What Is Worship?

Worship is an end in itself; it is not a means to something else. ^ Karl Barth

has appropriately declared that the "church's worship is the Opus Dei, the work
of God, which is carried out for its own sake." When we try to worship for the
sake of certain benefits that may be received, the act ceases to be worship; for
then it attempts to use God as a means to something else. We worship God
purely for the sake of worshiping God.
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,
To open the heart to the love of God,
To devote the will to the purpose of God.1

Why does man worship? Because he cannot help worshiping. Worship is not
a human invention; rather, it is a divine offer. God offers himself in a personal
relationship, and man responds. God's offer of love elicits man's response in
worship. A vision of God demands a worship response because God is worthy
of worship. God often surprises man by breaking in on his experience, in which
case man often spontaneously responds in adoration and praise. In his
meditations Pascal discovered that in his seeking after God, God had already
found him.
As the worshiper has sought for ways of speaking about worship, he has
developed a vocabulary which has been adopted widely. The terms in the
following paragraphs may assist in the interpretation of worship for modern
Christians.

TOliam Temple, The Hope of a New World (New York: The Macmillan Co., 1942),
p. 30. 1
I A^
 Preliminary Terminology
The English word "worship" is derived from the Anglo-Saxon
"weorthscipe""worth" and "ship"meaning one worthy of reverence and
honor. When we worship, we are declaring God's worth. The angels sang,
"Worthy is the Lamb who was slain," and every creature answered, " 'To him
who sits upon the throne and to the Lamb be blessing and honor and glory and
might for ever and ever!' And the four living creatures said, 'Amen!' and the
elders fell down and worshiped" (Rev. 5:12,13-14).
The biblical term "glory" is often attributed to God as man proceeds to
worship him. The Hebrew term kabod, translated "glory," means the "honor" or
"weight" of God. When Isaiah saw the Lord high and lifted up, he declared,
"The whole earth is full of his glory" (Isa. 6:3). The New Testament term doxa,
translated "glory," expresses the estimate that God is worthy of praise and
honor. At the birth of Jesus the angels sang, "Glory to God in the highest, and
on earth peace among men with whom he is pleased!" (Luke 2:14).
The principal Old Testament term translated "worship" is shachah, which
means to "bow down" or to "prostrate" oneself. The Old Testament idea
conveyed in this term and other similar terms is the reverential attitude of mind
or body or both, combined with the notions of "religious adoration, obedience,
service." When the people of Israel heard that God had spoken to Moses, they
believed and "bowed their heads and worshiped" (Ex. 4:31).
The Greek term most often indicating worship in the New Testament is
proskuneo, meaning literally to "kiss the hand towards one" or to "prostrate
oneself" before another in token of reverence. Jesus used this word when he
said to the woman of Sychar, "God is spirit, and those who worship him must
worship in spirit and truth" (John 4:24).
The term liturgy is derived from the Greek leitourgia, translated "ministry" or
"service." In the New Testament it does not occur in connection with
ceremonial affairs. It denoted the work of the priestly office under the old
covenant (cf. Luke 1:23, Heb. 9:21) and also the ministry of Christ (Heb. 8:6)
and the worship of the church (Acts 13:2). Literally it means an "action of the
people,"