Words of Worship: Adoration

adore – verb to worship or honor as a deity or as divine; to regard with loving admiration and devotion; to be very fond of Synonyms: delight, dig, enjoy, fancy, get off, groove, like, love, rejoice, relish, revel, savor Antonyms: abhor, abominate, despise, detest, execrate, hate, loathe

Adoration is a very popular theme in worship music, and why shouldn’t it be? A huge part of the purpose of worship is declaring how much we love God, and adoration to me has always meant larger than life love for something or someone, worthy of lots of fanfare and exclamation.

God had been leading me to have the word “love” be my word for 2020 for several weeks before the new year began, so the fact that I chose this theme for this post is extremely fitting. There are so many amazing worship songs written with the theme of adoration in mind, and I’ve picked seven of them to highlight in today’s blog post.

Hymns Medley: His Eye Is on the Sparrow/Tis so Sweet by Anthem Lights I’m relatively new to the Anthem Lights fanbase, but I’ve been listening to a lot of them recently and really enjoy their music. They’re well known for their beautiful vocal covers of both popular music and worship songs, and this particular mash-up is from their Hymns Medleys album that was released in 2019. The theme of adoration shines through the words of these classic hymns, declaring the singer’s trust for Jesus no matter what the circumstances. Why should I feel discouraged, why should the shadows come/Why should my heart be lonely, and long for heaven and home/When Jesus, Jesus, how I trust Him/How I’ve proved Him o’er and o’er/Jesus, Jesus, precious Jesus/Oh, for grace to trust Him more Psalm 84:3 Even the sparrow finds a home, and the swallow builds her nest and raises her young at a place near your altar, O Lord of Heaven’s Armies, my King and my God! Mark 9:24 The father instantly cried out, “I do believe, but help me overcome my unbelief!”

How Great Is Our God/Our God/How Great Thou Art by Caleb and Kelsey I’ve been listening to Caleb and Kelsey for a hair longer than Anthem Lights and have really enjoyed the two worship mash-up albums they’ve put out. The duo is comprised of Caleb Grimm of Anthem Lights and his wife Kelsey, and they have a real knack for finding worship songs both modern and classic and putting them together for a brand new audible experience. This mash-up from their 2018 album Worship combines two classic Chris Tomlin songs with a timeless hymn (my favorite hymn, actually). All three songs really put out a great description of adoration for God in that He is worthy of all praise from all people and that He is the greatest, strongest, most awesome being in our lives. Name above all names, stand against/Worthy of all praise/And my heart will sing how great is/Our God is greater, our God is stronger/God, You are higher than any other/Our God is healer, awesome in power/Our God, our God/Then sings my soul, my Savior God to Thee/How great Thou art, how great Thou art/Then sings my soul, my Savior God to Thee/How great Thou art, how great is our God/Awesome in power, our God/How great Thou art Psalm 86:10-17 For you are great and perform wonderful deeds. You alone are God. Teach me your ways, O Lord, that I may live according to your truth! Grant me purity of heart, so that I may honor you. With all my heart I will praise you, O Lord my God. I will give glory to your name forever, for your love for me is very great. You have rescued me from the depths of death. O God, insolent people rise up against me; a violent gang is trying to kill me. You mean nothing to them. But you, O Lord, are a God of compassion and mercy, slow to get angry and filled with unfailing love and faithfulness. Look down and have mercy on me. Give you strength to your servant; save me, the son of your servant. Send me a sign of your favor. Then those who hate me will be put to shame, for you, O Lord, help and comfort me. Psalm 93:1 The Lord is king! He is robed in majesty. Indeed, the Lord is robed in majesty and armed with strength. The world stands firm and cannot be shaken.

Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing by Chris Rice I’ve talked about this version of this hymn before in my 2019 Thanksgiving post, but it’s just too good not to keep mentioning as many times as needed. Recorded for his 2006 album Peace Like a River: The Hymns Project, the simplicity of Rice’s vocals and piano make this cover my favorite version of this hymn. Adoration is abundant throughout this song, discussing His infinite blessings, His help, and how He rescued us from danger with His blood on the cross. Come Thou fount of every blessing/To my heart, to sing Thy grace/Streams of mercy never ceasing/Call for songs of loudest praise/Teach me some melodious sonnet/Sung by flaming tongues above/Praise the mount, I’m fixed upon it/Mount of Thy redeeming love Psalm 63:3 Your unfailing love is better than life itself; how I praise you! Psalm 139:1-4 O Lord, you have examined my heart and know everything about me. You know when I sit down or stand up. You know my thoughts even when I’m far away. You see me when I travel and when I rest at home. You know everything I do. You know what I am going to say even before I say it, Lord.

