Psalm 118:29
Beloved in Christ,
Greetings in the precious name of the Lord Jesus Christ.
David tasted in his life that it is good and pleasant to praise the Lord and so says: “Praise the Lord: for it is good to sing praises to our God; For it is pleasant, and praise is beautiful” (Psalm 147:1). This was what he experienced in life. Hence he declares, “I will bless the Lord at all times: His praise shall continually be in my mouth” (Psalm 34:1). In Psalm 136, we are urged to praise the Lord for all the good things He has done, for all His mighty deeds, and for all His greatness and glory. Today praising and worshiping the Lord is a part of perfecting us. While we worship Him, praising and glorifying the Lord is pleasant. Without praise, we cannot worship the Lord.
By praising the Lord it is possible to achieve many blessings, things of honour and glory, in the life of man. Let us see the importance of praising here.
1. Deliverance through Praising
“And at midnight Paul and Silas prayed, and sang praises unto God: and the prisoners heard them.” Acts 16:25
Here we find two men praising God. What is their situation? Why did they praise at midnight? Let us analyse these. The place they were in was in total darkness. If we read from the 23rd verse, we understand that they commanded the jailer to keep them securely. He fastened their feet in the stocks. They couldn’t even move their feet. They were kept in the inner prison or dungeon. The outer world couldn’t know how they were suffering inside. In that state they were praising God.
Today when everything goes on well, we praise God and offer our thanks to Him. When we confront difficulties and problems, we compare us with the worldly people who are given more than they desire. We become depressed. Beloved child of God, in your life whether good or bad happens, whether your prayers are answered or not, praise God. Our God never does anything evil in our lives. He gives us only that which is good.
What happened when they praised God? The foundations of the prison were shaken by an earthquake and immediately the doors were opened and everyone’s chains were loosed (Verse26). Here we see three incidents. The earth quaked. The foundations of the prison were shaken. The power of God shattered the prison so much that they could not be imprisoned again there, not only that, the doors opened. To receive all the blessings that were closed to them, all the barriers were removed and the ways of blessings opened. Today, many people think that in a state of imprisonment that this is the end of their lives. They say they have to die and go back into earth with sorrow and mourning. But when you fulfil the act of praising and worshiping God from the depth of your heart, the bondage in your life, and the problems that have imprisoned you will drift away from you. Not only that, the door would be opened. Halleuiah!
We also see in II chronicles 20:22,23 that Jehoshaphat set the singers before the soldiers to praiseod. When they began to sing praises, all those who came and ambushed Judah (the Moabites, the Ammonites and the people of Mount Seir), the Lord made them rise and fight against one another. As a result, all of them fell slain. When we praise the Lord, our enemies fall by the power of praise. You will also be released from all those things that have imprisoned you so far, when you praise God.
2. Protection through Praising
“Violence shall no longer be heard in your land, neither wasting nor destruction within your borders; but you shall call your walls Salvation, and your gates Praise.”
Isaiah 60:18
When we praise God, He protects us in a significant manner from all dangers (Is 60:18-20). As said in Isaiah 60:1,2 on whomsoever the glory of the Lord shines and on whomsoever the Lord rises, they shall receive the Lord’s protection and shall be saved from destruction. In Psalm 18:3, we read about salvation through praising. When we praise Him, He becomes our fortress and strength and protects us from all kinds of destruction. Many feel shy about praising God. When those ransomed of the Lord praise Him, He shall help the nation to be rid of violence.
Deliverance is different from salvation. Deliverance means being delivered or released from one’s afflictions; but salvation is that which is perfected in Christ. A christian’s life does not end with deliverence. Being delivered, one should open his heart for His light to rise and shine in him. In our christian life, when we grow in Christ by praising the Lord, we will certainly see the protecting hands of the Lord.
