Bill Johnson - Some Things Just Need to Be Said
One I will say of the Lord, He is my refuge, He is my strength, He is my God in whom I will trust. It says, I will say of the Lord. It doesn’t say, I will think of the Lord. It doesn’t say, I will contemplate the Lord. It says, I will say, because some things just need to be said. There’s this verse in Proverbs; let me read it to you. I’ve been thinking about it a bit. It says, a man will be satisfied with good by the fruit of his mouth. A man will be satisfied with good by the fruit of his mouth. I don’t know, I have felt for a while this verse has impacted me a bit. A man will be satisfied with good by the fruit of his mouth.
You understand that it’s a small key that opens a big door, and every once in a while, we find these phrases that might be easy to overlook when, in fact, they are connected to so much of the reality of God in our life. If we can just simply capture the power of that simple key—a man will be satisfied with good, emotionally, socially, intellectually, spiritually—nourished, full, abundantly, and it is determined by what first came out of the person’s mouth. In other words, the measure for what I receive, at least in this context, is set by what first comes out of my mouth. So life and death are in the power of the tongue; some things have to be said. This has been part of our culture for as long as I can remember, but I still feel like I need to review this one.
Here’s the deal: Psalms 91, I will say of the Lord, He is my refuge, He is my strength, He is my God in whom I will trust. It says, I will say of the Lord. It doesn’t say, I will think of the Lord. It doesn’t say, I will contemplate the Lord. It says, I will say, because some things just need to be said. Some things need to be said. I have found that for me, it’s a strength when I’m in a rough place. In fact, Benny and I will sit together on the couch, we’ll pray together, and we’ll make this statement: We trust You, Father. You are our refuge. You are our strength. You’re our hiding place. We trust You, we trust You, and we make the decree, make the proclamation.
Don’t let it be passive; don’t let it be just some passive comment of agreement. Apparently, things come into my life by what comes out of my mouth, so I am going to make a decree. I will say of the Lord, and I am in fact saying it now: The Lord is my refuge, He is my hiding place, He is my dwelling place, and in Him, I will trust. I will trust. I don’t have a plan B; there are no other options. I serve one God, no options. The Scripture actually teaches that what comes into our life comes through a measurement set by our decrees. The Scripture says He inhabits the praises of His people; His «Amen» to my recognition of who He is, putting it in word form, as He comes and establishes His throne upon the praises of His people. If God occupies my praise, who occupies my complaints?
Words are covenants; words are partnerships; they’re agreements. I like to lead in prayer when I’m through speaking, but I kind of feel like you’ve got to pray on your own and just basically say whatever I said. Amen. Whatever that was, amen. I don’t know what just happened, but that’s what I want to be right here in me. I want the language of the Kingdom to be my language. The language of the Kingdom: I will say of the Lord. Why don’t we do this together? I will say of the Lord—say that with me: Here’s my refuge, my fortress; in Him will I trust. Wow! Say it again: I will say of the Lord, He is my refuge, my fortress, my God; in Him will I trust. That is our confession to You, Father; that’s our confession to You. We just acknowledge our trust is in You; our trust is in You.