By Ty Sager
More Than Singing
Expressions of Worship
There is much expression that takes place when we respond to God in worship. Sometimes we clap in celebration. Sometimes we shout in exclamation. Sometimes we bow in adoration, and sometimes we’re silent in meditation. Worship involves responses to God that include physical expression. When we sing lines like, “Cause Satan is vanquished and Jesus is King,” the fitting response ought to be an outbreak of cheers. Christ is victorious and has won the battle! He has overcome sin and conquered death! If there were ever a reason to cheer or get excited about something, this would be it! Singing truths like these are suppose to affect us so deeply that we can’t help but overflow with praise to God with far more than just singing songs.
I thought it was important this weekend as we sang,” All That Matters” to read Psalm 47:1 which says, “Clap your hands, all you nations; shout to God with cries of joy. How awesome is the Lord Most High, the great King over all the earth!”
This great verse teaches us why we clap in our times of worship. It is not because of music. It is not because the person next to us is doing it. It is not because the worship director suggests we do it. It is because the Lord Most High is awesome and worthy of expressive praise. He is worth cheering for! Our clapping is a natural response to the God we are worshiping. It is not forced. It is not done begrudgingly. It is done as an act of worship from a heart that is overwhelmed with whom God is. When I encouraged clapping this past weekend it was so cool to see everyone join in. Being able to observe everyone clapping to the same rhythm and singing the same song seemed like such a unifying moment for God’s people!
So when we clap on the weekends we should clap like we’ve never clapped before. If we shout, we should shout like we mean it. When we sing it should be with the heart and not the lips only. Because when we come to church we are doing more than singing. We are expressing worship to God!
The battle has been won! That is worth praising God not only in singing but also in living our whole life for the victorious King, Jesus Christ! Ty, thanks for leading us in worship through singing each week and always directing our thoughts back to the truths of Scripture.
PSALM 33:1-4
1 Sing joyfully to the LORD, you righteous;
it is fitting for the upright to praise him.
2 Praise the LORD with the harp;
make music to him on the ten-stringed lyre.
3 Sing to him a new song;
play skillfully, and shout for joy.
4 For the word of the LORD is right and true;
he is faithful in all he does.
Ty,
Thank you for the blog!
Here is what I have to say …. “mmmmmmmmmmmm….mmmmmmmm!”
You can quote me on that!
Ty,
Word! Thanks for always bringing the right mindset to worship every time you lead! I am always encouraged how earnestly you seek to praise God and come before him with reverence and humility!
I love this passage.
I think about when I got to an Angels game and the bases are loaded, Vlad gets up with 2 outs and the angels are down by three. Not a single person sits in their seat and says, “Let’s go, hit the ball. Yay!”
No way; instead you have people on their feet shouting, straining their voices hoarse clapping their hands, stomping their feet excited that the slugger is up and is going to save the day!
How much MORE should we shout that our slugger, Jesus, not only won the game but will allow us to be part of His victory!
Woohoo!
Ty!
Thanks for this reminder. In fact, the song that you referenced has been running through my heart and mind all afternoon, “He’s all we need!”
Even though I wouldn’t probably use a baseball analogy naturally, I have to simply say “ditto” to Robby’s comments and “ditto” to your blog. I LOVE it! The line that you quoted at the beginning about Satan being vanquished is sometimes hard to sing because I want to SHOUT it. I think it would scare some people if I did that in the mic, though, so I control myself but I wonder how any of us can sing that line and not jump and shout and clap? May our lives reflect the joy of our worship and may we be willing to express it in church…even if it is uncomfortable.
Thanks, Ty!
Thank you Ty for sharing. You are a true leader by example of what worship is! As Lucas stated thanks for directing our thoughts toward the scripture and the truths contained within.
Right on Ty.
Ty, Thank you for your passion for Christ! I really like what has been evolving with your leadership. Shawna says it for me!! It was great to be able to start my day with this song of praise.
The ability to make music is so simple but yet so wonderful. It is is blessing to just have music let alone be able to make it with your own to hands. God has given this gift to me and it is a blessing in more ways then one. I have it for a reason and I know he wants me to use it to glorify his name.
I have a sister is, in my eyes and I’m sure in many others, amazing. She is extremely bright, beautiful, and hard-working. Being bright is a God given talent. Being beautiful is also a God given talent. But being hard-working, that she does by her own, utilizing her other talents. Having a gift amounts to nothing if you do not use them. It is the opposite:A waste of Gods love.
To me the ability to make music is God given. The ability to use it for God, as my sister is hard working, is a choice that I make. I feel that I owe it to God and I cannot think of a better way to use it.
DSR
Nice blog Ty!! I liked the last paragraph in particular about really clapping our hands and really shouting out our praises to our King! MMMmmmmm Amen to that!
We must honor his glory, Stop the madness, sadness, loneliness, and grieve. We must stand strong to his word to see you through any battle.
I know that I know that I am blessed. I am looking forward to my journey with God as he walks beside me. He has brought me to Compass Bible. I was lost now, I am found thanks to Jesus Christ’s mercy and love for me. He gave, and He gave is life away for me, He came down, He saved me through the cross
My heart has been changed because of his great love, power and wonder.