Thoughts About Worship

Question: “What is the difference between Praise and Worship?  Aren’t they the same?” Answer: Understanding the difference between praise and worship can bring a new depth to the way we honor the Lord. Throughout the Bible, the commands to "praise the Lord" are too numerous to mention. Angels and the heavenly hosts are commanded to praise the Lord (Psalm 89:5; 103:20; 148:2). All inhabitants of the earth are instructed to praise the Lord (Psalm 138:4; Romans 15:11). We can praise Him with singing (Isaiah 12:5; Psalm 9:11), with shouting (Psalm 33:1; 98:4), with the dance (Psalm 150:4), and with musical instruments (1 Chronicles 13:8; Psalm 108:2; 150:3-5). Worship, comes from a different place within our spirits. Worship should be reserved for God alone (Luke 4:8). Worship is the art of losing self in the adoration of another. Praise can be a part of worship, but worship goes beyond praise. Praise is easy; worship is not. Worship gets to the heart of who we are. To truly worship God, we must let go of our self-worship. We must be willing to humble ourselves before God, surrender every part of our lives to His control, and adore Him for who He is, not just what He has done. Worship is a lifestyle, not just an occasional activity. Jesus said the Father is seeking those who will worship Him "in spirit and in truth" (John 4:23). What’s the first thing you think of when you hear the word “worship”? Unfortunately, for most people that have been raised in a church, the word has become synonymous with singing or meeting together for a service.  I have realized that I am not concerned about what we are singing as much as I am concerned about what we are seeing. I realize that people worship at different levels. If you have not seen the One you worship, then you will always struggle in your response. Revelation 5:11-13 I love that this scripture gives us a picture of what worship is like. They are not just singing a song they were taught, but they are describing the One that they are looking at. It’s also a great description of what we should give in response to His greatness. Things like power, wealth, wisdom, strength, honor, glory and praise. That pretty much means He deserves everything we have. I had an encounter with God at the age of 26 that changed me forever. God became more than a history book. He was no longer a God that seemed so distant and unresponsive. The God of the universe revealed Himself and everything inside of me changed. Worship was no longer something I could just do, but it was something I had to become. The daily activity of my life, reveals the worth of the God that I serve. This is why it is so important to be a person of character when proclaiming to be a Christian. The world is watching us and they determine who God is by the actions of His followers. We are the representatives of God on the earth. What do we want people to believe about Him? How much is His image worth to us? When we choose to love instead of hate, to be patient instead of reacting, to be joyful in times of trials, or to be strong in the face of fear, then our response is an act of worship. Our response reveals His worth. In Scripture, praise is usually presented as boisterous, joyful, and uninhibited. God invites praise of all kinds from His creation. Jesus said that if people don't praise God, even the "stones will cry out" (Luke 19:40). The tone changes when the Bible mentions worship. We read verses like; "Worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness" (Psalm 96:9). And, "Come let us worship and bow down" (Psalm 95:6). Often, worship is coupled with the act of bowing or kneeling, which shows humility and contrition (2 Chronicles 29:28; Hebrews 11:21; Revelation 19:10). It is through true worship that we invite the Holy Spirit to speak to us, convict us, and comfort us. Through worship, we realign our priorities with God's and acknowledge Him once more as the rightful Lord of our lives. Just as praise is intertwined with thanksgiving, worship is intertwined with surrender. It is impossible to worship God and anything else at the same time (Luke 4:8). The physical acts often associated with worship—bowing, kneeling, lifting hands—help to create the necessary attitude of humility required for real worship. Worship is an attitude of the heart. A person can go through the outward motions and not be worshiping (Psalm 51:16-17; Matthew 6:5-6). God sees the heart, and He desires and deserves sincere, heartfelt praise and worship. Aren't they the same thing? Short answer, no. And we're gonna delve into that. And, the reason I've asked this question is understanding the difference between praise and worship can bring a new depth to, the way we honor the Lord. Throughout the Bible, the commands to praise the Lord are too numerous to even list here. But we're gonna try we're gonna list a couple of them. And, we're gonna be mainly in the book of Psalms. We're gonna bounce around the the book of Psalms for a little bit and a few forays into the New Testament. But, first thing I want you to know that the angels and heavenly hosts are commanded to praise the lord. In Psalm 895, it says, and the heavens will praise your wonders, oh lord, your faithfulness also in the assembly of the saints. And then a little further in the book of Psalms is 103 20. 