Come, Let Us Worship the Lord!

We often get so focused on ministry and missions that we fail to spend time worshipping the Lord. Ministry is important. Missions are important. Encouraging and serving our brothers and sisters in the Lord is important. But WORSHIP should take precedence over all these things. One day our ministries will be over. Missions will be no more. But worshipping God will go on forever. For on that day

...a great multitude, which no man could number, of all nations, and kindreds, and peoples, and tongues, stood before the throne, and before the Lamb, clothed with white robes, and palms in their hands; And cried with a loud voice, saying, Salvation to our God who sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb. And all the angels stood round about the throne, and about the elders and the four living creatures, and fell before the throne on their faces, and worshipped God.—Revelation 7:9-11.

Those who go to heaven will be praising Him for eternity. If you are planning on going to heaven, you ought to learn how to praise Him down here, so when you get to heaven you will know what to do! After all, worship of God is what having a relationship with the Creator is all about.

Praise to God goes back to Genesis. The first time the word “praise” is used is in Genesis 29:35. Here, when Leah gave birth to Judah, she praised the Lord. But before that, we know that Enoch walked with God, and Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord—these men worshipped God. Abraham bowed down and worshipped the Lord and built altars of worship to God. Praise is not some new fad. It does not belong to a certain denomination. It does not belong to a certain group. It is commanded in the Word of God.

O give thanks unto the LORD; call upon His name: make known His deeds among the people. Sing unto Him, sing psalms unto Him: talk ye of all His wondrous works. Glory ye in His holy name: let the heart of them rejoice that seek the LORD. Seek the LORD, and His strength: seek His face evermore. Remember His marvelous works that He hath done; His wonders, and the judgments of His mouth.—Psalm 105:1-5.

These are joyful words of Praise! We were made to Praise the Lord!

Made to Praise

So, if we are going to praise and worship Him, we need to understand why. Isaiah 43:21 says, “This people have I formed for myself; they shall shew forth my praise.”  That is why God chose us, why He made us. “To show forth His praise.” Most people think God saved us to keep us out of hell, but that was not God’s motivation. He saved us so we can praise Him, adore Him, love Him and worship Him. We need to worship Him for who He is and what He has done, to celebrate the very being of God, and to lift His name high. That is what praise and worship is all about.

There is power in worshipping God! It should not be limited to times of blessing in your life. Praise is appropriate when bad news comes. “The LORD gave, and the LORD hath taken away; blessed be the name of the LORD.”—Job 1:21. Praise is appropriate in difficult times, hardships, trials, those times of persecution. In fact, we will never understand the real power of praise until we go through trials and are able to praise God even in the midst of them. When we begin to practice the principles of the Word of God in times of difficulty, something happens that begins to transform our circumstances.

Through the Valley

We all have a choice. The time to make a wise choice is not when hardships come. The time to make a wise choice is right now. Make a decision to rejoice in the Lord no matter what happens in your life! Choose to rejoice in the Lord in times of trouble. Choose to worship and praise the living God. Start thanking God and praising Him now. Praise Him for His awesome power. Praise Him for the way He’s going to bring you through trials. Praise Him for what you're going to learn. Praise Him for the witness you're going to be. Praise God and you'll never be the same! Your circumstances may be changed in the most miraculous way or they may never change at all. One thing is for certain; if your circumstances do not change, God is going to change you! You will walk above your circumstances. God is going to do something in your life that lifts you above them even while you're walking through them. There is power in praising God in the midst of trials and tribulations.

My All in All

If you're going to praise the Lord, your life must be Christ-centered. To be Christ-centered, He must be first and foremost above everything else. Everything in your life must revolve around Him—your home, your children, your pleasures, your relationships, your finances and your friends. Everything must revolve around Him. And worship is not something you do once in a while. Worship becomes your way of life. You praise Him through the morning. You praise Him in the noontime. You praise Him 'til the sun goes down. “From the rising of the sun unto the going down of the same the LORD’s name is to be praised.”—Psalm 113:3.

Praise ye the LORD: for it is good to sing praises unto our God; for it is pleasant; and praise is comely.—Psalm 147:1.

God demands our praise. How can we be quiet when He is so great? He created everything! He freely gave His Son as a sacrifice for our sins. He offers us salvation and will adopt us as His children. He DESERVES our praise! Do you praise Him daily as a loving Father?

By Him therefore let us offer the sacrifice of praise to God continually, that is, the fruit of our lips giving thanks to His name.—Hebrews 13:15.

Praise springs from a heart full of gratitude. Lord, is there anything in my heart that keeps me from freely worshipping and praising you?

Into Your Closet

We have said we should be worshipping throughout the day, but it is wonderful to have a time of concentrated worship. This may be incorporated with daily prayer, scripture memorization, Bible reading or devotional reading, all of which can be worship themselves if you make them so. The possibilities abound! Find what works for you. Maybe you will find a regular system works best or perhaps you will alternate between a couple methods. If you choose to use music during your times of worship you might sing along with a CD or tape, play to the Lord on the instrument of your choice, sing out of a hymnal or make up tunes to help memorize the Psalms and other scripture. Our fellowship has even read through a hymn, line by line and discussed scriptures supporting the theology taught in the hymn. Worship in your closet. Worship in the car. Worship in the garden. Worship in the laundry room. Having solitary worship in the midst of others (at the office or school, amid the toddlers, during church business meetings) can be fun as well as holy. The people around you will wonder why you look so happy and peaceful!

