The power of praise
This morning I found myself reflecting on singing praise.
I love to sing praise -
With my church family, gathered on a Sunday.
And by myself, in the solitude of my office.
And this morning, I found myself pondering the power of praise….
You see, I know it’s more than words…
…I know it’s more than the mere act of opening my mouth and mindlessly singing lyrics.
Something happens when we praise God.
But what?
Probably lots, but here are 3 thoughts…
3 things that praise does.
(and yes, they all begin with ‘S’ – I was on an alliteration roll this morning!!)
ONE: Praise re-STORIES my soul
When we sing songs that are packed full of truths about God – about his nature, his character, and his deeds – we are feeding our soul.
We are anchoring our soul.
We are re-orientating our soul.
We are re-telling important truths to our soul.
We are re-immersing ourselves in God and His story.
As the old hymn Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing says, our souls are prone to wander. Singing praise captures our souls again with God’s good news story.
The Psalms are full of this.
Psalm 105:2-3 for example.
Sing to him, sing praise to him; tell of all his wonderful acts. Glory in his holy name; let the hearts of those who seek the LORD rejoice.
Did you spot it?
The Psalmist tells us to sing praise…to declare his wonderful acts. To glory IN his name.
When we sing praise about God and all he is and all he has done – we are glorying IN his name…we leading our souls back to the One we are made for. We are re-STORYING our souls.
Psalm 146:2
I will praise the LORD all my life. I will sing praise to my God as long as I live.
And then in the very next verse…
Do not put your trust in princes, in human beings who cannot save.
Praise corrects drift. It counters the temptation to stray…to look elsewhere.
It brings us back to our true home.
It re-roots us in the one true Story.
It re-STORIES us.
TWO: Praise SOOTHES my soul
Our hearts and minds are buffeted by all sorts of anxieties and fears and stresses and doubts.
At times it can feel like an inner turmoil rages within us – that we know no peace.
But singing praise to God acts to SOOTH our souls.
To caress our souls with gospel comfort.
To warm our souls with God’s loving kindness.
Hear the Psalmist again in Psalm 103.
Praise the LORD, my soul;
All my inmost being, praise his holy name.
Praise the LORD, my soul,
And forget not all his benefits –
Who forgives all your sins
and heals all your diseases,
Who redeems your life from the pit
And crowns you with love and compassion,
Who satisfies your desires with good things
So that your youth is renewed like an eagle.
As the Psalmist praises God, he is reminding himself of all that is his in God – of all his benefits. Forgiveness and wholeness and redemption and love and compassion – the One who satisfies our souls.
Or Psalm 46:1-3.
God is our refuge and strength,
An ever-present help in trouble.
Therefore we will not fear, though the earth give way
And the mountains fall into the heart of the sea,
Though its waters roar and foam
And the mountains quake with their surging.
See what praise does? When all around us might be raging…when our world seems shaken…when our souls might be struggling with all sorts of emotions…praise acts to SOOTHE….it leads us to the One who is our refuge and help.
Praise SOOTHES us.
THREE: Praise SOFTENS our heart
I think it’s easy for us to become jaded. And cynical.
Maybe bitter at God and others.
Maybe angry.
Maybe frustrated.
But I think God works in us when we sing praise.
When our hearts are maybe hardening, praise acts to soften.
Praise can be counter-intuitive, but I think it’s how God works.
It’s a bit like God telling us to pray for those who persecute us -
We don’t want to pray for those who persecute us, but the very act of doing so does something in us – frees us from the downward spiral of bitterness and hatred.
I think it’s the same with praise.
When the danger is for our hearts to become hardened, we have to take counter-measures…we have to lead our souls to the One who can soften them….
…to the One who can break up the hard soil of our hearts with the oil of his grace.
Praise leads us to the One who tends and cares for our souls.
Praise leads us to the one who SOFTENS our hearts.
There….3 examples of the power of praise.
I pray that you would know the delight of being re-STORIED, of being SOOTHED and of being SOFTENED.
I pray that God would help us become a people who praise.