Bill gathered everyone to join hands in prayer before the meal. It was Henry’s first time praying with this family and he whispered to his friend, “Why are we holding hands to pray?” His friend answered, “I don’t know; it’s what we’ve always done.”

Sometimes we do things in church but have not wondered why we do it. Sometimes we echo things, but have not asked, “Where does that come from, and what does it mean?” One such phrase I have come across and wondered about is “God inhabits the praises of His people.” What passage does this come from and what do people mean when they say it?

In their book, A History of Contemporary Praise & Worship: Understanding the Ideas That Reshaped the Protestant Church, Lester Ruth and Lim Swee Hong give historical insight into this question. Reg Layzell, a gentleman experiencing spiritual desperation and getting ready to speak at a Pentecostal church, had Psalm 22:3 dawn upon his mind. The verse says (ESV), “Yet you are holy, enthroned on the praises of Israel.” Ruth and Hong write, “Layzell had received the statement of Psalm 22:3 (God inhabits the praises of Israel) as a divine promise (‘As you praise me, I will be present with you.’), and he was determined to rely on this promise.”¹ Layzell responded by an initial confession of sins, followed by venturing throughout the church to praise God; he continued this praise into the evening as well. While people gathered for service that evening he kept praising God and then just into the first song of the service a woman was said to be baptized in the Holy Spirit, which confirmed in his mind the promise of Psalm 22:3. “It was a revolutionary moment for Layzell. He believed God had given him the key to maintaining revival in the church through the continuous presence of God. This realization…moved Layzell to enter full-time pastoral ministry.”² Praise would become Layzell’s main message.

While it is beautiful how Reg Layzell sought to praise God wholeheartedly, was his understanding of this verse correct? After exploring Psalm 22:3, I think he was mistaken in his theological conclusion. Psalm 22 reveals king David suffering and struggling to find God in it. He launches into his struggle in verses 1–2 stating, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? Why are you so far from saving me, from the words of my groaning? ²O my God, I cry by day, but you do not answer, and by night, but I find no rest.” David feels forsaken and unheard by God. But then he says in faith, “³Yet you are holy, enthroned³ on the praises of Israel. ⁴In you our fathers trusted; they trusted, and you delivered them. ⁵To you they cried and were rescued; in you they trusted and were not put to shame.” Verses 3–5 express David’s theological understanding of God in his present pain. Yes, he is suffering, but God is holy and remains faithfully seated above Israel, not having forsaken them, as the continual praises of Israel indicate. God has delivered and He will continue to deliver.

Psalm 22:3 is not a promise that if people have praise sessions they will secure God’s presence and revival, but a promise that He is already faithfully there with His people and trustworthy. Psalm 22:3 is a promise that God is faithfully enthroned above His people and their praises, holy and unique among all creation. What encouragement among suffering and pain! As we gather to worship God in different forms, we believe God is already there, drawing and calling His people. Our praise therefore does not conjure up or maintain God’s presence or ensure revival. Rather, our praise acknowledges His gracious, faithful, and delivering presence already among His people.

Pastor Sean