How To Strengthen Yourself In The Lord

How to strengthen yourself in the Lord. Anybody need help with that? How to strengthen yourself in the Lord. If you're a child, you know that your mom and dad aren't always there for you.

Even at church, we know, sometimes if we want to reach out to somebody, and they're not there for us, or the church office is closed, or people aren't texting you back and they're not getting back to you. It's hard sometimes to strengthen ourself in the Lord. And I'm actually going to be in Psalm 84.

Psalm 84, I'm going through the book of Psalms. But I want to show you where this verse comes from. So let's go actually and open it with 1 Samuel 30.

If we have it, 1 Samuel 30. Now if you think you're having a bad day, listen to this. So David and his men came to the city.

So David and his men went out to do battle. And there it was. So they came back to their city.

And their city was burned with fire and their wives and all of their kids had been taken. So David goes to battle. Comes back and his city is burned down.

And his wife, wives, I guess you could have wives back then, plural, and sons and daughters, and they'd been taken captive. Then David and the people who were with him lifted up their voices and they wept until they had no more strength in them, no more power to weep. Can you imagine? Sitting there and you see, I mean basically life is over.

Your life as you know it is over. Now David was greatly distressed because the people spoke of stoning him. And if you're not sure what that is, it could be something this high or even higher, but they would throw the person down and they would have large, wasn't little rocks where you're throwing rocks at people.

They're stones, five, 10, 15 pound, 25 pound stones. And they're throwing them down on the person. And they talked of stoning David.

This great warrior, this great man of God, hours earlier is now going to be possibly stoned by the people because all the people were so grieved. All of their wives and their kids, everyone was gone. And of course they expected the worst.

Every man for son and daughter, but David strengthened himself in the Lord his God. So that's where that verse comes from. It's actually a very important principle because when all hope is gone, when there's nowhere else to turn, David could have went down into the depths of despair, suicidal thoughts, I'm sure, or, hey, go ahead and stone me, I deserve it.

But instead he strengthened himself in the Lord. And when we hear that word strengthened, sometimes we think of physical strength, muscle of course, or bodily strength, but it was actually endurance inside. It was strengthening himself.

He remembered who God was. He remembered what his purpose and what his calling was as well. To strengthen yourself in the Lord begins with desire and it's followed by a decision.

But let's read the opening verse, Psalm 84. How lovely is your tabernacle. So here we have the psalmist writing a beautiful psalm.

He's actually, many of the psalms are prayers. They're praying, they're reflecting. Oh Lord, how lovely is your tabernacle.

Oh Lord of hosts, my soul longs. Yes, it even faints for the courts of the Lord. My heart and my flesh cry out for the living God.

He is emotionally engaged. Have you ever been so excited to get somewhere, whether it's a church or a conference or a worship set, something where your soul longs, it even faints. There's such a desire to be there and there's God Almighty in His house and you're excited to be there.

You ever watch any of the old footage about the Beatles and those girls? Ah! They're screaming. Elvis, same thing, and Taylor Swifties. And you see them and they're about ready to pass out.

They're just so overcome with emotion. But of course, for the wrong things. But there should be this longing, this desire, and that's why I put as that point in blue, to strengthen yourself begins with a desire followed by a decision.

So as hard as I know this is because it goes against what our flesh wants, but we have to desire it. We have to fight the tendency of the flesh to pull us in the wrong direction and say, Lord, I desire this. I don't feel like it right now, let's be honest.

I'm not feeling the way I need to feel, but Lord, I desire it, I want it. And then it's followed by a decision. His heart was full of God.

My heart and my flesh cry out for the living God. When was the last time your heart and your flesh cried out for the living God? That wellspring of living water. And I was reminded on this point, I was just this week studying when Hezekiah, remember King Hezekiah when he cleansed out the temple.

It actually, the Bible records that the people had turned their faces away from the dwelling place of the Lord. It says that. So the people turned their face away from God's tabernacle, but now we have this psalmist saying, I'm pointing, I'm actually drawing toward your tabernacle.

