Preparation for Elevation

Part 1:

Bishop Joseph W. Walker, III

November 1, 2026

November 2026 Sermon Series

Watch the full Sunday service: youtube.com/@mtzionnashville

Prayer

Our Father, we open up our hearts and our spirits to receive Your word today. God, we need to hear from You. We thank You that today Your word speaks life, and we pray that somebody’s soul will be saved today. We pray, O God, that somebody will be transformed by the power of Your word. And wherever they’re watching around the world, let this anointing flow right through there and meet them where they are. We thank You, in Jesus’ name. Amen.

I. INTRODUCTION

Psalm 75:6–7 (KJV)

6 For promotion cometh neither from the east,

nor from the west, nor from the south.

7 But God is the judge:

he putteth down one, and setteth up another.

I want you to tell somebody, “God’s got the gavel.” You may be seated in the presence of the Lord.

There is something in all of us that desires to go higher, and there is nothing wrong with that. Many of us who are listening today want greater influence, greater opportunity, greater responsibility, greater impact. There’s nothing wrong with praying for promotion, asking God for increase, and believing God for the next level.

What is important, however, is that we recognize that the things we pray for God to do in our lives must also include what God desires to do through our lives, and that is prepare us for what we’re asking for. We get so consumed by climbing the ladder that we neglect the character it takes to stay on the platform once we get there. We have a culture that celebrates visibility and ignores preparation. Social media has convinced many people that because you go viral, that makes you successful. But as people of God, we know God works in the trenches. God works in those invisible spaces; that’s where discipline is formed. That’s where your character is built. It is not built in an algorithm; it is built on the asphalt. It is built in the real work of life.

The Scripture teaches us that God develops people long before God displays them. Every significant elevation in the Bible was preceded by a season of preparation. Before Joseph stood before Pharaoh in his palace, he went through the pit and the prison. Before David wore the crown, he carried a shepherd’s staff. Before Moses led, he spent 40 years tending sheep in the wilderness. Before Jesus’ public ministry, He spent 30 years in quiet preparation. God has never been in a hurry to promote somebody whose character cannot sustain where they’re going. The greatest tragedy is not getting to a place too late. The greatest tragedy is getting there too early and being crushed by the weight of something you were not prepared to carry.

That’s why the process is just as important as the promise. Whenever God gives you a promise, God then takes you through a process, because the process is about building your values, building your character, building who you are. Before God increases your influence, He also has to deepen your integrity. So if you find yourself in a place of delay and you’re wondering what’s taking so long, perhaps God is preparing you for what you cannot handle right now.

One of the biggest misconceptions we have is that our promotion comes through the hands of people. God will use human agency from time to time to set us up for success. Networking is important. But your networking should not be your god. Don’t trust people to do for you what only God can do. Once you start pursuing people to do it, you’ll begin to lower your standards. You’ll begin to suck up to people, kissing folks’ behinds, and now you’ll be beholden to them. The same people who elevate you in one season can change their minds, and all of a sudden you’re upset with them because they messed your life up. But your destiny was never supposed to be in the hands of people. Your destiny is in the hands of God.

Psalm 75 is written by Asaph. Many of the psalms are written by Asaph, David, and Moses. This one in particular is compelling, because it is written in a season of instability and uncertainty in Israel, as they are surrounded by proud nations trusting in military strength, political influence, and human power. Arrogant leaders are bragging about their own accomplishments and assume that authority belongs to whoever has the most force. Sounds like the day we live in today.

Right in the middle of that, Asaph offers a completely different perspective. He reminds God’s people that history is not ultimately controlled by kings or armies or governments or economies; history is governed by God. The Lord alone decides who rises and who falls. This psalm confronts the pride of those who think their greatness happened on their own, but it also comforts those who feel that they have been forgotten. The imagery is of a courtroom. God is presented as a righteous judge who sits behind the bench with the final authority to render every verdict. No appeal can overturn His decision. No influence can corrupt His judgment. No favoritism can change His ruling. When God speaks, the case is settled.

That ought to encourage somebody today. Your destiny is not determined in somebody’s boardroom. Your destiny is determined in God’s courtroom. When heaven declares it, it doesn’t matter what anybody decides to do. If God said He’s going to elevate you, you are blessed, and no devil in hell can undo what God said He’s going to do. This psalm is going to teach us not so much about when God promotes us or how God promotes us; it’s going to focus us on who: the God who promotes us. It is God Himself who does it.

