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[Silence] [Audience reciting] He gives me strength. [Audience reciting]

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Let us bow our heads as Deacon W.L. Marsh leads us into invocation. [Silence] Good morning, Christian friends, and may the good Lord bless you for being here this morning. Dear Heavenly Father, we are very thankful that you have let us live to see this day.

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Dear Heavenly Father, we are setting aside the day giving thanks and praise for what you have done for us. Dear Heavenly Father, you know our needs. Teach us how to use our needs, dear God. Dear Heavenly Father, we want to bless those that couldn't come who wanted to come, and take care of our children, our young people, our people who are on the job in such times

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as we're having now, dear God. Only you know, only you God, can show us the right way to go. Dear Heavenly Father, stand by us in the name of Jesus Christ, the Father, the Holy Ghost. Amen.

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Let's turn to hymn number 27, the first and second stanzas of Blessed Assurance. First and second stanzas, Blessed Assurance, Jesus is mine. [Music] [Music]

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[Music] [Music] ♪ O'er the plains of the South ♪ ♪ Where the eagles fly in the sky ♪

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♪ And the birds in the sky ♪ ♪ Sing the praises of our God ♪ ♪ O'er the land of the free ♪ [Music]

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[Music] ♪ We will never walk alone ♪ ♪ Holy infant so tender and mild ♪ ♪ We'll never walk alone ♪

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♪ Heav'n and earth are full of your love ♪ ♪ Great and great is our God ♪ ♪ You are going home ♪ - Well, take our seats.

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Let's greet one another. The person next to you and around you, let's sort of warm up and shake hands, one with the other. (siren wailing)

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- I have a scripture this morning, it's taken from 1 Samuel 16, 14 through the 15th. 14 through the 23rd. "But the Spirit of the Lord departed from Saul, and an evil spirit from the Lord troubled him. And Saul's servant said unto him, Behold now an evil spirit from

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God troubles thee. Let our Lord now command thy servants which are before thee to seek out a man who is a cunning player on the harp, and it shall come to pass when the evil spirit from God is upon thee that he shall play with his hands and thy shall be well. And Paul said unto his servant, Provide me now a man that can play well, and bring him unto me.

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Then answered one of the servants, and said, Behold, I have seeneth son of Jesse the Bethleemite that is coming and playing, and a mighty valiant man, and a man of war, in prudent matters and common persons, the Lord is with him. Wherefore Saul sent messengers unto Jesse, and said unto him, Send me David thy son,

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with his wife the sheep. And Jesse took an ass laden with bread and a bottle of wine and a kid and sent them by David his son to Saul. And David came to Saul and stood before him and he loved him greatly. He became his alma mater and And Saul sent to Jesse, saying, "Let David, I pray thee, stand before me, for he has found

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favors in my sight." And it came to pass when the evil spirit from God was up on Saul, and that David took a harp and played with his hands. So Saul was refreshed and was well, and the evil spirit departed from him.

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May the Lord take our place in the reading of this word. These are the words of this message. Amen. We come now to our time of prayer together.

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Let us assemble as a family around the altar. What a friend we have in Jesus. All our sins and grief to bear. What a privilege it is to carry everything.

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everything to God in prayer. So as we come together in response to the call to prayer, we have the blessed opportunity of being together as we go to the throne of grace, in expressing the thanksgiving in our hearts for God's graciousness to us all, in making our petitions, asking God for whatever we may need, and then making intercession

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for others. Let us pray. Lord, thou hast been good to us. Thou hast ushered us into a new day, a new week, a new opportunity. And so here we are in your house, pausing to say Thank you. Thank you for the gift of life. Thank you for a new expression of hope. Thank you for the blessings that you have showered upon us that are too numerous for us to mention.

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Thank you for our family. Thank you for friends. Thank you for Jesus. We know that we're feeble finite creatures of the dust. We know that we sinned and we come short of your glory. So we ask your forgiveness.

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We would thank you now for another chance to do your will. Now we would remember not only ourselves and our families, our loved ones, but we would particularly remember those who are sick, those who suffer from diseases of the mind, of the body, and of the spirit.

