First Baptist Church of Highland Park

Rev. Dr. Henry P. Davis III: Hi, I'm Henry Davis, pastor of the First Baptist Church of Highland Park in Landover, Maryland, a Bible-believing, Christ-centered, and spirit-led congregation. I want to welcome you to our radio broadcast and remember, there's power at the Park.

Psalm 124 beginning at verse number one, I'm reading it in its entirety from the New Living Translation. We've been referring to it, but I had not necessarily preached from it. What if the Lord had not been on our side? Let all Israel repeat. What if the Lord had not been on our side when people attacked us? They would have swallowed us alive in their burning anger. The waters would have engulfed us, a torrent would have overwhelmed us. Yes, the raging waters of their fury would have overwhelmed our very lives.

Praise the Lord, who did not let their teeth tear us apart. We escaped like a bird from a hunter's trap. The trap is broken, and we are free. Our help is from the Lord, who made heaven and earth. Our help is from the Lord, who made heaven and earth. Amen. You may go to your seats around the building. Our help is from the Lord, who made heaven and earth. He made it all.

Brother Browder was talking about the history of the world on Friday night. But I want to talk in this setting and service from the theme "The Evidence Is Everywhere." The evidence is everywhere. Everywhere you look, there's evidence of the goodness of God. Throughout this weekend, I'm talking about a faith that refuses to flinch.

Last night, I looked at Thomas, whom we commonly refer to as doubting Thomas. But again, he ends up coming to the point that he is the first person to really pull together in a verbal way of Jesus Christ as God and that combination. He said, "My Lord and my God." That's the statement that he makes.

And I talked last night about how it's more than a feeling. Your faith has to be more than just a feel-good moment, just getting up because I feel. God does not deal with feelings. He does not ask the disciples, "How do you feel today? Do you feel like doing miracles? Do you feel like seeing lame folk get up? Do you feel like seeing food multiplied from a little lad's lunch?" He does not ask us how we feel.

But again, we realize that Thomas comes into the realization and evidence of a living Christ. I said last night he came through locked doors. He was able to vaporize himself almost like a Marvel movie, able to come through. But yet, able to come through in a miraculous way and make his body reappear. Because Thomas, it says, put his hand. He said, "Touch my hands, feel the nail prints, the scars, the pain, all of those things."

And so we realize the evidence is everywhere. Everywhere you look, you see the presence of God. Getting out of your car, coming in and out of your house, you see and feel the presence of God. You get it not because you've been so good, not because you dotted every 'I' or crossed every 'T.' The evidence is everywhere.

One of the great blessings of spiritual maturity is learning how to look back and recognize the hand of God in places you could not see Him. I could not see Him, but He was there. I made that decision and I thought I was making that decision on my own, but God was guiding me.

When David writes Psalm 124, he is standing in the middle of a battle. How can it be? He's in a battle, he's going through it, there's danger all around. He is standing on the other side of it. He is looking back over dangers he has survived, traps he has escaped, enemies he has defeated, and impossible situations he has overcome.

And as he reflects, he arrives at one undeniable conclusion: if the Lord had not been on our side. Not been. You've got viruses in the air. You've got challenges going on. I'm glad they got the Kennedy Center straight, but all of that. If I had time, I'd have gone down there too to see the name taken down.

David is essentially saying, "When I review the evidence, there is no natural explanation for how we made it." You can't explain how you've made it. You can't explain how you've come out of addiction, heartbreak, how you've come out of shut doors, how you've come out of times you've fallen, but God said, "I'm throwing out a lifeline."

The evidence all points to God. It's not luck, it's not coincidence, it's not chance. I ride past these places and they say, "Come in and I can read your palm. Come in, we can look into a crystal ball." I thank God I have come not because of favorable circumstances, but the evidence all points to God.

If we're honest this morning, many of us have the same testimony. You should not have survived some of what you survived. You should not have recovered from what tried to break you. And even if you're in our virtual space, there are things that tried to break you, but I'm leaning and depending on God.

Thanks be to God for your exercise program and your gym memberships and your energy drinks and your coffee in the morning, but where would I be without the strength of God? You should not have bounced back from disappointments and betrayals and failures and setbacks and storms that came your way, yet you're still here.

I'm giving God praise. I'm still here and I'm still standing. That's right, Tracy, I'm still believing, I'm still worshipping, and I refuse to flinch. I'm not going to flinch. The evidence is everywhere.

Psalm 124 is one of fifteen songs of ascent. It is a song of ascent. It was sung by the pilgrims on their way to Jerusalem because Jerusalem was at a higher elevation and they were ascending. And as they journeyed upward toward worship, they would sing songs. That's what Psalm 124 is. It is a song and it is a remembrance song because we're going to remember what God has done in our lives.

