Embracing the Power and Purpose of Praise

### Summary

Good morning, CLC! Today, we explored the profound significance of praise in our lives, emphasizing that it is more than just a song. Praise is an outward expression of our admiration and adoration for God, and it is a fundamental principle of our faith. We began by inviting the presence of the Lord into our midst through various expressions of praise, such as clapping, lifting hands, and shouting for joy. This act of praise is not just a ritual but a celebration of God's goodness and a command that we are designed to fulfill.

We delved into the lyrics of the song "Everything That's In Me," which calls us to rise and behold the glory of the living Lord. This song is a reminder that our praise is not just a song but a principle that should be deeply rooted in our hearts. We discussed how praise is an expression of approval, commendation, and admiration, and it should be an outward expression, not just a thought or idea. We are encouraged to assume our natural posture of praise, as it is an interaction with God in real-time.

We also examined various moments in our lives where we naturally express praise, such as at concerts, sports events, graduations, promotions, and weddings. These moments of celebration are a reflection of our innate design to praise. However, our praise for God should surpass all other forms of praise in our lives. We are reminded that praise is a command from God and that it is non-negotiable. When we don't praise, we are in an unnatural state because we were created to praise.

Furthermore, we explored the benefits of praising God, such as God hearing our prayers, inhabiting our praises, and remembering us. We looked at biblical examples, including Hezekiah's prayer, Paul and Silas's praise in prison, and the woman with the alabaster box, to illustrate how God responds to our praise. We also discussed the importance of corporate praise and unity in worship, as it invites the manifest presence of God into our midst.

In conclusion, we are challenged to dedicate seven minutes a day to praise using the CLC Spotify playlist, which will help us unify our sound and draw closer to God. Praise is a celebration, a declaration, and an affirmation of God's goodness, and it should be a continual expression in our lives.

### Key Takeaways

1. **Praise as an Outward Expression**: Praise is not just a thought or idea; it is an outward expression of our admiration and adoration for God. It is a celebration of His goodness and a command that we are designed to fulfill. When we praise, we invite the presence of the Lord into our midst and align ourselves with our natural state of being. [46:49]

2. **The Importance of Assuming Our Natural Posture**: We are created to praise, and when we don't, we are in an unnatural state. Praise is an interaction with God in real-time, and it should be an authentic expression of our love and gratitude towards Him. By assuming our natural posture of praise, we fulfill our purpose and bring glory to God. [50:13]

3. **Praise in Everyday Moments**: We naturally express praise in various moments of our lives, such as at concerts, sports events, graduations, and weddings. However, our praise for God should surpass all other forms of praise. We must be intentional in directing our praise towards God, as it is a command and a reflection of our love for Him. [55:11]

4. **The Benefits of Praising God**: Praising God brings numerous benefits, including God hearing our prayers, inhabiting our praises, and remembering us. Biblical examples, such as Hezekiah's prayer and Paul and Silas's praise in prison, illustrate how God responds to our praise and intervenes in our lives. [01:12:26]

5. **The Power of Corporate Praise and Unity**: Corporate praise and unity in worship invite the manifest presence of God into our midst. When we come together in one accord, lifting our voices in praise, we create an atmosphere where God can move powerfully. This unified sound is essential for experiencing the fullness of God's presence. [01:32:50]

### YouTube Chapters

[0:00] - Welcome
[46:49] - Inviting God's Presence
[47:47] - Introduction and Series Recap
[48:45] - Exploring "Everything That's In Me"
[50:13] - The Principle of Praise
[51:08] - Information and Revelation
[52:14] - Celebration and Praise
[53:30] - Expressions of Praise
[55:11] - Everyday Moments of Praise
[56:57] - Praise in Relationships
[58:42] - Designed to Praise
[01:00:14] - The Command to Praise
[01:02:08] - Sacrificial Praise
[01:04:01] - Honoring Authority
[01:05:53] - Testimony Service
[01:07:31] - Psalm 148 and Creation's Praise
[01:09:03] - The State of Praise
[01:10:46] - God's Response to Praise
[01:12:26] - Hezekiah's Prayer
[01:13:57] - Isaiah's Song
[01:15:45] - God Inhabits Our Praise
[01:17:17] - Paul and Silas in Prison
[01:18:45] - The Power of Praise
[01:20:22] - Unselfish Praise
[01:21:56] - God Remembers the Praiser
[01:23:29] - The Alabaster Box
[01:25:11] - Corporate Praise and Unity
[01:27:05] - The Power of Music
[01:29:40] - Songs Hidden in Our Hearts
[01:31:19] - Unity in Worship
[01:32:50] - Experiencing God's Presence
[01:34:19] - Seven-Minute Challenge
[01:36:09] - Response and Invitation

### Bible Study Discussion Guide

#### Bible Reading
1. **Psalm 148:1-13** - "Praise the Lord. Praise the Lord from the heavens; praise him in the heights above. Praise him, all his angels; praise him, all his heavenly hosts. Praise him, sun and moon; praise him, all you shining stars. Praise him, you highest heavens and you waters above the skies. Let them praise the name of the Lord, for at his command they were created, and he established them for ever and ever—he issued a decree that will never pass away. Praise the Lord from the earth, you great sea creatures and all ocean depths, lightning and hail, snow and clouds, stormy winds that do his bidding, you mountains and all hills, fruit trees and all cedars, wild animals and all cattle, small creatures and flying birds, kings of the earth and all nations, you princes and all rulers on earth, young men and women, old men and children. Let them praise the name of the Lord, for his name alone is exalted; his splendor is above the earth and the heavens."

2. **Isaiah 38:1-5** - "In those days Hezekiah became ill and was at the point of death. The prophet Isaiah son of Amoz went to him and said, 'This is what the Lord says: Put your house in order, because you are going to die; you will not recover.' Hezekiah turned his face to the wall and prayed to the Lord, 'Remember, Lord, how I have walked before you faithfully and with wholehearted devotion and have done what is good in your eyes.' And Hezekiah wept bitterly. Then the word of the Lord came to Isaiah: 'Go and tell Hezekiah, This is what the Lord, the God of your father David, says: I have heard your prayer and seen your tears; I will add fifteen years to your life.'"

