What Is Worship?

I was doing some study on worship and came across these classifications contained within an article on Bible.org. I thought they were pretty good descriptions of what worship consists of, and wanted to share them with you.

Worship as Covenant:

Any discussion of corporate worship must start with a prerequisite taught by both Old and New Testaments: God only accepts worship offered within a covenant framework. Any legitimate definition of worship that aspires to be biblical must first acknowledge that worship is defined as a celebration of one’s covenant relationship with the Holy Lord God.

Worship as Submission:

The Hebrew hishtakhavah  and the Greek proskuneo  stresses submission to another. Translated by the term “worship” in our English Bibles, they describe “bowing down” or falling prostrate before another who is worshiped. This represents an ancient way of showing one’s vulnerability and, therefore, submission to the one worshiped. Like other terms for obeisance, “worship” assumes that a relationship exists (or perhaps is sought) with a greater individual. Those who bow down, whether by choice (freely submitting) or by force (defeat by the other), indicate their acknowledged responsibility to live by the superior’s will. When I worship, I am consciously stating to God that he is in control of all things that relate to my life.

Worship as Service:

Worship as service grows directly from worship as submission. If I submit to another’s rule, then I am responsible to fulfill the wishes of the one I worship. Here we begin to see the unity between worship as “lifestyle” and worship as “praise” for both are ways in which I am doing what God asks of me. Paul calls our daily “living sacrifice” a latreia  or service to God (Rom 12:1). Similarly the more general term, godliness or eusebeia, derived from the more specific worship term, sebomai, stresses how one honors the deity in all things. Therefore, how I fulfill God’s desires for my life in every aspect, fulfill my responsibilities as outlined in the covenant he has made with me, and remain in a right relationship with him is “worship.” All of life reflects my worship of God.

Worship as Remembrance:

The Old Testament Hebrew word zakar  focused on God’s promises for his people in their worship—the inauguration, obligations, continuing benefits, and future  consummation of the covenant. Every festival, sacrifice, and memorial designed to promote the worship of God was instituted as a “memorial.” “To remember” invoked the existence of a binding covenant, calling all to recognize and fulfill their responsibilities, joining with all who ever participated in the same covenant as a single community under God’s rule. Passover was Israel’s quintessential act of “remembering” (cf. Exod 12:14; 13:3, 9). It repeatedly affirmed God’s unique act of covenant whereby he created Israel as a distinct people for himself (cf., e.g., Lev 11:45; 26:45; 2 Sam 7:23; Hos 11:1; cf. Matt 2:15). Jesus used the corresponding Greek term, mimne-skomai  to describe the role of the cup within the Lord’s Supper as the inauguration of the [new] covenant (Matt 26:28; Mark 14:24; Luke 22:20; 1 Cor 11:25). Consequently gathering around the bread and cup quickly became a defining purpose for Christians gathered to worship (Acts 2:42; 20:7; 1 Cor 11:17–34).