Salt + Light Fort Worth

Hi, I am Piper's dad.

Um, I'm gonna be teaching today and,
uh, to get something out of the way.

Yes, there's a piano in front of me.

I'm going to be playing
this while talking.

Um, and, uh, David and Emma, if you're
new, this is very, very unusual.

Um, so, uh, I don't want you to think
that like this is what we do here.

This is objectively weird.

And I only teach a couple times a year.

Um, so, uh, let's see.

This is,

oops.

Sometimes you have to
mess with the volume on.

Oh, on them sliders.

Oh, the sliders.

This is exciting how these things, no, no.

This worked before

power.

Should I turn it off and turn it back on?

Oh, there we go.

It was me and then there was base.

All right, so we are, um, so we, uh,
our church is going through the psalms.

And, uh, it is a book of the
Bible that was originally songs.

And, uh, we don't know the tunes.

I'm not gonna try to play
them as songs, uh, to us now.

Uh, we kinda see them as prayers and
poems and, uh, there's 150 of them, and

we're not going through all of them.

What we're doing is taking a
few weeks to talk about theme.

Uh, because we see some themes over
and over in the Psalms, sometimes all

of them, all of these four themes in
one verse or one chapter of the Bible.

But some of these themes
are, uh, I thank you Lord.

Help me, Lord, you are great.

And today we're gonna be
talking about I trust you.

And the way that we're gonna
do that is we are going to be.

Uh, looking at Psalms that are attributed
to King David, uh, specifically psalms

that were attributed to parts of his life.

So sometimes you'll be reading through
Psalms and it'll say something like,

Psalm 24, David wrote this when
someone was trying to murder him.

Um, uh.

And those are, uh, the psalms we're gonna
be looking at, uh, uh, multiple psalms

where people were trying to murder David.

Uh, because, um, it's one thing to trust
God when nobody is trying to murder you.

And to be honest, that's
the only experience I have

with trying to trust God.

It's also one thing to trust God when, uh,
in some sort of temporary thing, but, um.

Well, what does it look like to trust
God when a situation just keeps going

and keeps going and keeps going?

And that's what happens to David.

Uh, he, he escapes and people
keep trying to murder him.

Uh, so, um.

I hope, I wanna see what trust
looks like over time, because

another word for trust is faith.

And the older I get, the more I
believe that trust and faith in God are

things that are built over a lifetime.

And I grew up in a God-fearing home
and in some ways I have, uh, lost.

The spark of a childlike faith,
but in other ways, I've come back

to a childlike faith by way of
roads paved with broken glass.

In my goodness, David burst onto
the scene with a childlike faith.

So you haven't, didn't have to be
raised in church to hear about David

and Goliath, the little man versus
the big man, the underdog against.

Impossible odds.

And in this particular situation,
it wasn't just a giant that was

talking trash to the Israel army.

It was a, a giant talking trash
to Israel's God and David.

This was something that
he just couldn't abide.

And so he, uh, on the battlefield, he
was saying to anyone who would listen,

he would say, who is this big man that he
should defy the armies of the living God.

And get David with no armor and only a
few slinging stones, he said to the big

man, 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

my God with trust, with faith.

And when I see trust and faith like
that, I wonder are some people just

built like that and why am I not?

So by and by David was made king.

And it wasn't because his daddy was
king, it was because, uh, the king,

king, Saul, uh, he did not trust God.

And so God said, you
can no longer be king.

And a funny thing happens, uh, when
somebody, uh, somebody like that,

uh, gets kicked outta being king.

Um, they don't take it very well.

And so, uh, he decided he was gonna try
to kill David and he sent men to kill him.

And David, he was, uh,
he was warned and he hid.

And people snitched on him.

And the killing men, uh, were upon him.

And this is a psalm that he wrote when
this was happening, when he was, uh,

trying, uh, to escape the men that, uh,
that Saul sent in the Psalms that says,

he said, deliver me from my enemies.

Oh God, be my fortress against
those who are attacking me.

See what they spew from their mouths.

The words from their lips are sharp as
swords, and they think, who can hear us?

But then listen to this trust.

He also said, you laugh at them,
Lord, you scuff at all these nations.

He said, you are my strength.

I watch for you.

You God are my fortress,
my God on whom I can rely.

He said again, you are my strength.

I sing.

Praise to you, you God are my fortress.

My God on whom I can rely.

And it's one thing to trust God in the
sunshine, another in the Dark Valley.

And David, he trusted God in the
valley and he was delivered from his

enemies in the strangest of fashion.