3. **Acts 16:25-26** - "About midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the other prisoners were listening to them. Suddenly there was such a violent earthquake that the foundations of the prison were shaken. At once all the prison doors flew open, and everyone’s chains came loose."

#### Observation Questions
1. What are some of the expressions of praise mentioned in Psalm 148? How do these expressions reflect the natural order of creation? ([01:09:03])
2. In Isaiah 38:1-5, what was Hezekiah's response to the news of his impending death, and how did God respond to his prayer? ([01:12:26])
3. Describe the situation Paul and Silas found themselves in Acts 16:25-26. What was their reaction, and what was the outcome? ([01:18:45])
4. According to the sermon, what are some everyday moments where people naturally express praise? ([55:11])

#### Interpretation Questions
1. How does Psalm 148 illustrate the idea that all of creation is designed to praise God? What does this suggest about our own purpose and design? ([01:09:03])
2. Reflecting on Hezekiah's prayer in Isaiah 38, what does this passage teach us about the relationship between praise, prayer, and God's response? ([01:12:26])
3. In Acts 16, why do you think Paul and Silas chose to praise God despite their imprisonment? What does this teach us about the power of praise in difficult circumstances? ([01:18:45])
4. The sermon mentioned that praise is a command from God and that it is non-negotiable. How does this align with the biblical examples provided, and what implications does this have for our daily lives? ([01:00:14])

#### Application Questions
1. The sermon challenges us to dedicate seven minutes a day to praise using the CLC Spotify playlist. How can you incorporate this practice into your daily routine? ([01:34:19])
2. Think about a recent situation where you felt hesitant to praise God. What was holding you back, and how can you overcome these barriers in the future? ([01:00:14])
3. The sermon highlighted the importance of corporate praise and unity. How can you contribute to creating a unified atmosphere of praise in your church or small group? ([01:32:50])
4. Reflect on a time when you experienced a significant answer to prayer. How did you express your praise to God, and how can you make praise a more consistent part of your response to God's work in your life? ([01:12:26])
5. The sermon mentioned various everyday moments where we naturally express praise (e.g., concerts, sports events, graduations). How can you redirect some of this natural inclination to praise towards God in your daily life? ([55:11])
6. How can you encourage your family or friends to join you in the seven-minute daily praise challenge? What impact do you think this could have on your relationships and spiritual growth? ([01:34:19])
7. The sermon emphasized that praise is an outward expression and not just a thought. What are some practical ways you can make your praise more visible and expressive in your worship and daily life? ([52:14])

Day 1: Praise as an Outward Expression
Praise is not just a thought or idea; it is an outward expression of our admiration and adoration for God. It is a celebration of His goodness and a command that we are designed to fulfill. When we praise, we invite the presence of the Lord into our midst and align ourselves with our natural state of being. This act of praise can take many forms, such as clapping, lifting hands, and shouting for joy. It is not merely a ritual but a heartfelt celebration of God's goodness.

In our daily lives, we often express praise in various ways, whether at concerts, sports events, or personal achievements. However, our praise for God should surpass all other forms of praise. It is a command from God and a reflection of our love for Him. When we engage in praise, we fulfill our purpose and bring glory to God. [46:49]

Psalm 150:1-2 (ESV): "Praise the Lord! Praise God in his sanctuary; praise him in his mighty heavens! Praise him for his mighty deeds; praise him according to his excellent greatness!"

Reflection: Think of a recent moment when you felt joy or excitement. How can you channel that same energy into praising God today?


Day 2: The Importance of Assuming Our Natural Posture
We are created to praise, and when we don't, we are in an unnatural state. Praise is an interaction with God in real-time, and it should be an authentic expression of our love and gratitude towards Him. By assuming our natural posture of praise, we fulfill our purpose and bring glory to God. This natural posture can be seen in various expressions of praise, such as singing, dancing, or even silent reflection.

When we assume our natural posture of praise, we align ourselves with God's design for us. This alignment brings us into a deeper relationship with Him and allows us to experience His presence more fully. Praise is not just an act; it is a state of being that reflects our connection with God. [50:13]

Psalm 95:6-7 (ESV): "Oh come, let us worship and bow down; let us kneel before the Lord, our Maker! For he is our God, and we are the people of his pasture, and the sheep of his hand."

Reflection: What is your natural posture of praise? How can you incorporate this posture into your daily routine to draw closer to God?


Day 3: Praise in Everyday Moments
We naturally express praise in various moments of our lives, such as at concerts, sports events, graduations, and weddings. However, our praise for God should surpass all other forms of praise. We must be intentional in directing our praise towards God, as it is a command and a reflection of our love for Him. These everyday moments of praise are a reflection of our innate design to celebrate and honor what we value.

By recognizing and redirecting our natural expressions of praise towards God, we can cultivate a lifestyle of worship. This intentionality helps us to keep God at the center of our lives and to acknowledge His presence in all that we do. [55:11]

Psalm 34:1 (ESV): "I will bless the Lord at all times; his praise shall continually be in my mouth."

Reflection: Think of a recent event where you naturally expressed praise. How can you intentionally direct that same praise towards God in your daily life?


Day 4: The Benefits of Praising God
Praising God brings numerous benefits, including God hearing our prayers, inhabiting our praises, and remembering us. Biblical examples, such as Hezekiah's prayer and Paul and Silas's praise in prison, illustrate how God responds to our praise and intervenes in our lives. When we praise, we create an atmosphere where God can move powerfully and bring about transformation.

These benefits of praise are not just spiritual but also practical. Praise can bring peace, joy, and a sense of God's presence into our lives. It can also strengthen our faith and encourage us in difficult times. By making praise a regular part of our lives, we open ourselves up to the many blessings that God has in store for us. [01:12:26]

2 Chronicles 20:22 (ESV): "And when they began to sing and praise, the Lord set an ambush against the men of Ammon, Moab, and Mount Seir, who had come against Judah, so that they were routed."

