Align With His Sound | Rachel Shafer

a few weeks ago i heard holy spirit say that we were being mantled with a new garment of praise and isaiah 61 3 says god gives us a garment of praise instead of a spirit of despair the message version says god will give us messages of joy instead of news of doom and so i've been meditating on what that means and thinking about the power and the authority of our praise of our song the scriptures refer to praise as a garment it's something that we put on god wants to mantle us with a new sound and new songs for this revival that we are entering into we're hearing from so many trusted voices right now that it's time for revival it's time for awakening and i believe unshakeable praise plows through the hardest ground and i think we're beginning to see this in our worship but i also believe that it's about to go to another level a new garment of praise i believe the lord is mantling us with this new garment so that we can release his sound on the earth so that we can align our sound with the song of heaven unshakeable praise must keep going judah goes first to help prepare the way judah goes first in the war for our inheritance judah goes first to plow into new territory praise leads the way praise breaks through praise is a response that we should have to god when he reveals himself to us so praise can occur at the point of revelation rather than at the actual time of the manifestation of the promise yes we praise when we receive the promise of god but we also praise god in advance when he speaks to us or when he gives us faith to believe him for a manifestation of something that we desire he enthrones himself or makes himself king over that situation in our lives praise comes from a latin word meaning value or price to give praise to god is to proclaim his merit his worth many terms are used to express this in the bible including glory blessing thanksgiving hallelujah the hebrew title of the book of psalms comes from that same root as hallelujah and psalms 113 through 118 have been specially designated the halau or the praise psalms and the modes of praise are many we see lots of them here during our worship time it's the offering of sacrifices it's physical movement it's silence and meditation it can be testimony prayer a holy life praise is many times linked to music both instrumental and vocal praise is to originate in the heart and not become a mere outward show praise is also firmly linked to an individual's everyday life the bible displays outburst of praise and god takes pleasure and delight in his works and expects us to express our joy in what he does and we can see all throughout scripture that god is passionate about singing god's heart for setting words to melodies is evident from just a quick look at the psalms psalm 96 1-2 says o sing to the lord a new song sing to the lord all the earth sing to the lord bless his name tell of his salvation from day to day and psalm 47 6 says sing praises to god sing praises sing praises to our king sing praises in just these four verses were commanded to sing seven times and all told the bible contains over 400 references to singing and 50 direct commands to sing the longest book of the bible the psalms is a book of songs and in the new testament we're commanded not once but twice to sing psalms hymns and spiritual songs to one another when we meet so my question is why why does god so often tell us not simply to praise him but to sing his praises when we meet song is a powerful component of worship throughout the bible and the history of the church and in society songs reflect everything both lyrics and the style of music combined to give voice to all kinds of emotions happiness sadness anger fear love hate and it's the same in the scriptures there are songs of lament as well as songs of joy songs of hope as well as songs of despair music and song have a powerful effect on the human soul first samuel 16 23 says and whenever the tormenting spirit from god troubled saul david would play the harp then saul would feel better and the tormenting spirit would go away for each of us it may be a very different style of music that touches our souls or relieves our agitation or inspires our hearts for some it could be classical music while for others it might be gospel or any genre in between and we also see in the scripture that god sings over his children zephaniah 3 17 says the lord your god is with you he is mighty to save he will take great delight in you he will quiet you with his love he will rejoice over you with singing so just like a parent seeking to quiet an anxious child might sing a lullaby to give them rest god also sings over us and while we know that worship doesn't just mean singing there is something powerful about worship and songs king david was the great leader of corporate worship and in first chronicles 15 we see that he gathered a large organized and skilled worship team he had musicians singers skilled song leaders choirs david taught the nation that they must come to god's presence with an offering of worship and i believe that's part of what this new garment of praise is about it's not only coming into his presence but it's carrying his presence and that's the garment that we're putting on psalm 100 says on your feet now applaud god bring a gift of laughter sing yourselves into his presence know this god is god and god god he made us we didn't make him we're his people his well-tended sheep enter with the password thank you make yourselves at home talking praise thank him worship him for god is sheer beauty all generous in love loyal always and ever worship is not just a warm-up for the