KEYNOTE MESSAGE DELIVERED BY APOSTLE DR. OPOKU ONYINAH WORSHIPPING IN ...

37 Pages·2013·0.41 MB·English

KEYNOTE MESSAGE DELIVERED BY APOSTLE DR. OPOKU ONYINAH
WORSHIPPING IN SPIRIT AND TRUTH
But the hour is coming, and is now here, when the true worshipers will
worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father is seeking such
people to worship him. God is spirit, and those who worship him must
worship in spirit and truth (Jn. 4:23-24, ESV).
0.0 INTRODUCTION
In our contemporary Christian culture, Christians sometimes define praise and worship
as the time of singing in church. Some Pentecostals and Charismatics also consider
worship as a period where they offer special prayer of adoration to God in their meeting
times, either on Sunday or any other time. In the Bible, worship is more than singing
or offering special prayer of adoration to God. Worship is offering our entire life to God
and His services. “... offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God—
this is your spiritual act of worship” (Rom. 12:1, NIV). Biblical worship is a way of life,
not just a song.

In this study we shall consider what is really meant by ‘worship’ in the Bible. We shall
take a survey in some portions of the Bible to find out how some of God's people
worship Him and relate it to our understanding of worship. We shall end by exploring
the conversation between Jesus and the woman of Samaria. It is believed that the
discourse between Jesus and the woman of Samaria clearly brings out the sort of
worship that the Lord expects from His people. It is hoped that by the time you
complete reading this message you would have been the type of worshipper the Father
seeks.
1.0 WHAT IS WORSHIP?
Worship becomes clearer as we try to consider the various words used to convey
worship in various languages.

1.1 Considering Some Word Expressions in Worship
1.1.1 Hebrew Background
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One of the Hebrew terms for worship is shachah, which means "to bow down in
reverence, worship", or "to bow down … as a gesture of respect or submission".1 To
worship is to ascribe ultimate value to a person, an object or a deity. Reverence,
adoration, and homage are paid to the object of worship. We order the priorities of
our lives around that which we worship.
For example, some people who like sports ascribe value to certain players to the point
that when those superstars are playing, they will pay any amount and travel any
distance to watch the game. The way such people put value on athletes and attend to
them may be termed as worshipping them. To worship God is to place absolute value
on God and honour Him that way.
1.1.2 Greek Background
The common word in Greek that has been translated worship in the English New
Testament is proskuneo. Basically its meaning in the Strong's Exhaustive Concordance
of the Bible is "to kiss, like a dog licking its master's hand, to fawn or crouch to, to
prostrate in homage (do reverence to, adore)". People kiss out of love and reverence.
Once I went to the St. Peter's Basilica (church building) of the Catholic Church in Rome.
I was informed by a Roman Catholic Sister sitting by me that the act of kissing the St.
Peter's statue out of reverence had caused a particular spot to fade. Worship is to
fawn on and kiss the Lord like a dog rubbing itself against its master and also licking
its master's hand.
1.1.3 English Background
The English word ‘worship' is said to originate from the term 'worth-ship'. The word
expresses the value placed on someone or something. To worship is therefore to show
a strong feeling of respect and admiration for something (God, a god, idol, property,
or somebody) as a result of the value you place on it.
1.1.4 Akan Background

1 Clines, David J. A. (ed.), The Concise Dictionary of Classical Hebrew (Sheffield,
UK: Sheffield Phoenix Press, 2009), p. 455.

