Jehovah Nissi

The title of this message is Jehovah Nisi, The Lord is My Banner.

And the whole time that we were in worship this morning, I said,

we're singing about Jehovah Nisi.

Jehovah Nisi is the one that will kick that wall down when you feel like there's no way through.

Jehovah Nisi is the one that lights up the shadows when you can't see the path to take.

Jehovah Nisi is the one that tears down the lies when your enemies stand before

you and they say all of the negative lies before you.

He tears those down. And so I'm super excited to introduce you to Jehovah Nisi this morning.

Pastor already kind of gave you a spiel in the beginning of why we wanted to

bring this series to you. And it was, we wanted the nature of the Lord to be revealed to you.

We wanted his character to be known.

We wanted to deepen your relationship with God and that your prayer life would

be guided and your worship experience would be enhanced.

And so if you're thinking of those things and you're thinking,

I don't know if it has been enhanced, I want you to go back and listen to all

the messages this summer. They're free.

They're on the podcast and the website.

Go back and listen to those messages.

So today we're going to introduce you to Jehovah Nisi. The Lord is my banner

or he is my sign of conquest.

So he is the one that steps in when you're in a battle.

Jehovah Nisi steps in and he says, you don't have to fight this battle.

I'm here to fight it for you. I am the banner that goes before you.

And so we're going to open our Bibles to Exodus 17.

And before they, you can put it up on the screen, but before we go there,

I'm going to kind of paraphrase a little bit to set up a scene for you of what's happening in Exodus 17.

Here we see that the Israelites are going through the wilderness.

They are traveling to the promised land, but they are at a point where they feel tested.

They feel forgotten. They feel defeated.

They're physically thirsty, and they're beginning to complain.

This is the first story about Moses when he strikes the rock.

The second version of when he got into disobedience and he struck the rock when

he was supposed to speak about it is in Numbers.

But here in Exodus 17, the people are complaining to Moses.

And they're saying, we're thirsty. We're going through a battle.

Where is God? Why did you bring us up out of Egypt? And so the Lord gave Moses

an instruction to strike the rock, and he provided water for them.

Now this has a deeper spiritual meaning.

The rock represents Jesus.

And when Moses struck that rock, that represented Jesus laying down his life

for you to take it back up so that you could have living water flowing to you that will never end.

And so we won't focus as much on that today but I want you to know that spiritual

aspect after this encounter happened an army came to attack the Israelites and

Joshua and his men were going to battle.

Now, as Joshua and his men went into battle, the Lord told Moses to take his

staff and to lift it high.

And the whole time that his staff was lifted high, the armies would advance.

Joshua and his men would advance. But if his arms lowered, the other army would take advantage.

And so Moses went up a hill, and he took with him Aaron and Hur.

And what happened was his physical body got tired.

In a battle, we can become physically and spiritually tired.

But those around him, Aaron and her, they lifted his arms up.

They had him to sit on a rock, another spiritual truth.

They had Moses to sit, take a position of rest, and sit upon the rock of Jesus.

And then those around him lifted his arms and it says that he held his arms

up till sunset and that is when Joshua defeated the army in battle.

So I'm gonna remind you like I remind you all the time in every message.

The youth is probably tired of hearing this but I'll say it again.

It matters who is around you.

It matters who you surround yourself with. so let's pick up in Exodus chapter

Exodus 17:15

17 verse 15 this is the King James version it says and Moses built an altar.

Called the name of it Jehovah Nisi.

Let's look at it in the King James Version, or the New King James.

It says, and Moses built an altar and called its name, the Lord is my banner.

So here we've seen a great victory, a spiritual concept of Moses sitting on

the rock, lifting his arms in complete surrender to God's strength.

And at that point, he called this place Jehovah Nissi. The Lord is my banner.

The Lord that is my conquest.

And so this Jehovah Nissi, he is the one who prepares the table before you.

