Encountering God – Part IV: “The Power of Praise”
Review
What is worship?
It is the meeting of God’s heart and ours.
Worship is the response of all we are to who God is and what He has done.
Last week I spoke about the “glory” of God, which is intrusion of God’s presence into our physical realm.
The very presence of God, the literal glory of God, manifested in some physical, tangible way – is the cause for worship; it leads us to respond to the incredible supreme Being that God is and to marvel at His love. .
Worship is not about the songs we sing, the sermon we hear or the music we play. Worship is ABOUT GOD.
Worship is the reason we were created.
It is the most important thing we can do –
God is seeking worshippers (who will worship Him in spirit and truth)
Spirit = Not just with their lips but with their whole hearts.
Truth = not with religion or a ritual but with a relationship.
It is in worship that our hearts express their longing for the Presence of God.
I hope that you long for God and to meet and encounter Him.
I need to share again about the different levels of the Presence & Glory of God for those who were not here last week. (Get the CDs)
The Presence of God is promised to every believer.
Jesus said, “Wherever two or more of you are gathered, there I am among you.”
Jesus said, “Lo, and I will be with you until the end of the age.”
In fact, the Presence of God is available to even non-believers to a certain extent, because if God were not present it would be hell, for that is the only place that God is not present.
Even though the Presence of God is promised, it is not always “felt” by every believer. We believe it by faith. We may not feel Him, but that doesn’t change the reality that He is present and with and in us.
The presence of God is a subjective experience.
Every person will experience it differently.
One will experience the “feeling” of God’s presence with goose bumps, others with weak knees, others with excitement, others with awe and wonder.
Two people can stand in the same service next to each other and one can feel the presence of God and the other feel nothing. It is subjective because it comes through the spirit of man which then must filter through the mind, will and emotions to be understood.
One person may feel nothing during the singing but may feel the Presence of God in the preaching of the Word.
Another person may feel the Presence of God during the singing and worship portion of the service.
Be careful that you don’t expect folks to react the same.
The experience of the Presence of God is very subjective and our reaction to it is as varied as we are.
The Glory of God is much different and intensely powerful.
God said that no man may see His face (glory) and live. (Exodus 33)
In fact, in heaven, the angels shield their faces with their wings when they are before the glory of God. (Revelation ….)
But you and I, were made to behold His glory in entirety for eternity.
The Glory of God, as I mentioned earlier, is the material intrusion into the physical realm of time and space by our God who is Spirit.
This always leads to something incredible occurring.
It may manifest in a miracle (which involves breaking one of the laws of nature), or in a specific, observable sign. It might involve a scent, a sight or a sound. .
The experience of the Glory of God is objective in nature.
This means that everyone present will see or experience the same thing with one of their 5 senses.
Consider Pentecost. All the disciples, 120 of them, heard and saw the same thing. A mighty rushing wind, flames resting like a dove on the heads of each other, a manifestation of languages in all who were present. That was the glory folks! The God of glory had intruded into their time and space and made something about Himself visible in a tangible way.
LETS LOOK AT THE CONTINIUM
Why do we do testimonies? Testimonies are for praise. We’ve been neglecting testimonies lately.
Testimonies aren’t about us. They are about what God has done!
Two definitions I gave you last week I give you again today.
Let me make some distinctions between praise and worship.
Praise is about what God has done.
Praise can be distant, cold or superficial, but worship is usually intimate. The heart of a person does not need to be near to God for him to praise Him.
On one occasion Jesus said the rocks would cry out if his disciples did not praise him (see Luke 19:37-40).
Rocks obviously do not have a relationship with God Almighty, and no interaction of personalities will ever exist between God and a rock, but praise is still possible. Anyone or anything can praise; the trees, mountains, rivers, sun, moon, and stars all praise the Lord (see Psalm 148:3-12), and yet God has no relationship with any of these.
Worship is different.
It brings us close to the heart of God.
Relationship is a requirement for worship because worship is a two-way street, involving both giving and receiving. It is possible for praise to ascend one way only, but worship involves communion and fellowship.
Worship is about who God is.
We tend to confuse the two terms, and that is unfortunate, because we short circuit God’s plan for us to experience and encounter Him.
If you think about it, it is inappropriate for us to barge into God’s HOLY presence without praise on our lips. He is the King of Kings, the Creator and Ruler of the universe. He is willing to meet us anytime, anyplace, but if the angels cannot approach His throne without praises, how can we?
Praise prepares our hearts and attitudes for approaching the very Presence of God.
Literally, praise is the pathway to worship.
We cannot jump into God’s presence presumptuously and truly enter His presence without acknowledging Who He IS and what HE has done.
We will not have an encounter with Him of any depth or meaning if we dash in and dash out to get our weekly fill-up.
So, praise is our subject this morning.
Praise shouldn’t be a difficult subject to understand. It is a part of our lives every single day. We praise our kids when they please us, we receive praise from our bosses when we do a good job, we even praise our pets when they obey us or do their tricks for a reward.
The dictionary talks about praise as commending, applauding, express approval or recognition or admiration for, to extol in words or in song, to magnify or glorify.
