Powerful Praise

Then the multitudes who went before and those who followed cried out, saying:

“Hosanna to the Son of David!‘Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord!Hosanna in the highest!”  

 Matthew 21:9

The multitude was singing God's praises as Jesus came into Jerusalem. The 12 disciples had put their coats on the donkey for Jesus to sit on.  The multitudes threw their coats on the ground so that the donkey would not have to walk on the dirt.  The gospels also tell us that the people took leafy branches and waived them in praise to Jesus. The people were loud and festive in their praises.  Jesus had recently raised Lazarus from the dead.  Now there were many new disciples.  Many people were speculating that Jesus was indeed the Messiah.   The words the people saying were from Psalm 118:26.  Psalm 118 is a passover psalm.  Praising with this Psalm showed that they believed Jesus had come to deliver them.

The  pharisees instructed Jesus to rebuke his disciples. 

 And he answered and said unto them, I tell you that, if these should hold their peace, the stones would immediately cry out. Luke 19:40

When Jesus was in Jerusalem He went to the temple and he chased out the money changers and the merchants.  He used Scriptures from Isaiah and Jeremiah saying, "It is written, My house shall be called a house of prayer, but you have made it a den of thieves." 

  The scribes and pharisees were angry.  They didn't understand Jesus answer to their objection.  Yet there were still young children saying, "Blessed is the king of Israel, who comes in the name of the Lord."

Jesus then quoted from Psalm 8.

And said unto him, Hearest thou what these say? And Jesus saith unto them, Yea; have ye never read, Out of the mouth of babes and sucklings thou hast perfected praise? Matthew 21:16

Now read verse 14.   And the blind and the lame came to him in the temple; and he healed them.

Here is the true power in our praise.   Psalm 22 tells us that God inhabits the praises of His people.  When we demonstrate our praise to Jesus it is like we our laying our coats on the road so that He doesn't have to walk on the dirt road.  We are rolling out the red carpet for Him!  When He is invited into a place with praise and worship He comes in as king.  He can then cleanse people and bring them back into a life of prayer.  He can minister and heal because of the faith that is demonstated in praise.   We establish His reign on our lives and we allow Him to turn the tables in our hearts and cleanse us and of those who are with us to.   We want to minister to others the love of God.  Doesn't it make more sense to praise God and let Him minister to people in ways we cannot?  Never forget the praise you give Him is powerful.

Digital Sheet Music

The Faith Of A Worshipper

“The Lord, who delivered me from the paw of the lion and from the paw of the bear, He will deliver me from the hand of this Philistine.” 
from 1 Samuel 17:37

Everyone looked at the situation as a lost cause.  No one believed there was any hope of deliverance or victory.  Goliath was too big of an enemy.  His mockery of God went unchallenged.  His defiance of God's people only caused them to fear.  Then came David.  David was different from the rest of God's people.  David was a man of much prayer.  David was a man of worship.  David knew his God personally from hours of being alone with Him.   Some of David's family probably said, "He is too heavenly minded to be any earthly good."  

David knew what it meant to dwell in the secret place with God.  (Psalm 91)

Now others tried to discourage him from making a move of faith.  David's older brother accused him of being full of pride.  King Saul tried to get him to see that he was too young and Goliath was too strong.  Goliath mocked David and let him know exactly how he planned to destroy him.

David proclaimed the delivering power of God. David proclaimed the strength of God.  David proclaimed the power of the name of God.  The battle was before him but David knew God was with him.

Too many times we let our fears distract us from worshiping God.  We look to our own strength and it always comes up short.  The enemies of God mock us for our faith and we fall into the trap of believing them and living in fear.  We need to learn this lesson from David so we have the faith that he had.

The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? the Lord is the strength of my life; of whom shall I be afraid? Psalm 27:1 
   
Why could David say this? Look where David's heart was.

⁴ One thing have I desired of the Lord, that will I seek after; that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the Lord, and to enquire in his temple.

⁶ And now shall mine head be lifted up above mine enemies round about me: therefore will I offer in his tabernacle sacrifices of joy; I will sing, yea, I will sing praises unto the Lord.

⁸ When thou saidst, Seek ye my face; my heart said unto thee, Thy face, Lord, will I seek.

¹³ I had fainted, unless I had believed to see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living.

¹⁴ Wait on the Lord: be of good courage, and he shall strengthen thine heart: wait, I say, on the Lord.

Let this be your confession today.  Be blessed as you seek God's face and give Him praise.

                                                  

                                                                  

Devotions 40 +

Powerful Praise

Perfected Praise

The Faith Of A Worshipper

Lifted High 

Bless His Name 

Morning Star 

The Undeniable Testimony Of Praise 

My Strength And Song  

The Father Seeks For Worshipers 

Songs of Isaiah chapter 12 Salvation Is Here

CHAPTER 12
Singing God’s praise
1 And in that day thou shalt say, O Lord, I will praise thee: though thou wast angry with me, thine anger is turned away, and thou comfortedst me.

The word for praise means to give thanks and to confess. Our witness of Him should come from a heart of gratitude. It’s easy to talk about someone you love.

2 Behold, God is my salvation; I will trust, and not be afraid: for the Lord JEHOVAH is my strength and my song; he also is become my salvation.

Talk about lyric sharing. These same words are found in The Song Of Moses from Exodus 15
Exodus 15:2  The Lord is my strength and my song; he has given me victory. Victory in this verse is the same Hebrew word for salvation. In English it would be yeshua.

