Support for PRAISE & WORSHIP in the Bible
You hear a lot about praise & worship in Christian circles, but what support does the Bible actually provide for praise & worship being a regular part of the believer’s life?
Let’s start with the New Testament since we’re under the New Covenant. The New Testament consists of four categories of literature:
- The Gospels: Matthew, Mark, Luke and John.
- The Book of Church History: Acts.
- The Epistles (Letters): Romans, 1 Corinthians, 2 Corinthians, Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, 1 Thessalonians, 2 Thessalonians, 1 Timothy, 2 Timothy, Titus, Philemon, Hebrews, James, 1 Peter, 2 Peter, 1 John, 2 John, 3 John and Jude.
- The Book of Prophetic Vision: Revelation
Fittingly, each of these genres address praise & worship one way or another, as follows…
Praise & Worship in the Gospels
The following parallel verses reveal that Christ & his disciples sang praise & worship songs together.
When they had sung a hymn, they went out to the Mount of Olives.
When they had sung a hymn, they went out to the Mount of Olives.
In addition, Christ explained the nature of worship in the New Covenant era:
23“Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in the Spirit and in truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks. 24God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in the Spirit and in truth.”
John 4:23-24
Also, notice what the disciples/apostles did when Christ ascended to Heaven:
52Then they worshiped him and returned to Jerusalem with great joy. 53And they stayed continually at the temple, praising God.
Luke 24:52-53
Praise & Worship in the Book of Acts
Despite heavy persecution due to exorcizing a demon from a slave girl, Paul and Silas practiced praise & worship even in the dungeon of a prison:
22The crowd joined in the attack against Paul and Silas, and the magistrates ordered that they be stripped and beaten with rods. 23And after striking them with many blows, they threw them into prison and ordered the jailer to guard them securely. 24On receiving this order, he placed them in the inner cell and fastened their feet in the stocks.
25About midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the other prisoners were listening to them. 26Suddenly a strong earthquake shook the foundations of the prison. At once all the doors flew open and everyone’s chains came loose.
Acts 16:23-26
Truly, praise attracts God’s presence and the life-giving power thereof! This is in accordance with the law of respect: What you respect moves toward you while what you don’t respect moves away from you. Worship, on the other hand, is adoration or awe, and is the response to being in God’s presence. See Psalm 95:1-7 and Psalm 100 for verification.
Praise & Worship in the Epistles
The apostle Paul encouraged singing “psalms, hymns and spiritual songs” in two separate passages that he wrote when he was under house imprisonment in Rome between the years 60-62 A.D.
Here’s the passage from his letter to the believers in Ephesus:
17Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the Lord’s will is. 18Do not get drunk on wine, which leads to debauchery. Instead, be filled with the Spirit, 19speaking to one another with psalms, hymns, and songs from the Spirit. Sing and make music from your heart to the Lord, 20always giving thanks to God the Father for everything, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Ephesians 5:17-20
Observe how singing psalms, hymns and spiritual songs is linked to being filled with the spirit and thus being spirit-controlled rather than flesh-ruled and the benefits thereof (Galatians 5:16-23). You can read details about how to walk in the spirit here.
The passage from Ephesians somewhat parallels Paul’s instructions to the believers in Colossae:
Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God.
Colossians 3:16 (ESV)
Observe how this verse reveals two essentials for when believers meet together:
- Sharing/teaching the truths of the Word of God.
- Participating in Scripture-based praise & worship.
This explains why these are the two prominent practices at Christian services.
While psalms, hymns and spiritual songs are arguably interchangeable, what did Paul mean by each term in this particular context?
- ‘Psalms’ in both of these passages is psalmos in the Greek, which refers to the psalms contained in the book of Psalms, many of which involve praise & worship;
- ‘Hymns’ is humnos in the Greek and refers to established “sacred songs or songs of praise to God” in one’s culture;
- ‘Spiritual songs’ or ‘songs from the Spirit’ is pneumatikos ódé in the Greek, referring to songs given to believers present by the Spirit, whether at the time of the assembly or prior.
In one assembly I was involved in for a decade the bulk of the songs we sang were written by the praise & worship leader. These would be spiritual songs, which would likely become hymns over time.
Praise & Worship in the Book of Revelation
The prophetic epistle, Revelation, contains several passages relevant to praise & worship. For instance, the following three reveal how angelic beings in Heaven regularly practice praise & worship:
Each of the four living creatures had six wings and was covered with eyes all around, even under its wings. Day and night they never stop saying:
“ ‘Holy, holy, holy
is the Lord God Almighty,’
who was, and is, and is to come.”
10the 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:
11“You are worthy, our Lord and God,
to receive glory and honor and power,
for you created all things,
and by your will they were created
and have their being.”
Revelation 4:10-11
12In a loud voice they were saying:
“Worthy is the Lamb, who was slain,
to receive power and wealth and wisdom and strength
and honor and glory and praise!”
13Then I heard every creature in heaven and on earth and under the earth and on the sea, and all that is in them, saying:
“To him who sits on the throne and to the Lamb
be praise and honor and glory and power,
for ever and ever!”
14The four living creatures said, “Amen,” and the elders fell down and worshiped.
Revelation 5:12-14
There are similar passages later in Revelation, like 11:15-18 and 19:1-8.
Believers can also be observed participating in praise & worship in Heaven:
9After this I looked, and there before me was a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, tribe, people and language, standing before the throne and before the Lamb. They were wearing white robes and were holding palm branches in their hands. 10And they cried out in a loud voice:
“Salvation belongs to our God,
who sits on the throne,
and to the Lamb.”
11All 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, 12saying:
“Amen!
Praise and glory
and wisdom and thanks and honor
and power and strength
be to our God for ever and ever.
Amen!”
13Then one of the elders asked me, “These in white robes—who are they, and where did they come from?”
14I answered, “Sir, you know.”
And he said, “These are they who have come out of the great tribulation; they have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.
Revelation 7:9-14
2And I saw what looked like a sea of glass glowing with fire and, standing beside the sea, those who had been victorious over the beast and its image and over the number of its name. They held harps given them by God 3and sang the song of God’s servant Moses and of the Lamb:
“Great and marvelous are your deeds,
Lord God Almighty.
Just and true are your ways,
King of the nations.
4Who will not fear you, Lord,
and bring glory to your name?
For you alone are holy.
All nations will come
and worship before you,
for your righteous acts have been revealed.”
Revelation 15:2-4
As you can see, praise & worship is repeatedly addressed in every genre of literature in the New Testament.
Old Testament Passages on Praise & Worship
All of the above passages from the New Testament are laid on the foundation of what is written in the Old Testament about praise & worship, which includes the book of Psalms. This book just so happens to be the largest book in the Bible by far. It contains no less than 150 songs (the lyrics anyway), most of which feature praise & worship, at least partially. Psalm 100 is a well-known example.
Other relevant verses in the Old Testament include Exodus 15:1-2, Deuteronomy 32, Judges 5, Isaiah 5:1, 26 & 42:10 and the book Song of Songs, which is an epic love song, figuratively referring to the love of God and the saints (believers).
I’d say that’s more than enough support for praise & worship being a part of the believer’s life, how about you?
Related Topics:
Praise & Worship—What’s the Difference? Why are they Important?
Can Christians Listen to Music other than Praise & Worship?
Godliness and Religion—What’s the Difference?
Altars & Altar Calls and how they’re Relevant
Is Christianity a “Relationship with God”?
comments powered by Disqus