======================================================================== A REJOICING THAT IS DEEPER THAN KNOWLEDGE by Carter Conlon ======================================================================== Summary: God's presence is always available, even in the midst of despair, and He will reveal His answer and faithfulness to those who trust in Him. Duration: 38:10 Topics: "Faith And Trust", "Spiritual Rejoicing" Scripture References: Psalm 22:21-25 ------------------------------------------------------------------------ DESCRIPTION ------------------------------------------------------------------------ This sermon emphasizes the importance of finding joy and peace in God even in the midst of despair and difficult circumstances. It highlights the power of God's whisper to our hearts, revealing His faithfulness and the assurance that He hears our prayers. The message encourages listeners to trust in God's plan for their lives, even when they may not fully understand it, and to find a deeper rejoicing that surpasses human knowledge. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ CONTENT ------------------------------------------------------------------------ I want to speak to you today about a rejoicing that is deeper than knowledge. A rejoicing that is deeper than knowledge. Now, Father, I thank you with all my heart, Lord, for the anointing of your Holy Spirit. I thank you, Lord, how you make these words on this page today come alive. And God, it quickens us and takes our minds out of despair and brings us to another place, where you are. Your faithfulness dwells there. You have said you will never leave nor forsake us. So God, today I'm asking you that you would make this word a key that goes into some very, very dark places, very difficult places, places that are hidden and unhidden in people, all of us who have gathered here today. Lord, give us this ability to rejoice as you whisper to our hearts, and we thank you for it in Jesus' name. Psalm 22, I'd just like to start by reading one verse, verse 24. David the king wrote this psalm at a very, very difficult time in his life. And he says these words in verse 24, for he has not despised nor abhorred the affliction of the afflicted, nor has he hidden his face from him. But when he cried to him, he heard. There are seasons of despair in every person's life. Sometimes there are reasons for it. Sometimes there are no reasons. Sometimes we can't tangibly point to anything that's causing this foreboding sense of hopelessness and gloom. And the worst of it all is the feeling that God is not listening, God is not there, and potentially maybe God is even angry with us. Although there's no scriptural evidence for that, we will still have a tendency to succumb to that argument. Somehow you've offended God. Somehow he's walked away from you. Your life is, you've struggled for too long. Your life is too much of a waste. In first Kings in the Old Testament, chapter 19, there was a great prophet of God called Elijah, who loved God with all his heart, served him passionately. But at a certain point in his life and ministry, he just fell into a despair, a depression came on him. And he went to the top of a mountain and he just sat down and he said, God, I'm done. I'm paraphrasing, but basically that's what he said. Lord, I'm done. I've had it. I thought I was more than I am. I thought my journey was going to be greater than it's become. I thought the results were going to be deeper than they seem to be. Would you please just take my life? And this is a great, great prophet of God. And he says, Lord, just take me home now, please. I don't want to live any longer. And the Bible tells us that God went before him and there was a wind that was powerful enough to break rocks and a fire that could devour anything and an earthquake and all of these things that God is, but none of these things could lift him out. None of the familiar things of the power of God seemed to be able to lift him out until the voice of God came to his heart as a whisper, just a whisper. He wasn't familiar with this. He was used to seeing God a certain way, but suddenly the whisper of God brought him out of this place of despair. And God began to speak to him about his future. And the whisper of God, the whisper of God was enough to keep this man going and do great good through his life, for the remainder of his life. You know, sometimes we want this incredible experience with God. We want the place where we are to be shaken. We want the fire to come down. We are very much like Elijah is, failing to understand that the whisper of God has the power to create a universe. God didn't have to shout when he said, let there be light. He could have whispered. He didn't have to shout when he said, Lazarus, come forth and call the dead man out of the grave. He could have simply whispered it. He only said it loud for the sake of others that were around so they could hear and understand that the power of God was operating through his life. Psalm 25 and verse 14 says, the secret of the Lord is with those who fear him and he will show them his covenant. In other words, he will show them his promise to keep