The Lord is my strength -
The Lord is my song -
He also is become my salvation - the Hebrew word for salvation is yeshua. This is a form of the name Jesus. Jesus literally means the Lord (Jehovah) is salvation

3  Therefore with joy shall ye draw water out of the wells of salvation.

John 4:14 But those who drink the water I give will never be thirsty again. It becomes a fresh, bubbling spring within them, giving them eternal life.

4 And in that day shall ye say, Praise the Lord, call upon his name, declare his doings among the people, make mention that his name is exalted.

Thank God that we know that saving name of the Lord!

Acts 4:12 There is salvation in no one else! God has given no other name under heaven by which we must be saved.

Romans 10:13 For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.

Acts 22:16 And now why tarriest thou? arise, and be baptized, and wash away thy sins, calling on the name of the Lord.

5 Sing unto the Lord; for he hath done excellent things: this is known in all the earth.
6 Cry out and shout, thou inhabitant of Zion: for great is the Holy One of Israel in the midst of thee.

Salvation is something I will always celebrate. Like John Newton once wrote, We’ve no less days to sing God’s praise than when we first begun.

Salvation Is Here - Today Is the Day

Salvation Is Here (Song Story) - Lincoln Brewster video


Chords

Half Hearted Worship or Sold Out Worship

When you read the last several epistles of the Bible it seems like the problem of false doctrines getting in the church was becoming worse.  Throughout Paul’s letters you could see that he had to deal with those who wanted to make the works of the Law a means of salvation instead of the power of the cross.
All of Paul’s writings were finished before any of the Gospels were written.  When you get to 1, 2, and 3 John and Jude they are dealing more with doctrines saying that Jesus isn’t God and idolatry.  (1John 5:1, 18-21, 2 John 7-9, Jude 3-4)  Jude told us these false teachers and would try to divide churches. (Jude 18-19)
We know that deception is always out there and Jude tells us what we can do to build our holy faith

Jude 1:20-21 (New King James Version)

  ²⁰ But you, beloved, building yourselves up on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Spirit, ²¹ keep yourselves in the love of God, looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life.

In individuals divisive spirits will try to steal our prayer time and time in the Word.  They will attack our trust and our joy.  One of the first areas where divisiveness tries to work it’s way into a church is in the worship.  Jude pointed to
 three individuals that illustrate this.

Jude 11

Woe to them! For they have gone in the way of Cain, have run greedily in the error of Balaam for profit, and perished in the rebellion of Korah.

Cain first was exposed for hiding sin in his heart at the time him and his brother were to be offering thanksgiving sacrifices to God.  His offering was rejected by God.

Balam although he had a relationship with God seemed to like to dabble in super-natural things that were not from God.  Although he did not put a curse on Israel he told the king of Moab how he could bring a curse into Israel by tempting them into sin. (2 Peter 2:14-17, Revelation 2:14)

Korah led a rebellion in the Hebrew camp disputing about the rules God was giving through Moses.  Korah and his followers were destroyed by God in a moment when the earth opened up and swallowed them.  It’s interesting that Korah’s descendents were greatly used by God in the time of Solomon.  They performed the worship music in the temple.  Also in the time when Jehosophat went to battle having the worshippers lead the way. (2 Chronicles 20:19)  They also wrote several of the Psalms. (Psalm 85, 87 and 88)   We don’t know for sure if Korah himself was involved in the music ministry but I think its safe to assume when you consider the structure of the levitical priesthood.

The devil constantly tries to use the worshippers to cause rebellion.  This would make sense if he was the worship leader in heaven before he was filled with pride and iniquity.

They all had victims
    Cain’s victim was Abel
    Korah’s victim was his followers
    Balam’s victims were those who in Israel who gave into temptation.
Bitterness and rebellion will always have victims.

They were half hearted.  
    None of these three were willing to walk in obedience to God.
They were all given a chance to repent.
    God confronted Cain and said, If you do what is right you will be accepted but if not sin lies at the     door.
    With Korah, Moses divided the camp.  He had a chance to come back to Moses side.
    Balam was met by an angel that told him to only obey the Lord’s instructions.

They all felt they had a right to do the wrong things they did.

Your music ministry gives you influence on a lot of people.  All the reason why the devil would want you to feel you had a right to rebel.  Your ministry can be powerful but only when you are loyal to the leadership God has placed you under.  David got into the castle because of his music ministry.  Yet when he may have had the right to lift his hand against the king he refused to.  When the Lord punished Miriam for her rebellion against Moses she found her way back to God in repentance. 

Never give into the temptation to rebel against the leaders God has put over you.  Or to get revenge on one of your brothers or sisters in the Lord.  The devil would love to destroy the power of your worship.  Nothing can tear apart the church faster than when the worship from the leaders is dry.  Remember unity will make the anointing flow.

Psalm 133

A Song of Ascents. Of David.

 ¹ Behold, how good and how pleasant it is
         For brethren to dwell together in unity!
    
 ² It is like the precious oil upon the head,
         Running down on the beard,
         The beard of Aaron,
         Running down on the edge of his garments.
 ³ It is like the dew of Hermon,
         Descending upon the mountains of Zion;
         For there the LORD commanded the blessing—
         Life forevermore.

Keep praising the Lord no matter the situation.

²⁴Now unto him that is able to keep you from falling, and to present you faultless before the presence of his glory with exceeding joy,

 ²⁵To the only wise God our Saviour, be glory and majesty, dominion and power, both now and ever. Amen.

Jude

The Motions - Something to Say
Ultimate Tracks - The Motions - As Made Popular By Matthew West - EP - Ultimate Tracks