Introduction — What We Were Made For
Jesus said, “My Father is actively seeking people to worship him.” The Bible tells us that “the eyes of the Lord are always upon us” (Deuteronomy 11:12), and as He watches, His spirit is ever at work — moving, convicting, suggesting, calling. Worship is not a weekend activity. It is the central heartbeat of Scripture, and understanding it begins with understanding what it actually means.
In Scripture, the Hebrew word for worship is shachah, meaning “to kneel, stoop, prostrate oneself, or throw oneself down, in reverence.” Closely related are the Hebrew words shabach, “to shout to the Lord”; yadah, “to worship with uplifted hands”; halal, “to celebrate God foolishly and boast about His attributes — love, mercy, goodness”; and tehillah, “to sing spontaneous songs of praise.” In the Greek, the word for worship is proskuneo, meaning to express deep respect or adoration — by kissing, with words, or by bowing down. Associated Greek words include epaineo, “to commend or applaud”; aineo, “to praise God”; and sebomai, “to revere.”
When you tie all of these words and their meanings together, what does it all boil down to? Love. Deuteronomy 6:5 says, “Love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength.” Jesus repeated this command three times in the New Testament — in Matthew 22:37, Mark 12:30, and Luke 10:27. Why? Because it is what we were made for: to love God. And if we are in love with Him, we will naturally want to worship Him (shachah). He has done so much for you and me that it only seems right to fall down before Him (cagad), to throw up our hands in surrender (yadah), to sing His praises (zamar) — to worship Him. But before you and I can love God, and consequently worship Him, we must first know Him.
Chapter 1 — Creation: A Call to Worship
The Creation account is, in fact, God’s call to worship, for in it He reveals to us His person, presence, power, plan, and purpose. Because God is creative, His very first act was to create: He formed us in His image and placed within us the desire to know Him, fellowship with Him, love Him supremely — and worship Him.
The fact that God grants approval is important as we learn to worship Him. In the Old Testament, Job, Abraham, David, and others were commended and rewarded by God for their faithful worship. In the New Testament, God approved of the disciples when they recognized Jesus for who He really was and worshipped Him. Mary was celebrated for her worship as she anointed Jesus’ feet (John 12:1–7). And saints of all the ages will receive God’s approval when He says, “Well done, good and faithful servant” (Matthew 25:23).
God expects us to reserve time for Him so that He can refresh us as we fellowship with Him. One writer captured it well: “The whole import and substance of the Bible teaches us that the God who does not need any thing nevertheless desires the adoration and worship of His created children.” From the very first chapter of the very first book, creation is calling — calling you and me into the presence of the One who made it all.
Chapter 2 — Worship Before the Fall
At the end of your life, no one will remember much about what you achieved in wealth or position. What people will recall is how you treated them. You will be remembered — or forgotten — based on the love you showed, or didn’t show, to those around you. They will recollect the relationship you had with them. That’s because all of life is about relationships.
Imagine waking in the morning, after a night of uninterrupted rest, still secure in God’s love for you and filled with love for Him too. All through the day you sense His guiding presence. And in the cool of the evening, you return to Him, walk with Him, and worship Him. This is just a glimpse of worship before the fall — before humankind decided to strike out on its own and live in rebellion.
We alone were crafted with a desire for God. He has placed an inner yearning in your heart and mine — what some have referred to as a “God-sized hole.” It is this desire for God that sets us apart from all living creatures. In the wilderness of Judah, David proclaimed, “O God, you are my God, I seek you, my soul thirsts for you; my flesh faints for you, as in a dry and weary land where there is no water” (Psalm 63:1). And God Himself promises, “You will find Me, when you search for Me with all your heart” (Jeremiah 29:13).
The Bible says, “God planted a garden in the east, in a place called Eden, and put the man into it” (Genesis 2:8). Why did He choose a particular setting in which Adam and Eve would live, work, interact with God, and worship? Because the place of worship is important to God. The word Eden means “fruitful.” God knew that worship could be fruitful in the garden. With all the world at their disposal and all of its goings-on, it would have been so easy for Adam and Eve to get distracted — so much to see, so much to do, so much to be involved in. But in the peaceful quiet of a pristine garden, they could focus. They could enjoy undistracted communion with God, in a setting devoid of any element that would detract from a perfect relationship with Him.
Adam and Eve, the first to be afforded the awesome privilege of worshipping God, practiced perfect worship in a perfect place. Not until the final amen will we be able to do the same. Until Christ begins His eternal reign with His Bride, we will continue to see everything, including worship, “imperfectly as in a cloudy mirror” (1 Corinthians 13:12). Our worship is truly music to His ears. It glorifies Him, and according to the Westminster Catechism, to glorify God and enjoy Him forever is the chief end of man. But that end can only be realized by those who commit themselves to lifelong rapport with God.
Perfect worship cannot take place where noise is abundant and distractions are many. Our special place cannot be teeming with myriad faces — we will fail to see the face of God. We cannot worship fruitfully where there are countless voices, all vying for our attention; we’ll miss God’s voice. We cannot worship perfectly where the clock is king. God Himself must be our King, and we must spend time with Him in a place unoccupied by anything that would seek to manipulate our worship, rendering it manufactured rather than a natural outflow of our love for God. We must find our own personal “Eden,” an individual “secret garden.” In other words, we need to get alone with God. Only then can we hope to experience worship that is “fruitful” — that brings us into the very presence of God and deepens our relationship with Him.
Chapter 3 — The Worship Wars
At one time in history, Satan was the most powerful and beautiful angel in heaven. This is what God had to say about him: “You were the model of perfection, full of wisdom and perfect in beauty. You were in Eden, the garden of God. You were anointed as a guardian cherub, for so I ordained you. You were on the holy mount of God; you walked among the fiery stones. You were blameless in your ways from the day you were created till wickedness was found in you” (Ezekiel 28:12–15). Satan became jealous of God’s eminence in the universe and declared war against Him. “I will ascend to heaven,” he said. “I will raise my throne above the stars of God; I will sit enthroned on the mount of assembly, on the utmost heights of the sacred mountain. I will ascend above the tops of the clouds; I will make myself like the Most High” (Isaiah 14:13–14).
Satan is not just some nondescript being. He has a personality and a free will, and he willingly disobeyed God. Satan is intelligent, capable of slick strategizing. He is crafty, engaging in clever war games. But above all, Satan is “puffed up with pride” (1 Timothy 3:6). “Your heart became proud on account of your beauty,” God accused, “and you corrupted your wisdom because of your splendor” (Ezekiel 28:17). Still, Satan lost the war. He could not defeat God. So he decided to hurt God by strategically turning his attention to God’s greatest handiwork: man.
In much the same way that a wise father seeks to protect his children from the lessons he learned the hard way, God sought to protect Adam and Eve from the devastating results of Satan’s disobedience. His motivation in forbidding them to eat the fruit was not egoism, but a desire to guard the very relationship mankind was created to enjoy. He wanted to spare them the cost of war. But the war came anyway. Everything changed, including man’s worship. Where once it was natural and free, it was now inhibited because of mankind’s altered physical proximity with God. Communication was now from afar, and affected further by a feeling Adam and Eve had never known before: guilt.
