Description of Christian Worship
by Ellyzabeth
by Ellyzabeth
Definition
Originally, the English word “worship” comes from the Anglo-Saxon / Old English word “weorthscipe” or “weordhscipe,” which means “worthship” or “worthiness.”[1] But what then is worship? One may consider the definition of William Temple, the late Archbishop of Canterbury, who rightly remarks, “To worship is to quicken the conscience by the holiness of God, to feed the mind with the truth of God, to purge the imagination by the beauty of God, to open the heart to the love of God, to devote the will to the purpose of God.”[2] Having those four verbs in mind, it would be seen as an offering of service to God of one’s whole self. But the question remains, where does the concept come from biblically?
In the Old Testament one term that is frequently translated “worship” is hawa, which means to bow down, make obeisance, do reverence, fall down, prostrate, stoop, crouch, and beseech humbly.[3] We see how the act of worship to God ought to be done. As we bow before God, we are reminded that it is our act of worship to God rendered out of reverence to Him. In other words, when we do a corporate worship, by all means we are encouraged to utter out our act due to our reverence to Him whom we worship.
Another Hebrew term, yare, meaning literally to “fear, to be afraid” and the related Greek term, phobeo, meaning literally to “be afraid, fear,” may also be used to express worship ideas. How does this relate to our act of worship to God? One of the relationships observed is to indicate our respect of reverence to God. It may be observed as our guidelines to worship God, in terms of wholeheartedly expressing our respect to Him. In other words, our fear of God serves as the guidelines for our inward attitude in doing our act of worship to Him. In line with that, other elements ought to be involved as well.[4]
In the New Testament the Greek term most often translated “worship” is proskuneo, meaning literally to “kiss the hand towards one” or to “prostrate oneself” before another in token of reverence.[5] The term is used 60 times in the whole New Testament. Basically, it means to pay reverence or homage to someone, usually by kneeling or prostrating oneself before him.[6] Furthermore, the term proskuneo has also got to do with cultural matters that applied to the common term in the worship practices.[7] In other words, the word proskuneo, in addition to being used to express the act of prostrating oneself before God as an act of worship, was also commonly used for the worship of pagan gods. In regard to cultural matters, many ancient New Eastern peoples (especially Persians) used proskuneo to refer to the common practice of bowing as a salutation. The word was subsequently used by Greek writers to express one’s act of worship to God.
Another Greek word for worship, leitourgia, from which the word “liturgy” is derived, is usually translated “ministry” or “service.”[8] Literally it refers to the action of worshippers, particularly the service a Christian renders to God in faith and obedience. In other words, all our works of ministry ought to be understood as worship; our ministry ought to be considered part of our worship.
Having discussed the biblical words used for worship, ultimately, one may conclude that worship involves our action, our ministry or service to God, our prostrating ourselves to Him. The next question to consider is: “What constitutes worship, in other words, what is the essence of worship?”
Essence
The celebration of God is considered one of the essences of worship. When we worship God, we celebrate Him, we extol Him, we sound His praises, we boast in Him.[9] The question is, how does the celebration of God happen? Here Judson Cornwall explains, “The true essence of worship is when His Spirit bears witness with our spirit, triggering the human spirit to respond in love and adoration to God Almighty.”[10] In other words, the celebration of God is a response to Him for what He has done for the individual. Yet, that is not enough. One’s response to God flows out of one’s relationship with Him. The indwelling Spirit of God will enable us to respond to Him. Indeed, as we celebrate God it also means we worship Him. At the same time, worship involves relationship with God. With that, one may ask, how would a sinner be able to have a relationship with a God who is holy and transcendent in His attributes? The answer to that is clear, only the indwelling Spirit of God enables us to worship Him. The Word of God reminds us that, “The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God” (Romans 8:16). Only in this way are we enabled to worship God as He desires, for only those who have received the Spirit have the mind of Christ (1 Corinthians 2:16).
Another aspect of the essence of worship is that God’s love desires our love. That is, He desires a mutual relationship with His human creatures. Yet, one must bear in mind that as God’s creatures, the matter of worshipping Him does not come from the idea that human beings can do something great for God. For one to have this in mind is faulty. To phrase it another way, the true essence of worship is that God desires us to express our love to Him through our complete devotion in all faithfulness. By so doing, our mutual relationship with God as what He desires will be fulfilled. At the same time, the purpose of Westminster Shorter Catechism will also be observed, “Man’s chief end is to glorify God, and to enjoy Him forever.”[11] But how is this worship practiced in the context of the church?
