The Power of Praise | Part 1

We should never underestimate the power of praise when facing opposition.

If you have your Bible, turn to chapter 20. The message tonight is a serious message, but a helpful message, and it deals with praise. It deals with praising God in the time of trouble. The title of the message, The Power of Praise. Praise is a very powerful thing. As a matter of fact, I don't know how you can enjoy the Christian life without praise. It's praise that just infuses the joy and lets the joy begin to flow.

If you're having difficulty with joy, it is probably because you are not praising the Lord. And be honest, how many folks enjoy sports, football, basketball, or something like that? Let me see your hand. That's most of us, most of us.

If that's a sin, I plead guilty. I really do. I enjoy watching sports. I enjoy watching football and basketball, especially football. But you know, when my favorite team is playing and something wonderful happens, I mean there's a spectacular catch or some incredible play, something that is just stupendous, I have to say something.

I mean even if I'm watching by myself, Joyce can hear me in the other end of the house. I just have to say something. If we score or whatever, I have to say, all right, or that's good, or wow, or yeah. You know, don't you do that?

Do you do that? If you don't say anything when it's happening, your enjoyment of that game is going to be greatly diminished. Try it sometime. Just try sitting there and watching a ball game and don't express yourself. Just watch it.

Don't say anything and see what happens. Your joy, your enjoyment of that game will diminish. Some folks sit here in church, bless me if you can. They don't get anything out of it.

If they do, it's greatly diminished. You get into it. Begin to praise. Begin to laugh. Begin to say amen. Begin to nod your head.

Participate. Give God the glory. The joy will start to flow.

Quit just being a non-entity in a service like this. You know, it helps to praise in time of joy, and praise brings joy. And it helps to praise in time of help when you've, when somebody's done something for you, learn to praise them. Give honor to whom honor is due.

There's power in that. A woman told a preacher, she said, that was a wonderful sermon. He said, well, praise the Lord.

She said it wasn't that wonderful. Just praise one another and praise God when God has done something for you. Give Him thanks. But one of the ways and things we need to do, one of the things we need to do and one of the ways that we need to praise is to praise in time of trouble. And I want you to see here in a classic passage of Scripture that from time to time we've looked at, but we must needs look at it again, 2 Chronicles chapter 20, 2 Chronicles chapter 20. And the first thing I want you to see is what I'm going to call a powerful foe, a powerful foe. Look, verses 1 and 2, and it came to pass after this also that the children of Moab and the children of Ammon with them other beside the Ammonites came against Jehoshaphat to battle. And there came some that told Jehoshaphat saying, There cometh a great multitude against thee from beyond the sea on this side, Syria.

And behold, they that be in Hezazantaman, which is Ein Gedi. Now here is King Jehoshaphat, a good king. He loves the Lord, and he's told, You've got some enemies out there. There are three powerful kings that are coming against you.

The inhabitants there of Ammon and Moab and Mount Seir have come against you. Now, we might as well make up our mind and reaffirm the truth that we have three mighty kings that come against us on a regular basis, sin, sorrow, and death. These are the Christians' three great foes, the world's three great foes, sin, sorrow, and death.

And we're faced with them time and time again. So number one, a powerful foe. Every one of us who lived the Christian life will meet opposition from time to time, and sometimes the opposition will be fierce. Number two, not only was there a powerful foe, but thank God King Jehoshaphat made a positive focus. Look in verse three. And Jehoshaphat feared and set himself to seek the Lord and proclaimed a fast throughout all Judah. He set himself to seek the Lord. Now God for Jehoshaphat was his first thought, not his last resort. Jehoshaphat said, the enemy's out there, but God is up here, and I am going to seek the Lord with all of my heart. A powerful foe caused him to have a positive focus. He set himself to seek the Lord. And not only was there a positive focus, but there was a proclaimed fast. Look, if you will, in verse three, the last part. And he proclaimed a fast throughout all Judah.

