Let it Out

"Unseal my lips, O LORD, that I may praise You."—Psalm 51:15, NLT

The Gospel account of the Palm Sunday processional can become so familiar, we don't realize that within it is no small throw-away line:

“Some Pharisees from the crowd told him, ‘Teacher, get your disciples under control!’”

The adversary’s tactic has always been to get the saints to shut up, to stop declaring unshakable promises, to quit praising “that Name.” Instead, the whisper says over and over again to be sensible, respectable, cool, calm and collected, and “Get yourself under control. Think good thoughts if you’d like, but just keep it all to yourself.”

Chances are, it happened this week. One minute, you can’t stop singing and tapping your toe, and the next, a worry or fear creeps in and you get momentary paralysis of the mouth, tongue, and lips. The adversary tries to nudge you: "See?" But this is not faith built on sand. This is normal. You are normal. This is the walk of faith and trust that has always been and will forever be on a progressive learning curve for even the most seasoned of saints. And God is with each one of us every step of the way, encouraging us to open wide and let it all out.

Why? Because as the accusing, wannabe silencer of the Song and the songs within us knows, when we choose to let the Truth come out, there is overcoming power in the name of Jesus, to break every chain, worry, and fear.

And so, it’s on.

It may start with a teeth-clenched minor key of “O God, help!” but then open a bit wider, maybe progressing to a jingle-sized “Thank You…sorry, that’s about all I’ve got right now,” to beginning to speak or sing even with feeble breath a simple promise, even three little words like “God is love.” Then doing it again. And again. And sensing the lungs fill, the volume increasing a bit, the toes tapping again, and faith rekindling in the face of a world determined to run off the rails.

It is not always easy, this letting it all out when you’re not feeling it. Sometimes, "it's on!" can be a prolonged tug-of-war. But everyone from the oldest of the Old Testament heroes to the psalmists, to that crowd on Palm Sunday to the 21st century saint swimming against the current of culture has found this to be true:

Continually choosing praise to GOD will, no matter what kind of day or week it has been, push Truth out of your inner-most being and into the murky atmosphere where it ignites mysteriously supernatural fires within. Their praise-fueled flames begin to seer the mind of the accuser’s lies, burn cobwebs of complacency out of weary hearts, and then warm them once again with a peace that passes all understanding and a hope that does not disappoint—even though the troubles may still be real. 

It happens every time, and we are always the most surprised. No one knows how that all works. He just does.

Which is why this is really good news especially for all who come by here today who are heading to a church this morning or this evening. Because inevitably, someone beyond your choosing to let it out with all you’ve got will get hit in the crossfire in a good way. Heaven-sent encouragement has a way of invading someone else's space, maybe someone like you whose mouth may have been zipped shut for a time this week...and discouragement surrenders. And maybe they go home or to work with a spring in their step, and someone asks “What happened?” And like the first disciples did with their friends, the response is simply “Come and see for yourself!” 

And so—just as the adversary has feared all along—the song, and the kingdom of the Song, keeps going and going and going and going…

The psalmist nails it: “O Lord, I will praise You with all my heart and tell everyone about the marvelous things You do. I will be glad, yes, filled with joy because of You. I will sing Your praises, O Lord God above all gods. My enemies will fall back and perish in Your presence…”—Psalm 9:1-3, Amplified

It happens every time. No one knows how that all works.

Praise God...He just does.

“The heart of God is vast, His grace is free, His gospel is exhilarating. Uncross your arms and unpurse your lips!”

—Jared C. Wilson

Photo credit: Charisma Magazine