Men build doctrines around the interpretation of one, lone scripture and ignore the hundreds that say to praise and worship God. Why? Could it be easier to academically pontificate on hidden meanings than to totally surrender our hearts, minds, and very beings to God? Is it easier to know about God than to come to know Him intimately? I think so, because we can remain detached. If we truly know God, we cannot remain detached for He lives in us.
As we read the Bible we might want to look for buzzwords that are linked to praise. Words like bless, thanksgiving, thankful, thank, sacrifice, look to, lift hands, sing, dance, leap, joyful noise, joy, worship, rejoice, worthy, awesome, and so on are everywhere!
You see, God doesn’t need our praise but we need to praise him. Through praise we affirm over and over again “How Great Thou Art!” Revelation 4:8-11 tells us the four living creatures never stop saying, “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty…” They praise God all day and all night!
We worship God through praise, adoration, thanksgiving, prayers, offerings, and so on, but true worship is not an academic duty. It should come from our hearts because of our relationship with God. God is good and kind. He extends his love and grace to us. He sent his only begotten son to die for our sin. And God has only our best interest in mind.
When we realize this we want to worship him by presenting our bodies as a living sacrifice to him. God tells us to present our bodies as a living sacrifice to God which is our “reasonable service (Romans 12:1).” “Reasonable service” is another way of saying spiritual act of worship. Our whole lives should be an act of worship towards God. We should welcome his involvement in every aspect of our daily lives. Being in total submission to God creates an environment for his presence and guidance in our lives.
Worship should be how we live our lives in a 24/7 relationship with God. Psalm 34:1 says, “I will bless the Lord at all times” and Psalm 113:3 says “From the rising to the setting sun the Lord is to be praised.”
Psalm 95:6 tells us to worship God, “Come, let us bow down in worship, let us kneel before the Lord our Maker.” Verse 7 tells us why, “For he is our God and we are his people.”
John 4:23 tells us God seeks worshippers – not worship. It says, “But the hour comes, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeks such to worship him.”
God commands us to worship him not for his benefit, but for ours. It’s not that he’s looking to be worshipped. After all if he just wanted to hear his name shouted over and over again like he were some sort of rock star, he’s perfectly capable of creating beings to do that. No, what he wants is our hearts. He wants to have a relationship with us. He is looking for people who realize how much he loves them and want to worship him.
Worship isn’t just something we do when we meet together in small groups or a church service. It’s our daily walk with God. Our lives should be an act of worship.