103 verse 20. Now I know I'm going fast on these scriptures. I will try to slow down. Oh, I I I don't know how to prepare anything without going to the book. That is our authority on everything. And, Psalm 10320 says, bless the Lord, you his angels, who excel in strength, who do his word, heeding the voice of his word. And then just further on in in 148, Psalm 148, if my little doohickey will there we go. Psalm where 1 40. 148, verse 2. Says and and these are commands. Says praise him all his angels. Praise him all his hosts. So let's tell you the angels and the heavenly host are commanded to praise him. And, we don't get out of that that command either. And all the inhabitants of the earth are instructed to praise the lord. All inhabitants of the earth and the last I checked, we are all inhabitants of the earth. And, I got two references for this. Psalms 1384. Psalms 1384. It says and I'm reading out of the New King James, so it might be a little bit different than what you're reading. It says, all the kings of the earth shall praise you, oh lord, when they hear the words of your mouth. So all the kings of the earth. And then, now we're gonna go to Romans. Paul had a little bit to say about praise and and, Romans chapter 15 15. 15 And verse 11 says and again praise the lord all you gentiles. Laud him all you peoples. So not only the Jews but the gentiles are commanded to praise the lord. There are several ways we can, we can praise it. We praise it with singing, shouting. If you can't sing, you can shout. All is required is a joyful noise. If you can make a noise, you can praise the Lord. With singing and shouting with dance, I'm not gonna demonstrate that because nobody wants to see that. And with musical instruments. Mhmm. And, got a special place in my heart for musical instruments. And, just a couple scriptures for this. I'm just gonna go through them. You don't have to turn. All of this is going to be on our website with all the references and a full transcript. So if you miss a couple, it's gonna be on the website. It's also on the description of our YouTube video that's going out live right now and will be available to view later. Isaiah chapter 12 verse 5 says, sing to the lord for he has done excellent things. This is known in all the earth. So it's he's done excellent things and the old earth knows it. And then, again, back in Psalms I don't Says shout joyfully to the Lord. This is 98:4. Psalms 98 verse 4 says shout joyfully to the Lord all the earth. Break forth in psalm. Rejoice and sing praises. Basically, the whole book of Psalms is is singing and praise. We got, the next one is Psalms 150 verse 3 through 5. Psalms 150 verse 3 through 5. It says, praise him with the sound of the trumpet. Praise him with the lute and the harp. Praise him with the timbre and dance. Praise him with stringed instruments and flutes. Praise him with loud cymbals. Praise him with clashing cymbals. But, now we go that's praise. That's just the praise part that we're commanded to do. Worship comes from a different place within our spirits. Worship should be reserved only for God, for god alone. This one I want you to turn to is Luke chapter 4 verse 8. Luke 4 verse 8. And this is Jesus speaking. And Jesus answered and said to him, get behind me, Satan, for it is written, you shall worship the lord your god, and him only you shall serve. This is when he has been tempted on top of the mountain, top of the pinnacle of the temple. And it says that you shall worship the lord your god and him alone. Worship is the art of losing oneself in the adoration of another. Praise can be part of it, but worship goes beyond praise. Praise is easy. Worship it. What was that? Praise is easy. Worship is not. Because worship is the art of losing oneself in the adoration of another. And, worship gets to the heart of who we are. To truly worship God, we must let go of our self worship. We must be willing to humble ourselves before God, surrender every part of our lives to His control, and adore Him for who He is, not just for what He's done. So if God never did does another thing for any one of us, he's still worthy of all of our worship and praise. But he does do exceeding abundantly above all that we could ever ask or hope. Worship is a lifestyle, not just an occasional activity. Jesus said the father is seeking those who will worship him in spirit and in truth. That's found in John chapter 4 verse 23. John chapter 4 verse 23. Says, 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. Another question. What's the first thing you think of when you hear the word worship? And unfortunately unfortunately, today, most people have been raised in a church. The word has become synonymous with singing or meeting another meeting one another for a service. And, but I've realized that I am not concerned about what what we're singing as much as I am what we're seeing. I realize that realize that people worship at different levels. If