The story of Cain and Abel illustrates how quickly worship can go wrong. The Bible says that Cain brought an offering of “the fruit of the ground” (Genesis 4:3). But he did not bring God the best of the fruit. He performed his obligation, but not from a heart of love. Abel, on the other hand, brought God “the best of the firstborn lambs from his flock” (Genesis 4:4). He could have brought a lesser gift, but the Bible says he brought his best — that which was most valuable. His was an expression of genuine, personal devotion and worship. And God accepted Abel’s sacrifice.
Cain’s sin was not in the item offered. Leviticus 2 indicates that God accepts offerings of grain and cereal. His sin was in the spirit of the offering — it was a thrown-together package that did not represent Cain’s potential for giving or a creative expression of love to God. God gave Cain an opportunity to make things right: “You will be accepted if you do what is right” (verse 7). But Cain would have no part of it. He had done all he was going to do. “Let’s go out into the field,” Cain said to his brother Abel. And there, Cain attacked his brother and killed him (Genesis 4:8). This is a sad day in the history of man. It reveals the consequences of misdirected, self-centered gestures of worship, and demonstrates the extreme measures people will take to prove that their own worship methods are acceptable.
Misguided worship begins in the heart. Most folks can’t be hoodwinked into worshipping Satan directly, but people throughout the world worship him indirectly when they bow to the idol of “self” — by trying to worship “their way.” But God is a God of second chances. He proved this by providing Adam and Eve another son: Seth, the head of the messianic line. Through him came “the Desire of All Nations” (Haggai 2:7) — Jesus Christ.
Chapter 4 — Worship and Promise: The Worship of Abraham
Obedience is central to worship. In fact, the first way we express love to God is through obedience to His call. That’s exactly what Abram did. In obeying God’s orders, Abram proved his love and devotion. He worshipped God by obeying Him, and he worshipped God with an altar — a practice Abram used routinely. In Genesis 14, Abram performed another act of worship: he honored God with the tithe. Melchizedek king of Salem brought out bread and wine, and as a priest for God Most High, blessed Abram: “Abram, may you be blessed by God Most High, the God who made heaven and earth. And we praise God Most High, who has helped you to defeat your enemies.” Then Abram gave Melchizedek a tenth of everything he had brought back from the battle (Genesis 14:8–20). By giving a tenth of everything he had gained — gold, silver, cattle — Abram was demonstrating his love for God. In other words, he was worshipping God with the tithe. It is important to see that this first instance of tithing came before the law of Moses.
Every time God reveals Himself to man, an expression of worship follows. Worship is the normal and natural response to God’s presence. Each time God revealed Himself to Abram, he worshipped. When God appeared and confirmed His covenant, Abram “fell on his face” (Genesis 17:3) — facedown worship. After this, God told Abraham (he is never called Abram again) his part of the deal: he would have to be circumcised, himself and every male in his company. We read in chapter 17 that Abraham was circumcised that very day, along with every man and boy in his household. Abraham knew how to worship God through obedience.
But then God gave Abraham a test — the ultimate test of devotion. He asked him to sacrifice his son. Abraham worshipped God with complete surrender. He said to his servants, “Stay here with the donkey. My son and I will go over there and worship, and then we will come back to you.” Then Abraham took his knife and was about to kill his son. But the angel of the Lord called from heaven: “Abraham! Abraham!” Abraham answered, “Yes.” “Don’t kill your son. Now I can see that you trust God and that you have not kept your son, your only son, from me.”
These days, people often equate “worship” with the singing of songs, the raising of hands, the shouting of praises, or some other demonstration of adoration to God. But true worship begins with obedience. Without it, every song is meaningless and ceases to be worship. If we are not eager to obey what God asks of us, we are not even ready to worship. That’s because obedience is at the heart of worship — it is worship’s very foundation. When you look at Abraham, you see a man who was “at the ready,” no matter what God told him to do. Leave your country. “Yes sir.” Sacrifice a heifer. “Yes sir.” Sacrifice your son. “Yes sir.” If we are to worship God, we must be at the ready too.
Worship doesn’t begin with a perfect vessel. Abraham was a two-time liar — he told the same lie, “She’s not my wife; she’s my sister,” twice (Genesis 12 and 20). He was an adulterer and a doubter. But God still loved him. He loves you too. And while none of us are perfect vessels, He can make us vessels of honor if we humble ourselves and worship Him. He can take all of our weaknesses and shape us, as pottery, into something beautiful. Look at what He shaped out of Abraham: the nation of Israel.
Your activities during this time may vary — alternating between confession, repentance, prayer, praise, singing, Bible reading, intercession, maybe even a dance. But whatever your procedures, by setting a special time and identifying a “set-apart” place for private worship, you will have established a routine for spending time with God and giving Him your undivided attention. He deserves no less. There’s more than one way to worship. Abraham worshipped God by obeying, at an altar, with the tithe, with sacrifices, and with complete surrender. Thanks to the blood of Jesus, we will never again have to offer blood sacrifices, but we can always obey. Every time Abraham was faithful to God through worship, God made His presence known and reconfirmed His relationship with Abraham by revealing more of Himself. As we worship Him, He will favor us with His presence, and as our relationship with Him grows, He will reveal more and more of who He is.
Chapter 5 — Worship and Deliverance: The Story of Moses, Part 1
”Moses!” God called from the burning bush. At once, Moses responded: “Here I am!” These three words are pivotal. They were the very same words uttered by both Abraham and Jacob, centuries before (Genesis 22:1; 46:2). The prophets Samuel and Isaiah would repeat them centuries later. All authentic worship begins and ends with a heart that is willing to obey. Moses’ immediate “Here I am!” was a sign to God that he fully intended to obey. So God told Moses to take off his sandals, because the place was sacred: Moses was standing on “holy ground.” Instantly, Moses took off his sandals, because he respected God. And God revealed His identity to this submissive man.
”I am sending you to the king of Egypt,” God announced. “Go! Bring my people, the Israelites, out. After you lead the people out of Egypt, all of you will worship me on this mountain” (Exodus 3:10–12). The cruel king had robbed Israel of their worship. Beneath their heavy burdens, they had long been stripped of any personally compelling reason to worship their God. But the relational God craved their companionship. He wanted to bring them out of Egypt, away from the world system they knew, to a better, more obliging place in which He could dwell with them and give them rest and satisfaction.
After Moses related God’s instructions, the people “bowed down and worshiped the LORD” (Exodus 12:27). At midnight, for the first time, Israel would worship God together. Though every family would be in their individual home worshipping privately, all families would be worshipping collectively as well, as a nation, all following God’s directives at the same time. The directives He gave were for an observance that would come to be called Passover.
This story teaches us that God will fight for His worship. He will also defend His worshippers. The enemy, the devil, seeks to destroy our worship. He, like Pharaoh, will afflict us and try to rob us of our joy and reason to praise God. But God will only put up with it for so long. He wants to be our song. So He will go to battle for us. When God identified Himself to Moses from the burning bush, Moses instantly covered his face — because of his fear and respect for God. We, too, need to approach God with fear, not in the sense of terror or dread. Perfect love for God casts out that kind of fear (1 John 4:18). Instead, we are to fear God in the sense of reverential awe.
