Finding Joy in the Valleys

Diving into Psalms 34:1-22 reveals powerful truths about blessing God in all circumstances and experiencing His transformative joy. The chapter challenges us to shift our perspective on difficult seasons and recognize them as purposeful preparation from God.

• Blessing the Lord "at all times" means praising Him even in valleys, recognizing His purpose in difficult seasons
• We often take credit for achievements instead of proclaiming God's greatness working through us
• When we seek the Lord and He answers, it naturally produces visible joy that others can see
• Our faces reveal our spiritual condition—whether we've been spending time with God or not
• Those who genuinely look to God become "radiant with joy" with faces that are never ashamed
• A genuine encounter with God produces a joy that cannot be contained

Get into God's Word today. Let Him use you, guide you, and bring joy to your face that tells a different story to the world.

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:10):
Good morning, guys.
It's Monday and we are here onWord Up getting a later posting
today, normally first thing inthe morning.
But the question is have youspent time in God's Word today?
But the question is, have youspent time in God's Word today?
If you haven't, pause right now, go to Psalms 34 1-22, verses

(00:32):
1-22.
Read that and come back andlet's see what you got out of it
.
I'm going to be honest, I'mgoing to be just in the first
five verses.
This morning, right out of thegate, god just really revealed

(00:53):
himself to me and it truly is ablessing to see God's promises
and what David was doing here.
In verse 1, it says I willbless the Lord at all times.
I will bless the Lord at alltimes.
Can we say that we're trulydoing that?

(01:14):
Not just when things are goinggood or when they're going the
way that I want them to go, butat all times.
Guys, we've got to find a wayto praise God, even in the
valleys, knowing that he has apurpose for the valley that
we're in.
When we find a way to see Godat work, even in those valleys,

(01:36):
you know, the valley no longerseems like a valley because
we're now seeing a holy God atwork instead of just our current
place in a broken world.
No matter the situation you'rein, guys, see where God is at
work, see what he's showing you.
What is he preparing you for?
When you can truly focus on?

(01:57):
Hey, this situation that I'm inis not just a dark place.
It is a test that God's puttingme through.
It is a teaching moment.
He is preparing me to do bigthings.
When you can shift your mindsetto what God's doing and not be
focused on the world, it changeseverything.
You look at verse 3.

(02:18):
Verse 3 says Proclaim theLord's greatness within me.
Let's exalt His name together.
When's the last time youproclaimed the Lord's greatness
within me?
Let's exalt His name together.
When's the last time youproclaimed the Lord's greatness
in you?
Do you make it a natural partof your day to share with others
what God is doing in your life,or are we only sharing what

(02:39):
we've done?
Man, that one will step allover you.
Done man, that one will stepall over you?
I think about how many times wetalk about things in our life
and ultimately we take thecredit for it.
But it was all because Godprepared us, god gave us the
gifts, the talents God put thatperson on our heart.

(02:59):
And sometimes I feel like weget excited about things and we
share the good things going onin our life.
We're quick to call a friend orour parents or whoever to share
about a good situation, but wefail to give God the credit and
the glory for what he did tobring that about, for what he

(03:21):
did, how he prepared us to beable to accomplish that.
Make sure that you're givingthat.
You're proclaiming god'sgreatness in you.
And then, looking at at versefour, it says I sought the lord
and he answered and rescued mefrom all my fears.
I sought the lord.

(03:45):
That's the first part.
Right there we've got to seekhim.
But let me tell you somethingwhen you seek out God and he
answers you and he rescues you,there's no chance that you're
not sharing that with others.
There's no chance that youdon't look like what it says in
verse 5.
Those who look to him areradiant with joy.

(04:07):
Their faces will never beashamed.
When you seek the Lord and heanswers, your face is going to
be joyful.
You're going to have a wholedifferent look about you because
you've just experienced God.
Does your face today say I sawJesus or does it show worry,

(04:28):
anxiety and despair?
If I walked up to you right now, what would I see?
Would I see somebody who hassought the Lord and experienced
Him?
This past Sunday or yesterday, Ihad a group of guys in the
office and we were just digginginto God's Word, sharing
Scripture and talking about ourweek.

(04:50):
I asked them, I said tell mehow you've experienced God this
week, or tell me somebody thatyou've shared Jesus with.
Have you been sharing?
And ultimately, just like forme as well, if I haven't been
serious about my relationshipthis week, if I haven't truly
been in God's Word, I probablyhaven't experienced Him.

(05:12):
And so those who know theyhadn't really invested that time
, they immediately would lookdown or kind of shy away from
the question.
But as I looked around the room, there was a young man sitting
across from me and immediatelyhad the biggest smile pop up on
his face.
As soon as I saw the smile, Iknew that he had experienced God

(05:38):
.
I knew that he had shared withsomebody this week what God
meant to him and what God hadbeen doing in his life, that
immediate joy, just like we seein verse 5 there that those who
look to him are radiant with joy.
This young man had been lookingto Christ.

(05:59):
He had had the opportunity toshare what God had done in his
life and he was radiant with joy.
Whenever we don't spend timewith God, it shows on our face.
I can walk up to someone and Ican start a gospel conversation
and you can immediately tell bythe look on their face whether

(06:21):
or not they've been alone withGod.
Guys, when we do this, when wespend time with Him, you can't
contain the joy and thehappiness.
If you're struggling throughlife right now, if you feel like
I'm miserable, I hate my job, Ihate my school, I hate my team,

(06:44):
as I'm just telling you, comeback to this scripture right
here.
Look at what God can do.
Go in here and make acommitment.
Just try it.
I will bless the Lord at alltimes.
His praise will be on my lips.
I will seek the Lord.
He will answer me.
He will rescue me from my fearsand when I'm looking at him,

(07:10):
I'm going to be radiant with joy.
If you will truly make thatcommitment to call out his
praises, proclaim the greatnessthat he has put in you, seek him
with everything you've got.
I promise you, your face isgoing to tell a different story
in the days to come.
I love you guys.

(07:31):
Get in God's word.
Let him use you, let him guideyou and let him bring joy to
your face tomorrow.