praise-and-worship

The Orchestra in the Praise-and-Worship Tradition

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The orchestra has found a significant place in the worship of Pentecostal, charismatic, and praise-and-worship churches. This article describes the use of the orchestra in this worship tradition.

The special kind of orchestra known as a worship orchestra is very different from any other kind of musical group used in churches. Consequently, there are many different concepts of what it is and of its role in the church.

The Orchestra as Accompaniment

At the outset, it will help if the role of the worship orchestra is identified as an accompanying role. “Then David spoke to the leaders of the Levites to appoint their brethren to be the singers accompanied by instruments of music, stringed instruments, harps, and cymbals” (1 Chron. 15:16).

Although there are times when the worship orchestra may have a SEL+AH (a musical interlude when the orchestra worships or performs unto the Lord), it is basically an accompanying group as distinguished from a performing group. In any case, the orchestra’s audience is the Lord himself. Figuratively, I see the orchestra and singers standing side by side, both groups facing the Lord, and helping one another to worship him.

It is also very important for worship leaders to see the orchestra, not just as a random collection of instruments, but as an instrument—one instrument in the hands of a director or conductor. It may be even more important for the orchestra members to see themselves in this light.

Spontaneity and Flexibility

With the new emphasis on worship instead of the standard song service has come a new emphasis on instrumental worship. But new challenges for instrumentalists have come out of this development. These challenges center around two basic features of the worship movement—spontaneity and flexibility. Spontaneity is a feature of the style of worship leading itself; flexibility expresses the necessary response of the musicians to this style.

A spontaneous worship service may appear to be free-flowing and unplanned; songs of praise and worship flowing from one to another without interruption. I say “appear” because there is usually prior planning and a listing of songs to be sung in a certain order. Rarely, however, is this order followed exactly, and it may be dispensed with entirely after the first song. Then everybody is on his or her own. This is in contrast to the denominational church’s “song service,” where all songs used are decided well in advance. There are few surprises in this kind of service.

The Flexible Accompanist. As a pianist who has accompanied spontaneous worship for over twenty years, I have had to work out a lot of solutions to problems raised by this apparent spontaneity and lack of planning. A worship pianist should be ready to play any song he or she knows (and some he doesn’t) in any key on the piano and be able to modulate back and forth at a moment’s notice. He should be ready to repeat back to any spot to which the worship leader feels led.

Over the years, I have tried to coordinate such things with a number of organists. We have had to develop a number of signals with each other and the worship leaders in order to work together effectively in this kind of highly unstructured setting—that is, unstructured by us prior to the event. We always hope that the end result of what we are doing represents the structuring of the Holy Spirit. Let me emphasize that I believe the Holy Spirit can and does reveal His intention to leaders of worship services ahead of time as well as “on the spot.” We should seek the guidance of the Holy Spirit and plan accordingly, but we must be flexible enough to be able to make a change right in the middle of our well-laid plans if the Spirit so directs.

The Orchestra and Flexibility. Accompanying this kind of worship with a piano, an organ, and perhaps a rhythm section is one thing. When other instruments are added, often problems can arise. This is especially so if the other instrumentalists are unable to play by ear or improvise and must depend upon written parts. The piano, because of its clarity of attack and pitch, can be important here as a center around which the other instruments rally.

Ten years ago, I was the pianist at a national convention on the Holy Spirit held in Kansas City. The night sessions were held at Arrowhead Stadium. I was on the stage in the center of the field with my organist and a thirty-five-piece orchestra directed by someone else. The orchestra was using written arrangements for the worship songs we had planned to sing. An immense amount of preparation had gone into these “spontaneous” worship services. The orchestra leader, my organist, and I were connected to the worship leader by means of an intercom system. One night, as the spirit of the worship service was at an extremely high peak, I heard the worship leader inform the orchestra leader about a song he wanted to sing just then that was uniquely appropriate. The orchestra leader either didn’t have the music for that particular piece or it was going to take a while to get all the players involved in it. Suddenly, the worship leader’s voice crackled in my headset, “Frank, can you get us started on this one now?” Bang! I struck the opening chord on the big grand instantaneously. The attack and the pitch of the notes ricocheted off the walls and seats of the stadium, and off we went.

The orchestra found the music after a while, came in, and no one was the wiser. After the service, the worship leader came back and told us how reassuring it was to know that in a tight spot like that, someone would come through.

