Twenty Scriptural Calls to Worship

A call to worship Sunday morning is the first word the congregation hears, confronting whatever situation or baggage they bring along with them. This word is the beginning precedent from the Lord to His people, setting the tone for the rest of the service. For the Sunday worship planners, it is vital to choose a call to worship that best sets the tone for the service and unifies the congregation around the rock of God's Word. This blog aims to serve planners in giving food for thought in possible calls to worship for varying occasions.

1. Exodus 34:6-7

"The Lord passed before him and proclaimed, “The Lord, the Lord, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness, keeping steadfast love for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, but who will by no means clear the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children and the children’s children, to the third and the fourth generation.”

This passage is one of the few instances in all of Scripture where God reveals Himself by describing who He is. This is great for beginning a service with encountering who God is from God Himself.

2. Psalm 16:9-10

"Therefore my heart is glad, and my whole being rejoices; my flesh also dwells secure. For you will not abandon my soul to Sheol, or let your holy one see corruption."

This psalm has a great depth of meaning for use as a call to worship. To the original readers as a Davidic psalm, there is promise of reason to find gladness and security in the Lord. Not only this, but as New Testament believers we know this verse also applies to Christ, in that God did not allow Christ to see corruption but rose again triumphantly from the grave. This confronts the congregation immediately with hope.

3. Psalm 27:13-14

"I believe that I shall look upon the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living! Wait for the Lord; be strong, and let your heart take courage; wait for the Lord!"

Whatever situation the congregant arrives with on a Sunday morning, encountering these verse spur hope for the believer to wait for the Lord, ultimately for His coming and our future hope in heaven through Christ. Whatever situation, we will all reach the land of the living, seeing the goodness of the Lord.

4. Psalm 95:1-3

"Oh come, let us sing to the Lord; let us make a joyful noise to the rock of our salvation! Let us come into his presence with thanksgiving; let us make a joyful noise to him with songs of praise! For the Lord is a great God, and a great King above all gods."

What is the reason for our singing Sunday morning? What is our joyful noise for? It is for the Lord, who is above all other gods. This centers our focus for our praise around the praise-worthy God.

5. Psalm 63:1-3

"O God, you are my God; earnestly I seek you; my soul thirsts for you; my flesh faints for you, as in a dry and weary land where there is no water. So I have looked upon you in the sanctuary, beholding your power and glory. Because your steadfast love is better than life, my lips will praise you."

However the believer comes to the gathering, our primary disposition should be one of yearning for the Lord. This psalm beautifully displays a proper yearning for the Lord that can only be quenched in the all-satisfying God.

6. Psalm 47:1-2

"Clap your hands, all peoples! Shout to God with loud songs of joy! For the Lord, the Most High, is to be feared, a great king over all the earth."

Encountering the Most High God from the get-go should cause us to burst out in song and praise with clapping. God is so worthy that we can't keep our praise to ourselves, we have to praise Him corporately!

7. Psalm 42:11

"Why are you cast down, O my soul, and why are you in turmoil within me? Hope in God; for I shall again praise him, my salvation and my God."

Whatever turmoil or trial believers might come with to the gathering, this verse confronts the believer with hope, specifically hope in God as our salvation, who has ultimately provided in Christ and will continue to provide for us.

8. Psalm 40:1-3

"I waited patiently for the Lord; he inclined to me and heard my cry. He drew me up from the pit of destruction, out of the miry bog, and set my feet upon a rock, making my steps secure. He put a new song in my mouth, a song of praise to our God. Many will see and fear, and put their trust in the Lord."

This confronts us with the truth of God's work He has already accomplished for us entering the gathering. God has provided salvation for us, namely in Christ, and therefore we always have reason to praise. He always gives us something new to sing about, because salvation is a constant reality for every new day and applied uniquely to every weekly gathering.

9. Psalm 37:3-6

"Trust in the Lord, and do good; dwell in the land and befriend faithfulness. Delight yourself in the Lord, and he will give you the desires of your heart. Commit your way to the Lord; trust in him, and he will act. He will bring forth your righteousness as the light, and your justice as the noonday."

Psalm 37 confronts our lack of trust and satisfaction in the Lord, and meets us with hope. For those who commit to the Lord, He promises to act for your good. What better truth is there to respond to?

