In this sermon, the speaker emphasizes the importance of worshiping God with reverence and adoration. He highlights the power of music as a means to enter into this holy exercise. The speaker urges caution in choosing the music we use for worship, emphasizing the need for songs that truly honor and glorify God. He also references the testimony of David, a young man known for his genuine worship and possession of God's presence. The speaker concludes by expressing concern that many have lost their lofty view of God and are using shallow music to worship Him.

Hello, this is Brother Denny. Welcome to Charity Ministries. Our desire is that your life would be blessed and changed by this message. This message is not copyrighted and is not to be bought or sold. You are welcome to make copies for your friends and neighbors. If you would like additional messages, please go to our website for a complete listing at www.charityministries.org. If you would like a catalog of other sermons, please call 1-800-227-7902 or write to Charity Ministries, 400 West Main Street, Suite 1, EFRA, PA 17522. These messages are offered to all without charge by the freewill offerings of God's people. A special thank you to all who support this ministry. Alright, are we still friends? Well, we'll see after this session if we're still friends. Will you let me be your papa today, young people? Alright, the title of the message, let's pray first. O God, we do, Lord, we willingly take up our cross to follow Thee and do Thy will and walk in Your ways and obey Your commands, God. We willingly submit our hearts to that, God, today. We thank You, Lord, for this hour that we can spend with these young people. I pray that You will make it an hour when the light turns on in our hearts, God. I'm trusting You for this, Father. I ask You, God, to fill me with Your Spirit. O God, that everything I do and everything I say will be from Thee and not of me at all, God. Please help me, Father. I know I need Your grace, God. I know that, Lord, and You know it more than I. I pray that You'll help me today. And I trust You for that and I thank You for hearing me. In Jesus' name, Amen. The title of the message this afternoon, David's Possession, David's Passion, and David's Praise. Thinking about the purpose of God yesterday and the challenges that we left with you, you know, each and every one of you, if you're sitting here today and you've been born again by the Spirit of God, that meaning you've had a clear conversion, you were apprehended on that day that you were born again. Now, that's a word that Paul uses. He was apprehended on the road to Damascus and you were apprehended on that day when you were born again by the Spirit of God. You were apprehended for a purpose. And the challenge is, am I apprehending that which I was apprehended for? Well, today we want to consider how this divine purpose and this divine power that we should have in our lives worked itself out in David's everyday life. If that purpose and that power are real, it will and it must work itself out in our everyday lives, or it is not real. If you'll want to turn with me in your Bible to 1 Samuel 16, that's where we're going to be for a while, 1 Samuel 16, reading, first of all, just verse 13 and 14. These two verses are some of the most bittersweet verses in all the Bible. 1 Samuel 16, verse 13 and 14. I'm reading them together on purpose. Then Samuel took the horn of oil and anointed him David in the midst of his brethren, and the Spirit of the Lord came upon David from that day forward. So Samuel rose up and went to Ramah. But the Spirit of the Lord departed from Saul, and an evil spirit from the Lord troubled him. And in my margin it says, terrified him. Not just a little troubling, it terrified him. These two verses are some of the most bittersweet verses in all the Bible. Saul played the fool with God and lost. This happens. This happens to youth, just like you. There are youth that are not in this room today who were here a year ago. They played the fool with God and lost between a year ago and now. And they're not sitting here now. Saul played the fool with God and he lost. And the Spirit of the Lord departed from Saul, and an evil spirit from the Lord, I want you to note those inspiring words, from the Lord troubled him or terrified him. God says, My spirit will not always strive with man. We have no promise of God's gracious work continuing in our hearts if we harden ourselves and go our own way and sit against the light that God shines into our heart. We have no promise that God will just continually and continually strive with us. Saul played the fool with God and lost. And if you think about it, you can see why he felt the way that he did. He went from the sweet, powerful, inspiring Spirit of the Lord God to a tormenting, accusing, depressing spirit instead. And yes, it terrified Saul. Reading along in here in our text, Saul's servants said unto him, And it's interesting to me the insight that these fellows had into the need of their king. Somehow they knew this is not a character flaw in Saul's life. Amen? This is not a character flaw. This is not just a little bit of a frustrated king that we're dealing with here. They knew what was wrong with their master. Saul's servants said unto him, Behold now, an evil spirit from God troubleth thee. And you know, you just get the scene there. You know, they're sitting there in the courtroom of the king, King Saul. And who knows what happened, what brought this discussion up, that you know, maybe Saul was out of sorts that day. You know, he had a habit of throwing javelins