What Is Worship According To The Bible?

Many Christians say that they love worship, that they have times of worship during services, that they like to listen to worship, etc. But when they say it, they define worship as the music played, the song that was played, the beautiful melodies that pierce their heart... But when they say it, they define worship as the music played, the song that was played, the beautiful melodies that pierce their hearts... But worship isn't just mudique. It's important for us Christians to know what worship really is, so that we can truly worship God in spirit and in truth.

'Jesus replied to him, “It is written and forever remains written, ‘You shall worship the Lord your God and serve only Him.’ ” Luke 4:8 AMP

"God is spirit [the Source of life, yet invisible to mankind], and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth.” John 4:24 AMP

To worship the Lord and serve Him alone, to worship Him with all our heart and soul, in spirit and in truth, we need to really understand what worship is, not get carried away by melody and think we've worshipped God. For many sing but do not worship God, as the Bible says.

"Then the Lord said, “Because this nation approaches [Me only] with their words And honors Me [only] with their lip service, But they remove their hearts far from Me, And their reverence for Me is a tradition that is learned by rote [without any regard for its meaning]," Isaiah 29:13 AMP

God is looking for worshippers.

Definition of worship

I'm going to present different definitions of worship that I've come across in various searches, which seem slightly different but which, in the end, come together.

1. The word "worship" is defined in the dic tionary as the act of coming, of worshipping. 

When we come, we regard things with the hn respect due to the sacred, we accord deep respect and recognition. We place the person above all else, above ourselves and everything else in the world. We consider the person or thing we'll be coming for as something or someone more important than us, more important than everything, wu piint where we dominate capable of anything because of the fact that we'll be coming for the person.

To come to someone is to love that person above all else and to give him or her the deepest affection. This is what we must do with God.

When we worship God, we must show him our love for him, which is above all the love we can feel. We must love God with all our heart, with all our soul, with all our strength, and we must place Him above all else.

"You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and mind and with all your soul and with all your strength [your entire being]." Deuteronomy 6:5 AMP

2. The word " worship" in the Bible is translated from the Greek word "Proskuneo" or the Hebrew word "Shachah". These words mean: to kneel, to prostrate oneself, to bend down in reverence before a superior being.

 To worship does not mean to sing, but to be in an attitude of reverence, recognizing our Creator as a superior being. This position is not necessarily a physical one, but rather one of the heart.

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Where does the expression "worship " come from in the Bible?

I'm a Bible buff, so I'm going to tell you about worship in the Bible.

At the very beginning of the Bible, we can see that Adam and Caien were priests and both presented an offering of worship to God. But the word "worship" was first used by our Father in Faith, "Abraham".

" Abraham said to his servants, “Settle down and stay here with the donkey; the young man and I will go over there and worship [God], and we will come back to you.” Then Abraham took the wood for the burnt offering and laid it on [the shoulders of] Isaac his son, and he took the fire (firepot) in his own hand and the [sacrificial] knife; and the two of them walked on together.". Genesis 22:5‭-‬6 AMP

In the Old Covenant, God was worshipped in the temple. Sacrifices were regularly made by priests, who were of the line of Aaron.

In the New Covenant, worship continues, but it's us, the people, who have been established as priests by God.

"and formed us into a kingdom [as His subjects], priests to His God and Father—to Him be the glory and the power and the majesty and the dominion forever and ever. Amen." Revelation 1:6 AMP

So as priests, we have sacrifices to make to worship our God, but in other forms:

- We must regularly make charitable sacrifices as stated in Hebrews 13:16.

"Do not neglect to do good, to contribute [to the needy of the church as an expression of fellowship], for such sacrifices are always pleasing to God."

 Anyone who knows me knows that charitable sacrifices are my main way of worshipping God, and I make them every day. These sacrifices consist of doing good to one's neighbor and helping the needy. Every time I do it, I can feel the presence of the Holy Spirit by my side, and I feel refreshed. Every time I don't, even when it's an unintentional oversight, I feel bad all day, and when I finally settle down to savor what's wrong, the thought of making a charitable sacrifice comes to mind and I run to do it. Can you believe it? That's what I'm experiencing.

- We can worship God with sacrifices of thanksgiving: we then give thanks to God for all his benefits, by our mouths, by gifts, ect. 

"You will be enriched in every way so that you may be generous, and this [generosity, administered] through us is producing thanksgiving to God [from those who benefit]." 2 Corinthians 9:11 AMP

- We can worship God through praise, i.e.the words that come out of our mouths 

"Through Him, therefore, let us at all times offer up to God a sacrifice of praise, which is the fruit of lips that thankfully acknowledge and confess and glorify His name." Hebrews 13:15 AMP

- We can also worship God through self-sacrifice: by giving up ourselves completely to do what the Lord tells us to do.

"Therefore I urge you, brothers and sisters, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies [dedicating all of yourselves, set apart] as a living sacrifice, holy and well-pleasing to God, which is your rational (logical, intelligent) act of worship." Romans 12:1 AMP

As Christians, our daily life must be one of worship, a sweet-smelling sacrifice for the Glory of our God. We must therefore worship Him every day, by the means mentioned in the Bible or by the means that the Lord Himself inspires in everyone, for His glory alone.

The difference between praise and worship

Praise consists in acknowledging God's blessings. We are grateful to God for everything He has done in our lives, and He is worthy of praise.

"I call upon the Lord, who is worthy to be praised; And I am saved from my enemies." Psalms 18:3 AMP

We praise God by offering God the fruit of our lips. Praise is part of worship, part of offering sacrifices to God. But worship is much deeper, worship should take you to contemplation. 

We also worship God in our daily behavior, for God is watching us every hour, minute and second of our lives. 

"The face of the Lord is against those who do evil, To cut off the memory of them from the earth." Psalms 34:16 AMP

We must therefore be in a continual attitude of adoration in our hearts, for there is never a moment when we are not in God's presence.

When we give ourselves to God as a living sacrifice, we then decide at every moment to do God's will alone, and at that moment we are also in continual adoration.

In the end, we can worship God from morning to night without singing, without worshipping, without setting foot in church, without kneeling. Worship is an attitude, a posture, a relationship in which we constantly seek to please God. We are God's temple, and continuous sacrifices must burn within us as a sign of our adoration of God.