Sermon Tone Analysis

Setup In The Stronghold

This week's psalm is Psalm 142.

I have some good news.

My oldest son has fallen in love…with an album.

It was something I feared may never happen, because we live in the day of the single.

Nobody listens to albums anymore, but my son, having impeccable good taste (mostly informed by his genetic code), has fallen in love with an album.

If we weren't in church, I'd tell you it's a Kendrick Lamar album, but what was so good to me about that is I was scared he would never have the experience I had when I was about his age.

He's 12.

He would listen to Spotify-streamed songs and the garbage stuff that's out there now, and I didn't know if he'd get into good-quality music.

I never knew if he would have the moment I had growing up in the mean streets of Moncks Corner, South Carolina, of falling in love with an album.

The first album I fell in love with was of course by the great Christian worship band Guns N' Roses.

The prophet Axl Rose was the first preacher who ever touched my soul in a powerful way.

I wanted him to have that experience, to really get into the music.

He looked at me the other day, and he said, "I feel like Kendrick gets me".

Compton and Waxhaw are just alike.

That point aside, it was good to me to see him get into it.

I wanted him to know that and feel that.

In this series, I want you to know God gets you, and I want you to get into God.

Can you see how excited I am?

It's either that, or I'm caffeinated, or something.

Some combination of caffeine and Jesus Christ has me fired up to tell you that God gets you.

Touch somebody and say, "I don't get you; thank God he does".

The more you get into God, the more you realize God gets you, all of you, and yet, when we come into church, sometimes we read little fragments of Scriptures and phrases and things that sound good.

That's like people who say, "I don't listen to the lyrics.

I just like the beat".

I hate those people.

You don't understand the depth and the backstory.

You just like the beat.

Sometimes we're like that in church.

"I will bless the Lord at all times, and his praise shall continually be on my mouth".

You're not thinking about what that says.

You just like how it sounds.

You're like, "Yeah.

I will bless the Lord occasionally, once in a while, or on Sunday for 28 minutes.

I will bless the Lord at… Well, not all the time.

I'm not going to get in front of people and do it.

I'm not going to lift my hands.

But it sounds good.

I like the beat".

Last week, we were focused on Psalm 59, which was a banger.

We discovered not only is David a shepherd, but he is a goat.

He's the goat, the greatest of all time.

Some people were offended by the assertion that David was the greatest rapper of all time.

I stand by it.

We are rocking to his mixtape, the book of Psalms.

Three millennia after he penned these words, they still resonate in our souls.

This week, we're going to look at some things he said that might surprise us in Psalm 142.

This is more of a ballad.

The tempo is a little slower, because David is conflicted, and he cries out to God about it.

I want to read all seven verses from Psalm 142.

David says, "I cry aloud to the Lord; I lift up my voice to the Lord for mercy.

I pour out before him my complaint; before him I tell my trouble.

When my spirit grows faint within me, it is you who watch over my way.

In the path where I walk people have hidden a snare for me.

Look and see, there is no one at my right hand; no one is concerned for me.

I have no refuge; no one cares for my life".

Elijah, nobody is praying for me.

I looked around for help, and all I found was hardship.

"I cry to you, Lord; I say, 'You are my refuge, my portion in the land of the living.'

Listen to my cry, for I am in desperate need; rescue me from those who pursue me, for they are too strong for me.

Set me free from my prison, that I may praise your name".

I want to so badly, but I can't right now.

Set me free.

Only you have the keys to do it.

"Then the righteous will gather about me because of your goodness to me".

There's one more thing I want to read you from 1 Samuel 22 before we talk about it for a few moments.

This is the backstory to the beat.

We'll just read one verse for now, 1 Samuel 22:5.

"But the prophet Gad said to David, 'Do not stay in the stronghold.

Go into the land of Judah.'

So David left and went to the forest of Hereth".

My subject for today is "The Setup in the Stronghold".

When we started Psalm 142, I don't know if you found yourself, like me, wanting to tell David, "You're not allowed to do this".

When he cries aloud to the Lord and lifts up his voice to the Lord for mercy in verse 1, at this point in the psalm, I have predicted this predicament.

It is in verse 2 that I'm a little surprised, where David says, "I pour out before him my complaint".

At this point, I want to pull David aside and say, "Didn't you know you were supposed to bless the Lord at all times, and his praise should continually be in your mouth"?

David said back to me, "I wrote that psalm too.

That's Psalm 34, but this one is a little different, because sometimes, before my mouth can be filled with praise, I have to pour out something else to make room for what I know I'm supposed to…"

This is the point in the sermon where people start getting really confused on me, because we have been taught sometimes that unless we can come to God the right way, we can't come to him at all.

The fact of the matter is a lot of us don't pray, don't worship, and don't enter into the presence of God in that specific, intangible way wherein he can heal the issues of your heart because we are scared of what would happen if we really opened ourselves up and told him.

In fact, I was talking to my friend the other day about how it's very difficult for us sometimes to tell God how we're feeling, which is funny because I have a feeling he already knows how I'm feeling.

I'm scared to tell him, and here's why.

It's because of something my dad used to say.

Whenever I would start crying, my dad had this line he would say to get me to stop.

The line was, "If you don't stop that crying, I'll give you something to cry about".

My dad was a great dad, and I get it.

But when David uses this image, I was surprised.

I'm so used to the Psalms being a place where we pour out our praise.

I was surprised to see David pour out his complaint, because I didn't think you were supposed to complain if God was good to you.

I read the whole psalm, and he started the psalm by saying he was pouring out his complaint, and he ended the psalm by saying God was good to him.

I couldn't put the two together, because what do you have to complain about if God has been good to you?

I'm sometimes afraid to complain in the presence of God, so I don't pray.

I can't say what I know I'm supposed to say, so I don't say anything.

I'm scared if I say what I really want to say, God might give me something to cry about.

I'm scared sometimes to pray to God before I come preach what I really feel like praying to God, which is, "I'm not feeling this today".

I'm scared if I say that to him, he'll put something on my voice box so I can't preach.

I'm afraid if I complain to God about my children, he might look on somebody else who can't have kids and has been praying that they could have kids, and here I am complaining about something I prayed and asked God to give me.

I feel kind of guilty, so now I stand at a distance, and I won't tell God what I have to say.

I learned something about God.

He is the only safe place where I can pour out my complaint.