1) The High Calling
As we walk through our Christian life we probably have a number of spiritual priorities. Things like love, obedience, service, giving, and holiness, among other things. All of these are noble and worthy of pursuit. I would not diminish any of them, but I believe they all descend from one single, primary thing.
Jesus tells us the greatest commandment in Matt 22:37: "Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.” As far as I can tell, Jesus identifies only one thing the Father is looking for. Only one. In John 4:23, He tells the Samaritan woman at the well: "Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks." My conclusion is that there is nothing more important to God than for us to be true worshipers.
This understanding is foundational; here is our high calling. We are created to be worshipers, first and foremost! Our calling is to possess a heart and soul and mind fully occupied with celebrating the glories of God. Psalm 71:8: “My mouth is filled with your praise, declaring your splendor all day long.” I believe that this is our duty, our privilege, our pleasure.
As I read through Scripture I take note of all the mentions of singers, dancers, worshipers, musicians. I see all the pivotal moments where worship was present and powerful. I read about how the musicians were noted specially by name in Scripture. David, Israel’s singer of songs. Jubal, the father of all who play the harp and flute. The musicians Heman, Asaph and Ethan, who were cymbal players. Zechariah, Aziel, Shemiramoth, Jehiel, Unni, Eliab, Maaseiah and Benaiah, who played lyres. Mattithiah, Eliphelehu, Mikneiah, Obed-Edom, Jeiel and Azaziah on the harps. Kenaniah the head Levite, who was in charge of the singing; that was his responsibility because he was skillful at it. The Bible takes great pains to enumerate the worshipers and musicians. Clearly God regards musical worship as important.
So, I wonder if we are underestimating or misunderstanding the role that musical worship plays in the Kingdom of God. We seem to have a way of doing things in the church that is more based on what we have always done. But shouldn’t we be doing what God wants? If we choose anything other than God’s purpose we violate Scripture, our purpose, and the heart of God. I know these are harsh words, but permit me to make my case in the following pages. Let me also say that none of these remarks are directed at any particular person or group.
2) Worship and Relationship
God is all about relationship. After all, Christ died on the cross in order to establish relationship between God and fallen man. But salvation is not the end, it is the beginning, the beginning of a lifetime of relationship with God via His Holy Spirit. And that developing relationship with God occurs in an environment of worship.
In His presence we discover His heart. We are transformed, enabled, and instructed. We draw near to the Father in the Most Holy Place. There is no way we can be in the presence of God without being changed. The world is washed from us and our weakness fades away. Our spirits become tender to receive from Him. Christ-likeness springs from relationship with Him. We learn what to do and how to live from being with Him. We become what we are called to, because we know Him and spend time with Him and listen to Him and attend to Him.
Our relationship with the Father translates into what our human relationships ought to be. So, as we become the worshipers the Father is looking for, we become the church the Father is looking for. As we nurture our relationship with God we grow together as body. The result is we begin to see the purposes of God made known in our midst. Relationship, first with God and then with each other, will manifest in a church when worship becomes important to the church.
This suggests that worship needs to rise up in importance in our lives.
3) The Sound of Worship
One thing we know about creation is that it
vibrates. Even down at the atomic level, everything vibrates. All creation is in motion, nothing is still. And all this vibration is not an accident. There is nothing random about the design of nature. Everywhere you look, from the greatest to the smallest, there is purpose. Yes, this vibration is intentional.Our brains interpret vibrations as sound: Noise, speech, music, etc. Ultimately, music is simply organized vibration. Purposeful. Not an accident.
Vibrations can be represented as sound waves, like the picture above. Now imagine the ocean, covered with waves. Each vertical slice of the ocean, when viewed from the side, looks like a sound wave. Tens of thousands of miles of constantly changing waves. And the mountains, solid representations of a wave. The prairie grass moving in the wind. The changing shape of a bird’s wing as it flies. A massive school of fish shifting in the current. The whole world is made of sound waves!
