The Happen Stance

How to Make Things Happen In Your Christian Life

K. Neill Foster

PRAISE TO THE LORD GOD is as old as eternity. And it is as enduring as God's future. The Bible is full of praise and anything that is that prominent in God's Word has to be important - and powerful. Praise in the Bible is both prominent and powerful.

The biblical books of Chronicles have significant teaching on praise. For example, when David numbered 38,000 Levites, 4,000 were assigned to praise the Lord (1 Chron. 23:3-5). That has to be an atrocious use of manpower - unless praise is terribly important. The importance of praise to David is also shown by his appointment of Asaph and others to minister continually before the Lord (1 Chron. 16:4,6,37).

These Scriptures imply to me that not only was the Old Testament tabernacle in all its parts rich in spiritual significance, but the worship itself was rich in continual sound.

Apparently, too, those who praised the Lord were not dependent on an audience. Their responsibility was to praise Jehovah, not to entertain people.

SING TO EMPTY SEATS

One of our summer convention lecturers related an interesting incident about a church choir in Argentina. At a rehearsal they were challenged by a discerning pastor to praise the Lord without concern for people. They decided to sing to the Lord - and to the empty seats of the church sanctuary. The result, not surprisingly, was a mighty manifestation of God's presence and spiritual renewal.

Rare is the choir these days which would be willing to put on a concert for God alone.

Many Scriptures emphasize praise as a means of access to God. The Levites were appointed to praise in the gates of the tents of the Lord (2 Chron. 31:2). The psalmist urged, "Enter into his gates with thanksgiving, and into his courts with praise" (Ps. 100:4). And Isaiah declared, "They shalt call. . . thy gates praise" (Isa. 60:18).

I have often thought that there are many things wrong with our Lord's church, but this is one thing that is right. We praise before we preach, we sing before we share. Perhaps it is instinctive. But praise is access. It batters down satanic opposition and it paves the way for the Word of God.

SHIFTING THE SWORD

I have a friend who is an accomplished gospel singer. In the past we did tours together - one-night stops and concerts. Our format was interesting because I was perfectly content to allow him to sing for an hour and then I would preach the gospel for ten or fifteen minutes.

Almost invariably the response to the public invitation was gratifying. As far as we were concerned, there was no need to jealously maneuver for equal time because praise and the Word are both powerful weapons. The switch from praising to preaching was no more than the shifting of the sword of the Lord from one hand to the other.

Praise is also described as a sacrifice. Jeremiah observes that sacrifices of praise were to be brought into the house of the Lord (Jer. 33:11). And the writer to the Hebrews urges, "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" (Heb. 13:15).

VERBALIZED PRAISE

I notice several things about this text in Hebrews. First, the sacrifice of praise is to be the fruit of our lips. I take this to indicate verbalized, spoken praise. I believe one can praise the Lord in his thoughts, but when praise is audible, it seems to convict sinners, cow the devil, and waft up to the Lord a cloud of invisible incense and adoration.

I have observed in the Christian experience a phenomenon I call a "spirit of praise." Sometimes I have felt that way myself. At such times, whenever I have opened my mouth all I have wanted to say was, "Praise the Lord!"

I recall, too, meeting a Christian brother in Vancouver, British Columbia. I cannot remember his name or any other details except that when he greeted me, it was with praise to the Lord.

Second, the Hebrews text urges "continual" praise. And life being what it is, a series of hills and hollows, glads and sads, praise is intended by the Lord to be continual in all circumstances. There should never be a time when praise is not on our lips.

And since praise is to be continual, sometimes it is certainly going to be a sacrifice offered with difficulty, without feeling, praise offered only by a sheer act of the will.

With a ministry to conduct, a periodical to publish, and help to pay, I have become very dependent on the mail, perhaps too much so. But it is a trial of faith to pick up a day's mail with only three dollars in it, or perhaps not even a penny, when the bills total thousands of dollars. But we have learned to praise the Lord for the three dollars. And we have discovered God takes care of the thousands.

PRAISE GOD FOR EVIL?

There are a couple of other Scriptures to be mentioned here. Paul said, "In every thing give thanks" (1 Thess. 5:18, italics mine). Again, he said, "Giving thanks always for all things" (Eph. 5:20, italics mine). Christian people cannot obey these commands without offering the sacrifice of praise.

