In this sermon, the speaker shares a story about a farmer in South Africa who preached with great power and anointing, despite never having attended Bible college. The speaker attributes this farmer's effectiveness to his daily practice of spending three hours praising God. The sermon references Psalm 107, which emphasizes the importance of praising the Lord for His goodness and wonderful works. The speaker also shares a personal testimony about experiencing a loss of joy and finding restoration through God's intervention.

If you could open up your Bibles to 1 Chronicles chapter 9, it would help. It's interesting that Brother Don Covell chose Psalm 107. You see at the top of my sermon notes, scratched out is Psalm 107. I was struggling with it to bring it just before my sermon. And the verse that struck me in Psalm 107, you don't have to look it up, I'll just read it to you, was one of the verses he quoted. It is repeated four times. In verse 8, verse 15, verse 21, and verse 31 of Psalm 107. O that men would praise the Lord for His goodness, and for His wonderful work to the children of men. Four times that this is repeated in the same chapter. Word perfect. Could we bow our heads and pray? Father, I thank You that I can preach to these people. And I ask that after this sermon, after my dad's sermon, every single person will leave that is truly a Christian. There is a new touch of fire on their soul, Lord. Like David, they will be able to say after you've restored their soul in Psalm 23, that their cup runneth over. Lord, you are able to do this. There's no one else able to do this, except my God. In Jesus' name, Amen. Prayer is one of the most important things that God emphasizes in the Bible. As I said yesterday, a church that does not pray is a dead church. But on the other hand, it is interesting to note, as I said yesterday also, that more is said in the Bible of a prayer than prayer. If we could read in 1 Chronicles 9, verse 33-34, And these are the singers, chiefs of the fathers of the Levites, who remaining in the chambers were free, for they were employed in that work day and night. These chief fathers of the Levites were chiefs throughout their generations. These dwelt at Jerusalem. And here we have amazing things. People set aside for day and night. I suppose they took ships to praise the Lord. And you know, this wasn't the time of the Babylonian captivity. They didn't sing lamentations. They sang praise unto God. If we turn then to 2 Chronicles 5, or I could just read it to you, we find these Levitical singers again. There's also the Levites, which were the singers. In verse 13 of 2 Chronicles 5, it says, And they came to pass, as the trumpeters and singers were as one, to make one sound, to be heard in praising and thanking the Lord. And when they lifted up their voice with the trumpets and cymbals and instruments of music, and praised the Lord, saying for His good, for His mercy endureth forever, that then the house was filled with a cloud, even the house of the Lord. So that the priest could not stand to minister by reason of the cloud, for the glory of the Lord had filled the house of God. Here we have an amazing thing. Before the temple of Solomon was filled with the glory of the Lord, the Levitical singers sang in union. And then the glory of the Lord filled the house of the Lord. Did you know, I don't know how many people notice this in the Scriptures, that at Pentecost, before Pentecost, we read there in Luke, the very last verse of Luke, you don't have to look it up, verse 53, after Jesus ascended, the disciples were continually in the temple praising and blessing God. And then in Pentecost, obviously they went up to the upper room, God came down and filled them with the Holy Spirit. So before God filled the temple of Solomon, in the Old Testament, the Levitical singers praised God. And before God came down and filled the disciples, the apostles with the Holy Spirit, they were continuously in Jerusalem praising God. I don't know how many of you have noticed that. In Isaiah 64, the great chapter on Revival in the Bible, where the first verse says, "...that thou wouldest rend the heavens, that thou mightest come down, that the mountains might melt at thy presence." See, they're calling for the presence of God. In that same chapter, in verse 5a, it says one of the most staggering portions of Scripture. And I want to quote for you. Who does God meet? God... "...thou meetest Him," "...thou meetest Him," says verse 5, "...that rejoiceth and worketh righteousness, those that remember thee in thy way." "...thou meetest Him," do you believe it? "...that rejoiceth and worketh righteousness, those that remember thee in thy way." You know, in South Africa, my principal at college, Mr. Lofty Myberg, was once in the country there of Africa, and he saw a farmer who preached. This farmer had never been to theological college or, what do you call, Bible college, and yet when he stood in the pulpit, he had fire, and he had anointing, the power of God was with him. And he couldn't understand why, why would this man who'd never been to Bible college, have such a message, have such, of the presence of God in his meetings. But there was one thing he noticed. Every morning, this man, this simple farmer, would sit on what we call a stoop, the outside, and he would take his concertina, and he would tell everybody else, no one's allowed to disturb