"Praise and Worship"

PSALMS 95
"O come, let us sing unto the LORD: let us make a joyful noise to the rock of our salvation." (Verse 1)
I don't know about you, but I am totally convinced that these Psalms all have a pattern; I have not quite figured out the complete pattern it might be, but I know that it's there. What a very simple concept, to just worship God for the wonderful things that He has done. It really does work, it takes us from a place of being bombarded with whatever it is that the world can dish out, and it brings us to a place where we are in awe of God's power and strength. When you get to that place, there is nothing this world can do that makes us afraid anymore; at least for the time being. There is really no guarantee that we won't be scared and afraid tomorrow; it really all depends where our heart is and if we are walking in fellowship with God. If we are going to be honest with ourselves, then we know it's not always song and dance; some days are just hard to get through, and we wonder what the point might be to be kept around. But, that's the whole point to "praise and worship!" Praise and worship allows us to enter into a whole different set of circumstances, ones where we are no longer bothered by the cares of this life and our biggest concern now is getting closer to God. We get to a point in the circumstance of being alive on the earth, longing to be with the LORD. Do you know what I mean? It's almost as if you can say to the world, "Bring it!" You feel it deep inside, and you are well aware of the place where you belong, and it's not here! You know that saying, "Our joy comes from the Lord," well it does, but we must enter in! We will get to that later, but for now, the focus is that we must make the sincere choice in our heart that we are going to rejoice; no matter what, we have something to celebrate, and the world is not gong to rob us of our chance to rejoice in the Lord! You think about all the wonderful things that He has done, forgetting about the mess and the rest of whatever it is that causes you to hang your head, and you give your attention to the God that saved you! He deserves our praise and worship, a whole lot more than we should worry about the cares of this life...
"Since God chose you to be the holy people he loves, you must clothe yourselves with tenderhearted mercy, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience. Make allowance for each other's faults, and forgive anyone who offends you. Remember, the Lord forgave you, so you must forgive others. Above all, clothe yourselves with love, which binds us together in perfect harmony. And let the peace that comes from Christ rule in your hearts. For as members of one body you are called to live in peace. And always be thankful. Let the message about Christ, in all its richness, fill your lives. Teach and counsel each other with all the wisdom he gives. Sing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs to God with thankful hearts. And whatever you do or say, do it as a representative of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks through him to God the Father." (Colossians 3:12-17) NLT