The Practice of Gratitude_ Insights from David's Life

Wait, I am everybody's moving mm. Everyone is going somewhere with everything. They're trying just to make it to a place where I am not there.

But when the noise is over, still the small point you were here. I hope that you believe me when I tell y'all I won't handle long of your can't just wait on me? Be still. I know that I am

God. Be still and know that I am God. Just try me. I know that I know God and I'm in the control. I am still God. Oh oh oh oh. Chasing your ambition, try your guests to be there and that stop. If it's the intention that you really want, then I already know who you are and I love you that way, even what the noise though, Man me till small punch you we get it get too und pard aging call, ain't you planking? Just give me up? Pray that let me still wait on he be still? I had no did

I have God? Be still? I had no that I am just trust that a God. I am God whom God shoulder. I see God, you got paying a man playing on. I will be still for you are with me. I will be still for you are with me. I will be still for you out with me. I will be still, I will be yeah, I will be still be still, I will I well, I will be still, I will be still, class will be still.

Your wives still you? How well you stay with your time with you? I'm gonna scarp Wapi stayd they still how they stay? They still up? And still he's still let Then I got he still land that I had got. Just try to stand. I'm in control. I'm in controul. I am still in controul. So I see in control. So I still God, God, I'm still God. I'm still God. I'm still God. I have stayed mm hmm, wait on you, m hmm. I would not be moved. Teach me how to wait on you. This is the

last Sunday and the last day of the year. We have made it through yet another year, and I just want to say thank you. Thank you

to everyone that has Thank you to everyone who has been faithful with us, who has endured throughout the year. I'm on what is this wisdom today? It has been a while since I've been on wisdom because I haven't been able to get everything together. But we'll build that back up. We thank God for you all who are with us. I want it in the year. I want it in our last message from the of the year, from the Book of Psalms, the Book of Psalms. And I usually don't preach from

the book of Songs. But I woke up this morning and this message was on This scripture was on my heart. And I've been dealing with I've been doing a lot of writing, going to come up with some stuff. And this particular message, this particular Psalm, it was all my heart, and it reads thus, I will bless the Lord at all times, and his praises shall continually be in my mouth. I'm gonna read the entire Chapholid song. Bear with me, my soul shall make her boast in the Lord.

The Humbu shall hear thereof and be glad old. Magnify the Lord with me, and let us itsalt his name together. Why because I sought the Lord,

and he heard me and delivered me from all my fears, they looked unto him and were lightened, and their face faces were not ashamed. This poor man cried, and the Lord heard him and saved him out of all of his troubles. The Angel of the Lord in camp round about them, that fear him and delivered it all taste and see that the Lord is good. Blessed is the man that trust in him. Oh, fear the Lord, ye his saints, for their is no want to them that fear him.

And it continues to press on the young lion do lack and suffer hunger. But they that seek the Lord shall not want any good thing. Come, you children, hearken unto me. I will teach you to fear the Lord. What man is he that desires life and love? Many days that he may see good? Keep your tongue from evil, and thy lips from speaking God. Depart from evil and do good, Seek peace, and pursue it. The eyes of the Lord are upon the righteous, and his ear

are open unto their cry. The face of the Lord is against them that do evil, to cut them off from remembrance of them from the earth. The righteous cry, and the Lord hears and delivers them out of all of their trouble. The Lord is nigh unto them that are broken heart saving, such as be of a contrite spirit. Many are the afflictions of the righteous, But the Lord delivered them him out of them all he keepeth his bones. No one of them is broken evil shall slay the wicked. And they

hate the righteous show and they that hate the righteous shall be desolate. The Lord redeems the soul of his servant. None of them that trust in him shall be desolate. The word of the Lord is blessed. I wanted to read all of that, but I'm not going to preach all it. Put it in the context. But when I do reference it, I want you to be able to understand what I'm referencing. The word of the Lord,

I said, is blessed. This particular song was written by David, and I find it amazing at what was going on in David's life when he wrote this song. When he wrote the song, he was a leader of six hundred men on a run from his mentor into the place where he found fame, one of his enemies where he found fame. So he was running from the king saw and he was going into Palestine. And he stays and settles into Palestine for a year and a half, a year and four months.