them, his power to keep them. He will show them what he did and how he can be trusted for those who walk with God. And when it says fear him, it just means they have a deep reverence for God. They might not be living in victory at the moment, but they have an extremely deep reverence for God. I know there's people here today that can say that and say, Pastor, I love God. I really do. I love him with all my heart, but it just seems that my circumstances are overwhelming me. The thoughts in my own mind are starting to crowd out the thoughts of God. My own heart is starting to melt inside and I feel like I'm being overcome, even though I know in the Bible that God promises never to leave me nor forsake me. But if that's true, then why is he so far away from me? Why is he not answering my prayers speedily? Why is the fire not coming down? Why isn't the ground shaking underneath me? Why aren't my enemies perishing all around me? As the scripture says, the Bible says that they'll come against you a certain number of ways and they'll flee a phenomenal number of ways. And my enemies in the workplace are coming against me and they're not fleeing at all. More of them are getting hired every week and they're joining leagues and they're joining forces. And so where is the power of prayer and where are you, God, in the midst of all of this? Now in Psalm 22, David the king was really at the pinnacle of his calling. He was not yet at the place where God was going to use him to usher the glory, the presence of the Lord back into the center of Jerusalem again. He hadn't conquered fully the way he was destined to conquer, but at a sudden point in his life. Now, nobody knows for sure when David wrote this, but some at least speculate that it was at the time when King Saul was pursuing him to take his life and everything seemed to be going wrong. He had fought the lion and the bear and the giant and he had gone out and he had led the armies of Saul into incredible victory. Samuel had walked into his house and poured a flask of oil on his head. The spirit of God had come upon him. It just seemed like it just couldn't get better. It's almost like a season of a new Christian. It was just forward in power, grace and glory and in his heart probably thought this could only get better when suddenly everything seemed to turn. Suddenly the king who once was honoring him because of the great victory he won was throwing a javelin at him, trying to pin him to the wall, setting him up to falsely accuse him so that he could have him perhaps executed or thrown in prison. And then finally mustering all the armies of Israel and chasing him to kill him. And he had never done anything to be disloyal. And now he writes in the midst of all of this, my God, my God, verse five, why have you forsaken me? Where are you Lord? This is not the way I thought things were going to go. This is not what I thought my life was going to look like. Why are you so far from helping me? Where are you Lord? Where is, where is the help I once knew when I faced a giant in your name and the armies of hell trembled at your presence? And I, where is the spirit of God when I was able to take a lion by his mane and throw him to the ground and slay him? Why are you so far from me? And from my, the words of my groaning, don't you see the pain that I'm in? Don't you understand the anguish that's in my spirit? God, where are you? And why are you not answering me? Why are you not speaking to me? I come to church, I pray in the morning, I'm reading my Bible. Oh God, my God, he says in verse two, I cry in the daytime, but you do not hear in the night season and I'm not silent. In other words, I'm still praying and I'm doing my part, but where are you? Have you ever felt that way? You ever been in a place like that? Say God, where are you? Why can't I hear you? Why are you not answering me? You are holy says in verse three and thrown in the praises of Israel. In other words, there are so many people that have praised you and are praising you and are talking about this incredible victory that they're experiencing it. You ever been in a place in your life where just one more person comes and talks about how God's been so good, you're just going to scream if they do it? Even in church, you're just going to just, I just can't take any more of this. Maybe you're in a place of victory, but I'm not right now. I'm struggling. Our fathers trusted in you. They trusted and you delivered them. They cried to you and you, and they were delivered. They trusted in you and were not ashamed. In other words, God, I know what you did. I know what you can do. I know what you have done. Then why are you not doing it for me? Why am I in this place where I feel forsaken by you? And he goes on in verse six says, but I'm a worm and no man. In other I have no strength. I can't get up. I can't walk. I'm a reproach of men and despised by the people. You know, you can get to the point where you're so oppressed. You start to feel that everybody's against you. Everybody's speaking against you. You can get to the point where you're, you're putting your couch against the door of your apartment at night because