Theology - Why We Worship
The verb “worship” in Hebrew means to surrender, to fall down in submission – the way we would humble ourselves before a mighty king. (Psalm 95:6)
All of us were created to worship - there is an innate desire within us to place something or someone on a pedestal and glorify them. One sees this on a daily basis in today’s secular world, with the many people revering and worshiping (although many of them do not understand that this is, in fact, what they are doing) celebrities and sports stars.
God created us to worship – thus, if we do not worship him, we will worship something else. The tangible irony here is that as a result of the fall, the one thing that God craves most1 is being given to so many other sources of God’s creation. CS Lewis said “The salvation of souls is a means to the glorifying of God because only saved souls can duly glorify Him.”
If we are to fulfil the calling that God has placed in us to worship Him, then we must have a biblical perspective of worship.
Romans 12:1
“Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God's mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God—this is your spiritual act of worship.”
This verse is one of the most succinct passages we have on worship in the Bible - yet it tells us so much about how God views Worship. Paul starts out this verse by using the phrase “in view of God’s mercy.” The words “in view of” represent a key facet of worship - it is primarily a response to God. We respond to God’s love, what He has done for us and who He is.
He is the Sovereign king - that is He is infinite2 and unchanging3. He is perfect4 in holiness5 wisdom6 goodness7 and love8. He is eternal9. Given this, it must be our response to worship Him. The first commandment that God gave Israel was concerning worship10, saying “I am your God, you must not worship anything else but me.”
Paul continues, “offer your bodies as living sacrifices”, thereby effectively telling us to give all of ourselves to worship. We are told to offer our bodies - a phrase that must be considered in view of the Jewish understanding of us as beings, which was totally holistic. Our modern understanding (Plato) compartmentalises different parts of who we are, our thought life, our prayers and our physical actions. This would have been totally alien to Paul. His paradigm was that it was all interlinked. This means therefore that everything we do is a chance to worship God. Worship should pervade our whole lives as we are given the chance to do everything in a way that glorifies God.
Paul tells us to be a living sacrifice. The notion of sacrifice implies that we must give God something that costs us. Thus our worship must have a cost. When Jesus was anointed by the woman at Bethany, we are told the perfume used was worth a year’s wages11 - she gave the best she had to Jesus. The cost of worship can be seen on just about every level. Abraham was ready to pay the cost of sacrificing his son to God as an act of worship12, and many many Christians have been persecuted and killed for worshiping God under oppressive regimes. This is the cost of worship, but perhaps many of us cannot readily identify with such a cost from the comfort of our lives. However, a less extreme cost of worship should be seen in all of our lives on a daily basis. For example, when you sell a car, you have the choice to describe it in the best possible light, ignoring all the little problems that only you know about to get the best price; or to describe it how it is, highlighting the area where it will need money spending or work doing to ensure that the buyer knows what they are getting, and then pays a fair price. As mentioned before, everything that you do is a chance to worship God. Matt Redman, in his book Facedown13, suggests that we should regularly ask the question that Isaac asked in Genesis 22; “Where is the sacrifice? What does this cost me?” Furthermore, we should move from saying “Lord, please give me more.” to “Lord, it’s time I gave you more!”
In the final part of this verse Paul tells us that our sacrifice is to be holy and pleasing to God. This speaks against the idea that God does not accept our worship unless we are living Holy lives. Please do not misunderstand me here, I am not for one moment suggesting that holiness should not be something towards which we should strive, in fact I believe it can only come through true worship. The fact that “holy” and “pleasing to God” are suggested as distinct qualities of our worship highlights that we are to give God our worship no matter what state our lives are in. When Jesus taught the Disciples how to pray14 he taught them to worship (hallowed be your name) before repenting. Once again do not think that I am suggesting we need not repent, not at all, I merely suggest that God wants our worship whether or not we think we are worthy to come before him.
Our worship, then, must be an all-pervading daily lifestyle in which we place God first - at times to the detriment our own desires and wants. Our worship does not make God what He is - He is Lord of all and remains so whether we chose to acknowledge him or not. CS Lewis said “A man can no more diminish God's glory by refusing to worship Him than a lunatic can put out the sun by scribbling the word, 'darkness' on the walls of his cell.” This is a wonderful way of emphasising that God is eternal and unchanging and it is our place to respond to his love and join in the song that we hear in Revelation 4 and Isaiah 6.
Musical Worship.
As we have seen, one’s worship must be daily and all pervasive throughout every area of life. However, I wish to look specifically at the area of musical and sung worship. We see precedent for this with many scriptures, primarily within what has been called the Bible’s “hymn book” - the Psalms. Psalm 95 - “Come let us sing for joy, let us shout aloud to the rock of our salvation. Let us come before him with thanksgiving and extol him with music and song15.”
In music God has given us a wonderful tool to use in our worship. Music by its nature can bypass the intellectual and communicate what is in one’s heart. Many have often found that the words and melody of a song can express what is in their heart far better that they ever could without the song. There is a connection as we sing to God, our hearts expressing love and affection and our minds affirming God’s truth by the words of the song. We are, to quote the old Hymn, “lost in wonder, love and awe”
We must worship God on the premise that it is for Him that we do it and out of love and adoration. As we do this, not only is God glorified, but we enjoy him. Psalm 95 tells us to sing for joy. “In commanding us to worship him, God is inviting us to enjoy him.” (Lewis). Thus, we enter into the wonderful dynamic of worship before our maker whereby He visits us as we glorify Him.
Endnotes
1 Exodus 20:1-4
2 Psalm 95:3
3 Isaiah 43;15
4 Matthew 5:48
5 1 Peter 1:15-16
6 Isaiah 28:29
7 Psalm 31:19
8 1 John 4:8
9 Isaiah 43:13
10 Exodus 20:1-4
11 John 12:5
12 Genesis 22
13 Matt Redman Facedown pp 68, 2004 Kingsway Communications Ltd
14 Matthew 6:9-13
15 Psalm 95 1- 2