Psalms 95:6-7
6 Come, let us bow down in worship,
let us kneel before the Lord our Maker;
7 for he is our God and we are the people of his pasture,
the flock under his care.
In a tropical jungle a man bows before a crude stick figure; in a fantastic Asian temple another burns incense before a richly decorated Buddha. A small group of people meets in an unobtrusive house in a small town to sing and pray together. A man in an affluent suburb spends the entire morning meticulously washing and waxing his foreign-made sports car. A teenage girl listens adoringly to her favorite rock star in her poster-plastered bedroom.
All of these people are worshiping. In some cases, the worship is formal and easy to recognize. In others, most people would hesitate to call it worship at all. But everyone worships something or someone, and what you worship has a great influence on what you are.
In this chapter we will define worship and look at its meaning and importance. We will also come to see how worship shapes and guides our lives.
Defining worship
Human beings were made to worship. Whether they acknowledge it or not, everyone worships in one way or another. Some people worship their job, some worship money and some worship possessions. Some people worship a movie or television star, or a recording star; they even call him or her their “idol.” Some people worship a goal or desire, some worship their own self-image, some worship pleasure and some worship God.
Although everyone worships something, many people don’t even recognize what they are worshiping. Until we understand the meaning of worship, we’ll never understand its purpose. And until we understand the wise principles of worship, we are in danger of violating them.
Worship comes from the Old-English word weorthscipe and means “to ascribe worth to.” It contains the essential idea that we worship whatever we value most highly. Although people worship many things, worship rightly belongs to God. No one else can lay claim to the position of highest value in anyone’s life.
The shaping influence of worship
Psalm 115 makes a very insightful statement on the subject of worship:
Their idols are silver and gold, made by the hands of men. They have mouths, but cannot speak, eyes, but they cannot see; they have ears, but cannot hear, noses, but they cannot smell; they have hands, but cannot feel, feet, but they cannot walk; nor can they utter a sound with their throats. Those who make them will be like them, and so will all who trust in them. Psalm 115:4-8
In this passage the psalmist is talking about idolatry and the inadequacy of the idol gods that the heathen were worshiping. Then he makes a very important statement: “Those who make them will be like them, and so will all who trust in them.” In other words, the Bible says that you become like the god you worship. Let me say it again: You become like the god you worship. By the influence of worship, the entire direction of your life is established.
Worship means you are determining values; you are deciding what you desire the most. You are fixing priorities and establishing what holds first place in your life. Worship means you are shaping what you are going to become; you are choosing in what image you will be made.
The psalmist observes a historically verifiable fact: People become like what they worship. The gods that are worshiped begin to manifest their attributes in the worshiper. So, in worship you are making decisions about your values, your priorities and what you will ultimately become.
The issue of worship: determining your life’s direction
Since worship sets your values and priorities, it will consequently determine the outflow of your life. It will affect what you seek and where you seek it. That will in turn determine what you discover and the kind of fulfillment you will achieve.
J. B. Phillips said there is a God-shaped vacuum in every one of us, which only God can fill. Worship is the way we fill that place. So when we worship with wisdom, we become like the Lord with whom we’re filling our inner life.
Augustine expressed it like this: “Lord, you’ve made us for yourself, and our hearts find no rest until they find it in you.” We were created for God, and the fulfillment of our hearts comes as a direct result of us approaching Him and coming to know Him.
So, some very significant issues are determined by our worship. In worship we determine where we’re going to bow. By bowing, I don’t just mean a physical posture, but a stance of the soul.
Worship has to do with whom we seek and to whom we submit. The goal that we press toward becomes the guiding force of our lives. We bring our hearts into alignment with whatever we worship, so they begin to mirror the object of our worship.
Worship determines what we will discover. Those who seek the Lord will discover the true purpose for which we were made, and its fulfillment. Those who follow other gods will discover what those gods provide, whether it be worry and care, decadence, poverty or emptiness. Ultimately, there is no other fulfillment for that God-shaped place in us than the Lord Himself.
Finally, our worship determines what flows from our lives. Our highest attainment comes through glorifying Him who is worthy of all glory. Others may find some temporary glory in their works or pursuits. Some may even be remembered beyond their lifetime. But those who worship the Lord, looking to the unseen rather than to see the unseen, will find what Paul calls an “eternal weight of glory” (2 Corinthians 4:17, KJV) working in their lives. Despite the trials of this life, they will have a glory that endures.
God reveals Himself to those who bow before Him and seek Him. If we truly seek Him withall our hearts, we’ll find Him. Then, when we discover what He’s really like, glorifying Him becomes the natural result. The most logical response in the universe to meeting God is to want to glorify Him, and worship leads us along that path.
Jack Hayford
