Your Voice Is a Weapon: Singing the Kingdom into the Midnight Hour

Hey, welcome. Uh, if we've not met, my name is Keith. I'm the founding and lead pastor here at Journey Church. And I just got to say I'm so honored to be in the house with you today. Uh, this is a very exciting day. I've met some new friends from Alaska here in person. How cool is that? I also know we got people watching from all over the world, all the way from Arizona, uh, all through California and Texas. And we're just grateful to have you here today. You know, Journey Church is a place we believe there's hope for everyone. There there's no one too far gone. There's no one that's sinned so greatly that God can't save them and rescue them. And I'm so grateful for that, that we have a God that just doesn't work in some of our lives. He's a God that can work in each of our lives. It was in 2022 coming right out of that pandemic, my wife and I, we were hitting rock bottom. Uh but I tell you, we didn't really tell anybody because a lot of times at church, you just fake it

to make it. Even though one of our core values at Journey Church is to be relentlessly real. So, I'm going to get real with you. We we we were ready to throw in the towel in 2022. We had a great church. We live in a great city. God was doing great things. But but we were ready to tap out. But it was during that time that God introduced us to a couple that would change our lives. Pastor Dave and Pastor Donna at the Father's House in Vakavville, California started their church almost 30 years ago. That church has changed the world. They now have multiple campuses throughout Northern California. They're in every prison in California. Come on, somebody. They're doing such great work there. We take our team every year to a conference and they've come alongside Kara and I and I'm so grateful to say that we didn't call it quiz. I'm so

grateful that Pastor Dave looked me in the eyes and said, "What are you thinking?" And I'm so grateful that he came alongside and introduced us to a presence-driven worship where the Holy Spirit can work in a great way. And so, so today it it is with an honor that I could give him all the accolades in the world. He's preached on some of the biggest platforms, but we we we are honored today to have not just a man of God who loves Jesus. He's not just a man who's done many great accomplishments. Uh he's got kids that are planting churches all over right now, which we're supporting. I mean, this is this is a a legend in this house. But I got to tell you, for me, it's personal because he's my pastor. And so, I'm I'm just honored and excited. It's the first time he's got to preach in this house. So, I'm just praying that you'll give him some shoutbacks today. Would you just start with a warm journey welcome everyone? Pastor Dave [cheering] Patterson.

[applause] Welcome, Pastor Dave. We're honored to have you in the house. [applause] All right. Hey, give some of that to Jesus. Can we come on just one more time? Give Jesus some praise. [cheering] We love you, Lord. [applause] Well, it is. Pull up a chariot. It's great to be at Journey Church. It's great to be in this house, man. Uh, and what a beautiful city, Bend. I I knew it was beautiful. I It's been quite some time. Uh, back when I was a single guy in my preJesus days, I I lived in southern Oregon and we come up to Bend just to party and ski Mount Bachelor. And when I came back, I I forgot how beautiful it is. And uh, you've kept Mount Bachelor right where I left it. Thank you. And I I still the partying see I see partying is still a theme here in your city. Um but you know it's

absolutely gorgeous and you are blessed to live in this place and you know people come here to to hike and to go down the river and to play golf and climb mountains and to enjoy nature and to to still party a bit. But there's something bigger going on in Ben and it's this God is building his church and he's he's doing something through this house. It's it's quite magnificent and you're seeing some of the evidence of it. And as I was praying for you a couple days this week and then earlier this morning, the Lord remember reminded me how Abraham had dug some wells and those wells got stuffed up by the enemy, but then his son Isaac redug those wells and it ended up blessing not just a region but nations. And uh you guys have been digging some wells for quite a few

years here and there's some a lot of similarities. Uh your church journey 16 years old. I was thinking when we were 16 years old at the father's house, we were in a shopping center doing multiple services, people getting saved like crazy, trying to figure out what to do next, and we bought a big chunk of land and and had a vision for a house that would would accommodate thousands of people coming to Christ. And of course, there were critics and push back and mean religious people that rebuked me for it. But we forged ahead anyway, pastor. And let me tell you what happened. And God did something through that season that is now um Ephesians 3:20. It's exceedingly abundantly above anything we could ask or imagine. And here's the reason that Journey Church will keep growing and that you will need

a bigger barn. And here's why. It's not just about us inside this room. Most of you know Jesus. He's your Lord and Savior. Your name is written in the Lamb's Book of Life. You're on your way to heaven. Even on a bad day, things are going really well for you. But here's why we we never get satisfied with where we're at. There are people all over the city, and they may enjoy all the accommodations in the rivers and the golf and the snowy mountains, but inside they're dead and thirsty, and they need a savior. Amen. So, here's what the church is on its best day. It's a table where people are pulling out a chair for people that have not sat down yet. You know, when Jesus walked this earth, he was always having dinner with messed up people.