Reflection: Reflect on a time when you experienced God's intervention in your life. How can you make praise a regular part of your life to invite more of God's presence and intervention?


Day 5: The Power of Corporate Praise and Unity
Corporate praise and unity in worship invite the manifest presence of God into our midst. When we come together in one accord, lifting our voices in praise, we create an atmosphere where God can move powerfully. This unified sound is essential for experiencing the fullness of God's presence. Corporate praise is not just about individual expressions but about coming together as a community to honor and glorify God.

The power of corporate praise lies in its ability to bring people together and to create a sense of unity and purpose. When we join our voices in praise, we are reminded that we are part of a larger body of believers, all working together to bring glory to God. This unity can strengthen our faith and encourage us to continue in our walk with God. [01:32:50]

Acts 2:46-47 (ESV): "And day by day, attending the temple together and breaking bread in their homes, they received their food with glad and generous hearts, praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord added to their number day by day those who were being saved."

Reflection: How can you contribute to the unity and power of corporate praise in your church community? What steps can you take to encourage others to join in this unified expression of worship?

Good morning, CLC. Good morning, good morning.

Now, I want you guys to come alive in the room. Now, when I say good morning, I need to hear a loud cheer. Good morning, CLC. Come on. Come alive in Jesus' name.

The word of the Lord says we declare the goodness of God by singing praises to the Lord. So, before we begin, I want to make sure that we invite the presence of the Lord in the room. And the way we do that is by lifting God up in our praise.

Some of us may say hallelujah. Some of us may say God is good. Some of us may clap our hands. Some of us may also lift our hands. Some of us may just shout for joy. But I want everyone in this room to pick one expression. And on the count of three, I want to hear that expression as loud as we can because we want the praises of God to be heard in this room.

On the count of three. One, two, three. Yes. Yes.

So, before we begin, I definitely want to start by welcoming everyone in. In the room, now that we have welcomed God into the room, now there's room for us to move. So, I want to welcome everyone in this room, not only in this room, but also online. Welcome our CLC family.

It is a privilege to stand before you and declare what the word of the Lord has to say to us today. For those of you who don't know who I am, my name is Derek Greaves. I'm one of the worship pastors you heard. They announced me on the screen. One of the worship pastors here at CLC alongside my beautiful wife, Katie. And you guys may see her very often on the platform with a mic in her hand.

So, we had an agreement this week that we would switch. And now it's my turn to hold the mic. So, I do want to let you know that we are honored to serve as your worship pastors. It's truly an honor for us. And it actually inspires our heart. We pray that the worship that has inspired us is also inspiring.

So, if the worship has been inspiring you, that's our prayer. So, by lifting hands, how many of us have been affected by the worship songs? How many of us have hit those songs in our hearts?

So, we are in the series, More Than a Song. Because the songs we sing are more than just a song. Pastor Brent said it very well a couple weeks ago. He said that it's easier to sing a song, sing a lie. That's a correction. It's easier to sing a song. It's easier to sing a lie than to tell a lie.

And so, while we're talking about these weeks of More Than a Song, I just want to kind of go back and talk about what we have covered. The first week, Pastor Brent talked on Christ be magnified. How much worth, worth-ship, or worthiness, or value we ascribe to God and how that leads to us magnifying God in our lives.

Pastor Soul preached a message. When should we praise? Who are we praising? And why should we praise? She taught on praise. Praise in the expression of praise. And last week, Pastor Brent taught on God being an on-time God. He may not come when you want him, but he is. Amen. I agree with you.

Now, today I'll be exploring the song, Everything That's In Me. This song was written by a good friend of Katie and I's, John Egan and Micah Massey. And this song was recorded at New Life a couple years ago.

And a fun fact about this song: at this recording was the time I was courting my now wife, and that's when I knew that I had a reason to praise the Lord. Amen.

All right. So I want to jump right into the lyrics here. If we can get those lyrics up on the screen.

To praise the Lord, my soul. The verse of this song starts off with, "Rise, my soul, for there is glory to behold. It's the beauty of the living Lord. God be praised. God be praised. Fix your eyes on the only one who satisfies. The time has come to lift him high."

And we say, and again we say, now this is more than a song. This is more than a song.

This praise, when we say praise the Lord, my soul, if we stop for a moment, slow it down and think about what we're saying. I think a lot of times we find ourselves just saying this, and this is why we can say, praise the Lord, my soul. Some of us are comfortable with that.

But this is more than a song. Ladies and gentlemen, this is a principle of our faith. So I want to kind of navigate you through the message today. And I want to make sure that we're all going on this journey together.

So today I'm going to provide you a map. It's going to start with some information. I'm going to give you a lot of information today. And my prayer is that the information reveals something new to your spirit and to your hearts that you've never seen or heard before.

And even if you have heard this message of what it means to praise God, if you've heard that more or if you've heard it over and over again, my prayer is that it comes out of a state of stillness and God refreshes that word in your heart.

Now, beyond the revelation, we also want to pray that the Holy Spirit comes and illuminates that word in our lives and makes it become a living thing in our souls. And as the Holy Spirit affirms that in our lives and it becomes the living word in our lives, we manifest that word by living it out and applying it to our everyday lives. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen.

On the word today. And we pray that it would reveal and be illuminated by the Holy Spirit. And we pray that we would sense an authentic sense of celebration. God, don't let us leave here today the same. In Jesus' name. Amen.

Amen.

Right, so the idea of celebration. I want to take this idea of celebration and I want to tie it into praise because praise at its core is a celebration. You may ask why. Why do you think that that's the case? Why is praise a celebration?

Well, Webster explains it like this: celebration is the expression of approval, commendation, or admiration. Everyone say expression.

