Sing joyfully to the LORD, you righteous; it is fitting for the upright to praise him. (Psalm 33:1 NIV)
If you are one of those who are blessed and honored enough to be able to stand before a group of believers each week leading them in worship, then you know this to be true: praise is beautiful. Different translations of scripture present the underlined portion above in different ways. For instance:
… praise is comely for the upright. (KJV)
… praise befits the upright. (RSV)
… praise is becoming to the upright. (NASB)
… praise is becoming and appropriate for those who are upright in heart. (AMP)
In other words, praise looks good on you. And it's true, isn't it? There is no more breath-taking, spectacular sight than the people of God in whole-hearted worship. But if it were all simply for our own aesthetic pleasure, then we'd be missing the boat in a big way.
So, here's the thing: the worship of God is one of the strongest forms of evangelism we have. When “seekers” enter our houses of worship, they are, by definition, seeking something they don't have; looking for something they don't get the other 6 days of the week. When they encounter the Body of Christ, sold out, responding to God for all He is and for all He's done, they can't help but sense that “These people have something I don't have; they've experienced something I haven't. These people know something I don't know; these people know Someone I don't know.”
This is why Psalm 33:1 can be one of the foundational scriptures for you as you build your biblical basis for ministry - exulting in the beauty of worship, expressing it from our own story and our own relationship to God; knowing it's attractive to a world that's desperately seeking answers and frantically looking for the truth. And I'm pretty sure it was a foundational concept for David, too. He's the one who wrote in Psalm 40:
I waited patiently for the LORD; he turned to me and heard my cry. He lifted me out of the slimy pit, out of the mud and mire; he set my feet on a rock and gave me a firm place to stand. He put a new song in my mouth, a hymn of praise to our God. Many will see and fear and put their trust in the LORD.