And it means to gaze upon, to cast your eyes upon God. And there is a choice there. We either can draw closer to God and we can press in, or we can turn our backs on this incredible experience.

And when it comes to strengthening yourself in the Lord, do you fight for it? Or do you let it fade away? Do you contend for it? Or do you complain? Do you pursue God? Or do you postpone a deeper relationship? Wesley L. Duell said, it takes more than a busy church, a friendly church, or even an evangelical church to impact a community for Christ. It must be a church ablaze, on fire for God. Most Christians experiencing God, I'm sorry, for most Christians, experiencing God is either elusive or frightening.

Can you relate? For most Christians, experiencing the power of God, strengthening themselves in the Lord, experiencing God, it's either elusive, it means it doesn't really exist, they don't have that deep abiding relationship, or they're frightened by it. It's either impossible to them or improbable. But to the thirsty pilgrim, God's presence is a wellspring of life.

The greatest hindrance to drawing near to God is our satisfaction without Him. Let that kind of sink in a little bit. Let the steak marinate.

Is that not true? The greatest hindrance to drawing near to God is our satisfaction without Him. If we're satisfied without Him, we're not going to draw near to Him. When it's getting cold out in the evenings and mornings, you don't want to get up and go outside in your shorts.

Why? Because you're satisfied in the warmth of the house. And so that hindrance, if we're satisfied with a mediocre walk with the Lord, we will not pursue Him. A.W. Tozer said, my recommendation for the church today is they call a moratorium on all activity and focus on coming into worship until the fire descends and engulfs us in the sacredness of His presence.

And it's interesting, I can be reading quotes like this, and I'll see people, of course, yes, Lord, I want that, I want that, and others don't really want that. They say, I don't think so. I'm good.

But to strengthen yourself and to be really encouraged in the Lord, you have to pursue that deeper relationship. And I know it can be challenging, but there is light at the end of the tunnel. And there must be urgency.

Urgency. Like I mentioned, Hezekiah, the king who cleaned the temple, he actually cleansed the temple the first month he was placed into office. He got into office, and his first line of duty was to cleanse the temple, to restore worship to God.

He went in, the temple was in disarray. The rooms, and can you imagine this temple of God that was created and God told David how to build it? And actually Solomon built it. And this incredible temple with gold and utensils, these things that were holy and the fire on the altar that was to keep burning, and they would make the sacrifice and the priests would walk in with fear and reverence into the holies of holies.

This incredible, powerful place of worship was now decimated and desecrated. And pagan worship had came in and they were putting stuff in the rooms of God's temple that were not good and godly. They took out the gold and the utensils for holiness and they would begin to drink and get drunk and have these parties and they would desecrate the house of God.

So Hezekiah, as soon as he became king, he cleansed the temple and restored the way it was. And there was some urgency. You'll always see urgency.

Hezekiah or the prophets or other people, there's an urgency in pursuing God. How lovely is your tabernacle, O Lord of hosts. And I want to ask this question tonight.

Is church beautiful to you or does it bother you? Is church, that's what he's saying here. How lovely is your tabernacle? How lovely is your place, God? They can even say that in Africa with dirt floors and the tin on the roof. You can hear the rain and it's just, maybe no chairs.

But they say how lovely is your tabernacle, God, because You are here. My soul longs, yes, even faints for the courts of the Lord. My heart and my flesh cry out for the living God.

And there's a song I came across I was listening to and I just put on rewind and the opening lyrics, they said, you are my first love. You are my first love. In Your presence I can't help but fall down at Your feet.

Savior, beautiful Savior, You became the sacrifice so I could be set free. First love really stuck with me. Do you remember your first love? Hopefully it was your spouse or even if you met someone and then later there was that initial drawing of people together.

Didn't have email back then or texting, but phone calls and couldn't wait, your heart longed for them. Even faint, just I can't wait to see them again, that first love. And that's what happens a lot of times in marriage.

Love doesn't leave the marriage, we leave love. We leave that pursuit. We leave that yearning for that first love.

And I remember when Jesus, and it's funny for men to say this, of course, right? I mean, these lyrics for most guys, but once you stop being Mr. Tough Guy and start to be Mr. Tender Guy, the lyrics will make a lot of sense. He's my first love. In His presence I fall down at Your feet.

