September 19, 2014

 

For the past couple of months we've been talking about various other topics, sharing some miracles, and basically taking a break from this series. It's time to get back to this subject and see if we can impart some things that will help everyone who reads this column receive some revelation that will enable them to walk all over a family of enemies with Godly boldness.

 

There's a song based on the first four verses of Psalm 34 that we used to sing frequently in years gone by -- and one that needs to be revisited in the present.

 

Psalm 34:1-3: "I will bless the LORD at all times: his praise shall continually be in my mouth. My soul shall make her boast in the LORD: the humble shall hear thereof, and be glad. O magnify the LORD with me, and let us exalt his name together. I sought the LORD, and he heard me, and delivered me from all my fears."

 

Before I get to sharing what Holy Spirit has so drilled into my spirit, let's first explore the context of what David writes and take a look at the specific circumstances that surrounded him when he was so inspired to write -- and sing -- these verses.

 

The picture is drawn in I Samuel 21 in which David has hidden himself from Saul (who has been attempting to assassinate him and remove the threat to his throne) among the Philistines. For some period of time, David has been with Achish, the King of Gath, helping him fight his battles and has gained favor with the Philistine king. A day comes, however, when Achish has decided to assemble the military forces of the Philistines against Saul and against Israel.

 

The princes of the Philistines discover who David really is -- "the one of whom they sang, 'Saul has slain his thousands, and David his ten thousands', of the Philistines. Immediately David's life is in danger and hangs in the balance. Fear strikes David. Our English translations really mess up the picture that unfolds here. The KJV reads like this:

 

I Samuel 21:11-15: And the servants of Achish said unto him, Is not this David the king of the land? did they not sing one to another of him in dances, saying, Saul hath slain his thousands, and David his ten thousands?

 

And David laid up these words in his heart, and was sore afraid of Achish the king of Gath. And he changed his behaviour before them, and feigned himself mad in their hands, and scrabbled on the doors of the gate, and let his spittle fall down upon his beard.

 

Then said Achish unto his servants, Lo, ye see the man is mad: wherefore then have ye brought him to me? Have I need of mad men, that ye have brought this fellow to play the mad man in my presence? shall this fellow come into my house?

 

David did indeed change his behavior before them, but look at the words that are used in the Hebrew text. Where it says that David "feigned himself mad" the Hebrew text uses the word, halal: one of the primary words for exulting, clamorous, dancing, celebratory praise! David put on a show, alright!

 

The next thing we see is that he "scrabbled on the doors of the gate." Right! The Hebrew word here is tavah, which means: to mark, to make marks [by pounding or striking]. I realize that there are other ways to interpret this in the light of the first statement, and it's not too hard to understand why the KJV translators came up with their translation, but they obviously didn't understand what David was doing.

 

It's the next phrase that puts everything in perspective. We are told that David "let his spittle fall down upon his beard." OK, stop for just a second! Have you ever seen singers become so excited with their singing -- entertainers especially -- that saliva begins to sling from their mouths? It doesn't happen to everyone, obviously, but for many folks -- me included -- when I'm singing or praising or worshiping, there are times when saliva begins to build up in my mouth and it isn't easy to keep it from dribbling out or "slinging" from my mouth.

 

I've no doubt that Achish surely thought that David had gone over the edge! Anytime you have someone who is boisterously, loudly singing or shouting praise at the top of their voice, dancing and beating their hands or their fingers on something -- in David's case, the swinging gate -- at a time when accusatory fingers are being pointed , everything inside you says, "they're nuts!"

 

Here is where the real clarification of what took place in this moment comes. Remember, the first word used in the Hebrew text to describe what David was doing was, halal -- boisterous, dancing, celebratory praise! That word gets translated in the KJV as "feigned himself mad." Nope! Verses 14 and 15, where Achish describes David as "mad" use a totally different word.

 

Now we have the word, shaga, which truly means: insane, to be a raving lunatic. That's NOT what the Hebrew text uses to describe what David was doing. He wasn't acting like a raving lunatic, nor was he acting insane! He was praising with all his might. That's what he did when fear struck him and the Fear of Death attacked. He began to praise God! The very words of Psalm 34 speak for themselves.