preacher music and song in church is not just a lovely background for our chatter it is how we welcome the lord focus on his presence and surrender to him the power of song echoes throughout the scriptures in amazing moments men and women lifted a song instead of a cry or a scream they sang in their dark and challenging moments in psalm 137 1-6 we see that the people of israel had lost their joy and for good reason i might add they were being held captive in babylon they were refugees by force they were slaves of cruel masters the babylonians taunted them verses one through six say alongside babylon's rivers we sat on the banks we cried and cried remembering the good old days in zion alongside the quaking aspens we stacked our unplayed harps that's where our captors demanded songs sarcastic in mocking sing us a happy zion song oh how could we ever sing god's song in this wasteland they had set their harps down they were no longer singing there are people watching our witness today they are watching those who profess to love god they see us get sick they see us lose our jobs they see us experience opposition and the way we respond to suffering and disappointment preaches a more powerful message than just about anything i can think of habakkuk 3 17-18 says though the cherry trees don't blossom and the strawberries don't ripen though the apples are worm eaten and the wheat fields stunted though the sheep pens are sheepless and the cattle barn's empty i'm singing joyful praise to god i'm turning cartwheels of joy to my savior god counting on god's rule to prevail i take heart and gain strength i run like a deer i feel like i'm king of the mountain and then i love the notes that go along with these verses at the end it says for congregational use with a full orchestra these verses are saying even when things don't look good in fact they're looking pretty bad i'm singing joyful praises to god a song can release divine power and potential i'm going to list some things that our praises cause to happen number one praise brings a response from god second chronicles 5 13 and 14 says the choir and trumpets made one voice of praise and thanks to god orchestra inquire in perfect harmony singing and playing praise to god yes god is good his loyal love goes on forever then a billowing cloud filled the temple of god the priests couldn't even carry out their duties because of the cloud the glory of god that filled the temple of god praise brought the glory cloud into the temple it was god's response number two praise moves the heart of god a song of unity brought the presence of god into solomon's temple like never seen before a song that was at first sung in pain disappointment confusion guilt but it can open a doorway into the very place that we can be healed and renewed isaiah 54 1 says sing barren woman who has never had a baby fill the air with song you who've never experienced childbirth you're ending up with far more children than all those child-bearing women god says so do you need a fresh visitation of god on your life sing again number three praise silence is the enemy second chronicles 20 verse 22 says after consulting the people jehoshaphat appointed men to sing to the lord and to praise him for the splendor of his holiness as they went out at the head of the army saying give thanks to the lord for his love endures forever as they began to sing in praise the lord set ambushes against the men of ammon and moab and mount sir who were invading judah and they were defeated number four praise shouts god's power over the enemy's taunts psalm 8 2 says from the lips of children and infants you have ordained praise because of your enemies to silence the foe and the avenger do you need triumph in a battle that you've been losing sing again number five praise brings release it brings breakthrough acts 16 25 says about midnight paul and silas were praying and singing hymns to god and the other prisoners were listening to them suddenly there was such a violent earthquake that the foundations of the prison were shaken at once all the prison doors flew open and everybody's chains came loose worship in the dark can open up doors of light and hope and isaiah 61 3 says to bestow on them a crown of beauty instead of ashes the oil of gladness instead of mourning in a garment of praise instead of a spirit of despair are you looking for a way out of prison out of hopelessness sing again the israelites in babylon had hung their harps on the trees they had stopped singing have you do you have a song if you've turned from your sins and you're forgiven and reconciled to god then right there you have a song it's a song of the redeemed of those who have been rescued through the cross of jesus christ and are now called his friends in the book of revelation the host of heaven aren't in unity because of the style of music they are singing but because of the focus of their song we read about it in revelation 5 10 it says and they sang a new song saying worthy are you to take the scroll and to open its seals for you were slain and by your blood you ransomed people for god from every tribe and language and people and nation and you have made them a kingdom and priests who are god and they shall reign on the earth what kind of music do people from every tribe and language and nation and tongue sing well i don't know god didn't tell us i can't tell you how many times i've read a psalm and i thought man i wish i knew how david's saying that i wish i knew what the melody was but instead god told us what the focus of our song should be worthy is the lamb who was slain holy is the lion that reigns the lamb and the lion must always be