2 Chron 20:21-22
21 And when he had consulted with the people, he appointed singers unto the LORD, and that should praise the beauty of holiness, as they went out before the army, and to say, Praise the LORD; for his mercy endureth for ever.
22 And when they began to sing and to praise, the LORD set ambushments against the children of Ammon, Moab, and mount Seir, which were come against Judah; and they were smitten. KJV
Want some real praise and worship? Sing about the beauty of holiness! We like the fruits of holiness, but we seldom see the beauty of holiness itself and frankly, Brothers, we are thrilled that Jesus’ holiness is imputed into our accounts, but we are not as excited about how it might display itself in our life so that we can walk in the beauty of holiness. God is beautiful beyond our comprehension and part of the beauty is His holiness and we are to be holy as He is holy.
Oh, Brothers, we know that is tall order for us, yet we either do not bother much about seeking to be that holy or we have failed and quit trying willing to live in the muddled morass of mediocre piety and holiness. So many of the Sisters run to Avon and Mary Kay for their beauty often ending up looking more macabre than pretty when if they would seek more to walk in holiness they would be beautiful for there is nothing more beautiful than an holy woman! Indeed, as the Psalmist tells us, though her clothing is made of gold she is all glorious within and it is that inner glory that is exceedingly more glorious than her outward appearance or apparel. (Psalm 45:13) Brothers, I will never be on the cover of GQ here for I am nowhere near what our culture calls handsome, but if I ever get to the holiness of life He desires for me then I will be listed in God’s Quarterly as I will more handsome than any Hollywood heart throb alive. Let’s make that our goal so that we can praise Him for what He has done in our lives!
Again, we see that His mercy endures forever! Yes, we can progress towards holiness because of that mercy and defeat our enemies as we sing and praise Him. Singing needs to be an expression of praise to Him more than it ought to be about us. It is great to sing of His benefits to us, but we tend to be more benefit oriented than God oriented oft times. We also have to be careful about repetition. Repetition is not always bad, but if we are not to be in overly repetitious prayer than our songs should not be musical rosaries or mantras. Spiritual songs are good and we are enjoined to sing Psalms, Hymns and Spiritual songs, but the subject matter should always be more about God and who He is than the goodies He gives us or great we art. Again, for what are we without Him?
See how great a weapon against the enemy that praise and worship can be? Once the people started the praise of Him and His holiness God moved against the enemy! This is why we should not be defeated. We should be kicking down the doors of Hell, but we have no praise or we often have a wrong type of praise going on so that God is not pleased and does not move. He waits for us to understand that if He is indeed Lord of all and has created all things then we should act and believe accordingly.
When we do, that will result in praise and singing rather than whining and moaning in defeat with our heads hanging down then He will move according to our faith. Jesus could not do miracles because of unbelief. Not that He needed the faith or that He did not have the power, but faith is what He requires of us. If we do not trust Him, we will not praise Him and if we do not praise Him then why do we expect anything from Him? How much would you really do if it were you? Thankfully, He does do a lot for us in His mercy, but He will do far more when we are grateful, submissive and expectant.
