The Power of Praise

Pastor, teacher, and author Adrian Rogers has introduced people all over the world to the love of Jesus Christ and has impacted untold numbers of lives by presenting profound truth, simply stated. Thanks for joining us for this message.

Here's Adrian Rogers. 2 Chronicles 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. Title of the message, The Power of Praise. Now, 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. Now, 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. Don't you do that?

Do you do that? You just, 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 somebody's done something for you, learn to praise them. Give honor to whom honors do.

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. Second Chronicles chapter 20. Second 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 one and two. 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 Hezazontamon, 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. The 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 live 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 3, and Jehoshaphat feared and set himself to seek the Lord and proclaim to fast throughout all Judah. He set himself to seek the Lord. Now, God for Jehoshaphat was his first thought, not his last resort. And 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 3, the last part. 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 4. And Judah gathered themselves together to ask help of the Lord. Even 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?

It would be 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. 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, 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. Look at 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. 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. And 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 don't 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 the sanctuary therein for thy name, saying, If when evil cometh upon us, as the sword, judgment, and by the way, America is under judgment, 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. 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, Harken ye, all 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? Well, begin now in verse 16 and read through verse 22. Here's what the man of God said. Here is what the prophet said. Tomorrow, go ye down against them.

Behold, they come up by the cliff of Ziz, and ye shall find them at the end of the brook before the wilderness of Jeruel. And ye shall not need to fight in this battle. Set yourselves, stand ye still, and see the salvation of the Lord with you, O Judah and Jerusalem.

Fear not, nor be dismayed. Tomorrow, go out against them, for the Lord will be with you. And Jehoshaphat bowed his head with his face to the ground, and all Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem fell before the Lord, worshipping the Lord, and the Levites of the children of the Kohathites and of the children of the Korhites stood up to praise the Lord God of Israel with a loud voice on high.

By the way, if you don't like loud music, you wouldn't like it here. They began to praise the Lord God of Israel with a loud voice on high, and they rose early in the morning and went forth into the wilderness of Tekoa, and as they went forth, Jehoshaphat stood and said, Hear me, O Judah, ye inhabitants of Jerusalem, believe in the Lord your God. And, boy, there's another one of these great statements in here. Believe in the Lord your God, so shall ye be established. Believe his prophets, so shall ye prosper. God raised up a prophet, and God said, Believe him if you want to prosper. And when he had consulted with the people, he appointed singers unto the Lord, that they should praise the beauty of holiness.

And there's another great phrase. Singers unto the Lord, that they should praise the beauty of holiness, as they went out before the Lord, and to say, Praise the Lord, for his mercy endureth forever. And when they began to sing and to praise, the Lord set ambushments against the children of Ammon, Moab, and Mount Seir, which were come against Judah, and they were smitten. For the children of Ammon and Moab stood up against the inhabitants of Mount Seir, utterly to slay and to destroy them. And when they had made an end of the inhabitants of Seir, every one helped to destroy another.

And when Judah came toward the watchtower in the wilderness, they looked unto the multitude, and behold, there were dead bodies fallen to the earth, and none escaped." Now, 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.

Our eyes are on you. Help 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. 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. God occupies the praise of his people. The two wings of power are petition and praise. Now, let me tell you two things praise will do.

I love it. And it's right here in verses 16 through 22. Here's two things praise will do. Praise infuses the energy of God. Number two, praise confuses the enemies of God. Praise infuses the energy of God. Praise confuses the enemy of God. When you begin to praise, God's energy just begins to fill you. It infuses you with energy and power because God is in that praise. And when you begin to praise, not only is that praise very healthy for the Holy Spirit, it is the ambience, the environment that the Holy Spirit occupies, but Satan is allergic to it. Satan breaks out with hives. When you begin to praise God, Satan gets confused. Now, here are these enemies.

Here are the inhabitants of Ammon and Moab, Mount Seir. And they're all coming against one enemy, against Israel. And here goes the army of God. And they're just going against the enemy.

And they're singing the battle hymn of the republic and they're singing victory in Jesus and they're singing what a mighty God we serve. And Satan goes bananas. I mean, they turned on each other. They began to kill one another and destroy one another.

They got in absolute confusion. Praise fractures the unity of the enemy. And praise formulates the unity of the believer.

Oh, how we need to be pound together, praising the Lord God. What a potent force is praise. It infuses the energy of God. It confuses the enemy of God. And so there's a potent force. And now what happens?

Well, look, if you will, in verse 25. There is a provided fortune. And when Jehoshaphat and his people came to take away the spoil of them, they found among them in abundance both riches with the dead bodies and precious jewels, which they had stripped off for themselves more than they could carry away. And they were three days in gathering of the spoil. It was so much.