And while he was in Palestine a number of things began to happen. And it was here that he journaled this song. What happened while he was there. As I said, he had six hundred men with him. If you know anything about David, he got on a map by defeating Goliath. I said, Palestine, Philistine. Sorry, that's the same region of Philistine as Saul and his brother's coward and the army coward, because they were afraid of Goliath, who was a giant. He hurts him in the head with a

rock. And now some years later, on the run from Saul, he

ends up in Philistine or Philistine camp, goes into covenant relationship with the king of Philistine, the Philistines at the time, and they catch out him a piece of land, and while he's on that piece of land, he declares his allegiance from Saul to the king of the Philistines. And in this time frame, after he pledges his allegiance, war breaks out, and now he has to go against the man that he loves and and keep his word and show the Philistines that he is who he said he was. When I say

he had six hundred men, that includes the wives and the children. That does not include the number of wives and children. Where at this time David has two wives with him. On the way to battle, encounters the Philistines, journeymen or soldiers whom the king refers to as his lords, who tells him we can't trust David, send him back and this king and David gets into this argument because David really wants to go and prove himself because he found

refuge within this nation. David becomes the first king of Judah after this year and a half, and the third king of Israel. I want to give the historical context and make it made sense to the end of the year. And that's why I keep repeating, all of this happened in one year. While he was arguing, he didn't understand the providence of God was bringing him back to his place of refuge, his home which had been invade invaded while

he was gone, and when he came back, everything was gone. The six hundred men turns against him and said, look, because of your leadership, we lost our children. The Bible says that all of the children in this reference can be found in First Samuel. We lost the children, we lost the things that we had. And David doesn't move out of haste,

but he prays, and we talked about prayer extensively as we ended. As we moved towards the close of this year, he praised, and he had Scott who was okay for him to pursue, and he gets the okay, he goes and pursue. God said that you will recover all. He goes and pursue, and out of the six hundred, because they went on a three day, three night journey with no food, two hundred of the men couldn't continue on with the journey. So they went into this battle with four

hundred men. David begins to faint, but he's so angry that he pushes

forward and he sees a man from his enemies camp, another enemy. This man from his enemies camp provides David with food and food for his men, and he begins to tell David. Because David really had no idea where he was going, but he knew that the Lord told him that he would get the battle, and he had to pursue, and he pursued, and divine providence now and again kicks in and God now allows the enemy to get David's strength, and not only does he get his strength back, the guy that

he encounters on his way to pursue his enemy was betrayed just like David was by his king, and he was left to die in the wilderness. He fainted. So he makes covenant with David, and he says to David, I'll show you where they are if you promise to help me, or you promise to keep me, and you promise to allow me to make covenant with you and sustaining. Now, David had just found favor with his enemy, so now he has to give favor back in kind. You see how that

works that parallel. So this man gives David the information, David goes into the camp. David now does everything that the Lord promised him that he would do. He wins his wives, and he wins his spoilers, and he takes all that these enemies have. And as he's penning this psalm, I can imagine because this is out of this time and will bless the Lord at all times. Notice what he doesn't say in the text. He doesn't say I had a bad year. I cursed Scott. He doesn't say why me.

He takes inventory of everything that happened, and it be kings to lead with gratitude. I don't know what you've been going through this year. I don't know how your year is ending, and don't have the mindset I'm so glad that the year is over. I'm so glad this, oh man, this was a long year. It was the same three hundred and sixty five days, the same twenty four hours, the same seven days, the same sixty seconds, the same sixty minutes in the hour. It was the same.

