Psalm 118:14-17
14 The Lord is my strength and song, and is become my salvation.
15 The voice of rejoicing and salvation is in the tabernacles of the righteous: the right hand of the Lord doeth valiantly.
16 The right hand of the Lord is exalted: the right hand of the Lord doeth valiantly.
17 I shall not die, but live, and declare the works of the Lord.
Wow! This is sooo powerful, my friends!
We can do NOTHING on our own. Jesus told us that bluntly.
John 15:5
I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing.
The LORD is our Strength.
Exodus 13:3
And Moses said unto the people, Remember this day, in which ye came out from Egypt, out of the house of bondage; for by strength of hand the Lord brought you out from this place: there shall no leavened bread be eaten.
Philippians 4:13
I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.
In ancient times, the person with the highest rank under the King would sit at the King’s right side. That’s where we get the term, “my right hand man”. He’s always got your back. You can depend on him.
Psalm 16:8 I have set the Lord always before me: because he is at my right hand, I shall not be moved.
That’s Jesus!
Jesus sits at the right hand of the Father. Now, take a look at some Old Testament and New Testament verses:
Exodus 15:6
Thy right hand, O Lord, is become glorious in power: thy right hand, O Lord, hath dashed in pieces the enemy.
Deuteronomy 33:2
And he said, The Lord came from Sinai, and rose up from Seir unto them; he shined forth from mount Paran, and he came with ten thousands of saints: from his right hand went a fiery law for them.
Job 40:7-14
7 Gird up thy loins now like a man: I will demand of thee, and declare thou unto me.
8 Wilt thou also disannul my judgment? wilt thou condemn me, that thou mayest be righteous?
9 Hast thou an arm like God? or canst thou thunder with a voice like him?
10 Deck thyself now with majesty and excellency; and array thyself with glory and beauty.
11 Cast abroad the rage of thy wrath: and behold every one that is proud, and abase him.
12 Look on every one that is proud, and bring him low; and tread down the wicked in their place.
13 Hide them in the dust together; and bind their faces in secret.
14 Then will I also confess unto thee that thine own right hand can save thee.
Psalm 17:7 Shew thy marvellous lovingkindness, O thou that savest by thy right hand them which put their trust in thee from those that rise up against them.
Psalm 18:35 Thou hast also given me the shield of thy salvation: and thy right hand hath holden me up, and thy gentleness hath made me great.
There are so many. We could post them all day. Brings a whole new meaning to those passages, doesn’t it. And, “they” say Jesus is not found in the Old Testament. I beg to differ.
In Genesis 48, we see Israel’s right hand stretching forth to receive the greater blessing!
Genesis 48:13-19
13 And Joseph took them both, Ephraim in his right hand toward Israel’s left hand, and Manasseh in his left hand toward Israel’s right hand, and brought them near unto him.
14 And Israel stretched out his right hand, and laid it upon Ephraim’s head, who was the younger, and his left hand upon Manasseh’s head, guiding his hands wittingly; for Manasseh was the firstborn.
15 And he blessed Joseph, and said, God, before whom my fathers Abraham and Isaac did walk, the God which fed me all my life long unto this day,
16 The Angel which redeemed me from all evil, bless the lads; and let my name be named on them, and the name of my fathers Abraham and Isaac; and let them grow into a multitude in the midst of the earth.
17 And when Joseph saw that his father laid his right hand upon the head of Ephraim, it displeased him: and he held up his father’s hand, to remove it from Ephraim’s head unto Manasseh’s head.
18 And Joseph said unto his father, Not so, my father: for this is the firstborn; put thy right hand upon his head.
19 And his father refused, and said, I know it, my son, I know it: he also shall become a people, and he also shall be great: but truly his younger brother shall be greater than he, and his seed shall become a multitude of nations.
Now, let’s take a look at some New Testament passages:
Mark 12:36 For David himself said by the Holy Ghost, The Lord said to my Lord, Sit thou on my right hand, till I make thine enemies thy footstool.
Mark 16:19 So then after the Lord had spoken unto them, he was received up into heaven, and sat on the right hand of God.
Luke 22:69 Hereafter shall the Son of man sit on the right hand of the power of God.
1 Peter 3:21–22 The like figure whereunto even baptism doth also now save us (not the putting away of the filth of the flesh, but the answer of a good conscience toward God,) by the resurrection of Jesus Christ: Who is gone into heaven, and is on the right hand of God; angels and authorities and powers being made subject unto him.
Acts 7:55-56 But he, being full of the Holy Ghost, looked up stedfastly into heaven, and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing on the right hand of God, And said, Behold, I see the heavens opened, and the Son of man standing on the right hand of God.
Jesus is at the right hand of God The Father ruling and reining RIGHT NOW. Jesus is the right hand in the Old Testament. The right hand has strength. It is Jesus, the Right Hand, who holds us up, who saves us, who strengthens us.
Psalm 20:6 Now know I that the Lord saveth his anointed; he will hear him from his holy heaven with the saving strength of his right hand.
Isaiah 41:10 Fear thou not; for I am with thee: be not dismayed; for I am thy God: I will strengthen thee; yea, I will help thee; yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness.
Acts 3:7 And he took him by the right hand, and lifted him up: and immediately his feet and ankle bones received strength.
The LORD is our Strength. And, He is our Song.
