What Does The Bible Say About Worship?
Video Timeline
WELCOME
0:00 - Welcome with Matt & Mim
TALK with John Farrington
06:23 - What Does The Bible Say About Worship?
06:51 - What Is Biblical Worship?
08:02 - How Does The Bible Say We Should Worship?
10:16 - What Does Jesus Christ Say About Worship?
13:25 - Why Is This Such A Big Deal?
15:49 - What Does It Mean To Worship In Spirit And In Truth?
18:23 - Why Should I Worship God?
WORSHIP
25:26 - Worthy Of It All with lyrics
CONVERSATION STREET with Matt & Mim
31:07 - Conversation Street
CLOSING WORSHIP
57:18 - Mount Zion with lyrics
Podcast:
What does the Bible say about Worship?
— John Farrington
As with a lot of the topics that we've been looking at in the 'what does the Bible say about?' series, the Bible does indeed have a lot to say regarding worship. In one sense, the entire book is an instruction manual on how to worship God.
What Is Biblical Worship?
Before we go any further, I think it would be appropriate to define what I mean by worship. What is worship according to the Bible?
I think there are two kinds that the Holy Bible defines.
The act of worship.
The lifestyle of worship.
An act of worship to God is something that we intentionally do or say to place Him above anything else in our lives, to declare that He is the most important. An example from the Bible of this might be when Mary Magdelene anointed Jesus with a perfume that was worth probably the equivalent to about a year's wages. Matt talked about that story on Remembrance Sunday a couple of months back.
A lifestyle of worship is looking at every individual activity that takes place in your life, and seeing if when you add them all together, whether God is ultimately exalted, lifted up and glorified by the way that you live.
How Does The Bible Say We Should Worship?
Until Jesus came along, worship had become synonymous with sacrifices and burnt offerings. It was all about following the letter of the Law that God had laid down for His chosen people, Israel. Now, this Law was good. It was through the Law that the Israelites were instructed on how to receive forgiveness for their sins. It taught them how to stay healthy and live a moral, Godly life. It also taught them how to be set apart and stand out from the other nations and tribes of that day. The Israelites glorified God through obeying the Law.
However, in the New Testament, after Jesus Christ has died and risen again for our sins, the author of Hebrews says this,
“Sacrifices and offerings you (God) have not desired... in burnt offerings and sin offerings you have taken no pleasure. ”
Now we've got a problem. On the one hand, in the Old Testament there's instruction after instruction and book after book involving the required offerings and sacrifices that must be made in order to be made right before God, and to please Him. But here, in the New Testament, it's saying God doesn't want these things.
Why?
In short, the problem was, the Law was too good, and nobody was good enough to keep it. It revealed our sinful nature. That's why God had to send Jesus as our substitute. He was the only one who could fulfill the Law. If you want to know more about why Jesus had to die check out my brother, Peter Farrington's talk here.
So, if offerings and altars aren't the way forward in worship, what is?
What Does Jesus Christ Say About Worship?
One time when Jesus was out and about in the Temple, he gets asked by one of the scribes there, what is the greatest commandment in the Law? Jesus replies,
“You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength. The second is this: You shall love your neighbour as yourself.”
This is what I'm talking about when I say a "lifestyle of worship". That is worship. Jesus isn't talking about a specific action here, but our whole lives. We are to love God and honour Him in everything that we do.
It is also a wonderful answer because Jesus is actually quoting two verses from the Old Testament Law which highlights that from the very beginning God intended us to live a lifestyle of worship. God wasn't ever interested in the one-off act of worship if it wasn't followed up by a long-term, permanent devotion to Him. It wasn't like He said one thing in the OT and then changed His mind in the NT. His intention all along was for us to live a life in faithful obedience to Him and His Word. In fact, He commands us to do so.
Matthew 16:24-26 says this,
“Then Jesus told his disciples, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it. For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his soul? Or what shall a man give in return for his soul?”
That is what pleases God and brings Him glory. Interestingly, it still involves a sacrifice. We sacrifice our lives and offer it up to God so that we might find life in Him. So even though God has said He no longer wants the sacrifices and offerings of the OT, there is a new sacrifice required of us, which is to lay down our lives for Jesus. We are called to give up our plans, our dreams and our wants to follow Him. Worship involves sacrifice.
