Why We Praise

Praise Can Provide Healing

Psalm 103:2-3 (NIV): "Praise the Lord, my soul, and forget not all his benefits—who forgives all your sins and heals all your diseases."

This verse doesn't directly say "if you praise Him, you will be healed." But isn't it interesting that the psalmist makes a correlation that the One we praise, is the One who forgives sins and heals diseases?

And let's take a look at Psalm 147 which is bookended with "Praise the Lord." Sandwiched in between those commands to praise the Lord, is verse 3 which says 
"He heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds." It follows that praise of our Heavenly Father can bring healing. Have you experienced this in your personal life?

Whether I'm facing physical or emotional pain, when I remember a praise song from childhood and start to sing it, or I'm loudly singing along to a praise and worship Gospel or Contemporary Christian song, suddenly my eyes and my thoughts are no longer on the pain and the hurt. They are on Jesus. I'm not thinking about how I could have rebutted that person who just hurt my feelings. I'm worshipping the One who made that person. I'm no longer heartsick because I was rejected by someone I care deeply for. I'm communing with the One who accepts me no matter what. I'm not focusing on the pain coursing through my leg, I'm glorifying the One who gave me the ability to walk. 

Praise Provides Freedom

Let's go back to Acts 16, where Paul and Silas are beaten and thrown in prison. They are freed from their prison cell and from their shackles in the midnight hour, after they pray and praise the Lord. That's a clear example showing how God can unleash His power in the physical realm when His people pray and praise Him. In our daily lives, what's keeping us in bondage? Sins of all kinds, right? But sometimes we are in mental or emotional bondage, or some may be physically bound to a wheelchair, and we are learning that millions around the world are bound in literal slavery. 

No matter what terrible condition we may be facing, praising our Heavenly Father can be a reminder of John 8:31 that the Truth [Jesus] will make us free, and John 8:36 that Whom the Son [Jesus] makes free is free indeed. There is a distinction between being set free and being made free. That's why I like the King James version here. Being set free is circumstantial. Being made free is existential. We can be set free from prison but still be in bondage to old behaviors that can land us right back in prison. But if we are made free, we can be anywhere, including behind bars, yet we are free in Christ Jesus. The freedom and salvation we find in Christ is something no one can take from us. 

So as free people, we can praise and worship our Lord and Savior no matter whether we are bound by our location, by abuse or pain, or that temptation we wrestle with, because the Son makes us free.

Praise Provides Victory Over Our Battles

We can learn so much from King Jehoshaphat of Judah in 2 Chronicles 20, when three large armies came against him and his people. But ultimately Jehoshaphat turned to prayer and to praise. When he did that, his army didn't even have to fight! He said to God, "... 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.”

When he and his people turned their eyes toward God with prayer and praise, all they had to do was show up and stand up on the battle field (vs. 17), and God did the rest. Jehoshaphat had a praise team lead worship the night before the battle (vs. 19), and the morning of, he appointed another praise team to go ahead of the warriors, singing to the Lord, praising the beauty of His holiness (vs. 21). As part of their praise, they said these words: “Praise the Lord,
For His mercy endures forever.”

As the people of Judah and Jerusalem began to praise the Lord their God, He made it so that the vast army of those three countries coming against Judah in battle would turn on each other. Jehoshaphat was victorious because he praised the Lord his God.

That can apply to us today. We are in a massive spiritual war, whether we know it or not. The enemy's armies are vast and impossible for us to fight. We are battling rulers who hate us, principalities who want to destroy us, not to mention temptations and sins that are difficult to overcome.

Once we realize that we can't fight this war on our own, and that like King Jehoshaphat we don't know what to do, it's counterintuitive, but that's when we find ourselves in the best possible position. Paul says in 2 Corinthians 12:10: when we are weak, we are strong. Because when we face an enemy this big and powerful, and we turn our eyes to the hills from whence cometh our help (Psalm 121:1-2), we just need to show up and stand up on the battlefield and wield the most powerful weapon in our arsenal: praise. When we praise Him, we win.