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We pray that you would, with your tender, healing hand of mercy, visit them and threaten them and encourage them along life's way to know that in the midst of every human circumstance, thou art present and that thou art able to carry us through. Give direction for the perplexities of this life which we face.

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And then we pray, O God, for our nation, for this critical period through which we pass, for those who are somewhat losing hope, who are unemployed, who are trying to grasp, O God, for a straw, it seems, in the wind. We pray especially for our Haitian brethren, those who have been detained in this country, who are trying to establish a new life and who somehow find themselves

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ostracized and dehumanized. We pray for them and for a change of spirit in the relationship which we have as a nation to them. Pray, O God, for the condition of our world. We pray for those who are involved in negotiating today in the Middle East situation, and for the discard among nations.

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We pray that the day will somehow come and the manifestation of your Spirit, when men beat their spears into pruning hooks, and their swords into plowshares, and study war no more. Bless and use every one of us this day and this week, we pray,

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in the strong and perfect name of Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen. [Music] [Music]

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[Bell rings] [Bell rings] [Clearing throat] [Footsteps]

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[Footsteps] [footsteps] [MUSIC] [Music]

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[Music] ♪ Lord, I want to be a preacher in my heart ♪ ♪ Lord, I want to be a preacher in my heart ♪ ♪ In my heart ♪

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♪ Lord, I want to be a preacher in my heart ♪ [Music] [Music] Lord, I come to thee, my God.

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Lord, I come to thee, my God. [Music] [Music] [Music]

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[Music] ♪ Lord, I love to be home ♪ ♪ In my home ♪ ♪ I don't want to be my own ♪

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♪ In my home, in my home ♪ ♪ I don't want to be my own ♪ ♪ 'Tis I, Lord ♪ ♪ Oh, I love ♪

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♪ 'Tis I, Lord ♪ ♪ Lord of love ♪ ♪ 'Tis I, Lord ♪ ♪ For the love we have here ♪

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♪ In our hearts, in our hearts ♪ ♪ For the love we have here ♪ ♪ In our hearts, in our hearts ♪ ♪ In our hearts ♪

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(music) Let us worship the Lord now in our giving. Let every one of us give according to how the Lord has prospered you. Every gift that we have is given us from above.

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And God expects of us that we would give ourselves and our substance in his service. of praise. Unto you, O God, we offer ourselves, recognizing that the world is yours, the silver and the gold, the cattle of a thousand hills. Bless us now as we present ourselves as a frank offering to you, and offer our substance for the furtherance of your kingdom in the

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world. In Jesus' name, amen. (footsteps) [Footsteps] the public.

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Good morning, this is your announcement period. Men's day rehearsal will be Friday, August 6th at 7 o'clock p.m. We need all men to attend. If we want to have a fine day men's rehearsal, then you all must attend.

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This announcement comes from Brother Louis Pointer. I will now call the names of the visitors, and will you stand and remain standing until words of welcome have been extended to you. Mrs. Willie Mae Wien of Austin, David Chapel, visiting with Miss Mary Washington.

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Equila Johnson of Austin, from Ames, Iowa, visiting with Mr. and Mrs. Terrell, attending the University of Texas. Are there ever visitors who did not get a chance to sign a visitor's card? If so, would you please stand and give us your name and program? On behalf of the Paltell Eponija and members of Eponija, we are very happy to have you worship with us this morning. If you at any time feel like you want to come back and visit with us, please do so. We are always happy to have you come and worship here at Eponija. Thank you. Thank you. We're delighted to have all of our guests.

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Trust that the service will be a blessing to you and that you will remain for a few moments. We believe the pastor and other members of our congregation will have the privilege of greeting you in a more intimate way. This evening at six o'clock is the time when we will have our Concord Chapel concert.

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This is an annual concert presented by the Concord Chapel Choir. We want to fill this auditorium this evening at six o'clock. We want you here. Let's give support to our young people.

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Let's join in in expressing our appreciation for this part of the music ministry of our church. We expect you to be here. We know that you appreciate them and the best way to show that is to be here. I know 60 Minutes comes on at 6 o'clock and I usually look at 60 Minutes but we want to be here you know at 6 o'clock today. Let's be here.

