What is Worship?

This sounds like a silly question. Everybody knows that worship is singing songs about God in church. But according to the Bible, it's much more than mere singing on a Sunday morning inside a funny-looking building.

Worship is our act of love to our Lord. Singing is a part of it but not its entirety. We see in Exodus 24:1 and 2 (BBE) that meeting the Lord was an act of worship. "And he said to Moses, 'Come up to the Lord, you and Aaron, and Nadab and Abihu and seventy of the chiefs of Israel; and give me worship from a distance. And Moses only may come near to the Lord; but the others are not to come near, and the people may not come up with them.'"

Moses received teaching from the Lord as well. God showed him how to make his Tabernacle, saying in Exodus 25:9 (KJV), "According to all that I show thee, after the pattern of the tabernacle, and the pattern of all the instruments thereof, even so shall ye make it."

Moses also instructed that the Lord, through his ministers, receive donations. Deuteronomy 26:10 (BBE) reads, "So now, I have come here with the first of the fruits of the earth which you, O Lord, have given me. Then you will put it down before the Lord your God and give him worship:"

Worship means giving God glory. Scripture says in 1 Chronicles 26:10 (BBE), "Have glory in his holy name; let the hearts of those who are searching after the Lord be glad."

And here's why God deserves our total devotion. Psalms 95:6 (BBE) explains, "O come, let us give worship, falling down on our knees before the Lord our Maker."


And as Jesus said to a woman of Samaria in John 4:23 (BBE), "But the time is coming, and is even now here, when the true worshippers will give worship to the Father in the true way of the spirit, for these are the worshippers desired by the Father."

So we see that worship comes from our hearts to our creator and saviour. I plan on expanding on this in my next book called You Think You're Going to Heaven? So many folks go through the motions but their hearts are far from the Lord.

On Saturday, I'll post about a song which horrified me at first but I saw its sense many years later.