"Shout with joy to the Lord, all the earth! Worship the Lord with gladness." Psalm 100:1-2 NLT
"Come, let us sing to the Lord! Let us shout joyfully to the Rock of our Salvation." Psalm 95:1 NLT
Singing and listening to worship songs can encourage your faith and stir emotions. Here's how to make it part of your regular practice.
With retirement comes greater opportunities to spend time with God in your daily devotions. Making worship music an integral part of this special time of day helps create the right mindset as you come before God. Use it as a way to express your love for him. It's also good for encouragement when times are tough and you need inspiration. Worship music is a form of prayer that’s been part of daily devotions for centuries.
Playing Christian music with an instrument is a soothing way to express your love for God. It's also fun. Retirement is a fantastic opportunity to bring out your old instruments and start playing them again. God doesn't mind if your skills aren't perfect; he understands your heart and appreciates your attempts to make a "joyful noise to the Lord." If you don't have an instrument, you can buy one and learn to play. There are so many options, from guitars to harmonicas, pianos, keyboards, maracas and percussion instruments.
Singing and listening to Christian music is a wonderful way to start an evening's Bible study with friends. This activity helps relax everyone and puts them in the right mood for studying the word of God. If you're musical, lead the singing or play an instrument as accompaniment. Alternatively, the group can listen to or sing along with prerecorded Gospel music. The psalms have always been central to many denominations, and you can listen to them set to contemporary music with the Psalms Project.
If you're talented and play a guitar, a piano or another musical instrument, consider starting a worship music group that meets in your home. What could be better than praising and worshiping God together with others in a small music group? As the group becomes more proficient, you'll create opportunities to lead worship in your retirement community falling under the Bethesda Senior Living Communities umbrella or in your church. It’s also a great way to minister to seniors with memory loss, as playing favorite songs often stirs up happy memories.
Listening to worship music is a deeply satisfying experience. It’s a good way to have quality time with your spouse and family. All that's needed to get started is a Bluetooth speaker and your phone, or you can play music on a stereo system or television. If you're alone or in the company of others doing alternative tasks, a good set of headphones lets you enjoy your favorite worship music with enhanced clarity and quality.
Have you ever thought of recording your own worship music? You can use this music as a ministry and share it with family and friends. You don't need a studio to start recording — just a good microphone and your computer. You can always consider more sophisticated recording equipment later. Depending on the setup, you can record music directly to a CD or make MP3 copies. Try composing your own music and lyrics, or buy sheet music or accompaniment tracks to get started.
If, like many others, you simply want to listen to and enjoy worship music, there are many ways to find it. If you don't mind ads, YouTube Music is a good place to find worship music. You'll have to search at first, but as you listen, the YouTube algorithm will start to suggest similar types of worship music. Many popular Christian artists have music on YouTube, so there are plenty of choices. If you prefer ad-free listening, upgrade to Music Premium or try one of the top streaming sites like Spotify, Apple Music or Amazon Music Unlimited. There are Christian sites like AllWorship and Prazor. You can find worship CDs at your local Christian bookshop or order them online from shops like Christian Book and secular stores like Amazon.
If you prefer to buy your music, there are many options. The easiest and simplest is the MP3 digital format. MP3s are popular because the files are small and the sound quality is good. If you prefer high-fidelity sound, consider CDs or even vinyl records. The latter format has made a great comeback, and it's now relatively easy to find worship songs on vinyl and to buy a turntable or record player. If CDs and vinyl aren't your thing, consider downloading high-fidelity digital tracks available on many sites. These let you listen to music in its original format with virtually no loss in fidelity.
