Faith and The Gift of Worship

August 20, 2026 Martha RodmanLeave a comment

Ascribe to the Lord the glory due his name, bring and offering and come before him. Worship the Lord in the splendor of his holiness. I Chronicles 16:29. NIV

Oh my friends, I have been praying, meditating and thinking about the gift of worship. I have listened to all types of teaching on the various Old Testament words that describe different ways we can worship our God. On all the why’s of His worthiness and how it brings joy to Him. My head knows a lot, but what I have been desiring more is for my heart to engage differently.

So would you join me on a journey to grow in our connection to Him with our praise and worship? There are seven different Hebrew Expressions of praise. As I remind myself of each of them, I realize I have not engaged lately in most of them.

Barak: means to kneel, bow down. It is a way to show the Lord reverence and humility. Being raised Baptist we did not use kneelers in our church. I have used my older age to excuse myself from kneeling before the Lord. I think it’s time to find a way to include the posture of humility in my worship. Psalm 95:6

Halal: This fun word is the root word for Hallelujah! It means to boast, shine, celebrate, or act clamorously foolish out of extreme joy. I want to add more Halal to my worship. This is what David did when he worshiped before the Lord.

Shabach: This means to shout to God with a voice of triumph. To talk of His mighty power. Have you ever shouted the praises of God? It’s been awhile, I confess. It isn’t just being “loud”, its meaning carries the sense of putting your whole being into praising our God, because of who He is

Tehillah: To express ourselves with tehillah means we make up our own songs and tunes describing Him. It is a fresh expression of our love and His greatness. Go ahead try it! My husband used to play his guitar every morning during his devotional time. I would sing in my heart words to those tunes occasionally. When I forget the words to current worship songs, I probably am using tehillah!

Yadah: When I was young, my father would lead the singing in our Baptist church. It was so inspiring to watch him, because he was singing from his heart. He lifted up his hands in worship (yadah) even before it became popular. I don’t know if he was criticized for it or not. There are often times I can’t help but lift my arms in praise to our God. Surrendering myself to His goodness and will.

Towdah: We lift our hands in towdah when we are thanking him before we see the results. It is also an act of surrender–it is the sacrifice of thanksgiving. I have discovered the joy of praise and worship especially during hard times. It is a sacrifice when we are facing the unknown future that only our God knows. I have experienced God’s peace when I have worshiped Him during hard times.

Zamar: This is where we make music with instruments–plucking strings, drumming drums. It can also include singing with these instruments. Most of our current community worship is based on the word zamar. “I will also praise you with the harp for your faithfulness, O my God; I will sing praises (zamar) to you with the lyre, O Holy One of Israel.” Psalm 71:22
“I will sing a new song to you, O God; upon a ten-stringed harp I will make music (zamar) to you.” Psalm 144:9

Here is a sample breakdown of how these individual words work together. I don’t think we need to overthink this, but understanding what please Him should be our priority. My husband hated green beans, I chose to stop serving them because I loved him. Loving the Lord should be similar, don’t you think? So often we choose our preference over His.

Enter his gates with thanksgiving (Towdah),
and his courts with praise (tehillah)!
Give thanks to him (Yadah); bless his name! Psalm 100.4

My friends, as we take the time to focus on the various ways God, Himself, encourages us to worship Him, shouldn’t we at least surrender our will to His in this area? These are tools to be included in our repertoire of worship. I know that when I am overwhelmed by His presence, it often causes me to go quiet and withdraw to my quiet place inside my heart. I know He loves these times of intimacy. The gift of worship is a gift we can choose to freely offer up to Him. When the Israelites started worshiping from duty and not from love, their hearts were more easily drawn away to other gods. This is still the case with us. I don’t want to replace true worship with rote actions–but my own feeble heart has those tendencies. I am so grateful for His mercy, aren’t you? It makes me want to worship Him more.

This past week I have faced some struggles–for myself and on the behalf of others. Instead of feeling overwhelmed I began to worship the Lord before I began to ask for HELP! Peace came more quickly and hope began to grow in the place of fear. Worshiping Him restores peace and sets Him back in His rightful place. He is such an amazing God.

Father, You are such a gracious God. I am so grateful You created us to worship You. Please teach us how to do it in a way that please You. You don’t have to give us anything back when we give You back only what You deserve, but You do. Truly You are an unfathomable God. Thank you for the gift of worship. In Jesus’ Name, amen

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Faith and Restoring Joy

May 21, 2026 Martha Rodman1 Comment

Restore to me the joy of your salvation, and make me willing to obey you. Psalm 51:12. NLT.

