Psalm 66:4 declares: “All the earth will worship You, and will sing praises to You; they will sing praises to Your name.” How will “all the earth” worship God; what will they do? “They will sing praises to Your name.”

Worship and singing are equated often in Psalms. Don’t feel badly if much of your worship takes the form of singing. While singing in itself is no guarantee that what is being done is worship (there are too many examples of “empty singing” – both within and outside of church services!) good worship often does take the form of singing. Music is one of God’s greatest gifts to us, and it appears that He gave it specifically that it might be a vehicle for worship. The connection is a strong one: if you want to express worship to God, one of the very best ways to do it, is to “sing praises to (His) name”!

In this light, one of the most important goals you can have for your devotional time is to come away from it with a song of praise to God on your heart. Find a worship song: from a hymnal, CD, iPod, one you remember from a public worship service — or just one the Lord lays on your heart. Even better, let the scripture you read for the day suggest a song; many of our hymns and spiritual songs come right out of the word of God. However you find it, use the song God gives you today to worship Him, and “sing praises to (His) name”!