Our Praise Silences the Devil

And again, this is a message for those who have been mourning and depressed. And it was through this verse that the Lord, many years ago, delivered me from a spirit of depression.

“To console those who mourn in Zion, to give them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness.”

And that’s what God delivered me from, the spirit of heaviness. Notice the garment of praise in place of the spirit of heaviness. So, if you don't want to be depressed, and you don't want Satan to come to you with his dark forebodings and evil thoughts, put on the garment of praise, and he won't come near you.

I think I could have time to relate this little story. Many, many years ago, when I was pastoring a small congregation in Bayswater, there were two Russian Jewish sisters who had made their way miraculously out of Soviet Russia and had met the Lord, been filled with the Holy Spirit. I tell you, they were noisier as Russian Baptists than most Pentecostals are in the West. And there was a ring at the door, and a lady who was a member of the church, I went down there, there she was, and she was leading a man by the hand. She said, “This is my husband. He’s just come out of prison. He has a demon. Will you pray for him?”

Well, in those days, I stayed a long way away from demons. I mean, I didn't know what to do with them, and I was very embarrassed. I had no idea what to do. And I said, “Come up. We’re praying.” That’s all I could think. So, we just went on praying, and we were really, you know, we were making a noise. And this man came up to me silently, carefully, and he said, “I don't like this. Too much noise. I'm going.” And God inspired my answer. I said, “Listen, it's the devil that doesn't like the noise because we're praising Jesus, and he hates that. Now,” I said, “you've got two options. If you go now, the devil will go with you. If you stay, the devil will go without you.” And he said, “I’ll stay.” And about 10 minutes later, he just came up to me, said, “It’s gone.” He said, “I felt it leave my throat.”

I never forget that because it's such a demonstration of how praise embarrasses the devil much more than he can embarrass us. So, if you are tempted to be depressed or moody or unhappy, put on the garment of praise in place of the spirit of heaviness. I know it works because it worked for me.

And then in Jeremiah 33:11, we have another aspect of praise.

“The voice of joy and the voice of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom and the voice of the bride, the voice of those who will say, ‘Praise the Lord of hosts, for the Lord is good, for His mercy endures forever.’”

Notice, two of the three reasons are there.

“And of those who will bring the sacrifice of praise into the house of the Lord.”

It's important to understand praise is a sacrifice. It costs you something. It's not always easy. And the time that's most important to praise the Lord is when you least feel like it. Do not let your feelings dictate to you. It's the word of God that tells you what to do, even if it goes absolutely contrary to your feelings. And it's most acceptable to God when it costs us most, when everything in the situation seems to be against us. That's the time to praise God the most, in faith. It's a sacrifice.

And then Psalm 8, verse 2. Praise is a spiritual weapon.

“Out of the mouths of babes and infants, You”—that is, the Lord—“have ordained strength, because of Your enemies, that You may silence the enemy and the avenger.”

So, God has enemies. That's important to know that. And He has one particular enemy. He’s called *the* enemy and the avenger. Who's that? Satan. And he says there is a way to silence Satan. I was preaching in Lausanne in Switzerland with a French interpreter some years ago. I got to this verse. I understand French, and I listened to my interpreter, and in French, it says, “God imposes silence on the devil.” And I've never forgotten that. God imposes silence. He says, “Shut up.” When? When we praise God. You see, our praise silences the devil. Why do we need to silence the devil? What is he doing all the time, night and day? He’s accusing us. You say to God, “Well, why don't you silence the devil?” God says, “Because I’ve given you the weapon with which to do it.”

Turn to Matthew 21:16.

“But when the chief priests and scribes saw the wonderful things that He did, and the children crying out in the temple and saying, ‘Hosanna to the Son of David!’ they were indignant and said to Him, ‘Do You hear what these are saying?’”

And Jesus said to them—now, He’s quoting Psalm 8, verse 2—

“Yes. Have you never read? ‘Out of the mouth of babes and nursing infants You have perfected praise?’”

So, where the psalmist said, “You have ordained strength,” Jesus said, “You have perfected praise.” What does that tell us? The ordained strength of God's people is perfect praise. And it doesn't matter how weak we are, the weapon is irresistible. So, the psalmist chooses the example of the weakest, babes and nursing infants, and says, “Even they, when they praise God, impose silence on the enemy.”