The people of God are living in a strange land. Locality does not confine the oddities of the day, but everything around us seems to move in concert against us. But thanks be unto God that the land does not control The Lord. Rather, the unchanging changer is seeking a new song from you. The request may seem odd, but this song will not test your vocal abilities, but God is looking at the intensity of your tone and the purity of your heart. Yes, it’s challenging right now, but do you have faith enough to sing in the dark?
[Music]
i want you to go to psalms 137 a very
familiar scripture but i’m going to use
it as a leap off point tonight to go
into the word of god psalms 137 1-9
psalms 137 1-9
when you have it say amen
let’s stand for the reading other words
just just one last time
then you don’t have to get up anymore
till tomorrow
you can leave here bent over
still sitting
you’re gonna look funny
but you can do it
listen at the language of this
of these psalms
how how beautiful
how poetic
almost
poetic almost prose
the language is so fluid
and yet the message
is so sad
by the rivers of babylon there we sat
down
yay we wept
when we remembered zion
we hanged our hearts upon the willows in
the midst sarah
for they that had carried us away
captive required of
a us
and they that wasted us required of us
mirth
saying seeing us sing us sing us
sing us one of the
songs of zion
how shall we sing
the lord’s song
in a
strange la anybody ever been in a
strange land
if i forget the old jerusalem let my
right hand forget her cunning
if i do not remember they let my tongue
cleave to the roof of my mouth
if i prefer not jerusalem above my chief
joy remember oh lord the children of
edom in the day of jerusalem who said
raise it raise it even to the foundation
thereof
oh daughter of babylon
who art to be destroyed
happy shall he be that rewardeth thee as
thou
has served
us
happy shall he be that taketh that
dasheth thy little ones
against the stones
i want to go back up in that verse about
verse one through three right up in
there
by the rivers of babylon there we sat
yey we wept when we remembered zion keep
going we hanged our hearts upon the
willows in the midst thereof
for there
they that carried us away
required of us a song
and they that wasted us required of us
from earth saying sing
us one of the lords i’ll keep on
how this is the question
how shall we sing
the lord’s song
in a strange land
let’s stop there i want to talk about
singing in the dark
singing in the dark
now holy spirit i invoke your presence
to overshadow us now
as we delve into the word of god
not for the purpose of exploitation but
communication
information and inspiration and
articulation
with clarity of thought and nimbleness
of mind we come before thy throne oh god
that you might dispense wisdom and
revelation in such a profound and
didactic way that we are never the same
again
i thank you for this cluster this
remnant this group of people that have
gathered here to hear what thus saith
the lord god and to all of those
thousands of people that are joining us
online tonight i pray that they would be
edified and that hell would be horrified
in the matchless invincible name of
jesus we pray
somebody who loves him at the top of
your lungs
shouty man
[Applause]
glory to god you may be seated you did
that so good almost started a choir
i was listening at the news some time
ago
before the late congressman john lewis
passed away
he had come out to this protest this
demonstration
and he must have been very sick then but
he came and he was out there in the
midst of the demonstration and the
interviewer came over and interviewed
him and asked him how do the
demonstrations of today compare with the
demonstrations of the 60s he said in a
lot of ways he said they are quite
similar
and he said we were young and we were
vibrant and we were fighting for what we
believed in and we were peaceful
peacefully demonstrating but defiantly
fighting for what we believed in
he said there’s only one thing that i
wish they would do differently that that
we did that they don’t do
and i waited with baited breath to hear
what he had to say
and he said they should sing
and i thought
what
i thought he was gonna say something you
know
profound and it was profound but it took
a while to hit me in the face
he said the strength
of our march
was our song
and i thought to myself
how could you sing
with hoses turned on you and dogs biting
you
and people beating you
and yet you sang
and then my mind went back to
our ancestors in the in the cotton
fields singing
while some were beaten and hung and
raped and killed and yet they sang
and then i went all the way back to this
text
and i thought what is it about singing
that soothes the soul
in times of adversity
what is it about music in general and i
started doing some research music
stimulates the part of the brain that
produces dopamine
dopamine is the kind of hormone that
affects emotional behavior and moods
influence of music literally has a
biological orientation and affects a
psychological presentation and it is
powerful
so i turned away from what the secular
people said about it and i started
thinking about what the holy spirit says
about it i began to realize that music
is a weapon
music is a weapon all through the bible
that was used to attack the enemy
it was so effective that god used david
to play on his harp to drive the demons
out of saul
so while the psychologist talks about
the release of dopamine and the
biologist talks about the effect of
music on the brain
there must be an effect of music on the
spirit
that changes things that fights back the
enemy that drives forces away
that music not only affects mood but it
also affects what we cannot control
ourselves
now think with me tonight as we play
around with this let me set the stage
and take a little time with you
this is not a happy occasion this is not
choir rehearsal
this is not a singing convention and
this is not the quartet convention
this is not a nice situation this is not
a bar mitzvah this is not a wedding this
is not a social event this takes place
at one of the most hideous moments in
the history
of all of jerusalem
you see jerusalem which is controlled by
uh the jews at this point and judah in
particular has run into a conflict with
nebuchadnezzar
babylon and nebuchadnezzar has besieged
jerusalem
resulting in them having to pay money to
get him to leave him alone