me. And for three hours, he would praise God. For three hours, this man would praise God. Thou meetest him that rejoiceth, and that worketh righteous, as those that remember thee in thy ways. My grandfather, oh I love my grandfather, he's also a simple farmer, he loves to sing. I wouldn't say he's got a wonderful voice, but he loves to sing. He sings so much, that this one boy who came out for Christ, but never really made it through, he's in the world now, he wanted to sit on the back, of what we call a bucky, the kind of car that has a back. And the reason he gave was, that man sings so much, I can't stand it. All my grandfather could sing. I didn't tell him, me and my grandfather, perhaps one of the few people in the world, who can sing two hymns at the same time, and not worry about each other. But all my grandfather, that sings and sings to the hard times, and the good times, just praising God. I sat in a meeting, of how he preaches on Sundays, and conventions across the country, but I remember one meeting, a whole church council turned to God. A whole church council turned to God, standing on false foundations, under his ministry. He'd never been to a theological college, but oh how he praised God. Thou meetest him that rejoiceth, and worketh righteousness, those that remember thee in thy ways. Do you believe it? But you know, it's easy to praise, when you've just won a million dollars. It's easy to praise, when times are going well. I've walked into a church, I haven't got a very good smell, but that church, as they were praising the Lord, in an amazing way, it stank of wine and drink. It's easy to praise, when times are going good. Sinners do it, in their churches. But when God comes to you worthy, of suffering with Christ, being a partaker of the sufferings of Christ, then it is that we offer the sacrifice of praise. And the devil's very good, at getting us to lose our joy. He's good at making our faith fail. And so we stop singing. One woman put it in South Africa, that I spoke to, I've lost my song. I was there, if you want an example of this, I was there, having a little holiday on the weekend, at college, and I went to this place with a big dam, and this big house, with my friend Glenn. And although we enjoyed it a bit, there was one problem, I'm slightly taller than most people, and this house was, quite a lot shorter than most houses, in size. And I think I counted seven times, on one occasion, when me in there, that I hit my head. And you know how the devil comes. He says, God could easily have stopped that. Obviously there's something wrong with you, and the Lord doesn't agree with something you do, you're not right with God, or something like that. And then the devil takes away your joy. It can happen so easily. Sounds like I'm joking, but it happens so easily, the devil puts thoughts in your mind, and takes away your joy. When do you stop praising? Let me ask you that question. When do you stop praising? I met a person there in South Africa recently, in one of my short rest prayers, as a missionary, in her eighties, as I believe. She was my front and back mother. And she, thirty years ago, lost her son. Her son came to her and said, Mother, when you grow old, I'm going to look after you. That day, her son was dead in a motorcycle accident. Ten days later, ten days later, her husband died of a heart attack, as I understand. One of her grandchildren died in a taxi accident, plus husband, plus child. And in that same taxi accident, one of her other grandchildren, landed up in a wheelchair. It was thought for life, but it was only for four years. She herself, fell down six stories, in a lift, so that, in front of me I've seen her, she can only lift her hands so high. She tries, oh, she gets a drive somewhere to walk about with this apparatus. This year, if anything else could happen, she got crushed in a mechanical door. But you know what? When I come into that room, all I hear is, Praise God. That's the first thing I hear. Praise God. And she just keeps on praising God. When, this year, she slumped down, and they couldn't understand why, she couldn't get up. They took her to the doctor. The doctor said, I've got bad news for you, you've had heart failure. She said, Praise the Lord, I've had heart failure. And the doctor said to her, You've had sugar diabetes. You've got sugar diabetes. She said, Praise the Lord, I've got sugar diabetes. She said, You know, I'm 80 years old, I could have had cancer. When do you stop praising? By the way, you should see how many people, suicide cases, as they're almost committing suicide, they phone her. They choose her. And how many people, she ministers to. Because they see something, that's real. God looks, for people, willing to offer, the sacrifice of praise. If I could read a verse to you, I wonder how many of you feel down, when you give out one tract, when you give out one tract, and people reject you. Let me read you a verse. Blessed are you, when men shall hate you, and when they shall separate you, from their company, and shall reproach you, and cast your name as evil, for the son of man's sake. Rejoice ye in that day, and leap for joy. Behold, your reward is great in heaven, from the like manner, to their fathers, and to the prophets. I love the story, I love the story, through the ages, of how, mostly Romans, burned Christians, killed Christians. Nero, Caesar Nero, used to bring them