Perspective
In this section, the discussion will be from the perspective of worship in a church setting. It is important to have a clear and right perspective of worship in a church setting, for by having so, a church will automatically have a right concept about worship. By way of example, Bruce Leafblad wrongly states that worship ought to have first place in all church ministry:
If God is to be first in our lives and first in our churches, then worship must come ahead of everything else we do. Worship is that process in which we make God first in our lives. … The worship comes first; then the work and the works follow.[12]
In other words, Leafblad sees worship as the first of all ministries or work, or rather, something that precedes all other works or ministries in a church. The question remains, should this be our perspective of worship in a church setting?
As we saw in the first section in this chapter, worship involves our action, our ministry or service to God, our prostrating ourselves to Him. Hence, for Leafblad to claim that worship should precede any other work is fallacious. Indeed, all our works of ministry ought to be understood as worship; our ministry ought to be considered part of our worship. Worship is not something that precedes the work, the work is worship. Ultimately, any ministry must be seen as an act of our worship to God. When we have this concept of worship and ministry to God, ultimately our ministry will become fruitful, for we are conscious that our ministry is our act of worship to God. Another important element to know is, what should the attitude of a true worshipper be.
Attitude
Since God desires true worshippers, we need to understand the characteristics of true worshippers. A true worshipper should have a vital relationship with God as well as a correct attitude in his worship. In other words, not only one should have a relationship with God in order to be a true worshipper, yet a correct attitude must also be included as it goes along. From Mark 12:30-31, we can examine one’s true attitude toward God, “thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength." According to Jesus, this is the greatest commandment, He added that the second is to “Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. There is none other commandment greater than these.” Basically, these verses show the attitude one should have, that is, one should love the Lord his God wholeheartedly. Yet bear in mind, that loving God is not quite the same as worshipping God. Hence, one may ask, how is this associated with worship?
In regard to attitude, it does matter in our worship of God. Yet, that statement is not enough to link the worship part with one’s attitude, such as loving God as mentioned earlier in Mark 12:30-31. It is apparent that the passage (Mark 12:30-31) does not have any association with worship at all. Yet, when one claims that he loves the Lord with all his heart and with all his soul and with all his mind and with all his strength; consequently, his attitude will influence his worship of God. In other words, one’s attitude in loving God wholeheartedly stimulates his inward attitude to God; whether or not he will express allegiance in term of worshiping Him. At the same time, his attitude to God in term of loving Him will also affect his grateful submission to God so that he will serve the Lord wholeheartedly for what He has done which also being part of our act of worship to God. Here, the relation of worship is seen in terms of leitourgia, that is “ministry” or “service.”
In the Old Testament there were times when the Lord expressed his dislike of the worship of His children, for they were wrong in their inner heart. On one occasion He said, “And when ye spread forth your hands, I will hide mine eyes from you: yea, when ye make many prayers, I will not hear: your hands are full of blood.” (Isaiah 1:15). The question remains, what kind of attitudes are required in order for worship to be acceptable? In the following section we will mention a few points in regard to attitudes one needs to express. The importance of the points is not necessarily related to their order. Firstly, a broken-spirit is required.[13] As the Psalmist says, “The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit: a broken and a contrite heart, O God, thou wilt not despise” (Psalm 51:17).
Secondly, humility is required.[14] By way of example, 2 Chronicles 7:14 helps us understand why the attitude of humility is required for our worship of God. As the passage says, “If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.” Here, the passage portrays the idea of humility in repentance before the Lord. In the original context, God appeared to Solomon, telling him that if His people (the Israelites) would do those elements (humbling themselves, praying, seeking God’s face, and turning from their wicked ways), then, and only then, would God hear their petitions. In relation to our worship of God, when we come into His presence, we ought to humble ourselves before Him, for in so doing the Lord will hear our petitions and most of all, our worship will be accepted. Never do we see the Lord proclaiming that He dwells with the proud, but on the contrary He says that He detests the proud heart (Proverbs 16:5). Indeed, worshipping God in a true manner ought to be done with a humble spirit as we manifest our gratitude to God’s love.
Thirdly, worshippers of God are to hunger and thirst for righteousness. This idea comes from Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount, specifically from the Beatitudes. Matthew 5:6 reads, “Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled.” It is apparent that God desires those who hunger and thirst for righteousness. John Stott identifies three aspects of righteousness referred in the Bible. They are:
Legal righteousness is justification, a right relationship with God; Moral righteousness is that righteousness of character and conduct which pleases God; and Social righteousness that concerned with seeking man’s liberation from oppression, together with the promotion of civil rights, justice in the law courts, integrity in business dealings and honor in home and family affairs. Thus Christians are committed to hunger for righteousness in the whole human community as something pleasing to a righteous God.[15]
The ‘moral righteousness’ category, as defined by Stott, will be more applicable in one’s act of worship to God. Again, Stott identifies this “hunger and thirst for righteousness” as “an inner righteousness of heart, mind and motive.”[16] In other words, one who attains a true heart, mind and motive in regard to ‘moral righteousness’ is a worshipper who God desires as he worships the Lord.
