Elevation with Steven Furtick - The Winning Hand

Episode Date: September 13, 2024

Do you want to have the winning hand? Our series “Bars & Battles” opens by showing us that victory isn’t always about the weapons we have –– it’s how we use them.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This is an I-Heart podcast. Guaranteed Human. Hey, this is Stephen Ferdick. I'm the pastor of Elevation Church, and this is our podcast. I wanted to thank you for joining us today. Hope this inspires you. Hope it builds your fate. Hope it gives you perspective to see God is moving in your life.

Enjoy the message. It's telling my friend that I wanted to preach a series on David and the Psalms. I said, I'm going to call it bars and battles. And he goes, I didn't know David was in prison. I said, no, man, like bars, like bars, like hip-hop, bars, music, measures of music, four beats, bars. And you didn't get it, so I said, kind of ruined the punchline. But I do want to set up one thing before I go to my scripture today, and that is I want to solve the debate of who is the greatest rapper of all time. Of course, I'm qualified to speak to this subject, having grown up in most.

Corks Corner, South Carolina, the epicenter of hip-hop. And the greatest rapper of all time. Please withhold, suspend your judgment and throw stuff at the stage when I tell you this. But the greatest rapper of all time is not Biggie. Did I just break your heart already? Greatest rapper of all time is not Tupac. Sorry, Pock, if you're watching from Cuba. Thanks.

It's facts. Not Jay-Z, not Kanye. You seem to be in full agreement. Not Eminem, not J. Cole. I know that North Carolina pride makes you want to... I know. Not Kendrick. I love Kendrick.

I love Kendrick. Clean version. But the greatest rapper of all time, of course, is King D. David. His Psalms, his bars have been topping the charts for three thousand years. That's pretty strong. And I know what you think about the Psalms, how comforting they are and how cute they are. But I want to show you that the Psalms are more like hip-hop than they are like Hallmark. Let's take a look today at Psalm 59.

I'm really excited to share this with you today. This series is going to help us get real with God. This series is going to help us get past the nice things that we think we need to say to God to convince him that we're doing better than we are even though he knows the full condition and intense of our hearts and show us how that some of the greatest bars come from some of the greatest battles. Of course, through the scriptures, we get a portrait of David, who is a victorious warrior and a giant slayer and a great king, the most beloved king that Israel ever knew.

But we also have the benefit of reading not only what was written about him, but what was written by him. And so when you see that little book close to the middle of your Bible called Psalms, It is over half attributed to King David. And so we not only see what was going on in his life, but we see what was going on in his soul. And we all have things that people see that we go through, and then we have that other part. The stuff that we don't say, the enemies that we don't talk about in our e-group, because they're sitting next to us, and they're called our spouse. Okay, let's go to Psalm 59.

Please look at this with me before I say too much. It's only week one. Pace yourself, verdict. You are my strength, verse 9. I watch for you. You, God, are my fortress. My God on whom I can rely. Isn't that nice?

Come on, isn't that great? Don't you want to screenshot that and put it on your wallpaper and set it as your background? Put it in a cursive. font, a pink cursive font, and crochet it on a pillow and put a coffee mug behind it and a bald eagle and a rock climber and a hot air balloon, make a motivational poster out of Psalm 59. You are my strength. I can see this on Pinterest. Oh, Lord, you are my strength.

I watch for you. You, God, are my fortress, my God on whom I can rely. Don't you love the Psalms? Raise your hand if you love that, to know that God is your strength and your fortress. you can rely on him. David goes on to say, God will go before me. How many are grateful that God has prepared the path before you? And you don't know what's there, but he knows what's there. That's the only way sometimes that you can go forward is to know that God has already been there. You will go before me and will let me gloat over those who slander me.

Whoa, took a little turn there. Took a little turn. The bald eagle just flew off the poster and the hot air balloon just pop, now gloating. But do not kill them, Lord Arsield, or my people will forget. Oh, that's nice. He's coming back to that holy place. In your might uproot them and bring them down for the sins of their mouths. For the words of their lips, let them be caught in their pride, for the curses and lies. They utter.

