0:01

David said, I will not flee

0:04

from crisis. Why? Because

0:06

only a frightened bird runs

0:08

away. I trust

0:10

in the Lord and he's on the phone.

0:13

He has not abdicated. David

0:15

was saying, those who 03

0:18

me

0:19

03 great, but the God whom

0:21

I worship is greater. Consider

0:25

this. Maybe that distracted

0:28

driver ahead of you is going through

0:30

a personal crisis and that aggression

0:32

that he's using on the road is

0:34

a result of just wanting to get away

0:36

from his problems. How about that

0:38

upset neighbor you saw with her dog this

0:40

morning? Well, maybe she's reached

0:43

her witch's end and she just wants to

0:45

walk away from that stack of problems

0:47

in her life. And what about you?

0:49

Is there something that's weighing it down?

0:52

Something distracting you? Causing

0:54

you to want to run Welcome

0:56

to leading the way with doctor Michael Youssef.

0:59

You may feel like running, but God

1:01

wants you to abide in him.

1:04

Today, doctor Youssef offers challenging

1:07

words from Psalm chapter eleven

1:09

that will help you stand firm

1:11

when your head and your heart may

1:13

be telling you

1:14

otherwise. Join me now in

1:16

listening to doctor Michael Youssef.

1:19

We seem to prefer to run away from

1:21

our problems to run away from our

1:23

difficulties, to run away from crisis,

1:26

instead of spending the blood and the sweat

1:29

in facing them, and dealing

1:31

with them in the power of God. And

1:33

as I'm reflecting upon this, I

1:36

remember a cartoon that I read, I saw

1:38

some time ago. And

1:40

here's Charlie Brown and Laina's were

1:42

kind of walking around and and chatting

1:44

with each other. Laina

1:46

said, I I don't like to face problems

1:49

hit on. I think the best

1:51

way to solve problems is to avoid

1:53

them. What Charlie Brown said, well,

1:55

I thought this was a a distinct philosophy

1:58

of mine. I always say

2:01

that there is no problem that is too

2:03

big or so complicated that I

2:05

can't run away from. And

2:08

I wonder how many of us as I have begun to

2:10

reflect on this. How many of us?

2:12

When they face crisis and problems

2:14

and difficulties 03 even threats

2:16

in our lives, How many

2:18

of us in the midst of it want to

2:20

run away and then listen to the advice

2:23

of at friends who tell us to run

2:25

away from this problems, to get away from

2:27

the problems. This is where

2:29

David was precisely 03

2:32

he wrote Psalm eleven. That's

2:34

exactly what he was. Virtually,

2:37

emotionally, that's exactly what he was as he

2:39

wrote the song. He had just

2:41

defeated Goliath. And

2:43

Davis popularity has been

2:45

on the top of the Jerusalem Galapagos.

2:49

And the number one song

2:52

that number one hit on the chart was

2:54

a country song that ran something

2:56

like this. I want seeing it. I want to

2:58

keep you for the rest of the sermon. Paul

3:01

has killed his thousands, but

3:04

David killed his tens of thousands.

3:07

Women and children that were singing it in the

3:09

03. And that filled

3:11

soul with such anger that

3:14

reach demonic proportion. And

3:16

as David was playing the harp

3:18

for soul. Soul was throwing the jump

3:20

limit David trying to kill him. And

3:23

what advise is his timid friends give him

3:25

in the mid of this crisis, in the midst

3:27

of this threat, in the midst of this problem,

3:29

what advises his coward friends who are giving

3:31

you? David, run away. 03

3:35

from your problem. There is no

3:37

answer. There is no solution. You

3:39

can't get any help, David. Get out

3:41

of danger. Go as far as you can.

3:44

Many years later, you know, 03,

3:47

when he was leading God's people back, some

3:50

of his enemies came in the guise of his

3:52

friendship and they tried to trap him.