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Sister Rowena Jackson the director will be in charge and the young people their hours Let's support them. How many of you have taken out, made a contribution already to that effort? Let me see your hands. Now some of you have not been contacted. Thank you so much.

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We need your support. We ought to have

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a as good an effort as we have ever had. I know this program comes in August. We know a year from now that we have it in August. So there's no reason to say you know it's hot revenue, you know this is vacation period, you know it. Yeah, we all know that. We knew that when we planned it.

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So let's be here and let's support it. If you know you aren't going to be here, let's write a check out for the young people and this effort and leave it with one of the parents or someone. If you don't know someone, leave it with the ushers and we want, so we want you to be here.

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You don't want the check without you. If we can possibly get both we want both. If we can't we take what we can get. So let's be here please and support that.

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I believe that you're aware of the fact that our Congress will be held this week and we will have representatives from our various groups involved in Houston in our Sunday schools and DTU Congress. We have the air conditioning is installed in the educational

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wing been replaced and of course we're in a much better position over there now to to have the kind of comfort which we want. You'll notice that on the second Sunday is Men's Day. Now is that rehearsal by the corner?

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on Friday. Is that the only rehearsal? Friday is the only rehearsal you're having? For the men? Okay, all the men who are going to be in the men's chorus, Friday at what time? 7 o'clock. We want you here Friday at 7 p.m. Our speaker will be Chaplain

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And then, Tandy, who's a highly trained, gifted young man, a servant of God, who is a Protestant chaplain for Berkson Air Force Base. He will be the speaker on Sunday afternoon. And we're asking that all the men will contact their teams, all the women, everybody.

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This is an effort of the Church led by the men, and we look forward to having a great and glorious time next Sunday all day. ♪ Oh, just leave the pain for me ♪ ♪ [piano]

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♪ Way back on Calvary ♪ The blood that gives me strength from day to day, it will never leave its path. ♪ It reaches to the highest mountain ♪

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♪ It flows to the lowest valley ♪ ♪ The blood that gives its strength ♪ From day to day, we will never lose this time. This truth might out-and-out my dreams.

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[Music] And it drives all of my tears The blood that gives me strength From day to day

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It will never lose its power. It reaches to the higher mountains. ♪ Oh, it's so close to the Lord ♪ ♪ That He ♪

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♪ Love us as He should say ♪ ♪ From day to day ♪ ♪ We'll never be ♪ [Music]

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♪ To the highest mountain ♪ ♪ Oh, soar to the Lord ♪ ♪ And you shall hear ♪ ♪ The voice of God that gives his grace ♪

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♪ From day to day ♪ ♪ It will never, you ♪ ♪ And I ♪ ♪ It will never, you ♪

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♪ And I ♪ ♪ It will never be ♪ Lift up for our prayerful consideration this word which is recorded. in the book of 1 Samuel, the 16th chapter, the 23rd verse, "And it came to pass, when

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The evil spirit was upon Saul, that David took and hopped and played with his hand. So Saul was refreshed and was well, and the evil spirit departed from him. subject of the message, "Tune up for the letdown. Tune up for the letdown." Harmony is one of the desirable ingredients of human existence.

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I go a step farther by saying that harmony is essential to life. We need to be in tune with ourselves in order to operate at our highest and best. The finite must be in tune with the infinite in order to rightly relate that which is temporary the eternal. Harmony, being in tune with other people, enables us to establish

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meaningful communication. When this physical existence is in tune with the spiritual realm harmonious living occurs. From time to time we secure a tune-up for our automobiles. The engine needs a tune-up in order to run smoothly. The spark plugs need to be

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replace the carburetor needs Adjusting the timing has to be properly set When the necessary things are done the engine is Properly tuned

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We also think of a tune-up in relation to musical instruments The piano must be tuned from time to time Changes its tune because of atmospheric

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climatic conditions and because of constant use Other instruments are tuned in order to be in harmony with each other If instruments are to play together they must be in tune

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Life just goes better When one is in tune When we are in tune with the music I Read them some time ago that

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That if you want to grow plants And you want them to do well that you if you play music for the plants that they'll do better. And some have tried this experiment and testify that it works.