And all of those days wasn't down days. So we gotta learn like David to even in the midst of our down days, to say, I will bless the Lord, not sometimes, but at all times, and his praises shall continually be in my mouth. I want to leave us this this this day, by sharing with you that the world of science is now catching up with the world of David. The Bible declares that David was a man after his own heart. And we see here now David in the act of

gratitude practice. He wasn't praising the universe, he wasn't praising the most high. He wasn't praised. He was praising the God that brought him out. And he says, I will bless the Lord. He was gracious, not sometimes, And we just went through the historical nature of what it was that he was going through. He could have said, oh, the Lord allowed my mentor to turn against me. Oh, the Lord allowed me to go and my men upset with me. I came back home and everything was gone.

Oh I had to go into a fight. And then these events that took place in this year in four months didn't cause him to throw his hands up. I had to repent as I began to really put this together because there were some events that happened in my life. I've had some years in my life that caused me to throw my hands up, not even say I'll bless the Lord. I said, oh, Lord, why have God forsaken

me? But David had the resolve to say, I will bless the Lord at all time and watch this and his praises shall continually be in my mouth. Most of you who are listening to us, whether you're listening on our podcast later on, or you're listening on oh, whatever platform you're listening on, I'm a mindfulness coach and it has fascinated me in this last year as I begin to put some stuff together because we're pushing out more content and we're

going to be doing some amazing things. Is that we've got inundated now, especially in the West, with this concept of gratitude practice and journaling and the benefits of gratitude practice are improvement to health. If we regularly express gratitude, it links to increased levels of happiness, and it's a reduction of depression, and it lowers levels of stress. And we understand that gratitude practice, a

healthy gratitude practice, leads to better physical health. Being grateful reports to better sleep, reduction in blood pressure, it strengthens our immune system. Having a gratitude practice not only improves our mental health, not only improves our physical health, but it improves our relationship because it enforces social connections and empathy, and it leads to stronger relationships and increase satisfaction in those relationships. And it also

increases resiliency. It helps individuals cope with challenges, and it helps individuals state with a positive outlook when emotionally they should be reduced to negativity and fall apart. But it has neurological effects because the study of gratitude shows that the brain produces doper meanings that reinforce positive feelings and motivation. So look at what David says in the text, I will bless the Lord at all times, and his praises shall continually be in my mouth We see that he was able to

endure the battle. We see that he was able to endure loss and hardship. We see that he was because of his mindset. He doesn't just stop there, but he says, my soul shaw make her boast in the Lord, and a humble shall hear thereof and be glad. And then he invites those the social aspects. He invites those that are with him in community. Oh, magnifa, the Lord with me, and let us exalt his name together. I lost my stuff, but I sought the Lord, and he

hurt me. And then not only does he hear me, but he delivers me from all my fears. They looked upon me and were lightened, and their faces were not ashamed. See, when we have an effective gratitude practice, we can have an effective praise practice. When we have an effective gratitude practice, we are effectively thankful, we are effectively lifting, We are effectively understanding that in all things we should give thanks. Then what happens is that

the mind begins to shift and things begin to happen within us. And before we couldn't explain it, but science has caught on, and it amazes me that now the church is talking more about scandals and what's going on in the world, instead of saying, I will bless the Lord at all times. I understand what the news is saying. I understand what's going on, but his praises shall continually be in my mouth. I'm not praising man or humanity. I will bless the Lord. The problem is that our praise is focused

on man and what man is doing. We love to praise the new movie. Everybody's praising the color purple, and everybody's talking about Oprah Winfrey, and everybody's talking about this, and everybody's talking about that. But if we took on, oh, brother David's mindset, we would not. First of all, we would understand that the practice of gratitude is not something that is new, That the practice of gratitude came from the man that invented the human He

said, praise me because I'm praiseworthy. Who loves praise. He inhabits the praise of his people. So David, who is a man after his own heart, now becomes the mentor for the church. Has God been good to you this year better than you have been to yourself. Have God helped you to get through some trying times that you can just stop and say, you know what, instead of holding my head down, I will bless the Lord at all times, and it's praise as shall continually be in my church.