somebody out there's everybody wants to get you. You can get to that point in your mind. If you let the, this wrong thinking actually reach its full course. And all those who see me ridicule me. Well, that's not true. Not everybody was doing that, but he believed that at the moment. They shoot out the lip. They shake the head saying he trusted in the Lord. Let him rescue him. Let him deliver him since he delights in him. David is saying, God, I made my boast of you. I spoke about you everywhere. I went. People asked me the stories of those former victories. Tell us David about the lion. Tell us about the bear. Tell us about Goliath. Tell us about Samuel coming to your father's house and you being called in as a young boy. Tell us what it felt like when that oil poured down from the top of your head to the hem of your robe that you were wearing. Tell us what it felt like when the spirit of God came upon you and you were changed from the man you were, the young man you were into the man that God was making you into. But you are he who took me out of the womb. You made me trust while on my mother's breasts. I was cast upon you from birth from my mother's womb. You've been my God. Verse 10. Be not far from me for trouble is near and there's none to help. David is saying, God, now this is don't you love the honesty of this man to write these words as a song. Imagine worshiping to these words in the morning, but this is a song that he wrote. He said, God, from the time I was a child, I was taught by my mother and my father about you. From the time I was little, I believed in you. That's why when I was out in the field as a young teenager, I had the courage to stand against whatever tried to take what you had put into my hand away from me. And God, I have always trusted you. Don't be far from me for trouble is near and there's no one to help. Many bulls have surrounded me. Strong bulls have bashed and have encircled me. That's verse 12. In other words, I'm surrounded by things that are too strong for me. Have you ever been there? Have you ever been there where the fear in your life is too strong? The oppression is too strong. You know in your heart, I can't handle this much longer. I can't live with this in my heart much longer the way things are going. They gape at me with their mouths like a raging and a roaring lion. David is saying, I can feel hell laughing at me. You trusted in God. Where is God now? You, you made your boast of him. Why is he not answering your prayer? Where is he now when you need him the most? And just like a roaring lion, remember that the devil walks about like a roaring lion seeking whom he may devour, seeking whose faith he can take away, seeking how he can get his accusations against the faithfulness of God into our hearts and get us to somehow believe them. David says, I'm poured out like water. All my bones are out of joint. My heart is like wax. It's melted within me. My strengths dried up like a potsherd and my tongue clings to my jaws and you brought me to the dust of death. It can't get worse. David was saying it. There's nowhere down to go. Not only do I feel like a worm, I feel like a man who's already dead. I'm just not buried yet. There's no hope for me in the situation I'm now in. For dogs have surrounded me. Verse 16, the congregation of the wicked has enclosed me. They pierced my hands and my feet. I feel like I'm nailed into a place that I can't get out of. I feel like I can't move. I feel, oh God, like something is going on here that I never anticipated was going to happen. I can count all my bones. They look and stare at me. They divide my garments among them and for my clothing they cast lots. God, I was given an inheritance of you and all of a sudden I can hear these rumors of everybody's dividing up everything that was once mine. Now they're dividing it up among them and even my comforts are being taken away. But you, verse 19, oh Lord, do not be far from me. Oh, my strength hasten to help me. Deliver me from the sword and my precious life from the power of the dog. Save me from the lion's mouth and from the horns of the wild oxen. Now we've gone 21 verses. Well, I don't know. I've gone through struggles in my life, but never as deep as this one. I have to be honest with you. I read these words and say, God, is it possible to go down any lower than this man was? And it's in the worst of the worst of the worst valleys of the shadow of death. It's in the midst of a time of trial and difficulty and hardship. A sudden revelation comes into his heart right out of nowhere. He says, you have answered me. It's truly amazing. It builds no bridge to it. It doesn't come from sorrow to gradual victory. Just suddenly a revelation hits his heart. You have answered me. It's amazing when you read it. It's only the last little part of verse 21. He just said, save me from the lion's mouth and from the horns of the wild oxen. Then he says, you have answered me. Now it gets deeper. It gets better after this. I will declare your name to my brethren. In other words, I'm going to tell everybody that you've been faithful to me. I'm going to tell everybody. Now I'm still surrounded perhaps