And how about that for a switch? Here they have an enemy. This enemy looks like it's going to destroy them. They say, oh, God, we don't know what we're going to do. Then God, as they seek the Lord in fasting and prayer, God sends them a message. They obey the message.

They began to believe God and praise God. The enemy is put into confusion. And now they're left with all this bounty, these spoils. Treasure. For three days they're trying to load it up and carry it off.

They can't even carry it off. Did you know that Satan is God's messenger boy? You say, why doesn't God kill the devil? Did you know that God uses the devil?

If we will begin to praise the Lord, the devil will become our servant to enrich us. I have thought about the times that I've been in spiritual battle all my life. I guess I've been in spiritual battle all my life. Somebody asked me the other day, they said, are you under pressure? I said, I don't know. I don't know. I've never been any other way.

It's like the woman didn't know her husband was drinking until one day he came home sober. I mean, I've just been under pressure, I guess. I don't know whether it's pressure or not. I'll tell you one thing. There have been some times when I've been under pressure, pressure. There have been some times when, I mean, it's really, really, really been tough. Every one of those times when I've turned to the Lord, not only has He brought me through, but He's made me rich every time, every time. I have come out with both hands full of rubies and diamonds and emeralds and gold.

And though I wouldn't choose it, I wouldn't take anything for it. Just thank God for the way that what the enemy meant for evil, God used for good. And David cut Goliath's head off with Goliath's sword. And God takes that which the enemy means against us for evil and God uses it for His glory and His good. God wants to do that for Bible believers in America. And what we think are calamitous things that are happening in these days, if we will set ourselves, set ourselves, set ourselves to seek God in fasting and prayer and praise, we'll see God do a miracle in America. And I, for one, am hungry to see it happen. And when it happens, nobody's going to get the praise but Jesus.

As a matter of fact, He'll have to get the praise before it happens. And it's just, it's a provided fortune. Verse 25 and then verses 26 through 30, a peaceful future. Look, if you will, in verse 26 here. And on the fourth day, they assembled themselves in the Valley of Barakah, for there they blessed the Lord.

Therefore, the name of the same place was called the Valley of Barakah unto this day. Then they returned every man to Judah and Jerusalem and Jehoshaphat in the forefront of them to go again to Jerusalem with joy. For the Lord had made them to rejoice over their enemies. And they came to Jerusalem with saltaries and harps and trumpets unto the house of the Lord.

What a day that must have been. And the fear of God was on all the kingdoms of those countries when they had heard that the Lord had fought against the enemies of Israel. So the realm of Jehoshaphat was quiet, for his God gave him rest round about a peaceful future. It doesn't mean that the enemies loved him. They still hated him.

But you know what the Bible says? The Bible says, when a man's ways please the Lord, even his enemies will be at peace with him. It doesn't mean they'll love him. They're just afraid of him, just afraid of him. Wouldn't it be wonderful again if this world were afraid of the prayers of God's people? Wouldn't it be wonderful again if they say, don't touch them, they're holy people? Don't mess with them. God is with those folks. They don't have any respect for us today. They laugh at us, they mock at us, and well they ought because we deserve it. But friend, I want us to come to a place where they say, don't mess with them, God is with them.

And when a man's ways please the Lord, he makes even his enemies to be at peace with him. Well, that's what happened a long time ago. Wouldn't you like to see it happen again? I would. I would. Now, I don't want anybody to get frightened now, but I want to give you 10 facts. That's a lot.

They're going to be short. But if you've got some problems, here's what I want you to do. Listen to me now. Number one, you need to learn to see all satanic opposition as opportunity. Got it? See all satanic opposition as opportunity.

That'll put a different focus on it. Number two, seek God, set yourself to seek God before you take any action. Number three, remember those times when you seek God that he has shown himself faithful in the past, as Jehoshaphat did.

Think back on other times when he delivered you. Number four, begin to study the word of God for a promise on which to stand. Number five, let the Holy Spirit of God make that promise real and live in your heart.

Number six, refuse any confidence whatsoever in the flesh. Number seven, give yourself to full, free, unrestrained, open worship and praise of the Almighty. Number eight, begin to praise God in the face of opposition and in the face of the enemy. Number nine, expect God to send confusion to your enemies. Number 10, get ready for a blessing. Get ready for a blessing. That's what this chapter is telling us. If you would like to learn more about how you can know Jesus or deepen your relationship with him, simply click the Discover Jesus link on our website, lwf.org. For a copy of this message or additional resources, visit our online store at lwf.org or call 1-800-274-5683. Thank you.