Why Praise Is More Dangerous Than You Think

Praise can sound like a churchy word we throw around to mean fast songs and big feelings, but we’ve learned it’s much deeper and much more dangerous to the enemy than that. We talk about praise as a spotlight that pulls attention off ourselves and locks it back onto Jesus, not because we’re ignoring reality, but because we’re choosing what sits at the center of our mind and our mouth.

We also get practical for worship leaders and church teams: lyrics shape theology, structure helps people engage, and “simple” is often more powerful than elaborate. Finally, we look at Paul and Silas in prison and why their praise isn’t a play for a breakthrough. It’s a testimony that teaches everyone listening, including the jailer whose life changes.

If this helped you, subscribe, share it with a friend who’s in a fight, and leave a review. What song has helped you praise when you didn’t feel like it?

Transcript

Cold Open And Friendly Banter

SPEAKER_02 0:03

I gotta go like that.

SPEAKER_00 0:22

Are you recording? Oh. Hey everybody.

SPEAKER_02 0:26

Hey. What's going on?

SPEAKER_01 0:29

That was that was a great intro.

SPEAKER_02 0:30

That was a great intro.

SPEAKER_01 0:31

Yeah. I think that's we should just use that. Just keep that just the canned intro right there. That's it. Bam. How about that's like our promo video? Okay. I like that. Yes, that'll be our promo. Can't miss this episode. You cannot. Like, okay. What does this have to do with worship or leadership, man? What are they talking about over here? We're fighting.

SPEAKER_00 0:52

We're fighting. We're fighting right now. Fighting today, man.

SPEAKER_01 0:55

This is worship. This is worship. Worship. Worship. Ah. Brother? Bullshit. Worship.

SPEAKER_02 1:04

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 1:04

Hey, that's good. Hey, have you guys ever heard? Those of you that are tuning in, I mean, you've heard that phrase. Oh, them's fighting words. That's right. I mean, that's about, hey, it's about to be on my Donkey Kong. Or you ever you have you ever said to somebody or heard it said, man, I'm gonna be all over you like white on rice? On a paper plate in the middle of a snowstorm there, brother. You keep on talking. Paper plate in the middle of a snowstorm. That's it. White on rice. On a paper plate in the middle of a snowstorm. What does a paper plate have to do with a so he says I'm gonna be on you be on you like white on rice. The color white. Color white. On rice. On a paper plate, which is usually white. In a snowstorm, which is white. Yeah, that's what he's saying.

SPEAKER_02 1:47

I'm about to be all over you, brother. I'm thinking like the Dixie plates.

SPEAKER_01 1:50

No, no, brother. So that's not white. No, listen, we didn't have Dixie plate money. They blue. Yeah, yeah. We didn't have that. We call those the fancy ones. We didn't have Dixie plate money. We had we had you mean the ones that you used to use in school that you cut out like little masks. Absolutely. That's the ones we had with the with the perforated edges. Yeah, you could buy 5,000 for$3.49. Because them mugs was rail there. It was paper. There was one ply plate. So you had to stack four of them. You couldn't put spaghetti or you know, lasagna or sandwich on that. You couldn't nah. It's gonna spill. It was gonna leak through. So you had four lay it on. Come on, come on, where's my broke busted disguise? Who got it out the mud? This is my broke. You know what I'm talking about. We didn't have Dixie money. We had Ixie. We had those were Ixie plates. Ixy, Ixy Bixie. Yeah, Ixy Bixie. So you could buy a whole ream of them.$5,000 for$3.49. Because you're gonna go through that whole ream in about a week and a half. Oh gosh. My lord. Come on. It's like paper towels. That's it, man. Toilet paper. That's right. It's essential. We didn't have no two ply. You kidding me? We weren't fancy like that. We didn't have no bounty uh uh uh paper towels. We had county was on the county food bank. There was half ply. You can see through the paper towel, you can see through it. Oh my gosh.

SPEAKER_02 3:19

Well, welcome to the World Leadership Podcast. Oh man, hey, I'm Elmer Canyas Jr. And this is my boy right here, Willie C. Bones.

SPEAKER_03 3:28

Yes.

SPEAKER_02 3:32

Willie C. Simpson officially.

SPEAKER_01 3:34

Yeah, I done lost all this weight. I'm getting slim and trimmed. Yeah, and I'm always cold. And Elmer always makes fun of me now. Yeah, no, because I'm always cold there.

SPEAKER_02 3:43

All right, we we were at Bayshore. Shout out to uh fam and friends in Bayshore. Love y'all. So we're we get our rental car and we're driving. It's like it was like 40 when we got there. Anyway. So we do have the heater. I have I have it synced up. Yep. It's like a little Kia Honda Kona.

SPEAKER_01 3:59

Yeah, it's a Hyundai, Hyundai Kona.

SPEAKER_02 4:01

Kona. Yeah, a little SUV kind of. And I had it set to 70. Yeah. I'm like, that's that feels good. And this joker puts it up at 80 on the on his side. And I'm like, and the windows are fogging up. We never drove where the windows were now fogged up. And that's because it's like it's spring on one side and winter on the other side. And this guy's like, I'm cold. I'm cold. Was a little bit chilly, man. I had to have warm. Because you lost weight.

SPEAKER_01 4:28

Yeah, I lost weight. So I didn't I had an extra layer, you know, that that that hibernation layer. It's gone, man. So I'm like, wow, okay. This is how y'all be walking around. It's chilly. That's why I was like, oh, I love the cold worthy, man. I feel great, it's comfortable. Not no more. Not anymore.

SPEAKER_02 4:48

And I told them, I go, you mean that skinny? Oh man. But you look great, bro. Thank you so much. You look great. I'm proud of you for all the hard work. Thank you, sir. Instead of eating two pizzas at in New York, we won. I won.

SPEAKER_01 5:04

Let's go. Come on, discipline.

Praise Vs Worship Explained

SPEAKER_02 5:08

Oh man. Hey, thanks for joining us on the podcast. Forgive our shenanigans. But we're we're on season five, episode four. And today we're going to continue talking about praise and worship. Yeah. And the topic of today's conversation is we're really going to focus on praise. Yes. We tend to really talk a lot through worship and the lifestyle of obedience and what worship looks like in the church and all stuff. But there's the other term that you hear a lot in scripture, right? And even in church contexts, the word praise. And we really want to emphasize and just like what the distinction is with that whole thing.

SPEAKER_01 5:43

Yeah. I mean, you know, again, looking through the Old Testament, I mean, there are there are several different words for the word praise, and they all have to do with this emphatic vocal. That's the key word. This emphatic vocal adoration, and this, it's really sort of like this noble kind of kingly language. Like, hey, the king is here, the king has arrived. You guys have heard the phrase, all hail the king. There's a one of my favorite worship songs, all hail King Jesus. And so what praise does, think of praise like a spotlight. Praise shines all of the all the attention, all the directional flow, like everything. It's like this gravitational pull, and it's all on like a central figure, a central object. And for us, that object, it's Jesus. He it's he is the central focus. And so in the Old Testament, praise, you have you have the people of God, the nation of Israel, and they they're having these different festivals and these feasts, and it's all about the Lord. It's there, they're praising God for his faithfulness, for his wisdom, for his might, for his protection, for his provision. And so that's what praise is. It's it's an expression, an outward, emotive, emphatic vocal expression of adoration and thanks and gratitude towards the Lord.