This story illustrates the problem of orchestral inflexibility in this kind of setting. It also shows how various accompanying instruments can work together in such a setting so that the flow of the Spirit may be unhindered.

Playing by Ear and Improvisation

Some groups deal with the problem of inflexibility by having only musicians who can improvise or play by ear. But this approach has its own drawbacks. First, it rules out many fine musicians who simply cannot play without written music. Second, many groups using this approach wind up sounding like a giant Dixieland band.

I have tried to play in groups like this in which everyone not only had his own notion of a supporting part but also had his own notion of the correct chord pattern. I don’t mind dissonance occasionally, but chaos is another matter. Third, most orchestras that improvise cannot play with sectional unity or with many of the other features of true orchestral sound. There are no solid chordal backgrounds from the horn section or the trombone section. There are no unison and octave contrapuntal lines from the strings, nor are there any nice rhythmic accents from the trumpet section as a unified whole.

The chief objection to playing by ear or improvising (which is different) in this kind of setting is that they both are essential techniques used by soloists. This works against the principle stated earlier that the worship orchestra is basically an accompaniment orchestra. This means that a different approach must be taken to the whole matter of improvisation. I call it responsible improvisation. That means that the individual instrumentalist must learn to improvise in some sort of coordination with other players in the orchestra, especially with those in his own section. It is not something that can be learned overnight, but it can be learned.

I also use responsible improvisation to describe the ability to play based on knowledge of music theory and harmony. Such playing is never irresponsible (that is, having no regard for what others are doing around you). It is not some sort of stream-of-consciousness playing either. Let me hasten to add, however, that there are times when the whole musical group (singers, instrumentalists, etc.) will be caught up and directed by the Spirit. I have been a participant in such events. Unfortunately, this doesn’t occur as often as we would like. Aside from that, the most responsible and spiritual approach is to prepare oneself technically as well as one can, then to be sensitive to the leading of the Spirit. This allows the Spirit more to work with when he does come with power and anointing.

There is an alternative to orchestral improvisation that may be a more viable option for most church orchestras. It is the use of a special kind of written arrangement.

Written Arrangements

The most common objection to the use of written arrangements by the kind of orchestra we have been describing is that it does not allow the orchestra to be very flexible in a spontaneous worship setting. I have been dealing with this challenge in developing church orchestras and have recently developed a type of arrangement for worship orchestras which I call a resource arrangement, as opposed to a set arrangement. A set arrangement is the ordinary arrangement in which one must pretty well use the instrumentation called for and must play the arrangement as written. By contrast, a resource arrangement is extremely flexible. If you have three instruments besides the rhythm section, it sounds well. If you have fifteen, it sounds better. If you have fifty, it sounds even better (i.e., more combinations of sound colorations, contrasts, breadths of tone, etc.). In this arrangement, each instrument has two or three versions of the song written on his part. For most instruments, this will consist of a melody version and a chordal version; trumpets may have an accented rhythmic pattern of trumpeting or “shots.” Thus, the director of the orchestra has at his command an almost infinite number of combinations from which to select an orchestration during worship.

Another feature of these arrangements is that they feature words on every part, even those that are playing a sustained background pattern. This does two things, it allows the player to find his or her place in the music instantly when the worship director decides to sing something not on the “list,” requiring the player to find the song in his alphabetically arranged loose-leaf folder; and it keeps the instrumentalist constantly aware of the spiritual message being expressed by the notes he is playing. This makes the instrumentalists more a part of the worship team, since orchestral members tend to get wrapped up in the notes and musical phrases.

Other features of these arrangements include more emphasis on the horizontal movement (counterpoint or melodic interest in the inner parts) than on the vertical (chordal backgrounds, etc.); melodic modulation rather than just harmonic (congregations can hear and act upon the former more easily, which is important since they need to participate and not just listen); and the usage of “strong lines” and “broad strokes.”

This last feature uses a lot of doubling of the parts and does not concern itself with delicate little phrases and intricate technical passages that characterize performance arrangements for an audience that is just listening to the orchestra. Similarly, a pianist playing for worship with an orchestra should not spend a lot of time with intricate finger patterns. In the first place, they won’t be heard, and in the second place, they won’t add anything particularly helpful to the accompanying role in worship.