He was going over to Zakius's house, and the religious community called him a friend of sinners and and rebuking him for who he hung out and had dinner with. But he was always using an analogy of of banquetss and these dinners where everybody was invited. And and what I see here at Journey Church is this, that God is pulling out chairs for people who never thought there would be a place at the table. In the next few years to come, you're going to continue to see thousands of people come home and find their seat at the table of Christ. Amen. [applause and cheering] That's why we're here. And I just want to honor for a moment. We love your pastors. Just known them for a few years as Pastor Keith was sharing. But I want to honor your pastors because they are visionary leaders. They're humble people and they want to see the kingdom of God built.

They're just non-religious. Go after the presence of God. Let's do something for his kingdom. Can you just take a moment and honor your pastors today? [cheering] Yeah, we love them. They're the best. All right. Wow. [applause] They do love you here. Sometimes all I get is just a golf clap. That was astounding. Well, hey, you guys have been in a series where you're talking about the kingdom of God. the kingdom of God coming to earth. And I want to share a few thoughts around that big idea today as you've been in this collection of messages. I want to talk to you about you have a weapon in your life. And it's this. It's your voice. When you lift up a shout or proclaim the word of God or sing, you're actually developing the

kingdom of God here on earth. Now, I want to talk to you today about making some noise and the power of your song. Yeah. Now, before anybody taps out and says, "Well, Dave, I'm not a singer." Look at he's going to preach to the worship team today. We've all been called to make some noise. And I'm going to share some deep theology with you today. And you are able to do that. You know, the disciples came to Jesus and they were asking him, they they watched his prayer life and they were like, "Jesus, teach us how to pray. How do you do that? How do you pray? It's such intimacy and effectiveness." And he gave him what we now know as the model prayer or the Our Father. And most of you in the room know that. Could you just quote a couple lines with me? Let's go. Our Father, who

art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Okay, stop right there. Thy kingdom come on earth as it is in heaven. Let me ask you a question. How are things in heaven right now? I would submit that they're quite lovely. There's no gas prices being hiked up. There's no war. There's no disease. There's no political rivalry. There's no fear. There's no oppression. Things are going well in heaven today. Now, he told you he told us to pray, "God, let your kingdom come here on earth as it is in heaven to establish the kingdom of God." And I want to give you a working definition of what the kingdom is. This will come up on the screen. The kingdom of God is simply this. Any place where

the rule and authority of the king is operating without resistance. That's the kingdom right there. So let me break that down for you. There is no resistance to the will of God in heaven this morning. Whatever God wants is happening. The seraraphim and cherubam are worshiping. The elders are bowing down. His will is being carried out to perfection with no resistance. But we got a problem. We live on a fallen planet with some broken people. And there is resistance to the will of God. Now, there's not a lot of resistance in this room. There might be some people struggling or some doubters and critics or whatever, but there's there's a lot more chance of kingdom being established here than let's say down at Walmart. Yeah. This is a kingdom atmosphere right here because you're in alignment and agreement with God's will in your life,

in your family. And God has given us a way to establish his kingdom in the world that we live in so that we actually can bring some heaven to earth, the atmosphere of heaven. And I want to talk to you about this mighty weapon. In fact, here's a key verse. We'll spring off from here. Psalm 68:4. It'll come up on the screen. And I love all reads. Zelda when God's people read the word of God in his house. Would you read this with me? Let's go. Sing praises to God and to his name. Sing loud praises to him who rides on the clouds. His name is the Lord. Rejoice in his presence. Have you ever thought this about church? Why do they sing so long and why do they sing so loud? They make us stand up. And at the father's house, we're a worshiping house like you are. And I get asked that question. Could we just do a

