Both the Hebrew shawkhaw and the Greek proskuneo, the two main words for worship in your Bible, carry the idea of prostration. That’s not just bowing, it’s lying flat out on your face before God.

Bible words can sometimes be generic, even created for a purpose by well-meaning translators. I have long spoken of the word “baptize” as an example of this. The Greek baptidzo is not subject to a long list of interpretations. It can only mean “immerse.”

But the church of the famed King James’s day practiced a whole array of water activities when dealing with one of Christ’s commands. They sprinkled people with a bit of water. They poured water over the head, as Hollywood loves to depict the act in its Bible movies, with no authority from Scripture. And they dunked people.

What were the King James translators to do? They invented a word based on the sound of the Greek word, “baptize”, and the church went merrily on in its oblivion. Today “baptize” can mean anything you want it to mean.

So with “worship,” I fear. A man sitting in a chair, coldly singing from an old hymnbook, is said to be worshiping. People running around a room speaking in ecstatic utterances is also a worshiper. Raised hands are considered worshipful hands. Music is the essence of modern worship.

Contemporary music, that is, with the new ritual that must include a very expensive set of drums, with a shield blocking the deafening sounds from the congregation; a keyboard; electric guitars… you know the drill.

But the Hebrew and Greek words I found early on defy all of that. It’s to your knees, to your face, aware of Who He is!

I’ve seldom seen this in a church “worship service” but I have seen it, via video, in the Muslim mosque. That’s a telling fact, is it not? Believers in the false god Allah seemingly revering their deity more than the Christians do theirs?

That’s not the whole truth, but it is a fact to be considered when looking at Christian worship.

So, what is the whole truth? Best here to look at several passages of Scripture on the subject. God has told us what makes Him happy, what He is looking for. I trace the concept through the Bible.

Genesis. Cain and Abel. We all know the story. Cain’s garden variety of offerings, maybe even the best of his crop, given to God. But God wasn’t looking for that. Abel gave something that cost a life. Bloodshed. Sacrifice. This hurts.

That’s the first clue about offerings given to God. It hurts. But it is given in joy at the same time. Here, God, take my best. Let the blood speak to you of my love.

Noah wanted to give a similar offering when the ark travels were finished, and life was beginning anew on the planet. His burnt offerings were so pleasing to God that He promised never to destroy every living thing again. Powerful worship when God is pleased in this way.

So, clue two. Offer to God when He is not specifically asking for something. Do it just because you want to give to Him. You have no idea how far such a sacrifice will resonate in Heaven.

Genesis 22 tells the famous story of the patriarch Abraham under his most severe of trials, the demand for the sacrifice of his own son. Perhaps the very essence of worship is here described. Abraham tells the men who traveled up that hill with him that he is going up yonder hill to worship. And here all the conventional descriptions of the word fall off, even the ones I have insisted come from the Hebrew and Greek. Here is true worship.

What are the elements visible? A heart devoted to God. A heart-rending demand to be obeyed. No bowing or prostrating here. The body position isn’t everything. Abraham’s heart forever lies prostrate before his God. The evidence is his obedience.

Yes, the attitude of the heart is shown by the position of the body, we get it. But see the position of Abraham’s body, his hand poised above his son’s throat, every nerve and muscle taut and determined. Soon the hand will move downward. Are these positions not acceptable worship? Was not Abraham worshiping in this position?

Every worship time with God demands a new searching of the heart and positioning of the body. God cannot stand vain repetitions in body or words. His mercies are new every morning and so must be our worship. And you will note I am not yet speaking of corporate worship, which had not yet developed.

I see worship in Abraham’s servant, Genesis 24. When he realized his mission had been accomplished in the providence of God, his reaction, probably learned from his master, was to bow down his head and worship.

Notice carefully what the Scripture is calling worship here. Is it the bowing of the head, that shows the reverence to be involved? Is it the words that flowed from the servant’s grateful heart? Listen:

“Blessed be the Lord God of my master Abraham, who has not forsaken His mercy and His truth toward my master…”

A combination, I think. Pure gratitude reverentially offered to a powerful merciful God. That’s worship!

In Exodus 24:1 is the narrative of the seventy-four men called up to the heights of Sinai. First, they are to “worship from afar.” The next verses tell of various sacrifices and offerings given to God. Outward worship with rituals attending, when they are commanded, do indeed please God.

But at best all of this is “from afar.” Soon they will be called up to see the God of Israel. Such splendors they viewed! Then Joshua and Moses are to move on even farther for a more intense look from within a cloud of glory. We can only imagine the trembling worship which Moses offered.

More clues. Bring an offering to God. Bring yourself. Stay in worship until He calls you up higher? Not everyone is a Moses, not everyone has the same call, but do you and I stay in His Presence long enough to see if there is more that He wants to reveal to us?

When we see Joshua in the book by his name (5:14) worshiping God, it is on his face. No one is ruling out body compliance in all the talk of the special men and events of the Old Testament and New. You are talking to the Lord of all the universe. Show respect, reverence, awe.

Worship experiences continue through the history of Israel, usually connected to animal sacrifice. But unfortunately, it is predicable that outward forms will eventually replace the true worship for which Jesus longs, and with which He is pleased.

David reminds us in the Psalms to worship the Lord “in the beauty of holiness” (Psalm 29:2). His holiness? Ours? Whatever way you see it, holiness is a part of true worship.

New Testament believers are admonished to lift up holy hands when worshiping. All other worship is vain and insulting to a holy God. Dirty hands must be cleansed in the blood before being lifted up.

David also tells us to worship in fear. Where is this taught today, in the extravagant showy spectacles being called worship by our generation? Fear? More like fun in our time. Feel-good stuff. Brilliant music. Incredibly expensive sound and lighting systems, with smoke thrown in to keep up with the world’s ways.

Makes me happy. How about You, holy Lord? Does it make You happy? Perhaps this can only be answered on an individual basis. Those truly worshiping at the event please Him. The event itself, maybe not.

And David continues the exhortation to bow down, in 95:6. Tell your body what’s going on. This can easily be carried out in private worship, as can all the Psalms. No one is suggesting that in every meeting, people are all laid out on the floor, that all are bowing and physically humbling themselves. Yet, why not? Would such displays be wrong? Out of order?

The problem with the displays that are taking place today is that they are connected to the music of the world and the rock concert atmosphere. It seems to be a practice of the young, the ones who know least about God’s Word and the deep truths there.

Do the lights have to be dimmed? Does the music have to threaten everyone’s hearing capacities? Is there no way for us to humble ourselves before the Lord without replicating the world?

I hate to mention them again, but in fact the Muslims do spread out before Allah. They do bow before him, some of them I am sure being quite sincere. But nothing of Western heavy metal or deafening drum is brought in. I can only imagine the contempt they have for a people who are forever following the culture, instead of demanding that the culture follow them.

Just for the record, Isaiah also mentions how false worshipers lie prostrate before their false gods. So does Daniel. Nebuchadnezzar demands that all are to fall before his statue. There is no body function, including “tongues”, that is not, somewhere in the world, done by unbelievers.

Unbelievers know how to worship. Those actions themselves are not proof of a true allegiance to the living God. But neither is their absence a thing to be praised.