Three Uses of Worship

Part 1 of 2 in Worship

Parte 1 de 2 de la serie Worship

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Brian Hunter · June 8, 2025

Scripture Referenced

Recap

Opening a two-week series on worship, Brian started in Psalm 150, the psalm that piles up nearly every instrument and posture imaginable in its call to praise, ending with “let everything that has breath sing praises to the Lord.” Rather than treating worship as a single-purpose activity reserved for Sunday mornings, Brian laid out three specific uses Scripture models for it, promising there are many more than these three to explore.

The first is worship for combat: in 1 Samuel 16, David’s harp playing drives away the tormenting spirit troubling King Saul, showing worship as an actual weapon in unseen spiritual battles many people don’t realize they’re in. During this section, a member of the congregation shared a personal testimony to illustrate the point: while in Israel on October 7, 2023, the day of the Hamas attack, the speaker and a companion named Jacob spent the first hours of the day terrified, scrambling through escape plans (heading north, trying to cross into Jordan, trying to get a flight out) before spontaneously breaking into the song “Surrounded,” singing “it may look like I’m surrounded, but I’m surrounded by You” over and over, and described a tangible peace settling in as they worshiped in the middle of the crisis.

The second use is worship for calibration: turning to 1 Samuel 30, where David returns from exile among the Philistines to find his own camp raided and his men talking of stoning him, Brian showed David “strengthening himself in the Lord” and inquiring of God for direction rather than reacting out of panic or anger, arguing that a worshipful heart is more calibrated to hear God’s instructions clearly in a crisis. The third is worship for celebration, illustrated by 2 Samuel 6, where David dances before the Lord with abandon as the ark of the covenant is brought into Jerusalem.

Brian closed by reminding the church that this short list barely scratches the surface (worship shows up throughout Scripture in far more situations than combat, calibration, and celebration) and promised the series would continue exploring more of what worship is for the following week.

Touch Points

1. Brian described worship as a weapon in battles you may not even realize you’re in, illustrated by a testimony of worshiping through real fear during a crisis in Israel. Is there a struggle in your life right now where worship could be a first response instead of a last resort?
2. Worship for “calibration” means a heart tuned to hear God clearly before reacting, as David did when his own camp turned against him. Where do you tend to react first and seek God’s guidance second?
3. David danced without restraint in 2 Samuel 6. What holds you back from that kind of uninhibited celebration in worship?
4. Psalm 150 says “everything that has breath” should praise God. What would it look like for worship to become a daily rhythm rather than a once-a-week event for you?

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