Space does not allow us to deal with the many other features of this kind of arrangement, but it should be emphasized that such arranging requires a different emphasis and approach.

The Worship Orchestra Director

I use the term director because conductor is more of a description of the leader of a performance group. Who is the director? He may be the worship director if he knows something about instrumental music and the group is fairly small. He may be the worship pianist if he has the same qualifications. Ideally, the orchestral director should be someone other than the worship leader or pianist, mainly because these people have all they can handle in the carrying out of their basic responsibilities. The director should be someone who understands the technical requirements of the various instruments of an orchestra, but more important, he should be a person who is a worshiper himself. The technical aspects of music should never have to conflict with the spiritual considerations, but if they do, the director should come in on the side of the spiritual.

There are other differences between the director of a worship orchestra and a conductor of a performance orchestra. For one thing, the worship orchestra director may not even beat time on a continuous basis except to start off a song in proper tempo or to change or correct tempos after starting. Some of his more important tasks are …

  1. To indicate the desired sound levels to the various instrumentalists and sections (many groups I hear are completely overwhelmed by the electric bass and percussion).
  2. To indicate by certain signals the part each section is to play at any given time from the special worship arrangement (for instance, he might signal: “Reeds, you play the first time through; strings, you come in the second time; and brass, you come in the third time with trumpets playing the lead”).
  3. To indicate the various repeats desired by the leader.
  4. To give advance notice of modulations and specific keys during improvisation.

These are just a few of the specialized tasks of the director of a worship orchestra. As a suggestion, I believe the director, if he is capable, is the best person to be on the synthesizer. This places him in the position to add whatever parts are missing, to strengthen certain sections, and to use that versatile instrument in many other applications. In any case, the best people to use synthesizers in this setting should be arrangers at heart. They should have an understanding of orchestral sound and the various instruments in the orchestra.

Although the pianist works very closely with the worship leader and usually takes the lead in beginning a new song (especially if modulation is involved or the orchestra is going to have to look up the written part), he or she should be under the general supervision of the orchestral director. The pianist’s style of playing should complement that of the orchestra, not compete with it. In fact, every instrument should be in this position, including the electric bass player and the drummer! Unless the director has some control over every instrument that contributes to the volume and the style and feel of the arrangement, sonic chaos will eventually result.

The Anointing

Finally, I want to make it clear that none of the material in this article is of much use without the anointing of the Holy Spirit. In dealing with the practical aspects of making music, it is easy to give the impression that “getting the sound right” is all that is required to be successful in worship. Nothing could be further from the truth. While technical excellence of itself will not bring us into the presence of God, the results of neglecting the pursuit of excellence can be a distraction and an outright hindrance. The musicians who ministered in the Tabernacle of David were said to be “skilled” or “practiced.” Likewise, we need to offer our very best to the Lord by striving to perfect the gifts He has placed in us. Then we should look for the anointing of the Spirit to activate it all. God was pleased with this approach in that day; I believe He will be pleased with it in our day.

Planning Praise-and-Worship-Style Worship

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Planning worship is sometimes problematic for leaders. Prayer is always the prelude to good planning, but the selection and ordering of songs for worship is also a spiritual activity. An effective leader compiles a master song list, allows a theme to influence his or her selections, anticipates the mood of the congregation, and takes into account the musical and lyrical content of each piece. When these preparations are carried out diligently, the leader will be able to lead the people gently into the presence of God.

Perhaps you’ve read the Scripture, “No temptation hath overtaken you but such as is common to all worship leaders.” When I open things up at worship seminars, the questions worship leaders ask are amazingly similar from coast to coast. And one of the questions I invariably am asked is, “How do you plan for worship?”

When we think of planning a worship service, we immediately think of things like song titles, themes, musical keys, and tempo transitions. But that’s only 10 percent of the worship leader’s preparation. The bulk of the leader’s preparation takes place on his or her knees.

Planning worship is much more than stringing a lineup of songs together. The only way to be able to plan a worship service is by sensitivity to the leading of the Holy Spirit, and the only way to gain that kind of sensitivity is by cultivating an intimate relationship with the Lord. The first building block in service preparation is a personal commitment to daily devotional communion with the Lord—time spent in prayer and in the Scriptures. That’s 90 percent of the leader’s preparation.