II. PROMOTION IS NOT DIRECTIONAL. IT IS DIVINE.

Promotion does not come from the east, it does not come from the west, nor from the south. It seems unusual to mention these directions; however, Asaph uses geography in order to establish theology, because promotion is not tied to a place, it’s tied to a person. And when the King James Version uses the word “promotion,” don’t reduce that to a new title, a bigger office, or a higher salary. This is about influence. When God decides to bless you and elevate you, it’s more than tangible stuff. God wants to trust you in places and platforms that do not just serve your interest, but that move nations and move people. God ain’t just raising you up for you; God is raising you up for somebody else. I wish your haters would get the memo: every time God blesses somebody like you, God blesses everybody connected to you.

The east represented the kings and their powerful empires. The west represented expanding territories and growing influence. The south represented Egypt, one of the greatest and most politically powerful places in the ancient world. And notice that the psalmist does not even mention the north. Your promotion does not come from the east, it does not come from the west, it does not come from Egypt. Search the whole world over and you’ll discover that your promotion comes from above. Scholars say he does not mention the north because the Hebrew people understood that that’s where the mountain of God is.

Your promotion does not come through the systems of this world; your promotion comes through the governing system of God. He is the judge. He’s got the gavel. Whenever God makes a declaration over your life, it is settled in heaven, and it shall be done in the earth. You need to go ahead and thank God, because some things are already settled in heaven. God is just waiting on you to give Him glory, because it hasn’t arrived in the natural yet. You don’t see it, but it’s on the way. Tell somebody, “It’s on the way. It’s on the way. It’s on the way.”

A. Your next level is not tied to a location but to the Lord.

Some of you think you’ve got to move. You’ve got to relocate. Some of you think you’ve got to move to Atlanta, change companies, get connected to the right people. Sometimes God does allow us to move, but you’ve got to move because God told you to, not because you’re frustrated in your current situation. Abraham moved because God called him. Joseph was carried to Egypt because God had a purpose for him there. Paul traveled all over the Roman Empire because the gospel demanded it. But none of them were elevated because of geography; they were elevated because of God’s sovereignty. The location was just the stage where God revealed what He had already ordained.

That ought to free somebody today, because you’ve been frustrated, believing your environment is holding you back. You blame your city, your family, your job, your upbringing, and even your past. But if God is the one who promotes you, your environment cannot cancel you. When people first heard about Jesus, Nathanael said, “Can anything good come out of Nazareth?” The Savior of the world came out of a town that people joked about.

I know a little something about that myself. I’m the son of a window cleaner and a special education teacher from the tough streets of Shreveport, Louisiana. My promotion did not come from the east, nor the west, nor the south, but it came from God. Joseph was promoted in a prison. David was anointed in a pasture. Moses was called in the wilderness. Daniel was elevated in captivity. Esther became queen in exile. None of them had ideal environments, but every one of them discovered that when God’s favor is on your life, it doesn’t matter what environment you find yourself in. If I passed this mic, somebody would testify about the place they grew up, what people said about them, and how statistically it’s not supposed to happen in their life. But if God’s hand is on your life, God can give you favor and elevate you.

Look at Isaac in Genesis chapter 26. There was a famine in the land, and everybody prepared to go to Egypt, because Egypt was the place of prosperity in their minds. And God tells Isaac, “Not you. You stay in the land I tell you to stay in.” The Bible says he sowed in that land. It was not ideal, but he sowed there, and he reaped a hundredfold, because he was squarely where God told him to be.

You’ve got to get to a point in your life where you recognize: if I’m where God wants me to be, God will make stuff find me. You spend your life chasing after stuff, not realizing that God’s got stuff chasing after you. Last time I checked, goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life. Look at your neighbor and say, “God’s going to make favor find you. He’s going to make blessings find you.” One phone call, one email could change your life. All you’ve got to do is be faithful where God told you to be. Be faithful over a few things, and God will make you ruler over much. Stop chasing places and start chasing His presence. Don’t spend your time pursuing a platform; spend your time pursuing purpose.

B. God cancels competition when He declares promotion.

One of the greatest thieves of your joy is competition. You spend so much time looking at what other people are doing that you fall into low-key depression, because you’re living in comparison, looking at their blessings and saying, “Why hasn’t it been happening for me?” We compare our families, our careers, our homes, our ministries, our followers. We scroll through somebody else’s promotion and begin to feel behind. Comparison will convince you that somebody else’s success somehow diminishes what God wants to do in your life. But you’ve got to know who the judge is. Why should I compete with somebody for something God has already assigned to me? What God has ordained for your life cannot be intercepted by somebody else’s ambition. David did not have to compete with his brothers, because God knew where the oil would land. Esther did not have to manipulate the process, because favor distinguished her at the appointed time.

