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Praise the Lord!
Praise the Lord! Let all that I am praise the Lord. I will praise the Lord as long as I live. I will sing praises to my God with my dying breath. Psalm 146: 1-2
What do you think of when you think of praise? Maybe, as suggested by this verse, you think of the singing of praise songs, whether they're contemporary praise songs that are, for the most part, songs of thanksgiving directed to God, or maybe you think of the beloved old hymns that are songs about God, His actions and attributes. Either of these qualify as praise. Many times this singing is corporate praise in church on Sunday or at other gatherings of believers. Sometimes we offer up songs of praise when we're alone and singing along with the radio or a CD. And, of course, there's the personal praise we give to God as part of our prayers that also include the elements of confession and petition. But recently, I've come to understand another aspect of praise: Praise as a weapon against the Enemy of our souls.
One of the most anxiety-producing things in life for me is the dentist's chair. Well, not the chair so much as the drill, and not the drill so much as the sound of the drill, and not the sound so much as the smell of vaporizing tooth material. . . and that's about enough of that! Anyway, a couple of weeks ago when I bit down wrong on a less than completely popped kernel of popcorn (my favorite food in the world!), and heard and felt one of my bicuspids crack, then saw the size of the broken piece I fished out, my heart started racing and I felt sick to my stomach, feelings that returned, full force, the day I walked in and sat down in the dentist's chair.
Well, God is good. Just that morning I had read a blog that I don't have time to read regularly, and the subject of the blog was the way in which God inhabits His praise. The blogger stated that when we're praising God, the Enemy won't stick around long, and, of course, it stands to reason that God's praises are the last thing the Devil wants to hear. I'd learned that years before, but I needed that very timely reminder! Though the blogger didn't give a scripture reference, the concept is found in Psalm 22:3:
But You are holy, enthroned in the praises of Israel.
In ancient Judah, when the king of Assyria sent a message stating his intent to destroy Jerusalem and its inhabitants, King Hezekiah's first response was to go up to the Lord's Temple and spread [the message] out before the Lord (II Kings 19:14b). After doing this Hezekiah began his prayer with praise:
O Lord, God of Israel, you are enthroned between the mighty cherubim! You alone are God of all the kingdoms of the earth. You alone created the heavens and the earth. (II Kings 19:15)
So, that morning, sitting in the dentist's chair with my heart pounding, knowing that the Devil is the author of all such unreasonable fear and anxiety, and, with the dentist's hands and drill in my mouth making me unable to speak aloud, I began thinking praises up toward heaven. At first it was very hard to do. The sounds, smells, and sensations threatened to overwhelm me, and it took a deliberate and forceful act of will (picture yourself trying to make a stubborn horse turn in a direction it doesn't want to go) to turn my thoughts from what was happening in my mouth toward the Lord and praise. Because it was all I could do, I started simply with, "I praise you, God, for blue sky, for birds on a wire, for the bird on that fencepost. . . ." and I was amazed, not only at the way my heart rate began to return to normal, but also at all the wonderful memories of childhood that began flooding my mind, things I hadn't thought of in years! The way the light looked on summer Sunday mornings in the sanctuary of the church I attended as a child, the names and faces of my grandmother's friends who attended there, the gifted soloist who began every song with, "Bear with me, please," and the soothing sound of our elderly minister's voice from the pulpit.
Because of the way my tooth had broken, a lot of drilling was required to prepare the surface to receive the crown, so I had a lot of time for praise, and I can say that that time was definitely the best I've ever experienced in a dentist's chair, and not only that, but was also one of the most blessed times of praise I've experienced in my life! And it was so much more than the power of positive thinking: It was spiritual warfare in which praise, as proactive defense, won out over fear.
Our fathers trusted in You; they trusted and You delivered them. They cried to You, and were delivered; they trusted in You, and were not ashamed (Psalm 22: 4-5).
King Hezekiah and his people were delivered from their enemy, and we can be delivered from ours. Praise is the first and best thing to do in any troubling circumstance, praise is proactive defense, praise is the antidote to fear. Are you facing something that's causing you fear? Whether it's as small as sitting under a dentist's drill, or as big as something life-threatening to you or someone you love, I recommend praise!
Daye Phillippo
July 2013