What Is Worship?

As I continue to focus on honoring God with our worship on Sunday morning in song, I asked myself the question, "What is worship?"  We'll be reading from Psalm 150 and Revelation 5 this Sunday to lead into our time of praise and worship thru song.  But how would I define worship?  Or better yet, how would God define worship?

Worship - derived from the Old English, woerthship:  Giving God His worth.

Now, what does this mean?

Well, when we take our offering on Sunday morning, our former pastor, Ben Woodring, would always precede it with prayer.  In closing each week, we "gave God the thanks for allowing us to give back to Him a portion of what He has bestowed upon us."  Money can be tied to worth, so maybe, just maybe we can learn a lesson from this prayer on a deeper meaning of what worship is.

GIVING GOD HIS WORTH:

First, we must recognize that God gave us worth first.  He loved us first (I John 4:19), while we were still sinners and had not turned to Him. (Romans 5:8)

Second, we must recognize, God gave us the very best He had.  He gave his one and only son, Jesus.  (John 3:16)

Third, we must recognize, God gave us everything He had.  Christ, when He came to redeem us, gave up everything He had in heaven.  He came as a servant, despite the fact that He was a king. He "emptied himself" (Phil 2:6-7).  The Amplified Bible states it this way, Jesus "stripped Himself of all privileges and rightful dignity."  In contrast to God emptying Himself for us, we esteemed him not (Isaiah 53:3).

Fourth, we must recognize, God continues to give to us bless us when we live in Christ. "Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ." (Ephesians 1:3)  What are these blessings?  Verses 4 thru 14 goes on to describe some of these - love, redemption, God's selection (or predestination), adoption as His sons, forgiveness, wisdom, understanding, the Holy Spirit, and the list goes on.

So, going back to our original question, "What Is Worship?"

Reading on thru Ephesians 1, we come to verse 12, " in order that we, who were the first to put our hope in Christ, might be for the praise of his glory."  God wants to bless us, in turn so we can bless Him.  God wants our honor.  God wants our praise.  God wants us to "Stand in Awe" of Him.  God wants us to give our "All in All."  "We Bow Down" and "We Fall Down", knowing we are but sinners offering an imperfect sacrifice of praise.  He wants us to "Bring the Sacrifice of Praise."  (Notice, the focus of the names of some of our praise and worship songs.)

"Giving God His Worth" sounds simple, but I find myself falling short.  Do I give Him my all or do I share my heart with other idols?  Do I obey Him, or do I turn to sin for pleasure?  Would I rather read my Bible or turn on the TV?  Do I forsake my wordly belongings like Jesus commanded of the rich man in Matthew 19:16-22?  Do I follow Jesus with such a passion that in comparison the love that I give my friends and family is so imcomparable that it seems as if is comparable to hate, as Jesus teaches in Luke 14:26?  I admit, I do not honor God and give Him His worth each and every day.  But I am thankful that He is patient and loving toward me, extending His hand of mercy when I fall short or fail Him.

In closing, Pastor Jeff shares with us periodically what our first and foremost thought should be when we approach God's throne with worship.  In the words of the Westminster catechism,"The chief end of man is to glorify God and enjoy Him forever."  It sounds to me that they have been asking "what is worship", for many, many years.  And until we see Him on the other side of glory, we will continue to fall short in giving God what is His due.  Let us pray, then:  Lord help us to become better worshippers for You by learning to give you the "weorthship" you deserve.

For more thoughts on worship as a continuous and growing action, and not just a relational state of being, read the following blog entry with the same title.

http://thinkingworship.com/tag/giving-god-his-worth/