So this is not just a thought. This is not just an idea. It is, in fact, an outward expression. So if our praise is not just a thought or an idea, it's an outward expression, then how could I be silent and how could I keep it inside? I have a reason to praise the Lord.

So I want to take a moment. If you have the activities of your limbs, if you can move both hands, raise both hands in the air. Let's go. Boom.

Now I want everyone to look around the room with your hands lifted. When we see the saints of God in one accord and our hands are lifted, God inhabits this unified praise.

We have to get comfortable here, people of God. We have the activities of our limbs. Now you can put your hands down.

Now let me tell you, this is one thing I learned in church as a church boy, as a church lad. I learned that it could have been me outdoors with no food and no clothes or just alone without a friend. It could have been me not having the ability to lift my hands past this point. It could have been me not being able to get up from my chair.

But most of us have the activities of our limbs, so there's no reason why we don't praise a God who is worthy of our praise.

So oftentimes we experience praise in our everyday lives, and I want to go through some of those moments of praise. Now, we have our favorite artist who comes into town. We've been listening to this artist for years and years. Some of us, you know, I don't know, some of us like Jodeci. Some of us like, I don't know, you name the artist. Name your artist. Fred Hammond.

I named the old artist because I wanted to get some old school approval in here. But some of us have artists that we've listened to for a long time, and these artists, they travel around the world, and sometimes they happen to make it through our city.

And what we do is we go and we purchase a ticket after purchasing the album and after listening to their songs because we love their music. We purchase this ticket to the concert, and this is our expression of approval or commendation or admiration.

So this is what it looks like when we go to those concerts. Interesting.

All right, another one is when our favorite team struggles with winning the championship. And I feel like I have a testimony in this room, but when the team finally wins that championship, huh, interesting, something happens there.

Or how about when we experience this thing that we've all experienced before when we've graduated from college or high school or wherever we've graduated from? There's something that happens when we celebrate that moment.

What about when we experience this thing called a promotion on our job or an increase in our salary? There's an expression that comes with that as well. Yes, Lord, send me all the money.

There's also one act of our expression that we sense praise in, and this is when we experience marriage with our spouse. And here you can see me and my wife being married about a year and a half ago. Thank you very much.

And these are some of our close friends and family. But if you look in the back behind me, you can see that we've been married for five years, and we've been married since I was a child.

Yeah, from our daughter's day. Ah, so we have a special family. And my father is in my head. That's Katie's dad, my father-in-law, who is expressing admiration and affirmation for the union.

So we oftentimes experience this when a positive thing has happened or we've achieved something positive or something good is happening in our favor.

And what I want to submit to us today is that praise is continually on our lips and hearts. Praise is always on our lips and hearts.

Now, I want to talk about where that praise goes. Sometimes we find praise going to our spouse in the form of admiration or adoration. When our spouse cooks a great meal, we say, "Good job, babe. That was amazing."

Or when the grass is cut well, and the house looks great, and the grounds look great, our wives say to us, "Great job, babe." I'm giving you a clue here.

Or it could be in celebrating our children. Our children bring home an impressive report card, and we praise our children for doing a great job.

Or complimenting someone with a nice fit, an outfit. And it even goes as low as—not as low—but it even goes to our animals and our pets. When they sit and they stay still like we asked them to do, they're not tearing up our furniture. They're doing their business outside and not inside. I mean, that is a good dog. It's a good boy, good girl.

Now, Psalms 148 tells us that God has actually created us to praise. So when we praise, this is what our natural design is. We're designed to praise. Psalms 148 tells us, but we're designed to praise. Praise God.

So what does that mean? So in the midst of all of this praise that we have for everything in our lives, for our wives and our children, and everything that we affirm in our lives, this praise that we have for God must be above everything else in our lives.

We have to be careful because oftentimes we find ourselves in concerts going, "Yay," and we find ourselves in graduations going, "Yay." And then we find ourselves in weddings going, "Yay," and telling our dogs, "Great job."

And we're telling our kids, "Great job." And telling our spouses, "Oh my gosh, I love you." And telling our families that we love you. And then we get into worship and we go, "What do I do with my hands?" Right?

We must know that this praise is a command that God has given to all creation. So it's non-negotiable. This is non-negotiable given that we are his masterpiece, fearfully and wonderfully made, made in the image of God, in his likeness.

This is not just an act of obedience. It is a state of obedience. When we don't praise, we're actually in an unnatural state. This should feel uncomfortable to us. This is an unnatural state for us because we were designed to do this.

But we command ourselves to do this because I feel weird. I don't know what to do. I want to help us. Okay?

So someone look at your neighbor. Look at your neighbor to the left and say, "Neighbor, assume your natural posture." Look at your neighbor to the right and say the same thing. "Neighbor, assume your natural posture."

I want you to take that same hand and tap yourself on the chest and say, "Self, assume your natural posture."

Now, praise is more than a song. It is an interaction with God. With our God in real time. It's an interaction with our God in real time.

The problem is we've made this celebration about ourselves and about our personal gain in this expression of praise. Did I like that song today? I don't know. It wasn't my favorite song. I really didn't like the message today. I didn't like the songs today. I didn't enjoy.

It's a lot of I's. A lot of I's. And the purpose of praise is to be pointed upward towards God. So when we remove ourselves and we humble ourselves and we deny ourselves what I look like, what I feel like, what I want to do, what I want to hear, where I want to go, we deny ourselves and we lean into this posture of praise to a God that is sacrificial.

Now, there has been a misunderstanding about this posture because I've traveled around the country and I've seen many, many different churches and many different expressions of worship, and CLC is not guilty of this.

But oftentimes we have this idea that we're going into a corporate expression and that moment when we lifted our hands together, that's what we hope for when we come into worship. But oftentimes you see in the modern-day church, people have coffees in their hands. And they're Instagramming and they're texting.

And here's the issue I have with that. And I'm not taking liberties here, but I just want to point out something. When we acknowledge authority in our lives, whether that be our managers, there's a certain honor that comes with our manager.

