Articles
The Power of Praise--Transcript
Good evening everybody or afternoon I should say.
Good to be with you again.
Once again a blessing, an honor and a joy and with great gratitude I'm happy to be here to spend time with you and to worship God with you and I'm looking forward to tonight's lesson as it is entitled The Power of Praise.
I'd like to start out by reading a scripture and that is Ephesians chapter 5 and verse 18 through 20, one of the singing scriptures we might say.
In Ephesians chapter 5 beginning in verse 18 it reads, and do not get drunk with wine in which there is debauchery but be filled with the Spirit speaking to one another in Psalms and in hymns and in spiritual songs singing and making melody with your hearts to the Lord always giving thanks for all things in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ to our God and Father.
When it comes to the concept of the power of praise I probably could not tell you all of the marvelous stories that exist in the time allotted us tonight about how praise accomplishes so many beautiful things in life the power of singing sacred music or listening to sacred music.
There are so many wonderful and inspiring stories.
I remember several years ago when I was first teaching, it was my first year teaching at Florida colleges as the chorus director and there was always this super happy guy in the back, a big guy probably 6 foot 4, 6 foot 5, had a big smile like a big teddy bear.
He always greeted everybody that came out the back doors and he always smiled and came up patted you on the back, shook your hand and would always start strike up a conversation with you and especially paid attention to new people visitors and so on and as I think it was maybe just my second or third time at services his name was John.
John took my hand, it was after a Sunday night service and he said we are so happy to have you here let me ask you a question and I said okay he goes I always make an effort to greet every new person that comes in this building I want them to feel welcome I want them to feel a part of this family as fast as I can possibly make them feel that and so I always try and think of a interesting question to ask them about their experience in worshiping here and if you've ever been to Florida this was the what used to be referred to as the North Livingston Church of Christ now there's only one church on Livingston Drive so it's just called the Livingston Church of Christ but I remember he said this question he said what do you think when I ask people what their favorite part of the worship service was what do you think they say and I thought to myself well they probably say a really inspiring lesson a really great sermon and he goes well there are some people that say that's the part that really touches them or moves them the most but he goes you know what I get most of all like nine times out of ten from every visitor he says it's the singing it's the singing they say things like I have never heard that before these are people that come from all walks of life they say it's just so beautiful it's it's so moving it's so touching just hearing the pure sound of the human voices blending in beautiful harmonies they're not getting drowned out by an organ they're not getting overpowered by a praise band it's just the beautiful instrument that God designed within humankind is just the voices blending so powerful so moving and they'd often tell him I'm coming back just for that alone I would come back just to be a part of that again they love that gorgeous sacred music pure and with a human voice alone and I just thought that was kinda neat that that's what touched people the most because how many times do we as Christians and maybe you don't do this maybe it's because of my more worldly upbringing but I sometimes worry that a person might not want to worship at a given church because their music worship doesn't seem maybe as exciting as another place that does incorporate a big praise band or you know have a small chamber orchestra or whatever but strictly singing maybe that would turn people off but it's amazing that it's what turned most of the visitors on so keep it up what you're doing folks you sing beautifully here you really really do and I I hear you putting your hearts into it keep doing that because when you have visitors they're gonna love that they're gonna be drawn to that it's sincere it's true it's pure it's gorgeous so keep it up keep it up let me if you don't mind indulge me for just a moment let me tell you a little bit about how music moved me towards finding God because that's how powerful praise is that's how powerful sacred music is in general so when I was 16 years old I was on a trip to Europe we were with a choir called the Sounds of Hope it was a mixture of people from all walks of life I was one of the youngest people on the trip but it was people well up into their 50s 60s and 70s just people that love to sing and it was mostly people you know from churches and things that combine forces the group was called the Sounds of Hope and its focus was strengthening ties between Europeans and Americans and so we would go all over Europe giving concerts singing you know beautiful sacred pieces and I was a bit of a wild child probably for some of the things I did on that tour I probably should have got sent home but nonetheless nonetheless at the same time I was starting to be really moved by walking in these cathedrals hearing gorgeous music Varner Chance who was the director at the time this guy was like in his 90s and he was still taking people in his tours he was an inspiration he said something neat to me once we walked into this cathedral and he said I want you to look