How To Write Worship Songs

In the Bible, it says to sing a new song to the Lord in several of the Psalms and in Isaiah 42:10. Have you tried writing a ‘new song’? In this article, I’ll share with you some ideas for writing worship songs. One of the best sources for songwriting ideas is found in the Bible.

The psalms were originally songs sung by writers like King David. Using music to convey the truths in the Bible is a great place to get ideas for the lyrics. If you look at our most popular worship songs, they are based on God’s truths. ‘How Great Thou Art‘ is a beautiful illustration of this. Although the song was written in an earlier century, the song is still sung today and loved in many cultures.

You can put whole sections of the Bible to music or get take some ideas and create a song around specific concepts. A while back I wrote a little song on Jeremiah 9:23-24. That verse talks about not boasting about ourselves but boasting about our relationship with our God who exhibits lovingkindness, justice, and righteousness on earth.

Thus says the LORD, “Let not a wise man boast of his wisdom, and let not the mighty man boast of his might, let not a rich man boast of his riches; but let him who boasts boast of this, that he understands and knows Me, that I am the LORD who exercises lovingkindness, justice and righteousness on earth; for I delight in these things,” declares the LORD.

There are simple chord patterns that work well with most songs called the I, IV, and V chords. You can see these in the ‘Common Chord Charts’ that are free with our newsletters and it’s also taught in Volume Two of the Worship Guitar Class lessons.

This one is in the key of ‘D’. A common way to write songs is to alternate between verses and the chorus. Here’s the little song I wrote:

If you would like a few ideas of how to change a song, check out 4 Ways To Change a Song.