By Apostle Frank Baio John 4:23-
But the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the
Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeketh such to worship him.
Psalm 42:1 - As a deer yearns for running streams, so I yearn
for you, my God.
We are created for a purpose,
to worship God.In the Gospel of John,
we read that God is seeking those that will worship Him in spirit and
truth.This worship is a personal, intimate
experience.
We find the pattern for true
worship in the book of Revelation.The
four and twenty Elders are around the throne saying:Holy, Holy, Holy is the Lord God Almighty,
who was and is and is to come. For You are worthy to receive Glory, Honor, Power
and Praise. We also find the Cherubim’s and Seraphim’s around the throne
declaring:Holy, Holy, Holy, is the Lord
God Almighty.
Kind David, the Psalmist, said
seven times a day will I praise him for His praise is continually in my
mouth.In these statements, King David
expresses his innermost feelings towards God.While he was caring for his father's sheep, he developed this
relationship. There seem to be three stages in the relationship that David
developed in this intimate time with God.First:he began with
thanksgiving, thanking God for what He has done in the past and what He is
doing in the present.Second:he boasted or bragged on who God is.Third:David verbalized his love for God, the kind of love that lavishes words
of adoration without asking for anything in return.Let us see how we can enter into this
experience of worship.
ENTERING
GOD’S PRESENCE
Many of us enjoy singing the
chorus, “I will enter His gates with thanksgiving in my heart.I will enter His courts with praise.”Do we really understand what we are
singing?This chorus is based on Psalm
100:4 and patterned after the tabernacle.Thanksgiving allows us to enter by the gate, praise allows us access
into God’s court, but worship allows us to enter His Holy presence.Jesus shows us this in the Lord’s Prayer, “Our
Father, which art in heaven, hallowed(Holy,
most worthy to be praised) be Thy name.” Matthew 6:9 (KJV)Jesus closes this prayer with, “For Thine
is the kingdom, and the power and the glory forever, Amen.” Matthew 6:13
(KJV)
HOW DO WE ENTER INTO WORSHIP
We begin by giving
thanks.Thanksgiving is saying, “Thank
you” to God for what He has accomplished.Repeatedly, God told the children of Israel to remember how He
delivered, provided and kept them during their forty years of wandering in the
wilderness.In 1 Thessalonians 5:18, we
read,“In everything give thanks.”
(KJV)Acting on this promise will lead
us into praising Him and cause faith to arise.
Praise, according to Webster’s
Third New International Dictionary, means, “The act of glorifying or extolling
God.”The psalmist said, “Seven times
a day will I praise Thee.” Psalm 119:164a(KJV) Worship is a willful act.“Praise
ye the Lord.I will praise the Lord with
my whole heart, in the assembly of the upright, and in the congregation.”
Psalm 111:1 (KJV) A relationship with God cannot exist without praise.There is no impersonal way of expressing
praise to the Almighty.
Satan knows that “God
inhabits the praises of His people.” Psalm 22:3(KJV) He will do all he can to stop you from
praising God.What does“He inhabits the praises of His people” mean?In the Japanese Bible, it states, “…To create
a seat upon which He (God) sits on.”Therefore, our praise creates a seat in our midst upon which we enthrone
Him King of kings and Lord of lords.Let
us examine what worship is all about.To
worship means to adore or to bestow words ofadoration and love on the one to whom you are expressing these words of
affection.These are endearing words of
extreme affection, verbalizing very strong expressions of love and
emotion. SEVEN
HEBREW WORDS OF PRAISE In the original
manuscript, the most often used Hebrew word for praise is Halal. Halal In the Strong’s Exhaustive
Concordance, the meaning of Halal is: to shine, to make a show, to
boast, to rave, to be clamorously foolish.Halal is the root word for Hallelujah.
The Italian Bible, Ossia
Revised Version, 196l, Societa Biblica Pritannica E Forestiera, translates
praise in Psalm 138 as, “celebrare or festeggiare” which means to
celebrate or be festive, as at a feast.We must not be critical of those who demonstrate their praise in this
manner, but search out the scriptures to see what God’s Word says.We are to boast of God’s exploits and extol
His greatness with enthusiasm and excitement even if others think it is
foolish.The apostle Peter tells us, “But
ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a peculiar
people:that ye should shew forth the
praises (virtues) of Him who hath called you out of darkness into His marvelous
light” 1 Peter 2:9 (KJV).