Chapter 6 — Worship from the Tent: The Story of Moses, Part 2
”They shall stand before Me. They shall enter My sanctuary; they shall come near to My table to minister to Me” (Ezekiel 44:15–16). That’s what the Lord wants from His priests — to minister to Him. But how does one minister to the Lord? By worshipping Him. So God told Moses to go into the cloud and climb higher on the mountain. Moses was there — in the presence of God — for forty days and nights. During this time, God showed Moses His plans to dwell with those He loves and commanded Moses to construct a movable house of worship — a tabernacle, God’s dwelling place among His people.
”Quick! Go down the mountain!” God told Moses. “Your people have corrupted themselves. How quickly they have turned away from the way I commanded them to live!” (Exodus 32:7). The blatant disobedience and disregard of God’s law by the Israelites — and Aaron — made God furious. The tribe of Levi instantly stepped up. Like a skilled surgeon cutting a deadly cancer from a patient’s body, the Levites eradicated three thousand calf worshippers.
Since the days of their escape from slavery, God’s people were blessed because of His presence — in the form of a cloud by day and fire by night. His presence set them apart from the heathen nations. His presence between them and Pharaoh’s pursuing army had prevented the slaughter of thousands of ex-slaves. His presence hovered over them, protecting them and giving them security. And now, they grieved at the very thought that God was withdrawing His presence from them.
In contrast to all of Israel’s madness, Moses did something wise — and reaped great rewards. He went outside the camp and set up a “Meeting Tent.” Whenever Moses entered, the pillar of cloud that was God’s presence would descend from the sky and enter the tent door. Moses and God would then spend time together. Sometimes Joshua, his assistant, would go with him. Moses liked to go into the tent every day, because he craved God’s presence. He could not be without it.
How can you worship someone you don’t know? The answer is, you can’t. If you haven’t taken the time to get to know someone, really know him, then how is it possible to say much either to or about him? Moses knew God. Every time he went into the Meeting Tent, “the LORD spoke to Moses face to face as a man speaks with his friend” (Exodus 33:11). The same was true of Abraham: “Abraham believed God … and he was called the Friend of God” (James 2:23). And what does God ask of His friends? “You are My friends if you do whatever I command you” (John 15:14).
From the beginning, God’s desire is to reveal Himself to those who love and worship Him — to enlarge the relationship. So He told Moses, “I will cause all my goodness to pass in front of you, and I will announce my name, the LORD, so you can hear it. But you cannot see my face, because no one can see me and live.” He came down in a pillar of cloud, called out His own name, and let Moses experience all of His goodness. And even that was more than the man could take: “Moses immediately threw himself to the ground and worshiped” (Exodus 34:8) — man’s built-in response to the presence of God.
But in order to worship God in a way that pleases Him, one’s heart must be prepared. Moses’ was. Israel’s weren’t. They had washed their clothes, but they hadn’t cleansed their hearts. They wanted to have God, yet still cling to their idols. Today, worshippers often try to do the same — they want to serve God while still cleaving tenaciously to their pet sins. Their priorities are out of order. Jobs come first. Mates come first. Their “stuff” comes first. But God will not tolerate dual allegiance. He made this clear to both Old Testament and New Testament believers: “Love not the world,” says 1 John 2:15, “neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him.” You must find a place to get alone with God, a place where you can hide away and find Him when your soul longs for His company. You’ll be just like Moses, fresh off that mountain. What kind of shape was he in after being in the “glorious presence” of God (Exodus 33:18)? He glowed.
Chapter 7 — Preparation and Choice: The Worship of Joshua
God used the Israelites’ relationships, circumstances, experiences, and life lessons as a means for preparing them for greater things. To be circumcised before the eyes of surrounding nations was a sign that Israel was set apart. They were, by an act of will, putting off the sinful flesh and identifying themselves as a nation eternally bonded with the only God who chose to covenant with His people.
How did the Israelites cross their river? By faith. They didn’t wait until the obstacle was removed to approach the river. They marched right up to the bank — and took a step of faith. You may not feel like worshipping. Difficulty may be all you can see ahead. Your life, like a river, may be overflowing with questions, problems, pain. But don’t wait for these obstacles to move before you worship. Take a step of faith. Plunge your feet into the river — and worship.
Before God would ever accept Israel’s worship and consequently demonstrate His power to them, His people first had to prepare their hearts. “Make yourselves holy” (Joshua 3:5), He told them. They were to put off all that was unclean — and repent. The rules haven’t changed. Before we can ever expect to satisfy God with our worship, we must first repent of our sins. To come to God with unrepentant hearts — full of sin that we refuse to part with — will guarantee God’s nonattendance in our worship experience.
There will always be a thousand and one things to distract you from worship. To worship, we must put action to our faith, because genuine worship is active, energetic love for God, demonstrated in our choice to obey. “Choose today whom you will serve,” Joshua dared the Israelites (Joshua 24:15). That challenge echoes down through every generation. The choice is yours — and it is made fresh every day.
Chapter 8 — Worship in the Books of History, Part 1: From Judges to Kings
”Tear down your father’s altar to Baal,” God told Gideon. “And cut down that Asherah idol next to it. Then I want you to build an altar for Me. Sacrifice a bull on it. And use the wood from Asherah for kindling!” (Judges 6:25–26, paraphrased). Why all of that? Why not simply command Israel — again — to stop worshipping counterfeit gods? Because as long as the idols remained, Israel would be tempted to worship them. They had to be removed. So that’s exactly what Gideon did. He tore down the idols.
Paul the apostle wrote that when we even think the wrong thing on a consistent basis, we’re doing exactly that — bowing to an idol. “Put all evil things out of your life: sexual sinning, doing evil, letting evil thoughts control you, wanting things that are evil, and greed. This is really serving a false god” (Colossians 3:5–6). Today, God’s people are repeatedly lulled, just as Israel was, into worshipping false gods — the “idols” of fantasy, pornography, illicit sex, alcohol, drugs, and the gods of self-indulgence, self-centeredness, and self-abandonment.
Satan, the god of this world (2 Corinthians 4:4), wants self to be your epicenter, because if you serve yourself, then you’re essentially serving him — and he has your worship. You are bowing at Satan’s feet. Paul, too, struggled with idols, sins that insisted on being served. But as frustrated as Paul got at times, he always knew the answer and shared it with us: “Remove the sin” (Hebrews 12:1) — that is, tear down your idols. And undergirding all of it is the bedrock principle stated plainly in the books of Samuel: “It is better to obey than to sacrifice” (1 Samuel 15:22). God has no interest in our “sacrifice” if we don’t obey Him.
Chapter 9 — Worship in the Books of History, Part 2: The Worship of the Kings
David’s worship of God was shaped, at least in part, in the solitude of the hillsides and plains where he had once kept his father’s sheep. While loyally guarding the flock, David spent the long, lonely hours composing love songs for Yahweh and worshipping Him with his harp. That practice bloomed into the full-throated declaration of Psalm 150: “Praise the Lord! Praise God in his Temple; praise him in his mighty heaven. Praise him for his strength; praise him for his greatness. Praise him with trumpet blasts; praise him with harps and lyres. Praise him with tambourines and dancing; praise him with stringed instruments and flutes. Praise him with loud cymbals; praise him with crashing cymbals. Let everything that breathes praise the Lord. Praise the Lord!”
