1) Prophetic Revelation:
The Church cannot afford to be without weapons in the day of battle. 1 Samuel 13:22 states that when the day of battle came there was neither sword nor spear found in the hands of any of the people. The enemy had taken the blacksmiths out of the land "lest the Hebrew make swords or spears." No one in the land had the ability to turn metal from one form to another. In the spiritual realm prophets are like blacksmiths. The Church had no revelation of warfare praise until the prophets were restored and positioned rightly in the Church. We had no revelation of Joel 3:10 on how to turn our plowshares into swords. We understood that praise could plough, but we did not know that this same "metal" could be used as a sword by beating it into a weapon. Now revelation has come, and we already have what it takes to create the weapons of warfare from our praise. We simply need to let the red-hot fire of the prophetic stir us up as mighty men to beat our plowshares into swords, our pruning hooks into spears and our praise into a weapon of war.
2) Spiritual Weapons (2 Corinthians 10:4):
Let's remember some of the weapons that pertain to warfare worship: It is good to recall some of the weapons that pertain to warfare worship. Playing an instrument like David did in 1 Samuel 16:23. Psalm 144:1 says, “God has trained our hand for war and our fingers for battle.” Singing praises silences the enemy (Psalm 8:2). Shouting scatters the enemy (Joshua 6:20) and brings down the walls of strongholds like Jericho. Clapping strikes the enemy as in Psalm 47:1. Dancing places the enemy under our feet (Malachi 4:3) and rhythm creates the tempo for God to beat the enemy through our praise (Isaiah 30:32). Prophecy is the voice of the Lord that shatters the enemy (Isaiah 30:31). And the ultimate weapon is the presence of God which causes the enemy to melt like wax (Psalm 68:2).
3) A New Pattern for Worship:
Often we have viewed our worship as following the pattern of the tabernacle of Moses. We would start with the outer courts, pass through the inner courts and finally enter into the Holy of Holies. In Moses' day, the Holy of Holies was where the presence of God rested. God's presence was separated by a veil, which represented the fact that men were not reconciled unto Him. However, because of Christ we are now reconciled unto God. David's tabernacle, which prophetically spoke this truth before the Messiah came, is God's choice for the pattern of worship today. Acts 15:16 says God is restoring the tabernacle of David.
David's tabernacle had no veil (2 Samuel 6:17) and allowed many priests, not just the high priest, to come before the Lord. David's tabernacle is a better representation of the new covenant than the tabernacle of Moses or the temple of Solomon. God declared the glory of the old covenant was fading away and the priesthood was changing from the Levitical priesthood (Hebrews 7:11-12) to the priesthood of Judah (Judah means "praise"). The acceptable sacrifice would no longer be animals but sacrifices of praise, joy and thanksgiving. The veil is taken away in Christ (2 Corinthians 3:6-18). The Davidic Tabernacle created new place for the presence of God on Mt. Zion and established a bold new freedom in worship (Hebrews 10:19; 2 Corinthians 3:17).
4) A Kingdom Mentality:
This is why we war – to establish a new Kingdom. When we enter into warfare praise, the focus of praise changes from an altar of redemption to the throne room of the King. The picture of a throne room carries a more powerful, majestic sense of the King of the universe who rules in the midst of our praise and then ministers through us. Psalm 22:3 states that God is enthroned in our praises. This is an actual setting up of His throne on earth. Jesus taught us to pray, "Thy Kingdom come, Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven." (Matthew 6:10) The words "in heaven" speak of the Kingdom of God being immovable and unshakable. "On earth" actually speaks of a superimposing of God's Kingdom on the earth.
Therefore, by praising, not only is God enthroned in our praises, we also "superimpose" His Kingdom on the earth - His presence, His will, His way, His Word. Psalm 108:8 says that Judah is God's lawgiver. This is where God rules and releases His prophetic decrees in the midst of praise. In superimposing the Kingdom on the earth, we repeat the words of heaven through our prophetic voices, and then we mirror on earth what God is saying in heaven.
From Dean Mitchum CIMN USA. |