at the back of this cathedral and tell me what it makes you want to do so I looked at the back and I couldn't help it I just started looking up he goes it's designed to do that it's to make you want to look up to heaven just it's an artistic thing that they how they designed the building and that's pretty fascinating that's really neat so I just started to pique my interest about spiritual things and I had bought one of these 399 cassettes of classical music before I went on this trip because I knew there was going to be a lot of bus time and and I going to Europe I just kinda wanted to start to experience classical music I had not really been raised to appreciate that and I knew a lot of Europe was about that well I loved it you know I loved this music and and so there was this collegiate gal on our trip she was a European history major and this was like the last week or two that we were on tour and I asked her I said so I'm getting into classical music can you tell me what is the most inspiring what is the most moving what is most powerful piece of sacred music you have ever heard in your life and she goes hands down the Mozart Requiem now if you don't know what a Requiem is a Requiem is a mass for the dead so it's in musical form it's a type of music that is written by a composer in a sense to honor the life of usually somebody important and so it's sung it's performed by an orchestra a choir soloists at the funeral of again somebody of great importance almost every composer known to man you know of significance Mozart Beethoven so on a lot of these guys wrote Requiem's it was part of you know what they wrote so she said you gotta get the Mozart Requiem you gotta listen to that so lo and behold with my last five dollars I've blown all the rest my money my mom and dad had given me my last week my last five dollars we stop at a gas station and there it is right on the shelf there's a little cassette of the Mozart Requiem I bought it I put it in my Walkman those of you that are older know what I'm talking about popped on my headphones and bald my eyes out for the rest of the trip it was so moving it was so powerful it was so touching it was even incredibly scary at times I don't know if you guys know when Mozart wrote his Requiem but he was commissioned later in life to write it and he was actually dying as he was writing it he didn't even finish it yet another composer come over and help him try and finish it literally as he was dying and so some people believe that there's some kinda sensation of him just really sensing the afterlife and the fear of going to hell as he's writing some of the sections of this piece of music and I'm telling you man it moved me like nothing else and as I was listening to that I was being so moved spiritually I was wanting to give more devotion to God I started going to the library once I got back and I'd go and I'd open up these books of sacred art by Michelangelo and look at these pictures of Christ on the cross and be so moved by what I saw visually as they depicted so amazingly the actual human body in torment and I just started being drawn more and more to spiritual things having a love for Christ crucified and how so many people were so touched by him hearing how they wrote music seeing how they drew art to embody our Savior moved me to want to straighten out my life and then my senior year I was in a musical called Godspell if any of you are fans of music theater here but it's a neat musical because it's based very almost strictly on the book of Matthew now it kinda turns it more into skits of the different teachings of Christ but it's a way we memorize tons of scripture in it as you're learning the role and actually landed the role of the Jesus figure in the musical and again music moved me to a closer walk with the Lord its powerful powerful stuff this is a story that some of you who are song leaders or if you've ever given a lesson on the power of praise on the power of music this is a really powerful story the story of a man by the name of EP Scott he was a missionary to India in the 19th century and there were several missionaries over there trying to teach the people of India about Jesus there was one remote area that several preachers had ventured into and they never came back they were killed by some of the tribes and the peoples deep within some of those forests and areas in India and so EP Scott said I gotta go I gotta go there they need the Lord and his fellow preacher said don't do it you're gonna lose your life but he was he was destined to go and so he ventured in to that region where they told him not to go and lo and behold he surrounded by natives they have spears up to his neck he thinks he's going to die but he does something really amazing he closes his eyes he takes a deep breath and he starts singing at the top of his lungs all hail the power of Jesus name eyes closed singing with all of his heart thinking that at any moment he could be run through with one of these spears so he gets about halfway through the song and he opens his eyes and tribesmen all their spears are down and some of them are even crying they don't speak his language but they were so moved by the music itself that they spared his life and they didn't only spare his life they took him back to their camp in time he learned their language they learned his and he began teaching them the gospel he opened a door that nobody else could with music with him the D and they thought I said they didn't even speak his language so they don't know what he was saying but his heart spoke so deeply those words in such a time as that that they were touched by his heart and by his song and by the fact that he was praising his God before