Praise, Worship, and His Glory - Part 1

From the notes of Nellisa Lockley
October 26, 2003

Now Jesus said the following.

Mark 12:29-30 (NKJV) Jesus answered him, “The first of all the commandments is: ‘Hear, O Israel, the LORD our God, the LORD is one. And you shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength.’ This is the first commandment.

The first of all commandments is worship, since worship comes from a heart of love. Consider the following scripture. Jesus teaches us that this is the first (most important) commandment. This commandment is about worship, praise, and being in God's glory.

The church world has yet to learn how to really worship and praise their God. Note that the Bible says that David worshipped God with all of his might. However, the church seems to have problems with praising and worshiping God. For example, some people are not really serious about praising God during the praise and worship service of their particular church. We have problems when we are asked to stand and lift our hands to God.

Most people don't give God their all because they don't understand. They don't understand the master plan of God.

Most people assume that praise and worship is a form of communication with God. However, that is a myth. Besides, we have to know God in order to worship God. Psalm 47:7 says that we are to praise God with understanding. We must understand because the scriptures tell us that God's people perish because of a lack of knowledge. Therefore, we must understand praise and worship.

Now let's see what God says about praise and worship.

Exodus 20:1-6 (NKJV) And God spoke all these words, saying: “I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage.
“You shall have no other gods before Me. “You shall not make for yourself a carved image—any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth; 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 upon 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.

This is really about worship. Now ask yourself a question. Why does God seem to be so hung up on worship? Why is He so concerned that we worship Him? No. God is not hung up with worship. He is not puffed up and He doesn't need us to remind Him who He is. He knows who he is and He has no identity crisis. So, why is it so important to God that we worship him?

Now many topics that we encounter in our Bible studies can be traced to the beginning, namely Genesis. Now where is praise and worship in the creation story?

Genesis 2:1 (NKJV) Thus the heavens and the earth, and all the host of them, were finished.

The word "hosts" means a mass of persons or things, especially organized for war, an army. There are two campaigns. One of hardship and one of worship. The campaign of the enemy was hardship (John 10:10). However the campaign of God is worship.

Consider what Satan wanted. He wanted worship. God is going to defeat him with worship. Consider the following scripture.

Revelation 12:10 through Revelation 12:11 (NKJV) Then I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, “Now salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of His Christ have come, for the accuser of our brethren, who accused them before our God day and night, has been cast down. And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, and they did not love their lives to the death.

The word "testimony" is evidence given, record, report, or witness.

Praise and worship transcends singing and what is normally done in church services during the praise and worship time. Praise and worship is a lifestyle. This testimony is a type of worship, with which the war would be won.

The Battle began with the Garden of Eden. See Genesis 2:16; 3:1-6. Now their response to temptation is what caused the fall. They gave in to Satan's suggestion that they would not die if they ate of the fruit of the tree that they were forbidden to eat from. They could have bore a testimony of what God had told them. They could have told Satan that God said that they were not to eat of it and if they did then they would die and so it would be. However, they did not. That would have been a form of worship. The Bible says that God inhabits the praises of His people (See Psalm 22:3). We know that darkness cannot exist in conjunction with the light. If Adam and Eve had begun to worship God and gave the testimony of God then Satan would have had to flee.

God's battle plan is worship. Our weapons are not earthly (carnal). Our weapon is the Word, the Blood, the name of Jesus. We can activate the weapons through praise and worship.

Psalm 22:3 tells us that God inhabits the praises of Israel (or in general, His people). Now what does that word inhabit mean? It means to sit down as a judge, and to to make a dwelling place, to ambush in quiet. God will come and act as a judge to those that would come against you. God will also ambush us (come upon us suddenly) when we worship him. He also acts as a judge to us when we consider sin. At those times the Holy Spirit will pull on us to keep us away from the unrighteousness.

God wants us to praise him with understanding. The word understanding means to be an expert, to instruct, to have good success, teach, deal prudently, give skillful. This tells us that we have to be an "expert" in praise and worship so that we can instruct others as well as benefit from it in our own lives. Remember that praise and worship is not defined by music. It is a lifestyle.

Praise

Praise is acknowledging God for what he has done, is doing, and is going to do. It is a radical declaration of the power of God. Notice that music is not part of the definition. Who should praise God. See Psalm 105:6. Everyone who is living are to praise the Lord.

Psalm 147:1 (KJV) 1 Praise ye the LORD: for it is good to sing praises unto our God; for it is pleasant; and praise is comely.

The word comely means, suitable, beautiful or to beautiful. So praising God is a suitable and it is beautiful. Therefore, praise is beautiful to God. This is why many worship teams in churches have so many problems. Worship is beautiful to God and Satan tries to render that worship team useless so that power won't go forth.

Praise is a substance just like faith and this substance collects in the throne room of God.

Worship

Worship is acknowledging God for who he is. The Hebrew word that was translated to the English word worship means to be prostrate in homage to God, to bow oneself down, to humble yourself, to give reverence. Whereas praise focuses on the acts of God, worship focuses on God himself. Praise's thrust is thanksgiving and worship is an expression of love.

You can't worship God if you do not know Him. You can praise God without knowing him since praise is not focused on the person of God. However, you cannot truly worship God without knowing him since the focus of worship is on God himself, which implies the necessity of a relationship.

Psalm 103:7 (KJV) 7 He made known his ways unto Moses, his acts unto the children of Israel.

Moses had a relationship with God and therefore could truly worship God. The Israelites did not have a personal relationship with God so could only relate to the works of God, which limits them to praise and not worship.

God is looking for worshippers who would worship Him in spirit and truth. A true worshipper is someone who knows God at some level and is in pursuit of knowing God more. Worship is about knowing Him. If you don't know Him then how can you truly worship Him with understanding?

How do you get to know God? By walking in the light and abiding in His love.

• 1 John 1:1-10; 2:3
• John 15:7-10, 14

In worship and exchange takes place. We become more like Him. We take on His divine nature and character through Christ. You will become what you worship.

Now God requires complete loyalty. See Exodus 20:5. This tells us that God is a jealous God. The word jealous means to provoke to anger, envy, to require complete loyalty or faithfulness.

We bind with God in worship. Now what does this have to do with warfare? Let's look deeper into the definition of worship. We notice the word homage, which means to give dutiful respect and reverence, a pledge of loyalty and service by vassal to the Lord. The word vassal means a military service as servant who held land for a lord and in return gives homage and allegiance (covenant)) to that lord. So homage is when a person, in this case military capacity, gives dutiful respect and reverence a pledge of loyalty (1st commander) and service in allegiance as covenant to our Lord.

Now you might say, "I am not a warrior." However, consider the following scripture.

"...Let the weak say I am strong" Joel 3:10

The word strong in this verse comes from a Hebrew word that means powerful and by implication a warrior. This same Hebrew word is also translated into the English words champion, tyrant, warrior, chief, and mighty (man). So say, "I am strong. A warrior, a tyrant to the devil, powerful, and a champion who excels."

Recap

1. Worship is an outward manifestation of our inward love, dedication, loyalty, allegiance, and faithfulness to God.
2. God seeks true worshippers. True worshippers are those who know God at some level and diligently seek to know him more, forsaking all other gods.
3. We take on his divine nature in worship. We bind with God when we worship Him
4. Praise blows the strongholds down. We take ground, we possess in Worship (dominion). In His glory spoils are taken
5. The exchange in worship takes place as His glory comes.