Pursuing Peace Through Praise
Scripture: Psalms 100; Acts 16:16-24; Psalm 8:2; John 14:27
This morning I wish to share with you a personal message that I’ve titled, “Pursuing Peace Through Praise.” For those of you who attended Bible study this week, some of this will sound familiar to you.
The past three weeks have been a difficult time for me and for my family. For me personally it seemed that everything converged together in my mind last Monday evening. So that night I laid in bed struggling with some of the events of the day and the preceding weeks. Even though I was tired, sleep refused to come. As I lay in bed I began to pray in the spirit. The more I prayed the more awake I seemed to become. My heart was heavy, my peace was not to be found, and my mind was racing. I finally drifted off to sleep, but found myself awake again a couple of hours later. Again, I started praying in the spirit. However, this time as I prayed, the Spirit interrupted me and told me to give God praise. I paused and thought about what He had spoken to me. As I began to give God praise, Psalms 100 came to mind. It says, “(1) A Psalm of Thanksgiving. Make a joyful shout to the LORD, all you lands! (2) Serve the LORD with gladness; come before His presence with singing. (3) Know that the LORD, He is God; it is He who has made us, and not we ourselves; We are His people and the sheep of His pasture. (4) Enter into His gates with thanksgiving, and into His courts with praise. Be thankful to Him, and bless His name. (5) For the LORD is good; His mercy is everlasting, and His truth endures to all generations.” (Psalms 100:1-5)
As I thought about this Psalm and how it came to mind when the Spirit told me to praise God, I began to focus my praise on the “why”, which we see clearly in this Psalm. The first four words of this Psalm say that it is “A Psalm of thanksgiving.” So as I thought about that, I had to think about why I was thankful in the midst of what I was dealing with. I thought about my past. I thought about my present – yes, the current situation and all of the torment and pain it represented. Then I thought about the future – where God already was, waiting with the answers to the situations I was struggling with. Here is my point: this Psalm is one of thanksgiving. It is a song of praise for the Lord’s faithfulness to His people. This song says make a joyful noise unto the Lord and serve Him with gladness! Why? Because He is God and He is the one responsible for our being. Not only that, as His children, we are the sheep of His pasture – in other words, we are under His care!
Acts chapter sixteen records the story of Paul and Silas beginning to do just this after they had been beaten and imprisoned. Let’s examine this story in Acts sixteen beginning at verse sixteen. “(16) Now it happened, as we went to prayer, that a certain slave girl possessed with a spirit of divination met us, who brought her masters much profit by fortune-telling. (17) This girl followed Paul and us, and cried out, saying, ‘These men are the servants of the Most High God, who proclaim to us the way of salvation.’ (18) And this she did for many days. But Paul, greatly annoyed, turned and said to the spirit, ‘I command you in the name of Jesus Christ to come out of her.’ And he came out that very hour. (19) But when her masters saw that their hope of profit was gone, they seized Paul and Silas and dragged them into the marketplace to the authorities. (20) And they brought them to the magistrates, and said, ‘These men, being Jews, exceedingly trouble our city; (21) and they teach customs which are not lawful for us, being Romans, to receive or observe.’ (22) Then the multitude rose up together against them; and the magistrates tore off their clothes and commanded them to be beaten with rods. (23) And when they had laid many stripes on them, they threw them into prison, commanding the jailer to keep them securely. (24) Having received such a charge, he put them into the inner prison and fastened their feet in the stocks.” (Acts 16:16-24)
Paul and Silas were on their way to the place of worship for prayer and the reading of the Scripture. As they walked to their destination a slave girl, possessed with a spirit of divination and who had been following them for many days shouting that Paul and Silas were servants of the Most High God began following them again repeating the same thing. Now understand that everything this slave girl was saying was the absolute truth, but Satan was using this truth – as he always does – to discredit the message of the apostles. He used a young girl he controlled with demons and used as a medium to make the people think that the apostles were in league with her and the demons who spoke through her were serving the same God. Therefore, the people would conclude that they were doing miracles by the devil and so discount the gospel. But on this particular day, Paul had had enough. He had grown tired of the demon following them around saying, through the girl, that they were both the same. He turned, faced her and commanded the demon come out of her in the name of Jesus. Notice that he spoke to the demon, not the girl. The demon spirit immediately left her. When the demon was cast out of her in the name of Jesus, it proved that they were of God and not of demons. The story does not tell us how long this slave girl had been possessed, but what it does tell us is that she was a “money-maker” for her masters. So once she was no longer possessed and could no longer practice divination, her masters became extremely upset with Paul and Silas. They dragged them before the leaders and had them beaten and thrown into prison. This was one of the five times that Paul “received forty stripes, minus one” from the Jews (Second Corinthians 11:24).
