Joseph’s own brother Rueben was responsible for Joseph’s pit. It was Rueben that suggested they throw Joseph in the pit. We don’t know what happened but whatever it was; we know that Rueben was there when Joseph was thrown into the pit but he was not there when Joseph was lifted out. Rueben was surprised and shocked, because he saw Joseph go into the pit, he saw Joseph struggling and begging to be delivered from the pit but now he’s looking into that same exact pit expecting to see pitiful Joseph, full of fear and confusion, stressing and crying and begging to be delivered, but Joseph wasn’t there. When we read the story of Joseph there are some things that cannot be denied, because the scripture makes it clear that Joseph was chosen by God, Joseph was anointed by God, Joseph had a destiny given by God, Joseph was favored by God, Joseph was favored by his earthly father and God had His hand on and was with Joseph. That sounds like a winning combination and judging from that criteria it would look like Joseph had it made, it would seem as though he was living the good life. But when we read the Bible we find out that this same Joseph who had everything going for him, who was anointed by God, who was favored by his earthly father and had so many great advantages; this same Joseph one day found himself in a pit. If somebody told you when you became a Christian that all your problems would be over and that you would never be hurt again, that you would never cry again, that you would never suffer again………They Lied To You! Psalms 34:19 tells us; “Many are the afflictions of the righteous, but the Lord delivereth him out of them all.” The point that I’m trying to make is that Christians have problems too; Christians get sick, Christians get in debt, Christians get divorced, Christians get their hearts broken, Christians get in places they shouldn’t be. Sometimes you fall in, sometimes you jump in, and sometimes you’re pushed in, but we sometimes find ourselves in a pit. But regardless of how you got there or why you’re there, a pit is a pit and if you stay there you will die. Dreams die in the pit, ministries die in the pit, gifts, callings, marriages, families and churches die in the pit.
I’m going telling somebody listening to me right now that God is getting ready to do something that is going to blow some people away. God is getting ready to do a new thing in your life. There are some people who saw you in the pit, there are some people that even helped put you in the pit, and they have watched you struggling, watched you pushing and scratching and clawing trying to climb your way out. Some people just can’t stand to see you happy, to see you praising the Lord and being blessed by Him and will do anything to change that. They always want to talk about what you used to do and that’s the point exactly; IT’S WHAT YOU USED TO DO! When they left you were in the pit, the last time they saw you, you were in the pit, and you were a mess. But I came to tell you right now that you are coming out of the pit. I’m not just preaching today, I am declaring to you with authority that you are coming out. I wish somebody would say “I’m coming out.” I don’t know what that pit is for you today: It may be a pit of debt, it may be a pit of sickness, it may be a pit of bondage or addiction, it may be a pit of despair or depression, it may be a pit of marriage problems, it may be a spiritual pit that looks so deep and so dark and impossible that you feel like giving up and you just don’t feel God like you used to and you’re dry and discouraged. I don’t know what your pit is; they come in all different shapes and sizes. I don’t know what that pit is for you but I want you to look at your neighbor and tell them, “I’ve spent my last night in the pit.”How many of you know that Weeping may endure for a night but joy cometh in the morning……..
Rueben came back to the pit where he last saw Joseph but Joseph wasn’t there. There are some people that thought they knew you pretty good. They thought they knew where to look for you. They even talked about your pitiful condition to other people. But that my brothers and sisters was yesterday! Yesterday I was in the pit. Yesterday it looked like I was going to die in the pit. Yesterday I felt like I was going to die in the pit. But I heard a word, I heard Joseph say don’t die in the pit. I heard Joseph say the fall doesn’t have to be fatal. Don’t die in the pit, don’t quit dreaming, don’t quit believing, don’t quit trusting and don’t quit expecting.
It looked like Joseph was going to die in the pit and I believe it felt to Joseph that he was going to die in the pit, but through a turn of circumstances, in a matter of minutes Joseph was up out of the pit and onto solid ground. I came to tell you today that God is going to turn it around. I don’t know how He’s going to do it, but He’s going to turn it around. I don’t know when He’s going to do it, but He’s going to turn it around. I don’t know who He’s going to use to do it, but He’s going to turn it around. I just came to tell you He’s going to turn it around. If you don’t know anything from the Bible know that God is a God of the turnaround. Ask Joseph, Job, Daniel, The 3 Hebrew boys, Jonah and Jesus. From Genesis to Revelation, God is turning it around, and if you haven’t been convinced yet, all you have to do is look in the mirror. Some of us used to be hookers, some of us were pushers, some of us were thieves and liars, some of us were adulterers and fornicators, some of us were alcoholics and drug addicts. But that was the old man. That was B.C.; that was Before Christ. Somebody say I’ve had a turn around. 2 Corinthians 5:17 Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away: behold all things are become new. Now I want you to see something: It happened suddenly! The choir sings that song, “He did it suddenly.” One minute Joseph was in the pit, one minute he was in the dark, one minute it was terminal, one minute it looked like the end, and suddenly everything changed. Suddenly he was standing in the sunshine. In an instant, in the twinkling of an eye everything changed, in one minute what was terminal and staring him in the face was over and behind him. I don’t know who I’m talking to this morning but God said to tell you that you are standing on the verge of a suddenly that is going to change everything. Peter fished all night and caught nothing, but in one act of obedience suddenly he went from nothing to too much. He went from empty nets to breaking nets. He went from empty boat to sinking boat, from loss to profit; from weeping to rejoicing, from a loser to a winner. And he did it suddenly. Somebody snap your finger. Just like that. At the lowest point in Joseph’s life physically and spiritually, God stepped in and He did it suddenly!