It is apparent that God wants us to praise Him in all situations. But how can this be? Does God want us to praise him for evil, for the works of the devil? Some people think so, but I am not one of them.

Pastor William F. Bryan of Toledo, Ohio, has some insights which I wish to include here:

 We are not to praise God for the devil's work. When Moses came down from the mountains with the tablets of the Law and found the children of Israel worshiping a golden calf, he did not praise God for their unholy orgies. Jeremiah did not praise God for the wickedness of his people, and David did not praise God for Absalom's rebellion. He accepted it as chastening of the Lord rather than a cause for praise.

 Some of our apostles of praise seem to be oblivious to the fact there there is a time to love and a time to hate: a time to kill and a time to make alive. Their "timing" is so far off they would have us praising God for drunken fathers, corrupted children, and broken homes. We may praise God in all things, but we can hardly praise Him for that which brought suffering and shame. We praise Him for the cross, but not for the sin that made it necessary. ³

"Giving thanks always for all things" is a clear biblical exhortation (Eph. 5:20). But to say, as some are saying today, "Praise God even for evil," goes beyond what the Scripture teaches.

HIS ENDORSEMENT NECESSARY

The Ephesians were to give thanks always for all things "in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ." The name of Jesus is a qualifier. It signifies all that He is. Attaching His name to prayer or praise assumes His full nature and character, the endorsement of all that He is.

If a child, for example, has been abducted, abused by a sex maniac, and murdered, shall his Christian parents praise the Lord Jesus Christ for those denomic deeds? Most assuredly not.

But can Almighty God give these distraught parents confidence in the sovereignty of God, the assurance that all things do work together for good for those who love God? Absolutely. Because God's sovereignty, God's ultimate control of all human events, is something to which Jesus Christ can attach His name. These parents could praise God in their trial, even for it, but not for the demonic acts.

It is easy to praise the Lord for pleasant things, but not for the unpleasant things. Perhaps if we understood praise better, if we realized what it does, we would be more willing to praise God in all situations. Praise is really an assault weapon against Satan. If evil comes, praise the Lord: not for the evil, but as a declaration of war against it.

For instance, sometimes thoughts hit me which I recognize to be straight from the devil's pit. My reaction is "Praise the Lord!" But am I praising the Lord Jesus Christ for those horrid thoughts? Most assuredly not! With praise I go to war and the devil backs off. It is a great remedy. Try it.

So when there is murder, adultery, divorce, bankruptcy, disease, rebellion in the home, praise the Lord. But not for the evil. Not for what the devil has done and is doing. But praise the Lord for what He is going to do, for what He is, for the good which is going to come out of evil. In the spiritual warfare, praise is an offensive maneuver which triggers all kinds of miracles in the Christian's life.

One of my friends says as a young pastor he was confronted with a medium who went into a trance as he and some others were driving along in a car. Rather carelessly perhaps, he commanded the demons to come out. They promptly did - and attacked him!

Because he was temporarily paralyzed he had to yell to his wife, "Grab the wheel, quick!" Then his godly mother-in-law prayed and he was released.

The spiritist soon went into another trance and when his mother-in-law suggested more prayer, my friend didn't want any part of it. As far as he was concerned, the spiritist could stay in her trance.

But the godly woman persisted, "You are up against a battle and you have got to win it. If you don't, you will be running from the devil all your life."

When he asked her what should be done, her response was unbelievable. "We will sing!" she answered. So they sang, prayed, and "covered" my friend with the blood of Jesus Christ.

Then he again commanded the demons to come out. And though the demonized woman had been tearing at her clothes, frothing at the mouth, and writhing in the back seat of the car, the demons suddenly came out.

Years later, as my friend related this incident publicly, he said, "1 learned that day the power of singing."

PRAISE IS LOGICAL

Praise is intended to be logical. You do not find a single Psalm which has only "Praise the Lord" as its content. Continually the psalmist urges praise to the Lord - but never vain repetition, never statements of praise without logic locked in. For that reason, we should be careful always to couch our praise to the Lord in rational content. While we are blessing and praising the Lord, one thing we should not be doing is forgetting all His benefits. "Bless the Lord, 0 my soul, and forget not all his benefits" (Ps. 103:2).

What we are observing here should make us cautious about praise which is devoid of intellectual and logical content. If we are not sure what our praise is all about, we may have to ask ourselves the next question: To whom is this praise directed?

