In Nehemiah 8, after the Jews rebuilt the walls of Jerusalem, the people heard from the word of God. Ezra and other leaders opened the word, blessed the Lord, and led the people. And the response, to me, is interesting.
Nehemiah 8:5-8 – 5 And Ezra opened the book in the sight of all the people, for he was above all the people, and as he opened it all the people stood. 6 And Ezra blessed the Lord, the great God, and all the people answered, “Amen, Amen,” lifting up their hands. And they bowed their heads and worshiped the Lord with their faces to the ground. 7 Also Jeshua, Bani, Sherebiah, Jamin, Akkub, Shabbethai, Hodiah, Maaseiah, Kelita, Azariah, Jozabad, Hanan, Pelaiah, the Levites, helped the people to understand the Law, while the people remained in their places. 8 They read from the book, from the Law of God, clearly, and they gave the sense, so that the people understood the reading.
Look at all the things that happened in this setting, and recognize the significant points that should mirror our own worship. The central thing, the thing that fed all the forms of worship, was the opening of and explanation of the word of God. Scripture is at the heart of genuine worship. True worship is always our human response to the revelation of God. And the revelation of God is Scripture.
Notice as well that worship included different things from the people. There was not exactly one way to know if the people were worshiping. There was verbal agreement with truth. The people shouted, “Amen!” They declared to be true what God’s word said was true. At the center of worship, therefore, is the affirmation by the people of God of the truth of the word of God. Thus, whether we are singing or speaking, true worship in our lives must be focused on the declaration of truth about God and not on mere emotional sentimentality.
People had physical responses that were different. WE see people raising their hands, which in Scripture is always a prayer posture. People heard the truth of God, declared their agreement with it, and they entered into prayer. This is right for our worship too.
And, when the Bible declares that they worshipped, notice what the people were doing. They were bowing down. Worship involves reverence and humility. Worship involves us lowering ourselves before God the king. Worship is us making living declaration that our Lord is our Lord and that we are his subjects. We will submit to him, yielding to his commands, agreeing with his truth. This is worship, and, again, it is not mere emotionalism.
I can recall a person declaring to me once that he could tell just by looking if the congregation was worshipping. The point he was making is that he could tell by the looks on people’s faces if they were into worship. Sadly, he was judging the depth of worship in a setting, not by measures of truth, Scripture, or humble response to the Lordship of Christ, but rather by the emotional reaction of the people to the music. This is not the biblical measure of worship, and it never has been.
If you want to examine your worship in a church service, you might start by asking yourself the following questions:
- Is my worship centered on Scripture?
- Is my worship an affirmation of biblical truth?
- Is my worship prayerful?
- Is my worship a humble and reverent declaration that God is my Lord?
May we be a people of genuine, biblical worship for the glory of God and the joy of his people.
Pastor Travis Peterson 