When You've Tried Everything, Add Praise: Lessons from David

Sermon outline

God calls and equips people by looking at the heart, and like David we win our battles by staying humble, trusting God and praising Him in every circumstance.

1. The calling of God

   Everyone in Christ has a calling: first the call to salvation, then the call into His service, with each part of the body doing its share. It was God, not the people, who called David, and starting a church or chasing a position God never gave only brings frustration, because if God calls you He graces you. He recalls how, as young Christians, they did the menial tasks in church until God slowly lifted them into the ministry.

   Illustration: Sweeping the church and picking bubble gum from under the seats in their early Christian days, before God lifted them into the ministry.

   “It is no use trying to be an apostle if God has called you a deacon.”

   • 1 Samuel 16:1-13
   • Ephesians 4:16
   • 1 Peter 5:4
   • Ephesians 2:20

2. God confirms His call, looks at the heart and gives ability

   God showed Samuel whom He had chosen, and He will confirm a person's calling to others, because a man's gift makes room for him. God does not call by the world's standard of qualifications; He chooses the foolish things to confound the wise and looks at the heart, as with David. His standard has not changed: whoever purifies himself becomes a vessel prepared for every good work, so wait for His preparation and timing. With the call comes ability, and because God anoints pastors, evangelists, teachers and prophets differently, we should not criticise other people's anointings.

   Illustration: A job interview, where you are chosen for your qualifications and certificates, compared with the way God calls people.

   “God is preparing each one of us. And your time is not being wasted.”

   • Proverbs 18:16
   • 1 Samuel 13:14
   • 1 Corinthians 1:27
   • 2 Timothy 2:20-22
   • Ephesians 4:11
   • 1 Samuel 16:7

3. The power of praise

   Saul was anointed and called, but he turned away from God and opened himself to an evil spirit that tormented him, holding a position without the anointing. Whoever works for the kingdom of light will meet the kingdom of darkness, and one weapon God gives against demonic powers is praise. David learned it alone with the sheep, and praise in everyday life, not only in church, makes fear, doubt and unbelief dissipate, because the devil cannot stand God's presence.

   “Saul was trying to accomplish God's work without God's power.”

   • 1 Samuel 16:14
   • Ephesians 6:12
   • Psalm 8:2

4. Praise in every circumstance: deliverance comes by praise

   Praise God when it is good and when it is bad, because God works everything for our good, while doubt and discouragement drain the faith that releases His power. Paul and Silas praised loudly at midnight in a terrible prison, and God shook the jail and set them free; that is why it is called a sacrifice of praise. When you have tried prayer, fasting and meditating on the Word, add praise and thank God that it is done.

   Illustration: From the study notes: a couple who had prayed for years for the husband's father, an alcoholic, began to praise God in spite of the problem, and within weeks the father gave his heart to the Lord. He also compares praise to one of the ingredients that blend together in baking a cake.

   “So add praise to the mixture and you'll see what God will do for you.”

   • Romans 8:28
   • Acts 16:25-26
   • 2 Corinthians 5:7
   • Hebrews 13:15

5. Nine things praise does

   Praise brings deliverance and turns the enemy back; it is a weapon against strongholds; it brings the desires of your heart as you seek His kingdom; it protects you and your family; it puts your trust in God; it keeps your eyes on the God of the Bible; it releases God's power; it lifts you above the enemy; and it releases God's provision. He adds that the devil hates praise because he once held that place and lost it through pride.

   Illustration: Meetings where, during loud praise and worship, he saw demons manifest in people because they could not stand the presence of God.

   “Praise is a weapon.”

   • Matthew 6:33
   • 2 Chronicles 16:9

6. Stay grateful and humble

   You can locate people by the things they say, and ungratefulness offends God while gratefulness is a sweet aroma to Him. He has seen people whom God lifted from nothing begin to credit their own qualifications, which echoes Satan's pride. God resists the proud and gives grace to the humble, so whatever God gives us, we must keep giving Him the praise.

   Illustration: People who had nothing, whom God blessed with houses and possessions, who later said it was because of their qualifications and what they had done.

   “You are where you are. I am where I am because of God.”

   • James 4:6

7. The battle is the Lord's

   David did not run from the wild animals that attacked the flock, and overcoming small problems today gives us confidence to bring down tomorrow's Goliath by faith. David did not trust man's way to victory; he says he never copied anybody but was led by the Holy Ghost, and urges people to ask the Spirit for wisdom on when to speak and when to keep quiet. David's confidence was in God alone, because the battle is the Lord's.

   Illustration: Placing your hand on a document at work and asking God for wisdom before you react.

   “If we keep running from small problems that we are facing today, how will we face the Goliath of tomorrow?”

   • Revelation 12:11
   • 1 Thessalonians 4:11
   • 1 Samuel 17:47