Joy is an amazing gift of God, one of the fruits of the Spirit, but like natural fruit it can become a bit bruised and battered. The good news is that our Lord is aware of that, and loves to restore that joy. Living a life without joy is not God’s will or a very fun way to live.

Sometimes the joy thief is so subtle we don’t notice it’s lack in our life. We just fel life is a bit heavier. We push through with our own strength, not allowing His strength to help us. If you find yourself in this scenario: take a minute or as long as it takes and pray. Ask the Lord to help you sort through your thoughts and feelings. David stopped and prayed in Psalm 51:12 restore unto me the joy of your salvation, and make me willing to obey you. Psalm 28:6-7 Praise the Lord! For he has heard my cry for mercy. The Lord is my strength and shield, and I trust him with all my heart, He helps me, and my heart is filled with joy. I burst out in songs of thanksgiving.

There are some days, I admit I wake up feeling sad and if I admit it a bit depressed and fearful. Let me tell you, it does not feel well within my soul! Joy would not have been part of my description on how I feel. My feelings will tell me to crawl back under the covers and give in to the sadness. I knew of several areas and circumstances that added themselves to my feelings, but once again the Holy Spirit said, STOP. What would the outcome be of your cowering under the covers? You still have to face those things. Why not deal with it now? Why not? I am so thankful we have access to the Holy Spirit and HIs wisdom.

So, once again I begin to think “what can I do to change things”? First of all, I realize that by talking to the Lord about how I was feeling I was already on the right path of changing things. I then put on worship music. I began to thank the Lord for His solutions to each of the issues that were trying to make me go small. Have you been there? Feelings can feel very real and very large. Truth can seem distant and difficult to believe when Fearful Feelings raise their ugly heads. As I began to praise Him and focus on already answered prayers, on His loving grace things began to change. I asked for His help and He sent it. I could have gotten up and tucked all those feelings back in my soul, but I refuse to settle for that kind of life. My friends are walking through some difficult waters. As I was praying for them yesterday I was listening to my Alexa device with worship music. Suddenly the song “Way Maker” came on. (If you don’t know that song here are the lyrics).

[Verse 1]
You are here, moving in our midst
I worship You, I worship You
You are here, working in this place
I worship You, I worship You
You are here, moving in our midst
I worship You, I worship You
You are here, working in this place
I worship You, I worship You

[Chorus]
You are
Waymaker, miracle worker
Promise keeper, light in the darkness
My God, that is who You are
You are
Waymaker, miracle worker
Promise keeper, light in the darkness
My God, that is who You are

[Verse 2]
You are here, touching every heart
I worship You, I worship You
You are here, healing every heart
I worship You, I worship You

[Verse 3]
You are here, turning lives around
I worship You, I worship You
You are here, mending every heart
I worship You, yeah, I worship You, Lord

I began croaking out the words of the song and my joy was restored. I had hope, faith and joy for my friends situations. I know God is going to make a way for them, because He is that kind of God. Walking with His joy is contagious! It not only helps strengthen ourselves, but also others.

Living your life as a believer without His joy is no fun. Do not settle for less than His best. I believe joy helps us stretch our faith and trust even more.

Father, I ask that you help us defeat the joy stealers in our lives. Remind us to monitor our joy level and take the time to connect with you when we find it running low. Bless my friends with the fullness of your joy today, in Jesus Name, amen.

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Faith and Singing a New Song

May 9, 2024 Martha Rodman1 Comment

Sing a new song of praise to him, Play skillfully on the harp and sing with joy. For the word of the Lord holds true, and we can trust everything he does. Psalm 33:3,4 NLT.

When I was in high school, I auditioned for choir (because my best friend was in it), I made it, but not by much. I am not a natural singer. So being honest with you, reading all the scriptures about singing a new song seems a bit vague and “for someone else”. But lately, I realize that we all sing a song–a song of the heart and soul.

I think we have songs of joy, songs of mourning, songs of hope and unfortunately, songs of discouragement. These heart songs are usually a result of our life experiences, not necessarily based on God and His will. If we are feeling based, our songs can see-saw between several tunes in one day! As I meditate on my own heart song, I remember songs of mourning, sadness and even songs of doubt. I also see where God worked to change my tune! He still is.

As I lean into His love more and more, I sing a new song! It has been a subtle day by day change. Every time I see His handiwork in the lives of those around me, my tune changes. As I seek Him and understand His faithfulness, my tune changes. How about you? Have you noticed any changes in your tunes?

God’s Word instructs us to sing a new song whenever He does a new thing in our lives. Gratitude and thankfulness help me change my tune from mumbling and grumbling to faith. I came across this scripture today: But giving thanks is a sacrifice that truly honors me. If you keep to my path. I will reveal to you the salvation of God. Psalm 50:21. NLT. There is something about giving thanks from a truly thankful heart that changes our tune. It causes us to sing a new song because of fresh revelation and reminds of all the benefits our salvation brings us.