Savior, beautiful Savior. And that first love, when I remember, He set me free, He gave me a joy for His Word and that pursuing that relationship, it just meant so much. Do you remember that, some of you? You just couldn't get enough of God.

Maybe some of you need to experience that. Maybe some of you need to repent. And like Jesus said in Revelation, repent and return to your first love.

Basically, restore that passion, restore that love that you once had. And then Psalm 84 continues. Even the sparrow has found a home and the swallow a nest for herself where she may lay her young.

Even your altars, O Lord of hosts, my King and my God. I like what Spurgeon said. Many of you know Charles Spurgeon.

He's got incredible commentary on the book of Psalms. It's called the Treasury of David. He said, the writer of Psalms here, he envied the sparrows which lived around the house of God and picked up the stray crumbs in the court.

He only wished that he too could frequent the solemn assemblies and bear away a little of the heavenly food. What a beautiful writing. I mean, the language and the words that he used.

Maybe it's good to get rid of the internet and all the different things and just really press into God and just be filled with His Spirit. From the greatest to the least likely, if you seek God, you will find Him. He mentions the sparrow.

Even the sparrow going to the tabernacle and grabbing the crumbs. Why would he mention that? Well, from the greatest to the least likely, if you seek Him, you will find Him. Blessed are those who dwell in your house.

They will be praising you. Blessed is the man whose strength is in you, whose heart is set on pilgrimage. Blessed are those who dwell in your house.

They will be praising you. You know, we can't get away from this concept throughout Psalms and even other books of the Bible where there's a heartbeat towards praise. That we should be, first and foremost, we should be worshipers.

We should be praying, we should be worshiping. That's why Jesus said my house is a house of prayer. God's house is a house of prayer.

Primarily, it's a house of prayer, not necessarily preaching. And any time we elevate the preaching or the Word more than prayer and praise and adoration, it's sometimes a slippery slope. And I know in my own life, I can become hard and callous.

But blessings follow those who strengthen themselves in the Lord. Blessings will follow those who strengthen themselves in the Lord. It says blessed is the man whose strength is in you, whose heart is set on pilgrimage.

Now, it's interesting wording there because what is a pilgrimage? You're going somewhere. We see this every year when the Muslims go to Mecca. Is it Mecca? And they go on a pilgrimage.

Or even Christians, many Christians have went on a pilgrimage. It's a word that means kind of like a pilgrim. You're going somewhere and your hope is to experience God and to find God.

And it says it right here. Your heart is set on that pilgrimage. Your heart is set on finding God.

Your heart is set on seeking God with all of your strength, with all of your might. Strength in you means trusting in Him. So when you strengthen yourself in the Lord, it means you trust in Him.

We strengthen our resolve, we strengthen our bodies, we strengthen our finances, but very few strengthen themselves in the Lord. It's a choice we make. And often you'll read in the Bible too, they set their heart.

They set their mind. You remember reading that. It has to do with strengthening themselves.

They set their heart, which means to establish, to direct, to be determined, to set something down in a fixed place. Folks, in order to strengthen yourself in the Lord, there's going to be a battle. It's going to be something that the enemy's going to come against.

You're not going to feel like it. There's going to be times of fainting and faltering and failure, but you get back up and you set your heart on that pilgrimage. You set your heart on the cross and you pursue that.

And as you pursue that, the energy is built back up and you start to strengthen yourself in the Lord. Because you're going now in a forward direction. And motivation leads to more motivation, does it not? The more I'm getting motivated about something, the more I can continue in it.

And I love this part as it continues in Psalm, and they pass through the pilgrimage. You're taking this pilgrimage and they pass through the valley of Baca. Well, what does it have to do with anything? I'm going to tell you in just a minute.

They pass through the valley of Baca. They make it to a spring. I'm excited about this word.

That word means sorrow. So they pass through the valley of sorrow, but they make it into a spring. So as they're walking, they are going through the, have you heard that word valley? Throughout Scripture, sometimes we hear where valleys are challenging, mountaintop experiences, or David, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil.

