Psalm 149:1-9 (AMP)
1 PRAISE THE Lord! Sing to the Lord a new song, praise Him in the assembly of His saints!
2 Let Israel rejoice in Him, their Maker; let Zion’s children triumph and be joyful in their King!
3 Let them praise His name in chorus and choir and with the [single or group] dance; let them sing praises to Him with the tambourine and lyre!
4 For the Lord takes pleasure in His people; He will beautify the humble with salvation and adorn the wretched with victory.
5 Let the saints be joyful in the glory and beauty [which God confers upon them]; let them sing for joy upon their beds.
6 Let the high praises of God be in their throats and a two-edged sword in their hands,
7 To wreak vengeance upon the nations and chastisement upon the peoples,
8 To bind their kings with chains, and their nobles with fetters of iron,
9 To execute upon them the judgment written. He [the Lord] is the honour of all His saints. Praise the Lord! (Hallelujah!)
Praise is to give thanks to God through our confessions. It’s normal to burst into spontaneous applause or cheers when a VIP enters a room, this is a response to their power, position, or accomplishment. How much then, to be spontaneous in the presence of the King of Kings, especially when we enter His presence through worship, our natural response to God should always be praise and adoration for He is worthy of the highest praise.
The text says let everything that has breath praise the Lord! We are to praise God with singing, music, joy, and dancing. You can just about feel the exuberant praise leap off the pages of this scripture that parallels the reserved culture of our praises. David danced in praise to the Lord not minding his robes falling off him in 2 Samuel 6:13-17.
Praise is a weapon that can breaks yokes and brings deliverance.
We have so much to praise God for, there’s great power in giving thanks to Him through our praise. The Bible is filled with where power was released through praise – miracles, dramatic stories of the enemy’s defeat, hearts changed and drawn closer to God through praise.
Praise gets takes the focus off us and on God. We focus on ourselves, but what we need to constantly remember is that life is not all about us. We may know that in our heads, but our hearts think differently often. God desires our eyes to be set firmly on Him alone, because that’s where our true hope is found, Hebrews 12:2.
Praise pushes back the darkness that surrounds us and blocks the attacks and hissing lies of the enemy over us. God will fight our battles for us through our praises. In the story of Jehoshaphat in 2 Chronicles 20:22, God miraculously defeats the enemy, because of the people’s obedience to praise Him.
Praise makes room for God’s blessings over our lives. He will not hold back His goodness; praise opens the gateway of blessing as we come into the presence of our King according to Psalm 100:4.
Praise invites God’s presence says Psalm 22:3, He draws and dwells close to us when we praise Him.
Praise paves the way for God’s power to be displayed, for miracles to happen, and for people’s lives affected and changed. God shakes things up through praise, an earthquake shook the cells and broke the chains off Paul and Silas in Acts 16:25-26 as they sat shackled in prison praising God. The jailer and all his family came to faith that night.
First Thessalonians 5:18 says to give thanks in everything – in the midst of trials, in the midst of attacks, when you feel as if the enemy is in your face with all of hell itself, right there, at that moment do not give in to the pressure of the devil, instead turn the tables on him and put the pressure back on the devil where it belongs and lift your hands to the Lord and begin to just love on God and praise and worship Him. The power of your praise just gives the devil fits! Keep praising! Praise your way through no matter what the enemy throws at you.
Shalom