was one of those things that most pastors would probably try to stay away from today, but it should be said.

He said, "If anyone comes to Me and does not hate his father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, yes, even his own life, he cannot be My disciple." Wow. Is that radical? Jesus, lighten up. No, He doesn't. He doesn't apologize for saying that. He said you cannot be My disciple if you love other people more than you love Me.

Let me just say what He's not saying. He's not saying that you should leave church today, go to your mama's house, knock on the door, and when your mother answers the door, slap your mama. He's not saying that. "Pastor told me I've got to hate my mama." No, that's not what we're saying here. Jesus is saying that if you love your mother, your love for Me has to be so much greater that when you compare the two, it looks like hatred.

Your love for your life and the love for Jesus has to be so much distance between your wants and God's will that it actually looks like hatred. I have to ask myself the question then: Lord, why do I struggle so much with my desires and not wanting to do Your will and wanting to do what I want to do in the flesh? It is because I love myself more than I love God.

I have to confess that. God, change that in my life because it's only in loving You that I can really live. Didn't Jesus say that? He who desires to save his life will lose it, but those who lose their life for His sake will find it. Amen.

Guest (Male): Learn more about Pastor Al and his ministry by visiting alpittmanministries.com. Also consider supporting us financially. You can send a check to Al Pittman Ministries at PO Box 50584, Colorado Springs, Colorado, 80949, or visit us online. Thank you for your prayers and your support. Your generosity keeps this radio ministry going.

Lastly, we would love to hear from you. You can contact us by emailing info@alpittmanministries.com. That's info@alpittmanministries.com. We look forward to hearing from you. Again, thank you for joining us and we'll see you next time on the Dwelling Place. God bless.

Have you been wanting to hear Pastor Al teach live? Well, now's your chance.

Al Pittman: Your sanctification is under the Father's authority. How God's going to provide for you is under His authority. How God is going to strengthen you is under His authority. Faith is trusting God for His part while doing my part.

Guest (Male): Join Pastor Al at Legacy of Faith Church in Denver, Colorado on Palm Sunday, March 29th. There Pastor Al will be teaching a dynamic Palm Sunday message that you don't want to miss. Doors open at 9:15 AM. Service begins at 10:30 AM. Head to legacyoffaithchurch.com to get directions or get more information. That's legacyoffaithchurch.com. We'll see you there.