Ref.:
Psalm 150:6 - Let everything that has breath praise
the Lord.
Psalm
22:3, But thou art holy, O thou that inhabitest the
praises of Israel.
In
Psalm 22:3, the word inhabitest is found in the #
3427 in the Strong's Concordance. It defines
inhabitest as follows - to sit down, to dwell, to
settle, to remain, endure, to marry, make to keep
house, lurking and to tarry. He does all of this when
we praise Him. He literally lives in our praise.
Many
times as the children of Israel were sent into
battle, God would instruct them to send Judah first.
Judah was the tribe of praise and worshipers. They
had their singers, they had their dancers, they had
shouters, and musicians. Therefore since God lived in
their praise, he went before them.
In 2
Chronicles 20, we see that Jehosaphat assembled the
people to pray before they went to battle. God had
him appoint those who would sing to the Lord and
praise the beauty of his holiness. They went before
the army singing, "Praise the Lord for his mercy
endures forever." When they began to sing and
praise The Lord set ambushes against the enemies
army, and the rest of the enemy went about destroying
one another. And the Bible says there were none left.
Not even women and children. God's people never went
into the fight. God had gone before them inhabited in
their praise. God is teaching us this same principal
today, to drive out the enemy of our souls. We need
not look at the battle, for if we will praise him, he
will go before us.
David
knew the importance of praise and worship. It was the
very center of his life. He loved God, no matter
what. We see evidence of it through out the Psalms.
Such was David's love for God, even in the midst of
great adversities this King devoted much time in
prayer, writing poems and songs of love to the source
of all his being. No matter the circumstances, large
or small, good or bad, he still had total trust,
total confidence that God was still in control and
knew what he was doing. God desires this same love
from us today. To have the heart of David towards
him. Praise and worship must become all important in
our lives. Our relationship with our maker is rooted
in our worship.
Worship
is derived form 2 English words... worth.. and ship.
Simply saying, what is God worth to me? The extent of
my worship will determine the value I place on Him.
If I only worship Him on Sunday morning and ignore
Him the rest of the week, that means he holds little
value to me. Worship is also my obedience to him and
his word. I worship Him by doing what He says do. In
Hebrews 10:25 we see that we worship him by going to
church and encouraging one another. When we worship
Him it nurtures the nature of God in us. Our personal
growth comes from our relationship with him. Paul
declared in Phillippians 3:10, that I may know HIM,
and the power of his resurrection. If I don't spend
time in worship to Him, I won't know him. Prayer
writes the check, praise cashes it.
We see
back in 2 Chronicles 20 that they prayed first, then
they praised. And in their praise, God answered their
prayers and destroyed their enemies. In verse 3 we
see that Jehosaphat set himself to seek the Lord.
Judah gathered together and asked the Lord for help.
They talked to him. Verses 5-10 shows Jehosaphat
spoke of what he already knew of God, for he had
taken time to know God. In verses 14-17 God answered
back by His spirit. They were listening to Him. After
that they entered into praise, believing God would do
what he said he would do. God values his relationship
with them.
We see
in Hebrews 11, the great hall of fame book is what
some call it, that the people recorded here knew the
value of relationship with God. And God saw the need
to leave it as a testimony to us. To show us the
value of our relationship with Him. It is done by
faith. Or belief. By faith Abel offered a better
sacrifice than the brother who had slain him. God
counted it righteous and testified of it. Enoch
pleased God therefore God translated him to His
Kingdom and he never saw death. Noah being warned in
a dream of things to come, built an ark and saved his
household. He became the heir of the righteousness
which is by faith. Many more are recorded here. What
they all had in common was, they knew the value of
their relationship with God.
Paul
and Silas were beaten and thrown into prison. Silas
could have said to Paul "every since I joined up
with you there has been nothing but trouble,"
but he didn't. Instead at midnight, meaning in their
darkest hour, THEY SANG! They knew the value of their
relationship with God, and God delivered them. Paul
while in prison wrote these words in Phillippians
4:12+13, I know both how to be abased and I know how
to abound: everywhere and in all things I am
instructed both to be full and to be hungry, both to
abound and to suffer need. I can do all things
through Christ who strengthens me. He believed what
the word said about God. He built his relationship
with Him. He read the word, he prayed and he
listened. He worshipped God by being obedient to what
God told him to do. His relationship produced faith,
and God gave him his reward.
Jesus
himself knew the value of relationship with his
father. He was a man like you and I and was tempted
of the devil as like to man. But He knew who He was
and valued his relationship with God and resisted the
devil. The gospels record many times that Jesus went
up into the mountains to pray, he knew the value of
his relationship with God. Before he went to be
crucified, he went to the Garden of Gethsemene to
have a long with talk with his father. While hanging
on the cross, he prayed for the people asking God to
forgive them for they did not know he was who he said
he was. The Son of God going about his father's
business. He knew who He was and he valued his
relationship with his father so much, he willingly
went to the whipping post and let them rip out his
flesh for our healing. He valued his relationship
with his father so much that, when God said this is
the only thing that will redeem man back to me, Jesus
was willing to go to the cross and die a horrible
death for our sins. Likewise, God valued his
relationship with his only son so much, he raised him
from the dead. Jesus now values his relationship with
us so much he ever intercedes for us. Speaking on our
behalf to our Father in Heaven. This is the ultimate
of relationships.
We have
to be willing to put our business aside and build on
this one true relationship. He alone is worthy of
praise. He alone can heal broken hearts. He alone can
give the garment of praise for the spirit of
heaviness. He is your glory and the lifter of your
head. Everything we need, Jesus purchased at the
Cross. The value we place on him through praise and
worship will determine whether we walk in defeat or
become over comers. He lives in our praise. He is
actually lurking around in your worship. He is
married and keeps house in your praise. Sitting down
and tarrying with you!
What
value do you place on the Lord today? You
decide........ Then let him know.
God
Bless!
