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Let’s examine some definitions. How many times have you heard people say that "the worship was great over at such-and-such church"? Or, you may hear that the worship wasn’t so good at another church.

How can worship be good or bad? We either worship or we don’t. I say that half-hearted worship is not worship at all! If, as a worshiper, I say that the worship was not good, then I have said that I didn’t worship well. After all, it is me that worships. The praise team doesn’t do it for me. They can’t. If worship is to be good, then I must worship. It is up to me. Worship should be ‘good’ everywhere I go, because I am there. I go to church for the purpose of worship. IT IS NOT UP TO SOMEONE ELSE’S PERFORMANCE. WORSHIP IS NOT A PERFORMANCE.

What exactly is worship? There are many descriptions of it, but scripture clearly tells us:

John 4:23

23 "But the hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth; for the Father is seeking such to worship Him.

(NKJ)

Notice here that it says "TRUE  WORSHIPERS". Anything else is not true worship. How do we worship? According to the scripture above, in spirit and truth. Is music anywhere in this? Is falling to the floor anywhere in this? No. There are expressions of worship. There are activities that come forth because we worship. Worship is clearly a spiritual thing.

Here is a piece from a story we are all familiar with:

Matt 14:31-33

31 And immediately Jesus stretched out His hand and caught him, and said to him, "O you of little faith, why did you doubt?"
32 And when they got into the boat, the wind ceased.
33 Then those who were in the boat came and worshiped Him, saying, "Truly You are the Son of God."

(NKJ)

Notice in verse 33, those in the boat came and worshiped Him. They did not have a band. They did not have a choir. It does not say that they bowed low. They did not wait until they reached shore. It does not say they sang to Him. It does not say that they danced. It does not say that they beat out a rhythm with the oars…

It tells us that they said: "truly you are the Son of God". They confessed with their mouth what they believed in their heart. They enthroned Him in their heart. This is worship. It is a spiritual positioning of ourselves before God. We must be able to worship as they did in the boat that day. Everything else will come if we can worship.

Consider the New Testament word for worship:

4352 proskuneo (pros-koo-neh'-o);

From 4314 and a probable derivative of 2965 (meaning to kiss, like a dog licking his master's hand); to fawn or crouch to, i.e. (literally or figuratively) prostrate oneself in homage (do reverence to, adore):

KJV - worship.

To kiss, like a dog licking his master’s hand. Does that not speak of relationship? Of a positioning? The word proskuneo is derived from two words. ‘Pros’, meaning ‘toward’, and ‘koun’ meaning ‘dog’.

John 1:1

1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.

(NKJ)

The word ‘with’ in this verse is ‘pros’, which means ‘toward’. The Word (Jesus) was toward God. We should be ‘toward’ God, shouldn’t we?

What about the word, ‘koun’? Consider the faithful dog. He is sleeping on a hot afternoon and his master says, "Here, boy!" What is the first thing ol’ Shep does? He opens his eyes and fixes his attention on his master. Even from a deep sleep, it is in his nature to focus on his master. We should focus on God at all times. If He calls to us, even if asleep, we should turn our attention to Him. A dog is ‘man’s best friend’. He is loyal to his master. He would die defending his master. He also knows WHO is master.

What I see here is a picture of what we should do, or how we worship. We should worship in spirit and in truth. That worship is a positioning of ourselves, recognizing God’s place and ours. It is placing Him on the throne of our heart with our focus ‘toward’ Him.

This has nothing to do with physical activity. Picture a man lying on the ground. Tell me if you can discern whether or not he is worshipping from his physical position? Is he laying prostrate before God, or is he simply resting?

Praise is always a physical activity. By its very definition, it involves physical activity. A word study in the Bible will reveal that there are many forms of praise. All involve physical activity. I will only delve into the seven basic Hebrew definitions for praise in this study. Keep in mind as you read these, that ALL involve physical body movements.

1) 1984 halal (haw-lal');

a primitive root; to be clear (orig. of sound, but usually of color); to shine; hence, to make a show, to boast; and thus to be (clamorously) foolish; to rave; causatively, to celebrate; also to stultify: (stultify is to make appear foolish or ridiculous.)

KJV-- (make) boast (self), celebrate, commend, (deal, make), fool (-ish, -ly), glory, give [light], be (make, feign self) mad (against), give in marriage, [sing, be worthy of] praise, rage, renowned, shine.

