LET GOD ARISE: PASTOR MENSA OTABIL – SPECIAL SUNDAY SERVICE, 22ND AUGUST, 2021
SPECIAL SUNDAY SERVICE BY DR. MENSAH OTABIL (GENERAL OVERSEER INTERNATIONAL CENTRAL GOSPEL CHURCH (ICGC) ACCRA, GHANA)
TOPIC: LET GOD ARISE.
DATE: 22ND AUGUST, 2021
TEXT: PSALMS 68:1
Amen! Let’s rise up together, as we make our DECLARATION OF FRUITFULNESS in this Year of Fruitfulness:
Are you ready? Say with me:
The Eternal God is our Refuge. He opens Rivers in desolate Heights.The Lord makes the wilderness a Pool of water.
The LORD God is my Sun and Shield; The LORD gives Grace and Glory.
Therefore, I delight myself in Him. Those who are Planted in the House of the LORD shall be Fresh and Flourishing.
Though the Earth be shaken; the Name of the Lord is my Strong Tower. By Faith I affirm that: In Christ alone is my Salvation. In Him I live, and move and have my Being.
It is written: The Righteous are like trees Planted by the waters; bearing Fruits in its Season.
So I boldly declare: As for me, my God has made me Exceedingly Fruitful.
In this Season, my Spirit bears Fruits of Righteousness, my Talents make Way for me. With my hands, I will Plant, I will Build, I will Harvest – Day by Day, Step by Step.
In Jesus’ Name – Amen!
My Message is Titled: LET GOD ARISE.
How many of you are familiar with that Song? – “Let God arise, and His enemies be scattered”
We used to really March with that Song Years ago – “Let God arise, and His enemies be scattered”
Psalms 68:1 is where that Phrase is recorded.
And it says:
Let God arise, Let His enemies be scattered; Let those also who hate Him flee before Him.
This is a Prayer as well as an expectation from David. And there is a Sequence there: God arises, His enemies scatter. And His haters flee!
It is both a Prayer and a Statement – “Let God Arise”.
So, if we are saying it as a Prayer, it would sound like – “Oh, that God would arise, and His enemies would scatter. And those who hate Him flee before Him.”
Now, for those of you who compare Bible Passages with different Translations; you would know that:
I. King James says: “Let God Arise”.
II. New King James says: “Let God Arise”.
But other Translation does not have ‘LET’. It would say – God arise, Oh that God would arise.
And the reason why it is a little different in different Translations is because, in the Hebrew, there is no ‘Let’. It is – ‘God arise’ or ‘Arise God”.
So, ‘Arise God’ can either be a Prayer or it can be a Statement of Faith – That God rises all the time. And when God rises, His enemies scatter!
We say it as a Prayer – ‘Oh God arise.’
We say it as a Statement – ‘Arise God.’
And God arises.
But the Key word is the word ‘ARISE’.
… Everybody say: ARISE!
And so, I will take time to define the word Arise a little bit.
I. To arise means to STAND UPRIGHT.
The Hebrew word used means to stand Upright – The idea is one who is ready to act; one who is ready to do something.
So when we say: ‘God Arise’ it means God is in a state of readiness to do something.
II. Secondly, the word Arise means to be ESTABLISHED.
It is used in a sense like: “What I have said will Stand.”
When a Person says: “What I have said will Stand”; it doesn’t mean – what I have said ‘will Get Up.’ It means what I have said will not Change; it will be established.
So, when we say ‘Let God arise.’ That is another meaning – That God is establishing His Purposes.
III. Thirdly, the word Arise (and that is what I like the most); it is to SHOW UP.
To “Show Up” on the scene! And it is used in a battle sense. And that is the sense in which it is used in this Passage.
When a Champion steps into battle; there is a battle, and a Champion rises up and appear on the scene. And if he is a formidable Champion, his enemies scatter.
So, when God comes on the scene, His enemies scatter! When God shows up, His enemies scatter!
Now, the root word that David quotes in Psalms 68:1 occurs in the Book of Numbers.
Because in the Book of Numbers, you will find a similar Phrase, made by Moses. And I will want us to look at it in Numbers 10: 35-36.
It is a statement that is associated with the Ark of the Covenant and Israel’s journey in the Wilderness. As Israel journeyed in the Wilderness, this statement was made.