David loved the Lord — not only His person, but His Word as well. The book of Psalms is filled with references to its value. Psalm 19 declares: “The law of the LORD is perfect, converting the soul; The testimony of the LORD is sure, making wise the simple; The statutes of the LORD are right, rejoicing the heart; The commandment of the LORD is pure, enlightening the eyes; The fear of the LORD is clean, enduring forever; The judgments of the LORD are true and righteous altogether. More to be desired are they than gold, yea, than much fine gold; Sweeter also than honey and the honeycomb. Moreover by them Your servant is warned, And in keeping them there is great reward” (Psalm 19:7–11).
Many years had passed, and King David was living a life of luxury. All of his enemies had been conquered, and Israel was at peace. So why was he suddenly perturbed? “Look at me,” he said one day to Nathan the prophet. “Here I am, living in a palace of cedar, while the Ark of God is out there — in a tent!” He wanted to build God a house. But the Lord said no — if God was to have a temple, He wanted a man of peace to build it. David had shed too much blood over the years. Still, David couldn’t let go of his passion for the idea. God honored the king’s desire and gave him the temple blueprint; his son Solomon would complete the project. Excited, David assumed the role of public relations coordinator and launched a capital-giving campaign whose results exceeded everyone’s expectations. He secured total funding. And through his dedication to the cause of God, we catch our deepest glimpse of David’s heart of worship: “I have done my best to prepare for building the Temple of God. I have given gold and silver, bronze and iron, wood and onyx, turquoise gems of many different colors, valuable stones, and white marble. I have given much of all these things, but now I am also giving my own treasures of gold and silver, because I really want the Temple of my God to be built. Now, who is ready to give himself to the service of the Lord today?”
David was not afraid to worship, in private or in the presence of others. When he “danced before the LORD” after defeating the Philistines (2 Samuel 6:14), it didn’t matter who was watching — David would worship. Solomon built a temple that represented the best of man’s efforts using the best of God’s resources. But for the Lord, the joy wasn’t in the edifice itself — it was in the heart of worship behind it. When construction was complete, God met Israel there. The priests brought the Ark to Solomon, and the people and their king “sacrificed so many sheep and bulls no one could count them.” They sang as others played their trumpets, cymbals, and other instruments, praising the LORD: “He is good; his love continues forever.”
Fire fell from the sky and consumed the sacrifices. Then the Lord’s glory filled the temple. When the people saw this, they “bowed down on the pavement with their faces to the ground” and “worshiped and thanked the LORD” (2 Chronicles 7:3). The fire from heaven symbolized God’s sanctioning of Solomon’s worship — God was pleased, and with His holy fire, He proved it. There is power in corporate worship. When the Ark was brought into the newly built temple, the kingdom worshipped God together, in unison, and “sounded like one person” as they praised and sang to Yahweh (2 Chronicles 5:13). Their hearts were in accord. And what happened? Fire fell, because God was in the house. At the end of his road, King Solomon would write, “I give my final advice: Honor God and obey his commands, because this is all people must do” (Ecclesiastes 12:13).
Chapter 10 — Worship in the Books of History, Part 3: Devotion in a Divided Kingdom
The prophets of Baal worked themselves into a froth at Mount Carmel, slashing themselves, pleading and squalling, dancing themselves to dizziness. They were sure making a lot of noise — but to no avail. Baal didn’t show. Elijah, by contrast, prayed a simple, succinct prayer: “O GOD, make it known right now that you are God in Israel. Answer me, GOD, and reveal to this people that you are the true God” (1 Kings 18:36–37). Immediately, fire fell from the sky, drying up the wood, burning meat and altar — rocks and all — and even licking up the water. Elijah didn’t have to make a big noise to get God’s attention. We don’t either.
Jehoshaphat ruled in Judah for twenty-five years, and because “he wanted very much to obey the LORD,” God was with this king. He removed all of the images of Asherah from the land. Then, in the third year of his reign, he sent priests all over the kingdom to instruct the people in the law. From town to town, sixteen leaders took their “traveling school” and taught from the “Book of the Teachings of the LORD” (2 Chronicles 17:9) so the people would turn from their pagan practices. Later, the king himself went out among them and “turned them back to the LORD” (19:4). He appointed judges to pastor the people: “Always serve the LORD completely. You must fear him” (verse 9). Jehoshaphat’s deepest desire was to rule a kingdom that feared — that is, worshipped — Yahweh. God rewarded his devotion. All of the surrounding nations were afraid of this king and his God. No one would go to war with Jehoshaphat. Even the Philistines, Judah’s longtime enemy, paid tribute to him. Because of his single-hearted worship, the Lord blessed all of his efforts — his wealth was great, his army vast, his cities strong and walled.
When crisis came, Jehoshaphat already had a built-in response: I’ll ask the Lord. The first thing he did was call a fast. All of the people of Judah were to abstain from food and go to the temple for a national “Day of Prayer.” Suddenly, the Spirit of the Lord entered a musician named Jahaziel, and he stood: “Listen, King, the Lord told me to tell you, ‘Don’t be afraid! The battle is not yours. It’s Mine. Go out to that battlefield. You won’t even have to fight. Just get out there, hold your places, and watch Me save you!’” (2 Chronicles 20:14–17, paraphrased). How did Jehoshaphat react? He hit the ground, facedown — him and the whole Southern Kingdom. Verse 18 says that “all Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem fell down before the LORD, worshiping Him.” They hadn’t seen the outcome of the battle yet. They were taking it by faith. Many times, that’s how we have to worship God — before we see the answer with our physical eyes.
Jehoshaphat chose a band of singers — singers, not warriors. Their job? Sing. To the Lord. Why? Not because it was good war strategy, but because God “is holy and wonderful” (verse 21). This burly, all-male choir was instructed to march in front of the army and sing: “Give thanks to the LORD, for his love endures forever” (verse 21). God has a plan for our deliverance before the problem ever appears. Praise God in the heat of your trial. Worship Him in the face of perplexity.
Chapter 11 — Worship in the Books of History, Part 4: A Nation Captive — Then Set Free
We can focus on hearing from God through His Word. It has the power to convict, instruct, comfort, and reinforce us — but only to the extent that we make it a part of our worship. When postexilic Israel began their worship with the Word, it changed their lives. As they worshipped at the feet of Ezra the priest, they unwittingly provided all future generations with a model for corporate worship that pleases God. They stood reverently before the Lord; they wept tears of joy and repentance; they knelt in deference; they raised their hands; they shouted; they celebrated — all because of the Word of the Lord. It convicted them. It cleansed them. It comforted them. And it will do all of this for you.
