God Inhabits The Praise Of His People

Psalm 150 tells us different ways how to praise God… and some reasons to praise Him…

Psalm 150 (NIV84)

1 Praise the LORD. Praise God in his sanctuary; praise him in his mighty heavens. 2 Praise him for his acts of power; praise him for his surpassing greatness. 3 Praise him with the sounding of the trumpet, praise him with the harp and lyre, 4 praise him with tambourine and dancing, praise him with the strings and flute, 5 praise him with the clash of cymbals, praise him with resounding cymbals. 6 Let everything that has breath praise the LORD. Praise the LORD.

All these different ways mentioned… and of course there are many many more…

… and remember how when Nehemiah was rebuilding and then dedicating the walls of Jerusalem, he assigned two choirs to be part of the work… and part of the dedication… as he set them up specifically to thank and praise God…

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… I have always loved 2 Chronicles 20:21-22 where scripture says…

2 Chronicles 20:21–22 (NIV84)

21 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.” 22 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.

…As men were appointed to go IN FRONT OF the army… praising God… so that the praise of God came first…

…. The Lord defeated the enemy…

It’s as if Jehoshaphat were sitting there strategizing about this invading army coming to wipe Israel off the face of the map…

Sound familiar?

And as he is making his plans old Jehoshaphat looks up and says…

“Lord… what can I do”…

And God gives the answer…

Praise the Lord…

And when that Praise of God came first… the Victory was WON…

But…

Why?

Well my friends… if you will look at the original passage of scripture we started with this morning…

I want you to focus on verse 3… Psalm 22:3

Psalm 22:3 (NIV84)

3 Yet you are enthroned as the Holy One; you are the praise of Israel.

I want to give you that in a couple of other translations… just so you understand what is being said…

The New American Standard says..

Psalm 22:3 (NASB95)

3 Yet You are holy, O You who are enthroned upon the praises of Israel.

The King James Version says…

Psalm 22:3 (KJV 1900)

3 But thou art holy, O thou that inhabitest the praises of Israel.

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… Have you ever heard the Phrase…

“God inhabits the praise of His people”?

That song brother ------ sang a few moments ago has been made famous by Russ Taff… and others…

My wife and I love that song…

She listens to praise music all night long as she sleeps…

she has specific praise songs picked out and they are on a little MP3 Player that she listens to all night long… over and over…