3:55

And they said to him, they said, nehemiah, what you

3:57

need to do is to run away and run

3:59

and get away from this crisis escape for

4:01

your life because you are in danger. What

4:04

does Nehemiah say? He

4:06

looked him in the eyes and and he said,

4:08

Shell a man such as I escape for

4:10

his life. You know, if

4:13

Niuma had run away, they would have

4:15

said, see the accusations that we've said

4:17

about him, the things that we've said about him

4:19

stuck. And they would have blamed him

4:21

for the defeat. How

4:24

such a man as I escape

4:26

for his life? And

4:28

when you and I have solved

4:31

03 Christ, we cannot.

4:33

We do not. We must not run from problems.

4:36

When 03 sold to Jesus Christ, my

4:39

life was not important to the gospel is.

4:42

When I was sold out to Jesus Christ

4:44

Our reputation is not of concern.

4:46

The gospel's reputation is. When

4:49

we sold out to Jesus Christ our comfort

4:51

And our desire is not our number one

4:53

concern, but the gospel is.

4:55

When we are sold out to Jesus Christ,

4:58

we are not afraid because

5:00

we know in our hearts that only nothing

5:02

can happen to us and this God in heaven

5:04

permits it. David said, he

5:06

sits on the throne, how can I run, how

5:09

can I flee? God is on the

5:11

throne. You remember when punch a pilot

5:13

was trying to intimidate 03? And

5:15

he said, listen, he said, don't get too smart with me.

5:17

He said, I have authority. I have

5:19

power. I can take your life from you. And I can

5:22

restore it to you. And you know what Jesus

5:24

said? In your dreams,

5:26

baby. That's 03 what

5:28

I said. In Hebrew

5:30

though, 03

5:34

said, you can't do a thing to me unless

5:36

God permits it, unless God

5:38

my father tells you to do it and

5:40

I know it because I'm his eternal son

5:42

I have lived with him, I'm his only begotten

5:44

son. I know my 03, and he

5:46

cannot do a thing to me unless he says

5:48

so. So

5:50

David, 03 gets his

5:52

advice from this chaotic friend and

5:55

said David Run. Like

5:57

a bird 03 you know

5:59

the word, the Hebrew word here for bird,

6:01

in this psalm, it's not the word for dove.

6:03

There are several words for birds or one for

6:05

dove, and there's one that the one is used

6:08

03. It's not for dove. You know why? Because when

6:10

the dove 03, When the

6:12

dove flies away, comes back home,

6:14

always comes back home. But

6:16

the word is used in this psalm is a

6:18

03 peril. Because

6:21

the 03 per when he flies,

6:23

he flies and flies and flies

6:25

and never comes back. 03 gets

6:28

into the mountains because that's

6:30

where the forest are. This is where the trees

6:32

are. And they were so far away from civilization.

6:34

They're so far away from the cities. And the

6:36

normal life. So they

6:38

said, like a 03 Power. Go

6:41

go go and never come back, David.

6:43

Get away. Run

6:46

from your problem. It is too dangerous

6:48

here. You know, why I'm from the threat on your

6:51

life. And David, reacts

6:54

to this current advice by writing

6:56

Psalm eleven. Now,

6:59

I want to tell you at outset I was

7:01

trying to preach throughout the song, but I

7:03

found myself stuck with verse one.

7:06

So if I'm concluding, I'm still in

7:08

verse one, take heart. It's

7:10

only verse one. And David

7:12

said, I will not flee

7:14

from crisis. Why? Because

7:18

only a frightened bird runs

7:20

away. I trust

7:22

in the Lord and he's on the phone.

7:24

He has not abdicated David

7:27

was saying those who threaten

7:29

me may be great. So

7:32

03 the king of the land, But the

7:34

God whom I worship is greater. He

7:38

is greater than all my problems. He

7:40

is greater than all my fears. He is greater

7:42

than the gentleman of reality. He is

7:44

greater than the faults of the past. He is

7:46

greater than the problems that I'm going to face.

7:48

He is greater than the anticipation of

7:50

tomorrow. Has my God.