So as they go through the valley of sorrow, the valley of discouragement, they make it a spring. So they take what is a discouraging thing, they take what is a frustration or a failure, and they say, God, I know this is a stepping stone, not a stumbling block. And I'm going to strengthen myself in the Lord.

I'm going to encourage myself, and I'm going to make it a spring, a spring of living water, a spring of excitement and joy. There are times where you don't work it up and be fake, but you can say, Lord, you know what I'm going through? This is difficult. This is a valley of sorrow.

This is a very challenging situation, but I'm going to use it to push myself closer to You. It's incredible wording. They go through this valley of sorrow, but they turn it into a spring.

And the rain also covers it with pools. They go from strength to strength. That's one of the secrets of strengthening yourself in the Lord.

As you get stronger lifting weights, you get stronger pursuing God. That's why sometimes you'll meet people and they are so strong in their faith because they went from strength to strength. Many of the martyrs of the Christian faith who gave their lives, or I don't know if you just heard about, hopefully she gets pardoned, but she's doing three years in federal jail for petitioning out front or protesting out front of Planned Parenthood.

A mom with kids. Three years in jail. Talk about insane.

Complete insanity. We call men women and women men and we lock up people. It's just unbelievable.

But this applies. Listening to her and hearing her talk and her strength, and for you as well, you go from strength to strength. So that weakness that you might be experiencing now or in the future, because we go through seasons, as you begin to get stronger, as you begin to strengthen yourself in the Lord, that strength builds up to more strength.

That strength now builds up to more strength. That strength builds up to more strength and you become stronger and stronger and you strengthen yourself in the Lord. Each one appears before God in Zion.

O Lord, God of hosts, hear my prayer. Give ear, O God of Jacob. Spurgeon said, so far from being wearied, they gathered strength as they proceed.

We grow as we advance if heaven be our goal. If we spend our strength in God's way, we shall find that it increases. In short, the place of sorrow must become a place of surrender.

The place of sorrow must also become a place of surrender. Because if we miss that opportunity, sorrow can take us down some pretty deep rabbit holes, can it? Or pits, I should say. Sorrow can push us down in some very deep and dark areas, and that sorrow needs to become a place of surrender.

O God, behold our shield and look upon the face of your anointed. For a day in your courts is better than a thousand. Have you heard that song? For a day in your courts is better than a thousand.

What he's saying is just one day, God, and one day in your court, one day in your presence is better than a thousand elsewhere, anywhere, even in the most luxurious places. I don't know about you, but I'd rather be a doorkeeper in the house of the living God than dwell among the wicked. And that time there with God, what is a doorkeeper? Well, they keep the door opening and closing and they're there.

At one of the lowliest jobs back in Jesus' time. He said, I'd rather do that than a thousand other things that the world looks at and esteems. I'd rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God than dwell in the tents of the wicked.

For the Lord God is a sun and a shield. The Lord will give grace and glory. No good thing will He withhold from those who walk uprightly.

Oh, Lord of hosts, blessed is the man who trusts in You. Blessed is the man... Look, I mean, that is so meaty right there. It is so... No good thing will He withhold from those who walk uprightly.

So if we're walking uprightly and we're keeping short accounts with sin and we're staying humble, we're staying broken, then He will not withhold good from those who walk accordingly. And He will bless the man who trusts in God. Trusting in God means we can't have negative attitudes and critical.

We have to trust in God and push those things out. A choice must be made to seek or to sulk. To fan the flames or to blow them out.

To strengthen yourself or weaken your pursuit in God. Isn't that true? A choice must be made. There's so much power in choosing the right choice.

Am I going to seek You, God, or am I going to sulk? Am I going to fan the flames of the Holy Spirit, or am I going to blow them out? Am I going to strengthen myself or weaken my pursuit of God? I think we have it on the next slide. It's about contrast. You're going to contrast seeking God versus rejecting God.

And I read this all in the same morning. It was unbelievable just to see the difference. In 2 Chronicles, God said, there is some good in you, for you have rid the land of the Ashtoreth poles and have set your heart on seeking God.