together, in what's weird to have, rugby football stadiums, and things like that. They used to have stadiums, and they'd bring all the Christians together, and burn them at the stake. But there's something, they could not understand, about these Christians. Nero himself, Emperor of Rome, was staggered, when they sang, as the flames, crept up their bodies. They sang unto God, praising. And as they sang, many people, still enjoyed them dying. This is their condemnation, the light has come into the world, but men chose darkness, rather than light. But many people, were so staggered by their lying, as in the hard times, as flames, were creeping up their bodies, they praised God. Many people, were so staggered by their lies, as they turned to God. Not everybody, but many. When do you stop praising? Me and Taylor, then, in South Africa, we used to love to go, every evening, to spend the time together. We used to praise God. And him and me have chosen, if God ever gave us the privilege, of dying for him. I don't tempt God. A song, that we would like to sing. I know, I think he's, I can just name the number, 132 in the hymn book, because he's one. But my one is, let us sing of his love, once again. Of the love, that shall never decay. Of the Lamb, who for sinners was slain. Till we meet him, in glory, someday. When will you stop praising? God, is looking for people, willing to offer, the sacrifice, of praise. Jeremiah 17, verse 10, Jeremiah 17, verse 10 says, I, the Lord, search the heart. I try the rains, even to give to every man, according to his work, and according to the fruit, of his doing. I, the Lord, try the heart, I search the heart, I try the rains, even to give every man, according to his ways, and according to the fruit, of his doing. In 1 Samuel 13, verse 14, it states, The Lord has sought to a man, after his own heart. And who did he find? He found David, a little shepherd boy, who played on a harp, and loved to sing praises unto God. Later on, he became known as the sweet psalmist of Israel. That's who God found. But it's staggering to note, that after David fell into sin, when he came back to God, and prayed for him, to restore him, to forgive him, he said these words in Psalm 51, verse 12 to 13, Restore unto me the joy of my salvation, and uphold me with thy free spirit. Then will I teach transgressors thy way, and sinners shall be converted unto thee. Then will I teach transgressors thy way, and sinners will be converted unto thee. There's another verse that staggered me in the Bible. It staggered me. I said, Can the Lord make this my life? It's Psalm 40, verse 3. And he hath put a new song in my mouth, even praise unto our God. Many shall see it and fear, and shall trust in the Lord. Many shall see it and fear, and shall trust in the Lord. Do you believe that? I've... It doesn't happen every day, as I said, this is a condemnation, that light is coming to the world, and men chose darkness rather than light. But I've stood in front of a person who swore at me. He drank. He smoked. Within a few days he came to me, and he said these words. I've got a joy in sin. I've got a joy in sin. But the joy I see in you is a greater joy. And I want that joy. You know, I've cried over other people, and they haven't turned to God. Not that it's wrong to cry. Some of them. He threw away his cigarettes. He threw away his drink. He never touched it again. He went out testifying of what God had done to his soul. He wondered, how could I have waited so long? All that wasted time, he said. And I phoned him recently. He hasn't fallen back. Recently, right now, in South Africa, we had a series of meetings. God, in His mercy, worked in those meetings in a staggering way. And one of the things that touched me is we had some students who sang, godly students of this college. As my dad said recently, across our country, these students are, Bible college students, are staggering people through their lives. And one person got dragged to the meetings where me and another person were preaching, and he had a testimony of salvation, but as his family fell apart, he turned his back on God, it seems. He rejected God. When he came to those meetings, he was dragged. I preached. Beforehand, they sang. And one of the people that came out in those meetings was him, and I counselled him. And he said to me these words, with tears rolling down his face. He said, I remember the joy I used to have. It wasn't my preaching that brought him out that day. I remember the joy I used to have when I was first saved, and I saw that same joy. I saw that same joy in those students as they sang. And I want that joy. And then he met with God in a staggering way. I can testify to that. He was with us afterwards and many times crying, tears coming down his face before the meetings asking for God to work. This man who had rejected God, because he saw joy. And even in that verse, I'll put a new song in my mouth, even praise unto our God. Many shall see it and fear and shall trust in the Lord. I'm sure most of you have heard the story of Samuel Morris. Samuel Morris, you couldn't even read, young boy of 16 or 18, was so on fire for God, wanted to learn so much about God, he ran to get on a ship to go over to America to speak to some person he heard who knew about the Holy Spirit. Got on the ship five months as a landlubber of going across the wide ocean. And the ship he chose had many sailors from