“Pause right there,” my voice teacher interrupted me mid-verse. “Do you know what you’re singing, Paige?”
It was the third time she’d stopped to quiz me on the song—and we weren’t even to the first chorus, yet.
“I do,” I replied tightly, willing her with every non-verbal cue I could muster to “just let me get on with it!”
But as usual, she didn’t take the hint.
“Good!” she continued cheerfully. “You can’t emote properly if you don’t understand what you’re singing. So… what does that word mean, then?”
Honestly, I’m not sure we ever made it to the chorus that day.
Back then, my teacher’s insistence that I understand every word of every song in my repertoire frustrated me to no end. But now, I’ve caught a glimpse of her wisdom.
She was teaching me that the most moving performances aren’t always the ones most technically impressive; they’re the ones most genuinely expressive—sung from the heart.
And lately, I’ve been reminded that the same is true of worship.
David communicates this beautifully in Psalm 69:30-31.
He says,
“I will praise the name of God with a song, and will magnify him with thanksgiving. It will please the LORD better than an ox, or a bull that has horns and hoofs.”
Psalm 69:30-31 (WEBBE)
The worship that moves God’s heart the most isn’t the impressive kind, but the expressive kind—the kind that comes from our hearts.
And I don’t know about you, but I want to worship God more like this.
When I stand to sing in church, when I’m alone with God in the sanctuary of my heart, and when I’m anywhere in-between, I want to offer God—not something religiously impressive, not something I think I’m supposed to present a certain way—but a genuine sacrifice of praise.
So how can we cultivate this kind of worship that most pleases the Lord? David’s words show us where to start.
Worship that moves God’s heart starts with understanding what we’re singing about.
In verse 30, David says, “I will praise the name of God with a song…”
If this were a voice lesson, my teacher would ask, “Do you know what you’re singing about?”
And we would answer: “The name of God.”
“Good!” She’d reply, “What is ‘the name of God’? And what does that name mean?”
Scripture is full of God’s names—Jehovah Shammah, Jehovah Nissi, El Roi, etc.—and every single one reveals a facet of his character.
For example, Jehovah Shammah means the LORD is there. He is not a God far off and detached from His people. He is present with us.
Jehovah Nissi means the LORD is our banner. He is our victory– the One who wins battles we couldn’t even survive on our own.
And El Roi means the God who sees. There is not a single moment of our lives that escapes God’s notice. He is aware of our working and our sleeping, our celebrating and our weeping. He sees us in our most exposed moments and our most invisible ones.
When we refresh ourselves like this on who God is, two remarkable things happen:
One, we find that we always have a reason to praise and be thankful. (God Himself is that reason). And two, we find that we actually want to praise and thank Him.
You know, as a whole, Psalm 69 is in a minor key. David wrote verse after verse about his struggles and suffering. Yet in the midst of it all, God’s name—and the character it revealed—gave David a reason to be thankful, a motivation to sing.
So if praising God or filling out a gratitude list feels a little hollow today, like some religiously impressive task you signed up for, but don’t really feel like doing—pause right there.
Refresh yourself on the names of God. Remember who He is and what that means for you. And then simply express the words that bubble up in response.
Tell God if you’re thankful for who He is.
Tell God if you’re thankful for what He’s done for you.
And if the sentiments are too big for conversational tones, sing them.
This devotion is based on one of the Scriptures from my reading plan: “Summer Soundtrack” on the Psalms. To receive a copy of the reading plan (and future reading plans), sign up for the email list below. Hope you’ll follow along!
©2024 Paige K. Burhans
Scriptures taken from the World English Bible British Edition. Public Domain.