The world teaches us to push people aside, but the kingdom teaches us to trust God enough to serve faithfully where we are until the right door opens. Be mindful of people who always have to diminish somebody else to feel good: always got to tear your church down to make their church feel good, tear your business down to make their business feel good. If you’ve got a shop and I’ve got a shop, God’s got enough business for both of our shops. I will celebrate whatever God does in your life, because God is not blessing out of a limited supply. He owns the cattle on a thousand hills. So if God is blessing my neighbor, He’s in the neighborhood!

I’m looking for the people who can celebrate what God is doing in somebody else’s life. Go get your job, go get your house, go get your blessing, and walk in the favor of God, because when you get out of the line, I’m going to step up, because I’m next. Stop competing, stop comparing, stop striving, stop chasing, and start being faithful, humble, and prepared, because you’ve got to know who the judge is.

There’s interesting imagery in this psalm that the original audience would have immediately understood. Before God talks about lifting one and lowering another, He tells the wicked, “Lift not up the horn.” In the ancient world, the horn of an animal represented strength, power, and authority. God is confronting people who are trying to exalt themselves. By the end of the psalm, God says He will cut off the horns of the wicked but exalt the horns of the righteous. They tried to lift themselves, but God decides who actually gets lifted. Stop being so thirsty, always in people’s space trying to lift your own horn. Let God do it in God’s time.

III. GOD IS NOT JUST PRESENT. HE IS PRESIDING.

God’s courtroom works differently than human courtrooms. In human courtrooms, attorneys argue cases based on whatever evidence they can present. But in God’s courtroom, the Judge already knows every fact before the trial begins. He knows your intention. He knows your struggles. He knows what you turned down to honor Him. He knows every lonely season when you chose obedience over ease. His judgments are never swayed by public opinion. That should take away the pressure of constantly trying to defend yourself. You don’t have to answer every accusation when you know the truth and the Judge knows the truth. Sometimes you just have to keep your mouth shut. You’re always trying to defend yourself. But God still sees.

A. He evaluates character before He elevates calling.

You think you’re ready for this next level, but more height brings more eyes, and you can’t handle one comment against you. People judge your clothes, your credentials, your connections, your popularity, your possessions. But God has never evaluated people by outward appearance alone. He judges the heart. He sees sacrifices nobody else applauds. He sees prayers whispered in private and tears cried behind closed doors. You served faithfully without recognition. You stayed committed when other people walked away. Compromise would have been easier, but you kept your integrity. Cutting corners would have been faster, and you wondered if it all mattered. But the Judge noticed you, and His is the only opinion that really counts.

God works in silence before He works in the spotlight. He builds your character in obscurity before He displays your calling publicly. If a seed demanded applause before going into the ground, there would never be a harvest. Growth happens beneath the surface long before the fruit appears above the earth.

I want you to consider your why. I understand you want to be successful. I understand you want to expand your business. You may want a new automobile, a new home, and nothing is wrong with any of that. You may want a new boo in this season. I get it. But ask yourself: what is my why? God is looking at your motive. He is checking our hearts.

Joseph was tested long before he was trusted. He had to prove his integrity in Potiphar’s house before he ever stood in Pharaoh’s palace. David was faithful with the sheep before he was trusted with the nation. Elisha was faithful in serving Elijah before he received the double portion. And the Bible says of Daniel:

Daniel 6:4 (NKJV)

So the governors and satraps sought to find some charge

against Daniel concerning the kingdom;

but they could find no charge or fault,

because he was faithful;

nor was there any error or fault found in him.

They went through his files, searched his records and his reputation, and came up with nothing. The only thing they found was his prayer life, and they tried to make that illegal. Lord, make my character such that the only thing they can find on me is that I pray too much. Character is who you are when nobody’s watching. It’s what you do when there’s no applause.

When you’re asking God to enlarge your territory, God says, “Do you have the character to sustain the territory you’re trying to go into? Tell Me why you want it.” You’ve got a good car now. Why do you want a new one? Because somebody else got one? So you can ride up and down the street or ride downtown just to be seen? Or do you want it for a kingdom purpose, so you can invite somebody to sit in those nice seats and bring them to church?

What am I doing, and why am I doing it? Everything I do, I want a kingdom glory principle tied to it. God, I want You to be glorified. I want Your people to be unified. Ask God why you’re praying for it. Is it because you need to be needed? Is it to feed your need for self-esteem? Or do you want God to be glorified in it? All I want is what God wants me to have in this season. I’ve learned that godliness with contentment is great gain. I don’t want to pray for anything I’m not in a position to handle. If I cannot run with the footmen, I’m not going to contend with the horses.

