I believe authentic worship is not an action, but a reaction.
God is the Actor. We are the audience. He reveals His goodness, beauty and truth. In response, we worship.
Authentic Worship Begins With Seeing
Imagine a young man noticing a beautiful young woman. His response might be nothing more complicated than, “O, wow!”
He is not performing. Instead, he is reacting to something beautiful.
Likewise, a young woman might see a handsome young man and respond with an affectionate, “O, my.” She has seen something worthy of admiration, so the response comes naturally.
When we see God as He truly is, worship rises in much the same way. “O, my God” becomes an expression of wonder instead of a careless phrase.
Authentic worship begins when we see. Our eyes open, and our ears awaken. Then something captures our attention, and our hearts answer.
Pierre Teilhard de Chardin observed that we are spiritual beings living a human experience. Similarly, Scripture says that in God “we live and move and have our being.” Everything we possess, including our ability to see, hear, think, smell, touch and taste, comes from Him.
Jesus uniquely reveals the Father. Meanwhile, creation bears its Creator’s fingerprints. When our senses become attentive, the ordinary world can remind us that we are surrounded by gifts.
Creation Points Beyond Itself
Birds will do it for me.
For example, I stand amazed by a hummingbird’s tiny wings, its ability to hover and even fly backward. I see the effortless glide of a pelican and remember the ancient story that it would feed its young from its own flesh.
That may be legend. Even so, the image points me toward sacrificial love.
A flower will do it, too. Jesus pointed to lilies and told His listeners to consider how they grow. They neither toil nor spin, yet Solomon in all his splendor was not dressed like one of them.
Again and again, Jesus directed people toward birds, flowers, fields and ordinary creation. He knew the world around us could train our eyes to recognize the Father’s care.
As Gerard Manley Hopkins wrote in “God’s Grandeur,” “The world is charged with the grandeur of God.”
To me, glory looks like glowing.
When sunlight breaks over a hill, flashes across water or catches the edge of a cloud, creation seems to glow with borrowed light. It cannot contain God. However, it can direct our attention toward Him.
Look at the world: lions, whales, oak trees, asparagus, barley, water, rocks, sand, soil and stars.
Then consider what cannot be held in your hand: time, space, gravity, energy and light.
Altogether, it is astonishing.
Creation is a little like the roar of a powerful motor. You hear the sound and know something is happening beneath the hood, even if you cannot explain every piston, wire and spark.
I cannot comprehend every mystery of creation. Still, I can stand before it, listen and respond.
Worship Is an Honest Response
If worship is a reaction, then the response must be honest.
Sometimes it sounds like gratitude: “Thank You.”
At other times, it sounds like amazement: “Wow!”
It may also become singing, dancing, silence, laughter or tears.
Ultimately, the form is not what makes worship authentic. The truth of the response does.
Our responsibility as worship leaders is not merely to select songs people enjoy singing. Rather, we are helping people see.
A song can remind them that God is good. Likewise, a lyric can direct their attention toward His mercy. The right melody can awaken gratitude that had gone quiet beneath disappointment, exhaustion or fear.
People respond according to what they believe they have seen.
If I believe God is distant, harsh or indifferent, my response will reflect that belief. However, if I see His patience, generosity, beauty and grace, a different response becomes possible.
For that reason, worship songs matter. They help shape the picture of God held in a congregation’s imagination.
A song such as “Thou Art Worthy” succeeds because it turns our attention toward God’s worth. It does not ask us to manufacture a feeling. Instead, it gives us a reason to respond.
Therefore, our songs should help people remember who God is and what He has done.
The God Who Is With Us
“Hallelujah” means “Praise Yah.” In this phrase, Yah is a shortened form of the divine name revealed in Scripture.
The name Yeshua, from which we receive Jesus, means “The Lord saves.” Even His name points toward the saving character of God.
God has not created the world and then retreated to some distant throne. Instead, He continues to sustain His creation up close and personally.
Every breath depends on Him. Seeds open because He gives them life. Rivers move, and living things grow under His sustaining care.
Of course, our world is wounded. Our bodies fail, and our minds become confused. Human systems also break under the weight of sin. Yet none of those failures places creation beyond the reach of its Creator.
When Christians gather around bread and wine, ordinary products of the earth become reminders of Christ’s body and blood. In that moment, the physical points us toward the eternal. The everyday carries us back to grace.
After all, “The earth is the Lord’s, and everything in it.”
I sometimes feel like a pipe through which all this splendor passes. I see, hear, taste and touch the gifts of creation. As a result, something within me answers.
Dolphins leap.
Clouds turn pink.
Asparagus pushes through the earth, while tomatoes grow red on the vine.
Then I look into my wife’s eyes. I feel the breeze, hear the brook and notice the distant call of a goose.
Finally, the reaction comes.
Thank You.
O, wow.
O, my God.
That is worship.
Lenny Smith is a singer, songwriter and music publisher best known for writing the worship standard “Our God Reigns.” He co-founded Great Comfort Records and has written more than 200 songs.