Featuring: Praise Is My Weapon

“Then one of the elders said to me, ‘Do not weep! See, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has triumphed. He is able to open the scroll and its seven seals.” Revelations 5:5

The name Judah means “praise” or ‘praised”. It also means “to give Thanks”. Praise and worship is considered one of the strongest battle tactics in the Bible. Before many battles, it was the tribe of Judah (the singers) that went out first into the battle. In the battle to bring down the wall of Jericho, it was the worshipers who led the march around the wall once a day for 6 days and then 7 times on the 7th day. So why praise? Because for there to be a shift, it starts with what comes out of our mouth. What flows from our hearts. When we praise the Lord, sing praises to him, it shifts us from being consumed by our troubles to being consumed by the one who is bigger than our troubles. It gives us an opportunity to focus on the one who has already won the greatest battle. Praise is not a magic pill that wipes all our troubles away, but it is a weapon that pushes back darkness and allows us to see the One who created the light.

Because of praise, in Genesis 49:8-9, it was stated that the lineage of Judah would be like a “lion”. Judah’s praise represented power, success in battles, bravery and leadership. From the lineage of Judah came many of Israel’s Kings, and the King of all Kings, Jesus. Revelations 5:5 is reminding us not to weep because we worship the one who triumphed and has already gone to battle for us. Jesus is the Lion of Judah who won the greatest battle of all. He defeated sin, death and all the forces of evil by dying on the cross, went to the gravel to collect the keys from hell, and then got up from the gravel and ascended to heaven. All power belongs to him, so we can trust him to help us in our battles.