“And David danced before the LORD with all his might… And David said unto Michal, It was before the LORD, which chose me before thy father, and before all his house, to appoint me ruler over the people of the LORD, over Israel: therefore will I play before the LORD. And I will yet be more vile than thus, and will be base in mine own sight: and of the maidservants which thou hast spoken of, of them shall I be had in honor.” (2 Samuel 6:14a, 21-22) [KJV]
Last time, we talked about making the conscious decisions that go against the grain of our everyday routines in order to attain the visions, dreams, and goals that God has put into each and every one of us and to bring them into reality. Well, today I want to talk about one particular component of that, especially if your goal is to develop a closer relationship with God and to see more of His presence and power work in your life, and that is what I call “intentional” praise, that is, making the conscious choice that, no matter what circumstances of life you may be facing, you can say as David wrote, “I will bless the LORD at all times, and His praise shall continually be in my mouth.” (Psalm 34:1)
Speaking of that particular verse, what I have always found fascinating is the very introduction of it: “A psalm of David, when he changed his behavior before Abimelech; who drove him away, and he departed.” For those who don’t know the story, (found in 1 Samuel 21:10-15) David was literally running for his life; he had just fled from Saul trying to kill him in Israel, and went into “the enemy’s camp”, in fact the giant Goliath’s hometown: Gath of the Philistines, to request shelter from Achish, the “Abimelech” (or king) of Gath. But when Achish’s servants recognized him as David, he panicked and pretended to go crazy, prompting Achish to dismiss him from the country. (Talk about going through hard times! But how many of us would actually pretend to go crazy vs. actually doing so? Hmmmmmmmm…) But even in the midst of all that, David makes the conscious decision not only to “bless the LORD at all times,” but to have the presence of mind to write it down where we now can read and follow, and the more you read it, the more exuberant it gets, and then suddenly David (and you) get a really bad case of the “can’t-help-it’s,” you just can’t stop praising God! But it began with a decision of his will, that, even in the most difficult of circumstances, he would praise the LORD. David’s determination to do so is what made him “a man after [God’s] own heart” (1 Samuel 13:14).
We see more of this determination in our above listed passage in 2 Samuel 6. The Ark of the Covenant, which was the very symbol of God’s presence to the nation of Israel, was in Philistine hands after Saul was killed and Israel was defeated by them. But the Philistines were cursed in their land because they had possession of it, so they implored Israel and David to come remove it from them. David and the Israelites went to do so, but instead of using God’s prescribed method of doing so, (Levites carrying the Ark,) they instead used a cart of oxen to transport it. When the oxen stumbled, a man named Uzzah put out his hand to keep the Ark from falling, and the LORD killed him on the spot. (Sounds drastic, doesn’t it? But stay with me here, there is a point to even this…) David, then fearing to bring the Ark back, left the Ark in the home of a man named Obed-Edom for three months, where the Bible says that “the LORD prospered Obed-Edom and his entire household.” When David heard that Obed-Edom’s household was blessed, he then decided to bring the Ark back to Jerusalem, so he does it this time in God’s prescribed way, (with the Levites carrying the Ark), and after offering a sacrifice unto God, “David, ceremonially dressed in priest’s linen, danced with great abandon before the LORD.” As the whole country celebrated with David about the Ark’s arrival, David’s wife Michal, Saul’s daughter, “looked through a window and saw King David leaping and dancing before the LORD. And she despised him with her heart.” (2 Samuel 6:16, MKJV) After the celebration was over, and David arrived home to bless his family, Michal confronts him, “How glorious was the King of Israel today, who uncovered himself today in the eyes of the handmaids of all his servants, as one of the vain fellows who shamelessly uncovers himself!” (2 Samuel 6:20, MKJV) David answers her, “In God’s presence, I’ll dance all I want! He chose me over your father and the rest of our family and made me prince over God’s people, over Israel. Oh, yes, I’ll dance to God’s glory—more recklessly even than this. And as far as I’m concerned… I’ll gladly look like a fool… but among these handmaids you’re so concerned about, I’ll be honored to no end.” (2 Samuel 6:21-22, The Message)