different backgrounds, different nations. They kicked, they swore, they hit. Some of them are... Have you heard of my Jesus? That man who said he would kill Samuel Morris one day wanted to kill someone else. And Samuel Morris stood in the way. And as this man stood with a big cutlass, Samuel Morris didn't even make a move to defend himself. Eventually that man went and sat down. The whole crew, or much of the crew in their spare time plus the captain, started to come to listen to Samuel Morris as he praised God for hours, for hours. He used to sing the old hymns of the faith. And they used to listen as he had a deep voice, loving the old hymns of the faith. Eventually, that drunk captain and most of the crew turned to God. Everybody, every single one of the crew used to come together to pray and to sing with Samuel Morris. Every single one of that crew came together to pray and sing with Samuel Morris. When they landed in America, they clubbed together these murderers and hateful men, originally. They clubbed together to buy him clothes. And when they took his hand, many of those once hardened men cried like children as they said goodbye to Samuel Morris. Do you believe it? A new song that he put in my mouth, even praise unto our God. Many shall see it and fear. When you've got just one a million rand, no. When you're going through the hard times. Many shall see it and fear and shall trust in the Lord. I think you've heard of the pineapple story. Otto Koenig had to give up his pineapples and start praising before they thought he was even a Christian. Do you mind? Have you become a Christian now? Have you heard that story? The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace. The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace. You know, I went through a time in my life at college where the devil attacked me. And I was broken and I wanted to get back what I had with God, that joy. And I didn't know how. I didn't know what I must do. And then my Bible opened as I was sitting there and I cried as I read Psalm 23 and I just saw when I opened up the first words I saw I'd underlined He restoreth my soul. Not me. He. I can try but He restoreth my soul. And a few verses later my cup ran us over. Do you believe it? That God is willing to do it? And He's faithful to do it. Even when you feel God can't do it. I felt I can't do anything at that stage. Until I saw that verse. It wasn't me. It's God that's going to do it. He restores my soul. Does that make you excited? It's not your job. You come to God. He does it. I preached this for the first time at a large convention in South Africa recently. And the only appeal I made was for this particular message was I said this. You can't go. You can't go praising through problems. You cannot praise God through circumstances, things you have not given to God. You cannot praise God through circumstances you have not given to God. Cast your care upon Him for He careth for you. Do you believe that Peter's been honest? That you can cast your cares upon God for He careth for you. He cares so much for you He gave His Son to die for you on the cross on Peter 5 verse 70. And I said if you've got something if you've got something that you have to throw in God's hands take this verse go to your room and throw your circumstances that which you cannot praise God through because you have not given it to God in God's hands. And I closed. But how are the people thronging to me saying oh I've got hope again oh I've got hope again. Others said I've lost my song. Thank you. Can we pray? If I made an appeal tonight it's this. Those of you who wish to ask God to be able to offer the sacrifice of praise. It's not always going to be easy. But that your cup God would restore your soul to the point where your cup is running over so that you can offer the sacrifice of praise. Like that woman whose husband died son died grandson died son died six stories in the lift fell down crushed in the gate. And yet she said the first thing I come into the door is I praise the Lord. Those of you who wish to say God I can't do it. The God we thank which giveth us the victory. Those of you who wish to cast all your cares upon God and tell God that when another care comes you're going to come to your knees and in simple faith cast it upon God again. Those of you who wish to tell God that and ask him for the grace that he would restore your soul to the point that your cup is running over. Now only those of you who believe God is willing able and wants to do it. I ask those of you to lift up one of your arms. Thank you. I'll pray with you. But sometime after the two messages go to your knees open up your Bible 1 Peter 5 verse 17 it's easy to remember and if you've got any burden through life which you cannot handle claim God upon that word he cannot lie and cast your burdens upon him. He cannot lie. God's word is yea and amen. Father we come to you with every burden and Lord you said cast or through Peter said cast your cares upon him for he cares for you. And father we cast everything in life upon you that you might carry it Lord. And we ask you to restore our souls like you restored the soul of David so that our cups too might run over that the world may see that he has put a new song in our mouths even praise unto our God many shall see it and shall trust and fear and shall trust in the Lord. We all ask this unitedly in Jesus name Amen.