When you think of worshipping Yahweh, what do you think of? How is it done? Most people would say the part of a church service of singing praises is the “worship” part of the service. This is true, but there is so much more to worship. We honor and worship Yahweh during the entire church service and on into each day of the week. Beginning with this story, we will investigate what are other ways to worship Yahweh.

When counseling married couples, at times I will remind them about meeting the needs of the spouse. Sometimes doing what we want is not what helps the other spouse feel loved and cared for. For example, a man’s wife was looking out the kitchen window at her husband in the driveway, who was as happy as could be, detailing her car. It was spotless due to used Q-tips strewn about, cleaners, and numerous rags and cloths for that spit shine. He was in his glory, enjoying the hours he was spending on this very impressive task. Meanwhile, his wife was in utter despair. She was sobbing. She asks, “Why is he out there?”

Hours later, he finally came into the kitchen to take his wife outside to marvel at her car so perfectly cleaned—better than  show-room quality. To his surprise, he was met with crying and a cold shoulder. He pleaded for her to tell him what could possibly be wrong? She was finally able to tell him that for her birthday, she just wanted some of his time. She did not care about the car. She wanted him to sit and talk with her or be with her, not the car. All along, he thought detailing the car was a
spectacular gift!

So it is many times with us. We try to figure out what we would like and then think that gift would fit for others. It is generally good to ask others what it is that they would like. In thinking about this scenario, I wonder how many times I am worshipping Yahweh and showing my love for Him when in fact I am doing what I think will bless Him. Maybe my busy schedule and my buzzing here and there doing “good” things or drilling down on an obscure Hebrew word for insight may not be what Yahweh wants as worship.

Of course, we are to love Yahweh with our whole heart, soul, mind, and strength (Mark 12:30). From that love foundation, we worship Him in a variety of ways He recommends to us. We will look at a few choices that we have.

We can bless Yahweh’s name.

Psalm 103:1 Bless the Lord, my soul, and all that is within me, bless His holy name.

Blessing His name is speaking well of Yahweh, our loving Heavenly Father. His abounding loving kindness, righteous  judgments, His mercies that are new every morning, and His steadfast faithfulness are just a few of His characteristics.

As a suggestion, when reading Scripture, write down phrases of blessings to say to Yahweh. This list will help us remember character traits when we are wanting to bless Yahweh. Scripture teaches us more attributes of our Father that we did not know or thought about in the wrong way. To “bless” is also to ascribe what are Yahweh’s deeds, power, and might.

1 Chronicles 16:29a Ascribe to the Lord the glory due His name;

“Ascribe” is a rare word in our day. It has the meaning of attributing a quality to a person or thing. For us to attribute what Yahweh God says about Himself, we, again, need to know what the Scriptures proclaim are His qualities.

The following Psalm not only says who should ascribe, but also what a few of His attributions are to acknowledge.

Psalm 96:8 Sing to the Lord a new song; sing to the Lord, all the earth. sing to the Lord, bless His name; proclaim the good news of His salvation from day to day.

We and all the earth can worship Yahweh by singing about the news of his salvation.

Psalm 96:3 Tell of His glory among the nations, His wonderful deeds among all the peoples.

We not only sing but tell or speak of His glory to all people. There are a multitude of blessings we have received throughout our lives that bring glory to Yahweh for His goodness.

We can fear and respect Yahweh.

Psalm 96:4-6 For great is the Lord, and greatly to be praised; He is to be feared above all gods. For all the gods of the peoples are idols, but the Lord made the heavens. Splendor and majesty are before Him, strength and beauty are in His sanctuary.

Yahweh is above all other gods. He is to be respected and have our reverence and fear as the One True God. All the other gods are like dumb wooden idols. What has humankind ever done to really “create” anything ever? The grandeur of the  northern lights, the power of a volcano, the numerous stars and galaxies are a small part of the total picture of Yahweh’s creation. We attribute these qualities to our God.

Psalm 96:10-13 Say among the nations, “The Lord reigns; Indeed, the world is firmly established, it will not be moved; He will judge the peoples fairly.” May the heavens be joyful, and may the earth rejoice; May the sea roar, and all it contains; May the field be jubilant, and all that is in it. Then all the trees of the forest will sing for joy before the Lord, for He is coming, for He is coming to judge the earth. He will judge the world in righteousness, and the peoples in His faithfulness.

One attribute that is commonly mentioned in Scripture is that Yahweh is a righteous judge. This is so different from what we often see in history and today in our governments. His wisdom is above ours for certain. The whole earth rejoices at the coming of Yahweh’s salvation through Jesus our Messiah. His plan requires power like we have never experienced.

Deuteronomy 6:13 You shall fear only the Lord your God; and you shall worship Him and swear by His name.

No other idol or god can compare to our powerful and compassionate Yahweh. We honor and reverence Him above all else.

1 Peter 2:17 Honor all people, love the brotherhood, fear God, honor the king.

We can trust in His name.

Another way is to worship by giving Him your trust. Many of the Psalms tell of David trusting in Yahweh for distinct aspects of his life. David had learned as a young boy tending sheep that Yahweh would protect him and give him strength. It is interesting to look up the word ‘trust’ in a concordance to see how many times we are encouraged to trust in Yahweh alone. As we trust in Yahweh, we are giving Him our worship for faithfulness to always take care of us when we love Him. If we are not walking as Jesus taught us, we still can trust and count on Yahweh to hear our prayer of repentance. Because David trusted Yahweh, he
slept like a baby before an especially huge battle.

Psalm 3:5-6 I lay down and slept; I awoke, for the Lord sustains me. I will not be afraid of ten thousands of people who have set themselves against me all around.

Isaiah 50:10 Who is among you who fears the Lord, who obeys the voice of His servant, who walks in darkness and has no light? Let him trust in the name of the Lord and rely on his God.

We rely on Him no matter what trouble we are in. King Hezekiah trusted Him in very grave circumstances.

In the Old Testament, Hezekiah was a young king who tore down idols in his kingdom. There were several neighboring kings that were wanting to take over Israel. They sent letters and messengers telling Hezekiah to not trust in Yahweh because Yahweh could not save his kingdom. The enemy kings put an enormous amount of pressure on Hezekiah. Yet, he trusted in Yahweh to protect his people against all their foes. For this act of worshipping Yahweh, the God of Israel, Hezekiah was exalted.

2 Kings 18:5 He trusted in the Lord, the God of Israel; and after him there was no one like him among all the kings of Judah, nor among those who came before him.

Within the act of trusting is the act of worship.

Psalm 9:10. And those who know Your name will put their trust in You, For You, Lord, have not abandoned those who seek You.

Psalm 28:7. The Lord is my strength and my shield; My heart trusts in Him, and I am helped; Therefore my heart triumphs, And with my song I shall thank Him.

Psalm 33:21. For our heart rejoices in Him, because we trust in His holy name.

As the loving husband at the beginning of the article learned how to do things that were pleasing to his wife, we learn to worship Yahweh as He tells us, not how we think it to be. Blessing by attributing to Yahweh His characteristics help us worship His way and not our own. We want to be pleasing to our God, Yahweh, and give Him all the glory and worship our loving hearts can give