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The Akan term for worship som is to be readily available to serve somebody who
desires service. It is like a servant waiting in the presence of a king, ready to be called
to service at any time. The king, being a very special person, is not allowed to work
or suffer. In olden times it was held that when kings died some people would also be
killed in order for them to follow the king to serve him in the spirit world.
I heard a very disturbing story some time ago in one of the African countries that I
visited. I was told that when a king died he also needed a wife to serve him in the
spirit world. The wife who would like to do this service was to be buried alive. I was
informed that often more than one of his wives were ready to be buried alive to serve
the king in the spirit world. Our God is not just a king, but He is the King of kings. He
is so special that His subjects—we—must always be ready at His service, in life and
death.
Another term for worship in Akan is s]re, which means to lift up or adore a person of
great importance, power or riches. The king is respected and worshipped. As a means
of respect the king is sometimes placed in a palanquin and adored. As the king comes
to a durbar, sometimes people put their clothes on the way for the king to walk on
them. This is another aspect of worship. The Most High One, the Lord God Almighty,
is the exalted one who needs to be worshipped. We need to bow before him, put our
clothes down for Him to walk on them.
1.2 Praise as an Aspect of Worship
One of the Hebrew terms translated in the Bible as praise is halal. The Strong's
Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible translates halal as “to shine, hence to make a
show, to boast ... to celebrate, commend". At the heart of this Hebrew root is the idea
of radiance, celebration and glorification. From this came the excitement of rejoicing
and praising God. The well-known imperative is Hallelujah, which calls for giving the
glory to God. To praise a person is to tell the person verbally of what he has done as
you celebrate him. To praise God is to thank Him for what he has done. In praises,
your inward attitude of appreciation explodes in outward expression of thanksgiving in
joy. In praising God, you help yourself to accept and renew your knowledge of the
person of God and what He has done and will continue to do for you. The Bible does
not systematically separate praise from worship or thanksgiving from worship. They
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are usually used interchangeably. Praise is an aspect of worship. However, I shall
attempt to offer some distinctions between them.

1.3 Differences Between Prayer, Praise and Worship
Although prayer, praise, and worship are interrelated, for now I shall draw some
distinctions among them; later I shall bring them together. I must say that there are
no lines of demarcation among worship, prayer and praise. These are all part of
worship.
Prayer is the request that a person makes to his/her maker. It is putting your needs
before your Lord.
Praise is the expression by a person to thank the Lord for what He has done for
him/her.
Worship is the occupation of a person with the Lord as a result of the Holy Spirit’s
'invasion' in the life of the particular individual.
Broadly speaking, in prayer you ask, in praises you appreciate, and in worship you
give.
Often these three activities occur together in service. But there are some distinctions
as I have indicated already. To throw more light on them, I shall offer some
illustrations. If I am sick and say, "Lord heal me", I have prayed. If I say, "Lord thank
you for healing me", I have praised the Lord. But if I declare, "Lord you are a healer,
you are the all powerful One", I have worshipped the Lord.
People begin to worship the Lord when they know who He is. For example, in the
Gospel according to St. Luke 5, Peter was in need. He worked the whole night trying
to catch fish, but he got none. Then Jesus came his way. He instructed him to launch
into the deep for a catch. When he obeyed, he got such a large number of fish that
their boats began to sink. "When Simon Peter saw this, he fell at Jesus' knees and
said, 'Go away from me, Lord; I am a sinful man!'" (Lk. 5:8, NIV). Here Peter was not
praising the Lord, neither was he thanking Him. He was acknowledging who Jesus
was. This is worship. He was worshipping Jesus.
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What then is worship? I consider worship as the outflow of the acknowledgement of
who God is within the inner being of a person. The inner being here can be the soul,
the heart or the spirit. It is knowing the person of God deep within your innermost
part that is beyond description. It is this sort of acknowledgement that involuntarily
causes a person to explode in bowing down in serving the Lord as a true servant
adores the master. Surprisingly the more a person gets closer to God the more the
person realises that he/she is a sinner. Peter, for example told the Lord to get away
from him because he was a sinner. Isaiah cried out, "'Woe to me!' I cried. 'I am ruined!
For I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips, and my eyes
have seen the King, the Lord Almighty'" (Isa. 6:5, NIV). You cannot boast of anything
once you get closer to God. A song I received by the Spirit goes like this:

Who am I, to boast in your presence? On my knees, I am before your throne
Dust and clay, I was made of Jar of clay, weak and feeble
Adam's seed, I’m flesh and blood By nature, I am a child of wrath
I am saved by your grace My only hope is your grace
It's only grace It's only grace
It is grace that sets me free It is grace that makes me whole
It's only grace It's only grace
Surely grace will sail me through Surely grace will take me home

It is that sort of nothingness that causes a person to adore the One who is absolutely
perfect, the Lord God Almighty, the creator of the universe.
Consequently for someone to truly worship God, the person must know who He is.
Worship began from creation, continued during the Fall, the period of the Law and
continues in the period of grace.