King David alludes to this in the book of 2 Samuel 24:24 where he says,
“I will not offer burnt offerings to the Lord my God that cost me nothing.”
Similarly in Romans 12:1 Paul appeals to the reader,
“...by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. ”
Why Is This Such A Big Deal?
Because I think if you're familiar with church and have been in Christian circles for a while, it has become easy to only associate worship with singing songs on a Sunday morning. But God wants our whole existence to be about Him and to reflect Him. If we look into the mirror of our lives then the reflection we should see is the glory of Jesus.
Therefore, the lifestyle of worship that God calls us to is lived out through deliberate acts of worship everyday.
I just want to take a moment to say that I think music and singing is an incredibly important part of how God wants us to worship Him. That's why our Sunday services are filled with music. The book of Psalms in the Old Testament is a book completely devoted to songs and poetry to God. Paul encourages us as Christians to gather regularly,
“addressing one another in Psalms, and hymns, and spiritual songs, singing and making melody to the Lord with all your heart.”
What I felt was really important to highlight to you today is that worship is not limited to singing songs and making music. Far from it.
You can worship in the way that you love and serve your spouse. You can worship in the way you talk about others. You can worship in the way that you use your gifts and talents.
What Does It Mean To Worship In Spirit And Truth?
In John's gospel, Jesus has a pretty interesting conversation with a woman who's been asking him questions about the Jewish Law and sacrifices. He says,
“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. God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth. ”
What does Jesus mean by worshipping in "spirit and truth?"
Let's split it up. Starting with "spirit". I think the answer to this is twofold. Firstly, it refers to an inward heartfelt sincerity that you truly believe in what you are worshipping. This might cause you to worship in emotive and expressive ways.
In pretty much all of the major sport settings, the crowd or audience express their heartfelt support of whichever team or individual they are cheering on, by shouting or singing words of encouragement and affirmation. For some people, this is worship. That sport, that sportsperson is so important to the supporters life that it has become worship to them.
The second part to this definition of "spirit" is in reference to the Holy Spirit, the third person of the trinity. It means your life of worship has been breathed on by the Spirit of God and is alive in Him. You will know this has happened by the fruit of your worship. Love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, self-control.
"Truth" means to do this in the knowledge and understanding of what the Bible says about who God is and how He has called us to live. The two work in tandem. That is how we are called to worship Him.
So every individual act of worship is to be done in spirit and in truth. Acts of worship that come from the heart, that are breathed on by the Holy Spirit and are done in the knowledge of who God is and according to how He has called us to live.
Why Should I Worship God?
One last thing I want to touch on before I finish is this,
You might be listening to me talking right now and be thinking, why does God need us to worship Him so badly? Is he so insecure that He needs us mere mortals to pet His ego for Him?
#1 - God Is 100% Good
No. The thing is, God is perfect. He is 100% holy, 100% loving, 100% merciful, 100% gracious, 100% righteous. He is completely good.
So think about it like this, if you have children, you want your kids to make good friends. You might even organise hangouts with certain families because you want your child be good friends with their child. You know that they'll be good for them.
Well it's a bit like that with God. God's looking for the best people for us to be with and actually, that's Him.
God is the best person for us to spend time with. Why wouldn't we want to be with someone who is all of these things in perfection? God wants us to live a life in relationship with Him because He knows He is the best thing for us. and is the only one who can bring us complete satisfaction. The Psalmist says,
“In your presence there is fullness of joy, at your right are pleasures forevermore. ”
That's the first part.
#2 - We All Worship Something
The second part is this, all of us worship something. All of us devote our lives to something, be that our families, our jobs, our hobbies, ourselves, anything. The problem is God does not share His glory with anyone or anything. Isaiah 42:8 says,
“My glory I give to no other.”
God simply refuses for anything else to be on the throne of our lives except Him. Why? Because He is the only one worthy of it. Only He is perfect. All of these other things disappoint. None of them satisfy.