Chapter 12 — Worship in the Psalms
Singing has long been a part of the worship of God. Even the stars, says Job 38:1, once sang. The word sing itself is used more than 120 times in God’s Word, with some 60 mentions of singing in the Old Testament alone. In Exodus 15, the Israelites sang what is known today as the Song of Moses, a carol of praise to God for delivering them from Egyptian slavery. Another well-known Old Testament song is the Song of Deborah in Judges 5. And King Jehoshaphat’s armies went to war led by a male vocal ensemble. Singing was, and is, an integral part of worship.
All of David’s musicians and their kin — 288 in all — “were trained and skilled in making music for the LORD” (1 Chronicles 25:7). And what, exactly, did they sing? Psalms, of course. The book of Psalms is a collection of poems — prayers, really — set to music. They were written in different time periods, by different people, to express different emotions and truths. Some of the psalms express faith in God; others mirror distress. David’s long hours of solitude and repose allowed for a depth of worship that shaped his character, molding him into a man after God’s own heart. He unabashedly displayed his feelings about his foes (Psalm 5), his sinfulness (Psalm 51), his love of nature (Psalm 8), his zeal for God’s house (Psalm 27), his respect for God’s judgments (Psalm 9), and especially his love for the Lord. His systematic practice of singing love songs to God gave us an example to follow. He testified of God’s sovereignty (Psalm 99), blessing and forgiveness (Psalm 65), healing (Psalm 3), and love (Psalm 23). He schools us in the fear of God (Psalm 34). Above all, David teaches us how to worship. Asaph was the author of eleven psalms. One of his best, Psalm 50, teaches all who would heed it the right way to worship God, from the Lord’s own perspective.
How can we use the Psalms today, in our own private times with God? We can pray them. Often we don’t quite know how to pray about a situation that arises. But if we turn to the book of Psalms, it will show us how to dialogue with God. Don’t know what to say to God in the midst of suffering? Choose a psalm that speaks to your anxiety or heartache, and ask the Lord to accept it as your own cry for help. So blissful and effervescent today that words fail you? Use the psalms as a model, praying through a fitting passage of thanksgiving as though its words were composed by you. God loves those words. He inspired them in the first place.
One of the two Hebrew words for our word blessed is ashrey. It means “happiness.” God is concerned with blessing His children, and He wants to bless you and me with ashrey. But how? First, to be happy requires that we be separated from the world (Psalm 1:1). Happy people are not influenced by the ungodly culture around them — they don’t take the advice of the wicked or imitate their deeds, because they know happiness comes by staying away from wrong and following after righteousness. Second, happiness requires being saturated with the Word (Psalm 1:2). The happy person’s “delight” is in the law of the Lord. A happy soul enjoys spending time in God’s presence, reading the Scriptures and seeking to know and understand God. Loving, reading, and thinking about His Word — day and night — becomes a pattern for living and a constant desire.
According to Psalm 51, a genuine worshipper must be broken. David cried out: “Create in me a pure heart, God, and make my spirit right again. Give me back the joy of your salvation. Lord, let me speak so I may praise you. You are not pleased by sacrifices, or I would give them. You don’t want burnt offerings. The sacrifice God wants is a broken spirit. God, you will not reject a heart that is broken and sorry for sin.” Brokenness is part of the process that each of us must go through if we want to be worshippers. The Bible promises that if we seek Him, we will find Him. Hide the Word in your heart — memorize it, learn by heart all of God’s promises, and stand on them. Proclaim His truth, because the truth of God will endure forever. Meditate on His precepts and consider His ways. Delight in His Word; find joy and satisfaction in reading, pondering, quoting, and obeying it.
Psalm 100 is a song of thanksgiving that teaches us how to exalt God in seven ways: by shouting triumphantly to the Lord; by serving the Lord with gladness; by coming before Him with joyful songs; by acknowledging that He is Lord; by recognizing the things He has done; by entering His gates with thanksgiving; and by praising His name. God has many names revealed in Scripture — learn a few of them and praise your covenant God by name. Among them: Elohay Mishpat, God of Justice (Isaiah 30:18); Elohay Selichot, God of Forgiveness (Nehemiah 9:17); Elohay Mikarov, God Who Is Near (Jeremiah 23:23); Elohay Mauzi, God of My Strength (Psalm 43:2); Elohay Yishi, God of My Salvation (Psalm 18:47; 25:5); Elohay Chaiyim, Living God (Jeremiah 10:10); Elohay Elohim, God of Gods (Deuteronomy 10:17). Psalm 150 is one of the “Hallelujah” psalms. The hallel in this word means “praise.” The jah comes from the Hebrew Yah, the short form of Yahweh, the divine name of the God we worship. When we shout “Hallelujah!” — a word pronounced the same in every language — we are actually crying out, “Praise God!” This is an act we should never hesitate to do.
Chapter 13 — Worship in the Books of Wisdom, Part 1
Job’s story is known well. His children were killed when hurricane-force winds blew the roof in on them. Marauders rustled his cattle and murdered his servants; more came to make off with his camels. A lightning storm fried his sheep and his farmhands — and Job was left with nothing. What did Job do? “He bowed down to the ground to worship God” (Job 1:20). “‘I was naked when I was born,’” he cried, “‘and I will be naked when I die. The Lord gave these things to me, and he has taken them away. Praise the name of the Lord.’” In all this, Job did not sin or blame God (1:21–22). What an incredible testimony! Not only did he not curse God, but he praised Him. This was long before God’s written Word was available to man. Job had never read the promises of God that are so comforting to us today. Yet he trusted in God enough to praise Him in the face of immeasurable loss.
It has been said that character is revealed in hard times, during suffering — under pressure. A worshipper’s integrity reveals whether he intends to love and worship the Lord even when the going gets tough. Without integrity, a person will only worship when life is a cakewalk. Any lack of integrity will eventually expose him as one whose preferred god is a “candy dispenser,” not a Master — a divine Santa Claus, not the God of heaven. “Though he slay me,” Job said through gritted teeth, “yet will I trust Him” (Job 13:15). Even if he died, Job was committed to hoping in God: “I know that my redeemer lives, and in the resurrection I shall stand on the earth. After my body decays in the grave, in my flesh I’ll see God. I’ll stand before God and see Him with my eyes. This is my only hope” (Job 19:25–27). In a phrase, Job surrendered.
Scripture asks the pointed question, “He that loveth not his brother whom he hath seen, how can he love God whom he hath not seen?” (1 John 4:20). The book of Proverbs answers by teaching us how to treat those created in the image of God as an act of worship: do good to them; be a trustworthy neighbor; lend without hesitation; be faithful to your spouse; leave other people’s spouses alone; refuse to steal or embezzle; refuse to gossip; tell the truth; be honest in business; avoid backbiting and harsh words; give generously; and even be kind to your pets and livestock.
Do you want to worship God in a way that brings Him pleasure? Then deal justly and considerately with those created in His image. Love your neighbor. Be kind to your mate. Be patient with your spouse. Give to the homeless. Feed the hungry. Clothe the poor. In so doing, you are obeying God’s Word and revealing your fear — your reverence — of the Lord. In a nutshell, you are worshipping God in the most innocent of ways. And He won’t neglect to reward you. The fear of the Lord, wrote the author of Proverbs, brings health, long life, riches, honor, safety, peace, knowledge, and victory over sin: “Fear the LORD and depart from evil. It will be health to your flesh, and strength to your bones” (3:7–8). “The fear of the LORD prolongs days” (10:27). “The fear of the LORD is a fountain of life, to turn one away from the snares of death” (14:27). “By the fear of the LORD are riches and honor and life” (22:4). “In the fear of the LORD there is strong confidence, and His children will have a place of refuge” (14:26). “The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge” (1:7). “By the fear of the LORD one departs from evil” (16:6).
