We've been singing a new song at Grace called “Every Praise”. Stylistically, it's urban-gospel worship which would qualify its simple, repetitive verses and refrain. "Every praise is to our God" is the first line of the song.
At first glance, that lyric might seem a bit redundant. Doesn't all praise belong to God anyway? Why the need, then, to specify to whom we direct our praise?
Great questions!
Just as we were all created in His image, we were all created to worship him.
The people I formed for myself that they may proclaim my praise. Isaiah 43:21
Although this is why God created us, in His grace, He gives the freedom to choose to worship Him. This means that we have an innate nature to worship with the beneficiary being a choice. This is where it gets a little tricky. You see, we're always worshipping, we're always praising something or someone, whether we know it or not.
The word "worship" is derived from the Old English weorþscipe, meaning, honour shown to an object, which has been etymologised as "worthiness or worth-ship"—to give, at its simplest, worth to something. So, whatever we're showing honor or placing worth upon, we're worshipping. So, this song helps declare that, above all else, we give our praise and worship to God.
The song goes on to proclaim God as a savior, healer and deliverer; giving us the “why” of our praise and adoration. As if Him being God alone isn’t enough to drive us into a praise frenzy, we can reflect on His grace as a savior, His faithfulness as a healer and His strength as a deliverer. Pretty steep competition for anything that might be trying to vie for my attention, “worthship” or worship.