Sermon Tone Analysis

PRAISE

11 - Metamorphosis: The Way of Transformation

Church on the Park | Sunday, 07 NOV 2021 | Glen Gerhauser

Texts: “How blessed are those who dwell in Your house!

They are ever praising You.

Selah.”

(Ps 84:4, NASB).

“After consulting the people, Jehoshaphat appointed men to sing to the LORD and to praise him for the splendor of his holiness as they went out at the head of the army, saying: “Give thanks to the LORD, for his love endures forever.”

As they began to sing and praise, the LORD set ambushes against the men of Ammon and Moab and Mount Seir who were invading Judah, and they were defeated.

The Ammonites and Moabites rose up against the men from Mount Seir to destroy and annihilate them.

After they finished slaughtering the men from Seir, they helped to destroy one another” (2 Chron.

20:21-23), NIV).

Theme: Praise transforms the atmosphere, welcoming God’s heavenly Kingdom on earth.

Intro: Today, we will explore the subject of praise.

According to Scripture, what is praise, and why is it so powerful?

Near the end of the message, I want to share with you another vision the Lord gave him because it relates to this subject.

In the story of Jehoshaphat and his enemies, we discover what praise is and why it’s important.

Jehoshaphat and the Jews came up with a bizarre strategy: to put the praisers at the head of the army.

Worshippers and singers have no weapons.

At least, that’s what we would think if we were looking only at the visible realm.

God sees praise as his spearhead.

Praise pioneers the path, preparing the way for God to march into the battlefield.

As the people praise, the Lord sets ambushes against the multitude that had come to invade Judah.

The enemy ended up destroying themselves.

In the end, the Jews were ecstatic with joy at the abundance of spoils they claimed.

They called the valley that almost annihilated them, the Valley of Blessing (Berakah בְּרָכָ֖ה).

1) P - Pursue the Lord and plant yourself (2 Chron.

20:1-19).

One of the enemy’s age-old tactics is to push you out of the place the Lord has planted you.

This is what the Moabites and Ammonites were attempting to do.

The enemy comes to you like a pack of wolves, and he wants you to retreat and run.

How can you overcome this?

Stress in our lives causes us to react rather than respond.

But God has a better way, and it’s responding with his wisdom.

When difficult situations come, we enter into the ‘fight or flight’ mode.

We either fight in the flesh or flee.

There’s a lot of fighting in the flesh and fleeing going on among God’s people.

But again, God has a better way.

God’s way is for us to fervently pursue him.

For Jehoshaphat and Judah, this meant that they fasted and sought the Lord.

And through this fasting and prayer, they received prophetic insight.

We will come back to this later.

The Jews fervent prayer caused them to plant themselves.

Over and over in this passage is the theme of standing.

In other words, the Jews knew this land was their inheritance, and they firmly planted themselves.

The enemy did not move them.

Know where the Lord has planted you and pursue him.

Today, the church is running here and there.

Sadly, we’re like a chicken running around without a head.

Check out Mike the Headless Chicken.

He lived 18 months without a head.

But it’s time we reconnect with our head––Jesus––and not be moved.

2) R - Raise a voice of praise (2 Chron.

20:20-23).

At this point, we see the Jews counterintuitive strategy.

They fight by praising God.

What is praise?

The main Hebrew word is הָלַל (haLAL)

It means two specific this: 1) to shine and 2) to praise.

In the Hebrew mind, to praise is to cause God to shine on the earth.

He shines in heaven, and by praise him, heaven shines on earth.

HaLAL further means to admire, exclaim and boast.

So when you’re praising God, you are admiring and exclaiming him.

You are revealing who he is.

You are boasting in him rather than your own beauty or strength.

Praise shines the spotlight on God rather than yourself.

From halal, comes another famous Hebrew word: הַֽלְלוּיָ֨הּ Hallelujah (Ps 106:1).

Hallelujah has two components.

The first is halelu.

This is the imperative of praise.

In other words, it is exhorting yourself and others to praise.

It’s a command to praise.

The second is Yah.

Yah is the contracted form of Yahweh.

It’s God’s covenantal and personal name.

Hallelujah means to praise Yahweh.

It means you are praising Yahweh, but it also means you are telling everyone and everything to praise Yahweh.

You are calling both the angels and demons to praise Yahweh.

And of course, as you know, the demons hate praising God, so if you do it with a pure out, it causes the enemy to flee.

The devil hates the light.

It’s because praise is like a light.

It transforms the atmosphere around you and causes the enemy confusion.

When the enemy hears praise, it’s like an ultrasonic sound wave causing him to tremble and run.

Here’s another vision the Lord gave me:

Then I looked, and I saw again people––people singing, dancing, laughing, and praising God.

I asked the Lord, “Who are these people?”

He said, “These are my people on earth.

They are always praising me.

My joy is within them, and that is their strength.”

“This is how they fight their battles.

They fight through praise.”

“They are my remnant people.

They know praise is more powerful than protest and that prayer is more powerful than petitions.”

“These people, my people, look to me and me alone for their joy and strength.”

“They are a faithful and loyal people.

They are like Ruth rather than Orpah.

‘Where you go, they will go; where you stay, they will stay.”

“My people are those who seek my face, not the news for direction.

I am their Shepherd, their guide and their comfort.”

“What’s happening on earth right now is all about my people.

I am revealing hearts and separating the wheat from the chaff.

And I know it’s painful for my servants because you believe for the best for each one.