So this king got rid of the Ashtoreth poles where they would do these things that were just ungodly pagan worship. And so this king set his heart on seeking God. And so when you set your heart on seeking God, you remove things from your life that are pulling you down.

You remove the false worship. You remove the things that you know are not good and godly and pleasing. And you set your heart on seeking God.

Now contrast it with this. They made their hearts like flint, refusing to hear the law and the words which the Lord of hosts had sent by His Spirit. So, this group made their hearts like flint.

You remember when I spoke a while back and I brought a piece of flint? It's hard. And so there's a choice, and I've seen this so many times in church. There's a choice that a person makes to set their heart on God, set their heart on brokenness, on humility, on genuine worship, and pursuing that relationship, or they set their heart like flint and they reject God.

Even believers, although they don't reject Him in regard to salvation, they can reject His will for their life and they can stay upset, bitter, and so many different things because the heart isn't right. Get the heart right and everything else will fall into place. The heart is the wellspring of life.

And it's hard when life deals us a hard punch or some bad news. Or just life in general. I was just thinking about this this week.

I think Mondays can be a very challenging day for me because I feel the pressure of preparing Wednesday. And then by Wednesday tomorrow, I have nothing for Sunday. And I know it's a little thing of course compared to bigger things, but usually on Mondays instead of scrambling, I'll take that time and I'll just set my heart on God.

I'll seek Him. Because everything else can wait. Everything else can wait.

And the more you pursue Him, and the more you strengthen yourself in the Lord, then everything else seems to fall in place. And I found that strengthening myself in Him leads to a stronger sermon. You can prepare a good sermon, but still lack a prepared heart.

And I can tell. So the final point would be ask God for strength. Matthew 7, it says, ask, ask, and it will be granted to you.

So instead of sulking, instead of getting depressed and down. Because you know when you get in that what I call Christian funk, you can stay there a while, can't you? Or am I telling on myself too much? You don't pop right out the next day. Like man, when you get down, you can stay down.

And that's exactly where the enemy wants you. That's exactly where he wants you. There he is on the floor, sulking, not going to do anything for God.

Not going to be a good witness to himself. Not going to witness to others. Not going to go and pray for people.

Not going to do ministry. They're basically ineffective. Because he beat us up to the point of almost wanting to give up.

So ask for that strength. God, Your Word says that it's possible for me to strengthen myself in You. Show me what that looks like.

And of course, we know, I'm not going to repeat it again, but we know what those disciplines are. Praying when I don't feel like it. Reading when I don't feel like it.

The Word. And applying the Word when I don't feel like it. So all those things, making a wrong right, repenting, asking for forgiveness, and Lord, give me a broken, tender heart, a heart of love, and you pursuing those things.

And God begins to strengthen you. Because often when we ask God to do something, many times, it also requires responsibility on our end. I don't know about you, but I've rarely prayed, Lord, do this, without me also having to do something.

Lord, fill me with Your Spirit. Okay, well, you've got to pursue me. No, I don't want to do that.

That's why I say I want to watch Netflix. I want to watch Reacher again. Or Breaking Bad.

I looked at the top ten worst. I'm just trying to be relevant. And I don't want to do these things.

And the Lord says, if you do this, if you seek Me, you will find Me. Ask Him for that strength. And I just heard an incredible clip on prayer.

He's an older gentleman. It was just actually a quick one minute clip about prayer. And he said something about prayer that I wanted to share with you.

Five things that happen when we pray. There is communion with God. So again, remember what we're talking about.

Setting your heart on God. Strengthening yourself in the Lord. And as you do that, as we pray, there's communion with the God of the universe.

I mean, if we just stopped for a minute and thought about that, cleared our minds of all the things we've got to do tonight or tomorrow, or what we're agitated about, or what we're irritated over. If we just cleared our minds and said the God who created the galaxies said through His Son, go into that secret place and the Father will hear you and commune with you and fellowship with you. Koinonia.

So that communion with God. And then as you're communing with God, you know, for those of you who are prayer warriors, if you're not, that's okay. Begin tomorrow.