SPEAKER_02 6:56

Yeah, it there's a lot of theology behind it. A lot of times in churches, we think it's it's the hype part of the service. Right. We call it, oh, it's the fast music. Yeah. You know, and and every service has to start with fast music. That's what is, you know, that's the standard. Yeah. Um, but it's not hype. It's it's a lot more than than the term hype. It's absolutely it's like you said, there's something expressive about it. Right. When we when we talked about the concept of worship, and even last week when we when we were describing the tabernacle and the ark of the covenant, right? There's there's a posture of the heart, there's an understanding that comes with with worship where you have to there is an order, there's a structure there. You said last week a prescription to how we live our life of worship as living sacrifices. Yeah. Uh when it comes to praise, it's it's the expressive side.

SPEAKER_01 7:45

Yes.

SPEAKER_02 7:45

And there's there's there's both, like you said, the vocal side and then the the emotive side. Yeah. And and so there's some people that have a lot more joy than others. Yeah, that's right. And so when they hear then when they hear the praise music, or you they don't even need music. No, that they just begin to thank God and praise him just because there's just so much gratitude and all that stuff. And so, so that that that tends to be the more common expression that we see of praise, where like there's joy and excitement, and like we talked about David last week walking, like walking the covenant, the ark of the covenant into his town, dancing radically, yeah, you know, and to the point that he was becoming unrobed and undressed, and uh, but he had no shame because he was dancing for the Lord. For the Lord. And so, but today we want to go and we want to share scripture on on praise, and and there's a story in Second Chronicles.

SPEAKER_01 8:34

Yes, this guy, listen, I'm gonna tell you right now, go and read this whole story for yourself. We're gonna give you like like the the cliff notes of it, but it is an incredible, I think, illustration of this theological truth that praise is a weapon. And so, again, we were talking about warfare and and worship and worship, but praise is a weapon, and you you see this here in 2 Chronicles chapter 20. There is a king, his name is Jehoshaphat, he's the king over Israel, and there are at least three different nations that are aligned against him. And so in 2 Chronicles chapter 20, verse 20, we're we're gonna we're gonna kind of park there. So Jehoshaphat lays before the Lord, he bows down and he's worshiping the Lord God. And the Levites, this is key, the Levites they stood up, the Bible says, to praise the Lord, the God of Israel, with a very loud voice. That's that's verse 19. Verse 20, this is what they do because the Lord has spoken to them, they've sought the Lord and say, What should we do? And the Lord says, Hey, you're gonna go out against your enemies, because he says, I've given them over into your hand. Basically, the Lord says, Hey, victory is yours because I'm gonna be fighting for you and with you. So, verse 20, 2 Chronicles chapter 20, verse 20. And they rose, this is the nation. They rose early in the morning and went out into the wilderness of Tokoh. Tokoa is like this arid kind of desert valley. And when they went out, Jehosaphat the king stood up and said, Hear me, Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem. Jerusalem is the capital city of the southern kingdom of Judah. Believe in the Lord your God and you will be established. Believe as prophets, and you will succeed. So you got the word? Trust the word. Verse 21. And when he had taken counsel with the people, he appointed those who were to sing as praise to the Lord. Listen to this, and praise him in holy attire as they went before the army. Let's stop right here. So they're going into wartime. I mean, they're going into battle. So you have the army, you got soldiers lined up, and the king says, Hey, trust, trust the word of the Lord. And then he has the praise singers, the worship team go ahead. Now, that right there, Elmer, is crazy to think about. Yeah. Because in our context, we wouldn't send the worship team out in the battle ahead of the U.S. Army. No, we send drones.

SPEAKER_02 10:54

Everything's become like so like you don't engage that way.

SPEAKER_01 10:59

Yeah. I mean, I mean you would send a scout team, you would send infantry, but they're all soldiers though. Like they these are they're they're they're ready to fight their warfighters. Levites, they don't fight battles. They're priests, they're intercessors, they're singers, they're teachers. And he sends the worship team ahead of the army. And he and he commands them, they're gonna sing and they're going to praise. Why is that important? Because we have to remember, guys, Israel is not like every other nation. God is their king. Yes, Jehoshaphat's the human king, but God is the one. He has special covenant and special relationship. So, Israel, the nation of Israel, God's people, they don't have to fight like the rest of the world. They don't view life like the rest of the world does. God's like, no, no, I'm your king, I'm your warfighter, I'm the one that goes to battle on your behalf. You get to praise me. So why is this important? Because pulling forward in the New Testament context, the Bible says that the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, which means they don't originate in this world. The world likes to attack problems head on and likes to do so in the power of the flesh. Hey, we're gonna figure it out. I'm gonna bootstrap my way through this hard time and I'm just gonna, man, hunker down. No, no, no. The people of God, we get to praise our God in the midst of this battle, in the midst of this trial. Why? Because he, number one, he secured the victory on the cross. But number two, he still fights for us to this day. He actually fights for you. You don't have to fight with God. You actually get to sit back, praise God as he's fighting for you and winning that battle on your behalf. So moving forward, listen to what he says. Uh let me back up, verse 21. And when he had taken counsel with the people, he appointed those who were to sing to the Lord and praise him in holy attire as it went performed. Listen to this, the army, and they say, Give thanks to the Lord for his steadfast love endures forever. So they're shouting this out, they're singing this out, they're marching down toward the enemies. Verse 22. And when they began to sing and praise, the Lord set an ambush among the men of Ammon, Moab, and Mount Seir. Three armies, all combined, millions of soldiers, they outnumber Israel, probably 15 to 1, who had come against Judah. And the Bible says, look, it says, so they were routed. For the men of Ammon and Moab, listen to this. So now we have three nations, Ammon, Moab, and Mount Seir. Listen to what happens in verse 23. It says the men of Ammon and Moab rose against the inhabitants of Mount Seir and devoted them to destruction. What does that mean? They started fighting each other. They were all aligned against Israel. Two now of the enemies started attacking their own. And when they had made an end of the inhabitants of Mount Seir, they listen to this. They all helped to destroy one another. They didn't even have to lift a finger, Pastor Helm. They weren't even there.

