What Is True Worship?

John 4:23-24 but the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeketh such to worship him. God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth.

God is a Spirit. These words contain one of the most simple, yet most profound, truths which ever fell upon the mortal ear. Their truth is one of the great glories of revelation, and corrects the mistaken conclusion of human reason. They show that,

1, God is absolutely free from all limitations of space and time, and is therefore not to be localized in temples (Ac 7:48);

2, that God is not material, as idolaters contend;

3, that he is not an abstract force, as scientists think, but a Being;

4, that he is lifted above all need of temples, sacrifices, etc., which are a benefit to man, but not to God (Ac 17:25). Spiritual excellence raises man above the beast, and spiritual excellence, in turn, raises God above man (Isa 31:3).

And they that worship him must worship in spirit and truth. That is, men must offer a worship corresponding to the nature and attributes of God.   A eye opening study would be, “What is the nature and attributes of God.”

Within the last decade church worship service has undergone numerous changes.   Many of these changes are designed to reflect the mood or the values of the younger generation.  Prayer service has morphed into “Praise and Worship” services.  Many churches have incorporated “Praise Dancing” in their worship repertoire.   Some have added a more liberal form of dancing under the guise of Dance Ministries”.  It is not uncommon to see couples take to the floor in church service as they praise God in the dance.  The church has come of age and instituted a platform of entertainment that is equivalent to that of a concert hall.  All of this is done under the guise of drawing people not to God, but to draw people into the church.

Spiritual or gospel music has also come of age,  the line that once separated church music from that of the world has been blurred and in some instances do not exist.  Crossover music is the accepted norm.   To distinguish between spiritual music and that of other category of music you must listen carefully to the words.  This poses a serious question, is crossover gospel music still considered sacred music? Is the church guilty of consuming that which was offered up to idolatry?   It seems as if the God of the Old Testament had a problem with this.  It was reiterated in Revelation 2:14 But I have a few things against thee, because thou hast there them that hold the doctrine of Balaam, who taught Balac to cast a stumbling-block before the children of Israel, to eat things sacrificed unto idols, and to commit fornication.   

 The phrase “Praise God!” is common in the Christian vernacular, but what does it really mean? The phrase “My God” is also common in the vernacular of the street and church, but what are we really saying?  Are we actually referencing God or are we merely uttering words?  Think of how many times we hear or read the name of God. How do we praise God is the question of this dissertation.   God’s Word is the best place to look to define our terms. We must be careful to not get too caught up in traditions and culture practices and lose the meaning that God has given to us through His Word.  The ethnic flavor that has been added to worship, is it of God or is it of man?  The book of Psalms (sacred songs) is well-known for its focus on praising God, which is where we will direct our study.  When we engage in this study, we must be careful with mixing the Old and New Testiment together, a polluted mess is what we could end up with.

Christians often speak of “praising God,” and the Bible commands all living creatures to praise the Lord (Psalm 150:6).  The question that I am phrasing is, What is praise.”  Is it shouting and screaming?   One Hebrew word for “praise” is yadah, meaning “praise, give thanks, or confess.” A second word often translated “praise” in the Old Testament is zamar, “sing praise.” A third word translated “praise” is halal (the root of hallelujah), meaning “to praise, honor, or commend.” All three terms contain the idea of giving thanks and honor to one who is worthy of praise.   The consensus of the Hebrew interpretation seems to be giving thanks and honor.

In the military, the squadron honored their superior officers by initiating a command call “Eyes Right”, as they marched pass the reviewing stand.  The child honored it parent with eye contact and a ever so slight smile as it marched pass its parents in the grand parade.  A young man, the recipient of a state of the art video game honored his mother by cooking and cleaning the house.

The book of Psalms is a collection of songs filled with praises to God. Among them is Psalm 9, which sings, “I will be glad and rejoice in you; I will sing the praises of your name, O Most High” (verse 2). Psalm 18:3 says God is “worthy of praise.” (be giving thanks and honor) Psalm 21:13 praises God, both for who He is and for His great power: “Be exalted in your strength, LORD; we will sing and praise your might.” The pollution began to surface when praise and worship services become a platform of begging God for a blessing.  