But the purpose of this entry is to focus on the 10 percent. I believe that God, in His foreknowledge and infinite wisdom, is able to give us guidance for a worship service several days early. That gives us enough time to practice the new songs, rehearse the old ones, and get everything prepared well in advance.

In Defense of Planning. Before we get into the nitty-gritty of service planning, let me put in a plug for the concept of planning itself. Some people seem to feel that the most spiritual thing a worship leader can possibly do is come to the worship service without a list of songs, and depend completely upon the leading of the Holy Spirit for content as the service unfolds.

I see a couple of problems with that approach. It’s easy to “freeze up” when you get before a group of people. If you don’t have a list of songs in front of you, your mind can go blank, and suddenly you can’t recall a single song your church knows. A lack of predetermined direction can also reduce the worship leader to “fishing”—“casting forth” a variety of songs in the hope that the people will “bite” at least one of them. Finally, when you fall back on a chorus that really worked last week and nothing happens this week, it’s always safe to revert to the age-old words, “You may be seated as we turn the service over to the pastor.”

Planning brings purpose to a service. It enables you to relax and lead with confidence, which in turn relaxes the congregation. The musicians can have their music before them, contributing to musical cohesiveness. Planning is one of the most spiritual things you’ll do.

Sticking to the List. I have often been asked, “Do you find yourself sometimes discarding your song list during times of worship because of an unforeseen turn in the direction of the Spirit?” Let me answer by saying, first, that the Holy Spirit introduces many changes in our worship services that I do not anticipate. And thank God that he does! That’s where the freshness is. And that’s also where we worship leaders learn that blessed posture of complete dependence upon the Lord. If we knew exactly where the Holy Spirit was going to be taking us every service, our worship would become “man-made” and would be directed through human manipulation. How refreshing when a prophecy or an exhortation or a Scripture reading directs the course of a service in an unplanned way.

Having said that, I’ll answer the question more directly. I rarely find myself discarding my song list or adding a song that isn’t on my list. Let me explain why. We’re going along through the worship service according to plans and then suddenly someone leads out in a passionate prayer that directs our hearts in a very specific and unexpected way. My first thought is, “What song should I choose now?” Then I look down at my prepared list (and this has happened to me repeatedly) and I find that one of the songs on my list fits beautifully as a response to the prophetic prayer that just came. It is indeed the rare occasion when I find I need to move outside my prepared list to provide a song with a fitting response. Even though I didn’t know on Tuesday what would be happening that Sunday, the Lord did, and he guided my planning on Tuesday.

A Master Song List. I maintain (with the help of a computer) what I call a “master song list.” Since hymnals are already indexed with songs in assigned categories, my master song list contains mostly the short choruses and Scripture songs that are currently in our repertoire.

Songs are divided first of all into two main categories, fast and slow. There are some medium-tempo songs that are great transition songs from fast to slow, but since they are relatively few in number, I assign them to either the fast or slow category. Under the fast and slow categories, I then arrange all the songs according to keys. Usually the first line of the song works best as the song title. Then, all the songs in the key of C are listed in alphabetical order, as are the songs in the key of D, etc. I will also note whether we sing a certain song in more than one key by placing the alternate key in parentheses after the song title.

I put all the fast songs on one sheet, all the slow songs on another, reduce them both down on a photocopier, paste the copies back to back, put protective plastic around them, and I have it: a master song list that slips into the cover of my Bible and sits up nicely on a music stand. It’s my companion through every worship service I lead.

I finish off the master list with a couple of final touches. I’ll add a column of communion songs, another column of Christmas songs, another of “openers,” and yet another list that I dub “altar call.” This last grouping is very helpful when planning the closing portions of a service.

About once a year, I update the master list. I’ll delete the songs that have no more mileage left in them, and I’ll add the new songs we’ve learned. This master song list then becomes my trusty companion (along with our hymnal) when I’m planning a worship service.

Choosing That First Song. Here’s where we sweep away the mystical aura that surrounds service preparation. Some people think we wait until we hear an audible voice from heaven that says, “Start with ‘This Is the Day.’ ”

Some worship leaders really wrestle with this area. They pray like this: “This is the day. I will enter his gates. This is the day. I will enter his gates. O God, what’s your will? This is the day. I will enter his gates. Which song should I start the service with, Lord? This is the day. I will enter his gates. Speak, Lord, thy servant heareth. This is the day. I will enter his gates. O God!” And so they agonize. Meanwhile, God’s up in heaven saying to himself, “I couldn’t care less which song you start with. All I’m interested in is, whatever songs you sing, that you open your hearts to me.” Can’t you see it? God doesn’t have a predetermined list in heaven that I have to figure out if we’re going to have a Spirit-led worship service. Above all else, God wants communion with his people. He wants us to open our hearts to him no matter which songs the worship leader chooses.