7:53

And everything is going to be, hey,

7:55

okay. Why? Because God is on

7:58

the throne and I'm putting my trust in him.

8:00

And he will never let me down. I

8:03

want ask you some question, a hard

8:05

question I want you to reflect upon all week,

8:07

not just today. And

8:10

the question is this, who do

8:12

you really trust? Don't

8:14

give me spiritual answer. I don't want an answer.

8:16

You answer yourself. Who do

8:18

you really trust? Where is your

8:21

trust? Is it in your portfolio? Is

8:23

it in your network? Is it in

8:25

your assets? Is it in your family connection?

8:27

Where is it? Where is deep down when

8:29

you are alone with God? Where is your trust?

8:31

Who do your trust? Answer that

8:33

question between you and God. And

8:36

I'll tell you why it's important. Because

8:39

who you trust 03 determine

8:42

the quality of your life. I

8:45

heard about this atheist guy who went to I had for

8:47

a hike and he got up in the mountain and

8:49

he's as he coming down the mountain and wasn't

8:51

watching very well and his foot slept and

8:54

03 was about to go for a free fall,

8:56

two hundred feet down. But he

8:58

held on door branch. And

9:00

then all of a sudden, he's

9:02

a God, if you are there, he said, I've never believed in

9:04

you, I never trusted you. But if you're there,

9:07

03 help me. And then

9:09

a few seconds later, voice came from heaven

9:11

says, let go of the branch. And

9:14

then looked up in heaven and 03 said, is there somebody

9:16

else out there? Who

9:19

do you trust? Who do you trust?

9:23

Trusting in the Lord includes taking

9:26

responsibility for your actions.

9:29

You are responsible for the person

9:31

that you have become. Not your father,

9:34

not your mother, not the government. 03.

9:37

You are responsible. I am responsible

9:40

for who I am. And the

9:42

reason why people flee

9:44

in our generation and follow this

9:46

gospel of escapism, why

9:48

people wanna flee from their problem is

9:51

because they do not want

9:53

to face the consequences

9:56

of their decisions and their choices. Choices

10:00

have consequences. Every

10:03

choice you make, there is a consequence to

10:05

it. Our

10:07

generation is full of people

10:09

who are running from life. They're

10:11

running from their pests. They're

10:13

running from themselves. They're running

10:15

from the javelin of reality. They do

10:17

not want to face the truth about themselves. Trusting

10:22

in God means taking responsibility

10:24

for the person that you have become, for

10:26

the person that you are. And

10:29

the gospel of our generation is that

10:31

gospel of escapism will

10:33

not help you. In

10:36

this nation alone, we spend tens

10:38

of billions of dollars each year.

10:40

On amusement. Now 03

10:42

of you probably have not stopped enough to think

10:45

what amusement means. Do you know what the word

10:47

means? Muse means think.

10:49

AMUs means not to think.

10:52

So we're spending tens of billions of dollars

10:55

not to think. Can you imagine? If

10:58

your marriage is too tough, do

11:01

what David's friends say. As

11:03

the bird 03 to the mountain, just

11:05

fly fly fly away. Run.

11:08

Run. Run. Don't stop

11:10

running. A

11:12

man said to, a woman. 03

11:14

said, dumb. What would you

11:16

say if

11:19

I ask you to be my wife? Right?

11:22

She said, I don't know. Don't think I could say anything

11:24

because I can't laugh and talk at the same time.

11:30

If you are facing a problem

11:32

in your marriage today. I want you

11:34

to hear what David said, not

11:36

what his friends have said. Don't

11:39

flee as a bird to the mountain. Stand

11:42

up and face life. Problems

11:45

03 got plenty of. You

11:47

can resolve them with the help and the

11:49

power of God. But not

11:51

by fleeing. I wanna tell

11:54

you that your life can be wonderful

11:56

again. Your life can be exciting again.

