Our worship is for the audience of one – but is that ‘one’ me or God?

My last post entitled ‘losing our song’ found much resonance but also evoked some debate about the rights of the church to express our worship in song. I don’t want to recycle that conversation but instead build on it by asking the question ‘Who misses our singing most – us or God?’

Of course I can’t really measure how much you personally miss singing so I’m going to leave that side of the equation to you – but I am going to look at what the bible says about praise and explore how we can respond to what God desires rather than what we desire.

The English translation of the word ‘Praise’

When we interpret from one language to another, we often find an inability to find a corresponding word that fully captures the exact depth of the original language. When our English bibles translate the word ‘Praise’ from the original Hebrew language there is often some loss to its meaning. I don’t know what comes to your mind when you hear the word praise but it’s likely to involve expressing some form of thanksgiving in words or song. When we gather as churches we often hear phrases such as ‘and now we are going to be led in a time of praise’ which usually means singing. We are about to see that music and song is certainly a biblical expression of praise but it’s only one of a number of expressions which God loves His people to participate in. So let’s look at the most used Hebrew words for praise used in the Old Testament and see how they may impact our perspective and practise today:

Halal (used 165 times in the bible)

This is the most used Hebrew word for praise in the bible and from it we derive the word ‘hallelujah. Halal means ‘to shine, boast, celebrate, commend, sing, be clear, laud, to be clamorously foolish, and be joyfully excited about God’

It is the response of those in love. You know those crazy moments when a man kneels in a busy public space and offers undying love with a sparkling diamond ring. Or that attention grabbing shout of ‘I love you’ from the departing train to their loved one on the platform edge. King David captured this boldness and foolishness when he stripped off his clothes and danced before the returned presence of God.

Where is the over the top praise in the church today? Why have we settled for relatively bland karaoke times? Where is the over the top demonstrations of people who are overwhelmed by the exceptionally generous grace of God?

Many famous Psalms feature the word Halal such as ‘From the rising of the sun to the place where it sets, the name of the Lord is to be praised.’ Psalm 113:3 or ‘Seven times a day I praise you for your righteous laws.’ Psalm 119:164

Whether we are gathering in person as church communities or not at this time, we can shine, boast and be over the top with love for the Lord – from the rising of the sun to its setting – each and every day. Have you danced around your home? Have you presented any over the top praises recently? Why not make a plan to do so.

Yadah (used 114 times in the bible)

This is the second most used Hebrew word for praise and it means ‘to throw out the hands, to give thanks, to confess’

How often have you thrown out your hands during lockdown and lifted them in thanksgiving and as an expression of your surrender and His Lordship or do we need a crowd to do such things? Come on church, lift your hands before the Lord and give Him thanks.

Tehillah (used 57 times in the bible) 

This is what Christians seem to be missing the most. It’s that gathered high praise – those moments of great joyous song that sense the closeness of Gods presence smiling all over it. It means ‘to sing, laud, involving music’

God loves it as well. We read in Psalm 22:3 ‘The Lord inhabits the ‘Tehillah’ of His people’

The word ‘inhabit’ suggest more than a visitation – it can be compared to a married couple sitting together with mutual ease and welcome. We may have not gathered in large groups and sung as a united chorus for a long time but why can’t we crank up our home speaker system and enjoy high praises in our living rooms? As I write this, my wife is on the next floor doing it – praising God in enthusiastic song and I know God loves it.

Singing at home may not feel the same to us but I believe God will be smiling and inhabiting in the same way. After all isn’t He our audience?

Zamar (used 45 times in the bible)

This is a musical definition and it means ‘to pluck the strings of an instrument, to sing praises, make music, to celebrate in music and song’. If you are a musician or have a skilful voice then I hope you know you don’t need a stage, an auditorium or even a livestream – you just need an audience – an audience of ONE. Listen, God has just pulled up His seat to enjoy your musical offering and awaits with great joy.

Nothing Should Stop Our Praise

There are numerous other words used in the Hebrew language that give slight variations on these themes – but the bottom line is nothing or no one should stop our praise. Whether in lockdown or revival – God is attentive to the expressions of love from His people. He’s attentive to your praise – so come on – let’s give Him our absolute best – our best love, our best expressions, our best words, our best songs, our best music and be madly, truly and deeply in love with Him in response to His great love for us.