Exodus 15:2 The Lord is my strength and song, and he is become my salvation: he is my God, and I will prepare him an habitation; my father’s God, and I will exalt him.
Psalm 118:14 The Lord is my strength and song, and is become my salvation.
Isaiah 12:2 Behold, God is my salvation; I will trust, and not be afraid: for the Lord Jehovah is my strength and my song; he also is become my salvation.
Not only is our LORD worthy to be praised through song, but also power and strength is coming from the songs that He commands us to sing unto Him.
Let’s take a look at a few examples of His mighty strength and power coming from worship songs.
Firstly, when the armies went out to battle, the LORD sent the praise teams in front of the army. Why? The LORD inhabits our praises. His mighty power would dwell there and go before the army. He always says, “I will go before you”. He dwells in our worship to Him.
2 Chronicles 20:21-23
And they rose early in the morning, and went forth into the wilderness of Tekoa: and as they went forth, Jehoshaphat stood and said, Hear me, O Judah, and ye inhabitants of Jerusalem; Believe in the LORD your God, so shall ye be established; believe his prophets, so shall ye prosper. And when he had consulted with the people, he appointed singers unto the LORD, and that should praise the beauty of holiness, as they went out before the army, and to say, Praise the LORD; for his mercy endureth for ever. And when they began to sing and to praise, the LORD set ambushments against the children of Ammon, Moab, and mount Seir, which were come against Judah; and they were smitten. For the children of Ammon and Moab stood up against the inhabitants of mount Seir, utterly to slay and destroy them: and when they had made an end of the inhabitants of Seir, every one helped to destroy another.
When they began to sing and praise, the LORD fought for them and their enemies were defeated!
2 Kings 38:13-17
And Elisha said to the king of Israel, “What have I to do with you? Go to the prophets of your father and to the prophets of your mother.” But the king of Israel said to him, “No; it is the Lord who has called these three kings to give them into the hand of Moab.” And Elisha said, “As the Lord of hosts lives, before whom I stand, were it not that I have regard for Jehoshaphat the king of Judah, I would neither look at you nor see you. But now bring me a musician.” And when the musician played, the hand of the Lord came upon him. And he said, “Thus says the Lord, ‘I will make this dry streambed full of pools.’ For thus says the Lord, ‘You shall not see wind or rain, but that streambed shall be filled with water, so that you shall drink, you, your livestock, and your animals.’
This is sooo amazing! When the musician began to play, the Hand of the Lord came upon Elisha and He began to prophesy! Elisha knew he needed the musician.
We also see music and prophesying together in Samuel.
1 Samuel 10:5-6 After that you shall come to Gibeath-elohim, where there is a garrison of the Philistines. And there, as soon as you come to the city, you will meet a group of prophets coming down from the high place with harp, tambourine, flute, and lyre before them, prophesying. Then the Spirit of the Lord will rush upon you, and you will prophesy with them and be turned into another man.
These prophets were prophesying with musicians in tow!
1 Samuel 15:16 and 23
15 And Saul’s servants said unto him, Behold now, an evil spirit from God troubleth thee.
16 Let our lord now command thy servants, which are before thee, to seek out a man, who is a cunning player on an harp: and it shall come to pass, when the evil spirit from God is upon thee, that he shall play with his hand, and thou shalt be well.
23 And it came to pass, when the evil spirit from God was upon Saul, that David took an harp, and played with his hand: so Saul was refreshed, and was well, and the evil spirit departed from him.
An evil spirit from the LORD was troubling Saul, but when David played the harp with his hand, the evil spirit departed from Saul. Saul was made well when David played the music from the harp with his hand. The music sent that evil spirit running for the hills! I wonder what scared it off so bad? Hmmm…. Interesting this is a STRING instrument. Do you think HA-A-RP is the enemy’s counterfeit?
Psalm 49:4 I will incline mine ear to a parable: I will open my dark saying upon the harp.
I believe this is why are told to worship the LORD, Sing, Sing, Sing to defeat depression.
Isaiah 61:3 To appoint unto them that mourn in Zion, to give unto them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness; that they might be called trees of righteousness, the planting of the Lord, that he might be glorified.
Jericho 6:20 So the people shouted when the priests blew with the trumpets: and it came to pass, when the people heard the sound of the trumpet, and the people shouted with a great shout, that the wall fell down flat, so that the people went up into the city, every man straight before him, and they took the city.
This is one of the more famous stories in the Bible, although they are all amazing. When the music was played, the trumpets sounded, and all the people shouted, the walls of the enemy came crashing down! Think about that. The walls of the enemy came crashing down.
Acts 16:25-26 And at midnight Paul and Silas prayed, and sang praises unto God: and the prisoners heard them. And suddenly there was a great earthquake, so that the foundations of the prison were shaken: and immediately all the doors were opened, and every one’s bands were loosed.
Read what just happened here! Paul and Silas were singing praises to God and they were freed from their prison.
Are you seeing a common theme here yet? Singing and praising in worship to our God tears down the walls the enemy has built, opens the prison doors and looses the bands the enemy has tied upon us, removes the spirit of heaviness, removes evil spirits trying to attach themselves to us and influence us, brings the Spirit of the LORD upon us, bestows the gift of prophesy, and brings the very presence of the LORD to do battle for us!
The LORD is our strength and our song. Do you understand what this means now?
Psalm 68:4 Sing unto God, sing praises to his name: extol him that rideth upon the heavens by his name JAH, and rejoice before him.