Another Beatitude which helps us develop a correct attitude toward worship is “Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven” (Matthew 5:3). Here, being “poor in spirit” refers to humble dependence on God. It may also refer to having a contrite and humble spirit. John Stott explains, “Thus, to be ‘poor in spirit’ is to acknowledge our spiritual poverty, indeed our spiritual bankruptcy, before God. For we are sinners, under the holy wrath of God, and deserving nothing but the judgment of God.”[17] In relation to worship, if one attains this attitude, he will always be aware of his need to be with God, that is, to have a mutual relationship with God. He will often be reminded that as a sinner, he needs God to support his Christian life on earth, for sinners are vulnerable to many kinds of temptations. In other words, his relationship with God, which can be observed from his attitude of being ‘poor in spirit,’ will influence his act of worship. Having discussed the attitudes, what should be the object of our worship?
Object
As believers, we ought to have God as our object
of worship, for God is worthy of worship. In this regard,
Worship, then, is not a means to an end; it is an end in itself. God is the object – the only possible object – of our worship as believers. Lesser objectives, worthy though they may be in themselves, become idolatrous if they are the focus of our worship. In the worship relationship, we will be preoccupied with God, not with other things or with ourselves.[18]
Revelation 5:11-14 also clearly shows us how God is worthy of worship - even the citizens of heaven worship Him.
And I beheld, and I heard the voice of many angels round about the throne and the beasts and the elders: and the number of them was ten thousand times ten thousand, and thousands of thousands; Saying with a loud voice, Worthy is the Lamb that was slain to receive power, and riches, and wisdom, and strength, and honour, and glory, and blessing. And every creature which is in heaven, and on the earth, and under the earth, and such as are in the sea, and all that are in them, heard I saying, Blessing, and honour, and glory, and power, be unto him that sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb for ever and ever. And the four beasts said, Amen. And the four and twenty elders fell down and worshipped him that liveth for ever and ever.[19]
Another classic description of the object of
worship is John 4:24, which says, “God is a Spirit: and they that
worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth.” The reason for
this is found in the previous verse, which says, “…, for the Father
seeketh such to worship him.” As we do our acts of
worship to God, we ought to have this concept of worship, that is
the ‘spirit and truth.’ In this regard, David Peterson concludes
that Jesus is not the object of worship, which is what
The expression ‘in spirit and truth’ suggests
that Jesus is to be the means by which this new worship is to be
inaugurated. The two key words ‘spirit and ‘truth’ are closely
connected in John’s portrait of Christ. No one can see the
In the next section we shall see the biblical
basis for worship.
[1] “The meaning connotes actions motivated by an attitude that reveres, honors, or describes the worth of another person or object. In the context of the OT and NT worship refers specifically to worship of the divine. Worship is seen as reverent devotion and service to God motivated by God’s saving acts in history.” R. P. Martin, “Worship,” in The International Standard Bible Encyclopedia, ed. Geoffrey W. Bromiley, Volume 4 (Grand Rapids, Michigan: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 1988), 1118.
[2] William
Temple, The Hope of a
[3] “Formerly this was analyzed as a Hithpael of shaha. Cognate with the Ugaritic hwy “to bow down,” used in parallel with kbd “to honor,” the verb occurs 170 times, in the majority of cases of the worship of God, gods, or idols. The Greek word proskuneo, which is used to translate hishtahawa 148 times in the LXX, had a semantic development similar to the Hebrew word. Like it proskuneo can mean either “prostration” or “worship.”” Edwin Yamauchi, “hawa,” in Theological Wordbook of the Old Testament, ed. R. Laird Harris, Volume 1 (Chicago: Moody Press, 1980), 267-268.
[4]
“They were keeping His commandments (e.g. Deut. 5:29; 6:2,
24; Eccles. 12:13), obeying His
voice (e.g.1 Sam. 12:14; Hag. 1:12), walking in His
ways (e.g. Deut. 8:6; 10:12; 2 Chr. 6:31), turning away from
evil (e.g. Job 1:1, 8; 2:3; 28:28; Prov. 3:7), and serving
Him (e.g. Deut. 6:13; 10:20; Josh. 24:14; Jonah 1:9).” D. G.
