Expressiveness in Worship

Psalm 117 says,

Praise the Lord, all nations!  Extol him, all peoples! For great is his steadfast love toward us, and the faithfulness of the Lord endures forever.  Praise the Lord!

This is a great missions Psalm.  It is a call/command for all peoples everywhere to worship the Lord.  We could boil down the reason for God's judgement on the world to this one thing: People do not worship him, they do not give him praise.

This Psalm is also instructive for teaching us about expressiveness and breadth in worship. The first word is in verse 1: Praise (halal in Hebrew) or Hallelujah - Praise the Lord!  This word in Hebrew carries the connotation of boasting in; to shine forth; to praise; to glory in; to make foolish; to act madly.  Think of David in 2 Samuel 6 dancing before the Lord with all his might.  There is an abandon, a recklessness in this type of worship.  Do we ever reach this kind of vigor in our worship today?  Is halal type of worship only reserved for the youth group on Sunday nights?  I am convicted by this word.  My leadership as a worship pastor rarely, if ever, reaches this fevered pitch.  

 The other word for praise in this Psalm is shabach, which the KJV translates as praise.  The ESV translates it as extol.  In the Hebrew, it means to soothe; to still; to praise; to commend; to boast.  It is only used 11 times throughout the bible; 5 being translated as praise (KJV) and 2 as still.  I think this word has a flavor of contemplation; of awe and reverence; of silence and meditation.  How are we doing with this in our Sunday gatherings?  Do we take time to be silent before the Lord?  Do we rush from one song to another, from one element to another in our worship times?

Lord, help us to worship you in biblically expressive ways.  Help us to have times of vigorous, passionate worship - loving you not only with our heart, soul, and mind, but with our strength.  Help us to extol you in our meetings - to take time and be still before you.  To meditate together on your greatness and glory.  The Psalmist gives us great motivation for this: For great is his steadfast love toward us, and the faithfulness of the Lord endures forever.  Praise the Lord!