 

1. I will praise the Lord at all times -- and especially when fear attacks me.

 

2. His praise shall continually be in my mouth -- and I'm not going to stop praising when I'm in apparent danger of losing my life.

 

3. My soul shall make her boast in the Lord -- and that's exactly what David was doing: boasting -- halal -- in the Lord, like he had better sense! 🙂

 

4. The humble (aniy: afflicted and depressed) shall hear thereof and be glad. Why? Because of the sign and the testimony it presents to them. It gives them hope in the midst of their troubles that deliverance is just around the corner for them as well.

 

5. Oh, Magnify the Lord with me, and let us exalt His Name together! Yessir!! When you're in the midst of it and all of the outward evidence says that you are in deep trouble, there is no confidence booster like having those around you join in and begin praising God the same way you are doing.

 

6. I sought the Lord and He heard me. Here's an interesting word. The Hebrew word translated here as "sought," is the word, darash. While this word is sometimes translated as "worship", its literal meaning is: to frequent one's presence, to follow after, to be in pursuit. David was in pursuit of the presence of the Lord, knowing that His deliverance from fear -- AND from the danger he was in -- lay in God's presence.

 

7. And [He} delivered me from all my fears. Absolutely! This isn't just one fear, this isn't just the Fear of Death, this is the Fear of the Unknown, this is the Fear of Evil, this is the Fear of Man, this is the Fear of Injury ..... we could go on and on. There's not just one fear. We have deliverance available to us from each of the three families (and that's what they are: families of multiple evil spirits of fear) of fear. That deliverance comes in the presence of the Lord. That deliverance comes in the midst of praise and worship.

 

But there's one other factor that comes into play in our deliverance: the words that come out of our mouths. David has already made it clear that the words coming out of his mouth "bless the Lord at all times," and that "His praise shall continually be in my mouth." In Psalm 34:13, however, he adds to it with the statement: "Keep thy tongue from evil, and thy lips from speaking guile."

 

The Word is filled with specific commands about guarding the words that come out of our mouth, and that brings me to another issue that seems to be quite prevalent among professing Christians. I cannot tell you how often I hear Christians in utter ignorance of what they are saying allow their voices to become the voice of fear, or the voice of unbelief, or the voice of criticism, or the voice of an unprovoked attack on other folks.

 

So here's my question to you today. Whose voice is speaking out of your mouth? Is it the voice of the Fear of Death? Is it the voice of the Fear of Man? Is it the voice of the Fear of Evil? How often do you use a phrase like, "I'm afraid that ...," and you finish the statement with some event of situation that you are saying will unfold negatively or at the very least, not in your favor.

 

Let's try this another way. Have you experienced generational sicknesses or diseases in your family? Have you, as a result of seeing those generational issues, allowed something like this to come out of your mouth? My grandmother was a diabetic. My mother and my aunt are both diabetics. I guess I'm doomed to have sugar diabetes as well in the years to come -- and maybe even my kids will get it.

 

Really? Whose voice are you allowing to speak through you? That's the voice of the Enemy. You just agreed with Satan. You just agreed with the spirit of The Fear of Death and allowed his voice to become your voice. This is a diabolical trick of the Enemy. He knows that he has no creative power of speech with his voice.

 

Evil spirits were not created in the image and likeness of God. They know that in order to effect their power and influence over your flesh and your physical existence, you have to become their voice by proxy. They want you to speak in agreement with their efforts to steal, kill and destroy, and once you agree with them -- and believe what you speak -- you implement in your life the influence and destruction they seek to bring.

 

Here's how Jesus put it when speaking to the Pharisees: "You offspring of vipers! How can you speak good things when you are evil (wicked)? For out of the fullness (the overflow, the superabundance) of the heart the mouth speaks.

The good man from his inner good treasure flings forth good things, and the evil man out of his inner evil storehouse flings forth evil things.

But I tell you, on the day of judgment men will have to give account for every idle (inoperative, nonworking) word they speak.