Revelation Song by Christ for the Nations Music This cover has been one of my favorite worship songs for years now, ever since the first time I heard it when I was in high school. I believe this was one of Kari Jobe’s first huge hits, and the words and meaning behind this song have always completely fascinated me. The adoration for the Lord is so apparent throughout the entire song as it describes in passages from the book of Revelation what it will be like to stand in the presence of God. Worthy is the Lamb who was slain/Holy, holy is He/Sing a new song to Him who sits on/Heaven’s mercy seat/Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty/Who was and is and is to come/With all creation, I sing praise to the King of kings/You are my everything, and I will adore You Isaiah 6:3 They were calling out to each other, “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of Heaven’s Armies! The whole earth is filled with his glory!” Revelation 4:8 Each of these living beings had six wings, and their wings were covered all over with eyes, inside and out. Day after day and night after night they kept on saying, “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God, the Almighty – the one who always was, who is, and who is still to come.”

As You Find Me by Hillsong UNITED This song was featured on my Favorites of 2019 post along with Hillsong UNITED’s live album People, and over the past year it has become a mantra for me in my personal life. We sang this song on stage as a worship team at my home church, and the second time we sang it was the very day that I decided to walk away from a very toxic situation in my life – He made very apparent to me through this song and the words spoken by my worship pastor that it was okay to walk away, that I needed to step out in faith, and that His love was far too good to leave me in the mess I’d found myself in for years. The lyrics perfectly define what our adoration of the Lord should be – we know we don’t deserve the kind of love He provides us, but He gives it to us anyway, loving us just the way we are. Who am I to think Your glory needs my praises/But if this borrowed breath is Yours, Lord take it all/You are faithful and You are gracious, and I’m just grateful/To think You don’t need a single thing and still want my heart/I was found before I was lost/I was Yours before I was not/You wear the scars for all my mistakes/And that part just wrecks me/And I know I don’t deserve this kind of love/Somehow, this kind of love is who You are/It’s a grace I could never add up to be somebody You still want/But somehow, You love me as You find me Romans 5:8 But God shooed his great love for us by sending Christ to die for us while we were still sinners.

Transfiguration by Hillsong Worship This song is so beautiful it makes my heart ache. From Hillsong Worship’s 2015 live album OPEN HEAVEN/River Wild, I can’t listen to it without getting tears in my eyes. The words of the chorus describe adoration in a really beautiful way – sometimes, the only word our soul can find to say to him is Hallelujah, and that is completely okay. From the cloud, You speak/What was veiled now is seen/Jesus, the image of/The invisible God/Divinity confirmed/In the transfigured Word/A kingdom once concealed/On the earth, now revealed/Holy is the Lord revealed before my eyes/And my burning heart can scarcely take it in/As I behold Your beauty with unworthy eyes/The only song my soul can find to sing/Is hallelujah, hallelujah/Hallelujah, my King Matthew 17:1-8 Six days later Jesus took Peter and the two brothers, James and John, and led them up a high mountain to be alone. As the men watched, Jesus’ appearance was transformed so that his face shone like the sun,and his clothes became as white as light. Suddenly, Moses and Elijah appeared and began talking with Jesus. Peter exclaimed, “Lord, it’s wonderful for us to be here! If you want, I’ll make three shelters as memorials – one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah.” But even as he spoke, a bright cloud overshadowed them, and a voice from the cloud said, “This is my dearly loved Son, who brings me great joy. Listen to him.” The disciples were terrified and fell face down on the ground. Then Jesus came over and touched them. “Get up,” he said. “Don’t be afraid.” And when they looked up, Moses and Elijah were gone, and they saw only Jesus.

Build My Life by Housefires This song is so simple and yet so incredibly powerful, it’s no wonder that worship teams all over the country are still singing it with their congregations three and a half years after its release. From the 2016 album Housefires III, the songwriter paints a picture of adoration through declarations of trusting in God alone and building his life with Jesus as the foundation. Worthy of every song we could ever sing/Worthy of all the praise we could ever bring/Worthy of every breath we could ever breathe/We live for You/Jesus, the Name above every other name/Jesus, the only One who could ever save/Worthy of every breath we could ever breathe/We live for You, we live for You/Holy, there is no one like You/There is none beside You, open up my eyes in wonder/And show me who You are and fill me with Your heart/And lead me in Your love to those around me Isaiah 28:16 Therefore, this is what the Sovereign Lord says: “Look! I am placing a foundation stone in Jerusalem, a firm and tested stone. It is a precious cornerstone that is safe to build on. Whoever believes need never be shaken.” Matthew 7:24-25 “Anyone who listens to my teaching and follows it is wise, like a person who builds a house on solid rock. Though the rain comes in torrents and the floodwaters rise and the winds beat against that house, it won’t collapse because it is built on bedrock.”

Thank you for taking time out of your day to read through my musings about adoration in worship. See you next week!