Praise Aligns Heart And Mind

SPEAKER_02 13:56

They weren't even there yet. They weren't even, yeah, they weren't even there. They weren't even there yet. And the fight was happening without them even physically present. Right. And I I want to lead with this because I referenced there's theology, praise is theological in many ways. The way I I have always focused on this is that worship is is a surrender of the heart. And there's that, there's a lot of depth that happens spiritually. But then praise is a surrender of your mind. Yeah. Because you can have something in your heart, but still be battling with thoughts. Right? These are the people of Israel, these are God's chosen people. Yes. But so that was already marked on them. They're already uh like marked by the enemy, those are the Israelites. Yes. Right. And so their hearts were already surrendered to God as their children, as his children. But now they're going into battle, and God's not just He's not just identifying them as His people, but now He's reclaiming their thoughts. And so the the I think there's something great if we could if you could apply this to your daily life, that every day the Bible says we have to crucify our flesh. That's it. It's a daily process. Absolutely. Right? Yeah. And there's something about praise where you surrender your thoughts. You think about David, yeah. He didn't care what his wife said about him dancing into the city, right? You know, all victorious, all crazy, all crazy looking. Yeah, you know, yeah. He he didn't that his thoughts weren't concerning or what other people's thoughts were concerning. That's good. Because what was at the center at the moment was the very presence of God. God's returning to his people. Yes. So he was so excited. In this case, God becomes a center. So you have the praiser, the praise team at the front. Yep. The worshippers, the Levites, declaring the greatness of God, his might. And you're you're marching behind that. Yeah. You're just being constantly reminded of if he did it before, right? He's gonna do it again. That's right. Man, this is gonna be great. This is gonna be awesome. So all of a sudden, your confidence rises, your faith rises. Yeah, faith comes from hearing. Hearing.

SPEAKER_01 16:00

Come on, that's Romans 10. Hearing and hearing through the word of Christ.

SPEAKER_02 16:03

And they're being reminded of God's faithfulness. God's faithfulness, his promises, his word, all that stuff. And so something happens when praise is elevated. Yeah. Because it's not praise for us, it's the praise of God, the glory. And and so you're it's again, you could have your heart surrendered to the Lord and still be having a horrible day. Right. Because you're all caught up in your thinking and like all these things that are happening. But when you can surrender your thoughts in praise and say, God, you are at the center. Yes, you are the center of my life. My life revolves. You're not just number one. No, you everything in me revolves around you. I'm gonna elevate you first, and you can live in that life and still continue to have a surrender in worship, a lifestyle of worship.

SPEAKER_01 16:44

Man, so now so now your head and your heart are matching. There's an alignment. Yeah, there's alignment. And again, I'm gonna use that term like you we've been throwing it around. This is why God is prescriptive. And you know, uh when I was a younger Christian, a newer Christian to the faith, I I struggled in the old testament with like God's command for Israel like to praise and worship. I'm like, man, why would you command them to celebrate? Like that now it feels forced, it doesn't feel genuine. And I was reminded of the story of the golden calf. When Moses and Joshua go up the mountain to meet with the Lord, he's about to, you know, to commune with him, he's about to give him the law. And the people are like, well, we don't know what happened to Moses, and and so and you know, they're demanding from Aaron, hey man, we're like, What's happening? We need a leader. And so he's like, Hey, give me your gold, give me your jewelry, and he throws it in and out jumps a calf, which is so crazy, right? Like, you you have to make that. And he says, These are the gods. And so now to your point, what's happened now is that their focus, their attention, their mind now is off of the Lord. There's a mountain right here. And like literally hours before that, it thundered. They heard the voice of the Lord. There was a trumpet blast, and like you have Yahweh right here. Yeah, and you are now believing this lie that these golden calves, these man-made idols, are the the God that laid your God that's thundering from this mountain. Yeah. Because the spotlight, their attention had shifted. And so now they begin to worship these calves. Well, we always see in the Old Testament that idolatry and immorality are always bedfellows, right? Like sexual immorality always follows idolatry because the mind had become warped and depraved. Romans chapter 1 says this. It says that they worship the created in place of the creator. And the Bible says that their minds became darkened because of where their focus was, because of where their prayer was aligned against. And so for us, when we praise and when what when I when the spotlight of our adoration is focused on anything other than the Lord Himself, our minds become darkened. We start to walk around in the fog. And we're gonna be not just more likely to complain and grumble, we're gonna be more likely to backslide. We're gonna be more likely to do things that appease the flesh, right? Because the mind, like you said, is darkened. So I appreciate, man, that that theological touch point there about praise that's a spotlight. And again, you think about whatever the spotlight is on, obviously that's what you're gonna think about. That's right. Philippians chapter four, the apostle Paul, he encourages us, he says, to think on things that are lovely, that are noble, that are honorable, that are of a good report. Think on these things. Well, that describes Jesus. He's honorable, noble, he's always of a good report, he's always doing great things. So as my mind is focused on Jesus, my mouth is gonna be focused on him, and my life is gonna follow that.

SPEAKER_02 19:30

Yeah, and there's a reason why throughout scripture, Old and New Testament, there's a lot of references to with it leads with Thanksgiving. Yes. And so when we're talking about praise, there's a lot that's kind of all in one, like to have a life of praise is to be live a life of thankfulness. Yeah, yeah. And and again, more centered around the Lord. I'm thankful for what he's done and grateful because it's easy again, all this in the context of you can have a life surrender to the Lord. For those of you that you're you're but you're a believer, you've you've given your life to Jesus, you've been baptized, you know. We were in a meeting earlier, and someone's like, It's Easter Sunday this week, yeah, and we're gonna be dunking people in the tub. That's what they said, and and it's exciting, and people are gonna give their lives to Jesus and they're gonna surrender their hearts and allow the Lord to shape their heart through discipleship, through scripture, through relationships and and and through worship. Yes, but then the battle, again, beginning with this story in 2 Chronicles, the battle is in our minds, always, and that's where the enemy attacks, and that's where he wants to devour us and he wants to distract us. The battle that happened in the Garden of Eden with the serpent was a battle of the minds. And so when I want to understand, when I want to be in control here, that's when you know things are just blazing, arrows are flying. Yeah, and so do I want to understand, or can I have enough faith in the God that's rescued me before, that's done something for me in the past? I'm here testimonies of other people. I read it in scripture. Can I have faith? Can I trust in that God? Or do I have to understand it completely? Absolutely. That's where human understanding begins to drive a wedge in what God wants to do. Yeah. Because now we want to figure it out. I want to have control of it. But the Bible says, but what if this translation doesn't make sense? No, how come there's a lot of translation? And then we start just wanting to break everything down because we want understanding versus, you know, again, we have heart surrendered. Yeah, yeah. Now the battle is here. Right. And that's where the enemy's just, he'll use all these weapons to just really distract us away from elevating him and allowing him to receive all the praise.

