- Praise in the midst of Pain is spiritual dynamite! 

- It pleases God’s heart in a powerful way. 

- Paul & Silas in jail - they praised God and He responded by shaking the earth and setting them free. 

- Thief on the cross - stuck in his situation but ended up in paradise. 

- Backstory: 

- Living Among Lions - all about the Lion inside of us. 

- Jesus is knows as “The Lion of the Tribe of Judah.” 

- Judah was the fourth son of Isaac of the 12 sons he had who became the 12 tribes of Israel. 

- King David came through the line of Judah, so did Jesus. 

- Why not the first three sons? 

- Rueben hooked up with his dad’s concubine. 

- Simeon and Levi murdered a whole community of men. 

- Judah slept with a prostitute. 

- He was the only brother, however, who was willing to take the place of his youngest brother, Benjamin, in Egyptian prison. 

- But another aspect of Judah’s royalty comes from his mom, Leah. 

- Vs 31 - she was unloved, but God gave her the ability to conceive. 

- Imagine being Leah: 

- Married to your sister’s sweetheart, caught in an evil love triangle, no longer friends with the girl you grew up with. 

- She was constantly rejected and only appreciated for her ability to reproduce. 

- Yet she had to live in the same house!

- The names she gave her first three boys showed her spiritual state. 

- Vs 32-34 - she was consumed with her plight, and her prayers were focused on trying to get God to end her pain. 

- She sought acceptance and approval from a human (Jacob). 

- Vs 35 - finally, she praised God in the midst of the pain. 

- Voluntary praise in the midst of agony blesses God’s heart more than just about anything. 

- Leah’s heart change while in great pain was so powerful and pleasing to God that He gave her the honor of His scepter to the one whose very name means “praise.” 

- Judah will now be talked about FOREVER!