Mensa Otabil - Praise is Your Weapon
- Watch
- Donate
Welcome to day number 38 of our 40 days of power. Two more days to go! We’ve been discussing praise, worship, and thanksgiving throughout this week, and today we’re looking at praise as a weapon.
In Psalm 8, verse 2, «Out of the mouth of babes and nursing infants, you have ordained strength because of your enemies, that you may silence the enemy and the avenger.» Psalm 8 celebrates the awesomeness of God’s power. Throughout the whole psalm, God’s mighty works are declared, and the writer marvels that amidst all this awesome work, God pays attention to things that do not seem significant, including man and, in this case, babes and infants.
It’s apparent from the psalmist that God uses things that do not seem powerful to accomplish powerful things; that is the good thing about God. Here, he speaks about babes and infants, who are normally considered weak and inexperienced. When going into battle, you don’t take your babies and infants; if the battle is big, you want strong people who can fight for you. Yet the psalmist tells us that in battle, God chooses things we don’t ascribe strength to and states, «Out of the mouth of babes and infants, God has ordained strength.»
That is how our praise appears when we praise God in times of difficulty. People may think we are wasting our time, showing weakness instead of strength. Some may wonder why we are praising God when the battle feels too strong. Sometimes, we think that during hard times, we must push very hard with our effort and do a lot of work. However, God has ordained strength through praise.
When we declare His praise, as the psalmist says in verse 1, «O Lord, our God, how excellent is Your name in all the earth,» God responds. When we do that, He is ordaining strength and releasing strength from within us. Thus, this week, as we have been praising God, strength flows out of our mouths through the power of God. God uses the voice of praise and worship to silence the enemy and the avenger. He employs seemingly weak things to achieve great results, and I believe that as we praise Him, the heavens open over us, and results begin to pour into our lives.
Let us take the weapon of praise as one of our choice weapons. When the praise goes up, the glory comes down. When we declare His excellence and His name’s greatness, His angels battle on our behalf. Throughout the life of Israel, God commanded them to declare His praise in times of battle; they would proclaim, «The Lord is good, and His mercy endures forever.»
As we praise God and worship Him, it is warfare; God is waging battle on your behalf. The angels of God are deployed to act on His command, and God grants you victory. Out of the mouth of babes and infants, God has ordained strength. May your praise become weapons of war in your spiritual battle, in Jesus' name.
Let’s pray, my friends. Say with me: «Heavenly Father, thank You for the weapon of praise. I declare Your praise today: O Lord, our God, how excellent is Your name in all the earth.» In Jesus' name, amen and amen. Well, God bless you! Have a great day, and Pastor Mensa Otabil says, shalom—peace and life to you.