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.
The word (due) speaks of a debt that is owing. So then it follows that if we owe God our praise, but we with-hold our praise, then we are robbing God.
When should you praise the Lord?
David said... "From the rising of the sun unto the going down of the same the Lord's name is to be praised." Psalm 113:3 KJV
Why should I praise the Lord?
*First of all we have already established that we are in debt to him. We owe him our praise.
*Then let’s consider the fact that he saved you... You didn't deserve it, you couldn't earn it, you couldn’t save yourself, but he did it.
*Then how about we praise him for the great Holy Ghost? The one who gives us power to live a holy life... the power to destroy the works of the devil... our counselor, our teacher, our guide.
* How about we praise him because we have breath in our lungs.
*How about we praise him for the fact that we're
alive. He woke you up this morning, there's a lot of people that didn't wake up today.
*Praise him for the fact that you've got the use of your limbs, and you're in your right mind, and you can feed yourself.
*Praise him because you were able to drive here to church today and you didn't have to walk.
*Praise him because you have a roof over your head, food on your table, shoes on your feet.
*Praise him because you live in the United States of America, where we still have freedom to assemble, and freedom of worship.
* Praise him because you're still here, still standing.
Because the truth is, if the devil would have had his way, he would have killed you a long time ago.
If the devil would have had his way, he would have killed me in 2011. But I'm still here in 202 and over 45 books later, I'm more of a threat to hell now, than I ever was then.
Man I don't know about you but I feel a shout coming on. Can't nobody do me like Jesus.
One of the greatest weapons in Davids arsenal, was something most people never even consider. And yet when you study David’s life you will have to come to the conclusion that one of David’s greatest and most effective weapons was a song.
A song is such a powerful weapon, that one of Satans main objectives is to steal your song.
Why does the devil want your song?… Because your song is a testimony that you’re not beat.
*You may have been bit, but you’re not beat.
*You may have been wounded, but you’re still in the fight.
*You may have been knocked down, but you’re not out.
A song is an open rebellion to the worst that hell can throw at you. When the devil has thrown everything he can at you, and you still have your song, that means you are still standing, and you still have a fight in you.
—As long as you have a song you’re still in the fight.
—As long as you have breath you can sing a song.
Let everything that hath breath, praise ye the Lord.
You may not understand how important this is, but I will show you from the Word of God, how extremely important it is that you have a song.
In one sense of the word, a song is a prophecy. The song looks beyond present testings, and present problems, and present sorrow, and it prophetically decrees... something better is coming.
That's the kind of song I'm talking about.
I'm not talking about the... nobody knows the trouble I've seen song. Or, gloom despair and agony on me, if it weren't for bad luck I'd have no luck at all, gloom despair and agony on me.
No, that’s a losers song. That kind of song is from the devil’s hymnbook. That kind of song is for the person who has given up. Those are the songs of the defeated. They are the songs of the hopeless, and helpless.
But as children of God, we are neither helpless nor hopeless. Our hope is in God, and God is our helper.
"I will lift up mine eyes unto the hills, from whence cometh my help. My help cometh from the Lord, which made heaven and earth" Psa 121:1-2
David said, I have help, and I have hope, and they are in God who made heaven and the earth. David’s words convey the thought... if God was big enough and powerful enough to create the heaven and the earth, He can surely handle any problem I have, big or small.
—A song is a companion for life's journey.
—A song can go with you anywhere.
—A song can comfort you in the darkest hour of your life.
This is one of the greatest revelations for navigating through the storms of life.
Listen to what David said about a song... Psa 32:7 "Thou art my hiding place; thou shalt preserve me from trouble; thou shalt compass me about with songs of deliverance."
Psa 119:54 " Thy statutes have been my songs in the house of my pilgrimage."
Then look at this wonderful verse... "And He hath put a new song in my mouth, even praise unto our God: many shall see it, and fear, and shall trust in the Lord." Psa 40:3
Let me give you one more verse about your song. "The Lord is my strength and song, and is become my salvation." Psa 118:14
I love that verse. It's as though David is saying... what I have sung about has manifested in my life. It started out as a song, but it has become a fact, it has become my experience.
One of the most dangerous things in your life is to lose your song.
There will be times when your song will be your closest companion.
There will be times when your song will be your lifeline through the storm.
Remember Paul and Silas? They were publicly humiliated, beaten black and blue, then cast into the inner prison. This was the deepest darkest, most filthy compartment of the prison. And what does the Bible say they did?