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All through life there is a need for music, for harmony, for tune-up. Now something has gone wrong with King Saul. This man who began his career with such bright promise, who seemed to have been in tune with life, who stands tallest among his brethren, who is selected by his countrymen and anointed

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by God as the ruler of the nation, this man, Saul, who once appeared to be in harmony with life, was in harmony with the human and the divine. What seems that the human and the divine blended as a harmonious whole, he was in tune. we see him at the outset as a humble person dedicated to his task, able to

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lead people and people follow him because he is in tune with the Holy One. Bible says that there followed Saul a band of men whose heart God had set. He was in tune. But now something has gone wrong. Saul the king is out of tune. He is often given to a state of rage. He has a bad

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temper and he's out of tune. And when we get out of tune nothing seems to go right. Everything seems to be against us. Nothing seems to go our way. We are out of tune. There is a story of a proud mother who visited her son, was enrolled in West Point, and West Point is known for its discipline, for its precision drilling,

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And as the men were marching, she looked and she was able to locate her son. And she said, "Oh, there is my son Henry, and he is the only one who is in step." Sometimes it seems that we are out of step, we are out of tune, and we fail to recognize it. We keep acting as if we are in tune. Something has gone wrong with the King. Sometimes everyone

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around us knows that we are out of tune before we recognize it. But Paul knows that something is wrong. He seems to be unable to keep himself in check. The servants, the courtiers, whisper to one another that something is wrong with the king. Paul is tormented with mental sickness. His malady may be diagnosed as manic depression.

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He suffers from paranoia. He is the victim of mental disorder characterized by systematized delusions. King is in conflict with himself. He is a nervous wreck.

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He is at war with himself. The hostility which he has for himself he projects or ascribes to others. He has come to the point time and time again where he thinks that his friends are his enemies. individual is in terrible shape and much out of tune when he or she fails to

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recognize his or her friends. You see, Saul is given two periods of depression and one of the problems, so the Scripture points out, is that he is insanely jealous. He hears women singing and he sees them dancing in the streets saying, "Saul has slain his thousands but David has slain his tens of thousands." And Saul

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not only becomes jealous, he becomes depressed, and he is possessed by an evil spirit. He's out of tune. Out of tune with the royal court, out of tune with his family, out of tune with the nation, out of tune with God. And he suffers a letdown. This is his problem, he suffers from a letdown. He finds himself time and time

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down in the dump and he doesn't seem to be able to get out. He's mad. The servants in the in the palace recognize the problem and so they make a recommendation to the king. They conclude that what the king needs is music. What What is needed in the royal palace is the sound of music.

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See, music is the language of the soul. Music is therapy for the ill. Music is a remedy for human ailment, kind of healing health and kind of living hope. Many times when you don't feel very good and you hear good music, it sort of lifts your

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spirit. And so they know this, and so they make this recommendation to King Saul that what he really needs is music. You know, there are many discordant notes in our personal and social existence that

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trouble us, notes that seem to drive us mad, notes of discord that cause us to agonize, and we need harmony, we need music, we need the rhythm of righteousness, we need the harmony of holiness, and we need the melody of mercy. We need music.

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The palace of our lives needs to hear the sound of music. And then the servants go a step further. They make a recommendation to the king that they be permitted to find a man who is skillful as a player on the harp.

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He will drive away the madness with music and the king will be well. So Saul, after hearing their recommendation, he revises it somewhat. He says, "All right, I'll accept your recommendation, but I want this understanding, that you are to secure a man, not just an ordinary musician, but I want you to secure a man who plays well

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and bring him to me. must play well. Not a mediocre musician will suffice, not a novice, but I want one who is experienced, who plays well, who knows what he's doing. And one of them says to the king, "You know I know just the man, O King, David the son of Jesse

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from Bethlehem. He has the necessary credentials. You see, he's a mighty man, he's powerful, he's a warrior, he's a man of wisdom, and then he's handsome, he's attractive in appearance. He has the necessary credentials. But more than all All of that is that the Lord is with him.

