PRAISE CURE
Acts 16:25-26
(25) But at midnight Paul and Silas were praying AND singing hymns to God, and the prisoners were listening to them.
(26) Suddenly there was a great earthquake, so that the foundations of the prison were shaken; and immediately all the doors were opened and everyone’s chains were loosed.”
Praise keeps our heart and mind in a place of peace
- That is where wisdom flows
- From a place of peace
What Gods says about wisdom?
Proverbs 3:17
Her ways are ways of pleasantness, and all her paths are peace.
Isaiah 26: 3
Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee: “because he trusteth” in thee.
2 Chronicles 20:12-30
(12) O our God, will You not judge them? For we have no power against this great multitude that is coming against us; nor do we know what to do, “but our eyes are upon You.”
(13) Now all Judah, with their little ones, their wives, and their children, stood before the Lord.
(14) Then the Spirit of the Lord came upon Jahaziel the son of Zechariah, the son of Benaiah, the son of Jeiel, the son of Mattaniah, a Levite of the sons of Asaph, in the midst of the assembly.
(15) And he said, “Listen, all you of Judah and you inhabitants of Jerusalem, and you, King Jehoshaphat! Thus says the Lord to you: ‘Do not be afraid nor dismayed because of this great multitude, for the battle is not yours, but God’s.
(16) Tomorrow go down against them. They will surely come up by the Ascent of Ziz, and you will find them at the end of the brook before the Wilderness of Jeruel.
(17) You will not need to fight in this battle. Position yourselves, stand still and see the salvation of the Lord, who is with you, O Judah and Jerusalem!’ Do not fear or be dismayed; tomorrow go out against them, for the Lord is with you.”
(18) And Jehoshaphat bowed his head with his face to the ground, and all Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem bowed before the Lord, worshiping the Lord.
(19) Then the Levites of the children of the Kohathites and of the children of the Korahites stood up to praise the Lord God of Israel WITH VOICES LOUD AND HIGH.
(20) So they rose early in the morning and went out into the Wilderness of Tekoa; and as they went out, Jehoshaphat stood AND SAID, “Hear me, O Judah and you inhabitants of Jerusalem: Believe in the Lord your God, and you shall be established; believe His prophets, and you shall prosper.”
(21) And when he had consulted with the people, he appointed those who should sing to the Lord, and who should praise the beauty of holiness, as they went out before the army and were saying: “Praise the Lord, For His mercy endures forever.”
(22) Now when they began to sing and to praise, the Lord set ambushes against the people of Ammon, Moab, and Mount Seir, who had come against Judah; and they were defeated.
(23) 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.
(24) So when Judah came to a place overlooking the wilderness, they looked toward the multitude; and there were their dead bodies, fallen on the earth. No one had escaped.
(27) Then they returned, every man of Judah and Jerusalem, with Jehoshaphat in front of them, to go back to Jerusalem with joy, for the Lord had made them rejoice over their enemies.
(28) So they came to Jerusalem, with stringed instruments and harps and trumpets, to the house of the Lord.
(29) And the fear of God was on all the kingdoms of those countries when they heard that the Lord had fought against the enemies of Israel.
(30) Then the realm of Jehoshaphat was quiet, for his God gave him rest all around.”
Much of what we need in life will come in a place of praise. Let praise continually be on your lips.
Psalm 34:1
I will bless the Lord at all times; His praise shall continually be in my mouth.
© Bishop Ed. Smith, Ph.D., 2024