First of all I’ll tell you what they didn’t do. They didn’t get angry, and hostile, or go into deep depression, or whine and complain and murmur, and began to cast dispersions on God, and question his love for them.
No, this is what the Bible says... At midnight, Paul and Silas began to pray, and sing praises unto God, and the prisoners heard them.
Now I wasn't there, but I kind of think their song might have sounded like this... I've got a feeling, everything's gonna' be alright. Oh... I've got a feeling, everything's gonna' be alright. Yes, I've got a feeling, everything's gonna' be alright. Be alright. Be alright. Be alright. Hallelujah!
Then something very powerful happened. God heard them praying and singing, and he kicked his footstool and the earth started shaking, and that was the original jail house rock. And it shook the prison off it's foundation; it opened every prisoner's door, and every prisoner's bands fell off. Because somebody prayed and sang praises.
I'm going to say something here and I don't want to upset anybody, but I do want to help somebody.
Many times our praying is more in doubt and fear than in faith, especially when you're going through the fire, and your life or your livelihood is being threatened.
And many times, there is more faith in our song than there is in our prayer. Because our prayer is begging God for help, while our song is praising God for help, and praising God for deliverance.
That's what David meant when he said: you compass me round about with songs of deliverance. Not songs of discouragement. Not songs of frustration, aggravation, hopelessness. and despair. But songs of faith. Songs of brighter days. Songs of expectation. Songs that lift, and songs that pull me up.
I believe this is one of the greatest revelations in David’s life… You need a song in the night.
Maybe, right now as you are listening to this message you have lost your song. You’ve had the breath knocked out of you, and you don’t feel like you can ever sing again. But if you ask him, God will give you a new song.
He will give you a song of hope, and peace, and joy. And like Paul and Silas, in the darkest hour of your life, you can still pray? yes, of course, pray, I would never want to diminish the place prayer must hold in our lives. But also... sing.
Listen to one of my favorite verses in the Bible... "Sing O barren, thou that didst not bear; break forth into singing, and cry aloud, thou that didst not travail with child: for more are the children of the desolate than the children of the married wife, saith the Lord." Isa 54:1
This verse is an invocation to sing beyond your present circumstances. In other words... it is singing prophetically. Let your faith soar heavenward on the wings of a song.
Instead of looking at your barrenness, prophesy with your song that you will be fruitful, and productive, and even though you have been barren, you will pass up those who were already married and fruitful before you.
Instead of singing about empty cupboards, sing about the faithfulness of God. Why should I worry about the highs and the lows, the ups and the downs, when by my faith I know… My God is more than enough.
Instead of grimly repeating the doctors report, sing… I am the God that healeth thee.
Do you see what I'm saying?
The song is my prophecy. Tremendous power is released through a prophetic song. Never trivialize this... You need a song.
Now we're going to drop in on David, the Praiser. David, the sweet psalmists of Israel.
"David, very possibly the author of the greatest praises that ever passed through human lips."
But in this chapter of Davids life, he is not in praise mode. In other words, he is not feeling a praise. In fact he is probably feeling like hanging his harp on the willow and never singing again.
We find the setting in 1 Samuel chapter 30: vs 1-19 David and his men had been on a military campaign. David and his men were living in enemy territory, but David, his men and their families felt very safe because David had convinced Achish the king of Gath that he was a friend to him.
Then from this safe place David would launch his military campaigns against the Philistines, then retreat to his safe place where all their families were safely waiting for them at home in Ziklag.
But on this day,when David and his men returned from plundering the Philistines... things were different. No kids came running out to meet their Daddies. No smell of supper on the stove. No sounds of contented cattle and sheep in the distance.
Instead there was the eerie sound of silence. And the remains of their houses that had been plundered and burned.
Suddenly it hits them like a ton of bricks. Not only are the animals gone. But all their wives and children are gone.
The first emotion that hits them is grief, sorrow, regret, and they weep until they can't even cry anymore. Then the sorrow, grief and regret, transitions to anger.
Yes they are angry at themselves, but they universally decide to make David responsible, and take their anger out on David. And the Bible says, they spoke of stoning David.
So David, is in the midst of most likely the darkest season of his life. And David does something that doesn't make any sense. He calls for the Ephod and he worships.
David gets his praise on in Ziklag. And the Bible doesn't say it right here, and I can't prove it, but I just believe David had a flashback.
I believe his mind went back to a time when a lion
broke into his father's flock and took a lamb from the fold. Every natural evidence would say: it's over. that lamb is history. Just write it off and move on. But David tracked that lion down and the lamb was still alive in the lion's mouth. And David smote and killed the lion and delivered the lamb. And I believe from somewhere deep inside a song began to to bubble up.
