3 He put a new song in my mouth,
a hymn of praise to our God.
Many will see and fear
and put their trust in the Lord.

I love the second half of this verse! It affirms what I have strongly held for many years - that the fervent, effectual worship of God's people in and of itself is a tool for evangelism. If we are worshiping according to the Spirit of God, if we are celebrating with that "hymn of praise" it will cause people to stop, look and listen.

I had an interesting experience last week. I had to go to New York City early on a Thursday morning, so I was waiting at the train station at 6:00 am along with hundreds of commuters. No one, of course, was waiting on the other side of the platform - the side heading away from New York. However, the platform was not unoccupied. Three men were stretched out along the length of the platform. Each of them was "preaching" to the crowd (granted, a captive audience) on the NYC-bound side. They were literally shouting at the crowd, and boy was it hellfire and brimstone. As I walked along the crowd, I was fascinated with the response of the commuters. I heard comments such as "I wish they would just shut up" and "what are those idiots shouting about?" No one that I could see was compelled to revere and worship God as a result of the "preaching".

It was sad. What they saw were three men ranting and raving about God rather than three men authentically worshiping God. There's a huge difference. There are times when believers try to force Christianity down the throats of those that have not accepted the work of Christ. You can't do it. It won't
"take" that way. It is more likely to harden their hearts against Christ than to soften them to the gospel. Why is it that we (us believers) can't see that if we just worship God in spirit and in truth as we have been instructed to do, people will respond? Instead of trying so hard to talk about God, just worship Him as He desires to be worshiped.

This verse cements in my mind that our worship services are an important vehicle for people finding Christ. Or they can be - if our hearts are in the right place, especially as we lead in worship. That is why we place such importance on WHO stands up on that stage. it is why it is so important that we are not just performing, but worship leading. It is why it is so important that we take the stage with the utmost humility of spirit.

I challenge you this week to think about this. As you lead in worship, you are not just helping people sing songs. You are clearing the path for people to find God. Think of yourselves as explorer guides on a worship journey. The better you are at what you do, the easier it will be for people to connect with God.
Let's make a unified effort to demonstrate this each and every time we step on to the stage.

Psalm 40:3