Worship Warrior

"For though we live in the world, we do not wage war as the world does. 

 The weapons we fight with are not weapons of the world.  On the contrary,

 they have divine power to demolish strongholds." 

 2Corinthians10:3,4

This past week we were in New Mexico with our eldest son and his family.  One of the highlights when we visit is the opportunity to worship with them on Sundays.  Mike plays drums for his church's praise team.  It's always a special treat to sing to the Lord with Lil and our three grand daughters by our side, as Mike worships on the drums.

One of the men at church mentioned he believes Mike has a spiritual gift for worship.  Like a warrior preparing for battle he beats the drums, proclaiming victory over the enemy.

I loved seeing and hearing that visual picture of victory and it got me thinking about some passages in scripture regarding praise and worship.  They are indeed weapons with divine power to demolish strongholds.

Remember Joshua and the battle of Jericho?  "...at the sound of the trumpet, when the people gave a loud shout, the wall collapsed..."  In biblical times the trumpet was used as a warning of approaching danger, to signal a time of meeting, to proclaim a new king in Israel.  But is was also used as a celebration of God as King over all the earth (Psalm 47).  Trumpets were a source of praise to the Sovereign God.

There are many stories of battles being supernaturally won in scripture:  Jehoshaphat's victory over the vast armies of the Moabites and Ammonites (2Chronicles 20) and Gideon's battle against the Midianites in Judges 7 are just two.  God's people were facing overwhelming odds and almost sure defeat, when they stopped focusing on their circumstances and instead lifted up praise to the God who rules over all the nations.  There was victory over the enemy again and again.

In the Book of Acts, Paul and Silas were thrown into prison.  About midnight they were praying and singing hymns to God (Acts 16).  Suddenly there was such a violent earthquake that the prison doors flew open and everyone's chains were loosed.

Psalm 149 says this about God's people, "Let the praise of God be in their mouths and a double-edged sword in their hands."  This is our battle stance:  our focus and praise on Sovereign God and the double-edged sword of His Word in our hands.

I enjoyed watching my 'worship warrior' son pouring out his heart to God as he played the drums and I thank the Lord who has brought him to this point.  He and his family have faced difficult struggles in the past and I'm sure there will be more ahead, as there will likely be for all of us.  I pray that the God who deserves all our praise continues to be his focus and his delight.

Oh - and this little extra about praising God in the midst of battle:  When the 12 tribes of Israel were in the desert, the Lord instructed them to march in a certain order.  The tribe of Judah always marched out first.  In Hebrew the word "Judah" means "praise"!