7 Powerful Psalms of Worship and Wonder
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We were created to experience worship and wonder.
At the beginning, God created all things, ordered the earth and designed a Garden for a special being. He made humanity in his image, and their abundant life centered around walking in constant relationship with and worship of God. Placed within a perfect paradise, humanity also wondered at God’s work. Then came the Fall, their disobedience, and now we struggle to dig in the dirt and survive. The life meant to cause joy brings pain.
Jesus came to bring us back to that design. But unless we become like a child, we can’t enter the Kingdom of God (Matthew 18:3). Jesus doesn’t call us to be immature or childish but child-like. Babies and toddlers laugh at silly things, and the young express great wonder at nature, animals, and simple objects like trucks. They experience this world in new ways.
We get older, and life beats us down a bit. We lose that wonder. Thankfully, God calls us back to a relationship where we have heavenly revelation and constant wonder through Christ and our Father by the Spirit. Despite the hardship of life, we have access to a transcendent person and reality untouched by the corruption of this world. God restores us back to our design: worship and wonder. The book of Psalms regularly expresses this.
Here are six powerful psalms of worship and wonder.
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1. Psalm 19
One of the first ways we experience worship and wonder is to view God’s creation. The nature around us displays his power, his strength, his goodness, and his order. Psalm 19 reveals the majesty of God through his creation and his word. The psalm begins by celebrating the heavens, declaring the skies show his handiwork and glory. Day and night, creation “pours forth speech,” silently and powerfully proclaiming his existence and artistry. When we consider the vastness of the universe and the intricacy of unseen atomic or cellular material, we experience awe. Psalm 19 encourages us to take a moment, look around, and see God’s mind and thoughts behind all we see.
Midway, the psalm shifts from the natural world to God’s law, reflecting how his Word guides us. The song describes God’s commands as perfect, radiant, and trustworthy. They refresh the soul, bring wisdom, and give us joy. Just as God created and gave us the wonder of nature, he shares his moral order and wisdom in his Word. And we give worship and wonder for both.
Psalm 19 ends with a prayer to ask God for cleansing from hidden sins, keeping us blameless by his power. We worship God with humility and surrender to his will. With open hearts, we marvel at God’s greatness and goodness.
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2. Psalm 29
Without God’s self-revelation, we could never know or hear him. To know him must include the ability to hear his voice. Psalm 29 leads us into worship and wonder at the majesty of God’s voice. The psalm opens with a call to angels, heavenly beings, and humanity to “ascribe to the Lord glory and strength.” After this invitation to worship him for his power and holiness, the focus shifts to the power of God’s voice. The psalm expresses his voice as a storm that sweeps over the earth.
Reading the song’s lyrics, God’s voice breaks the mighty cedars, shakes the wilderness, and stirs the waters. God has authority over all creation, and he speaks into it from his love. The imagery of thunder and lightning, forests, and mountains trembling remind us of this. Each line artfully points to his power with reverence and awe. Even nature itself responds to his voice. Shouldn’t we?
The psalm closes by declaring the Lord sits “enthroned over the flood” and “gives strength to his people.” Reflecting back to the story of Noah and the Flood, God is both transcendent and intimate. He lives close and offers peace and strength to us. We can trust in his sovereignty because of his compassion. Psalm 29 teaches us to worship God’s power and marvel at the gift of hearing his voice in our lives. The same God who controls and shakes all creation speaks to us in a still small voice.
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3. Psalm 33
Meditating on nature points us to another amazing characteristic of God, his unmoving faithfulness to his people. Psalm 33 starts with a joyful command for God’s people, the righteous, to “sing joyfully to the Lord” and to praise him with music and song. It’s a call for dynamic, passionate worship, inviting us to lift our voices to praise God for his greatness and goodness. Lifting up our voices in praise aligns our hearts with eternal truth. He alone is worthy of praise simply because of who he is. We also praise him for what he’s done, doing, and will do.
