Battle Cry
I want to start this blog by saying something. This is not about Zac this is about
glorifying God, and I do this in hopes that just one person draws closer to God.
Often, I have said that the way to battle our perspective problems as
a Christian is to get our focus off ourselves and back on God. I’m going to introduce you to a song that
lyrically has floored me. If you study
the Old Testament, you often find things like praising God being part of Israel
winning battles. The entire book of Psalms is praise to God. Most of them start with listing our problems and
then shifting our thoughts back on God.
This is called Battle Cry by Megan Pifer.
“Our Sovereign King,
You Reign eternal
To you we’re calling out
In the heat of battle, through our struggle
Still, we exalt you now
You raise us from the dust
You breathe in us
Even in the fray we exhale your name
Standing in your victory
Firm against the enemy
With our weapons lifted high
Our worship is our battle cry
Yours is the honor, everlasting power
We find your strength when we are weak
You’re watching over the highest tower
You will keep us from defeat
Brief and fleeting are these days
Merely glimpses of your majesty displayed
So we hold to what is yet to be
Standing in your victory
Our hope is in eternity”
I can tell you from personal experience that after my divorce one of
the hardest things for me to do was to sing and praise God. I was consumed by hurt. But singing praise to God shifts us from our one-sided
perspective to see that God is still in control and still at work in our
lives. There’s a verse in this song that
says, “Our worship is our battle cry.” Ephesians
5:19-20 says this. “When you meet together,
sing psalms, hymns and spiritual songs as you praise the Lord with all your
heart. Always use the name of our Lord
Jesus Christ to thank God the Father for everything.” When we sing it shifts our thought process
from our complaining and fixes it on the Giver of All Good Things. There was a trend noticed years ago when I
went to Real Life wherein people would show up late to skip the music portion
of services. But we need corporate
worship because it is our battle cry. Psalm
9:11 “You rule from Zion, Lord and we sing about you to let the nations know
everything you have done.” There is
another thing I have seen on Facebook that I find troubling and that is when
church members post this. “It’s Sunday get
your praise on.” It always leads me to
this question: “What have you been doing the rest of the week.?” If you only sing and praise God on Sunday and
not the other days you might want to evaluate your relationship with God
because He is active all week. Christian
music is a big part of my life, and I will list some reasons why. If I am not seeking God, I can be a very
angry person to the point I don’t even like myself. God has done so much in my life I need to
thank Him. I need to put Him first.
I very much feel the need to share something that happened to me
years ago in college to drive all this home as far as our need to praise
God. I’m going to take you back 29 years
to be exact to 1996. It was dark, I was
on the beach on a mission trip with a group of college students for something
called Beach Reach. The Baptist Student
Union sent a group to reach people on Spring Break with the gospel. I was there with other students praying on
the beach in tears asking God. “What do
you want me to do?” In that moment as
clear as could be God impressed upon me to praise Him. I don’t share this lightly or often. God has done so much for all of us in life
that He deserves our praise. Go look at
the sunrise and sunset and see His beauty in creation. Let this blog if nothing else motivate you to
praise God.
Praise Forevermore- Point of Grace
I am on the Rock- Millennial Reign
What an Awesome God- Phil Wickham
We’re a Band- Audio Adrenaline and T Bone
