The Worlds Least Famous Worship Song

She seemed very nervous as she readied herself to sing.

“I really felt the presence of the Lord when I was writing this” she said softly, obviously a little embarrassed. “Actually I didn’t even write this, He gave it to me”. Excitement mixed with a bad case of nervousness.

Eventually she began to sing, the voice a bit wobbly, but the sincerity and worship were obvious. Everything was great except for the actual song. The problem wasn’t really with the words or music as such. It was just the way it was all put together. The words didn’t really flow together logically, the melody was kind of repetitive and the chords were a bit, well, boring.

At the end she turned and looked expectantly at the Worship Pastor. No pressure. But he already knew what he was going to say. He had known from about 30 seconds into the song.

“ Well that was great”. His words were saying about 9 out of 10. The excitement level in his voice was about 2 out of 10. There was an awkward pause in which it became obvious that the enthusiasm she felt she was almost certain to find wasn’t there. Deflated.

“I think”, he began haltingly, “that song says something very beautiful and precious. But I’m not really sure it would be a song for our church to sing on Sundays”. And then he said the sentence that all budding worship songwriters don’t want to hear. “I think that it is a beautiful song just for you to sing to the Lord in your own worship times”. There were more words but they didn’t really matter. They simply made things more polite and caring. This song wasn’t going to be sung in church next Sunday or in fact, ever.

However, in Heaven other ears were listening. The Lord did indeed give that song to the woman. He shared it with her in a special time a few days earlier, just after she prayed “Lord, help me to know how to worship you in a way that You love”. The moments that followed were like being on holy ground, perhaps the closest she had ever felt to God.

She sang the song to God with tears in her eyes and that same tremor in her voice. Heaven paused to hear that most beautiful sound, a heart truly worshiping the heavenly Father.

A short time later, the singer had a thought. “I must share this beautiful song with others”. Hence the meeting, the audition, and now the awkward result. “Why can’t he hear it”, she thought. “It is so beautiful in it’s simplicity and honesty, and I know God loves this song.”

The truth is some songs really are just for God Himself. It is the purity and honesty of our hearts that mean so much to Him. After all He is the first prize of our worship. He is the one we want to bless, and I doubt there is a more precious song than one sung in worship to Him, without the desire or hope (on the writer’s part) for fame and admiration.

I wonder what God thinks when we are disappointed that our newest worship song doesn’t become an instant favourite with others? Wasn’t it for Him in the first place? So why the big let down?

There is no greater honor that heaven can bestow on us than to be given a song to sing to God alone. Never touched by other “helpful” hands, never sung by people who would rather be on their way home to Sunday lunch or to the sofa in time for the football game. Some songs are destined only to be sung for the audience of One, and sung from the heart every time.

If the price of such worship is keeping the song a secret, I’ll pay the price. Lord, may you be blessed by such songs every day, songs not clever enough for humans but pure and profound enough for You.

So if someone tells you one day “I think that is a beautiful song just for you to sing to the Lord in your own worship times”, let your heart get excited. This is a wonderful moment. What a privilege that the God of Heaven would entrust you with one of His special songs. All of Heaven is waiting to hear you sing the world’s least famous worship song.