Psalm 150 offers a strong focus on praise, the term thirteen times in six verses. The first verse provides the “where” of praise—everywhere! “Praise God in his sanctuary; praise him in his mighty heavens.  - The next verse teaches “why” to praise the Lord: “Praise him for his acts of power; praise him for his surpassing greatness.”   Verses 3–6 note “how” to praise the Lord—with a variety of instruments, dance, and everything that has breath.  Does this mean we have to make sounds to praise God?

Coming of age in the church during the fifties, I became acquainted with two methods of praising God.  Both methods were tainted with an ethnic flavor.   In the Baptist church when the spirit of the Lord descended, those that were sensitive to the presence of the spirit would react in a manner that got the attention of the ushers.  The usher’s job was to calm the person down, to prevent them from hurting themselves and others.  The Holiness movement ushered in a new method of praising God, when the spirit descended, there again, those that were sensitive to the presence of the spirit would jump up and dance.  There was no holding.  If they fell down all was good, they were called “holy rollers.” 

For me this was the beginning of the evolution of praise and worship services.  Those that were musically inclined began to show up at these services and under the expressed anointing of God, they played music  and the church danced to a different beat than that of a nightclub.   The evolution continued as other denominations that once boasted of nothing more than an organ or a piano began to build churches that could accommodate a full scale orchestra, then the beat changed.

To downplay the diversity of beliefs and doctrines many churches  have opted to form a  standard form of worship.  Praise teams and dance teams fill that space reserved for worship  before the speaker is presented.  In many instances along with the musicians the congregation is entertained by a group of paid performers who spend many hours perfecting their talent.  The prefect presentation of this repertoire is enough to bring the ardent Christian listener to a heighten state of emotional bliss, which is interpreted as the “Spirit of God.”

Lets reiterate and amplify, the Hebrew word for “praise” is yadah, which means to praise, give thanks, or confess. In fact, the word translated “give thanks” later on in the passage comes from the same Hebrew word used earlier for “praise” the context always determines meaning.  Without understanding the context we are headed for a polluted mess. Furthermore, there are multiple Hebrew words that can be translated as “praise,” and it does not necessarily just have one definition. The Hebrew language has specific words for the type of praise being given, so we must examine more of these words before we can come up with a proper definition. For example, there are two different Hebrew words for “praise” in Psalm 149:3: “Let them praise [halal] His name with the dance; Let them sing praises [zamar] to Him with the timbre and harp.” Halal means to praise, glorify, boast, commend, etc., and zamar means to make music or sing praises.  The question to ponder is this, is this a group session or is it an individual thing?

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.  When I read that verse, the question that first comes to mind is “what is a true worshiper?” What is it that separates a true worshiper from an “untrue” worshiper? To answer that question, we must first understand what worship really is.  A serious contender for the faith can find the changing nature of worship services confusing.

In a changing world, in today’s culture, we often think of worship as being the songs that we sing to God, perfect and on key on Sunday morning. The music must maintain the proper and perfect beat. But if we were to define it based on what the Bible teaches, would we describe it in the same way, or would be begin to look at it differently?  

Reading that same verse in The Message translation might begin to bring some clarity to that question. If we begin reading in the second half of verse 23 and on into verse 24, we begin to understand how Jesus is defining worship to the woman at the well: Just a thought God did choose Jesus over Elias and Moses in Mark 9:7 " ... This is my beloved Son: hear him."  It’s who you are and the way you live that count before God. Your worship must engage your spirit in the pursuit of truth. That’s the kind of people the Father is out looking for: those who are simply and honestly themselves before him in their worship. God is a Spirit. Those who worship him must do it out of their very being, their spirits, their true selves, in adoration.

Jesus makes it very clear that worship is about far more than music. In fact, in the context of this passage, he’s not talking about music at all when he defines true worship. He’s talking about a lifestyle. He is not talking about play acting or dance steps.  He’s talking about offering our lives to God , being eager to pursue truth and knowledge of the God we worship. In church today, we often dress up our music – our “worship” and performance as we try to create a certain atmosphere to elicit an emotional response.   That emotional response, the same as achieved at a rock concert or a football game.   We often get caught up in how we do it, rather than who we worship. But without God, worship is pointless. Without God, the words that we sing have no meaning. But with God, worship is everything. God wants us to worship Him as a natural response to his supreme greatness, because he is the One worthy of all praise. That is true worship.

Romans 12:1  I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.