In Psalm 135, David praised God for His past blessings. As we praise God for what He has done in the past, we come to thank God that He will be faithful to us in the future. We may sing of our problems, but the heart of our music will be praise to God for who He is and what He is doing in our lives.

Our present circumstances do not hinder our relationships with God; instead, our circumstances may push us to God. You may not be inclined to sing. You may never have sung in your life, but as a Christian, you can sing – if only in private or with your spouse. Try this: choose a psalm to God. Melody, pitch, and rhythm are unimportant. What’s important is that you are expressing praise to God through the words of others who have walked through difficulty.

Take time to pray. If you’re comfortable with the idea, sing your praises instead of speaking them. Choose a favorite hymn or praise song, one that communicates what you are feeling, to use as your prayer to God. You might even consider singing together.

Take time to reflect on these questions:

What are your favorite praise songs?

Why do those particular songs appeal to you?

How often do you sing praise songs when you’re alone?

What would the reaction be if you tried to get your spouse and family to sing with you?

Consider these passages for further study on Worship:

1 Chronicles 16:8-13

Give thanks to the Lord and proclaim his greatness. Let the whole world know what he has done.

Sing to him; yes, sing his praises. Tell everyone about his wonderful deeds.

Exult in his holy name; rejoice, you who worship the Lord.

Search for the Lord and for his strength; continually seek him.

Remember the wonders he has performed, his miracles, and the rulings he has given, you descendants of Jacob, his chosen ones.

Psalm 68:4 Sing praises to God and to his name! Sing loud praises to him who rides the clouds. His name is the Lord- rejoice in his presence!

Ephesians 5:19 singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs among yourselves, and making music to the Lord in your hearts.

Psalm 135:1-21 Praise the Lord!

Praise the name of the Lord! Praise him, you who serve the Lord, in the courts of the house of our God.

Praise the Lord, for the Lord is good; celebrate his lovely name with music.

For the Lord has chosen Jacob for himself, Israel for his own special treasure.

I know the greatness of the Lord – that our Lord is greater than any other god.

The Lord does whatever pleases him throughout all heaven and earth, and on the seas in their depths.

He causes the clouds to rise over the whole earth. He sends the lightning with the rain and releases the wind from his storehouses.

He destroyed the firstborn in each Egyptian home, both people and animals.

He performed miraculous signs and wonders in Egypt against Pharaoh and all his people.

He struck down great nations and slaughtered mighty kings-

Sihon king of the Amorites, Og king of Bashan, and all the kings of Canaan.

He gave their land as an inheritance, a special possession to his people Israel.

Your name, O Lord, endures forever; your fame, O Lord, is known to every generation.

For the Lord will give justice to his people and have compassion on his servants.

The idols of the nations are merely things of silver and gold, shaped by human hands.

They have mouths but cannot speak, and eyes but cannot smell.

And those who make idols are just like them, as are all who trust in them.

O Israel, praise the Lord! O priest – descendants of Aaron – praise the Lord!

O Levites, praise the Lord! All you who fear the Lord, praise the Lord!

The Lord be praised from Zion, for he lives here in Jerusalem.

Praise the Lord!

Noticing how we take our lives to worship and respect the Lord as we go about our daily lives. Sing more, pray more, talk about the Lord more… we find more opportunities to share our heart for the Lord.

Great thoughts of Gary Chapman.

In Revelation 5:9 we read of a “new song” which is quite unlike any song or hymn we know. These very lyrics inspired the young Isaac Watts, considered the father of modern hymnody, to pen his new song.

Three hundred years later, the young Isaac Watts of our day are writing worship music that expresses the rhythm and rhyme of their hearts. Those of us who have been accustomed to the hymns of Isaac Watts would do well to follow the example of Isaac’s congregation and let the youth of our generation lead us into some fresh expressions of praise. In so doing, we may allow them to bless the church for the next three hundred years.

The dialects of praise are many because praise is not a matter of form; it is a matter of the heart. Perhaps it is the desire to keep one’s praise alive and heartfelt that explains why many young people who have been raised with informal, free-flowing styles of worship are now finding themselves attracted to more liturgical worship. The reading of liturgies, which may become ritualistic to someone who has repeated them for thirty years, can be like freshwater to a young person who has never heard them.

Instead of criticizing styles and forms that are not familiar to us, let us seek to keep our own praise genuine by searching for ways new to us but known and understood by the God whom we seek to praise.

Take time to pray to ask God…

• To remind you that praise is not a matter of form but of the heart;
• To broaden your understanding of what worship He embraces;
• To grow you in grace toward other worship expressions within the body of Christ.

Focus on time discussing or reflecting on these questions:

1. What makes worship acceptable to God?
2. What styles of worship feel comfortable and familiar to you?
3. How can a new worship experience keep your praise fresh and genuine?

Consider these passages for further study on Worship:

I Chronicles 28:9 “And you, my son Solomon, acknowledge the God of your father, and serve him with wholehearted devotion and with a willing mind, for the Lord searches every heart and understands every desire and every thought. If you seek him, he will be found by you; but if you forsake him, he will reject you forever.

Psalm 40:3 He put a new song in my mouth,
    a hymn of praise to our God.
Many will see and fear the Lord
    and put their trust in him.

John 4:23-24 ²³ Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in the Spirit and in truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks. ²⁴ God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in the Spirit and in truth.”

Revelation 5:6-14

Then I saw a Lamb, looking as if it had been slain, standing at the center of the throne, encircled by the four living creatures and the elders. The Lamb had seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven spirits^[a] of God sent out into all the earth. ⁷ He went and took the scroll from the right hand of him who sat on the throne. ⁸ And when he had taken it, the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb. Each one had a harp and they were holding golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of God’s people. ⁹ And they sang a new song, saying:

“You are worthy to take the scroll
    and to open its seals,
because you were slain,
    and with your blood, you purchased for God
    persons from every tribe and language and people and nation.
¹⁰ You have made them to be a kingdom and priests to serve our God,
    and they will reign^[b] on the earth.”

¹¹ Then I looked and heard the voice of many angels, numbering thousands upon thousands, and ten thousand times ten thousand. They encircled the throne and the living creatures and the elders. ¹² In a loud voice they were saying:

“Worthy is the Lamb, who was slain,
    to receive power and wealth and wisdom and strength
    and honor and glory and praise!”

¹³ Then I heard every creature in heaven and on earth and under the earth and on the sea, and all that is in them, saying:

“To him who sits on the throne and to the Lamb
    be praise and honor and glory and power,
forever and ever!”

¹⁴ The four living creatures said, “Amen,” and the elders fell down and worshiped.

These are great thoughts of Gary Chapman. This made me think about how inspirational composers are in our lives when it comes to how we look at worship and our relationships. Keep sharing how music and their inspiration impact you.