Let all the people praise Thee,
O God. Let all the people praise Thee. Then shall the earth yield
her increase, and God, even our own God, shall bless us. Psalm 67, 5 and 6. This is a little book called
Praise Changes Things by Mrs. Letty Kalman, the author of the
beloved devotional, Streams in the Desert. Many homes display
the motto, Prayer Changes Things, and great blessings have resulted
from this simple statement. We're all aware that prayer does
change things. We know also that many times
the enemy has not been moved one inch from his stronghold,
although we've persisted in prayer for days, months, yes, often
years. Such was my own experience when
passing through a time of very great pressure, and prayer did
not change things. I came into possession of a wonderful
secret. That secret is simply this. After
we've prayed and believed, Praise changes things. One morning during
the summertime, a fellow missionary who was then a guest in our home
went out into the garden for a stroll among the flowers. He
returned after a short time holding in his hand a lovely white pigeon
which he had found beside the garden walk. One of its wings
was injured and it couldn't fly. The missionary became greatly
interested in its welfare, building a coat from an old wooden box
to shelter it from the weather, and feeding it morning, noon,
and night. As the days came and went, the
pigeon became quite tame. It would watch its mates as they
soared away up through the heavens blue, making no attempt to use
its wings and follow them in their flight. Poor little bird
with a broken wing. Our hearts were knit to the wee
thing in tender sympathy. For were we not also prisoners?
Prayer had gone up from our hearts almost unceasingly. One long
yearning cry for deliverance from the bondage which held us.
Not one rift in the cloud could we discern. Although our prayer
wing was fully developed, we were like the little bird, bound. We do praise God that throughout
those dark days we were kept from fainting. Faith ever beheld
a star of hope. Our loving Lord drew our attention
at this time to an altogether new line of attacking the enemy.
His Word unfolded, step by step, and such a revelation of the
secret of obtaining victory was given that our prayer life underwent
a complete transformation. We discovered that two wings
were necessary to mount the soul Godward—prayer, praise, prayer
asks, Praise takes or obtains the answer. I fancy that some
who read these lines may say, I too have prayed and prayed,
but I don't feel like praising God. Praise when my heart is
bleeding and torn? Praise when the pressure is greatest?
Praise when walking through the valley of the shadow with the
one I've loved better than my own life? Nay, tell me rather
to weep. How can I praise God at such
a time? In Psalm 107.22, we find these words, sacrifice, the sacrifice
of thanksgiving. What is sacrifice? It's an offering
to God. A sacrifice of thanksgiving is
to praise God when you don't feel like it, when you're depressed
and despondent, when your life is covered with thick clouds
and midnight darkness. This is acceptable to God, a
sweet-smelling Savior to our Lord and King. While we are admonished
to pray without ceasing, are we not also commanded to rejoice
evermore? Again, for this is the will of
God concerning you. When shall I praise God? When
I feel happy and when everything's moving along smoothly? When there's
no trial crossing my pathway? It would be no sacrifice to praise
God at such a time as this. Sacrifice hurts. It costs. It costs blood. The book of Jonah
contains a very precious truth, which throws a great deal of
light upon this subject. No one could have been in a place
where the outlook was darker. Jonah was at the bottom of the
sea with the weeds wrapped around his head. What a desperate situation. Humanly speaking, every ray of
hope was gone, and he said, My soul fainteth within me. But
listen, in his trouble he also said, I will look again toward
thy holy temple. He did the very sensible thing
when he took his eyes off the discouraging surroundings, put
them in the rightful place, and began to pray. He then went a
step further and determined to praise without feeling, saying,
I will sacrifice with the voice of thanksgiving. What a place
for a praise meeting! And what a song! Salvation! Deliverance is of the Lord! As
he sang and praised, the great whale began to rise toward the
surface of the water and move out toward the shore, and Jonah
soon found himself upon the dry land. Praise has a wonderful
lifting power. We need not be anxious about
the outcome of things if we will but take the attitude of deliverance
and begin to praise. When Jonah's soul fainted within
him, he deliberately looked right away from his impossible surroundings
and uttered these wonderful words, they that observe lying vanities
forsake their own mercy. Let's note this lesson. When
Jonah was hemmed in on every side, everything that he could
see which suggested disaster, he called a lying vanity. If
he hadn't taken his eyes off these lying vanities, he would
have forsaken the mercy that God offered him. We never get
faith by looking at ourselves, our surroundings, our difficulties. We read in 1 Samuel of Saul being
tormented by an evil spirit. David was sent for, and the record
says, when David played upon his harp, the evil spirit left
Saul, and he was well. Is not this a splendid way of
getting rid of the enemy when he attacks us with mental depression? The weakest saint made Satan
rout, who meets him with a praiseful shout. Martin Luther once wrote
these words, when I can't pray, I always sing. It is said that
there is not one despondent note to be found in the New Testament.
