Let Judah Go First! (Cultivating a praiseful heart))

“Let Judah Go First”

Judges 1-2 King James Version (KJV)

1 Now after the death of Joshua it came to pass, that the children of Israel asked the Lord, saying, Who shall go up for us against the Canaanites first, to fight against them?

2 And the Lord said Judah, shall go up: behold, I have delivered the land into his hand.

We've often heard the phrase "When the praises go up, the blessings come down". It simply connotes putting praises before request, as exemplified by the simple prayer Jesus taught his disciples in

 Matthew 6:9-13 

9 “This, then, is how you should pray:

“‘Our Father in heaven,
hallowed be your name,
10 Your kingdom come,
Your will be done,
    on earth as it is in heaven.
11 Give us today our daily bread.
12 And forgive us our debts,
    as we also have forgiven our debtors.
13 And lead us not into temptation,
    but deliver us from the evil one."

God is wiser than men. He is a master strategist and master planner. He does everything with great significance. His choosing of Judah over all other tribes of Israel to go first before any battle is not by chance because Judah means praise in Hebrew.

In the Old Testament Judah (Hebrew: Yehudah) is the fourth of the twelve sons of Jacob by Leah and the ancestor of the tribe of Judah. An explanation for his name is given in Genisis 29:35. 

    "And she conceived again, and bare a son: and she said, Now will I praise the   LORD: therefore she called his name Judah; and left bearing." ... ' Therefore she named him Judah. Then she stopped bearing." Genesis 29:35, NLT: "Once again Leah became pregnant and gave birth to another son.

Psalm 22:3 tells us that God dwells within the praises of His people. He loves the praises that His children give Him. When we praise the Lord, He moves in a mysterious way to dismantle obstacles that confronts us.

In 2 Chronicles 20, we read about the gathering of the people of Ammon, Moab, and Mount Seir, three great nations that came out against King Jehoshaphat. Judah was outnumbered and frightened, but a call to the Lord brought about God’s timely intervention Mount Seir, three great nations that came out against King Jehoshaphat. Judah was outnumbered and frightened, but a call to the Lord brought about God’s timely intervention through instruction and obedience. We read about how the enemies turned against themselves! Hallelujah!!! Praise is more powerful than any weapon of war. The walls of Jericho came down flat when the people of Israel praised God.

through instruction and obedience. We read about how the enemies turned against themselves! Hallelujah!!! Praise is more powerful than any weapon of war. The walls of Jericho came down flat when the people of Israel praised God.

This year, I pray that God will clothe you with the garment of praise to entreat His favor!

Join me to “Let Praise Go Up First”!!! There is power in praise to crush all challenges in the rest of 2020!

When I wrote a post about this post on my Facebook page earlier this year, little did I know that we had been ushered into the year when a pandemic will ravage the entire world, economies will be challenged, nations will shut down their borders, people will be stranded in the countries they visited before the pandemic; I did not know that the United States, with all her technological advancement and medical prowess, will cripple under the effects of COVID 19, and experience so much deaths and riots from discontented civil right fighters, and so on...

Yes, as a human, I can only see in part (1 Corinthians13:12), I did not foresee the big picture of what will happen in 2020, all I knew was that regardless of what the outcome would be, praising God is able to see us through. Therefore, praising God through this storm is the only solution I can boldly recommend to anyone who wants to continue to experience victory. We are six months into 2020, and there are six more months to go. Let’s tighten up our praise garments and give God quality praise and worship. I bet you, the enemy cannot withstand your weapon of PRAISE!