The Ministry of Worship and Praise

Worship means to honor, revere, adore, pay homage, render devotion and respect to someone and especially to God.

As we worship and praise God, we are in actuality, ministering to Him. Therefore, we worship with all of our minds and all of our hearts and all of our souls. Jesus desires us to worship him in "Spirit and in Truth", (John 4:24), not an empty reverence done out of tradition. People all over the world are creatures of habit. They resist change and will tend to flock toward the type of service that most appeals to their liking. Having an order to service, knowing what's going to happen next and everyone around staying quiet and not making waves, is what most people prefer. This type of service may appeal to the flesh, but not the spirit. The bible says "In Spirit and in Truth."

If there is no Spirit, the worship is dead. Let me repeat; IF THERE IS NO SPIRIT, THE WORSHIP IS DEAD. It ceases to be that, which is pleasing to God, and turns into empty formalism. NOW; If the TRUTH is not there; if there is a lack of scriptural foundation, the kind spoken of in ( 2 TIMOTHY 3:16) [ All scripture is given by inspiration of God and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, and for instruction in righteousness]. Without the truth, worship becomes sentimentalism, emotionalism, and can lead to fanaticism. My friends; those are the steps for indoctrination into cults.

To worship in spirit means your spirit, your born again spirit, ( John 3: 1-5) is in union with the Spirit of God ( ROMANS 8:16 , 1CORINTHIANS 6:17 ); Your spirit submitting totally to the ministering of God's spirit ( John 4:20-24 ).

To worhsip in truth means to worship according to the word of God ( John 1:1, and John 17:17 ). God laid down his word, or how we are to worship and minister to Him. He has also shown His acceptance of a variety of worship for those who truly love Him. The word of God is the scripture of truth and to worship Him in truth is to worship according to the Word of God.

The Tabernacle of Moses

After the Lord had led His people out of bondage from the Egyptians, He led them to the wilderness to mold them into his liking. When God gave Moses the ten commandments, He also gave him the plans for a temple or tabernacle so that He could commune with His people while they were yet on their journey. Now, in a very short time, the love that the people of the Lord had for their God, had degenerated into formalism. They no longer worshiped or performed sacrifices out of love, but rather out of fear, then tradition. Allow me to explain: When they first heard the words of God, that Moses had given them, they were so afraid of doing something wrong, that there was absolutely no room for error in any of their practices. It had to be done in a certain way, and wearing only certain types of clothing. The same applied to their writings. A scribe, could only wear certain clothes. He had to stop, go bathe, and dress again, using a new quill every time he would write the name of the Lord. Now, when they started to write His name, OUT OF FEAR, they would intentionally leave out the vowels of the Lord's name, so as not to have a chance of misspelling it. Over time, they would forget the name of the Lord totally, saying only Lord or Elohim. Without knowing the name of the Lord, it was impossible for them to have a relationship with Him, and everything they did became nothing more than ritualistic formalism. This went on until the Philistines captured the arc in battle. They had not only lost the love they had for God, they had lost the one object that allowed them to have Him in their presence.

The Tabernacle of David

Years later, the tabernacle was recaptured by David. David knew that he wanted to build a temple to the Lord, for all that the Lord had done for him. But the Lord told David that he could not build the temple because he had shed innocent blood. But, once David had the arc, he had to have a place to keep it. So, on the top of Mt. Zion, David pitched a tent and placed the arc of the covenant inside. He knew of the reasons the arc was taken from God's people originally, and he did not want the same mistakes repeated. Therefore, instead of one man being able to enter the place of the arc, on one day a year, the arc would be in full view of all the people for all to come and give worship and praise, showing their true love of the Lord. All of the people became involved with the worship and praise of the Lord. The following is a list of 15 of the ministries that David made for the people of God.

