“I will bless the LORD at all times: his praise shall continually be in my mouth.” (Psalm 34:1)
When you begin to praise God, never praise Him because of the music. You have to praise Him because of the words. You have to be careful that the words of the songs you sing would be scriptural. Let me give you an example. I hear people sometimes sing a song “Lift Jesus higher, lift Jesus higher, lift Him up for the world to see. For He said, if I be lifted up from the earth, I’ll draw all men unto me.” What do you think you sing? I will tell you. You sing, “Crucify Him, crucify Him, crucify Him for the world to see. For He said if I be crucified, I’ll draw all men unto me.” When Jesus said in John 12:32, “And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto me,” He meant, “…if I be lifted up on the cross.” In this particular song there are two things joined together that should never be joined. In other words, when you begin to sing it, it doesn’t have the spiritual energy it should have, because the words are not scriptural.
Many times we are singing, but we don’t understand what we are singing. We don’t really think of what we are saying. The story I am going to share with you now is kind of humorous, but it really happened. We were in Jamaica in one particular church. There was a song that the brethren liked to sing and the song said, “Let us stand and fight against all evil, never run, never look behind…” However, those, who did not hear the words properly (the song was not in writing), were singing, “Let us stand and fight against the leader, never run, never look behind…” What do you think happened next? They gave me such a hard time that I had to quit and leave the place. Nobody was thinking about what they were saying. But the devils know and they don’t care whether you think about it or not. The people finally did stand and did fight against me.
When you begin to praise God you will understand how the flow of God works in the Body of Christ. You will notice that some songs carry more anointing than others. When you see that a certain song carries the anointing, keep on that vein, because what the song says is what the Spirit is saying to us and He wants to bless us and give us even more blessing. If you think of the words while you are singing, then your minds will be taken away from everything else and will concentrate into one flow before God. And while you are doing this, God is coming in. For the more your heart opens in singing, the more God comes in.
You have never been old, neither have I been this old before. I have to say it is dreadful! I put down something in one spot, but I can’t find it anymore. However, the thing must be here, because I just put it down! And I am searching. And I am searching. Both my wife and I spend half of our lives searching for something. And this thing goes on and on and on. Believe me, you have never been this old before. I am going into a new area, which is sometimes dreadful and terrible. I feel lost in it.
One time I said to God, “God, help me to find the thing I lost. Help me to find it.” As I did, I heard the Spirit of God answering me, “Begin to praise God.” So I began to praise God. I mean really praise God. You know, you have to praise God with your intellect. You cannot just keep saying, “Praise God, praise God, praise God…” as some people do. I was praising God, “God you made the earth and all glorious things on it. You promised to take us into heaven.” And so on. That is praising God. You have to begin to think of the goodness and the glory and the mercifulness of God; how He saved you from this trap and that trouble; how He saved you from the destruction and death.
At that particular time as I praised God, I had my hand down on my desk and suddenly, I noticed there was the thing I was looking for. My hand was on it and I was praising God! Believe me, if you get into any such situation, take your mind off looking for the lost thing and start praising God. All of a sudden, it will either come to you or you will see it. Praise be to God!
You, brethren, who are getting as old as I am, take a cue from me. When you praise God, it opens your mind. You see, your mind is the mouth of your soul. It opens your mouth and God begins to flow in and the light and the rest and the peace that comes into you is greater than anything else you will ever experience. Learn to praise God.