Not only that, if His words that He is the fortress and strength are to be fulfilled in our life, that promise should be strengthened by our praising. When we praise Him, His glorious presence envelops us. For His presence to come upon us we should praise Him untiringly. Thus, when we continually praise Him, His glory descends on the place and we have His protection from destruction and have peace. Then if you do that, you can see that this promise of your days of mourning coming to end will be fulfilled. In the lives of so many people, you find that sorrows increase only after salvation. They are troubled when they should end. But Jesus Christ tells us, “your sorrow will be turned into joy” (John 16:20). He will put an end to all spiritual problems in your life and give you protection in life and guide you. So in praising you have deliverance, the fullness of blessings of salvation and protection.
3. Victorious Life through Praising
“The dead do not praise the Lord, nor any who go down into silence. But we will bless the Lord from this time forth and forevermore. Praise the Lord”.
Psalm 115:17,18
Only when praise is in you, you are living in the Lord. The proof whether one is in Christ or not is found in the measuring rod of praising coming bubbling from the heart and praising dwelling on the tongue. Those who live in the Lord, praise Him. If we analyse the Bible, we see that those who are delivered in the Lord and those who live in the Lord begin to praise Him. Isaiah 38:19 tells us: “The living, the living man, he shall praise you, as I do this day...”
Today, there are various types of death. I Timothy 5:6 tells us: “But she who lives in pleasure is dead while she lives”. Those who are not true in Christ are dead. Who is that? The one who lives in pleasure. Today the lives ofmany children of the Lord, there are things abominable, Those who came into Christ giving up so many things, now seek so many things along with Christ. Those who came giving up the jobs, now are in the way of worldliness seeking things of the world.
I know a chinese man living in another country. He accepted Christ. The love of money is not yet dead in him. What he said, you know: “I had only one factory. Now I need three more factories. Please pray for it. I also prayed for it”.
Whom did he want to follow? Christ. How did he come? He came giving up everything for Christ. Now he wants to have everything in Christ’s name. Jesus christ taught his disciples to pray: ‘Give us this day our daily bread’. He didn’t teach us to accumulate wealth for the future or for our descendants. He never said He would give such a wealth but said, “But first seek the kingdom of God and His righteousness and all these things shall be added to you”. Matt 6:33. So let us walk carefully in the discipline of the Bible.
Beloved child of God, today the life of pleasure takes us, without ourselves knowing it, to the best of the eyes and the worldly honour and became dead in life. Our Lord gives us the right things at the right time. He will give you what you need. One day I prayed, fasting, and left for a place. The body was weak as I had a doubt whether I would have a seat to sit in the bus by which I should travel. But I had a deluxe bus. Another day I thought I would not be able to fast that day. I took food and went to catch the bus. That day I had to stand throughout the travel. This is only a simple thing. Anyhow, when we give room for the temptations of the flesh and yearn for a life of comfort, there arise barriers in our way. So a life of comfort is a sign of death while living.
There are so many other aspects of death. There are death due to sin and wickedness. “For the wages of sin is death...” (Rom 6:23). “... the soul who sins shall die” (Ezek 18:4). These are states of death. But when we praise God we are living. If you ask people to praise and thank God many ask why we should do that. They think it is enough if we thank or praise God just once. Is it not foolishness to thank God again and again? Beloved child of God, if there should be an outward sign to show that you have been redeemed in Christ, it is the praise of God on your lips. Praising is a measurement to assess one’s spiritual standard. The dead do not praise God. Those who are dead because of sin cannot praise God.
Even those who are affected by evil spirits may speak in tongues. Don’t be cheated by it. Such people do not praise God but only talk ill about Him in tongues. We had been to a place for the ministry. There one boy named Moses was possessed by the evil spirit. He said that he could also speak in tongues and was speaking in a tongue for an hour. He was simply cursing Jesus. So if you don’t live in Christ, you cannot praise Him. For some people, before there is a spiritual struggle it begins in the inabilities to praise him. They begin to sleep as soon as they begin to praise the Lord. It is a wicked act of Satan. But if you continue to praise the Lord, the problem vanishes. Thus, a sign to know whether you are in Christ is the act of praising the Lord continually. In this way we have deliverance, blessings, security, and fullness through praising. In this way you can assess your spiritual state yourself by reckoning how you praise the Lord.