song or two and and then let me have a chair? Well, there's a reason that we sing. And again, I want to address those that you would say, Dave, I'm really not a singer. And if I sing too loud, I get the elbow for my wife. She says, "Turn it down, dear. You should never sing that loud in public." And so, we're not talking about a musical gifting. And let me let me give you a verse here and break it down. Psalm 100 says, "Make a joyful noise." Could you just read that much with me? Make a joyful noise unto the Lord. All you people worship the Lord with gladness. Come before his presence with singing. So there is a protocol to come into the very presence of God that each of you have been given. And it's something that we do not just on Sunday morning gathered in this room, but you can do it in your home, in your car, wherever you're at. You can enter

into his presence with singing. Psalm 89 says, "Blessed and happy are those who know the joyful sound. They shall walk in the light of your presence. The joyful sound uh or the joyful noise is the same Hebrew word is ruah rua. You got to get a little something in your throat to say it right. And it means this. The earsplitting battle cry. Now there is something that God has given the church that's very powerful. There's a time to wait quietly in his presence. There's a time to lift holy hands and sing a new song. But man, there is a time to shout. And a shout actually breaks the power of the enemy. It scatters the enemies of God. And it's appropriate in the house of the Lord.

That's why dead religion says, "Shh, be quiet. Don't make too much noise in the house of God." Now, some people prefer a a quiet worship atmosphere. Kind of a contemplative. Keep your voice down. We're in the house of God. just little incense burning in the background, sun glistening through the stained glass. But this is not that kind of church. Well, let let me give you a little backdrop on this. Do you know there's only two verses in the entire Bible that say to be quiet in God's presence? Two. And both of those are in the context of impending judgment. You can study this out. So, here's the reality. God was saying, "Shh, I'm going to kill you." That's exactly That's exactly what was going on. But there are just over 220 verses depending

on your translation that tell us to sing unto the Lord. Shout unto God. Lift up your voice. Make a joyful noise. Clap your hands all you people. Shout unto God with a voice of triumph. This is the protocol. I'll give you a sample. Oh, clap your hands all you people and shout to God with a voice of triumph and songs of joy. Psalm 66:1, "Shout for joy to God, all the earth. Sing the glory of his name. Make his praise glorious." Psalm 95, "Come, let us sing for joy to the Lord. Let us shout aloud to the rock of our salvation. Let us come before him with thanksgiving and extol him with music and song." It goes on and on. I won't read the other 215 verses, but you're getting it right here. And this

is not a personality preference. This is not, well, Dave, I'm I'm kind of an introvert and I'm a quiet person and I'm not, you know, that that one to just jump on stage and dance in front of everybody. It's okay. It's it's good enough just to be obedient to the Lord. All right? And so, we we want to operate in this thing of lifting up our voice and expressing who God is. I want to give you three ways that singing and lifting up your voice and making a joyful noise will change your atmosphere. It'll change your family and it'll change your city for the glory of God. And let his kingdom come and his will be done. Number one, singing brings the atmosphere of heaven into a broken world. It really does. You were doing it today and you could feel the atmosphere change. I love that song. You're the most important person here. God, you

deserve the applause. And I could just feel the atmosphere in this room shift as God's people lifted lifted up their song. Psalm 22:3 says, "You Yahweh, you are holy. You are enthroned upon the praises of Israel." Enthroned upon the praises. The word means he actually comes and takes his seat upon his throne upon the praises of Israel. And in this context, you are the Israel of God. Now, in your Old Testament, there are seven words, Hebrew words for praise. But in our limited English translation, we interpret all seven Hebrew words as praise. But they have different rich meanings. Some mean to throw out your hands, other to bow before him. Other to

be clamorously foolish before God. But this word in in Psalm 22:3 means this. It's the word tequila. All right? I didn't say tequila. It's that's a different message. Tequila. And it means spontaneous heartfelt adoration. Now get this. He is saying that when God's people come together and from the heart begin to give him spontaneous adoration, I'm talking about when you get off the karaoke screen and you sing a new song to the Lord, there is a promise that the weightiness of his glory will come and rest upon God's people. Now, only a certain kind of person can sing that song, and it's this. Those that know him, you have the Holy Spirit in you. Jesus made this promise. He said, "Out of your innermost beings will flow rivers of living water." And he was

speaking about the Holy Spirit being released. And so when you sing out your song, you're actually making a throne for the authority of God to come and be established. And where his authority is established, demons begin to scatter, oppression lifts, healing comes, life changes, the world takes on a different view. when the redeemed of the Lord began to declare who he is. I want to challenge you to do that beyond the walls of this building. Now, at our church, we we started small, eight people in a living room, and God began to give us a vision for outreach and to reach people far from God. That's the theme of our church. We exist so that people far from God will find life in Christ. So we started doing worship and music outreaches in downtown San

