“King Hezekiah: Intercession” (continued) - part 2

2 Chron 29:20,28-31,35b

Hezekiah’s heart was so unto the Lord that he was not afraid to stand strong in Him even in overwhelming odds against the Assyrian king.

His life demonstrated this when he often consulted the Lord God in matters - in political affairs in the national growth, in the excellence of spiritual concerns, and in his own personal matters.

This was such a strong influence to Judah that Hezekiah was able to rally the people to a fresh and glowing praise unto their God.

And - how did he do this?

It was in restoring the temple of God - in flushing out all the treacherous idolatries they had adopted, and replacing all of it with the worshipping ‘in spirit and in truth’, the only true and living God.

Does your heart sing with thanksgiving when you read passages such as in 2 Chronicles 29:20, 28-30 that speaks of this spiritual reestablishment?

Listen to what the Scripture says about it:

2 Chronicles 29:20: This was after the house of God was cleansed of all foreign intrusions: ‘Then Hezekiah, the king, rose early, and gathered the rulers of the city and went to the house of the Lord.’

And, after they had made all their offerings unto the Lord,  v 28 continues: ‘And all (notice the word ‘all’) - and all the congregation worshipped, and the singers sang, and the tumpeters sounded: and all this continued until the burnt offering was finished.

And when they had made an end of offering, the king and all that were present with him, bowed themselves and worshipped.

Moreover, Hezekiah the king and the princes commanded the Levites to sing praise unto the Lord with the words of David, and of Asaph the seer. And they sang praises with gladness, and they bowed their heads and worshipped.’

And, then, if you would go down to the end of verse 31, the finish is recorded: ‘...And the congregation brought in sacrifices and thank offerings - (a form of the prayer of thanksgiving) - and as many as were of a free heart brought burnt offerings.’

What a joyous time before the Lord - what a way to communicate with Him - in song and praise together as one people before Him - with hearts that were free - with willing hearts!

No drudgery - no drag - a delight to make praise their prayer - and to make prayer their praise - praying the prayer of thanksgiving in song - offering the expressions of their hearts. 

And - gratified that once again, ‘...the service of the house of the Lord was set in order.’ (v 35)

Have you ever thought about this matter of song and praise as the means of prayer and communion with the Lord?

This is what I would like to examine as we are together as the Lord’s people tonight.

I hope it will encourage us in such a way that this becomes a spontaneous response in us all - not just on Sunday mornings, but every day, all day.

You already know that the Old Testament worshippers were often encouraged to worship and pray with the use of song and praise.

The psalmist in Ps 149:5-6 instructed: ‘Let the saints be joyful in glory: let them sing aloud upon their beds. Let the high praises of God be in their mouth,...’

And in Ps 71:22-23, he added the dimension of musical instruments: ‘O God, who is like unto thee!... I will praise thee with the psaltery, even thy truth, O my God: unto thee will I sing with the harp, O thou Holy One of Israel. My lips shall greatly rejoice when I sing of thee;...’

This is continued in Heb 13:15 with: ‘So, then, through Christ, let us be offering up a sacrifice of praise continually unto God which is the tribute of the lips which acknowledge, celebrate, and glorify the Name of God.’ 

Prayer - mingled with songs of praise - ‘the fruit of the lips’ - is acceptable to God.

We have the tendency to limit prayer to requests, petitions, supplications, mainly.

This is right - this is good - the Lord has opened that right to His people.

But - the Scripture view also includes the rejoicing that comes through singing songs to Him in praying praise.

It is a compelling way to shift the focus from ourselves and our needs to Him and His glorious ways.

David was a prime example of this kind of public praying.

In 1 Chronicles 16:8-9, after the ark of the covenant was back in its proper place, he gave his chief musicians this song to play before the congregation.

He sang: ‘O, give thanks unto the Lord! Call upon His name; make known His deeds among the people! sing to Him, sing psalms to Him; talk of all His wondrous works!’

