How to Renew Your Covenant with God Through Worship
The Almighty Lord God who made the heavens and the earth and breathed His spirit into humankind and watched over His Word to see it performed (Jer. 1:12), who goes before and behind you and keeps His hand upon you (Psalm 139:5), who does miracles and wonders (Psalm 77:14), who bends down to listen (Psalm 116:2), who lifts you from the terrible pit (Psalm 40:2), and who puts a new song into your mouth (Psalm 40:3) – He is also a God who desires to exist in a covenant relationship with His people. The strength and vitality of your covenant with God is built upon a foundation of ministry to Him through your praise and worship.
Your Covenant with God is for Life and Peace
Throughout the Bible, God makes many covenants with His people, and they are everlasting covenants, which means that God has no intention of ending them. Malachi 2:5 says that God made a covenant with the tribe of Levi for “life and peace” – and that is your covenant with God as well, because praise and worship are how the people of God connect with the living power of His Spirit.
(You can learn much more about what the Word of God says about your priestly ministry to the Lord in “The Way of the Worshipper: Connecting with the Spirit of God Through Restoring Intimacy, Purpose and Understanding in Worship”)
Here are just a few of the many covenants the Lord made with His people:
- The covenant of the rainbow (Genesis 9:11-12)
- The covenant of Abraham’s eternal blessing (Genesis 17:7)
- The covenant of the priestly ministry (Malachi 2:4-6)
- The covenant of peace between God and His people (Isaiah 54:10), forever assured through the Prince of Peace, Jesus Christ
However, there are conditions upon which your covenant with God is built and when those conditions are not met, the covenant can be broken, even though that was not how He had planned. The GREAT news is that because of Jesus Christ, whose blood was shed for you, all the covenants between you and the Lord are in full effect forever and even when you wander or when neglect your relationship with Him, your covenant with God can be renewed at any time because He loves you and desires to be close to you.
Praise is the Power Behind Your Covenant with God
As flawed, imperfect people, we have all gone astray at times (Isaiah 53:6), but we always have the option of returning to right relationship with the Lord and renewing that covenant with God. What is it that the Lord desires? Psalm 50:14-15 says this: “Sacrifice a thank offering to God, and pay your vows to the Most High, and call on Me in the day of trouble; I will deliver you, and you will glorify Me.β (MEV) There is nothing God needs, but making yourself a living sacrifice to God by offering Him thanksgiving is what He desires.
You don’t have to be perfect to praise and worship the Lord, but you do need to offer a sacrifice- yourself. How do you do that? You set aside your flesh. You ignore distractions for a set-aside time. You lift up your hands. You glorify His name. You remove yourself and your needs and wants and problems from the time and place of your worship in order to minister to Him. Worship is exclusively God-focused and God-centered.
There is nothing God needs, but making yourself a living sacrifice to God by offering Him thanksgiving is what He desires.
~Alicia Purdy
There is a time and place for the Lord to minister to you, and He will be faithful to do that (this is called “Barak” praise and is one of the 7 Hebrew Words for praise), but your blessing is not your “why” in worship. Healing, restoration, refreshing, burdens lifted – those are all byproducts of worship. But your covenant with God is made stronger and brought to life by the time you spend in His presence ministering to Him.
Thought for today: Renewing Your Covenant With God is a Daily Action
When you have drifted away from your covenant with God, this is the right time to return! The Lord is calling you back to Himself. Yes, you need to read the living, active, powerful Word of God (Hebrews 4:12), and yes, you need to spend time speaking with the Lord in prayer (Philippians 4:6-7), but time spent in personal praise and worship the Lord are crucial to the supernatural, miraculous power of God that you need to thrive in a dark and fallen world filled with chaos, turmoil and sin.
You don’t need any spiritual qualifications to minister to the Lord. You don’t need to be a worship leader. You don’t need to be perfect or sinless or mature Christian to ministry to the Lord in worship. You need to sacrifice yourself to Him as you praise and worship Him. As you build a lifestyle of worship, all those things that have led to a break in your covenant with God, will begin to heal and be restored through the power of His holy presence where you consistently dwell through worship.
Psalm 50:23 says, “Whoever sacrifices a thank offering glorifies Me and makes a way; I will show him the salvation of God.β Psalm 50:8-15 shows that God has no need of anything you can give. He desires your sacrifice. Your covenant with God is strengthened and renewed day by day through praise and worship- ministry to Him- and the perfect time to renew that relationship is now!
Grow and Strengthen Your Covenant with God Today: “The True Power of Praising the Lord of the Breakthrough!”
Donβt forget to pick up a copy of The Way of the Worshipper on Amazon β and AVAILABLE NOW you can also purchase The Way of the Worshipper: A Devotional Workbook for deeper study, personal examination and spiritual growth!
