Praise the Lord! Sing to the Lord a new song, And His praise in the assembly of saints. Let Israel rejoice in their Maker; Let the children of Zion be joyful in their King. Let them praise His name with the dance; Let them sing praises to Him with the timbrel and harp. For the Lord takes pleasure in His people; He will beautify the humble with salvation. Let the saints be joyful in glory; Let them sing aloud on their beds. 6 Let the high praises of God be in their mouth, And a two-edged sword in their hand, To execute vengeance on the nations, And punishments on the peoples; To bind their kings with chains, And their nobles with fetters of iron; To execute on them the written judgment—This honor have all His saints. Praise the Lord! – Psalm 149:1-9 NKJV
Praise the Lord! Praise God in His sanctuary; Praise Him in His mighty firmament! Praise Him for His mighty acts; Praise Him according to His excellent greatness! Praise Him with the sound of the trumpet; Praise Him with the lute and harp! Praise Him with the timbrel and dance; Praise Him with stringed instruments and flutes! Praise Him with loud cymbals; Praise Him with clashing cymbals! Let everything that has breath praise the Lord. Praise the Lord! – Psalm 150:1-6 NKJV
I was reading in a devotional entitled God’s Wisdom for Today the other day. The devotion shared by Allan Taylor [Minister of Education, First Baptist Church, Woodstock, GA] for September 3rd caught my eye and I wanted to pass that on to you.
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Four thoughts on worship.
- The Place of worship. Corporately: “in the assembly of saints” (149:1); “in His sanctuary” (150:1). Individually: “sing aloud on their beds” (149:5). Some excuse themselves from corporate worship, saying they can worship as well privately. Some only worship in church and not in private. Both views are wrong.
- The Perspective of Worship. Creatively: We are to sing a “new song”. Our worship and adoration of God should grow and expand, causing new songs to arise. Dance was a creative expression of worship for King David (2 Samuel 6:16). Musically: Singing is mentioned twice (149:3, 5). Seven different instruments are mentioned (149:3, 150:3-5).
- The Passion of Worship. Joyfully: Joy occurs three times (149:2, 5). Verbally: Worship is expressive (149:6; 150:6). Worship is used too much as a noun and not enough as a verb.
- The Point of Worship. “Praise the LORD”. These two chapters contain fifteen verses, and praise is mentioned nineteen times. The point is obvious – we are to “Praise the LORD!”
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Maybe you are like your pastor, who seems to find himself in a worship rut every now and then. You know – going through the routine of corporate and private worship – no creativity, just same same. And when that happens, God doesn’t get the praise He deserves and we don’t get a whole lot out of the experience either. Brother Allan is right – we need to be more intentional in our worship – making sure God gets our corporate and private worship. Maybe we need to shake up our routine and “sing a new song” – that might include singing in our private time with Him – that might express itself in more verbal praying – it might mean more thanksgiving and less personal petitions – it might mean meeting Him on the back porch instead of in bed – or it might mean taking a day off and spending extended time with Him in one of your favorite get-away places. Don’t you think God deserves more worship than He is receiving from you right now? Ask the Holy Spirit to help you find ways of expanding, intensifying, and strengthening your worship of God. The psalmist is right – Praise the LORD!!!!!
Getting out of my rut – Pastor Steve