And look down to the familiar song in verse 28: ‘Ascribe to the Lord, O mighty ones, Ascribe to the Lord glory and strength. Ascribe to the Lord the glory due His Name, worship the Lord in the beauty of His holiness.’.

Question: What is taking place?

This was a gracious instance in their history - and it called for a prayer of thanksgiving and praise by all the people!

This ‘calling on His Name’ deliberatly mingled with praise!

It was a time of sheer celebration a time for a prayer of thankfulness and adoration!

So, he was encouraging the people to pray - to pray the song as a prayer. 

Prayers such as this were more easily expressed in a melodic setting where all could let their hearts rise to heavenly heights together.

We are praying a song of the Eternal when we sing together: ‘I love you, Lord, and I lift my voice to worship You - O my soul, rejoice!’

Such melodies of thanks and exultation are gloriously edifying to all who are participating in the same song of praise.

Let me just digress for a moment - to an indirect related thought.

Have you ever stopped to think of how fortunate we are to be able to worship the Lord, our God, so freely and so openly as we do?

And - have you ever stopped to think how fortunate our little ones are to be surrounded with these songs of congregational singing for this time of earnest praise each Sunday morning?

They may not understand it - they may even balk at it.

But - remember, this is part of their early spiritual training and is a very valid, God-ordained way of prayer and worship.

Be grateful for it - and give them every opportunity to participate in it.

Even an infant, exposed to the glad songs of the Church’s heart, can be blessed beyond what we may be able to imagine.

Who knows the deep, hidden ways of the Spirit of God, even in a little baby?

And - I dare say, that a prayer of thanksgiving in song at the daily family meal time is no small thing, either, in the Lord’s sight, which - I pray - you are doing in your family life at times.

His praises are being announced to the unseen world. 

Is that not good reason enough to pray and sing together as a family?

Think about this, parents - and take it to the Lord for His anointing work upon it.

Let me direct you to Acts 16:25 that says: ‘And at midnight, Paul and Silas prayed, and sang praises unto God...’

What happened then?

God heard it - answered with an earthquake - and - the doors opened - the chains dropped.

Yes - a song of prayer can drop chains - the Holy Spirit does work in prayers of praise and song.

Eph 5:18-19 reads: ‘...be filled with the Spirit, speaking to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your hearts to the Lord, giving thanks always for all things.’

Or, another translation reads: ‘Because, you are filled with the Spirit, let Him stimulate your souls. 

Let Him express your joy in singing among yourselves.

Singing and striking the strings with your heart, make melody with the music of your heart to the Lord, giving thanks for everything.’

This giving thanks for everything in song is associated with expressing grateful hearts to the Lord in prayer.

Paul proclaimed that prayer through the means of song is an outlet of being filled with the Spirit - an outflow of the Spirit of God in our hearts.

Imagine - the melody of the heart is being communicated in a melody of song and the Holy Spirit is actually singing in us - it is a holy moment we are holding in our hands, if we would only stop to realize it for a moment.

And - coming from the Spirit means this is not a manufactured time of praise and prayer.

To Paul, it seemed impossible to be filled with the Spirit, and not be releasing the joy of the Lord, the grace of the Lord, and the love of the Lord without singing.

He knew this for a fact: God’s presence and His precepts stir up within us an inward rejoicing that only singing can release.

Have you noticed this for yourself?

There is always a song within us - if we are born from above - a song that is generated by His Spirit.

Is it not a holy, awesome time when - alone with Him - we burst forth with a song of the heart to Him?  

We sing, ‘O Lord my God, when I in awesome wonder, consider all the worlds Thy hands have made. I see the stars, I hear the rolling thunder, Thy power throughout the universe displayed - Then sings my soul, my Savior God to Thee - How great Thou art! How great Thou art!’

Surely, we must understand this as a majestic, resounding prayer ascending to His throne from the depths of our hearts - ‘Oh, how great Thou art!’ 

Such glorification of our God in this prayerful song is heavenly communication - it must gladden His heart!

Many times - while driving on the freeway, or walking in the hills, or whenever, words come forth in song.  

