In this article, we will see how worship is tied to our being a witness of God.
Since the Old Testament days, it has been the honor of God’s people to be a witness for Him. From the time when God made His covenant with Abraham, and then throughout the history of the people of Israel, their worship was meant to be a witness to all the nations that their God was the true and only God, and that He had done wonderful things on their behalf (Exodus 34:10; 1 Samuel 12:24; Psalm 66:5).
This honor carried over into the New Testament, as evidenced by the songs of Mary, the apostles, and the early believers of the church. It continues to be the privilege of all who believe today—we are compelled to be a witness of our awesome God through worship.
Let’s look at Psalm 117, the shortest of all the psalms. Psalm 117 is a brief, profound, descriptive psalm that extends an invitation to all the nations to praise God, and it provides a list of reasons as to why He is worthy of worship. The psalmist writes:
Praise the Lord, all you Gentiles!
Laud Him, all you peoples!
For His merciful kindness is great toward us,
And the truth of the Lord endures forever.
Praise the Lord!
To “laud” means to excitedly boast about. His merciful kindness refers to God’s faithfulness and promises to His people. In essence, Psalm 117 is an example for how we are to worship; because of all of the things God has done, is doing, and will do on our behalf, we lift up a song of praise to Him for all to hear, and we welcome everyone to join in with us. For believers who are living in a conscious relationship with their Heavenly Father, the list of items to praise Him for is unending.
We find examples of people who took the time to make note of the goodness of God during the Old Testament times, and how they turned their experiences into songs for all to hear. These songs are recorded in Scriptures and have been a witness of God for centuries. We can read hymns from Moses and his sister Miriam, from Joshua, Hannah, David, Solomon, and the prophets. God’s people have always witnessed to the truth through their singing. The faith of the Israelites could be heard clearly in their songs. And many of the lyrics from their hymnal—the Psalms—showed their awareness of other nations listening into their singing and called them to praise God, too. Why did each of them speak their words of praise so that others could hear and read them? They had a desire to recognize the Author of their blessings and wanted all nations to know the greatness of their God so that others would have the opportunity to know Him as well.
The recording of hymns of praise to God was continued by those who wrote the New Testament. We can read the songs of Mary and Zechariah in the Gospel of Luke as they make known their praise in response to the news they received from God. In Acts 2:46-47, we can read the following about the believers in the early church – So continuing daily with one accord in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, they ate their food with gladness and simplicity of heart, praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord added to the church daily those who were being saved. Then further in Acts, we read about the actions of Paul and Silas when they were imprisoned in Philippi. In Acts 16:25, the Bible reads, …about midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the prisoners were listening to them… Here we find these two workers singing for joy in the midst of their suffering for all to hear, and then after an earthquake breaks open the door, they remain in their cell and have the opportunity to lead the jailer into faith in Jesus Christ. Because of their boldness and willingness to witness and worship in the midst of their troubles, the heart of this unbeliever was touched. He was made aware of the God of these prisoners, and he became aware of his need to be saved from his sin.
Today we are called to worship in an audible fashion so that the joyful sound we make as believers reaches the ears of those who struggle to believe in Jesus Christ. Each day, believers walk with the indwelling presence of the Holy Spirit. The Spirit of God working in our lives allows us to fulfill our calling as worshipers. He draws attention to the great works of God in our lives so that we can reflect on them and then respond in worship.
In Colossians 3:16, Paul wrote: Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom, teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord. When the lyrics of our songs are based on the Scripture and sung with joy, then they will serve to inspire and edify those who hear them. The joy we experience through our relationship with Jesus Christ should be evident in all that we do. The worship of our lives is to be a credible witness of what we believe so that those around us will come to know our God. As an American pastor and author once said, “Glorious worship is exuberant, never half-hearted. It is attractive, not off-putting. It is brilliant, not careless. It points to God, not to the speakers…There is nothing more evangelistic, nothing that will win the world more than glorious worship.”