There's a certain honor that goes above our manager to the manager of our manager. And we know when a person walks in a room, that's the boss. And then there's the CEO who is the big boss.

Even beyond that, we have government officials who walk into a room and we stand at attention to honor them. And beyond that, we have a president of the United States who would walk in this room right now, and you could not sit down because we honor him.

And when we talk about a king of kings and the Lord of Lords who sits above the heavens and the earth, who has created all things. Nothing was made without him. We're talking about an almighty God who deserves our best praise.

Let everything that hath breath praise ye the Lord. Praise him in the sanctuary. Praise him in the firmament of his power. He's worthy. He's worthy. He is worthy of our praise.

Now, I want to say when I was a young lad growing up in church, there was a thing that we had, and we've turned this time of service into a very polished thing, and we call it worship service, and we have all these nice things with nice drums behind drum cages and beautiful instruments, and this is a wonderful thing. We are blessed to be here.

But when I was growing up, we actually called this time of service testimony. Testimony service. All right, and let me tell you about testimony service. When testimony service happened, there would be one worship leader who would get up and sing three words over and over and over and over again.

And in this testimony service, it was paired with testimony. So, not only did you sing in worship, but you had to testify of the goodness of God. And in this service, I was not alone. I was not alone. I was not alone. I was not alone. I was not alone. I was not alone.

I was not allowed to come without a testimony. My mother made sure that I understood the importance of having a testimony to speak about God. She wanted me to be comfortable with speaking well of his name, and sometimes I would stand up, and I'm shaking, and I'm like, "I thank God for being good to me." Amen.

And this made her proud. Also, in worship, when there was singing, she made sure that I was singing, and I was singing, and I was singing, and I was singing, and I made sure that I understood that we don't stand still. We dance before the Lord, so you move your feet.

We don't just keep our hands by our sides. We clap our hands before the Lord because this is what the Bible declares for us to do, and we also sing unto the Lord. We sing. We use our voices.

This was something that my mom instilled in us, and as an act of obedience, I did it, and I hated it because it was so uncomfortable, and it made me feel weird. But through my obedience, there came a natural state or a natural posture that no longer do I even have to think about anyone anymore.

When I think of the goodness of Jesus and all he has done for me, my soul cries out. So, this is why this part of this song is important because we pick up at the verse again, where it says, "Rise my soul, for there is glory to behold. It's the beauty of the living Lord. God be praised. Fix your eyes on the only one who satisfies. The time has come to lift him high. God be praised. God be praised."

Now, I want to turn our attention to the book of Psalm because I want to tie this idea and thought, and I want to put a bow on it because when I say that God requires our praise, I want us to understand the weight of that.

So, let's turn to Psalms 148, 139 through 13, and this reads as thus: "Praise the Lord. Praise the Lord from the heavens. Praise him in the heights. Praise him, all his angels. Praise him, all his hosts. Praise him, sun and moon. Praise him, all you stars of light. Praise him, you heavens of heavens, and you waters above the heavens. Let them praise the name of the Lord, for he commanded, and they were created. He also established them forever and ever. He made a decree which shall not pass away. Praise the Lord from the earth, you great sea creatures in all the depths, fire and hail, snow and clouds, stormy wind, fulfilling his word, mountains and all hills, fruitful trees and all cedars, beasts and all cattle, creeping things and flying fowls, kings of the earth and all peoples, princes and all the judges of the earth, both young men and maidens, old men and children. Let them praise the name of the Lord, for his name alone is exalted. His glory is above the heaven and the earth."

The thing that struck me about this particular passage is, how does the wind praise him? How does the mountain, the fire, the hail, the snow, things that don't have a sense of awareness about themselves? These are innate objects. They don't think.

How is it that they praise God? Well, it's because of the state. It is because of what they were created to do. God created them to give him praise. So this is their state. This is their state. This is why it's unnatural for us to not be in the state of praise.

So God requires our praise, as we see in Psalm 148, because of who he is. Now, if you see this much repetition of this magnitude in the word of God, I want you to pay attention, and I want you to always do this when you see God repeating himself over and over in his word. This is important. This is important to him. This is a high priority to God.

We can't afford to allow a moment to pass us by where we don't operate in our state of obedience. So if this is a high priority to God, I guess a great question would be, what is God's response to our praise?

Has anyone ever asked themselves that question? How does God respond to my praise? No? Okay, I want to tell you about that. I'm glad you guys asked that question today.

Psalms 103 and 2, it says, "Bless the Lord, oh my soul, and forget not all his benefits." Benefits. Someone look at your neighbor and say, "There's a benefits package."

Hey, well, when we talk about this benefits package, there's a lot of benefits to praising the Lord, and I can't get to all of them because there's so many testimonies and the things that God has done. We can talk about that. We can have a testimony service right now, and we can cover all the benefits in the room, but I have to get through the message.

So I want to highlight just a few benefits. The first benefit I want to highlight is that God hears the praiser. Someone say, "God hears the praiser."

Praise positions us to be heard by God, and this is not just a random thought that I came up with. I want to turn to the book of Isaiah 38, 1 through 5, and I want to look at a scripture that shows where God hears the praiser.

In those days, Hezekiah was sick and near death, and Isaiah said the prophet, the son of Amoz, went to him and said to him, "Thus says the Lord, set your house in order, for you shall die and not live."

Then Hezekiah turned his face to the wall, and he prayed to the Lord and said, "Remember now, O Lord, I pray how I've walked before you in truth and with a loyal heart, and I've done what is good in your sight."

And Hezekiah wept bitterly, and the word of the Lord came to Isaiah saying, "Go and tell Hezekiah, thus says the Lord, the God of David, your father, I have heard your prayer, I have seen your tears, and surely I will add 15 years to your days."

God responded to Hezekiah's reminding. He responded to Hezekiah reminding him of his life and how he blessed the Lord and how he did what was pleasant in the Lord's sight.

Hezekiah didn't say, "But Lord, I want to spend more time with my family, and I want to do the things that I was working on before I get out of here." No, Hezekiah made a statement to God that if I die, I can't continue to praise you.

