Thoughts from Worship Leaders
From Amy:
Psalm 105:1-5
Oh give thanks to the Lord!
Call upon His name;
Make known His deeds among the peoples!
Sing to Him, Sing psalms to Him;
Talk of all His wondrous works!
Glory in His holy name;
Let the hearts of those rejoice who seek the Lord!
Seek the Lord and His strength;
Seek His face evermore!
In Psalm 105, the psalmist talks about when we meet together it is a time to remember and meditate on all of Gods wonderful works, to glory in His name, sing to Him, and give thanks to Him for all of His blessings in our lives. Sometimes we need to be reminded of His goodness and how much He loves us. We can be so easily distracted by the world around us and if we are isolated we can easily forget His goodness and how deeply He loves us. When we seek the Lord, it is then that we are strengthened in His presence. It says in Hebrews 10:23-25 not to forsake gathering together, but to remind each other and encourage each other so we have hope, and don’t lose heart. I pray that as you worship the Lord today, you will be encouraged and strengthened by God’s goodness and love that you find in His presence and that you see in each other!
Colossians 3:15
Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom, teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord.
Hebrews 3:15
Therefore by Him let us continually offer the sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of our lips, giving thanks to His name.
Because of the ultimate sin offering that Jesus made for us, dying on a cross, we no longer need to bring animal sacrifices before the Lord as they did in the Old Testament. Instead, because of Christ we can go before the living God and offer a sacrifice of praise for Christ’s blood that covers our sins. (Hebrews 3:15) Sometimes we get weighed down by the world that we live in and we forget that God is in control and that nothing comes to us that hasn’t passed through His hand first. Remember He is God, and He is Love, and you are precious to Him. Even if you are walking through the “valley of the shadow of death” offer your sacrifice of praise to Him. He is still worthy of all our praise, and worthy of our songs of thanksgiving because He is our loving God and has already done more for us than we deserve. Therefore as the psalmist said, “Sing to Him, Sing psalms to Him. Talk of all His wondrous works!” Psalm 105:2
From Mark:
Corporate Praise & Worship
Psalm 22:3 - “You are holy, enthroned in the praises of Israel.” (NKJV)
Why do we sing songs at church? First and foremost—because our God who is holy, is worthy of all glory, honor and praise! We were created for His good pleasure, to bring Him glory and to worship and praise Him. Second, because God has done so much for us, we express our thankfulness and gratitude for His love, mercy and presence in our lives. We thank Him for the incredible gift of Salvation in Jesus Christ, who has translated us out of darkness, into His marvelous light. We thank Him for setting us in His family. We love Him and express that love in songs of praise to Him, because He first loved us.
So, what exactly does “Enthroned in the praises of Israel” mean? The Hebrew word (yashab) used in this verse for “enthroned” means, “To sit down, to dwell, to marry, to abide, to continue and to remain.” The Hebrew word (tehillah) used in this verse for “praises” is a laudation; a hymn. Laudation is “the act of giving praise or expressing devotion. It is also a hymn or song of praise.” God abides and is enthroned in the praises of His devoted people. As a congregation, when we as His bride sing praises to Him corporately—as one Body—we can enter into His presence in very beautiful, powerful and tangible ways.
For those who have experienced His presence during the praise and worship services in the church, we know and understand that it transcends emotionalism. God, through His Spirit, manifests His glory and blesses us as worshippers with experiential responses of His Kingly reign. His responses can be manifest in many forms such as overwhelming joy, conviction of sin, a call to reverential silence and awe, affirmation to individual hearts, repentance, salvation of sinners, prophecy, healings and miracles.
When we praise God in songs of worship and adoration, we, from our hearts, rightfully exalt Him to the highest place of glory and honor as the Lord of lords and the King of kings! He is invited in and enthroned in our hearts as our great God and Savior upon the praises of His worshipping church.
“Worship” is not just singing songs of praise—it is a life of worship, wholly devoted to loving God from our hearts, through our expressed and demonstrated love, adoration, actions, service, words and willful obedience. Our heart-felt, sincere, thankful and passionate praise—is the fruitful outflow of a right relationship with the Lord, because of a heart that has been forever changed by Jesus Christ.
It’s not about how we worship… it’s about Who we worship. Jesus Christ is Lord and He is worthy of all our praise!