I’d like to paint the backdrop for you of a hypothetical experiment. Suppose we got the five most anointed worship leaders in America today, took them aside, and said to each one, “We want you to fast and pray all day today, and come up with the list, come up with the will of God for this Sunday.” Do you suppose they would supply us with identical lists? I think we’d find that all five lists would be very different. What’s more, I think all five lists would “work” very well.

“But I thought we had to find the will of God for each service!” The will of God isn’t a song list. The will of God is that we lower the self-protective barriers we erect in our hearts, allowing the Lord to melt every way in which we resist the gentle overtures of the Holy Spirit; the will of God is that we enter into the glorious intimacy of relationship that God intended from the start when he created man. The wise worship leader will build a service song list in such a way as to best achieve that goal.

Following a Theme. Some pastors will give their worship leader a theme for the worship service. If the pastor is preaching on the blood of Christ, every song is expected to mention the word blood. In my opinion, it’s very possible to have a worship service that is clever in its following and expanding a given theme in preparation for the sermon, but in the end inspire a very uninspiring worship .

I am both the preacher (pastor) and worship leader at our church. And in all honesty, only occasionally do I pay attention to the theme of my sermon when I’m planning the worship service. Because the question for me is not, “Does every song point toward the sermon?” The question for me is, “Will this lineup of songs enable us to open our hearts to the Lord, so that we’ll be prepared to hear whatever he has to say to us?” I would much rather have an enthusiastic praise service that ministers both to the Lord and to his people than have a worship service in which every song points to a certain theme.

So relax on the whole business of trying to get all the songs to line up according to one theme. (Special occasions such as Christmas are an obvious exception.)

The Moods of Worship. One of the first things I do is ask myself, “What kind of mood am I in? Am I in the mood to celebrate and rejoice this Sunday? Or do I feel more in a pensive, prayerful mood?” Sometimes my own moods point to the general mood the congregation when they come to the Sunday service. That in turn helps me determine the general direction of my song selection.

I have labeled what I see as eight “moods” or “flavors” of worship. Virtually all of our songs fall into one of the following categories: exaltation, intimacy, celebration, proclamation, warfare, prophetic, prayer, and special occasions (such as Christmas and Easter).

Before selecting songs, you may want to predict the general moods or flavors that you feel will characterize Sunday’s worship service. Any one service will be confined to perhaps just two or three of the above moods, but over the course of time, a well-balanced menu of worship would mean the proper inclusion of all eight moods of worship.

The Process of Song Selection. Here’s how I choose songs for Sunday morning worship. I scan through the index of the hymnal and choose a few hymns that I feel interested in singing. Then I scan through the “fast” side of the master song list and choose three or four songs that stand out to me. Turning to the “slow” side of the list, I then choose about three slow worship choruses.

This may sound like an “unspiritual” process I’m describing, but I sincerely trust the Lord to stir my heart as I go over the song titles, putting a desire within me to sing the songs that will best contribute to a flow of worship on Sunday.

Then I begin to arrange the song titles according to the best sequence. Several factors need to be considered:

The Key of Each Song. I try to position songs in such a way that the transition from the first key to the second key is smooth. For example, if one song is in the key of F and another in the key of G, I would consider singing the song that’s in the key of F first, because it is easier to move up from the key of F to the key of G than it is to move down from G to F.

The “Mood” or Tempo of Each Song. Generally, I find myself drawn toward singing up-tempo, celebrative songs near the beginning of the service, moving into slower songs of intimacy and exaltation later in the service. (This is not a set formula—the Holy Spirit will lead you to invert that order at times.) Also, I tend to group the fast songs together, and then do the slower songs afterward.

The Lyrical Content of Each Song. For example, if the song is inviting us into God’s presence with praise, obviously I would want to position that song at the top of my lineup.