now nebuchadnezzar is the king over
babylon and babylon
is a superpower of its era
babylon has such power and such depth it
was what rome would be
it was what other superpowers have been
through history there was a time that
egypt was a superpower there was a time
that babylon was a superpower there was
a time that rome was a superpower and
they had the ability to come in and
dominate and control and move and take
whatever they wanted to take and they
demanded of king jehoiakim that he paid
tribute or taxes to them or they would
attack him they bullied them they
bullied him they bullied him and so
jehoiakim paid it at first
and then he got tired of paying it and
decided i’m not going to pay this tariff
anymore have you ever had the enemy
bully you
and you make up in your mind you push me
as far as you can push me you’re not
gonna threaten me anymore you’re not
gonna take over my life anymore whatever
happens has to happen it’s gonna happen
it is what it is it’s gonna be what it’s
gonna be it’s going to do what it’s
going to do but you’re not going to come
in my house and do it you’re not going
to come in my life you’re not going to
come in and that that was the spirit of
jehoiakim jehovah can refuse to pay
tribute to nebuchadnezzar the fourth
year which led to another siege in
nebuchadnezzar’s seventh year it
culminated in utter chaos and confusion
it culminated in conflict and war and
struggle and all of a sudden they begin
to beat judah out of jerusalem
to beat judah out of jerusalem it’s it’s
it it’s hard to articulate what that
means there’s so much history there that
there’s so much legacy there there’s so
much power there there is a mixture of
the political force of being jerusalem
but there’s also the religious power of
being jerusalem it is the epicenter of
three of the major religions of the
world today for them to be beat for
judah to be beat out of jerusalem it is
more than land it is land but it is
heritage it is culture it is language it
is music
it is food it is a way of life and it is
unthinkable
that judah would be driven out of
jerusalem that a power like babylon
would come in with their polytheistic
ideologies and drive judah out of
jerusalem because judah knew who god was
the one true and living god didn’t
always serve him but they knew he was
didn’t always obey him but they knew who
he was didn’t always submit to him but
they knew who he was and sometimes when
we become disobedient god will allow our
enemies to triumph over us to bring us
to a place of submission where we begin
to appreciate what we have ignored
it doesn’t matter whether you’re from
jerusalem or africa or istanbul or
afghanistan sometimes the enemy that
comes against us or from here in dallas
sometimes the enemy that comes against
us comes against us as the weapon of the
lord to correct us and all of a sudden
judah goes into captivity it is almost
as awkward as when in the old testament
when they captured the ark of the
covenant and it went into captivity and
eli fell off his throne you remember
that and he broke his neck now instead
of the ark of the covenant being brought
into captivity the people of the
covenant
have gone into captivity i don’t know
which one is more astounding that the
ark of the covenant would go into
captivity up under the philistines or
that the people of the covenant would go
up under captivity
babylonian captivity and it was not till
they got to the rivers of babylon that
they wept
and they wept because they said
how can we sing
the lord’s song
in a strange land and i want to talk to
you about this tonight because i think
it’s important give me a little time
with this let me play around with this
just a little bit you have to understand
that music itself is captivity
the way music is written
it is written in such a way that you
have a signature on the music that tells
you what key the song is in
and when this when the music signature
tells you what key the song is in it
holds you captive to what you can do in
that key
the the notes define the parameters with
which the melody can flow
in contrast with the key signature the
key signature lets you know whether
you’re in b flat or f or g or where you
are and what is flat and what is sharp
in that key and it sets the stage for
you to function in a particular way
because music at its best is captivity
out of 88 keys it’s telling you which
one to touch it which one to stay away
from what you can use and what you can’t
use the key signature sets the guard
rails on what you can do in that key are
you hearing what i’m saying and so it
sets the condition for the melody and
whoever is writing the melody they can
put all the notes in as long as they
obey the signature because the key
signature tells you what is lawful to do
in that situation so when you understand
that about music you begin to understand
that music flows with laws and
principles
and the key signature sets the tone of
what all you can do in that particular
key
and you can break out of it you can
modulate you can move
you can digress you can go up you can go
down but you have to do it strategically
because there are parameters with which
you can move now if music has laws and
people have laws and situations have
laws that means that we don’t get to be
lawless
there are certain laws that you cannot
break even though you have freedom for
instance the law of gravity you can be
as free as you want to be you can be
free go where you want to go do what you
want to do but that doesn’t mean you can
defy the law of gravity if you jump up
you coming back down again whether
you’re black whether you’re white
whether you’re rich whether you’re poor
whether you’ve got long hair short hair
store bought hair uh any kind of hair
you still have to obey certain rules and
certain principles those cannot be
broken now they have asked them to sing
the lord’s song in a strange land and
now judah is saying how can we sing the
lord’s song even though nebuchadnezzar
has been ruthless even though he’s been
mighty even though we they’ve been
exiled there and nebuchadnezzar has been
there for 18 years and even though
they’ve been empowered and in control
and done whatever they wanted to do
whatever they wanted to do when they
asked him to sing the lord’s song the
children of israel said i could do it if
i was in jerusalem but i can’t do it in
babylon because i’m in captivity and it
occurs to me