2 Chr 5:13-14 – example (the word praise in the Hebrew here is actually halal)

2) 3034 yadah (yaw-daw');

a primitive root; used only as denominative from 3027; literally, to use (i.e. hold out) the hand; physically, to throw (a stone, an arrow) at or away; especially to revere or worship (with extended hands); intensively, to bemoan (by wringing the hands):

KJV-- cast (out), (make) confess (-ion), praise, shoot, (give) thank (-ful, -s, -sgiving).

Genesis 29:35 - example

3) 8426 towdah (toe-daw');

from 3034; properly, an extension of the hand, i.e. (by implication) avowal, or (usually) adoration; specifically, a choir of worshippers:

KJV-- confession, (sacrifice of) praise, thanks (-giving, offering).

Josh 7:19 - example

4) 2167 zamar (zaw-mar');

a primitive root [perhaps identified with 2168 through the idea of striking with the fingers]; properly, to touch the strings or parts of a musical instrument, i.e. play upon it; to make music, accompanied by the voice; hence to celebrate in song and music:

KJV-- give praise, sing forth praises, psalms.

Judges 5:3 - example

5) 8416 tehillah (teh-hee-law');

from 1984; laudation; specifically (concretely) a hymn:

KJV-- praise.

- to laud is to praise highly.

Ps 22:3 - example

6) 8605 tephillah (tef-eel-law');

from 6419; intercession, supplication; by implication, a hymn:

KJV-- prayer.

Ps 4:1 - example

7) 7623 shabach (shaw-bakh');

a primitive root; properly, to address in a loud tone, i.e. (specifically) loud; figuratively, to pacify (as if by words):

KJV-- commend, glory, keep in, praise, still, triumph.

Ps 117:1 – example

Every one of the above definitions clearly speaks of physical activity. Let’s look at what we call worship today in the church. We know that most churches have a praise and worship team of some kind. The musician(s) generally lead in corporate worship by playing on their instruments and leading us in a song.

Playing an instrument and singing is the biblical definition of 'zamar' which is translated to 'praise' in our language.

2167 zamar (zaw-mar');

a primitive root [perhaps identified with 2168 through the idea of striking with the fingers]; properly, to touch the strings or parts of a musical instrument, i.e. play upon it; to make music, accompanied by the voice; hence to celebrate in song and music:

KJV-- give praise, sing forth praises, psalms.

So then, when we play our instruments and sing we are doing "zamar". We are indeed praising God. The quality of the music has nothing to do with the quality of the worship because the music is not the worship.

The worship is done in spirit and in truth. The praise comes forth because we worship God. We have somehow let the evolution of our language change the meaning of the word worship. We have indeed determined that praise is worship when it is not, according to Biblical definitions. It is Biblical definition that we need to concern ourselves with. We must be aware of the evolution of language that often changes definitions.

Look at an example of what I am saying:

Heb 11:1

1 Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.

(NKJ)

We are all very familiar with this verse. Hope, today, has a different meaning. If I hope to win the lottery, it means that I want to real bad, I’m expecting to, but I can’t be certain that I will – I HOPE that I will.

I the above scripture verse, hope means to expect or confide. In a religious sense, it means to wait for salvation with joy and confidence. In other words, hope in the Bible is to know for certain. Hope today is to wish for very strongly. These are two different things entirely.

We can play with semantics all day long. Semantics can be a snare and a trap. We must, however, understand what we are saying. We can use the word worship for playing an instrument and singing, and it’s okay. In the American language, one word can have several meanings and this is okay. We must however, be aware of the meaning we intend.

Can you find the verse in the Bible that says we can worship as we see fit? That we have a right to worship our own way? You probably can’t find that verse, because it is a constitutional right granted by the United States Government to its citizens. It is not a Biblical right. We don’t have a bill of rights in the Bible, we have God -- and His will should be our will. He has clearly laid out how we shall worship, and that He desires our worship. He has also commanded that we praise Him. He established in the Bible how and why.

We will delve deeper into all of this. We must all keep in mind that when we use a word like worship or hope, we need to be sure we understand which meaning applies and not confuse them.

Psalm 149 talks about why we praise. It is more than to feel good. It is more than to minister to our God. These are some of the reasons, but there are more.

Ps 149:7-9

7 To execute vengeance on the nations, and punishments on the peoples;
8 To bind their kings with chains, and their nobles with fetters of iron;
9 To execute on them the written judgment -- this honor have all His saints. Praise the LORD!

(NKJ)

God wants to accomplish His purpose through us, using us. This is clear all through scripture. When we praise Him, we are doing warfare in the Spirit. We are driving the enemy back. We are accomplishing things in the Spirit. Notice that scripture says that it is an honor to praise our God!

At this point, we will begin delving into just what we do when we praise. We will look at how we are to go about it, and some of the reasons we are to do this.