I want to say with kindness, sometimes the praise offered in many very fervent, Bible-believing churches does not go to Almighty God or the Lord Jesus Christ at all.

Biblically, the enactment of praise can come in a number of ways. For instance, it can come through speaking (Ps. 119:171), through singing (Ps. 135:3), and through musical instruments. And when it comes to musical instruments, a long biblical list can be compiled: trumpets, cymbals, harp, psaltery, stringed instruments, timbrels, and wind instruments (2 Chron. 7:6; Ezra 3:10; 1 Chron. 25:3; Ps. 43:4; 71:22; 144:9; 149:3; 150:4- The Amplified Old Testament).

A PHYSICAL ACT

Praise can also be a physical act. I believe that standing before the Lord with uplifted hands is both an act of praise (Ps. 134) and an act of prayer (1 Tim. 2:8). The significance of upraised hands is often missed. I take it to be a sign of surrender and, at the same time, a sign of victory.

As a young pastor I invited a certain minister to my church. When we prayed together I discovered he raised his hands in prayer. (I couldn't help peeking through my fingers at such a queer fellow!) But his ministry was good, even marvelous, and so I didn't really mind his arm-raising. He also told me some people are so bound spiritually they cannot raise their hands to God.

Not too long after, I was called to a home where a woman wanted to find Christ. She prayed in vain. She was so bound she could not come to Christ. Then I asked her, "Can you lift your hands to the Lord?" No, she could not. Lifting her hands to turn off a light was no problem at all, but to praise the Lord - no way!

Not surprisingly, victory came to her one day when all by herself she finally thrust her hands heavenward. Then it was that God spoke to her and said, "Your sins are forgiven."

Ever since, I have realized the significance of uplifted hands. There are times when I am preaching or dealing with a group of inquirers en masse that I will ask those people to lift their hands to God. Often, too, in my own prayer and praise I will lift my hands to the Lord. It is proper and it is good.

SKIP THE TRIP

Unfortunately, some have made a fetish out of upraised hands. It has become a measure of how much spiritual freedom people have and a trip laid on worshipers who may not be at all led by the Holy Spirit to lift their hands.

Sometimes, it seems to me, one of our most human traits is to twist the good into the extreme. Frankly, I have been downright uncomfortable in the presence of some of the hand-raising I have seen. It may be praise - but to whom? It may open a person up - but to what?

Praise is proper in many settings: before the Lord (Ps. 9:2), in His sanctuary (Ps. 150:1), in the congregation (Ps. 22:22,25), and before people and nations (Ps.57:9).

Before people and nations? Apparently it won't hurt the world of unbelievers to hear the saints praise the Lord!

IT HAS AN EDGE

In fact, praise has a finely honed evangelistic edge. It brings people to Christ. Notice, too, that David was going to praise Jehovah "before the gods." We can praise God before the devil and his hosts.

Remember, you are not praising the devil. Rather, you are reciting, even, if I dare say it cautiously, flaunting your faith before Satan. It is a great expression of confidence in the fact that "all things work together for good."

It is fascinating, too, to notice in the world who praises the Lord. Heaven, earth, the seas, and everything that moves therein may praise the Lord (Ps. 69:34). Sun, moon, stars, fire, hail, snow, vapours, stormy wind, mountains, hills, fruitful trees, beasts, creeping things, flying fowl, kings of the earth, all people, princes, judges, young men, maidens, old men, and children may all praise the Lord (Ps. 148). Sailors, isles of the sea, and their inhabitants may praise the Lord (Isa. 42: 10). Finally, the psalmist says, "Let everything that hath breath praise the Lord" (Ps. 150:6).

I even look at a mountain differently now. Many times my wife and I sit at our window for just a few minutes before it is time to go to the office. I have coffee and she has tea. And from her chair when it is clear she can see the mountains more than a hundred miles away. In the morning a peak we call Teepee Mountain is especially striking - a craggy, snow-covered spire soaring into the horizon. That mountain is busy praising God!

And the fruitful trees. They lift their arms toward heaven. Their leaves flutter in the breeze. We may not realize it until the Scriptures lay hold on us, but those millions of leaves, and those stately trees, are all praising God.