that the way we worship for for some of
us depends on where we are
oh y’all don’t hear what i’m saying to
you the way we worship depends on where
we are i’m not talking about
geographical locations i’m talking about
where you are in life what’s going on
with you at that time whether it’s a
good season or a bad season whether you
are captive or free whether you feel
blessed or whether you’re in the mood
for it or not in the mood for it and
when the conditions are not right and
the key signature is right you don’t
know how to get out out of key out of
pitch out of the range you don’t know
how to defy the environment that you’re
locked into and break into the next
dimension and you think it is impossible
to sing the lord’s song because you’re
in a strange land and i want to teach on
this tonight because we are in a strange
land
now yes we are still in our country and
i hope you’re in yours too many people
are not but that is not the only issue
you can be in your own country and still
be in a strange land
you can be on your own job and still be
in a strange land thank you for the
three people that understand what i’m
saying you you can be in your own house
and be in a strange land is there
anybody in here that knows what i’m
talking about what it means to be in a
strange land
if you are spiritual you recognize that
we are in a strange land right now we
are in strange times we are in a strange
place we are in strange situations we
are in a time where the enemy is defying
us to sing the lord’s song because we’re
in a strange land at a strange time
dealing with strange issues and strange
plagues and strange news and strange
issues and it’s not just what’s
happening globally it’s what’s happening
in your own life i don’t know whether
you noticed it or not but hell has
turned up the heat
oh y’all ain’t gonna say nothing to me i
don’t know whether you realize it or not
but the hell has loose new demons some
of you 40 years 50 years old you never
saw the demons you’re dealing with right
now you’re doing hand-to-hand combat and
then enemies attacking you in places
you’ve never been attacked before and
you find yourself in a strange land and
you’re almost in a fog in your mind in
your emotions in your spirit and the
enemy wants you to lose your song he
wants you to lose your soul because your
song is your strength it is your joy it
is your peace it is your power he wants
you to lose your song and you’re looking
like you’re standing outside of your own
life looking through the window at your
own life like you’re really not there
it’s so strange people are acting
strange friends are acting strange
relatives are acting strange strange
situations breaking out in your life
you’re feeling kind of strange in your
body everybody’s walking around in a
fall it almost feels like your life is a
movie that played late at night when you
was a child and you had to deal with
situations you never had to deal with
before and you’re trying to figure out
what do i need to kill it with what does
it take for me to get a breakthrough
what do i who do i need to call where do
i need to go and you don’t understand
that the power of life and death is in
your tongue that the power of life and
death is in your mouth that if you would
open your mouth and cry out that god
would break yokes off of your life and
off of your spirit and off of your soul
that you don’t have to submit
to the enemy just because there’s a
strangeness in the atmosphere you don’t
have to succumb to the strangeness
around you you don’t have to hang your
heart by the willow tree and sit down
and cry and forget everything you know
you might be in babylon but you are
still jewish you might be in babylon but
you’re still a child of god you might be
backed up on your car payments but
you’re still washed in the blood you
might be in foreclosure but you still
got the power of the holy ghost and
until you learn how to use what you do
have against what you don’t have you’ll
never get out of captivity and so what
i’m teaching you tonight is how to break
out a captivity because the enemy is sin
in captivity to shut your mouth but the
devil is a lie there’s a breakthrough
coming for the people of god if you
learn
how to ignore the environment around you
and open your mouth and sing open your
mouth and shout open your mouth and
praise god open your mouth and give god
glory that was not the case
for babylon
they sat
by the willow trees
and they wept
when they remembered zion
you see they had attached their song to
a city
they had attached their song to a place
you’d be surprised at the people who can
only sing when they’re in love
oh i’m going to sit there i’m going to
step on your toes just sit right there
i’m coming they they can’t sing through
a divorce they can’t sing through a
crisis they can’t sing through
loneliness they can’t sing through a
test and all of a sudden instead of
things getting better they prolong the
captivity because they lose themselves
to their environment and they don’t know
how to sing the lord’s song in a strange
land but i came to tell you tonight that
the land does not control the lord
y’all don’t hear what i’m saying but i’m
gonna keep driving until i get it on the
land does not control the lord if god is
god in jerusalem he’s god in babylon if
god is god when things are going well
he’s god when things are going bad if
god is god when you’re on the
mountaintop he’s still god when he’s in
the valley and if you would break past
your environment and what you see around
you and the strangeness of the time and
the weird things people say to you and
the weird things that they’re doing
right now and the weird things that are
jumping off in your life the lord sent
me here tonight to teach a class to arm
you with the weapons that are necessary
to get the breakthrough that you need to
move into the area that you’re trying to
move in because what god has for you
you have to release it out of your mouth
and when you open your mouth and you
begin to rejoice under god you’re going
to bring wait i want to i want to
explain some see when when you proud for
the choir of the praise team they do
auditions but when god says sing he
doesn’t do an audition
because god is not saying sing according
to how melodious your voice is and how
well trained you are and how well you
can do riff when the bible says sing
unto the lord a new song he doesn’t talk
to you about what key you’re in and
