Roger Bennett was a Southern Gospel piano player and songwriter who made a living serving the Lord in the ministry of music. Unfortunately, he succumbed to cancer in 2007 after an 11-year battle. The last several years were not particularly easy ones for Bennett. He had leukemia. Bennett wrote about his experiences on his website, Roger Bennett’s Midnight Meditations. “I am convinced,” he told his readers, “that our enemy stalks us exactly in the way the Bible describes him, a roaring lion. He hides in the bushes waiting for any sign of weakness and then he strikes.” He mentioned one particular night when he “bottomed out”. “He didn’t strike me physically,” Bennett wrote. “That had been accomplished for him by the chemo. He struck a more critical part of my being – my joy, my confidence, my hope. Every thought I turned toward heaven bounced back to me as if it were made of brass. Every time I tried to ‘look on the bright side,’ I ended up imaging a very dark future. Then he threw his most effective dart at me – Doubt. ‘You call yourself a Christian,’ he said. ‘What a hypocrite! You wrote, Don’t Be Afraid, and yet you are more afraid now than you’ve ever been. You wrote about joy and yet now you are filled with despair. So much for your faith, Mr. Gospel Singer.’”
Indeed, Bennett had hit rock bottom. “I believed everything Satan said,” he admitted. “I tried everything I knew to pull out of it – all to no avail. I thought if I could just doze off, this will pass by morning. But the clock seemed to move in slow motion. Sleep was nowhere near. I tried to lose myself in the Bible, but the words blurred to my eyes and I couldn't make any sense of them.”
Finally, Bennett had an epiphany, a revelation of sorts. He thought about the story told in Acts when Paul and Silas were in jail. “They didn’t despair,” he said. “They sang…It became their weapon.” So Bennett began singing. “One after another these old songs came to my memory and I sang them to my empty room. It wasn’t a great performance, but it may have been the most powerful blessing I’ve received in my life.”
What powerful testimony! Here is a man having close encounters with death yet did not let his situation dominate him. When we face hardships how would we respond? We have a choice to make, we can either let the situation over power us or rise above and take control of it. In the Bible we have a number of examples of those who faced the toughest challenges of life yet did not loose their trust in God. The scriptures call them the heroes of faith. What made them and Roger Bennett not to loose their hope? We will look at how the Power of Praise impacts our lives. First let’s look at what Praise is all about.
I. WHAT DOES BIBLICAL PRAISE MEAN?
In Hebrew the word for praise is Halal from which we get the famous command Hallelujah, which means giving the glory to God, to celebrate, to glorify, to boast and to praise. It is an act of worship or acknowledgement by which the virtues or deeds of another are recognized and extolled. Our praise toward God is the means by which we express our joy to the LORD.
In the Bible praising God is not an option, but we are commanded to praise God for who He is and for what He does. Praising Him for who He is called adoration; praising Him for what He does is known as thanksgiving. The book of Psalms is full of praises to God. Who should praise Him? And where should they praise Him? King David who wrote most of the praise psalms in the Bible notes, in Psalm 22: 22-23, “I will declare your name to my brothers; in the congregation I will praise you. You who fear the LORD praise Him!” King David not only wrote these psalms but he himself was excited to praise God with other believers in the house of God.
Psalm 42:1-2, “As the deer pants (longs) for streams of water, so my soul pants for you O God. My soul thirsts for God, for the living God. When can I go and meet my God?
Psalm 43: 4, “The will I go to the altar of God, to God, my joy and my delight. I will praise you with the harp O God, my God.”
Psalm 84:10, “Better is one day in your courts than a thousand elsewhere; I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God than dwell in the tents of the wicked.”
Psalm 122:1, “I rejoiced with those who said to me, Let us go to the house of the LORD”
During my ministry in India I used to observe the devotion of Hindus and the commitment of Muslims in worshiping their gods. At times I used to be ashamed of my own lack of devotion. We lived close to a Muslim Masque at 4:30 A.M the community would get together for their prayers which used to be amplified through a megaphone throughout the neighborhood. Muslims are devoted to the call of prayer even when travelling or during war; wherever they might be they will find a quiet place, turning in the direction of Mecca and offer their prayers. If these people who worship false gods so passionately are so committed, how about us who came to know the true and living God, do we worship our God any less? Let me share how praising the living God affects the life of an individual believer.