America is sick. It is time for the church of the Lord God to sharpen her focus and proclaim a fast to seek God. It is not that by fasting we buy God's blessings. God's blessings are always by grace, but yet God does business with those that mean business.

And when we have a positive focus, fasting just simply sharpens the focus. It causes us to think about God in a way that nothing else that I know of does. Now the next thing I want you to see is a purposeful fellowship. Look, if you will, in verse four. And Judah gathered themselves together to ask help of the Lord. And out of all of the cities of Judah, they came to seek the Lord. Everybody came together to seek God. What would happen in America if in all of the cities of America people just got together to seek the Lord?

Black and white, Baptist, assembly of God, Methodist, Presbyterian, Lutheran, Pentecostal, whomever wants to, whomever will, to come to seek the Lord, a purposeful fellowship. And when we come to seek the Lord, He shows up. For our Lord said, where two or three are gathered in my name, there am I in the midst of them. And when we come together, not to try to heal racism, not to try to solve poverty, not to entertain ourselves, not to get America delivered from her enemies, but when we come to seek the Lord, to seek the Lord, to seek the Lord, we will be in one accord and then we will be far able, far better able to attack all of these other problems that need to be dealt with. But we cannot bypass the one thing that we must do and God help us that we will do is to come together to seek the Lord, to seek the Lord. Look at it.

Look at it. Verse 3, And Jehoshaphat feared and set himself to seek the Lord. The last part of verse 4, they came to seek the Lord. It was a purposeful fellowship, to seek the Lord.

Not political, not social, not racial, but spiritual, coming to seek the Lord, a purposeful fellowship, verse 4. And then there was a prayerful faith. Now I want to read on through verse 13.

Look at it. And Jehoshaphat stood in the congregation of Judah and Jerusalem in the house of the Lord before the new court and said, and I want you to listen to this prayer. Before I read this prayer, I want to say this, that when you have a problem, when I have a problem, it is very, very, very important that you put your eyes upon God, that you understand the character and the nature of God. And in this prayer that we're about to see, we're going to find five characteristics of the nature of God. And when a problem comes, you need to glance at your problems and gaze at your God. I want you to see the prayer that Jehoshaphat prayed. Now don't just glance over this.

Don't just glaze over this. Don't just go through this carelessly because there are five characteristics of the nature of God that are in this prayer that greatly encouraged me when I looked at it. First of all, Jehoshaphat saw God as a sovereign God. Look in verse 6 and said, O Lord God of our fathers, now listen to this, art thou not God in heaven? And rule is not thou over all the kingdoms of the heathen?

And in thine hand is there not power and might so that none is able to withstand thee? Question, can the pornography withstand God? Can the liquor dealers withstand God? Can the baby butchers withstand God? No. Can the sodomites withstand God? No.

There is none. This is what he says. You rule over all. There is not power and might so that none is able to withstand thee. And it's about time we believe that. People going around wringing their hands saying, what are we going to do?

What are we going to do? Well, I can tell you there's no panic in heaven. And I can tell you also that the Holy Trinity never meets an emergency session. You say, well, pastor, I have a big problem, all right? I want you to think about the biggest problem you have.

I mean the very biggest. Then I want you to double it. Then I want you to double it again. Then I want you to compare it to Almighty God and tell me that your problem is too big for God. Listen, Jehoshaphat began to pray, and first of all, his prayer was addressed to a sovereign God. Secondly, verse 7, it was addressed to a steadfast God. Now look at verse 7. Art not thou our God, who didst drive out the inhabitants of this land before thy people Israel, and gavest it to the seed of Abraham thy friend forever?

What does he say? He said, God, you made a promise to Abraham. You said to Abraham, I am going to give you this land, and it is yours, and it is yours forever.

And now, Lord, this bunch is coming to take away from us that which you gave us. And, Lord, we are standing on your word, and we're praying on the basis of your promise. You are a steadfast God.

