Words of Worship: Honor

honor (verb) - to show appreciation, respect, or affection for someone with a public celebration

Synonyms: acknowledge, commend, fete, glorify, praise, recognize

Antonyms: condemn, discredit, humiliate, jeer, malign, shame

Honor can mean a lot of things to a lot of people. In terms of worship, we typically reference honor in terms of respect, adoration, and praise to our Heavenly Father. God is holy, mighty, glorious, perfect, and so many more things - if that's not worthy of honor, what ever could be? We are called to honor Him as His children, but we are also more than overjoyed to do so. Honor to the Lord shouldn't be a burden, but something we delight in. Everything, from the angels of Heaven to the rocks on the earth, honors Him. As God's children, we are blessed to give our Father the honor, respect, and praise He is due.

This week's post includes seven songs that discuss honor along with Scripture references that inspired them and that I was led to with each entry. All Scripture passages are from the New Living Translation of the Holy Bible.

A Thousand Hallelujahs (Live) by Brooke Ligertwood (written by B. Ligertwood, S. Ligertwood, P. Wickham)

Featured on Ligertwood's 2022 live album SEVEN, this song honors the Lord with loud, unashamed declarations of praise. The lyrics are so full of joy to sing of God's honor, praise, and glory. He is so mighty, wonderful, and awesome that even the rocks can't help but cry out to Him.

Who else would rocks cry out to worship/Whose glory taught the stars to shine/Perhaps creation longs to have the words to sing/But this joy is mine/With a thousand hallelujahs, we magnify Your name/You alone deserve the glory, the honor, and the praise/Lord Jesus, this song is forever Yours/A thousand hallelujahs and a thousand more

Daniel 4:37 Now I, Nebuchadnezzar, praise and glorify and honor the King of heaven. All his acts are just and true, and he is able to humble the proud.

Revelation Song by Christ for the Nations Music & Kari Jobe (written by J. Riddle)

Featured on CFTN's 2004 live album Glorious with vocals from worship leader Kari Jobe, this song honors the Lord with praises straight from the books of Revelation and Isaiah. He is the wisest King, the One who is mighty to save. What a blessing to be able to join with all of creation to sing praise to Him.

Clothed in rainbows of living color/Flashes of lightning, rolls of thunder/Blessing and honor, strength and glory and power be/To You, the only wise King/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

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.”

Image of Love (Live) by Citipointe Live & Becky Lucas (written by C. Moore, B. Lamshed)

Featured on Citipointe's 2018 live album Mover Of Mountains with vocals by worship leader Becky Lucas, this powerful song honors the Lord and His unfailing love. The fact that He came to earth to live as a human in order to make our salvation possible is truly incredible. He really is worthy of all of our praise.

You are Lord Almighty, Heaven’s one and only/Laid down Your glory for an earthly body/Leaving Heaven’s wonder for a stable manger/With a heart surrendered, this is our Savior/Heaven walked among us through the dirt and through the dust/The image of love, glory sent from above/Signs and wonders follow everywhere that You go/You reveal the unknown, our God and our hope/Our God and our hope/Glory, honor, and power, hope of the world is here/Glory, God in the highest reached out in victory/Glory, honor, and power, hope of the world is here/Glory, God in the highest reached out in victory, our Savior/Our Savior

Joshua 24:15 But if you refuse to serve the Lord, then choose today whom you will serve. Would you prefer the gods your ancestors served beyond the Euphrates? Or will it be the gods of the Amorites in whose land you now live? But as for me and my family, we will serve the Lord.

King of All Kings (Live) by Citipointe Live & Beau Lamshed (written by B. Lamshed, J. Tarau)

Also featured on Mover Of Mountains with vocals by worship leader Beau Lamshed, this song honors the Lord as the Ruler of all. He is the King of kings, the Prince of Peace, the Lord of creation, and He knows each of us by name to the very corners of our hearts that we share with no on else. What a feeling that will be when we get to bow before His throne.

All creation yearns for Your love throughout the earth/Every eye will see the wonder of Your majesty/You’re the King of all kings, King of all kings/And You’re with us, here and now/You’re the King of all kings, King of all kings/And You’re with us, here and now/Holy is the Lord God Almighty, all the earth bring glory/Honor and praise/Holy is the Lord God Almighty, all the earth bring glory/Your kingdom reigns, King of all days

I Timothy 6:15 For, at just the right time Christ will be revealed from heaven by the blessed and only almighty God, the King of all kings and Lord of all lords.

Saints and Angels by KingsPorch (written by J. Reeves, H. Darst, L. Jordan, S. Fee)

Featured on KingsPorch's 2021 album Songs for the Simple Gathering: Vol. 1 with vocals by worship leaders Carrie Hardcastle & Alex Howard, this beautiful song honors the Lord for the fact that He is the Holy Trinity. All throughout scripture, we see that the saints and the angels will cry out His praise for eternity and if for some reason they don't, the very rocks of the earth will do it. Who else could possibly command and deserve that type of respect?

Praise the Father, praise the Son/Praise the Spirit three in one/The One who was and is to come/We will worship You alone/And the earth will cry out holy/All of heaven cries out holy/Saints and angels cry out holy/Is the Lord our God

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!”

Be the Place Flow Pt. 1 (Live) by Naomi Raine (written by N. Solomon)

Featured on Raine's 2019 live album Back to Eden Pt. 1, this freeform song honors the Lord as our Protector and ultimate sanctuary. I typically don't gravitate towards spontaneous interludes, but this one is an exception for me. I couldn't find a good transcription of the lyrics, but it's a beautiful worship moment I recommend listening to.

Matthew 15:8 These people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me.

Ancient of Days by Shane & Shane (written by G. Sadler, J. Harvill)

Featured on Shane & Shane's 2020 album Vintage, this song honors the Lord as the starting point of the very universe. He is ancient, wise, and patient. Bowing before His throne will be beyond incredible one day.

Blessing and honor, glory and power/Be unto the Ancient of Days/From every nation, all of creation/Bow before the Ancient of Days/Every tongue in heaven and earth shall declare Your glory/Every knee shall bow at Your throne in worship/You will be exalted, oh God, and Your kingdom shall not pass away/Oh, Ancient of Days

Daniel 7:13-14 As my vision continued that night, I saw someone like a son of man coming with the clouds of heaven. He approached the Ancient One and was led into his presence. He was given authority, honor, and sovereignty over all the nations of the world, so that people of every race and nation and language would obey him. His rule is eternal - it will never end. His kingdom will never be destroyed.

I hope you were as blessed by these songs this week as I was. Happy listening, and see ya'll next week!