That is why God commands us to worship Him. He knows that He is the best thing for us. His glorification is the best thing for us. The old Westminster Catechism puts it like this, 'The chief end of man is to glorify God and enjoy Him forever.' How do we do that then? By enjoying Him forever. God's glory is His greatest priority and it should be ours too.
#3 - The Cross
Part three. If you're still not convinced by what has been said so far, that God is worthy of your praise, I would encourage you to look to the cross. Look to what Jesus Christ did for you on the cross, through his death and resurrection. We were once lost forever in sin, so far removed from God's holiness, but through Jesus we are forgiven and can come into relationship with the God of Heaven and Earth. The one who breathed the galaxies into being. The one who knew you before time began. The God who is Holy, who is perfect in love, perfect in mercy, perfect in grace. He is the only one who satisfies and the only one worthy of worship.
To use C.S. Lewis' analogy,
“Do not be like the ignorant child who wants to go on making mud pies in a slum because he cannot imagine what is meant by the offer of a holiday at the sea.”
- C. S. Lewis
In other words, don't be content with a life devoted to anything but the best.
CONVERSATION STREET
With: Matt Edmundson & Mim Moorcroft.
What is Conversation Street?
Conversation Street is part of our live stream, where the hosts (in this case, Matt & Mim) chat through John’s talk and answer questions that were sent in through the live stream. To watch the conversation now, click here.
Matt: So Mim, first time at CROWD, first time hosting. What did you think of John's talk?
Mim: I thought it was fantastic. Yeah, John was great.
The thing is, he covered it in so much detail. It was very, very thorough. I really enjoyed it. Thanks a lot, John.
Matt: It is, as he says, a passion of his, and I've been a Christian a little while now. We love to use the word passion in church. I have a passion for worship. Some people have a passion for prayer, some people have a passion for serving, I would maybe use the word calling. Do you share that sort of passion and calling that John shares when it comes to worship?
Mim: Absolutely. Yeah, I think I'm quite a musical person. So in the music form of worship, I have been submerged in that my entire life. It's something that I've grown up with hearing lots of and learning lots of instruments, attending church all my life. So I've kind of been immersed in that form of worship. I also had a great example from my parents of acting out daily worship. I like that lifestyle of worship that John was talking about. I've had such a great example throughout my life. It's kind of integrated into who I am now, I think.
Matt: Yeah, it's part of who you are.
Is There A Difference Between Worshipping God In Church And In The Day To Day?
Matt: Doing worship at church is quite an interesting thing. You're on the stage, and it's great, and it's wonderful. But also, there's all the prep, all the hard work behind the scenes like, what should we sing? What should we do? How do we do it? Then of course, you're looking out over a bunch of people in church that might not feel like worshipping God that day. So it's not all glamour and glitz I'm fairly sure, but do you find there is a difference between worshipping God on the stage and worshipping God in this lifestyle that John was talking about, this day to day?
Mim: Yeah, your day-to-day worship often is very practical. And it's difference in the normal things of your day-to-day life. It's watching what you say and how you behave and act towards each other, how you treat your husband, your children, how you interact with the people you work with or study with. It goes much more beyond singing a song on a Sunday morning.
Matt: I think The Bible talks about how both blessing and curse can come out of the same mouth. How is this possible? How can you praise God with your lips, and at the same time, do all these other crazy things? For so long, I think people have thought that if worship is about singing songs in church, I'm okay, but what John drew out, which I thought was really interesting, and what you've just alluded to there is that worship is not just singing songs in church, it is about how you talk about people, it is about how you treat your husband or your wife. Why do you think that is?
Mim: Because I think God made us to worship Him. So everything about us is intended to glorify God. We need to make sure that every kind of tiny detail of our life, when we look at it reflects God's glory. And if it reflects God's glory, then other people will see God's glory, and that's what we're called to do and be for other people.
What Does "Glorify God" Mean?
Is it something I have in a bag that I can just give to him?
Mim: Firstly, it's important to understand that when John was talking about how we worship in spirit and truth, it has to be born out of that relationship with God in the first place. When we spend time with God, we are learning about Him and His truth and how He sees us and other people. In turn, the more time we spend dwelling on that and thinking about that, the more it oozes out of us. All the good things that God is, and God speaks about, and all the truth that he talks about in the Bible should then come out the other side. I think that's the bit that gives glory to God because it brings everything right back to Him who told us all about it in the first place.
