It’s the beginning of a new year! For many of us, life may look much different than it did this time last year. Perhaps life looks much more joyful and happy; but for others, life may be gloomy and sad. Wherever we are in our walks of life, we are all called to praise God in every circumstance, and worship music plays a huge role in that.
We, as Christians, are commanded to pray and praise our Lord every single day of our lives. In 1 Thessalonians 5, Paul is writing to the church about difficult times that will come upon them and says, “ Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, in everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.” (vv 16-18) It is not always easy to praise our Lord in the hard times, but we know that He is with us always and we can trust in His ultimate plan for our lives. When we are focused on worshipping and honoring our Savior, we become less focused inwardly and more focused upwardly.
King David faced many terrible times in his life, and in Psalm 34 he wrote, “I will bless the Lord at all times; His praise shall continually be in my mouth. My soul shall make its boast in the Lord; The humble shall hear of it and be glad. Oh, magnify the Lord with me, and let us exalt His name together. I sought the Lord, and He heard me, and delivered me from all my fears.” (vv 1-4) Jesus is our deliverer forever, and there is nothing in death or life that can separate us from His love.
Most of us know all of these Scriptures and that we are called to praise Him throughout all our lives, but when we actually face hard times, we struggle to actually follow through in our day to day lives. Singing praises to our Lord each and every day is something that I find very helpful and necessary. We might struggle to remember Scriptures and sermons we have heard at times, but the beauty of music is that it is easy to remember! I always find it so amazing when I am dealing with a trial or difficult situation and God brings to remembrance a song that speaks to exactly what I am dealing with.
In times of hardship and times of joy, let’s remember to praise our Savior each and every day. We need to be in prayer and singing all throughout our time on earth. The more we sing, pray, and read Scriptures, the more tools we have against the enemy in times of trouble.
I will leave you with some of the lyrics from one of my favorite Hillsong songs. “Even when my strength is lost, I’ll praise You. Even when I have no song, I’ll praise You. Even when it’s hard to find the words, louder then I’ll sing Your praise. Even when the morning comes, I’ll praise You. Even when the fight is won, I’ll praise You. Even when my time on earth is done, louder then I’ll sing Your praise. I will only sing Your praise.”
