7 Things Concerning Praise – 1
Back a few months ago I posted a devotion on the website. A couple of weeks ago, someone sent me an e-mail letting me know how good that devotion was and I needed to preach it sometime. I had never really thought of it before then, but since he said that, it has been constantly on my mind. So, this week, I dug a little deeper in that devotion and decided to give you the “7 Things Concerning Praise.” But after starting to prepare it I realized that there is NO way that I can preach all 7 things in one setting, so we will begin with 3 tonight and then finish with 4 more the next Sunday night that I preach.
Praise in an essential in a Christian’s life. It is not only essential here at church, but it is also essential in our homes. We must learn to let praise become a lifestyle wherever we go. There are several things that praise does for us.
I. PRAISE IS A WEAPON
Psalm 35:28, “And my tongue shall speak of Your righteousness and of Your praise all the day long.”
Some may be wondering how you get praise being a weapon out of this Scripture? I want you to keep this Scripture in mind as we read a few more. If my tongue speaks of His righteousness all day and if my tongue praises Him all day long, it becomes a mighty weapon against any enemy that may come against us. The tongue can be the most evil thing that you can have. Listen to how James describes it:
James 3:5-10, “Even so the tongue is a little member and boasts great things. See how great a forest a little fire kindles! 6 And the tongue is a fire, a world of iniquity. The tongue is so set among our members that it defiles the whole body, and sets on fire the course of nature; and it is set on fire by hell. 7 For every kind of beast and bird, of reptile and creature of the sea, is tamed and has been tamed by mankind. 8 But no man can tame the tongue. It is an unruly evil, full of deadly poison. 9 With it we bless our God and Father, and with it we curse men, who have been made in the similitude of God. 10 Out of the same mouth proceed blessing and cursing. My brethren, these things ought not to be so.”
That is some pretty potent words. No man can tame the tongue, but God can when our mouths are filled with His praises! The book of wisdom tells us:
Proverbs 19:21, “Death and life are in the power of the tongue, and those who love it will eat its fruit.”
From reading this Scripture, I find that no matter how evil a tongue can be, it can also be good! There is life in the power of the tongue! That is a serious weapon. Something so little can give us life and life more abundantly. How? By the words we allow to come from it.
➢ I want to be a praiser, not a complainer! I choose life, not death!
II. PRAISE ACTIVATES THE SPIRIT WORLD
Secular rock groups understand this truth. They understand that demonic spirits are activated by demonic music in the same way that the presence of God is activated by praise. Music holds a huge influence over us. I usually listen to music on the way into work every morning. The other morning when I got out of the car, the song that was playing was: “Holy Spirit, rain down, rain down. Let your fire fall, let your voice be heard, come and change our lives as we stand on Your word. Holy Spirit, rain down!” I ended up singing that song the rest of the day and it caused my prayer to lean towards that. All day, “Holy Spirit, would you rain down on Calvary Pentecostal Church! Would you rain down on the Campbell household? Would you rain down on my children’s schoolwork today? Would you rain down in every part of our lives? Let your voice be heard in my heart and in my family’s hearts!
What do you think the Lord would rather have on our minds? The drunk guy with his pick-up truck, or the rock song talking about sex, partying and dancing or “Holy Spirit, would you rain down on us today?” We are huge believers in our household that all our music must be pleasing to the Lord! We want the right spirit in our household. Praise is a weapon and it activates the Spirit world:
III. PRAISE CAUSES THE ENEMY TO RETREAT
Psalm 8:1-2; “O Lord, our Lord, how excellent is Your name in all the earth!
Who have set Your glory above the heavens 2 Out of the mouth of babes and nursing infants You have ordained strength, because of Your enemies, that You may silence the enemy and the avenger.”
Jesus quoted this Psalm; listen to what Jesus has to say about this:
Matthew 21:15-16; “Then the blind and the lame came to Him in the temple, and He healed them. But when the chief priests and scribes saw the wonderful things that He did, and the children crying out in the temple and saying, “Hosanna to the Son of David!” they were indignant and said to Him, “Do You hear what these are saying?” And Jesus said to them, “ Yes. Have you never read, ‘Out of the mouth of babes and nursing infants You have perfected praise?”
David said, “Out of the mouth of babes you have ordained strength.” Jesus said, “Out of the mouth of babes, you have perfected praise.” He likens strength with praise. By seeing what Jesus quotes, we find that Jesus is letting us know that there is tremendous strength in praise.
Why did Jesus ordain praise? We find it in Psalm 8: Praise stills the enemy and the avenger. Praise stops Satan right in his tracks. It is a weapon we are to use in calling a halt to Satan’s maneuvers.
Psalm 9:1-3; “I will praise thee, O LORD, with my whole heart; I will shew forth all thy marvellous works. 2 I will be glad and rejoice in thee: I will sing praise to thy name, O thou most High. 3 When mine enemies are turned back, they shall fall and perish at thy presence.”
I want you to notice that in verse 3 it says, “WHEN.” It doesn’t say if my enemies are turned back. It says, “When my enemies are turned back.” There is no question about it. If we will learn to praise God in all things, the enemy will retreat. Who is the enemy? The Bible says that we do not fight against flesh and blood but against all the powers of satanic forces. Keeping that in mind, when you praise God, your enemies, every demon in hell will retreat as fast as they can. They WILL fall and perish at your presence. I hope you are beginning to see how important praise is in the life of the believer. It is a vital and necessary weapon in your warfare against the devil. When you learn to praise God for the answer regardless of what circumstances say, the devil retreats! Praise the Lord!
Psalm 56:4-6, 9-12; “In God I will praise his word, in God I have put my trust; I will not fear what flesh can do unto me. 5 Every day they wrest my words: all their thoughts are against me for evil. 6 They gather themselves together, they hide themselves, they mark my steps, when they wait for my soul. 9 When I cry unto thee, then shall mine enemies turn back: this I know; for God is for me. 10 In God will I praise his word: in the LORD will I praise his word. 11 In God have I put my trust: I will not be afraid what man can do unto me. 12 Thy vows are upon me, O God: I will render praises unto thee.”
David faced a lot of battles. Yet in every one of them, he put his trust in God. He knew that if God’s praise was continually in his mouth, then God would cause his enemies to turn back. We don’t have physical enemies anymore, the Bible makes it clear to us that our enemy is the devil. So, we too, can know for a fact that when we praise God, our enemies and everything associated with him will turn back. The devil cannot continue to torment a man who has learned the discipline of praising.
If you want victory in your family, begin to praise God for victory. If you want finances to pay bills, then praise God for the finances that He is supplying. If you want peace in your life, then praise God for peace! If you want wisdom, then don’t complain that you don’t have any, begin to praise God for wisdom! If you need health in your body, stop complaining about your aches and pains and start praising God that He sent His Word and He healed them!
