Then Job arose, and rent his mantle, and shaved his head, and fell down upon the ground and worshipped, And said, Naked came I out of my mother's womb,
and naked shall I return thither: the LORD gave, and the LORD hath taken away; blessed be the name of the LORD. In all this Job sinned not, nor charged God foolishly. (Job 1:20-22)
What exactly is a "Worship service?" Pass any of a multitude of churches on any given Sunday and you will see advertisements for their worship services. What exactly is biblical worship?
Certainly we may be moved by certain musical expressions led by the Holy Spirit – there are beautiful songs written to glorify GOD – and personally, there is nothing more that I love than to hear put to music than the Word – especially the Psalms.
So what IS worship? How can we worship God in Spirit and Truth and not be led away by false worship which we will learn from the scriptures is idolatry?
Father, let our lives be pure worship to you, by submission through sacrificial love that is found only in Christ Jesus. This is the worship you desire and one your bride wishes to offer.
(Gen 22:5) And Abraham said unto his young men, Abide ye here with the ass; and I and the lad will go yonder and worship, and come again to you.
Gen 22:1 And it came to pass after these things, that God did tempt (tested) Abraham, and said unto him, Abraham: and he said, Behold, here I am. 2 And he said, Take now thy son, thine only son Isaac, whom thou lovest, and get thee into the land of Moriah; and offer him there for a burnt offering upon one of the mountains which I will tell thee of.
Abraham is worshipping God by obeying Him in offering his “only son,” Isaac. He submits to the will of God, despite his longing for his child. The worship was revealed through his obedience.
Exo 34:11 Observe thou that which I command thee this day: behold, I drive out before thee the Amorite, and the Canaanite, and the Hittite, and the Perizzite, and the Hivite, and the Jebusite. 12 Take heed to thyself, lest thou make a covenant with the inhabitants of the land whither thou goest, lest it be for a snare in the midst of thee: 13 But ye shall destroy their altars, break their images, and cut down their groves: 14 For thou shalt worship no other god: for the LORD, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God: 15 Lest thou make a covenant with the inhabitants of the land, and they go a whoring after their gods, and do sacrifice unto their gods, and one call thee, and thou eat of his sacrifice; 16 And thou take of their daughters unto thy sons, and their daughters go a whoring after their gods, and make thy sons go a whoring after their gods.
Once again, God is defining our obedience to Him as worship. (Verse 14) and warns the children of Israel not to go after the gods of the other nations.
Deu 4:19 And lest thou lift up thine eyes unto heaven, and when thou seest the sun, and the moon, and the stars, even all the host of heaven, shouldest be driven to worship them, and serve them, which the LORD thy God hath divided unto all nations under the whole heaven.20 But the LORD hath taken you, and brought you forth out of the iron furnace, even out of Egypt, to be unto him a people of inheritance, as ye are this day.
God is warning the children of Israel to beware – that when they would lift up their eyes to the sun, the moon and the stars, they would be “…driven to worship them and SERVE them.”
But they hearkened not, nor inclined their ear, but walked in the counsels and in the imagination of their evil heart, and went backward, and not forward. Jer 7:24
God is a jealous God, and commands us to love Him above all. This is true faith and and worship. If we are walking after the idols of the world and claim we are worshipping God, we are in need of repentance.
Deu 8:19 And it shall be, if thou do at all forget the LORD thy God, and walk after other gods, and serve them, and worship them, I testify against you this day that ye shall surely perish.
God warns the repercussions of idolatry – that is worshipping them: “ye shall surely perish.” This is the same Word given to Adam in the garden.
Deu 11:16 Take heed to yourselves, that your heart be not deceived, and ye turn aside, and serve other gods, and worship them;
Satan has deceived the whole world (Rev. 12:9) and in Deut 11:16 God is warning us to be VIGILANT – to take heed that our hearts not be deceived. The adversary tempts us through pleasure to our senses –
And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her; and he did eat. Gen 3:6
Are we being drawn away from GOD in our assemblies by false worship OR is the music we sing and listen to exalting the Risen Savior also reflected in our lives? Do we lift up our voices to HIM with pure praise, OR is the music doing something else?
Satan is IN the holy place claiming to be God –
Who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped;
so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, shewing himself that he is God. 2Th 2:4
Yes, satan is in the churches and deceiving many. He has tricked well meaning Christians into believing what worship is! Many of these individuals believe that worship is, simply, music.
(Deu 26:10) And now, behold, I have brought the firstfruits of the land, which thou, O LORD, hast given me. And thou shalt set it before the LORD thy God, and worship before the LORD thy God:
God gets the firstfruits, and this was so clearly revealed to us in the life of Jesus Christ. His life was an offering to God, as was His death. He was worship revealed in Word and in deed. Christ IS the firstfruits, and those that are found in HIM at His coming. Brothers and sisters, when we, like our Lord Jesus, offer our bodies as a living sacrifice to Him, this is worship.
Jos 5:13 And it came to pass, when Joshua was by Jericho, that he lifted up his eyes and looked, and, behold, there stood a man over against him with his sword drawn in his hand: and Joshua went unto him, and said unto him, Art thou for us, or for our adversaries? 14 And he said, Nay; but as captain of the host of the LORD am I now come. And Joshua fell on his face to the earth, and did worship, and said unto him, What saith my lord unto his servant? 15 And the captain of the LORD'S host said unto Joshua, Loose thy shoe from off thy foot; for the place whereon thou standest is holy. And Joshua did so.
God’s presence demands worship. He is pure holiness and every prophet of God who heard His voice and saw His face fell down and worshipped. Who is this Captain of the Host that demands worship from Joshua? There is a clue within the text – He carried a SWORD.
Further, Angels of God reject Worship, as did the apostles – and admonished us to WORSHIP ONLY GOD.
(Psa 5:7) But as for me, I will come into thy house in the multitude of thy mercy: and in thy fear will I worship toward thy holy temple.
David’s psalm reveals HOW he worshipped God and how we should. First, he was in God’s house. Second, he received God’s mercy. Last, David worshipped in fear.
As Christians, we must be in GOD’s House – not a building made with stone, but indwelt with the Spirit of God through the doctrine of Jesus Christ. Further, true worshippers have received God’s mercy by the blood of the Lamb—and NOT consumed. Finally, we must worship God in fear – this fear of God that is preached and taught from the beginning of the Bible until the end.
Psa 22:27 All the ends of the world shall remember and turn unto the LORD: and all the kindreds of the nations shall worship before thee.
Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him,and given him a name which is above every name:That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth;And that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. Php 2:9-11
Finally, the only worship that God will accept is in Christ --
Joh 4:24 God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth.