So the men were sent to kill
David, and when they came.

They were struck by the spirit
of the Lord, not killed by the

spirit of the Lord, but they just
started prophesying in the streets.

And of course, Saul was not a fan of this.

And so he sent more murdering men.

And those men, they also were struck
by the spirit of the Lord, and they

started prophesying in the streets.

And Saul, he said, you know, if
you need something done yourself.

Uh, you gotta do it yourself,
or whatever that phrase is.

And, uh, he went, and he too was struck
by the spirit of the Lord, this enemy.

And he was prophesying.

And for a moment, David was saved,
um, from these pro foy assassins,

and he was delivered.

And remember, we're looking
at faith and trust over time.

And trust builds trust.

But Saul did not relent.

He, uh, continued to try to
murder him after he came to.

And so David didn't feel, uh, like he was
safe in his own nation, and so he went to

the Philistines, uh, the people of whom he
killed their giant warrior named Goliath.

But it sounded like a better
thing to do than be with Saul.

And, uh, and they caught him, which
is, uh, something that happens.

You get recognized when you kill giants.

Um, and so, uh, he was in their
hands, and this is a psalm that

David cried out during this time.

He cried out.

He said, be merciful to me.

My god, for my enemies.

They're in hot pursuits.

All day long, they press their attack.

My adversaries pursue me all day long.

And then he says, when I'm
afraid I put my trust in you.

In God whose word I praise in
God I trust, and I'm not afraid.

What can mere mortals do to me?

He said.

When I'm afraid I put my trust in you.

Which is interesting because it's
fashionable these days for, uh, people to

say or wear on hats, uh, faith over fear,
and I'm sure people mean different things

when they when they say this, right?

But sometimes it comes across
like, Hey, get your mind right.

Stop it.

Like in.

Dune when Paul's mom says, fear
is the mind killer, which means

stop being afraid so you can get
away from your enemies, Paul.

But when I found that when I'm
afraid, when I'm anxious, telling

myself to stop is the best way to,
uh, stoke flames into a bonfire.

But David, he said, he
said, when I'm afraid.

I put my trust in you.

That sounds like faith in
fear because faith in fear

is not a room with two doors.

No faith is an open door to
those who are still afraid.

Faith and fear is not
a room with two doors.

No faith is an open door to
those who are still afraid.

So if you're scared,
you're in the right place.

And once again, David was delivered
in the strangest of fashion.

He would not have chosen this way of
deliverance, but he had this idea.

He thought, maybe I can act crazy.

And the Bible gives us
these awesome details.

It says he was spitting all over
his beard and then he damaged

doors, which I don't know if
you've ever tried to damage a door.

Uh, it's easier to ruin than paper.

Uh, and, uh, they were the, but
the Philistines, they still brought

him to the King of the Philistines,
uh, the King of the Philistines,

whom he killed their giant.

And I love this.

This is what the King
of the Philistines says.

He says, look at this man.

He is insane.

Why bring him to me?

Am I so short of mad men?

That you have brought this fellow here.

Now, it seems to me that David was
delivered by a great idea by his own

cleverness, his wits and his cunning,
but he didn't see it that way.

He said in the Psalms, he said, I
sought the Lord, and he answered me.

He delivered me from all my fears.

Those who look to him are radiant.

Their faces are never covered with shame.

This poor man called and
the Lord answered him.

He saved him out of all his troubles.

The angel, the Lord, encamps around
those who fear him and he delivers them.

You see?

Faith is a muscle.

Trust is a muscle, and
David was strengthened.

He strengthened his muscles
by remembering, by attributing

his salvation to God.

He says God delivered him from
his fears and he commends those

who fear the Lord to church today.

Remember the Lord's deliverance.

Remember when you cried
out and he delivered you?

And may this light be a light for you
when all other lights go out and when

you can't remember, may your brothers
and sisters remember for you and when

they cannot, may the Holy Ghost remember
and remind, because we, we need that

trust muscle because sometimes the hits
keep coming and they don't stop coming.

Fed to the rules and I
hit the ground running.

Yes, there are wins and we
praise God for the winds.

There's relief and periods of peace, and
maybe that's you and if so, praise God.

But that's not David's part of
the story because it's out of

the frying pan into the fire.

He escaped the Philistines,
the king Saul still pursued.

And he was driven to a cave by himself
and he cried out in his psalms.

He said, 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.

And no one is concerned for me.

I have no refuge and no
one cares for my life.

I cry to you, oh Lord, you are my refuge,
my portion in the land of the living.

