Shalom dear readers,
This week we will begin a study on Biblical Corporate Worship. I will be using the Tabernacle as a means to illustrate the journey of corporate worship. Of course this doesn’t just apply to corporate worship but to our own individual worship lifestyle as well.
Ernest Gentile in his book Worship God! states:
“Corporate worship occurs when the gathered church seeking to glorify God, publicly offers heartfelt acknowledgement of his supreme worthiness as almighty God. Ranging from grand declarative, jubilant statements to deeply personal devotional love and appreciation, the church rejoices in God. Using appropriate physical and vocal expressions, they glorify the Father, through the Name and Person of the Lord Jesus Christ, enabled and inspired by the Holy Spirit.”
One of the most contentious issues in the church today is that of corporate worship which is primarily due to the fact that we do not look at what the Bible teaches us about worship but instead blindly follow man’s ideas and methods.
It stands to reason that in order to worship God, we need to worship Him on His terms and all that we need to know about worship is in His Word.
The Tabernacle of Moses, the Tabernacle of David and the Psalms give us much insight into acceptable worship therefore we will begin by looking at these foundational models.
THE OUTER COURT
THE GATE (SALVATION)
The entry point of the tabernacle was the gate and the entry point to worship is through Jesus the son of God.
John 14:6 Jesus answered, I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.
Before one can even begin to worship the Lord in Spirit and Truth, one has to be spiritually born again and this can only be done by acknowledging that we are sinners and accepting Jesus (who died for our sins) as our personal Savior.
Worship is based on relationship and anything else is mere religion. So before we can enter into the courts of praise, we need to make sure of our salvation. Are you spiritually born again?
THE COURT
Psalm 100:4 Enter his gates with thanksgiving (tôwdâh), and his courts with praise (tehillâh); give thanks (yâdâh) to him, and praise (bârâk) his name.
In our translations of the Bible, we only have the word praise which limits our understanding of what is meant. In Hebrew there are seven words for praise and all of them are found in the Psalms.
I would encourage you to go through the book of Psalms with a concordance and everywhere you see the word “praise”, write in the Hebrew word next to it.
SEVEN KEY HEBREW WORDS FOR PRAISE
To praise God explosively and enthusiastically.
Yâdâh (S.C. 3034)
To worship or revere with raised or extended hands.
Bârak (S.C. 1288)
To kneel.
Tehillâh (S.C. 8416)
To sing praises extravagantly.
Zâmar (S.C. 2167)
To sing, to praise; To pluck or twang the strings of an instrument.
Tôwdâh (S.C. 8426)
To give thanks; To extend the hands in thanksgiving.
Shâbach (S.C. 7623)
To Shout; To exclaim praise, to proclaim with a loud voice.
The Greek word most used in the New Testament for worship is Prǒskuněō (S.C. 4352) To prostrate oneself in worship.
THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN PRAISE AND WORSHIP
Praise is an expression of what God has done.
Worship is a response to who God is.
Praise is tuning into God’s presence.
Worship is responding to God’s presence.
NINE WAYS OF PSALMIC WORSHIP
The book of Psalms gives us many examples of how we are to praise and worship the Lord using our voices, hands and posture
Below are just a few examples and I would encourage you to go through the book of Psalms and discover for yourselves how often these various forms of worship are mentioned.
VOICE
Speak! Psalm 34:1 I will extol then Lord at all times: his praise (tehillâh) will always be on my lips.
Sing! Psalm 47:6 Sing praises to God, sing praises: sing praises to our King, sing praises.
Shout! Psalm 32:11 Rejoice in the LORD, and be glad, you righteous; and shout for joy, all you who are upright in heart!
HANDS
Lift! Psalm 63:4 I will praise you as long as I live, and in your name I will lift up my hands..
Play Instruments! Psalm 33:2 Praise (yâdâh) the LORD with harp; make music to him on the ten-stringed lyre. 3 Sing to him a new song; play skillfully and shout for joy.
Clap! Psalm 47:1 Clap your hands, all you nations; shout to God with cries of joy.
POSTURE:
Stand! Psalm 134:1 Praise the LORD, all you servants of the LORD, who stand by night in the house of the LORD.
Bow! Psalm 95:6 Come, let us bow down in worship, let us kneel before the LORD our Maker.
Dance! Psalm 149:3 Let them praise (hâlal) his name with dancing and make music to him with tambourine and harp.
MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS
One of the things that David instituted in worship was the use of musical instruments. The instruments used in the Tabernacle of David and in the Temple of Solomon were commanded by God, and were called “the instruments of God.”
I Chronicles 16:42 … and with musical instruments of God.
II Chronicles 7:6 The priests took their positions, as did the Levites with the Lord’s musical instruments, which King David had made for praising the Lord and which were used
when he gave thanks…
II Chronicles 29:25 He stationed the Levites in the temple of the Lord with cymbals, harps and lyres in the way prescribed by David and Gad the king’s seer and Nathan the prophet; this was commanded by the Lord through his prophets.
PSALM 150: 3 – 5
Praise (hâlal) him with tambourine and dancing, praise (hâlal) him with strings and flute
Praise (hâlal) him with the clash of cymbals, praise (hâlal) him with resounding cymbals
Entering into the courts with praise and thanksgiving is a joyful and blessed experience and should be a daily part of our lives. However, the sad reality is that far too many enter into the outer court and remain there forgetting that we need to move on into the inner court which was made up of the Holy Place and the Holy of Holies where we experience intimate worship and fellowship with the Lord.
Next week we will continue the journey in the outer Court and examine the brazen altar and the brazen laver.
May your week by full of praise to our Lord. We praise and worship Him despite our circumstances and feelings because He is God and worthy of our praise.
Blessings,
Charmaine
Clim Jews for Jesus.
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