Five basic principles of worship
We glorify God with our worship because we answer Him as is right. He deserves praise not only for his power but also for his kindness. God is love and everything he does is out of love. That is worthy of praise. We even praise human love! We praise people who devote their lives to helping others. You haven't had enough strength to save yourself, but you use it to help others - that's commendable. In contrast, we criticize people who have had the ability to help others but refused to do it. Kindness deserves more praise than power. God has both because he is kind and powerful.
Praise deepens the bond of love between us and God. God's love for us never fades, but our love for him often becomes weak. In praise, we let his love for us resonate and in fact kindle the fire of love for him that the Holy Spirit has invested in us. It is good to remember and repeat how wonderful God is because it strengthens us in Christ and increases our desire to become like Him in His goodness, which also increases our joy.
We were created to proclaim God's blessings. (1. Petr 2,9)to praise and honor Him – and the better we align ourselves with God's purpose for our lives, the greater our joy will be. Life is more fulfilling when we do what we were created to do: to honor God. We do this not only in our worship services, but also through our way of life.
The way of life of worship
Serving God is a way of life. We offer ourselves as sacrifices, body and soul. (Röm 12,1-2)We serve God when we proclaim the gospel. (Röm 15,16)We serve God when we give donations. (Phil 4,18)We serve God when we help other people. (Hebr 13,16)We declare that our time, attention, and loyalty are due to Him. We praise His glory and His humility in becoming one of us for our sake. We commend His justice and His mercy. We praise Him for being as He is.
For that we are made to announce his glory. It is right that we praise the One who created us, who died and rose for us to save us and give eternal life, who is now working to help us become like him. We owe him our loyalty and our love.
We were created to praise God, and we always will. The Apostle John received a vision about our future: “And I heard every creature in heaven and on earth and under the earth and on the sea, and everything in them, saying: ‘To him who sits on the throne and to the Lamb be praise and honor and glory and power for ever and ever!’” (Offb 5,13)This is the appropriate response: reverence for him who deserves reverence, honor for him who deserves honor, and loyalty for him who deserves loyalty.
Five basic principles
Psalm 33,13 It urges us: “Rejoice in the Lord, you righteous ones; let the upright give praise to him. Give thanks to the Lord with the harp; sing praises to him with the ten-stringed lyre! Sing to him a new song; make beautiful music on the strings with joyful sound!” Scripture instructs us to sing and shout for joy, to use harps, flutes, tambourines, trumpets, and cymbals—yes, even to worship him by dancing (Psalm 149-150). The image is one of exuberance, of unbridled joy and of happiness expressed without restraint.
The Bible shows us examples of spontaneous worship. It also contains examples of very formal worship, with well-established routines that have been followed for centuries. Both forms of worship can have their justification; no one can claim to be the only authentic right to praise God. Below, I would like to outline some of the basic principles that are important in worship.
1. We are called to worship
God wants us to worship Him. This is a constant that we can read from the beginning to the end of the Bible. (1. Mose 4,4; Joh 4,23; Offb 22,9)The worship of God is one of the reasons why we are called: to proclaim His glory [His blessings]. (1. Petr 2,9)God's people not only love and obey Him, but also perform acts of worship. They offer sacrifices, they sing hymns of praise, they pray.
We see in the Bible a great variety of ways in which worship can take place. The Law of Moses listed many details. Specific individuals were entrusted with performing prescribed acts at specific times and in specific places. In contrast, we see in the Book of Genesis that the patriarchs had few rules to consider regarding worship. They had no appointed priesthood, were not bound to any particular location, and had few instructions about what should be sacrificed and when.
There is also little discussion in the New Testament on how and when worship should take place. Worship activities are not limited to a specific group or location. Christ has abolished the Mosaic requirements. All believers are priests and are constantly offering themselves as living sacrifices.
2. Only God may be worshipped.
Although there is a great variety of forms of worship, we see a simple constant that runs through the whole scripture: only God may be worshiped. Worship is only acceptable if it is exclusive. God demands all our love - all our faithfulness. We can not serve two gods. Although we can worship him in different ways, our unity is based on the fact that he is the one we worship.
In ancient Israel, Baal, a Canaanite deity, was often worshiped in competition with God. In Jesus' time it was religious traditions, self-righteousness and hypocrisy. Everything between us and God - everything that keeps us from obeying him - is a false god, an idol. For some it is the money; for others it is the sex. Some have a big problem with pride or concern for their reputation with others. The apostle John has described some of the usual false gods in one of his letters:
Do not love the world! Do not set your heart on what belongs to the world! If someone loves the world, love for the Father has no place in their life. For nothing that characterizes this world comes from the Father. Whether it is the greed of the selfish person, their covetous glances, or their boasting about power and possessions—all these originate in this world. And the world with its desires passes away; but whoever does what God wills will live forever. (1. Joh 2,15-17).
It does not matter what our weakness is, we must crucify, kill, remove all false gods. If anything prevents us from obeying God, we have to get rid of it. God wants people who worship only him, who have him as the center of their lives.
3. Sincerity
The third constant of worship the Bible tells us is that our worship must be sincere. There is no value in doing it just for the sake of form, singing the right songs, gathering us on the right days and pronouncing the right words, but not loving God heartily. Jesus criticized those who honored God with their lips, but whose worship was in vain because their hearts were far from God. Their traditions, originally conceived to express love and worship, proved to be obstacles to true love and worship.