When we talk about that in Psalms 23, like we discussed last week,

Jehovah Jehovah Nisi prepares a feast of provision in the presence of your enemies.

That is Jehovah Nisi.

Because you can sit at that table in front of your enemies, knowing that the

Lord fights your battle and gives you provision, because Jehovah Nisi,

he set that table for you.

And last week, we sang a song in worship. And in that song, it said,

Jehovah Nisi, he reigns in victory.

Do you remember singing that last week? It's interesting. Pay attention to the words that you sing.

Do you just sing a song and not think about the words? Last week we sang Jehovah Nisi.

He reigns in victory. When you're going through a battle and you're going through

something that is hard, you can confess Jehovah Nisi goes before me.

Jehovah Nisi reigns in victory. If he is my banner that goes before me,

that means I'm going to walk in this victory.

So Moses, he learned that when he followed God, Jehovah Nisi, that he conquered.

David, when he stood before Goliath.

And he went to Goliath and said, I come to you in the name of the Lord.

In Jehovah Nisi, he conquered.

When Joshua, he took his army and he marched around the walls of Jericho and

he called upon Jehovah Nisi, the walls crumbled.

God is faithful. We sung about that this morning. He's faithful. He always shows up.

Jehovah Nisi, when he is your banner, you will always reign in victory if you're following him.

Now, throughout the world today, there are many different banners.

I'll call them banners that people put their trust in.

Some people put their trust in their intellect and their knowledge that they know how to do things.

No one's going to tell them what to do. They have all the answers.

Other people put their trust or faith in a banner called physical strength.

Well, I'm strong enough. I can do this. I don't have to ask anybody for help.

And other people's put their trust in money.

But all of these banners will fail you if you do not have the true banner going before you.

And that's Jehovah Nisi, the banner of the Lord that brings you into victory.

And so let's take a look now.

We're going to look at 2 Chronicles.

And we're going to look at chapter 20. Now, this is my absolute favorite story in the Bible.

Besides Jesus, I love in the Old Testament this story.

I go back to the story time and time again when I am faced with a situation

where I feel like I'm in a battle and I don't know what to do. I go back to this.

So I encourage you this week, read 2 Chronicles 20. I'm not going to read the

whole chapter, but go back through this whole chapter and allow the Holy Spirit to speak to you.

So we're going to start in verse 1.

2 Chronicles 20, verse 1, we're going to go through verse 4.

2 Chronicles 20:1

It says, After this, the armies of the Moabites, Ammonites, and some of the

Minunites declared war on Jehoshaphat.

And messengers came and told Jehoshaphat, A fast army from Edom is marching

against you from beyond the Dead Sea, and they are already at En Gedi.

And Jehoshaphat was terrified by the news, and he begged the Lord for guidance.

He also ordered everyone in Judah to begin fasting.

So people from all the towns of Judah came to Jerusalem to seek the Lord's help.

So here we see, we have King Jehoshaphat, and he receives news.

Now I want you to role play with me this morning, and I want you to imagine

yourself in whatever situation that you may have going on in your life now,

or think back when you've been in a situation like this.

Jehoshaphat received news that a battle was coming.

He was about to find himself in a battle, and he received negative news,

news that he didn't want to hear, he didn't want to deal with,

and it says that he was terrified by the news.

Now, we live in a body, and we have a soul, but the real us is a spirit,

And that spirit's made in the image of God.

But our soul, our mind, our will, and our emotions, and our flesh will try to

speak to us and tell us things. And we feel fear.

There are times that we feel fear. But we don't have to receive a spirit of

fear that stops us and paralyzes us.

The New Testament, it tells us the Lord did not give us a spirit of fear,

but a power, love, and a sound mind.

So when that fear comes on you, like it came on Jehoshaphat,

it's what position do you take?

Do you receive it and allow it to paralyze you? Or do you do what King Jehoshaphat

did? First of all, he went to the Lord for guidance.

He began to fast.

He put down his natural tendencies and dependence and put all of his trust in

the Lord. Let's skip down to chapter 20, verse 12.

