Shout for joy to the Lord, all the earth.

Worship the Lord with gladness; come before Him

with joyful songs. Know that the Lord is God. It is He that has made us, and we are His; we are His
people, the sheep of His pasture. Enter His gates with thanksgiving and His courts with praise; give
thanks to Him and praise His Name. For the Lord is good and His love endures forever; His faithfulness
continues through all generations.
Psalm 100
A little while ago a friend shared with me that they had been brought through a crisis in their life
by constantly singing to themselves the songs of praise and worship which they had learnt in the
worship times at Church. There is a healing and sustaining virtue in those songs of praise which we have
sung together as believers. This is especially true when those songs of worship are based upon the
words of the Scriptures. They become for us a means to memorize the Word of God.
David Ward has reworked a wonderful song of praise written originally by James Montgomery
and based upon Psalm 148 and Revelation 5:11-12. If you wish to research this hymn further it can be
found at www.thousandtongues.org/songs/updatedhymns/songs_of_praise but here is the lyrics of that
updated Hymn.

Songs of praise the angels sang,
Heav'n with hallelujahs rang,
When the Lord's work had begun,
When He spoke and it was done.
Songs of praise awoke the morn,
When the Prince of Peace was born:
Songs of praise arose when He
Captive led captivity.

Chorus:
Songs of praise will ever fill my heart,
And fill my every part.
Songs of praise, ascending to my King,
With millions I will sing
Songs of praise.

Heav'n and earth must pass away,
Songs of praise will crown that day;
God will make new heavens and earth,
Songs of praise will hail their birth.
And will man hold back his tongue
'Till that glorious kingdom come?
No; the church delights to raise
Psalms, and hymns, and songs of praise.

Young and old, with heart and voice,
Still in songs of praise rejoice;
Learning here, by faith and love,
Songs of praise to sing above.
Borne upon their final breath,
Songs of praise will conquer death;
Then, amidst eternal joy,
Songs of praise their powers employ.

Words by James Montgomery (1771-1854)and David Ward. Music by David L. Ward.
2002 ThousandTongues.org, admin by Thousand Tongues

For the Hebrew people the book of Psalms was their book of Worship Songs. It was an inspired
book of praise having been written by those who were moved by the Holy Spirit to write prophetic
words which would lead Gods people into an ever deepening worship of Him as well as teaching them
just what true worship was. In the 100
th
Psalm, quoted above, we have an important song of praise
coming at the end of a section of Psalms which call us to worship the God who has spoken to us calling
us to embrace His grace through faith.
The Psalm is a command for us to worship the Lord. It is not an option or a suggestion that we
can follow if we are so inclined. It is a command. We worship because we have been created for that
very purpose. Such worship comes out of the love that we have for our creator, redeemer God. The
consequence of such love and worship is that we are reformed into the image of the one whom we
worship. We literally become like the one we worship.
The question is will we obey the command and come to Him with a heart filled with love and
worship?