So, what if this vibration of all of creation could be made audible to us? If we could convert all the waves of the ocean into sound, what would we hear? There is one inescapable conclusion. It would be worship! All the stuff God created worships Him with a music intrinsic to its very nature. 1 Chron 16:31-33 says, “Let the heavens rejoice, let the earth be glad; let them say among the nations, ‘The LORD reigns!’ Let the sea resound, and all that is in it; let the fields be jubilant, and everything in them! Then the trees of the forest will sing, they will sing for joy before the LORD…” Worship is the language of creation.
This sound of worship so fundamental to creation that it is a strange event when it doesn’t happen. One particular instance in Scripture is noteworthy. Rev 8:1: “When he opened the seventh seal, there was silence in heaven for about half an hour.” This event, this silence, must have been so unusual, so strange. I would guess that it had never happened before. Silence in heaven? May it never be!
There must be the sound of worship! Luke 19:40 says: "I tell you," he replied, "if they [the worshipers] keep quiet, the stones will cry out." You see, if we don’t exalt Him, if we don’t worship, if we don’t sing of His glories, some other part of creation is going to fill in the gap. Therefore, we violate the laws of creation by not worshiping. So let me suggest that you start doing what you are created to do. Don’t let the stones worship in your place!
4) Definitions
Worship, whether personal worship or worship in the church setting, doesn’t have to look a certain way, or be done with a particular style, or last a defined time. It doesn’t need to be the way it has been before, nor does it have to be innovative for the sake of the latest thing. It doesn’t have to conform to man’s expectations. What worship does have to be is about God’s greatness, His mighty deeds, and His glorious presence in the Church.
At the risk of compartmentalizing things too much, I nevertheless think it is profitable to specify what I think certain words mean.
a) Praise: Speaking/singing/dancing/painting/sculpting (that is, the varieties of expressions) the greatness of God. The recounting of the marvelous deeds He has done (Psalm 136). The magnification of His high position, kingship, and majesty. The exaltion of His Name, Word, attributes, and works.
b) Worship: The varieties of expressions of adoration, love, marveling, and tenderness. The recognition of his glory in awe, fear, and wonder. The bowing low of self before Him. The recognition that despite our low estate, we are in the presence of the King. Prostration before the Throne.
c) Thanksgiving: The varieties of expressions of gratitude regarding the great deeds of God as they have impacted our lives and the lives and situations we care about. The recounting of blessings. The rememberance of healing, deliverance, salvation, and restoration He has accomplished. Exalting His faithfulness in the present, and the certain expectation of Him fulfilling His promises in the future.
Those are the three expressions of worship. This is not to say that other things, like petition or intercession, are excluded. Though often intermixed with worship (and are very legitimate activities that we are commanded to do), I think they differ from worship. The distinguishing characteristic of worship is that our focus is on God and not us, His magnificence and not our problems, on His power and not our intentions.
5) Why Do We Worship?
a) Because we are commanded. Psalm 29:2 “Ascribe to the LORD the glory due his name;
worship the LORD in the splendor of his holiness.”
b) Because it is the honest response of a redeemed heart. Psalm 71:23-24 “My lips will shout for joy when I sing praise to you -- I, whom you have redeemed. My tongue will tell of your righteous acts all day long, for those who wanted to harm me have been put to shame and confusion.
c) Because He is worthy. Psalm 145:3: “Great is the LORD and most worthy of praise;
his greatness no one can fathom.”
d) Because as we have already seen above, all of creation is already worshiping.
e) To testify to others who do not know Him: "If you are praising God with your spirit, how can one who finds himself among those who do not understand say "Amen" to your thanksgiving, since he does not know what you are saying?" 1 Cor. 14:16 When the Spirit of God is present and moving, He is attractive, convicting, awesome, disturbing to the flesh, and at odds with sin.
The sinful man abhors the worship of God. But he cannot deny that something is beguiling him. Spiritual transactions occur whenever the Spirit is moving, and the testimony of God’s goodness, power, justice, and mercy within the heart of the unbeliever can have a powerful effect.
We should therefore look to engage worship in a fashion that not only blesses God, but also allows the Holy Spirit to move as He desires.
f) To encourage and build each other up in the faith: These two verses have impacted my thinking about the corporate expression of worship more than any other: Col 3:16: “Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom, and as you sing psalms, hymns and spiritual songs with gratitude in your hearts to God.” Eph 5:19: “Speak to one another with psalms, hymns and spiritual songs. Sing and make music in your heart to the Lord, always giving thanks to God the Father for everything, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.”
