playlist

Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. Deuteronomy 6:5

Hello Friends! What is your heart set upon right now? What does your mind have on a continuous loop? You are yearning and hoping for something right now, what is it? For most of us we’d probably answer something related to finances, our health, our family, a job, a relationship, or even a material item like a house or new car. But if I had to summarize the words of Jesus throughout His time here on Earth, I’d have to take one line out of His Sermon on The Mount.

Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled.  Matthew 5:6

When we hunger and thirst to know God, know His promises, His ways, and His infinitesimal love for us sinners I truly believe it brings the members of the Holy Trinity great joy! The most beautiful part about God, so different than other religions, is that He doesn’t need us one single bit but He wants a relationship with us built on a two-way love. He wants to provide for us and protect us. He wants to bring our hearts and souls into eternity with Him.

He wants our hearts to reside in Him – a point clearly emphasized by Jesus throughout the Sermon on the Mount. My BSGs have been steeped in this message for the last few months and it has inspired me for my next blog series–“30 Days of Worship.” Worshipping this amazing, all powerful, all knowing, all sufficient God and seeking Him in all things.

Each morning when I walk my dog Tucker, I typically enjoy listening to my Spotify Christian playlist. Our faith is so blessed to have an incredibly long tradition of utilizing music to express our praise, thankfulness, and even cries of help to God. So, I decided to use my playlist to inspire each day’s Worship post and wouldn’t you know… there were 30 songs on it! God is so good!

So, over the next few weeks I’ll be listening and re-listening to some of my current favorite songs getting the right words to worship the Lord, Our God, with all my heart, mind, body and soul. Each day starting July 1, I’ll post a scripture from the Old and New Testaments, a few thoughts, and the song that inspired me. I hope you will join me in on this 30 day journey! I’m sure you have favorite Christian worship songs from various genres that I will have missed so be sure to share yours as the days go by!

If you missed any of the other 30 Days series be sure to check out my website at emboldened.net. And please share the website with a friend so they can follow along too!

“Glory is his holy name; let the hearts of those who seek the Lord rejoice. “ 1 Chronicles 16:10

Holy God when I seek to worship you through song today help me to distinguish between music that elevates You rather than me. I want to lift up my voice in celebration of You – your glory and majesty and power. Amen

Last year my husband and I were attending a church that had an excellent teaching pastor. However, for various reasons we decided to keep looking for a church that fit more of our needs. We had become friends with the pastor so I felt the need to talk with him about why this church just didn’t seem like the right place to call “home.” Way down on my list was the music. It wasn’t a gamechanger but I included it just for feedback. My comment was that I was sure, because I’ve heard some before, there was music to be sung written after the 1800s. He agreed and replied, “Yes, but I don’t like the ”Jesus Is My Boyfriend” music either.

Music has always played a role in the world’s religions – whether hummed, chanted, drummed, or played in an arena like a rock band. But no other religion finds itself with a songbook as large, widespread and popular as Christianity. We have songs to celebrate the life of Jesus, to thank the Lord for rescuing us, songs to remind us of the pain Jesus suffered for us, songs to inspire us to trust in the Lord and songs to glorify God. And it’s important to pay attention to when we fall into the trap of honoring the work we do rather than the work God does. We also don’t want to reduce Jesus to our “buddy” or as the pastor said, our boyfriend.

"Sing to him, sing praises to him; tell of all his wondrous works!" Psalm 105:2

This got me thinking about the different types of Christian music and when we should be singing ones that are written solely for the purpose of glorifying God. Now some of you might be thinking, “if it’s Christian music, doesn’t it all do that?” If that’s your initial thought I’d like to challenge you to listen to the words of the favorite songs you hear on the radio, and maybe even in your church. Are the lyrics really about you or about God’s glory, holiness, power and authority? Here’s a popular song by Phil Wickham that I have in my Christian playlist:

"I searched through the Earth for something that could satisfy
A peace for the hurt I had buried deep inside
Knees on the floor, I finally found everything I needed
You lifted my soul and opened up my eyes

I never knew anything lasts forever
Till I found You, till I found You
I never dreamed anything could be better
Till I found You, till I found You
You're rewriting my story
And I'm brand new like a morning
Oh, I never knew anything lasts forever
Till I found You
Till I, till I found You"

In just these few lines the word “I” or “my” is repeated 16 times. So who are we really singing about here? This song is perfect for expressing to the world how we were changed by our faith. But it is not really a song glorifying God.

When my youngest was a teenager, she thought it funny when she would play a song in the car that had cuss words in it. She wanted to see my reaction. She didn’t think a few bad words here and there were important. “It’s just a song,” she once said. We are challenged, as Christians to watch everything that leaves our mouths, even songs. What we have running on repeat in our head reflects where our heart lies. When we come into worship are we singing about ourselves or our savior?

When I selected the music for my wedding, I took care in the messages I wanted to send to my guests about this beautiful union. Today, when I think of a song to sing glorifying God I want to take the same care. To focus on Him, not me.

Here’s a few modern songs that glorify God. Do you have a favorite song that glorifies God? Add it in the comments!

Only A God by City Alight

Holy, Holy, Holy (various artists)

Worthy of It All by CeCe Winans

Ancient of Days by City Alight

Revelation Song by Kari Jobe

Agnus Dei (Lamb of God) by Michael W. Smith

What A Beautiful Name by Hillsong Worship & Brooke Ligertwood