For by your words you will be justified and acquitted, and by your words you will be condemned and sentenced." (Matthew 12:34-37, Amplified Bible)

 

Jesus obviously addressed the Pharisees as vipers, indicating that the words that spewed out of their mouths were poisonous to those who heard them and believed the garbage that came from them. The Pharisees were legalistic, religious to the nth degree and devoid of any spiritual life, and that's what framed every word that came out of their mouths. Their voices were the voices of evil spirits. They had submitted themselves to religion and religious spirits, and as a consequence, they spoke death continually.

 

Jesus couldn't have been more clear when He said that -- depending on whose voice you were speaking with -- "by your words you will be justified and acquitted" and/or "by your words you will be condemned and sentenced." Let me share with you a recent example in our own family that speaks directly to this.

 

Della's mother was diagnosed as a diabetic many years ago. It was a battle that she fought for most of the years Della and I have been married. Some eight or nine years or so  ago, her personal physician had the unmitigated gall and stupidity to say to her, "Well, Opal, there's nothing more we can do for you. You might as well just expect to die."

 

You can imagine how furious Della was when she heard what the doctor had said. That was the last time Opal went to that doctor. We have had a local doctor, Ron C., who has been a personal friend for many years and is a born-again Christian, and Della was able to get her mother's medical care transferred. When he learned what medication Opal had been being given, he made some immediate changes, and over a period of a few years brought her to the place where he told her that she no longer had diabetes, and that there was no reason for continuing to take the medication.

 

Two years ago, Della's mother did go home to be with the Lord, but her previous battle with diabetes had absolutely nothing to do with it. She experienced congestive heart failure and her departure was sudden.

 

Despite our doctor friend's ability to treat Opal for diabetes, his scientific research and tests on her had brought about the discovery of a particular gene which provided a genetic pre-disposition to diabetes. For a period of two or three years prior to Opal's departure, Ron had been urging Della to undergo testing for that particular gene. He would say to her (as doctors are wont to say), "Della, you know that with your mother's medical history, there's a very high probability that you are going to have to deal with diabetes. You may even be borderline diabetic now."

 

Della's immediate answer to him was, "Doc, there's no way! I have no intention of undergoing a test for something I don't have, can't have, and will not have. The Word clearly tells me that I've been redeemed from the curse, and I'm standing on that!"

 

He would shake his head, chuckle, and say something like, "OK, Della. That's great, if you can get away with that, but you still need to take the test."

 

While Opal was still alive, he continued to press her from time to time and Della's answer was always the same. "Don't have the gene, I'm not going to get it, and I've been redeemed by the blood that Jesus shed for me."

 

Not long after her mother went home to be with the Lord, Ron pressed her again. This time, Della said, "OK, Doc! I'm going to prove to you what the Word of the Lord says! You go ahead and do the test, and when it comes back you're going to see that I'm totally free of that gene. There is NO pre-disposition in me for diabetes, and there never will be!"

So the Doctor ran the tests. It was a month or so before the final results came back and he called Della to let her know that the results were in. When she went in to see him, he had this smile about his face and a rather chagrined look. "You were right, Della! There's not a trace of that gene in you anywhere. There's no chance you'll ever come down with diabetes."

 

What was it that Jesus said? "By your words you will be justified and acquitted." It didn't matter what scientific evidence there might have been to support the doctor's expectations, that scientific evidence just didn't match up to what Jesus said, and/or what He was and has been saying, and Della wasn't going to allow that spirit of fear to grab her. She refused to allow her mouth to become the voice of the spirit of The Fear of Death.

 

See you next week.

 

Again, if you are in need of healing -- especially if you have some terminal disease or prognosis of a very short time to live from the doctors -- please join our prayer conference calls on either Monday or Wednesday of each week at 7:00 PM Eastern. Once again, the number to call is (805) 399-1000. Then enter the access code: 124763#. To get into the queue for prayer, when Randy opens the call up for everyone, hit *6-1 on your keypad. Let us minister to your need for healing!

 

Blessings on you!