Went another. But I still will bless the Lord at all times, and it's praise shall continually be in my mouth. I lost my business, but I will still bless the Lord at all times, and his praise shall continually be in my mouth. My girl walked out my job, Let me go. I will bless the Lord at all times, and his praises shall continually be in my mouth. Not during the end result. It's easy to bless them on the other side of victimy. It's easy to bless them when we

get to the other side of the journey. But David now takes the time out to journal and chronicle what it is that he went through, which leads me to my second point. He cries to them to magnify. He invites them to taste and see that the Lord is good. He invites them to fear the Lord, because as we begin to relate with him, we can't help but to respect him. And as we respect him, we can't help

but to reverence him. And as we reverence him. There comes a part of us that fears him, and not fear as a lord who is the lording over his community, like Saul was, but fear out of respect, fear and trembled out of terror for who he is, his reverence, his holiness. When he comes into the presence of Isaiah, Isaiah had respect for his king, and he says, in the day that the king Aziah died, I saw the lord and his train filled the temple. Isaiah is moved

with fear. When the fishermen encountered Jesus, they were on the boat and they were casting their nets, and nothing was happening. And in Jesus telling them to cast their nets on the other side, they were naked, they were finishing up, they were tying up their nets, they were done for the day. And when he said casting that to the other side, oh

man, we've been fishing all day. We know this business. And they did it anyway, and they got more from trusting, and Peter and the boys threw themselves off the boat out of fear, because who is this man? What manner of man is? This type of fear is one that comes from a reverence. This type of fear is one that produces a praise. This type of fear is one that produces a praise. And if the one who is revered saying, I will never leave you nor forsake you. I

don't care what the year looks like. He never left me, nor for sake me. I don't care what pushing towards. He will never leave me, nor for to sake me. So praise now helps to translate the mentality of the praiser, ah Man, Gratitude helps it translate the mentality of the one that's being gracious. That's why we say grace before we eat. That's why we are thankful when we get home. That's why we're grateful for another day. That's why we're grateful for another year and this year comes to a

close. What is it that you can say, I will bless the Lord for but don't just bless him for the thing. Learn to bless him at all times. He pens and goes on, and he says, what Man verse twelve, is he that desires life and love many days that he may see good. Keep your tongue from evil. When you bless the Lord, you keep your tongue from evil, and you keep your tongue from speaking God, because if you're blessing at all times, you can't be cursing anything else.

And that's what happened in the early Church. When God now calls and asks Peter, what have I created that you now deem to be bad? Challenges Peter's world, How dare you call something that I created bad? And just cries unto the Lord and he hears. Notice the anthropomorphic language that David uses. Verse sixteen, He talks about the face of the Lord. The face of the Lord is against the eagle duers. Verse sixteen, he says that it is this face that cuts off the remembrance of them from the earth.

Verse seventeen, he talks about the Lord hearing from delivery from their troubles.

He talks about the Lord saving those who have a contrite spirit. He talks about the Lord during close to them that have a broken heart. Has this year year brought you broken heart? Has this year broken your spirit in some way? Did you know that the Lord those that has a contrite spirit, that's why we bless them at all times. Did you know was your heart broken? Did you know that that he draws close to those that have

a broken heart? That's why we bless him at all times, because he's moving even when we can't trace him, even when it feels like all hope it's gonna even if it feels like everyone has turned their back on it, he moves. And then out in here verse nineteen, many are the affliction of the righteous, but the Lord delivers him out of them all. Yes, somebody, this year has been challenging for you. You had many afflictions. But the reason why we bless the Lord at all times is because the

