You are worshiping something. 

If not something then someone. 

It doesn't matter if you’re reading this as a committed follower of Jesus, an atheist, or somewhere in between. You are worshiping. Every single human being on planet earth is a worshiper. 

If this claim is true, then the question becomes, what is worship? What does it even mean to worship someone or something? I know it’s cheesy, but for the sake of this conversation I believe a dictionary definition is a good place for us to begin. Merriam Webster defines worship as “to honor or show reverence for as a divine being or supernatural power” or “to regard with great or extravagant respect, honor, or devotion.” Did you notice what I did when I read those definitions? They didn’t say anything about singing! One of the primary reasons why people struggle with the fact that they worship someone or something is simply because they don’t fully understand what it means to worship. I believe these definitions are helpful for us to expand our mindset. 

Worship is way more than singing. 

Put simply: whatever you give your time, effort, and attention to, you are worshiping. 

You may be worshiping academics. You may be worshiping people’s opinions of you. You may be worshiping social media or popularity. You may be worshiping a relationship of some kind. Whatever is in the #1 spot in your heart and mind is what you worship. And what I am proposing in this short article, is that God is the only One worthy of your worship. 

The fact of the matter is that we are created beings. We have been designed and created by someone. We are not self sufficient. God created us to worship. All of us have a spot that we’re trying to fill with something or someone. A spot that God put in each and every one of our hearts. I like to call it our God shaped hole. It’s God shaped because He is the only thing that can fill the hole, it doesn’t matter what else we try to fit in it, or how much we try to fit in it, nothing else will satisfy or fill it. But this entire thing goes a step further because not only did God create us to be worshippers, but… 

God created us to worship Him. 

The only place that our worship will find its place and therefore we will find the peace that we’re longing for is when it’s directed at the very One who designed us to worship in the first place! 

Psalm 95 is an amazing example of this. Let’s check it out… 

“Come, let us sing to the Lord!

    
Let us shout joyfully to the Rock of our salvation.
Let us come to him with thanksgiving.

    
Let us sing psalms of praise to him.”

Psalm 95:1-2

Starting off strong here. Let us sing to the Lord, the rock of our salvation. In other words, the only reason why we can be saved and go to heaven is because of this God. And then I love how worshiping God is immediately tied to being thankful. And if I’m being honest, I think we’re really bad at being thankful in our lives and worship in Scripture is often tied to gratitude. Are you seeing the disconnect? How can we worship properly if we’re so bad at the very thing that Biblically makes it doable? 

But this Psalm is just getting started. Now the author is going to tell us WHY this God deserves our worship. Why He’s worthy of our worship. 

“For the Lord is a great God,

    
a great King above all gods.
He holds in his hands the depths of the earth

    
and the mightiest mountains.
The sea belongs to him, for he made it.

    
His hands formed the dry land, too.
Come, let us worship and bow down.

    
Let us kneel before the Lord our maker”

Psalm 95:3-6

Wow. I mean WOWWWW. Some of us in the room need to take a step back and get a bigger picture of this God. He’s the waymaker and miracle worker and Creator of the universe. We are so small compared to Him. He’s all powerful and all knowing and perfect and amazing and awesome. WOW!! What else can we say but wow??? Yet this giant and amazing God is also so personal and so close and He’s in the room right now and in our hearts and working for our good at all times. 

This is where true worship begins.

Worship begins with wow. 

You know what’s awesome? Wow is a good acronym for what we’re talking about, isn’t it? 

WOW = WORTHY OF WORSHIP.