You don't change. What you said to Abraham, you're saying to us, and we're standing on your word. God is the same yesterday, today, and forevermore. And the God who has worked miracles in the past is the God who can work miracles today. And don't you insult God by saying we cannot have revival in this day and in this age. It's an insult to God because God is still powerful. He still has power to save multitudes, to shake cities, and to send revival.

Study the history of revival. And God has sent revival in dark days before, and God can, and God will, if we will trust him, send revival today. He is a sovereign God. He is a steadfast God.

And he is a sympathetic God. Look in verses 8 and 9 as we continue to read. And they dwelt therein, and have built thee a sanctuary therein for thy name, saying, If, when evil cometh upon us, as the sword, judgment... And by the way, America is under famine, judgment or pestilence. America has pestilence.

It's the age pestilence, or famine. We stand before this house, and in thy presence, for thy name is in this house, that is, they're praying on the basis of God's glory, and cry unto thee in our affliction, Then thou wilt hear and help. Is that underscored in your Bible?

It is in mine. Then thou wilt hear and help. I love that. The God who hears and the God who helps. He is a sympathetic God. If we cry to him, he will hear, and he will help. He will hear.

He will help. He is a sovereign God. He is a steadfast God. He is a sympathetic God. The Bible says in all their afflictions he was afflicted.

He's touched with the feeling of our infirmity. Then next he is a seeing God. Look, if you will, in verse 10. Now behold, that is, Lord, take a look. Now behold, the children of Ammon and Moab and Mount Seir, whom thou wouldest not let Israel invade, these, Lord, that you protected, when they came out of the land of Egypt, but they turned from them and destroyed them not.

That is, we showed mercy to them. Behold, I say, how they reward us, to come to cast us out of thy possession, which thou hast given us to inherit. Now what's he saying? He's saying, God, take a look at all of this.

Just behold it. You say, do I have to tell God to look at what he already sees? Yes. Do I have to ask God for what he knows I already need?

Yes. But there's something about our prayer that gets God's attention and causes him, in a very special way, to focus on what we focus on. He is a seeing God. And twice God has asked to behold this.

Verse 10, and now behold, verse 11, behold, I say. He is the seeing God. God knows your situation. He knows your enemy. He knows your danger. He knows where you are right now. He knows what you're thinking this very moment. And that helps us when we pray.

There's nothing that escapes his notice. Not only is he a seeing God, but he is the saving God. Look, if you will, in verses 12 and 13. Oh, our God. By the way, these are two of the greatest verses in the chapter.

Oh, our God. Wilt thou not judge them? For we have no might against this great company that cometh against us. Neither know we what to do, but our eyes are upon thee.

And all Judah stood before the Lord with their little ones, their wives, and their children. Oh, God, we don't know what to do. We don't have any strength. But Lord, our eyes are on you. Here are our wives. Here are our children.

Here are our little babies. Lord, we don't know what to do. They're coming against us. God, we don't have any might. We don't have any strength. Hollywood is greater than we are.

The liquor people have more money than we have. The media seems to be against us. We don't know what to do. But God, our eyes are on you. If we go down, we're going down with our eyes on you.

If they kill us, they're going to kill us with our eyes on you. Lord, you are the God who can deliver us. You are the sovereign God. You are the steadfast God. You are the sympathetic God. You are the seeing God.

You are the saving God. And so what they did, friend, they just came to a prayerful faith and began to pray, not on the basis of what the problem is, but on who God is. Next thing, not only a prayerful faith, but a prophetic fact. Now they're praying, and when they pray, God begins to speak and answer. Begin now in verse 14. And upon Jehaziel, the son of Zechariah, the son of Benaiah, the son of Jeiel, the son of Mataniah, a Levite of the sons of Asaph, came the Spirit of the Lord in the midst of the congregation. And the Lord said, Hearken ye, O Judah, and ye inhabitants of Jerusalem, and thou King Jehoshaphat. Thus saith the Lord unto you, Be not afraid nor dismayed by reason of this great multitude, the battle is not yours but God's.