SPEAKER_01 21:41

Yeah, that that's that's to your point, that's really what it is. Because the enemy knows if I can if I can get the mind warped and darkened. I mean, this is really, I mean, you think about like the mind and heart are so synonymous. And if I can get the mind warped and I can get your thinking warped, well, then the heart's gonna follow because you know you won't worship a guy that you don't trust. Worship a God that you don't quote unquote fully understand, or you won't worship a God that you're suspicious of. You just won't do that. I don't know. I think I mean it's to your point, Satan hooked Adam and Eve by getting them to believe that God had withheld something from them. Yeah. Hey man, you can't trust God. If you eat this, you'll be like him. Then you'll experience everything that he's experiencing. It's like they already were. They were in perfection, walking with the Lord. Like you don't get better, no better than that. And you know, I think in tandem with that, it's about our mood. Sometimes, you know, we have to think, we think, well, I have to feel this. I have to feel like praising. I have to feel like expressing gratitude. I have to feel like, you know, adoring the Lord in this moment. And again, that's why I think the Lord, He just knows us better than we know ourselves. And this is why He has to command it. Because He knows there are times that we're not going to feel like it. But praise is not about what you feel. It's actually about who you know and what you know about the Lord. That's what that's what praise is about. Praise says, man, my conditions are suboptimal. Praise says things aren't going the way that I feel like they should be. Praise says, you know what? I don't even understand fully why I'm in this season. I don't understand. But Lord, right now, I'm putting the spotlight back on you because my situation doesn't diminish the fact, Lord, that you are worthy, that you are holy, that you are righteous, that you are just. It doesn't diminish the fact that you saved me from a life apart from you. None of that changes because praise isn't about you. Let me just say this too. This is why we have to be careful of language when we talk about how service went. Him and how it was service. It was amazing. And man, I've just been deeply convicted on that, Pastor Elmer, in saying, oh man, it was amazing. That people responded well. What if they didn't respond well? Did you praise God? Come on. That is the question at the end of the day. That's the only thing that matters. Did you praise God because He is always worthy of praise? So we and it's easy for those of us, again, that are professional Christians, and that we lead praise teams and we lead creative teams as a vocation, or if you even serve in a volunteer capacity, and we have these huddles, these holy huddles, and we talk about how service is going, and man, where the spirit is strong. Is the spirit moving strongly because the people are responding? Is the spirit moving strongly because you feel jazzed up and hyped, use your word, or is the spirit moving because God is worthy of praise? That's the question that we have asked.

Psalms Show Praise As Warfare

SPEAKER_02 24:20

And that's where going back to the word alignment, your heart has to remind your mind of what you have decided. Yeah. I have decided to follow Jesus. It's a commitment. I've committed my life to follow Jesus. So that that analogy of the heart, that means it's the center of my everything. Without my heart, this body don't function. Yeah. So I've given my heart to the Lord, everything, all of me. And so now my heart has to remind my mind. I don't think it's a coincidence why that scripture equips us with, I would say, like artillery for these moments. Psalms 103. Bless the Lord, oh my soul, and all that is within me. Bless his holy name. And he keeps going, uh bless the Lord, oh my soul, and forget not all his benefits. And he just keeps going and going and going.

SPEAKER_00 25:12

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 25:12

And and there's a reason you have to remind yourself. Like, so that I here I picture like this is David saying, like, mind, yeah, you gotta remember, like, bless the Lord, oh my soul. All that's all that I am.

SPEAKER_00 25:25

Hey, don't I am? Hey, don't forget, hey, don't forget God's benefits.

SPEAKER_01 25:29

Man, if you just park the car there on verses one and two, bless the Lord, oh my soul, and don't forget his benefits. Because then, why? Because that's that's the bulwark, that's the fortress that keeps out grumbling and complaining. Yeah, man, I feel like they're getting this and they're getting that. I don't have anything. God, do you even care that? No, no, no. Hey, so don't forget the benefits of the Lord. Don't forget what he's blessed you with. Don't forget how he's opened his hand. Hey, don't forget the favor, those miracles, that that 11th hour, that 1159, 59, when he came through. So, don't you forget? It's like literally he's talking. If if you were to be in the room with him, you would think the man was schizophrenic. Like, hey, man, you okay? But he's talking to himself. And sometimes you have to remind yourself, hey, I'm not gonna forget the Lord's benefits. I will bless the Lord. I would I won't curse him, I won't complain, I won't bemoan. I will bless him. Yep.

SPEAKER_02 26:13

Now imagine that army going to this fight. Yes. And like you're in the back of the line, you're like, they gave me, they gave me a little switchblade. They gave me an apple pen. How am I gonna fight with this? Right. And then you're just hearing Bless the Lord.

SPEAKER_01 26:27

Bless the Lord, bless the Lord. He's awesome in this place. He is great and greatly. Hey, don't forget his benefits, his mighty acts. I mean, Psalm 149. I just wonder, can I just read Psalm 149? It's a resume of this. It's like why we praise God. Here's why. Praise the Lord. Sing to the Lord a new song, his praise in the assembly of the godly. Let Israel be glad in his maker. Let the children of Zion rejoice in their king. Let them praise his name with dancing, making melody with him, tambour, tambourine, and line. Get your tambourines out. And the lyre, that's a string instrument. That's why I play the bass. Verse 4. Why? Listen to what it says. For the Lord takes pleasure in his people. He adorns the humble with salvation. The Lord loves you and he saved you. Let the godly exalt in glory. Let them sing for joy on their beds. Let the high praises of God be in their throats and two-edged swords in their hand. There it is. Army, hey, sing, but you're ready to go to battle. Yeah. To execute vengeance on the nations and punishments on the people. Listen to this to bind their kings with chains and their nobles with fetters of iron to execute on them the judgment written. This is honor for all his godly ones. Praise the Lord. When you praise God, he gives you victory. And so, again, in our context, those of us that are not in the military, you know, we're not going to battle physically. And Paul says that the weapons, he says we don't wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, spiritual wickedness, and powers in high places. What does that mean? That these are things that try to exalt over your knowledge of God. And like you said, here's the battlefield. So you may not be overseas somewhere in the Middle East, but man, hey, there's a battle for some of you going on right here, and it feels like the enemy is just whooping you eight ways from Sunday. And I just want to encourage you and remind you, praise is your weapon. The enemy, man, I just feel lit by the Spirit. Listen, your silence is your surrender. That's why the enemy wants to keep you locked down. So the enemy, either A, he doesn't care how he does it, as long as you don't praise your God. So either whether it's by silence or whether it's by complaining and grumbling and moaning, either way, the devil's happy that you're not using this, which the Lord gave you to do what he created it for, which is to praise him, to sing his praises, to praise him.

SPEAKER_02 28:49

And the importance in that, going back to me being in the in the line, yeah, about to go fight a battle with this little tool, is that now I'm reminded this isn't just a tool that I'm holding. This is this is anointed.

SPEAKER_01 29:05

Come on.

SPEAKER_02 29:06

This is God gave me this tool. God's equipped me. He's put this tool in my hand. So everything that I currently have in my life, everything you currently have in this season, relationships, abilities, gifts, talents, uh I I yeah, all everything. I can't think of any more things. There's a lot, but every resource that you have available to yourself in the hands of God, in the context of who he is and what he can do through even the smallest thing. Come on, man, I ain't scared no more. That's right. It changes your mindset. Like, all right, and I'm not just the little guy in the back of the line with the little sword. No, now, man, I'm chosen by this incredible God. We're gonna go out there. Yes, we're gonna defeat him. Let's go. You know, like like Pastor Nate when he does his rave heart impersonations and all that stuff. But like you get fired up. Yeah, and now there's an alignment of your mind with who God is and what you know.

