Worship that only flows when life is pleasant is shallow, but worship that rises in seasons of sorrow is deep and powerful. In Psalm 34:1, the psalmist declares, “I will bless the Lord at all times; His praise shall continually be in my mouth” (ESV). This deliberate choice (notice the words “I will”) was not made from a place of ease but during a time of hardship in which he pretended to be insane to escape from King Achish of Gath while fleeing from Saul (1 Samuel 21-23). His words reveal that genuine praise is not bound by external conditions but rooted in God’s unchanging nature. When circumstances fail us, God’s character remains steady, and that is the foundation of continual worship. It allows us to have a song in the storm.
Job illustrates this truth vividly. After losing his wealth, health, and children, he fell to the ground and declared, “The Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord” (Job 1:21). His worship was not the denial of grief but the declaration of God’s sovereignty. In the New Testament, Paul and Silas sang hymns while imprisoned in Philippi (Acts 16:25). Their praises did not emerge from comfort but from chains. Such worship confounds the world because it testifies that God is worthy, not because of circumstances, but because of who He is (see 1 Chron. 29:11). Pastor John MacArthur puts it this way: “Worship is our innermost being responding with praise for all that God is, through our attitudes, actions, thoughts, and words, based on the truth of God as He has revealed Himself.”
This kind of praise is described in Hebrews 13:15 as a “sacrifice of praise.” It is costly because it requires faith that God is good when life does not appear good. It is not about ignoring pain but about acknowledging God’s supremacy over it. Praise in hardship reorients the heart away from despair and toward hope. It proclaims that storms cannot silence the song of heaven. Even Jesus, on the night He was betrayed, sang a hymn with His disciples (Matthew 26:30). If the Son of God praised God on the way to the cross, His followers are called to do the same in their trials.
It is not easy to have a song in the storm. However, to praise God in the storm is to declare that His worth is greater than our wounds. It strengthens the heart, glorifies His name, and bears witness to the reality of His kingdom. The storms of life may shake our confidence, but they cannot alter the truth that God remains faithful, sovereign, and good (Lamentations 3:22-23). Therefore, let every believer learn to echo the psalmist’s words: “I will bless the Lord at all times.” In joy or in sorrow, in light or in darkness, worship remains the highest expression of trust in the unchanging God.
