A Posture of Praise!

“It is good to praise the Lord and make music to your name, O Most High, proclaiming your love in the morning and your faithfulness at night, to the music of the ten-stringed lyre and the melody of the harp. For you make me glad by your deeds, Lord; I sing for joy at what your hands have done. How great are your works, Lord, how profound your thoughts! Senseless people do not know, fools do not understand, that though the wicked spring up like grass and all evildoers flourish, they will be destroyed forever. But you, Lord, are forever exalted” Psalm 92: 1 -8 (NIV).

Song:

Hymn (author: anonymous)

Praise Him,

Praise Him,

Praise Him in the morning, Praise Him in the noontime,

Praise Him

Praise Him,

Praise Him when the sun goes down.

Growing up, we heard through multiple sources; parents, church leaders and schoolteachers, the phrase, Praise God! Praise God in every situation, good or bad.  In the past, I sat back, examined the toils and struggles of life, then thought of the phrase, Praise God in the bad, and my heart utters these words: What a contradiction! Praise God when I lose my job? When my parents divorce? When a child dies? When I have no food to eat, clothes on my back when I’m confused? What? Nevertheless, the answer is still yes! Praise God.

There is a profound understanding here that eludes us when we think of Praise.  Praise is not a simple reaction to God being God, and He will do what he wants.  Neither is it, God knows best, and we will learn to adapt to what He has in whatever circumstance we face. Praise is the expression of one’s approval or admiration in response to the depth of the comprehension of who God is to them (personally).  Praise is a response, not a reaction!  Praise is a careful and thorough analysis of how God is orchestrating our lives, how he had brought us from the wilderness to the green pastures or walking alongside us in the trenches.

Similarly, His presence, in our victories, laughter, and Joy.  If we see Praise for what it is, then Praise is, after all, not a contradiction.  But rather a posture.  A posture to acquire. A posture to position to give.  A posture to embrace.

Praising God means you know who He is intimately (Jeremiah 9:23-24).  You understand He is worthy of that Praise (Psalm 18:3).  You approve and admire His position in your life (Rev. 19:6).  The Psalmist said, “It is good to praise the Lord” (Psalm 92:1).  It is good because thanks is due to the Creator, the Covenant Redeemer, the One who blesses and delivers, the One who is always present. When God created the world out of chaos, He sat back, examined His handy work then pronounced it good.  Good in the sense that He values it.

To have a posture of Praise is to attest your admiration to God’s power in your life and his creation.  A Praise posture puts you in a position to be feared by the enemy and liberates you to significance in life.  You become “A force to be reckoned with.”  Have you heard the phrase, “Praise is your weapon”?  Yes! Praise in the midst of sorrow, what seems defeat, heartaches and dreadful life, confuses the enemy.   Here are a few examples of how a posture of Praise can flourish your life and those around you:

In the midst of a battle, King Jehoshaphat appointed men to sing to the Lord and praise Him for the splendor of his holiness.  Talk about craziness! Sing while guns and bombs are coming our way? Ok!  The bible said, Judah’s enemies were all dead, none escaped because their faith in God to praise him caused God to send ambush before them (2 Chronicles 20:15-24). Paul and Silas escaped the bondage of prison shackles with Praise.  Scripture says their Praise caused a massive earthquake that shook the prison to its foundation, and immediately all the doors opened, and every chain fell off the prisoners (Acts 16:25-26).  Praise brought the Jericho walls down (Joshua 6:20) and drove the tormenting spirit away (1 Samuel 16:23). The Psalmist got it right; we do not count on our swords to save us, nor trust in our bow to give us victory.  But we give all the glory to God all day long and constantly praise His name because His power alone can push back our enemies (Psalm 44:5 -7).

These examples reveal a trust in God that propels victory to unfold.  Moreover, it renders to ask the question, have I acquired the posture to praise?

To answer this question, one must intentionally:

1. Look at creation and the Creator and ask:

Do I really understand what God did when he created the world?

Do I truly believe his intentions for creating me?

Do I grasp his majesty and vastness, and why am I here?

2. Inventoried what God has done and how He walks with them and ask:

How many times have I seen God’s hand in my life?

How many times have God failed me?

When and how if it were not for God, I would have ______ (insert your most desperate account if God had not intervened you would not have made it).’

3, Test God on His promises and ask:

What has God said about me, and how do I see this promise playing out in my life?

Do I trust in what God’s word says about me? How do I know?

Can I testify to God’s promise in my life to someone?

When we acquire a posture of Praise by declaring who He is, recounting what He has done and remembering His promises, our response then is Praise.  Praise him in the morning, in the noontime and when the sun goes down.  Because in everything, God is good.