MINNESOTA BAPTIST ASSOCIATION

Restoring the Joy of Salvation!

by Dr. Lance T. Ketchum, MBA State Missionary

Understanding Worship

The word worship in the OT is translated from the Hebrew word shachah (shaw-khaw') and the Greek word proskuneo (pros-koo-neh'-o) in the New Testament. The Hebrew word shachah means to bow down or prostrate one's self. The Greek word proskuneo means to kiss the hand. It was the word originally used for what a dog does when it licked its master's hand. In the Mid-East, worship was expressed first by falling to the knees and touching the forehead to the ground before the one being reverenced.

In more intimate worship, the individual was allowed to kiss the hand of the person being reverenced. This form of worship signified submission to the sovereignty of the individual being reverenced and recognition of his absolute authority over the life of the subject.

All of this seems so foreign to Westerners. We have been taught all our lives that our government and government leaders are elected to serve the people (and rightly so). However God deserves our humility before Him, our adoration, praise, thanksgiving and worship. He deserves that because He is God. He deserves that because He is our Sovereign Creator. Adding to all this, He deserves our worship because He is our Redeemer and the Lover of our souls.