around in his court and maybe he got frustrated with somebody and a javelin went flying across the room. And then, you know, there he sits now and they're all looking at him. And you can imagine how he must have felt if he blew it. Maybe he said, What's wrong? And one of them said, Ah, Saul, an evil spirit from the Lord is troubling you, Saul. And they went on and gave him some counsel. Let our Lord now command thy servants which are before thee to seek out a man who is a cunning player on a harp, and it shall come to pass when the evil spirit from God is upon thee that he shall play with his hand and thou shalt be well. They even know how to deal with it. And Saul said unto his servants, Provide me now a man that can play well and bring him to me. Then answered one of the servants and said, Behold, I have seen a son of Jesse. Now, this we're going to be looking at here is David's testimony. How he was known. You see, young people, it is not what you profess. It is what you possess that is reality in your life. That is who you really are. And that's where I get the first part of my title this afternoon. David's possession. It's not what you profess. It is what you possess that is the real you. And the real David was very clear. People knew who David was as they sat there in that courtroom that day talking with the king. Behold, I have seen a son of Jesse, the Bethlehemite, that is cunning in playing, and a mighty, valiant man, and a man of war, and prudent in matters, and a comely person, and the Lord is with him. Now, there's David's testimony in a sentence. In one sentence. I have that written in my Bible. Testimony in a sentence. This is what he said about David in the spur of the moment. As the conversation was taking place there, and some of the men made a suggestion of somebody who could possibly, if they could find someone who could play and chase this evil spirit away, somebody in the spur of the moment thought, Oh, I know of somebody. And all that beautiful testimony came out of the mouth of that man about David. Why? Because that's who David was. It was his possession. I wonder what your testimony would be. Your testimony in a sentence. Think about it. If someone just mentions your name, what is the next thing that comes rolling out? It's a good question for us to ask ourselves. What do people say when your name comes up? Oh, yes, I know him. He's the funniest guy I know. She's a lot of fun. He's really into trucks. Best volleyball player I know. I wonder what testimony you have if someone were to speak it off the top of their head. This was David's testimony in a sentence. Now, yes, we're taking 50 chapters to study his testimony, but that was his testimony in a sentence. Just off the top. Look at David's testimony. His possession. What is real in his life. And remember, he's maybe 18. He might be 19 years old by now. And this was how he was known when he was that age. May God give you young people a possession with this kind of reality in it. This was David's possession. What do they say about him? Well, first of all, I want us to notice that they said that God is with him. God is with him. You know? Hey, do you know so-and-so? Oh yeah, I know him. God is with that man. God is with him. There's no question about it, young people. There was no question mark on David's life. And my challenge to you today is that whatever your testimony is now, whatever it might be in a sentence, whatever someone might say about you as they spoke your name in a meeting or in a Sunday afternoon gathering and your name came up, whatever it might be, my encouragement to you young people is this. Eliminate the question. If there's a question mark on your testimony, it doesn't have to be there. You can eliminate that question by being a wholehearted, sold-out disciple of Jesus Christ. You can be that. And when you will become that, that will become your testimony in a sentence. God is with him. No question about it. God is with him. You know, you know someone like that, don't you? Who comes to your mind while we sit here as I bring that subject up? Who comes to your mind? Somebody that you know that as you see them from time to time, your heart says, God's grace. That's what the Lord wants for all of you young people. That kind of a testimony. Not only that, they went on to say He is a comely person. Comely, gracious and kind and courteous. He's just a nice guy to be around. He's kind. He's gracious. He's courteous. He's open-faced. He's loving. He's bright. That was David's testimony. Not only that, Saul, but he's a man of war. Now, this is an interesting one because as far as we know, David hasn't been out on the battlefield yet. It seems to me that he's too young. But if you will understand how life was in the history of Israel, you could be a man of war yet not have gone out to the battles yet because the young men started preparing so that when they got old enough, they could get out there on the battlefield. I believe you had to be 20 years old to be on the battlefield. But David's testimony before he even got on the battlefield was that he was a man of war. Is that your testimony? A man of war. Somebody who's preparing themselves to get out there and fight someday. He's a man of war, Saul. Not only that, but he's valiant. And that word, valiant, means he's courageous. And that word, courageous, means he's not afraid to go into the midst of a difficult situation. He's courageous. And not only that, he's prudent in his words. He knows how to talk. And he knows what to say. And he knows when to say it and how to say it. He knows how to talk. And when he does