A Study on Worship : Lesson #1

What is Real Worship?

In this lesson we will deal the subject of worship, and by worship we mean worshipping God. If you ask people today about worship you will probably get about as many different answers as the number of people you ask. So let us take some time now and see what the Bible has to say about worshipping God.

First let us give a definition of the word.

Worship –  to adore; to pay divine honors to; to reverence with supreme respect and veneration.

[American Dictionary of the English Language, Noah Webster 1828]

By definition real worship will require our hearts to be centered on God himself. We must not only thank God for what he has done for us but we must thank him and praise him for what and who he is. As we show in this lesson we must worship God in Spirit and in Truth. Therefore worship is not some trance or state that we go into, it is getting our heart, soul and mind fixed on God and not ourselves or our needs or other worldly things.

It is plain to see that we are told to worship God.

Psalm 29:2 “Give unto the LORD the glory due unto his name; worship the LORD in the beauty

of holiness.”

Psalm 45:11 “So shall the king greatly desire thy beauty: for he is thy Lord; and worship thou

him.”

Luke 4:8 “And Jesus answered and said unto him, Get thee behind me, Satan; for it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shall thou serve.”

It is also very plain to see that he worthy of our worship.

John 3:16  “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.”

Romans 5:8 “But God commendeth his live toward us in that, while we were yet sinners Christ died for us.”

2 Peter 3:9 “The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-word, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.”

When we consider exactly what God has done in saving us and giving his son to pay the penalty of our sin. It should be a privilege and honor to worship him.

According to the Bible we should worship God in Spirit and in Truth and have no confidence in the flesh. (John 4:24 ; Philippians 3:3)

Now when you look at the word “worship” in the concordance you we see that many times when it is found in the word of God it is connected with one of three things; Sacrifice, Giving, or Humility. We will look at each of these separately.

1)  Sacrifice (Genesis 22:5)

This is the very first time that the word occurs in a King James Bible. Here Abraham connects the offering of his son with worship. Now let us look at the typology of what is taking place here. Isaac here becomes a type of the Lord Jesus Christ; note God called him Abraham’s only son (Genesis 22:2,12). Abraham speaks prophetically of God himself becoming the sacrificial lamb (Genesis 22:8). The reason Abraham is willing to offer up Isaac is because he believes that God will resurrect him (Hebrews 11:19).

Therefore we see that real biblical worship is going to be connected with the Lord Jesus Christ who shed his blood for us and the fact that he was resurrected on the third day victorious over death hell and the grave.

This also applies in a spiritual application to us today. To worship God we will have to  set aside what we think or want and present our bodies a living sacrifice holy and acceptable unto God. (Romans 12:1-2)

2)  Giving (Deuteronomy 26:10 ; 1 Chronicles 16:29)

These passages are speaking about a literal offering and while it is true we should give our money to God, we can also make a spiritual application here as well. Have you ever heard the expression, “You get out what you put in”, this statement is very true when it comes to worship. Many people say that they don’t get anything out of Sunday School or Preaching or the song service. Maybe it is because they are not putting anything in. Before we go to church we must prepare our heart and mind with prayer and the study of God’s Word. We cannot live like the world and care nothing for God during the week and then expect to get a blessing when we go to church. This is plainly the law of sowing what you reap (Galatians 6:7-9).

3)  Humility (Joshua 5:14 ; Psalm 95:6)

As we will see in the next lesson in this series pride is a great hindrance to worship (Proverbs 16:18). There should be no arrogance or things of the flesh in our worship. This alone will show you that much of the music that is called worship music today in churches is not really worshipping the God it is about the flesh. Remember that real worship is about the death burial and resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ and when we consider that we should have no problem humbling ourselves before the Lord (Revelations 4:9-11 ; Revelations 5:9-10,12).

 

A Study on Worship : Lesson #1 Handout

What is Real Worship?

1)  Give a good definition for the word worship.

 

2)  When we talk about worshipping God how does this definition apply in regards to our worshipping God?

 

3)  List some verses that tell us we should worship God.

 

4)  Why should we worship God? Give references.

 

5)  How are we to worship God? Give two references.

 

6)  How are these three things listed below connected with worshipping God?

 

1) Sacrifice

 

2) Giving

 

3) Humility