Still God's Grace (Piano)

I've finally got my digital piano connected to my computer so I can start recording some of my songs. I have here one of the earlier songs I wrote: Still God's Grace. It's a simple song about how no matter what tune our life follows, God's grace is always there in the background.

I put the words below. I can't sing myself, but I don't think figuring out how to put them together should be too hard--the words match the melody almost exactly. Hope you enjoy =)

Chorus:

Still God's Grace

Flows from His throne

Forgiveness to

the one's He loves

Just trust in Him

He will lead you home

It's a walk of faith

Just keep moving on

Verse 1:

Sitting at home

Walking along

Wherever I go

Singing my song

Working the field

Doing my chores

Day after day

Serving my Lord

Chorus

Verse 2:

Sitting with friends

Talking about

God's amazing

love for us

Hear the rain

See the grass grow

How much more does

God care for us

Chorus

Verse 3:

Temptation

Misdirection

Mistakes made

Idols raised

Why can't we

Get it straight

Follow with

All our heart

Hearts broken

Churches split

Families

Torn apart

Where are you

When we fall

Rescues us

Father, father

Chorus x2

Worship

I've never really studied worship in much depth. I've heard a few teachings on it, but I never considered the topic important enough to study on my own. Now I'm finding that not only is it important, but it is central to life.

What is worship?

In our modern culture, worship is often associated with music and emotion. It's that thing you do before the pastor gets up to give the sermon. If that's your idea of worship, then it does seem easy to dismiss it as extra. But I think it goes much deeper than that.

I looked up the word "worship" in Scripture, and found that most of the time worship occurs at the Temple. At first, I couldn't see how this could help me understand worship. Israel offered sacrifices at the Temple--we can't offer sacrifices today. How do I worship without a sacrifice?

Take it back to the Hebrew though, and things become a bit clearer. The Hebrew word for sacrifice literally means to "draw near." The Temple was not built for sacrifices--the sacrifices were offered so that one could draw near to God at the Temple. Worship is drawing near to God.

How do we draw near to God? Well, if we look at the Temple again, I see four things: sacrifice, prayer, music, and awe. Sacrifice is pretty self-explanatory. The incense altar is closely tied to prayer and the daily prayers are recited at the times of the morning and evening offerings. Many of the Levites who served in the Temple served as singers and musicians. And awe--that's what happens when you see fire come down from heaven to consume your sacrifice.

Enough of the technical stuff (I love tying things to pictures and Hebrew words, but we mustn't lose sight of the forest for the trees). I've been learning lately how important it is to take some time just to worship God. This can be through music. I've made myself a playlist of songs that I can honestly sing with and that remind me who God is. It can be through prayer. Reciting the daily prayers from your heart can be an awesome form of worship. It can even be something as simple as taking a walk and standing in awe of God's glory. 

How do you worship? How do you draw near to our Creator?