But it was JUDAH that got Joseph out. It wasn’t Joseph’s coat of many colors that got him out, it wasn’t his anointing that got him out, it wasn’t even his dreams that got him out, and it was Judah. JUDAH means PRAISE. Rueben got him in, but Judah got him out. I don’t care how you got in the pit; I don’t care who it was or what it was, I came to tell you today that Judah will get you out.
The circumstances may not have been of Joseph’s choosing; nevertheless Judah was responsible for getting him out of the pit. Mean old ugly Judah got him out. The point I’m trying to make is that praise doesn’t have to be pretty to be powerful. You know that praise that I’m talking about when you start crying, when your nose starts running, when your makeup runs and your weave comes off, when your suit jacket rips, when your shoes come flying off, when you start running and no one is even chasing you, when you don’t care who’s looking at you…..good old, make you feel good, send shivers down your spine, UGLY PRAISE! Start right there where you’re at. Anybody can put on a pretty praise when the battle is over. Anybody can praise God when the sickness is healed. Anybody can praise God when the marriage is restored and the family is mended. Anybody can praise God when you’ve got a good job, retirement, money in your wallet and money in the bank. Anybody can praise God, but I’m telling you, it takes something to shout in the face of the devil, it takes something to praise in the face of the doctors bad report, it takes something to shout when you don’t have two nickels to rub together, it takes something when you’re going through the fire to lift your hands and voice and say: I will bless the Lord at all times, His praise shall continually be in my mouth. I dare you right now to stand up and PRAISE THE HELL OUT OF YOUR SITUATION! The point is you don’t have to wait till the battle is over, you better shout and praise right now.
Start in the dark when the walls are closing in on you…Ugly Praise
Start where you are laying in that hospital bed…Ugly Praise
Start where you are at the bottom of that pit…Ugly Praise
Start where you are in the middle of your pain…Ugly Praise
Start where you are in the inner prison at midnight, with your hands and your feet bound and your back bloody and beaten black and blue…Ugly Praise
It may not be pretty, in fact it may be ugly, but give God an Ugly Praise. Ugly = Very unattractive or unpleasant to look at, offensive to the sense of beauty, displeasing in appearance, plain old messy, offensive and objectionable. But I need you to know today that Ugly Praise is sincere praise, the kind of praise that God inhabits. Give God some Holy Ghost Ugly Praise in this place this morning.
How many know that some people have a problem with real praisers? Real praisers get loud, real praisers get undignified, real praisers can get messy, they don’t worry about their hair or their makeup, real praisers can get offensive to those pretty praisers. You know those pretty praisers, the ones that know how to control their praise, pretty praisers never mess up their hair and their makeup never runs, they don’t get loud, and they wouldn’t think of running, jumping or dancing. But God said to tell you: He wants your Ugly Praise. He wants it through your moans and your groans, He wants it while your heart is breaking, He wants it through your tearstained eyes, He wants it when it don’t make no sense, He wants it loud, He wants it crazy, He wants it when you’re going through hell, He wants it when you don’t feel a thing. I’m trying to get past this thing but I feel like somebody here, you’ve been trying to get everything prim and proper and just right, your waiting till everything is just perfect, you want to give God a fancy praise, you want to dress it all up and make it pretty, but God said to tell you just give Him your Ugly Praise. Because He’s going to use your UGLY PRAISE to Get You Out.
Job lost everything that he had. But after he had lost everything, but in the middle of it all, but when everyone told him to curse God and die, Job gave God an Ugly Praise. The Bible says he arose, he rent his mantle, he shaved his head and he fell down on the ground and he worshipped. It wasn’t a pretty sight. He worshipped through tears, he worshipped through groans, he worshipped with a broken heart, he worshipped through his pain, through his confusion, he gave God an ugly praise and God gave him a beautiful future. His worship kept him connected to his destiny, and in the end God blessed him with more, restored everything and gave him double.
See we don’t have the benefit of choosing the problems and trials and afflictions that come our way in life; divorce, sickness, the loss of a loved one, debt, false accusations, and betrayal, but we can choose our praise. Praise is a weapon. You see the devil’s purpose for the pit is to kill your praise. The devil hates your praise. The devil knows if you ever get your praise on he’s in trouble. See I’ve learned that if I can get my praise on, I can get the devil off.
