Psalm 149:5-6 (NKJV): Let the saints be joyful in glory; let them sing aloud on their beds. Let the high praises of God be in their mouth, and a two-edged sword in their hand.
The words 'high praises' here is 'tehillah' in Hebrew, which literally means 'laudation', from the word 'haw-lal', which means 'to shine, to boast, to celebrate, to make clear the way'. I like the expression 'to make clear the way' here.
Look now what happens when you let the 'high praises' of the Lord be in your mouth. Psalm 149:7-9 has these amazing answers, '... to execute vengeance on the nations, and punishments on the peoples; to bind their kings with chains, and their nobles with fetters of iron; to execute on them the written judgement - this honor have all His saints. Praise the Lord!'
See 'this honor have all His saints' here? As a believer, you too are called His saints, brought near by the blood of Jesus Christ, and members together in the household of God! (Ephesians 2:13, Ephesians 2:19)
Indeed, whatever (difficult) situation or circumstance you may be facing at the moment, your 'high praises' of the Lord makes clear the way for you! Hallelujah!
In cross-reference, let's look now at 2 Chronicles 20:22, and in the days of Jehoshaphat. This verse says, 'Now when they (Jehoshaphat and the people of Judah) began to sing and to praise (same word 'tehillah'), the Lord set ambushes against the people of Ammon, Moab, and Mount Seir, who had come against Judah; and they were defeated'.
What happened next was again, amazing! 2 Chronicles 20:23 says, 'For the people of Ammon and Moab stood up against the inhabitants of Mount Seir to utterly kill and destroy them. And when they had made an end of the inhabitants of Seir, they helped to destroy one another'.
In other words, the Lord 'executed vengeance on the nations, and punishments on the peoples (who came against God's people)'. And the enemies got so confused they 'self-destruct' among themselves!
That, my friend, is the power of praise!
2 Chronicles 20:24-25 then says, 'So when Judah came to a place overlooking the wilderness, they looked toward the multitude; and there were their (enemies') dead bodies, fallen on the earth. No one had escaped. When Jehoshaphat and his people came to take away their spoil, they found among them an abundance of valuables on the dead bodies, and precious jewelry, which they stripped off for themselves, more than they could carry away; and they were three days gathering the spoil because there was so much'.
Even though in the New Covenant, we are not fighting flesh and blood (Ephesians 6:12), know that you too are the 'Jehoshaphats' of today! By the way, the name 'Jehoshaphat' comes from two words in Hebrew, 'Yehow' which is 'Yehovah, the self-existent and eternal God', and 'Shaphat' which means 'to execute judgement, to govern, to rule'. As you keep on praising Him, He is the One who will execute judgement on every work of darkness that comes against you!
And of course you belong to the tribe of the Lion of Judah! Jesus is the Lion of Judah (see Revelation 5:5). The word 'Judah' here is 'Yehuwdah' in Hebrew, from the root word 'yadah', which means 'to praise, or to shoot out (in celebration)'. Indeed, you belong to a people who shall continuously praise Him till the very end, and till eternity!
Recently, I released these words to a congregation I was preaching to:
"A time to praise! A time to praise! This is not a time to give up praising Him! This is a time to rise above and over every situation or circumstance of yours, and keep on praising Him!"
Victory is waiting for those who keep on praising the Lord! Amen!
Let's look at another example of how 'high praises' makes clear the way for God's people, and this time, it's Paul and Silas. Acts 16:22-24 says, 'Then the multitude rose up together against them (Paul and Silas); and the magistrates tore off their clothes and commanded them to be beaten with rods. And when they had laid many stripes on them, they threw them into prison, commanding the jailer to keep them securely. Having received such a charge, he put them into the inner prison and fastened their feet in the stocks'.
And look now at Paul and Silas' response. Acts 16:25 says, 'But at midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the prisoners were listening to them'. These words 'singing hymns to God' are translated in King James Version as 'sang praises unto God'. The word 'praise' here is 'arete' in Greek, which means 'to speak of (His) excellence, (His) greatness, (His) virtue, (His) power'.
When the multitude rose up against them, they did not allow themselves to succumb under the difficult situation or circumstance they were facing. Instead, they rose above and over! They looked away from their own problems, and began speaking of God's excellence and greatness - from being occupied with 'selves' to being occupied with God's excellence and greatness!
When God 'becomes BIG' (i.e. when God is magnified in your life), your problem will 'become small'!
You know what? Acts 16:26 then says, 'Suddenly there was a great earthquake, so that the foundation of the prison were shaken; and immediately all the doors were opened and everyone's chains were loosed'. And the rest is history. For the record, not only their 'arete' led to the prison doors being opened, history has shown that also marked the beginning of the gospel doors being opened to the whole wide continent of Europe! (see Acts 17:1, Acts 17:10, Acts 17:16, Acts 18:1)
Isaiah 61:1-3 says, The Spirit of the Lord God is upon Me, because the Lord has anointed Me to preach good tidings to the poor; He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to those who are bound; to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord, and the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all who mourn, to console those who mourn in Zion, to give them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness; that they may be called trees of righteousness, the planting of the Lord that He may be glorified.'
Interestingly, the word 'garment' here comes from the Hebrew word 'ateh', meaning 'to array oneself, to decorate oneself'.
Therefore, people of God, no matter what situation or circumstance you may be facing at the moment, like Jehoshaphat (and the people of Judah), and like Paul (and Silas), may you also continue to put on the garment of praise, 'arraying yourself' with the praises of the Lord, and keep on speaking of His excellence and greatness - till you see your breakthrough, and till you see the 'doors' are being opened for you too. In Jesus' name. Amen!
