Have you ever wondered about worship? What is it exactly, how do you do it?

Well, I recently listened to a message on worship from Dwight Pryor and I wrote down some of his quotes. One thing I learned, though, was about the word Worship itself – it comes from the old English word “Worth-ship” and means “to ascribe, to attribute, to give worth to something or someone.” The Hebrew word for “worship”carries with it the connotations of “to bow down, to kneel, to serve.” Interesting, worship and serving go together…

“Worship is high, lofty” bc you are exalting the exalted one and worship needs to reflect the one you worship. “The worshiper is made low, humble, is undone.” For an example of worship read the beginning of Is 6. “Worship is a recognition and a response to God’s holiness.” “Giving thanks and praise for God’s goodness in all that He has done for His people.” “Worship is a heartfelt response to God’s holiness.” In other words, when you worship the Lord you are responding to Him, His actions, His attributes…

True worship of God occurs by ascribing worth to Him, and whether physically, mentally or spiritually when we are humbled before Him and we bow before His throne acknowledging You are God. When our hearts are moved in ways we can’t explain and filled with words we can’t express, when the awe, the majesty, the grandeur, and the beauty of the Lord fills our hearts, our minds, our very being till we are lost in the exultation of Him alone – this is true worship. It involves all of me.

Here is a quote from Bishop William Temple (Former Archbishop of Canterbury from the last century). He described worship this way “to worship is to quicken the conscience by the holiness of God. To feed the mind with the truth of God. To purge the imagination by the beauty of God, and to open the heart to the love of God. And to devote one’s will to the purpose of God.”

May we truly worship the LORD God all the days of our lives.