Text: Psalms 63:4 Thus will I bless thee while I live: I will lift up my hands in thy name.
Hebrews 12:12 Wherefore lift up the hands which hang down….
We see in the 63rd division of Psalm where God satisfies the thirsting soul of David when he was in the wilderness of Judah. Being in Judah, David couldn’t do anything but give God praise.
Judah in the Hebrew is yeh-hoo-daw’, which means to celebrate and is derived from yah-dah, meaning to praise and give thanks; to worship with extended hands!
Now Hebrew chapter 12, verse 12, was written in the context of God’s chastening and correction. Lift means to set up; straighten up; upright.
The question is, “Why would we want to lift our hands in praise in the middle of a test or disciplinary moment when we are being chastened or corrected?”
I don’t know about you, but most of the time, the majority of people would rather beat a fist against a pillow, throw a pity party, close themselves off from others, and as the songwriter said, “Roll ourselves up in a big old ball and cry”! This is one of the many ways of expressing our frustrations.
Before I go on, let’s take a minute or so and think about how we look at other people. Usually we see individuality or just bodies. Now if we’re operating through the gifts or the discernment of the Spirit, we might look past the individual and see who they can become in Christ - victors and not victims. You may look at an individual and see an opportunity for prayer, needs that are waiting to be taken care of, struggles that are waiting to be overcome, and battles waiting to be won!
Think about it: the truth of the matter is that I know there are many Christians all around the world doing all they can to live for Christ, but there are battles going on all around them. We should never give up and throw in the towel. 1 John 4:4 Ye are of God, little children, and have overcome them: because greater is he that is in you, than he that is in the world.
We may just be in different stages of battles. For the creation is groaning and travailing in pain, waiting to be delivered! But God says this is the day of uplifted hands. When we “lift” our hands, we’re surrendering to Him and worshipping Him. The victory is in our worship!
In the Book of Exodus 17:8-16, three reasons are given to us as to what “uplifted hands” in the heat of the battle will do!
First, let’s look at the example of the Amalekites, who are of Amalek, the son of Eliphaz. Amalek means warlike, or to consume. First of all, Israel was not battle hardened. At this point they were just months out of captivity in Egypt. They (Israel) were bricklayers, shepherds, farmers, and not soldiers. The Amalekites, on the other hand, were wanderers who moved from territory to territory with their flocks to wherever the pasture could support them.
When they refused to allow Israel to pass through their land, it wasn’t because they were defending their homeland. It was because they didn’t want to share any of the grazing land.
As the people of God walked toward the promised land, the Bible tells us in Deuteronomy 25:17-18 Remember what Amalek did unto thee by the way, when ye were come forth out of Egypt; how he met thee by the way, and smote the hindmost of thee, even all that were feeble behind thee, when thou wast faint and weary; and he feared not God.
Amalek was attacking the weak, the aged, the young, and all those who were not able to keep up with the rest but would lag behind.
Just like the Amalekites were attacking the Israelites, the same spiritual warfare is attacking the church today. And when you’re in your battle - your disciplinary moment - when your back is against the wall - having your valley experience, this is the day to lift your hands!
Just as then God had an answer for the attack from the enemy, so is now the same thing! Hebrews 13:8 Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and to day, and forever.
To “lift your hands” in worship and praise in the midst of your storms is portraying to the enemy that you are the victor and not the victim!!!
I was going to say, “Lift” your bibles, but “lift” your hands because you are a Bible. The Bible is the written word, but as Jesus was the “living Word”, so are you the “living Word” made flesh! St. John 1:1-2 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same [us] was in the beginning with God. Vs 14 And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us. 1 John 4:17 As he is, so are we in this world. 2 Corinthians 3:2-3 Ye are our epistle written in our hearts, known and read of all men: forasmuch as ye are manifestly declared to be the epistle of Christ ministered by us, written not with ink, but with the Spirit of the living God; not in tables of stone, but in fleshy tables of the heart.
I believe this is God’s Word! I believe it is for me, for us! I accept it as mine! I appropriate its promise to my life, in Jesus name!!!
There are three reasons for “raising your hands” in the heat of the battle in Exodus 17. However, “lifted hands” represent two things: (1) A universal sign of surrender. (2) Exaltation and praise.
- “Raising your hands in surrender to God, guarantees the battle”!
As I said before, the Israelites were not many days out of the bondage of Egypt. They had seen the great blessings and miracles that God had worked on their behalf. They were called out of bondage by God. They were His people!
If you go back to the beginning of the book of Exodus, you will see that the people were in bondage but didn’t really seem to know it. They were working as slaves building the cities of Egypt, or really, building the kingdom of the enemy, the god of this world. It was not until the people began to trust God that the battle began (Exodus 4:29-31). Vs 29 And Moses and Aaron went and gathered together all the elders of the children of Israel: Vs 30 And Aaron spake all the words which the LORD had spoken unto Moses, and did the signs in the sight of the people. Vs 31 And the people believed: and when they heard that the LORD had visited the children of Israel, and that he had looked upon their affliction, then they bowed their heads and worshipped.