Francisco and Berkeley and various spots and there was a door open for us to go into a Napa State mental institution. Now Napa State uh hospital is the second large largest mental institution prison in America and it is a full force prison. you got to get full clearance. And so we were able to get a full worship team and had access to go into one of the outer courtyards, one of the lower level securities and have a worship time and preach the gospel. I'm like, let's go. Let's chart. Let's go in. Right? And so, as you might imagine, not just the criminally insane, but anybody who's been diagnosed. And so, there's a lot of medication going on and there's a high level of demonic activity. And Napa State is massive.

It's thousands of acres. And so our team's going in. We're going trying to find the spot where we're going to be. Some of the band gets lost. We finally find the courtyard. And I remember being there that day and there was just confusion in the air. The demonic PSI was high. And so we're we're trying to set up the gear. The power goes out. We're having all kinds of difficulty. And some of the patients there, they were very agitated. And they're walking back and forth in the courtyard. And it just it just feels heavy. and weighty and I had a choir with me and worshippers and some other folks and and everybody was on edge and finally they got the PA system going and I said, "Hey man, give me a microphone." And I got a microphone and I called the choir together.

And a song came to my heart, a really old one. There's probably maybe two or three people in the room that know it and thank you for being with me back in the day. Um, but I started singing. I said, "Coir, sing this out. Jesus, Jesus, Jesus. There's just something about that. Who are you people? Right. I mean, I could even feel a shift in the atmosphere here. As soon as we lifted up his name, the Holy Spirit fell in the courtyard. And I kid you not, the agitated guys that were walking back and forth, they just sat down and a calm came over the storm and we

preached the gospel and it was a powerful day. Why? Because the principle of the enthronement of Jesus. Now listen, you can do this in your workplace. You can do this on the streets of your city. You can do this in that home where there's a rebellious son or daughter and just begin to sing praises and the kingdom of God will come into that atmosphere. But hey, let me just add this to it. Be careful. Use some discretion. You don't want to walk through the produce department of your supermarket and start singing at 100 dB. Just a tip. Anyway, I'll move on. I don't know you that well. But you can sing into atmospheres. Number two, singing turns atmospheres of bondage into atmospheres of freedom. This is the power of making some noise.

You might know the story of of Paul and Silas. They they went into Philippi and they're preaching the gospel and there was a demonized girl that was chasing them around and she would curse and mock and and finally one day Paul just got tired of it. He turns around, he casts the demons out of her. But she was actually employed by some wealthy men who are op uh making money off her gift of being able to fortune tell. Okay? And that's a whole different topic. But familiar spirits communicate information. And this girl was flowing in that demonic gift. Well, when Paul and Silas cast the demons out of her, they end up getting thrown in prison for doing the will of God. So, let me read you the context here. Acts 16 says they were severely beaten or

flogged. Then they were thrown into prison and the jailer was ordered to make sure they didn't escape. So the jailer put them into the inner dungeon, clamp their feet in stocks. Around midnight, Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God. Time out. Time out. Sometimes you just need to slow down and pump the brakes when you're reading a a verse of scripture. I've had the honor of touring this city and the prison cells, the dungeons back in that day were carved below the level of the ground and the the the water, the drainage, often the sewage from the city would run through the dungeons. A flogging was a beating just one Roman uh whipped stripe short of the death penalty. So, they were bleeding. They were a mess. They're locked their feet in their hands or in the stocks. They're

sitting in a dungeon. And it says around midnight, Paul leans over to Silas and says, "Hey man, let's lift up a hymn of praise." How about how about Psalm 36? How about Psalm? And he begins to sing out a hymn of Now conjecture. This is not in scripture, but I'm wondering if Silas said, "You got to be kidding me." By the way, Paul, this was not in the brochure of the church planters ventures, right? and they made a decision in this broken, messed up uh painful place in their life not to complain, not to whine, not to why God, but they made a decision to lift up their praise in the place of

