Have you ever played the piano and been so nervous that your hands were shaking and you couldn’t find the keys? Have you ever led a worship set where you started in the wrong key, came in at the wrong time, and forgot the words – all in the same song? Situations like this have happened to all of us.

When the wise men brought their gifts to Jesus, they gave us a clear pattern for how Jesus desires to be worshipped. In addition, the very gifts they brought spoke of Jesus as the Son of God, the One worthy of our worship, and the suffering Savior. How beautiful He is!

Many of the accounts in Scripture are patterns for worship. That is, often when the writers of Scripture recount an event, the Holy Spirit is revealing a deeper truth about how the Lord desires to be worshipped. This is the first in a series on patterns for worship in the Bible.

As worship musicians, we have a lot to think about during a set: playing the right notes, staying with the band, reading chord charts, following cues from other musicians, adjusting the sound of our own instrument, and paying attention to what the Lord is doing in the room.

But there is something more important than executing a set perfectly or even following the leading of the Holy Spirit perfectly. It is our hearts.

Behold this Jesus. Behold Him on the cross, suffering, bleeding, dying.