My personal interpretation (that is, my unscholarly opinion) is that Paul is referring to various categories of worship music: Psalms (the music found in or based on Scripture), Hymns (the music handed down through the generations), and Spiritual Songs (The songs that come out fresh and spontaneous in worship). Again, this is my interpretation, so take it with a grain of salt.
Paul is not talking about what the worship team is doing for the congregation, he is describing what should happen within the congregation. A properly functioning church will have music in its midst. Songs, hymns, and spiritual songs ought to arise from the congregation. The worship of the church ought to be a subset of the worship in heaven, a grand synthesis of voices and instruments lifting up praise to God.
A large part of the purpose of corporate worship is to edify (build up and strengthen) one another. We see it in these Scriptures (teach, admonish). Can you imagine someone standing up in the middle of worship, turning to someone who is hurting and singing a Spiritual Song to that person as an encouragement, singing words of healing, comfort, and reassurance? Or how about someone singing a song of deliverance (Psalm 32: “You are my hiding place; you will protect me from trouble and surround me with songs of deliverance”), and someone gets set free?
Or even, what about a song coming forth that speaks so strongly of the love of God that someone gets saved? Psalm 40:2:-3: “…he set my feet on a rock and gave me a firm place to stand. He put a new song in my mouth, a hymn of praise to our God. Many will see and fear and put their trust in the LORD.” Would that be good worship?
This spontaneous expression of worship will be covered more in section 12 below.
6) Features of worship:
a) Worship costs something (a sacrifice): "I will not sacrifice to the LORD my God burnt offerings that cost me nothing." 2 Sam 24:24 1 Chron 16:29: “Bring an offering and come before him; worship the LORD in the splendor of his holiness.”
b) Our worship is to be constant. "Through Jesus, therefore, let us continually offer to God a sacrifice of praise--the fruit of lips that confess his name." Heb 13:15
c) Worship is an act of obedience despite circumstances or feelings. We can command our souls to conform to holy spiritual principles. Psalm 42:11: “Why are you downcast, O my soul? Why so disturbed within me? Put your hope in God, for I will yet praise him, my Savior and my God.” "Praise the LORD, O my soul; all my inmost being, praise his holy name." Psalm 103.
d) Worship is a spiritual discipline. We need to learn to live a life of worship. We must train ourselves to worship even when the choice is hard or inconvenient. Worship must be practiced, ingrained, made a part of our thinking.
e) Worship is infused with the Word. Jesus, the Word of God, speaks to our spirits in worship, so we must be ready to listen.
7) Church Leadership and Worship
We need to throw off the conventions, habits, and patterns of "having church" that are no longer useful and ultimately are not of God. A worshiping church, or, a church that wants to be a worshiping church, must be willing to push aside both external and self-imposed limitations and comfort zones in order to press into the throne room of the Almighty.
It is critical for purposeful teaching on worship to take place, both in the musicians’ fellowship as well as from the pulpit. There are many Christians, and even worship team members, who do not even know how to worship. It is of paramount importance that we stop assuming that people will worship without instruction. Powerful sermons are preached on every conceivable topic. We hear much about doctrine, holy living, the spiritual gifts, evangelism, discipleship, and missions. But we spend little or no time teaching the high calling of our faith - - to be worshipers!
If we do not understand the singular importance of worship, if we do not hear and then practice the principles of worship, if we do not immerse ourselves in what we are called to be, we will never truly walk with the Spirit as God has intended.
The church leadership must give explicit release to the worship team and the worship leader. They need the freedom to enter into the presence of God, bringing along as many of the congregation as is possible. The worship team needs to be relieved of clock-watching, stylistic expectations, posture, volume, and any other limitations (or judgments) imposed upon them. This does not mean free-for-all, it means liberty from fleshly constraints. God will bring order if we are seeking His heart.