SPEAKER_01 30:02

Oh man, man, it's incredible. I mean, to be them soldiers, like you said, man, head down to battle. You have varying degrees of wartime experience. Like you got guys who are hardened soldiers and guys that might be literally that's their first day. Shepherds, farmers, and like, hey, here's your sword. I've never used this. No matter, hey, we mark hey, tomorrow morning we march out, man. Oh 600, so be ready. And you're hearing the praises of the Levites. He is, God is worthy to be praised. He is mighty, he is righteous, he is on his throne. May his may worship of him endure forever and ever. And they're singing this over and over again. Like you said, pretty soon you're like, okay, this isn't about me.

SPEAKER_03 30:39

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 30:40

This is about the Lord. And they're like, I don't know what's gonna happen, but I am convinced we're going to win today. I don't know how we're gonna do it, but I'm convinced. And like you said, on the way there. So now again, most battles took place in valleys because of vantage points. So they're marching down. I mean, the to goa is like this valley, it's like this arid desert place. And they're marching down through this, and now they arrive and there's dead bodies everywhere. They're like, what happened? What's going on? We don't have to. So now, like, I'm that same infantryman, that same, you know, green greenhorn is what we used to call them. I'm I'm I'm new, and I'm walking around like, wow. And now my faith has been bolstered more. And I and I'm making a connection. Oh, it was praise. That's why they were singing praises. Because they they were like, no, the Lord's gonna fight. And so now, like you said, the next time that they have to face a battle, they're gonna remember that moment. Yeah. Hey, no, no, no, guys, no, we're not gonna worry about it. Nope. Strategy session's over. We're gonna send out the Levites, we're gonna praise, and we're gonna trust God to give us a victory.

SPEAKER_02 31:40

And and to your point, using your word tag, yeah, yeah, yeah. It it doesn't mean that you're not always gonna fight. That's right. That's what you referenced earlier. So you could be that person that had experience and God just showed up and took care of it. Yeah. But then there's gonna be other seasons in our lives where we're we're actually gonna have to engage in the hardship of of the weight of the battle, and you're gonna have to be praying and you're gonna have to be enduring the storms. Yep, you know, but God's always promised, I will be even in there. And we've seen even in the Old Testament a lot of these battles where where God gave them a prescription on how to fight. And like the one where Moses had to hold his hands up.

SPEAKER_01 32:21

Yes. And it says that when Moses is when his arms drooped, it says that the enemy prevailed. And when he had his hands raised, it says that Israel prevailed. And so now we have he's got two men with him, Aaron and her. And they say, hey man, they set him down and make a kind of a little kind of a seat, and they, hey man, we got your brother. But but that's prescriptive. I mean, people are, and it's like, okay, so this is again, this is with a partnership between God and man. Like God could wave his hand, he could snap his fingers, instantly make every person on the planet safe. He could do that, but that's not the prescription. The prescription is I always use my people to accomplish my will. He wants to.

SPEAKER_02 32:54

He wants to. And I think that that first battle with Jehoshaphat was, hey, I got you. And then from there on out, it's like, hey, I need you to do some work. Yes. You know, and so there's there's always a partnership. Yeah. So we gotta work. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 33:07

We're gonna put in the work. Right. But let me say, it's Ephesians 6. It's the armor of God. So the point is you gotta put it on. You gotta put it on. So yes, it's God's armor, but you have to wear it. And so there's a partnership. It's like, no, the Lord's like, no, I will give you victory over this. Here's the way that I'm gonna do that. Armor up. And so now if you're struggling and you're you feel like, man, I'm just being overcome, go back to the prescription. The Lord has shown you. He's like, hey, I'm with you. And like, and because I think some of you may, if you're like me, like when I was young in my faith, like I thought a lot of the promises of God were just automatic. Like they're gonna happen, they're gonna come true no matter what. And in a sense that's true, like Jesus is the promised Messiah, so he's gonna die for the sins of the world, like because that that's God's will. But when we talk about like deliverance and freedom, that's not automatic. That is conditional on faith and obedience, right? Like it's when he says like put off, like you preached that great sermon on what was it? Uh it was put off, put on, put away. Man, that's okay, the promises of God. When you put off those grave clothes and put on Christ, man, you're walking in freedom, you're walking in your identity, but you have to obey and you gotta trust. And the Lord's like, I got all this freedom for you, I got all this deliverance, I got all this newness, but here's here's what that looks like. You you gotta come alongside me and do this, right? And it's the armor of God. So if your armor's sitting there laying in the corner, it's useless.

Lyrics Shape Congregational Faith

SPEAKER_02 34:26

Yeah. And so lyrics in music. Yes. Again, for the majority of people, your context of praise is usually gonna be music. Yes. And that's gonna be where you start. I'm gonna put some praise, music, I'm gonna put some music on, yeah. Get my day started. Right. So lyrics matter. And so people ask me, how do you select songs? I make sure the lyrics of the songs line up with theology that we we support, we believe in, obviously. And and there are some great songs that are theologically sound, yeah, but they're not gonna benefit a congregational environment where there's multiple people. Right. So there's a lot of songs that might be great, and they they they're they're using scripture, yeah, but they're very me focused, self-centered. And so we're very careful with adapting a lot of those songs. Yeah, they're testimonial songs and you know, some more prayers, and we'll incorporate those. Yeah, but we want to make sure we're equipping, and for those of you that are listening that might serve at different churches, we want to make sure that you're equipping and leading your church with sound lyrics that are biblical and that are gonna allow them to focus and be able to align their thoughts with who God is according to scripture, because it's only gonna make them lean into the goodness and the mercy and the promises of the Lord even more than just random words. Yeah. You know, just sometimes even spontaneous. Spontaneous, yeah. Spontaneity, it's great, it has its place, but sometimes even the the emoting of a worship leader in the sense of they're they're in their fields, they're feeling the presence of God, and just the randomness from a platform can be distracting to people that are that are wanting to engage. Yeah, because now they want to be a part of it. But when it's it's just randomness, yeah, the lack of structure sometimes it doesn't allow the hundreds or the the the 10, 20, 30, 40, 000, whatever the size of your congregation is, doesn't allow them to engage and to really focus. And so you got to remember not everyone in your church has grown up in church, not everyone in your church or in your environment understands the Bible. So you are leading them. Yes, and you're you're leading them. So everything we sing, everything we say matters.