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2.0 WORSHIP BEFORE THE LAW
Worship begins with God. He is the object of worship. He created man after His own
image. The account of Genesis 1:26—3:24 shows that God was constantly
communicating with human beings before Fall. After the Fall and before the Law,
worship began as the Lord called persons to Himself. These people, as made evident
in Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, were not perfect but some established the routine of
worshipping God in their imperfect states. God was still honoured by them. God
showed that He was not interested in worship that was filled with human wisdom, as
demonstrated in the life of a person like Jacob. He wanted worship to be done in
sincerity. The person who worshipped God in purity such as Joseph was honoured by
the demonstration of God's power in his life.
3.0 WORSHIP DURING THE LAW
Worship during the period of the Law can be summed up in the following points:
 First, was the tabernacle with all its divisions and furniture and the prescribed
usage. Moses' tent of meeting was used before the tabernacle was built, but
the tabernacle replaced it.

 Second, were the sacrificial offerings that needed to be included in the worship.
 Third, were the Feasts, Sabbaths and Festivals that needed to be observed.

 Fourth, was the public reading of God's word, either in words or songs.
4.0 HOW THE PEOPLE OF ISRAEL WORSHIPPED THE LORD AS IN THE
PSALMS
4.1 Collections of Poems and Songs
The book of Psalms gives an indication of how the people of Israel responded to the
instructions given to them on worship. The Psalms are a collection of personal poems
in songs, which over the centuries were adopted by Israel for their corporate worship.
The Hebrew title of the book of Psalms, which is Praises, might have originated from
the idea that the adoration and thanksgiving are the primary acts of worship. The
contents of the Psalms, however, express a variety of emotions, including:
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 adoration towards God,
 prayers from sufferings or sufferers,
 dependence on God in desperate circumstances,
 expression of curses and imprecations in times of frustrations,
 affirmation to walk with God even when the way seems dark,
 thanksgiving to God for His care and deliverance,
 praising God,
 devotions to the word of God,
 confessions of sin,
 declarations of faith,
 acknowledgment of God's power in nature,
 teaching Israel's history,
 telling of God's deliverance of Israel and
 confidence in the eventual triumph of God's purpose for the world.
It can be concluded that all these human emotions expressed towards God were used
in worship to the praise of the Almighty God. In each of the Psalms, the attention is
on the Lord. The writer might look back at history, that is, recounting historical story;
declare God's power in creation, or present his problems. Nonetheless, in all these, the
writers first of all look by faith to the Lord.
It is the Lord who is the focus of faith. He is the one who is above all and whom
people must worship, or present their problems to. The Psalms teach how to approach
God, meditate on His glory, power and greatness as well as present our needs and
hurts to Him. There is no specific order, although many people have attempted to
bring in some order.
For example, it is held that the medieval and rabbinic tradition believed that the Songs
of Ascent (title of Psalms 120-134) were to be sung on the fifteen steps leading up
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from the court of the women to the court of the Israelites in the temple that was built
after Israel returned from exile. Others also believe that songs were chanted or sung
by religious pilgrims as they journeyed to Jerusalem during the three major festivals
each year. The most important thing is that the Psalms were sung to the praise of the
Lord.
4.2 Losing Touch with the Lord they Worship
In the Old Testament, after a while, the people of Israel became indifferent to the
spirit behind the tabernacle worship, the offerings, feasts and the reading of the word.
These became lifeless rituals; they began to lose touch with God. God therefore was
fed up with their rituals and kept on denouncing them through the prophets. Listen to
the prophet Isaiah:
10 Listen to the LORD, you leaders of Israel! Listen to the law of our God,
people of Israel. You act just like the rulers and people of Sodom and
Gomorrah. 11 “I am sick of your sacrifices,” says the LORD. “Don’t bring
me any more burnt offerings! I don’t want the fat from your rams or
other animals. I don’t want to see the blood from your offerings of bulls
and rams and goats. 12 Why do you keep parading through my courts
with your worthless sacrifices? 13 The incense you bring me is a stench
in my nostrils! Your celebrations of the new moon and the Sabbath day,
and your special days for fasting—even your most pious meetings—are
all sinful and false. I want nothing more to do with them. 14 I hate all