talk, Saul, wise words come out of his mouth. Remember, he's 18, 19 years old. We're not looking at a 30-year-old man here. He's 18, 19 years old. And lastly, he plays the harp well. Many somehow knew it, that David played the harp well. It must be that they heard him from time to time playing the harp. David's testimony, young people, brought him before kings. Just like the Bible says that it will, our testimony will bring us before great men. We need to trust God with our lives, just like David did. David is standing before the king. Imagine that. You know, he's been anointed with oil. He's been prophesied over. He is going to be the next king of Israel. But did you notice that after all that was done, David left that anointing service that day, and he went out from there, and guess where he went? He went back to the sheepfold. That's not a place for a king! Back at the sheepfold! But David trusted in God. He trusted in the living God. He trusted that God would take care of him, that God would lead his paths, and put him in the right places at the right time. And here he is now. His testimony, his possession, young people, was so clear, so beautiful, so powerful, that his testimony brought him right before the king. How can he learn how to be a king if he's out there in the sheepfold? Well, you know, you can learn a lot about being a king if you stand continually in the presence of a king. And that's exactly where David found himself, standing in the presence of King Saul. God used David's testimony to move him on in those things which God had planned for him. And God will also use that which you possess to move you on into that which God has for you to do. I remember my son Daniel. He's 29 in just a few days. I remember him coming to me ten years ago when he was 19 years old. He had been to Africa for six months. And God did a work in his heart while he was over there, and he came to me in one of those private, fatherly conversations, and he said, Papa, that's what I am at my house. Papa. He said, Papa. And he was weeping. He said, I don't want to have anything to do with your business. I want to go back to Africa. I think God wants me to be a missionary. I want to give my life to those people over there. What shall I do? I told him two things. I said, first of all, Daniel, I'll give you this counsel. God sends prepared people. Prepare, young man. Prepare. And then I told him this. And I think you'll understand these words. Please don't misunderstand me. I told him this. Daniel, number two, I will not use my influence to put you over there. Your life, your own testimony, your own possession, who you really are in this brotherhood, in this church, is the only thing that will put you over there. I will not use my influence to put you over there. And I left him with that. That counsel. Your possession is what will move you forward in that which God has for you to do. May God work in each one of you in such a way that the question mark is totally erased from your life if there is one there. Do you know someone like that? Where there is no question mark on their life. Their life is upright. Their life is right. You know they love God. You know that God's grace is upon them. You know they've passed out of mom and dad's blessings and they've moved into their own blessing. They are possessing their own blessing from God on their life. Because of their own personal dedication to God, God's grace is upon them. Oh, I plead with you young people, follow the life of David and possess something that is worth speaking about. Let's move on to David's passion. David's passion was to know the living God. I've often been impressed by the Apostle Paul's words there in Philippians chapter 3 where he said, and they're just literal words, that I may know Him. Oh, how many times I've thrilled at the reading of those words that were written by the Apostle Paul. But young people today, do you realize how many words of expression like that David wrote in the Psalms? Dozens and dozens of verses where the heart of David, the longing heart of David, the desiring heart of David to walk close to God just came gushing out and they're written in holy writ today. Not a literal phrase, but dozens and dozens of verses. Now, you won't find a lot in 1 Samuel about David's desire to walk with God, but if you read the Psalms, you will see that David's passion was God. Let's flip over and read just one Psalm so we can get an idea what we're speaking about in Psalm 63. We'll read v. 1-8 as we look at David's passion. O God, Thou art my God. Early will I seek Thee. Now, we've just about lost that here in America. Busy America. So much to do at night in America. We've about lost this principle, but it was in David's heart and he knew. Early will I seek Thee. My soul thirsteth for Thee. My flesh longeth for Thee in a dry and thirsty land where no water is. What do you want, David? To see Thy power and Thy glory as I have seen Thee in the sanctuary. Because of Thy lovingkindness, because Thy lovingkindness is better than life, my lips shall praise Thee, David says. Thus will I bless Thee while I live. I will lift up my hands in Thy name. Why? Because he knew the lovingkindness of God. My soul shall be satisfied as with marrow and fatness, and my mouth shall praise Thee with joyful lips. When, David? When will this be that your soul shall be satisfied as with marrow and fatness, and your mouth shall praise God with joyful lips? When, David? When I remember Thee upon my bed and meditate upon Thee in the nightwatches. Because Thou hast been my help, therefore in the shadow of Thy wings will I