Christian issues: what is worship?

Christians are to worship God but many don't know what that means. What is worship? How are we supposed to worship? What are the elements of worship?

God alone is worthy of our worship. “For great is the LORD, and greatly to be praised: he also is to be feared above all gods.” (1 Chronicles 16:25) But God is three persons in one, the Holy Trinity, so we worship God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit. “But the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeketh such to worship him.” (John 4:23, See also Matthew 2:11)

Worship is a response to God’s love and provision for us. “And the people believed: and when they heard that the LORD had visited the children of Israel, and that he had looked upon their affliction, then they bowed their heads and worshipped.” (Exodus 4:31) It is our way of giving God the honor that He deserves. “Give unto the LORD the glory due unto his name: bring an offering, and come before him: worship the LORD in the beauty of holiness.” (1 Chronicles 16:29)

Worship that is meaningful should spring from obedient and Christlike living. “I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.” (Romans 12:1) We all know people who worship from their pews on Sunday and live like hell the rest of the week. Their worship is not genuine, acceptable or pleasing to God; it’s all show and no substance.

Corporate (church wide) worship should be reverent and orderly. “Let all things be done decently and in order.” (1 Corinthians 14:40) Church worship services are an organized, structured meeting with God. Worship services combine many elements of approaching God, like praise, prayer, thanksgiving, music, and communion.

Praise is a form of adoration and it is an integral part of worship. “I will declare thy name unto my brethren: in the midst of the congregation will I praise thee.” (Psalms 22:22) Praise is the verbal recognition of God’s greatness and mercy. We can praise God in several ways, with music and singing, with uplifted hands, with testimony to His greatness or simply by speaking His praises.

Thanksgiving is an important part of worship. Here we acknowledge all the things that God has done for us and offer Him our thanks. “Enter into his gates with thanksgiving, and into his courts with praise: be thankful unto him, and bless his name.” (Psalms 100:4) This is a joyful part of our worship. Joy is an excellent form of worship in its own right. “O come, let us sing unto the LORD: let us make a joyful noise to the rock of our salvation.” (Psalms 95:1)

Music and song are a delightful part of worship. So is the sharing of the word of God. “Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom; teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord.” (Colossians 3:16) Notice how the Scripture indicates that we teach with psalms and hymns? Many of our hymns are derived from the Scriptures and carry a message that bears attention.

Confession of Christ as Lord is an important part of Christian worship services. Worship services are largely an opportunity to thank Christ for His sacrifice for us. “By him therefore let us offer the sacrifice of praise to God continually, that is, the fruit of our lips giving thanks to his name.” (Hebrews 13:15) Our praise is our sacrifice for His sacrifice of life. Confessing, or telling, what He has done for us is our obligation and our joy.

Another kind of confession that is a part of our worship is the confession of our sin. “Take with you words, and turn to the LORD: say unto him, Take away all iniquity, and receive us graciously: so will we render the calves of our lips.” (Hosea 14:2) Confession of sin cleans our spirit and lets us come closer to God. For this reason, it should be done as one of the first parts of our worship service so that we present our worship with a clean spirit. Confession can be done privately in prayer or corporately as responsive prayer. No matter how it is done, it must be done with sincerity to be acceptable.

Participation in sincere worship of God brings blessings to us. “And ye shall serve the LORD your God, and he shall bless thy bread, and thy water; and I will take sickness away from the midst of thee.” (Exodus 23:25) However, we shouldn’t worship expecting blessings in return. That kind of worship is not sincere, it’s like using God as a slot machine, pumping in quarters with the hope of a payoff. Rather, we should worship out of thanks for all that He has done for us.

Sincere worship will bring a sense of God’s presence. “It came even to pass, as the trumpeters and singers were as one, to make one sound to be heard in praising and thanking the LORD; and when they lifted up their voice with the trumpets and cymbals and instruments of music, and praised the LORD, saying, For he is good; for his mercy endureth for ever: that then the house was filled with a cloud, even the house of the LORD;” (2 Chronicles 5:13) This is what we hope for with our worship, to draw close to God and feel His active presence. Experiencing His presence is versus just knowing He is there is like the difference between writing a friend a letter and actually having the friend in our home. It’s all the difference in the world.

Worship is commanded but it is also our pleasure. Organized worship includes confession of sin, praise and thanksgiving, music and song and the confession of Jesus Christ as Lord. We please God with our sincere worship and we benefit by His blessings and His presence. We certainly can worship Him at home, privately, but corporate worship knits us together as the family of God. It’s an experience we should welcome.