Pinhole Perspektiv

This is the first installment of what will be a growing and evolving (for the better I hope) personal theology of what Worship is and what it means to be biblical, God-honouring worshipers of Christ. Thoughts welcome. (I apologise for the following script…not sure how to remove it - please scroll down.

Worship is a concept that is prevalent and central throughout the entire Bible. Only a thorough reading and examination of the scriptures will reveal the entirety behind Worship. It is something not restricted to the Old or New Testament and something that does not change with time or culture.

Firstly, I believe that we as people are created for ultimate purpose of giving God maximum glory with our lives and the act of doing this is termed ‘worship’.  Thus worship is not restricted to the 30 minutes on a Sunday morning before the preaching, but it is our entire life’s act of giving glory to God.

Ultimately, I believe worship to be, “the human act of giving glory to God in response to a sovereign revelation of himself. This response takes on various forms including submission, homage, praise, exaltation, service and reverence. Under the new covenant, we worship God through Jesus Christ and his finished work on the cross, by the power of the Holy Spirit, in response to the saving grace shown towards us.” Worship is made possible by only God,  who initiated His revelation towards us, savid us and brought us into relationship with Him. We are to offer acceptable worship, that is honouring and pleasing. In the Old Testament acceptable had a specific element of animal sacrifices for the atonement of sins, whilst under the new covenant; the work of Jesus allows us to offer acceptable worship to the Father.

Throughout the Bible we see evidence of Worship being a direct response to an act or revelation of God. From Genesis to Revelation people offer worship to God in response to his revelation of his presence, his goodness and ultimately his grace through the person and work of Christ and the cross. God reveals himself in many ways including signs, words, prophecies and the fulfilment of promises, to name a few. These are all sovereign acts of God, being independent of man’s deeds, thus we respond to these acts with worship, giving full glory to the triune God.

In Gen. 24:26-27 Abraham sends his servant to find a wife for Isaac at the well. When God provides the wife Rebecca the servant bowed his head and worshipped the Lord. This act of submission and homage is in response to the provision of God. It is an act that acknowledges His sovereignty and goodness. In 1 Samuel 1 we see how Hannah worships in response to provision and answering of prayer. This is an act of thanksgiving but also submission, in dedicating Samuel to the Lord. This is all part of giving Glory to God, honouring and exalting His name above all.

In Ex. 4:31 the people were overawed and bowed down together before God. This act of corporate worship was in response to the signs that God had given them through Moses. This was an act of God revealing himself to his people. When the people believed and heard that God had revealed himself to the people of Israel, they responded with worship. In Exodus 12 the people bowed their heads and worshiped the LORD in response to his grace of salvation and redemption during the Passover. In this case it was the blood of an innocent lamb that signified their salvation. This is a direct shadow of the blood of the lamb that was to come and act as the final sacrifice, ensuring the passing over of God’s righteous Judgement and condemnation.

We see that worship was offered in response to the presence of the LORD. In Exodus 34:8 Moses “quickly bowed his head toward the earth and worshiped”. This response is an act of homage and submission to the majesty and holiness of God.

In Judges, Gideon worshiped the Lord in response to the revelation through the dream. As we hear from God, we are to worship Him, giving him glory and praise that He rightly deserves. Similarly, in 2 Chronicles, Jehoshaphat and all of Judah offered worship to the LORD in direct response to his Word. This was coupled with the promise of salvation and deliverance. God revealed himself through his Word and made a promise to his people. The correct and model response was not complacency or arrogance, but humility and submission to the mighty God whose arm is not too short to save.

David and Job are two characters that offer worship to God at times when it is hardest and least intuitive. When David learns of his child’s death in 2 Samuel 12, before he even ate, he went into the Lords house and worshiped his name. By doing this, David showed incredible humility and submission to the will and sovereignty of God. At the same time, David’s worship was a response in a time of grief. Thus we can conclude that worship and the giving of glory to God is not an emotional dependent exercise. We worship because He is worthy of praise, not because we feel like it.

Job on hearing of his family’s death tore his garments and gave glory and honour to God. His response was not one of anger towards God but one of submission and adoration, similar to that of David’s.  We likewise are to worship God in our darkest hours, entering his courts, exalting the name of Jesus, acknowledging the ultimate if not comprehendible sovereignty of God and give him the Glory.

In addition to worship being acts of submission, homage and exaltation, we see in the Bible that worship is closely linked to service and that our service is an act of worship. The Levites were the priestly tribe, whose role was to serve in the tabernacle. We however do not serve God out of his need for it (Acts 17:25), instead we serve to bring Him Glory and honour his name. The Greek word latreuin is translated as worship and used in non-biblical literature as ‘to serve’. Exodus reveals how God tells Moses that once he has delivered them, they will serve Him. This is service as a response to the grace and salvation revealed by God, thus not to fulfil a need on God’s behalf but rather be an act of worship to him as a response.

The words used for worship are proskynein – made up of the meanings, towards, kiss. We see that worship is portrayed as a gesture of submission and an act of homage.  With worship there is a heart attitude that lies behind the gesture, the hearts disposition of homage and submission towards God our King. Thus worship is a constant, lifelong heart attitude, where our whole lives are acts of worship to God.