Praise Leads Us In Series

IAN JOHSNON www.papelim.org.nz

When Israel was ordered by the Lord, into ranks and tribes

When they crossed the red Sea

Whenever they moved forward and travelled on (Numbers 2)

Whenever they went to war (Judges 1:1-2)

Whenever they were called to stand before the Lord

One tribe always took the lead position JUDAH

Judah means praise

So what the Lord was saying by asking Judah to take the lead role is that Praise always leads us into the things of God!

Even though God is Omniscient ~ He can and does manifest his presence in a tangible way in a place or in the midst of His congregation.

Psalm 22:3

3But thou art holy, O thou that inhabitest the praises of your people.

When God turns up the Atmosphere changes! Things happen! Substance changes.

Consider Psalm 29

1 Give honor to the LORD, you angels; give honor to the LORD for his glory and strength. 2 Give honor to the LORD for the glory of his name. Worship the LORD in the splendor of his holiness. 3 The voice of the LORD echoes above the sea. The God of glory thunders. The LORD thunders over the mighty sea. 4 The voice of the LORD is powerful; the voice of the LORD is full of majesty. 5 The voice of the LORD splits the mighty cedars; the LORD shatters the cedars of Lebanon. 6 He makes Lebanon’s mountains skip like a calf and Mount Hermon* to leap like a young bull. 7 The voice of the LORD strikes with lightning bolts. 8 The voice of the LORD makes the desert quake; the LORD shakes the desert of Kadesh. 9 The voice of the LORD twists mighty oaks* and strips the forests bare. In his Temple everyone shouts, “Glory!” 10 The LORD rules over the floodwaters. The LORD reigns as king forever. 11 The LORD gives his people strength. The LORD blesses them with peace.

When we release a sound of praise, the Earth must respond. There is a tangible change in the Atmosphere! The God of creation extracts a response from his creation!

Joshua Mills tells the story of a drought breaking in Chennai India as a result of Praise to the living God! To release a response from the Earth

I can verify this testimony because I was in Chennai at the time. It was January 2004, the rains had failed in the monsoon season and water was very scarce. The large rivers and the water reservoirs were almost dry. Unbeknown to us Joshua had called for a time of Praise to break the drought. My friend and I had just returned from Bangalore and it started to rain when we got to Chennai. Now the thing that needs to be understood is that it never rains in great amounts in January in Chennai. Before the day was over Chennai was flooded with rain. The rivers were flowing the reservoirs were filled and the crisis was diverted. In February I met Joshua Mills in New Zealand and he shared about the rain in Chennai which came as a result of sustained praise.

The Earth must respond to the Lord, and the Lord responds to our praise.

Getting back to Judah,

Judah was selected by way of the patriarchal blessing from Jacob to lead the way.

Genesis 49:8-11

8 “Judah, your brothers will praise you. You will defeat your enemies. All your relatives will bow before you. 9 Judah is a young lion that has finished eating its prey. Like a lion he crouches and lies down; like a lioness—who will dare to rouse him? 10 The scepter will not depart from Judah, nor the ruler’s staff from his descendants, until the coming of the one to whom it belongs,* the one whom all nations will obey. 11 He ties his foal to a grapevine, the colt of his donkey to a choice vine. He washes his clothes in wine because his harvest is so plentiful.

Judah must go first!

Praise must go first in our lives, in our Church, Ministries, cities and Nation!

He washes his clothes in wine because his harvest is so plentiful

Wine speaks of joy and the promise to Judah (PRAISE) is a promise of abundant harvest and joy.

Recently I was watching a DVD about the Facedown project by Matt Redman, in it they explained that there was a time when their Pastor had become disillusioned with the worship, and the questions people were asking after the worship service. Like “What did you get out of the worship today” This made him realise that people were coming to the place of praise and worship out of their own needs, not in order to give praise to whom praise is due. So they stopped the music one Sunday night and just waited until praise began to rise in the hearts of the people.