When scriptures exhort us to sing a new song, they are urging us to sing a song of faith, a song of hope, and a song of joy. They cause us to meditate on the goodness, power and might of our God and get our eyes off ourselves and our circumstances. The other day I was struggling. I was supposed to go to a meeting, but I was tired and tempted to “skip” it. I knew I shouldn’t, so I put on my Spotify prayer and worship channel. As I listened, my heart responded. I entered into someone else’s new song and it helped change my own tune. I am grateful for songwriters who have the gift of putting my emotions, thoughts, and faith into singable lyrics. They help me communicate and express emotions I can’t even put into words.

We must allow the Holy Spirit to help us change our tune. He wants to help us bring glory to the Father. Scriptures talk about songs of lament, and at the appropriate time they are so helpful.

God wants to help us sing an authentic song. I remember when I was in college and prayed to receive the baptism of the Holy Spirit. Alone, in my dorm room, I asked Jesus for this special gift. The reality of how real Jesus really is was made known to me in the early morning hours, as I was supposed to be studying for a geology test. I went to the only Christian I knew in my dorm the next morning at breakfast, and said, “Marilyn, Jesus is really real!” She looked at me strangely, and said, “Yes, I know”. The reality of my experience with Him made me sing a different tune…a tune with conviction. I believe when we have a new revelation of Him, we will sing a new tune. A five-year-old singing the blessing of marriage is not really believable. A man happily married for 50 years would be much more believable. Our tune changes the longer we walk with our Savior, and that is a good thing. We can ask Him to refresh our song or even teach us a new one! It brings Him joy and glory.

Father, I thank you for the new songs. I ask you to help us change our tunes when we need to. I thank you for songs of joy, songs of life, and songs that bring you honor. Forgive us for singing songs of moaning, songs of complaint and help us honor you with our heart songs. In Jesus’ Name, amen.

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Faith and Worship Reset

March 28, 2024 Martha Rodman1 Comment

You must worship only the Lord you God. He is the one who will rescue from your enemies. 2 Kings 17:39 NLT.

I have a confession to make. Sometimes I like to skip over introductions and prefaces, and get to the “meat” of the things. I discovered I do that a lot when I am praying. This means I often just jump in to talking to the Lord about my issues or my friends and family concerns. I do this without taking the time to worship and honor Him. It means I have inadvertently developed a habit and left out an important part of prayer: worship. I know that there are several different types of prayer: thanksgiving, intercession, adoration and supplication, for example. But I felt the Holy Spirit touch this area in my prayer life for a re-set.

I am changing my ways, not legalistically, but relationally. Now, as I take the time to stop and acknowledge Him with a worshipful and honoring heart, it is like a reset. Worship is an attitude of the heart and when our attitude is in order, it affects our actions. I so appreciate it when my grandchildren take the time to ask me for a snack, rather than assuming they can barge in and raid my snack cupboard! Even though, it is where they will end up going anyway, after I usually say “yes”. I think it must be the same with our Lord. I didn’t mean to be disrespectful or dishonoring to Him, but now that I have consciously added it back, it has been a blessing.

Worship re-focuses me on who He is. It is a humbling position where we bow our heart before Him. When I do, I find it resets my heart and focuses on what is important, not necessarily urgent. My quick prayers are heard, I know, but they don’t really build the relationship I want with Him. Including a time of worship brings re-connection in some new ways.

When Jesus was teaching his disciples how to pray, He left us a pattern found in Matthew 6. Our Father in heaven, may your name be kept holy. As I read through this passage again, I found myself repenting for my arrogance. The first thing Jesus wants is His Father’s name to be kept holy and honored. I love the scripture in Hebrews that reminds us we can come boldly into the throne of God in our time of need. (Hebrews 4:16) But making a habit of not taking the time to honor and acknowledge Him in His position eventually robs me of the deeper relationship I long to have with Him. The joy of sitting quietly, acknowledging Him and His position in my life, has added such and awareness of His presence into every area of my life.

Maybe, this is just my personal issue. If so, that’s ok. Making a habit to consciously, respectfully honor Him and His position with my words, not just my heart has been a good thing for me. Does He want to make any changes in your life?

As we approach this Easter and all the celebration, help us honor and glorify you in whatever way You desire. You are so worthy, my Lord of all our praise and worship.

Heavenly Father, I thank you for teaching me how to honor and worship you through prayer. Please keep on working to teach us your heart and your ways. Thank you, for loving us enough to keep perfecting us, no matter what the area. In Jesus’ Name, amen.