It is possible for us to praise God directly, or to praise God by recounting His deeds toward others.
In its most basic form, Praise is making much of God.
The Jews were very vocal and emotional in their expressions of praise to God.
Let me make another distinction here:
Meditation is not praise.
Praise begins with a mind set upon God but those thoughts must be put into some action to qualify as praise.
There are some folks that think that they can cross their arms and refuse to sing and that they are still praising God. If it doesn’t come out of your mouth or your body it isn’t praise.
Psalm 66:8 says, “Let the sound of his praise be HEARD.”
It is impossible to praise God with your mouth shut. If you are slumped forward with your mouth shut, you might be meditating, praying or sleeping but you are not praising!
Praise is a action of your will (where worship is an action of your heart)
We are called to praise God whether we feel like it or not. Praise is not dependent upon our feelings but upon the greatness of God. That never changes!
Psalm 42:5-6 says “Why am I discouraged? Why so sad? I will put my hope in God! I will praise him again—my Savior and my God!”
Some folks might say to you, “your praise is emotionalism.”
But emotionalism means that you are following the DICTATES of your emotions.
Praise is a DISCIPLINE that requires our initiative regardless of our emotions.
Emotionalism is when we only want to praise when we feel like it.
That would be allowing your emotions to control you.
True praise is the opposite of emotionalism.
We praise God enthusiastically whether we feel like it or not!
While praise is not emotionalism, it is often emotional.
God created our emotions and praise is a wonderful way to express our emotions to God.
Why should we praise God?
We are commanded to.
Psalm 150:1 “Praise the Lord!’
God does not ask us to praise Him. He commands us to. It is not until we are willing to praise Him that we come into a proper relationship with Him.
God does not need our praises; we need to praise him.
God has commanded us to praise, not because of what it does for him but because of the changes it brings in us.
Praise places us in proper relationship to God and is a necessary step for us in the process of self-abasement (humbling ourselves before Him).
God receives ample praise from his other creations — he will manage quite well if you or I refuse to praise him.
But the Father seeks worshipers (see John 4:23)! Notice that God seeks "worshipers," not "worship."
He does not need our worship, but he is fervently seeking those who have adopted the life-style and mindset of a worshiper.
There is power in praise.
When we stop fighting our battles in our own strength we begin to praise God, we allow God to release His power into our world on our behalf.
Praise is literally an instrument of warfare – Jehoshophat was king and Judah was being invaded by Moabites, Ammonites and the Edomites. His lookouts saw a great multitude coming to attack. So Jehoshophat prayed and fasted, and the Lord answered through a prophet that said, “This is what the Lord says, ‘Do not be afraid or discouraged because of this vast multitude, for the battle is not yours but God’s Tomorrow, go down against them. You will see them coming up the ascent of Ziz, and you will find them at the end of the valley facing the Wilderness of Jeruel. You do not have to fight this battle. Position yourselves, stand still, and see the salvation of the Lord. He is with you, Judah and Jerusalem. Do not be afraid or discouraged. Tomorrow go out to face tehm, for the Lord is with you. Then Jehoshapat bowed with his face to the ground, and all Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem fell down before the Lord to worship Him. Then the Levites from the sons of Kohathites and the Korahites stood up to praise the Lord God of Israel shouting in a loud voice.” (2 Chronicles 20:15-19)
This is a key passage to understand the power of praise.
Praise is an act of faith.
By praising God, the Levites were asserting their belief that God was going to do what He said He would.
Keep in mind, “praise is about what God has done.” God said He would do something, so as far as the Levites were concerned, God had already done it! It was a done deal. So they praised Him for it!
Look at the results found in 2 Chronicles 20:21-22
When he had consulted with the people, he appointed those who sang to the LORD and those who praised Him in holy attire, as they went out before the army and said, "Give thanks to the LORD, for His loving kindness is everlasting." When they began singing and praising, the LORD set ambushes against the sons of Ammon, Moab and Mount Seir, who had come against Judah; so they were routed.
Another translation says, “the moment they began their shouts and praises the Lord set an ambush against (their enemies)”.
Maybe right now God is saying the same thing to you. “Do not be afraid or dismayed, the battle is mine!”
Are you willing to let God work on your behalf? That is called faith. And it is activated by praising God.
God is worthy of our praises
Psalm 48:1 “Great is the Lord and most worthy of praise.”
Martin Luther said, “A person cannot praise god unless he understands that there is nothing in himself worthy of praise but that all that is worthy of praise is of God and from God.”
Praise lifts the heaviness.
Isaiah 61:1-3 “to proclaim…the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness.” Which is to be distressed, brokenhearted, or depressed.
Would you like to break the bond of depression? Begin with praising God!
We were created to praise Him.
1 Peter 2:9 “But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light.”
Isaiah 43:21 “The people I formed for myself that they may proclaim my praise.”
AW Tozer, “The purpose of God in sending his son to die and live and be at the right hand of God the Father was that he might restore to us the missing jewel, the jewel of worship; that we might come back and learn to do again that which we were created to do in the first place – worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness.