Numbers 10:35-36; So it was, whenever the Ark set out, that Moses said: “Rise up, Oh Lord! Let Your enemies be scattered, and let those who hate You flee before You.” And when it rested, he said: “Return, Oh Lord, To the many thousands of Israel.”
The Ark of the Covenant was very important to Israel. It reminded them of God’s Presence. They were not to worship the Ark but they were to remember that God was in their midst because the Ark was in their midst.
And if you read about the way the People of Israel related to the Ark of Covenant – When the Ark of the Covenant moved, they moved!
When they were going to a Place, the first thing to move was the Ark of the Covenant. And the People followed the Ark of the Covenant. And when the Ark of the Covenant settled, they settled.
It was a way of saying: When God moves I move! We move at the move of the Lord. We do what God does. When God moves, I move!
Someone say: “WHEN GOD MOVES, I MOVE.”
Yes! When God Moves, we move. When God Speaks, we speak. When God Acts, we act. We move at impulse of the Lord. We move by His Direction, we move by His Spirit.
So, whenever the Ark of the Covenant was moved; it was taken from the Holy of Holies and it is moved; they lift the Ark, they Placed it on the shoulders of the Levites.
And when that happens, Moses would say: “Rise up, Oh Lord! Let Your enemies be scattered, And let those who hate You flee before You”.
And that is what David is speaking about in Psalms 68:1 – Let God arise, Let His enemies be scattered; Let those also who hate Him flee before Him.
It means that when God shows up, His enemies dispersed before Him. When God shows up, His enemies scatter before Him.
And Psalms 68:2 says they dispersed: “As smoke is driven away, so drive them away; As wax melts before the fire, So let the wicked Perish at the Presence of God.”
As smoke is blown away! Have you seen smoke blown away in the wind? It just goes off. Wax that melts in fire, it just happens like that.
And when God rises, that which seems like an enemy, would be blown like smoke away. And that which seems like solid candle or wax – would melt before the Lord.
… Let God Arise and His enemies be scattered!
Now Note: It didn’t say – Let God arise and ‘MY’ enemies be scattered. It says: Let God Arise and ‘HIS’ (God’s enemies).
The People that scattered are not necessarily your enemies, they are the enemies of God.
For some People to scatter, they must not just be fighting you – they must also be fighting God.
And when that happens; when God arise, People scatter from the battle fields.
Let God Arise! – Don’t minimize His Presence in your midst, don’t downplay the Presence of God, don’t look down on the Presence of God. Let God arise!
In the days of Moses, God arise, when the Ark of the Covenant arose.
When they Picked up the Ark of the Covenant, Moses would say: “Rise up, O Lord!
… The Lord is arising! He is going to show up in battle.
“Let Your enemies be scattered, And let those who hate You flee before You.”
Can you image how it was! Because they were in the wilderness. And in the wilderness, the enemies were all around. And this is a Nation without land;
It doesn’t have an Army, it doesn’t have Protection – They were just slaves. They have come out. God has delivered them. And as they go through the wilderness, there were enemies all around trying to attack them, steal from them, destroy them, steal their gold and their silver.
When they entered the wilderness, this is how they moved for forty (40) Years – The Ark of the Covenant moves, “Let God Arise (Moses would say) Let His enemies be scattered.”
And all over, in every Nation, enemies that wanted to attack them scattered. And they were blown away like smoke in the wind, and they were dispersed like wax in fire.
May the same Power be manifested in your life as you wake up on Monday morning to face the world, let God Arise, as you go through the duties of your life – Amen.
Now, when we go back to Psalms 68, it tells us – HOW DAVID MADE GOD TO ARISE.
In the days of Moses, it was when the Ark of the Covenant was lifted! – We don’t have an Ark of the Covenant today.
… So, How does God Arise for us?
Psalms 68:2-4 – And it says: But let the Righteous be glad; Let them rejoice before God; Yes, let them rejoice exceedingly. Sing to God, sing Praises to His Name; Extol Him who rides on the clouds, By His Name YAH, And rejoice before Him.
SO, HOW DOES GOD ARISE?
- God arises when we REJOICE in the Lord.
Rejoicing in the Lord means you are glad!