I know this took a minute, but I wanted to lay the groundwork for my challenge to you this week… First, your determination to praise God through all circumstances leads to His closer presence, and your blessing. We have a saying within my church circles that says, “When the praises go up, the blessings come down.” We always say here at “The Praise Party” that this is the place “where even Jesus Himself likes to hang out,” because the Bible tells us that God “inhabits the praises of His people.” (Psalm 22:3) For those of you who are parents, (or better yet, ALL of us are former children…) how do you know whenever your child really wants something from you? Isn’t it usually when they start saying good things about you? (“Okay, now, what do you REALLY want?...”) Because God created us in His image, we have to know that He’s the same way as a loving parent. But you have to come correctly with your praise, because secondly, God hates half-hearted praise! I was struck by something as I read the book of Malachi lately from Eugene Peterson’s The Message translation; hear what God asks through the prophet:
“Isn’t it true that a son honors his father and a worker his master? So if I’m your Father, where’s the honor? If I’m your Master, where’s the respect? GOD-of-the-Angel-Armies is calling you on the carpet: ‘You priests despise me!’
“You say, ‘Not so! How do we despise you?’
“By your shoddy, sloppy, defiling worship.
“You ask, ‘What do you mean, “defiling”? What’s defiling about it?’
“When you say, ‘The altar of GOD is not important anymore; worship of GOD is no longer a priority,’ that’s defiling…”
“Why doesn’t one of you just shut the Temple doors and lock them? Then none of you can get in and play at religion with this silly, empty-headed worship. I am not pleased… And I don’t want any more of this so-called worship!” (Malachi 1:6-7, 10)
This was Uzzah’s crime: he and his brother Ahio were the keepers of the Ark after the Philistines had brought it back to Israel, and they were the drivers of the cart that transported the Ark back to Jerusalem. However, being a Levite, Uzzah knew that only priests were allowed to touch the Ark, and even then, only under specified times and purposes. Even though he may have had good intentions to save the Ark from hitting the ground, because he touched the most holy thing in an irreverent way, God made him an instant example. Aren’t you glad God doesn’t punish us the same way when we give him half-hearted praise? So when you make the conscious decision to praise God, give it your best, give it your all, give Him everything you’ve got! “Bless the LORD, O my soul, and all that is within me, bless His holy name!” (Psalm 103:1)
Thirdly, you will not always feel like praising the Lord, especially when circumstances seem difficult. DO IT ANYWAY!!! This is what the writer of Hebrews advises us to do: “By Him [Jesus] therefore let us offer the sacrifice of praise to God continually, that is, the fruit of our lips giving thanks to His name.” (Hebrews 13:15) It also requires that we “present [our] bodies a living sacrifice, holy, pleasing to God, which is [our] reasonable service.” (Romans 12:1) Once we really begin to understand and practice this, we come closer and closer to not only our breakthrough, but also the LORD of the breakthrough.
Finally, it may make you look and sound foolish, but here’s the reality: you will be persecuted for your praise. You will probably hear something like: “It doesn’t take all that to praise God!” Just observe Michal’s contempt toward David as she saw him dancing before the LORD, but watch what happens: David had just gotten through blessing the entire nation of Israel after the Ark returned to Jerusalem, and then returned to bless his family. Because Michal showed contempt toward David as he praised God, she was the only one in the nation that did not receive a blessing; in fact, scr i pture records that “she remained childless for the rest of her life.” (2 Samuel 6:23)
If you are ready to receive your miracle from God today, your breakthrough, your healing, I encourage you to “praise God from Whom all blessings flow!” As we here at my home congregation of Fresh Anointing House of Worship here in Selma, Alabama have received our Word for 2009, because you are connected with “The Praise Party”, I pass this Word on to you: your promise is in your praise!
Praising God for you and with you,
Cedric (Pastor Ced) |
