The preachers quoted here describe worship as honouring God and recognising his worth, with reverence and awe. They note that in Scripture it is expressed by bowing down, that it opens the depths of a person to God, and that it is not the same thing as praise.
The Bible's main words for worship describe a posture. The Hebrew shachah is to bow down;1 the Greek proskuneo is to prostrate oneself in homage.2 The English word, from "worth-ship", adds the idea of acknowledging worth. "O come, let us worship and bow down: let us kneel before the LORD our maker" (Psalm 95:6).
Jesus defined true worship in his conversation with the woman of Samaria. It is not tied to a place, Gerizim or Jerusalem: "the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeketh such to worship him" (John 4:23). It must be inward and real, and it must be according to what God has revealed.
Heaven's worship shows its content. The living creatures say, "Holy, holy, holy"; the elders fall down and say, "Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honour and power" (Revelation 4:8-11); and the song to the Lamb is "Worthy is the Lamb that was slain" (5:12). Worship answers to who God is and what he has done.
The New Testament extends worship to the whole of life. "Present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service" (Romans 12:1). Praise, doing good and sharing are all called sacrifices that please God (Hebrews 13:15-16).
Scripture warns that worship can be empty. "This people ... honoureth me with their lips; but their heart is far from me. But in vain they do worship me" (Matthew 15:8-9). The Westminster Confession holds that "the acceptable way of worshipping the true God is instituted by himself, and so limited by his own revealed will".3
True worship, then, is the response of the whole person to God as he has made himself known: reverent, truthful, from the heart, and carried into daily life.
- Strong's Hebrew 7812, shâchâh: "to depress, i.e. prostrate (especially reflexive, in homage to royalty or God)".
- Strong's Greek 4352, proskynéō: "to fawn or crouch to, i.e. (literally or figuratively) prostrate oneself in homage (do reverence to, adore)".
- Anonymous, Westminster Confession of Faith, "CHAPTER XXI: Of Religious Worship and the Sabbath Day".
In their own words
Each line below is quoted exactly from a sermon on this site. Follow the link to hear or read it where it was said.
So true worship is one which brings reverence and awe.
Zac Poonen
in Our Worship of God
Listen at 43:13
Worship is the issue of honoring God, whether you do it in testimony, in praise, in song, in preaching, in witness.
Art Katz
in The Anatomy of Worship
Listen at 7:20
Worship is invariably expressed by falling down to prostrate yourself, to bow, to kneel, to stoop.
David Ravenhill
in Worship
Listen at 51:05
Worship is the place where we open our deep selves to God.
Todd Atkinson
in Worship - Bringing Our Alabaster Jar
Listen at 26:31
Worship is the recognition of the worth of the rights of God to my life and the worth of the ways of God and the works of God in my life or the works I see around me, recognition of the worth of those.
Lou Sutera
in Worship - Expression of Love Toward God
Listen at 28:56
And worship is not praise, and praise is not worship.
Manley Beasley
in Worship
Listen at 21:05
What Scripture says
- John 4:23-24 true worshippers worship the Father in spirit and in truth
- Psalm 95:6 O come, let us worship and bow down
- Romans 12:1 present your bodies a living sacrifice
- Revelation 4:11 thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honour and power
- Matthew 15:8-9 in vain they worship me, whose heart is far from me
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