“Praise the Lord. Praise the Lord, my soul. 2 I will praise the Lord all my life; I will sing praise to my God as long as I live. 3 Do not put your trust in princes, in human beings, who cannot save. 4 When their spirit departs, they return to the ground; on that very day their plans come to nothing. 5 Blessed are those whose help is the God of Jacob, whose hope is in the Lord their God. 6 He is the Maker of heaven and earth, the sea, and everything in them—He remains faithful forever. 7 He upholds the cause of the oppressed and gives food to the hungry. The Lord sets prisoners free, 8 the Lord gives sight to the blind, the Lord lifts up those who are bowed down, the Lord loves the righteous. 9 The Lord watches over the foreigner and sustains the fatherless and the widow, but he frustrates the ways of the wicked. 10 The Lord reigns forever, your God, O Zion, for all generations. Praise the Lord.”
This is Psalm 146. Isn’t it beautiful? It’s such a rich psalm, which brings to light many of the different aspects about why worship is important to those who call on the name of the Lord. So why is worship important? Why do we worship? Is it just because the Bible says we should? Is it just because God says we should? And why would God tell us we have to worship Him? Doesn’t that seem sort of…egotistical, for God to command or demand our worship of Him?
These are all good questions, and they’re all questions that we should have an answer to. Does God really ask or expect that people will worship Him? Why?
Here’s something we need to make sure we know at all times: EVERYONE worships. A lot of times when we hear that word “worship” we think of it in a religious way. Even outside of Christianity, people hear the word “worship” and link it to religion. But this simply isn’t the full story. Everyone worships something or someone. Even atheists will worship someone or something. You see this list in your bulletin of people or things the world worships: musicians, athletes, celebrities, families, friends, jobs, money, reputations, power, prestige, self…and I’m sure you can think of others. Regardless of what it is, every single person will find something in their life to worship.
It’s a strange thing that we do, really. We gravitate toward things or people that we believe are great or greater than ourself, and we give that thing or person our honor and adoration. We elevate that person or thing. We do this because of this right here, from Isaiah 43, God speaks about how all the wild animals honor Him, but, verse 21, “the people I formed for myself that they may proclaim my praise.”, they do not worship God. The people He formed, us, every human, were formed and created to proclaim His praise. We were made to worship Him. We were made to walk with Him in relationship with Him just like Adam and Eve did.
So we, humans, will always look for something or someone to worship, to honor, to adore, to praise, because we were made to worship and be in relationship with the object of our worship. No matter what it is, we will find someone or something to worship.
Now, real quick, what is worship? If we were created to worship, made for it, what is it we are made for? Is it just the 30 minutes we have every week during church when we sing songs? Nope.
Worship is…well, worship is not just singing songs. Worship is not a set pattern of notes that make up music, or any particular words that sound nice. Worship isn’t reading Scripture, or listening to a sermon. Worship isn’t giving money to the church. Worship isn’t volunteering your gifts or time or talent. Yes, worship can include these expressions, but they are not in of themselves, worship.
True worship is a genuine expression of love toward God, through a lifestyle of submission and holiness, because of His great love for us. There’s two passages that help us a lot with our understanding or worship. Romans 12:1-2, “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. 2 Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—His good, pleasing and perfect will.” Through this, we understand that worship is the submitting of ourselves to God, and seeking and practicing His holiness in every area of our lives and our minds.
The second is John 4:23-24, “Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in the Spirit and in truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks. 24 God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in the Spirit and in truth.” The worship God desires from those who worship Him comes from a place of truth. It’s not a show you put on for others, it’s not an act, you’re not supposed to fake it until you make it. True worship comes from a true place in your heart. We also understand here that true worship will connect the believer to the Father through the Spirit. True worship creates a conduit in the life of the believer to be able to hear from God and be a part of how He is moving.
So again, true worship is a genuine expression of love toward God, through a lifestyle of submission and holiness, because of His great love for us.
We all worship, right? We are also showing genuine expressions of love through a lifestyle of submission to whatever or whoever we are worshiping. The challenging question for you is, what or who do you spend most time worshiping? You don’t have to answer right now. In fact, I’d prefer if you didn’t because I want you to really spend time thinking through that question. But think about it. What or who gets most of your expressions of genuine love and significant devotion? Is it God? Jesus? Family? Jobs? Money? Reputation? Think it over.
All of us worship. So why worship the Lord? Do we do it just because He says so? Do we do it just because that’s what’s expected of us at church? We come, we sing some songs and listen to a word that we hope makes us feel good and then we go home back to our lives? No! That’s not why we’re here, and that’s not what worship is, and that’s not why we should worship God.
