What is Worship?

partially based on ‘I Believe in the Church’,,Chapter 12, pp 179-182 , David Watson, 1985,

Clevedon – 18/11/2013

In this first session I shall talk about the fundamental principles of worship. The methods, the practicalities etc. I shall leave to later sessions. Firstly let us lay the foundations, and try and get a deeper understanding of the basics.

“The primary task of the Church is to worship God. Even before the obvious evangelism and missionary work, God’s people are called to be a worshiping community” Westminster catechism (107 questions and answers in shorter version) Question 1. What is the chief end of man?  Answer 1: Man's chief end is to glorify God, and to enjoy him for ever. This powerfully concise summary we take from scriptures such as those that follow.

Ps. 86:9;

All the nations you have made will come and worship before you, Lord; they will bring glory to your name.

God’s purpose is that people from all nations shall worship

Isa. 60:21;

Then all your people will be righteous and they will possess the land forever. They are the shoot I have planted, the work of my hands, for the display of my splendor.

We are like  branches of a vine planted by God, planted to produce a wonderful display to the glorify God.

1 Peter 2:4-5

4 As you come to him, the living Stone—rejected by humans but chosen by God and precious to him— 5 you also, like living stones, are being built into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood, offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.

Jesus is the living stone chosen by God and we too are living stones, chosen by God, to be built into a place where God has a home. We are also holy priests, chosen servants, made to offering sacrificial praise to God.

Ephesian 1:11-12

11 In him we were also chosen, having been predestined according to the plan of him who works out everything in conformity with the purpose of his will, 12 in order that we, who were the first to put our hope in Christ, might be for the praise of his glory.

We were made by God for the praise His glory, for the purposes of worshiping him.

1 Cor. 6:20;

19 Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; 20 you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your bodies.

We are, within ourselves  to be  holy places for the Holy Spirit. The word says we belong now to God, so we should honor him with our lives.  

1 Cor.10:31

31 So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God.

Everything we do, whatever we do, whenever we do what we do, do it all for the glory of God, every part of our lives should be worship.

Rev. 4:11

8 Each of the four living creatures had six wings and was covered with eyes all around, even under its wings. Day and night they never stop saying: “‘Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty,’ who was, and is, and is to come.” 9 Whenever the living creatures give glory, honor and thanks to him who sits on the throne and who lives for ever and ever, 10 the twenty-four elders fall down before him who sits on the throne and worship him who lives for ever and ever. They lay their crowns before the throne and say: 11 “You are worthy, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power, for you created all things, and by your will they were created and have their being.”

All of creation is designed by God, from the beginning to the end, to give glory, honour and worship to God

See also (Ps. 16:5-11; 144:15; Isa. 12:2; Luke 2:10; Phil. 4:4; Rev. 21:3-4)

'All other activities in the church can never be a substitute for worship. If we neglect this first call on our lives, we will become like a spiritually desert within ourselves. We will have nothing of lasting value to offer the world and we dishonour God'

So what is worship? The roots of Christian worship are found in the old testament. There are two hebrew words used for worship. The first is hishahawah, which literally means ‘a bowing down’ . When we worship we open up our minds, our bodies, our spirits to the possibility of God’s presence: The Father God who is above us, The brotherly God Jesus who is always among us, and the comforter Spirit who is God within us. In faith we trust and believe that the Almighty creator God, creator and sustainer of the universe cares for us, knows us, loves us. In worship we prostrate ourselves spiritually, face down before the Living God. This is not entertainment, this is not something to pass the time while we have nothing better to do. This is not a gap filler in our sunday services, this is not something that is an optional extra. As Jesus says, (John 4:23)

23 Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in the Spirit and in truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks.

In worship, all our self reliance, all our stubbornness, all our pride is bowed down in truth, before the Living Lord Jesus. There is nothing more simple than this worship. There is nothing so true and profound as this kind of worship. When the word of prophecy came to Jehoshaphat (2 Chron. 14-18) he and the nation were in great trouble, they needed God’s help, boy did they need His help

17 You will not have to fight this battle. Take up your positions; stand firm and see the deliverance the Lord will give you, Judah and Jerusalem. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged. Go out to face them tomorrow, and the Lord will be with you 18 Jehoshaphat bowed down with his face to the ground, and all the people of Judah and Jerusalem fell down in worship before the Lord.

They ‘bowed down’ in worship, in response to God. In the New testament we read many example of worshipers bowing down. Math 2:11, 4:9, 26:39,Act 10:25, Rev 4:10,  St Paul reminds the church, 1 Cor 14:24-25

24 But if an unbeliever or an inquirer comes in while everyone is prophesying, they are convicted of sin and are brought under judgment by all, 25 as the secrets of their hearts are laid bare. So they will fall down and worship God, exclaiming, “God is really among you!”

In true worship we acknowledge and understand, more fully, who God is. We also acknowledge and understand, more fully who we are. This is why confession of sins is vital in worship. For when we start to see the holiness of God, we recognise our own many shortcomings. If our sunday ‘worship’ avoids the truth about our sin, are we truly drawing near to the Holy God? If we arrange sunday ‘worship’ in our church that avoids this ‘bowing down’ before him is it not luke warm, is it true worship?  

The second hebrew word used for worship is abodah that means ‘service’. So true worship not only involves praising with our hearts but also serving him with our lives. (see Rom 12). Read Psalm 116.

16 Truly I am your servant, Lord;  I serve you just as my mother did; you have freed me from my chains. 17 I will sacrifice a thank offering to you and call on the name of the Lord.

Worship is a sacrificial response of our heart to God. It is a response of our heart that begins with what God has already done in our hearts. Until the Spirit of God reveals something of who God is to us we cannot truly worship God. I believe that this should be our prayer as worship leaders, that God, through His Spirit, would reveal Himself to us, and to the church, so that we can more honestly worship Him in Spirit and in truth for this is what God wants.

So worship is a response and a submission to God. When the Spirit of God touches our heart we become more aware of our own sins. Through our confession and His forgiveness we are released in our minds to believe.  We are freed from the chains of fear and failure that bind us. We grow in faith, to the possibilities of God, our heart begin to open up to His love, and as a people, as a church we begin to surrender our will to his purposes. In our adoration of Jesus we begin to see the transformational purposes of God in our lives. We feel and know deep within that we are a small part of His plans and purposes, we know deep within that we are his sons and daughters.

As worship leaders, our role, within the church should be to point to the Lord Jesus, to direct our brothers and sisters to the one true and living God. Our sunday services are not entertainment, and should not be designed to maximise customer satisfaction. We are not trying to model an even naffer version of X factor or some soft rock band from the 80’s. In this generation I believe we have lost our vision of the prophetic nature of our worship. What are our sunday services all about? We are not to copy the ways of the world, but we are to become an image of what God is doing in the world. God is living and active, we are to get in step with what He is doing in the world and not be semi-detached from His purposes and plans. Our lives of loving sacrificial ‘service’ and our ‘bowing down’ in adoration is our true worship, and we are to be a worshiping community.

As worship leaders our role is like that of the prophets, to call a people back to a truer, deeper picture of worship. Not just song singing, not just activity for activity's sake, but fellowship with Jesus; whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God.  In our services we need to recover, and re-connect with this truer and deeper view of worship, rediscovering the reverence and awe of God.

We can chose to stay on edge of the river, or we can dive in, into the depths of God, let us encourage one another to go deep. And we do need to pray and encourage one another to return and rest in the depths of God. For when we allow God to be God among us, we will see as Paul says in 1 Cor 14 people ‘convicted of their sins as the secrets of their hearts are laid bare. So they will fall down and worship God, exclaiming, “God is really among you!”