The Bible makes mention of how the Lord sings over us in Zephaniah 3:17. 

As we saw last week, there are moments in life when we need more than a sermon; sometimes, we need a song. Most of us can testify that there have been times in our life when a song has gotten us through. 

As we continue our series about Post-Traumatic Praise and Worship (PTPW) this week, we see in Exodus 15 that Moses, Miriam, and the Israelite multitude who escaped from Egypt and crossed the Red Sea, breaking out in PTPW, or what is often called Music Therapy.  We’re not talking about rhythm and blues, jazz, or hip-hop. We’re talking about music that turns our hearts towards heaven and causes us to think about how good God has been in our lives.

RECOLLECT YOUR REDEMPTION

The Bible tells us that Moses, Miriam, and the multitudes took time to reflect on all that God had done for them and the victories He won. They took time to think about God’s love for them, His miracles, and His saving power; in doing so, it helped them to process all the trauma that they had gone through in Exodus 14.

Whenever we think about the triumphant victories of God,  we recognize our redemption through God. This is what Moses and the Israelites realized; that they would have never made it out of Egypt had it not been for God, who had redeemed them. 

The Bible tells us that if we have been redeemed, there should be a response.  In summary, Psalm 107:2 says, “Let the redeemed of the Lord not sit there and be silent. Let the redeemed of the Lord not sit there with their arms folded. Let the redeemed of the Lord hear it and say so!” 

If you have been redeemed, are you keeping it hidden? If you've been redeemed, let me hear that you’ve been redeemed. If you've been set free, let me hear that you've been set free. If you have been redeemed, make a sound so that other people and even the demons in hell will hear it.  Make a sound until the angels in heaven begin to rejoice. Let the redeemed of the Lord say so!

RECALL YOUR RELIANCE ON GOD

We have the ability to praise and worship God, even in the middle of trials and pain, because we have a mighty God. 

That’s what Moses said in Exodus 15:2. He says, “Let me tell you why I'm giving God praise. First of all, because when I was weak, when I was vulnerable,  when I didn't have enough power to help myself, God was my strength!” 

Have there been times in your life when you were at your breaking point emotionally, psychologically, and mentally? Where you couldn't take it anymore, but God gave you strength? God is saying to you: “When you're weak, I will give you more power. When you're at your breaking point, I'll step in and give you strength.” 

God is our strength, and He is also our song. We need to learn to sing in every situation and not depend on our wisdom and strength but on God’s. We may not be able to sing like the worship leader, but to God, our song is perfect. So let’s keep singing our way through hell, through sickness and struggles. God is the only one we can depend on, and in Him, we put our trust.

REFLECT ON THE TRANSCENDENT VISION OF GOD

A.W. Tozer says, “What comes into our minds when we think about God is the most important thing about us.”

How do we perceive God? For us to be able to praise and worship God even during trials, It’s essential that we have the correct perception of Him. Why?  Because our vision of God will also dictate the degree to which we worship and praise Him. Our worship and praise of God are proportional to our vision of who He is.

This is why the Bible describes God as great; therefore, He is to be praised greatly. If we say we have a great God, then He deserves nothing less than great worship. 

If we view God as small, then our praise becomes small. We’ve got to push our pride aside to give God the praise that He deserves. Sometimes, we can’t worship God, and the problem is not the pastor or the worship leader. The problem might be us; and the way we envision God in our lives. 

Here’s the challenge: We must have a divine vision of God that surpasses even our traumas. We need to see that God is greater than what has happened to us. Our praise and worship is directly connected to our vision of God. And our vision of God is connected to our understanding of God; our understanding of God is developed and established as we study God's Word.

Praising and worshiping God, even in the trials of life, is more than just coming to church. It’s more than just saying, “God is good all the time.” If we’re going to worship Him and have a divine vision of God, we have to walk with Him daily. 

But often,  our vision of God becomes cloudy as we go through the valley of the shadow of death. Still, we find comfort in the truth that when we go through hardships,  God says, “I'm right here. You wouldn't have made it this far had I not been by your side.” 

Let’s never miss the chance to be in awe of the uniqueness of God, and to embrace the divine truth about God that Moses speaks of in Exodus 15:11. 

“Who is like You, O Lord, among the gods? Who is like You, majestic in holiness, awesome in glorious deeds, doing wonders?” 

There is nothing, and no one, greater than God. Nothing compares to Him, and it's that truth that we must fix our eyes on and be able to praise and worship God, even in times of difficulty. God is holy and majestic; always keep sight of that. Come into His presence with praise and worship and begin to see God for who He really is.