Psalm 149:5: “Let the high praises of God be in their mouth, and a two-edged sword in their hand.” We are to praise the Lord at all times. Psalm 24:1 says: “I will bless the Lord AT ALL TIMES, his praise shall CONTINUALLY be in my mouth.”
All Christian fathers should set this example before their wives and children. If we are praising the Lord at all times, how can we possibly find time to be critical, fault-finding, and grumpy? Praising God at all times is a great disposition for husbands and fathers, and for everyone, of course.
God is worthy of much more than low-key praising. He is worthy of high praises, especially in the day of battle. Usually, in the day of battle, our flesh is less inclined to praise and worship God. We are much more inclined to talk about how hard life is and all the negative things we face. However, the truth is that the hotter the battle, the higher our praises should be. Without doubt, prayers are for the day of battle.
David says in Psalm 55:17-18: “Evening, and morning, and at noon, will I pray, and cry aloud: and he shall hear my voice. He hath delivered my soul in peace from the battle that was against me.”
All prayer should also be accompanied by the ministry of thanksgiving.
Philippians 4:6: “Be careful for nothing (don’t worry about anything); but in every thing by prayer and supplication WITH THANKSGIVING let your requests be made known unto God.,”
Colossians 4:2: “Continue in payer, and watch in the same WITH THANKSGIVING.”
Thanksgiving should never be a postscript. It seems wrong to me that we are so taken up with the woes of the battle when we pray that we have so little time or concern for even the low praise, let alone the high praises.
What are high praises? We’ll talk about this in the next post.
Be encouraged.
Colin Campbell