Imagine going to the dentist for a routine teeth cleaing. You go into the back room, sit down in that funny armchair and look up into the bright light. The dentist walks in and asks you nice questions as he prepares for the cleaning. Then he sits down next to you and calls for his assistant to bring out his tools. Soon, the assistant appears carrying a tray of instruments, as she approaches you catch a glimpse of them. There are 3 screwdrivers, a calculator and a can of WD-40. "Wait a second," you say to yourself, "that can't be right." Hopefully, this dentist would be just as worried as you are! Aside from what the patient would feel, a dentist without the tools he is trained to use would find himself or herself awkward and frustrated.
Sometimes, we feel like that dentist when we worship. We all have different worship tools that we have been trained to use, find comfortable or prefer more than others. These tools could be a number of different things ranging from a certain song choice or musical style to specific postures in worship, or even the order of a worship service. We get to be very comfortable and very good at using certain tools and if we are given a different set of tools we can feel frustrated just like that dentist would. However, if the tools we are given really are biblical and really are effective responses of worship (unlike the screw drivers, a calculator and WD-40 would be for a teeth cleaning) then we can learn to use these tools and benefit from them.
There are a handful of Hebrew and Greek words that have to do with worship. One such Greek word is proskuneo, which means to prostrate ones's self, or kiss towards, in order to pay homage and reverance. Proskuneo is the word translated as "worship" in Revelation 4:10, which says, "the twenty-four elders will fall down before Him who sits on the throne, and will worship Him who lives forever and ever, and will cast their crowns before the throne..." Therefore, an example of this might be when we sing songs full of adoration. In this instance we could say that we are worshipping with an attitude of proskuneo and during these times it would be fitting to bow down in reverence.
A Hebrew word, yadah, is translated as the English word "praise" in Psalm 67:3 says, "Let the peoples praise You O God; Let all the peoples praise You." This same word is translated as "give thanks' in such places as Psalm 9:1 which says, "I will give thanks to the Lord with all my heart; I will tell of all Your wonders." The definition of yadah has to do with throwing or casting, thanksfiving, laud and praise. Worshipping in an attitude of yadah might be conducive to praising God with loud instruments or boisterous singing.
One last Hebrew word we will look at is abad. It is translated into the English word "worship" in such places as Exodus 3:12 where God says to Moses, "when you have brought the people out of Egypt, you shall worship God at this mountain." the definition of abad has to do with working and laboring as servants. Our whole live are to be in service to God and we are to honor Him with our work. This means that even church workdays are an act of worship. In fact some people seem to be wired in such a way that they experience worshipful moments more often during a church workday than they might during a candlelight service!
Biblical worship has room for many different expressions. Each generation and culture seems to find its own unique expressions or proskuneo, yadah and abad. No matter what style of expression, let's understand that biblical worship is deeper than music and broader than style. It is an everyday lifestyle! Though awkward at first, we can learn to appreciate each other's preferences and worship together in love and unity. The body of Christ is so diverse, and that is a beautiful thing.
Let's make room in our toolboxes for more tools! Director of Music and Worship Jesse Jorgensen
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