Baalperazim
“David attacked the Philistines and defeated them. Then he said, “I watched the Lord break through my enemies like a mighty flood.” So he named the place “The Lord Broke Through.”
2 Samuel 5:20 Contemporary English Version
Intro: In the bible lesson for today…, David had just been chosen king of Israel.
Everything seems to be going good.
The Philistines…, are the sworn enemy…, of the Israelites.
When the Philistines learned that David had been made king of Israel.
They ordered all their forces…, against David…, to attack and enslave him.
They have more spears.
They have more chariots.
They have more swords.
They've got a bigger army than the Israelites.
Now, we have all been in this place in our own life.
Things start getting better.
It looks like things are about to turn around.
Then suddenly out of nowhere…, there comes a setback or a hardship.
This delay
This attack
This stop or detour in progress
often happens when we are just starting to come out of hurt or a difficult situation.
You were just starting to heal.
You were just beginning to feel like you were normal.
Again you are being tempted.
Again you are under attack.
Again something is molesting you…,
and harassing you…, and means to do harm in your life once more.
The bible describes an enemy comes when you have something.
When the Philistines heard that David had been anointed King they decided to attack.
All this time they knew David existed.
David had already killed Goliath.
They knew who David was.
They knew where David kept his flock of sheep.
For a long time, even while Soul was still King,
David was really the one who had been leading the Israel.
All of this time they had done nothing against David.
But when they heard that he had become King…, then they rose up against him.
There is an enemy…, that only comes…, when you have something.
When you receive some unexpected money, that’s when the car breaks down.
When you have just made a very good deal, then what happens?
When you get some unexpected good news, is when you often receive some unexpected bad news.
There is an unexpected problem that comes up.
There is an enemy that only comes to kill, steal and destroy.
But there is an answer for this problem in the bible tells us.
David had a stronghold.
When David hears the news that the Philistines were being mobilized to come against him …,
David moved to his fortified place.
Now, that's a good thing.
We all need to have a fortified place, a stronghold against the enemy.
Where is your stronghold?
Where is your fortified place against the enemy?
Where do you turn when things go from good to bad to worse?
Do you have a support system?
Do you have a safe place?
When you're under attack
When times are tough,
when you don't know which way to turn,
when you feel like everything has turn against you, what is your fortified place?
If you are here today and don’t have a safe place to go to when you are under attack
I want to change that.
I hope that this church will be a fortified place.
Your stronghold will be in your place of prayer.
Your stronghold will be in your place where you have friends who will have your back.
Your stronghold will be in your place where you will have people to support you.
Your stronghold will be in your study and learning of the bible, the word of God.
Your stronghold will be in your place where you seek God.
If you don't have a fortified place when the enemy comes after you,
you're going to get wounded or worse.
killed and destroyed.
David pulls back to his fortified place.
The church, the family of God, these Christians around you are fortified places.
Now, it says this, “…Then, the Philistine army moved in and spread out across the entire valley.
They have pretty much surrounded him.
They're trying to cut off any road of escape or way out.
What does David do?
David sought the Lord in prayer.
That's what we're going to do.
Pray about everything.
Pray about everything.
There's nothing too small to pray about.
There's nothing too big to pray about.
If it's worth worrying about, it's worth praying about.
If it's worth thinking about, then it's worth praying about.
You mean I can pray about, I don't have money to pay for my kid's braces.
Yes, you can pray about that.
My face is broken out; can I pray about it?
You can pray about that.
My back is out.
You can pray about that.
There is nothing too small ...
There are no big requests to God and there are no small requests to God.
God says you can pray about anything.
I ask you pray for me your pastor.
Pray for your church
Pray for people want to be here but are too elderly or sick
Pray for the people who are healthy and don’t see any need to be here.
We're going to seek the Lord in prayer for a breakout in our life.
Not only are you going to be praying for your life,
you're going to be praying for other people
You’re going to be praying for all of the church and all of the church is going to be praying for you.
How would it make you feel to know that the entire church is praying for you?
Do you think that might help?
I believe it would.
Can you imagine how your life might be different if you have dozens
maybe even hundreds of brothers and sisters in Christ praying for you?
There is something about the power of prayer.
Because when you are praying you are no longer trusting in your strength or your power
But you are trusting in the strength and power of God.
“The Lord God Almighty can do all things; there is nothing impossible for Him” Luke 1:37
A lot of people think that your faith determines whether or not God answers your prayers.
In Acts 12, the church prays for Peter to be released from prison (v. 5),
and God answers their prayer (vv. 7-11).
Peter goes to the door of the prayer meeting and knocks,
When Rhoda came to open the door.
She was overjoyed and ran back to tell the disciples “Peter is standing at the door!”
But those who are praying refuse at first to believe that it is really Peter.
They told Rhoda “You must be out of your mind.”
They were praying but their faith wasn’t expecting.
Yet their act of obedience moves God into action which results in Peter being released from prison.
The prayers of the group were answered even as they prayed.
