There are many many expressions of worship given to us in the Scriptures! I would like to challenge, as you read today, that you will keep an open mind and realize that many of us fall short in regard to the way we worship God in comparison to the directives we see in the Word of God. Father, give revelation and a new boldness to all of us. Amen Eric

In last week’s post, 11/13/24, “God is Worthy of True Worship,” we shared Who God is and why He is worthy of true worship. We also related what it means to worship Him in Spirit and truth. If you were not able to read it, I encourage you to do so before reading today’s post.

As we continue our study on worship, I want to remind you that our worship of God stems from our relationship with Him. We worship Him because of Who He is, the Creator and Sustainer of all that is! You and I should love and worship Him because He is worthy. He is our personal Creator and the lover of our soul. Jesus, the Son of God sacrificed His life for us, so that we could enter into right relationsip with God. He is the One Who works in our lives to complete us from our conception forward. (Psalm 139:15,16/Philippians 1:6).

Charles Spurgeon has stated, “The very first and chief object of attraction in the heavenly state is, ”The Lamb of God which taketh away the sins of the world.” In Revelation 14:1a, John stated, “I looked, and lo, a lamb.”

As believers, worship of God should be a large part of our everyday life. He is the center of all we are and all we do. His participation in our lives is what enables us to live a successful life. As we commune with Him throughout the day, we recognize that He is active and has a large role in every aspect of our lives.

This week, our focus will be on ‘how’ to Biblically worship God. We will begin by looking at various expressions of praise (a subset of worship) and worship which we find in the Old Testament Scriptures.

‘Barak’ - to kneel, to bless God as an act of adoration

Psalm 95:6, “Come, let's worship and bow down; let's kneel before the LORD our Maker.” 2 Chronicles 6:13, “For Solomon…knelt down in front of the entire congregation of Israel, and spread out his hands toward heaven.”

‘Towdah’ - to lift your hands in thanksgiving

Psalm 107:22a, “Let them offer thanksgiving sacrifices…” Psalm 50:14a, “Offer a thanksgiving sacrifice to God…”

‘Zamar’ - sing while playing an instrument

Psalm 33:2b (NASB20), “ Sing praises to Him with a harp of ten strings.”

Psalm 98:5 (NASB20), “ Sing praises to the LORD with the lyre, With the lyre and the sound of melody.”

‘Tehillah’ - a song or a hymn of praise

Psalm 22:3, “But you are holy, enthroned on the praises of Israel.”

Psalm 147:1 (NASB20), “Praise the LORD! For it is good to sing praises to our God; For it is pleasant and praise is beautiful.”

‘Yadah’ - to revere or worship with extended hands (with waving or throwing motion)

Psalm 138:1a (NIV), “I will praise you, LORD, with all my heart…”

Psalm 28:7c (NIV), “My heart leaps for joy, and with my song I praise him.”

‘Shabach’ - loud joyous shout of testimony

Psalm 145:4 (NASB20), “One generation will praise Your works to another, And will declare Your mighty acts.”

Psalm 147:12 (NASB20), “Praise the LORD, Jerusalem! Praise your God, Zion!”

‘Halal’ - to boast to a point of being clamorously foolish, to praise, celebrate

Psalm 119:164 (NASB20), “Seven times a day I praise You Because of Your righteous judgments.”

Psalm 112:1a (NASB20), “Praise the LORD!…”

We see that what frequently was translated ‘praise’ upon examination of the Hebrew meanings indicates many different actions.

In Psalm 149:3 we praise His name while dancing.

Psalm 150 reveals that He is to be praised (Halal) with trumpets, sound, harp, loud cymbals and high sounding cymbals.

We are instructed to clap our hands and shout to God with a jubilant cry in Psalm 47:1.

In 2 Samuel 6:14, David danced before the Lord with all his might, (karar) - whirling, dancing, and leaping) when the ark of the covenant was returned to Jerusalem.

There are many expressions of worship. Those expressions can range from a quiet heart to heart with God during a personal quiet time, to being clamorously foolish like David when he danced before the Lord.

“Everything we do in humble submission to God is an act of worship. When we acknowledge and marvel at His creation (Psalm 8:3 and 104:24 and 25), are joyful and are considerate in all we do - we are worshiping God! To honor, obey, and acknowledge God and His greatness is worship. Our sharing a testimony and giving of our finances is worship! When we humbly pray, read, and study the Bible, come to Him in repentance, do good deeds to show God’s good nature, or encourage one another, we are doing acts of worship” (Stephen Thompson).

Colossians 3:16 and 17 (NLT), “Let the message about Christ, in all its richness, fill your lives. Teach and counsel each other with all the wisdom he gives. Sing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs to God with thankful hearts. 17 And whatever you do or say, do it as a representative of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks through him to God the Father.” “Paul compels us to make sure the songs we sing in praise and worship are consistent with the Scriptures and are used in proper context. Spiritual songs are songs that we sing by way of the Spirit’s enablement. Our spirit communicates with the Holy Spirit with words He alone can interpret but will be for our edification.” (Philippians 3:3). (Kingdom Dynamics, NSFLB).

God doesn’t need praise and worship, however, He desires it. Why? Praise and worship are the methods He carefully and powerfully created to facilitate a deeper connection with you.

Hebrews 12:28 (NIV) exhorts, “Therefore since we are receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, let us be thankful and so worship God acceptably with reverence and awe.”

In closing, I would like to share a couple of revelations of His Word that are particularly special to me. Psalm 22:3 (NKJV) reads, “But You are enthroned in the praises of Israel.” The textual notes in the NSFLB shares this wonderful insight. “Since God is enthroned (inhabits or dwells) in our praises, worship is the key to entering fully into His presence. Praise releases God’s glory, thus bringing the worshipers actualized responses of His Kingly reign. His enthroned response through the Holy Spirit can take many forms, such as, prophecy, healings, miracles, affirmation to individual hearts, a call of reverential silence and awe, conviction of sin and salvation of sinners. This verse should be a guiding goal for all personal and corporate worship teams”.

Lastly, in Psalm 141:2 (ESV) David prayed, “Let my prayer be counted as incense before you, and the lifting up of my hands as the evening sacrifice!” We read in Exodus 24:41 and 42 that the evening sacrifice took place at the door of the tabernacle of meeting before the Lord, and it was there that the Lord met and spoke with them. Then in verse 43, the Lord spoke there words, “there I will meet with the children of Israel and the tabernacle shall be sanctified by my glory.”

When you raise your hands in worship before the Lord, He will meet with you!

‘Lifted hands’ are to be a sign of surrender, an act of adoration and one of praise. Rick Renner shared that,” “hands” represent life and, symbolically, we are lifting our entire life to the Lord, everything we do, and everything we touch!”

“True worship is doing the will of God.” (Dean Braxton).

If you have found, after reading our post today that your worship to God has been limited, I pray you will ask the Lord to give you a new boldness and liberty to worship Him more passionately. You will never regret it and you will be blessed!

Unless noted otherwise, Scriptures were taken from the Christian Standard Bible.

NASB20 New American Standard Bible 2020

NIV New International Version

NLT New Living Translation

NSFLB New Spirit Filled Life Bible