whether you can hold a tune or not
because god is not measuring the song by
the melody he’s measuring it by the
intensity oh y’all don’t hear what i’m
saying
this is an equal opportunity thing now
when you talk about singing on stage
some folks got it some folks don’t some
folks can some folks won’t but when it
comes to singing before the lord even
the folks who sing well don’t have any
more opportunity to please him than the
people who sing out of tune because the
kind of singing that god is talking
about you’re doing has nothing to do
with pitch and tone and frame and
structure and order it is a defiance it
is a defiance to sing the lord’s song in
a strange land it doesn’t matter about
the key flat or sharp off-pitch on
it is defined to sing the lord’s song
says i refuse to succumb to the
environment around me i’m going to bless
the lord at all times and praise him
anyway in fact you won’t get out till
you learn to sing you won’t get a
breakthrough until you learn how to sing
the lord’s saw in a strange land crying
won’t get you out of trouble weeping
won’t get you out of trouble going into
depression won’t get you out of trouble
throwing up your hands won’t get you out
of trouble but i dare you to open your
mouth and lift your voice and start
singing out to god god does something
when you sing a song under him she can
be singing an a and she can be singing
and see and he can be singing an f and
together it just sounds like noise but
that’s okay he says he’ll make the noise
make a joyful noise under god make a joy
for what
noise under god because god says what
blesses me is not your talent
it is your spirit it is your heart it is
your defiant your singing breaks through
something pierces something in the
spirit world gives you a breakthrough
over the nebuchadnezzar that’s trying to
hold you captive everybody in here has a
nebuchadnezzar that drags you into
captivity that changes your mood that
brings tears to your eyes that every
time you try to stand up nebuchadnezzar
comes along and wants to bring you back
into captivity and defy you and make fun
of you and say where is your god now
where is your song now how are you going
to sing now how are you going to praise
him and i saw every now and then i don’t
just praise god because he’s good i
don’t just praise god because he’s great
i don’t just praise god because he’s
made sometimes i praise god just to get
on the devil’s nerve to let him know i
still i’m still going to praise him
everything might not be right all my
bills might not be paid everything might
not be in order i may not even be happy
but in the midst of all of this if you
think i’m gonna lay here and cry and
hang my heart by the willow tree i got
news for you tonight ah
oh god i gotta quit i don’t want to get
that far whoa
i will bless the lord at all time his
pray shall continually it’ll be in my
mouth in babylon it’ll be in my mouth in
jerusalem it’ll be in my mouth in judea
it’ll be in my mouth in crisis it’ll be
in my mouth when the bills are paid
it’ll be in my mouth when you walk off
and leave me it’ll be in my mouth when
my feelings are hurt it’ll be in my
mouth when i lose my job it’ll be in my
mouth when i gotta move in with my mama
it’ll still be in my mouth because i’m a
soldier
[Applause]
i respect the fact that these are people
who have been drug into captivity and
the women have been raped
and the men had been neutered
with blood running down their legs
an ankle uh chains on their feet and
their hands tied behind their back
that they left jerusalem
in dire straits
the crisis is momentous it is not
comfortable it is painful
they are away from their homeland they
are away from everything that is
familiar they are away from everything
that defines them but they are not away
from
god david said if i make my bed in hell
thou art there
he said if i take the wings of the
morning and ascend to the uttermost
parts of the earth thou art there i want
to talk to somebody whose life is
inconsistent and everything around you
is inconsistent and you can’t find
anything solid to nail into everything
around you is inconsistent the only
thing that is consistent is god
god doesn’t change god doesn’t move god
doesn’t move because you move god
doesn’t move because your conditions
change and if you learn to be like god
that means you got to be steadfast
unmovable always abounding in the work
of the lord you can’t i deliver me from
moody christians
people there one day they’re this way
the next day they’re this way the next
day they’re this way god is calling for
consistency god is calling for people
who can sing in the dark god is calling
for people who will open their mouth and
praise him no matter what’s going on in
your life no matter what is running
through your mind no matter what’s going
on in your body you got to find a way to
praise god because things are not going
to get better
until you open your mouth and learn how
to sing in the midst of adversity
[Applause]
we hung our hearts by the willow trees
we went when we remembered zion
if i forget jerusalem let my tongue
please
to the roof of my mouth
jerusalem is not just a geographical
location
jerusalem is a centered place
in your soul
if i forget who i am
let my tongue cleave to the roof of my
mouth
you got to know who you are
even when you’re in a strange land you
got to know what your center is
even when it’s a strange time you got to
know what your center is even when you
lost your job you got to know what your
center is even when you’re destabilized
by people you thought you could trust
and you couldn’t people you thought you
could count on and you can people who
said they’d be with you and they left
but you got to stabilize yourself by
your jerusalem jerusalem is your
spiritual epicenter it is the place from
which you draw strength it is the place
from which you draw vigor it is a place
from which you draw identity our
jerusalem is not a physical jerusalem
there is a jerusalem that comes down out
of heaven there is a jerusalem on earth
in your heart there is a jerusalem there
is a spiritual epicenter called a
pavilion god hides you in a secret place
you go into the secret place with god
when all hell is breaking loose there is
a secret place that anchors you so that
you are not at the mercy of the
environment to control the intensity of
the power with which you operate if that
were true if i set you in a situation