While they were having prayer meeting.
God answered their prayer.
But when the answer came to the door.
When the answer arrived at the door they did not believe it.
They prayed he would be released, but they failed to believe and expect an answer to their prayers.
We should be people who believe that God answers the prayers of those who seek him.
When you pray, believe God will answer.
And when the answer comes.
Don’t be surprised. Be thankful.
The bible says "So David sought the Lord in prayer. He asked, ‘Should I go fight these Philistines?
Will you give them over to me?’"
Now, here's an important lesson in life.
Never fight a battle without asking God first.
A legal battle,
a financial battle,
a relationship battle,
a battle with your health, your future.
Never, ever fight a battle without asking God first.
If you don't ask God, you're on your own, good luck with that;
Never go into battle without seeking God first.
A second thing that is amazing is the bible tells us
the Philistines arrived and spread out across the valley of Rephaim.
And yet we see the bible tells us that David came through Baalperazim.
Did the Philistines change location?
No.
What happened?
What happened is that David changed the name of the place even before he defeated them.
In his mind he had already named the place.
He changed the name from the Valley of Rephaim.
Rephaim is translated to mean the valley of the dead or the valley of defeat.
But David changed the name of the valley from Rephaim to Baalperazim.
From the valley of defeat to the valley of Breakthrough
You can have your breakthrough by starting by renaming your location.
Today when you go home I want you to walk through every room in your house
And pray and declare you house the place of Baalperazim.
Today begin to rename the places where you walk.
Rename the place where you work from the valley of Sheol,
Where do you work?
I work in the valley of hades…,
No change the name to the place of Baalperazim
The place of the God of the Breakthrough.
Rename the place where you live from the place of defeat to the place of breakthrough.
Begin the rename the places in your life from the places of death to the place of breakthrough.
Everywhere you go declare this place to be the place of Baalperazim.
The God of Breakthrough.
And the Lord will surely break through every situation you are experiencing.
Like the breakthrough of a mighty water.
The breakthrough is coming to you.
Welcome to the God of the Breakthrough.
News story:
When Jessica and Derek Simmons first saw the beachgoers pausing to stare toward the water,
the young couple just assumed someone had spotted a shark.
It was Saturday evening, after all,
peak summer season in Panama City Beach for overheated Florida tourists to cross paths
with curious marine life.
Then they noticed flashing lights by the boardwalk, a police truck on the sand
and nearly a dozen bobbing heads about 100 yards beyond the beach, crying desperately for help.
Six members of a single family — four adults and two young boys
— and four other swimmers had been swept away by powerful and deceptive rip currents
churning below the water’s surface.
“These people are not drowning today,”
Jessica Simmons thought, she told the Panama City News Herald.
“It’s not happening. We’re going to get them out.”
She was a strong swimmer and fearless in the face of adversity.
But others had tried to reach them and each previous rescue attempt had only stranded more people.
There was no lifeguard on duty, and law enforcement on the scene had opted to wait for a rescue boat.
People on the beach had no rescue equipment, only boogie boards, surf boards and their arms and legs.
“Form a human chain!” they started shouting.
Beachgoers formed a human chain to save a family on July 8 in Panama city, Fla.
About 75 beach goers form a human chain to rescue stranded swimmers.
David asked God, Lord Should I go out to fight the Philistines?
Will you hand my enemy over to me?
Now, it says, here's what God said.
The Lord replied, "Yes, go ahead.
You can certainly count on me to give you the victory.
So David went out and he defeated them.
[He defeats the enemy.]
Then David said, [this is great]
‘I watched the Lord break through.
I watched the Lord break through my enemies like a mighty flood.’
the place, Baalperazim : ‘The Lord Broke Through!’”
That's what I want to happen in your life starting right now.
I want you to think of a place where you need the Lord to break through.
My finances – the Lord broke through.
My impasse in this relationship – the Lord broke through.
My schooling – the Lord broke through.
My health– the Lord broke through.
My spiritual life– the Lord broke through.
You need a breakthrough in your life.
But you’ve got to do the things that David did.
In your life, you’ve got some battles going on,
maybe with your parents,
maybe with your spouse,
maybe with the child,
maybe with somebody at work.
God wants to turn the valley of battles into a valley of blessing
but the key is to do what David did.
You say, well, how about me?
How do I do that?
Commit
Psalm 37:5 “Commit everything you do to the Lord. Trust Him and he will help you.”
Write that down.
Things will never get better in your life until you make the decision to Commit Everything you do to the Lord.
That is what King David did.
Closing: Father, as we go through life seeking you, we want to know your heart.
We need breakthroughs. Each of us here today need breakthroughs in different areas of our lives.
I'm thanking you in advance for the answer to our prayers.
I pray God when we meet together again…, that we'll have story after story after story after story
of things that'll be turning around in lives because we did what you said to do.
Thank you for loving me.
Thank you for dying on the cross for me.
As best I know how, I ask you to come into my life. In your name, I pray. Amen. general
