First & Only
I’ve been so struck recently by the Message translation in Psalm 16 where the psalmist writes ‘My choice is you, God, first and only’.
Isn’t that a beautiful picture of what worship is about? In a culture where we have never been surrounded by so many choices and faced with so many decisions, there is something very powerful about choosing God above everything else. When we look to Him in worship and adopt a posture of praise, I genuinely believe that it is in this place that we see amazing things happen amongst us. Encounter, healing, salvation & breakthrough are just to name a few! Who would have thought that our praises can actually become a place that attracts heavens activity!
This particular Psalm also uses the phrase ‘first and only’. I know that in my generation, we are famous for keeping our options open and will happily change our plans if a better one comes in last minute. You could say the very thing we are most committed to is not being very committed to anything!
The daily challenge to make The Lord ‘first and only’ in our hearts is a great reminder that He is God and we’re not. When we make Him ‘first and only’, we’re reminded that submission will always get us much further than ambition ever could. Worship therefore becomes the great redirector of our hearts and will always turn our eyes back to the very place they should never have left. His presence! The truth is, we will always become like the things we worship and the good news is that we worship a God of grace who longs to invite us into this relationship everyday!
In Psalm 16, it goes on to say ‘..and now I find that I am your choice’. I love that when we choose to worship, we don’t just get a better picture of who ‘He’ truly is but we also rediscover who ‘we’ truly are. Daughters and Sons of a Heavenly father who is singing over us a daily song of grace and love.
As we choose Him everyday, the thing we really discover is that He has already chosen us! This is our story of freedom and one that we’ll see every moment we choose to worship and make Him our ‘first and only’. What an amazing promise!
Sam Bailey
Sam is a great friend of Soul Survivor and has been part of the staff team in past years leading worship at the church, and the summer festivals. He is currently the worship pastor at HTB Church in London doing great things, including starting to birth home grown worship songs with the team there. When' he’s not leading worship he’s most likely to be down the gym working on his biceps. Sam is married to Liv, and some of his songs include ‘Magnificent Kindness’, ‘Praise The Lord (Evermore)’, and ‘Love All Along’. We love ya Sam!