This also means trusting the anointing of the worship leader. Once the parameters of his/her ministry has been established by the church leadership, the worship leader must be vested with the authority to take worship wherever he/she sees the Spirit leading, without the worry of if the pastor will approve, or if worship will be arbitrarily cut short in order to have time for the sermon, greeting time, or announcements.
The worship leader has been selected by the church leadership to lead worship. Therefore, the implicit statement made by the leadership of the church is that the worship leader's judgment and discernment can be trusted. Therefore, it must be trusted. The worship leader is a leader, and must be able to exercise authority, to take risks, and even, to occasionally fail.
We need to distinguish between the position (being in authority), and the duties (a job description). We need to stop insisting that the worship leader (or any leader in the church) must conform to a task list. We must release expectations about what those duties should be.
Leadership according to the Bible, seems to be different that what we see in the church. Eph 4:12 says the purpose of the leadership is “…to prepare God's people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ.” So the leadership (including the worship leader) is responsible for raising up others, helping them discover their place in the body, and “exploiting” their gifting.
8) The Worship Team
Church musicians need to spend significant time with each other in fellowship, jam sessions, and worship that is separate from their preparations for Sunday. From this they would begin to know everyone's habits, tendencies, strengths and weaknesses, and would share philosophies and be of one heart.
The worship leader would begin to identify and release the giftings of the worship team members. All team members must come to have firm understanding of their gifts, strengths, and weaknesses, so that the team may draw together as a microcosm of the Body of Christ. A new dynamic then develops as worship team members function in their gifts. No longer is the worship leader expected to bear the entire burden of worship.
This lends stability and predictability to the entire worship team, which draws out powerful worship in an environment of safety, even in times of improvisational worship. The team learns what to expect at any given moment, and they are able to easily follow changes in flow, mood, and style. They would begin to know through nuance as well as direct communication where things should go, what the Holy Spirit is saying, and what needs to be adjusted or enhanced in midst of worship.
9) Excellence
In the world there are many skilled musicians writing and performing incredible music. These are gifted musicians who are truly anointed to practice their craft. It is true, of course, many (if not most) of them do not intend to honor God with their musical expressions. The world recognizes their anointing (although they would not call it that) and celebrates them. The world knows and expects excellence.
But for some reason, the Church too often does not demand excellence. We put up with what are often sub-par, and sometimes truly awful musicians and music. But conversely, we do not put up with terrible sermons for very long, do we? So why isn’t having the highest quality music and musicians something we demand? If we really want the world to be reached we must match and exceed the skill level the world already embraces. Scripture backs this up. Psalms 33:2-3: “Praise the LORD with the harp; make music to him on the ten-stringed lyre. Sing to him a new song; play skillfully, and shout for joy.”
David, the man after God’s own heart, the quintessential worshiper, set up 24-7 worship in the Temple. 1 Chronicles 25 says this: “David, together with the commanders of the army, set apart some of the sons of Asaph, Heman and Jeduthun for the ministry of prophesying, accompanied by harps, lyres and cymbals… All these men were under the supervision of their fathers for the music of the temple of the LORD, with cymbals, lyres and harps, for the ministry at the house of God. Asaph, Jeduthun and Heman were under the supervision of the king. Along with their relatives--all of them trained and skilled in music for the LORD…”
They were chosen because they were skillful. And just like David, we ought to be satisfied with nothing but the best when it comes to giving our offering of worship to our God. Therefore, is essential to practice, rehearse, and get it right. But that’s just a start. Achieving musical excellence simply supplies a platform to support worship. A song, though excellently performed, isn’t worship. Worship starts when we begin to pursue the heart of God.
