"Praise & Worship"

Recent post on a church music email list followed by my response ...

From: Frank
Subject: Praise & Worship?

Hi there,

We are having a bible study on worship. The relationship of "Praise" to worship and "Worship" as in a service? From a musical standpoint, can someone explain?

Thanks for sharing, look forward to your feedback.

Frank



From: Angelo
Subject: Re: Praise & Worship?

Hi Frank,

First to the words "praise" and "worship".

"Praise", when directed towards Almighty God, (as opposed to praise of our poodle, children, coworkers and astronauts) is a form of prayer. We praise God simply because HE IS. HE IS the great I AM. To differentiate from other forms of prayer like confession or supplication, the prayer of praise is "disinterested", it gives God glory for His own sake.

We use the English word "worship" as the translation of what really means "to bow" and "to give obeisance" or homage. Check out Young's Literal Translation of Psalm 95: 6 "Come in, we bow ourselves, and we bend, We kneel before Jehovah our Maker." The NIV reads, "Come, let us bow down in worship, let us kneel before the LORD our Maker."

I read a book by the late Ruth Ward Heflin called "Glory" where she talks about moving from "praise to worship to glory". I understand and have experienced what she is talking about but think her choice of words is confusing. She is describing a movement from exuberant celebration, to reverent adoration to a keen sense of God's manifest presence/glory.

Now to the music part of your question.

In some circles the worship leader says, "OK, we'll start with some praise songs and then move into some worship songs". But songs of praise, songs of adoration, songs of confession ... they are *all* expressions of worship ... they all give voice to our bowing before the Lord. Staying on track with music here, if we want to categorize songs, look to the lyric, not the tempo and instrumentation. "Lord Have Mercy" by Steve Merkel is a confession song. "King Forever/Oh Our Lord and King" is a praise song but so is "These Things Are True of You" by Tommy Walker.

When we say, "Man, that song is worshipful" I think we mean, "That song is reverent and ushers in a sense of wonder towards God."

Peace,
Angelo Natalie

The F.A.C.T.S. of Worship

Finding Authentic Christianity Through the Sacrifice of Worship

Here is a simple guide for daily, personal prayer. The A.C.T.S. approach has been popular for many moons. "Faith" has been inserted as the first step. A scripture has been selected to powerfully describe each step of prayer followed by a verse from the Psalms. Suggestion: copy and paste this into your word processor, delete this little paragraph, print it out and place it in your Bible. Bring your prayers of faith, adoration, confession, thanksgiving and supplication to the Lord. He waits in the stillness for you. Peace, Angelo

FAITH
And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him. Hebrews 11:6

PRAYER OF FAITH:
Those who know your name will trust in you, for you, LORD, have never forsaken those who seek you. Psalm 9:10


ADORATION
Jesus said the first and greatest commandment is: "Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.î Matthew 22:37,

PRAYER OF ADORATION:
I love you, O LORD, my strength. Psalm 18:1


CONFESSION
If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. 1 John 1:9

PRAYER OF CONFESSION
Then I acknowledged my sin to you and did not cover up my iniquity. I said, "I will confess my transgressions to the LORD "- and you forgave the guilt of my sin. Psalm 32:5


THANKSGIVING
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. Ephesians 5:19,20

PRAYER OF THANKSGIVING
I will give thanks to the LORD because of his righteousness and will sing praise to the name of the LORD Most High. Psalm 7:17


SUPPLICATION
Epaphras, who is one of you and a servant of Christ Jesus, sends greetings. He is always wrestling in prayer for you, that you may stand firm in all the will of God, mature and fully assured. Colossians 4:12

PRAYER OF SUPPLICATION
Hear the voice of my supplications when I cry to You for help, When I lift up my hands toward Your holy sanctuary. Psalm 28:2