The Black Wave and the Higher Ground | Psalm 24 - Peter's Principles for Prevailing Over Problems

Hey, I'm Pastor Steve Hole.

I want to empower you today to walk in your true identity as a worshiper and warrior.

Today, embrace the power of God's Word and the Holy Spirit.

Welcome to the Born for War Podcast.

So we are doing something different today because of the assassination attempt.

Former President Trump.

Some of you saw that we put out some stuff on social media about that.

If you haven't seen it, you can look that up later.

But so it's funny.

Because I had a sermon prepared from 1 Peter about anxiety and fear.

But I'm going to wait until next week.

I feel like that this is a chance, an opportunity given to us by God to change and go toward prayer and worship to Him, not only because of the miracle.

I mean, I'm a shooter, okay?

So I have shot long shots, effective shots.

So I know naturally what probably happened with the shooter, but you can't get out of the way of the fact that angels were there, that God was there, and pretty supernatural what happened.

Really basically, you know, off by a quarter of an inch.

But after the service on the first service, someone gave me the latest tweet by former President Trump, and I thought it was so good that I wanted to start by reading this.

Thank you everyone for your prayers and thoughts yesterday.

As it was God alone who prevented the unthinkable from happening.

We will fear not.

But instead remain resilient in our faith and defiance in the face of wickedness.

Our love goes out to the other victims and their families.

We pray for the recovery of those who are wounded and hold in our hearts the memory of the citizen who was so horribly killed.

In this moment, it is more important than ever that we stand united and show our true character as Americans, remaining strong and determined and not allowing evil to win.

I truly love our country and love you all and look forward to speaking to our great nation this week from Wisconsin.

I just thought that was so appropriate to read.

Now, some of you may remember that as we began the new year in 2024, we were in December, it was 2023, and we had a special gathering for prayer New Year's Eve.

You guys remember that?

Many of you were here, and Liz, my wife, shared this dream that God had given her of a black wave coming.

And then we took that time to pray Psalm 24, ascending the hill of the Lord, and the importance of the higher ground.

And immediately when all this was happening yesterday, we both felt we got to go back to that.

We got to revisit that.

I mean, how many times with these prophetic people that are out there sometimes that give these big, grandiose prophecies?

They're never checked.

And it's almost like the opposite happens in many cases.

Well, at this church, we don't give prophetic words without checking them out.

And so I thought, let's revisit what was said, and then we're going to use this time to, in a sense, spiritually ascend the hill of the Lord as a church, right?

And we're going to do that together.

And we're going to pray, we're going to worship.

It's going to be a special service today.

Next week, I'll talk about anxiety and fear and what the Bible says about that because many of us struggle with that, right?

It's one of the big problems in America today.

So I thought we'd begin with Liz sharing the dream again that she had, and then we're going to move into a time of prayer from Psalm 24.

Well, my dream was kind of startling to me.

I was actually shaken by it, and I wrote it down, so I'm going to read it.

There was a coastline and a beach in this dream.

There were many people I did not know enjoying the neck-high, relatively calm waters.

I looked out into the ocean and saw something shocking that I did not at all anticipate seeing.

It was a wave that had a very different look from the blue ocean.

It was out in the far distance.

It was black.

I thought it looked unnatural and man-made, and of course demonic.

It was gaining in speed and momentum.

I thought I had time to get out of the water to get away from it, but it moved so fast that it was immediately right over me.

It was huge.

It was a hundred feet or so and became like a still shot in the dream.

It was like about to crash on me.

And I thought it was going to destroy me and crash on me.

And I thought to myself, why didn't I take the higher ground?

I would be safe right now.

And I heard the Lord say in the dream, take the higher ground.

This was a warning dream.

So that was in December 2023.

So what would you say now we're seven months distant from that dream, and now we have this assassination attempt of former President Trump?

We see millions of illegal immigrants coming across the border.

Do you have any thoughts on that dream and what God's trying to warn us of?

Well, I was wondering if I was a false prophet.

Because you always have to take a risk when you give a prophetic word.

So I would say, yes, this is a part of the black wave, but it's only probably the beginning.

So it's going to there's going to be momentum to it.

But if we do what God told us to do, take the higher ground, we'll be safe.

We'll be ready.

And that's what warning dreams are for, is to get us ready for what's ahead.

So we shouldn't fear, but we shouldn't be passive, and we shouldn't do what we've been doing if we don't if we're not on the higher ground.

And I know for me, I want to recommit to noonday prayer.

I want to recommit to my personal prayer.

I want to do things a little differently because of what happened yesterday.

It was a reminder of wow, this is going to be happening.

This is gonna be something that we need to pay attention to because God's saying it.

God's calling us to pay attention.

So you guys turn in your Bibles to Psalm 24.

And what we're gonna do is we are going to work our way through Psalm 24, verse by verse, and pray.

So we're gonna use this as a prayer meeting, worship service today.

It's gonna be different.