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And this might well be lifted up as praiseworthy credentials for one who is able to provide the kind of harmony which is essential for us in the ongoingness of human existence. while secured for the job, then when the evil spirit came upon Saul, David would play his heart. See, it so happens that in our human experience that we often encounter an evil

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spirit. Sometimes people just get up wrong. Sometimes we say we get up on the wrong side of the bed. And people see some other person talking to someone else and they may not even be thinking about them, but they somehow get the idea that they must be talking about me. And someone does something and they don't even have them in mind, so well, he or she

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must have been doing that to get back at me. It's an evil spirit that troubles us. And if Artman comes up, when we find ourselves down in the dumps, when we find ourselves "Lay down!" Saul had been high up and he was the one the people were singing their praises,

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singing his praises, but now he feels that he's down in the dumps and he's jealous because God is blessing David. You know there are a lot of people like that. They don't give thanks to God and keep thanking God for the blessings that he's giving them. They're looking at somebody else's blessing and getting angry because somebody else is getting

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certain blessings and they are unable to appreciate their own blessing because they're so jealous of someone else's blessing. That will solve problems. It's a problem that goes on today. It's with us now. And so this is an evil spirit that subaltern and David is brought to the royal court with his harp and David

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plays on his harp and Saul becomes jealous of David. You know sometimes the very avenue that God has sent to help us we become jealous of that very avenue of help that God has provided and so here he has David put on the palace payroll and David is doing really what he asked him to do and he becomes jealous of David. The man is sick

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terribly sick terribly sick. He's the leader of the nation but he's sick and a lot of sick people in big positions high places but they're sick. troubled by an evil spirit. And on one occasion, Saul, as David is there playing on his harp, Saul takes his javelin and throws it at David, and David moves just in time that he is unharmed.

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and he continues to play on his harp. In the midst of the letdown, the thing that he hears with a tune up with his harp, and he continues to play on his harp when Saul is throwing a spear. And that's what life is like for us. If God gives us a harp to play and to make music with that harp, and even when people are throwing that javelin at us, that somehow as the people of God, if God be with us, we ought to be able to play on our harp.

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You don't see where David complained. You don't see where he had any complaint to God. You don't see where he made any complaint to the king. "Look, I've come here to help you and you're treating me like this." You don't see where he cries at all. He doesn't become a crybaby about it all.

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He just keeps playing on his heart. He has the tune-up for the letdowns. So often when we find ourselves facing the letdowns, and when they would crush us, and when they would "Ride on some joy!"

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So often we are tempted to throw up our arms in despair, But here is an example of a tune-up for the letdown. "Play on your harp." "Play on your harp."

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Our forefathers somehow recognized this. And they saw a message in this which was applicable to life. And they sang in that spirit to a little David, "Play on your harp."

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"Little David, play on your harp. Hallelu, Hallelu, little David. David, play on your harp. Somehow this is a message for every one of us

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in the midst of all kinds of hostile conditions, maybe hostility even in the palace where you work. On your job, hostility in the community, surrounded by hostility and people

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who throw their javelins of suspicion and jealousy. Somehow when they throw them, somehow, to lift up your harp and play as little David. Play on your harp and say hallelujah, hallelujah. Well that's what it means to have a tune-up for the Lead-On. It really means my brothers

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and sisters to be able to celebrate. That's what the harp was used for anyway. It was you as a means of celebration and worship, to provide sweetness in the midst of the sourness of life. Sweet harmony, Father, this quarter note. To be able to celebrate in the midst of every condition and circumstance, to play your harp. And javelins of Rome play your

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heart. If it means to have a certain charm in the midst of the ugliest circumstances of life, there's a whole lot of ugliness in life, it's there. I don't care how good we may be in the midst of all of our goodness, we'll find ourselves surrounded by ugliness. And we are not to surrender our charm because we find that someone else is ugly.

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Lay on your heart. We are not to be naughty when just because someone else is not nice. You're a steel musician. That was one of the requirements. For the musician that would be brought to the court, be able to provide the kind of tune-up in the midst of the letdown.