brokenness. Let me just say this, praise is a choice. Praise is not an emotional response to the right atmosphere. Praise is not like the band is singing my song, right? I'm so grateful for you. You know what praise is? On your worst day when you've taken a beating that you don't deserve. When you're doing the will of God and the enemy's coming against you, you say, "I will bless the Lord at all times. His praise will be in my mouth. I will offer a sacrif. What is a sacrifice? It's going to cost you something to give it up." And they begin to offer up a sacrifice of praise. And it says this in the next verse, they're worshiping at midnight. And the other prisoners were listening. Just a thought. The other prisoners are always listening. The people in your world are they're watching you like, "Yeah, you're one of those Christ

followers. You go down to that journey church. I see you with a Bible in your hands." But what happens when you go through the test and your world's falling apart? Do you still have a song in your heart and the prisoners were listening and suddenly there was a massive earthquake and the prison was shaken to its foundation. All the doors immediately flew open and the chains of every prisoner fell off. Time out right there. Your praise is bigger than you. Your praise has a proximity. Your heartfelt praise, especially in the middle of a sacrifice, it releases the aroma of God and it creates an atmosphere of freedom. That's why people feel moments of freedom in the house of God. I I have people come into the house and we get folks from every walk of life as you do, but they step into an

atmosphere of worship and suddenly the bondage begins to release a little bit. The chains begin to fall. I remember being in our our shopping center. The room was similar to this one. And and uh I'm sitting there and this girl gets up and she comes down to the altar weeping. And she was obviously in the trades, not judging, but based on the outfit, she was a prostitute. Came straight from work to a Saturday night service and broken and crying. And then she reaches in, we prayed, and she confessed Jesus. And she reaches into her purse and takes out a big wad of $100 bills and just says, "Hey, I just I don't know. I want

to give this." And I was like, my elders are looking around like, "What's Pastor Dave gonna do with this one?" Well, we sanctified the money, counted it, and spent it for the glory of God, of course. But here's the point. A woman walks in in complete bondage. And the worship of other people begins to release her chains. I remember another time I was preaching. The church was fairly early, and I I fairly young, and I was talking about don't wait. I was talking about the woman who pressed through and touched the hymn of Jesus garment. I said, "Don't don't don't wait. Don't hesitate. When God's calling your name and you sense he wants to free you of some stuff, just run to Jesus. Don't care what the religion." And I'm preaching. I'm doing my best. And this young girl gets up and starts walking down the middle aisle. And I'm I still got half a sermon to go and she's just walking and

walking. I'm like, "Truly, security will help me out soon." And she gets up to the front and she and she walks right up and stands right here. And she reaches into her purse. And that's back in the day when you had to be concerned about those things for sure. She gets out paraphernalia, drugs, lays them on the altar, weeping, and the Lord's like, "Dave, come on. Don't be so slow, buddy. This This is the sermon right here. What I'm saying is this. when you come into this house and on your worst day you sing your best song like like maybe this guy over here had a rough week but he decides you know I'm going to bless the Lord with all my heart and he begins to lift his hands

there's a zone of freedom that happens and then the couple back over here they've been going through some marriage stuff but they decide you know we're going to get in the house of God and worship a zone of freedom until pretty soon when you have a church that's worshiping in spirit and truth people get free and chains begin to break because when you make some noise and lift up your song in the middle of the prison, man, chains begin to snap off. It's it's true. It's true. I'll just tell you one story and then the last point. I was uh I was a worship pastor for for a decade or so and there was this friend and he said, "Dave, I need you to come over to my house. My daughters have night tears. They're waking up screaming. We feel heaviness. We feel a demonic presence in our home and come to find out his his family, his ancestors, aunts and uncles,

different ones were deeply involved in the occult and there were some curses and all the demonic junk that happens. So, you know, and I'm not I don't really do the Ghostbuster thing, right? I know like deliverance on call tank on the back throwback. Okay, who you going to call? But I said because he we had relationship, I'm like, okay, I'll go over to your house. So, we walk in the house, begin to walk through and pray a little bit. Sure enough, there was heaviness there. And so, we're going to pray. I brought some anointing oil. We're going to anoint some doorpost and rebuke some devils, man. Whatever it takes. Try to get some freedom for this guy. And his girls were beautiful. They were like five and three or somewhere in that range. And they're waking up with night tears. And uh the Lord gave me a word of knowledge. He said, "Tell my friend, the head of the household, that he needs to open up his Bible and

begin to sing out psalms over this house, over this atmosphere. He's the priest of the home. He has authority in the home. His voice is going to break something." So, and his name was Dave as well. I said, "Dave, here's what God's saying. Get a Bible. You need to sing out over the atmosphere of your home." And he goes, "Oh, Pastor Dave." He goes, "I I I don't sing. I'm not a singer. Ask my wife." And she's like, "No, he's not he's not you don't want to hear none of that." Right? And I'm like, "It doesn't matter." So I I said, "Get your Bible, open it up." By the way, if you do this, go to like the Psalms in the '9s. Man, those are saucy, right? So we we we get in the 90s, right? I'm like, "Okay, man. Sing it out." And with trembling voice, the Lord my God is a mighty God. And sure enough, his voice was harsh, man.