A melody just comes out of the words or the words merge into a melody - and I am singing to the Lord alone.

It may not be beautiful to any human ear, if someone were to hear it.

It can become intense at times, but, - thankfully - the Lord is seeing the heart - it is fulness that cannot express the words I would like to express in any other way.

But - the Lord is pleased, and it is His pleasure that gladdens my heart - He sees the prayer in the depth of 
the heart in such song. 

Let me remind you that in your heart lies the Master of the Universe, Jesus Christ, the One Who is worthy of this surging, joyful, resounding praise!

In Colossians 3:16, Paul adds another note to this theme: ‘Let the Word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom, teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord.’

Here, he is convinced that song is the point of the overflow of the Word of God. 

Another translation reads: ‘Let the Word of God remain as a rich treasure in your heart, let it live in your hearts, making you rich in true wisdom.

And help one another along the road with psalms, hymns and spiritual songs, singing God’s praises with joyful, thankful hearts.’

Tell me - is there any room for a dirge here?

Of course not!

It is full of joy, gladness, appreciation, thankfulness, delight - all being expressed in prayer to the Lord - with hearts that are giving thanks.

And - it is because the Word of God is a rich treasure in the heart - is dwelling richly in there!

And the heart is singing it out. 

We sing so many such prayer songs during the Sunday morning worship - songs of words taken from the Scriptures!

And I am glad for this - we cannot go wrong in singing out the Scriptures. 

But - let me ask a question here: does your heart sing along with the treasure of words that are expressing the Lord’s heart as well?

They are His words we are singing, you know.

Do you ever feel so full of gratefulness and praise for those words coming from His very own heart that you would like to climb the highest hill on earth and shout His praises for the entire universe to hear?

This is not unusual - in fact, it ought to be very usual, very customary!

If this is so in you, you are praying - communicating with the Lord God Almighty in song - expressing the very substance of His own heart back to Him in full adoration and worship.

It seems to me that such a corporate utterance should fill this room with overflowing praise! 

The gladness of it would be contagious and would set the ‘service in the house of the Lord in good order.’

This kind of praying is called the prayer of adoration - a
spontaneous yearning. 

It is a longing, a thirst to worship, honor, magnify, and bless our God in Christ - to say we love the Lord simply because He is Lord!

It just springs up within - in impromptu splendor - and we are entering the rarefied air of selfless devotion.

We ask for nothing - we seek only to exalt Him above everything else. 

And - one final thought about this kind of praying. 

Sometimes, it gives way to a whispered song of ‘Holy, holy, holy’ before the Lord.  

The worship grows deeper where it is standing on the fertile, rich ground of quiet, hushed awe of His very presence.

The soul has ascended to that self-forgetting adoration that  brings a strange stillness - a stillness of absolute awe, of absolute marvel and wonder right into His Presence.

And we feel as though we are joining heaven’s angels in their chorus around God’s throne singing, ‘Holy, holy, holy - Lord God Almighty!’

When we are led into such experience with our Lord, we stand enraptured before Him - bowing our total selves in worship!

All distractions are gone - all extremes have faded - and - in silence we listen to just their song of the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords.

Listen - it sounds fanciful, I know - but - believe me, when I say, it happens - oh yes, it happens.

We have reached the heart of God in the song of prayer - that catches us up into His wonder and into His praise with unspeakable speech.

‘Hallelujah!’ 

We have reached His heart’s desire - not with outside entertainment - but with His inner workings!

Herein, He has ascribed to us the Gift of freedom - not gained with our own talent and genius - but with the high purpose of God - to learn to worship Him in truth. 

In closing, let me encourage you to think about these things this week.

My prayer tonight is that our hearts are stirred before the living Savior.

I pray He captures each of us in a new and living way - with ‘a new song’ of prayerful praise on our hearts more and more each day.

Will you join me in a ‘prayer of benediction’ and sing with me, please:

Song # 231 ‘Ascribe to the Lord O mighty ones...’