Perhaps that is what we need this morning. Before we ask God for anything, maybe we should take a moment and review the evidence. Look at the evidence. Look at the evidence. I'm reading a book now, an NFL history book. It's talking about turf wars. It's talking about turf wars and I'm in the chapter now where they're dealing with deflated footballs and Tom Brady and the New England Patriots and they were trying to gather evidence.

They were trying to gather evidence, but you have to understand that sometimes Satan is trying to gather evidence on you. Satan is trying to discourage you. Satan is trying to have you to throw in the towel. "You can't do what you're doing. Who do you think you are? Don't you know where you have come from?"

No one, as the New Testament says, "Can anything good come out of Nazareth?" Because Nazareth was like Southeast, was like Harlem, like the hood. My God, but no matter where you have come from, it's not where I've come from, it's where I'm going. I thank God that God could take a mess and make a miracle. God can take you from your lowest places and pick you up and give you the confidence and the courage to run on a little while longer.

Lift up your head, throw back your shoulders, give God the praise because God is not through with you yet. Because when you remember what God has already done, your faith gains strength—strength for what you're facing right now. Thank You God for the strength You can give to me. Thank You God for how You can empower me.

You can't see the strength that God has placed within you. There's a wind underneath your wings. There's an excitement about you. And the reason why I'm so excited is because I can think about all the things God has already done. Already, already done a miracle.

Matter of fact, some of you, I heard one of our members say, "I've lived longer than everybody in my family." I'm looking around this room and God has kept us here, not because we've dotted every 'I' or crossed every 'T,' but I'm here by the grace of God. Grace woke me up this morning. Grace started me on my way. Hallelujah, the evidence.

I'm thanking God for the evidence. Point number one: some victories cannot be explained naturally. David had a question, not because he lacked faith, but because he wants people to think. What if? What if God had not intervened? What if God had not stepped in? What if God had not protected us? What if God had not provided for us? What if God had not sustained us?

The implication is clear, my brothers and sisters: we would not be here. David recognized that some victories cannot be explained by human effort alone. We could sell all the faith-strong paraphernalia, and I suggest you go by and get you some, but I thank God it's more than a T-shirt. It's more than what's on the outside, it's something on the inside.

There are moments in life when all the facts suggest defeat, defeat. That was Good Friday, that there was defeat. We call it good now because of what happened after that Friday. But on that Friday, it was not a good Friday to see our Savior who had done nothing to anybody, but He's hanging there on a cross for all of our sins.

My God, but the odds have been against some of you in this room. Yes, the resources were insufficient, the pressure is overwhelming, the opposition is fierce, yet somehow you still come through. That's what happens when God gets involved. When God steps into your situation, you can lift up your head.

Folk are trying to figure out, "How can you be so positive?" I heard a sermon preached by Bishop Frank Madison Reid years ago. We were at Camden Yards and Dr. Harold Carter and Bishop Frank Madison Reid were preaching a revival, a three-day revival at Oriole Park. Oriole Park, that's where they play baseball.

But they were out there talking. On that third night, Bishop Reid was talking about being positive. But it's more than just Norman Vincent Peale being positive. I can be positive because of what is anchored in the word of God. And because of what God has already done, I can get up this morning. I've got a praise and I've got to get it out.

The old saints used to say, "The Lord makes a way out of nowhere." That statement is not poetic exaggeration; it is a theological truth because God specializes in doing what human ability cannot accomplish.

My God, the children of Israel stood trapped between Pharaoh and the Red Sea. Naturally speaking, they were finished. But thanks be to God, they had not gotten started because God opened a path where there was no path. That's a sermon right there. There was no path, but God can open a path.

They can tell you you're not going to succeed, you're not going to soar, but I thank God that God can step into that situation, give you just what you need, just when you need it. There's seniors in our congregation this morning and they can testify that there were months when the bills exceeded the income.

Yet somehow, the mortgage was paid. My God, we've got all these kinds of things going on: gas bills, electric bills, water bills, all these kinds of things. But thanks be to God that God is still sustaining us. And you see out there, the Highlands going up. You need to get on the list before July 1st. If you're going to move in up there, you better get your application in, get your name on the list because everybody before July 1st is going to get a special deal.

And so you better, if you're going to come, don't wait until after July 1st. I need to tell somebody the food is on the table this morning. And I thank God that even sometimes where you don't see the food, how Mama can make food come alive. You would come in and look and say, "There ain't nothing here." Oh yes, it is. My mother would say, "Make the table, put the plates down, put the fork." "What you going to do?" Then the next thing you know, she's stirring something up. Next thing you know, there's an aroma in the room.

I thank God that you might not see the possibilities, but God does. And somebody who's here this morning can celebrate the fact that God looked at you and He said, "I see great things ahead, the best is yet to come." All I need for you to do is hold on. God provided.