EVEN PRINCE

Perhaps I am naive, but I believe even a dog can praise the Lord. I am a dog lover. And if you care to know, our "Prince" has a spiritual history.

The story began when we as a family began to pray for a dog. Then some renters moved into the basement suite of our home. After the husband made the agreement he said, "By the way, we have a dog." It was fine with us. And when their dog sometimes escaped into the upper part of the house to visit us, we stopped praying for a dog. When the tenants left, we bought Prince for twenty dollars. Prince is now regularly remembered in prayer - that he won't get run over. When he gets lost, he is prayed home. Once when Prince had been gone awhile, my boy prayed, "Lord, let Prince come home when I call the first time." He called, and the dog burst around the comer of the house. Another time he had been lost for several days. Within an hour our cream-colored pooch was home. Once he was lost in the wilderness. But following a back-seat prayer meeting in our car we found him.

Now Prince is just a little dog like one sees in a circus. Spitz, they say. But when he sits up, when he is hungry or excited, or even when he is guilty, he is one of God's creatures. He praises the Lord too because he is alive and because God made him. As brilliant as man is, he can't even make a mongrel.

So praise is everywhere. This whole book could be filled just developing this thought.

Even the ungodly shall praise the Lord (Ps. 76:10). And Nebuchadnezzar, the ungodly king, praised the God of heaven (Dan. 4:37). The angels, too, praise the Lord (Ps.148:2). Men shall praise Him (Ps. 107). The saints shall praise the Lord (Ps. 149:5,6). And yes, in the future the twenty-four elders shall praise the Lord (Rev. 5:14).

When one realizes from where and from what praise comes to God, the perspective changes. Satan rules this world and ruins it for his own praise. But the mighty chorus of creation praises the Lord God Almighty! What the devil gets through subterfuge and deception is pitifully small after all!

JUDAH WAS SPECIAL

Judah was one of the sons of Jacob, a son to whom Jacob gave a prophetic blessing. According to Jacob's words, Judah was to be praised and was to have victory over his enemies. Judah was also to be a "lion's whelp." Nor would the sceptre or lawgiver ever depart from Judah (Gen. 49:8-10).

Marvelous promises were made to the young man Judah. And some of them have been and will be fulfilled in Jesus Christ, the Lion of the tribe of Judah. But there is something tremendous which I have not shared with you yet. "Judah" means praise. So it is praise which is to bring victory over the enemy. Jesus Christ is the Lion of Praise!

These Old Testament figures tell us much about praise. The way God dealt with the tribe of Judah is an indication of the importance He attaches to praise.

For example, the tribe of Judah was placed first on the east side of the camp (Num. 2:3). Judah was first, in the lead, when Israel journeyed (Num. 2:9, 10:14). Judah was first in the offering of sacrifice (Num. 7:12). Judah was first to fight the Canaanites (Judg.1:2).

These biblical examples indicate the priority God places on praise. There are many things wrong in the church today, but again I say, here is something that is right! No matter which communion, no matter which country, no matter which administration, praise comes before preaching. Praise to God is first, as it should be. True, the enthusiasm and exuberance of praise varies with the different denominations, but praise is always first. Thank God.

JUDAH -A SANCTUARY

One of the most beautiful truths about Judah is found in Psalm 114:2: "Judah was his sanctuary." I puzzled over that at first, but then it started to make sense. The Lord actually dwells in the midst of His people's praises! Praise, the sanctuary of the Lord. In the church age, praise is God's temple!

A number of years ago I had a young man traveling with me as an associate evangelist. He often led the song service and sometimes preached. And frequently he told the people, "Let's praise the Lord. The Bible says, 'The Lord dwells in the midst of the praises of his people.' "

Then one day he tried to find that verse in the Bible. To his chagrin, he discovered there is no verse, "The Lord dwells in the midst of the praises of his people." But undaunted, and rather dangerously, he said, "It is not in the Bible, but I believe it anyway!" Later, though, he was very pleased to read Psalm 22:3, "0 thou that inhabitest the praises of Israel."

God does dwell in His people's praises. Praise is God's sanctuary. Judah was (and is) the sanctuary of the Lord. And that is why when we praise the Lord we so often feel His presence. It is all I can do to refrain from writing praises to God right now. These truths are exhilarating! And blessed.