Now this is what I want you to see. When they were thrown into the inner prison, a damp and cold place in complete darkness where the chains rusted on the prisoners, Paul and Silas began to do what the Spirit told me to do. They began praying and singing hymns to God. While the Bible does not tell us what hymns they were singing, it is highly likely they were singing some from the book of Psalm – their song book! Verse twenty-five says, “But at midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the prisoners were listening to them.” (Acts 16:25) As they prayed and sang praises to God, the other prisoners heard them. Imagine being beaten and bleeding; thrown in a dark, damp prison cell and then beginning to praise God. How were they able to do this? They were able to do this because they looked beyond their immediate situation to the One Who was faithful to them! As they praised God, verse twenty-six says, “Suddenly there was a great earthquake, so that the foundations of the prison were shaken; and immediately all the doors were opened and everyone’s chains were loosed.” (Acts 16:26) God answered their prayers! He sent a great earthquake, opening all doors and loosing all of the bonds of the prisoners. If you read the rest of the story, you will find that even though they could have escaped they didn’t and this led to the Philippian jailer and his household being saved. Paul and Silas chose to praise God in the midst of their pain, blood and tears. They chose to praise God instead of crying, moaning and complaining about their circumstances. Because they chose to praise God, lives were saved. Because of they chose to praise God, salvation came to many others.
I cannot say that my situation was anything like Paul and Silas, but I will tell you that the hardest thing I had to do in the early morning hours last Tuesday was to give God praise! Do you hear me? It was counterintuitive to what I was feeling and what my mind was trying to focus on. My mind wanted to dwell on what I was dealing with, which in that moment was causing me so much unrest that I could not sleep. However, in order to praise God I had to stop focusing on that problem and begin thinking about His goodness and everything He has done, was doing and would do. Have you ever truly stopped and praised God while you were going through something versus waiting until it was all over? Have you ever tried to shift your worry; your pain; your thoughts of worse case scenarios to a mindset of giving God praise? It sounds easy to do for a Christian, but let me tell you, while you are praising God, those same thoughts and feelings try to seep between the praise! It is extremely easy to praise God and have peace after you have come through a situation but it is easier said than done while you are in the midst of it. But what the Spirit demonstrated to me Monday night was that by praising God and shifting my focus from the problem to the praise, the peace that I so desperately needed in order to sleep would follow. So in effect what I was being directed to do was to pursue the peace that I needed to sleep by praising God. When I began to praise God my mind began to settle down and peace in that moment came. In our Bible study Thursday night, as we were discussing the reasons why we are to praise God, Psalm 8:2 was read. “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.” (Psalm 8:2) As I thought about this verse afterward, I realized that the Spirit was instructing me to go to my strength – to praise God – because the thoughts that were causing me unrest and being unable to sleep had become my enemies! The longer I praised God, the more my mind began to quiet down and God’s peace began to relieve the tension and agitation I was feeling and I was able to go to sleep.
I do not know about you, but as a child of God I believed that peace was one of the guaranteed benefits that we have if we take God at His word and believe what He has said. Peace is not automatic, you have to pursue it – you have to want it. When you pursue something, you actively follow it. You chase it. You hunt it down. You track it so that you can obtain it. When we pursue peace, we search for it; seek it out; chase it down; because we are not already walking in it. Hear me closely on this point, as a child of God we should always have a spirit of peace. We should always know our source of peace. When Jesus’ disciples were troubled at hearing of His upcoming death, Jesus told them, “Peace I leave with you, My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.” (John 14:27) We have been given peace, but that does not mean that we are always at peace.
In the Hebrew, the word “peace” is shalom and it means “to be safe, to be completed.” The first time shalom is used is in Genesis 15:15. It says, “Now as for you, you shall go to your fathers in peace; you shall be buried at a good old age.” This was part of the covenant that God had given to Abraham. God promised Abraham that he would go to his fathers in peace. Remember what I said about pursuing peace? Romans 4:3 tells us why Abraham went to his fathers in peace and more importantly how he pursued peace. It says, “For what does the Scripture say? ‘Abraham believed God and it was accounted to Him for righteousness.’” Everything that God told Abraham, from leaving his family and going to a strange land to having a son in his old age, Abraham believed God. Before I go farther, let me deviate for just a moment with one additional point from Genesis 15:15. The phrase “go to thy fathers” implies that the fathers, though dead, still existed. To go from one place to another implies, not extinction, but the continuance of existence. The doctrine of the spirit’s perpetual existence is confirmed here. Abram died in peace and happiness, one hundred and fifteen years before his children’s descent into Egypt. So it must be said that the peace that we receive from God starts with our believing what He has said. This is also confirmed with the Greek word for peace.
In the Greek, the word “peace” is eirene and it means “one, peace, quietness, rest + set at one again.” Now Who do you think we need to be one with??? Romans 5:1 tells us when it records, “Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.” The Amplified Bible reads this way, “Therefore, since we have been justified [that is, acquitted of sin, declared blameless before God] by faith, [let us grasp the fact that] we have peace with God [and the joy of reconciliation with Him] through our Lord Jesus Christ (the Messiah, the Anointed).” (Romans 5:1) When we read what Paul wrote to the Christians in Rome, we understand that the only way to peace is to be in agreement with God – to be one with Him and what He has said about His Son. We cannot accept Christ as our personal Savior without being in agreement with Who He is according to God’s word. So in our pursuit of peace, we do so by coming into agreement with what God has said – PERIOD! This brings me to Isaiah 55:11.
