The Discipline of Worship
The very first time I shared my thoughts on the discipline of worship was back in February of 2017. Raquel and I began a series on the disciplines of our faith and how they give us the opportunity to enjoy Jesus more fully. The very first Sunday of the series we started with the discipline of worship. Now, over two years later, I felt it would be better to introduce it later in our exploration of the disciplines of faith. Why?
I believe the discipline of worship is more fully entered into as we grow in our relationships with Jesus.
There are about 10-12 Hebrew and Greek words found in scripture that refer to what we consider worship. I will list a good number of them below with their definitions and where they’re found in scripture, but before I do, I want to make a distinction.
I believe there is a difference between the kinds of worship we enter into, and the discipline of worship.
Amos 3:8 New American Standard Bible (NASB)
8 A lion has roared! Who will not fear?
The Lord [a]God has spoken! Who can but prophesy?
These are two lines taken from a poem in the bible found in a book of prophecy written by a sheep herder named Amos. Amos is describing what happens when God speaks to him and relating it to what would happen to someone if they would experience a lion roaring near them. In other words, the same way he would respond in fear toward the lion, he responds in obedience to God when He speaks. Amos is saying that he isn’t so much choosing to prophecy as much as he is being compelled to prophecy after being with God and hearing Him speak.
This is what I believe the discipline of worship is like. Not so much a decision to “do worshipful things,” so much as deciding to get into His presence and respond.
I believe the discipline of worship is a response to being with Jesus.
This is why I prefer to wait until the majority of the other disciplines are explained and experienced, before discussing the discipline of worship. The more we learn about Jesus, the more we think about Jesus, the more we experience Jesus, the more fully we can practice the discipline of worshipping Jesus.
If you have been regularly practicing the other disciplines we have explored already, I would bet that you have already been practicing the disciplines of worship and service (later on this next week), maybe without even knowing it. What makes me so sure?
I’ll say it again, the discipline of worship is our response to being with Jesus. If we have taken the time to be with Jesus, chances are, we have responded to Him in worship.
I want to be clear for a moment about what I am NOT saying. I am NOT saying we have to feel like it in order to worship God. I am NOT saying that we have to have daily, intense, supernatural experiences before we can truly worship God. I am NOT saying that someone who just began following Jesus is unable to practice the discipline of worship because they haven’t practiced the other disciplines long enough. I am NOT saying that someone who is following Jesus must learn a certain amount about Him, or experience a certain amount of Him, before they can worship Him.
What I AM saying is that in my personal journey with Jesus, I have found that the more I learn about and experience Him, the more fully I can worship Him, because my worship is my response to Him. I have also seen this take place, first hand, in the lives of others in my Jesus community.
Like all of the disciplines of our faith, worship is practiced for a lifetime and as the saying goes, practice makes proficient. I enjoy exploring worship a little later in the game because I have seen it be more fully experienced after people have met and spent time with Jesus for themselves.
Now, I’m sure that for the majority of you reading this, when I say the word worship, you’re thinking about what a large amount of churches do for the first 30 minutes to an hour of their Sunday services. While that is a biblical, beautiful, and necessary form of worship, the overall biblical understanding of worship is much more layered and diverse.
Let’s take a look at some of the Hebrew and Greek words found in scripture to describe what we call worship. Again, there are about 10-12 Hebrew and Greek words used to describe the word we translate into worship. For the sake of time, we’re going to look at a little more than half of those words.
SOME HEBREW WORDS FOR WORSHIP:
Halal, which means to praise (to express warm approval or admiration) or boast in such a way that you make a fool of yourself or act like a madman. Its first found in scripture in the book of Genesis.
Genesis 12:15 New American Standard Bible (NASB)
15 Pharaoh’s officials saw her and praised her to Pharaoh; and the woman was taken into Pharaoh’s house.
Pharaoh's officials saw a woman who was so beautiful, that they made fools of themselves in their praise of her to the Pharaoh. As a result, Pharaoh was so intrigued by their praise of her that he sent for her. He had to see her for himself.
This same word is often used to describe praise and worship offered to Father God in scripture. For practitioners of the discipline of worship these are the moments where we remember how good Jesus has been to us, or where we experience Him so tangibly that we can’t help but be a little crazy as we rave about Him.
Fun fact: The word hallelujah, comes from a combination of two hebrew words; halal and Yahweh. When we say hallelujah, we are encouraging people around us to go freaking nuts as they worship God. Haha. Hopefully, just like the Pharaoh, people will be curious about what we’re going on about and come see for themselves.
Shachah, which means to bow down before in submission. It’s also first used in the book of Genesis.
Genesis 22:5 New Living Translation (NLT)
5 “Stay here with the donkey,” Abraham told the servants. “The boy and I will travel a little farther. We will worship there, and then we will come right back.”
This is a strange and difficult-to-swallow biblical account found in the book of Genesis. In the passage God decides to see how far Abraham would go in his obedience and submission to Him. He asks Abraham to sacrifice his only son. Spoiler alert, God does not allow Abraham to sacrifice his son, and goes on to forbid any and all forms of human sacrifice. Abraham, before knowing this was God’s intention the whole time, tells his servants in this passage of scripture that he and his son were headed up the mountain to bow down and submit themselves to God.