SPEAKER_01 36:42

Yeah, that that's a good point, man, especially about the songs that are are theologically sound but feel more personalized. And I think those songs there are more appropriate, like in your own personal devotion, in your own one-on-one time with the Lord. And and again, I'm going back to 2 Chronicles 20. I mean, they're giving thanks to the Lord, but they're not thanking the Lord for what he's done for them. They're thanking the Lord because of who he is. I mean, again, in verse 21, they they went out and they say, Praise him in their holy attire as they went before the army, and they say, Give thanks to the Lord for his steadfast love endures forever. I mean, that's just theology.

SPEAKER_03 37:15

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 37:16

Man, we're thanking, we're giving thanks to the Lord because his love never fails. And so, congregationally, those soldiers, contextually, they're being informed, they're being reminded, hey, can we remind you? His love endures. And so, in praise and worship in a corporate setting, we want people to know this is why we praise God. I mean, mighty is your name. You know, I think about Yahweh, I mean, mighty is your name on your man, God, you are a rescuer, you are redeemer. You had, yes, yes, you saved my soul, that's true. But no, wholesale, you are a savior. That's why we're praising you. We're teaching you theology. And why? Because again, it's the spotlight. Because people are coming into the what's called the holy assembly or sacred assembly with all sorts of mindsets about God and about man, about themselves. And so now they come into this assembly, and the spotlight is cast completely on Christ, only on him. And so Jesus, why? Because Jesus makes this promise if the Son of Man be lifted up, he says, I'll draw. That's the key word there. It's not even that if you put the spotlight, you'll draw. He says, If if I be lifted up, I will be the one that draws because the spotlight's on me. We're again, it's gravitational pull, right? So what we look at, what we aim at, well, that's what we talk, that's what we walk toward. And so that's why we have a heavy burden. We have a really heavy burden and a sacred responsibility and a and a kingdom privilege. I'll say privilege, man, to lift high the name of Christ so that people come out of the assembly saying, Man, what a great God. I don't want them to say, man, what a great worship set. I want them to say, what a great God. These Levites continuously say this phrase, give thanks to the Lord. His steadfast love endures forever.

SPEAKER_02 38:53

Yeah. And earlier you you referred to emotions. Yeah. And there's times when you don't feel it. Exactly. You know, and I I've I've said this on the podcast before. There's times that I've I've led worship and I'm in front of the people and I'm singing these songs and encouraging and exhorting, and my mind could be distracted on other things that are happening in the room, or or even just emotionally, I am not fully present. Yeah. Right? Because I'm having that battle in my mind at the same time. And but you press through it. Yes. Because again, it's not who God is is not connected to how you feel. Come on. Like God is God. You preach. You could be having a good day, he's God. You could be having a bad day, he's God. His character, his his nature, everything about him. Your your living conditions, if you have things or you don't, like he's still God. And we have promises, we have things that we know he'll provide, he'll redeem, he'll restore, he'll forgive, he'll save. And that's who he is. Yes, regarding of how it's outworking itself or playing out in your current situation in our own lives. And so our own emotions and the conditions of our living should not determine if he's worthy of it or not. That's right. Yeah, he's worthy of it regardless. Absolutely. That same soldier in the back of the line, you know, could be like amped up about his little sword. Yeah, hey, but God's great.

SPEAKER_01 40:16

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 40:17

Or he could be walking in fear.

SPEAKER_01 40:18

Yes.

SPEAKER_02 40:19

And still being like, all right, I'm scared, but God's with us. And so everyone's different. So we're not discounting emotions, we're not discounting that you're gonna be facing all these different things. Right. But regardless of how you're even feeling, even listening to this podcast, you could be like, I hate them, stop talking, just next. Or you could be like, okay, tell me more. Yeah. Even regardless of how you're feeling right now as you're hearing this, yeah, God is still God.

SPEAKER_01 40:44

He's still God. He's still God. Right. And so I remember at one of our previous episodes, we talked about, hey man, this is why you have to just reconcile that. Because to your point, those that that same soldier is dealing with fear. Like, man, fear will get you killed. Like any soldier will tell you, man, fear is one of the fastest ways to get killed. Why? Because when you operate out of fear, then you're you're loose and you're you're you're not attentive. And so, so either way, like you said, but guys, we have because we have the spirit of God living inside of us, we have mastery over this flesh, which includes our thoughts. 2 Corinthians chapter 10, verse 3, Paul gives a brilliant step system. It's a strategy for you to overcome those negative thoughts and those moods that feel like they're just restricted to you engaged. Listen to what he says. For though we walk in the flesh, we're not waging war according to the flesh. He says, For the weapons of a warfare are not of the flesh, but have divine power to destroy strongholds. What is a stronghold? Listen, a stronghold is this it is a set of beliefs that has a lie as its foundation. That is what a stronghold is. Verse 5. He says, We destroy arguments and every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God. So there's the battle. It's all of these opinions, and it says that they're lofty. One translation says that they're haughty, they're arrogant, they're prideful. They seek to set themselves as the authority in your mind over the knowledge that you already have of God. And then listen what he says. So he says, we destroy these arguments, and then he says, we take every thought captive. There's the secret sauce. My counselor, he would he challenged me the first time I met him. He said, Willie, have you ever thought about what you think about? And I just thought, you know, I thought that's such a weird question. But man, when I find myself in those moments, in those situations, I'm having these negative thoughts, these crazy thoughts, these temptations. It's like, okay, wait, what are you thinking about? Like, what's true? What is true? I'm that soldier in the back, and I am so I am fearful, right? So that's a fact. The fact is I am fearful, but the truth is God is on the throne. Hey man, I'm angry right now. I am confused. I am hurt. I am offended. But so these are facts. The truth is he's a friend that sticks closer than a brother. The truth is, man, he works all things together for my good because I love him. And he's the one that called me. Hey, man, the truth is he'll never leave me nor forsake me. So I'm taking all of these thoughts captive. And that's why you can worship. So I want I do feel like I need to say this too. Like, we're not talking about what's the word I'm looking for? Optimism. Like that's world stuff. That's uh the power of positive thinking. That's not what this is. Like, because that's you centered. You can't do this. We're we're we're what we're talking about is warfare in which you have the advantage because your God has already won the battle for you. And so what you are doing now is you are taking those lofty opinions because that's the key word. It says that these are opinions. So they're not even facts. You know, opinions are like uh what is it? They're like armpits. Everybody has them. Yeah. And they usually stink. Oh. But the truth, that's what sets so that soldier's like, okay, the fact is I am fearful, but the truth is, man, God's love never fails.

SPEAKER_02 43:48

Yeah, have you have you ever like like during allergy season and stuff, use one of those, what are they called? Like neti potty. Yeah, yeah, yeah. The neti pot. Yeah, you kind of get your drain your sinuses. Yeah. You can blow it all out. Yeah. And eventually it'll clear out. Or you can run water through and it'll just clear it all out. Clears it all out. And so in the context of praise, like where you're talking about, you can't think your snot out. It's it's not it's not on your own, like or you can blow and blow and blow, and there's still junk stuck in there. Yeah, you need the neti pot. Yeah. And so when it comes to praise, it's you're being reminded you're running the word of God, who God is through your sinus. That's hilarious. And you're now in your mind or in your mind, you're running the word of God through your mind. Yeah. And you're clearing out the junk that does not belong there. That's why we're saying it's alignment and it's not just positive thinking. Yes. Because it's easy to be like, I'm gonna have I'm gonna have a great day. Right. I'm gonna feel bad. I'm gonna drink coffee, I'm gonna take a nap. I'm gonna do it. And you this is me controlling my day.