central to our corporate worship our corporate singing because jesus is the one who made it possible when i choose the worship sets for each of our gatherings i always prayerfully do so it's fine to sing songs that reflect on us that tell of what he's done but the ultimate goal by the end by the time that we're really pressing into our worship is to be not focused on us but to be completely focused on him that's when our song is joined with his song his glorious perfect song of praise and that's the kind of worship that breaks chains from paul and silas's jail cell to church services that we have today praise has the power to break strongholds in our lives just like when david played music for saul it causes the spiritual darkness in our lives to flee christians those who believe in god are the sort of people who sing at midnight job 35 10 tells us that god gives us songs in the night when paul and silas were in prison and beaten and chained their fellow prisoners heard them singing in their cell in the dark of night when jesus awaited his betrayal he led his disciples in a hymn and when david walked through the times of god's seeming silence he sent songs into the darkness psalm 42 8 says at night his song is with me so like jesus like paul like silas the psalmist breaks the silence of the night with a song and it's a song that likely contained many of the ideas we find in psalm 42 but again i ask why when faced with darkness when faced with doubt why did the psalmist sing and why should we psalm 42 and 43 gives us at least four reasons number one songs turn misery into prayer our darkest nights can make prayer feel like a foreign language we can try to pray but we're unable to say a word we can start stop sigh give up or if we do pray we can ramble from one unformed thought to another in his own trouble the psalmist put his prayers on the wings of a melody psalm 42 and 43 says why have you forgotten me why do i go mourning because of the oppression of the enemy vindicate me o god and defend my cause send out your light and your truth let them lead me let them bring me to your holy hill and to your dwelling david knew that a song could take his groans and send them to god he knew that a song could gather up the chaos within and give it an intelligible voice and so he placed his pain in the structure of a lament when you are so troubled that you cannot speak to god you may still be able to sing you may still be able to take up one of the songs of the saints whether it's an actual psalm or a hymn or a more modern song but it can turn your misery into prayer number two songs confront the logic of despair martin lu lloyd jones preaching on psalm 42 said have you realized that most of your unhappiness in life is due to the fact that you are listening to yourself instead of talking to yourself in the scriptures david sang to himself when we read hope in god for i shall again praise him david is singing he turns to his depressed self takes him by the shoulders and serenades him with hope often sung words fit where said words cannot love this quote it says melodies slip under the doorways of our doubts while said words stand outside knocking it's like the song that we sang out a few weeks ago during our worship time hope sings its song to me and i can't help but believe often sung or once sung the words often stay with us echoing through our minds and our hearts bringing beauty and truth to the logic of our despair god gave us a book of songs for a reason and often we need to do more than speak the truth to ourselves we need to sing it so that it becomes ingrained in us number three songs glorify the god who hears when we lift up a song at midnight we declare with the psalmist that god is the god of my life he is my rock when we sing into the darkness we confess that god alone can raise our cast down souls that god alone can lead us back home and that god alone can retune our songs of misery into songs of praise when we raise our song in the night we declare against all of our feelings that god reigns over the darkness that god is at work in the darkness and that god is still worthy of worship in the darkness and when we do we glorify the god who hears number four songs prepare the way for joy songs are not magic they don't remedy our distress right away as soon as we sing them but songs are one way that we prepare our hearts for joy's return psalm 42 and 43 end with david still in the darkness for the third time he addresses himself with these words why are you cast down o my soul and why are you in turmoil within me hope in god for i shall again praise him my salvation and my god joy's delay did not close david's mouth he sits there at the bottom of his pit and he keeps on singing he keeps on praying to god and preaching to himself through song and he keeps on trusting that as he does so god will slowly lift him from the pit and joy will return psalm 43 4 says then i will go to the altar of god to god my exceeding joy and i will praise you with the liar o god my god when the time is right god will answer and our songs will be one way that he lifts up the valleys makes low the hills and prepares the way for joy's return worship music is deeply beneficial to the worshipper because it aligns us with the holy spirit and the heart of god worship exalts god scripture tells us that god inhabits the praises of his people when we worship he meets with us and we experience his goodness but our feelings should not be our pursuit we should seek first to call god what he is holy and worthy and set our gaze upon him worship brings an upward look a look at god on his throne in all of his glory it refocuses