If you don’t get anything else out of this book, get this: Fear the Lord. It is the beginning of knowledge. Do you want to know God personally and intimately? Then begin with a respect for who He is. That’s where worship begins. There can be no worship without respect, or reverence. Every biblical personality who walked closely with God first feared Him. God expects our unswerving loyalty, in good times and bad. We obey Him, even when it’s tough. We serve Him, even when we’d rather serve our own interests. We trust Him, even when we can’t see the light at the end of the tunnel. And we worship Him, even when our boat is turned upside down. “Those who fear him will have everything they need” (Psalm 34:9).
Chapter 14 — Worship in the Books of Wisdom, Part 2: Worship in Ecclesiastes
John Calvin once described the human mind as a “factory” of idols, wherein all of those things we so highly esteem become fashioned into objects of worship. And it’s true. Our natural inclination is to worship anything and everything but God. We may start out well, but our minds become distracted. Other things gain our attention, and they scream for our devotion. If we’re not careful, we begin to seek fulfillment from them instead of from the Lord. Soon, we are bowing hungrily before these distractions, if only in spirit, and they steal our worship of God.
Solomon, the wisest man who ever lived, fell to this very pattern. He pursued education — God had granted him wisdom, but Solomon allowed it to become a snare. He “decided to use his wisdom to learn about everything that happens on earth,” studying philosophy, medicine, science, law, and religion, eager to answer the age-old question, why am I here? He sought information — some true, but also some false — and it led him to wrong conclusions. He pursued pleasure, achievement, and wealth, only to discover that the cliché holds: “Only one life; t’will soon be past. Only what’s done for Christ will last.” He sought sexual gratification and found it as empty as everything else. Each pursuit promised fulfillment; each one delivered emptiness.
Fortunately, the story doesn’t end there. After a lifetime of disappointment at the feet of idols both literal and figurative, Solomon came full circle. That’s when he wrote Ecclesiastes — “the idol buster,” a book that once and for all confirms the true worthlessness of all those things he held, and we hold, in such high esteem. After he had tried everything, and nothing filled his God-shaped hole, Solomon repented. “My last and final word,” he wrote, “is this: Fear God. Do what he tells you. And that’s it.”
What is God’s response to those who bend the knee to other gods? First, separation from God. Once a person chooses to worship anything other than God, he no longer enjoys the Lord’s presence. Too many other things are on his mind. He stops praying. His Bible begins to collect dust. The relationship breaks down until, finally, God leaves that individual alone with his idol. Second, a curse from God — “You will be cursed. Do not disobey the commands I am giving you today, and do not worship other gods” (Deuteronomy 11:28). God’s warning was clear, so His judgment is fair. Third, the absence of God — as the idolater sinks deeper beneath the weight of divine punishment, he or she will cry out, but God will not be found; He won’t hear; He won’t answer (Proverbs 1:28). Fourth, a sentence on the children: “You shall not bow down to idols nor serve them. For I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children to the third and fourth generations of those who hate Me” (Exodus 20:4–5). Fifth, total destruction. And sixth, a ruined name — even after the idolater is broken and gone, “the curses will be signs to your descendants forever” (Deuteronomy 28:46). The condemnation outlasts the person.
Chapter 15 — Worship in the Prophetic Books
Over half of the prophetic books deal with people’s battle with idolatry. God spoke harshly through Isaiah about worship that is mere performance: “I do not want all these sacrifices. I have had enough … I am not pleased by the blood of bulls, lambs, and goats. You come to meet with me, but who asked you to do all this running in and out of my Temple’s rooms? … I hate the incense you burn. I can’t stand your New Moons, Sabbaths, and other feast days; I can’t stand the evil you do in your holy meetings. I hate your other yearly feasts. They have become a heavy weight on me, and I am tired of carrying it. When you raise your arms to me in prayer, I will refuse to look at you. Even if you say many prayers, I will not listen to you” (Isaiah 1:11–15). And as if that were not enough, God added through Isaiah, “These people worship me with their mouths, and honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. Their worship is based on nothing but human rules” (Isaiah 29:13).
These were harsh words from the Almighty, directed at a people who were “going through the motions.” Oh, their worship looked all right — the feasts, the offerings. But God was not accepting any of it. He was rejecting their worship because it was false worship, and He had just one thing to say about it: Don’t bother — unless you repent. “Should you not fear me,” God asked them through Jeremiah, “and tremble in my presence?” (Jeremiah 5:22). They should have — but they didn’t. Their hearts did not cry, “Let us fear the LORD our God” (verse 24). They had lost their awareness of the divine and therefore their respect for Him. Little by little, they grew casual in their relationship with God.
When God’s glory was revealed to Isaiah from a throne, where God sat surrounded by smoke and seraphim, Isaiah cried out in despair, painfully aware of his sinfulness. After that, he was never the same — God used Isaiah to witness to a kingdom. When Ezekiel beheld God’s glory in the form of a “surrounding radiance” with the “appearance of a rainbow,” he fell on his face and became the most radical prophet of all time. We also glorify God when we allow His glory to make a difference in the way we live our lives. Every time you take the high road, you glorify God. Every time you offer your own food to someone hungry, stand up for someone defenseless, and do an honest day’s work, you glorify God before all who are watching.
All through the Bible, God used outside influences as conduits to deliver His message — a whirlwind, pottery, a big fish, an almond branch, dry bones. He does the same today. He uses people — you and me — to manifest His personality, His attributes, His glory to those who need most to see it. Gather up clothes — not the stained and tattered ones — for someone whose house has burned down. Take a meal to someone who is too sick to cook. Visit an elderly person whose family has abandoned him. Help a wheelchair-bound neighbor get groceries into her house. Give a single mother a break by watching her children while she rests for a night. In short, God wants our worship to actively demonstrate genuine love — not only for Him, but for all who are made in His image.
Chapter 16 — Worship in the Gospels, Part 1
Consider just a few of the prophecies fulfilled in Christ: the Messiah was to be born in Bethlehem (Micah 5:1) — Jesus was. He was to come from the tribe of Judah (Genesis 49:10) — He did. He would reveal His kingship from atop a donkey’s back (Zechariah 9:9), then be arrested, tried, tortured, killed, and buried in a rich man’s tomb (Isaiah 52–53; Psalm 22) — only to rise from the dead, the best evidence of all. All of these prophecies were fulfilled to the letter in Jesus the Christ. The focus of worship now centers on one person — Jesus Christ. Through Him we have been given a whole new reason to worship: eternal life through the salvation He purchased with His own blood. Because of His substitutionary work on the cross, we are privileged to enjoy worship, free from the bondage of the law. Old methods and models for worship have passed away. Now we will worship to a new “tune.”