rejoice. My soul followeth hard after Thee. Thy right hand upholdeth me. David's passion was to know God. The source of his strength in all the things that we will be looking at, the source of his strength was his prayer and fellowship with God. That's what made David what he was. Now, I know we read yesterday that he was anointed with the Holy Ghost and the Spirit of God came on him from that day forward. But, young people, let me remind you the Spirit of God needs to be kindled and stirred in your hearts and your lives. If yesterday you went back into that prayer room and you got your heart and your life clean and clear with God and you asked God to fill you with the Holy Spirit, praise God! That's beautiful! But do you realize how many times God keeps on filling us and keeps on filling us with the Holy Spirit when we are willing to exercise ourselves and seek the face of God in prayer and fellowship? That's where the anointing, the continual anointing comes upon a life. David knew that. Yes, from God's side, the Spirit of God was upon him from that day forward, but from David's side it was, oh, how I long for God! That was David's side. It was his passion. Psalm 27, verses 4 and 5 says this, One thing have I desired of the Lord. That was David's passion. He was a man of one thing. Yes, there are many, many things that he asked God for, but there was one thing that was the supreme motivation of his whole heart and his life. One thing have I desired of the Lord, and that will I seek after, that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life to behold the beauty of the Lord and to inquire in His temple. That was David's plea. That was the cry of his heart. That was the longing desire of his heart. I want to know my God. I want to see His power. My flesh longeth for God. My soul is thirsty for God, David said. As you read the Davidic Psalms, it is clear his prayer life was like unto Jesus' prayer life. And it should be. He's a type of Jesus. Isn't it that way with Jesus? And wasn't it that way with David? Early in the morning, they were out praying. In the middle of the day, they stopped to pray. In the evening, after the crowds were gone, the prayer was wont to be made. And in the middle of the night, you'll find them there praying and seeking God. That's David. And that's Jesus. David said these words in Psalm 55 and verse 17, Evening and morning and at noon will I pray and cry aloud. When's the last time you cried aloud? When you prayed? It shocks me sometimes, but I meet people who will give me these words. They will say, oh, I've never prayed out loud. I just go into my room and mumble under my breath. David said, Evening and morning and at noon will I pray and cry aloud. One of the most edifying things you can do is cry out to God with your voice. Read the Psalms. You'll see David did it to this voice. Even though he was all by himself out in the wilderness somewhere, he lifted up his voice and cried to God. And he goes on to say in 55-17, And he shall hear my prayer. Amen? And now one other thing I want you to note about David and his prayer life, David knew how to pray through. That's when you pray until you know that God has answered your prayer. You read the Psalms. I can't take you to all of them, but you go through there. You will see that man prayed until he knew that he had an answer from God. And then he walked out into the reality of his real world knowing that he had the confidence that God has heard his prayer, and God's going to answer it in God's good time. When was the last time you prayed through? Maybe you've never done that. It's pretty sweet, I'll tell you that. To get an answer from God and know it's already done and just start walking through it. And oh my! I mean, it happens exactly like you thought it would because you prayed it through. David's passion was to know God, and he walked with God to the point where he could say by a true experience in his own life, the Lord is my Shepherd. Dear young people this afternoon, this is the fountain from which everything else flowed in David's life right here. We should take a whole hour on it, but we can't. Take time to be holy. Speak oft with the Lord. The songwriter says, I would encourage you to do that. Now let's move on and look at David's praise. David's praise. Music had a lot to do with David's godly life. Music is one of the avenues which God has inspired to aid us in drawing nigh unto Himself. I believe David's praise, his music, aided him in his pursuit of God. He touched heaven as he sang and worshipped God. And you will too. The Bible says in the New Testament, draw nigh to God. And what will he do? He will draw nigh to you. That's a promise, brothers and sisters. And I can testify that he always does. That's my testimony, except in those times when something is not right in this heart. But when the heart is turned to the Lord and everything is clear, and you draw nigh to God, you pursue the Lord, He will draw nigh to you. And that's the most energizing, inspiring thing that you could do for your Christian life is to have God draw nigh to you. Music is one of those avenues which God has inspired for us to draw close to Him and for Him to draw close to us. Hear the words of the Lord in Psalm 22. Thou, God, inhabiteth the praises of His people. God does inhabit the praises of His people. Music played a very important part in David's life and in his preparations. And it does for you too, young people. Whether that is on the positive side or whether it's on the negative side, your music will have a very important part in your preparation for whatever God has for you to