our view of god it pulls our affections off any idols and puts them on to the one who's worthy it causes us to remember how good he is how big how kind how powerful how loving how holy and worship also brings an inward look because when you see god for who he really is you start to see yourself for who you really are and you have a desire to be obedient to whatever god calls you to do genuine worship isn't just singing songs and getting a good feeling in your heart genuine worship is seeing god for who he really is his power his greatness his holiness his sovereignty his compassion and then giving him what he's worth the best of your time your talents your thoughts your words your deeds true worship is seeing afresh the tremendous worth of god and in response giving him the best of everything you have i love rahu's book it's called sound of heaven symphony of earth and in it he teaches about sound the day god chose to create light is the day music began light and sound travel through the medium of waves all the categories and forms of light and sound exist within the same spectrum so essentially the first time god said let there be light in genesis 1 3 he was also saying let there be sound everything that god has ever brought forth has come from the sound of his voice the sound of heaven is called the sound of many waters in revelations 14 2. it encompasses all the frequencies in the sound spectrum which is water wind fire and earth water wind and fire and then we are made from the fourth element the earth imagine the first sound adam ever heard was breathing the breath of his spirit we are the only ones made in god's image we are the ones god gave free will to accept or reject his sound we were given a will because we were given a soul that means we have a choice to align our sound with the sound of heaven we know that david was a worshiper god saw his heart daily as he worshipped him david's love and worship touched the very heart of god to the point that he was called a man after god's own heart david was able to impact his generation because he brought god to all arenas of it as a prophet he worshiped as a king he worshipped in all aspects of his life he was a worshiper psalm 119 164 tells us that he worshipped god seven times a day he would take out his harp and spontaneously sing to god david was a prophet and he wrote and he sang lyrics from a hebrew mindset when god spoke to prophets of old they understood that when god said it it was done they didn't have to work up their faith or motivate themselves to believe god would do what he said he would do we typically tend to think with a greek mindset which means our thinking generally tries to coordinate and relate things into a system we try to fit things into what we know the hebrew mind didn't normally think logically there were no stages of meaning because the hebrew thought with the eye meaning their connection to the prophetic was always optical and not logical david saw one thing and then another and the connections aren't always obvious to the reader who's reading the psalm within one psalm the atmosphere in imagery can change many times and then i read this statement in the book it said david simply sang what he saw and what he saw was what god was saying and that lit a fire in me when i read it because that's something that god has told me to do often throughout different situations in my life he has told me to sing what you want to see and so it becomes a prayer for me god give me your perspective let me see the way you see so i can sing it psalm 23 is very familiar to most of us and if we picture the scene we can see david sitting on a hillside strumming his harp and then he begins to sing the lord is my shepherd i shall not want he makes me to lie down in green pastures he leads me beside the still waters he restores my soul he leads me in the paths of righteousness for his name's sake and so the images here are a loving shepherd sheep resting in green pastures still waters but then when we get to verse 4 the imagery suddenly changes to walking through the valley of the shadow of death and it says yea though i walk through the valley of the shadow of death i will fear no evil for you are with me your rod and your staff they comfort me then there's another sudden change and we're at an indoor banquet with a table prepared for us and it says you prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies you anoint my head with oil my cup runs over and you can imagine david sitting on the hillside just seeing all of these different images a shepherd and his sheep a fugitive running for his life yet seeing his safety in god and it leads him to writing surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life and i will dwell in the house of the lord forever the connections in this psalm are optical they're not logical it doesn't make sense at first until you realize what david is doing he is seeing all these different parts of his life and then he's adding god into the equation sing what you want to see add god into the equation like the song we sing here i see a near revival stirring as we pray and seek i see a generation rising up to take their place we see it we sing it we add god the psalms were sung there are often notes before each psalm that say to the chief musician or play with stringed instruments or with flutes or with harp the eyes are just as important as the ears we need to see what our father is doing and hear what he is saying in joshua 6 2-5 we read the story of jericho but this time i really noticed the first word that he says starting in verse 2 it says and the lord said to joshua see i have given jericho