Consume them in your wrath. Consume them till they are no more. And now I'm confused because this started as a devotion, and it turned into a this track. I don't know if this is David or if this is Drake. I'm so confused. I'm so confused. Help me. Help me. Help me understand. Then it will be known to the ends of the earth that God rules over Jacob. They return at evening, snarling like dogs and prowl about the city. They wander about for food and howl, if not satisfied. But I will sing of your strength In the morning, I will sing of your love, for you are my fortress, my refuge in times of trouble.

I want to let you know today that you have the upper hand. Turn to somebody and let them know, I have the upper hand. Come on, let's get started. Spirit of God speak to our hearts today in such a powerful way that we will never forget this encounter with you. Show us who you are and who we are and make up the difference in our lives. for all that we are not be something God right now that we don't even know that we need speak something that we don't even know we need to hear deposit something that we didn't even know we were walking around without speak to our souls and we give you praise in advance in Jesus name Amen

So the question I have is What could David have been going through at this point in his life? That would cause him to experience such a range of of emotions. You saw it for yourself. It was a Psalm sandwich. You saw it where he was talking about the strength of God and the struggles of his life, all in the same Psalm. Now, I knew that David had range of motion because I saw him kill Goliath. And I knew that he had range of motion and the ability to take down giants. But what surprises me is his range of emotion. that he experienced within himself.

And I want to talk to you from three points today to help set up this series. And I usually don't show you the whole thing. I don't show my hand at the beginning of the sermon, but I'm going to give you all three points. I want to talk about the wars, the weapons, and the way. The wars, the weapons, and the way. The scripture declares that I am more than a conqueror through him who loves me. If that's the case, then why are there times where I do not feel his love?

The scripture declares that God is my defender and that he will arise and that no weapon formed against me will prosper. Why is it then that I feel under siege? It is into this tension that we must reconcile these lines that David wrote with the life that David lived. And so I want to take you over today to a scene in David's life and some of the Psalms that are written, we don't really know what was going on at the time they were written or what situations they refer to. But David's talking about all kinds of enemies and all kinds of battles. And the Bible says that this was written at a time, a particular time in his life that is recorded in Scripture in 1 Samuel. Now, please understand once again that God is not your refuge from trouble, but he is your refuge in trouble. That understanding alone would answer many of our questions about the operative nature of faith.

That God is not my refuge from trouble, but God is my refuge in trouble. Some of the times in your life that you think you're in trouble, you're not. You're in training. What you see as trouble, God sees as training. And I'm going to try not to holler and scream today, just teach a little bit. But go over to 1st Samuel 19 because when David wrote Psalm 59 or at least the period of time he's referencing here, is a very successful time in his life. On one hand, I mean, he's been anointed to be king.

and he got a pretty cool opportunity in front of all of his brothers to be singled out as the chosen one who is going to replace King Saul. He is called a man after God's own heart, and he's got oil on his head, which represents the way that God is going to use him, the influence God has given him. And God didn't speak it to him like Joseph in a dream. God spoke it to him in front of his whole family. So when God spoke to Joseph and said, I'm going to make you great, Joseph had to try to convince people. But when David was spoken of, he was spoken of in front of his brothers. So everybody knows he's a little special. If they didn't know it when he was anointed, they certainly knew it after he got done with Goliath.

How many of you have never heard a good Bible sermon about David and Goliath? I need to see, if you never heard this story about David and Goliath, well, I'm not going to go into it now. Spoiler alert, Goliath goes down. By the way, for every Goliath in your life, spoiler alert, he goes down. He might be bigger. He might be loud. He might be defiant. You might have never seen a battle like this before, but Goliath In fact, can I show you something? When David stood before Goliath, before he hit him with a stone, he spit a few bars. Can I show you? Can I show you? Because you didn't know that David was the original battle rapper. You always saw him in your mind. You saw him with a harp and a land. in his lap and he's stroking a lamb with one hand and strumming a harp with the other hand. But before David was ever strumming a harp or stroking a sheep, he walked up to Goliath and watch this. He looks at Goliath and begins to declare what God is going to do. Now here's a principle.

