The Mysteries of PraiseSample

Praise is Obedience (Jericho March)

Have you ever felt like life isn’t going as you hoped—like you’re stuck in a circle of pain, failure, or even near wins? When we experience such, we cry out to God to deliver us from what many call "a wilderness season." In the Bible, we see the Children of Israel collectively go through the actual wilderness for 40 years between their exodus from Egypt and their entry into the Promised Land of Canaan. Some of them probably believed their prime years were over. For others, the wilderness was the only life they’d ever known.

After 40 years of wandering, the Israelites came to the edge of their Promise. As they finally faced the land that had probably begun to feel like an impossible promise, they were confronted with fortified city walls. If you were in their shoes, you might expect God to equip you with battering rams that will bring down the walls or to miraculously open the city gates so you may walk in, but it was not so.

Instead, God gave a peculiar Instruction: “March around the city…with trumpets of rams horn.” You might wonder, what does an instrument of Praise have to do with entering into God’s Promise? Well, that is one of the mysteries of Praise. Praise defies our human logic. It’s not the action we’d naturally choose when facing obstacles, yet it is what aligns us with God’s Power and Plan because it shifts our focus from our limitations to God’s Limitlessness. Praise is how we affirm the Faithfulness of God and His Sovereignty over our situations.

When God gives an Instruction of Praise as we face the battles of life, our only appropriate response is obedience. As the Israelites obeyed God’s Instructions, praising Him with their voices and instruments, He caused the walls to fall. In the same way, lift up your voice, raise your instruments of Praise, and believe the Word of God that victory is yours. As you do so, He will bring down the walls that stand in your way and take you into His Promise.

Reflection

What walls are you facing today? How can you use Praise to show your obedience to God?

Prayer

Lord, help me to obey Your Instructions and trust Your Ways, even when they seem unusual. I lift my voice in Praise today, believing that You will bring down the walls in my life. Amen.