them whether it's simply listening to sacred songs or taking part in the singing of sacred songs especially as it pertains to being in the midst of the assembly as we are now singing together with fellow Christians that's special many will emphatically say that singing God's praises is one of the most moving one of those special and one of the most powerful experiences that they've ever had why is praising God so beloved by people why do people love it so much especially maybe and all acts of worship are vital and important but why does this one affect some people so deeply maybe even the majority of people well I think the reason that this one is so special to a lot of people is this is an act of worship where we are all highly involved in it we all almost feel like we take a leadership role we all gotta get up we all gotta sing we all gotta look at the words and of course were encouraged to let them sink deep within us but we're more physically active and spiritually active in singing than we are perhaps in any other act of worship and it's powerful that we're all doing it together as one voice and that's just a powerful thing to think about I believe that is one reason of course why people are so deeply touched by singing God's praises it's a deeply moving experience from within as we sing and it is a deeply moving experience from without as we listen to other people sing either together with them or again as we're simply listening to a recording at home or in our cars again sacred music is incredibly incredibly powerful I would argue that it's unlike any other act of worship because there's a duality to it you are literally marrying it's the perfect marriage between sacred lyrics the words and the music it's this beautiful combination that makes them one and it's very special it's unique you know I remember when I was teaching at Florida College I taught music appreciation and I used to ask kids this question on tests I didn't mark it wrong one way or the other I just wanted to see what people would say what's more important in a hymn the lyrics the words or the music what do you think does the Bible tell us it doesn't tell us it never said it's not even a question in the Bible you were supposed to sing it's a command of worship it's a type of worship it's an act of worship but it doesn't say which is more important obviously we read scripture obviously up we preach and include scripture when we're preaching but music is special when it's combined with those lyrics it's elevated to a whole nother level it's elevated to a whole nother act of worship in and of itself again it makes it very very unique and then it combines two beautiful and amazing things some would even say that the the strongest sense of bonding that we get in worship the strongest sense of closeness and oneness that we feel and even more of a contemporary use of the word fellowship many people would say that the deepest level of fellowship they find when they sing with brothers and sisters in Christ so again a very special act of worship and what I'm about to say is something I want to say to people in the room who tell funny jokes about you know they couldn't sing their way outside of a bucket and stuff like that you've heard people say that before I can't match a pitch for the life of me I heard a really funny story today from a brother in Christ that when he was younger and in school and his class was doing some kind of show of sorts the teacher told him he didn't have to sing he could just keep quiet during this part it is funny it is funny you know people of Austin asked me as director what do you do when you have a kid in choir that man his heart is totally into it but he's way off pitch all the time he can't match pitch and I'll often say I have him sing bass and tell him to sing as low as he can isn't that terrible but listen God doesn't care if you sound like Pavarotti or Kermit the Frog he doesn't care he's not interested in what you physically sound like he cares about this and I'll tell you one of the most moving experiences I ever had praising God and it's so basic but it's beautiful this is when I lived out in Arizona I was up on my way to a Wednesday night service and I was running late you know I get in there and everybody's there already and I was running the back door real quick and one of the elders Bobby Banks who's a beloved friend of mine he was standing in the back because he'd always meet and greet peoples are coming and so forth and Bobby doesn't match pitch real well but I was late so he put his hymnal over by me so we could share and I could sing the song there in the middle of singing at the moment and man I'm telling you that guy I don't care if he was matching pitch he put his whole heart and soul into that song it was so moving that I almost started to get a little teary-eyed I was so touched because I I felt his heart as he was singing even though some of the pitches weren't on par didn't care he got into it get into it I don't care if you're matching pitch perfectly nobody cares you know what I find beautiful too we see this in symphonia a lot that's one of the groups I conduct and some of you were singing in that and have sung in that in years past we always have a few people in symphonia that are a little shaky on pitch but what's amazing is you put them next to one person that has a pretty good sense of pitch bam they're right on track I even heard that this evening and this morning when I was singing that I heard a person or two that was struggling a little bit but the minute someone else stepped in and sang their part strongly bam they're right on track so we help each other and it's beautiful to even see it in that how we we lift each other