All of us worship. But nothing else that you can worship in this life is worthy of your worship, except God. He is WORTHY of your worship. Remember again verses 3 and 4 of the Psalm we read, “Do not put your trust in princes, in human beings, who cannot save. 4 When their spirit departs, they return to the ground; on that very day their plans come to nothing.”
Only God is worth your genuine expressions of love through the submission of your life. Only He is worthy of your devotion. See, God isn’t asking us to do something unnatural or unusual by worshiping Him. We’re all worshiping someone, or something, right? So He’s asking that since we are already going to worship someone, make sure we’re worshiping the only one who is worth our worship. In fact, the English word “worship” was born through two words that became one, “worth-ship”. The idea here was that you would only give love, devotion, and submission to someone who was worth it.
Why else should we worship the Lord? Well, it’s good for us! In the Bible, a life of worship is also connected to God’s blessings, His deliverance, His joy, and His guidance. In Psalm 146:5 we read, “Blessed are those whose help is the God of Jacob, whose hope is in the Lord their God” Blessed are those who turn to God and place their hope in Him. We’re also told in Romans that God works all things for the good of those who…love Him, and are called according to His purposes! Sounds like a lifestyle of submission and holiness to me!
We worship because through worship, as we’ve already seen, it connects us to the Father through the Spirit. It’s through worship that He opens our hearts to hear from Him, and pours His presence upon us. When we’re worshiping, submitting ourselves to the Lord because we love Him, we’re putting our hearts in a place where we are actually hearing and willing to hear what He says to us. This is how Jesus lived. His life was a life of worship, lived in constant love for the Father shown through the complete submission of His life and display of inward holiness. And because of this life of worship He lived, He was able to hear the tiniest whisper of the Father’s through the Spirit. He was in constant connection with the Father. We can experience this too through a life of worship.
We worship because it fixes our FOCUS. When our focus is taken off of Jesus, when we get distracted or burdened and overwhelmed, an act of worship, a recommitment to submit our lives in holiness, turns our eyes back to Jesus. An expression of love for Him reminds us of who He is and what He has done in us and through us and for us.
Worship teaches us to let go and trust Him with life, to anchor everything in Him. Recall again, Psalm 146:3-4, “Do not put your trust in princes, in human beings, who cannot save. 4 When their spirit departs, they return to the ground; on that very day their plans come to nothing.” There’s no hope to be found in human beings, even the really great ones. These verses tell us not to put our trust in those who can’t save! Only God is worthy, and only God can save. Verse 6 of this Psalm says that He is faithful forever. He alone is always faithful. His Word assures us that He will never let us down, He never leaves us. If we have this assurance, if we know that He is capable of handling every thing our lives might contain, that frees us up to let go of that tight control we try to keep and to trust Him with the details of our lives. Hebrews 6:19 reminds us that because Jesus conquered death, He alone is the hope and anchor for our souls. He can be trusted with your life, and acts of worship, loving God through a life of submission and holiness helps us do this.
Finally, we worship because it is our GIFT to God. In the Old Testament, God’s people offered up sacrifices, for many reasons, but one of those reasons was that it was part of their worship of God. A sacrifice was a gift that they would bring to offer to God to honor Him and show their love to Him. It was to show that they were willing to bring even their livelihood to Him and trust Him with it.
We don’t do animal sacrifices anymore, for which I’m glad, but Hebrews 13:15 says this, “Through Jesus, therefore, let us continually offer to God a sacrifice of praise—the fruit of lips that openly profess His name.” We can and do and are supposed to give Him a sacrifice of praise. We praise Him not just with our words, but we’re told that praise happens when we openly profess His name. When we declare with our lives that Jesus is Lord, that we are His and we love Him, that is a sacrifice of praise. Remember again the words of Romans 12:1-2, that a life lived in submission and holiness is our act of worship, it is our sacrifice.
So, worship. Worship Him with your lives, worship Him with everything you have. He is worthy of your worship. It is good for you, and through it He will open your heart to hear from Him and pour His presence upon you. Through worship, He fixes our focus on Him and teaches us to trust Him with our lives, to anchor everything in Him. And worship, because we know that worshiping with our lives is how we give our gift to Him. Worship Him with songs, yes, definitely, but let worship permeate through your whole life, with your whole being.
1. What or Who do you spend most time worshiping? If you were to count up all the hours in your day, what is most of your time devoted to pursuing and adoring?
2. What is your attitude when it comes to being a part of “worship” together on Sundays? Do you approach this time joyously, or as an awkward burden?
3. What reasons for or elements of worship really speaks to you or surprises you?