In recent days, we are
witnessing an atmosphere of praise (Halal) that we have not seen
in years.Praise God!Thank God for leadership that is moving with
this new wave of blessing and not resisting it. Yadah The
next word is Yadah.Strong’s
says, “Extension of the hands to worship with a throwing motion.”A better meaning is to acknowledge in
public.In 2 Chronicles 20:19-21,
Jehoshaphat and the children of Israel used Yadah/Praise when they
entered into battle.As they did, God
began to work for them by setting ambushments against their enemies.He smote their enemies.If you want to experience victory over your
enemy in battle, begin to Yadah worship and praise the Lord.
Barak The next most common word for
praise is Barak.Barak
means:to kneel, to bless God, as an act
of adoration as to royalty with your face to the ground.Psalm 103:1 says, “Bless the Lord, O my
soul:and all that is within me, bless
His Holy name.Bless the Lord, O my
soul, and forget not all (or any of) His benefits” (KJV). We bless the Lord
by not forgetting Him and not forgetting His benefits.Psalm 103 then goes on to enumerate those
blessings:lovingkindness, satisfaction,
redemption, honor, renewal.There is a
sense of kneeling and blessing God as an act of adoration in the word, Barak.
Zamar Our
next word for praise is Zamar.It
means:To pluck the strings of a musical
instrument, to make music accompanied by voice, to celebrate in song and music.
Psalm 57:7 says, “My heart is fixed, O God, my heart is fixed:I will sing and give praise” (KJV).The latter part of this verse should read, “I
will sing (declare) and give Zamar.I will make music accompanied by voice to celebrate in song and musical
instruments.”
Shabach Our
next word is Shabach/Praise.It
means to laud, to speak well of in a high and befitting way. Shabach also means to address in a loud
tone, to command, to triumph, to glory and shout.In Psalm 63:3, 4, we read, “Because Thy
lovingkindness is better than life, my lips shall praise Thee” (Shabach).Thus I will bless thee while I live.”There are times when it is appropriate to
give a loud shout unto the Lord.When
Israel shouted, the walls of Jericho fell and God received all the glory.God takes pleasure in a holy shout.This type of holy shouting makes the devil
and his evil hosts be silent and tremble.Shabach also will cause them to scatter in all directions in
confusion.
Towdah Another word for praise is Towdah.Towdah means thanksgiving and it involves
the extension of the hands in adoration.Psalm 50:23 reads, “Whoso offereth praise (Towdah)
glorifieth me:and to him that ordereth
his conversation aright, I will shew the salvation of God” (KJV).
Towdah
gives the connotation of sacrifice, as in the sacrifice of praise.We sing the chorus, “We Bring the Sacrifice
of Praise into the House of the Lord.”There is a releasing of great spiritual power as God’s people enter His
presence with hands extended in surrender and yieldedness.Miracles, healings and deliverances have
occurred during these times of praise.
Tehillah The final word that we shall examine is Tehillah.This word means to sing thanksgiving
and adoration, the singing of unrehearsed praise.In 1 Corinthians 14:15, the apostle Paul
says, “I will pray in the spirit, and I will pray in my understanding
also:I will sing with the (Tehillah)
spirit and I will sing with the understanding also” (KJV).You can pray and sing not only in your understanding (known language),
but also in the spirit in your prayer language.This type of praise brings unity among God’s people.Let us strive for Tehillah praise
and see God work in and through us.
HOW DO WE LEARN TO WORSHIP Does God’s Word give examples
of true worship?It certainly does.In Revelation 4:10, 11, “The four and
twenty elders fall down before Him, that sat on the throne, and worship
Him…saying…Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honor and power; for
Thou hast created all things and for Thy pleasure they are and were created”
(KJV).Also in Revelation 5:12, “Saying
with a loud voice(Shabach and Barak), Worthy is the Lamb (Jesus)
that was slain to receive power, and riches, and wisdom, and strength, and
honor, and glory, and blessing” (KJV).
Revelation 5:13 reads, “…Blessing,
and honor, and glory, and power, be unto Him that sitteth upon the throne, and
unto the Lamb (Jesus) forever and ever.”Paul says in
Phillippians 2:10, 11, “That at the name of Jesus
every knee should bow…that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christis
King of kings and Lord of lords, to the glory of God the Father” (KJV).
We
grieve the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit by not approaching God in
sincere thanksgiving, praise and worship.Let us make a joyful noise unto the Lord.Rather than being pumped up, let us come
together prepared to minister worship back to God.God created us to worship Him.Our highest form of service to God is to
worship Him with all our heart.Let our
voices declare His greatness.Let the
music sound forth His splendor, glory and majesty.“Let everything that hath breath (the
Breath of God) praise the Lord” Psalm 150:6(KJV). Holy, holy, holy are you, Lord The elders and angels bow The redeemed, we worship You now Holy, holy,
holy are You, Lord
Thou art
worthy, O Lord, by Thine excellent worth to receive the praise in us.Amen.(So be it.)