And it doesn’t say it word for word in our text, but I can’t see David worshipping without a song. And if we could have heard him, his song might have sounded something like this…
... When you’re up against a struggle that shatters all your dreams, and your hopes have been cruelly crushed by satans manifested schemes, and you feel the urge within you to submit to earthly fears, don’t let the faith you’re standing in, seem to disappear… Praise the Lord, he will work through those who praise him, praise the Lord, for our God inhabits praise. Praise the Lord, for the chains that seem to bind you, serve only to remind you, they drop powerless behind you, when you praise him.
I don’t know really what it was, but what I do know is this…
When David went into praise, he went in to recovery.
The Bible says, David encouraged himself in the Lord, and he worshipped, then he enquired of the Lord... Shall I pursue after this troop? Shall I overtake them? And God answered him, Pursue, for thou shalt surely overtake them, and without fail recover all.
And the Bible says that they pursued and overtook them, and when they came upon them they were spread abroad upon all the earth eating and drinking and dancing, because of all the great spoil that they had taken out of the land of the Philistines and out of the land of Judah. In other words, they were throwing a big party, celebrating how they had plundered and destroyed and stolen from so many people.Then the Bible says, David smote them from the twilight even unto the evening of the next day: And there was nothing lacking to them, neither small nor great, neither sons nor daughters, neither spoil, nor anything that they had taken to them: David recovered all.
I feel God saying... Someone is one Ziklag praise away from going into supernatural recovery and restoration.
Somebody is going to get your joy back.
Somebody is going to get your health back.
Somebody is going to get your strength back.
Somebody is getting a fresh breath of air.
The devil has been after your song, because he knows the power that is released in your song.
—He has been trying to get you to sing from his hymnbook of grief and misery, and disappointment, and woe is me. But those are not songs of deliverance, those are songs of bondage and captivity.
How many times have I felt like David, and felt like giving up, and suddenly I hear in my spirit…
—He’s an on time God, yes he is.
—Or, He’ll do it again.
—Or, God will make this trial a blessing.
—Or there’s a miracle in the making
You need to get this in your spirit.You may hear a song in your mind or your spirit., ... But you’ve got to sing it.
—A prayer is not a prayer till you pray it.
—A gift is not a gift till you give it.
—A song is not a song till you sing it.
So I make this declaration for 2025… I’m going to sing.
—Tell your neighbor, I’m going to sing.
—Tell the devil I’m going to sing. Instead of listening to the devils lies and negativity, make the devil listen to you sing.
Right there in the middle of disaster, when it feels like everything is falling apart, give God a Ziklag praise.
You say pastor Terry, what in the world is a Ziklag praise? A Ziklag praise is a praise that don’t make no sense. It ’s a praise that stands in the middle of the burning ashes of everything you ever dreamed of, and right there with smoke stinging your eyes, you give God praise.
—A Ziklag praise, is not a looking back praise for all the good things God has done.
—A Ziklag praise is a God is not finished with me yet praise.
—A Ziklag praise is a prophecy of restoration.
—A Ziklag praise is an I’m going through it praise.
—A Ziklag praise is an in the midst praise…Right here in the midst of this fiery furnace, or in the midst of this raging river, I’m going to give Give God praise.
A Ziklag praise is an even though praise. It means, even though I don’t understand why this is happening, and even though it hurts. I’m going to sing. I’m going to give God praise.
Habakkuk ’s praise was a Ziklag praise... He said, “Although the fig tree shall not blossom, neither shall fruit be in the vines; and the labour of the olive shall fail, and the fields shall yield no meat; the flock shall be cut off from the fold, and there shall be no herd in the stalls: Yet I will rejoice in the Lord, I will joy in the God of my salvation.” Habakkuk 3:17- 18
Job had a Ziklag praise when he had lost everything he owned in just a matter of a few hours. The Bible says, he shaved his head, he fell to the ground, and he worshipped.
That was a Ziklag praise.
The point I’m trying to make today is this... A Ziklag praise is prophetic.
—A Ziklag praise doesn’t have to be pretty to be effective.
—A Ziklag praise says, it ’s not over. It doesn’t matter what it looks like, and it doesn’t even matter what it feels like... Something good is going to come out of this. So I’m going to sing.
Today I’m singing! I might be going through the fire right now, but I’m going to sing and praise my way through it.
Remember that it’s when the fire is the hottest that the kettle sings.
Nothing is going to take my song.
