Worship: Starting with Questions

What kinds of songs are we singing? 

I broadly categorize songs as being praise, petition, intercession, thanksgiving, or worship. 

I operate in a world with strict definitions and distinctions between categories. There is a difference between a song of praise and a song of intercession. Songs of thanksgiving and songs of petition clearly separate. Worship is different from intercession or petitions. 

While my mind categorizes these songs differently, most worship portions of church services do not. Many songs sung during the worship portion of a church service seem to be asking for things instead of worshiping God. We are not reflecting on what we are singing or why we are singing that type of song. We are singing the songs because we are told to sing them without reflecting on what we are saying, promising, or asking.

The 5 W's of Worship

What is worship? 

On one hand, it's easy to give a definition from an online dictionary: Worship. I'll let you follow the link instead of worrying about correctly citing to avoid plagiarism. 

Worship can be a noun (5 definitions), a verb (paired with an object) (2 definitions), or a verb (without an object) (3 definitions).

On the other hand, this is something that scholars and theologians have debated through the centuries. This is a huge question over which many books have been written and sermons given.

Who do we worship? 

We are worshipping God. He is the subject of our worship. He is the object of our worship.

When do we worship?

Technically we can worship anytime, but most Christians specifically worship during church services. 

Where do we worship?

Technically we can worship anywhere, but most Christians specifically worship at church buildings. 

Why do we worship? 

We worship, because the Bible tells us to worship and we worship because that is our natural response to encountering God, well after the fear that is.

How do we worship? 

This is the tricky bit. The Bible is surprisingly vague on the specifics of worship. This is the bit that changes from church to church and from worship leader to worship leader. 

A New Series on Worship

I struggle to sing worship songs. I find myself weighing and contemplating the words in the songs being sung, instead of singing out. I often wonder if a song is focused on the right recipient, or if we are worshiping ourselves, or something else entirely.

The worship portion of a church service is frustrating for me, because the words of the songs rub me the wrong way. 

• I cringe when a song gives a command to God or when a song is asking God to do something instead of praising or worshiping him.
• I grimace when a song's request goes against what we know of God from the Bible.
• I wonder if others notice who the subject and object of the song truly is.
• I question if others are reflecting on what we are singing and why we are singing that particular song. It seems to me that we are often singing the songs because we are told to sing them without reflecting on what we are saying, promising, or asking.

So I decided to do something about my view of worship. I needed to see what the Bible said about worship to shift my approach and view of worship. This series is a collection of my views before my research, a summary of what I learned, and a reflection at the end. 

• To begin with, I brainstormed answers to the 5 W's questions of worship. I plan to revisit those same questions at the end of my research. I took time to map out how I viewed and defined worship, with the intention of revisiting the topic at the end of the series to see how things have changed.
• I dove into the Hebrew and Greek words for worship in the Bible, using Strong's Numbers to learn what worship was like in the Bible.
• topical study of "worship" (Strong's Numbers)
• types of worship described 
• Psalms: prayer/songbook of the Early Church and my great source of frustration. David doesn't follow my rules of worship.
• I listened to a worship leader podcast to learn from worship leaders what goes on behind the scenes in choosing and preparing for songs.
• Ascribing Worth Scale (more on this in a later post)

It is my hope and my prayer that my view of worship will shift as I learn more about worship in the Bible and types of songs sung in churches. I want to be equipped to recognize a worshipful song so I can better worship God. I hope to recognize the value and importance in songs that are petitions, intercessions, and otherwise human-centered. 

In the next post, I will go over some songs that I currently feel are excellent examples of worship songs.