by enemies. I'm still in the same work environment. I'm still going through the same stuff, but God, you have answered me. You've not hidden your eyes and ears from me or your strength from me. There was a purpose in this. It's deeper than I can fully understand. But one thing I know, God, you have answered me and I'm going to tell my brethren, God has been faithful to me. God has been faithful to me. And they're going to say to me, well, you're still in the same spot, aren't you? That you were before. I know, but God has been faithful to me. Then it gets deeper. In the midst of the assembly, I will praise you. I'm not just going to talk to individual people about what you've done, but I'm going to church and my voice is going to be the loudest one among them. I'm going to praise you. David, remember David said, I was sinking in the mire and I didn't know how to get out. And God lifted me up and set me on a solid place, put a new song in my mouth and many will see it and fear and trust in the Lord. It's a song that we begin to sing, a song of confidence in God, a song that comes because of an inner whisper of God's Holy Spirit that we begin to sing. And people look at us and say, hey, isn't that Frank or isn't that Joan, whatever your name is. And isn't he or she still in the same marriage, still in the same job, still in the same place, still struggling to pay the same bills. Where's this song come from? All of a sudden, this rejoicing, this clapping, this shouting in the presence of God in the midst of the assembly, I will praise you. Then he goes on. He says, you fear the Lord, praise him. All you descendants of Jacob glorify him and fear him. All you offspring of Israel. Not only will I testify to my brethren, not only will I sing in the church, but I will start encouraging the people around me. Lift up your hands, lift up your voice, lift up your heart. God has heard your cry. God is going to be faithful to you. For he has not despised verse 24, nor abhorred the affliction of the afflicted, nor has he hidden his face from him. But when he cried to him, he heard. Now it gets even better. My praise shall be of you in the great assembly. David saw something even bigger than sharing with individual people his victory, then coming to church, then exhorting the assembly. He said, I see a gathering of people, a great assembly, and I will praise you there as well. He couldn't fully understand it, but I see more and more and more and more people coming together, more and more people worshiping God. I see something in my spirit. I'm going to praise you there. I'm not going to be quiet. I'm not going to be like those who go down into silence. I'm going to lift my voice and declare how good you are. I will pay my vows before those who fear him. And then he goes on in verse 26, he said, the poor shall eat and be satisfied. He even sees more people coming in. Now the poor are coming in and those who seek him will praise the Lord. Let your heart live forever. He sees this gathering into this great assembly of people. He doesn't understand it. He can't fully understand it. It's only a whisper of God into a despairing man's heart. All the ends of the world, verse 27, it's getting bigger by the moment, shall remember and turn to the Lord. All the families of the nations shall turn to God. Now you have to understand up to this point, salvation was only for the Jew. Suddenly David, in the midst of his hardship, in the midst of his despair, has this whisper of God come into his heart that what you are experiencing is so much bigger than you understand. You and I know today that the Lord had allowed him to experience the cross. Don't forget, don't forget that the Christ, the man, the physical man, Christ was in his DNA and was going to come through his lineage. He was being ushered a thousand years into the future, a thousand years after he wrote this psalm. The greatest event in all of history was going to take place on a hill called Mount Calvary and the very words that he had experienced, the very things he had said in the midst of his pain were going to be the greatest victory that the world has ever known. That's why David, that's why Jesus on the cross quoted verse one of Psalm 22. My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? He was quoting the entire psalm just by opening with that first verse. Then David goes on, he says, all the ends of the world shall remember and turn to the Lord. He's talking about, he's talking about something is going to happen that's so big, it's going to touch the whole world. And the families of the nation shall worship before you. For the kingdom is the Lord's and he rules over the nations. Then verse 29, he says, all the prosperous of the earth shall eat and worship. And those who go down to the dust shall bow before him. Even he who cannot keep himself alive. He saw something in the spirit from the whisper of God that came into his heart at the lowest point in his life, arguably the lowest point. God whispers something. It's such a contrast between the lowest point and the highest point of any victory that will ever be won. You see what I'm trying to say this morning is that just because you're down doesn't mean God won't speak something more profound to you than you've ever heard in your entire life. Don't buy the lie that God's not speaking to you. He saw a moment coming when every knee would bow and every tongue would confess. He couldn't finish the verse because he didn't know there was somebody called Jesus Christ who was going to be Lord. Although Jesus Christ, the physical man was in his DNA and would come through his lineage. In verse 30, he says, a posterity shall serve him. It shall be recounted of the Lord to the next generation. They shall come and declare his righteousness to a people who will be born that he has done this. In other words, there will not be just this generation talking about this, but there'll be another one talking about this and sharing it with another one who will share it with another one who will give it to another one who will give it to another one. And they're going to be telling each other all through the world that he has done this. The interesting thing is that David doesn't know what this is. He just knows it's really big. It's really big. And it's going to go worldwide. And it's going to be incredible. And the revelation came to his heart at the lowest point in his life. Sometimes you and I can't fully understand the power of the cross while there's still a measure of our own strength left in us. We will always lean on our own strength. We will always try to find a way out in our own understanding. We're prone to that. We all are. And then suddenly one day God takes it all away where it's all him or nothing. The only thing we have left is the will to walk with him. We don't have the strength. We don't have the power. We're done like David was. Our hearts are melted. Our strength is poured out like water. We feel like we're brought down to the dust of death. And that's when the whisper of God comes into your heart. Remember, he said he will show his covenant. He will show his faithfulness. He will show the work that he's doing sometimes at the worst possible time in our lives. Realistically, I don't know how much my faith has grown on the mountaintop over the years. I love the mountaintop. Don't misunderstand me. I love clapping my hands and dancing and singing with everybody else. And I've had some incredible mountaintop experiences, but I've found most often it's in the valley that I learn more about God. Because it's in the valley that when you're on the mountaintop, you have a tendency to shift our strength to ourselves. But when we're in the valley, we know, we know. You know, you know, you know. I heard that growing out there. We know only God can get us through these times. The devil's plan is to get you feeling in those moments that God doesn't hear you anymore. God doesn't love you. God is fed up with you. God has put you away. Your praying is pointless. God doesn't hear you. And you have no idea, no idea in those moments. David could have no way of knowing that he had been transported in that moment in his life, a thousand years into the future. And he had said the very words and described the very scene of the greatest victory ever known to humanity. He was there at the cross of Jesus Christ. It's truly, truly, truly, truly amazing. The secret of the Lord is revealed to those who fear him. I want to close with a story this morning. It's a personal one. Back in 1987, David Wilkerson was preaching at a church in Toronto, Canada. It was a three-day conference, and it was three days of prayer and fasting. And my wife, Pastor Teresa, and a girlfriend of hers decided to go to fast for the three days and to attend those nightly services. And she told me, I made her tell me the story again yesterday to make sure I do get it right. She said, I have a lot of guts and passion, but I'm short on details sometimes. You know, I once said to her, why do you always insist on ruining a good story with the facts? Anyways, I got it right yesterday. She told me the story as it happened. And she said, from the moment I arrived at this church in Toronto, Canada, at this conference that David Wilkerson was speaking at, there was this bubbling up of joy in my heart, which was inexplicable. I just couldn't explain it. And I remember she came home from that conference and she kept telling me, I feel like the Lord spoke a secret into my heart between him and me. And I said, so what's the secret? And she said, I don't know what the secret is, but I felt this incredible joy bubbling up the whole time. I felt giddy in the services. I felt like laughing. It was just such a joy the whole time in my heart. And she said on the last day, David Wilkerson got up and he said, I will not be back here again. I'm not going to do any more of these outreaches. He said, I'm going to New York and I'm going to be starting a church in Times Square. And I remember she came home and she told me the story as she related it yesterday, it all came back to me. And she said, and I felt this bubbling of joy inside. God spoke a secret to me. She kept saying he spoke a secret into my heart, but she didn't know what the secret was. And so she lived, she actually lived for years to say, I want to go to that church and I want to see. She said she used to do dishes over the sink in the old farmhouse and say, Oh God, one day, would you take me to that church? Because it's got something to do with that church that David Wilkerson is going to, would you take me to that church? One day it was her dream. It was her desire. And she said, finally, in 1994, she got that dream. Seven years later of her heart was fulfilled. And she came to New York city and she said, I got to attend Times Square church. And she said, but you spoke all three services. So it was sort of like a dream fulfilled, sort of, you know, but the secret of the Lord was spoken to her heart in a whisper. And even though the circumstance didn't change, even though the life maybe was a little tough in those days, God spoke a secret to her heart about something he was going to do. Cause he knew his plan for her. And see my point this morning is no matter how dark your days might be, no matter how difficult your situation, if you will let the Holy spirit, he will whisper something into your heart that you may not fully understand and bring you to a place of rejoicing that is deeper than knowledge. You don't necessarily fully understand where you're going, but you know, it's going to be a great journey. Think about David again in Psalm 22, a sudden revelation. You've answered me, not just answered me. You've answered other people. You've answered people in church. You've answered multitudes that are going to gather. You've answered millions around the world. He didn't, it just, it seemed like there were no boundaries to the answer that God had spoken into his heart. And if you will let the Lord speak to you in your despair, it doesn't mean he has to bring you out physically of the situation you're in now, but he can speak to you in that situation and put gladness in your heart that can only be born of the Holy spirit of God. We need to let the Lord do that to us now as a church, as a people in a generation where like David, we seem to be surrounded by bulls and dogs, growling, snarling voices, hatred, everywhere, lies, deceit, deception, disgust seems to be everywhere around us. We need that secret of the Lord. We need that inner secret joy because God knows your future. My brother, my sister, God knows what's going to happen in your life 10 years from now, but you're not ready yet for it because you'd get a bus ticket tomorrow if he showed it to you. No, there's a whole journey that has to come. There's a journey now that has to come between where you are today and where God is taking you. But let me say this one thing, Jesus Christ will never fail you or forsake you. Never, never. And what he's about to do in your life will produce a song in you. The people will see the Bible says and begin to know there is a God with whom they have to deal because they say nobody but God could have lifted you out of your situation. Nobody but him could have spoken this to your heart. And so I'm going to give an altar call in just a moment. And it's going to be for every person here says, Lord, would you whisper your secret to my heart? Would you speak into my heart? Just a glimpse of what you have for me. Remember the Lord says, I know the thoughts I have towards you, thoughts of good and not for evil to bring you to a desired end. That means the end that the place that you long to be in the place where God longs to take you. I know the thoughts say, God, would you whisper into my heart? Even if I can't fully understand it, would you whisper into my heart? When I was a young police officer, just starting to do a Bible study out in the country, I used to go jogging every day. And the Lord started speaking to me about something he was going to do, but I didn't know what it was. But there would be the same secret inner joy would be in my heart. God's going to do something to my life. I just don't know what it is, but I know he's going to do something. And it's amazing. One time I was just waiting to go into a little church service somewhere where there's only a few people and they're singing. And suddenly the spirit of God made their voices sound like 2000 people. It was truly amazing. I mean, I just suddenly I heard a crowd. And again, I felt like, Lord, it's you. You're whispering something to me about the future. And they were singing a song, Blessed Assurance, actually, at that moment. And suddenly the Lord just multiplied it by hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of voices. He just multiplied it. And I remember one time I was sitting in this sanctuary and you were singing, Blessed Assurance. And I suddenly realized, Lord, you had taken me, you had whispered something in my heart and taken me at that time, probably 15 or so years into the future. And you had let me hear this moment. It's truly amazing. If we will let God whisper to our hearts, it's not spooky. It's just very natural. Yeah, go ahead and clap. Go ahead and clap. You have inside your earthen body the Holy Spirit of God, the third person of the triune God, who is ever living to make intercession for you with groanings that cannot be uttered. And he knows where you're going and what your life is going to be. If you'll just let him whisper that secret inner confidence into your heart. You don't have to know any of the details, but the inner confidence that God is in complete control of everything and your life will count. God has heard you. And it will be much more than you realize. Let's stand together. If that's you and you want to just come and pray together and let that joy of the Lord be spoken into your heart, just slip out of where you are in the annex. You can go between the screens. Same thing in North Jersey. God bless you there in North Jersey, Brad and Lisa and the others. Just come wherever you are in the balcony. Go down to go to the exit. Come down, come down. Let the Lord speak to your heart. You have a great future ahead of you. Everyone, everyone. Don't sit in despair today when the Lord can speak to your heart. Don't give in to that spirit. Don't let the devil convince you that God somehow is not going to be faithful to you. In spite of whether or not you have been faithful to God, the issue is about his faithfulness, not yours. Just come, just come. We're going to take a moment just to sing. And then we'll come back and we'll pray. Now, as we're worshiping, let God begin to speak to you. Let him speak to your heart. Let him speak about what he wants to do in your life. Now, sometimes what he speaks is your mind's not going to be able to comprehend it. But in your heart, like David, you'll say, I don't know what this is, but I know this is a lot bigger than where I am today. I know it's something that I'm going to rejoice in and encourage others to do. Just come, just come wherever you are. Let's worship for just a few moments. Lord, I thank you. God, Jesus, you are called the Prince of Peace. And you said to us that you will keep our minds in perfect peace if our thoughts have stayed upon you. And so, Lord, we thank you for peace. Lord, the peace that we feel in this sanctuary today is more real than the trouble we experience on the streets tomorrow. Thank you, Lord, that we don't have to leave this peace here. You are the Prince of Peace and you live inside of each one of us. So thank you, Lord, that peace goes with us into our homes, our jobs, our families, our circumstance, whatever our situation. You are there, Lord, and you have sealed us in the Father's hand. And you told us that nobody, nobody can take you out of the Father's hand. Thank you, Lord, that you heard us when we cried. There's not a prayer that's been prayed in this room that you've closed your ears to. You've heard every cry, you've bottled every tear. You've answered every cry in a way that we didn't anticipate, a bigger way than we could have imagined. And so, God, let that peace that passes understanding be in every heart today, a peace that does not have to have all the answers. It doesn't have to know all the steps of tomorrow, only to know, Lord, that you are in it and you are guiding our footsteps. Your word says that the steps of a righteous man are ordered by the Lord. And so, God, you have set a path before each of us. You've determined how your name is going to be glorified through us. And so, Lord, we thank you that we can yield to you today, knowing that your thoughts towards us are for good and never for evil. We bless you, Lord Jesus Christ, for the understanding again that the devil is a liar and that every voice has no power against what you're doing in each of our lives. You have put inside of us a new song. The same song you gave to David is our song. You gave him a song of victory. You gave him the song of the cross. He just didn't know what it was, but you gave it to him. You gave him the expansive vision, the eyes to see a great, great, great victory that would touch the whole world. So, Father, thank you, Lord. From now on, Lord, we're going to encourage our brethren. We're going to sing in the house of God. We're going to ask you for a bigger vision, Lord, than our own problems and circumstances. God, you are doing something wonderful. You are always doing something wonderful in every one of our lives. And so we resist every power of hell that would try to lie to our hearts and to our minds. Satan, you are a liar. You are the father of all lies. We thank you, Lord, that we don't have to listen to that voice any longer. It is your whisper, God, into our hearts that gives us courage and hope, the ability to worship. It is you, Lord, speaking every day, every day, every day into our hearts. Lord, thank you that you are never silent. God, you are never not thinking about us, Lord. Your thoughts towards us are more than the grains of sand on the seashore. Lord, that's what your word says. So we thank you for that with all of our heart. We banish discouragement, lies, depression from every life, every heart, every home in Jesus' name. Hallelujah, hallelujah. ======================================================================== Video: https://sermonindex2.b-cdn.net/Wws7ouUZ2SI.mp4 Source: https://sermonindex.net/speakers/carter-conlon/a-rejoicing-that-is-deeper-than-knowledge/ ========================================================================