having a life of praising the Lord to defeat His enemy and bring in God’s kingdom

The book of Psalms is a book of praise, and our Christian life should be a life full of praise and even a life of praising the Lord. If we were to check with ourselves, did we praise the Lord every day this past week? Did we praise the Lord every day this past month?

Many times we praise the Lord because of what He does for us, some major event, or some uplifted gatherings of the church – but praising the Lord may not yet characterize our life with the Lord. We need to grow in life and be perfected to be a Man of Praise! Something needs to be wrought into our being that as we turn our heart to the Lord every morning we would spontaneously say,

Lord, I praise You simply because YOU ARE! You don’t have to give things to me or do things for me – I just praise You because You are You! You are God, You are self-existing and ever-existing, and Your very existence makes me praise You again! Praise the Lord!

Crucial aspects of praising God in Psalms

In the book of Psalms, we see not only the loving seekers of God praising Him but we can also see the highest praise and the greatest praise to God. All throughout the Bible the praises in Psalms are quoted by different other people. We need to praise God unceasingly! Here are some of the greatest and highest praises to God in Psalms – some of the crucial aspects of Praising God in Psalms:

• “O Jehovah my God, I will praise You forever” (Psa. 30:12b). We praise the Lord today, tomorrow, and forever! Our destiny is to praise the Lord! Why not praise Him today? Why not praise-read His Word and declare it in faith? Praise the Lord!
• “Every day I will bless You, / And I will praise Your name forever and ever” (Psa. 145:2). David extols and praises God for His unsearchable greatness in His goodness. Every day we need to praise the Lord for His goodness, for His greatness, and for all that He is!
• “I will bless Jehovah at all times; / His praise will continually be in my mouth” (Psa. 34:1). In Psa. 34 David praised and blessed God because of God’s answer and deliverance. At all times – whether good or not so good times – we need to praise the Lord! He may not change our situation, but praising the Lord makes a difference!
• “I will praise Jehovah while I live; / I will sing psalms to my God while I yet have being” (Psa. 146:2). In Psa. 146 God is being praised for reigning in Christ through Zion. Regardless of being weak or strong, we will praise the Lord! Praise the Lord for Zion, and praise the Lord for Jerusalem, His holy habitation! While we have being, while we have breath, praise the Lord!
• “Then they believed His words; / They sang His praise” (Psa. 106:12). When we read God’s word in the Bible and we exercise our spirit of faith, we believe His Words and we sing His praise! This is why we need to exercise our spirit when we read the Bible – praise will come forth! Praise the Lord!
• “Because Your lovingkindness is better than life, / My lips praise You” (Psa. 63:3). There is something better to us even than our own soul-life – it is God’s lovingkindness, God’s sweetness… it is sweeter than life itself! When you taste and see that God is good, you will just praise Him! Praise Him for His lovingkindness and His sweetness!
• “I will cause Your name to be remembered in all generations; / Therefore the peoples will praise You forever and ever” (Psa. 45:17). How can God’s name be remembered in all generations? There’s a group of overcoming saints that declare His name and live Him, and Christ is praised by the nations through these overcoming saints who are also reigning together with Christ.
• “Great is Jehovah, / And much to be praised / In the city of our God, / In His holy mountain” (Psa. 48:1). When the church as the house of God is strengthened and enlarged to be the city of God, the kingdom of God, God is great and He is greatly to be praised! In the city of God we praise the Lord!
• “Praise befits You, O God, in Zion” (Psa. 65:1). It is befitting for us as we meet in the church life to praise the Lord! We don’t need to come with our ears itching for teachings but with our lips ready for praise! It is befitting and it is normal for the overcoming believers to praise the Lord whenever they meet! Come to the meeting prepared to praise! Compose something for the King, and come full of praises!
• “That the name of Jehovah may be declared in Zion, / And His praise, in Jerusalem” (Psa. 102:21). When Zion is in Jerusalem, when the overcoming saints are in the church, there’s much praise in the church life! We need to be produced as Zion, the people who declare God’s name through our very being, and there will be much praises in the church!
• “Let the high praises of God be in their throats, / And a two-edged sword in their hand, / To execute vengeance on the nations / And punishment among the peoples; / To bind their kings with fetters / And their nobles with chains of iron; / To execute upon them the judgment written. / This honor is for all His faithful ones. / Hallelujah!” (Psa. 149:6-9). As we praise the Lord with our mouth, we use the two-edged sword to defeat the enemy! We praise the Lord, and the enemy is bound, judged, and defeated! Praise the Lord!
• “You are holy, You who sit enthroned / Upon the praises of Israel” (Psa. 22:3). Our praises to the Lord enthrone Him in the church and in the whole world. He is holy, and we have the honor of praising Him to defeat the enemy and bring in God’s kingdom!

Praise the Lord to Defeat the Enemy!

The Lord has judged Satan already, He has pronounced his sentence on the cross more than 2000 years ago. Today we as the saints, the people of God, the believers of Christ, the many God-men being perfected in our praise and matured in life, are executing the judgement on Satan! This is a great honor for us to stand in the victory of Christ and praise the Lord while we are skewing the enemy!

Satan is a loser, the biggest loser in the universe! In city after city and even country after country the saints of God are standing in Christ’s victory and evicting Satan from that place, while at the same time hastening the coming kingdom of the Lord! Satan is defeated and the Lord is enthroned in our praises! Praise the Lord!

Lord, we open to You again that we may be perfected in our praise! You are on the throne in the heavens, and we want to enthrone You in the throne in Jerusalem, in the church! Lord, sit on the throne with Your authority in the heavens and on the earth! As Your lovers and Your seekers, Lord, we would like to enthrone You on our praise! All authority in heavens and on the earth was given to You as the Head of the Body, and we now exercise this authority to defeat the enemy and cause him to suffer loss! Praise the Lord!

References and Further Reading

• Sharing inspired from the above verses and quotes from brother Ron Kangas’ sharing in the message, partially quoted in the Holy Word for Morning Revival on the Crystallization-Study of Psalms (2), week 24.
• Hymns on this topic:
  # The vict’ry’s won! The Lord has triumphed o’er the foe! / The vict’ry shout is heard afar and near!
  # We’re in the local church, / God’s chosen ground; / Here we have Christ as life / And blessings all abound. / “In spirit, on the ground” / Our battle cry; / And we will overcome the enemy / To bring the kingdom nigh.
  # By the blood of Christ the Victor / Overcome the enemy; / By its virtue and its power / You will win the victory.
• Picture source: Psa. 65, praise the Lord!