1. Ministry of singers and singing ( 1Chronicles 15:16-27, 25:1-7). Certain Levites chosen by David to sing in the tabernacle.
2. Ministry of musicians and instruments ( 1Chronicles 23:5, 25:1-7). David ordained a number of different instraments to be played before the Lord.
3. Ministry of Levites before the Ark ( 1 Chronicles 16:4,6,37). Priests ministered to the ark daily and all men entered within the veil ( Hebrews 6:19,20, 9:7-9, 10:20-21 ).
4. Ministry of recording (1Chronicles 16:4, 28:12,19 ). Where would we be today without this ministry?
5. Ministry of thanking the Lord ( 1Chronicles16:4,8,41 ). Levites appointed to do nothing but continually giving thanks to the Lord ( 1 Thessalonians 5:18). Remember: Unthankfulness is a sign of the last days.
6. Ministry of Praise ( 1 Chronicles 16:4, 36). Part of the order of the tabernacle was praising God for His mercies. Out of 150 psalms, there are over 70 references to Sing Praises. In the Tabernacle of David, there was a continual sound of praise.
   
7. Ministry of Psalms ( 1 Chronicles 16:9, Psalms 98:6). The majority of the book of Psalms is attributed to David, while the rest were written, by command, by Levite song writers.
8. Ministry of rejoicing and joy ( 1Chronicles 16:10,16,25-31 ). Most other religions praise out of fear or tradition, not joy ( Phillipians 3:3 ; 4:4 ).
9. Ministry of clapping of hands ( Psalms 47:1; 98:8 ; Isaiah 55:12 ). One of mans' most natural forms of exaltation.
10. Ministry of shouting (1 Chronicles 15:28; Psalms 47:1,5 ; Isaiah 12:6). There was great shouting in the tabernacle of David at the arrival of the ark of God. When Israel shouted at the walls of Jericho, God caused the walls to fall down flat. Jesus' return will come with a shout ( 1 Thessalonians 4:16).
    
11. Ministry of dancing ( 1Chronicles 15:29; 2 Samuel 6:14 ; Psalms 149:3, 150:4). There was dancing before the Lord at the dedication of the Tabernacle of David. (Exodus 15:20 ). The women of Israel danced at their deliverance from Egypt after crossing the Red Sea.
12. Ministry of lifting of hands ( Psalms 134; 141:2 ). The lifting of hands was done with both palms facing forward, as in to give, as well as with both palms facing backwards as in to receive. Both forms are acceptable, depending on the need of the person lifting his hands.
13. Ministry of Worship ( 1Chronicles 16:29 ; Psalms 29:1,2; 95:6 ). In it's strictest sense, worship means to bow down, to stoop very low, or to prostrate ones self before another in higher authority.
14. Ministry of seeking the Lord ( 1Chronilces 16:10,11 ; 2 Chronicles 7:14 ). Seeking God's face with your whole heart, soul and mind.
15. Ministry of spiritual sacrifice. This ministry has several parts, but they each apply to everyone. :
    • Sacrifice of Joy ( Psalms 27:6)
    • Sacrifice of thanksgiving (Psalms 116:17 ; Leviticus 7:12 ; Jonah 2:9)
    • Sacrifice of praise ( Jeremiah 17:26 ; 33:11 ; Hebrews 13:15)
    These are spiritual sacrifices offered up by the Royal Priesthood in the spiritual house, the church ( 1Peter 2:9 ; Romans 12:1,2 ). This was a foreshadowing of the end of animal sacrifices, when Jesus offered up himself as the perfect lamb ( Hebrews 13:15-16 ).
16. Ministry of saying "AMEN" ( 1Chronicles 16:36 ). Amen means " So be it; Truth", an acceptance of Gods' will.

All of these forms of worship were found in the Tabernacle of David. some churches say that was the Old Testament and not the New. The onely one of these forms of worship not directly found in New Testament writings is the ministry of clapping of the hands. It would be a vain deceit to think that this worship is not for today's church. The early Christian Church worshiped the Lord Jesus as set forth in the Book of Psalms. If that form of worship were no longer acceptable, THEN IT WOULD HAVE NEVER BEEN PREACHED OR PRACTICED in the early church. Therefore, God, our almighty and everlasting Father, the One who is the same yesterday, today and forever, accepted the praises and worship of
Tabernacle of David. The angels proclaimed it as He manifest himself in the flesh as the man child Jesus. He spoke about it to the multitudes. He prayed about it for His disciples, He died at the hands of those who lost the love needed to worship and praise , for they lost it in a sea of formalistic tradition. Then He rose and taught those who followed Him to worship and praise : IN SPIRIT AND IN TRUTH.

AMEN