WEEK 36 “WHAT IS THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN PRAISE AND WORSHIP?”

WHAT IS PRAISE?

According to Psalm 150:1, the word PRAISE is the Hebrew word “halal” which can mean to BOAST AND GLORY IN THE LORD!! According to 1 Chronicles 23:5 and 2 Chronicles 5:13, this was often done through MUSIC, INSTRUMENTS, DANCING AND SONG (James 5:13)!! (See also Psalm 150:3-5)

The word praise can also mean “to make a fool of oneself” before the Lord!! A great example of this is King David in 2 Samuel 6:14-22 when he danced with all his might before the Lord when the ark of the covenant/God’s presence finally came to Jerusalem!! He was willing to look foolish in front of all Israel and even his wife in praise to the Lord!!

WHAT IS WORSHIP?

According to Exodus 34:14 the hebrew word for worship is “shacah” and according to Matthew 4:9-10, the word WORSHIP in the Greek is the word “proskyneo” which can mean “to kneel before or bow in prostration to”, “to kiss the hand in token of reverence to”. “To prostrate oneself in homage to God!” “To adore”.

According to Matthew 4:10, Jesus associated worship with SERVING!! In other words, The one we worship is the one whom we will serve!

We also see in Genesis 22:5, that worship (shacah) involves OBEDIENCE and SACRIFICE TO GOD, just as Abraham was willing to sacrifice Isaac on the alter in obedience to God as WORSHIP on that mountain!!

According to Romans 12:1, worship is offering our whole bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God!! From this verse we see that worship is therefore not singing a song to Jesus (although, this is one aspect of worshipping Him) but rather worship is the way we live our lives for Jesus!

In John 4:23-24, Jesus reminds us that TRUE WORSHIP is done in SPIRIT and in TRUTH (by The Holy Spirit-Philippians 3:3) and is not DETERMINED BY A PLACE!

From these passages, we therefore see that PRAISE TO GOD is BOASTING AND GLORIFYING HIM and can be shown through the songs we play, dance and sing to the Lord, while WORSHIP TO GOD is shown by the way we live our whole lives to Jesus, the way we bow down prostrate before Him, the way we obey and serve Jesus by The Holy Spirit!!

May we truly learn to PRAISE and WORSHIP JESUS the way He wants us to!