If we look back at Deuteronomy 25 in relation to the Amalekites, we will see the real source of the conflict. The real source of the conflict was that they “had no fear of God”!
Proverbs 1:7 The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge, but fools despise wisdom and instruction. What do we know about the Amalekites? They did not fear God, so they were fools!
Exodus 17:8 Then came Amalek, and fought with Israel at Rephidim. They launched an attack on the Israelites while they camped in the wilderness. Rephidim was also the place where God had just miraculously given them water from the Rock to quench their thirst.
God does a miracle, and the enemy attacks!
“Rephidim” means places of rest. In other words, peace after victory over temptations!
Notice: after every inner conquest over error (conquering or mastering any battle or situation in our lives), we always enter a period of peace and rest. After we reach “Rephidim”, then the urge comes to press on to greater overcoming.
Exodus 17:9 And Moses said unto Joshua, Choose us out men, and go out, fight with Amalek: to morrow I will stand on the top of the hill with the rod of God in mine hand.
This staff that Moses carried with him to the top of the hill is his shepherd’s staff! Look at the significance of this “staff”. While shepherds sat around the fire at night, they would carve on the staff. Each carving would represent a detail of the shepherd’s life – a wife taken; a child born; or some other significant event - so that when the shepherd was out in the fields, he could remember those events of his life.
Moses, like every shepherd, carried his life history in his staff. Now that is important to remember because when God called Moses to deliver the Israelites from Egypt, He told Moses to throw his “rod” [staff] down. Exodus 4:1-3 And Moses answered and said, But behold, they will not believe me, nor hearken unto my voice: for they will say, The LORD hath not appeared unto thee. And the LORD said unto him, What is that in thine hand? And he said, A rod [staff]. And he said, Cast it on the ground. And he cast it on the ground, and it became a serpent; and Moses fled from before it.
The command was for Moses to lay his life down and trust God! There wasn’t anything magical about the “staff” or “rod”. It was a point of contact through which God could work! The pattern that Moses was giving us is that we must lay down our lives in obedience to God! We too can trust Him to work through us!
Back in Exodus 17, Joshua drew up the battle plan, and Moses went up on the mountain and expected God to do something miraculous.
When you “raise your hands” in submission to God, you will know you are in a battle! You’re sending the message to God that you are totally submitted to His will and His Word! Lifting your hands in the middle of any problem or situation always places God in charge!!!
- “Raising your hands in prayer fights the battle”!
Exodus 17:10 So Joshua did as Moses had said to him, and fought with Amalek: and Moses, Aaron, and Hur went up to the top of the hill.
Look at the three aspects of spiritual warfare that are taking place here:
(1) There are those who “confront the enemy face to face” on the natural plain.
Paul wrote to the church in Ephesus in Ephesians 6:12 For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places. We fight against forces of evil in the heavenly realms! Spiritual battles always spill over into the natural realm! There is the “Joshua nation” on the front lines of battle! The ones who are willing to take the good news/glad tidings to those who are lost! The ones who are ready to minister to the least of the least desirables! They are ready to minister to the homeless, drug addicts, or the prostitutes!
(2) There are those who “intercede for those in battle”. Moses was there on a hill overlooking the battle with his trusty “shepherds staff”. Now what good could he do from the top of a mountain? Exodus 17:11 And it came to pass, when Moses held up his hand, that Israel prevailed: and when he let down his hand, Amalek prevailed.
Some think that this was a sign to the army: when Moses’ arms were lifted, to fight…when they were lowered, retreat. I beg to differ! I don’t think so! It was while Moses hands were raised that the power of intercessory prayer was at work!
This passage shows us not only the importance of prayer for the work of the church but also the extreme physical and spiritual fatigue that comes as well.
Look, Moses got to the point where he just couldn’t hold his hands up any longer. Is that what God wants us to do - to weary ourselves to the point of fatigue? He wants us to be about His work, but when we get fatigued, he has an answer for us.
Jeremiah 31:25 For I have satiated the weary soul, and I have replenished every sorrowful soul. “I will refresh the weary and satisfy the faint” is what He’s saying! Matthew 11:28 Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. “Come to me, all you who are weary, who labor and are heavy laden, and burdened, and I will give you rest” is what He’s saying!!
(3) There are those who “lift up the intercessors”.
Exodus 17:12 But Moses’ hands were heavy; and they took a stone, and put it under him, and he sat thereon; and Aaron and Hur stayed up his hands, the one on the one side, and the other on the other side; and his hands were steady until the going down of the sun.
