Praising God using His written word

by preparingthebrideofchrist

Therefore by Him let us continually offer the sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of our lips, giving thanks to His name.

Hebrews 13:15 NKJV

We can offer God the fruit of our lips (praise) when we use the Word of God to praise Him, singing to Him or through heartfelt praise using our own words. Many years ago, God helped me understand that I needed to live a life of praise and worship. I understood this to mean continually thanking God, praising Him, keeping my mind focused on Jesus and obeying Him. Upon this instruction from the Lord, I quickly realized that I didn’t actually know how to praise God other than by singing to Him, but God in His faithfulness taught me how to praise Him using His written Word.

The book of Psalms is also called the “book of praises”, and I believe that the Holy Spirit gently led me there as a starting point. Almost every Psalm contains some words of praise to God and it was these words of praise that I started memorizing. These Scriptures helped me many times in spiritual battles, because it helped me completely focus on Jesus and not on the battle itself. I also experienced victory many times in spiritual warfare by quoting Scripture from the book of Psalms.

There is a wonderful example in Scripture for us of how Gideon and his men overcame an army of Midianites when they blew the trumpets which were in their hands. I would kindly like to point out that this story contains an allegory for us, meaning that there is a hidden message within this story. An allegory in the bible will always contain a hidden spiritual message for our instruction. I would love to share my understanding of this allegory with you based upon what I believe the Holy Spirit has revealed to me.

The background of this story/allegory is that God sent Gideon with 300 Israelite men to defeat a Midianite army of around 135 000 men. God also promised Gideon victory, and sent him confirmation of this to build his faith (Judges chapters 6-7). Even though God only gave Gideon 300 men to fight against an army of around 135 000, the purpose was to show Gideon and the Israelites that God was going to fight for them. He was going to show them His glory and His great faithfulness. If the odds were in their favor, God said that they might claim glory for themselves saying, “My own hand has saved me.” (Judges 7:2) God wanted the Israelites to be sure that it was only by His strength and faithfulness that the victory would be won. God delights to show His people His faithfulness so that He alone gets the glory and praise. He wants His people to see that they can trust Him in all things.

In this story, the Israelite army led by Gideon only took trumpets and empty pitchers, with torches inside the pitchers into the battle. They did not take any physical swords into the battle. Instead, the sword they took into the battle was a spiritual one, which I will explain in a moment.

Then he (Gideon) divided the three hundred men into three companies, and he put a trumpet into every man’s hand, with empty pitchers, and torches inside the pitchers. And he said to them, “Look at me and do likewise; watch, and when I come to the edge of the camp you shall do as I do: When I blow the trumpet, I and all who are with me, then you also blow the trumpets on every side of the whole camp, and say, ‘The sword of the Lord and of Gideon!’”

So Gideon and the hundred men who were with him came to the outpost of the camp at the beginning of the middle watch, just as they had posted the watch; and they blew the trumpets and broke the pitchers that were in their hands. Then the three companies blew the trumpets and broke the pitchers – they held the torches in their left hands and the trumpets in their right hands for blowing – and they cried, “The sword of the Lord and of Gideon!” And every man stood in his place all around the camp; and the whole army ran and cried out and fled.

When the three hundred blew the trumpets, the Lord set every man’s sword against his companion throughout the whole camp; and the army fled to Beth Acacia, toward Zererah, as far as the border of Abel Meholah, by Tabbath.

Judges 7:16-22 NKJV

My understanding of this allegory is as follows:

  • The clay pitchers represent people.

Scripture tells us that we were made from dust, and that we will return to dust – Genesis 3:19.

Scripture also refers to us as clay vessels: But we have this treasure (The Holy Spirit) in earthen vessels (people), that the excellence of the power may be of God and not of us. – 2 Corinthains 4:7 NKJV

  • The torch within the clay pitchers represents the Holy Spirit who dwells within every born again believer in Jesus.

In the story of Gideon, it was only when the clay pitchers were broken that the lights were seen. I believe that the understanding for us is that only when we have died to ourselves, can the light of Christ truly shine through us.

  • Blowing trumpets in this specific story represents praising God.

Any musical instrument in Scripture often represents praise:

Four thousand were gatekeepers, and four thousand praised the LORD with musical instruments, “which I made,” said David, “for giving praise.”

1 Chronicles 23:5 NKJV

In this particular battle, when Gideon and his men blew the trumpets, they also cried out, “The sword of the Lord and of Gideon!” Their instrument of praise was used as a spiritual sword against the enemy. Ephesians 6:17 tells us that the sword of the Spirit is the word of God. Just as Gideon and his men used praise as a weapon against the enemy, the hidden meaning for us, is that we too can use Scripture containing words of praise as a weapon against the enemy.

  • Midianite army or any army in Scripture can represent the enemy who attacks God’s people. In this particular instance, I believe that the battle is in the area of our minds.

This can be through unwanted thoughts, worrying thoughts which cause fear or anxiety, unholy thoughts, or images running through our minds which we feel we do not have control over. We know that God has given us a sound mind, so if we get invasive thoughts that are unwelcomed or disturbing – these thoughts are normally sent our way from the enemy. I have found that by praising God using His written Word, I have defeated the enemy in this area many times. As soon as I have thoughts in my mind that I do not want there, I immediately recognize that it is most likely a spiritual battle and I start praising God, knowing that soon the unwanted thoughts will stop because God promises us victory.

When I first started fighting the enemy using praise as a weapon, the enemy did not like it and the attack actually intensified. For me the battle got worse before it got better, but when the enemy could see that I was determined to experience victory in this area, the battle ended because the enemy could see that he was defeated. God promises us victory in Christ, but we must be steadfast to persevere even if the battle intensifies at first. I’d like to encourage you to keep going and keep pushing past the enemy because I know that if you do, you will experience victory. The enemy likes to test us to see if we really believe God’s Word and to see if we will persevere in faith. But, when the enemy can see that we know that the victory is ours and we are prepared to fight for it – the battle will end. Fighting the enemy using praise as a weapon also keeps our focus on Jesus and not on the battle itself. We know that when we praise God, keep our eyes focused on Jesus and live in obedience to His commands – He fights our battles and causes our enemies to flee from us.

We see a good example of this from the story of Gideon. When Gideon and his men blew their trumpets, the Midianite army started attacking each other with their swords, after which they fled to Beth Acacia.

When the three hundred blew their trumpets, the LORD set every man’s sword against his companion throughout the whole camp; and the (Midianite) army fled to Beth Acacia, toward Zererah, as far as the border of Abel Meholah, by Tabbath.

Judges 7:22 NKJV

If you feel like this message is speaking to you, may I kindly encourage you to seek the Lord in prayer and start memorizing Scriptures of praise from the book of Psalms. Start with something that’s not too difficult to memorize and then keep adding additional scriptures to that. When unwanted thoughts enter your mind, immediately start praising the Lord using these Scriptures and try to persevere regardless of how long the battle may last. Let me further encourage you by letting you know that I had to sometimes persevere for as long as 1 hour through the battle, but the victory did come. Choose to believe that the victory is yours in Jesus Christ!

God bless you all.