The first three minutes of a worship service are often the most critical. Therefore, the first few songs you choose—along with the way you introduce them—are very important. Choose songs that invite participation, that get hands clapping, that focus minds on the reason we’re gathered. Start with up-tempo songs that win the hearts of the children as well. Mobilize that royal priesthood of God’s people into their holy calling of declaring his glorious praises! (See 1 Pet. 2:9.)

In planning the service’s opening, I have to keep reminding myself of the true condition of many saints on Sunday morning. It’s easy to assume that they’ve been feeding in the Word, getting renewed daily in the Holy Spirit, warding off every evil scheme of the devil, impacting their circle of friends with their vibrant witness—and now they’ve come with eager anticipation to join their voices with other holy saints in the corporate declaration of God’s awesome praises. But I must remind myself that many people come to our services in a state of spiritual exhaustion. They’ve been living in the war zone, and many are fortunate to have made it to the service at all. The words and music I choose must reflect a sensitivity to where the people are, along with an eye toward the goal of where I want to bring them.

Once I have the songs listed in the order I want to sing them, I will then rehearse the entire worship service in my mind. I will imagine myself moving from one key to the next. Will that key transition work? Then I consider the “flow” of the moods from one song to the next. Is the progression of moods natural and inviting? Finally, I will picture where I want the people to have come by the end of the worship service. Perhaps it will be a place of high exaltation or loving adoration or bowing in humility and reverence. I will certainly want our hearts to have risen to new heights of faith as we have beheld through worship the glory of our risen Lord. The goal of the worship ministry is to stir up the holy passions of God’s people. Will this list of songs in this particular order help us to move corporately toward that goal?

Planning an Exhortation. Now that my song list is intact, I need to plan for one other eventuality: what if, after leading with this wonderfully crafted list of songs, the people just don’t enter in to worship? Maybe they’re tired; maybe they had a fight on the way to church; maybe they’re distracted; maybe they haven’t prayed since last Sunday. Whatever the reason, one of the best tools I’ve discovered for inspiring a response in the congregation is that of exhortation.

Please understand, I’m not talking about a sermonette. I’m referring to about twenty to forty seconds of a brief, positive encouragement to participate, followed right away by a repeat of the song.

Exhortations are often most effective when planned ahead of time. You can choose your words carefully, making the most of the thirty seconds. As you spend time in the Word, ask God to place something meaningful in your heart so that when you share, others are edified. And usually, the best weapon in a short exhortation is a passage of Scripture. Read the Scripture, deliver a short and cheerful exhortation, and invite the people to join you in the song one more time.

Here is what not to do. Don’t say, “What’s wrong with you people this morning? Is anybody aware out there? It sounds like a funeral in here this morning!” Mr. Pew-warmer will say to himself, “You’re right, I was out of it. But since you’re going to be nasty about it, see if you can make me worship!” As we all know, nobody can force a person to worship. Worship is a willing response to the gentle promptings of the Holy Spirit.

Some worship leaders talk between every song, which breaks up the flow of the service. One or two short exhortations per service is usually adequate. Be the worship leader, not the preacher. Be encouraging, pleasant, enthused, inspiring. Let the warmth of Christ’s love in your heart melt the resistance of cold hearts that may need fanning.

Planning New Songs. New songs play a critical role in the worship expression of a local church. If you’re not learning new songs, you’re stagnating. New songs force us to think. They expand our vocabulary of worship. And they bring with them a breeze of freshness. The new songs you choose to add to your repertoire will determine the future direction of your times of corporate worship.

Be picky, picky, picky. Look at the words and the style of the musical expression. Does the message add something to your church’s breadth of communication? Does the musical style of the song add spice or depth?

Plan how and when you’ll introduce new songs. I usually teach new songs near the beginning portions of a service. That way there’s room for the worship service to “take off” afterward with a known song. But if I interrupt “high praise” with the teaching of a new song, the crescendo collapses immediately, and the new song gains the stigma of being a “dud.”

Plan the reinforcement of new songs carefully. If we taught a song for the first time last week, it’s important that we reinforce it this week, and possibly even the week after that. But then we’d better leave it alone for two or three weeks so folks don’t get tired of it.

In summary, the worship leader’s job in planning is to craft a list of songs that will best help the congregation to open up to the Lord. Using tools such as short exhortations, the use of Scripture, and spiritual gifts, a worship leader has the awesome and wonderful privilege of leading people into the very presence of God.