And once again, David
was strangely delivered.

So the Bible says in First Samuel,
it says, when his brothers and his

father's household heard about it.

They went down to him there, and all
those who were in distress or in debt

were discontented gathered around
him and he became their commander

and about 400 men were with him.

David said, no one is concerned for me.

He said, no one cares for my life.

And the Lord sent him a mess of 400 men.

May this be set of salt and light,
that we are a refuge for the indebted,

the distressed, and the discontented.

But King saw he did not let
up and others came to his aid.

How many were David's foes?

And how many were those
who would snitch on him?

And one of those snitches they told
Saul about David's whereabouts.

And David in the Psalms he declared,
he said, I'm like an olive tree

flourishing in the house of God.

I trust in God's unfailing love forever
and ever for what you have done.

I will always praise you in the
presence of your faithful people,

and I will hope in your name.

For your name is good in the
presence of your faithful people.

And when he was talking about that, he
was talking about 400 ragtag, distressed,

discontented, debtors and David, he got
away, but the snitching, it continued.

It would not end the trouble.

Would not end his suffering.

Would not end his enemies.

Told Saul where he was and David.

He still declared, he said.

He said, surely God is my help.

He said, the Lord is
the one who sustains me.

You have delivered me from all
my troubles and my eyes have

looked in the triumph of my Bowes.

He remembered his deliverance and
trust builds trust deliverance through

the weird acts of God, the spirit
making people prophesy his enemies

declaring the glory of the Lord.

He, he was delivered and he
remembered that he was delivered

by his clever idea to act like a
madman with beards and damaged doors.

He was delivered by a cave
full of hooligans and riffraff.

Spoiler alert David.

He'll eventually be delivered.

And Saul's gonna be defeated
and David will be king.

But at this point in the
story, David doesn't know that.

He just knows that when he is afraid,
there's an open door called faith.

So brothers and sisters, maybe you'll
be delivered from your current troubles,

but you don't know that for sure.

All you know is that the hits keep coming
and you're afraid, but you're not alone.

So I want you to look around
the people in this room.

What debts, what distress,
what discontent, and what what?

Trust, what faith surrounds you.

And we are not alone.

We cry out.

God, you are my strength.

I watch for you, you God, are my fortress.

My God on whom I can rely.

We cry out, God, you're my strength.

I sing.

Praise to you, you God are my
fortress, my God on whom I can rely.

Another word for trust is faith.

And the older I get, the more I
believe that trust and faith are

things that are built over a lifetime.

I was raised in a God-fearing home and.

In some ways I've lost the spark of
a childlike faith, but in other ways

I've come back to a childlike faith
by way of roads paved, broken glass.

So, uh, now what we're gonna
do, which we do every week,

is we are going to remember.

We're gonna be reminded.

And what I love about the reminder of
communion is it's something you can

feel, it's something that you can touch.

And it's, uh, something that, uh, when,
when we, when we have trouble remembering,

when we have trouble being reminded of
God's salvation, we've got this thing that

we can taste, that we can touch, and we
see other people being reminded of this.

And here's the good news.

Uh.

Again, even, um, though I said, I'm
not saying fear is the mind killer,

it's you can sometimes, especially
if you feel like you're not trusting

God right now, look at, look at David
and be like, wow, he trusted God.

Um, he did at this point, if you
keep reading, he did one of the

most horrible things in the Bible.

Um, and, uh.

That's not, we're not
supposed to be like David.

Um, and it is hard to consistently trust.

I do think that trust and faith are built
over a lifetime, but it is not our trust.

It is not our faith that opens the door.

We know that trust and faith, they're
an open door that's available to

us because of the work of Jesus.

David, he did not know if he would die or
not, if he would be delivered, but Jesus.

He knew he would die and he
knew he would be delivered.

So as we remember, as we remind, if it's
hard for you to remember the times that

you were delivered, just know that that's
not what the open door faith is about.

It is about the open door that
is open because of the trust.

Of Jesus Christ because of the faith of
Jesus Christ and because of his trust in

his faith in God that he showed, uh, we
are able to have trust and faith in him.

So, um, over here, over here,
back there, there is communion.

And how we do that here
is, uh, you go take it.

You dip, you bring it back to your seat.

The dark one is wine.

The not dark one is not wine, and
you bring it back to your uh, seat.

And then we'll all remember this together.

So take just a minute to do so.

So salt and light, you ragtag,
band of the distressed, the

discontent, and those in debt.

Take, eat, and remember your commander.