I PRAISE LIFTS US UP INTO HEAVENLY REALM
The scripture tells us in Psalm 22:3, “God inhabits the praises of his people.” What does that mean? It means that God lives where and when the people of God are praising Him. Praise is the natural habitat of God. In praising God we get to transcend to the place where God exists. Our seemingly difficult situation is no longer difficult because now we are in the heavenly realm. As we focus on the greatness and the power of God we will realize that there is nothing that we can not face together with the help of God.
Recently we were faced with certain challenging situations and tough decisions. I called Wilma for a “Praise Meeting” not a Prayer Meeting” What is the difference between these two? While prayer is all about asking God to do things for us, Praise is about recognizing who God is in his absolute splendor and unspeakable majesty. I told her we are going to write a “Thank your letter” to the Lord for all he has been to us and all that he has provided for us over the years. After that I said we will praise God for who he is not to ask God to do any thing for us except to give us grace, patience, and have mercy on us.
At the end of that high powered praise session our hearts were so lifted up, we were encouraged, and our faith was strengthened. Have we seen our situation change immediately? No! But our focus was no longer on ourselves but on the Most High God.
I don’t know what challenging situation you might be facing today; whatever that may be may I suggest that you begin to praise God. There is power in praising God. Praise ushers into the most powerful presence of God. You may want to speak out these powerful attributes of God such as: God you are: Almighty(Gen 17:1), You can do all things(Job 42:2), You are present everywhere( Psalm 139) You are all knowing(Is 40:13), You are awesome(Deut 7:21), You are sovereign (Ps 103:19); these are just a few; but they can help you start the journey.
II PRAISE BRINGS DELIVERANCE:
As we look at the Biblical history of the nation of Israel we see how the hand of God delivered His people from the hands of their enemies. Especially in the initial days it was strongly felt not only by Israel but also by the surrounding heathen nations. God often used the praises of his people and brought deliverance. Playing musical instruments and singing songs of praise were often a part of the military conquests in Ancient Israel. Consider these scriptures:
The song of Moses and Miriam after Israelites crossed the red sea. Ex 15:1-2-3, “I will sing to the LORD, for he is highly exalted. The horse and its rider he has hurled into the sea. The LORD is my strength and my song; he has become my salvation. He is my God, and I will praise him, my father’s God, and I will exalt him. Here is another example, where people were reminded to blow trumpets. Numbers 10:9, “When you go into battle in your own land against an enemy who is oppressing you, sound a blast on the trumpets, then you will be remembered by the LORD your God and rescued from your enemies” Do you remember how did the walls of Jericho came crumbling down? It was at the sound of the trumpet, when the people gave a loud shout of victory, the wall collapsed.” Joshua 6:20.
Another classical example in the N.T; where Paul and Silas were severely beaten, and were thrown into prison for preaching the Gospel, do you remember what happened in the midnight in that prison cell? Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God and other prisoners were listening to them. Suddenly there was such a violent earthquake the foundations of the prison were shaken. At once all the prison doors flew open and every body’s chains came loose.”
What can we learn from these examples? First, when we begin to praise God for who he is it will lift us up to a place where we meet up with God in our spirit. Secondly, when we praise Him in the midst of our difficult situations and circumstances God is able to deliver us.
It is a great thing to know when we praise God we are lifted up into his presence and he will deliver us from our problems. How about in spite of all our prayers and having faith in God if our problems mount and difficulties still remain; do we then stop praising God? No! We will still praise God because He is worthy of all of our praise. Shall we then say; “You are worthy, our Lord and God; to receive glory and honor and power for you created all things and by your will they were created and have their being. “ (Rev 4:11) Amen
