Praise and Worship: A Deeper Look
Do we have the Psalms? What are these hymns? What about spiritual songs? What about today’s contemporary Christian music? Should we just sing the hymns from the last 500 to 600 years of reform history? Martin Luther himself wrote 38 hymns, many of which are still in use today. His most famous hymn, “A Mighty Fortress is our God,” is a wonderful hymn taken out of Psalms 46.
In this study, we will take a short, but in-depth, look at what it means to praise and worship. This is intended to “shine light” on the subject. This is a pun that is well intended, and you will learn why during this study.
Let’s start with a literal reading of Psalms 150; “You Praise Yah! Praise El in his sanctuary! You praise him in his heavens for his acts of power! You praise him for his mighty acts! You praise him according to his excellent greatness! You praise him with the sounding of the trumpet! You praise him with harp and lyre! You praise him with tambourine and dancing! You praise him with stringed instruments and flute! You praise him with loud cymbals! You praise him with resounding cymbals! Everything that has breath will praise Yah! You praise Yah!” (Psalms 150:1-6)
In the Bible, the first time we see instruments is actually with Jubal, a sixth-generation descendant of Cain who killed Abel and started a family line after he was cursed and left YHWH’s presence. Jubal was the “father of all who handled the harp and pipe.” in Genesis 4:21. Even a cursory reading of Genesis 4 will show that the descendants of Cain were likely not men of virtue and righteousness. Thus, we can assume that the first people to make instruments were probably not using them to sing praises to YHWH.
But what is praise? The first time the word “praise” is used in the Bible is in Genesis 29:35 when Leah conceived and gave birth to her fourth son, יְהוּדָה Yehudah. She said, “This time I will praise YHWH.” Therefore she named him יְהוּדָה Yehudah. The Hebrew phrase that gave Judah his name is אוֹדֶה אֶת־יהוה odeh et-YHWH which is a combination of יה Yah, the shortened name of יהוה YHWH (cf. Psalms 68:4), with אוֹדֶה odeh. Therefore, Yah + odeh = Yahodeh, which obviously sounds like Yehudah. The Hebrew language is concrete and action-oriented so when we look at the root of the word אוֹדֶה odeh, we see יָדָה yadah (H3034) as the three letter root and יָד yad as the base two letter root. יָדָה yadah means “to throw” and יָד yad means “hand” so together this literally means “to throw the hand.” How does this relate to the word praise? Well, it’s because יָדָה yadah means to throw or raise the hands in thanks (cf. Psalms 106:1) or confession (cf. Leviticus 5:5). The Septuagint translates יָדָה yadah to ἐξομολογέω exomologeō (G1843) which means to profess thanks or acknowledge openly. So if Leah said, “This time I will give thanks YHWH” or “This time I will acknowledge YHWH” would both be accurate translations.
So, where do we get the idea that music and instruments are how we “praise” YHWH when the Hebrew word seems to only require our hands? Well, we can look at the book of Psalms which is replete with the words “praise” and “sing” and has a plethora of instruments such as the trumpet, harp, lyre, tambourine, dancing, stringed instruments, flute, loud cymbals, and resounding cymbals in Psalm 150 alone. Psalm 106:1 says, “Praise YHWH! Give thanks to YHWH, for he is good, for his loving kindness endures forever.” Remember the Hebrew word יָדָה yadah? Well “give thanks” in Psalm 106:1 is the same word, יָדָה yadah (H3034).
Speaking of instruments, what role do they play (pun intended)? Let’s take at a look at a great example of the use of instruments in the service of giving thanks and praising YHWH in the House of Elohim from 1 Chronicles 25:1-8:
25:1 Moreover, David and the captains of the army set apart for the service certain of the sons of Asaph, of Heman, and of Jeduthun, who were to prophesy with harps, with stringed instruments, and with cymbals…The sons of Asaph were under the hand of Asaph, who prophesied at the order of the king…who prophesied in giving thanks and praising YHWH with the harp…5 All these were the sons of Heman the king’s seer in the words of Elohim, to lift up the horn. Elohim gave to Heman fourteen sons and three daughters. 6 All these were under the hands of their father for song in YHWH’s house, with cymbals, stringed instruments, and harps, for the service of the house of Elohim: Asaph, Jeduthun, and Heman being under the order of the king. 7 The number of them, with their brothers who were instructed in singing to YHWH, even all who were skillful, was two hundred eighty-eight. 8 They cast lots for their offices, all alike, the small as well as the great, the teacher as well as the student.
In 1828, Noaḥ Webster defined praise as, “to extol in words or song; to magnify; to glorify on account of perfections or excellent works” and references Psalms 148:1; Praise him, all his angels, praise ye him, all his hosts. The word “praise” is found in the book of Psalms over 130 times. On the contrary, the word worship is used just 15 times in the book of Psalms. This is not to diminish worship at all, but it might reveal the purpose of the Psalms and how the professing of thanks and acknowledgement to God through praise, especially from the Psalms of David, causes “true” worship which will be defined soon.
