Physical Posture in Worship

When we talk about worship in Charismatic or Pentecostal circles, what are the first things that pop into our thoughts: Music (what kind of music), Lyrics, Instruments (which ones should be allowed, how many), physical expression (physical posture in worship), etc.  There seems to be a biblical tie between our physical posture in and our attitude in worship.  Look at the third commandment in the scriptures in the NAS, NKJV, and the NIV.

Exodus 20:5-6 NAS

You shall not worship them or serve them; for I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children, on the third and the fourth generations of those who hate Me,  but showing lovingkindness to thousands, to those who love Me and keep My commandments. 

Exodus 20:5-6 NKJV

you shall not bow down to them nor serve them. For I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children to the third and fourth generations of those who hate Me, but showing mercy to thousands, to those who love Me and keep My commandments.

Exodus 20:5-6 NIV

You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, punishing the children for the sin of the fathers to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me, but showing love to a thousand generations of those who love me and keep my commandments. 

The first word translated “worship” in the NAS is Shackah typically meaning “to bow down, to prostrate oneself.”  Of the 171 times this word is used in scripture 83 times it is translated as some form of the word “worship.” Sixty-four times it is translated as some form of “bowing down” and 17 times it is translated as “lie down” or some form of “prostrate”.

The word translated as “serve” in the NAS is Abad and can also be translated as “worship.”  This word normally means “to work for another, serve another by labor.”  It is most commonly translated as some form of the word “serve.”  This happens 200 times of the 290 it is used in the scriptures.  A total of 16 times it carries the connotation of being a “slave” or “laborer.”  Where it is translated as some form of “worship” only13 times. 

The point is clear.  Imagine God Almighty giving the ten commandments on Mt Sinai.  As the third commandment He shares with Moses, He gives the command to worship (bow down, prostrate, pay homage) and serve (worship, slave, labor) no other god but Him.  Remember, these are the words God Himself chose to describe the relationship He desires us to have only with Himself.  There should be a very real connection between our our desire to worship and an attitude of servant hood.  Equally there should also be a very real connection between our attitude of worship and our physical posture in worship.  God has equated them here with bowing down and prostrating ourselves before Him. 

Picture if you will, the servant of a great king entering into his presence and bowing down to paying homage to the king and then asking him how he would like to be served.  Here is our place in worship as God describes in the third commandment.  Now we must ask ourselves, do I desire to submit to God or just sing to Him?  Am I willing to show God my servant attitude by the way I physically worship Him?  These questions are a challenge to all of us.  Let us remember to treat God as the High, Holy King of All that He is!  Let's remember our humble place of servitude in honoring the Great King of Heaven not just with our songs but with our physical bodies and our lifestyles of servant hood!

References

All Scriptures not specified are quoted from Life in the Spirit Study Bible (NIV). Stamps, Donald C., and John Wesley Adams. Life in the Spirit Study Bible: New International Version. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2003. Print.

First Use of Worship in the Bible

One of the rules of hermeneutics (the interpretation of Scripture) is the law of first mention.  Usually the first mention of a topic in the Bible is indicative of the rest.  It gives us a snapshot, a context, a reference point of how the topic should be viewed and interpreted in the rest of the Bible.

Genesis 22 contains the first mention of worship in the Bible.  Let us look closely at this passage to gain insights about worship.

    ¹ Some time later God tested Abraham. He said to him, "Abraham!"
      "Here I am," he replied.

Ø Abraham was actively listening and responded in submission.  His initial openness and attentiveness led to further instructions from God.

    ² Then God said, "Take your son, your only son, Isaac, whom you love, and go to the region of Moriah. Sacrifice him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains I will tell you about."

    ³ Early the next morning Abraham got up and saddled his donkey. He took with him two of his servants and his son Isaac. When he had cut enough wood for the burnt offering, he set out for the place God had told him about.

Ø Abraham obeyed the instructions he received from God.

Ø Abraham made preparations for the sacrifice.  He came prepared.

⁴ On the third day Abraham looked up and saw the place in the distance. ⁵ He said to his servants, "Stay here with the donkey while I and the boy go over there. We will worship and then we will come back to you."