Write your bars before your battle. Don't wait until things turn out positively in your life to give. God's glory. Don't wait until C's part in your standing on dry ground to declare that God is able to split them. Don't wait until everything is perfect in your life to enjoy the presence of God. Don't wait until you don't have any hang-ups to say to God, here am I, send me, use me. God is looking for somebody who will shout before the first brick falls, who will blow

a trumpet while you're still looking at enemies in an occupied territory. So David stands up to Goliath, and I know you know all this already, but just in case nobody ever heard it, he goes up to Goliath and grabs the mic and he tells Goliath, you come against me with sword and spear and javelin, but I come against you in the name of the Lord Almighty, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied. Next verse, this day the Lord will deliver you into my hands, and and I'll strike you down and cut off your head this very day. Can't you hear a beat behind us? This very day, I will give the carcasses of the Philistine Army to the birds and the wild animals,

and the whole world will know that there is a God in Israel, and David's confidence is not only something that he speaks of, but it's something that he walks in. He has the kind of confidence to declare victory before battle. So when I praise God, I'm not praising God for outcomes that I'm currently experiencing. I am praising God for promises that are still to come. Can I preach a little bit today? I want to talk about the worst that David fought because he's doing great. He's anointed to be king.

He kills Goliath. He cuts off his head. He goes to Saul's tent because Saul told him he was just a little boy. And he tried to tell Saul that he had to be king. had the winning hand, and Saul said, you don't have a sword. And David said, not now, but after I get done using what's in my hand to knock him down and take what's in his hand, I'm going off his head with what he came against me holding, and I take his sword, and I'll cut off his head, and he stood at Saul's tent with Goliah's head.

And if that wasn't proof enough, when he went back into the city, watch this. When David went back into the city, a whole group of women started following David, into the streets, singing about his great victory. David is an anointed future king. He's a warrior. His music career is taking off. He's released a mixtape. He's being called to the palace to play the harp for Saul,

because Saul's going crazy. He just held Goliath's hand, and now the women are lining the streets, shaking tambourines. You want to see this? I promise you. In 1 Samuel 18, you think, I make this stuff up. This stuff is in the Bible. You thought the Bible was boring. The Bible's not boring. Touch your neighbor say you're boring. Read the Bible. The Bible's awesome. David is rising in power, and he's proving the presence of God, not through what just he says, but through what he does. And the women are lining the streets. And they got this little song. They're singing to Saul. They've shaken timbrels and liars and 808s. And as they dance, verse 7, they sang, Saul has slain his thousands. And David is tens of thousands. Well, Saul didn't like that song. very much. And so Saul shut that song down and he actually wanted to kill David. And so this

brings us to 1 Samuel chapter 19, which is the historical context of Psalm 59. And in Psalm 59 we see David calling on God to be his strength. But in 1st Samuel 19, we see into his struggle. Okay. Let's look into his struggle in order to understand his strength. So important that we understand his struggle or we will misunderstand his strength. As one great theologian has said, the presence of God is not the absence of trouble. If I could get one thing across to you in this series, it is that your greatest testimonies will come from your greatest tests.

Your greatest bars will come from your greatest battles. Maybe we assume that David killed Goliath and went to the beach. Not so. The Bible says that David continuing to serve Saul would go out, look at verse 8, and he would fight against the Philistines. In fact, it says, let me read this from the New King James Version, and there was war again, because it never stops. Because you don't kill Goliath, get the gold medal, and go home and stare at his head

for the rest of your life. Every time I heard Goliath preached as a little boy, it ended when he fell down. But you know what the Bible says was the reward for David's victory? More battles. Before you post, I know that some of you are about to get engaged, and before you post, the engagement pictures swipe left with eight different pictures, so everybody will OMGE down in the comment section and literally just died and so happy to you. Before you post that, make sure you are prepared because the reward for engagement?

I mean, just ask Holly about the reward for engagement. She will tell you that the process of becoming one is much grittier than the prospect of walking the aisle. So David kills Goliath, guess what? You get to fight again. You get the promotion. Guess what? You get to manage people. Guess what?

People suck. You get the house, you get to clean it. I just love preaching the Bible like it really goes. Because if we stop when Goliath goes down, we miss the whole point. He killed Goliath, and Saul said, now I got something bigger for you to do. You really want to answer your prayer? And war broke out again. And war broke out again and Saul needed somebody to fight.

