Express yourself!

Praise God in his holy house of worship,
    praise him under the open skies;
Praise him for his acts of power,
    praise him for his magnificent greatness;
Praise with a blast on the trumpet,
    praise by strumming soft strings;
Praise him with castanets and dance,
    praise him with banjo and flute;
Praise him with cymbals and a big bass drum,
    praise him with fiddles and mandolin.
Let every living, breathing creature praise God!
    Hallelujah! Psalm 150.

I love this psalm.  It is so effusive and expressive. It is so full of grandeur, majesty and joy.

I love how it expresses so many different ways to show our worship of God.  There are trumpets and fiddles, flutes and drums, cymbals and mandolins.  Indeed it ends with the psalmist calling everything that God has breathed life into, to praise their great Creator.

Thinking about the psalmist’s call to worship, I began to ask myself ‘what are the ways in which we can show our worship of God?’ ‘How does everything that has breath praise God?’

The one way that comes most obviously to mind is through music and song. I love how right in the middle of our Bibles we have a songbook full or lyrics that express so many different emotions. A songbook written by psalmist that wanted to express their thoughts and feelings and put down for all to see their relationship with their Maker.

I, myself, love to worship God through song, or playing an instrument, whether it be guitar, piano or mandolin.

I know of people who love to express praise to and for God through movement and dance. King David was famous for dancing before the Ark of the Covenant as he brought it to Jerusalem. In Psalm 149, dance is mentioned as a means by which we praise God. Its great to see organisations such as ‘Movement in Worship‘ bringing dance back into the church, and seeing so many people worship God with their whole being.

Another creative means of worshipping God can be through art. God did make man in his own image, and just look around you and you can see the wonderful masterpieces that God paints upon the canvas of life everyday, and so it is no surprise that we love to paint, draw, sketch, sculpt and design in ways that bring praise to God.

Sometimes it is directly through a piece of work intended as an act of worship, or we can bring praise to God through our creativity by reflecting His nature that He has placed in us.

The same can be said of activities such as gardening and caring for animals.  By doing these things we can bring praise to God in our care for His creation. Again we are reflecting His image, for He ‘has compassion on all He has made.’

Even our workplaces can be avenues of praise and worship to our Creator. “Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for human masters, 24 since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving.” Colossians 3:23-24.

When we realise that our work can be done to the glory of God, it is a great thing, and shows just how many ways in which we can say a big ‘Thank You!’ to our Abba Father.

Finally, I think the best way we can praise and worship God, is by being loving. By loving God, by loving our neighbour. Loving the unlovely, loving the stranger, the outcast, the widow, the oppressors. Forgiving and loving those who hate and persecute us. Reaching out to others with the gospel. Reaching out to others and being a helping hand. Being kind. Giving hugs. Being gracious. Being slow to get angry. Being less grumpy.

God is love.

So as we love, we most clearly demonstrate His very nature, and bring Him great praise and worship.

How are you going to praise God today?