1. Strength out of Brokenness Part 3 December 2, 2007

2. Truth in a nutshell: 1. God cannot use a person greatly until they have been hurt deeply. 2. The pathway to destiny always goes through the desert. 3. The song of Joy comes greatest after the desert testing is completed.

3. Psalm 51:17 The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit, A broken and a contrite heart—These, O God, You will not despise

4. We are the broken:  Broken by choices  Broken by life circumstances.  Broken by captivity:

5. Psalm 137:1-4 1. By the rivers of Babylon, There we sat down, yea, we wept When we remembered Zion. 2. We hung our harps upon the willows in the midst of it. 3. For there those who carried us away captive asked for us a song, and those who plundered us requested Mirth, saying, “Sing us one of the songs of Zion!” 4. How shall we sind the LORD’s song in a foreign land?

6.  In times of brokenness, what MATTERS is HOW we respond.

7. The Value of Brokenness 1. Brokenness precedes usability. 2. It defines our character 3. A broken and contrite heart Lord You will not despise.

8. The Place of Brokenness—The Desert 1. God does not call us into the desert to kill us, but to show us His provision, His Glory, and to shape our character.

9. 1 Samuel 22:1-5 David’s Four Hundred Men 1 David therefore departed from there and escaped to the cave of Adullam. So when his brothers and all his father’s house heard it, they went down there to him. 2 And everyone who was in distress, everyone who was in debt, and everyone who was discontented gathered to him. So he became captain over them. And there were about four hundred men with him. 3 Then David went from there to Mizpah of Moab; and he said to the king of Moab, “Please let my father and mother come here with you, till I know what God will do for me.” 4 So he brought them before the king of Moab, and they dwelt with him all the time that David was in the stronghold.5 Now the prophet Gad said to David, “Do not stay in the stronghold; depart, and go to the land of Judah.” So David departed and went into the forest of Hereth.

10. In the desert, in the cave of Adullam, they came as:  The wounded and broken  The cast-offs  The social misfits  Those considered by others to be a failure

11. The desert is also a place of change: The same people became something far different.  God had a different plan  They became known as “Mighty Men”  They never lost a battle  The Spirit of the Lord was on them  God shaped what nobody wanted into something great

12. The path to your destiny lies through the desert.  There are no shortcust to greatness in God.

13. A New Song is an Expression of New Life Jeremiah 29:11 For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. (NIV) Jeremiah 29:11 For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the LORD, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope. (NKJ)

14. A New Song is an Expression of New Life  In captivity…there is no song…Our joy is up for grabs.  God wants to give us a new hope and a future…A New Song!