Praise, the Door to Reality

[HKHaugan]

Praise, the Door to Reality

If ever there was a need for stepping into reality it is now. Ultimate reality is God and everything He is, His person and His nature. When we use the word ‘God’ we are moving from our self-centered egos into a realm of identity, perfection and spirit that surpass the most illustrious ideas of man’s imagination. He is the eternal challenge to the core of our being self-conscious, self-dependent and self-exalting beings.

As sinners we spend most of our time in self-determination, self- protection and self-justification. It is the blessing of praise, the practice of praise, the gift and purpose of praise that takes us out of self and into the destiny for which each of us was created. And I say ‘each of us’ because we are His images---spiritual, personal and relational, intended to relate to Him and each other eternally. Praise is the entryway into the discovery of who we really are.

Let’s look at praise. It starts with God, the reality of who He is, His qualities and His presence. Praise gives me a picture of my need for Him. Praise makes me aware of three things.

First it makes me aware of my local reality as one who was born into the flesh with a short lifetime in this world and a clear end in death. I am a created individual dependent on my source, an image in need of the original and an alone figure in the midst of others who are the same.

Second, I am aware that everything in my mind and heart is invisible and motivated by what I can’t see, can’t control and can’t understand. I want answers to who I am and why I am here.

Third, I am aware of being in need of a way to think and act that is productive within and among others. My inner self, my heart, the depth within, festers with its insecurities and fear dominates.

These three things are the chains of sin wrapped around the mind and heart. Praise is the beginning of leaving those bonds of self-awareness and moving into God-awareness. Praise counters the toxic idea that we can’t get our minds around the idea of God and allows God to get His mind around us. That is the struggle of every human being and praise is the antidote. Praise is the foundation of prayer. Without praise we have not yet begun to pray.

So where does praise take me? Psalm 144, let’s start there.

Vs.1-2 Praise be to the LORD my Rock,
who trains my hands for war,
my fingers for battle.
He is my loving God and my fortress,
my stronghold and my deliverer,
my shield, in whom I take refuge,
who subdues peoples under me.

The Lord is my Rock, the foundation built on rock far more stable than the sands of a drifting world that shifts with inconsistent and momentary satisfaction. He is the trainer of my spirit that enables me to stand in the midst of attacks from the spirits and demons that war against my weaknesses and try to derail my mind and heart.

He is God the loving One. He is stretches His grace and love around me and embraces me from within. He is grace and love. It is grace and love that are the walls of the fortress that encloses me in the midst of a hostile world. The false strongholds I have built to protect myself fade and fall as He becomes my single stronghold. He is constantly delivering me from myself, the sinful attitudes that move within the mind and the evil spirits the devil sends to take advantage of the moment when I think I am in control. When the evil one mounts his forces and fires his missiles of anger, lust, pride, fear, control, envy, judgment and discord, the Lord is my shield. His Word splinters them on impact. He is my refuge when the assaults of the latest intellectual fads threaten my mind and the barbs of emotionally driven remarks invade the heart. It is the presence of His truth and love that subdues the people who encircle me with their hostility. Circumstance is the arena of God’s call to praise and praise conquers circumstance.

When I praise the Lord God I am walking in the corridors of His Kingdom knowing that He dwells in the praises of His people. He dwells in the words of His truth. He abides with me as I dwell on who He is. I praise you Lord Jesus, God the Son, Cross bearer, sin forgiver, defeater of the evil one, my personal Savior and bringer of the Father into my heart. My spirit is awakened by you O Holy Spirit and I am caught in the majesty of your presence O Lord Jesus now and forever. How I praise you and my soul sings songs of praise. Amen.