And God's response was, "I'll add 15 years to your life."

Now, if we skip down to Isaiah 38, 17 through 20, Isaiah, he writes a song in memorial of what God has done or had done for him. "Indeed, it was for my own peace that I had great bitterness, but you have lovingly delivered my soul from the pit of corruption. For you have cast all my sins behind your back."

I want to stick a pin here, and I want us to all salute the gospel. Everyone say salute because this is a salute to the gospel. At this time, Jesus had not come, but Isaiah foretold of his sins being cast behind his back.

I'll keep going. "For Sheol cannot thank you. Death cannot praise you. Those who go down from the pit cannot hope for your truth. The living, living man, he shall praise you as I do this day. The Father shall make known your truth to the children. The Lord was ready to save me. Therefore, we will sing my songs with string instruments all the days of our life in the house of the Lord."

Now, can you imagine singing the same song for 15 years? Can you imagine the same song for 15 years? Can you imagine for 15 years coming to CLC, and we're still singing, "Praise the Lord, O my soul."

What's going on at this time? There were children being raised who grew up with this song in their hearts. This song, they were able to share with the generations beyond them because what God had done, he was able to do it in such a way that it was hard to not sing this song.

It's hard. It's hard not to sing, "Praise the Lord, O my soul, with everything that's in me, because he does for me."

Now, the second point I want to touch on is God inhabits the praises of his people. Everybody say, "God inhabits the praises of his people."

Now, we find this very familiar passage. Some of us may know this, and this is a very well-known thought in the culture of Israel. God inhabits the praises of his people because Israel knows that when they praise God, God shows up for them, and he delivers them.

Now, I want to shift our thoughts from that passage because that can be a very—some of us know that scripture, and we go, "Yes, he inhabits the praises of our people," and that's a very powerful passage because God does live in, he inhabits, he sits in, he rests in our praise.

So, I want to show us a part, a place in the Bible where we can see that, and this is in Acts. Yes, this is in Acts, where Paul and Silas, they're on their way to prayer, seemingly doing the will of the Father and doing good, and there was a certain slave girl that approached them, and she was possessed with the spirit of divination.

And if you don't know what that divination is, it's basically fortune-telling, and the Bible says she did this by way of witchcraft. So, what she did was she taunted Paul and Silas for days and days as they were trying to go and pray to God.

She taunted them, and she said—this was her taunt to them. This is a weird taunt because I find this to be an encouragement. "These are servants of the Most High God who proclaim they know the way to salvation." That's not a taunt. It's facts. We know that Jesus is the way to salvation, but this was her taunt.

And so this actually frustrated Paul. Paul was very annoyed, and what he did in turn was he looked at her, and he commanded that spirit to come out of her, and immediately that spirit came out of her.

The problem with this story is this slave girl had masters that received funds from her fortune-telling. So, people would go and pay for their fortune, and she would tell the fortune, and she would give the money to her masters, and now the masters can no longer receive this payment because this girl had been delivered.

So, you would think this should inspire a moment of celebration. This should inspire that, "Hey, the Lord has done an amazing thing," but in this environment, her masters felt like that, "Hey, we should seize Paul and Silas, take them to the government officials, and have them deal with them."

And we know about the Roman government, especially what they did to Jesus. They're not really fair. They really don't care. So, what happened was they threw Paul and Silas in jail for delivering this woman from her divination, and Paul and Silas are now persecuted for divination.

So, what happened was they threw Paul and Silas in jail for delivering this woman from her divination, doing the will of God. Now, I want to jump to Acts 16 and 25 because this is where this story picks up.

But at midnight, Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the prisoners were listening to them. They were just listening to them. Suddenly, there was a great earthquake, so that the foundations of the prison were shaken, and immediately all the doors were open, and everyone's chains were loosed.

How many chains were loosed? Everyone's.

Now, it's my belief that when Paul and Silas prayed and they sang hymns to God, because we know, because Israel had—this is their belief, this is something they believe in. God inhabits the praises of his people.

So, when Paul and Silas prayed and sang hymns to God, they actually invited God into a space that he inhabited, and when he inhabits a place, the world is in his hands.

So, Paul and Silas prayed and sang hymns to God, and the weight of his glory shook the building, it shook the prisons, and it opened those prison doors.

And the keeper of the prison, awaking from sleep and seeing the prison doors open, supposing the prisoners had fled, he thought that, "Oh man, the prison doors are open, these guys are gone."

So, of course, he knew that what would happen to him as a result of that is that he would die. So, he turned his sword to his neck, and he heard, and Paul cried out with a loud voice and said, "Do yourself no harm, for we are all here."

Then he called for a light, ran in, and fell down trembling before Paul and Silas, and he brought them out and said, "Sirs, what must I do to be saved?"

So, they said, "Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will be saved, you and your household."

Now, why did I point this out? Because I think we need to take from this scripture that we ought not to be selfish with our praise.

Now, why do I say we should not be selfish with our praise? Because our praise is more than a song. It speaks to a hope of salvation to those who are listening.

Now, in our services, we must know, in our services and in our lives, the praises of God must continually be on our lips so that this encouragement, of our hope, of our joy, we can't bottle this up inside, guys. We have to spread this joy.

We have to let the world know of what the Savior has done for us. So, this is why we praise. This is why we lift our voice. This is why we sing with our—this is why we give God a halal praise, a crazy praise.

We let loose for a God who deserves a celebratory act of praise. We must praise God.

Now, I want to take us to God remembers the praiser. I want to say God remembers the praiser.

Now, we can find this one in Matthew 26, 6 through 13. And it says, "And when Jesus was in Bethany at the house of Simon the leper, a woman came to him having an alabaster flask of very costly fragrant oil."

Now, a lot of us know this story, and some of us may not know this story, but if you don't know what an alabaster is, it's a very costly fragrant oil. It's a box that holds this very expensive fragrant oil that takes many hours to produce.