SPEAKER_03 44:43

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 44:43

But when you're like, man, God, you can be in the hospital. You could be in the worst financial crisis you've ever been, and and the fear is real, the pain is real. But now you're just realigning your thoughts with who God is, and in the middle of that, he becomes your peace. And now you're able to walk through the hallways of a hospital with this peace. Yes. Where like just man, God is good. Like, hold up, you're crazy. Like, hey, how can you? Like Pastor Nate, like his son's, uh, but your son, yeah, like like he's like you don't even know if he's gonna make you don't even know if he's gonna live.

SPEAKER_01 45:14

How can you have peace right now? Man, first of all, this peace don't come for me, brother. I'm not bootstrapping this, I'm not white-knuckling. Matter of fact, I've done the opposite. I've surrendered, I've taken all those thoughts captive. Yeah, and I've said, wait, wait, these are all lofty opinions. I've taken them captive, and I've rested back on the truth. Man, Lord, you are with me. You are the author and giver of life.

SPEAKER_02 45:33

Come on, man. Man. Rest on the truth.

Classic Songs And Keeping It Simple

SPEAKER_01 45:37

Rest on the truth. That's the key to winning a battle. Come on, somebody. Praise the Lord. Praise the Lord.

SPEAKER_02 45:44

Willie C. Bones. Hey. Is there a song in your life that has just been rich theologically that is that for you? And it just reminds you of God and it's kind of on a hard day, just like, man, did this song, this song did it. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 46:06

It's that it's a pure heart. Rusty nails. Give me a pure heart. That's what I long for. A heart that follows hard after you. And then he says, A heart that hides your word so that sin cannot come in. A heart that's undivided, but one you rule and reign. A heart that beats compassion, that pleases you, my Lord. A sweet aroma of worship that rises to your throne. Man, that is that's all about the Lord.

SPEAKER_00 46:39

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 46:40

All of that, that's a hey God, I want that kind of heart there. You know what I mean? And especially the one, a heart that's undivided. Man, on days where I struggle, days that I slip back into even sinful behaviors or sinful mindsets, days that I'm I'm mean and angry that when I mistreat others, it's because my heart's divided.

SPEAKER_03 46:57

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 46:58

It's got I got divided allegiances and divided uh loyalties. No, no, he says, but one Lord that you rule and reign. Man, when Paul says, let the peace of Christ rule in your heart. God, that's so I need a I need a pure heart. Only you can do it. So man, that that's my every time I listen to that song, man, and it's old school. This is old school 80s. I mean, this is this is the CP80. You know what I'm saying? It's more like every time that song, you know, some my worship plays, when it plays, I in tears I'm like, God, this is my because that song is a prayer. It's an appeal to God. So that that that's mine. Well, what about you? Mine, mine is uh Jesus, lover of my soul.

SPEAKER_00 47:37

Jesus, lover of my soul. Jesus. You will never let me let me go. Taking me. Taking me on my from the Myri Claire. Thank you. From the My Claire. Set me on Star Rock. Now I can say Come on.

SPEAKER_02 48:01

They're not here to hear us sing, obviously. No, but it's that song, it means a lot to me because it was there's a long story. I'll share it one day. Where I was learning how to play the piano, and I had this moment with the Lord just supernaturally, where I believe He He has the ability to enhance our gifts. Yes. And it was one of those where, like in worship at a piano where I played chords with two fingers, God just in my moment of need, because I was starting to play at my church. Yeah. And all of a sudden, as I was worshiping with that song, like I found myself playing piano, like for real. It's like chords that I till the day I'll play. Yeah. And I remember that moment. Yeah. And it just takes me back to like, hey, God's with you. Like He's empowered you for this, for this with for this gift for this season. And um, and it just takes me back to that. And it just reminds me of God's faithfulness. Yes. Just uh all the time. Every time I hear it, every time I sing it on my own, or so it's it's a powerful song for my life. Classic.

SPEAKER_01 48:59

You notice how we both chose classics too. Classics, man. I'm telling you, man. I mean, listen, no shade to the contemporary music scene. But sometimes, man, you got to go. The Bible talks about ask for the old path. Just verse and chorus. Man, I don't need a pre-channel. I don't need a hook. I don't need a solo. I don't need two bridges. Two bridges, a pre-bridge, a post-bridge. I don't need nothing. I don't need a vamp. I just need a verse and a chorus, man.

SPEAKER_02 49:28

Yeah, I we introduced almost a month ago a new song called Living Sacrifice here at our church. And I wrote that song in 2015. Oh wow. I've I've sat on it for that long. Yeah. And I I think I never felt that it was gonna be a song that would make an impact in a congregational setting. Yeah. Because it's so short. Yes. It's it's a very simplistic song. It's a simple verse. Yep. It's more of a prayer. And then it's a surrender chorus that's really two lines. That's exactly right. Yeah, that's not enough for church. Right. And we've been singing it, and regardless of execution of how it's been presented, like people remember the song itself. And like, you know, I want to be a living sacrifice to my king. My king. That's theology right there. That's theology. Just simple. And so simple sometimes is better.

SPEAKER_01 50:17

Hey, worship leaders, keep it simple. You know, my you know, the acronym they used to use in the military, K-I-SS, keep it simple, sweetie. I'm gonna say that one. That's the cleanup word. Keep it simple, sweetie. I'm telling you, man, because it just makes it easy. Worship it's it's it's for the Lord, but it allows you to draw the people in. So keep it, make it easy for them to engage in worship. Some of these songs, man, they're just so wordy. Yeah. And then so now it's like I'm looking at the screen, and again, so the spotlights on the screen and it's not on Jesus. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 50:44

Which really becomes a lyrical, like you're chasing down the lyrics. Yeah. What lyric do I remember the most? Yeah. And so, and then it becomes about feelings because now it's what what lyric touched me. Yeah, what lyric spoke to me? Spoke to me, or even with the progressions and just music, you know, it's been so elaborate in many ways. And so now we're finding ways to touch people and their emotions versus just hey, just set your eyes on him. And look at where the spotlight.

SPEAKER_01 51:10

Look, look, set your eyes to the hills. We see him, and he's beautiful in your sight, he's worthy to be praised, and he's here with you, and he's drawing you in.

SPEAKER_00 51:20

Come on, somebody. Come on.