The good old B-I-B-L-E is the most valuable tool you will find for worship. Many people around the world worship the one true God without benefit of the Bible, simply because they do not have one. So don't fall into the trap of thinking that you must read the Bible for a certain amount of time every single day or you are not doing your Christian duty. I am sure every one of these, who are worshipping in Spirit and in Truth, would love to have a Bible if they could. If we have this golden opportunity, we should not neglect it. It may be taken from us some day by poverty, politics, or even physical blindness. True Christians love the Word of God. The Scriptures themselves declare this, particularly Psalm 119. If you are not desiring the Bible, something is wrong! God is at work when someone is sincerely expressing an interest in the Bible. He is wooing them, drawing them to Himself. Be honest. Search your heart, do you love the Word of God?

“God is a Spirit: and they that worship Him must worship Him in spirit and in truth.”—John 4:24. Beware of the trap of seeking only the truth, which leads to legalism and criticism. Beware of the trap of seeking only the spirit, which leads to sensationalism and heresy. The Spirit abides in our hearts. Jesus is the Truth (John 14:6). Jesus also said Scripture is Truth (John 17:17). To properly worship we must have the right heart, a heart of Truth; the right walk, a walk of Truth; and the Scripture of Truth. Then the Spirit will have free reign in our lives and we will be worshipping in Spirit and in Truth. It has been said, “If we worship only in truth, we will dry up. If we worship only in spirit we will blow up. It is only when we worship in Spirit and in Truth that we will really grow up!”

The Word of God is incredible! To quote, “quick [living!] and powerful, sharper than any two-edged sword”—Hebrews 4:12. In order to be a healthy, growing Christian you must spend time in the Word every single day—all day. If we are not worshipping Him all throughout the week, how can we just “turn it on” on Sunday morning? This is not worship, it is emotionalism or just plain acting. And since worship is to be directed to God, you're not fooling the Audience, only the people around you and sometimes even yourself! The key is that Jesus is the Word (John 1:1-5 & 14). We are to abide in Him and allow Him to abide in us. Then we will be in the Word and the Word in us. But don't forget Psalm 119:11: “Thy Word have I hid in mine heart, that I might not sin against Thee.”  Wait! Isn't that scripture talking about memorizing Bible verses? Yes, it is! But, where does the Holy Spirit abide? In our hearts? Isn't this a wonderful riddle? It should inspire worship and awe in every believer!

As You Walk by the Way

So far we have been speaking primarily about individual worship. Now let’s look at worship in the family. Listen up husbands! You are responsible for family worship, even if your family is just you and your wife. The good news is, you do not need any special training! As we have seen in the paragraph above, you can create the worship time that works for your individual family. You may want to get suggestions from friends, other ministries or websites like this one, but do not feel pressured into doing it someone else’s way. God will bless your efforts as long as you are sincere. You do not need special worship kits or paraphernalia. While those things can be enriching to worship at times, people have raised Godly children without them for thousands of years.

Some families make daily worship as simple as taking turns, each reading a chapter of Scripture. Be open to relevant comments and questions. If you do not know the answers, find out together. Compare scripture with other scripture. A concordance is very helpful for this. You do not have to cover a certain amount of Scripture each day. Read where the interest lies and the Spirit leads. After reading, you may want to grab a songbook or hymnal or put in a CD and sing to the Lord, together as a family. You do not have to have a good voice or carry a tune. As long as you are enjoying worship and lifting hearts and voices to God, you are doing it just fine. You may feel self-conscious both in the reading and in the singing when you first start, but it is amazing the openness this adds to your family. People who are willing to be vulnerable in expressing themselves in these ways will be more apt to share even more personal areas, areas of the heart, areas much more important than whether or not they can sing on pitch. Listen up, Church!

Gratitude, as we have said, is a form of worship. Asking your family to simply name things they are thankful for is worship inspiring. You can do this in the home, the car or outside enjoying God’s creation. Do it on ordinary days, days of celebration and times of sorrow. See what wonders God will work through a grateful heart.

Our Simple Gift to You

We are happy to include on this website, some songs of praise and worship for you to use during your time of devotions and family worship. God commands us many times in His Word, “Sing!”

Sing aloud unto God our strength: make a joyful noise unto the God of Jacob.—Psalm 81:1.

O sing unto the LORD a new song; for he hath done marvelous things.—Psalm 98:1.

O sing unto the LORD a new song: sing unto the LORD, all the earth.—Psalm 96:1.

I will sing of mercy and judgment: unto thee, O LORD, will I sing.—Psalm 101:1.

I will sing unto the LORD as long as I live.—Psalm 104:33.

It is our prayer that you will use these songs to enhance your time of worship and that they will bring you into a closer walk with the Savior. Set aside time each day to sing to the Lord!

To play a song, simply click on the desired link. To save a song to your computer for later use, right-click and select "Save Target (or Link) As..." Be sure to save it where you will be able to find it later. You may wish to create your own Worship file.

It is our understanding that these songs were penned under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, by dedicated Christians who want to glorify God. It is not our intent to undermine the livelihoods of the authors, but rather to join them in their foremost cause of glorifying God. If you hold a copyright to one of these songs, and we have made a mistake, please contact us, and we will remove it.