Here's the thing he did. He sent somebody that he didn't even like to fight a battle for him that he needed him to fight. People will sometimes use you for what you can do for them while secretly hating the threat that you represent to them. Sometimes everything that appears to be a gift is not a gift and Saul wanted to kill David. One of the ways he tried to kill him was he let him marry his daughter. He said, I'll give you my daughter if you go kill 100 Philistines.

David said, no problem, I'll kill 200. Because he had hustle and heart and ambition like that. And he came back, the Bible says, with 200 Philistine foreskins. In case you did not drop your kids off at EKids, I will bypass the exact meaning of the text. Just let it be known that Saul's intention in giving David the gift was not to bless him. Some of the things in your life that appear to be battles are really gifts, and some of the things in your life that appear to be gifts are really curses.

So David is out fighting the Philistines, and we all have Philistines that we must fight in our lives. We all have Goliath, not just one, but many. When we kill Goliath, here comes another and another, because Goliath has brothers. And in the midst of fighting the Philistines, because that's hard enough, it's hard enough to fight the external battles. But I didn't really want to talk to you about the external battles because it seems that David had no problem fighting the Philistines. That's what he did. David was a killer.

Give him a Philistine, he'll knock him down. Give him five rocks. He'll only use one. You can keep the other four. Because David knew how to fight Philistines. And I'm going to prove to you over the course of this series that the biggest battles David never ever fought didn't stand in front of him. They lived within him. Because while he is fighting the battles without, there's another battle that is being waged within.

Once more war broke out and David went out and fought the Philistines and he did good. He struck them with a mighty blow and they fled from him. He sent them scattering, running for cover. But verse 9 says that while that battle was being won, another battle was being. waged. On one hand, David is coming up. And as he comes up into a greater position, as he comes up into a season of greater usefulness to God, a distressing spirit from God has come upon Saul. On one hand, David is being blessed, and on one hand, David is in a battle. And the battle is happening because God's hand has been taken off of Saul and put on David.

Now David has the unique task of trying to serve someone who is threatened by his potential. That's tough. Not only that, but Saul is distressed. He knows that he's slipping, but he cannot do anything to catch himself. And because of this, he's acting crazy. He's doing things. You know how you do when you sense that you're losing control? And so you try to fix stuff, but everything you try to do to fix it in frustration only makes it worse.

And you would do better to just leave it alone, but you can't. And so you try to control people. And then you sabotage yourself by creating the very result that you dread by trying to take matters into your own hand. That's Saul. And he's going so crazy in his mind that the only way that he can get the voices in his mind to stop is if there's music play. Now, we don't do that. We don't occupy ourselves with anything to try to keep ourselves from having to be with ourselves. And David is in the position that Saul's dysfunction has created over in the corner playing a harp for the king.

Because David's kind of weird, because on one hand he can whip you with a slingshot. But on the other hand, he can touch the strings and make you cry. And so he is the embodiment of both a warrior and a worshiper. And now his gift has brought him into a position that has created for him an opportunity in the form of opposition. And as the hand of God is leaving the life of Saul, and as the hand of God, the anointing of God is raising David up, the Bible says that Saul sat in his house with his spear in his hand. It's kind of creepy, big old Saul sulking in the corner with a spear in his hand. And watch what David had to do. David had to sit over there behind a harp, strumming a harp, while Saul held a spear.

And David was playing music with his hand. Verse 10. Then Saul sought to pin David to the wall with the spear. But he, David, slipped away from Saul's presence. And he drove the spear into the wall. Let me ask you a question. Who is Saul fighting? Because on the surface, it looks like he's fighting David.

But I wonder how many times in my life I thought I was fighting someone and I thought I was fighting something. But the real fight, the real war, the real battle was not the battle with them. it was the battle within. See, I want to preach about David, but before I preach about David, I need to confess to you. There have been times in my life where I have been Saul. I've been fighting the wrong battles. I've been trying to kill what God was trying to use. I've been exploding at people and freaking out on people and in a bad mood with people.