Similarly when we enter into shachah worship to God we too are bowing down in submission, understanding that He is supreme in power and goodness and can be fully trusted. This is not something most people embrace immediately or should it be. Usually this comes about after studying the nature of God and experiencing Him for yourself. When we truly know who He is, we can tell Him that we choose to bow down, submit, and trust in Him, even when it might not make sense.
Yadah, which means to lift the hands in confession and praise. Also found in the book of Genesis.
Genesis 29:35 New American Standard Bible (NASB)
35 And she conceived again and bore a son and said, “This time I will [a]praise the Lord.” Therefore she named him [b]Judah. Then she stopped bearing.
This story in Genesis is about a woman who realizes that she is unloved by her husband. Devastating, I know. She bore two sons for him, and after each one she focuses on her relationship with her husband, hoping that each child will cause him to finally love her. Tragically, that isn’t the case and after bearing this man a third son she finally changes her focus from him to God. Lifting her hands to the heavens in surrender she finally declares to Father God, “I will instead praise the Lord.”
There is a beautiful song we sing during our time of worship at our community gatherings entitled, “Surrounded.” It is one of my son’s (he’s two) favorite songs and the line he constantly repeats from it is, “This is how I fight my battles.” I think it’s such a good representation of yadah worship.
So many times we fight with circumstances and situations we cannot change, no matter how hard we try. It often leaves us devastated and depressed. In yadah worship we raise our hands to God in surrender, confessing that we may be powerless to do anything about these circumstances or situations, but we will still praise Him in spite of them.
“This (yada worship) is how we fight these battles.”
Tehillah, which means songs or hymns of praise. This Hebrew word is first found in the book of Exodus.
Exodus 15:11 New American Standard Bible (NASB)
11 “Who is like You among the gods, O Lord?
Who is like You, majestic in holiness,
Awesome in praises, working wonders?
This passage describes what we typically think of when we say the word worship. Songs and hymns that ascribe praise to God and are written to encourage others to sing along. Tehillah worship (or praise) is so beautiful because it can be used as a reminder of who God is in difficult or dry seasons.
Tehillah is also used to describe the praise and worship that ministers to, or attends to God’s needs. In Psalms 22:3 we learn that Father God is enthroned upon tehillah. There is a song by Elevation Worship entitled, Here Below,” in it is one of my favorite lines.
“He has the heavens to call His home, but He is enthroned in the songs(tehillah) we sing.”
SOME GREEK WORDS WORSHIP WORDS:
Aino, to verbally praise and commend enthusiastically in a story, found in the book of Matthew.
Matthew 21:16 New American Standard Bible (NASB)
16 and said to Him, “Do You hear what these children are saying?” And Jesus *said to them, “Yes; have you never read, ‘Out of the mouth of infants and nursing babies You have prepared praise for Yourself’?”
This greek word almost mirrors the Hebrew word Halal, It is an enthusiastic description of the nature or character of God told as a story. In my experience, when I have learned something new and amazing about Jesus, or have had an experience with Him, I want to tell people about it. When I do I am giving God aino.
Sebo, which means to revere (to feel deep respect and admiration for) and worship (to express that respect and admiration) and is found in the book of Mark.
Mark 7:7 New American Standard Bible (NASB)
7 ‘But in vain do they worship Me,
Teaching as doctrines the precepts of men.’
In this passage of scripture, Jesus is bringing the smack down on some of the religious elite who were upset that His followers weren’t participating in their traditions. Jesus was comparing them to the people written about hundreds of years ago, who also preferred their religious traditions to actually getting to know the nature of God.
Without knowing the nature of our Father God we are unable to genuinely feel and express deep respect and admiration for Him. Sebo worship isn’t legitimate if it’s not an expression of genuine respect and admiration, born from personal time with Jesus.
Proskyneo, which means to kiss the hand (like a dog licking it’s master’s hands), or to bow low before someone in submission. It can be found in the book of John.
John 4:23 New American Standard Bible (NASB)
23 But an hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth; for such people the Father seeks to be His worshipers.
Proskyneo mirrors the Hebrew word shachah in that it is an attitude of submission. Most people I know, including me at first, do not like this word and its implications. However, as I mentioned before, this form of worship (or posture/attitude of heart) is reached only after growing in knowledge and intimacy with Father God.
In the passage above Jesus was having a conversation with a woman who didn’t have the best of reputations. After being gently and privately exposed, the woman decides to turn the conversation into a religious debate. Where does true worship take place? Jesus doesn’t debate location of true worship but instead describes what true worship is.
Spirit and truth. This proskyneo worship is the partnering of our attitudes and minds. We understand and accept that He is our good Father and Master and we bow down and kiss His hand when we proskyneo worship Him.
Whenever I get the opportunity to study the different Greek and Hebrew words that we weakly translate into the English word worship, I find myself wishing English was a more descriptive language. The discipline of worship is so beautifully diverse that it can be practiced it in a variety of ways in a variety of situations and circumstances in our lives.
Life is so complex and circumstances can change quickly from moment to the next. It is beautiful that we can experience and respond to our Father God in ways that acknowledge and make room for the complexity of our lives, while yet honoring and acknowledging Him.
What does your worship look like? How do you most consistently respond to God in worship? Are there some forms of worship you prefer or practice more than others? We would love to hear from you in the comments below.
Until next time,
We Are Ecclesia