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He was to be a musician, a skilled musician, and that means one who is able to improvise, to play the harp and to improvise. You know, we find ourselves in life facing different situations. Sometimes we have to change keys

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Start out in a major key and you find out you have to play in a minor key You have to be able to improvise And no matter who we are and what may be our condition or circumstance We've got to have the ability to improvise

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We need to be a still musician because if you're going to get some harmony out of life Sometimes our condition may be one of poverty, it may be one of some kind of physical weakness, it may be some kind of particular problem that we face, but in the midst of it all, you ought to be able to improvise.

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Story of a violinist who was playing the violin in a concert and one string broke and he kept on playing. Another string broke, he kept on playing. He went on until finally he had only one string, and he fooled with that one string.

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That's what God wants us to do, to be able to improvise, to never give up, to keep on fighting and improvise with God's help. And that's what he said, he is a man that

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is a man of God. Well, that's why David was able to do that. What about you and what about me? Being equipped to provide the tune-up that we need.

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In the midst of all of the discordant notes that we face, things going against us, this happening this way, that way, there's a lot of change. is out of this corner note today and we look at our national administration, a lot of this corner note. And for us to be able to provide a tune-up to play our harp today with all that's happening in Washington, it seems to go against the grain. It's not an easy thing.

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But that's what faith calls for. That's what faith in God calls for! And in the midst of that our God is able to provide us with the ability to be in harmony with life, even though we find ourselves surrounded by discordant notes. In the midst of ugly circumstances, he is able to give us great charm. In the midst of all of the

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full powerlessness of life, He's able to equip us to provide sweetness. God's able to do that. Only God can do that. Only God. We must somehow be in tune with the great musician. We must let him order our lives. It's an old story. He comes wrapped

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in poetic eloquence of a violin. His bat had been scarred

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and the auctioneer thought it hardly worth his while waste much time on the old violin, but he held it up with a smile. Now what am I bid, you good folks?" he cried. "Who will start bidding for me?"

00:55:27.960 - 00:56:01.400

"A dollar? Who will make it two? Two dollars? Who will make it three?" "Three dollars once, three dollars twice, and going and gone," said he. But no, from a room far back, a gray-haired man came forward and picked up the bow, and wiping the dust from the old violin and tightening up all the strings, he played a melody pure

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and sweet, as sweet as an angel sings. And said the auctioneer in a voice that was quiet and low, now what am I bidding for the old violin? And he held it up with the bow.

00:56:21.120 - 00:56:36.760

$1,000, who'll make it two? $2,000, who'll make it three? 3,000 once, 3,000 twice, and going and gone, said he. The people cheered.

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But some of them cried, "We don't quite understand what Jesus was." And the man replied, "The touch of the Master's hand." And many a man with life out of tomb and torn and battered with sin is auctioned cheap to a thoughtless crowd, much like the old violin. He's going once, he's going twice, he's going and almost gone, but the Master comes.

00:57:10.640 - 00:57:37.280

And the foolish crowd can never quite understand the worth of a soul and the change that's wrought by the touch of the Master's hand when he touches you. When he touches your life, when he touches your heart, when he comes in, there's music. There's music, yeah, there's music that enables us to tune up in the midst of the lead-out,

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to tune up in the midst of the discordant notes, to tune up when all around us seems to be going against us, yeah, to tune up because the great musician is playing upon our hearts and in the music of our life. Well that's wonderful. Till so sweet, life can be sweet. And if of all that's happening, it can be sweet. It is.

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Remember with Jesus, till so sweet, the trust in Jesus. Till so sweet, yes! We can somehow invite him into the palace of our lives with sweetness, harmony, joy. And as we We sing now that hymn. We invite you to accept him as the Lord of your life. He is so sweet to trust in Jesus.

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Hymn number 196. [ Music ] [Music] [Music]

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[Music] [Music] [Music] [Music]

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[Music] [Music] ♪ ♪ ♪ We are the ones who are here to stay ♪

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♪ And we are the ones who are here to stay ♪ ♪ And we are the ones who are here to stay ♪ ♪ We are the angels that are here to stay ♪ ♪ I know He has a home in the deep of day ♪

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♪ And I know He loves the people that He loves me ♪ ♪ And I know He loves the people that He loves me ♪ (music) Let us pray. Lord God our Father we thank you that you have made it possible for us

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made it. [ Silence ]