Jesus also emphasizes the need for sincerity when he says that God must be worshipped in spirit and in truth. (Joh 4,24)If we claim to love God yet reject his commandments, we are hypocrites. If we value our freedom more than his authority, we cannot truly worship him. We cannot take his covenant in our mouths and cast his words behind us. (Ps 50,16-17)We cannot call him lord and ignore his instructions.
4. Obedience
Throughout the Bible, it is clear that true worship and obedience go hand in hand. This is especially true of God's Word regarding how we treat one another. We cannot honor God if we despise his children. “If anyone says, ‘I love God,’ and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen cannot love God whom he has not seen.” (1. Joh 4,20-21)Isaiah describes a similar situation with biting criticism of people who follow worship rituals while simultaneously practicing social injustice:
Bring no more vain offerings! Incense is an abomination to me! New moons and Sabbaths, when you gather together—blasphemy and assembly I do not take! My soul is hostile to your new moons and festivals; they are a burden to me, I am weary of bearing them. And though you spread out your hands, I will hide my eyes from you; though you offer many prayers, I will not hear you. (Jes 1,11-15).
As far as we can tell, there was nothing wrong with the days people kept, or the type of incense, or the animals they sacrificed. The problem was their way of life the rest of the time. "Your hands are full of blood!" he said (verse 15) - and the problem wasn't just about actual murderers.
He demanded a comprehensive solution: "Let go of evil! Learn to do good, seek justice, help the oppressed, restore justice to the orphans, administer the cause of widows” (verses 16-17). They had to put their interpersonal relationships in order. They had to shed racial prejudice, social class stereotypes and unfair economic practices.
5. It affects all of life.
Worship should affect the way we interact with each other every seven days a week. We see this principle throughout the Bible. How should we worship? The prophet Micah asked this question and also wrote down the answer:
With what shall I draw near to the Lord, and bow down before the exalted God? Shall I draw near to him with burnt offerings, with calves a year old? Will the Lord be pleased with thousands of rams, with rivers of oil in my countenance? Shall I give my firstborn for my transgression, the fruit of my womb for my sin? He has shown you, O mortal, what is good. And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God. (Micha 6,6-8).
The prophet Hosea also emphasized that relationships are more important than the systematic nature of worship: “I desire love and not sacrifice, the knowledge of God and not burnt offerings.” (Hos 6,6)We are called not only to praise God, but also to do good works. (Eph 2,10)Our understanding of worship must extend far beyond music, days, and rituals. These details are not as important as how we treat our neighbors. It is hypocritical to call Jesus our Lord if we do not also seek his justice, mercy, and compassion.
Worship is much more than external action - it involves a change in behavior that, in turn, comes from a change in the attitude of the heart that the Holy Spirit brings to us. Decisive in this change is our willingness to spend time with God in prayer, study and other spiritual disciplines. This fundamental change is not magically happening - it is due to the time we spend in communion with God.
Paul's expanded view of worship
Worship encompasses our entire lives. We read this in the letters of Paul. He uses the terms sacrifice and worship (divine service) in the following way: “Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship.” (Röm 12,1)Our whole life should be worship, not just a few hours a week. If our whole life is dedicated to worship, this will surely include spending time with other Christians each week!
Paul uses further euphemisms for sacrifice and worship in Römer 15,16. He speaks of the grace that God gave him to be a servant of Christ Jesus among the Gentiles, one who priestly directs the gospel of God so that the Gentiles might become a sacrifice that may be pleasing to God, sanctified by the Holy Spirit. The proclamation of the gospel is a form of worship and worship.
Since we are all priests, we have the priestly duty to proclaim the blessings and glory of Him who called us. (1. Petr 2,9) —a ministry of worship that every believer can perform or participate in by helping others proclaim the gospel. When Paul thanked the Philippians for delivering the financial support, he used terms of worship: “Through Epaphroditus I received what came from you: a fragrant offering, an acceptable sacrifice, pleasing to God.” (Phil 4,18).
Providing financial assistance to support other Christians can be a form of worship. Worship is described in the Epistle to the Hebrews as something that manifests itself in words and deeds: “Through him therefore let us continually offer up to God a sacrifice of praise, that is, the fruit of lips that acknowledge his name. Do not forget to do good and to share with others, for with such sacrifices God is pleased.” (Hebr 13,15-6).
We are called to worship, celebrate and worship God. It is our pleasure to share, to proclaim His benefits - the good news of what He has done for us in and through our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
Five facts about worship
- God wants us to worship Him, to meet Him with praise and thanksgiving.
- Only God is worthy of our worship and absolute faithfulness.
- Worship should be sincere, not a performance.
- If we worship and love God, we will do as he says.
- Worship is not just something we do once a week - it includes everything we do.
What to think about
- For which attribute of God are you most thankful?
- Some Old Testament sacrifices were completely burnt - leaving nothing but smoke and ashes. Was one of your victims comparable?
- Spectators cheer when their team scores a goal or wins a game. Do we respond with equal enthusiasm to God?
- For many people, God is not very important in everyday life. What do people value instead?
- Why does God care how we treat other people?
by Joseph Tkach