and bless each other and guide each other so I don't care if you can't match pitch sing and if you're worried you're gonna throw people off then just sing softly but sing you know get into it feel it sense it hone in on the words and what you're saying don't just not sing I see that sometimes it makes me sad sing the kids need to see you doing it they need to see you getting into it as do other people around you now let's return to our scripture reading that we started with at the beginning of our lesson again in Ephesians 5 and 18 through 20 I want you to pay particular attention to the comparison between the two things at the front end it's kind of peculiar it starts out by saying don't get drunk with wine and we have other passages that tell us as Christians that Christians should not be drunkards okay don't get drunk with wine in which there's debauchery but but do something else in its place is almost what it feels like and you can correct me if I'm wrong but it says but be filled with the spirit some might say be filled with the Holy Spirit don't be filled with spirits which sometimes alcohol is referred to as be filled with the true spirit how by speaking to one another in Psalms and hymns and spiritual songs singing and making melody with your hearts to the Lord so why this comparison between drunkenness and singing good question the truth is brothers and sisters in Christ most people long for the excitement we love such things that make us feel good and yes sinful or not sinful people love the different excitements that there are in this life the different highs if you will you ever heard somebody say man I I read this book or I listen to this song and it gave me a good cry remember the first time I heard a girl say that like that's weird a good cry you know but then I listen to Mozart Requiem and I know she was talking about you know there is such thing as a good cry it feels good to be you know to be emotionally moved by something and it doesn't just have to be a sorrowful move move you know being moved it can be one that excites you I was a crazy young person I remember the first time I heard the Verdi Requiem remember I said major composers often all write a Requiem he has this selection within his work his Dies Irae rendering which is talking about the day of wrath day of terror when God comes back to destroy the world it's so powerful as this guy on the tympani slamming as as as powerfully as he can and there's trumpets blasting from up there and over there and back over there it's a huge ginormous choir and they're all you know fiery and going crazy with the Latin text I used to pop the top on my car put my rear end on the top of my seat and drive like that to church going about 80 90 miles an hour it was such a high don't do that kids that was bad that was bad but I'm telling you music is so empowering so exciting as well as something that again drives you towards the sorrow that we sometimes need to be drawn to a love for Christ but people love all the plethora of emotions that there are they love physical sensation they love highs they love thrills I went to this concert someone might say and the singer or the musicians or the particular composition the song that I heard it just gave me chill bumps after the concert you know I I went out and I bought the album and I just played the song over and over and over again I just couldn't get enough of it you ever experienced a song like that before or how about I was singing on stage and I'm telling you it was such an amazing experience I experienced what's called the performers high like I've never never felt before it was amazing those of you that have maybe done theater before music theater opera things like that you sense that sometimes athletes sense that too or they're just having an incredible day and they just perform at a level like they've never performed before and there's like a sensation of high and adrenaline that comes from it that's incredibly powerful and moving we could even talk about thrill seekers like the folks you see in the picture there on roller coasters and the people want to jump out airplanes which they're completely crazy because they're on the ground already don't know why they do that but my older brothers in the military is a green great green beret medic for much of his life and he did all kinds of crazy stuff he loved such thrills is that a lot of people do but people love to experience all manner of emotions and feelings and sensations and the apostle paul is telling us in the letter to the aphesians that we can engage these beautiful happy exciting moving emotions in a way that does not debilitate us or group us low like alcohol does but instead lift us up to a higher plane to heights that are almost indescribable by the way music touches us and moves us and that's why maybe he compares it to alcohol because in that day and age that might have been the thing that they thought would make them feel ethereal and wonderful and relaxed and so on and so forth but Paul saying there's something so much better than that that will move you that will touch you that will make you feel far superior not inferior not lowly not drunk but high in the best kind of sense another reason that praise is so powerful is that it engages something really neat it engages our memory it engages our memory let the word of Christ dwell in you richly Colossians 3 and 16 Colossians 3 and 16 let the word of Christ dwell in you richly teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom singing Psalms and hymns and spiritual songs with thankfulness in your hearts to God I remember a kiddo at FC coming up to me when the kiddo anymore he was an adult he had kids and he said Mr.
