The Power of Worship

By:  Dale Weckbacher

2 Chronicles 20:21-22

And when he had taken counsel with the people, he appointed those who were to sing to the Lord and praise him in holy attire, as they went before the army, and say,

“Give thanks to the Lord,
    for his steadfast love endures forever.”

²² And when they began to sing and praise, the Lord set an ambush against the men of Ammon, Moab, and Mount Seir, who had come against Judah, so that they were routed.

(ESV)

While the preaching and teaching of the Word of God is vital when believers gather together, worship is also a vital ingredient.  In His conversation with the Woman at the well, when questioned about the Jews requiring worshipers go to Jerusalem to worship, Jesus told her that the true worshipers worship God in spirit and truth wherever they are (John 4:23).  When we gather together in church, worship consists of truth as declared by the preaching and teaching of the Word of God but there is also a spirit ingredient which usually occurs at the beginning of the worship service. 

The account of Josephat’s victory over the Moabites, Ammonites, and some of the Meunites without having to lift a hand in battle illustrates the power of song in our worship of the Lord (2 Chronicles20:23).  Like when the musicians preceded the armies of the Lord into battle, our songs of praise and worship prior to the preaching of truth serve as spiritual weapon disarming the attempts of the enemy to inhibit the preaching of the Word of God that changes the hearts of those in attendance at the service.  However, just as with other parts of the continual spiritual battle we find ourselves in, the enemy attempts to divide and disarm the body of Christ by creating division over the style of music used in our church services. 

While many styles and genres of music exist, the current debate in Christian circles comes down to two styles, traditional and contemporary.  To mitigate this division some churches have decided to have two services, one offering traditional worship and one offering contemporary worship.  (1)  While this may logically seem to mitigate the debate by providing the best of both worlds to a congregation, the separation of services also divides a congregation, possibly by age groups with older members of the congregation attending the more traditional worship service and younger ones attending the contemporary service.  The problem is that part of why we as a church gather together is for fellowship with one another and by potentially dividing a congregation by age, we stifle interaction of younger members of the congregation with older, more mature members. 

The bottom line is that no matter the genre of music, words of praise offered up to our Lord are pleasing to His ears (Psalm 147:1).  In fact, God could care less about how the music sounds and encourages us to make a joyful noise to the Lord, something those of us lacking a good voice can take solace in (Psalm 100:1).  However, Psalm 100:1 tells us to make sure the noise we offer the Lord is joyful, indicating He is most interested in the attitude of our heart when singing to him and not how it sounds. 

Romans 14 scripturally addresses this issue by encouraging us not to pass judgement on one another.  The debate over music genres in worship is a petty issue with God only interested in hearing our words of praise, offered from a joyful heart.  Let us therefore not give the enemy a foothold by placing a wedge over worship genres in our church services and instead insure the object of worship is our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ and not the performers on the stage. 

The world offers plenty of divisiveness.  We therefore must insure our churches are places where the world sees a diverse group of individuals gathering in unity to worship Jesus Christ.  When our services begin with praises offered joyfully to God in whatever genre we choose, the enemy flees just like the enemies fled when the praise leaders led the army of the Lord into battle in Josephat’s time.  With this foundation of defeating the enemy initiating the gathering of God’s people together, the preaching of the Word of God becomes powerful changing lives through its truth.  This is what Jesus meant when He told the woman at the well true worshipers worship the Lord in spirit and in truth. 

The power of worship is not in how we worship, but who we worship.  Worship of our creator God, however, begins with entering into a relationship with Him through accepting His free gift of salvation.  If you are reading this and never entered into a relationship with God please pray with me now.

Dear Lord Jesus, I know I have sinned (Romans 3:23) and know that the penalty for my sin is death (Romans 6:23).  I ask you to forgive me of my sin and cleanse me as you promise in your Word (1 John 1:9).  I believe you died, was buried, and resurrected from the dead and now declare you Lord of my life.

You now have a personal relationship with your creator God.  I encourage you to now experience the power of worship by finding a church and offering up praises to God remembering that it does not matter what form of music in which you worship God, or how you sound as long as the object of your worship is God.  May God bless everyone reading this.

1. Thorngate, Steve. New Harminies: Music and Identity at Four Congegations. www.christiancentury.org. [Online] The Christian Century, November 17, 2011. [Cited: December 2017, 2017.] https://www.christiancentury.org/article/2011-11/new-harmonies.