you've not seen the one you worship, you will always struggle in your response to worship. If you don't have a relationship with him, you you can't really understand the worship part. The praise is fine. We could praise and, but we can't really truly worship in spirit and in truth the way that he is looking for. Want you to turn with me to revelations chapter 5. Revelation 5 verse 11 through 13. I love this scripture because it gives us a picture of what worship is like. It gives a picture of what worship in heaven is. Revelation chapter 5 verses 11, 12, and 13. Verse 11. Then I looked and I heard the voice of many angels around the throne, the living creatures and the elders, and the number of them was 10000 times 10000, and thousands of thousands. Saying with a loud voice, worthy is the lamb who was slain, to receive power and riches and wisdom, and strength and honor and glory and blessing. And every creature which is in heaven and on the earth and under the earth, and such as are in the sea, and all that are in them. I heard saying, blessing and honor, glory and power, be to him who sits on the throne, and to the lamb forever and ever. That's what real worship is. That's what the worship in heaven is like. They're not just singing a song that they were taught. They're describing the one that they're looking at. Pardon? I read, verse 14 also. Do you have a pen? I don't. Would you read that, please? Privilege 5. You know, of course, we talked about to him who sits on the throne and to the lamb to be praised and honor and glory and power, wherever that was. The 4 living creatures said, amen. And the elder fell down and worship. When I think of worshiping, I'm thinking about bowing down. Unblowing yourself It is. To bow down. It most definitely is. And, it's also it's a great description of what we should be what we should give in response to his greatness. Things like power, wealth, wisdom, strength, honor, glory, and praise. That pretty much means he deserves everything that we have, everything that we can give. I had an encounter with God when I was 26 years old. So it's been a minute. And, it changed me forever. God became more than just somebody we heard about from a history book and, he was no longer God that seemed distant and unresponsive. The God of the universe revealed himself and everything inside of me changed. That's how it is when you meet God. You will not come back to say. Worship was no longer something I could just do. It had to be something I had to become. And that was, that was something, brother Kevin taught me. You it's a lifestyle. It is every everything you have, everything you do is an act of worship to God or should be. And that's what worship in spirit and in truth is like. The daily activities of my life reveals the worth of the God that I serve. Now I don't represent him perfectly every day. Lord knows I don't. But, the world is watching. They watch us that are claiming to be Christian, Christ like ones. And they determine who God is by the action of his followers. We are the representatives of God on earth. What do we want people to believe about him? How much is his image worth to us? And worship, I heard an old, old evangelist describe it like this. It is a worth ship. It is a ship that we load with his worth and send it to him, and he sends it back full of blessings. It's we pile that ship full of worth. And, excuse me. When we choose to love instead of hate, to be patient instead of reacting hastily, to be joyful in times of trials. To be joyful in times of trials. That's a hard one. But he gives us joy. He is he makes it new every morning, and, that's one that I have to work on. Or to be strong in the face of fear, then our response is an act of worship when we do those. Our responses reveal his worth. In the scriptures praise is usually presented as boisterous, joyful, uninhibited. God invites praise from all kinds of all kinds from his creation. Jesus said that if his if people don't praise God, even the stones will cry out in Luke. So Luke 14 1940 says, but he answered and said to them, I tell you that if these should keep silent, the stones would immediately cry out. So that's the tone of the scripture changes when the Bible mentions worship. We read verses like these, worship the lord in beauty in the beauty of his holiness. That's Psalms 969. It says, oh, worship the Lord in beauty of holiness. Tremble before him all the earth. And another one is come let us worship and bow down. And that's in 95, Psalms 90 5:6. It says, oh, come let us worship and bow down. Let us kneel before the lord our maker. Often worship is coupled with the act of bowing or kneeling. As you said fall the elders fell on their face and worshiped worshiped, which shows humility and caprician. We got it's through true worship that we invite the Holy Spirit to speak to us, convict us, and comfort us. Through worship, we realign our priorities with God's and acknowledge him once more as the rightful lord of our lives. When you get your priorities aligned with God's, it's a sometimes it's a daily daily activity because we we tend to go off on our own. I know I