Wyatt I just want to tell you how grateful I am for that one song that you wrote when I was at FC that we that we did in concerts and so forth and the song was called Jehovah's mighty son and it started off by people singing John chapter 1 portions of scripture there and Isaiah 53 and it was strictly just basically scripture there were some repeated parts but he said I absolutely love that like when I'm partaking of the Lord's Supper now I can it's memorized Isaiah 53 I love that because of that song it's now deeply embedded in me I can't forget it anymore I just start thinking of that song and I moved by the by the music and it makes the lyrics it elevates them it makes me remember them more deeply moms and dads this is important it's good for all of us individually but it's also great for your kids you know the best way to embed scripture deep within your heart and your mind is to set it to song and the best way to embed scripture deep within the hearts and minds of your kids is through song I wanna read for you a pretty fascinating scripture about this concept of how it's something that we're gonna remember when we learn a song and how it's gonna stick with us and likely if we teach it to our kids it's gonna stick with them and it's gonna go from generation to generation listen what God says in Deuteronomy 31 and 19 through 22 now write down this song and teach it to the Israelites and have them sing it he's speaking to Moses so that it may be a witness for me against them when I brought them into the land flowing with milk and honey the land I promised on oath to their ancestors and when they eat their fill and thrive they will turn to other gods and worship them rejecting me excuse me and breaking my covenant verse 21 and when many disasters and calamities come on them this song will testify against them because it will not be forgotten by their descendants I know what they're disposed to do even before I bring them into the land I promise them on oath so Moses wrote down this song that day and put it to the Israelites not only would they remember it they teach it to their children and later on when they've fallen away from the Lord their kids are still gonna be singing it and it's gonna testify against them it's gonna hit them like a ton of bricks that's right I remember that song we should listen to the Lord we need to turn back to him in that powerful the power of song and the power that song can have in embedding something deep in our memory spiritual songs Psalms, hymns and spiritual songs maybe you've heard this before Psalms are Psalms so they're songs based on the Psalms that we have in the Old Testament hymns are generally spiritual songs that praise God the Father spiritual songs or songs of the Spirit are generally songs that teach as Jesus told the apostles early on when I leave I will send my helper and we know that to have been the Holy Spirit and he will guide you into what to say and as we read the book of Acts and as we read the letters that's the Holy Spirit inspiring people like Paul and Peter and James and John and so on to write the things down that they did and those are lessons for you and I as New Testament Christians spiritual songs are based on those lessons and those lessons are far more memorized when you set them to music so that's what we're to be doing set God's word to music and they will dwell richly within you Colossians 3 and verse 16 how many of you can recite the books of the Bible and how many of you do it by singing the song raise your hand case in point yes see I wasn't raised in the church so I start to do that like a Genesis you know I drag it on and on and on and on I finally put it together but my wife just flies right through it singing that song not even hardly a thought it just comes right to her again it's because she was taught to set it to music so do you want your children and your children's children to remember God and God's word then write it deep in their hearts and minds through song as we bring our time to a close folks again I've not even touched the hem of the garment as they say about all of the amazing things that music does many of you might have heard of music therapy I'm when I was growing up it was just barely even on the you know the spectrum so to speak of something that people were considering but in more modern times that they tested it so much they ran so many tests that are they're finding more and more that they're just a ridiculous amount of benefits to listening to music to singing music to being a part of a group that sings music like a choir or a church and you can just see a few up there on