PSALM 150 – Praise the Lord! Praise God in his sanctuary; praise him in his mighty heavens! 2 Praise him for his mighty deeds; praise him according to his excellent greatness! 3 Praise him with trumpet sound; praise him with lute and harp! 4 Praise him with tambourine and dance; praise him with strings and pipe! 5 Praise him with sounding cymbals; praise him with loud clashing cymbals! 6 Let everything that has breath praise the Lord! Praise the Lord!
THEME OF THE DAY. THE SPIRITUAL WEAPON OF PRAISE. It appears in every verse. In fact, its presence occurs thirteen times in six verses. I really don’t need to identify “it” for just a quick reading of today’s scripture reveals it. The repeated theme, and repeated with great emphasis, is praise. Allow me to show us this forceful repetition. We read “Praise the Lord”, “Praise God”, “Praise Him”, “Praise Him”, “Praise Him”, “Praise Him”, “Praise Him”, “Praise Him”, “Praise Him”, “Praise Him”, “Praise Him”, “Praise the Lord”, and “Praise the Lord.” That’s a lot of worship! And when it comes to worship, it might well be one of the most neglected of spiritual weapons a Christian uses in doing daily battle against the devil, world, and self. Though it is not listed in the weaponry of the Christian in Ephesians 6:10-18, there is no question that a Christian who lives in the spirit of worship will experience consistent spiritual victory. Conversely, the believer who is failing to command to “Rejoice in the Lord always” which is another form of praise, will live in perpetual defeat (Philippians 4:4-7).
Before we consider praise as a spiritual weapon, let’s identify at least four distinctions about praise from today’s scripture. First, praise is centered foremost on God’s Person, not His actions. Of the thirteen references to praising Him, only one focuses on what God does. This is important because it prevents worship from being mere form and mechanical. True worship is relational and the only Christians who will worship God in spirit and truth are those walking close to Him, fighting the good fight against sin and for holiness. Another thing about praise is it will recognize the works of God. The worshipper will remember God’s great works in his or her life that serve to take the heart of the worshipper to the heart of the One worshipped. A third thing about worship is the emphasis on God’s character, particularly, His “excellent greatness”. If we are to worship God sincerely, we must see Him as He truly is and that is awesome and great beyond comprehension. This produces the necessary quality of humility in the worshipper. A final distinction about true praise of the Lord is that it is expected by all living beings – “Let everything that has breath praise the Lord! Praise the Lord!” Such a mandate reveals the created purpose of all people – to be worshipping of the One True God. But now let’s move into praise and spiritual warfare.
Praising the Lord is one of the most effective spiritual weapons a Christian may use to defeat the devil, world, and self because living in a state of worshipping the Lord takes our eyes off ourselves, our circumstances and our situations. And when self is taken out of the way, the “fuel” the devil, world, and self uses to bring about spiritual defeat is removed. The “dead to self” Christian is lost in the wonder and amazement of who God is and self-centered living is purged. And in the process of becoming less selfish, the number one hindrance to true praise is slowly lifted from the heart to be replaced by selfless adoration of the God worthy of all praise. Oh, may the Lord teach us how to use the weapon of praise in our daily combat against our spiritual foes.
PRAYER: “Father, help me to live in the spirit of praise attaching my heart to Your marvelous being and grace.”
QUOTE: “Praise defeats our spiritual foes because it focuses us away from self; the fuel used to bring spiritual defeat.”