Music is a Language: Power of Praise

Last Sabbath, Danelle, Carine, and I hiked up to the nearby village of Sung Seng to sing some hymns with the people there. The reason we chose this particular village was because the day before Carine talked to a man from Sung Seng named Rupid who said he would come to church but he didn’t know how to sing. Carine told him that it is not hard to sing and that we would show him how. So on Saturday we hiked up the steep and slippery path to Rupid’s village to sing songs with him.

It is a beautiful village that overlooks the valley bellow and the mountains beyond. After we arrived and started talking to Rupid the little villagers started gathering around us too. Carine brought a Palawono song book, so as we sang in Palawan, we like Rupid felt as if we didn’t really know how, but we could still choose to sing with our heart. Some of the little girls there recognized the songs and sang along quietly. We asked them what songs they would like to sing but they didn’t answer, and only smiled shyly. This is a typical first reaction amongst the children that do not attend school, and even the school children can at times be very shy!

It is good to sing, and music often provides a bridge to the language communication gap. We are not yet able to talk about God because of language issues, but we are more equipped to sing about Him.Rupid did not sing, but I think he enjoyed having us there. I know I enjoyed being there and Danelle and I can testify to the power of praise.

Before we left to sing in Sung Seng we were having some feelings of discouragement, a desire to go home, and in general just feelings of unrest. However we have been reading promises about the power of praise and have come to understand that when we praise God, it takes our focus off our self and takes us into God’s presence. We found this to be true while singing in Rupid’s village, and came back feeling renewed.

In the book, 10 Days of Preparing for the Latter Rain, there is a quote that says,
“ Praising God in trials requires faith that is contrary to our feelings and emotions. It also calls us to praise God before we see evidence of fulfillment of His promises. Praising through faith is acting upon the promises of God’s Word, not in response to what our senses see and feel.”

Praise is a weapon that we can use against discouragement and gloom, and Danelle and I have been experiencing its effectiveness here. Danelle recently wrote a melody to Romans 8;26-28. The words go, “When we no not what to pray the spirit helps despite our weaknesses. For we know not what to pray as we ought but the spirit Himself makes intercession for us with groanings that words cannot express.”

Prayer like praise enables God’s light to shine through us, even when initially we do not feel like shining. We are weak and I thank God that He helps us in our weaknesses, all we have to do is enable Him to do so by choosing Him. Discouragement is never of God, so when we are discouraged and do not “feel” like praising or praying to Him, it is in these times that is especially important to do so.

Even as I write this there is another sort of music that gives a constant back beat to life here in Kamantian. There are drums that are literally played all day and all night with a sort of supernatural perpetuity. I don’t fully understand the purpose of the constant drumming, but from what I have gathered it has something to do with preparing for a ceremony of drinking rice wine that is dedicated to the spirits.

The first time I heard the drumming was the first night of the two weeks I spent in the village of Emrang. The drumming sounded eerie to me, and it stirred within me a strong desire to pray for peace and protection.

I know that Satan also desires to be worshiped, he is called the god of this age (2cor 4:4) and he even attempted to make Jesus worship him (matt 4:8). In the book A Trip into the Supernatural, author Roger Morneau describes how he once took part in worshiping Satan in the same way we worship Christ, by singing songs through a church hymnal. Furthermore, Antoine Lavaie (sp ?), founder of the satanic church also says that church hymnals are used in the worshiping of satan. It is interesting that the same thing has happened here, although not as intentionally.

A month ago some of our students took part in a ceremony that involved dedication to appease spirits, and they did so while singing Christian songs they have learned while at school here in Kamantian. However they were not necessarily aware that what they were doing was false worship.

I am thankful that God at times can wink at ignorance. James 4:17, explains that “sin is when we know what is good, but do it not”, we are judged by the light that we have. However light exposes darkness and when we walk in the light, darkness by default is removed. 1 John 1:6 says “If we claim to have fellowship with Him yet walk in darkness, we lie and do not live by the truth.”

Light exposes darkness, and truth sets us free, and when we experience freedom we long to express the new found joy that we feel. Music can be an expression of this joy and is a language by which we can communicate the desires of our heart. Through music we can worship the “god of this age” or we can worship our creator. God never demands worship, He presents a choice and declares “choose you this day whom you will serve”, I like Joshua of the Old Testament, desire to declare “as for me and my house, we will choose the Lord.” The power of praise is that it enables God to bless us, because when we praise Him, we choose Him and through choosing Him showers of blessings are poured out on us.

P.S. We are still meeting at 5:45 A.M. each morning to pray (1:45 P.M. PST) and would like to encourage those who are interested to join us in praying at that time. There is power in prayer, and through our chain of prayers we enable God to work, and limit the effectiveness of Satan by chaining him to God’s power.

The pictures in this blog are of some of the “little villagers” we saw while singing in Sung Seng. We have also made some audio recordings of some of our experiences here so far but are not able to post them on this blog. If you are interested in hearing them let us know and we can have them emailed to you. Happy Thanksgiving and God Bless

Kevin McGill