It says, here Jehoshaphat is standing before the people and he's declaring to

the people, but he's also praying to the Lord in front of them.

And he says, oh, our God, will you not judge them, the armies that are coming against us?

For we have no power against this great multitude that is coming against us,

nor do we know what to do, but our eyes are upon you.

There have been times in my life where I have went to the Lord in prayer and

I said, I don't know what to do, Lord.

How do I pray when I don't know what to do?

But I will fix my eyes upon you.

Let's look at it in the New Living Translation, verse 12. It says,

oh, our God, won't you stop them?

We are powerless against this mighty army that's about to attack us.

We do not know what to do, but we are looking to you for help.

We are looking to you for guidance that

reminds me of Psalms 121 we'll put

it up on the screen and then I'm going to do something a little bit different but in

Psalms 121 verses 1 through 2 it says I look up to the mountains does my help

Psalms 121:1–2

come from there my help comes from the Lord who made heaven and earth and now

I'm going to show you a practical way of how I fight my battles and I have done this all my life.

I believe that the word of God has power, and I believe that God,

a speaking spirit, just as Pastor said earlier, he spoke things into existence.

And then he provided us the word right here, a manual for life.

He expects us to open this Bible and to fill this word with our mouth so that

we can speak his word and speak things into existence. So this is what I do.

This is a practical thing. In Psalms 121, I will take the Psalms and I will pray them.

I will declare them over my life, over my children, over my workplace, the community.

And so it's going to sound a little different because I'm praying this, but you can do this too.

This is a practical way to fight a battle.

It says, I look up to the mountains. Where does my help come from?

My help comes from the Lord who made heaven and earth.

He, Jehovah Nisi, will never let me stumble.

He will watch over me. He does not slumber.

Indeed, he who watches Israel never slumbers nor sleeps.

Jehovah Nisi himself watches over me. Jehovah Nisi stands beside me as my protective shade.

The sun will not harm me by day nor the moon at night.

The Lord keeps me from all harm and watches over my life.

The Lord Jehovah Nisi keeps watch over me as I come and as I go, both now and forever.

That is what I do. When I'm faced with a battle, I go to the Word and I say, Holy Spirit, tell me.

The scriptures that I need to stand on. When you come up to the altar and you

receive prayer and you say, I'm standing, I'm standing and I'm believing.

What are you standing on?

You don't necessarily have to tell us what you're standing on,

but you need to know what verse are you standing on.

This is power. This is life.

I need you to be standing on the word of God, not on the word of what I've said

or someone else has said. You need to know what the Word of God says,

and you need to start standing on that.

If you're believing for healing, I am standing on that the same Spirit that

raised Christ from the dead has quickened my mortal body, and that my body comes into order.

If you are dealing with mental anguish, and you're having anxiety,

and you're having panic, then you stand on the verse that says,

my Lord has given me a sound mind.

I don't have to have a confused mind and as

I get older I'm not losing my mind watch what

you say your words have power I'm

not losing my mind I have a sound mind I have a sharp

mind I have clarity and focus when your

children are acting like they're out of

control and I know we

all want to say some things and I'm not perfect I

have to go back and say oh lord cancel that out we got

to start over because I want to say some things we

say no my children have has the

fruit of self-control they can

control themselves they are regulated they are obedient and they love the Lord

what are you saying with your mouth when you walk into that job or that workplace

and we know that there are people that you don't want to run into that you might

walk around the other hallway because you don't want to run into them.

You got to start confessing the word of God. You don't have to go in there and

act like a weirdo and start saying it all loud and being different.

You just say it under your breath.

This is real. You know, there comes a point where you got to decide,

do I just get up and come to church on Sunday to play?

Or is this my lifestyle? Do I believe it?

You know, when Jesus comes back, will I be one that he finds still standing

in faith? Or am I playing?

I don't want to look like just what a Christian is supposed to look like.