B. He sees what others overlook.

One of the most comforting things in Scripture is that God never overlooks what people ignore. We gravitate toward what’s visible. We celebrate public achievements and miss private faithfulness. Hagar was a servant girl who had been used and mistreated until she ran away to the wilderness, and nobody was looking for her. But God found her by a spring of water and spoke to her, and Hagar gave God a name nobody had ever given Him before:

Genesis 16:13 (NKJV)

Then she called the name of the Lord who spoke to her,

You-Are-the-God-Who-Sees;

for she said, “Have I also here seen Him who sees me?”

The God who saw Hagar in the wilderness is the God who sees you too. You’re not invisible. He sees you working hard for your marriage and your family. He sees you working hard on your career, going to class. He sees you when nobody else applauds. Other people got the credit, but you did the project, and God said, “I see you.” Nothing done for the glory of God is ever overlooked.

• People remember your mistakes, but God remembers your faithfulness.
• People applaud charisma, but God honors consistency.
• People are impressed by crowds, but God is impressed by commitment.

When you recognize who sees you, your focus will shift from trying to impress people. Some of you are living your whole life waiting on people to say two words: “Thank you.” And some of you will wait your entire life, because they’ll never say it. Shift your perspective: “I’m not waiting on two words from people. I’m waiting on two words from God: ‘Well done.'” Well done, thou good and faithful servant. I’m not doing it for people. I’m doing it unto God.

IV. THE SAME GOD WHO LOWERS IS THE GOD WHO LIFTS.

The psalm ends with a profound statement about the sovereignty of God: He puts down one, and He sets up another. God isn’t just the God of elevation; He’s the God of preparation. Before He can safely lift somebody, He often has to bring them low first. That sounds counterintuitive to the culture. We assume that when life gets hard, we did something wrong. But all through Scripture:

• God uses valleys before He takes us to mountains.
• Wildernesses precede promised lands.
• Prisons sometimes precede palaces.

God’s processes are never about humiliation; they are about preparation. Joseph has to go through the pit before he governs Egypt. Moses has to spend 40 years in Midian before he leads Israel out of bondage. David has to run from Saul before he ever sits on the throne. And of Jesus, the Scripture says:

Philippians 2:8 (NKJV)

And being found in appearance as a man,

He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death,

even the death of the cross.

Wherefore God also has highly exalted Him and given Him a name which is above every name. Peter put it this way:

1 Peter 5:6 (NKJV)

Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God,

that He may exalt you in due time.

Lowering is often the pathway to lifting.

A. If God allowed you to be brought low, it was not rejection. It was refinement.

Some of us need to give God some back praise, because we were angry at God, frustrated at God, because He had us in a low season, and we thought it was punishment when it was only preparation. When God had you low, He was working on your prayer life and your values. He was bringing you to a place where you’d be dependent on Him. The low place will show you what a high place never could. It won’t be your money, your education, or your connections. It’ll be nobody else but God. I learned how to depend on God in the low place. So stop being angry at God. Stop despising the season He had to bring you through.

The goldsmith is not angry at the metal when he puts it in the fire; he’s only trying to strengthen and refine it. The sculptor is not angry at the stone when he’s chipping pieces away; he’s trying to release what he imagined it to be. God is not angry when He puts you in the fire. Think it not strange concerning the fiery trial. God is not finished with you. He’s chipping things away because He’s trying to release something in you that otherwise would never come out. And you’re picking up the pieces, trying to put them back. Leave that stuff alone, because whatever God chipped away was not designed to go where He’s trying to take you. If you’re in a low season, don’t interpret it as rejection. Receive God’s refinement. Behind every low place is a high place. God is a God who moves you from here to here.

This is service number five. At one of these services, when I got to this last declaration, it was like a prophetic announcement. People got it. And since you all came to the last service and had an extra hour of sleep, I already know your mind is clear enough to get this revelation.

B. God can reverse your case overnight.

He puts down one; He sets up another. If you need to see this verse played out in real time, let me take you to the story of Esther. In the book of Esther, there is a man named Haman, the second most powerful man in Persia. He’s got position. He’s got power. He’s got the king’s ear. There’s also a man named Mordecai, a Jewish man sitting at the king’s gate, and nobody pays attention to him. Mordecai will not bow down to Haman, and because Haman is a narcissist, he retaliates. He gets so enraged that he builds a gallows 75 feet tall to hang Mordecai, and he plans to go to the king in the morning to ask permission.