your festivals and sacrifices. I cannot stand the sight of them! 15 From
now on, when you lift up your hands in prayer, I will refuse to look. Even
though you offer many prayers, I will not listen. For your hands are
covered with the blood of your innocent victims. 16 Wash yourselves and
be clean! Let me no longer see your evil deeds. Give up your wicked
ways. 17 Learn to do good. Seek justice. Help the oppressed. Defend the
orphan. Fight for the rights of widows” (Isa. 1:10-18, NLT).
Here the many sacrifices that the people were offering were worthless to God. While
they thought these were laid down principles, and tried to follow them, because they
had overlooked justice and failed to show mercy to others, God did not accept their
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worship. This speaks to us that worship becomes important only as the worshipper
becomes real and genuine in his dealing with the Law of God. Isaiah says again, ‘“And
so the Lord says', “These people say they are mine. They honour me with their lips,
but their hearts are far away. And their worship of me amounts to nothing more than
human laws learned by rote’” (Isa. 29:13, NLT).
These two texts show how important the hearts of worshippers are to God. If our
hearts are not clean, or if we are not right with God, our sacrifices are not accepted
by him. Our sacrifices become offensive. Thus, we may spend a long time in praises
and worship, but unless we are right with God, our long worship amounts to nothing
before God.
These texts also reveal another aspect of worship which many people may find it
difficult to understand. Worship must not be seen only as our duty to God. In other
words, our worship must not concern itself only as 'giving to God'. We should not
approach worship in a manner that suggests that if it were not our duty, we would not
have worshipped God. “These people say they are mine. They honour me with their
lips, but their hearts are far away...” (Isa. 29:13, NLT). Thus the people claim to
worship God with their offerings, but they do not delight in Him. God is not interested
in 'declarations' and the offerings. He is interested in us, to have us. We must delight
in Him. To worship Him is to delight in Him, to love Him so much that you want to be
with Him, speak with Him, listen to Him like Mary who sat at the Lord's feet and listened
to His teaching (Lk. 10:39). You love Him so much that you want to speak good things
about Him. You love Him so much that you want to praise Him. You love Him so
much that you do not see any mistake in Him. You love Him so much that you feel at
ease with Him. You love Him and know Him so much that you know He will supply all
your needs.
4.3 Worship is more than Praise and Thanks
This brings us to another aspect of worship which may get some people confused.
Once you get into the presence of your beloved, the person you trust, believe, feel at
ease with, you can tell that person your concerns. In the book of Psalms, the authors
do not really compartmentalize prayer, praise and worship. They are all mixed
together. A person presents his concerns and practical life situations before His Lord.
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There are many examples of this in the Psalms. Lets us pick up Psalm 19 as an
example. The Psalmist begins by worshipping the Lord, "The heavens declare the
glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands" (vs. 1, NIV). After worshipping
through the works of God from verses 1-6, he then continues with the faithfulness of
God through His words and ordinances from verses 7-11. For instance, he declares,
"the law of the Lord is perfect, reviving the soul. The statutes of the Lord are
trustworthy, making wise the simple" (vs. 7, NIV). Then after this, he begins to confess
his sins in verses 12 and 13, "Who can discern his errors? Forgive my hidden faults.
13 Keep your servant also from wilful sins; may they not rule over me. Then will I be
blameless, innocent of great transgression (NIV). Then, he ends with the prayer of
declaration, "May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be pleasing
in your sight, O Lord, my Rock and my Redeemer" (14, NIV).
The issue is that often we think we need to put aside our concerns and then
concentrate on God, but humanly speaking it does not work this way. After
acknowledging our Lord, the all powerful one, we must approach him with all our
concerns. It is here that we come with a song like this:
1.M’aba Wo nwunu ase Ayeyi dwom na m[to
}soro kronkron m’ kronkron M’akoma ahy[ nnaase ma
Otumfo no anim h]
}dom nnepa ahy[ Wo ma
3. W’ahennwa no anim h]
Me kruwa ay[ ma abu so
Ab]fo atwa Wo ho ahyia
Nnepa nyinaa y[ me de’
‘Retrontrom Wo daa nyinaa
M’akoma ahy[ nnaase ma
W’ahotefo b] m’ ka s[

Wo nko ne Awurade
2. Wo nky[n tena na [y[
Y[hy[ Wo din anounyam
Ahome w] Wo mu
Wodwodwo me koma M’akoma ahy[ nnaase ma
}d] na Wo de awowa me
W’ahy[ m’afono mu ma
4. }dom ne mmoburohunu
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