Are you the kind of person who has a song in their heart?
Lotta people here in NE Tennessee aren't shy about singing. Doesn't take much to get them going.
Me? I love singing, but more and more it's the FOCUS of that singing that matters most to me. My focus is on the Godhead: The Holy Father, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit. I love the Lord, and I have a passion for praise!
Last month I went on a trip back to Illinois with my mother. We drove the 650+ mile, one-way trek, in two day increment: 350 miles one day, 300 + the next. Going at 70 MPH for the most part helped make good time. Not a lot of cool scenery to take in from Kingsport, TN to Princeton, ILL. Rather, the highlight came when my my put on some of her "praise" CDs. Charity Gayle, Terry MacAlmon, and Michael W. Smith. Back when my mom had Covid and on what the hospital tried to make her death bed, but the Lord had a better outcome for my mom -- her miraculous healing! Praise the Lord. During her stay in the Covid ward of the hospital, while her heath was on the brink I was in her hospital room playing praise music: Terry MacAlmon, Michael W. Smith, and Don Moen. So who are artists like: Terry MacAlmon, Charity Gayle, Don Moen and Michael W. Smith? They are performers who tailor their music to worship the Lord. High worship is what the first three specialize in. Michael W.Smith in recent years has gotten closer to being a "high worship" performer, but I'm not sure he's there yet.
So what is "high worship"?
High worship is a brand of music where the focus is on worshiping the godhead: the Holy Father, His Son Jesus, and the Holy Spirit. Is it the kind of music you hear in church? Probably, though to say that definitively I'd hafta here that for myself, because there in Christian music that is about Christian living, but doesn't go to the level of high worship. Here's a shortened version of one of my favorite "high praise" songs right now:
Do you love the Lord? That is really the starting point of high worship; a performers desire to honor and bless the Lord through song. Focus is everything when it comes to "high worship". High worship require a focus on the Godhead, NOT on people. Praising the Lord and desiring to see and be close to Him are recurrent themes in high worship.
The funny thing about "high worship" is that it's relatively easy to do. I do it all the time. Sometimes in the car on the way to work. Sometimes in church as part of the corporate body of Christ. Sometimes at work when opportunity allows. Thankfully I've been blessed over the years to be exposed to many "high worship" songs. Times of worship in church are a great springboard for individual worship of God throughout the week. When you go to church you should be getting exposed to high worship songs as: Lord, I Lift Your Name on High, I Love You Lord (which sounds like a wedding procession), Blessed be the Name of Lord, (Jesus) Name Above All Names, How Great is Our God, Holy Ground, Amazing Grace and the like.
I've found that focusing on worshiping the Lord helps bring peace to my being. When I praise God, there is a spiritual renewing that happens; a lifting of burdens when the Lord is praised in song, be that corporately as the body of Christ (the church) or individually. Praising the Lord is also a key part of spiritual warfare and taking back ground that Satan occupies. The children of Israel were told to march around the walls of Jericho and praise God. In obediently doing so, God caused the walls to fall down and the children of Israel took over an enemy's stronghold.
Struggle with sin? Praise the Lord in song and ask Him for His deliverance. Praising the Lord in song acknowledges His greatness, and many times gets the Lord to do great things in the world.
So don't give the devil any room to operate in your life, praise the Lord through song and do your part to see the power of God act in your life and in your immediate surroundings. We were all made to be worshipers of God in some form or another. And sometimes when we worship the Lord in spirit and truth the Heavenly choirs join in. I heard a story about that on the Alaskan seacoast where I guy was playing simple worship music with a guitar, that was recorded only to find that when that recording was played back their were angelic voices with it! I heard a recording of this when I was a young Christian in the early 1990s. Don't have that recording anymore, BUT I did buy a CD from Terry MacAlum, On the 4th track of his The Sound of Heaven, the choir of Heaven joins in and becomes part of the later part of the song for I Stand in Awe/The Sound of Heaven.
Set your heart right and give the Lord the praise that He deserves. As the age of Gentiles draws to a close made it point of yours to be known as a lover of God through song. That is an attribute of character that I desire, to be known and recognized as lover and worshiper of the One, True God. To God be the glory , amen!