But watch God. Esther chapter 6 opens up with one sentence that changes everything: “On that night could not the king sleep.” God sent insomnia into the palace. The most powerful man in the world couldn’t sleep, so he asked for the book of records to be read to him. The servant opens the book, and it just so happens he flips to the page about a man named Mordecai who uncovered an assassination plot and saved the king’s life. The king asks, “What did we do to honor Mordecai? I wouldn’t be alive if he had not uncovered that plot.” And the servants said, “We ain’t done nothing.” Somebody, you did something, but you weren’t rewarded for it. You thought people forgot about you. Touch your neighbor and say, “God’s got the receipts.”

At that moment, guess who walks into the court? Haman, early in the morning, wanting to ask the king to kill Mordecai. But before he can open his mouth, the king says, “Haman, I’m glad you’re here. What should happen to someone the king wants to honor?” And Haman, because he’s such a narcissist, thinks the king is talking about him. “Let him ride your horse. Give him a whole parade. Give him your robe and your ring. Make a big deal about this, King.” And the king says, “Now go get Mordecai and do it.” Haman walks into the king’s court expecting approval to hang Mordecai, and he leaves holding the horse, leading a parade to honor a man he was about to kill. Touch your neighbor and say, “God is flipping it.” And not many days after, Haman was hanged on the very gallows he built for Mordecai. Don’t mess with a child of God.

Esther 9:1 (NKJV)

Now in the twelfth month, that is, the month of Adar, on the thirteenth day,

the time came for the king’s command and his decree to be executed.

On the day that the enemies of the Jews had hoped to overpower them,

the opposite occurred,

in that the Jews themselves overpowered those who hated them.

What the enemy thought was going to happen, God flipped. When favor is on your life and the hand of God is on your life, hell can’t do anything about it. But that was not the greatest turnaround. Let me tell you what happened on the outskirts of Jerusalem. They took my Jesus. They crucified Him at Calvary. They shut Him up in a tomb. But:

Romans 8:33–34 (NKJV)

33 Who shall bring a charge against God’s elect?

It is God who justifies.

34 Who is he who condemns?

It is Christ who died, and furthermore is also risen,

who is even at the right hand of God,

who also makes intercession for us.

So let them accuse us. Let them bring up your past, your mistakes, your file. But when they look at the bench, they find out your Father is the Judge. When they look to your side, they find out your Savior is your advocate. He’s still the Judge. He’s still on the throne. He holds the gavel. He opens the door; He closes the door. He brings one down and sets up another. So stop fighting for what God never assigned to you. Open up your mouth and give God glory!

Grab the hand of the person next to you and declare the favor of God over their life. You’ve been going through preparation. He’s about to take you higher. He’s about to take your family higher, your money higher, your GPA higher. He’s about to show out!

Don’t miss this revelation. I’m done. When God elevates you, He’s going to put you in rooms, and people are going to doubt whether you’re supposed to be in there. When Dr Steph (Bishops wife) was in Boston, she would walk into the room as a young physician, and people would say, “We’re waiting on the doctor.” And she’d say, “I’m the one you’ve been waiting on.” God’s going to put you in situations where people are going to doubt you.

Here’s my testimony. When I graduated from college, I didn’t graduate summa cum laude. I graduated “Thank You, Lordy.” I went to an HBCU, but I went and got my doctorate. There were 13 people in my program. I was the only African American. I was the youngest. My classmates had gone to Dartmouth, Yale, and Harvard. And somebody at that orientation asked me, “Where is Southern?” (meaning Southern University)?  I heard that differently. That wasn’t a question of geography for me; that was a question of theology. I paused, because what they really asked was, “How did you get here?” So when you get in that room and they ask, “How did you get here?” Tell them that the same God that lowered is the same God that promotes.

INVITATION

God can flip your situation overnight, and I don’t care what it may have looked like last night. God got you here to get this word.

I believe today there’s somebody reading this that is wrestling with something.” There’s nothing holding you back. This has to be the season where you say, “Lord, I’ve been praying for this. I’ve been fasting for this. But now I understand You have me in development.” God is saying, “I’m trying to promote you, but I can’t take you there until I know you’re ready.” Let God get you in position.

I’ve given you the opportunity of a lifetime. It’s not in the hands of people; it’s in the hands of God. How bad do you want it? It’s not about where you are; it’s about where you’re going. Are you coming? Come on. Come on.

Have a blessed new week with the Lord!