Psalm 47:1 (NKJV) Oh, clap your hands, all you peoples! Shout to God with the voice of triumph!
Psalm 118:15 (NKJV) The voice of rejoicing and salvation Is in the tents of the righteous; The right hand of the Lord does valiantly.
Praise in the form of a shout is a voice of triumph, and praise is a voice of rejoicing, but praise is also a sacrifice because our souls often doesn’t want to praise God. We say, “I don’t feel like praising!”, “I feel lousy and terrible!”, “I didn’t have a good week!”, but sacrifice means it is something difficult for us to do, and we must pay a price for it. In fact, the soulish part of us is crying out for attention, so even more do we need the spirit within us who longs for God to come forth and praise Him.
Hebrews 13:15 (NKJV) Therefore by Him let us continually offer the sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of our lips, giving thanks to His name.
We praise God with our lips by giving thanks to Him not only when everything is good and working well for us, but we need to choose to give thanks even when everything seems to be going against us. Also, we praise and thank God not just for the temporal things but the eternal things, including our salvation.
We are given the ability to rule our lives, and our words of praise give God the authority to work in our lives. When we release words that declare faith in God, God can act on them! We can also ask God to help us to create praise within us. Praise lifts us up above our cares, problems and needs and helps us to focus on God.
Our praise changes the atmosphere around us, and our praise and worship set the atmosphere for the whole service. We normally start with vibrant praise at the beginning of the praise and worship session—lifting up our holy hands to honour and praise Him. It permeates the room with the fragrance of God. Turning the criticising, murmuring, and complaining into praise helps us to redirect our focus to God who works on the impossible rather than having your concentration on the matter at hand. Worrying doesn’t solve the problem, but as we praise God, our minds and emotions will come in line with the Word, and we will shift our attention to God rather than be dragged down by our circumstances.
God’s faithfulness will never change, but our circumstances will change. No matter what you are encountering, declare your faith and confidence in Him by praising Him because praise is a voice of victory and faith in God! All of us should make a conscious decision to praise God despite our emotions and our circumstances.
Sermon Series: ICS Worship Culture (Part 1)
赞美的祭
诗篇47:1：“万民啊，你们都要拍掌，要用夸胜的声音向神呼喊！”
诗篇118:15：“在义人的帐棚里，有欢呼拯救的声音；耶和华的右手施展大能。”
欢呼赞美是胜利的声音，赞美是喜乐的声音，但赞美也是一种献祭，因为我们的魂常常不愿意赞美神。我们会说：“我不想赞美！”，“我感觉很糟糕！”，“我这一周过得不好！”但是献祭意味着对我们来说是困难的事情，我们必须为此付出代价。事实上，我们魂的那部分渴望关注，因此我们更需要我们里面的灵，渴望神，出来赞美祂。
希伯来书13:15：“这样，我们就靠着他，常常献上赞美的祭，就是那颗唇膏的果子，归纳出称赞他名的人。”
我们通过嘴唇赞美神，不仅当一切都顺利的时候感恩祂，而且即使在一切似乎都与我们不利的时候，我们也需要选择感恩。此外，我们不仅为眼前的事赞美和感谢神，也为永恒的事赞美感谢神，包括我们的救恩。
我们被赋予支配自己生活的能力，而我们的赞美之言使神在我们的生命中做工。当我们说出对神信心的宣告时，神就会动工！我们也可以求神帮助我们在内心中创造赞美。赞美使我们超越烦恼、问题和需要，帮助我们专注于神。
我们的赞美改变我们周围的氛围，我们的赞美和敬拜为整个聚会设定了氛围。我们通常在赞美和敬拜开始时，以充满活力的赞美开始，举起圣洁的手来荣耀和赞美祂。整个屋子充满了神的馨香之气。将批评、抱怨和埋怨转化为赞美，可以帮助我们将注意力重新转向神，神在作不可能的事，而不是将注意力集中在手头的事情上。担忧无法解决问题，但当我们赞美神时，我们的思想和情感将与神的话保持一致，我们将注意力转向神，而不是被我们的处境所拖垮。
神的信实永远不会改变，但我们的环境会改变。无论你面临什么，都要通过赞美祂来宣告你对祂的信心和信任，因为赞美是得胜和信靠神的声音！无论我们的情感和环境如何，我们所有人都应该有意识地去赞美神。
讲道系列：ICS的敬拜文化（第一部分）