the slide improves mood and mental health boosts your immune system strengthens your breathing improves posture and muscle tone promotes emotional expression improves cognitive function builds social connections again like in a musical ensemble like in a church I knew a brother in Christ once a preacher who was fighting cancer and he said they gave me drugs and stuff to fight the pain and and they gave me more trouble than the pain did by itself so many side effects but he goes I'll tell you what man I put on my Bose headphones and I turned on music that moved me and I cranked it up and it took me to another world I transcended to a place that separated me from a major part of my pain music is powerful use it it's not some story it's not some fantasy it's just hard for us to really you know gather some kinda tangible thing that says so but you know it when you start listening to it what it does to your heart and your spirit in your body your emotions it's powerful stuff engage it and it will bless your walk and it will bless your children's walk many of you know this guy I believe we lost him back in 2021 he's a preacher by the name of D Bowman wonderful man very gifted preacher and teacher he was a backup singer for buddy Holly when he was a young man some of you may not know that him and his brothers were backup singers for buddy Holly and when I started trying to discern whether or not I wanted to stay at FC or pursue my singing career he sat down with me and tried to encourage me to just stay at FC he said a performer's life is tough and spiritually it can be rough too because you're not home very much and so on and I loved him though he always gave me such great advice he's a wonderful mentor and he said something to me that I found very moving and powerful as a musician he said did you know that of all the acts of worship only one of them continues in heaven singing none of the others are needed any longer but singing continues in heaven what does that say about singing it's like this beautiful thread that connects the earth to heaven it's just it's hard to fathom but it continues the angels are doing it we're doing it up there it continues for eternity praising our God and our Savior it's just something neat to think about but again once it do it just exemplifies the power and the importance of music don't take it for granted apply it to your life people often say you gotta improve your prayer life you need to prove your Bible life you need to improve your church life I'm gonna give you a new one I want you to improve your praising God life it's so easy today to plug your phone into your car and listen to your favorite hymns listen to your favorite sacred music on your way to work on your way home from work while you're at home doing chores and stuff put something on in the background allow it to move you to a closer walk with the Lord and your kids too so add it to your prayer life your Bible life and so on put it in that important group of things you need to be doing enhance and grow your sacred music life again brothers and sisters in Christ thanks for being here tonight and or it's still the afternoon I'm just so used to doing services at night thanks for being here today we never wanna leave our time together offering an opportunity for one to make their life right with the Lord and I'm sure that your beloved preacher here in your eldership here would tell you I don't care if you wanna come forward now or if you find that in the middle of the night you want to make your life right with the Lord we will be here immediately because it's that important when you feel the need to make your life right with the Lord when you come to the understanding that you are in sin and you wanna wash those sins away and you wanna be right with God and you are ready to feel pure and holy and right with him again and you wanna start your walk to heaven you wanna be a part of that eternal kingdom then your brothers and sisters in Christ wanna be here to celebrate that moment with you and help you accomplish that beautiful beautiful act of love and humility if there's someone here that's not yet obeyed the gospel and been buried in the watery grave of baptism I know this body of believers would love to see you do that at this time maybe there's a Christian or more here that has been struggling with your faith and you could really use the prayers of your family we would pray for you we would assist you in whatever way we could to help you get back on that beautiful narrow path that leads to eternal life we can assist you in any way won't you come forward as we stand and sing our song
