A Challenge for Today’s Christians to Worship More

“My soul magnifies the Lord, and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior” (Luke 1:46-47).

Song is a means of enjoying, honoring, recognizing and proclaiming God. Human beings were made to sing—we can all honor God through song. The first human words recorded in the book of Genesis are a song; before sin entered the world, Adam sings a song to his wife in the presence of God. The book of Revelation says we’ll sing new songs in Jesus’ presence someday. We love music and even sing along in our cars when no one is listening because we were made to sing.

We also sing because our God sings. In Zephaniah 3:17, we read that a day is coming when God himself will delight over you with song. Can you imagine what it’s going to be like when God sings over his people?

Later, in Luke 15:10, we read that, “there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents.” Who’s in the presence of the angels? God. God himself rejoices when we repent. God is happy when we repent. God sings when we repent. If God rejoices when we confess our sin and trust in Jesus, there should be rejoicing with us. If God’s happy, we should be happy. If God’s singing, we should be singing. If God’s celebrating, we should be celebrating.

If we don’t sing, it may be because we’re thinking more about us than about Him. We’re self-conscious, or we’re thinking about our sin, not our Savior. Admittedly, singing is not always the most natural exercise for men in particular. In some cultures, the men used to sing in bars, and today they sing in stadiums if their soccer team scores a goal. But in many nations, including my own, men simply don’t get together and sing. This was one of the hardest things for me when I became a Christian. My baseball team and my football team never burst into song. When my dad, my brothers, and I were out working on the car, trying to drop a transmission, we never stopped for musical interludes like some mechanic musical.

But consider this: If you’re willing to leap out of your seat, raise your hands and lift your voice when something amazing happens during a sporting event, the empty tomb warrants at least that same level of joy. Jesus is a warrior-King who defeats Satan, sin, death and hell and in great love, forgives and embraces. He stands up to all of the abusers, the dictators, the evildoers and the thieves. He feeds the hungry and gives sight to the blind. He’s destroying the darkness of sin with the light of his holiness. He puts a boot on the neck of Satan. He guarantees a kingdom where there will be one throne; He’ll sit on it, and we’ll all be blessed.

Call it singing or call it a battle cry of victory; either way, Jesus is well worth a shout, and Jesus’ mother Mary is a wonderful example of a worshipper.

Sing to God today! Whether it’s in your house, in your car or on a walk, sing to the Lord—even if you don’t know how to carry a tune. {eoa}

Mark Driscoll is a Jesus-following, mission-leading, church-serving, people-loving, Bible-preaching pastor and the author of many books, including Spirit-Filled Jesus, which you can order here. He currently pastors The Trinity Church in Scottsdale, Arizona, with his family. For all of pastor Mark Driscoll’s Bible teaching, please visit markdriscoll.org or download the app. You can download a free devotional e-book from pastor Mark here.