The word worship here is defined by Strong's as to prostrate, pay homage to God, bow, humbly beseech, do obeisance, do reverence,... worship

             

            Hebrews 11:17-19  ¹⁷By faith Abraham, when God tested him, offered Isaac as a sacrifice. He who had received the promises was about to sacrifice his one and only son, ¹⁸even though God had said to him, "It is through Isaac that your offspring will be reckoned." ¹⁹Abraham reasoned that God could raise the dead, and figuratively speaking, he did receive Isaac back from death.

Ø Abraham had faith in what God had promised him, that thourgh Isaac his lineage would be maintained.  He believed (had faith that) he and his son would return, even if God had to raise him from the dead.  Abraham over-came his personal obstacles to worship.

    ⁶ Abraham took the wood for the burnt offering and placed it on his son Isaac, and he himself carried the fire and the knife. As the two of them went on together, ⁷ Isaac spoke up and said to his father Abraham, "Father?"      

"Yes, my son?" Abraham replied.
      "The fire and wood are here," Isaac said, "but where is the lamb for the burnt offering?"  ⁸ Abraham answered, "God himself will provide the lamb for the burnt offering, my son." And the two of them went on together.

Ø Abraham had faith that God would provide the sacrifice.  He understood that where God leads, He provides.

    ⁹ When they reached the place God had told him about, Abraham built an altar there and arranged the wood on it. He bound his son Isaac and laid him on the altar, on top of the wood. ¹⁰ Then he reached out his hand and took the knife to slay his son.

Ø Abraham was ready to sacrifice that which was extremely important to him in honor of God. It was a sacrifice of love.

Ø Abraham was tested in is belief in what God had spoken to him.  He had a total abandonment to God’s will.

¹¹ But the angel of the LORD called out to him from heaven, "Abraham! Abraham!"
      "Here I am," he replied.

Ø Here again Abraham is actively listening and immediately responding to God.

¹² "Do not lay a hand on the boy," he said. "Do not do anything to him. Now I know that you fear God, because you have not withheld from me your son, your only son."

Ø Abraham feared God. He held God in reverence or awe and dared not to disobey Him.  God was testing Abraham’s obedience with something He Himself had promised and something Abraham truly cherished.  God was asking Abraham to lay down the thing of most importance.  After all, God was not asking Abraham to do anything He would not.

Romans 8:32  He that spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not also with him freely give us all things?

 ¹³ Abraham looked up and there in a thicket he saw a ram ^[a] caught by its horns. He went over and took the ram and sacrificed it as a burnt offering instead of his son. ¹⁴ So Abraham called that place The LORD Will Provide. And to this day it is said, "On the mountain of the LORD it will be provided."

Ø Here God provides where He has led.  Verse 14 is translated “And Abraham called the name of that place Jehovah-jireh. As it is said to this day, In the mount of Jehovah it shall be provided. ” in the American Standard Version.  This is the only place I found in the Bible where God is called Jehovah-Jireh or Jehovah will see (to it).

 ¹⁵ The angel of the LORD called to Abraham from heaven a second time ¹⁶ and said, "I swear by myself, declares the LORD, that because you have done this and have not withheld your son, your only son, ¹⁷ I will surely bless you and make your descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and as the sand on the seashore. Your descendants will take possession of the cities of their enemies, ¹⁸ and through your offspring ^[b] all nations on earth will be blessed, because you have obeyed me."

Ø Great Sacrifice is rewarded with Great Blessing.  God promises that through Abraham’s lineage the Messiah will come and all mankind will be blessed through Abraham’s seed.

Romans 12:1-2  ¹Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God's mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God—this is your spiritual^[reasonable] act of worship. ²Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.

Here is the essence of worship -- when we actively listen to God and respond immediately with total obedience and reverence, no matter the cost, He will reveal Himself to us as our provider, provide for us, and bless us for our obedience.

References

All Scriptures not specified are quoted from Life in the Spirit Study Bible (NIV). Stamps, Donald C., and John Wesley Adams. Life in the Spirit Study Bible: New International Version. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2003. Print.