Out of the sixty New Testament uses of the word “worship,” proskuneo, more than half appear in the Gospels. It is in these writings that we discover Jesus Himself is the fulfillment of worship. He is both the superlative worshipper of God the Father and the One to whom worship was, is, and forever will be offered. And He taught every man, woman, boy, and girl how to worship God, both by His teachings and by personal example.
Psalm 150:1 settles the question once and for all: “Praise God in the sanctuary.” In the well-known story of twelve-year-old Jesus getting “lost” during a trip to Jerusalem to celebrate the Passover, His parents found the adolescent in the temple, the Jews’ house of worship — where He chose to be (Luke 2:41–49). And if that isn’t enough, consider this: “As his custom was, he went into the synagogue on the sabbath day” (Luke 4:15). The New Century Version says Jesus went there “as he always did.” Worship in the house of God was a deliberate and customary part of Jesus’ routine. If it was good enough for the King of kings, it is certainly good enough for you and me.
Satan attacked Jesus during the very time He was seeking to obey the Spirit, who had led Him into the wilderness. Satan does the same thing to you and me. Often, it is when we are trying to obey the Spirit’s voice as He leads us to pray or worship that Satan tries to lure us away. We become distracted, sleepy, or restless. This is when we must press in all the more. In Matthew 6 and Luke 11, Jesus teaches His followers how to pray. In both Gospels, the prayer begins the same: “Our Father in heaven, hallowed be Your name” (Matthew 6:9; Luke 11:2). The first thing out of Jesus’ mouth was not His list of wants and needs. He began by giving God praise. Prayer is one of the elements of worship, and the Gospels record Jesus praying at His baptism (Luke 3:21), before choosing the Twelve (Luke 6:12), on the mountain (Luke 9:28–29), before His death (Matthew 26:36), for Himself (John 17:1), for little children (Matthew 19:13), for His disciples (John 17:6), and for all who would one day follow Him (John 17:20). Luke 6:12 tells us that once He got to the mountain, Jesus “continued all night in prayer to God.” We need to steal away from the busyness of life and get alone with God on our own “mountain.” When we come to God in faith, as Jesus did, fully believing that we will receive what we are asking for, make no mistake: it is worship, because it shows the Almighty that we have confidence enough in Him, His love, and His name to ask for the things we need.
Jesus didn’t use bywords. Instead, He was spontaneously overcome with awe for God, and He worshipped. It was His “custom” (Luke 4:15) to attend synagogue, and songs were part of traditional Jewish worship. We don’t know what He sang, but we do know that Jesus and His disciples “sang a hymn” after the meal we know today as the Last Supper (Mark 14:26). True worship also embraces protection of the needy and marginalized: “Anything you refused to do for even the least of my people here, you refused to do for me” (Matthew 25:45).
The religious leaders would go to great lengths to put their “worship” on display. Jesus called them “hypocrites.” “They blow trumpets so that people will see them and honor them. They love to stand in the synagogues and on the street corners and pray so people will see them. They make their faces look sad to show people they are giving up eating” (Matthew 6:2, 5, 16). Jesus rebuked their exhibition, accusing them of making worship a theatrical production. He condemned their somber disposition while fasting: “Don’t make a production out of it. It might turn you into a small-time celebrity but it won’t make you a saint” (verses 16–17). His verdict was final: “These people show honor to me with words, but their hearts are far from me. Their worship of me is worthless. The things they teach are nothing but human rules” (Matthew 15:9). And He continued, “Hypocrites! You give to God one-tenth of everything you earn — even your mint, dill, and cumin. But you don’t obey the really important teachings of the law — justice, mercy. These are the things you should do, as well as those other things” (Matthew 23:23). When you do a charitable deed, He said, “do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, that your charitable deed may be in secret; and your Father who sees in secret will Himself reward you openly.”
Chapter 17 — Worship in the Gospels, Part 2
In the Introduction, a variety of Greek and Hebrew words for worship were listed, along with their various definitions. But when you tie them all together, what does it all boil down to? Love. Jesus truly, madly, and deeply loved His Father, and He taught us to do the same. When asked what was the greatest commandment, Jesus three times responded that it was to love the Lord with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength (Matthew 22:37, Mark 12:30, Luke 10:27).
The Bible makes it clear that if we can’t love those made in God’s image, then we don’t love Him either (1 John 4:20). But if we do love God, then we will love others and demonstrate that love the same way Jesus did — by serving. Jesus said, “I did not come to be served, but to serve.” He served by ministering to the sick, feeding the hungry, raising the dead, and ultimately by giving “His life a ransom for many” (Mark 10:45). That is our first and best worship — showing the Lord our sincere love by obeying Him and mimicking Him on this planet: loving as He loved, serving as He served, and reaching out to a dying world as He reached out to those made in His likeness. That, friends, is worship.
Throughout the Gospels, people brought their worship to Jesus in tangible, personal ways. Wise men brought Him gold (Matthew 2:9–12). A leper bowed down to Him (Matthew 8:2). A woman lavished expensive perfume on Him (Mark 14:3). Still another washed His feet with her tears, dried them with her own hair, and even kissed them (Luke 7:36–48). An ardent crowd waved palm branches as He rode on a donkey into the city (John 12:12–14). In each of these acts, Jesus received not a performance but a person — a heart wholly given. Nurture your worship in private, as Jesus did on the mountain, but then live your worship in public, by serving. Do every “charitable deed” you can (Matthew 6:1). But make sure when you do that it is never to be seen by men but instead to be enjoyed by God.
Chapter 18 — Worship in the Early Church
A powerful form of worship-driven witness is the personal testimony — loving others by taking every opportunity to share what God has personally done in your own life. It is most effective, for it is when we tell our personal stories, our testimonies of how God transformed us, healed us, and delivered us from sin, that we transcend human reason to a sphere of personal relationship with God that skeptics cannot deny. They may contest the authority of the Bible or dispute the existence of God, but no one can deny a personal experience. And it creates believers.
”Oh, give thanks to the Lord! Call upon His name; make known His deeds among the peoples!” (1 Chronicles 16:8). This is the meaning of testimony. Whether written or spoken aloud, when we share our testimonies and proclaim the marvels of God, we give evidence of God’s goodness. The early church made this their practice, and the world was turned upside down by it.
Chapter 19 — Worship in the Epistles: Romans — 2 Corinthians
Paul viewed the preaching of the good news as equally vital to the worship process (Romans 1:16; 12:1–8; 15:18). Three times in Romans he wrote, “God left them.” Why? Because they were not grateful to Him, and they did not worship Him. They worshipped something else. The sacrifice of worship involves holiness — it requires a person to separate himself from the evil influences and idolatrous cultures all around. Now that our bodies are the new temple, it is important that God’s dwelling place be clean, sanctified, purified — fit for service.
You were made to be a servant-sacrifice. You were even made to want to. God is the author of worship, and our worship — all of it — is from Him, a gift to mankind provided so that we can know and experience Him. We were created with an inner desire for exactly that: to know and experience God through worship. Our innermost beings want to be living sacrifices to God. So why fight it? Our spirits are willing, Jesus said. It’s our flesh that is weak (see Matthew 26:41). That is precisely why we must strive — daily — to present our bodies as living sacrifices. It’s also why Paul wrote, “I die daily” (1 Corinthians 15:31).