11:58

If you stand there and you wait upon

12:00

the Lord so you can watch him doing

12:02

miracles in your life. If

12:05

things get a lot tough at work, what do

12:07

we do? Instead of hanging

12:09

in there, discerning the one

12:11

of God, we want to run

12:14

to the next job. Instead

12:17

of watching God to perform miracles in

12:19

the life of your boss, in the life of your corporation,

12:22

in the 03 wherever you work, 03

12:24

run to the next stop. We

12:27

want progress without toil. We

12:30

want achievement without hard work.

12:34

Hear me right. Life consists

12:38

of what you ought to do, not

12:40

of what you want to do. Did

12:42

you hear me? Life

12:44

consists of what you ought to do,

12:47

not what you want to do. You

12:50

are sons and daughters of the living God.

12:52

Do you understand that what that means?

12:56

You need to say with

12:58

neomyer, how can

13:00

a man such as I? How

13:02

can a woman such as I? Escape

13:05

and run away. Jesus

13:07

are a great example when he got in harmony.

13:09

He was sweating blood. Just think about

13:12

it. The sweat was coming out in blood.

13:15

And yet in the middle of it, he said, not

13:17

my will but yours father.

13:20

True line in the sand refused to

13:22

surrender to the pressure of life. Be

13:25

victorious in Jesus' name. Look

13:27

at the Javelin in Saul's hand and

13:29

shout. In the name of the Lord, I

13:32

put my trust in him. Nothing

13:34

is impossible for those who believe. I

13:36

cannot be defeated and I will

13:38

not quit. God doesn't

13:41

create junk nor does his sponsor

13:43

flops. You are a joint

13:45

heir with Christ. You are the

13:47

church triumphant. You are

13:49

washed with the blood of the lamb, the

13:51

son of God washed you with his blood.

13:54

You are the royalty of heaven. And

13:56

I wanna tell you that escaping and

13:58

running and fleeing should be beneath

14:00

your dignity, your Christian dignity. It

14:02

should be beneath the royal blood that

14:04

is going through your veins. Hear

14:08

me right, and I hope you're not going to misunderstand this.

14:11

Some of you probably will, but I

14:14

want to tell you your spiritual life

14:17

will not be exciting until

14:21

you look at the demon that I look to

14:23

in the eye. And

14:25

say, Buster, I'm

14:27

going to play the harp of the gospel

14:30

until Jesus comes back or

14:32

when he texts me home. I

14:34

cannot be defeated and I will not

14:36

quit for 03 is greater than the javelin

14:39

that's in your hand. Many

14:42

years ago, It was Lord

14:45

Alfred Tennison, the

14:47

part 03 of England at that time,

14:50

was summoned by the 03 to her private

14:52

quarters The 03 sought him

14:54

to seek his advice and his counsel.

14:57

For there were dark days for England and

15:00

03 was thinking about abdicating the

15:02

throne for the good of the nation. And

15:04

she expressed her innermost fear,

15:06

her innermost emotions to Lord

15:09

Tenison. And the power of 03

15:11

of England at that time when she finished talking,

15:13

he looked her in the face. And

15:16

he said, thou art royal,

15:20

therefore endure. Though

15:23

art, royal, therefore,

15:27

endure. And that's what I'm saying today

15:29

to you, the sons and daughters of the God,

15:31

most high. You've been bought by the

15:33

blood of Christ. The son

15:35

of the living God. You have

15:38

this royal blood. You are royal.

15:41

Therefore endure. The

15:43

only thing that you flee from, as we saw from

15:45

Psalm one, is the council of the wicked.

15:47

It's the company of the wicked. That's the only

15:49

thing you flee from, but not from the will of God.

15:53

Don't flee like a bird to the mountains.

15:56

Don't run at the first instance

15:58

of any kind of danger. Stand

16:00

your ground. If you

16:02

have reached the end of your rope, tie

16:05

a note at it. Hang

16:07

on there. God is in the other

16:09

side of faith. The answer

16:11

is coming. Don't surrender.