into your hand its king and the mighty men of valor you shall march around the city all you men of war you shall go around all the city once then you shall do six days and seven priests shall bear seven trumpets of ram's horns before the ark but the seventh day you shall march around the city seven times and the priest shall blow the trumpets it shall come to pass when they make a long blast with the ram's horn and when you hear the sound of the trumpet that all the people shall shout with a great shout then the wall of the city will fall down flat and the people shall go up every man straight before him the lord told joshua see for i have given jericho into your hand they didn't already have jericho they weren't seeing the victory yet in the natural they couldn't physically look out and see that god was giving joshua his vision his perspective he was saying to joshua see the way that i see and it was important for joshua to see as he heard and when he did he began mobilizing the people to take down jericho and the people responded out of obedience to god resulting from joshua hearing and seeing what the lord was saying when god's people shouted out of obedience god got involved and shouted too we win battles by praising we overcome situations by praising we get through certain circumstances by praising we are all called to worship and praise you don't have to be a singer to sing or a musician to worship you only have to be a child of god and there are many battles we win by what comes out of our mouths he is clothing us with a new garment of praise i believe that when we sing god's word we make the enemies shake and tremble with fear as we sing words of adoration and gratitude heaven is accessed and an audience in the courts of our father is granted the combination of musical instruments and song has the power to alter the very environment that surrounds us when we sing god is magnified his dominion is declared over our situation so when we choose to praise him in the midst of battles unseen he fights for us isaiah 30 starting in verse 29 says and you will sing as on the night you celebrate a holy festival your hearts will rejoice as when people playing pipes go up to the mountain of the lord to the rock of israel the lord will cause people to hear his majestic voice and will make them see his arm coming down with raging anger and consuming fire with cloudburst thunderstorm and hail the voice of the lord will shatter assyria with his rod he will strike them down every stroke the lord lays on them with his punishing club will be to the music of timbrels and harps as he fights them in battle with the blows of his arm our part in this equation is to open our mouths and sing and when we do he comes in but not just any song will do we need to align our song with his and i want to see what he sees i want his perspective we are to sing in unified joy with all our strength and might as god routes the enemy as you open the gates of your heart through intentional gratitude and thankfulness for what god has done you come in contact with all that he is one of our greatest battlegrounds is in our heads where our eyes ears and mouths are positioned what we pull into our minds creates reactions to sight speech and hearing i know i use these illustrations often but it's my story and it's who i know god to be and it's what he's revealed to me shortly after our son jaden had his stroke i desperately needed to hear from god i needed his perspective i needed to see from his vantage point and i was guided to psalm 31 and as i read it i just began to be comforted and i thanked god for his faithfulness and during that time a friend of mine had messaged me and she told me that while she was praying for jaden she felt impressed to tell me that i had a song of healing in my belly for him and to sing it over him she said you have birthed the song to heal your baby now release it so when i read psalm 31 i knew that that was it holy spirit quickened it to me and so i went to my piano at home and began to release that song i began to sing how god sees i began to sing what i wanted to see in jaden's life and i could sing it with power and conviction because it came from god it came from his very word i was singing it as one who sees what god sees and as one who hears what god is saying and so that's when i started writing you are brave you are strong don't give up expect god and then i began seeing what god was doing for jaden and i wrote these lyrics as if god was singing it to him and i began writing i hold you in my mighty hand and i'll never let you down you are brave you are strong expect god i see your pain i give you room to heal as i breathe my life in you hour by hour and day by day i am healing you with great expectation i come with my healing oil i come with my breath of life i come you are in my hands you are strong and that is the song that we played over and over for jaden while he was laying in the hospital room mark and i would hold the recording to his ear and just let it wash over him day after day trusting that he was able to hear it most of you are familiar with his miraculous healing so i'm not going to go into all those details today today is about the song after we had been home from the hospital for a couple of weeks jayden asked me to sing his song to him so we went to the piano and we sang it together and i'm going to have caitlyn play this video as we sing it that night i've only played it here one other time it's a little dark the video is it's kind of hard to see but as i was working on this message for today i thought of how this video literally shows our song in the dark times this was