I want my everyday life. Now, that doesn't mean that I'm perfect.

I'm not perfect. I mess up.

But I know that when I mess up, I go before the Lord and say, I'm sorry.

Forgive me. Help me grow more and more every day.

So this is how you take the Word of God and you put it into practical sense

in your life. Let's go back to what we were reading in 2 Chronicles 20.

Here in verse 15, we're going to start in 15.

Now the Spirit of the Lord has came upon a man that was in the community, and he is speaking now.

He said, listen, all you people of Judah and Jerusalem.

Listen, King Jehoshaphat. This is what the Lord Jehovah Nisi says. Do not be afraid.

Do not be discouraged by this mighty army. for the battle is not yours, but God's.

This was Jehovah Nisi stepping in saying, listen, let me introduce you to me.

I'm the banner that goes before you.

Tomorrow, in verse 16, tomorrow march out against them.

You will find them coming up through the land at the end of the valley that

opens into the wilderness, but you will not even need to fight.

Take your positions. I want you to pay attention to that.

Take your positions. Then stand still and watch the Lord's victory, for he is with you.

Oh, people of Judah and Jerusalem, do not be afraid or discouraged.

Go out against them tomorrow, for the Lord is with you.

In verse 18, it says, Then King Jehoshaphat bowed low with his face to the ground,

and all the people of Judah and Jerusalem did the same, worshiping the Lord.

Jehoshaphat had a choice there.

It says that he bowed low with his face to the ground. He could have said,

I know what to do. He could have got into pride and said, no,

no, no, this is what we're going to do.

But he humbled himself before God. He had already went to God and said, I don't know what to do.

There is this army that's coming. There's three armies coming against us,

and we know that we're powerless against them.

Without you, Lord, we're going to be overtaken. Those were the facts.

But Jehovah Nisi stepped in and said, I'm going to give you the truth.

And the truth is you're going to go out before them and you're not going to

be afraid. You're not going to be discouraged because I'm going to fight this battle for you.

There are many of you, if you will look back over your life,

you will see where the Lord has stepped in and fought a battle for you.

There are many of you, even this week, that may step into a battle.

And I believe you're going to see Jehovah Nisi show up and fight that battle for you.

We have to believe that. It goes on to say in, let's see where we're going to pick up at.

Let's look at 21, verse 21 and 22.

Here Jehoshaphat, he goes before the Lord and the people.

And after consulting the people, he made a very bold decision.

The king appointed singers to walk ahead of the army, singing to the Lord and

praising him for his holy splendor. And this is what they sang. Give thanks to the Lord.

His faithful love endures forever. We're going to stop right there for a minute.

Here King Jehoshaphat decided, I'm going to put the singers in front of my warriors.

Now I have no military background, but I know there's people in here and those

watching online, you do have military background.

And I would dare to say it's very rare for a commanding officer to say,

let's put some people in front of our strongest men and march out in battle and sing.

Let's put the singers in the front.

But King Jehoshaphat followed God. He knew the singers really weren't in front.

The banner was in front, and that was Jehovah Nisi.

He knew Jehovah Nisi, my banner.

He knew the banner was already in the front. So if the banner's in the front,

just go ahead and put the singers praising, declaring our victory before our

men, because our men's not going to fight.

He already knew that they had won the battle. And so now, back in verse 22.

At the very moment that they began to sing and give praise, what were they saying?

They were saying, give thanks to the Lord.

His faithful love endures forever. The Lord calls these armies to start fighting among themselves.

If we jump down to verse 25, it says, King Jehoshaphat and his men,

they went out to gather the plunder, and they found vast amounts of equipment.

Clothing and other valuables more

than they could carry there was so much

plunder that it took them three days just to collect it all three days they

didn't even have to fight that sounds like preparing a feast in the presence

of my enemies that was a plunder that took them three days to collect all of it.

This was three different armies who sent news to Jehoshaphat.

We are coming to kill you. We are coming to overtake you.

