Daily Devotionals for Difficult Days [68] I Choose to Worship

Our Sunday Devotionals are by Mike Loveridge, Assistant Pastor of Manor Park Church

I Choose to Worship

The song for this week is ‘I Choose to Worship’ by Rend Collective. You can listen to the song here. Like previous weeks, I suggest you listen to the song, dwell on the words and then read through my brief comments. I hope this song blesses you as it has me.

I choose to worship
I choose to bow
Though there's pain in the offering, I lay it down

Here in the conflict
When doubt surrounds
Though my soul is unravelling I choose You now

I will praise You through the fire
Through the storm and through the flood
There is nothing that could ever steal my song
In the valley You are worthy, you are good when life is not
You will always and forever be my song

I build my altar right here and now
In the midst of the darkest night it won't burn out
For You are perfect, no matter what
In the joy of the suffering I'll sing it loud

I will praise You through the fire
Through the storm and through the flood
There is nothing that could ever steal my song
In the valley You are worthy, you are good when life is not
You will always and forever be my song

When the enemy says I'm done, I'll lift my praises
When my world come crashing down I'll lift my praises high
'Til the darkness turns to dawn I'll lift my praises
I choose to worship, I choose You now

I chose this song for this week because it reminds us the worshipping God is a choice we need to make no matter what. When we think of what Jesus has done for us upon the cross, we should want to praise him every second of every minute of every day, yet the reality is that through the trials and difficulties of life we don’t always succeed or it feels very hard and maybe even artificial. If you read through the Psalms you see this happening time and time again. The Psalmist is in a bad place and struggling and then has to remind themselves, maybe even force themselves, to praise God. One great example of this is Psalm 13 where David writes:

¹ How long, Lord? Will you forget me forever?
    How long will you hide your face from me?
² How long must I wrestle with my thoughts
    and day after day have sorrow in my heart?
    How long will my enemy triumph over me?

³ Look on me and answer, Lord my God.
    Give light to my eyes, or I will sleep in death,
⁴ and my enemy will say, “I have overcome him,”
    and my foes will rejoice when I fall.

⁵ But I trust in your unfailing love;
    my heart rejoices in your salvation.
⁶ I will sing the Lord’s praise,
    for he has been good to me.

There are many Psalms that grow more positive as they progress but here we find one of the most abrupt changes between negative and positive. In the first 4 verses you can almost feel the pain, sorrow and agony of David. Then in verse 5 there is a sudden change shown with the word ‘but’. David has acknowledged his sorrow and agony but then he looks to God. David in this Psalm shows the authentic experience of every believer at some stage in their life. David is going through the mill. He is downhearted. His enemies are all around him and appear to be winning. And in the midst of all this he is able to continue to praise and trust God.  

In verses 1 to 4, David is telling us and God how he really feels. He is brutally honest! But in doing so he is not denying who God is, what God has done for him or God’s unfailing love. Equally, the truths David expresses about God in verse 5 and 6 do not negate the pain and suffering he is going through. It is entirely possible for a believer to be sorrowful and yet praising God. David shows us a reality many of us know: that our subjective feelings and the objective truths about God don’t always sit comfortably hand in hand.

During our lives we will experience times of great trials and great sorrows and at times those may feel unbearable. David in Psalm 13 was able to turn from his sorrow and remember God’s goodness. How much more should we be able to do that living this side of the cross. It may not be easy but no matter what our circumstances or situation we can look at God’s work in our lives and back at what he did for us upon the cross and know that God has been good to us. One person wrote that:

“the cross is God’s continued, unmistakeable, public demonstration of his love for us. The cross is his steadfast commitment that he is for his people and will never let them fall.”

So, this song reminds us that through the devastation of fire, storm, flood, or even when our whole world come crashing down, we can continue to praise God because when our life is not ‘good’ He most certainly is.  No matter our life circumstances, God is worthy of our praise and we can keep singing his praises. At times in life this will feel like far more of a conscious choice then others, but God is the same trustworthy, praiseworthy God he has always been.

Prayer for today

Loving heavenly Father,

We thank you for all of your goodness to us and above all we thank you for Jesus.

God you know everything that is going on in our lives and even our every thought. Thank you for the promise that you will never let our trials go as far as to break us. We pray today for those who are currently struggling with their circumstances. May they keep their eyes fixed on you and even praise you in the storm.

We pray that our faith and trust in you will grow day by day as we spend time with you in your word and prayer.

In Jesus name we pray,

Amen