Some Appropriate Manner

Oh come, let us worship . . . before the LORD our Maker.

Psalm 95:6

What is worship? A. W. Tozer describes it this way: “Worship is to feel in your heart and express in some appropriate manner a humbling but delightful sense of admiring awe and astonished wonder and overpowering love in the presence of that most ancient Mystery . . . which we call Our Father Which Art in Heaven.”^a

For some, the word worship conjures up awkward feelings of being uncomfortable while singing in a church setting, but notice that Tozer never mentions singing, raising hands, or even being with others. Rather, he states it is expressing “in some appropriate manner” that which you feel in your heart toward God. In fact, the most commonly used word for worship in the New Testament, the Greek word proskuneo, has more to do with an intimate reverence toward God, being still and quiet before Him in awe and adoration.

The beauty of worship is that it is not limited to what anyone believes it should be. Whether you prefer raising your hands in public or falling prostrate in the privacy of your own home, the most important thing is for your worship to be personal, selfless, intimate, and from the heart.

In the end, worship can never be a performance. . . . It’s got to be an overflow of your heart.

MATT REDMAN