And if they would just know, if I would just. If I would bless the Lord, if I could get myself right, if I could get my mind right, if I could get my eyes fixed, if I could get it together. See, Saul is a walking, talking civil war, and he is taking out what is happening within himself on the closest available target. Parents do it all the time to their children. It's not that you don't love them. You love them more than you love yourself, but you don't love them. yourself and so you cannot give them the love for them that you have if there is not a love from God that flows to you you are not fighting them stop yelling at your wife and by the way let me preach to myself stop with the road rage it's not about the Prius there is something going wrong in your heart verdict when a Prius can make you freak out and speed up to 83 and fighting myself and fighting myself And when I am at war within myself, and when I am a wretched man, and when I am fighting with what Paul calls the weapons of this world, when I am fighting within myself and fighting against the very things that God is trying to use in my life and slinging spears at David, the very one that God sent to fight my back. I wonder, are you trying to kill something that God is trying to use in your life?

I want to preach about David, but before I can get there, because I'm not going to lie to you. I want to be David so bad. I want to be a man after God's own heart. I want to kill Goliath. I think it would be cool to kill Goli. I want to shake tambourines. I want to be David.

I want to be David, but sometimes I'm Saul. Sometimes I'm Saul. Sometimes I'm fighting against what I should be fighting for. So now David has a choice to make, and so do you. This is the decision that we see again and again in a series. This is just the syllabus. This is not the class. Is that you have to decide which weapons to use when.

And Saul in his attempt to spear David, misses and hits the wall. I noticed a contrast. It said, I don't know if you could put it back up for me, where it says that Saul was sitting in his house with his hand on the spear. And David had his hand on the harp. He had his hand on the liar. He had his hand on the string instrument. Because I was thinking that, you know, if this is a game of rock, paper, scissors.

Which one do you want? Spear? Javelin? Or harp? You choose. Come on, turn to your neighbor. Rock, paper, scissors, spear. I want the spear.

And when Saul misses, David has a decision. Because the Bible says that his spear stuck into the wall. And now, so here's the decision. that I have to make. Do I take my hand off the harp and grab the spear and throw it back? Because if there's one thing we know about David, he doesn't miss.

Ask Goliath about David's aim. If you're going to throw a spear at David, you better lock it in. Because if he throws it back, I assure you it will not end up in the wall. He will off your head. So before you throw a spear at David, take aim, you will not get a second chance. But David does.

What must have been the hardest thing he ever did? Nothing. When you have a reputation for killing giants to not fight back when you have the opportunity, when you have the opportunity to manipulate a situation and to do you. control a situation and to try to get people to do what you want. And they said this about me and I'm going to say it back. Oh, God, I wish you could see some of the replies I write to people on Facebook that I never publish. They are poetic.

Throw it back. I can hit you with this. I do words. I can talk. I can't fix a car. I can't bake a cake. But I can talk. David can throw.

And he doesn't. He does something weird. He ducks. David? Ducks. David? Let's do it. Ducks.

Because he has no other choice. Really, the harp is not a portable instrument. So he can't sidestep the spear. He's seated behind a harp. And the hand of Saul is on the spear. and the hand of David is on the harp. And I want to know who has the upper hand. Who has the winning hand?

Because if the hand of Saul is on the spear and the hand of David is on the harp, it seems to me that spear beats strings. So I got one hand on the spear and one hand on the strings. And I know Saul didn't miss David if he was at close range sitting down behind the harp. So how could the one with the spear lose to the one with the... How could Saul have his hand on the spear and David have his hand on the harp and David get out? There must have been another hand in the room that is not mentioned in the text. How many know that the hand of God is on your life?

Was on David. The hand of God grabbed the spear of Saul and said, not him, not now, no weapon. Hand on the harp, and God will put his hand on the spear. He won't let it kill you. He will not suffer your foot to be moved. The Lord which keep it thee, he will not slumber nor sleep. If you keep your hand on the harp. See, I thought that David had an instrument and Saul had a weapon, but maybe worship is a weapon.

Maybe David, maybe David knew if I keep my hand on the harp, if I let God be defeated. That's just emotional. No is survival. Because if you don't learn how to duck, if you don't learn how to say God, the weapons of our warfare are not carnal. I don't bro spears back. I got the winning hand. And when I clap my hands, my praise confuses the enemy. My praise.