It was not It was sketchy. As soon as he started singing, the atmosphere changed. He surprised him. He starts weeping. His wife Sheree starts weeping and the presence of God invaded his home. And I asked him and he called me the next morning. He said, "Dave, the both the girls slept straight through the night. The oppression was broken." Why? Because God has given you authority. You can sing over your kids. Any any parents in the room, they got a rebellious son or daughter partying, getting high. When they're out of the house, go in their room, fire up some worship, sing over their bed. Come on. Sing out your song and chains will break. Atmosphere shift. The worship that goes on in this place is bigger

than this place. When you guys lift up your song, it's beginning to permeate the atmosphere in bend. And I would encourage you, worship with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength while you're in the building, but do it outside the doors. Some folks need to start taking some prayer walks and walk your neighborhood and just declare, "The Lord is good and his mercy endures forever." And as you sing out, atmospheres change and people in bondage find some freedom. And is anybody with me? Come on, you can do this. [applause] And and just I I just feel for somebody in the room that there's somebody here today and you would describe the season you're in right now as the midnight hour. Something hit you, blindsided you.

Uh you you're doing your best to serve God. You're like, "Where did this come from?" If that's you, I want I want you to hear this. Your song right now in the midnight hour is more powerful than it will ever be again. I mean your best song on your worst day. So in faith, I want to encourage you when you go home, just take a few moments and begin to lift up that song and see what the Lord will do. And the third thing I want to give you before we pray together is singing praises enables us to see our situation through the lens of God's perspective. Now take a look at that for you notetakers that are writing it down. But we all struggle with this. You know, I don't know what you'd want to call it, but we all have these moments where we see life through cloudy lenses. Paul said we see

through a glass that's been dimmed. We don't see things accurately. So, through trials and tests of life, we don't see the perspective that God has of our lives. And a blessed moment is when you begin to see your potential through the lens of God's perspective. because he doesn't see you based on your past failures, your brokenness, your shame, the sin you're still struggling with. You know what he sees? He sees a son and daughter that's been redeemed by the blood. He has a hope and a future. He sees the future version of you. But there's this guy in the Old Testament who is a songwriter. His name was Asaf. Little context on Asaf. He was the the worship leader. Like, who's the tall, good-looking, great singer, Brandon?

Man, thank God for that guy. [applause] If I had his voice and his hair and his height, well, I'd be proud and arrogant and God would have to strike me down. So, that's why, howdy. But this this good-looking worship leader, Asaf, he wrote songs to be sung in the tabernacle of David. review for most. But the tabernacle of David was a tent on the top of Mount Zion, downtown Jerusalem. And when David became king, his first order of business was go to recover the ark of the covenant. The ark of the covenant, this crazy gold box with serum cherubam designed on the top. And the essence of God, listen, before the Holy Spirit was poured out at Pentecost, the very power of God rested

between the wings of the cherubam on the ark of the covenant. And wherever the ark went, enemies were destroyed, worship was lifted up, God's glory was established. So right in the center of David's tabernacle is the ark of the covenant. There's 288 singers in eight hour shifts singing 247. Over a hundred musicians, prophets are prophesying, scribes are writing down songs. And ASAP was leading worship in that atmosphere. Can you imagine? That's why David said, "Man, I was glad when they said to me, "Let's go to the house of the Lord." But something happened to Asaf. He got outside of the presence. And when he got outside of the presence, his vision got blurred. His perspective got skewed. Let me just tell you something. Church is not an organization made by man. This is

not some denominational establishment where we come in and go through religious procedure. The church is God's idea. Spiritual covering is God's design. Why? This is a safe place where you're going to thrive and flourish and see accurately. But when you get outside the house, you start seeing things differently. Your theology gets strange. Your perspective gets skewed. And that's what happened to Asaf. And I'm going to read a bit of this and then the band's going to come up and and help me. There'll be a musical element here before we conclude today. He starts out this song. He says, "Truly, God is good to Israel, to those whose hearts are pure. But as for me, I almost lost my footing. My feet were slipping and I was almost gone. For I envied the proud when I saw them."