the song that god gave me in our night season [Music] is [Music] is so after we sang that song together that night jayden asked me if i saw him raising his hands while he sang and i said yes i thought you know you were just praising god and he replied no i was just waving hi to god and jesus letting them know how good i was doing and i'm like okay right and then he said mom what would i have done in the hospital if i didn't have a song did jesus sing it every time you did and at the time it immediately brought such emotion and tears to my eyes it still does to this day but that simple question what would i have done if i didn't have a song again zephaniah 3 17 the lord your god is with you he is mighty to save he will take great delight in you he will quiet you with his love he will rejoice over you with singing that word picture in zephaniah 3 is just filled with emotion god the father is the one who holds his daughter jerusalem in this verse and sings joyfully in her presence just as a loving parent cradles a child and sings out of love so god's song over his people is born of his great love after a time of hardship our loving lord dries his people's tears comforts their hearts and welcomes them to a new world so yes i do believe jesus was singing this song over jaden drying his tears comforting him and us as well different seasons require different songs and today i believe god wants to clothe you with a new garment of praise so that we can know and come in agreement with what is being sung and decreed in each season by our savior king over us individually over our region over our nation over this land what song can you come in agreement with last sunday out of our corporate worship we began singing out the nation sing behold the king he is yahweh lord of everything it's a song that we can corporately come into agreement with proverbs 21 verses 30 and 31 says nothing clever nothing conceived nothing contrived can get the better of god do your best prepare for the worst and then trust god to bring the victory sometimes the enemy comes at us with everything he has and we think we're not going to survive it but we will first john 4 4 says but you belong to god my dear children you have already won a victory over those people because the spirit who lives in you is greater than the spirit who lives in the world and as i was singing and praying over this today god definitely reminded me that he has already won we have the victory in jesus name i'd like to ask the worship team to go ahead and come up we need to get his perspective we need to see the way he sees hear his voice and sing our song we use a magnifying glass in order to see something better to see the details the magnifying glass does not change the actual image it just makes it clearer to us the thing that you are looking at actually does not change in size what changes is how you see it when we magnify god through worship and praise we are not changing anything about who god is what we are doing is taking a closer look at his attributes who he said he is through the word he doesn't change when we magnify him we are the ones who change how we see him don't let the enemy try to sneak in a different perspective keep your focus on him because when we praise he steps in and says isaiah 55 my thoughts are nothing like your thoughts says the lord and my ways are far beyond anything you could imagine for just as the heavens are higher than the earth so my ways are higher than your ways and my thoughts higher than your thoughts and it's the same with my word i send it out and it always produces fruit it will accomplish all i want it to and it will prosper everywhere i send it he surrounds us with life-giving promises [Music] we already have the victory god we glorify you we praise you jesus we praise you jesus we give you glory in advance god before we even see promises with them before we see a victory we will glorify we will praise we will magnify your holy name nothing will steal our song nothing will steal our joy we won't stop singing we won't stop praising we won't stop glorifying we won't stop magnifying you jesus you're always worthy of our worship you're always worthy of our praise you're always deserving god so we give it all to you this morning god we give it all to you this morning jesus hallelujah we thank you god we thank you jesus we exalt you in this place today god jesus i thank you for all that you are all that you have done all that you are continuing to do god i ask that you would infuse each of us with your grace your strength your peace your perspective that we would see how you see that we would say what you see that we would sing it out god i decree your faithfulness and your greatness over every person here every family every situation every circumstance god i ask that you would clothe us with a new garment of praise align our sound with your song and let us be carriers of your presence jesus restore songs in the hearts and souls of your people [Music] give you all the glory all the honor all the praise in jesus name amen amen have a blessed week everyone

Channel: Oasis Church

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Keywords: the oasis church, tim sheets, dr. tim sheets, oasiswired, oasis church, middletown ohio, oasis middletown, tim sheets middletown, heaven made real, angel armies, planting the heavens, the new era of glory, new era, no more delay, dutch sheets, prophetic summit, angels and decrees, prophetic word, pray for america, the hub, oc, oasis, apostle tim sheets, rachel shafer, align with God's sound, worship

Id: 1KE-LAkML34

Length: 43min 41sec (2621 seconds)

Published: Sun Jul 25 2021