My praise. When I lift my hands in worship, the hand of God is on. And David knew that the same hand that had plucked him from the sheepfield and the same hand that had delivered him from lions and bears and Goliaths and the same hand that held the flash that poured the oil, the hand of God is on my life. And Saul cannot kill what God has crowned. So the way I fight is this. I don't fight for victory. That's the way the world fights. My worship is my weapon.

I'll have to prove myself to people in situations. If I take this spear in my hand, throw it back. There's somebody in here who's got a spear in the wall right next to your head and you are trying to decide right now whether to do it your way or God's way. Can I give you a little piece of advice? Duck, David. let his way. How did David keep his hand on the harp and how do you keep your heart at peace with spears flying at your head? David knew that if I can win the battle within my soul,

God will fight my battle with Saul. That's where the real battle is. The war is within and so are the weapons. And over the course of this series, are you coming back, by the way? If you come back, I want to show you over the course of the next 473 weeks, or however long it takes us to complete this series. How to do what David learned to do. How to live in a place where you constantly feel at war within yourself. Learn how to speak to yourself, what God has spoken, instead of letting yourself tell yourself. You can't fight fear.

with fear. And so when David says, when David says, God, you are my strength. I'm so glad for Psalm 59, because 1st Samuel 19 gives me the picture of what David did is that with Saul Spears flying at him, David was able to keep his hand on the heart. It's a picture of being able to remain in a place of trust and surrender in a time of turbulence and trial and frustration. It's a picture. It says that Saul's hand was on the spear. That's me trying to control. David's hand stayed on the harp, and he played his hand. He knew that if I keep my hand on the harp, I cannot be defeated. If I keep my hand, if I keep my heart at peace, it will not matter what spears fly my way.

He said, God, you are my strength. Can we read the Psalm again? Look at this. Psalm 59, verse 9. I watch for you. Now, that's interesting. Because David seems to be saying, I wasn't watching Saul.

I wasn't watching the spears. I was watching the one whose hand. How many believe the hand of God is on your life? Now we know this from our side of the cross that the victory has already been won by our king, our greater David, Jesus Christ. We know that David was not the last king to come out of Bethlehem. We know that he was a king who was pointing to a king of kings. We know that the spirit of Him who raised Christ is from the dead, and we've already got the victory. We don't fight for it.

We fight from it. the hand of God is on your life. And you say, well, I'm not David, but you are. Because David's name literally means beloved. And the same love that crowned David has crowned you. And Saul cannot kill what God has already crowned and perfect love cast out fear. So here's what David did. He said, I watch for you.

I got a lot of stuff coming at my head. I got battles. At Shiba is one. We'll get to that, like this. But bring it home for a day. You are my fortress. Next verse. My God on whom I can rely.

But watch this, verse 11. Verse 11. Do not kill them. Lord, our shield. Wait a minute. David did have a weapon. David did have a weapon. Because when Saul's spheres started flying,

David got behind his shield. Come on, I need you to receive this. Because you got some stuff flying at you. You got some doubts in your soul. Come on. But stay behind your shield. Come on, Doc David, get behind your shield. Paul said it's the shield of faith.

We're with you shall quench the fiery darts of the wicked. I got a shield. Is anybody sealed it? I say behind my shield, cannot kill what God is crowned. I got the, I might not look like much. I might just be a shepherd boy, and God is my shield. Father, I thank you for your awesome presence in this place. I thank you for your awesome power within us.

Everyone stand to your feet and lift your hands. This is a worship moment. After all, it's been said and done, with spears flying, storms raging, doubts the sailing, winds blowing. In the midst of all of it, you have a shield. Say that lot, I'm shielded by the power of God. Father, we declare victory in this place. not because of battles that have been won already in progress.

Father, I thank you for the ways that you are working in our life today. I thank you for hiding us. I thank you for the shield that you have been. I thank you for the promise that you have given. God, I thank you in this moment that no matter what Saul throws with our hands lifted up and our hearts full of praise. Come on, bless the Lord. Hold my soul and all that is within me, I will bless and his praise.

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