do. Look at the powerful influence that it had on Saul. I mean, it's very clear as we read those Scriptures there. It's very clear. Demons hate pure, worshipful music. Write that down! Demons hate pure, worshipful music. That's why that evil spirit had it up and got out of there when David showed up with his harp because they hate pure, worshipful music. And do I need to tell you what they like? Those devils. Martin Luther said this, young people. You let me direct the music of Germany and I will control Germany. There was a rock star back in my day. And my day is getting pretty far back there. But there was a rock star back in my day who used to boast these same words. His name was Jimi Hendrix. He said, You let me control the music of America and I will teach the youth of America anything I want. That's what that rock star said. You let me control the music of America and I will teach the youth of America anything I want. Can't you hear the serpent in those words, young people? The serpent is in those words. They knew the power of music. They knew. Do you? Do you know the power of music? Through music the heart can release itself in worship to God or devils. Through music the heart releases itself in worship to God or devils. See David out there under the stars at the end of the day, quieting his sheep, out there playing, no selfish motive. He isn't practicing for a performance. He doesn't have a concert to do. He's not going to make a new tape and make another million dollars over the next release that hits the top ten chart. No, he's just out there at the end of the day, just a young man worshiping God, fellowshipping with God and quieting his sheep with a harp in his hand. Can you see him out there with that little harp in his hand singing? The heavens declare the glory of God and the firmament showeth His handiwork. Day unto day utter His speech and night unto night showeth knowledge. There is no voice nor language where their voice is not heard. Can't you hear him out there? O Lord, our Lord, how excellent is Thy name in all the earth. Thou hast set Thy glory above the heavens. Can't you just hear him singing out there with his harp in his hand? And many, many other psalms he probably sang there. Music was very important in the life of David. In fact, it was clearly one of those guiding principles in his life that God could say, I have found Me a man after My own heart. Did you get that, young people? It was one of those guiding principles when God was going to and fro throughout the whole earth. Seeking men and women whose hearts were upright toward Him. God found David out there worshiping Him and said, Now there's a man after My own heart. I have found a man who worships Me and he will lead My people to worship Me in the days to come. Has God found him a man or a woman to worship Him? Worship? My, they sure twisted that one around, haven't they? Worship? Worth-ship. Worth-ship. Worship? Here's what worship means, young people. To kiss with bowed, obedient reverence. To kiss with bowed, obedient reverence. Boy, that's a lot different than what they do these days, isn't it? Young people, kiss the Son with bowed, obedient reverence, lest He be angry with thee. Psalm chapter 2 says, That is what David was doing through the avenue of His pure and holy and sweet music. David was kissing the Son with bowed, obedient reverence and God came by and listened and saw and said, There is a man after My own heart and He will lead My people to do the same. And He did, didn't He? David was the one who brought music and worship and song and all of that into Israel. It wasn't there before David. God used David to do that. When God finds a soul that is worshiping Him, that is kissing Him, it pleases Him well, because that is why we were made to worship the God who made us, to give worth to Him, to bow down before Him, to lift up our hearts and give Him praise and adoration. When God finds a soul that is kissing Him with bowed, obedient reverence, it pleases Him well. Music is an avenue by which we can do that. It's very powerful. We must be careful with the music we use to enter into this holy, heavenly exercise. Now, don't lose me. Stay with me and open your heart. We want to get practical now. Can we do that? Or must we just stay up here and float around with, you know, philosophies and theories? Can we come down here where we live a little bit, young people? So, I just would plead with you to open your hearts, some of you, and I have no idea who I'm speaking to here. I hope that every one of you have this music issue clear in your minds and you are using nothing but pure and holy, worshipful music that draws your heart heavenward to worship your God. Because I truly believe that if I can convince you of the awesome, majestic importance of right music in the worship of our holy God, it will take some of you and turn you around completely and you will take some of that stuff that you're using and calling worship music and throw it in the trash can. Because it just doesn't measure up to the majestic, the glory, and the awe of our God. Can you see David out there under the stars worshiping God? Think about it. I can't see him out there twanging out one of those country western tunes. How about you? I can't see that. I can't imagine that. That has no solid meat in it. I'm sorry, those just don't mesh for me. The spirit of the one and the spirit of the other, they don't fit together. Imagine him out there under the stars at night. The awe of God settling down over his heart as he gazes up at the heavens which are preaching a fresh new sermon to him about the