So many hours that scholars would say that this alabaster box held about a year's worth of salary in it. So, what did this woman do with this very costly box of oil? She poured it on Jesus' head as he sat at the table.

Now, I want to make sure we understand that she didn't just tincture drop oil on his head. I want to just give you a little praise today because I need to hold the rest of my praise.

I got all this stuff going on in my life, and I need to make sure I got oil for when I go to the store. I got to make sure I got oil for when I go visit my friends. I got to make sure I got oil for when I visit my mom. I got to make sure everybody has oil.

But what did she do with this costly oil? She poured it all on his head. Now, this was such a huge deal. When the disciples saw it, they were indignant, saying, "Why the waste? For this fragrant oil might have been sold for much more and given to the poor."

But when Jesus was aware of it, he said to them, "Why do you trouble this woman? For she has done a good work for me. You have the poor with you always, but me you do not have always. For in pouring this fragrant oil on my body, she did it for my burial.

Surely, I say to you, whenever... This gospel is preached in the whole world, what this woman has done will also be told as a memorial to her."

This story will also—wherever this gospel is preached in the whole world, Jesus wanted to make sure that we understood the importance of this act, the sacrificial act of praise, the praise that denies oneself, the praise that says, "A year's worth of salary," the praise that says, "You deserve it. You deserve my best. You deserve all that I have to give. You deserve everything that's in me."

So, when we're in worship, when we find ourselves worshiping and praising our God, we must know that this praise has to come from sacrifice, not from feelings or emotions or how we want to feel when we leave worship or when we come to God.

It has to come from sacrifice. It has to come from the service or when we experience God. This is a place of sacrifice. I deny myself and I humble myself and I lift my hands because God is worthy.

Now, the sacrificial praise, I'm going to take a turn here because God also responds to us in corporate praise. And this is my favorite part because it speaks directly to us.

In Ephesians 5 and 18, it says, "And do not be drunk with wine, but be filled with the Spirit, speaking to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord, giving thanks always for all things to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ."

So, it's important for us to encourage one another in song, psalms, and hymns. Now, why does the Bible place heavy emphasis on singing through musical expression?

Well, it's my belief and I want to submit to you that music is an effective tool to hide the Word of God in our hearts. Now, when we don't use music to hide the Word of God in our hearts, that space is taken up by other things.

And the thing about hiding these songs in our hearts, what we have hidden in our hearts, we sometimes don't even know the power of the Word of God in our hearts. We don't even know the power of the Word of God in our hearts.

We don't even know the power of song and how song was crafted to be engaging, to be memorable, and to have a huge impact on your mind.

So, Emmanuel Jal, one of my favorite musicians, he says it like this: music, it's the only thing that can enter your system, your mind, and your heart without your permission. It's the only thing.

So, I want to take us through a quick explanation. So, I want to take us through a quick exercise here, quick exercise. So, I want to uncover some songs that we have hidden in our heart.

And I want full audience participation on this one. Don't be shamed because when you hear these songs in other places, I have seen you before and your expressions.

And so, we're just going to test this out and see what happens. All right. So, let's go through the first song here. But if I catch you at a wedding, you're like, "All right, you'll get a pass on that one."

All right, second song. Here we go. Oh, we know this one. One, two, everybody sing.

Yeah. Now, how many of us know that song? Yeah. Yeah. We all know that song. We all know that one.

All right. I got one more song. And I think if you didn't sing the first two songs, you would definitely sing this one. Here we go.

All right, ladies and gentlemen, sing. "Take me out."

Now, the beautiful thing I like about this song is this song. One, everyone knows this song. Two, this song is tied to a memory. The feeling or an emotion that we had at that ballgame at the seventh inning, and we're ready to go home.

But then there's this song that comes in that inserts joy into the stadium. And we sing this like crazy, and we go crazy, and we just blurt it out.

Well, this is why we sing songs together. Because what we're trying to do is we're trying to weave the thought of a God who's worthy to be praised in our hearts.

This is more than a song. These are principles that God wants us to be aware of. Fix your eyes on the only one who satisfies. The time has come to lift him high. God be praised. God be praised.

This is what I want in my heart. This is how we hide the word of God in our heart. So when we find ourselves in trouble, when we find ourselves needing inspiration or needing God to step in and give us some encouragement, we can always go to those songs that we've hidden in our hearts.

This is why we, as your worship pastors here at CLC, have chosen the songs that we've chosen because we want to make sure these songs, one, are very memorable. I don't know if you—some of these songs have these melodies that are very catchy and they repeat the same things.

And we also want to make sure that these songs are—you can actually sing these songs. Some songs are too high, and some songs have too many words, and some songs have too many chord changes.

But we want to make sure for this house that it's easy to get into the unified sound.

Now, why does unity matter? Why does the unity matter? Because God responds to unity.

We see in the Old Testament, God responded to the people of Babel when they came on one accord and they wanted to build a temple up to God. And God says, "Surely if these people put their minds to it, they will achieve this."

So God had to do something. So he stepped in, and this is where we get the Babel from. He had to confuse them.

Now imagine when we unify our sound on the appropriate side. We can find this in 2 Chronicles 5 and 11.

And it came to pass when the priest came out of the most holy place, for all the priests who were present had sanctified themselves without keeping to their divisions.

I can preach that one, but I'll keep moving. They had sanctified themselves without keeping to their divisions.

So we see another place of unity here. And the Levites who were the singers, all those of Asaph and Heman and Judathan with their sons and their brethren stood at the east end of the altar, clothed in white linen, having cymbals, string instruments, and harps, and with them 120 priests sounding with trumpets.

Indeed, it came to pass when the trumpets were heard, they were heard. And they were heard. And they were as one to make one sound to be heard in praising and thanking the Lord, praising and thanking the Lord.

And they were filled or they were—they lifted up their voice with the trumpets and cymbals and instruments of music and praised the Lord saying, "For he is good. His mercy endures forever," that the house of the Lord was filled with the cloud so that the priest could not continue ministering because the cloud was filled with the cloud.

