The Power of Praise

Lord, our Lord,
how magnificent is your name throughout the earth!
You have covered the heavens with your majesty.
From the mouths of infants and nursing babies,
you have established a stronghold
on account of your adversaries
in order to silence the enemy and the avenger. (Psalm 8:1-2)


When do you praise God? Maybe just when you're at church? Or only when things are going well? If so, then you are missing out on a powerful spiritual weapon.

Have you ever been told that praise can be a spiritual weapon? According to this passage, it is and believers ought to use it against our enemies. The passage speaks of a stronghold that God brings forth from the mouths of infants and babes. What is this stronghold? The Greek translation of the Old Testament called the Septuagint understood this stronghold to be praises to God sung by children. Jesus affirmed this understanding when He quoted from the Septuagint translation in Matthew 21:16- "You have prepared praise from the mouths of infants and nursing babies.” If we are to take Jesus' word for it, then the praise we declare to God and His Messiah is a stronghold which protects us from our enemies.

How does this work? When we're surrounded by enemies (physical or spiritual) we ought to sing God's praise. In doing so we remind ourselves and our attackers who our Protector is, how strong He is, and how magnificent He is. As we open our mouths in praise, our enemies close their mouths in silence. As we praise God's strength we grow more confident as they grow more afraid. There is good news for us here. Believers don't need to be strong or mighty to be safe. We can be as weak as a newborn babe. God is our Protector and our weakness doesn't limit His power.

So spend some time praising God today. Praise Him for who He is. If you need inspiration, read a few psalms. As you praise, your outlook will change. And if you'll praise Him publicly before your enemies they'll think twice as well.

Refuge

Though an army besiege me,

    my heart will not fear;

though war break out against me,

    even then I will be confident.

One thing I ask from the Lord,

    this only do I seek:

that I may dwell in the house of the Lord

    all the days of my life,

to gaze on the beauty of the Lord

    and to seek him in his temple.

For in the day of trouble

    he will keep me safe in his dwelling;

he will hide me in the shelter of his sacred tent

    and set me high upon a rock.

Psalm 27:3-5

When you are right with God, the biggest and most overwhelming circumstances in your life cannot shake you. That doesn't mean you will be unaffected by them, but you will find yourself able to endure the most extreme hardships without being overcome by them. The psalmist speaks of an entire army advancing against him, yet he doesn't fear. Why?

Certainly he expects that God will protect him, but I think there is more than that here. When your greatest desire in life is to be in God's presence, then as long as you are right with God you have it. Nothing and no one can take it away from you. If I am right with God then my most treasured possession is secure. This is why the psalmist says in verse one "The LORD is the stronghold of my life- of whom shall I be afraid?" Certainly it is because he believes God will protect Him but it is also because God's presence is His refuge, His hiding place. This theme is picked up again and again in the psalms. 

Where do you run when you are in danger of being overwhelmed and overcome by life's problems? What is your refuge? Make it God's presence. I have taken refuge and found joy in His precious presence again and again. Even as my heart wanted to give up and my brain told me the road ahead was impossible, God's Spirit whispered in my ear "I am with you. Keep going." Over and over again His presence has proved to be all I needed to keep going. It didn't make my problems disappear or make my situation any easier, but it did give me the hope and the courage to keep going. And it gave me a sure refuge I could run to any time I felt myself beginning to crack under the pressure again. 

If you are a believer and you have never experienced this joy and communion of God's presence then you are missing out on your birthright! Make this a matter of prayer right now. How can it be that a man or woman of God who has the Holy Spirit living within them could feel distant from their God for long periods of time? The only explanation is that there is sin in the camp. The sin in your life is separating you from God. So seek after Him! Repent and renew your efforts to know your Savior. There is no greater joy than sitting at the feet of Jesus and God has given each of His children the right to taste that goodness right now on this side of heaven.

Fiberglass Bathtubs and a Forever Rock

You will keep in perfect peace those whose minds are steadfast, because they trust in you. Trust in the Lord forever, for the Lord, the Lord himself, is the Rock eternal.

Isaiah 26:3-4

There are two kinds of people in this world. Those who hear a tornado warning and quickly go get in the bathtub and those who immediately open the front door to walk outside to see if the tornado is close to their house. I am the latter, and it drives my wife crazy. 

The problem is that I'm just not convinced my fiberglass bathtub can protect me from a tornado. If I had a real storm shelter it might be different, but why huddle in a damp bathtub for an hour if it isn't going to do me any good?

Perhaps this is how too many of us think about God. "Why take my problems to God in prayer? He isn't going to listen to me. I've tried the whole God thing before and it didn't work for me. God didn't take my problems away." It's uncomfortable to humble ourselves before God. People simply won't do it if they aren't convinced it will work. 

These two verses in Isaiah give us some pretty good reasons to believe it will work. God promises to keep in perfect peace those whose minds are steadfast. The word for "keeping" can also mean that God is guarding or watching over us, ensuring that we are kept in perfect peace. Perfect peace is literally "peace peace" in the original language. It is double peace. The Hebrew word for peace goes beyond our understanding of peace in the English language. According to the ESV Study Bible the Hebrew word for peace "shalom" meant more than just the absence of trouble but also included the idea of positive blessing. It was like saying "all is well." This is the kind of peace that God promises to preserve for those whose minds are dependent on Him. These people have God as their support. They lean on Him. He upholds them. They have confidence in God and trust Him for their security.

The passage continues to tell us that we should trust in God (a concept that includes boldness and confidence) because He is the rock eternal. Some translations render this as everlasting strength, but I like the picture of God as a forever rock. He is immovable and unchanging. Just the kind of shelter you want to run to in a storm. Just the kind of protection you seek out when under attack. God is our refuge!

Here is the takeaway. An immovable, lasting, perfect peace in life has to be built on an immovable, lasting, perfect God. This is the only way to double peace, peace that isn't dependent on your situation. The storm may rage, but your peace is unmoved because you have confidence in your refuge. You may fall, but your confidence is unshaken because your mind is stayed on God's faithfulness instead of your sinfulness. You are quiet even when you are under attack because you know that the ultimate victory has already been declared on your behalf in Christ.

Far too many of us lack this kind of peace, because far too many of us lack this type of confidence in our God. Will you place your trust in God today? Will you rest your mind steadfastly on His nature and His promises? Let God be your support, then you can move forward in confidence knowing that God is your forever Rock, a sturdy constant in a sea of change.