Oh, oh, that's it, that's it, that's it. The battle is not yours but God, a prophetic fact. Now they're praying. They're seeking God. They're saying, God, we have no might. We have no understanding.

We don't know what to do. But we've set ourselves to seek you. We've gathered together to seek you.

We've proclaimed a fast to seek you. And God then begins to move. And God begins to speak. And God takes a spirit anointed preacher to bring a message. Thank God that the Spirit of God does anoint. Thank God for Spirit-filled messengers.

And the messenger said, Here's the message from God. Here is the prophetic fact that we need to see one more time. Victory belongs to God. The battle is not yours but God's. Now the prophetic fact brings us to the potent force.

And what is the potent force? The potent force is praise. Now the prophet of God said, The battle is not yours but the Lord's.

But you have a part, and your part is praise. And you're not going to hide until it's all over. Now a lot of us would have said, Now, God, when it's all over, when we have the victory, then we're going to praise you for the victory.

But God says, Oh, no. The battle is mine. The battle is not yours.

But you're not going to hide until it's over. And you're going to have to praise on the front end, not at the rear end. But you're going to have to praise at the beginning, not at the conclusion.

You can't praise after it's over because it won't be over until you begin to praise. I wonder, have you learned to praise God in your problems? You say, I can't praise God in the midst of my problems. Well, then go ahead and live with them.

Let's go ahead and live with them. But friend, if you will do what this wonderful 20th chapter of 2 Chronicles teaches us to do, you can praise and see God move. Did you know what praise is? Praise is faith expressing itself. That's all praise is.

Praise is just faith turned inside out. Now, we come to God, we must ask God. That's what these people did. They came and they asked God. They said, God deliver us. That's petition. But petition must be married to praise.

Petition says please. Praise says thank you. But praise says thank you on the front end. See, praise brings God into it. Do you remember that passage over there in Psalm 22 verse 3 where God occupies the praise of His people? What is God's address?

Where does God live? Praise is God's address. Wherever there's praise, God shows up. Amen.

Isn't that good? Praise is God's address. Where there's praise, He shows up. You know, at Love Worth Finding, one of our great honors is to come alongside you and pray with you and pray for you and praise God together. If you have a prayer request right now that you'd like to share, go to our website, lwf.org slash radio and scroll down to the prayer wall. There you'll find the option to submit a prayer request or to pray for others. This resource is one of our favorite ways to keep the ministry and the community praying continually for one another's needs.

And we believe that God shows up. Let us hear from you today. Again, go to lwf.org slash radio and scroll down to the prayer wall. Now, if you'd like a copy of today's message, you can order one by calling us at 1-877-LOVEGOD.

Mention the title, The Power of Praise, or you can order online, lwf.org slash radio, or simply write to us at Love Worth Finding, Box 38600, Memphis, Tennessee 38183. Thank you for studying in God's word with us today. Have you learned to praise God in your problems?

Pray, consider fasting as you ask God for guidance and join us next time for part two of The Power of Praise right here on Love Worth Finding. A listener from Texas wrote a brief testimony I want to share with you. She said, I began listening to pastor Adrian Rogers before he passed away and I've been listening ever since on the radio or the app. He was very gifted in teaching God's word. Thank you for making his material available even after he's passed on. We are honored to provide these messages and resources to you and we are deeply grateful for the prayers and the donations that make it possible. As a way to say thank you for your gift this month, we want to send you a book by Pastor Rogers, The Passion of Christ and the Purpose of Life. In his clear personal tone, Pastor Rogers leads us to Jesus' death on the cross, the turning point of all history and the resurrection of Jesus from that grave. Request your copy when you call with a gift at 1-877-LOVEGOD or give online at lwf.org slash radio.