I think a useful analogy is when you're in love. When we're in love with somebody, they love us, we love them, and so we immerse ourselves in them. We think about them all the time, we talk to them, we want to spend time with them, we spend our money on them, we think about gifts we can get for them and in the end, we end up becoming like that person because we spend so much time with them. I remember coming home from school on day, and my Mum used to know exactly who I'd spent time with. "You're talking just like them", and "Why are you saying that?". "You've been spending time with that girl, haven't you?".
Matt: That's a really interesting point. The Bible says that bad company corrupts good character, and I do I get this point that who you hang around is who you become. So if I worship God and hang around God, I am going to become more godly in how I live.
Is it safe to say that we were built for worship, and therefore are always worshipping, and we should make a conscious decision to worship God?
Mim: Yeah, I think that's a great way to summarise it really. I think the intention is always there to reflect God's glory and to bring that worship back to God. We're either worshipping God by what we do, or we're not. It's very clear in the Bible that we're choosing the right way, or we're going the opposite way. There's no in between. So, we've got to be careful because we're not perfect. We're all gonna make mistakes.
But God is gracious with us. He just gently goes, actually, I think that was the wrong thing to do. Then, next time, we'll do better.
What Does It Mean To Make A Conscious Decision To Worship God?
We don't always feel like worshipping God, but we make a decision to do that. Have you experienced that?
Mim: Absolutely. Yesterday, I had an awful day. Things were going very wrong, lies about me and about my family. This morning, I had to make a conscious decision in church to sing out truth. Actually, as I sang out that truth, God then spoke into the lie. When we feel like we can't worship or we have nothing to bring, by choosing to worship God anyway, He meets us where we are, and gives us exactly what we need in that moment.
Matt: Was that your experience today?
Mim: Absolutely yeah.
Matt: That's good. And I think you're right. When people see worship leaders sometimes, I think there are certain perceptions that people have about them. It's not all floating on rainbows and singing beautiful songs. There are some hard decisions that we have to make and some key decisions too. Actually, the conscious decision to worship God, irrespective of whether you feel like it or whether you don't, is a supreme act of faith, love and sacrifice. It's acknowledging despite how I feel, God's still worthy of my worship. It might not be much and it's not going to be in tune, and it might be full of tears and emotion, but at least it's there, right?
Mim: I think there's a pull between your sinful self, your human, worldly self, and your spiritual self. Whichever one you feed the most wins. How I felt yesterday was coming from my human, sinful self. I was feeding that yesterday and feeling terrible. Actually, this morning, when I chose to connect with my spiritual self, and connect my spirit to God's Spirit, that's when God broke through. When you feed that side, God can speak truth into what seems a hopeless situation. That's when the moment of breakthrough can happen. The choice is an important thing, isn't it? Because God doesn't ever force us to do anything. He doesn't say you must worship Him, do it now. He can't force us. We have to choose to do it. It's an intentional connection with God. He loves it and says, I'm so glad you came to me. Here you go. Here's what you need for today.
Matt: That's great. I always think worship is an invitation, not an instruction.
John talked about, why does God need us to worship him so badly? Is He some kind of ego maniac? The Bible tells us clearly though that love, talking about God, is not self seeking. So, God is not self seeking. But worship is part of who we are. It's part of our being.
Are There Forms Of Worship That Don't Involve Music?
Mim: Yeah, absolutely. I think anything could be worship to God if you do it for Him. That means, like what John talked about, doing it in spirit and in truth, involving your whole self and doing it to glorify God. If you do something to glorify yourself, it's not worshipping well. God's given us talents, places to work and people to be with and to live with. If we do all that to glorify Him then that absolutely is part of worship.
Matt: Yeah, and God's a supremely creative being. He has very creative people that do very creative things in worship to Him. I've seen people do everything from singing, to dance, to painting. There's all kinds of things going on.
