Sing to the LORD a new song; sing to the LORD, all the earth.

Sing to the LORD, praise his name; proclaim his salvation day after day.

Declare his glory among the nations, his marvelous deeds among all peoples.

For great is the LORD and most worthy of praise; he is to be feared above all gods. 

For all the gods of the nations are idols, but the LORD made the heavens. 

Splendor and majesty are before him; strength and glory are in his sanctuary. 

Ascribe to the LORD, O families of nations, ascribe to the LORD glory and strength.

Ascribe to the LORD the glory due his name; bring an offering and come into his courts.

Worship the LORD in the splendor of his holiness; tremble before him, all the earth.

Say among the nations, “The LORD reigns.” 

The world is firmly established, it cannot be moved; he will judge the peoples with equity.

Let the heavens rejoice, let the earth be glad; let the sea resound, and all that is in it; let the fields be jubilant, and everything in them.

Then all the trees of the forest will sing for joy; they will sing before the LORD, for he comes, he comes to judge the earth.

He will judge the world in righteousness and the peoples in his truth.

I have read through this psalm multiple times before and every time I read it, I truly love what it speaks to me. Throughout the entire psalm, it is a cry to worship the LORD and also a cry of worship and praise to the LORD by proclaiming the truth of who God is. Personally, I love singing songs to God and this psalm inspires me to do that more often, but also it reminds me that I can and need to worship God in the secret place. 

Last night, a group of us college students gathered to worship the LORD at PLU. I realized how exciting it is to worship the LORD when I am with people, but at times when I am alone in the secret place I seem to forget that I have the power and capacity to worship the LORD in song just like I do when I am with a group at church or at Ignite! I’m sure that I’m not alone in this, and I know part of it is the struggle to find initiative on our own. 

I want to encourage you today that while this is a major challenge, God still desires us even in our weakness. Something practical that will really help us in our personal worship time with God is following an important process such as this: (1) Read a passage of Scripture (Psalms is especially good); (2) Write it down; (3) Speak it aloud; (4) Sing it aloud; (5) Pray it with all of your heart. When I remember to take some time to follow these steps even briefly, my personal time of worship with the LORD increases in power and I feel so much closer to Him!

O God, we desire to draw ever so close to You. I pray that you would remind us and wake us up from our stupor when we get complacent. We want to be where You are to know You more and to know the great plans You have for us. Let us seek you with an undivided heart, and Holy Spirit please guide us in our personal time of worship. Amen.