PSALM 150 – Praise the Lord! Praise God in his sanctuary; praise him in his mighty heavens! Praise him for his mighty deeds; praise him according to his excellent greatness! Praise him with trumpet sound; praise him with lute and harp! Praise him with tambourine and dance; praise him with strings and pipe! Praise him with sounding cymbals; praise him with loud clashing cymbals! Let everything that has breath praise the Lord! Praise the Lord!”
Spiritual warfare. It is daily and lifelong. There will never be a moment the Christian is not assaulted by the spiritual foes of the devil, the world and flesh. This battle is relentless, intense, and never offers terms of peace or a cease fire. The Christian well-informed of the call to daily battle will be the Christian well-equipped for the daily battle. Conversely, believers who just go through the daily routines of life, never recognizing or remembering we live on a battleground not a playground, are easy prey for the devil and sure casualties in the spiritual conflict. And when it comes to doing battle, God gives us the necessary armor to fight. The familiar passage of the last chapter in the New Testament letter to the Ephesians details each piece–Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might. Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil. For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places. Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand firm. Stand therefore, having fastened on the belt of truth, and having put on the breastplate of righteousness, and, as shoes for your feet, having put on the readiness given by the gospel of peace. In all circumstances take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming darts of the evil one; and take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God, praying at all times in the Spirit, with all prayer and supplication. To that end, keep alert with all perseverance, making supplication for all the saints (Ephesians 6:10-18).
But there is another piece of the armor to be used in the battle. It might not be one we quickly recognize but it is very powerful. It comes out of today’s scripture. However, we won’t find one word in Psalm 150 about battle, war, or armor. Not a mention, yet, the dominant theme of the Psalm is a very effective piece of armor. It is praise. In a short six verses, praise to the Lord is explicitly stated twelve times! And the simple reason why praise is so powerful in defeating our spiritual foes is because it takes our eyes off ourselves and circumstances and puts them on the Lord. We get in all kinds of spiritual trouble and sure defeat when we look around at our circumstances or inside at our feelings. Praise frees us from this outward and inward look and takes us upward, “Looking unto Jesus” and there is victory, there is power(Hebrews 12:1-2).
So as we go about fighting our daily spiritual battles, start shifting everything to praise of and to the Lord. It will make all the difference and spiritual victories over sin, Satan, and ourselves will become more frequent.
PRAYER: “Father, teach me the power of praise; a power that is able to overcome my greatest spiritual foe-myself.”
QUOTE: “Praise takes our eyes off ourselves and enables us to break the sinful chains of selfishness.”
Because of Him,
Pastor Jim