10. Psalm 34:8-10

"Oh, taste and see that the Lord is good! Blessed is the man who takes refuge in him! Oh, fear the Lord, you his saints, for those who fear him have no lack! The young lions suffer want and hunger; but those who seek the Lord lack no good thing."

Those who approach the Lord seeking to be satisfied will taste and see this is true every time. This truth confronts the congregation with the fact that nothing outside of encountering the Lord will satisfy. This unifies our vision to taste and see the Lord's goodness to satisfy our deep longings beginning a Sunday morning.

11. Isaiah 1:18

"Come now, let us reason together, says the Lord: though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red like crimson, they shall become like wool."

This is a great reminder that in Christ we find ultimate and final atonement for our sins in HIs blood. Whatever sins or luggage we come with, we are confronted with the grace and mercy of the Lord in His abundant salvation.

12. Isaiah 40:28-31

"Have you not known? Have you not heard? The Lord is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He does not faint or grow weary; his understanding is unsearchable. He gives power to the faint, and to him who has no might he increases strength. Even youths shall faint and be weary, and young men shall fall exhausted; but they who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint."

This passage does a great job of meeting those characterized by weakness coming on Sunday morning. Those who need strength can find an abundance in the Lord, who never grows weary.

13. Hosea 11:8-9

"How can I give you up, O Ephraim? How can I hand you over, O Israel? How can I make you like Admah? How can I treat you like Zeboiim? My heart recoils within me; my compassion grows warm and tender. I will not execute my burning anger; I will not again destroy Ephraim; for I am God and not a man, the Holy One in your midst, and I will not come in wrath."

This compassionate call from the Lord gives us insight into His very heart for His people. In the midst of a prophetic book centering around Hosea, who was called to marry a prostitute as a living picture of Israel's infidelity, this passage shows God's unrelenting compassion for His people.

14. Matthew 11:28-30

"Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”

These words from Jesus meet those who are struggling and come with a great weight on their shoulders of trial to the gathering. These are the very people Jesus calls to Himself, because He Himself is also beset with weakness. He has a yoke, but it is a yoke of ease. This meets the weary with great hope.

15. John 16:33

"I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world.”

Jesus directly meets the worshiper with the hope that He has overcome the world. In other words, if Jesus has accomplished a perfect life and conquered over the greatest enemy of death, what fear should we have if He lives in us?

16. 2 Corinthians 1:3-4

"Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our affliction, so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any affliction, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God."

God is characterized as a God of comfort. He comforts us so that we can comfort others. For those in need of comfort, these verses speak directly to them that God freely gives comfort to those who desire it in Christ.

17. Ephesians 1:3-6

"Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him. In love he predestined us for adoption to himself as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will, to the praise of his glorious grace, with which he has blessed us in the Beloved."

It's hard not to include this entire passage (although you could), but this passage meets believers with the abundant spiritual blessings we have in Christ. We always need to be reminded and start with the blessings Christ has secured for us in His redemption on our behalf.

18. Philippians 3:7-8

"But whatever gain I had, I counted as loss for the sake of Christ. Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ"

Reminding ourselves of the surpassing value of knowing Christ is a humble posture that is invaluable for Sunday morning. When we are reminded of the incredible riches in gaining both intellectual and experiential knowledge of Christ through prayer, singing, and preaching of corporate worship will rightly motivate and centrally focus our hearts and minds on this vital goal.

19. Titus 3:4-7

"But when the goodness and loving kindness of God our Savior appeared, he saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit, whom he poured out on us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior, so that being justified by his grace we might become heirs according to the hope of eternal life."

This is just a beautiful passage reminding us of the incredible salvation accomplished on our behalf in Christ. We become heirs with Christ because of the Holy Spirit richly poured on us through Jesus. No better news to begin a Sunday morning than this!

20. Revelation 5:13-14

"And I heard every creature in heaven and on earth and under the earth and in the sea, and all that is in them, saying, “To him who sits on the throne and to the Lamb be blessing and honor and glory and might forever and ever!” And the four living creatures said, “Amen!” and the elders fell down and worshiped."

This is a call to worship that pushes us to picture our future hope. We gather as a small glimpse and reminder of the day when every tribe, tongue, and nation will be represented in Heaven singing praises to the Almighty God.