ily: Arial;”>Worship by definition is a dynamic encounter with the living God. True worship expresses a relationship between unequals. Worship cannot be between those of the same power, position, status, skill or ability. We worship what is we perceive is superior to us. Although worship may take many forms, it fundamentally ascribes âsupremacy.â I can praise my wife and praise God, but itâs not the same thing. Only God is supreme. Only then does praise become worship.
So the real beginning point of worship is humility. I must recognize that God is supreme, and I am under His authority. I relate to Him as a servant to the Master, as a subject to the king, as the creation to the creator. Not surprisingly, at its core worship inherently recognizes Godâs authority over my life. The root concept of worship in both Hebrew (shachah) and Greek (proskeneo) is the idea of submission or bowing down. Those same words are sometimes translated worship or bowing down depending on the context.
Consider these verses:
- (Gen 24:26 NKJV) Then the man bowed down his head and worshiped the LORD.  Â
- (Exo 4:31 NKJV)Â So the people believed; and when they heard that the LORD had visited the children of Israel and that He had looked on their affliction, then they bowed their heads and worshiped.
- (Exo 34:8 NIV)Â Moses bowed to the ground at once and worshiped.
- (Deu 11:16 NIV)Â Be careful, or you will be enticed to turn away and worship (serve) other gods and bow down to them.
- (Josh 5:14 NKJV)Â So He said, “No, but as Commander of the army of the LORD I have now come.” And Joshua fell on his face to the earth and worshiped, and said to Him, “What does my Lord say to His servant?”
- (2 Chr 7:3 NKJV)Â When all the children of Israel saw how the fire came down, and the glory of the LORD on the temple, they bowed their faces to the ground on the pavement, and worshiped and praised the LORD, saying: “For He is good, For His mercy endures forever.”
- (Neh 8:6 NIV)Â Ezra praised the LORD, the great God; and all the people lifted their hands and responded, “Amen! Amen!” Then they bowed down and worshiped the LORD with their faces to the ground.
- (Mat 2:11 NIV)Â On coming to the house, they saw the child with his mother Mary, and they bowed down and worshiped him. Then they opened their treasures and presented him with gifts of gold and of incense and of myrrh.
- (Mat 28:9 NIV)Â Suddenly Jesus met them. “Greetings,” he said. They came to him, clasped his feet and worshiped him.
- (1 Cor 14:25 NIV)Â and the secrets of his heart will be laid bare. So he will fall down and worship God, exclaiming, “God is really among you!”
- (Rev 4:10 NIV)Â the twenty-four elders fall down before him who sits on the throne, and worship him who lives for ever and ever. They lay their crowns before the throne and say:
- (Rev 5:14 NIV)Â The four living creatures said, “Amen,” and the elders fell down and worshiped.
- (Rev 7:11 NIV)Â All the angels were standing around the throne and around the elders and the four living creatures. They fell down on their faces before the throne and worshiped God,
- (Rev 19:4 NIV)Â The twenty-four elders and the four living creatures fell down and worshiped God, who was seated on the throne. And they cried: “Amen, Hallelujah!”