In 2 Chronicles, there's a thrilling narrative concerning a battle
won through praise. Jehoshaphat was told that a great
multitude was coming against him from beyond the sea. He fully
realized the difficulty of the situation and went to the Lord
with his trouble. His was a humble prayer. We have
no might against this great company. Neither know we what to do, but
our eyes are upon Thee. Not upon the greatness of the
difficulty, but upon Him. It was a crucial test, but the
Lord didn't leave Jehoshaphat in doubt as to his will, but
made it known through one of the young men who spoke these
words of the Lord, The battle is not yours, but God's. Ye shall
not need to fight. Fear not, nor be dismayed. Fear is a deadly enemy. Let's
remember, when we're tempted to tremble, that God hath not
given us the spirit of fear, but of power, and of love, and
of a sound mind. 2 Timothy 1, 7. And then Jehoshaphat
appointed singers who should go forth before the army singing,
Praise the Lord, for his mercy endureth forever. All this they
did, and not yet one visible sign of the promised salvation
of the Lord. Right in the very face of battle,
against an army mighty in number, they sang, Praise the Lord. The inspired record says, When
they began to sing and to praise, the Lord set ambushments against
the children of Ammon, Moab, and Mount Seir, and they were
smitten. Two of the allied opposing armies
began to fight the third, and when they had demolished them,
they turned upon each other until the valley was filled with dead
bodies and none escaped. They had more than victory after
this. For we read, Jehoshaphat and
his people were three days in gathering of the spoil it was
so much. So you see, they were much richer
at the end of the trial than at the beginning. They had added
good, which they had never dreamed of possessing, and the way of
the wicked was turned upside down. There are two songs in
Jehoshaphat's great battle, the song of praise before and the
song of deliverance afterwards. We also should have two songs.
A song in the Valley of Barakab, blessing, praising God for the
fulfillment of all that He's promised. But it's more precious
to have the song of praise before, praising Him without sight or
feeling, while we see Him set ambushments against the enemy
and complete the victory. Shall we not have both? The marvelous
experience which Paul and Silas had while in prison is but another
example of the result of praise at midnight. They were bound
in an inner prison, their feet fast in the stocks because they
had preached the old-time religion. Such preaching always stirs up
opposition and brings persecution, for the enemy doesn't wish any
invasion of his territory. There was no earthly way to escape
for them, and it looked as if they would lose their lives the
next day. But there's always a divine way out of a difficulty.
No matter how great the difficulty may seem, we have the sure promise
made by the unfailing Promiser. But God will, with the temptation
or testing, also make a way of escape. 1 Corinthians 10.13 The
God of the impossible can make ways where there are no ways.
Do we hear Paul and Silas complaining of the hardness of the way? Are
they grumbling? Weeping? Wondering why the Lord
has allowed them to get into this peculiar predicament? We
do praise God that no sound of murmuring came through all those
prison walls. In that uncomfortable position
in prison, their backs bleeding from wounds inflicted by the
throngs, they praised God, offering unto Him the sacrifice of thanksgiving. Methinks their duet ran something
after this fashion. His grace is sufficient for me.
His grace is sufficient for me. His strength is made perfect
in weakness. His grace is sufficient for me. As they sang and praised, the
miracle was wrought. The foundation of that dingy
old prison began to tremble. The building rocked and swayed.