Isaiah 55:11 says, “So will My word be which goes out of My mouth; it will not return to Me void (useless, without result), without accomplishing what I desire, and without succeeding in the matter for which I sent it.” We love this verse because it tells us that God’s word will accomplish exactly what He says it will accomplish – no questions asked. But here is something that we often do not talk about relating to this verse. God’s word will accomplish what He said it would in “our” lives if “we” believe it. Yes, God’s will, as spoken in His word, is dependent upon our believing and acting on His word. This is why Jesus instructed, “(9) In this manner, therefore, pray: Our Father in heaven, Hallowed be Your name. (10) Your kingdom come. Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.” (Matthew 6:9-10) We have to pray that God’s will is done on earth as it is in heaven because of the impact on man’s obedience in completing God’s will. It will be impossible to fully serve God if we do not have absolute, complete and uncompromising faith in the truth of His Word. Romans 15:13 says, “Now may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that you may abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.” Peace in believing….we cannot have peace separate from believing God’s Word.
Now at the beginning of this message I told you this was very personal to me because of some things I have been dealing with over the past few weeks. I told you that I had to pursue peace through praise. Since I made that statement I have pointed out that having Godly peace starts with believing His word. So how does praise fit in? How does praising God lead to peace? How can we achieve peace by simply praising God? If you have been thinking along these lines, let me clear this up for you. If you read the book of Psalms, you will find that there are twenty-four different Psalms of praise and eleven prayer-praise Psalms. The reason I am mentioning this is because when you read these Psalms, they are recounting what God has both said and done. You see, the songs were written from a foundation of believing – so the songs were more of a testimony. Do you see where this is going? In order to have peace you must believe and take God at His word. In order to sing praises to God, you must believe and take God at His word. Believing not only what God has said, but also the testimonies of what He has done and will do in the future based on His word.
Psalms 19:7-8, 14 records the following; “The law of the LORD is perfect, converting the soul; the testimony of the LORD is sure, making wise the simple; (8) The statutes of the LORD are right, rejoicing the heart; the commandment of the LORD is pure, enlightening the eyes….(14) Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in Your sight, O LORD, my Strength and my Redeemer.” I included these verses because they summarize what I have been attempting to show. This song speaks of the Word of God and what it is; perfect, sure, right, and pure. If we believe this, then His word is able to convert the soul, make the simple wise, and brings enlightenment. Then the last verse make the confession of someone who has chosen to believe God’s Word and meditate on it. It says, “Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in Your sight, O LORD, my Strength and my Redeemer.” The last Scripture I want to leave with you is from Psalm 150. Psalms 150:1, 2 & 6 says “(1) Praise the LORD! Praise God in His sanctuary; praise Him in His mighty firmament! (2) Praise Him for His mighty acts; praise Him according to His excellent greatness!.....(6) Let everything that has breath praise the LORD. Praise the LORD!” This song says we are to praise God for what He has and is doing – His mighty acts.
Last Monday night, early Tuesday morning I needed peace. I needed peace for several weeks but it all came crashing down Monday night. You all have heard my testimonies. You have heard my sermons. You know where I stand when it comes to dealing with situations by faith. You all know me. But I will tell you that last week, I was struggling. I will tell you that I was truly crying out to God in my midnight hour. I will tell you that my anger was so strong that it was literally fighting against my faith. Oh but the power of God. When the Spirit told me to begin praising God, I didn’t feel it; hadn’t thought about it; and if truth be told, I wasn’t in that mindset. But I needed peace. I needed my mind to calm down so I could rest. I chose to be obedient. I chose to start praising God. And when I made that decision, when I started praising God, it wasn’t immediate, but gradually the weight started to shift. Gradually I began to have some level of peace about the situation and the days ahead. Eventually I was able to fall back to sleep.
New Light, I choose to pursue peace through praise. I will praise God when things are good! I will praise God when things are not so good! I will praise God when I am happy and when I am sad. My praise will not be predicated on how I am feeling. My praise will not be predicated on any blessing(s) I may have received. My praise will not be predicated on my situation! I choose to pursue peace through the praise of God at all times, especially when I am at my lowest point! I choose to believe God’s word when it says, “(6) Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; (7) and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 4:6-7) I had the prayer and supplication down pat, but it was the “thanksgiving” that was missing. If you are dealing with a situation right now and all you can see is the situation; your pain; your stress; and how bad everything is, stop and pursue your peace through by praising God. You won’t feel like it. It might sound fake and you might not want to keep it up. But trust me when I tell you that God will move through your praise and you will begin to receive peace. On last Monday night, I prayed and praised Him until sleep came and when I woke up again and my mind wanted to go back to the situation, I prayed and praised my way back to sleep. If you are struggling with something today and you have loss your peace, start praising God!
Until next time, “The Lord bless you and keep you. May the Lord make His face shine on you and be gracious to you. May the Lord lift up His countenance on you and give you peace.” (Numbers 6:24-26)
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