Jesus had already set precedent for practicing the Lord’s Supper in the Upper Room. Paul expanded our understanding. “When you come together, you are not really eating the Lord’s Supper,” he accused the Corinthians. “When you eat, each person eats without waiting for the others. Some people do not get enough to eat, while others have too much to drink” (1 Corinthians 11:20–21). “A person who eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in a way that is not worthy of it will be guilty of sinning against the body and the blood of the Lord,” Paul added (verse 27). There is always a price to pay for misdirected worship. Paul also reminded the Corinthians that their giving was a service that “not only helps the needs of God’s people, it also brings many more thanks [worship] to God” (2 Corinthians 9:12). And if that were not enough, he told them, “it is also proof of your faith.”
Chapter 20 — Worship in the Epistles: Galatians — And Beyond
What are some of the bitter fruits of misappropriated worship and the self-indulgence that spawns it? Paul listed them with unflinching clarity: “Repetitive, loveless, cheap sex; a stinking accumulation of mental and emotional garbage; frenzied and joyless grabs for happiness; trinket gods; magic-show religion; paranoid loneliness; cutthroat competition; all-consuming-yet-never-satisfied wants; a brutal temper; an impotence to love or be loved; divided homes and divided lives; small-minded and lopsided pursuits; the vicious habit of depersonalizing everyone into a rival; uncontrolled and uncontrollable addictions; ugly parodies of community. I could go on” (Galatians 5:16–21).
Now compare these to the fruits that Christ’s worshippers bear: “The Spirit produces the fruit of love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control” (verse 22). The transformation Paul describes is so complete that he sums it up in a single sentence: “I do not live anymore — it is Christ who lives in me.”
What does it take to be an offering just like Jesus? It requires being “filled with the Spirit” (Ephesians 5:18), and to be filled with one thing means to be emptied of all else. All greed, carnality, and immorality of any flavor must be laid at the altar in order to live a life just like Christ’s — a life filled with the Spirit and emptied of self, a living sacrifice. This teaching provides the most solid of evidence that true worship — embracing Christlike self-sacrifice — is about one’s daily life.
In addition to giving thanks to God, a critical element in worship, we are to make “music” — or as the King James Version translates it, “melody” — in our hearts to the Lord. Worship in song should play a part in our private devotions. Musicians do this all the time, internalizing the music before actually singing or playing the song. When Paul told the Ephesian worshippers to sing and make melody in their hearts (Ephesians 5:19), he was teaching a type of spiritual audiation — singing internally, not out loud. But in Colossians 3:16, the apostle instructed worshippers to sing in clear, audible voices. Both practices belong in the life of worship.
Chapter 21 — Worship in Eternity
The book of Revelation, the crowning of Scripture, not only unveils God the Son as no other biblical book can, but broadcasts for all who read it the arrangements Christ is making to dwell perpetually with those He loves — in a place made especially for us, the New Jerusalem — where we will worship Him forever. It is more than a coincidence that the New Testament word for worship, proskuneo, appears more times in Revelation than in any other book. It is what we will do in the new heaven and new earth: worship.
The two churches receiving commendation from the Lord were those in Smyrna and Philadelphia. Because they refused to acknowledge Caesar as Lord, both flocks had endured suffering. Any suffering they would endure would be only for a season, and those who stood against them would one day bow at their feet (Revelation 3:9). The remaining five churches received sobering warnings. Ephesus had plenty of zeal for God but not much love for Him. “You have left your first love,” Christ told them (2:4). They worked hard and maintained spiritual purity, refusing to tolerate tainted teachings (2:2). But as Warren Wiersbe observed, “labor is no substitute for love; neither is purity a substitute for passion.” Passion is essential to worship that pleases God — you simply cannot worship adequately unless you love Christ fervently.
Pergamum was true to God and would even die for Him, but they were tolerant — allowing their church to become defiled by members who embraced philosophies totally at odds with the gospel. “Change your hearts,” Jesus told them, and He did not sugarcoat His warning. Thyatira was even worse — knowing fully that one of their leaders was engaging in both sexual sin and idol worship and leading the congregation to do the same, they still tolerated her leadership. Worshippers, refuse to sit under the ministry of anyone who is sinning blatantly and “does not want to change” (2:21). Jesus warned that if the church at Thyatira did not remove the wicked worship leader in their assembly, she — and they — would die. Sardis was a congregation marked by formalism, spiritual death, and immobility — so content with their ceremony and liturgy that they had lulled themselves to sleep. “Wake up!” Christ told them, “before what you have left dies completely.” And Laodicea could be accused of neither fire nor cold. “I wish you were hot or cold!” Jesus spat in disgust — they were lukewarm, and they made Him sick (see 3:16). “We do not need a thing,” they said (3:17). Yes, they did. They needed fresh fire. Their love for God had gone tepid, as had any passionate commitment to know Him and lead others to know Him through worship.
Sadly, there is no record of any one of the five reprimanded churches repenting. And one by one, they drifted off the pages of history, to be forgotten. They should have judged themselves — their ministry, their worship, and their personal relationships with God — long before God had to judge them and remove them from their place.
In Revelation’s vision of eternity, worship builds in wave upon wave. First, there is corporate praise, day and night, initiated by the “worship team,” who “give glory, honor, and thanks” to the One seated on the throne (4:9): “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty. He was, he is, and he is coming” (verse 8). Unable to contain their rapture, a congregation of elders joined in, bowing down before God, placing their crowns before His throne: “You are worthy, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power, because you made all things. Everything existed and was made, because you wanted it” (verse 11). Then “thousands and thousands of angels” added their voices: “The Lamb who was killed is worthy to receive power, wealth, wisdom, and strength, honor, glory, and praise!” Finally, “all creatures in heaven and on earth and under the earth and in the sea” cried, “To the One who sits on the throne and to the Lamb be praise and honor and glory and power forever and ever.” Then the people “bowed down and worshiped” (5:11–14). Notice that no one in these passages seems to be under compulsion to worship God. No one is cracking the whip and demanding veneration. The whole of heaven is rejoicing voluntarily and from the heart.
Even the angels will sit up and take notice as we sing the redemption song — a song they cannot sing. Only those who have been purchased by the precious blood of Christ can sing this melody. As we recall in eternity how Jesus bought us with His own blood “while we were yet sinners,” even those who couldn’t carry a tune on earth will be qualified to join the eternal chorus. Together, voices will sound across the universe in one unified statement: “We love Jesus; He is worthy to be praised!” Then, with Him, we will celebrate the consummation of the plan of the ages — Christ’s eternal plan to dwell with those He loves. “He who sits on the throne will spread his tent over them. Never again will they hunger; never again will they thirst. The sun will not beat upon them, nor any scorching heat. For the Lamb at the center of the throne will be their shepherd; he will lead them to springs of living water. And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes” (Revelation 7:15–17). We are not home yet. The best is yet to come. And the formula for biblical worship will remain the same across every age and every culture: “Love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength” (Deuteronomy 6:5). That’s worship that transcends time and culture. And it’s our calling.