4. Carry out the Lord’s Purpose through Praising
“This people I have formed for Myself; they shall declare My praise.” Isaiah 43:21
When we praise God we carry out the Lord’s purpose of creating us. Whoever be the Lord’s chosen people, they will declare His praise. There are many purposes for the Lord to create us. In Gen 1:28, it said that man should subdue everthing and have dominion over all things on earth; in Eph 2:10 it is said we are created in Christ Jesus for good works; in Isaiah 43:7 it is said we have been created for His glory. There may be many such reasons for the Lord to create us, but the most significant of them is to praise, thank, and glorify Him.
Dear child of God, if you have a heart to praise God, your life is one that fulfils the Lord’s purpose. Today you should not remain without thanking and praising God and thereby allow yourself to be engulfed by darkness instead you should carryout His purpose truly by praising Him continually. This is the purpose for which God created you. This very day take a decision to praise Him in all situations. You know now why God created you. Whatever be your condition today, make up your mind to praise Him even in this state of sorrows, tears and loneliness, forsaken or orphaned. When you open your mouth widely and praise Him. He will fil with honey from the rock as He has promised (Ps 81:10). He will fill your life with peace and happiness when you praise and glorify His name.
Millions of angels surround the Lord and praising Him. Even in their midst, there were some who became haughty and did not praise Him. On the contrary, they considered themselves equal to the Lord and exalted themselves. Such angels were cast out from His presence and are active even today. He knows them. In the place of such rejected angels who failed to praise Him, God has chosen you and me. So if we begin to praise and worship Him, we would fulfil His purpose in creating us. Therefore, let us be careful not to be deficient in praising Him any longer.
5. Gospel fulfilled in Praise.
“The Spirit of the Lord God is upon Me, because the Lord has anointed Me to preach good tidings to the poor; He has sent Me... to console those who mourn in Zion, to give them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness...” Isaiah 61:1-3
It is God’s counsel that all those who are filled with the Holy Spirit should praise Him. Why did He send us as the Lord’s servants? It is to give the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness. To be reconciled with the Lord and to praise the Lord to make Him happy is the fullness of the Gospel. The work of the gospel does not pertain to the things of the man’s body not merely to be healed, not to be delivered from diseases, and not to be blessed in the things of the body. The basic purpose of the gospel is to bridge the gap between God and Man and for man to be reconciled with the Lord. Today it is our duty, the duty of all evangelists, to carry out the ministry of reconciliation and to give the garment of praise for those who have the spirit of heaviness in their souls. We should carry the garment of praise with us.
In Isaiah 42:12 we read “Let them give glory to the Lord, and declare His praise in the coastlands”. This is the fullness of the gospel of Christ. If you want to carry out the Great Commission of Jesus Christ according to His word, you should clothe the people who are depressed in spirit with the garment of praise. There is the garment of salvation. There is also consolation and deliverance. But above all these, that which perfects them is to give the garment of praise. We who have received the grace and the blessings of the Lord through praising should take the garment of praise to those who are in darkness. This is gospel work. We should be careful to carry out such a ministry. We should train the people to worship the Lord truly.
Thus, when we sow the seeds of the garment of praise, we read in Isaiah 61:11 that “the Lord God will cause righteousness and praise to spring forth before all the nations”. When you take this garment of praise as the gospel, their praisings will bring forth the blessings of praisings in them. They will attain a perfect state of spiritual blessings in their attitude and begin to praise and thank the Lord for everything.
O dear people of God, if you commit yourselves to glorifying God through praise, the King of Kings, who has chosen you will bless you. May the Lord who sanctifies us make full use of us. Thus let us receive deliverance, an open door and protection through praise. Let us grow in the knowledge of living in Him and through praise fulfil the purpose of His creating us. Let us enjoy the fullness of the gospel in praise. As praise springs forth in us, let it spring forth in our nation by making it perfect in us all.
May the Lord bless us.
In the service of Christ Jesus,
Late Bro. C. Ebenezer Paul
(Message originally published in August 1994)