The Place of Praise in Worship

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Worship in the praise-and-worship tradition is based on the assumption that praise is not identical to worship. Praise is the prelude to worship, our entrance into God’s presence, which is the locus of true worship. This article describes this distinction.

The phrase “praise and worship” is frequently used by Christians, and yet these two words are rarely mentioned together in the Bible. Is there a distinction between praise and worship? What does it mean to praise the Lord? What place does praise have in our worship of God? Many have different answers. Webster’s New World Dictionary tells us that one meaning of the verb “praise” is “to laud the glory of [God], as in song.”

Hundreds of times throughout the Scriptures, particularly in the Psalms, we are exhorted to praise the Lord. In fact, the whole last segment of the book of Psalms deals with praise to God, and concludes, “Let everything that hath breath praise the LORD/Praise ye the LORD” (Psalm 150:6, KJV).

Because there are so many verses in Psalms on the subject of praise, we may tend to think that praise is Davidic. But praise is divine. We are to follow God’s pattern when we praise, not man’s. Praise is God’s idea, God’s command, and also God’s pleasure. He loves to hear his people praising him!

Praise Is Different from Worship

There is a difference between praise and worship. Worship in its broadest sense encompasses thanksgiving and praise, as well as the Eucharist, the act of giving thanks.

Praise is born in faith, is an instrument of war and a method of creating an atmosphere for the presence of the Lord. Worship is born from our relationship with God. We praise him for what he has done and worship him for who he is.

Praise is a sacrifice we give in faith. “Through Him then, let us continually offer up a sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of lips that give thanks to His name.” (Heb. 13:15, NASB)

Praise is our entrance into God’s presence. When we find him, we worship. “Let us come before His presence with thanksgiving/Let us shout joyfully to Him with psalms/Oh come, let us worship and bow down/let us kneel before the LORD our Maker” (Psalm 95:2, 6). Praise and worship are likened to rings that are linked together. They overlap, and yet they each have their own identity.

The Importance of Praise

As stated in Psalm 150, God has told us that we are to praise him, that this is his will for his children. Over and over again throughout the Scriptures, we are exhorted to praise God and in turn, he will communicate with us through praise.

Psalm 81 offers a clear picture of praise and its importance. Verse one (KJV) tells everyone to “sing aloud unto God our strength/make a joyful noise unto the God of Jacob.” (This encourages both singers and non-singers to praise God in song). The second verse instructs the musicians to “take a psalm, and bring hither the timbrel, the pleasant harp with the psaltery.” The key is in verse 4, which says, “For this was a statute for Israel and a law of the God of Jacob.” It is a command. Praise is not an option for a few but a requirement for all.

All God’s creation, from the lowest to the highest, sings praise to him.

Sing, O ye heavens; for the LORD hath done it: shout, ye lower parts of the earth: break forth into singing, ye mountains, O forest, and every tree therein. (Isa. 44:23)

The Scriptures say that the sun, moon, and stars praise the Lord.

Praise the LORD from the earth / Sea monsters and all deeps / Fire and hail, snow and clouds / Stormy wind, fulfilling His word / Mountains and all hills / Fruit trees and all cedars / Beast and all cattle / Creeping things and winged fowl / … Let them praise the name of the LORD / For His name alone is exalted / His glory is above the earth and heaven. (Psalm 148:7–10, 13, NASB)

In the Apocalypse, John said, “Every created thing which is in heaven and on the earth and under the earth and on the sea, and all things in them, I heard saying, ‘To Him who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb, be blessing and honor and glory and dominion forever and ever’ ” (Rev. 5:13, NASB).

God’s created beings, including angels, are to praise him. “Praise ye Him, all His angels: praise ye Him, all His hosts” (Ps. 148:2, KJV). In Isaiah 6, seraphim are described as praising before the throne of God. The same is true in Revelation 5:12 (NASB), where “myriads of myriads, and thousands of thousands” loudly proclaim, “Worthy is the Lamb that was slain to receive power and riches and wisdom and might and honor and glory and blessing.”

If all the ranks of God’s creation praise him, how can human beings, the highest of God’s creation, do anything else? Praise is not optional; it is obligatory. It is not a preference; it is a prerequisite.

One of the most frequently sung songs of praise sums it up: “Praise God from whom all blessings flow / Praise him, all creatures here below / Praise him above, ye heavenly host / Praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost!”

