Praise: The Satan Defeater!

Well, its been a while. A lot has happened in the past month and various things including this blog have been dropped as a result, but it's nice to have a few days in the capital city away from the doorbell and school to catch up a bit.

I've been really enjoying reading Nancy Leigh DeMoss' book A Place of Quiet Rest which I've found so helpful for thinking through how to enrich my daily devotional time with the Lord. It is so Scriptural, practical, pushing for depth and not settling for the bare minimum.

There's loads I could copy and paste from it but I'll start with the chapter I've just read on our response of praise. The author says:

The most frequently repeated command in all of God’s Word is the command to “praise the Lord.”

We should praise the Lord because praise defeats Satan. Satan hates praise because Satan hates God and anything that exalts or pleases God. One of Satan’s strategies is to get us to focus on ourselves—our needs, our problems, our circumstances, our feelings. When we lift our eyes up, though they may be filled with tears, and choose to praise the Lord, Satan’s plan is defeated and God is victorious in our lives. 

When Satan tempted Jesus to fall down and worship him, Jesus responded, “Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God” (Matthew 4:10 KJV). The moment that Jesus expressed His commitment to worship God alone, “the devil left him, and angels came and attended him” (4:11). 

Has Satan tormented you with fears and doubts? Do you find yourself being bombarded with temptation to sin? Try praising the Lord, and watch Satan flee.

Praise is an expression of faith and an act of the will. It is not based on how we feel. David understood this concept as few others in the Scripture. In Psalm 34, we find David in one of the darkest periods of his life. Years earlier he had received God’s promise that he was to be the next king, but the insecure egomaniac who occupied the throne was determined to take his life. So David found himself living as a fugitive in the wilderness, fleeing for his life. All the ingredients were there to set him up for a major depression. But instead, he made a choice—a choice to praise the Lord, regardless of his natural feelings: 

I will bless the LORD at all times: his praise shall continually be in my mouth. (PSALM 34:1 KJV, emphasis added) 

When he decided to magnify the Lord instead of his circumstances, David’s heart was lifted, as were the hearts of others around him: 

My soul shall make her boast in the LORD: the humble [“the afflicted,” NIV] shall hear thereof, and be glad. O magnify the LORD with me, and let us exalt his name together. (PSALM 34:2–3 KJV) 

Praise is not a response to our circumstances, which constantly fluctuate. Praise is a response to the goodness and love of a God who never changes. That is why David could say,

My heart is fixed, O God, my heart is fixed: I will sing and give praise. (PSALM 57:7 KJV) 

It didn’t matter to David whether he was sitting on the throne or being pursued by the one who was. It didn’t matter whether he was hungry or full, happy or sad, alone or with friends. All that mattered was that God was there. And as long as God was there he could choose to praise. 

Praise demonstrates faith that God is bigger and greater than any circumstance we may be facing. And faith pleases God—that is why He loves it when we choose to praise Him, regardless of how we feel.