O Praise the LORD, all ye nations: praise him, all ye people. For his merciful kindness is great toward us: and the truth of the LORD endureth forever. Praise ye the LORD (Psalm 117:1-2

KJV)

The best time to praise the Lord is when you feel like it the least; when you are stressed, depressed, or just feeling oppressed.  I can’t think of a better way to chase away the devil than to praise the Lord.  Satan can’t stand it, and will exit in a hurry.

Sometimes we get to feeling like victims, like we are Satan’s number one target.  Have you ever felt like that?  I know I have.  But we are not Satan’s number one target; God is – in particular, His Son Jesus Christ.  Whatever the enemy can do to foil God’s influence in the world, or rob Jesus Christ of His glory, or stifle our praise he will do, and if we allow it, Satan will suck the praise right out of our mouths while we wait around for God to make us feel better.  That doesn’t make us a victim – that makes us a pawn!

Praising God doesn’t mean we can’t pour out our needs and petitions, or even our complaints to the Lord – but we can always begin and end our petitions by praising God who has done such great things for us.  And here is an interesting thought; did you know that God inhabits the praises of His people?  We read of the promise in the book of Psalms, as David prays to God; But thou art holy, O thou that inhabitest the praises of Israel (Psalm 22:3KJV).  No wonder praising the Lord is one of the best ways to force the devil to take his exit!

Lord, help us put on the spiritual armor of praise, and fight for the victory that is ours in Christ. Satan, through lies and deceit, wants to take back the ground he lost to You. Instead we give you praise for all you have done in our life.  Praise you Jesus.  Yes, praise the Lord!

Toni M. Babcock

South St. Paul, Minnesota