Praise prepares us for worship.
The Scriptures present praise as something different than worship, and Psalm 95 is a good example of this distinction. In the opening verses, the psalmist invites praise: "O come, let us sing unto the Lord: let us make a joyful noise to the rock of our salvation. Let us come before his presence with thanksgiving, and make a joyful noise unto him with psalms" (vv. 1-2). Only then, after praise has been offered, does the psalmist invite worship: "O come, let us worship and bow down: let us kneel before the Lord our Maker" (v. 6). Commentators agree that "the order is praise first, worship second".
God teaches us to praise before we enter into the fullness of worship, for once we have learned what it means to praise the Lord with all that is within us, it is then a fairly easy progression to become an extravagant worshiper.
If we are inhibited in our praise, however, we will likely be bound in our worship also.
Praise can be conceived as a gateway to worship.
Many times it is easier to praise than to worship.
Therefore, if we’re having trouble entering into worship, starting with praise will help worship flow more easily.
We sing in order to enter into praise, and sometimes we praise in order to enter into worship.
But singing does not guarantee praise, just as praise does not guarantee that we will cross the threshold into worship.
Our spirit is willing to worship, but our flesh is weak and reluctant.
Since praise is expressed through the flesh, it requires a stirring up of the flesh.
But since worship is more a function of the spirit, what is needed is not a stirring up of the flesh but an unlocking of the spirit. (we will talk about this more in the weeks ahead).
God is enthroned on our praises.
Psalm 22:3 “Yet You are holy, O You who are enthroned upon the praises of Israel.”
We praise God because He loves our praises.
Literally we create a throne for God in our midst when we praise Him.
Postures of Praise
Praise’s posture is not limited to one position. It can be standing, seated, prostrate, dancing, kneeling, etc.
Unity vs. Uniformity – unity is about expressing our hearts together toward God in our unique gifting and ability.
Uniformity is looking and acting the same and leads to dead, worthless, lifeless, pathetic ritualized religion!
Lifting of hands is an acceptable manner of praising God. (Neh. 8:6, Ps. 28:2, 63:4, Ps. 134:2, Ps 141:2, 1 Tim 2:8).
Examples:
Daddy!
I surrender!
I receive - (like a ball player stretches his arms out to catch the ball). When we lift our hands we indicate our willingness to receive what God has for us.
Clapping of hands (Psalm 47:1, Psalm 98:9, Is. 55:12)
It is a form of applause to God! (recall our earlier definition of praise = commending, applauding, recognizing..)
We applaud the triple play the Indians pulled off…why not applaud God for what He did in someone’s life this week:
Musical instruments and singing. (Ps 150:3-5)
How should we praise the Lord? Audibly!
Other forms of expressing praise:
Dancing (Ex. 15:20-21, 2 Sam 6:14-15, Ps. 30:11, Ps. 149:3, Acts 3:8)
Yes, it looks silly to outsiders, but our praises aren’t for people they are for God.
David danced in his boxer shorts. We should be GLAD when someone dances and keeps their clothes on for God.
Yes, dancing can be a distraction. It can even be for the wrong reasons. In our church in Texas, those who wanted to dance for Jesus did so in the back where they were out of the view of people and free to give God their praises.
Shouting. (Psalm 47;1” “Shout unto the God with a voice of triumph”
Ps. 66;1, 81:1, 95:1-2, 98:4-6, 100:1).
The Hebrew word from which we get alleluia (hillel) means to break to into a cry aloud.
Don’t be surprised if we ask you to shout out praises sometime in our testimony time.
Jericho’s walls fell with the shout of praise! The walls will come down with praise!
What is there for us to do now? (closing)
Praise Him.
Acts 16:22-26
The crowd rose up together against them, and the chief magistrates tore their robes off them and proceeded to order them to be beaten with rods. When they had struck them with many blows, they threw them into prison, commanding the jailer to guard them securely; and he, having received such a command, threw them into the inner prison and fastened their feet in the stocks. But about midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns of praise to God, and the prisoners were listening to them; and suddenly there came a great earthquake, so that the foundations of the prison house were shaken; and immediately all the doors were opened and everyone’s chains were unfastened.
I don’t know about you, but if I was just beaten, my first reaction is going to be to lick my wounds. If I am in jail, my first reaction is to call my lawyer and bail bondsman. Paul and Silas choose something else. They choose to praise God.
You may be in a need of an earthquake to open doors or to knock down some walls that you are facing in life.
Paul and Silas praised God in prison and God shook the foundations of their prison.
When you are in the shackles of something in life, feeling down, feeling low, do not allow your emotions to control you. Don’t allow your feelings to impede your worship. Begin to praise God. Praise God because of His great promises. Praise God because of what he said He would do for you. Praise God because He is big enough. Praise God because He can heal, set free, raise up, fix up, set up , life you up. God is above all and has marvelous promises if our eyes were upon we could not stop praising Him.
What is your need? I invite you to stand and speak out, shout out a praise to God for something you believe Him for, for something He has done, for what you need Him for. Praise Him!