Check. Time out. He was watching the wicked. He got his eyes off of God and he got his eyes on the neighbor who's making more money and all that the world gets and the fun they're having out there. But he says, "I when I saw them prosper despite their wickedness, they they seem to live such painless lives. Their bodies are so healthy and strong. They don't have troubles like other people." Wait a minute. Yeah, sure they do. They get flat tires. Their kids get sick. They go through divorce. The wicked have problems just like the poor. They're different, but they're real problems, right? He says they don't have any trouble. So his perspective is so twisted. He's speaking lies instead of truth in a song that found its way into the Bible. They're not plagued with problems like everyone else. They boast

against the very heavens and their words strut throughout the earth. I'm going to ask the band to come help me because there's something that happens in music and for you musicians or theater people, you know this word. It's called procity. And procity basically means that the lyric content and the message lines up with the feel of the song. All right? With the chord structure, with the timing. For instance, when the girl and guy break up in the romantic movie, they're never playing a happy song, right? It's you know, when the hero wins at the end, the triumphs, that's all procity. It's it's the way that cinema works and it it lines up with your emotions. Well, the procity of this song is this guy is singing the blues. It's a

minor. It's a dark. He's just down. And do you know he's complaining in the song? And we know as believers, we shouldn't complain. We should be thankful. The the vocabulary of thankfulness is the entrance into the very courts of God. Enter into his gates with thanksgiving. But it's okay to complain as long as you complain to the right complaint department. It's it's okay to tell the Lord, "Lord, here's what I'm going through." And when we focus our hurts and wounds and complaints and things we can't understand upon him, then it's accompanied with a a way out. He shows us and the song begins to turn. But right here in this spot, this guy is singing the blues. Look at this. Does the Most High even know what's happening?

Look at these wicked people enjoying a life of ease with their while their riches multiply. And then he asked this. Did I keep my heart pure for nothing? Did I go to church for nothing? Did I keep my innocent myself innocent for no reason? I get nothing but trouble all day long. Every morning brings me pain. Oh my goodness. He's pouring out a song of his life from a skewed perspective because he got outside the presence of God. And so I I want the band to help me for just a moment because really this guy's singing the blues and and it's okay in church, but just go ahead and kick this. You ready? Here we go.

[music] Here he goes. Did I keep my heart pure for nothing? Did I keep myself innocent for no reason? I get trouble every day. Nothing but trouble. Nothing but trouble every day. And every morning it brings [music] me pain. Yeah. I've been serving you, Lord, going up, but all I get is that pain. Okay, do the full progression this time. Let's try it [music] again cuz some of you guys got a song of blues. I showed up to Journey Church on a Sunday morning.

Sure. Pray and believe that the coffee is is going to be hot. Then as I rolled in, who wouldn't you know it, you can't even find yourself a parking spot? [music] No, you can't. Oh, it took forever to check my kids into the nursery. Oh, I've been tithing for 6 months now, [music] but I still can't figure out how to pay those bills. No, we we all got our song, right? Yeah. Been praying for my husband. He won't come to church with me on Sunday. Been trying to live that life and serve him well, but everything seems to be going the same way. God, I've been trying to do my best to serve you like you ask, but I [music] can't

see any changes. I'm wondering where you're at. Anybody have these? Sometimes it seems like we got Where did you go, [music] God? Blues. [cheering] I got some of those. Okay, good. So, [applause] he's singing the blues. You ever done that in your Christian journey? Why God? Where God? What happened? Oh, why God? But here's a key, a a shift. says in Psalm 73:16, [music] "When I tried to understand all this, it troubled me deeply until," every say

until until I entered the sanctuary of God. Then I understood. What did he do? He stepped into an atmosphere of worship, 288 singers, 100 musicians, the very [music] presence and essence, the shikina tangible glory of God. And he goes, "Ah, I stepped in and all of a sudden the sanctuary light, it gave me sanctuary sight. I could I could see things accurately." Look at as as he sings. This is all a song, by the way. Says, "Then I realized that my heart was bitter. I was all torn up inside. I was so foolish and ignorant. I must have seemed like a senseless animal to you.