Peterson, “Worship,” in New Dictionary of Biblical
Theology, ed. T.D. Alexander and Brian S. Rosner
(Leicester: Inter-Varsity Press, 2000), 856-857.
[5]
“Occasionally this terminology is used in the New Testament
with reference to those going up to Jerusalem in the
traditional way to pay homage to God at the temple (e.g.,
John 12:20; Acts 8:27). However, mostly it is used to
describe the response that people make to Jesus in His
earthly ministry (e.g., Matthew 14:33; 28:29, 17; John 9:28)
or to God and the Lamb in the heavenly realm (e.g.,
Revelation 4:10; 5:14). David Peterson, “Worship in the New
Testament,” in Worship: Adoration and Action, ed. D.
A. Carson (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Baker Books, 1993), 53.
[6] Spiros Zodhiates, ed. The Complete Word Study Dictionary: New Testament (Chattanooga, Tennessee: AMG Publishers, 1992), 1234.
[7] “From earliest times, this term expressed the oriental custom of bowing down or casting oneself on the ground, kissing the feet, the hem or a garment or the ground, as a total bodily gesture of respect before a great one (e.g. Gen. 18:2; Exod. 18:7; 2 Sam. 14:4). Applied to the gods of paganism, it meant bending over or falling down before an image or making some literal gesture of homage to the god. At an early stage, it also came to be used for the inward attitude of homage or respect which the outward gesture represented. In the OT, this gesture expressed surrender or submission to the living and true God. Sometimes it was an immediate and spontaneous reaction to a divine action or revelation, specifically motivated by awe and gratitude (e.g. Gen. 24:26-27, 52; Exod. 4:31; 34:8; Judg. 7:15)….” D. G. Peterson, “Worship,” in New Dictionary of Biblical Theology, 856.
[8] “While the
primary use in the Old Testament was cultic, describing the
service of the priests and Levites in the sanctuary, the New
Testament use is rarely so. The New Testament describes
Christ as the High Priest ‘who serves in the (heavenly)
sanctuary’ (Hebrew 8:10). But more often it describes the
worship of one’s heart (Acts 24:14b), of serving in the
preaching of the gospel (
[9] Ronald Allen and Gordon Borror, Worship: Rediscovering the Missing Jewel, A Critical Concern Book (Portland: Multnomah, 1982), 18.
[10] Judson
Cornwall, Let Us Worship: The Believer’s Response to God
(Plainfield, New Jersey: Bridge Publishing Inc., 1983), 17.
[11] “The
Shorter Catechism, Question 1,” in The Confession of
Faith (n.p., The Publications Committee of the Free
Presbyterian Church of
[12] Bruce
Leafblad, Music, Worship, and the Ministry of the Church
(Portland, Oregon: Western Conservative Baptist Seminary,
1978), 21.
[13] “David
uses the Hebrew word shabor which means to shiver, to
break to pieces, or to reduce. A spirit that trembles in
God’s presence, or has been broken into multiple pieces, is
classified as an acceptable sacrifice in worshipping God. He
does not indicate whether the spirit may have been broken by
God, by the worshipper, or by the harsh realities of life;
he just indicates that no matter what has broken us, that
brokenness can be brought to God in sweet surrender, and it
is accepted as an attitude of worship.”
[14]
[15] John R. W. Stott, The Message of the Sermon on the Mount: Christian Counter-Culture (Leicester: Inter-Varsity Press, 1992), 45.
[16] Stott,
The Message of the Sermon on the Mount, 45.
[17] Stott, The Message of the Sermon on the Mount, 38-39.
[18] Paul A.
Richardson, “The Primacy of Worship,” Review and
Expositor 85 (Winter 1988), 10.
[19] “Almost all the qualities here are ascribed to Christ elsewhere in the New Testament: power (1 Corinthians 1:24), wealth (2 Corinthians 8:9; Ephesians 3:8), wisdom (1 Corinthians 1:24), strength (Ephesians 6:10; 2 Thessalonians 1:9), honor (Hebrew 2:9; cf. Philippians 2:11), and glory (John 1:14); Hebrew 2:9). ‘Blessing’ (NIV praise) is not specifically used of him, but the corresponding verb is (Mark 11:9-10; cf. Romans 15:29). There cannot be the slightest doubt that the Lamb is to be reckoned with God and as God.” Leon Morris, Revelation, Tyndale New Testament Commentaries, Revised edition (Grand Rapids, Michigan: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1987), 99.
[20] David Peterson, “Worship in the New Testament,” 63.