David's song of Praise: 2 Samuel 22

How did you do this week?  Were ya "signing the Blues"? or were you signing praises to God?
Were you "praising god...or where you "thinking evil"?
Did you make a home for praise? Or did you forget that God inhabits the Praises of his people?
Could you tune out the noise this week (neighbors, work, politics, self) and could you "tune in" God? (Could you do it during worship just now?) Praise gives God a chance to speak.
Has your spiritual health increased this week? Praise in spiritual health made audible.
Have you seen the kingdom of God made manifest his week? Praise is the bridge from this kingdom to His.
Praise is honest. Praise unites. True praise make all worshipers equal. Praise gets us closer to God, feeling distant?  Have you praised God this week?, have you praised other, have you praised your self???
Praise the reaches the inside of the Temple releases God's awesome power.

Every revival, every outporing of the Spirit, every massive move of God that has transformed people, communities, sociteis and cultures has started with praise in song. Early Christians would sign praise songs in the colosum as they were about to be devored by wild animals.

During the Reformation, Martin Luther to bar song and changed the lyrics to praise. The Great Awaking used music to teach the people right theoplogy and most receltly the Charismaci movement of the 60's and our own tradiont of the Vineyard worship style. Small little house churches sing Vineyard songs. We are instucted by God to "sing a new song"psalms 149. It is our secret weapon.



Open your Bibles to 2 Samuel 22,  (Also see Psalms 18) we are going to camp out here. This is David's a song of praise for deliverance.

I want to look at three areas of praise:

• Praise that reaches the temple: Read vs 1-22 The power of God through praise. How do we get that power? David is our model. The Power that we have available to us is unthinkable. So why wouldn't we want to praise him.

• Praise People?

 Ran an estate sale last week were a crusty old WWII Vet bugged me and told me that Christianity was "God damn *#it and that I was an idiot for believing it. So how do I one of the "greatest generation" to come to the Lord? I celebrated his service to me. He warmed up a little. David had the ability to praise and celbrate his enemeys from Saul to Saul slain son. He prasied those whom God annointed even though they had fallen from Grace.

• Praise Yourself? Beat yourself up this week?

Read v 21-25.
David was not a good guy. He lusted and sined with Bathsheba and when he could not cover up his sin he had her husband murdered. He had a nice little harem. He got angry at god when god smoked his friend. He was a terrible father whose own son rebelled against him. He would be disqualified from ministry if he lived by our standards, yet he is celbrated in THIS BOOK as a man after God's own heart.
 He lead a tragic life, yet it was still victorious.

Either David is lying, delusional or he sees himself as God sees him and has excepted that the Lord is is Rock and Savior.

David's heart for praise, his ability to SING a new song puts him into a depper relationship with God, praise puts him into the realized PRESENCE of God, it moved him from that dark mean world to an understanding of his glory. Chapter 23 David says " The Spirit of the Lord Spoke through me: and Is not my House right with God"? His songs of praise where eternal tapping into God so deep that they were also prophetic. Turn to Luke chapter 1:68 (give history) v 19 " I am Gabriel. I stand in the presence of God. Jesus was all over this, He was inside of David's praise, He was the center of David's praise and David didn't know it on a a conscious level.

And David never stopped praising, at the end of his life when the pain of failure where numb and he was filthy rich, with honor and power He had this unending desire to build God a house. So he wrote His "Thanksgiving Prayer" 1 Chronicles 29:v9. He could have been a mean  bitter crotchety old man, but he choose to be a man of Thankfulness and Praise. Call the band and ushers and welcome the habit of worship and giving (give in faith expecting a return) Holy Spirit in this House...Who are we praising now? Jesus...


2 Sam: 24. If you have trouble with this verse lets talk. I had issues with it, it's one of those that make you go,"hmmm?'
http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=2%20samuel%2024&version=MSG