The doors burst open and they were free. Everyone's bands were
loose. Thus, the Lord takes the things
that are against us and transforms them into blessings for ourselves
and others, even using our enemies to fight for us. Beloved, Is
it a midnight time in your life? Are you in a dungeon? Your feet
held fast in the stocks? Have you given up in hopeless
despair, thinking that escape is impossible? Begin right now
to praise God. Whoso offereth the sacrifice
of thanksgiving glorifyeth me, and prepareth a way that I may
show him the salvation of God. Psalm 50, 23. God's Word is true. When you begin to praise, He
will send the earthquake and set you free. He will break every
yoke. Isaiah 58, 6. Habakkuk, that prophet of old,
knew something of this wonderful secret of victory, for he too
sang a song of praise in his darkest hour. Catch the echo. Although the fig tree shall not
blossom, neither shall fruit be in the vines. The labor of
the olive shall fail, and the field shall yield no meat. The
flock shall be cut off from the fold, and there shall be no herd
in the stalls, yet I will rejoice in the Lord. I will joy in the
God of my salvation." Habakkuk 3, 17 and 18. May we not conclude
that at the close of his song, he did what some real old-fashioned
Methodists were wont to do? For he adds, He will make my
feet like hind's feet. We read in the book of Joshua,
how the walls of Jericho fell flat after they were compassed
about seven days. God had declared that he had
given them the city. Faith reckoned this to be true,
so they began their march around the walls using as their only
weapon that which indicated triumph—a ram's horn. Unbelief might have
prayed this kind of prayer. O Lord, make the walls totter
just a little, or loosen a few stones that we may have a sign
that Thou art going to answer our prayer, and then we will
praise Thee." Prudence might have said, it's not safe to shout
until the victory is actually won, lest the Lord be dishonored
before the people and we be greatly humiliated. This wouldn't have
been faith at all. They acted on the authority of
God's Word and shouted the shout of faith before there was a sign
of encouragement and the Lord accomplished the rest. It's after
we make a full commitment that He will bring it to pass. How
many walls of difficulty would fall flat were we to simply march
around them with shouts of praise? As we compass walls with praise,
the Lord has promised to compass us about with the songs of deliverance.
Thou waitest for deliverance, O soul, thou waitest long. Believe
that now deliverance doth wait for thee in song. Sigh not until
deliverance thy fettered soul doth free. With songs of glad
deliverance God now doth compass thee. There's a legend which
tells of two angels who come from heaven every morning and
go on their rounds all day long. One is the Angel of Requests.
The other is the Angel of Thanksgiving. Each carries a basket. That belonging
to the Angel of Requests is soon filled to overflowing, for everyone
pours into it great handfuls of requests. But when the day
is ended, the Angel of Thanksgiving has in his basket only two or
three small contributions of gratitude. Were there not ten
cleansed? But where are the nine? A missionary
in dark China was living a defeated life. Everything about him seemed
to be touched with sadness. Although we prayed many months
for victory over depression and discouragement, no answer came. His life remained quite the same.
He determined to leave his post and go to an interior station
where he could be quiet and spend long hours in prayer until victory
was assured. Upon reaching the place, he was
entertained in the home of a fellow missionary, and on the wall of
his bedroom hung this motto, Try Thanksgiving. The two words
gripped his heart and he thought within himself, Have I been praying
all these months and not been praising? He stopped and began
to praise God, and was greatly uplifted. Instead of hiding away
to agonize in prayer, he returned immediately to his waiting native
converts to tell them that praise changes things. Wonderful blessing
attended his simple testimony, and the bands that had bound
others were loosed through praise. I wish to add my own humble testimony
to that of my fellow missionary. It was a dark, dark night in
my life when the words, Praise waiteth for thee, O God and Zion,
Psalm 65, 1, were impressed upon my mind. I'd been waiting in
prayer for months. The months were now stretching
on into years, piled up as it were before God. Could I now
wait in praise before I saw the answer? Or must I wait for signs
and wonders ere I believed his word? God was waiting for me
to take this final step in faith. And when I began to praise Him
for the answer, to wait in praise, to rest in the Lord and wait
patiently for Him, He began to answer in a manner that was exceeding
abundantly above all I could ask or think. The possession
of the secret of victory has transformed my life and filled
it with unutterable gladness. The story is told of Sir Michael
Costa, that he was holding a rehearsal one night with his vast array
of musicians and hundreds of voices. The mighty chorus rang
out with thunder of organs, sounding horns and clashing of cymbals.
And far back in the orchestra, one who played the piccolo said
within himself, in all this din, it matters not what I do. Suddenly,
all was still. The great conductor had stopped,
flung up his hands. Someone had failed to take his
part. The sweet note of the piccolo had been missed. Let all the
people praise thee, O God. Let all the people praise thee.
Then shall the earth yield her increase, and God, even our own
God, shall bless us. Psalm 67, 5 and 6. Is your praise note missing from
the heavenly choir? Are you waiting, waiting, yearning
for God to answer your prayer? He's waiting to answer. Try Thanksgiving. Rejoice in the Lord always. And
again I say, rejoice.