glory of God. And there he is wasting all that awe and all that majesty. And he reaches over there and passes up his little harp and grabs himself one of those electric guitars and starts strumming away on, we'll have a little talk with Jesus tonight. Can you imagine him doing that? I can't. I just can't. The spirit of the one and the spirit of the other, they do not mesh. Even if you call it Christian country, which, by the way, is about the same thing as Christian beer, in my opinion. I mean, now they've got Christian rap. Imagine! What an abomination! Christian rap and Christian rock and Christian movie stars. Yeah, probably someday soon we'll have some Christian beer to go along with all the rest of that stuff. But is that where we're going to go? No! That's nonsense, young people. Music. David's pure, sweet music took that young man's soul and transported it into the presence of an Almighty God day after day after day. In fact, my personal opinion is David walked out of the wilderness out there with his sheep after having a sweet time of fellowship and drawing near to the presence of Almighty God. He walked out of that sheepfold and over there that day to see that giant grumbling and complaining about the God of Israel. It was David's knowledge of God that caused David to have the courage to stand up there and take care of that giant. Because his music transported his soul into the presence of God. And it will, young people, it will if you use the right kind of music and you use it with the right kind of heart, it will transport you into heaven. Consider the power of music. Saul in his court. Remember? Go get David, Saul. He's a cunning player. Here's Saul, troubled, terrified, tormented, depressed, discouraged, outraged, angry, and beside himself. And here comes David with his harp. I wonder if he would have got the same result if he would have pulled one of them electric guitars in there and started going on that. You know, rear, rear, rear. I wonder if he would have chased any demons away that day. What do you think? No. He took a harp in there. But he didn't just bring a harp in there. I want you to catch this. He didn't just bring a harp in there. See, you need to look at the heart and the life of these people that you're listening to, young people. He didn't just bring a harp in there. Here comes David with his harp, but I want you to notice he had some other things along with him too. He walked in there with an open heaven over his life. He walked in there with the anointing of the Spirit of God upon him. He walked in there with a pure heart full of the Word of God. He walked in there with a heart, a worshiping heart. And in the midst of all of that, in the midst of this angry, depressed, tormented and terrified soul, David just started playing that beautiful music. And I don't believe he was just making the sounds. No, he knew how to play that harp. He was worshiping God as he played that harp. And maybe he even sang some of those songs that he sang out there in the wilderness. And that devil packed his bags and got out of there. Beautiful, pure sounds came out of that harp that day. The sweet presence of God came into that scene that day and drove the evil spirit out of that place. And the Bible says that Saul was well. Imagine that. Music is powerful, young people, but it is powerful the other way also. And I'm afraid that some of you do not realize what it is doing to you. It is draining you of your spiritual energy. Recently a man, I can't give you the author and the man's name, Daniel is his first name, but he wrote a book, Why I Left the Contemporary Christian Music Movement. Maybe you saw it. There are some of them back there. I wished I would have had 150 of them. Why I Left the Contemporary Christian Music Movement. He was a worship leader in one of these contemporary churches where they whoop it up, you know, and get everybody loving Jesus and all that. God opened up the eyes, pulled the scales off of his eyes and let him see what he was doing, that it was nothing, that it was just a bunch of emotion, that it was a bunch of fluff, and there wasn't anything to it. And once he saw it, he thought to himself, I'm getting out of here. And he left the whole thing, but he wrote a book about it. I would encourage you to get that book, young people. If you have any question in your mind about your music, you should get a hold of that book. Because some of you do not realize that your music is draining your spiritual energy right out of you. Some of you are going to leave here on Monday with a bucket that is full and running over. However, a week later you may say, well, I think I'll play some of that feel-good music today. You know, some of this emotional stuff, I think I'll just whoop it up for a while. And you'll put that music on. You know, that's what they say. Well, Brother Denny, it makes me feel good. Well, by all means, if it feels good, do it. Right? That's a good scriptural principle. If it feels good, do it. Well, Brother Denny, it makes me feel good. Why don't you deny yourself and worship God instead? I guarantee you, you'll feel better. But you're going to go home and get some of that music out and start tapping your old foot, you know, and having a little talk with Jesus, and you'll drain out all the blessings that you got this week. Happens all the time, I'm telling you. Music is powerful, young people. Choose the right kind of music based on solid music principles, and you will be able to soar like David did. By the way, this is just a side note, singing is much better than listening. I don't have a problem with you listening