Before we look at worship, let’s look at the popular word Halleluyah for a moment. “Halleluyah,” along with “amen,” might be the most used Hebrew words by non-Hebrew speakers, especially for us Believers. But what does the word mean? Let’s try to understand this by now reading Psalms 150 with some Hebrew transliteration:
“Halleu Yah! Hallelu El in his sanctuary! Hallelu him in his heavens for his acts of power! 2 Hallelu him for his mighty acts! Hallelu him according to his excellent greatness! 3 Hallelu him with the sounding of the trumpet! Hallelu him with harp and lyre! 4 Hallelu him with tambourine and dancing! Hallelu him with stringed instruments and flute! 5 Hallelu him with loud cymbals! Hallelu him with resounding cymbals! 6 Everything that has breath will hallel Yah! Hallelu Yah!” (Psalms 150:1-6)
When read it in Hebrew, Halleluyah is actually two words, הַלְלוּ hallelu + יה Yah. The word הָלַל halal (H1984) comes from a root word which means “to shine” and literally means “to boast” in the sense of causing a shining of one by bragging about them. In English, boasting is when you talk with excessive pride and self-satisfaction about your own achievements, possessions, or abilities. Let’s replace it with God and say you talk with excessive pride and self-satisfaction about God’s achievements, possessions, and abilities. Do you see the difference? Psalms 44:8 says, “In Elohim we have made our boast all day long. We will give thanks to your name forever.” In Psalms 44:8 the word “boast” is הָלַל halal and the word thanks is יָדָה yadah. So, when literally translated, הַלְלוּ hallelu means “you boast” and יה Yah is the shortened name of YHWH. You may have heard the popular song lyric that says, “Halleluyah is the highest praise,” but Halleluyah is more than just a praise. Hallelu Yah is actually a command to boast about what YHWH has done. Consider how David writes, “Hallelu Yah, for YHWH is good. Sing praises to his name, for that is pleasant.” (Psalms 135:3) David is literally saying, “You boast of YHWH because he is good, you shine light on YHWH because he is good. You gloat about YHWH because he is good. You brag about YHWH because he is good.” There’s no other book in the Bible that boasts about YHWH like Psalms. Read Psalms 136 for yourself.
Let’s now explore the word “worship.” An interesting note is in Noaḥ Webster’s 1828 definition of “worship” he mentions words like prayer, religious service, and paying divine honors to the Supreme Being and references Exodus 34:14; Thou shalt worship no other God and John 4:20; Our fathers worshiped in this mountain. Noaḥ Webster doesn’t mention song or music because the modern application of worship to a genre of music hadn’t taken shape to the modern, contemporary definition. But, is this what the word “worship” in the Bible actually means? The first time the word worship is used in the Bible is in Genesis 22:5, when Abraham was going to offer his promised son Isaac to God. Abraham told his servants, “we will worship and come back to you.” The word worship is שָׁחָה shachah (H7812) which comes from a root word that means to sink low. When applied to “worship” it means to pay homage to another by bowing (sinking) low or getting on the knees with the face to the ground. The Septuagint translates שָׁחָה shachah to the Greek word προσκυνέω proskyneō (G4352) which is often translated to obeisance and means to to kneel (or sink low) in prostration with the forehead to the ground as an expression of profound reverence to another. Can you think of the last time you actually bowed in obeisance with your forehead to the ground in worship to YHWH? It’s not common in modern Western worship so it’s not surprising if the majority of us have never done so. However, at the very least we see the bowing of the head as an act of obeisance.
Years ago someone told me how they responded when someone told them they didn’t like the music played during the praise and worship time and the person’s response was, “the music wasn’t for you.” It’s a reminder we need to hear at times. When we come together to praise and worship YHWH, it’s not about me. It’s not about you. It’s not about how we feel. It’s not to prepare your mind. It’s about Him. It’s for Him.
In the Bible, there are many examples of how songs of praise cause those joining in chorus with the voices to physically prostrate themselves in obeisance to God. Listen to this beautiful account in 2 Chronicles 29:28-30; “All the assembly worshiped, the singers sang, and the trumpeters sounded. All this continued until the burnt offering was finished. When they had finished offering, the king and all who were present with him bowed themselves and worshiped. Moreover Hezekiah the king and the princes commanded the Levites to sing praises to YHWH with the words of David, and of Asaph the seer. They sang praises with gladness, and they bowed their heads and did obeisance.” Did you notice the physical bowing and obeisance in worship? Did you notice the Levite singers singing praises with gladness? Did you notice the singers sang praises with the words of David and Asaph? You may have heard it said that, “when the praises go up, the blessings come down” but that’s not in the Bible. More accurately we can say, “when the praises go up, the people bow down.”
In Ephesians 5:18-20, we’re told to “…be filled with the Spirit, speaking to one another in psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs; singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord; giving thanks always concerning all things in the name of our Lord Yeshua the Messiah to Elohim, even the Father.” Colossians 3:16 says, “Let the word of Messiah dwell in you richly; in all wisdom teaching and admonishing one another with psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs (cf. 1 Chronicles 25:1-8), singing with grace in your heart to the Lord.”
Could it be that the Psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs with which we sing, teach, and admonish one another can also cause us to bow down in worship? As we sing praises with gladness and with grace in our hearts to the Lord, can we not think about ourselves and focus on Him who deserves our thanks and acknowledgment? As we sing and make melody in our hearts to the Lord, can we shine the spotlight on YHWH and boast about his goodness?
I know when we worship him we technically don’t need music. We probably don’t need instruments. We really just need ourselves. But it’s clear from Scripture that YHWH gave us the Psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs with which to praise him and cause us to physically bow down and worship in spirit and truth, “for the Father seeks such to be his worshippers.” (Luke 4:23)