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A Study on the Ministry of 1Praise and Worship As a leader of worship and a psalmist, I give presentations on the subject of praise

and worship. It is my view that most churches have always done praise and worship while not calling it by that name. We have been blessed with many hymns that inspire us to adore, revere, bless and worship the Lord; When orning !ilds the "#ies, my heart awa#ening cries, may $esus %hrist be praised& is one of many that describe praise in worship and worship in praise. 'o this end we begin by e(amining each word to ascertain what each means and then apply it to practical use) When you or I praise& we) Acclaim Adore Applaud by shouting Adulate *oast *rag %elebrate +steem ,ail ,onour -evere Worship When you or I worship& we) Admire *less %herish ,onour Love .raise -evere /enerate 0rom the list it is easy to see that one can praise !od in worship; and worship !od in praise&. It is therefore helpful to have an understanding and share what our forefathers of the *ible #new about praise and worship; applying the practice to everyday life, in other words, living a lifestyle of praise and worship&. 'he scriptures of the 1ld 2 3ew 'estament and psalms are e(cellent e(pressions of praise and worship and can be divided into two groups) 4a5

descriptive or 4b5 declarative. 6eclarative praise& places the emphasis on what !16 has done, they spea# about ,is glory and majesty, and they are full of than#sgiving. +(amples of this type of praise are found in .salm 78) 9, :;<= and < %hronicles 7:)<<;<>. 6escriptive praise& focuses on the person, attributes, and essence of a !16 and, who ,+ is. +(amples of this would be .salm ?= 4psalm of Asaph5, .salm <8? and +(odus >)<8. A lifestyle of praise and@or worship should glorify !16 with vocal e(pressions; such as the sharing of a testimony, the sharing of the events of the day, when you felt !od move and act on your behalf. 'he whole e(ercise is three tiered or a tripod) 4i5 Thanksgiving ; the whisper of prayer to !od in than#s 4ii5 Praise ; the telling about !odAs goodness to others; and 4iii5 Worship ; to bow down, reverence, an attitude of the body, mind and spirit 'he ,ebrews have seven words each one depicting a different form of praise and worship. 4"ome writers on the subject refer to these seven words as levels or stages5. +ach one is distinctive and yet complimentary of each other. Level One or the First Word is HALEL which in transliteration becomes ,allelujah&, it means in simple terms Bpraise the Lord&. It can be and is often spelt alleluia&. It is defined as being boastful and e(cited 4the way one does at a rally or sports event5, lifting of the hands and shouts of joy and bliss. Level t o !arak simply means, C to blessC. 'hroughout the 1ld 'estament this word is continually used. 'houghts on the word DblessD bring to mind all that !od through his son $esus %hrist has done for us; past and present. ,owever, have we stopped to wonder how we may bless godE 6avid in psalm <=>) <;7 tells us how, when he says) Dbless the Lord, o my soul; and all that is within me, bless his holy name....&. 4"ome bible translations use the word praise.5 6avid continues on, by recalling and distinguishing everything that god has done. *ara# praise can be used as a pattern or mode of prayer, as the word suggests #neeling and blessing god in worship or devotion. 'he song Cfather, we love you, we praise you, we adore you& is an e(pression of *ara# praise. 1ther psalms that e(press *ara# praise are ps.<<> and .s. <=8. 'he Anglican %hurch leans towards this #ind of praise and worship. 'hin# about the +ucharist service and evening prayer. "o far, the levels or words for praise are those used mainly in an oratory fashion. 'he third level or word however, deals with DmusicD. In the ,ebrew language there are several musical verbs, but the one that is predominant throughout the boo# of psalms is called "a#ar$ It demonstrates music in praise to god and