And and the perspective that I want you to have is the perspective that David had when he wrote Psalm 24.

So, Psalm 24, men and women, was is an historical psalm known by Jews as well as Josephus, the great historian, and many others, as a psalm that David wrote when the Ark of the Covenant is coming up the hill, coming up into Zion to be placed there.

This is before the temple, this is the tabernacle, okay?

And David's now the king, and he's coming through the Kidron Valley, he's coming through the valley, and there's two massive choirs.

So there's two massive choirs, over a thousand singers are singing the Lord's word.

They're singing Psalm 24, it's an antiphonal singing.

And what I mean by that is that one person who is probably the choir leader would read verse one, and then a choir would sing verse 2, and then the choir leader would do verse 3, and so forth and so on.

But this was festive, it was big, it was powerful, and then it became so popular that from that point on, every Sunday, first day of the week, the Jews worshiped with Psalm 24.

So this is one of the most famous Psalms in all of Scripture.

And so we're gonna do, in a sense, what they did in light of the darkness in America and what God wants to do to challenge us as the body of Christ to get to the higher ground.

This is a this is a psalm, it's not technically a psalm of ascent, because there's a whole set of psalms of ascent, but it is a psalm of ascent.

And so when Liz had her dream and she said it for the first time, to me, the first thing that came to my mind was Psalm 24.

So I like to think that Psalm 24 is for 2024.

Psalm 24 is for is for the year 2024.

Now, what I'm gonna do that follows the Psalm is the Psalm kind of starts in the valley of the shadow of death, might be another way to think of it.

And then it's gonna build.

There's gonna be a building up in Psalm 24.

So we're gonna start low, but the statement, the statement that's made at the beginning sets the tone for the entire Psalm.

Alright, so let me read it.

The earth is the Lord's and all its fullness.

The earth is the Lord's, it's not yours, it's not Satan's.

No demonic power can rule over the King of Kings.

The earth is the Lord's and all its fullness, the world and those who dwell therein.

So he's ruling over all of us, for he has founded it upon the seas and established it upon the waters.

I love the part that says, and all its fullness, the earth has fullness.

Yeah.

You notice that the demonic powers are using people to tell us we have shortages?

Well, it's not true.

It says fullness.

Fullness and shortage don't mix.

That's good.

And we need to trust God when we hear about these shortages because that's a falsity.

God's gonna provide no matter what happens.

So, church, the supreme court of the United States of America is not the supreme court.

Christ is seated at the right hand of the Father.

He has the Supreme Court.

He, as the unelected king of kings, is seated on his throne and he's looking for a church that will believe him for revival, that will believe him for revolution, that will believe him that he is still in charge if you will make him in charge of your life.

So he can be, yeah, in some nebulous sort of objective way, ruling from the throne in heaven, which we know is true, but if we don't bring that down, that's why we say the Lord's Prayer.

So let's do that right now.

Let's say the Lord's Prayer.

If you know the Lord's Prayer, say it with me.

If you don't, listen to the words, I'll put them up on the screen.

Our Father, let's say it together.

Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name, thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.

Give us this day our daily bread and forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors.

Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.

For thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever and ever.

Amen.

Now, right now in your group, pray for kingdom of God revolution in our nation to sweep across our nation, starting right here, starting right in your own heart.

In verse 3, David sort of takes us into the valley, and he says, Who may ascend into the hill of the Lord?

Who may stand in his holy place?

So he's asking a question to us.

Can you ascend the hill of the Lord?

Do you want to ascend the hill of the Lord?

Because it takes no work to just stay where you're at.

Just be who you are.

You've always been the same, same results you've always had in your Christian life.

That's where a lot of people stay.

It's even easier to descend the hill of the Lord, to go downhill.

But it takes something powerful and moving within our heart the Spirit of God saying, I'm gonna ascend the hill of the Lord.

I'm gonna go to where God's at this year.

I'm gonna get up early.

I'm gonna open God's word.

I'm gonna pray.

I'm gonna pray with my wife.

I'm going to pray with my husband.

I'm going to pray for my children.

I'm going to believe God for miracles this year.

That's ascending the hill of the Lord.

And guess what, folks?

That takes effort.

That takes discipline.

It's hard to do.

It's arduous.

And David understood that.

And then he said, He who has clean hands and a pure heart, who has not lifted up his soul to an idol, nor sworn deceitfully.

So what he's saying is, there's the outward side of your life, clean hands.

There's the inner side of our life, which is pure heart.

It's what is blocking, what is in the way of true worship to the Lord, but idols.

Idols.

Those are things we love more than God.

And then he says that you don't swear deceitfully.

In other words, you're a truth seeker.

You're going after truth.

I mean, folks, here's the deal.

You're gonna hear stuff in the next week.

You're hearing it right now if you're following it about this shooter.

And about people who saw the shooter.

And the police did nothing.

So be a true seeker.

Okay?

But how do you ascend the hill of the Lord?