10) Categories of Worship songs:
a) Songs that speak directly to God, as in the song Beautiful: "You are beautiful, you are wonderful..."
b) Songs that talk about God but not to Him, like How Great is Our God: "How great is our God, sing with me..." In these songs we are talking to each other about God.
c) Songs of petition include Father Will You Come. We are asking God to do something.
d) Songs that make promises to God, like Everything to God (“I'm givin' everything to God...”) tells God what we will do.
e) Songs that are about us. Promises is one: "I've surrendered my life to your ways, I have learned what it means to obey..."
f) Songs of Exhortation: The song Get Up is a song of exhortation: "Everybody get up and praise Him..."
g) Teaching/doctrinal songs: Many childrens’ songs are teaching songs. But there are also adult songs are designed to teach. For example, the song Counting on God is mostly a teaching song ("I'm in a fight not physical...").
h) Songs of testimony: These songs describe what God has done for the person who wrote the song. (“I once was lost, but now I’m found, was blind but now I see…”)
Of course, a lot of songs mix categories, which is perfectly fine. And certainly all are legitimate ways to express ourselves. But when we worship, I think we ought to try to deal with God personally (category 1). As I said above, worship is about relationship, and we foster relationship with personal interaction. Worship, at its basic level, is face-to-face.
11) Corporate Worship and the Prophetic
God is speaking all the time. And because worship draws us in to God's presence, the prophetic will likely be in operation during worship. Worship facilitates the prophetic Word.
This is borne out in Scripture. Quoting 1 Chronicles 25 again, David set apart people “…for the ministry of prophesying, accompanied by harps, lyres and cymbals…” Notice that worship and prophecy are linked. But in today's church, neither worship nor prophecy tend to appear in their proper contexts, if at all. This is a troubling situation.
We need to understand that the purpose of worship is not to set the stage for the preaching. Worship is not a tool to get us in the proper frame of mind. Worship is not a prelude for the prophetic. Worship is not what we do while waiting for the important stuff. No, worship IS church. Again, it is the primary, most basic, central, high calling of the Christian!
In the corporate setting, worship is a prime environment for the prophetic. The prophetic should manifest according to Scriptural principles of edifying the body while being in good order. If the prophetic is desired, then room must be made for it to come forth. After all, we take time for announcements and the offering. Why not make time for the prophetic that develops out of worship?
So let's discard the baggage regarding the prophetic and let it be what God wants it to be. God desires relationship. In relationships there is communication. And worship opens the way for dialogue with God. So it is reasonable to expect that the prophetic would flow from worship.
And worship flows according to the Spirit of God, often in spontaneous, improvisational worship. We shall look at this kind of worship next.
12) Spontaneous/improvisational worship:
1 Cor 14:26: “What then shall we say, brothers? When you come together, everyone has a hymn, or a word of instruction, a revelation, a tongue or an interpretation. All of these must be done for the strengthening of the church.”
This Scripture suggests a level of participation in the gathering of the believers that is way beyond what takes place in a typical modern church. This is not to say that we must do things in a certain way or make wholesale changes to the way we do church. I am saying that we need to be attentive to what the Lord requires of us today, no matter how that might look or sound.
Clearly, worship is interactive. There is interaction with the Holy Spirit, the worship team, and the congregation. How much interaction is allowed (or encouraged) can be a matter of style, preference, or other considerations. I would suggest that our present level of interaction contains elements of tradition, comfort, or what is considered safe or non-offending. I think God requires more of us, where worship is more a body expression.
Part of this expression can be spontaneous/improvisational worship. S/I worship tends to create an environment of liberty, which allows God to move. S/I worship embraces the flow of the Holy Spirit, much like a surfer senses the changes in a wave and moves back and forth across it in order to stay in the sweet spot. In S/I worship, a dialogue takes place, where a song lyric can inspire a Scripture, a prayer can bring forth an exhortation, or a prophetic word forms the basis of an on-the-spot song.
Classical musicians might call this “antiphonal,” which is a musical term that describes a situation where groups of musicians, spread out to various parts of the building, perform music that has alternating call/response.
(S/I) worship is antiphonal. Everyone can contribute, and space is made to allow currents and eddies to form in the flow. There is no hurry, no agenda, and silence is ok. Some people need time to develop a prayer or a song, while others are quicker to contribute. Some can hear a melody or sing a Scripture quite easily, while others might take more time to put together the elements of their contribution. Allowing for this means that waiting is required.
The leadership (particularly the worship leader) are gatekeepers. They guard the flock, so they should have a system set up to oversee the proceedings. The congregation would be informed as to what constitutes a contribution that needs prior review. Generally speaking, any word about an individual, like a corrective word, any word that is about the direction, mission, or ministry of the church, or any word that isn't a specifically edifying word, needs to be submitted to leadership. Remember, we are in the context of worship, which must edify man and glorify God.
