“Praise ye the Lord. Sing unto the Lord a new song, and his praise in the congregation of saints. Let Israel rejoice in him that made him: let the children of Zion be joyful in their King. Let them praise his name in the dance: let them sing praises unto him with the timbrel and harp. For the Lord taketh pleasure in his people” (Psalm 149:1-4).
Some years ago, when I first began to catch sight of the supernatural power of joy, I did a study on it. During that study, I discovered that one of the biblical words for joy is translated “to shine.” Another word means “to leap.” Another means “to delight.” But in every case, joy is more than an attitude, it is an action.
As I studied, I also found out that, as Psalm 149 says, joyful praise gives God pleasure. It doesn’t offend God when we boisterously praise Him. He likes it. It gives Him pleasure to see us shine and leap and express our delight in Him.
“Let the saints be joyful in glory. Let the high praises of God be in their mouth, and a two-edged sword in their hand” (vv. 5-6).
I know that by natural standards, that kind of exuberant praise doesn’t look very dignified. I looked up the word dignified once. It meant a lot of things, including “self-possession” or “self-respect.” I do not want to be self-possessed. I want to be Holy Spirit-controlled. But I am sure that my idea of dignity had kept me from being as free as I should be with the Lord.
As believers, we need to get past the point where we care about that. We need to focus instead on pleasing God. We should have such a desire to please Him that we don’t care how we look to other people.
“But Gloria, that’s easy for you to say. You’re comfortable with expressing yourself to God in praise.”
I haven’t always been. I was so conservative when I first began to walk with God that it took me a long time to even begin to lift my hands in praise. But I broke through that “dignity” and so can you!
Speak the Word: I praise the Lord. I praise the Lord in the dance. I sing praises to Him with musical instruments. For the Lord takes pleasure in me. (Psalm 149:1-4)
For Further Study: Psalm 149
Daily Scripture Reading: 1 Chronicles 24-25; 2 Timothy 2
Eagle Mountain International Church, Inc.
aka: Kenneth Copeland Ministries
For the last 50 years Kenneth and Gloria Copeland have been passionately teaching Christians all over the world how to apply the principles of faith found in God's WORD to their lives.
They have seven ministry offices around the world: United States, Canada, Africa, Asia, Australia, Europe, Ukraine and Latin America. Their God-given directive is to preach and teach the uncompromised WORD of God on every available voice, which is being accomplished through a variety of channels, including our Believer's Voice of Victory TV and radio broadcasts, podcast and magazine; Believers' Conventions, Victory Campaigns and Living Victory meetings; published books, website, and social media channels, to name a few.
With the expansion of technology, they have more work to do now than ever. They are determined to let the world know Jesus is LORD, and they are not slowing down anytime soon!
Website: https://www.kcm.org