Nothing Is Going To Take My Song

Psalm 137:1-4 By the rivers of Babylon, there we sat down, yea, we wept, when we remembered Zion. [2] We hanged our harps upon the willows in the midst thereof. [3] For there they that carried us away captive required of us a song; and they that wasted us required of us mirth, saying, Sing us one of the songs of Zion. [4] How shall we sing the LORD'S song in a strange land?

In our text, David is speaking of the children of Israel as they are in captivity in the land of Babylon. And David tells the saddest tell. The children of Israel had lost their song.

It says, we hanged our harps on the willows and we wept. And they said… How can we sing the Lord’s song in a strange land.

This is what we call condition critical. Because they were in captivity in a strange land, they hung up their harps, which means they gave up their song. And they refused to sing.

For a people of God who are known by their song, and by their joyous celebrations, this is a critical condition.

They had lost their song, and their praise, and their joy, and their faith. This is absolutely life threatening.

When it comes to the subject of praise, nobody talked more about it than David. It doesn't matter what David started out talking about, he ended up praising God. He could start out complaining, feeling sorry for himself, down in the dumps, questioning God. But in a few verses, he was praising God again.

Psalm 22:1-3 [1] … My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? why art thou so far from helping me, and from the words of my roaring? [2] O my God, I cry in the daytime, but thou hearest not; and in the night season, and am not silent. [3] But thou art holy, O thou that inhabitest the praises of Israel.

Psalm 42:11 Why art thou cast down, O my soul? and why art thou disquieted within me? hope thou in God: for I shall yet praise him, who is the health of my countenance, and my God.

Psalm 150:1-6 … "Praise ye the LORD. Praise God in his sanctuary: praise him in the firmament of his power. [2] Praise him for his mighty acts: praise him according to his excellent greatness. [3] Praise him with the sound of the trumpet: praise him with the psaltery and harp. [4] Praise him with the timbrel and dance: praise him with stringed instruments and organs. [5] Praise him upon the loud cymbals: praise him upon the high sounding cymbals. [6] Let everything that hath breath praise the LORD. Praise ye the LORD."

The Word praise, praises, or another form of the word is written 140 times in the book of Psalms alone. David was not just a speaker or writer on the subject of praise, David was a praiser.

If you looked in the dictionary under the word praiser, you would see a picture of David with his hands raised.

David said... " I will bless the Lord at all times, his praise shall continually be in my mouth. My soul shall make her boast in the Lord. The Humble shall hear thereof and be glad, O magnify the Lord with me and let us exalt his name together." Psa 34:1

Yes there is no doubt about it, David was a praiser, but you would be making a big mistake to assume that because David lived a life of praise, that he never had any problems.

As a matter of fact, in many cases it was because of his problems that David praised God.

David discovered praise not just as a companion through his pain, but also as a weapon.

I believe if we understood the power of praise, we would walk around praising God all the time.

Who should praise God?

David said let everything that hath breath praise ye the Lord.

If you've got breath, you ought to be praising the Lord.

Why is it so important to praise the Lord?

#1. The first and foremost reason is simply… because he is worthy.

—It has nothing to do with whether you feel blessed or not.

—It has nothing to do with whether everything is going good for you.

—It has nothing to to do with whether you can see God doing great things for you or not.

All of that is inconsequential in this respect. It has absolutely nothing to do with his deserving your praise.The truth is we owe him our praise, if for nothing else, because we were born.

When you understand the amazing odds that were overcome just to get you here, you know he deserves your praise.

Psalm 29:1-2 KJV Give unto the LORD, O ye mighty, give unto the LORD glory and strength. [2] Give unto the LORD the glory "due" unto his name; worship the LORD in the beauty of holiness.