The worship leader is charged with channeling the flow of worship in such a way as to not be diverted from where the Holy Spirit is leading. The various antiphonal contributions, whether a prayer, a Scripture, a melody, or prophetic utterance, should be relatively short (generally 5-10 seconds) so that they do not dominate. This a matter of leadership discernment and possible intervention.
Oversight of S/I worship is a careful balance, and it must express the orderliness God requires. It requires discernment, heightened awareness, and a greater level of spiritual maturity. God is not the author of chaos. 1 Cor 14:30-31: “And if a revelation comes to someone who is sitting down, the first speaker should stop. For you can all prophesy in turn so that everyone may be instructed and encouraged.” Ordinarily, this Scripture brings to mind a situation where God has given revelation to more than one person. But we need to recognize that a revelation may come to someone in leadership that the speaker should stop!
S/I worship is a lot of work, but the payoff is immense. It draws the body out of its shell, it requires a healthy, functioning leadership, and it embraces the gifts of the people. Most of all, it seeks to honor God as it pursues the Holy Spirit.
13) Conclusion
For a long time I have been waiting, sometimes not very patiently, to see the Spirit of worship be released in the Church. I want to be one of those true worshipers myself, and taking my cue from the Father, I too am looking for those who also want this. I am looking those who have an all-consuming desire to give to God what is due Him in the context of musical worship. I look around in the Church for evidence of a desire to take hold of the high calling and be worshipers in Spirit and in Truth.
If a person or a church wants the Presence of God, if they want revival, salvations, restoration, purpose, healings, and deliverance, if they want God magnified and glorified, they will embrace the high calling and become true worshipers.
Every Christian virtue that can be named comes as a result of relationship with God. Every part of the Christian experience flows this. And worship is a primary avenue of apprehending the heart of God. If we truly want to take hold of God's purpose for us as individuals and as a church, we will worship Him as He requires, holding nothing back, keeping no secrets from Him, and giving Him the glory He so richly deserves.
It's what the Father is looking for. Are you what the Father is looking for?
14) A Miscellaneous Scriptural Survey of the Impact of Worship
Worship impacts the spiritual realm: 1 Sam 19:9-10: “But an evil spirit from the LORD came upon Saul as he was sitting in his house with his spear in his hand. While David was playing the harp, Saul tried to pin him to the wall with his spear, but David eluded him as Saul drove the spear into the wall.”
Worship is spiritual warfare: Isaiah 30:32: “Every stroke the LORD lays on them with his punishing rod will be to the music of tambourines and harps, as he fights them in battle with the blows of his arm.”
Worship brings the Presence: 2 Chron 5:14: “Accompanied by trumpets, cymbals and other instruments, they raised their voices in praise to the LORD and sang: ‘He is good; his love endures forever.’ Then the temple of the LORD was filled with a cloud, and the priests could not perform their service because of the cloud, for the glory of the LORD filled the temple of God.”
Worshipers lead the way: As the King/Warrior makes His entrance into the assembly He is led by worshipers: Psalm 68:24 “Your procession has come into view, O God, the procession of my God and King into the sanctuary. In front are the singers, after them the musicians; with them are the maidens playing tambourines. Praise God in the great congregation; praise the LORD in the assembly of Israel.”
Worshipers carry out the purposes of God: Psalm 149:6-9: “May the praise of God be in their mouths and a double-edged sword in their hands, to inflict vengeance on the nations and punishment on the peoples, to bind their kings with fetters, their nobles with shackles of iron, to carry out the sentence written against them. This is the glory of all his saints.”
Psalm 150
Praise the LORD.
Praise God in his sanctuary;
praise him in his mighty heavens.
Praise him for his acts of power;
praise him for his surpassing greatness.
Praise him with the sounding of the trumpet,
praise him with the harp and lyre,
praise him with tambourine and dancing,
praise him with the strings and flute,
praise him with the clash of cymbals,
Praise him with resounding cymbals.
Let everything that has breath praise the LORD.
Praise the LORD.
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