PRAISE POWER

This chapter could be called, "Praise Power" and not without reason. In the arsenal of the Christian, praise is one of the mightiest weapons God has given us. For example, in Psalm 8:2, David said, "Out of the mouths of babes and sucklings hast thou ordained strength. . . ." Jesus, paraphrasing the same passage, put it this way, "Out of the mouth of babes and sucklings thou hast perfected praise" (Matt. 21:16).

So, it seems to me, if we are to accept the commentary of the Holy Spirit (the New Testament application of Old Testament truth), praise is equated with strength. Praise is never weakness. It is magnificent power. It is a wholesome, positive kind of event control. Praise makes things happen.

Praise produces visible effects. "And he hath put a new song in my mouth, even praise to our God: many shall see it, and fear, and shall trust in the Lord" (Ps. 40:3). Praise is observable. It produces the fear of God in people. And it carries them through to trust in God. It is a sharp instrument of evangelism. Good evangelistic services need plenty of praise.

The same thought surfaces in Psalm 118:21. Praise is linked to salvation. In the book of Acts, the early believers were "praising God and having favor with all the people." We should not be surprised that the Lord "added to the church daily such as should be saved" (Acts 2:47).

There, too, the lame man walked and leaped. Show me a church where the people have learned to praise the Lord and there will be conversions there. And healings. And many miracles. Praise always triggers momentous events.

Praise also brings mighty manifestations of God's glory - spiritual fire! This is illustrated in both 2 Chronicles 5 and 2 Chronicles 7. The singing of the Levites and the praying of King Solomon precede the visible manifestations of God's fire and glory. And the last verse of the gospel of Luke tells us what preceded Pentecost: "And they were continually in the temple, praising and blessing God. Amen." Historically, praise preceded Pentecost. And praise will also precede your personal Pentecost - and mine!

DELIVERANCE TOO

Apparently, praise also has a relationship to deliverance. Paul and Silas were praising God in prison (Acts 16:25,26). Then the prison doors were opened and their chains fell off. The lesson is clear. Deliverance comes through praise to God, either your own praise or the praise of another.

In spiritual warfare, praise brings victory. Jericho fell to the trumpets of Joshua (Josh. 6). Judah defeated Israel with a shout (2 Chron. 13:14,15). Singing defeated Ammon and Moab (2 Chron. 20:22). And the psalmist makes it clear, there is ". . .triumph in thy praise" (Ps. 106:47).

PRAISE BINDS

One of the most marvelous lessons in praise is found in Psalm 149. The high praises of God are to be in the mouths of the Lord's people. Such praises have magnificent results. They are like a two-edged sword in the hands of the saints. They bring vengeance and punishment upon the ungodly. They "bind their kings with chains and their nobles with fetters of iron."

I believe these kings and nobles represent the unseen powers of darkness. And praise binds them. It is a great thought. And it lines up with Jesus' teaching about binding and loosing (Matt. 12:29; 18:18). The psalmist makes it clear, just as Jesus implies, "This honor have all his saints." Every believer who will praise the Lord can and will bind the powers of darkness. Christian friend, whenever you go to war against the demonic forces of evil, go praising!

EDGINESS TOO

I must confess, however, that I get uneasy when praise is simply directed to "Jesus." If the person praising has clearly indicated that the praise is directed to the Lord Jesus Christ, fine. I am all for that! But all too often it is to some unspecified "Jesus" that praise is given.

I believe that all the charismatic gifts are for today, including the utterance gifts. But any utterance that refers only to "Jesus" makes me edgy. I know very well, and you should too, that there are false utterances which praise a certain "Jesus" who is not the Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God who came in the flesh and is the Lord of Lords. Saint Paul warned that there is "another Jesus" (2 Cor. 11:4). We must be sure all our praise ascends to the Lord Jesus Christ of the New Testament.

FINAL FOCUS

Again we see it. The object of praise is the Lord God Almighty. With each of the mighty weapons, including praise, the focus is finally on the Lord Jesus Christ. He is the Victor and the victory.

I will never forget the first time I heard Handel's Messiah. "Blessing and honour, and glory, and power be unto him that sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb forever and ever" (Rev. 5:13).

The majestic words and melody will never be erased from my mind and heart. If you know that great music perhaps you can hear it now. And if you don't know it, a delightful discovery is still ahead.

All praise, forever and ever, to the King of Glory, the Lord Jesus Christ!

Chapter 5