PUBLIC PRAISE

Greetings -

For the past few years, I have been prone to engage in public praise of our Lord.  A lot of people praise the Lord in church and sing and dance to the Lord in church, as well as in their homes. Well, I sometimes also praise the Lord in public when I am walking down the street, in parks, in stores...  By that I don't mean "nutty" or "spooky" conduct.  Below are a few examples:

When I lived in Tampa, FL:

One evening, I was walking to a destination and got "lost."  Before I realized it, I had walked more than an hour out of my way!  (I am a walker and do it often in excess of 45 minutes).  Anyhow, the Lord had reasons for my "lost" condition.  As I walked back to re-group, the Lord told me to praise Him out loud.  I did so for more than 15 minutes and I kept on praising Him out loud.  The next thing I knew, a car drove by and the man inside the car yelled, "Worthy is His name."  I was like, Lord, is he for real or someone trying to lure me?  Just then, the car pulled in front of me into a driveway and stopped.  I stopped, and a woman, Tabitha, got out on the passenger side and said that she was reclined in her seat - she heard me - and the Lord told her to get up.  The man said that he'd heard me praising the Lord and he said the way that I was praising Him, he knew that I was serious about GOD (in essence, that's what he said).  They were a Christian married couple.  They gave me a ride home and invited me to their church.  Tabitha and I began a rich friendship.  We met because I was walking down the street praising the Lord.

Another evening, I was walking down the street praising the Lord, and a man on a bicycle said to me, "No you're not walking down the street praising the Lord?!"  He engaged me.  I smelled alcohol on his breath - no matter - the Lord had me to demonstrate HIS love.  The man shared with me that he was a Jew; he spoke some about the Lord.  He began to cry.  I asked him if I could pray for him; he agreed.  We prayed together.  Again, we met because I was walking down the street praising the Lord.

One day, I walked in Wal-Mart praising the Lord.  A man heard me and engaged me.  He informed me that he was a Christian teacher.  He and I spoke for a few minutes, and right in the front area of Wal-Mart, we prayed out loud.  Again, we met because I came in Wal-Mart praising the Lord.

Another day, I stood in front of Walgreens "preaching" the Word. A man came out and said, "Preach that Word, sister!" Later that week, I went to a Wendy's to get a meal.  A woman that worked there invited me to her church.  I went and the man that saw me at Walgreens is a member of that church.  He came up to me and reminded me that he saw me in front of the Walgreens "preaching." He had told the Sunday school class about this lady that he saw up at Walgreens "preaching."  The pastor's wife said to me that he had mentioned it in Sunday school.     

I would walk up and down the street on the block where I lived proclaiming the gospel.  One day I "stationed" myself on the corner near a gas station and proclaimed the gospel.

Here in DC:

One day, I stood in a highly traveled area with my gospel CD playing through my earphones.  I commenced to dance to the Lord right there.  Some teenagers about to board a bus were laughing.  I was laughing and dancing to the Lord!  No shame or hesitation.

I have determined that I am NOT going to do all of my praising and dancing before the Lord at home or in church.   Much else is being done in public...so certainly praise, worship, and dance to the glory of GOD have a public "place." 

I identify with David in 2 Samuel 6:14, "And David danced before the Lord with all his might;..." 

2 Samuel 6:16
...Michal Saul's daughter looked through a window, and saw king David leaping and dancing before the Lord; and she despised him in her heart.

Sandra's comments: David was outside in public dancing...  

It is my inclination to be most attracted to the most radical personalities in the Bible such as John the Baptist...they are the style that the Lord has me engineered to be - in some aspects.    

Note: Now, of course, I am NOT going to be in government buildings or in business settings and break out in praise, worship and dance. But if I'm walking down the street, in the park, in stores,...I am prone to publicly praise the most high GOD whose air we breathe.  Note: Since I wrote this months ago, I attended a court case for one of my friends and when the court recessed for lunch, I did demonstratively praise our Lord during the lunch recess.  I stayed behind on the courtroom level, put on my headphones and listened to gospel music and with raised hands to our Lord, I did some praise and worship, with dancing, before I ate my lunch that I'd brought with me.  I wasn't loud and the corridors were pretty much empty. Yes, people saw me but it wasn't obtrusive because the area, largely, was cleared of people. 

Second Note: Certainly, we are unique and have different styles - what works for some does not work for all.  May we all give GOD glory in how He leads us - individually and collectively.