to music, but just want to remind you, the Scripture doesn't say, listen to music. It says, speaking to yourselves in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord. That's what the Scriptures say. And I would encourage a whole lot more singing and a whole lot less listening. Amen? But, by the way, you won't be able to do that unless you're full of the Holy Ghost. So, make sure you get that one straight before you try to do the other. It will just be a bondage to you. Talk to God in song. That's what singing is. It's talking to God in song. Take my life and let it be consecrated, Lord, to Thee. The songwriter said, David wrote 90 psalms, 90 beautiful psalms, in Ephesians 5, verse 18. Let's just look there for a minute. Paul said it this way, referring to these psalms that David wrote, in light of all that we've been looking at and how David's songs were and what kind of a heart they came out of, Paul said it this way to the Ephesian church in chapter 5, verse 18. He said, Be not drunk with wine wherein is excess, but be filled with the Spirit, speaking to yourselves in songs and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord. Now, Paul is referring to these psalms that we've been talking about, as well as hymns like A Mighty Fortress is Our God and spiritual songs like Draw Me Nearer, Nearer, Nearer, Precious Lord, one of Fanny Crosby's songs. That's a spiritual song. Songs and hymns and spiritual songs. And if you go over to Colossians, just one book over in chapter 3, verse 16, Paul said it this way there. He just changed one thing. Instead of the Holy Ghost, he said the Holy Word. Let the Word of Christ dwell in you richly. Speaking and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs and singing with grace in your heart to the Lord. What is Paul saying there? He's giving us criteria for good music. Music, right music, should be full of the Word of God, and it should be full of the Spirit of God, and it should be full of the worship of God. Good music should have all three of those. And God tells us what we're supposed to do with music. And I say without question, most of these contemporary songs that we have today do not meet these tests. They are not full of the Word of God. They are not full of the Spirit of God. And they do not draw your heart up into heaven. Consider with me for a moment, these little things they call Christian songs today, they don't meet that criteria. These little ditties do not fit that criteria. These things they have today, having a little talk with Jesus. Can you imagine such a song? Maybe you've... How is it, English teachers? Maybe you've sang that song before. Think about it. God have mercy upon us to think of our Lord Jesus that way. Do you realize who He is? Have you read Revelation 1 lately to see who Jesus is? I guarantee you, you won't have a little talk with Jesus when you get in His presence. You will fall on your face in reverence and awe. And I want to encourage you young people, it's time to learn how to worship God that way now. In reverence and awe. In reverence and awe. Drop back 150 years ago and you'll see, they didn't think about Jesus that way. Men like Isaac Watts and Charles Wesley, they would have trembled at the thought of even using a word like that about the Lord Jesus Christ. And I just want to challenge you today, some of you young people, you need to do some discerning and evaluate your diet of music. Some of you need to get off the junk food and get on some health food for a while so that you can get some spiritual strength. You know, some time ago, I did a little evaluation of a couple of songs. I took first one of these little ditties. I'm not sure what else to call them. One of these little choruses. And I'm not totally against singing a chorus. We sing them at times in our worship service. They have a place. But I took one of those little choruses and I just searched it out to see how many doctrines I could find in it and there were two. Two. Then I went to the old hymn book. Bless God for the old hymn books. Amen. I went to the old hymn book and drew one of those hymns out of there and thought I'd just look down through that hymn and see how many doctrines I could find. Doctrines, that's the teachings of Christ, young people. And I went down through one of the hymns and guess what I found? I found 40 doctrines in one hymn. Now, which would you like? Two or 40? Since the Bible says we should let the Word of Christ dwell in us richly, I mean, be full and running over with it, which one should you choose? The one that has two little ones in it or the one that has 40 in it? I'll take the 40 over the two any day. I'll take the solid hymns, young people. And let me just warn you. Let me just warn you. I know. I know. I'm no dummy. I can read. I can read hearts. And some of you, you are not excited about this old black hymn book. May God help you and open your eyes. This is meat. Meat! Solid meat that will build your Christian life every time you pick it up and sing a hymn out of it. Meat! But some of you, you're already far enough on that other side that you really do think you will get closer to God singing that little hymn. To doctrine chorus over and over and over again. You won't. It's a delusion. I wish that I could transport all of you into the very throne room of God today. I wish I could somehow just catch you up there, you know? Like John, he said he was in the Spirit on the Lord's day and all of a sudden you heard a voice, come up hither and... He was there. He was there. He was in the throne room in heaven. And he tells us what it was like. The cherubims