where there were witches you would lose
your glory god’s got to have a power
that transcends an environment god’s got
to have a power that’ll work in a
hospital world god’s got to have a power
that’ll work in an unemployment line
god’s got to have a power that will work
i don’t care where you are
the only thing that is unstable is him
because god is able to do watch this
exceedingly abundantly above all that ye
may ask or think hold up
according
to the power
that worketh where
in you according to the power that
worketh in you not not in your church
not in your bishop not in your
denomination not in your city not in
your town god said i can do exceedingly
abundantly above all ye may ask or think
according to the power that worketh in
you now they got taken away from
jerusalem but you can’t take me away
from me
[Music]
[Applause]
you cannot take me
away
from me god said it’s not according to
what river you’re sitting beside it’s
not according to where you’re working
it’s not according to how you feel in
your body it’s according to the power
that works in you and god said if you
work i can work if you oh if you move i
can move if you look up i can look up if
you reach out i can reach down i can
only do it according to the power that
so hell wants you to hang your heart by
the will of trees and forget who you are
and think that you can’t do it because
you don’t get what you want and so
you’re just like a baby crying because
god will wean you from this and put you
over in that and say will you praise me
now can you praise me now can you praise
me in this situation can you love me
like this am i still god in this
situation can you glorify me now and if
you are well taught in the word of god
you will offer up to him the sacrifice
of praise from the fruit of your lips
continually with thanksgiving the
sacrifice
i know you don’t feel like it you don’t
have to do it you can stay bound all you
want to but if you give him the
sacrifice of praise if you give him the
sacrifice of praise from the fruit of
your lips your lips your lip
can’t do that for you praise team can’t
do that for you band can’t do that for
you because god is watching your mouth
you say i can’t even sing i don’t even
care god says when your lips move my
lips will move when you open up your
mouth i’ll open my mouth when you start
thinking about me i’ll start thinking
about you i am watching your lips i want
you to take about 15 seconds and just
open your mouth and make any kind of
joyful noise anything you got
[Music]
anything anything you got
any key any tool
any kind of sound
oh
oh oh
oh
y’all don’t remember but the old folk
used to walk the floor and they just say
oh
see when you start opening your mouth
yolks start falling chains start falling
barriers start falling problems start
falling it don’t matter what river
you’re sitting beside it don’t matter
what will a tree you’re standing by you
don’t even have to have no heart if you
got a mouth let the redeemed of the lord
[Applause]
[Music]
[Applause]
yeah
yeah
yeah
yeah
yeah
yeah
yeah
yeah
yeah the devil will defy you he’ll try
to shut you down he’ll try to shut your
mouth he’ll try to shut you up he’ll try
to make you be still but the devil is
alive we are in a fight tonight y’all we
are in a fight tonight you listening to
me online we are in a fight tonight you
can take them little cute shoes off we
are in a fight tonight glory to god you
better take them nails off and pull your
earrings off we are in a fight tonight
and you got to learn how to go into
spiritual warfare and sing and shout and
dance and pray and drive back the forces
of the enemy because there’s something
that we got to drive back and we got to
drive it back with our mouth and we got
to drive it back with our saw and we got
to drive it back with our prey and we
got to drive it back if you drive it
back if you drive it back if you push it
in a move if you push it in a move if
you push it in a move if you push it in
a move if you push it in a move if you
push it in a move if you push it in a
move
you’re going to make me preach i don’t
want to do that i don’t want to do that
hallelujah look at somebody say if you
push it in a move
if you push it in a move
it’ll move
you got to make up in your mind do you
want to be a captive
or do you want to be a conqueror
i say do you want to be captive
or do you want to be a conqueror
do you want to be captive
or do you want to be a conqueror
now if you’re a conqueror that still
means you got to fight
that on me you don’t get to be a
conqueror if you don’t have opposition
but if you make up in your mind you’re
going to be a conqueror that means this
will not whip me i might die somewhere
but it won’t be right here this right
here will not whip me because i am a
conqueror in fact according to the word
i am what
more than a conqueror give me that word
like you like you’ve been to bible class
before i am more than a conqueror i
might not feel like a conqueror i might
not look like a conqueror i might not
have the emotions of a conqueror but the
bible says i am more
than a conqueror
i just happened to be in babylon
i just i just happened to be in babylon
i just happened to be by the willow
trees i just happened to be in this
situation but my situation does not
define
my reality
can i go deeper with this
what strikes me
about this singing
in this dark place and their inability
to be able to get past their rage
this in fact you have to realize this
text is a song itself
that
the jewish tradition the rabbis sing
as much as they talk
because there’s something about your
voice
that cries out to god
and when you open your mouth
and cry out to god
he moves
in your behalf
the paradoxical situation of the texas
so fascinating to me because on one hand
it is a deplorable place
and on the other hand probably just to
mock them
the babylonians ask them to sing
this is just me
i think they should
because i have learned
the power
of singing
in the dark
i know why the old folks moaned
[Music]
y’all
[Music]
the same reason the slaves sang in the
field it’s a message it’s a code it’s a
system it’s a message it’s a code it’s a
system it’s a message it’s a code it’s a
system it’s a
steel away to jesus he got long
he got long
to stay
still away
to jesus
[Music]
to stay
all the states
my lord he calls me
it sounds like it’s just singing but but
it’s a message and it’s a it’s a code
it’s a code it’s a code hell can’t break
