I have a confession to make: after high school I stopped listening to worship music. I still heard my fair share of new worship songs on Sunday morning, but for me the last decade has just been a blur of worship songs that all sound the same. It’s not that I had anything against worship music (although I could think of a few things if I put my mind to it), it just bored me. Something’s changed recently though. Maybe my musical tastes have matured since high school (let’s hope so anyway). Or it could just be I get desperate to come up with enough songs to fill my weekly new release playlist on Spotify. Whatever the case I’ve found myself listening to more worship music than I have in a long time lately. And after hearing “Reckless Love” (again) in church yesterday morning I decided it might be time to share a few of those songs I’ve listening to with everyone else. I’m not saying these songs are “better” the songs you’ll here on your local Christian radio station or that you won’t find them boring. It’s just a sampling of the songs I’ve been enjoying and I hope that you might too.

1. “Son of God” by Chris Renzema

I added “Son of God” to my personal Spotify playlist back in December and then spent the next couple of months checking my phone every time it came up in shuffle because I didn’t recognize it. I guess I was just a bit shocked to find a worshipful folk-rock song that I didn’t want to skip when it came on.

2. “I Am Jonah” by Lion of Judah

Lion of Judah might be favorite worship band of this decade. This one really grew on me after listening to some podcasts on the book of Jonah. It’s a convicting song wrapped in fun synth-pop, what’s not to like?

3. “Home” by Eikon’s

Did I mention I’m a sucker for synth-pop? It’ll come as no surprised then that I’ve been listening to “Home” a lot then. The really cool part about this song (and album actually) is that you can listen to same (admittedly more acoustic) version in Portuguese! I really like the way Eikon has worked with other artists to make their albums in other languages. It’s just a little reminder that the church is bigger than just my congregation.

4. “Psalm 42” by Ross King & Matt Papa

Is it cheating to include a Psalm in list of worship songs? I hope not. This song is scripture set to music. It’s both amazing to hear to a Psalm sung like a song and refreshing to hear Christian song filled with lament and doubt for a change.

5. “Shepherd and the Lamb” by Warrior Worship

The most recent song on the list, this one would be easy to miss. It’s buried in the middle of a Christian conference album (which itself isn’t too bad) I nearly skipped over it when I was listening for new tracks to add to my Spotify playlist. If you’re looking for a more modern-ish style not commonly found in worship this one might be worth checking out. You can download it for free on SoundCloud.

6. “We Won’t Be Different Alone” by Switch

I think I like this one just because it reminds me of what I’ve been dwelling on a lot this year: it’s hard to follow Christ in isolation. As I mentioned in my Best of 2017 list last year when talking about Colony House’s album Only the Lonely, we need each other. And that extends into the church too of course. Being part of the church isn’t easy, but it’s important. You can download this song for free here.

7. “Redemption Begins” by Anthem Worship

I add a lot of electronic worship music to my Spotify playlist. It rarely sticks around long. There’s just so much of it. This is one of the better ones in recent memory though.

8. “All to Him” by Revelation Worship

I just like this one for it’s opening guitar riff. It’s pretty typical worship fare (apart from being an Indonesian band anyway), but something about it reminds me of a song from the mid-00’s (you know, back when I was in high school and still listened to worship music) that I can’t place. Anyway, I like it and that’s what matters.

9. “Our Finest Hour (Retro 80s Rock)” by Heart of God Church

I mean the title pretty much says it all doesn’t it?

10. “On My Way Back Home” by North Point InsideOut

I’m not really into southern rock style, but I’m glad to see that artists like Crowder have brought a little diversity into worship music. If you like NEEEDTOBREATHE, Third Day, or Crowder this one is for you.

11. Here For You – Instrumental by Bright City

Is it bad that I like this instrumental version of Matt Redman’s song “Here For You” better than the original? The trippy video to accompany it is just a bonus. In fact, streaming the whole album on YouTube is pretty great if you just want something to play in the background.

12. Passing Away by Wilder Adkins

What worship music list would be complete without a hymn? In this case it’s a bit more obscure hymn by Charles Wesley. Wilder Adkins does a great job of making simple but beautiful version of the song.

There you have it. Those are the worship songs I’ve been listening to this year. What about you? Have you listened to any worship music this year you’d like to share with us? Leave it in the comments below!