We can’t rejoice in the Lord, if we allow out hearts to be weighed down by sorrow.
When we rejoice, we exclaim Hallelujah! You Extol Him by His Name YAH.
Hallelujah! Rejoicing in the Lord.
If we go through life depressed, bowed down, defeated, crying, weeping; God will not arise on your behalf because God arises when our hearts are full of gladness and we rejoice in Him.
You have to learn to rejoice in the Lord, to celebrate the Lord, to see the beauty of His Holiness, to Praise Him.
… For God to arise, you have to Rejoice!
- The Psalmist says, God Arises when we MAGNIFY His Mighty Work.
We Extol Him Who rides on the clouds. We declare how wonderful He is: He is the One Who rides on the clouds, He is the Maker and the Ruler of the Universe.
When we Magnify the Lord, we recognise what He has done, what He is doing and what He will do – And when we do that, GOD ARISES.
- And when we want God to Arise; We EXALT the Name of the Lord – We see Him so High, that everything is so Low.
That is how God wants us to approach Him everyday – When you get up in the Morning – “This is the Day the Lord has made, I rejoice and I am glad in it; the Joy of the Lord is my Strength”.
We go through the day, magnifying the Lord. Praising His Name, Exalting His Name. And when we do that, God Arises!
So, when we Magnify the Lord, He shows up on the scene. When we call His Name, He answers. He shows up as a Man of War because the Lord is a Man of War.
You want God to Arise on your case? – Then rejoice in Him; Magnify His works; Exalt His Name, Praise Him – Because when we do that, the Lord shows up.
You know, many times we spend so much time talking about the devil; that we spend so little time talking about God.
You have to remember that: “Whatever you Magnify, will Manifest.”
If you magnify Satan, he will manifest; you magnify demons, they will manifest.
If you spend all your time talking about irrelevant things – I hear People talk about Marine Spirit and that Spirit; they will manifest. They will!
If you talk about witches, they will manifest – Because whatever you magnify, you manifest.
If you talk about God, He will Arise. If you Exalt His Name, He will Arise. If you Praise Him, He will Arise.
If you Praise the devil, he will also arise.
If you have demonic activity all around you, check who you have been magnifying – That is the one arising in your case.
Everywhere you go – Someone is a witch. Your mind says it’s a witch, it’s a wizard. Then everybody says it’s a witch, it’s a wizard. And you wondered: “Why am I having too many demonic activity around me?”
Check who you are Magnifying – That is who is arising.
But if you Magnify the Lord, then He will Arise, and His enemies will be scattered. There will be no Place for demons and demonic activities in your Life.
Whatever you Magnify will Manifest! – If you Magnify God, He will Manifest His Power.
So go to Psalms 68:7-10, and David continued, he said: Oh God, when You went out before Your People, when You marched through the wilderness, Selah. The Earth shook; the Heavens also dropped rain at the Presence of God; Sinai itself was moved at the Presence of God, the God of Israel. You, Oh God, sent a Plentiful rain, whereby You confirmed Your Inheritance, When it was weary. Your Congregation dwelt in it; You, Oh God, Provided from Your Goodness for the Poor.
…. David is saying: When we Praise God and He arose, this is what happened.
So look at what happens when God Arises:
- First, He Shakes and Moves established Powers.
In the wilderness, He shook mount Sinai. Things that appeared immovable will move – The mountain shook at the Presence of the Lord.
I. When God shows up in your Life, He will shake and move things.
II. When God shows up in your family, He will shake and move things.
III. When God shows up in your office, He will shake and move things.
IV. When God shows up in our world, He will shake and move Powers!
I don’t know what Mountain is established; but let God Arise and His enemies will be scattered!
There is a shaking, there is a moving – And Mountains are moving, Powers are moving, Systems are moving.
… When God Arises, there is a shaking.
And not only that:
- When God Arises, He opens the Heavens and favours His People.
The Psalmist said: “You, Oh God, sent a Plentiful rain.”
Oh, may the Lord send Plentiful rain, Plentiful favour, Plentiful Miracles – Miracles upon Miracles, Favour upon Favour – Amen.
Because when He Arises, He opens the Heavens and sends Plentiful rain; He favours His People.
- When God Arises, He confirms His Words to His People.