Lord has delivered us out of all of those afflictions. Big Mind used to say, when I look back over my life and I think things over, I can truly say that I've been blessed. And that's why I will bless the Lord at all times. As we close out twenty twenty three and we begin to set our sights on twenty twenty four, don't go go in with the mentality of not being grateful. Don't go in waiting for something to happen for you to start praising. Go in with the mentality that I will bless

the Lord at all times. I started the message by saying that David journals this particular portion of his life new Age. We talk about journaling and the importance of journaling and the benefits of journal When they come out of the battle, to four hundred men wanted to keep all of the stuff and leave out the two dred man. This is why David was a great king. The four hundred said they didn't do no fighting, why should they get a part

of the spoils. David said, we all together. They didn't do no fighting there, but they held down the fort where we were at, because if somebody would have came, it would have been on them to hold it down. And we have to see ourselves as one. And he distributed amongst the group. And this is before David becomes king. He journals this experience. And I want to encourage you in twenty twenty four, if you haven't begun to journal yet, begin writing things down, because the science is starting

to see the emotional benefits or the brain benefits of journal. One is an emotional outfit. Two, it provides clarity and focus. Three, it brings us to a place of self reflection. Before, it helps enhance our memory vib it helps reduce our stress, and the last to it boosts our creativity

and it also tracks our progress. The reason why we can't bless the Lord at all times is because we forgot some of the great things that He's allowed us to do, and we are only measuring his blessing or measuring our blessing

him based upon what he has done for us. But all One Ministries and those who listen to me going on One Ministries podcast, those who listen to me wherever you are, will you take the time out to start journaling and chronicling, start today so that you can get the testimony that all of my good days outweigh my bad days. And I will bless the Lord at all times because even when my heart was broken, found out that he says or

draws close to those who are broken heart. Even when my spirit was contrived, I found out that He delivers us from all of our trouble. I know now that my afflictions the afflictions of the righteous, the afflictions of the righteous, who is the righteous of our times, We are covered in the righteousness of Christ. David now was a type of Christ who would come, and he now extends. The kingship of David. David dies, But our Christ lives, and only does he live, doesn't live in the building.

He doesn't live in the Philistine camp, he doesn't live in the temple that Solomon builds. He lands and dwells inside of us. So when we walk up around with a contrite spirit, he's already in us. So he's already not to remind ourselves that we don't want to leave the spirit that lives inside of us. So I will bless the Lord at all times. I'm ending this year, and I'm starting the year blessing the Lord and his praise as shall continually be in my mouth. I don't have enough time to talk about

what somebody else is doing. I will lift him up because he said it be lifted up. I'll draw all men unto thee. I hope this message bless you. I hope that you it was something that you can take away. I hope it something that you can add. I hope that you begin to have a gratitude practice. I hope that you understand that the gratitude practice is not from without, the gratitude is from within. Because he says, if you pray in secret, I will bless you openly. So my mind

now from within shall see the goodness the Lord. Even when I feel there's nothing good going on. I will bless the Lord how at all times his praise shall be in my mouth continually our soul will make its boasting. The Lord humble will hear thereof and be glad. Lord, I thank you for another year. If it be is the same. In the next few hours, some of us will enter into twenty twenty four. I pray for our children who are out. I pray for those who don't know you. I

pray for those that felt like this year is a loss. They're making resolutions for next year. They're trying to get this stuff together, and they're anticipating a change of years so that they can have a change of circumstance. But, oh Lord, I thank you that in the scriptures you remind us to bless you at all times and let your praise continually be in our mives. So we lift you, so we praise you, so we magnify you,

so we adore you. We come together as one body, drawn nah by the blood of the lam, come together as one praise team, lifting you up because you're worthy to be lifted. Forgive us of our sins, for our sins are many. We sin against you alone, creating us a clean heart and renew the spirit. Thank you, Lord for another year's journey. Thank you for every financial blessing. Thank you for everything that you've done for us, and most of all, thank you for redemption bringing us into full

and complete fellowship. What a fellowship, What a joy divide. We lean on your arms, and we magnify you, and we glorify you, and we bless your name. For the Lord is good, your mercy is everlasting, and your truth endures to all generations. Have a blessed to everyone who's listening in God bless you. If y'all want to come on and say good morning,