Aaron’s name means light; illumination. Hur means white linen; white. Both are examples of how the power of the mind through spiritual enlightenment of the white light of God can overpower the natural mind and cause one to bring to pass Philippians 4:13 I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. When Aaron (enlightenment or divine understanding; Philippians 2:5) and Hur (white linen; righteousness; Revelation 19:8) are at work within us, we are established in love, peace, prosperity, faith, wisdom, divine health, knowledge, power, dominion, and authority so that we can live in a harmonious atmosphere in every area of our lives!!! You become an optimist rather than a pessimist! Instead of talking about how big your problem is, you talk about HOW BIG YOUR GOD IS!!! Teamwork works whether it is applied in the spirit or the natural!
You really don’t know all of whom are praying and interceding for you. Someone somewhere is holding up your hands!
This story of Israel and the Amalekites is not just a history of the nation, but it establishes a spiritual principle. And that is – we are not in the battle alone. Somebody has to fight; somebody has to pray; and somebody has to serve! By doing that brings the result of the battle!
Exodus 17:13 And Joshua discomfited Amalek and his people with the edge of the sword.
- “Raising your hand in praise and thanksgiving finishes the battle”!
The scripture tells us that our lives are under the control of what comes out of our mouths.
Matthew 12:34 For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh. Proverbs 18:21 Death and life are in the power of the tongue: and they that love it shall eat the fruit thereof.
Matthew 12:36 But I say unto you, That every idle word that men shall speak, they shall give account thereof in the day of judgment. (Keep in mind that the “day of judgment” is going on right now)! We must learn to speak or make positive confessions of God’s Word into our lives.
Mark 11:24 Therefore I say unto you, What things soever ye desire, when ye pray, believe that ye receive them, and ye shall have them. He said, believe it and it will be yours! That means thanking God for His promise even before you see it in your life!!
Maybe that was what Moses was doing on top of the mountain. He was not just praying but claiming God’s word for Israel!! God, you said you were going to take us to the promised land! Don’t let this enemy stand in our way! God, I thank you for the victory that you have promised!!!
Exodus 17:14 And the LORD said unto Moses, Write this for a memorial in a book, and rehearse it in the ears of Joshua: for I will utterly put out the remembrance of Amalek from under heaven.
The Lord didn’t say to Moses, “Make sure that Joshua reads it”……..He said, “Make sure he hears it”!
Exodus 17:15 And Moses built an altar, and called the name of it Jehovah-nissi (the Lord is my Banner).
Exodus 17:16 For he said, Because the LORD hath sworn that the LORD will have war with Amalek from generation to generation. The Lord is my Banner……the Lord is my reason for fighting this great spiritual battle.
Psalm 124:1-5 If it had not been the LORD who was on our side, now may Israel say; If it had not been the LORD who was on our side, when men rose up against us: then they had swallowed us up quick, when their wrath was kindled against us: then the waters had overwhelmed us, the stream had gone over our soul: then the proud waters had gone over our soul. But my “Banner”, but my God, “raised up a standard against the enemy”! For hands were lifted up to the throne of the Lord!!
Psalm 63:3-5 Because thy lovingkindness is better than life, my lips shall praise thee. Thus will I bless thee while I live: I will lift up my hands in thy name. My soul shall be satisfied as with marrow and fatness; and my mouth shall praise thee with joyful lips. The Lord will have war with the Amalekites from generation to generation (Exodus 17:16).
This is the Lord’s battle. As long as we fight, as long as we intercede, as long as we worship and praise, He will continue the fight against the enemy.
1 Samuel 17:47 And all this assembly shall know that the LORD saveth not with sword and spear: for the battle is the LORD’S, and he will give you into our “hands”.
In conclusion: We are in a great spiritual battle! The church is at war, and there are many wounded warriors all around us. The point of my message is not as much about the battlers: Joshua went to battle against the enemy but didn’t go alone. He was covered by Moses’ prayer and thanksgiving. Moses went up on the mountain and lifted up his hands toward heaven, but when they tired, there were Aaron and Hur to hold his hands up for him.
I asked you at the beginning to think about how we look at others. There are all kinds of God’s people – warriors, intercessors, and helpers. There are others who just seem to have been collateral damage from the war. They weren’t in the battle, but the enemy has attacked anyhow. They aren’t intercessors, but the enemy keeps their attention focused on their own problems rather than those of others. They aren’t helpers; they just don’t have the strength for it.
Well, I’ve got glad tidings/good news!! That is what you are here for. You can go to battle for them! You can intercede, and you can hold up their hands! And while you are doing that, there will be others who are holding up your hands, interceding on your behalf, or who are right there on the front line with you watching your back!!
WARRIORS, INTERCESSORS, HELPERS, THE WOUNDED!
Three reasons to “lift your hands”!
- To initiate the battle (surrendering to God)!
- To pray through the battle!
- To give thanksgiving and praise for the victory in the battle!
Clap your hands this day; lift them up over your head! For as you “hold them high” in praise and faith, the test before you shall become very low!!!
~ Evangelist Jackie Burton
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