it’s a code that the devil don’t
understand
it’s a code that the demons can’t
understand it’s a code that lets them
know i’m getting ready to come out of
captivity it’s a code that says i’m
getting ready to break my lord he calls
me by the thunder
[Laughter]
hallelujah and when you start
understanding that code
things began to break
don’t say to myself
if if this is true if this theory is
true
let’s try it in other places
so i left the psalms
and i went to the book of acts
and when i got to the book of acts
i got over the book of acts
and they had thrown
paul in jail
[Applause]
[Music]
[Applause]
[Music]
they were going to kill him in the
morning
this is serious
the first mistake is that they locked
him up with silas
because if any two of you
agree
as touching anything on earth it shall
be done
see the devil messes up when he lets you
be locked up with somebody else that’s
on the same frequency that you’re on and
and
y’all don’t hear what i’m saying so the
bible says
the bible says
that they put paul
and silas in jail
and notice what time it is
it says and at midnight
midnight is the darkest part of the
night
it was when there was a complete
blackout everybody should be in the bed
at midnight at midnight the jail is
quiet at midnight the lights are out at
midnight the night shift is the easiest
shift to work because all the prisoners
are asleep at night except paul and
silas
instead of being sleep the bible said at
midnight paul and silas prayed and sang
praises under god and the prisoners
heard them see don’t just sit there in
the jail and be passive and be quiet and
be still you got to make some noise in
your jail you got to open your mouth in
your jail you got to cry out in your
jail you got to open your mouth into
fire but wait till it’s midnight
wait till it’s real dark don’t wait till
it’s just kind of dark don’t wait till
it’s fixing to be dark wait till it’s
midnight because there’s something about
singing in the darkest part of your
night that lets hell no i will not
submit to your son at midnight
paul and silas prayed and sang praises
unto god
are y’all listening to what i’m saying
they prayed and sang praises at the
darkest point in their life i don’t know
who’s listening at me tonight but if
you’re at the darkest point in your life
if all hell is breaking loose if before
you can get out of this here comes that
and before you can get out of that here
comes the other if you’re going through
first one thing and then another if your
moods are all over the place your kids
are all over the place your emotions are
all over the place your body’s all over
the place just wait till midnight when
it gets real dark when it gets real
black when the devil expects you to roll
over and die
open up your mouth
and shout unto god
and midnight
at midnight and midnight paul and silas
the bible says
paul and silas prayed
and sang
they prayed
and say
what fool sings in prison at midnight
you got to be a fool for christ
you got to be a fool for christ
if you’re trying to fit in this message
is not for you you have to be daring
enough to be different enough to sing at
an unexpected time sometimes you got to
dance no music no drums no tambourine
nobody to say go ahead nobody beat no
nothing it don’t matter whether you’re
on beat or offbeat it’s just minus that
it’s midnight because if you do it at
midnight if you do it at midnight if you
do it at midnight if you do it at
midnight i wish i had somebody in here
who was going through a midnight because
i needed to be dark enough for your
praise to stand out strong enough that
when you give the praise it will set it
off if you’re watching online
and you’re going through a midnight if
you open your mouth and praise it now it
will set it off somebody prays about
somebody praise it now
[Applause]
[Music]
yeah
yeah
yeah
yeah
yeah
that’s what i’m talking about right
there
that’s what i’m talking about right
there
yeah that’s what i’m talking about right
there that’s what i’m talking about
right there that’s what i’m talking
about right there that’s what i’m
talking about right there that’s what
i’m talking about
you you can’t tell it but the wall is
cracking
what you say joshua you mean when i
shout the wall cracks yes when you open
your mouth and shout out to god i see a
crack in the wall when you crack your
lips god cracks a wall i see a crack
[Applause]
ow
you got a wall of debt you got a wall of
bills you got a wall of problems you got
a wall of crisis but if you open your
mouth you can shout to the wall right
now now sit with me sit with me it’s
okay sit with me sit with me i’m gonna
behave i’m gonna be good in a minute
i’m gonna be good in a minute
hallelujah
hallelujah
at midnight
paul and silas prayed
and sang praises
unto god
they sang and prayed unto god
but at first
the prisoners heard them
that’s all who heard them the prisoners
heard them
that means they haven’t broken through
the earth for him yet
when they first started singing and
praying
you pray and at first the only thing you
move is other people
so other people start stirring around in
the prison
other people start because you’re still
in the earth realm
but at some point
at some point it must have been a point
because the bible said suddenly
have you ever had a suddenly
happen in your life you didn’t even it
felt like you was just going through the
motion but suddenly suddenly suddenly
means you can pinpoint the moment that
you penetrated from the earth realm into
the spirit realm and the bible says that
suddenly there was a great earthquake so
that the foundations of the prison were
shaken and immediately so we gotta
suddenly and we got it immediately if
you get a suddenly then you get it
immediately once you get the suddenly
you just suddenly brought the earthquake
but they immediately open up the door
you need a suddenly and and immediately
that suddenly will bring the earthquake
but the immediately will open up the
door everything that need a door open up
give him some praise for it immediately
so watch this
[Applause]
so so they
so the
the first one they did it the prisoners
heard them
and it had to go beyond the prisoners
because the prisoners couldn’t have
caused the earthquake
so they praised him until they got a
suddenly
and they suddenly brought the earthquake
and once they had pierced the suddenly
then they got it immediately
[Applause]
and the doors open up anybody in here
need a door to open up
