Bible Verses About Worship

“Come, let us sing for joy to the LORD; let us shout to the Rock of our salvation! Let us enter His presence with thanksgiving; let us make a joyful noise to Him in song. For the LORD is a great God, a great King above all gods. In His hand are the depths of the earth, and the mountain peaks belong to Him. The sea is His, for He made it, and His hands formed the dry land. O come, let us worship and bow down; let us kneel before the LORD our Maker. For He is our God, and we are the people of His pasture, the sheep under His care. Today, if you hear His voice,”

The psalm calls God's people to sing, bow and kneel before the Lord who made them and shepherds them. Worship rests on who he is and what he has done for us.

“And each of the four living creatures had six wings and was covered with eyes all around and within. Day and night they never stop saying: “Holy, Holy, Holy, is the Lord God Almighty, who was and is and is to come!” And whenever the living creatures give glory, honor, and thanks to the One seated on the throne, who lives forever and ever, the twenty-four elders fall down before the One seated on the throne, and they worship Him who lives forever and ever. They cast their crowns before the throne, saying: “Worthy are You, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power, for You created all things; by Your will they exist and were created.””

John sees heavenly beings and elders who never stop praising God and lay their crowns before his throne. It gives a glimpse of worship as the natural response to seeing him as he is.

“In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord seated on a throne, high and exalted; and the train of His robe filled the temple. Above Him stood seraphim, each having six wings: With two wings they covered their faces, with two they covered their feet, and with two they were flying. And they were calling out to one another: “Holy, holy, holy is the LORD of Hosts; all the earth is full of His glory.” At the sound of their voices the doorposts and thresholds shook, and the temple was filled with smoke. Then I said: “Woe is me, for I am ruined, because I am a man of unclean lips dwelling among a people of unclean lips; for my eyes have seen the King, the LORD of Hosts.””

Isaiah sees the Lord high and holy and is undone by his own unworthiness. Real worship often starts with awe and honesty about ourselves.

“I will exalt You, my God and King; I will bless Your name forever and ever. Every day I will bless You, and I will praise Your name forever and ever. Great is the LORD and greatly to be praised; His greatness is unsearchable.”

David resolves to praise God every day, because his greatness goes beyond anything we can measure. Praise can be a daily habit, not only a weekly event.

“Make a joyful noise to the LORD, all the earth. Serve the LORD with gladness; come into His presence with joyful songs. Know that the LORD is God. It is He who made us, and we are His; we are His people, and the sheep of His pasture. Enter His gates with thanksgiving and His courts with praise; give thanks to Him and bless His name. For the LORD is good, and His loving devotion endures forever; His faithfulness continues to all generations.”

A short call for the whole earth to serve the Lord gladly and enter his gates with thanks. Worship here is joyful and rooted in his lasting goodness.

“Hallelujah! Praise God in His sanctuary. Praise Him in His mighty heavens. Praise Him for His mighty acts; praise Him for His excellent greatness. Praise Him with the sound of the horn; praise Him with the harp and lyre. Praise Him with tambourine and dancing; praise Him with strings and flute. Praise Him with clashing cymbals; praise Him with resounding cymbals. Let everything that has breath praise the LORD! Hallelujah!”

The final psalm lists instruments, dance and voices, and ends by saying everything that breathes should praise the Lord. No single style has the only claim on worship.

“Through Jesus, therefore, let us continually offer to God a sacrifice of praise, the fruit of lips that confess His name. And do not neglect to do good and to share with others, for with such sacrifices God is pleased.”

The writer speaks of praise as a sacrifice we offer through Jesus, and joins it to doing good and sharing with others. Worship spills into how we treat people.

“Let the word of Christ richly dwell within you as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom, and as you sing psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs with gratitude in your hearts to God. And whatever you do, in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through Him.”

Paul pictures believers singing psalms and hymns with thankful hearts and doing everything in Jesus' name. Singing together and ordinary work both belong to worship.

“But a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and in truth, for the Father is seeking such as these to worship Him. God is Spirit, and His worshipers must worship Him in spirit and in truth.””

Jesus tells a Samaritan woman that the Father seeks worshipers in spirit and truth, not tied to one mountain or place. What matters is a sincere heart directed by who God really is.

“Therefore I urge you, brothers, on account of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God, which is your spiritual service of worship.”

Paul urges believers to offer their bodies, meaning their whole lives, as a living sacrifice in response to God's mercy. Worship is a way of living, not only an hour of singing.

“‘These people honor Me with their lips, but their hearts are far from Me. They worship Me in vain; they teach as doctrine the precepts of men.’ ””

Jesus warns about lips that honor God while hearts stay far away. Words alone never replace a real relationship with him.

“With what shall I come before the LORD when I bow before the God on high? Should I come to Him with burnt offerings, with year-old calves? Would the LORD be pleased with thousands of rams, with ten thousand rivers of oil? Shall I present my firstborn for my transgression, the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul? He has shown you, O man, what is good. And what does the LORD require of you but to act justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God?”

The prophet says God wants justice, mercy and a humble walk more than lavish offerings. Worship and everyday faithfulness cannot be pulled apart.

“Then Job stood up, tore his robe, and shaved his head. He fell to the ground and worshiped, saying: “Naked I came from my mother’s womb, and naked I will return. The LORD gave, and the LORD has taken away. Blessed be the name of the LORD.” In all this, Job did not sin or charge God with wrongdoing.”

After terrible loss, Job falls to the ground and blesses God. His worship is grief-filled but honest, and it does not pretend the pain is small.

“About midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the other prisoners were listening to them. Suddenly a strong earthquake shook the foundations of the prison. At once all the doors flew open and everyone’s chains came loose.”

Paul and Silas pray and sing hymns in a prison cell at midnight, and other prisoners listen. Praise can rise even where circumstances give no reason for it.