And they were filled with the cloud. And they were filled with the cloud. And they were filled with the cloud for the glory of the Lord had filled the house of the Lord.

How many of us want to experience the manifest presence of God? Well, it is your worship pastor and your pastor, your lead pastors. And it is our desire that God be made manifest in this atmosphere.

We want to experience the presence of God. And how do we experience the praises of God? We enthrone him on our presence.

Praise.

So this week, I want to give—not this week, I'm sorry, this month, I want to give us a challenge. And this is a seven-minute challenge per day.

All right. And you guys are looking at me like I'm not doing no homework, but this is an easy challenge because we want to provide you and have provided for you a CLC Spotify playlist that unifies us in this sound.

And this is our essential worship playlist. If you have the app Spotify, you can scan this QR code, and it will take you right to the playlist.

But if you don't have it, you can go to go.clc.tv forward slash playlist, and it'll take you right where you need to go.

Now, this playlist was designed to give the congregation access to the songs we sing on rotation. So if there's ever been a time where you've come into the service at CLC and you did not know the song we were singing, you can find that song in this playlist.

If you spend seven minutes a day for a month, dedicating yourself to praise and also dedicating yourself to the unified sound of this house, what you will find is that we will now be on one accord.

We'll get closer to that one accord expression. Now, the reason this is important, because when we go back to everything that's in me, we find that we're singing more than a song.

It's more than a song.

In Psalms 103, this is where we find the bridge of everything that's in me. It says, "We respond to our God because he heals our diseases. He forgives our sin. He's crowned us with mercy and every good thing. He's rich in compassion. He's abounding in love. Praise to the Father, the Spirit, and Son."

So what is our response? We command our bodies and our souls to praise because it is a celebration. It is an authentic celebration. It is a declaration and affirmation to a holy God who is good, who hears us, who lives in our praise, who remembers us and has shown us his love by giving us victory over sin and death through the shed blood of his only begotten Son, Jesus Christ.

If you believe that, say amen.

Now, I want to take this time because if you have not made Jesus Lord of your life, this concept could be a bit of a stretch. So I want to give those of us who have not received Christ as Lord over our lives an opportunity to receive this free gift.

So I want every eye closed, every head bowed, and I want us to just lift our hands to receive the gift.

Now, I want you guys to repeat after me. "Lord, I believe that Jesus died, was buried, and rose for my sins. He rose from the grave for our sins. I sincerely repent of my sin, and in exchange, I receive your love and the gift of eternal life. In Jesus' name, amen."

God bless you, CLC. And let the high praises of God be heard in our hearts and in our lives.

1. "So, before we begin, I definitely want to start by welcoming everyone in. In the room, now that we have welcomed God into the room, now there's room for us to move. So, I want to welcome everyone in this room, not only in this room, but also online. Welcome our CLC family. It is a privilege to stand before you and declare what the word of the Lord has to say to us today." [47:47] (23 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)




2. "Now, beyond the revelation, we also want to pray that the Holy Spirit comes and illuminates that word in our lives and make it become a living thing in our souls. And as the Holy Spirit affirms that in our lives and it becomes the living word in our lives, we manifest that word by living it out and applying it to our everyday lives. Amen." [52:14] (20 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)




3. "So, when we remove ourselves and we humble ourselves and we deny ourselves what I look like, what I feel like, what I want to do, what I want to hear, where I want to go, we deny ourselves and we lean into this posture of praise to a God that is sacrificial." [01:02:08] (19 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)




4. "Now, Psalms 148 tells us that God has actually created us to praise. So when we praise, this is what our natural design is. We're designed to praise. Psalms 148 tells us, but we're designed to praise. Praise God. So what does that mean? So in the midst of all of this praise that we have for everything in our lives, for our wives and our children, and everything that we affirm in our lives, this praise that we have for God must be above everything else in our lives." [01:00:14] (41 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)




5. "This is not just an act of obedience. It is a state of obedience. When we don't praise, we're actually in an unnatural state. This should feel uncomfortable to us. This is an unnatural state for us because we were designed to do this. But we command ourselves to do this because I feel weird. I don't know what to do. I want to help us. Okay?" [01:00:14] (32 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)




6. "Now, praise is more than a song. It is an interaction with God. With our God in real time. The problem is we've made this celebration about ourselves and about our personal gain in this expression of praise. Did I like that song today? I don't know. It wasn't my favorite song. I really didn't like the message today. I didn't like the songs today. I didn't enjoy. It's a lot of I's. A lot of I's. And the purpose of praise is to be pointed upward towards God." [01:02:08] (38 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)




7. "So, this is why we praise. This is why we lift our voice. This is why we sing with our, this is why we give God a halal praise, a crazy praise. We let loose for a God who deserves a celebratory act of praise. We must praise God." [01:20:22] (19 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)




8. "So, when we're in worship, when we find ourselves worshiping and praising our God, we must know that this praise has to come from sacrifice, not from feelings or emotions or how we want to feel when we leave worship or when we come to God. It has to come from sacrifice. It has to come from the service or when we experience God, this is a place of sacrifice. I deny myself and I humble myself and I lift my hands because God is worthy." [01:25:11] (29 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)




9. "Now, the reason this is important, because when we go back to everything that's in me, we find that we're singing more than a song. It's more than a song. In Psalms 103, this is where we find the bridge of everything that's in me. It says, we respond to our God because he heals our diseases. He forgives our sin. He's crowned us with mercy and every good thing. He's rich in compassion. He's abounding in love. Praise to the Father, the Spirit, and Son." [01:34:19] (46 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)




10. "So, what is our response? We command our bodies and our souls to praise because it is a celebration. It is an authentic celebration. It is a declaration and affirmation to a holy God who is good, who hears us, who lives in our praise, who remembers us and has shown us his love by giving us victory over sin and death through the shed blood of his only begotten Son, Jesus Christ. If you believe that, say amen." [01:36:09] (34 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)