How Do We Worship God Appropriately?
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We are all worshipers, worshiping something, whether that is God, food, money, sex, or something else. But what is Christian worship? Daniel R. Hyde defines worship as “our response to God.” How do we see him, and see ourselves in relation to him? How do we make him the center of our lives in and through Christ?
If the sacrifices and rituals of the Old Testament are no longer expected, does that mean there are no expectations? The Bible tells us that there is, in fact, such a thing as appropriate worship. In fact, Christ worshiped the Father and taught us how to do so in ways which please him.
Worship in Spirit and Truth
“But the hour is coming, and is now here, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father is seeking such people to worship him” (John 4:23).
Sam Storms explains that our worship must “originate from within, from the heart; it must be sincere, motivated by our love for God and gratitude for all he is and has done.” This is the spirit of worship. But also, the Holy Spirit “orchestrates our services and leads us in corporate praise of God.” Along with the “S/spirit” of worship, Storms points out that worship which pleases God “must never be mindless or based in ignorance.”
We worship intelligently based on what God has revealed in Scripture, not based on what simply “feels right.” Yet, we must allow ourselves to be moved by what has been revealed to us, and moved by our personal relationship with Christ through the indwelling of the Holy Spirit.
Either one without the other leads to incomplete worship. Besides this, we truly need the help of the Holy Spirit to keep the flow of worship directed in the right direction. Without the Lord’s help in this way, we are naturally bent towards idolatry.
Worship Reverently
“Oh come, let us worship and bow down; let us kneel before the Lord, our Maker!” (Psalm 95:6).
God is not our buddy. He is not our co-pilot. He is our Lord. Jesus is King. While he invites us into friendship (John 15:15), we must not treat him the way we treat many of our so-called friends – those people we only interact with on social media by “liking” them, or whom we stay in touch with erratically.
To love Christ as our friend is to honor him and make much of him, expecting to recede into the shadows and let everyone see how Jesus has been our friend to the point of death on a cross. Friendship as defined by Christ is sacrificial, but with a joy that comes from profound love for God. As our friend, he gave his life for us in order to obey and honor the Father. This kind of friendship drives us to our knees in reverence and awe.
Although we are Christ’s friends, this friendship is designed to lead us into a proper, redeemed relationship with a holy God who demands our attention and our submission throughout the day, every day. When we behave selflessly, with joy, towards our neighbors, acting as their friends to the glory of God, we demonstrate a trusting reverence. We recognize the Father’s power, which is terrible and beautiful at the same time. We rejoice in it and do not take it lightly.
When we are giving the Lord proper reverence, it begins with a recognition of who he is. “Our Father, who is in Heaven, hallowed be your name” (Matthew 6:9). “Hallowed” (the Greek hagiazó) means “to make holy, i.e. (ceremonially) purify or consecrate; (mentally) to venerate – hallow, be holy, sanctify.” When we take time to understand who he is and what we owe him (our lives), we tend not to be hasty and thoughtless about worship.
“The friendship of the Lord is for those who fear him, and he makes known to them his covenant” (Psalm 25:14). God alone is to be honored and glorified by our worship.
We Exalt God
“O Lord, you are my God; I will exalt you; I will praise your name, for you have done wonderful things, plans formed of old, faithful and sure” (Isaiah 25:1).
Raman or “exalt” means to “lift up.” When we appropriately worship God, we raise his name above all other names. We speak about him to others and we declare that Jesus is better than any other “god” the world worships: money, power, love, sex, etc.
How can we lift up God when he is already exalted? Job 36:22 says “God is exalted in his power.” He does not need us to lift him up further, yet the heart that worships him wants all other hearts to do the same.
Worship that pleases God seeks to make his name known among those who do not know him. There can be a private sort of worship, by which we emulate the quiet prayer time Jesus prioritized with the Father. But the believer who longs to see and know Jesus knows also that he deserves loud praise, above every other name.
Paul wrote “God has highly exalted [Jesus] and bestowed on him the name that is above every name” (Philippians 2:9). No other name deserves such fame, devotion, attention, and effort. We strive to make him famous where he is unknown.
“Through him then let us continually offer up a sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of lips that acknowledge his name” (Hebrews 13:15).
We Serve God
“I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship” (Romans 12:1).
When we say to the Lord “you alone are worthy” and submit to him, we are entrusting him with our lives. We admit there is no King besides him to whom we can safely submit, but also that we must submit, because he called Christ to serve and we follow Christ, even unto death. Paul says as much, and Christ showed us the way by giving his body as a living sacrifice to the glory of God and for our salvation.
We serve God by giving him our lives and saying “do with me what you will.” As we worship in spirit and truth, this helps us to properly hear God’s direction for our lives. We are not merely following a feeling, we are reading Scripture, asking God for the truth about what he has said and what he wants.
Some people are led abroad into missionary work. Some become missionaries at home. Some work to help pay for these missions. Some stay home and minister in other ways. Yet, in everything, we can give thanks, praise, and credit to God by receding as he comes forward. If we have dreams, we ask God to make them his dreams so we can serve him lovingly and with joy. We give him our hearts and our minds for Kingdom purposes, to share the gospel and stir up our fellow Christians. Sometimes this is painful. The New Testament tells us about the pain we will experience, but also how God will exalt the faithful who suffer for his sake.
What Goes in Comes Out
“Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God” (Colossians 3:16).
He knows what goes on in our heads; there is no hiding. “Even before a word is on my tongue, behold, O LORD, you know it altogether” (Psalm 139:4). But it is also a choice we make, to let him fill us up with the goodness that is true about him and best for the development of our spirits – for our fruitfulness. What we fill up on will also pour out of us, returning to God as worship if we have consumed things that please him. Paul wrote that we should be hungry for “whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable” (Philippians 4:8).
An extension of that truth is the way we use our money and time to honor what God has given us. When we joyfully give back to him by giving to others, this is part of our worship. We worship when we happily tithe; we worship when we volunteer gratefully. Grateful giving acknowledges that we know both in spirit and truth that we are saved by the grace and mercy of our Savior and that everything good comes from him.
Whatever we give, it was his to start with. We acknowledge that he is our sufficiency. As one writer puts it, “the biblical call to focus on worship rather than wealth [...] encourages a lifestyle of stewardship, where material resources are viewed as tools for advancing God's kingdom rather than personal gain. Generosity, contentment, and trust in God's provision are hallmarks of a life oriented towards worship.”
The Trouble with Worship
God has given us the tools to worship him appropriately in the name of his Son Jesus Christ. While we know how, putting this knowledge into practice is sometimes harder than we would like to admit. This is why we need the Holy Spirit’s help when it comes to choosing whom to worship and how.
We can offer our worship as much as we like, but if our hearts are full of unacknowledged, unrepentant sin, he will not accept it (Hosea 8:13). Therefore, we also need to understand the value of confession and repentance to our worship. These are essential elements, because when they sink in and we truly repent, asking God for a heart like his Son’s heart, the obstacles to true, wholehearted worship are gone.
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