Worship takes on many shapes, forms and sounds. It is a personal expression of our gratitude toward God for His love. It is a corporate response to His majesty in light of our unworthiness. It is an outpouring of His Spirit as it transforms us. When we worship corporately, we focus our efforts on God as the initiator. We sing to Him, and the content of our corporate worship consequently focuses on Him, rather than us, a majority of the time. However, there are moments in worship when we look inward and profess the state of our own hearts as well – from singing corporate confessions to lamenting our sin in light of His holiness.<\/p>\n
We also sing with resolution that we are responding to His love and faithfulness. A couple of weeks ago, the worship team introduced a new song as a prelude that follows Moses’ guidance to the Israelites in Exodus 14<\/a>: “And Moses said to the people, ‘Fear not, stand firm, and see the salvation of the\u00a0Lord, which he will work for you today. For the Egyptians whom you see today, you shall never see again. The\u00a0Lord\u00a0will fight for you, and you have only to be silent<\/em>.’\u201d<\/p>\n The song we introduced is titled I Will Be Still<\/em>, and we will begin singing it together this summer:<\/p>\n I will be still; I will be still Though the waters roar; though the mountains fall to the sea There is no fear; as I look upon You There is no fear; as I look upon You There is no fear; as I look upon You<\/p><\/blockquote>\n The song is also a direct response to God’s commands in the Psalms<\/a>.<\/p>\n
\nAnd know; and know; and know You are God<\/p>\n
\nThough the earth give way; I will turn to Thee<\/p>\n
\nThough the nations rage; and creation yearns for the Lord
\nThough the earth may melt; I\u2019m forever Yours<\/p>\n
\nThough the arrows fly; and the trumpets sound their call
\nThough the nations war; and the kingdoms fall<\/p>\n