Joseph was not the only man of God who ever found himself in a pit. Psalms 40:2, David said, “He brought me up also out of an horrible pit, out of the miry clay, and set my foot upon a rock, and established my goings.” Jeremiah found himself in a horrible pit and what did they offer Jeremiah, God’s man, the Prophet of God, a mighty man of faith and power, they offered him old thrown out filthy, rotten, stinky rags but Jeremiah used these rags to be lifted out of the pit.
*Somebody ain’t going to like this but the reason some of you haven’t got out of your pit yet is you’re too proud. Yeah you want to praise God on your terms, you want to praise God when something big happens, you want to praise God when you feel like it, and you want to praise God when it makes sense. You want to praise God moderately, conveniently, and quietly. Your pride is keeping you bound, your pride is keeping you in the pit, and your pride is keeping you from your miracle.
Isaiah 61:3 says; “the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness.” He didn’t say it would be easy, he didn’t say it would feel good, he didn’t say it would be pretty, as a matter of fact it’s pretty easy to see that he’s talking about going from a low place to a high place, he’s talking about moving out of heaviness into praise, he’s talking about getting something off and putting something better on. I came to tell somebody today that your praise may look like old rags to somebody, it may be extravagant, it may be extreme, it may be emotional, it may be loud, it may even be offensive, and some may even go so far as to call it ugly, but that’s alright because it was an ugly praise that brought Joseph out of the pit, it was an ugly praise that brought Jeremiah out of the Pit, and it was an Ugly praise that brought Paul and Silas out of their prison. So go ahead and be ugly because God said He would use an Ugly Praise to get you out of your pit and turn your situation around. I wish I had some people in here who still had some old rags hanging in your closet and that’s not too proud to put on an ugly praise.
I know we’re all dressed up today smelling good, looking good but don’t throw away those old rags.
Jeremiah would tell you, don’t throw away those old rags, God will use them to get you out.
David would tell you, don’t throw away those old rags, God will use them to get you out of your pit. Look at when David danced before the Lord. He danced and praised so hard that he danced right out of his clothes. His wife was embarrassed. It’s right here in 2 Samuel 6:20. I can hear her telling David, “David that was shameful, embarrassing, humiliating and just plain ugly.” David could have said, “You’re right honey that was no way for a King to act. I should have composed myself. I should have behaved better, I’m sorry that I embarrassed you.” But he didn’t. I can imagine David saying, “If you thought that was embarrassing, if you thought that was shameful, honey child you ain’t seen nothing yet. If you thought that was ugly wait till you see me really praise my God.”
I wish somebody today would quit worrying about what everybody else thinks and just give God the best praise you have. Don’t dress it up, don’t pretty it up, don’t tidy it up, just give it up. Give him your Ugly Praise. It may look ugly to somebody else and it may sound ugly to somebody else but by the time it reaches the ears of God it sounds like angels singing.
Joseph was in a pit and they expected him to die there, but an Ugly Judah got him out.
Jeremiah was in a pit and they expected him to die there, but some Ugly rags got him out.
Paul and Silas were in the inner prison embarrassed, humiliated, beaten black and blue, but in the middle of their pain they gave God an Ugly Praise and God shook the prison off of its foundations, and every cell was opened and every prisoners bonds were broken.
There are some people that expected you to die in the pit, but you’re going to disappoint them today. There’s an anointing in you that’s bigger than the pit, there’s a divine anointing on you. When Joseph was thrown into the pit it was empty, but he filled it with praise. If they would have filled it with dirt it would have been his grave, but he filled it with praise and he came on out.
I tell you today that you are coming out. If you’re not too proud to put on some old rags, if your not to proud to put on an Ugly Praise.
You can praise your way out with some Ugly Praise…
You can shout your way out with some Ugly Praise…
You can dance your way out with some Ugly Praise…
You can run your way out with some Ugly Praise…
Give God some Ugly Praise today because God inhabits the praise of His people. Give Him some Ugly Praise for being beaten ALL day on Thursday. Give Him some Ugly Praise for walking the Via De La Rosa road to hang on Calvary’s cross on Friday. Give Him some Ugly Praise for laying in a borrowed grave ALL day on Saturday. Give Him some Ugly Praise for rising EARLY on Sunday morning with ALL power in His hands. Praise Him for sitting high but looking low. Praise Him for being peace beyond all understanding. Praise Him for being the Lily of the Valley. Praise Him for being the Alpha and the Omega. Praise Him for being the first and the last. Praise Him for being the author and the finisher. Praise Him for being a heart fixer and a mind regulator. Praise Him for being a heavy burden bearer. Praise Him for being a way out of no way. Praise Him, Praise Him, Praise Him, Praise Him, Praise Him. Give God some Ugly Praise.
You can fill your pit with praise, and when that pit gets filled with praise, it will spit you out, just like the whale spit out Jonah. When Jonah came out of that whales belly he wasn’t pretty, but he was free, he was out. He came out Ugly, but he came out. Somebody’s coming out today. God is going to use your Ugly Praise to turn it around. [WALK WITH ME LORD]