The Psalmist said: “You confirmed Your Inheritance, when it was weary. And Your People dwelt in it;”
May God confirm His Words to you – Amen.
When He Arises, He confirms His Words; when He Arises, He confirms His Inheritance.
Even when you are tired and weary, God will confirm His Words towards you – Amen.
If you are down and out, God will confirm His Words towards you – Amen.
Let God Arise and every enemies of God that Pursues the People of God, be scattered – Amen.
… The People of God enjoyed the Presence of God.
Finally, I want to take you to the New Testament to show you a Case Study of what happens when God Arises:
Acts 16:25-26 – You know the Story of Paul and Silas.
They are in the City of Philippi, and they cast out a demon. And the People are offended because a demon had been cast out; because it had Financial Repercussions; it’s affecting Business.
So, they Prevailed on the Political System, to arrest Paul and Silas, and they put them into Prison.
In Prison, Paul and Silas knew how to make God Arise!
And so the Bible says in Acts 16:25-26 – But at midnight Paul and Silas were Praying and Singing Hymns to God, and the Prisoners were listening to them.
Suddenly, there was a Great Earthquake, so that the foundations of the Prison were shaken; and immediately all the doors were opened and everyone’s chains were loosed.
Let God Arise! – How does God Arise?
When we Rejoice in Him, when we Magnify His Name, when we Exalt His Name – Then He shows up on the Scene.
And as it happened in the Old Testament – When God showed up on Mount Sinai; there was a shaking.
When we Magnify the Lord in our midnight Hour, He shakes Foundations, He breaks chains, and He opens Doors.
This week, Foundations would SHAKE; this week, Chains would be BROKEN; this week, doors would OPEN – Because this week God is Arising on our behalf!
As we rejoice in Him, no sorrow, no depression. We shall experience the Joy of the Lord as we Magnify Him, as we call on His Name, as we Praise Him, as we worship Him – God Arises.
When all is dark in the midnight Hour – God arises!
Somebody may be in your midniight hour, but God is Arising on your behalf – Amen.
If you will spend time Worshipping and Praising and Thanking Him, and Magnifying Him – God will show up!
Maybe you feel there is no way out of your situation – You are Imprisoned, you have been locked in, you can’t brake out. But God will Arise: The hearts of men will be shaken, He will overthrow the Plots of evil People, He will open all doors that have been shut to you. And God will break every chains.
Somebody say: LET GOD ARISE!
Say: ARISE OH GOD! Arise my Help, arise my Strength.
Arise Oh Lord – You are Wonderful, You are Worthy to be Praised. I honour You. There is None like You, there is None besides You, None can compare with You. I Praise You LORD.
Why don’t you just go ahead and Praise the Lord wherever you are or reading this Message now on the label of DMC.
And begin to declare His Praise, declare His Majesty and declare His Power. Lift up Holy Hands to the Lord and begin to Worship the Lord this Morning because God is about to Arise – God is about to Arise, His enemies will scatter. In the wilderness, His enemies will scatter.
Let God Arise!!!!
Oh, the Lord is rising – He shows up on the battle front. The enemies think they are fighting you, but they are fighting God. They think they are coming against you, but they are coming against God. They think they are touching you, but they are touching God.
And let God Arise, and let His enemies be scattered. I said, let His enemies be scattered. – Amen.
Oh, I sense that Monday, God would Arise. Tuesday, God would Arise. Wednesday, God would Arise. Thursday, God would Arise. Friday, God would Arise. Saturday, God would Arise. Sunday, you would come with a Testimony – Amen.
… God Arise, and His enemies be scattered!
CLOSING PRAYER.
We worship You Father, we declare Your Majesty. We declare Your Holy Name YAH.
You are Yahweh, the Holy One, The Awesome One, The Magnificent One, The Unconquerable One.
You cannot be conquered, You cannot be broken, You cannot be divided – You are All-One. You are All-together.
Arise Oh Lord, on behalf of Your People, and show up on the battle front, on behalf of Your People.
In Jesus’ Name – Amen and Amen.
Why don’t you give the Lord some Praise this Morning! Give the Lord some Praise this Morning!
Say God Arise; Enemies scatter – AMEN!!!
Thank you so much for staying all through to read.
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