What is Worship?

If worship belongs to God, then it’s up to God to define it. If we are really living our lives to please Him and not ourselves, we will not impose our own ideas on Him, but will prayerfully study what He has to say about every aspect of our lives, and learn to follow that. What does the Bible say about worship?

In Old Testament Hebrew, the word translated “worship” is shachah, which, according to Strong’s Concordance, means to “bow (self) down, crouch, fall down (flat), humbly beseech, do (make) obeisance, do reverence, make to stoop, worship.” If we take this literally, the only two seen regularly in our churches are to humbly beseech and to bow. Crouching, falling flat, stooping, or making obeisance (an old-fashioned kind of low bow made to royalty) are not only rare, but if they did happen many would look upon it with dismay and embarrassment.

In New Testament Greek there are several words for worship. There is one used for ceremonial worship of an idol, and one used for general devotion (for instance, speaking of Lydia, in Acts 16:14, or Justus, in 18:7, as “worshippers” of God). But by far the most common word used is proskuneo, which comes from pros, a prefix denoting nearness to or motion towards, and “a probable derivative of [kuon, dog] (meaning to kiss, like a dog licking his master’s hand); to fawn or crouch to, (lit. or fig.) prostrate oneself in homage (do reverence to, adore): worship.” We are given the option of taking it figuratively instead of literally. Very few of us today probably fawn, crouch, or prostrate ourselves, at least in public.

Maybe we will learn more useful things by looking at the activities of praise and worship described in Scripture. In the Old Testament, the term worship is often used simply to say someone went to the temple and participated in a feast day. Several places speak of worshipping “toward” Jerusalem or the temple. Perhaps this means literally prostrating themselves toward Jerusalem, as Muslims now do toward Mecca. When a specific action is associated with worship, as in Joshua 5:14, Psalm 95:6, Isa. 46:6, and in a number of verses in Dan. 3, the action is “bowing down.” Nebuchadnezzar would never have known the three Hebrews weren’t worshipping his idol if everyone hadn’t bowed to the ground, leaving them standing, exposed. It is exactly the same in the New Testament. Worship is used as a general term, but the only time a specific activity is described, it is bowing or falling down. See Matthew 4:9 (where the devil trying to get Christ to “fall down and worship” him), 1 Cor. 14:25, and Rev. 22:8. Does all this mean that when we do not prostrate ourselves in our churches, we are not truly worshipping God?

What about praise? What does the Bible have to say about praise? It is beyond the scope of this lesson to get anywhere near the full answer to that question. Praise is mentioned in the Bible over 400 times, and nearly 200 of those are in the Psalms, the songbook of Judaism and early Christianity. The kind of praise the Bible describes is nearly foreign to the Western mind. It is all about symbolism and imagery. There is nothing formal that can be studied or broken down into the formulae so dear to our “enlightened,” scientific minds. Biblical praise is simple, vague, and often redundant. Some Psalms, such as 136 (the antiphonal “For His love is everlasting”) almost seem like repetitive babbling and could be seen as going against Jesus’ teaching in Matthew 6:7 not to use “vain repetition.”

We need to look at the sanctuary service instituted by God. This was an entirely “audio-visual” service. When David was setting up for the new temple his son would build, he made arrangements for only three jobs. There were priests, for the sacrifice, lighting lamps and candles, and taking care of the showbread; Levites for taking care of the physical plant, and singers and musicians. Dozens of them.

There was no preaching or talking in these worship services, though there were times when the people were gathered and the Torah was read to them. The daily services, weekly Sabbaths, and feast days consisted of sacrifice, mourning, fasting, feasting, singing, and dancing.

Dancing is mentioned twenty-seven times in the Bible, and there are only three stories about it that are negative. The first is the story of the idolatrous orgy the Israelites held at the base of the mountain while God gave the law to Moses. Note that this dance was still done in worship, but false worship. The second is in the prophecy of Isa. 13:21, saying the land will be laid waste and “satyrs” (KJV) or “shaggy goats” (NASB) will dance there. The third is the dance of Salome for King Herod. In every other mention, dance is a positive thing, either of celebration, as when the prodigal son returned (Luke 15), or direct praise to God, as in Judges 21:21, or 2 Sam. 6:14, or Jer. 31:4. That last is an actual promise, in the words of God Himself.