advocates that praise and music can be interchangeable. In the 1ld 'estament music has been the main e(pression of praise used by the ,ebrews. 'he popular praise 2 worship chorus) Clet everything that has breath praise the lordC is psalm <?= set to music. 1ther psalms are :7)<;> and F<)<;7. A combination of Barak and Zamar praise can be found in psalms :F, :? <>8 and <8?. The fourth level or ord is Sha%a&h and is illustrated in psalm <<9)<; 1 praise the Lord, all ye nations) praise him, all ye people.D 'he word used here, means to spea# highly of, to address in a loud tone, to command triumph, and glory. 'his category of praise is also pictured in psalm G>)8. 'u#%er five is (adah and it means to publicly ac#nowledge !od. .salm <>F)< best describes this word. Again as with ,alel, the hands are raised in worship, our ass lends itself to this e(pression. 7 %hronicles 7=)<:;7< also demonstrates this. 'u#%er si) related to (adah is To dah and translated also means than#sgiving& and involves the raising of hands in adoration. ,owever, it suggests an attitude of sacrificial praise. In other words, we give than#s and praise before we receive from the lord, or are delivered out of a situation. We rejoice and than# god for his promises. -ead psalm ?=, 7 %hronicles 9)<;G and psalm <=9)77 are e(amples. 0inally, Tehillah is the seventh and final level and relates to singing; actually it means singing our halals. 'ehillah is portrayed in psalm 77)> which tells us that god dwells in the praises of his people. It is also depicted in 7 chronicles 7=)77, but refers to a special #ind of singing that is unrehearsed, unprepared and which today is referred to as Cbeing led by the spiritC. 'his e(hibition of praise brings unity into the congregation and allows god to move in miraculous ways. 'ehillah praise can be found in psalms >8)<, 8=)>, and GG)7. 'han#sgiving, praise and worship are comparable to the three corners of the tabernacle of oses); 4i5 Outer portion represents thanksgiving; psalm <==)8 +nter ,is gates with 'han#sgiving....& 4ii5 Again Huoting psalm <== the ne(t line states, enter ,is courts with praise& and therefore represents praise. In the outer court we unloc# the door to the throne room of heaven; at this juncture we are recounting what !od has done for us; it involves, clapping of hands and a joyful e(pression of our than#s and adoration. 4iii5 3e(t we move to the Bholy placeA and get even closer to the throne room and worship in the Bholy of holiesA. All of this is an act of the will, it cannot be taughtI Jou must have a personal love relationship with %hrist.

The %enefits of praise and Increases faith;

orship are as follo s*

*rings about healing of the body, mind and spirit; *rings understanding and clarity to things of the ,oly "pirit; *rings !od to us 4.salm 77)> *ut thou art ,oly, 1 thou that inhabitest the praise of Israel 4K$/5; yet thou art ,oly, enthroned on the praises of Israel; 43ew 1(ford Annotated5; yet you are enthroned as the ,oly 1ne; you are the praise of Israel 43I/5. +nhances the +ucharist or +vening service. As %hristians our lifestyle should be one of praise and worship at all levels. 'his is the best form of witness and testimony when encouraging others to come to %hrist. I conclude with some resources, which you can study for yourself and be lifted in praise and worship unto the Lord) +esour&es !ooks* !y Terry La .raise releases 0aith 'he .ower of .raise 2 Worship ,ow to +nter the .resence of !od Let Ls .raise by $udson %ornwall .raise 6evotional by -uth yers

List of Scriptures on Praise in the Old & New Testaments for individuals* !enesis <8)7= ; the praise of elchiMede# +(odus <?)<;<: ; the song of oses Leviticus <:)78 ; the fruit...... shall be holy to praise the Lord ..... 6euteronomy <=)7< $oshua G)7= ; $erichoAs walls $udges ?)7;> ; the praise of 6eborah and *ara# -uth 8)<8 <st "amuel 7)<;7 ; ,annah

7nd "amuel 77)8 ; 6avid when delivered out of "aulAs hand <st Kings F)<? ; "olomonAs praise at the dedication of the temple 7nd Kings >)<?;<G ; the minstrel atthew 7G)>= ; at the time of $esus passion ar# <<)F;<= ; .alm "unday Lu#e <) 8G;?? ; agnificat Act <G)7? ; .aul 2 "ilas -omans <?)<< < %orinthians <8)<? +phesians. <)<7 .hilippians 8)7= < 'hessalonians ?)<G << 'hessalonians <)> .hilemon <)8 $ames ?)<> $ude 78)7? -evelation <:)? List of Scriptures on Praise in the Old & New Testaments for the congregation: .salm 77)77; 7? .salm <<<)< .salm <8:)< <st %hronicles 7:)7= 7nd %hronicles 7:)7F <st .eter 7): 'hose involved in Worship inistry should ta#e time to reflect and meditate on the scriptures before practice sessions.

Mrs$ +$ ,e&ilia Aske - ,haplain 'assau- The !aha#as ,opyright./00/ 1 +evised /002

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