Praise Testifies

Praise is a testimony. It speaks forth wondrous things of God and his ways. He is lifted up for all to see and adore when we offer praise to him. The Scripture says, “And He hath put a new song in my mouth, even praise unto our God; many shall see it, and fear, and shall trust in the Lord” (Ps. 40:3, KJV).

Peter declared that we “are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a peculiar people; that [we] should show forth the praises of him who hath called [us] out of darkness into His marvelous light” (1 Pet. 2:9, KJV).

People are supposed to see us praise the Lord. Praise is not just for our prayer closet but for public testimony. Praise is a witness of our redemption and new birth. We have been chosen to display the praises of our Savior. God is the center of attention because he is the source and the object of that praise. Our praise reveals God to the world.

Praise Is Associated with God’s Presence

It is in praise that God’s presence becomes evident. “Yet Thou are holy, O Thou who are enthroned upon the praises of Israel” (Ps. 22:3). God dwells in praise; praise is his habitat. The Bible tells us to enter “his courts with praise” (Ps. 100:4, KJV). Praise is the open door to God’s presence.

Praise is appropriate for believers. We read in Scripture that “praise is comely” [becoming, or suitable] (Ps. 147:1, KJV). The glow of God’s presence as his children praise him is very becoming to them. As Moses’ face shone with the glory of God, so the brilliant light of God’s presence will be upon the faces of those who spend time in His presence praising him.

His glory will be revealed in the countenances and lives of those who are close to him, for they will radiate God to the world. Their lives will emit the fragrance of his presence, causing others to realize that they have been with the Lord.

Praise Delivers

There is a power in praise that can bring deliverance. Because the all-powerful and all-knowing One resides in praise (Ps. 22:3), no adversary has a chance. The Lord our God in our midst will save us.

Praise brings deliverance from mourning, depression, and a heavy spirit. The results are as sure as God’s promises. Consider the prophetic word given through Isaiah:

The Spirit of the Sovereign Lord is on me, … to comfort all who mourn, and provide for those who grieve in Zion—to bestow on them a crown of beauty instead of ashes, the oil of gladness instead of mourning, and a garment of praise instead of a spirit of despair. (Isa. 61:1–3, NIV)

Depression, weighty spirits, heavy burdens, and accompanying worries fall away when praise begins. Christians who “mount up with wings as eagles” are those who have learned to “wait upon the Lord” (Isa. 40:31, KJV). As they confidently expect God to come, they exchange their own strength for God’s. Waiting on the Lord does not mean total passivity.

The House of Praise

In Isaiah 56 God declares that “mine house shall be called a house of prayer for all people” (v. 7, KJV). The word for prayer is the Hebrew word tephillah meaning “songs of praise and intercession.” God wants his church to be a place where prayers and praise are sung as well as spoken.

However, believers are praisers not because they sing for a half-hour on weekends, but because they have a life of singing praise to the Lord. We are the house of the Lord; each Christian is a “temple of the Holy Spirit.” A temple is a place of worship. Wherever we go as the “house” or “temple” of the Lord, praise is appropriate. The church of the Lord is a fountain of praise to its exalted Head.

Praise Is Joyful and Loud

The Scriptures, particularly the Psalms, describe many kinds of praise. David and the other psalmists speak often of rejoicing and of expressing praise to God in an exuberant or demonstrative manner: “Praise ye the LORD. I will praise the LORD with my whole heart” (Ps. 111:1).

Quite often praisers are criticized for being too emotional or too loud, but the Bible says, “Let the children of Zion be joyful in their King” (Ps. 149:2, KJV) and “Blessed is the people that know the joyful sound” (Ps. 89:15, KJV). The Hebrew word for joyful actually means “earsplitting.” How many of us have ever even come close to that level in our praising? Moreover, John describes heavenly activity “as the voice of many waters, and as the voice of great thunder” (Rev. 14:2, KJV). Praise is the sound that fills heaven—loud spontaneous songs from millions of saints. God desires the earth to be filled with this praise, many voices in chorus singing their own song to the Lord.

Every creature, every nation, and every person in every language will sing glorious, audible praise to our exalted Lord. He delights in the praise of his people and is completely at home in their loud praises.

Praise is a sacrifice of thanksgiving and honor to the Lord. It is a declarative statement and must come from the heart. It must start with God and end with God and speak of God in between.