What Does Worship Really Mean?

Mike Hosey, An Elder

In modern church world we make the mistake of equating the concepts of praise and worship.  We sometimes use them interchangeably.  For instance, we might say that we are going to have a praise service, or we might just as quickly say that we are going to have a worship service, while meaning the same thing.  But these are significant misuses of the words.  

Praise is simply giving approval, commendation, appreciation, or applause, very often in some kind of loud way.  In fact, this was the meaning in both the Hebrew scriptures, as well as the Greek scriptures (2 Chronicles 5:13, 2 Chronicles 20:19, Luke 19:40).  Interestingly, praise is something that is ok to give to anyone who has done something good.  We praise our children when they make good grades. We praise our team mates when they take one for the team.  We praise our military when they return home after sacrificial duty.  We can show praise in many, many ways.  Sometimes we show it with loud shouts at a football game. Sometimes we show it at a concert when the performer has produced a work of musical art, or when a speaker has said something in a powerful way that resonates with us.  It’s a word that is very often paired with thanksgiving, and it is usually easy, and it usually comes naturally.

Worship, on the other hand, is something entirely different. Worship means to submit and to bow down. It can be quite hard.  In the Old Testament it came from the Hebrew word, shachah, meaning to bow down or to show obeisance (Strongs H7812, שָׁחָה). In Greek, it comes from the word, proskyneo (Strongs G4352, προσκυνέω).  It, too, means to show obeisance, to bow down, or to show homage. These words are always associated with kneeling, bowing, or becoming prostrate (Matthew 2:11, Matthew 4:9, Matthew 28:9, Mark 5:6). Both of these words are words of submission.  So while praise is almost always loud, boisterous and even cheerful, worship is something that is reverent, quiet, and submissive. The keyword being submissive.  While praise can be given to any worthy person, there is only one person who is worthy of worship (Luke 4:8). Interestingly, Luke 4:8 tells us that we are to only worship (proskyneo) and serve God.  The word for serve in that verse comes from a Greek word which means divine service.   Paul tells us in Romans 12:1-2 that our spiritual act of worship is to present our bodies as living sacrifices by renewing our minds. His word for worship there is derived from the same word for serve in Luke 4:8.  Therefore, our divine service is to worship God by changing our thinking, and submitting our bodies – that is our whole selves -- and bowing down and paying homage to him.  The more we do that in our everyday lives, and especially in every domain of our lives, the better and more enjoyable it will be for us when we do it with our Christian brothers and sisters on a Sunday morning.