Some young adults have watched doors open professionally that made no paper sense at all. Matter of fact, that's what we talked about this week down at the Hampton conference. There's one thing to have sense, but then there's nonsense. Nonsense, thanks be to God.

Your qualifications weren't perfect, your timing wasn't ideal, yet God made a way. Because some victories cannot be explained naturally. A faith that refuses to flinch understands that God's fingerprints are often found on outcomes that logic cannot fully explain. I can't explain it.

I can't explain how a man could be born blind and start to see. I can't explain it, how a lame man could come to a healing session, couldn't get in the front door, couldn't get in the side door, and they had to take that brother to the roof and lower him down. Take it to the roof, I can't fully explain that.

I can't explain how a little boy with a little lunch could feed five thousand folk. I can't explain that. I can't explain how God can make a way out of nowhere. I can't explain that, and you can't explain it either. But all you need to do is just pause and praise.

I've got to pause and praise. Sometimes you've got to pull off the road just to give God some praise. Sometimes you've just got to sit in your rocking chair and give God some praise. Sometimes you've got to hang on the edge of your bed and give God some praise.

Some victories cannot be explained naturally. My God, don't you know you're looking at a miracle? Matter of fact, everybody in here could have been taken out of here. You could have been taken out of here with a stray bullet, a drunk driver. You could have been taken out of here by some act of violence.

Do I have a witness here? I'm looking at you, Reverend Nicole. You are my preaching testimony because somebody shot you in the head and you were laid out there on the pavement with blood everywhere. But here you are in the house of God, able to give God some praise. There were folk that counted you out, but God, true story, counted you in.

I thank God, and here's my second point: some traps were broken before they could destroy you. Broken before they could destroy you. That seventh verse, it says, "We escaped like a bird from a hunter's trap. The trap is broken, and we are free." That's liberation theology. That's being able to break out of where you are, breaking out of your mind trap, my God, and your limitations.

And thinking, my God, that you serving some European God. No, no, no. There's a God, our God looks just like we do, comes from the same place we come from. Do I have a witness here? Don't you tell me. We had ancestors who could build pyramids and all these great things. The trap is broken. We are free. My God, the Lord has let set you free.

I'm free to give God praise. If I want to run around the church, I can run. Free! I'm free. See, when you're free, you don't have to make up stuff. You can be who God has called you to be. Free, free. I'm not going to come to church and act like I'm in a library. I'm free. I can say Hallelujah. I can lift up my hands. I can give God some praise. I wish I had a witness in here. I'm going to give God the praise.

Free. We escaped like a bird from a hunter's trap. Trap is broken. Free. I'm going to give God some praise. I thank God for our usher. He's gone on to be with the Lord. But sometimes he would get off of his post, he'd come down here, fall down on his knees, and start praising God.

When you think about the goodness of Jesus, you can't worry about protocol. You can't worry about what people think about me. I'm not here because of what you think. I'm here because of what God has done for me. Hallelujah! Hallelujah! I've got a praise and I've got to get it out. I will lift up my voice. I will give God the praise.

And the reason why I can do it, Dean, I've got evidence. Matter of fact, if I were to use a modern terminology, I'd say I've got receipts. Check my receipts. And sometimes the only receipt I need is to look in the mirror. Do I have a witness? That's my receipt that God is a great God. That's my receipt that God is watching over me. That's my receipt. I will lean and depend on Him.

The evidence is everywhere. Trap is broken. We're free. Thank You God. David made a shift from flood imagery to honey imagery. He describes a bird escaping a hunter's trap. The hunter planned carefully. The trap was intentional. The danger was real. Yet the bird escaped because the trap broke.

Notice what David does not say. He does not say the bird was stronger than the trap. He does not say the bird outsmarted the trap. He says the trap broke. Who broke it? God. Who opened the door? God.

Because there are moments when God destroys what was designed to destroy you. Devil had a plan, but God's plan overruled his plan. Don't you know the devil has a plan to destroy every one of you, every one of us? But we've got to rise, we've got to shine, and we're going to give God some glory.

I don't know what your week held. I don't know what you went through. Brother Tracy, your mother went on to be with the Lord this week, but you're in the house of God. You're giving God praise. I thank God, I've got evidence. I've got evidence. I've got evidence. I've got evidence.

The reality of spiritual traps—not every attack in your life arrives with warning signs. Some dangers are hidden. Some attacks are disguised. Some traps are carefully concealed. I don't know why some of our Nubian brothers and sisters did not believe that Project 2025 was a real plan. "I'm voting for him because he's a businessman." But you need to know his business is not your business. He don't have any business for you.

That's why he talked about "a Black job." Come on, somebody. How far is your memory? You have to understand that the enemy will set traps of discouragement, temptation, addiction, fear, bitterness, pride, unforgiveness, despair. Yet, yet we serve a God who specializes in breaking traps.

