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Worship        by Phil Kinney


worship (Heb. shachah) (26:10; Gen. 23:7; 37:7, Lev. 26:1) Strong’s #7812: The most common Hebrew word for worship literally means “to cause oneself to lie prostrate.” In ancient times, a person would fall down before someone who possessed a higher status. People would bow before a king to express complete submission to his rule. Joseph’s brothers recognized the cultural significance of “bowing down” when they reacted so vehemently against Joseph’s dream (Gen. 37:5–8). Bowing down to Joseph meant they were submitting to his authority. Following the example of the ancient people of faith, true Christian worship must express more than love for God, it must also express submission to His will. 

" Oh come, let us sing to the Lord! Let us shout joyfully to the Rock of our salvation. Let us come before His presence with thanksgiving; Let us shout joyfully to Him with psalms. For the Lord is the great God, And the great King above all gods. In His hand are the deep places of the earth; The heights of the hills are His also. The sea is His, for He made it; And His hands formed the dry land. Oh come, let us worship and bow down; Let us kneel before the Lord our Maker. For He is our God, And we are the people of His pasture, And the sheep of His hand. Today, if you will hear His voice: “Do not harden your hearts, as in the rebellion, As in the day of trial in the wilderness, When your fathers tested Me; They tried Me, though they saw My work. For forty years I was grieved with that generation, And said, ‘It is a people who go astray in their hearts, And they do not know My ways.’ So I swore in My wrath, ‘They shall not enter My rest.’ ”" (Psalm 95:1-11)



 In Hebrew, the word "worship" (Shakah) means to fall down or bow down.

 In saying, "O come, let us worship and bow down; Let us kneel before the Lord our God our maker", the Psalm is calling us to surrender, to give up. Worship begins at this point of surrender... a holistic, intentional surrendering where we lay ourselves down before God.

Our English word, worship, literally means "worth-ship".  Whether it's an object, or a person, or even an idea, worshiping is attributing ultimate worth to something. Valuing one thing above all else.

 To worship God is to recognize his worth or worthiness; to look God-ward, and to acknowledge in all ways the value of what we see.  The Bible calls this activity "glorifying God".  It really isn't a matter of whether we will worship, therefore, but what we will worship. What will we value, esteem, above all other things? We were all created for worship, the key is – Do we really know the God we worship. To ascribe worth-ship to God is to understand who God is, what His “worth” is, why he is worthy of our worship.

Paul says in Romans 12:1, "I urge you, brothers, in view of God's mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God- this is your spiritual act of worship."
Paul is asking us to give our whole lives – to lay them down before God in an act of worship. What does this really mean? How do we worship God? And who is this God we worship?   Let start with who God is. 

Names and Descriptions of God in the Psalms
Titles and descriptions the psalmists use to praise the Lord.
Name of God        Description of God
• the LORD (1:2)
• God of my righteousness (4:1)
• My King (5:2)
• O LORD my God (7:1)
• the LORD Most High (7:17)
• God of my salvation (18:46)
• O My Strength (22:19)
• King of glory (24:7, 8)
• LORD of hosts (24:10)
• O LORD God of truth (31:5)
• O Mighty One (45:3)
• the King of all earth (47:7)
• God of Most High (57:2)
• YAH (68:4)
• the Almighty (68:14)
• God the LORD (68:20)
• the LORD our Maker (95:6)
• God their Savior (106:21)
• the God of gods (136:2)
• the God of heaven (136:26)
• a shield for me (3:3)
• My glory (3:3)
• the One who lifts up my head (3:3)
• the righteous God (7:9)
• a just judge (7:11)
• a refuge (9:9)
• the portion of my inheritance and my cup (16:5)
• my strength (18:1)
• the horn of my salvation, stronghold (18:2)
• my support (18:18)
• my shepherd (23:1)
• my light and my salvation (27:1)
• the strength of my life (27:1)
• the saving refuge of His anointed (28:8)
• my helper (30:10)
• rock of refuge (31:2)
• my hiding place (32:7)
• my help and my deliverer (40:17)
• the God of my life (42:8)
• my exceeding joy (43:4)
• a very present help in trouble (46:1)
• our guide even to death (48:14)
• my defense (59:9)
• my God of mercy (59:10)
• a shelter for me, a strong tower from the enemy (61:3)
• a father of the fatherless, a defender of widows (68:5)
• the strength of my heart and my portion forever (73:26)
• the great God and the great King above all gods (95:3)
• your shade at your right hand (121:5)
• my portion in the land of the living (142:5)
• my high tower (144:2)



Exodus 3:14 I AM WHO I AM: The One who spoke to Moses declared Himself to be the Eternal One — uncaused and independent. Only the Creator of all things can call Himself the I AM in the absolute sense; all other creatures are in debt to Him for their existence.