it’s in your mouth
it’s in your mouth
it’s in your mouth but it’s in your head
come on
it’s in your mouth it’s in your mouth
it’s in your mouth the door you need to
open it’s not in the judge’s mouth it’s
not in the people’s mouth it’s not in
the governor’s mouth it’s in your mouth
it’s in your mouth
and when you open your mouth not just
you
but everyone’s bands were loose
now everybody wasn’t singing
[Applause]
everybody wasn’t singing but everybody
got loose that’s why the devil got you
in jail in the first place because when
you open your mouth you’re not the only
one that’s gonna lose get loose
everyone’s bands were loose everyone’s
bands are loose and the devil is scared
of you because he knows that if you get
free and you open up your mouth
everyone’s bands are going to be loose i
don’t know who your everyone is but
everyone’s
banned
everyone’s passed
a loose
but it will not happen
if you cannot sing
in the dark
at midnight
he sang
in the dark
at midnight
he sang
in the dark
at midnight he sang
in the dark and then
i started thinking about singing in the
dark and i thought about what they said
about jesus
on the night
of the passover
the bible said
that on the night of the passover
after that they had had the lord’s
supper
the bible said
that they all begin to sing
now this is the night before they
apprehended jesus to take him to the
cross and this is the night that the
pasha lamb becomes the jesus of glory
the carnation the incarnation of god
himself is to go to the cross and he’s
the only one that knows that he is the
lamb that’s going to the cross and on
this night and one that they say is that
he’s saying with them the last thing
they heard him say
in the darkness of the passover night
was he started singing with it who can
sing
on the last free night
you do know that god can sing
[Music]
the bible said he sings over us
that god literally
sings
over us
jesus sings
on the night they’re about to take him
why would you say
when you know you’re about to go to
christ you already told us in the garden
of gethsemane that you didn’t want to go
to the cross so you’re not singing
because you’re happy about going to the
cross so your emotions are in captivity
they’re in babylon
and yet your discipline
says sing
and he’s saying
and of all things psalms 118 he’s saying
this is the day
that the lord
hath made
we shall rejoice
and be glad in it now what kind of
craziness is this
for this particular day of all days to
be the day that you sing psalms 118 this
is the day that the lord hath made we
shall rejoice and be glad in it you know
why it’s a day of redemption it’s a day
of atonement it’s a day of restoration
it’s a day of renewal it’s it’s a day of
healing it’s a day of divine purpose how
do you know it is that day because it’s
dark it wouldn’t be dark if god wasn’t
getting ready to do something it
wouldn’t be dark if god wasn’t getting
ready to move it wouldn’t be this dark
not this kind of dark if it weren’t if
this weren’t the day
that the lord has made and jesus knows
the day
by the dark
jesus knows
this is the day
by the dark what do you mean by the dark
by the betrayal
by the attack
by the pain
by the level of problems
is a sign that this is the day
that the lord hath made psalm 118 has a
lot more in it than that but this is the
day that the lord has made we shall
rejoice
and be glad in it this is crazy be glad
in the dark yeah but i can’t see that
don’t matter
but i can’t see and i just got betrayed
and i just told him what they’ll do is
do it quickly
and i’m going to sing
while you go get them
what kind of faith is this
that sings
while your judas
goes to get the soldiers
it’s the same kind of faith
that made you
feed your enemy
if you were sitting at the table with me
and i knew you was my enemy
you and me get no bread for me
i’d get john your piece
you you if you’re gonna eat you better
go ask your mama because you get nothing
from me
but jesus
fed
his enemy
he served
his enemy
he sat
with his enemy
with his john on one side and his judas
on the other
he sat with his enemies and you cannot
be a great man or woman of god until you
can sit in between john and judas and
treat them both the same
oh y’all ain’t gonna talk to me you
gotta be able to sit with john and judas
and know which one is which
and feed both of them the same bread and
the same cup with the same peace
and then have the audacity
to sing
in the dark
this is what happens when you have to
sing against
the atmosphere
this is how you become lord
of
the atmosphere
let me show you can i show you a little
bit more
first corinthians 14 26
talks about what’s then shall we say
brothers and sisters when you come
together each of you has a hymn or a
word of instruction a revelation a
tongue or an interpretation
everything must be done so that the
church may be built up and the king
james says that the church might be
edified
when you sing the church is edified when
you give word of knowledge the church is
edified edified is an architectural term
that needs to be built up like renovated
like resurrected so singing bills
singing
bills say that with me singing
bills singing bills you know see we we
don’t have
maybe we have it i don’t know because i
don’t live in your house but you don’t
see it like you used to see it people
standing over the sink singing
people washing clothes singing
people going through the house shaking
their head and singing nowadays you
don’t see church folk having church till
they come to church but it used to be
it used to be you could go in your house
and you could sense glory in the house
because you begin to understand that if
you’re going to be built up you’ve got
to open your mouth and sing out to god
and give him glory
when nehemiah was building the wall he
didn’t just call for the builders he
called for the levites to sing
because singing
bills
now in corinthians it says that it will
build up the body of christ in nehemiah
it proves that if you’re going to build
up walls you got to call the singers
because singing builds walls
and some of you
your walls are torn down
and that’s why this has gotten to you
like this
because a man that cannot rule his own
spirit is like a city without walls
and what made nehemiah
go
to jerusalem in the first place
was to build back the walls
and what you must do
instead of giving advice to everybody
else
is build back your walls
until you can rule your own spirit
you don’t get to tell me what to do
if you can’t rule you
oh you only saying unto me
so he then just called the masons he
calls the levites to sing
because there’s something about singing
that hastens
the edification
the building up
nehemiah used singing to build the wall
joshua used it
joshua used it to tear down the wall so
the same voice that builds a wall has
the power to tear down a wall and why
does it do both things because sometimes
in your life you need to build a wall
and sometimes you need to tear down a
wall and god said i know which one you
mean when you see
when you sing i know what you mean i
know whether to build up or to tear down
anything that’s standing in your way god
said i’ll bring it down the high places
i’ll bring it down the obstacles i’ll
bring it down that that’s resisted my
will i’ll bring it down that that’s
standing up in your way and the promises
of god god said when you sing i’ll bring
it down
anybody who has become vulnerable and
you need more walls god said when you
open your mouth i will build walls where
you never had water where your mama
didn’t have walls and your grandmama
didn’t have walls and your
great-grandmama didn’t have walls and
you living up under a generational curse
but what’s gonna break the curse is i’m
gonna give you walls that your mama
didn’t have i’m gonna give you walls
that your grandmama didn’t have i’m
gonna give you walls that your
great-grandmama didn’t have because
you’re gonna do something that they
didn’t do you’re gonna open your mouth
under me god said i’m watching your lips
when you get tired of sitting up there
with your face all twisted up and tears
running down your face and your lips
glued together god said i will rescue
you when you open your mouth i will
bring you out i don’t care it may take
three days to do it you may be on the
cross on friday you may be in the grave
on saturday but by sunday morning i will
raise you up out of everything that ever
held you down and you got to sing and
open your mouth and understand there
ain’t no wall that will stop me from
getting to you there ain’t no stone they
can roll in front of the tomb then i
won’t roll up out of your way because
you were singing
in the dark
[Music]
yeah
yeah yeah
then sings my soul
my savior god to thee wait a minute how
can a s how can a soul sing
then sings my soul
my saying
your god to be
[Music]
how great thou art
how great
god
then is my soul
my
say
your god
to thee
how great thou art
how great
[Music]
then things
[Music]
tell him how great how great thou art
[Music]
come on sing it right in your living
room
[Music]
how great
thou art
[Laughter]
how great
though
[Music]
[Applause]
[Music]
this is
[Music]
how great
[Music]
my soul
my
savior god
[Music]
how great though
[Laughter]
how great
[Music]
[Laughter]
[Music]
hannah
sing a song
[Applause]
that drove away her barrenness
and enabled her to conceive
and when the angel came to mary
and said hail mary
you’ve been highly favored amongst women
you shall bring forth a son
mary was barren too
because she had not known a man
it was just two different kinds of
barrenness
hannah had known a man
but her womb
was barren
mary’s womb worked
but she had not known a man
both of them are two different kinds of
barrenness
but mary
remembered hannah
then sings
my song
my say
your god
to me
[Music]
how great thou art
how great
thou are
is there something buried in your life
you need to say this change
[Music]
to thee
how great
thou art
how
[Music]
there is something
that god wants to leave
in the womb of your soul tonight
that the dark cannot take away from you
there is something that god
wants to leave in the womb of your
spirit
that will take you
from weeping to dancing
by the rivers of babylon
we wept
they asked of us to sing the lord’s song
and we did not know how
how can we sing
the lord’s song
when we are in a strange land
how can we sing the lord’s song in a
pandemic
how can we sing the lord’s song
worried about our children and
grandchildren going to school how can we
sing
how can we sing
the lord’s song
while our backs are being beaten how can
we sing
the lord’s song
with the holes of oppression in our face
how can we sing
the lord’s song when every day the phone
rings
about somebody who’s sick
or somebody who’s passed away how can we
sing
[Music]
the lord’s song you can’t sing it
if you can’t sing it in the dark
in fact stop singing in the light
if you’re not going to sing
in the dark
because god don’t
need
no
part-time
soldiers
he needs people
[Music]
who can sing
in the jailhouse
with their hands tied
and their feet shackled
at midnight
he needs people who can say
though he slay me
yet shall i trust him
he needs people who can say to their
enemies what thou do is do it quickly
and still keep their soul
and if you keep your soul
you can overcome
anything
as we bring this bible class to a close
tonight i do not know who god sent me
for
but i do know that they are here
or there
or there or there
somebody has been having their own
personal
captivity
your own midnight
your own
dark place
your own emotional roller coaster
and you’re saying how can i sing
the lord’s song
when everything in my life is feeling
kind of strange right now
and i am saying to you
you do your best singing
in the dark
i want the praise team to come
and close us out with a song in just a
moment
but tonight i want to pray for people
emotions have been all over the place
who’ve been feeling like
[Music]
i don’t know what to do
i want to pray that god would restore
your song
[Music]
because if he can restore your song
you’re going to get a suddenly
and if you get a suddenly
you’re gonna get in immediately
and if you get in immediately
the doors are gonna open
and if the doors are gonna open
god’s going to take your opposition
and turn it into opportunity
[Music]
can i pray for you tonight i mean just
just me and you
coming together like paul and silas into
agreement
that
everyone’s bands would be loose
that the captive would be set free
can i pray for you until you move away
from the willow trees
and you start singing in the dark
spirit of the living god
[Music]
fall fresh
[Music]
on us tonight
not because we’re so good or so special
or so holy or so wonderful but because
we are so needy and so desperate and so
longing and so in need of you today we
need you
[Music]
we need your great god
[Music]
we need you to do some things that only
god can do
[Music]
you