What does the Bible say about worship?
"The fuel of worship is a true vision of the greatness of God; the fire that makes the fuel burn white hot is the quickening of the Holy Spirit; the furnace made alive and warm by the flame of truth is our renewed spirit; and the resulting heat of our affections is powerful worship, pushing its way out in confessions, longings, acclamations, tears, songs, shouts, bowed heads, lifted hands and obedient lives."-John Piper
Worship is a word that can start a church fight faster than anything (with, perhaps, the exception of long-winded preachers who make us late to the Picadilly). However, it is a word that is used that can have a variety of different meanings depending upon who is using it.
For some, worship is anything that reflects tradition. For others, it is an emotional rush that one has when he/she attends a concert. Many believe that Christian worship seems a bit contrived. The vast multitude of us have no idea that we worship everyday-we are just worshipping false things and, therefore, idolaters.
With all of these things considered, what does the Bible really say?
We first see the word for worship in Genesis 22 when Abraham is about to sacrifice his son Isaac. Abraham trusts in the LORD to the point that he is willing to sacrifice his only son. On the way up the mountain, he says to the servants, “We are going to worship-and we are coming back.” This great display of trust reminds us that worship itself involves sacrifice.
In John 4, Jesus meets with a woman at a well-henceforth named “the woman at the well.” She has more life-issues than an entire Reba McEntire discography. She has been married multiple times and is now living with a man in order to pay her bills. She tries to separate herself from this nosy Jew and all of his questions by saying “we worship here-you worship there.” Jesus lets her know that a day is coming when true worshippers will worship in Spirit and in Truth.
In each of these scenarios, there are no choirs. There are no orders of worship.There is no special music, no organ, no guitar. There are no ushers. There are not even greeters with stale amalgamations of butterscotch and peppermint. The idea of worship is wrapped up in spirit, truth, and sacrifice. However, this great faith is not private-it was not designed to be.
What does the Bible say about corporate worship?
The Old Testament is full of very direct instructions on worship. Not only is God emphatically clear that He is worthy of worship, He also directs the people of Israel as to how they are to approach Him. In addition to the directions for sacrifices, offerings, attire, and attitudes of the worshippers, the Lord commanded praise from a variety of musical instruments. The trumpet, lute, hard, tambourine, strings, pipe, and cymbals are just a few of the instruments referenced in Psalm 150.
In the New Testament, we find that worship is a group effort for the sake of dealing with heart issues. Two of the primary Pauline passages used to discuss worship are:
- [16] Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God. [17] And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him. (Colossians 3:16-17 ESV)
- ...Be filled with the Spirit, [19] addressing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody to the Lord with your heart (Ephesians 5:18-19 ESV)
Each of these texts helps us to understand the importance of one’s heart in worship when gathered together with other believers. While we are called to be living sacrifices of worship, that sacrifice is effectively used by God in the lives of brothers and sisters as we gather together in response to all that is God and emphatically say, “Yes!” Is He good? “Yes!” Does He save? Yes! (The list goes on-I trust you get the point.)
What is to take place in corporate worship?
Corporate worship has a vertical direction with horizontal implications.
Singing is for teaching. Praise is for instruction. Adoration is for encouraging one another.
One of the popular ways that worship is ‘ordered’ finds its roots in Isaiah 6.
- God is great and glorious and to be praised (6:1-3)
- Man is fallen, sinful, and without hope(6:4-5)
- God is gracious and forgives-man is thankful (6:6-7)
- God speaks-man responds (6:8)
Each week, our hope is to celebrate these ideas as we gather to worship:
- We sing of His greatness
- We consider our lives apart from Him
- We are thankful and giving because of His forgiveness
- We hear from His Word
- We respond to His Word
Worship for us is a matter of us seeing, seeking, and savoring the God of the Bible revealed to us in Jesus because of who He is and what He has done.
Closing Thoughts
The wrong question to ask is, “Do we worship?” Worship happens. It happens at sporting events. It happens at water coolers. It happens when our children succeed. It happens when we succeed. Therefore, the question that we must ask is, “Is it happening rightly?” Do we declare the eternal, limitless, grandiose worth of an Almighty God based upon A) His nature, and B) His actions toward us?
"Reverent corporate worship, then, is not optional for the church of God...Rather, it brings to expression the very being of the church. It manifests on earth the reality of the heavenly assembly."-Edmund Clowney