Yet I still belong to the Lord and you hold my right hand. You guide me with counsel, leading me to a glorious destiny. Whom have I in heaven but you? I desire you more than anything on earth. My health may fail, my spirit grow, but God remains the strength of my heart and my [music] portion forever. There was a shift. He turned a song of blues into a song of [music] praise. He went from a minor to a major. Now he begins to declare who God is. I love this. My heart may fail, my spirit [music] grow, but I desire you more than anything.

Think about that. My heart may [music] fail. My spirit will grow weak, Jesus. But I still [music] desire you more than anything. Cuz God remains. Oh, God remains the strength of my heart. Something happens, man. No matter what, God remains. God remains the strength of my heart. Just lifting him up, declaring his faithfulness. Everything shifts.

We come before him and realize he's been good the [music] whole time. He had my back the whole time. He was going to cover my finances, never leave me, forsake [music] me, heal the hurt, restore the marriage. He's been here the whole time. He's been a faithful king. Amen. And we can sing an anthem like this. All my life. All my life you have been faith. All my life. Every sing.

Yes. One more time. You can stand to your feet. All my life. All my life you have. All my [music and singing] life. You have been so so good. Every breath [singing] that I am, I will sing of the goodness of God. Amen. Let's just bow our heads for a moment in the presence of God. And before we conclude this service in a moment of privacy, I want to ask you a couple questions. When I was talking about the midnight hour, and this is [music] for a Christ follower, you're a believer, but you are in the middle of it. You're up against

it. It's it's it's one of the greatest trials of your life. And if that's you and today, you're saying, "Jesus, I'm going to sing my way out. I'm going to make some noise." Would you just lift your hand up before the Lord if you're in the middle of it? Father, I just pray for every hand raised for those that are facing a trial they don't know how to walk through. [music] I declare over you today, the spirit of wisdom and revelation is going to be on your life as you worship this week. [music] God's going to begin to pass out some keys to open a door that's been locked. There's somebody in the room and the Lord says there's a couple of relationships you need to pick up the phone and make a phone call. And the Lord, you already know who that person is. And in the phone [music] call, there's going to be an open window. Something's going to shift and you're going to begin to walk out of this valley moment you've been in. Father, we declare right now that people are going

to sing in the midnight hour. I declare today something shifts and changes in your people. You can put those hands down, heads bowed. This is for [music] anyone in the room. You say, "Pastor Dave, I'm I'm hearing this message, but I'd have to say today, I'm outside the presence. My heart is not right with God." And maybe you used to walk with him, but you walked away. Or maybe you've never fully surrendered to Jesus and made him the Lord of your life. But in this atmosphere, the Holy Spirit's tapping on your heart and saying, "Son, daughter, today's your day. Come on home." And with heads bowed, as believers are praying, this is between you and Jesus. But I want you to have a demarcation in your life on that Sunday morning in June when I said yes to him and made him king

and lord of my life. If I'm speaking to you and today you want to say yes to Jesus, would you look up at me and just lift your hand? Those making that choice today, don't be shy. Just lift your hand over here. H, God bless you back here in the back. It's coming across the middle here. If that's you, don't join these that are lifted over here. God bless you. There's a hand right here. [music] Hands going up. Oh, this is so precious. Many hands going up. Let me just tell you, God is not angry at you. He's in love with you. And today he welcomes you home. Again, I see the chair being pulled out. He says, "My daughter, take a seat. Here's your place at the table." So many today. And we're going to do something that's based out of Romans 10:9 and 10. Then we're going to lift up our voice one more time.

Romans 10:9 and 10 tells us that if we believe in our heart that Jesus is the son of God and that God raised him from the dead and we confess with our mouth that salvation occurs. So, with every Christ follower in the room, we're going to join in with these that are making this decision or recommmitment today and confess Jesus as Lord. So, would everybody repeat this after me? Say, "Dear Lord Jesus, Dear Lord Jesus, today's my day. Today is my and I'm coming home. I thank you for the invitation. Thank you. And I say yes. I say yes. I ask you to be my savior. I ask you. Forgive me of my sin and make me your own. And from this day forward, I will be your disciple. I will live for you.

I will live for you until I see [music] you face to face in Jesus great name. Could we give the Lord some praise today? [cheering] Come on.