were there. The awesome presence of God was there. The doorposts of the temple there was trembling at the presence of God. When Isaiah saw it, he fell on his face and said, woe is me, I am an undone man. I wish I could transfer you into that very place in the awesome presence of the living God in the throne room of heaven. And then while you're there, take one of your little ditties and push the tape player and put that song on there in the throne room in heaven. I guarantee you, you would be convinced on the spot how shallow that stuff is. I agree with A.W. Tozer. We've lost our lofty view of God and therefore it's affecting everything we do. And we've lost our lofty view of God and we are using shallow music to worship the awesome, almighty God of the universe. We should be trembling in His presence. Two seconds in that awesome presence with one of those little songs and you would be saying, what have I done to God? I'm almost done here. Oh, that clock. I want to make one plea to you, young people. Must we older men take you there to give you a first-hand glimpse of how awesome God is? Must we? Or can't you just say, I'm going to listen to these older men who know God so much better than I do. And if they are troubled with my light-hearted music, I will listen to no more light-hearted music as long as the world standeth. I plead with you, young people. I know I can't make that happen. I know that some of you will not be convinced, but must we, can't you, just listen to an old man pleading with you who knows God more than you? You won't want that music on judgment day. I guarantee it. That other stuff does not lift your spirit up to God. Sure, it might make you feel good. Sure, it gets your little foot tapping. Sure, it has some emotional feelings in it. But very seldom does it have any meat in it. You know? You know the old gospel story songs? That's another kind of music that we have today, you know? Those songs about Daddy finding a reason to not leave Mama. Oh, I groan when I hear that stuff. I groan that people are playing that, you know? And I mean they put that stuff on and they sit there and cry, you know? Oh, Daddy, please find a reason for not leaving Mama. Come on! That's not Christian music. I know, I'm pretty radical. But that's not Christian music. That's not songs. That's not hymns. And that's not spiritual songs. Guaranteed. It's just a bunch of emotion. And it makes you cry. It does. I listened to it before. I thought, poor little boy. His daddy's about to leave. It's just a bunch of emotion. It doesn't have the awesome spirit of the living God in it. And it has no Word of God in it. And they call them gospel story songs today. I want the Word of God to dwell richly in my heart. And that happens through this. These hymn books. Think about Fanny Crosby in closing here. Fanny Crosby. You know, she was the blind hymn writer who wrote 7,000 hymns. Her grandmother said, I'm going to teach Fanny the Bible since she can't see to read. I'm going to be her eyes and teach her the Bible. And Grandma taught her chapters and books of the Bible. That little girl could quote whole books of the Bible. And then when she was about 20-some years old, I don't know what, she got born again by the Spirit of God. And the Spirit of God met the Word of God inside of Fanny Crosby's heart and 7,000 glorious hymns came rolling out of that dear lady. Fanny Crosby, the hymn writer. But the American churches set her on the shelf and it's a shame what they took in her place. I'll tell you that. They set that godly woman on the shelf and they don't use her music anymore. And the women that they've chosen to get their music from, it is a shame. Sensuous acting and looking Christian movie stars up there with their sensuous spirits breathing into the microphone like a harlot. Do you ever hear any of those songs? Hmm? Do you ever hear any of those songs? How they get their voice real close to the mic and speak and sing very sensuously. I'm telling you what, that's deadly music. That's deadly music, young men. If you have any kind of music like that in your possessions, you should burn it before the Lord or heal it in pieces like Samuel did to Agag. That stuff is deadly. That sensuous woman up there with her sensuous clothes on and her low-cut dress up there breathing into the microphone like a harlot singing songs with a few nice little words, Christian words, that you could sing to your sensuous lover just as easily. Well, I've got news for you young people. My Jesus is not a sensuous lover. He's the King of kings. He's the Lord of lords. He's the awesome God of the universe. And He's going to come back someday and judge this earth with a sharp two-edged sword pointing out of His mouth. He's not a sensuous lover. But today, men in America, Christian men, sit at the feet of these women and drink of their sensuous spirits. And it's not God! It's not God! Young people, will you be a man or a woman after God's own heart? That's my question to you. Will you be that? Let's pray. Oh, God. I know. Lord, I pray. I pray for these young people, Lord. I know. Strong, strong words. Oh, Father. I pray You'll open their eyes to the delusion of this age that we live in. I pray, God, that You'll help them to understand Me. I pray, God, that You'll take these words and open their eyes, Lord, to the power of music in their lives. In Jesus' name I pray. Amen. May I say this just in closing? Young people, don't take your prayer group and turn it into a discussion about what music is right or wrong. No, just don't do that. Open your heart to the Lord in your prayer groups. God bless you.