16:14

God will give you the answer, and

16:16

he will help you if you stand

16:18

firm. And

16:20

I often thank God for those who

16:23

hang in there, regardless of the cost,

16:25

regardless of the consequences, those

16:28

who are Not afraid

16:31

and don't give up. I

16:33

read the story about a salesman. He

16:35

went to a men's clothing store.

16:39

And he walked to the owner of the men's clothing

16:41

store and he said, I want to sell for you. I

16:43

want to be a salesman. And

16:45

the man said, we're not hiring. He said,

16:48

well, you need 03. I'm a good salesman. And

16:50

the owner said, well, just how good are you?

16:52

He said, I'm really good. I'm better than any of your

16:55

salesman here. The man said, alright.

16:57

He said, 03 see this

16:59

purple and yellow suit hanging in there.

17:02

03 said, well, I said, I'm going out to lunch.

17:04

And when I come back from lunch, if you sell

17:06

that suit, then you are good and

17:09

I'm gonna hire you. So

17:11

the man went out to lunch, he

17:13

came back, The suit was gone.

17:16

The salesman closed with torn

17:18

and scratches on his face and he was leaning

17:20

on the counter. And he said, what happened to

17:23

the suit? He said, I sold it. He

17:26

said, did he get into trouble? He said, not

17:28

with the customer. But see the seeing a high

17:30

dog there, he said 03 nearly killed me.

17:35

What's the point? Well, the man tried.

17:37

03 didn't flee. Choice

17:41

not chance will determine

17:43

what your life was going to be like. Choice

17:46

not a chance will determine what your family

17:48

life is gonna be like. Choice

17:51

not a chance is going to determine what your

17:53

business is gonna be like. Choice

17:55

not a chance is gonna determine what the

17:57

future of this great nation is gonna be.

18:00

But if we all want something for nothing

18:03

soon, there'll be nothing for us to want.

18:05

Listen. Hear me right, and I

18:07

hope you can feel the depths of my heart here.

18:10

Ammirac is full of monetary

18:12

refugees who are running from

18:14

May to May because they were trained

18:16

from the cradle to run away at the first

18:18

sign of trouble. And there recently

18:21

in an evangelical magazine, it showed the statistic

18:23

that they're the same divorces inside the

18:25

church as they are outside of the church. Why?

18:28

I asked myself that million times. But

18:30

I believe because we hear the word

18:32

of God, but we never let it

18:35

penetrate the veneer of our hearts.

18:38

We come in and we sing praise 03. We go out

18:40

and do what we want to do. Are

18:42

you in trouble? Don't

18:45

03 like a bird to the mountain. Go

18:48

back and try again. Begin. Someone

18:51

say, well, what about if I fail? You

18:54

cannot fail at anything ever. Until

18:57

you quit trying. And

19:00

when you quit, no matter how talented

19:02

you might 03. You cannot

19:04

prevail. Somebody

19:06

says, well, preacher, what about

19:09

if they criticize me? Well, they do criticize

19:11

me. Well, His

19:13

one only perfect man

19:15

ever lived and he was criticized too.

19:18

Who do you think you are? So

19:20

what of the criticized 03? There

19:23

are so many people around who are

19:26

so afraid, so haunted with the fear

19:28

of criticism that they 03 nothing.