Here are just a few of the actions given in the Bible as ways of praising God.

Singing - Psalm 100:2

Laughing - Psalm 126:2

Shouting - Psalm 5:11, 35:27

Dancing - Ps. 149:3

Raising hands - 1 Tim. 2:8

Clapping hands - Ps 47:1

Playing musical instruments - all kinds of musical instruments! - Ps. 149 and 150

For a concise (and noisy) definition of praise in one Psalm, look at the last one;

Psalm 150:1-6:

Praise the Lord!

Praise God in His sanctuary;

Praise Him in His mighty expanse.

Praise Him for His mighty deeds;

Praise Him according to His excellent greatness.

Praise Him with trumpet sound;

Praise Him with harp and lyre.

Praise Him with timbrel and dancing;

Praise Him with stringed instruments and pipe.

Praise Him with loud cymbals;

Praise Him with resounding cymbals.

Let everything that has breath praise the Lord.

Praise the Lord!

In fact, there is a song that sounds almost pagan (to modern ears) in Psalm 148 that calls on sun, moon, and stars, waters, fire and hail, clouds and wind, and more, to praise the Creator. This Psalm could perhaps help us build a bridge to our pagan friends. (If we are close enough to them to share this kind of thing, we could talk about how the earth praises the Lord and calls us to do the same, rather than calling us to praise and venerate nature or the earth itself.)

Worship and praise, in other words, were an art form. Or a collection of art forms. God clearly intended it to be a whole body experience. But are there any rules or cautions in the Bible? Yes. There’s one essential rule above all others. Love God, and Him only shall you serve. In fact, it is probably possible to find an example in the Bible of nearly every one of the above actions used for a sinful purpose, for worshipping false gods or harming people. Just like meditation, which can be used to draw near to God (Joshua 1:8) or can be used by wizards to try to contact the dead (Isa. 8:19), our acts of worship, and for that matter nearly everything else we do, can be dedicated to God or not. And “whatever is not from faith is sin.” (Romans 14:23) This is a broad and alarming definition, when you think of it. It appears to mean that you can even do right things and if you are not doing them from an attitude of faith, they are wrong!

It is common for some people to tell stories in which someone says that the music young people are listening to is “just like devil music.” The intent of these stories is to prove that there are kinds of music which are intrinsically right or wrong. In clear contrast to this attitude, in fact the Bible nowhere condemns any of these methods of praise. Instead, it condemns false principles and theology. Everything, in fact, that is not “from faith.”

Praise and worship, the Bible teaches, are not an option. They are required from each serious servant of God. At the same time, the techniques are up to us. Why? Because the most basic fact of praise and worship is that they come from the heart. If they don’t, they’re no more true than a spouse or lover learning a speech or practicing an action he or she has been told is good and loving and romantic, but he or she really doesn’t mean. It’s a lie. There can’t be anything worse than worship that is a lie. This is one thing about our Christian life that really is strongly attached to feeling and emotion. God created those, remember. They, like everything else, need

to be dedicated to Him.

But what about reverence? Well, let’s also check out the definition of reverence in the Bible. In Hebrew, believe it or not, it is the exact same term usually translated “worship.” Bow down, in other words. Then there is another word, and this one means to dread or fear. That is the one connected to the English word “awe.” It is a deep respect bordering on fear, a realization that this is the High King of the entire universe, who has enough power in His little finger to turn this world to ash. But doesn’t. An important point to remember.

In Greek, the word translated “revere” or “reverence” means to respect or give regard to. This is closer to our usual definition of reverence in English. Yet somehow reverence has come to be connected in many minds with silence.

Doesn’t the Bible say to be silent before God? Yes, in several places. Eccl. 3:7 says there is a time to keep silence. But the only places that say people should keep silence before the Lord, such as Isa. 41:1 and Zech 2:13, are in the context of judgment and punishment. Personal prayer, meditation and pondering, etc., may all be silent, or at least quiet activities. Jesus says in Matt 6:6 to go to your own room and pray secretly to God.