Paul And Silas Praise To Testify

SPEAKER_02 51:21

Hey, last thing, yeah. We're closing. Yes, sir. I I know we wanted to talk about Paul and Silas in in their moment in prison. And there might be some of you right now that you you're like, okay, well, I I do that. I I praise the Lord all the time, and you're still in your circumstance. What I love about Paul, and is really inspiring to me, is that I don't think he he began to praise God expecting God to break him out of the chains and the prison that he was in. I think he genuinely was content with God, if this is where I'm gonna be taken out. Yep. Hey, bless the Lord. Right, you are worthy of all my praise, you're worthy. And he just begins to worship. And Silas picks up on it. He's like, Yeah, hey, God is good. Like, absolutely. And so there's just something organic that just happens that regardless of the situation, like I'm just gonna worship, regardless of the outcome, yeah, I'm gonna continue to worship. I'm with you. Something, something real, real kind of is is harsh, but the reality that we're seeing in other countries where people are actually martyred, like where they're executed for believing in Christ and declaring it and confessing it, yeah, you know, or or even carrying a Bible, the the fact that they do it regardless if it costs me my life. And so, like the the challenge that I thought as we were preparing this episode was am I willing to praise God even if it would cost me my life? Yeah, so going back to a sacrifice of praise, like now it's not just a like a formality or something that I do every morning by by crucifying my flesh, but am I willing to become a sacrifice of praise? Like if God puts me in a situation where, hey, are you gonna worship God? Yeah, or it's your life. Right. Like I I don't just want to sing about it. Yeah, I don't just want it to be a formality in church or in my life. I want it to be real.

SPEAKER_01 53:20

Yes, yeah, that's so good, man. I I think to your I love how you talked about Paul and Silas, man. That's really good. I mean, I think that those men, I think that was just a rhythm that they had of just worshiping and praising the Lord. And I think proof of that to support what you said is, you know, the earthquake happened, all the jail cell doors burst open. So it's gonna be impossible. These guys all flee, it's gonna be impossible to get them all back, right? And then uh in verse 27, when the jailer woke and saw the prison doors were open, he drew his sword and was about to kill himself because he's like, I'm gonna die, they're gonna kill me. Supposing because he thought everybody escaped. But Paul cried out with a loud voice, do not harm yourself, for we are all here. So that I think undergirds your statement about that they didn't even have an expectation that the Lord would have caused this earthquake. You know what I mean? And it's what's funny, it doesn't even say that the Lord caused the earthquake, it just is that suddenly there was a great earthquake. Well, in the region that they're at, I think it was known for having earthquakes. So I mean I could have just been a common thing that happened. But to your point, like they you can tell that they weren't even thinking through that because they remained in their cell. They were probably more like confused, like, because if they're really, if they really believed it was the Lord, they would have been like oh, this is our out. Come on, let's roll. But they didn't, to your point. Why? Because I think that was just their their rhythm that they had a rhythm of relationship with the Lord. They're praying and they're just singing songs of worship and praise.

SPEAKER_02 54:39

So check this out. They weren't praising for a breakthrough. Nope. They're praising as a testimony. Yes. And we've been taught in the church, praise them, praise them. Your breakthrough's coming. And so people praise and praise and praise, expecting an outcome, expecting to be redeemed, expecting to be rescued.

SPEAKER_01 54:55

Yes.

SPEAKER_02 54:56

God is capable of it, but that's the wrong motive. Yep. And there's songs, there's beautiful songs. Yeah. I praise you in the breakthrough, I praise you in this and that. Amazing songs. They move you. But the reality of it is if that's the reason I'm praising it, it's the wrong motive.

SPEAKER_01 55:10

That's the wrong motive. I love how you said that because in verse 25, at midnight, Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the prisoners were listening. So you probably have men of all different faith backgrounds. They're probably more likely not Christians. And so they're probably pagans, they're unbelievers, and they're and they're listening, which is why it's so important. I mean, they're learning about God from the words that these men are saying in addressing God and addressing Yahweh. They may have heard that name Yahweh for the very first time ever. And then the payoff at the at verse 30, then he brought them out, the jailer, sirs, what must I do to be saved? Because he's like, there's no reason why you would remain in this cell. And that's probably why the other guys remain too, because they were probably just like in like enraped. Hey, no, hey, no, we want to hear more. Keep singing. I'm I'm learning. Again, you think again, you think about the ABCs. Uh, the reason why you don't get it, because they were sung to you. So this is so they're also being very Jewish in that that's how you learn theology. That's why the Psalms are literal songs and they're acrostics, right? Psalm 118 is an acrostic. A letter is assigned to these truths, and you would sing them. So they're like, oh, this is what my mom did with me. And so they're that well, this is how we're gonna teach these pagans about about Jesus, is we're gonna sing songs that are gonna stick in their ear. Yeah. Right? Come on. Yeah. That's awesome. Jesus loves me. This I know for the Bible. I mean, so I dude, I was like five or six years old when I first heard that song. Yeah, here I am in my 40s because I was taught theology through song, and they're teaching. I just caught that, man. They taught their fellow prisoners theology through song. That's why lyrics are important.

SPEAKER_02 56:45

That's why they're important. What we're singing around people and your witness. Yes. The witness of the army of King Jehoshaphat. They they were witnessing to themselves. Yep. The Levites were witnessing to the army, and then at the end, to all the other nations that hey, our God is the one true God. And don't you think that's that should be our posture when it comes to praise. And so don't praise for the breakthrough. Come on. Praise to testify of his goodness and who he is.

SPEAKER_01 57:13

And the world, let the world know. Let the world know.

SPEAKER_02 57:15

Come on.

SPEAKER_01 57:16

It says here, and they said, believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved, you and your household. And they spoke the word of the Lord to him, and all were in his house. And verse 33, and he took them, the jailer, that same hour, thinking that they were uh fugitives. And he's like, now they become disciples and washed their wounds, and he was baptized at once and his whole family. Come on, come on, man. That's why lyrics matter, that's why praise matters, that's why worship matters, that's why our testimony matters, why witness matters, because it's always about that one more. Man, think about that Philippian jailer, man. What if you've been killed in that earthquake before hearing the gospel?

SPEAKER_02 58:00

But God has a plan.

SPEAKER_01 58:00

He always has a plan.

SPEAKER_02 58:01

He has a plan for you. Come on, somebody. So I think we're gonna leave it there. Yeah. Let's just sit on that. I think that's gonna be that's a lot to to process. And again, it's not about understanding it. It's about surrender this to the Lord and let the Holy Spirit lead and speak to you on what praise should look like in your personal devotion and life to the Lord. Amen. Amen. Amen. This was fun, bro. Yeah, I love you, man. Hey, Jacob, thank you. Appreciate you, brother. Such a blessing, man. Behind the one and twos. Come on.

SPEAKER_01 58:30

Picky, picky. Call him DJ such and such.

unknown 58:32

DJ such.

SPEAKER_01 58:33

Or MC What's a name?

SPEAKER_02 58:35

What's a name? Man. All right. Hey, from myself and Willie C Bones. You guys have a great week. Peace out.