Read through the Bible in 2 Years: 2 Samuel 24

Today I’m thinking about what worship is.

What does it mean to worship God?

• Can we worship the Lord in prison?
• Can we worship while we’re stuck at home for a week because of snow and ice and temperatures that refuse to go above freezing?
• Does worship only happen when we’re in the presence of other believers on Sunday morning?
• Can we worship in dance?
• Can we worship while we’re just sitting in church listening to a man preach? Do we?

The word “worship” first appears in the Bible in Genesis 22:5 when Abraham is preparing to take his son Isaac to Mount Moriah to offer him there to the Lord. “Then Abraham said to his young men, ‘Stay here with the donkey; I and the boy will go over there and worship and come again to you.’” The Hebrew word used here for worship שָׁחָה (šāḥâ) literally means to bow down or prostrate oneself.

This same word is used in the Ten Commandments in Exodus 20:5a ESV “You shall not bow down to them or serve them, for I the LORD your God am a jealous God.”

I think a big part of worship in God’s eyes is coming with an attitude of humble service to God, living for His pleasure and glory rather than our own. I worship God when I bow before Him, serving Him, humbling myself before Him, laying down whatever I’m clinging to as an offering to Him. Whether that offering is a measure of grain or a firstborn lamb or a song of praise, it is a sacrifice given up for His pleasure.

“I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship.”

Romans‬ ‭12:1‬ ‭ESV‬

Like Jimmy Needham says, “Worship is more than a song.”

Heavenly Father, I want to worship You in thought and word and deed. I want my life to be a living offering to You. Forgive me for all the times that I have taken Your place, bowing down to my own desires rather than Yours, serving the creature rather than the Creator. You alone are worthy of worship. For Your glory and praise and worship. Amen.