Worship and praise

https://odb.org/2023/11/24/worthy-of-all-praise

Besides prayer, one of the privileges we have as believers is to worship and praise the LORD. We can pray while we worship, but worship as an act is distinct as we can actually enter into the spiritual realm through worship.

In Jesus’s encounter with the Samaritan woman in John 4, Jesus spoke about worshipping God in spirit and in truth. The latter is, of course, to use the revelation of Christ and God as found in the Scriptures. Of His great power, His abundant grace and mercy, and His steadfast love. That is why we need to be careful of the lyrics of the worship songs we sing. Do they declare the truth? Or are they writing about ideas that are twisted or slanted?

As for the former, this is where some songwriters use the phrase “as we worship, we meet You face to face,” meaning to say that we are able to enter into the spiritual realm in worship. Or we may have lyrics to the effect that the train of His robe fills the temple, and as we worship, we are able to touch the train of His robe, a garment that signifies the power, splendour and authority of God through Christ Jesus.

Personally, I’ll pick up my guitar and sing to worship and praise the LORD. In personal worship, I can sing any song I like in my own arrangement. There is a 3/4 song that I sing in 4/4 in personal worship. In corporate worship, I can’t do that as my pianist, who is my dear wife, a trained musician, will give me an earful! We don’t even have to sing in pitch in personal worship as what matters is us and God in the spirit. We can also sing in the spirit, in heavenly language, as the Holy Spirit directs, and He intercedes for us when we are lost for words.

Sing, worship, and praise God in our quiet time. If we are not musically inclined, just worship Him accompanied in the background by a YouTube song on our phone or our home sound system. Or just sing a cappella. Whatever works for us. Be sincere and let the songs and the words flow from deep within us. Close our eyes and let the Holy Spirit come and engulf us in His presence. The LORD is God and King. Jesus Christ, the Lamb of God, our Lord is worthy of all our praise. He deserves all our honour as we bow in adoration at His Name. Sing of His greatness, His loving kindness that endureth forever. Sing of His everlasting love. Sing of the goodness of God.