Psalm 33 next reminds us how his Word brought the heavens and earth into existence. He spoke a command, and the sea waters gathered, the stars were set in place, and all creation went from chaos to order. The Creator shapes galaxies and sustains life with his Word, instilling even more awe that he speaks to us with the same voice by the Spirit.
The same God who sustains all of creation by his Word faithfully watches over his people and leads them to fulfill his promises. Again, along with his involvement in the epic arcs of history, he speaks to us in our hearts. He sees and knows us, every thought, and the Father guides us who fear and hope in him. Psalm 33 fills us with wonder as we worship God for his power, wisdom, and faithful love.
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4. Psalm 46
Each of us experience tragedy, and these difficulties make us long for safety and security. However, the world offers none. With his faithfulness, proven time and again, we praise him as our firm refuge and strength in this world. The psalm starts with, “God is our refuge and strength, an ever present help in trouble.” No matter the situation, God remains a safe place to find refuge. He protects us and gives us strength to endure. He won’t leave us.
The psalm uses natural disasters to express the brokenness and chaos of the earth — “though the earth give way and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea.” The earth, and all things within it, will fail. But God’s presence proves unshakable, leading us to a greater destiny. The psalm next gives an appropriate vision of God’s holy city. Jerusalem stood for God’s presence on earth (in the Temple), and an eternal home of God with his people, ultimately found in Revelation and the new heaven and earth. This calls us to an eternal hope, to endure now for the later. The popular verse, “Be still and know that I am God,” invites us into quiet and peace, to rest in his power as nations and enemies surround us.
Psalm 46 ends with our confidence as “the Lord Almighty is with us.” We find wonder and gratitude in his goodness, knowing he stands with us and will see us through if we trust him.
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5. Psalm 95
Revelation gives a glimpse of the worship surrounding God’s throne. Loud and expressive, angels and God’s children praise him (Revelation 4-5). The worship in Revelation centers around both who God is and what he’s done as the Lamb to provide salvation for his people. Psalm 95 invites us to worship and wonder through recognizing God’s greatness and our relationship with him. The first lines call us to “come, let us sing for joy to the Lord; let us shout aloud to the Rock of our salvation.”
“Let us” expresses the community aspect of worship, gathering with others. Just as no one worships at the heavenly throne alone, we reveal a taste of heaven when we join with others in praise.
Psalm 95 ends with an invitation to worship God as our Shepherd. We are his flock. God as shepherd runs through the Old and New Testaments, first with people like King David and a prophetic promise for God to be the priest of his people instead of the corrupt Jewish leaders (Ezekiel 34, Jeremiah 23, and more). Jesus fulfills this promise when he declares himself the Good Shepherd and his disciples his sheep (John 10:11). This imagery reminds us how the mighty creator is also our guide and protector, personally and for the church.
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6. Psalm 103
God’s mercy and forgiveness flows from his love. No obligation held him, or else it wouldn’t be love. We deserved death and eternal destruction for our choices and sin. Yet he chose to send his Son, out of abundant compassion. Those who believe and repent won’t perish but have eternal life (John 3:16).
Psalm 103 leads us to worship God’s limitless mercy, forgiveness, and love. The song begins with “praise the Lord, my soul; all my inmost being, praise his holy name.” The call to worship encourages us to worship him from our hearts, not just outward show or religious duty. He didn’t save us from duty but love. Proper worship returns the same. As we meditate on his goodness, he forgives our sins, heals us, redeems us from death, and gives us love. Our response becomes awe and praise.
The psalm continues to describe God’s character as “compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, abounding in love.” His patient, loving nature helps us view God as more than a judge but a caring Father who understands our weakness and seeks to save us. The psalm tells us God “does not treat us as our sins deserve,” but instead, casts our transgressions “as far as the east is from the west.” Along with his authority and transcendent infinity, Psalm 103 shows God’s accompanying compassion and mercy, all of which invites us to worship him in wonder.
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