Now I have to be honest with you, I'm a simple bloke, right? That means, a lot of it, I don't get. It's not my cup of tea, but that's okay because I'm just wired differently. I don't have to do things like everybody else because I have my own relationship with God. I can worship God in ways that makes sense for me, like to going out for long walks, for example. Have you ever felt like you have to worship God in a certain way? And if you don't, then there must be something wrong with you. Have you seen that or come across that?
Mim: Yeah, I think maybe in terms of people up on the stage and people who work for church it's easy to think their form of worship is more godly or spiritual. I just work in a hospital so my worship isn't quite as good. But that is absolutely not the case. Sue and Chris Holcombe were sharing about how they work out their relationship with God in their workplace. It's so important because if we were all working in church, then we wouldn't be amongst people who need to see the glory of God and see us worshipping God with our lives. We need to be out there doing our everyday forms of worship and living out that example of who God is to people who don't know Him.
Matt: Yeah, that's a very good point.
Protecting our worship and not letting distraction in is also important.
What Are Some Ways You Can Worship Outside Of The Church Walls?
Obviously you decided you were going to go to church this morning and worship because of rubbish that happened yesterday. What would happen tomorrow morning when church isn't open? What kind of things do you do in your own personal life? For example, how do you bring worship into your daily life other than talking well about your husband and protecting your worship and not getting distracted?
Mim: Yeah, I think that's really important because I think nowadays, not many of us feel like we have large amounts of time to devote to reading our Bible and praying and all of those kind of forms of worship. Apart from acting out worship to others and within our workplace, it's just grabbing those moments. For me, I have worship music on in the car, on the way to and from school drop-off, pickup, on the way to work and back. So I take those snippets of time in the car for spiritual songs, music or word. I read a book by Max Lucado a very long time ago. I hate reading books and he's so good at writing books that are easy to read. He wrote one, I can't even remember the name now, but it's something to do with walking with Jesus, or everyday with Jesus or something like that. It talked about including God in every part of your day. So when you wake up in the morning, "morning God". When you go to choose what clothes you want to wear, just include God. "What should I wear today?" Just literally try and have that ongoing relationship.
Matt: I think what you're saying's right. I have to be honest with you, I don't do the worship music in the car that often. I like to listen to podcasts and teaching in the car. I think this is part of finding what works for you. I like to journal. One of the things I do in the morning is I get up with my computer, and I like to journal. For you it's taking those times in the car to sing and to listen to worship music.
Does The Type Of Music Matter?
Mim: No, absolutely not. I mean, in the Old Testament, they go on about harps and crashing cymbals and lyres and flutes. I think God is a God of any music, any instrument, any voice. He doesn't care as long as you bring it to him. That's the important thing. He loves it.
More Bible Verses About Worship
Colossians 3:16 - Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom; teaching and admonishing one another in Psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord. And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.
Romans 12:1 - Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God's mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God - this is your true and proper worship.
Psalm 147:7 - Sing unto the Lord with Thanksgiving; sing praise upon the harp unto our God.
Hebrews 12:28-29 - Therefore let us be grateful for receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, and thus let us offer to God acceptable worship, with reverence and awe, for our God is a consuming fire.
Psalm 95:1-2 - Come, let us sing for joy to the Lord; let us shout aloud to the Rock of our salvation. Let us come before him with thanksgiving and extol him with music and song.
Habakkuk 2:20 - The Lord is in his holy temple; let all the earth be silent before him.
Luke 4:8 - Jesus answered, "it is written: Worship the Lord your God and serve him only.
1 Chronicles 16:23-29 - Sing to the Lord, all the earth; proclaim his salvation day after day. Declare his glory among the nations, his marvelous deeds among all peoples. For great is the Lord and most worthy of praise; he is to be feared above all gods. For all the gods of the nations are idols, but the Lord made the heavens. Splendor and majesty are before him; strength and joy are his dwelling place. Ascribe to the Lord, all you families of nations, ascribe to the Lord glory and strength. Ascribe to the Lord the glory due his name; bring an offering an come before; Worship the Lord in the splendor of His holiness.
John 4:23-24 - Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in the Spirit and in truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks. God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in the Spirit and in truth.
Revelation 34:14 - (for you shall worship no other God, for the Lord, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God)
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