And there's nothing you can do about it. That's what an enemy does.

An enemy tries to taunt you with fear.

But Jehovah Nisi showed up and he said, no, you're going to go forth tomorrow.

You're going to go forth in praise and trust. And you're not even going to fight this battle.

And so when I told you to remember about positions, I want you to evaluate your own life.

What position do you take when you hear bad news?

What initial response do you go into when you receive bad news?

When things get hard, when things get.

Difficult when you're tired like I

said I'm I'm not perfect and I'll be the first to say I wish

I could say yep I'm every single time

I'm right there in faith but there are still times that I may hear something

and that first initial response it almost wants to take your breath away and

your mind starts racing how how how what what if what if what if this happens.

And I have to stop. I catch myself when I'm beginning to be overwhelmed.

And this is me being vulnerable to you.

So I know that you guys don't look at me like I'm any different than you. My family knows too.

I mean, I don't know if pastor feels this way, but sometimes I get up here and

I teach and I think, Lord, I got to get back in the car with my family and they

know what I did yesterday.

I'm not perfect. Or what I said to them on the way here. Well,

I'm not perfect, but God didn't call me to be perfect. He called me to believe and to serve him.

And so, and I am good at saying I'm sorry.

That is one thing. I will say I am sorry for things that I do.

So, but I have to say that when I get overwhelmed by things, I have to watch.

And you examine your life too.

Do you get more short with people?

Do you lash out

or do you retreat do you shut down I

don't want to talk to nobody I don't I don't want to talk about this issue I

don't want to talk about it or do you lash out are you more irritable these

are signs and symptoms of not anger but a fear fear causes you to mask things,

and it can look like shutting down and avoiding it can look like anger and I

don't I don't need you to tell me what to do I know what to do it can mask as

independence and I'll be the first to admit I was raised.

To be independent, to take care of myself.

That got me in a lot of trouble through my 20s because I wouldn't reach out for help.

I, even little things that I started, the Lord started revealing to me,

that's not the way I want you to live your life.

Little things of, Josh and I would already be married and this may seem silly,

but I would need something off the top counter.

Well I would have rather crawled on

that counter and dislocated my

shoulder and fell off the counter than to ask him

just to reach up there and get it God had me

marry a six foot two man why am I trying

to climb up a cabinet but I would not I had to be humbled I was in pride I was

also if I'm independent I don't need anybody to take care of me and it was wrong

now you know there's things in your life that causes you to act a certain way.

But there comes a time where we have to stop and put excuses down.

That's hard to hear. We have to put excuses down and say, okay,

I know this about me, that if I become overwhelmed, the position that I normally take is this.

It could be anger, shutting down, masking.

But the Lord is telling you, the position I want you to take now at the initial response of fear,

the initial response of bad news, I want you to take that position of just humbling

before the Lord and go to him in prayer and praise.

Prayer and praise. Prayer and praise. And we praise because we know that he heard our prayer.

We know that Jehovah Nisi is there with us, and he is that banner around us,

and we will come out in victory.

That is what we have to believe.

And so today, as I begin to wrap up, and I want to pray for everyone,

I want you to, one, remember and know that Jehovah Nisi is your banner and that

he goes before you and that you have to take that battle position of prayer and praise.

There's opportunities for you to lead every day of your life.

You may say, I'm not a leader, but you are a leader.

Everybody is a leader, and people are watching how you lead.

People are watching how you lead and there are so many leadership

books and leadership seminars and just

open the bible that's the best way to learn how

to be a leader because there's going to be seminars and

podcasts and this and this open the bible god will

tell you how to lead watch how moses led

watch how he made mistakes just learn

from the word of god he wants to teach you

the truth and then you have

to be a doer of the word we cannot just hear

the word and not be a doer you hear the word you become a doer and you obey

whatever he is telling you to do when you put these spiritual principles into

life into your everyday life in practical ways that is how you will experience

true life in your everyday lives.