Begin tonight. All a prayer warrior is somebody who's going to battle in prayer. Prayer's going to be the priority.

They're going to take their issues to prayer. They're going to pray for their kids and for their situations. And they're going to get on their face before God and they're going to call down heaven.

And as you commune with God, there's revelation. How many of you believe that God will reveal things to you? I don't mean in a weird way. Because we can think whatever we want to think.

I'm talking about the Scriptures come alive. Commit your works to the Lord. Your thoughts are established.

And He begins to reveal things about situations as you're communing with Him. And then from that is direction. Once you communicate with God, He reveals something.

Now there's direction. Don't you love when you get that fresh direction from the Lord? You have purpose. Oh, God, I know I'm going to get back on track.

I'm going to do that. I'm so excited. I can't wait to start that.

And then the enemy's going to work overtime to try to get you back to that spot. I can tell you. It's just so ironic.

The funniest thing God has ever done is call me to pastor. Because I can't stay sulking on the floor. I've got to get up and be here.

I can't call in sick. I can't take on... I have to get up and keep moving forward. And through that, God has taught me a lot of the principles that are in Scripture.

That if you pursue Him, if you follow through, God will begin to bless that. Now there's direction. And when He gives you that direction, because of prayer, He also empowers you.

Empowered by the Holy Spirit. We forget that one of the roles of the Holy Spirit is to empower. Of course, we are bold, and because of the Holy Spirit, it's just God's Spirit in us.

And I don't know if you've ever experienced that or not, but sometimes you're just excited. You've got to say something. Especially when you see posts on social media with all this ridiculous stuff.

You've got to say something. Who's this congressman that wants to use a women's bathroom? Have you guys heard of that? There's a congressman in Washington who's trans and wants to use a women's bathroom. And I want to say something.

Not being mean, but the boldness to say this is not right. What about protecting women? I mean, it's just ridiculous. And so, there's a boldness.

There's also a boldness to witness. When somebody puts down Jesus or mocks Jesus, does that make you a little angry? Yeah. They say things that are blasphemous.

And what they call holy indignation or righteous indignation. And the Holy Spirit empowers you to say those things. Because without that, we'd be Mr. Rogers.

Do you remember him, Tim? Yeah. Golly gee whiz. Hey kids, come sit down.

Let's push the train around today. And that's what many people, or they don't want to offend, they don't want to upset, but there's an empowerment to do God's will. To live out God's Word.

And of course, finally, God calls us to action. Action. I want to do this sometime.

All the action verses that we forget about. Strengthen yourself in the Lord. That's actually an active verb.

It's telling us we have to do something. Be filled with the Holy Spirit. Be filled with the Holy Spirit.

I have to do something. There's an action there. Or set your heart on God.

Set your mind on the things of the cross. Make no provision for the flesh. Walk away from this.

Flee from... There's so many action words. And we've got to a place now where many churches when you talk about action words, they say you're legalistic. You're just words of grace, brother.

Well, let's put the grace verses up and let's put the action verses up. The Bible teaches both. There's so much.

The call to action. So on this point of strengthening yourself in the Lord, it does not come naturally. It comes supernaturally.

You have to, number one, what I would do is say, Lord, I've drifted. I've become cold. I've become callous.

I'm on the floor like He said. The enemy's knocked me down and it's hard to get back up. God, would You strengthen me? Would You strengthen me? And just like in order to strengthen yourself physically, you know, you ever get sick or something, you have to eat.

To strengthen yourself spiritually, you have to eat on God's Word. God's Word is food. How many times have we seen where the disciples, like, do you eat? Jesus said, no, I have food that you don't even know about.

And we're tempted by the devil. God's Word is my food, my nourishment, my strength. So that's really the key, guys, to strengthen yourself in the Lord.

Number one, repent and say, Lord, I haven't been, I need to. And then once you repent, January repentance is followed by action. So once I repent, now I've got to follow through and get back in the Word, get back in prayer, get back and humble myself and be broken.

There's got to be love coming out of our hearts and compassion. Those are the things that really ignite our faith and strengthen our hearts on the Lord.