Christ means The Anointed One and His Anointing

"Therefore God also has highly exalted Him and given Him the name which is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those in heaven, and of those on earth, and of those under the earth, and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father." (Philippians 2:9-11)

"Then Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, said to them, “Rulers of the people and elders of Israel: If we this day are judged for a good deed done to a helpless man, by what means he has been made well, let it be known to you all, and to all the people of Israel, that by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified, whom God raised from the dead, by Him this man stands here before you whole. This is the ‘stone which was rejected by you builders, which has become the chief cornerstone.’ Nor is there salvation in any other, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.”" (Acts 4:8-12)

"Then Peter said, “Silver and gold I do not have, but what I do have I give you: In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, rise up and walk.” And he took him by the right hand and lifted him up, and immediately his feet and ankle bones received strength. So he, leaping up, stood and walked and entered the temple with them—walking, leaping, and praising God. And all the people saw him walking and praising God. Then they knew that it was he who sat begging alms at the Beautiful Gate of the temple; and they were filled with wonder and amazement at what had happened to him." (Acts 3:6-10)

" Now it happened, as we went to prayer, that a certain slave girl possessed with a spirit of divination met us, who brought her masters much profit by fortune-telling. This girl followed Paul and us, and cried out, saying, “These men are the servants of the Most High God, who proclaim to us the way of salvation.” And this she did for many days. But Paul, greatly annoyed, turned and said to the spirit, “I command you in the name of Jesus Christ to come out of her.” And he came out that very hour." (Acts 16:16-18)

We see through the names and descriptions of God, the power in the name of Jesus that we have before us an awesome God. And when we put into context that our Loving Father (another name ) sent Jesus to die for us to show mercy and grace – to give His all when we didn’t deserve it, not just to take away our sin but to give us abundant life, to give us a hope and a future, should not the natural reaction be that we want to give our all in worship?

This is what it means to present ourselves as living sacrifices – there is a physical and emotional response when it comes to giving worship (remember the definition – to prostrate oneself). 

I recently brought a new internal areal for my TV. This worked great for a few days, then the picture started to be a little fuzzy, the channels weren’t clear, and it seemed no matter what I did the picture still wouldn’t be clear – I could see but the picture wasn’t clear and would sometimes go off channel at certain times. Then the other day I was sorting out some of the wires at the back of the TV and noticed a couple of the cords had draped over part of the aerial. The TV was on, and as I moved these cords the picture suddenly became crystal clear. The cords had been interfering with the picture, and once removed the aerial was able to give a clear signal. This is what praise and worship does. We start our Christian walk with a revelation of God that bring us to Him. But the daily things of life start to cloud us out, God becomes a little unclear, we can become unsure of of His plan for us, unsure of Him speaking to us – we k now He is out there somewhere but the message isn’t clear.  The cords of life take away from our connection with God. 

Yet when we start to praise God for who He is and recognise the things He has done for us, we start to worship Him – give Him His worth-ship. This then refocusses us and we see ourselves more clearly, we are able to repent of any sin and take off the cords that bind and us and prevent us from having a clear connection with God. As we praise and worship Him we enter into His presence, we know He is with us, and we have connection – the doorway is opened and God is able to speak into our lives.

This is why we see various responses in worship to God – because we become aware of who God is, who we are in Him, of His presence here with us, and as a result there is a physical response such as:

Lifting Hands:

Psalm 63:4 Thus I will bless You while I live; I will lift up my hands in your name”

Lamentations 3:41 “Let us lift up hearts and hands to God in heaven”

Kneeling Down / Bowing the head

Psalm 95:6 “Oh come, let us worship and bow down; let us kneel before the Lord our maker”

Falling prostrate before the Lord

Rev 11:16 “And the four and twenty elders who sat before God on their thrones fell on their faces and worshipped God”


Worship changes lives. When we are worshippers we exude the power and presence of God. We know the work of Jesus Christ, we reflect His presence and purpose, and we receive His anointing power because we have laid ourselves on the alter of worship, and it is no longer I that lives but Christ that lives in us. So we will say to the lame – “In the name of Jesus Christ rise up and walk”. We will say to the oppressed, “Be free in Jesus name”. We will say to the blind – “See in Jesus name”.

Let me ask some of the more mature believers in the congregation – and by mature I don’t mean old. It is recognised that most Christians are “self feeders” within 18 months of being saved. That is they are able to feed on the Word of God themselves. This is one sign of maturity. So to these people let me ask you – What is your preparation like when you come here on a Sunday, or to your Connect Group during the week. Do you take time to prepare before you come, spending time in worship and prayer, ensuring all is good between you and God, interceding for those who will be here today that they may experience God, looking to come into the house to give? Or are you coming just to receive, rushing in at the last minute before the service starts, or maybe half way through the praise and worship, looking to be spoon fed from the front.

A mature Christian comes into the house to give as an act of worship. A mature Christian prepares themselves on a Sunday or during the week for their Connect Group so they are in a right spirit, having a clear connection with God, looking to be a blessing to those in the congregation, to those who are new to the congregation, to bring encouragement, unity and support. This comes out of taking time to prepare before they come, spending time in praise and worship of God; praying for the worship leader, then Communion leader, the preacher, the congregation. Interceding that the Holy Spirit may be with us in power this morning changing, healing and restoring people towards a stronger walk with God. 

I understand that there are times where life has taken a swipe at us and we need to come and receive and be blessed. However if this is seemingly always your state then maybe it is time to examine your praise and worship of God. Are you taking time out to give God the rightful place in your life. Are you taking time each day to praise and worship Him, then to read His Word? This is how we position ourselves to become “victorious” people rather than “victims”. 


TALK ABOUT
Try these discussion-starters about this week’s topic: