You might be a rock ‘n’ roll addict prancing on the stage,
You might have drugs at your command, women in a cage.
You may be a business man or some high-degree thief,
They may call you doctor or they may call you chief.
But you’re gonna have to serve somebody, yes you are,
You’re gonna have to serve somebody.
Well, it may be the devil or it may be the Lord.
But you’re gonna have to serve somebody. —Bob Dylan
As we described in the previous post, worship involves more than the attitude that “God is worth more,” it also involves our actions. The attitude that God is worth more inspires us to action. Bob Dylan used the word “serve” to describe the actions that worship involves.
According to Merriam Webster, the word “serve” can mean, “to be of use, to be worthy of reliance or trust.” As Bob Dylan contemplates his new relationship with Jesus in his song, Gotta Serve Somebody, his heart was “to be of use” to God, “to be worthy of His reliance and trust.” He wanted his actions to demonstrate or put on display his faith.
The actions of worship involve our trust and love for God. But they also include other actions, as well. These actions are hinted at in Psalms 115 and described with a lot of detail in Psalm 95. By the way, these psalms just scratch the surface when it comes to how worship includes our actions.
Check out what the writer says in Psalm 115:17-18.
17 The dead cannot sing praises to the Lord, for they have gone into the silence of the grave. 18 But we can praise the Lord both now and forever! Praise the Lord!
—Ps 115:17-18 NLT
When the writer indicates, “The dead can’t sing praises to the Lord,” He’s not attempting to describe what eternity will look like. He’s simply indicating the stark reality of physical death. A corpse lacks life, energy and ability. It can’t do anything.
But, the writer indicates in Verse 18, “we can praise the Lord.” The “we” represents those who are currently alive. And, by looking back at Verse 17, it can be strongly implied that the praise the writer is encouraging is singing. Further, at the end of Verse 18, it’s clear that the writer understands that death doesn’t have the final say when it comes to our worship. He writes, “But we can praise the Lord, both now and forever.” Yes!
What the writer of Psalm 115 implies as one of the actions worship involves — singing, Psalm 95 and 96 make explicit. We’ll only look at Psalm 95.
Oh come, let us sing to the Lord; let us make a joyful noise to the rock of our salvation! 2 Let us come into his presence with thanksgiving; let us make a joyful noise to him with songs of praise! 3 For the Lord is a great God, and a great King above all gods. —Ps 95:1-3 ESV
6 Oh come, let us worship and bow down; let us kneel before the Lord, our Maker! 7 For he is our God, and we are the people of his pasture, and the sheep of his hand. Today, if you hear his voice, 8 do not harden your hearts… —Ps 95:6-8a ESV
Worship Involves At Least Four Aspects of Our Being
Psalm 95 addresses almost every aspect of our being as it relates to worship. For instance, it lets us know…
- Worship is EMOTIONAL (v 1).
The writer uses emotional language to describe worship: “sing,” “make a joyful noise,” “do not harden your hearts,” etc. Get this: worship always involves passion and emotion, because at its core, worship is about LOVE.
Worship is expressing our love to God. It is responding to all that God is
with all that we are.
- Worship is VOLITIONAL (v 6).
Here’s what I mean. Worship involves your will. It involves your ability to make a choice or a decision.
Psalm 95:1 and 6 challenge us, “Oh come, let us worship and bow down; let us kneel before the Lord, our Maker!” In other words, worship is a choice we make.
We won’t always “feel” like worshipping. We won’t always feel like honoring God with our attitudes and actions, but worship is a decision we can make, regardless, because God is always worthy no matter how we feel on a given day.
Worship involves a choice as to who is going to call the shots in my life. It involves a decision about who I will surrender command and control of my life to. Because, in the words of Dylan, everybody has to SERVE SOMEBODY. We get to make that choice.
- Worship is PHYSICAL (v 6).
Did you notice all of the actions that get mentioned in Psalm 95?
- Singing (v. 1)
- Shouting (v. 1)
- Making a joyful noise (v. 1)
- Giving thanks (v. 2)
- Making a joyful noise with songs of praise (v. 2) – So important it gets mentioned 2 times…
- Worship (v. 6)
- Bowing down (v. 6)
- Kneeling (v. 6)
- Listening to His voice (v. 7)
- Keeping your heart soft and tender (v. 8)
All of the above are tagged as worship.
Seven Hebrew Words for Praise
It’s interesting that there are at least seven Hebrew words for praise in the OT that describe the kinds of responses or actions God evidently loves when it comes to our worship. I’ll close out today’s post with a brief overview of each.
- HALLAL
It’s the primary word for praise in the OT. We get our English word, “Hallelujah,” from it. It’s made up of two words: “Hallal” which means “to be clear, to praise, to shine, to boast, show, to rave, to be clamorously foolish, to celebrate extravagantly, to celebrate to the point of looking foolish;” and, “jah” which is an abbreviated form of Jehovah. At its core, HALLAL is unrestricted and undignified praise and worship!
(Some References for HALLAL: Ps 146-150; Judges 16:24; 2 Chron 7:6; Ezra 3:10-11; Neh 5:13; Ps 18:3, 56:4, 63:5; Isa 62:9, Jer 20:13; Joel 2:26)
The next two words involve the “lifting of hands.”
- YADAH – “the extended hand, to throw out the hand, to lift the hands, to worship with extended hands.”
(Some References for YADAH include: Gen 29:35, 2 Chron 7:3, 6, 20:21; Ps 67:3, 107:15, 108:3, Isa 12:1, 4; Jer 33:11)
- TOWDAH – “to extend the hands in thanksgiving, adoration, agreement or acceptance.”
(Some References for TOWDAH include: Ps 50:14, 23, 42:4, 56:12; Jer 17:26, 33:11)
Our hands are such an important part of almost every response we give. For instance, folded hands can indicate a closed heart. Hands stuffed in our pockets can indicate a lack of interest. A clinched fist can be a sign of anger, and a clutched hand can be a sign of fear. A frustrated person will often throw up their hands in resignation. A friendly person will use their hands to welcome guests and invite friends. A worried person will often wring their hands.
A worshipping person will often raise his hands.
I’ll write it again: A worship man or woman sometimes raise their hands.
Why?
Because raised hands are a symbol of surrender. They’re also a symbol of love, need and desperation. For instance, when I visit my 20-month-old granddaughter and she comes running, lifting her little hands in my direction, I’ve never once scolded her, “Put down those hands, Lucy, you little charismatic.”
Instead, I know intuitively what Lucy means and what she wants, “It’s Papa. I love Papa. I want to be with Papa. We have fun together. He’ll probably push in the swing. Papa, would you hold me in your arms? Let’s spend time together.” What does Papa do? Well, he responds like any Papa would. He picks up that little girl. Laughs with her. Spins her round. Takes her outside to swing her on the swing-set in 91 degree. Papa celebrates their relationship.
Imagine God doing the same thing to you the next time you lift your hands in worship. Yes, you are surrendering to His leadership and will. But you are also expressing your love, and your Heavenly Father loves it!
There’s so much I could share about the next five Hebrew words, but for the purpose of this post, I’ll just list them with a few Scripture references for each.
- SHABACH – “to shout, to address in a loud tone, to loudly give adoration to God, to command, to triumph, to shout praise.”
(Some References for SHABACH include: Ps 47:1, 63:3, 117:1, 145:4; Isa 12:6, Ecc 4:2)
- BARAK – “to kneel down, to bow, to bless God as an act of adoration, to salute.”
(Some References for BARAK include: Judges 5:2; Ps 34:1, 72:15, 95:6, 96:2, 103:1-2; 1 Chron 29:20)
- ZAMAR – “to pluck the strings of an instrument, to sing, to praise; a musical word which is largely involved with joyful expressions of music with musical instruments.”
(Some References for ZAMAR include: Ps 21:13, 57:8-9, 61:8, 147:1, 7; Judges 5:3; 2 Sam 22:50)
- TEHILLAH – “the singing of hallals, to sing or to laud; perceived to involve music, especially singing; hymns of the Spirit or praise.”
(Some References for TEHILLAH include: Ps 9:14, 22:3, 25, 33:1, 100:4, Exo 15:11, Deut 10:21; Neh 9:5; Jer 48:2)
Did you notice that all seven Hebrew words employ some kind of physical action or response? At this point, perhaps you’re wondering, Why? Why are all of those actions important? Why does God encourage and even command them?
Here’s what I believe. It’s because worship was never meant to be mere intellectual engagement or agreement with biblical truth. It is that, but it’s more than that. It’s also about a lot more than an emotional response. God created our very BODIES to GLORIFY HIM (1 Cor. 6:20). And, when we sing, lift our hands (Ps 63:4; 134:2; 1 Tim 2:8), clap (Ps 47:1) or kneel, we are engaging our bodies and physical energy in saying, “God is worth more.”
So, let’s review:
- Worship is EMOTIONAL (v 1).
- Worship is VOLITIONAL (v 6).
- Worship is PHYSICAL (vs 1, 2, 6-8).
Finally,
- Worship involves INTELLECT and REASON.
Check out Verses 7-8a. “Today, if you hear His voice and do not harden your hearts…” In other words, “Think this through… Is God really worthy more? Then, don’t miss this moment.”
Authentic worship always involves our entire being: our emotions, heart, mind and will; our physical energy, actions and abilities, and our intellect and thought life. Every aspect of our being matters. Because every day we are giving ourselves to someone or something in worship. Psalm 115 describes the dangers implicit in giving yourself to the wrong thing. We’ll examine that in the next blog post.
- Today, take a few moments to review the four aspects of our being that worship involves. How are you doing in each area?
- What about physical expressions of worship? Do you honor God with your physical energy, actions and abilities? What’s stopping you?
- Finally, take a few minutes to think about the greatness of God and all that He has done for you. Write down the thoughts that come to your mind. Find a place of solitude and determine that you’re going to worship God using one of the ways described in the Hebrew words and actions we just covered.
We’ll look at why all of this matters in our next post.