Praise Him In Advance (1)

Praise Him In Advance- Marvin Sapp <---- a link to hear a preview of this song!!!

I chose 'Praise Him In Advance' because this songs speaks volumes about faith. It also demonstrates God's greatness and mercy. To give God praise prior to a blessing says that you have total faith that He WILL make a way. The song even says "But I KNEW God would take them away."

 Although I love sooo many aspects of this song there is one line in particular that was interesting to me. Marvin Sapp sings: "God came and spoke these words to me, praise will confuse the enemy." For some reason the notion of praise CONFUSING the enemy was amazing to me. You're telling me...if I thank God and praise Him for His wonderous works it will confuse the adversity?!?!?! This is when I grabbed my Bible and begin to research....afterall, I can't just take Marvin's word for it :-)

II Chronicles 20 tells the story of Jehoshaphat...this is my VERY short version of the story:
The Moabites and Ammonites came to basically bully King Jehoshaphat and his people. The Moabites and Ammonites were a pretty fearsome group so Jehoshaphat and his people were a little worried. Jehoshaphat spoke to the Lord and was basically like "...now you would not let Israel invade men from Ammon, Moab and Mount Seir but here they come trying to harm us. Are you going to let them? We don't stand a chance against them and we're fresh outta ideas so we are looking to you." Meanwhile everyone else is standing before the Lord like..."now what???"

During this time the Spirit of the Lord comes upon Jahazial and he gives this motivational speech to not only his people but also to King Jehoshaphat. His speech is memorable because it is the basis of another song I love. Jahazial basically says "look yall, chill out, this battle is not ours, its the Lord's." Jehoshaphat and his poeple just begin praising the Lord (in advance) from night until they left for battle that morning. Long story short, by the time Jehoshaphat's army reached the desert the Lord has set up an ambush and defeated the men of Moab, Ammon and Mount Seir. The Bible said the men of Moab and Ammon rose up against Mount Seir, defeated them and then turned on each other!!!!! SOUNDS LIKE CONFUSION TO ME!!!!

The men of Judah praised the Lord in advance and by the time they faced danger he had already saved them....This story makes worrying and stressing seem silly. We should find comfort in knowing that we are being taken care of by the Almighty. The people of Judah praised the Lord and "cofused the enemy."
Praise helps us to focus on God and realize our need for Him, and thus turn the battle over to Him. When we do this, God will then bring victory. Amen.