The Need for Corporate and Individual Worship Time, All the Time
“Praise – Corporate, Individual, Constant”
“It is good to give thanks to the Lord,
to sing praise to your name, Most High,
to declare your faithful love in the morning
and your faithfulness at night,
with a ten-stringed harp
and the music of a lyre.
For you have made me rejoice, Lord,
by what you have done;
I will shout for joy
because of the works of your hands”
— Psalms 92:1–4 (CSB)
Praise is a good thing; reread the first line of Psalm 92 above. Praise is valuable and meaningful, and it indicates how we feel about God. When we are in human-to-human relationships, we often compliment and thank each other; “You are so sweet,” “You look great today,” “Thank you for being so kind and thoughtful.” Those kinds of praises and thankful exclamations express our good feelings toward others. Similarly, when we praise God, we show how we truly feel about Him. When we look at what He has done for creation and for us personally, or at His creativity, kindness, trustworthiness, and love, and we are filled with joy and appreciation, it should turn into praise. The Scriptures say, “Let them give thanks to the Lord for his faithful love and his wondrous works for all humanity” (Psalm 107:8, CSB). After all that God has done for us, He deserves praise—from everyone.
All of creation and all people are called to praise; take a look at the charge in Psalm 148! We can see that the whole earth gives Him praise, and there are many examples of people praising Him out loud in the “congregation” (Psalm 22:2; 35:18; 98:4–6). David sets the example when he says to God, “I will praise you in the great assembly; I will exalt you among many people” (Psalm 35:18, CSB).
At The Experience Community Church, this looks like us each weekend during services as we stand and sing with other Believers or during Worship Nights as we join with thousands of people to lift up Jesus. But praise and worship are not confined to corporate settings. We are also to praise individually, giving our whole selves as a living sacrifice, which is considered our true worship (Romans 12:1), and doing so continuously—at all times. This type of continual praise isn’t just singing or playing music; it also includes prayer, reading the Bible, serving, and obeying Jesus’ commands every day. These are all forms of worship, and we can participate in them all the time. So, as the writer of Hebrews says, “…let us continually offer up to God a sacrifice of praise, that is, the fruit of lips that confess his name” (Hebrews 13:15, CSB).