What is worship?

Give to the Lord the glory due His name; bring an offering, and come before Him. Oh, worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness. Tremble before Him, all the earth. (I Chronicles 16:28-30)

Defining worship

Reverent honor and homage paid to God or a sacred personage, or to any object regarded as sacred

Dictionary.com

This is very often associated with outward demonstration of worship.

And the man bowed down his head, and worshipped the Lord (Abraham’s servant in Genesis 24:26)

When the wise men saw Jesus they “fell down” and worshipped him. (Matthew 2:11)

In many other places the bible also speaks specifically of kneeling or bowing down as part of worship.

In most cases when the bible says that someone “worshiped” Jesus, although it’s not always stated, it seems likely that the text is often referring to their outward action.

Worship and service

Various Hebrew and Greek words are all translated into the English word “worship”. E.g.

Aboda (Hebrew) – Worship, often associated with Temple service

Latreuo (Greek) – Worship, in other contexts the same word is translated as “service”.

The connection is obvious. When you bow down to someone you do so because they are your superior and you therefore are at their service.

In the context of religion, it is largely about an active choice to serve God (or a false ‘god’). Any outward act of worship is simply reflecting the hearts choice to honor and serve one’s god / God.

Worship could be seen as closely related to what Paul is talking about in the following verse:

I beseech you therefore brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service¹ (Romans 12:1)

Worship in the spirit

Obviously as Christians we are more concerned with a form of worship that comes from the heart. Heartfelt worship, not just the outward form.

Jesus said:

…the hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth; for the Father is seeking such to worship Him (John 4:23)

Those who have the Holy Spirit enter into a divine communion with God when they “worship him in the beauty of holiness” (excerpt from I Chronicles 16:28-30). True spiritual worship of God requires holiness, as without this essential aspect of the character of God there can be no true communion with him. Obviously this is a combination of us walking with God, and grace to fill the vast gap left by our imperfection.

What worship is not

Worship is not a feeling, (though feeling is bound to be present). It is possible to have a “worship feeling” when worshiping an idol. By contrast, it is possible to worship God while feeling utterly miserable. After everything Job had was destroyed he fell to the ground and worshiped God. It was an active choice but not a “feel good” experience.

Worship is not praise. Praise is a giving of thanks, often in song and often accompanied by music.

I will sing a new song to You, O God; on a harp of ten strings, will I sing praises to You. (Psalm 144:9)

Worship is not love. You can love your parents without honoring or being of service to them, though of course the genuineness of your love is called into question if you actions do not match. From a Christian perspective the Lord’s love for us and our response is deeply involved with our decision to worship God, but love and worship are not the same thing. After all, even unbelievers will worship God on the day when

…every knee shall bow and every tongue confess to God (Romans 14:11)

God is jealous for our worship

All those who worship the beast (probably meaning the end-times kingdom) will be judged and will not enter the kingdom of God (Rev 11:14)

The first commandment was that we should have no other God’s besides Jehovah, and the second was that we shouldn’t bow down to serve (or worship) any idol. Our choice of worship is therefore right at the heart of matters between God and man.

The western world doesn’t have too many idols, but we do have a culture of pride, materialism, immorality, etc. In Pagan times these were all associated with “gods”. If we choose to follow the world’s ways, then we effectively choose to worship (and serve) its false god’s. Jesus said that:

…whoever commits sin is a slave of sin. (John 8:34)

Worship in church

In many churches worship has become a synonym for music. Of course, singing can be very conducive to worshiping God from our hearts; but in itself it is not worship. Worship has become associated with a “feel good” experience, but warm fuzzies towards God are not worship.

Is it therefore worship when people have a wonderful experience at church but do not really follow God in their lives? Even unbelievers are capable of strong emotion. A commitment to honor and serve God is something quite different. True worship may require sacrifices that do not feel good at all.

Challenges

Do we really understand the heart of worship?

Would we still worship God, as Job did, in the face of total disaster?

Are their things holding us back from true worship of our creator?