What does it mean to actually worship?

We often think of worship as singing songs, but is that all there is to it?

We should start with how the Word of God defines worship, so let us turn to two of the oldest recorded examples of worship in the Bible.

The oldest biblical definition of worship

The first is Job, who is first introduced to us as “blameless and upright, one who feared God and turned away from evil” (Job 1:1).

He also happened to be tremendously rich, with a large family and an incredible number of sheep, camels, oxen, donkeys and servants (the measure of wealth in those days), to the point of being called “the greatest of all the people in the east” (Job 1:3).

Job had pretty much everything going for him. But in just one day, through a perfect storm of enemy raids and natural catastrophes, Job lost everything. All his flocks, his servants, and even his beloved children. The tragic news came in such rapid succession that he could not even catch his breath (Job 1:13-19).

What would you do if you lost everything in a single day? If suddenly your whole world collapsed around you?

When Job finally recovered enough to react, this is what he did:

Then Job arose and tore his robe and shaved his head and fell on the ground and worshipped. And he said, “Naked I came from my mother’s womb, and naked shall I return. The Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord. (Job 1:20-21)

Some believe that Job is the oldest book in the Bible, older than even Genesis. If so, we have here the oldest biblical definition of worship. And what a definition it is.

Job’s first response to losing everything was to proclaim: “The Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord.”

There is no mention anywhere of music; Job was certainly not singing Matt Redman’s song “Blessed Be Your Name”. But he was worshipping.

And his worship reached its climax when, having been afflicted by terrible sores all over his body and been abandoned by his wife, he proclaimed: “Though he slay me, I will hope in him.” (Job 13:15)

Even if we lost everything we cherished in life, would our hearts still be able to praise the Lord, like Job did? Would we still hope in Him?

The worship of sacrifice 

Next, Abraham. God told Abraham that he would be the father of a great nation and promised him and his barren wife, Sarah, a son in their old age, much to their disbelief.

That precious son, Isaac, was miraculously born 30 years later. But the story took an unexpected turn. God commanded Abraham to offer Isaac as a burnt sacrifice to Him.

What? Why? Abraham must have been horrified.

But the Bible records that Abraham simply “rose early in the morning, saddled his donkey, and took two of his young men with him, and his son Isaac”. (Genesis 22:3)

No music or singing, only firewood and the sacrifice of the one thing in the world that meant the most to Abraham. What a definition of worship.

The rest is history – as Abraham’s knife is about to fall upon his beloved son, God stays his hand and provides a ram in Isaac’s place.

Recognising Abraham’s tremendous faith, God reaffirms His future promises in the surest terms yet.

God wants our hearts

Worship is not primarily about singing. It is about the heart. Matt Redman was spot on in his song, The Heart of Worship:

I’ll bring you more than a song,
For a song in itself,
Is not what you have required;
You search much deeper within,
Through the way things appear,
You’re looking into my heart.

Worship is about having a heart of total submission and obedience to God, even when it hurts the most or costs us everything.

Abraham received Isaac back, and Job also received back from God everything he previously had and more.

You see, God did not want their children or their possessions. He wanted their hearts. He wanted a heart of worship.

May we all have that heart.

Think and Pray:

1. How can you cultivate a greater heart of worship?
2. Has there been a time in your life when you suffered a great loss? How did you respond?
3. What would you do if God asked you to surrender the one thing that is most precious to you to Him?

This devotion was republished with permission from Sojourn: A One-Year Weekly Devotional by Dr Winston Chin.

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