Rightly Seeing God Through Praise
I was speaking with some women a few days ago about praising God, and one of the things the Holy Spirit was teaching us was that praise brings us to the place where we see God for who He is. When we get to that point where we can rightly see God, everything else pales in comparison to Him. Our pain and troubles become small in light of the greatness of God. We see Him for who He is, and there is a knowing in our hearts that He is more than able to meet us at the point of our needs.
Lessons of Praise
Daniel’s praise perfectly illustrates this. He brought a difficult issue before God that would have cost both his life and others. Daniel did not panic nor did he seek out clever schemes in order to control the situation. No! We see him go to God in prayer and supplication, and God, in mercy, answers. When God answered, Daniel did not go about strutting like a peacock as an interpreter of dreams. However, before going to the king with the interpretation, Daniel immediately praised and thanked God for His great mercy.
This little portion of scripture is packed with lessons for you and me.
1. Daniel was in a foreign land. A place strange and different from all he knew. A place of bondage, pain, and discomfort. That did not make him forget the God of his fathers. No! That place drew him closer to God. Even in a foreign land, Daniel made a stand for God.
2. When confronted with a problem, panic was not his first reaction. He must have been afraid, but he did not panic. He was clear-headed enough to go to God in prayer for a solution. Being clear-headed in a time of great anxiety and distress comes from a relationship with God where you know that no matter what, your God is able and has a plan. In pain and uncertainty, he remembered his God.
3. When God answered, he returned glory to God even before speaking with anyone else. This is one instance where prides could have sneaked into Daniel’s heart. But by ascribing glory to God before speaking to anyone else, the truth of God’s character cemented in his heart and in the hearts of others. This was the hand of God and no one else.
Standing for Truth
Daniel’s actions were a testament to others of his God. He did not need to go about preaching or trying to convert them. By taking a stand for God in all he did, especially in very difficult times, he pointed others to God.
Sometimes, dear friend, making a stand for God needs no words.
Small acts of obedience and standing apart in truth and holiness are all that are needed to point others to God. When others are on one side, you choose to stand on the other side because that is the side of God.
Like Daniel, making a stand for God might be done by just acknowledging that you can’t, but He can. It can be standing strong in the face of grave challenges and choosing God’s way. It might be openly acknowledging that what you know is a result of God’s intervention. It might be praising God for His goodness to you.
Fighting with Praise
One of the things the enemy would try to steal from you is your ability to praise God, especially in grave circumstances. He knows that when you are able to look past the impossibilities and praise God, your perspective will change. You will no longer be in a place where he can plant doubt in your heart or influence you to act in contradiction to the Word of God. So he will magnify the situation; he will plant another picture in your heart to obscure the picture and Word of God in your heart.
My dear sister, fight! Yes, fight! Do not allow him to succeed. Praise God! If words fail you, play gospel praise songs that will make you dance. Just praise your God, for He is able. Yes, He is! Do not allow a lie to sink into your heart. When you praise God, you are making a stand for Him and nothing can hinder you from it. Praise says you trust Him and thank Him for what He has done and what He will yet do.
The life and story of Daniel challenges you and me to continuously make a stand for God, even in the most dire of situations and to thank Him for his goodness to us.
It is time to get your praise on! Open your mouth and sing! Turn on the radio! Go on Spotify! Go on YouTube! Go on Apple Music and praise your father! Stop for a few minutes now and just praise Him. See how He changes your perspective and enables you to always make a stand for Him, even when it is hard.
God bless you and keep you, May He cause His face to shine upon you and be gracious to you. May He lift up His countenance upon you and give you peace. Amen.