You ascend the hill of the Lord by having clean and a pure heart.

Now, nobody here has got clean hands and a pure heart and everything.

We all have our stuff, right?

So here's what I want you to do.

I want you to be seated.

Go back to your seat.

Go back to your seat.

And we're gonna be silent for the next couple minutes.

And I'm asking you to close your eyes, try to take your mind and focus off of all the things that are making you anxious right now.

And ask the Lord, Lord, where do I not have clean hands?

Lord, where do I not have a pure heart?

Lord, where have I allowed idols in my life?

Lord, do I tell the truth?

And we're just gonna be silent and let the Holy Spirit speak to you.

And then I want you to surrender that to the Lord.

Yes, Lord, I do have this idol.

Yes, Lord, I do have ill motives.

I don't have clean hands.

God, I ask for your forgiveness.

I ask you to come and bring a kingdom revolution in my heart.

So let's do that right now.

The scriptures say that if we'll confess our sins, He is faithful to forgive us of all of our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

Just pronounce forgiveness over you.

You're forgiven by the blood of the Lamb.

Walk in newness of life, ascend the hill of the Lord.

Make time with God a priority in your life again, or maybe for the first time.

And it says, Oh, send out your light and your truth, let them lead me, let them bring me to your holy hill, the higher ground, and to your tabernacle.

Tabernacle was where people met God, to God, my exceeding joy.

And on the harp, I will praise you, O God, my God.

We need light and truth to lead us to this holy hill.

And I think it'd be very appropriate right now to have us thank God for all the trials we're in.

That we could say we're a black wave, or maybe there it's a gray wave, maybe it's a smaller wave in your life.

But thank him because what he's doing is he's giving you reason to seek him.

Those things help us seek him.

They become that that those miseries can be our friend because they can push us toward God.

And this scripture says he is the exceeding joy, and a lot of times these black waves in our lives are destroying the counterfeit joys, aren't they?

So let's take a minute and just thank God for the trials you're in.

We're all in some.

So let's thank him and just ask him to use that to lead us to want to have the light and the truth to lead us to that holy hill.

I'm gonna read verse five.

This is Jacob, the generation of those who seek him, who seek your face.

I want us to be a people who seek God's face.

Not just his hands for what he can do for us, but his face, seeking him for who he is.

He loves you.

He's your father, he's your brother, he's your Lord, and he's your friend.

So right now in your group, cry out to God together and just say, God, I'm gonna seek you.

I want to seek your face.

I want to be that special generation that seeks your face.

So crowd to God.

Let God lead you guys in your groups to pray for seeking God's face.

I want to just give you a little um, another little thought here.

Um, as we probably know, many of us in Genesis 3, uh, Satan gave Eve and Adam a sales pitch that they wouldn't need to seek God to get his wisdom.

They don't need him.

And they bought into that.

And so now we have a king and a God who wants us to want him again, which is about seeking.

And it says in Isaiah 45, 15, truly, you are a God who hides yourself.

Oh God of Israel, the Savior.

God hides himself because if we were to see him, we would not be able to choose seeking, we would be bowing down.

He's so great and mighty.

We would be prostrate, we would be, it wouldn't even be possible.

For us to choose him.

And this is the generation, you're in the generation of those who seek him, who choose him.

We have this king who doesn't demand obedience, but he asks us to obey.

He asks us to seek him.

So let's pray that we seek him as the king.

Pray that when you get up tomorrow, or even as you go home today, that you seek him as a king.

It says that Jacob was a seeker of God.

And Jacob means a supplanter, which means one who uprooted a king.

Right?

And now we have him named Israel at the end of his life of seeking, which means a prince.

And he's in the family of God again.

Isn't that cool?

So let's pray that we would give up our kingdoms.

We would just be like, we don't want to supplant you, God.

We want you and your kingdom.

Let's pray that together.

Lift up your heads, O you gates.

Be lifted up, you everlasting doors.

And the King of Glory shall come in.

Who is this King of Glory?

The Lord strong and mighty.

The Lord mighty in battle.

This is not Sunday school Jesus.

This is the warrior king who fights on your behalf, who loves you, who wants to bring a kingdom revolution in our lives, in our church.

He wants to raise up mighty men and women of God who believe in the Lord, strong and mighty, the Lord might be in battle.

Lift up your heads, o you gate.

Lift up you everlasting doors, and the king of glory shall come in.

Who is this king of glory?

It is the Lord of poverty.

He is the king of glory.

So raise your voice and stuff.

Worship him.

He's the king of Lord.

He's the king of the world.

He's the king of Florida.

He's the king of Lord of County.

He's the king of Florida coming out of the street.

He's the king of Florida America.

Worship him, praise him, thank him.

Give him all the glory.

Give him all the praise.

Thank you for listening to the Forn for War podcast.

We hope today's message has empowered you to make a difference in your world.

To connect with Pastor Steve's sermons, books, and blog, visit Steve Holtonline.org.

God bless.