What does First B Jackson teach about praising god in hard times?
Drawn from the messages where it was actually addressed: the words said from the front, the passages taught, and where to hear the whole thing.
At First B Jackson, the teaching on praising God in hard times starts with a simple, uncomfortable observation: the most enduring songs of praise in Scripture were not written from the other side of trouble. Pastor Carl has returned to Psalm 34 to show that David wrote "I will bless the Lord at all times" while he was still a fugitive, still running from Saul, having just escaped the Philistines by faking madness in front of a foreign king. The praise came first, before the situation resolved. That is the whole point. Pastor Carl has also noted that the Psalm's alphabetic structure was designed so children and new believers could memorize it, which signals that this posture toward God is meant to be basic and constant, not something reserved for better days.
The teaching presses on what it actually looks like to seek God from inside difficulty rather than waiting until things are comfortable. Drawing on Jeremiah 29, Pastor Carl has pointed out that God's promise of welfare and hope was spoken to people already in exile, already in a place they did not choose. The promise lands inside the hard season, not after it ends. And from 1 Thessalonians, he has held up giving thanks in everything as one of only a handful of things Scripture names plainly as God's will for the believer, which means gratitude is not a feeling to wait for but a posture to choose.
The "Praising God During the Storm" message opened with a testimony that put flesh on all of this. Melissa Ripley Thompson spoke about the sudden death of her husband Kurt on January 1, 2020, and how even at his funeral she was already able to raise her hands to God. Pastor Carl held that up as a picture of what this teaching actually looks like lived out, praise not as a denial of grief but as a refusal to look away from God in the middle of it.
Taught from Psalm 34 · 1 Thessalonians 5:18 · Jeremiah 29:1-14 · Ephesians 5:19-20 · Philippians 4:6-7
The passage taught · John 16:1-15
1 “I have said these things to you so that you wouldn’t be caused to stumble.
2 They will put you out of the synagogues. Yes, the time comes that whoever kills you will think that he offers service to God.
3 They will do these things because they have not known the Father, nor me.
4 But I have told you these things, so that when the time comes, you may remember that I told you about them. I didn’t tell you these things from the beginning, because I was with you.
World English Bible
The messages that teach on it
- March 13, 2022 Praising God During the Storm Jesus responds to accusations that His miracles come from Satan, and what it means to speak against the Holy Spirit, from a harmony of Matthew 12, Mark 3, and Luke 11.
- June 23, 2019 I Will Bless the Lord at All Times Psalm 34 shows that praising God in every circumstance, not just good times, is the pattern David lived and the peace every believer can find today.
- June 23, 2019 His Praise Continually in My Mouth Psalm 34 traces David's flight from Saul to a song of praise, showing how God meets his people in grief, fear, and joy with faithful deliverance.
Mentioned along the way
- March 13, 2022 He Comes Home Pastor Ray walks through Matthew, Mark, and Luke on Jesus responding to accusations that He cast out demons by Satan, including a look at the unpardonable sin.
- April 13, 2014 His Mercy Endures Forever Palm Sunday sermon exploring the two meanings of "Hosanna" and Psalm 136's repeated refrain, showing why God's enduring mercy calls us to grateful, confident praise.