What is Worship?

“Oh come, let us sing to the Lord! Let us shout joyfully to the Rock of our salvation. 2 Let us come before His presence with thanksgiving; Let us shout joyfully to Him with psalms. 3 For the Lord is the great God, And the great King above all gods…. Oh come, let us worship and bow down; Let us kneel before the Lord our Maker. 7 For He is our God, And we are the people of His pasture, And the sheep of His hand.” Psalm 95:1-8

Worship is perhaps the central theme of the entire Bible. It is a vast subject with fifteen Hebrew and Greek words to describe our single English word – worship. Originally spelled “worth-ship”, the literal meaning of the word describes the act of ascribing worth to an object.

By this definition, worship is the most common activity of life on earth.

We worship everyday anytime we express awe, joy, love, submission and thankfulness toward anything.

One way to determine what we worship, is to ask, “what brings me joy?” Or, “what captures my attention?” Or, “what do I want to shout from the housetops”?

During corporate worship services at Hope Baptist, our goal is to express our joy in the worth of God through different activities like prayer, singing, teaching and sharing. All of these activities assist us in proclaiming our joy in the greatness and goodness of God. All of these lead us to meditation. J. I. Packer has described meditation like this:

“Meditation is the activity of calling to mind, and thinking over, and dwelling on and applying to oneself, the various things that one knows about the works and ways and purposes and promises of God.” J. I. Packer, Knowing God, p.18

As we worship together at Hope, let it be said of us that the praise of God filled the place. We bowed down before our Maker, finding more joy in Him than all other earthly things. We sat there together amazed at His mighty Name.