The word picture here in Hebrew suggests complete liberation. Not merely surviving, not merely enduring, but escaping. God didn't just help them to endure the trap; He destroyed the trap itself.

And some of you in this room can look back, you can say, "I almost became bitter. I almost quit. I almost walked away." Matter of fact, there was a Sunday you might have walked out and you said, "I'm through with the church. I almost gave up." But God. Somebody look at somebody, say, "But God."

But God! And God can break the trap. See, the first trap is the trap of my mind. If I can trap your mind, I can trap your future. I want to trap you. I want to contain you. And some younger persons can testify, "I almost let one mistake define my future." No mistake is going to define your future. "I almost let one relationship ruin my purpose."

Many of us in this room have been in some bad relationships. Thank God, thank God that the trap was broken. I mean, you all just were, "I don't need to eat, I'm in love." Thank God when you ran back to the reunion and they didn't have any more teeth, all they had falling out, and they had gained 150 pounds and you remember me. The trap is broken.

God could see further than you could see. Almost let one failure convince us that we were finished, but God broke the trap. Come on, somebody. I went to school with a young lady. I mean, she was fine. I mean, she was fine. I ran into her at homecoming. I looked. Where'd she go?

You met some brothers like that. They used to walk the hallway, quarterback of the football team, on the basketball squad, running touchdowns. You thought you were in love. But now they're not running anything. Best they could do is shuffle. Come on, somebody. God broke the trap.

Satan wants to trap us, wants to destroy us, wants to pull us down. But here's the other thing: somebody ought to be able to praise God just for what God has brought you through. Ought to praise God for what God never allowed to happen. Every unseen danger, every canceled attack, every blocked scheme, every trap that never reached its intended destination. The trap was set, but the trap was broken.

Here's my third point and I'm through: your testimony is the evidence. Verse eight: "Our help is from the Lord, who made heaven and earth." David concluded by pointing to the source of their survival. Their help came from the Lord. Not merely a Lord, the Lord. Not a king, but the King.

But the creator of heaven and earth, the one who spoke galaxies into existence, the one who hung the stars in space, the one who formed mountains and oceans, the one who created everything out of nothing. And if He can create heaven and earth, He can certainly handle our situation.

David's declaration is not some abstract theology. It's a personal testimony. He knows God's power because he has experienced God's power. And the same is true for us. Hallelujah, the evidence is in our story. The evidence is in our survival. The evidence is in our scars. The evidence is in our resilience.

The evidence is in our praise. The evidence is in our continued faith. Some people need scientific evidence. Some people need historical evidence. Some people need philosophical evidence. But there are times when your testimony becomes the strongest evidence of all.

People may argue with doctrine, people may debate theology, people may question religion, but they cannot deny what God has done in your life. Hallelujah, how did I survive that? The Lord, strong and mighty. The Lord helped me. When they ask, "How are you standing?" tell them, "The Lord helped me."

When they ask, "How did you make it through?" tell them, "The Lord helped me." Your testimony is your evidence. Hallelujah! Hallelujah! And if we're honest this morning, every one of us has a Psalm 124 testimony. Yes, there were chapters in your life that should have ended differently, situations that should have defeated you, storms that should have overwhelmed you, enemies that should have consumed you, traps that should have captured you.

But the Lord, but the Lord was on our side. After the heart attack, after the divorce, after the breakup, after the pink slip, the Lord was on our side. When pressure increased, the Lord was on our side. When tears flowed, when doors closed, yes, the Lord was on our side.

When your strength ran low, yes, you made it. You survived. You endured. You overcame. You're still here, still standing, still praising, still worshipping, still believing, still refusing to flinch. And when you look back over your life, I've got one conclusion: the evidence is everywhere.

The evidence is in the battles you survived. The evidence is in the prayers God answered. The evidence is in the doors God opened. The evidence is in the traps God broke. The evidence is in the grace of God. The evidence is sitting on your row. The evidence is standing in your shoes. The evidence is breathing your breath.

The evidence is your living story because if the Lord had not been on our side, where, where, where would we be? You would not be here. But since you are here, lift up your hands, open up your mouth, give God the glory and declare with David: our help, our help is from the Lord who made heaven and earth.

Good morning, Highland Park. May the Lord bless you real good. But when I think of the goodness of Jesus and all He's done for me, my soul cries out, "Hallelujah!" Thank God for saving me. I know He's all right. I know He's all right. Do you know Him? Do you know Him? Shout, "Yes!" Shout, "Yes!" Yes, Lord! The evidence is all around. The evidence is everywhere. Hallelujah! Hallelujah! I've got evidence, I've got the receipts. Come on, let's pray.

You've been listening to the radio broadcast of the First Baptist Church of Highland Park in Landover, Maryland. If you want to receive a CD or DVD of what you have just heard, please call 301-773-6655 or visit us on the World Wide Web at www.fhpc.org. And remember, there's power at the Park.