know it. I won't bother God with this. But just as praise is intertwined with thanksgiving, worship is intertwined with surrender. It is impossible to worship God and anything else at the same time. You can't you can't serve 2 masters. The physical acts often associated with worship, bowing, kneeling, lifting hands, help to create the necessary attitude of humility required for real worship. Worship is an attitude of the heart. A person can go through the outward motions and not be worshiping. Psalms 51, 16, and 17. Psalm 5116 and 17 says, for you do not desire sacrifice or else I would give it. You do not delight in burnt offerings. This is, David talking to the lord. The sacrifices of god are a broken spirit, a broken and contrite heart. These, oh god, you will not despise. And then Matthew chapter 6 verse 5 and 6. Matthew chapter 6 verse 5 and 6. Says that when you pray, you shall not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the corners of the streets that they may be seen by men. Assuredly, I say to you, they have their reward. But you, when you pray, go into your room. And when you have shut your door, pray to your father, who is in the secret place. And your father who sees in secret will reward you openly. God sees the heart and he desires and deserves sincere, heartfelt praise and worship. I know we covered a whole bunch of scriptures and see, I told you I was gonna be done in 10 minutes. I had a whole bunch of stuff, but, I had a question for you, brother. Yes, sir. I hear you talking about when you break, you know, tops above 1, 2, in the synagogue and on the street corners. I mean, I've seen people out there before. You know? Right. But I'm thinking against them. What he's talking about here is the ones that that stand up in the synagogues that are I I get to pray. Listen to me, and they use the big law of college words and educated words just for the recognition of the people. That's what it says and they have their reward. They got all the people, oh, he's such a great orator. He's got a way with words. But when we pray and prayer is, is an act of worship. I have a good answer. Yes, sir. When someone's listening to words and worshiping and seeking God and communicating with him, they say you hear a lot of words. People say people are Christians. But if they say they're Christians, they're not seeking the Lord. The Lord's gonna say the part of the people. That is true. He will. And, that's I think that's one of the just one of the problems I have. Now we we're getting off into gospel of dawn here. So, probably what I have was some music nowadays, it's made just to make money, and it's self serving instead of prompting worship for the only one worthy of it. It's so look at me. Look at me. I'm I'm making all I got the smoke shows. I got the lights. I got the full band behind me. Listen to us. Don't we sing so good. And that's that's where I get a problem with some of the some of the music nowadays. Okay. I'll get off that soapbox. But Kevin, he was a real mentor to me. I say we've been serving together since 03 just before the flood. That's something my dad says. I still don't know what it means, but, but we've been serving together. Actually, his wife, Kathy Wade, and I were became believers on the same evening at the same time. It was a revival service and, I can't tell you what the revival preacher's name was. I can tell you what he talked about, the wheat and the tares. There's tares among the wheat and, you can't tell it till harvest time. A tare looks just like a stalk of wheat, except there's nothing in it. It's empty. But and you can't tell them you can't tell the difference till you start the, the sifting process. You do the sifting process and the the tears blow away because there's nothing in them. And, that said, you're a tear. I heard the Holy Spirit that you're a tater right here in the middle of church. I'm a preacher's kid, so we the worst ones. But and, apparently, it hit her too. So, and that's when I got really in the church helping. Brother Kevin was a music minister out at Sem Second for for a time. Then he was about stayed with him for a while and followed him out here because he asked me to come run the sound and stuff because he couldn't do it, and he needed some help. And here I am. But, Kevin was very special to me, and he had a thing or two to teach us about worship because that's the way he lived his life. I guess motto was be kind to every kind. It's free. And, heaven is a better place to have him in it, and just keep him and his or keep his family in your prayers. And, we're gonna wrap up with that. I didn't didn't finish off too bad, but, thank you for those that joined us online. We're going to conclude our broadcast at this point. We appreciate you signing in, tuning in for us, and, we hope to see you next week when, brother George will be back. We also meet Sunday mornings, 10:45. You can, catch us on YouTube, live streaming, or join us in person. We're right here at the corner where, Overlook House Ferry and Cody Rhodes meet. Can't miss us. We're right here. So, you're welcome, and, we thank you, and have a good evening.