19:32

I want you to hear this and I hope you remember,

19:34

write it down. Write it down in the cortex of

19:36

your brain. I

19:38

believe that the fear of criticism

19:41

is the kiss of death in the courtship

19:44

of accomplishment. You

19:47

know? Don't be

19:49

halted with cynicism, a fear

19:51

of it. Why? If they

19:53

criticize the son of God, Why

19:56

will that they criticize you? People love to get a

19:58

moving target. So what? You

20:00

will achieve nothing. You'll accomplish nothing if

20:02

you stay in your place afraid of

20:04

criticism. You know, David

20:07

was trained by

20:09

the Lord, and there were three divisions

20:12

in his life. In the country,

20:15

in the Court of Soul and

20:17

in the cave. In

20:20

the country, he was a shepherd

20:22

boy. 03 learned to worship

20:25

God. He discovered

20:27

the power of praise and he wrote it in the

20:29

songs. If

20:31

you have not discovered the power

20:33

of praise in your life, chances

20:36

are you have not learned to live a victorious

20:38

life. In

20:41

the court, David learned

20:43

wisdom. He

20:45

learned how to control himself. 03

20:48

learned how to persevere. For

20:50

if you do not learn to control yourself,

20:52

you could destroy yourself. And

20:54

then it was in the cave. You

20:56

know what David learned in the cave? He

20:59

learned the art of spiritual warfare.

21:02

He learned to live by discipline,

21:05

not by emotion. 03

21:08

learned to live by his

21:10

duty whether he liked it or not.

21:13

Does this describe you? I

21:15

pray so. I'm gonna close in

21:17

a minute, but I want you to focus with me just for

21:19

a few more seconds. As

21:23

long as you are manipulated by

21:25

your emotions, as

21:28

long as you are reacting to

21:31

what is happening to you. You

21:35

will not live a victorious life in

21:37

Jesus Christ. Why?

21:40

Very simple. The devil

21:42

is going to see to it. He

21:44

will make sure of it. And

21:46

I'm talking from 03. I'm not telling you theory

21:49

stuff. The devil is gonna

21:51

see to it that always 03 gonna send

21:53

you someone, some person. 03 will

21:55

send you some pressure. He will send you

21:57

some obstacle to knock you off

21:59

course of the mark of the high calling

22:01

in God. You will see to it.

22:04

That is done. And if you react with

22:06

your emotions, you live a life

22:09

of a treadmill.

22:14

Would you like to better understand what it

22:16

means to live a victorious life in

22:18

Jesus? Visit LTW

22:21

dot org slash Jesus

22:23

to begin a conversation with one of the leading

22:25

the way

22:26

pastors. LTW

22:28

dot org slash Jesus.

22:32

Well, you may have heard us mention that the mission

22:34

of leading the way is to passionately

22:36

proclaim uncompromising truth.

22:39

And 03, each message that doctor

22:41

Youssef teaches, each podcast

22:44

that's produced, each product

22:46

created, go through that same

22:48

filter of the truth of

22:50

God's word. So as you look

22:52

for ways to deepen your own walk with Christ,

22:55

03 do hope that you'll consider leading

22:57

the way a go to resource because

23:00

we may have something that's just right

23:02

for you. Here's where to start.

23:05

LTW dot org.

23:07

Doctor Youssef has authored more than fifty

23:09

bucks. Plus, the store has DVDs

23:12

CDs and digital resources on

23:15

a number of topics, and all available

23:17

just for you. Once again, that's

23:20

LTW dot org.

23:23

Or you can call us, speak with a ministry

23:25

representative at 8666264356.

23:32

That's 86666264356.

23:39

Before we run out of time for today,

23:41

I would like to invite you to share how

23:44

God is using this program to

23:46

encourage you in your walk

23:48

of faith. I believe it is important

23:51

to give testimony of how God is

23:53

working in your life. If leading

23:55

the way is part of that, we

23:57

would want to know. You can call our

23:59

testimony line at 8779417934.

24:07

Now I want to hear all about it

24:09

and we just might share it on the program

24:11

That is 8779417934.

24:17

Do it

24:18

today. Thank you in advance and God

24:20

bless. And

24:22

you can write to us as well. Send in

24:24

your prayer request, or write us

24:26

and tell us how this ministry has

24:28

impacted did your walk with Christ. We're

24:30

at leading the way post office

24:32

box 20100

24:35

Atlanta, Georgia 30325.

24:40

That's PO Box 20100

24:44

Atlanta, Georgia 30325.

24:50

This program is furnished by leading

24:52

the way with doctor Michael Youssef. Passionately

24:55

proclaiming uncompromising truth

24:57

around the world.