The Heart of Worship: Why God Gave You a Body to Praise Him

It's a delight to talk about worship on a day when everybody has already been worshiping. It moves the whole thing from being a chastisement to a "you did it!" Praise was in the house today. Worship was in our hearts. And that's exactly what I want to talk with you about — the heart of worship. So let me start where I love to start, with a glimpse or two from my own life.

A Song That Never Lost Its Power

When I was a teenager, contemporary Christian music was just becoming a thing. It really didn't exist before then. It was raw, mostly pure, and largely made by people who simply loved Jesus and wanted to use their gift for His glory. This was during and just after the great Jesus Movement that started on the West Coast — some of you saw The Jesus Revolution in theaters. Back then the music industry wasn't money-driven or fame-driven. Nobody was trying to chart a song. It was, "Let's just praise Jesus together." And we would gather by the tens of thousands to do it.

There was one artist who became my favorite: Andre Crouch. He had an enormous effect on my walk with God during my teen years. I remember being in my bedroom, just weeping and singing those songs. They touched me so deeply, and I loved to go sing them in church. Many churches around the world still sing his songs today, and you'll find them in contemporary hymn books.

Looking back at his songs is like reading a menu at an award-winning restaurant. To God Be the Glory. Through It All. Bless His Holy Name. Soon and Very Soon. He wrote "The Blood Will Never Lose Its Power" in 1957, when he was just fifteen years old. And in Through It All there's a line I've never forgotten: "If I'd never had a problem, I wouldn't know that God could solve them." We know He can solve them because we've had them — and He has done it. He's helped us.

Here's what stops me. Andre wrote Through It All while he was on tour, going through a personally difficult time. And when he finished writing it and set the pen down, there was a literal earthquake right near the concert venue. But through it all, he learned to trust in Jesus.

Every One of Us Was Given an Instrument

Andre's gift came from God. James 1:17 tells us God is the Father of lights, the giver of every good and perfect gift. Andre didn't even know he had this gift until he was fifteen, in his father's small church in California. His dad had prayed God would give his son the gift of music, and one Sunday during the congregational singing, he simply called him up and said, "Start playing." Andre later said it was like his ears popped open — he suddenly understood the key they were singing in and began to play by ear. That was the beginning of everything.

Now, most people I know who can't play an instrument wish they could. When I look at really good musicians, honestly, it makes me want to quit. Maybe you tried once and gave up — that guitar is still sitting there, strings decades old. But here's the question I want to ask you: what if God touched you and suddenly you could play? Would you use it for His glory?

Because here's the good news for every single one of us. God already gave every one of us an instrument to play — and you can play it. It's your physical body. God has given everybody an opportunity to express worship to Him. In fact, almost all of the original Hebrew words for praise require only the human body. You already have everything you need.

If the People Are Silent, the Stones Will Cry Out

Do you remember Jesus' triumphal entry into Jerusalem, the week before He went to the cross? The Pharisees demanded that He rebuke His followers for praising Him. And Jesus had quite a comeback.

Luke 19:37–40 (NLT) — "When he reached the place where the road started down the Mount of Olives, all of his followers began to shout and sing as they walked along, praising God for all the wonderful miracles they had seen... But he replied, 'If they kept quiet, the stones along the road would burst into cheers!'"

Jesus was saying: someone is going to praise Me. If no human will do it, then something else will. Nature itself will cry out in recognition of My majesty. It's inevitable — He's worthy of it. Creation testifies of God's glory constantly, all around us. But God has given each of us both the opportunity and the ability to glorify Him ourselves.

Andre captured this in another song, the one many people know as If I Were a Tree: if I were a tree, all I could do is lift my arms; if I were a bird, all I could do is sing; if I were the sun, all I could do is shine. But you created me in Your image, to give You the highest praise. I'm not a tree, but I can still lift my arms. I'm not a bird, but I've still got a voice. Our praise is voluntary praise. We do it because we love Him and because He's worthy of it.

So here's my challenge to you today: stop admiring the worshipers around you and become one. Don't be content to let brother so-and-so do it while you watch. God gave you a body — will you offer it back to Him as your instrument this week?

Use Your Whole Body as an Instrument of Worship

Paul makes this remarkably concrete. Romans 6:13 (NLT) — "Do not let any part of your body become an instrument of evil to serve sin... give yourselves completely to God... use your whole body as an instrument to do what is right for the glory of God." And again in Romans 12:1, he urges us to present our bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God, which is our reasonable, logical act of worship.

It is reasonable. It's logical. It makes sense that you should get excited about Jesus. You were sentenced to death, and now you've been given eternal life — not only in this life, but in an eternity of blessing. That's something to get excited about.

But notice where real worship starts. Psalm 45:11 says He is your Lord — worship Him. And Matthew 12:34 — "out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks." True worship doesn't begin in the mouth. It begins in the heart. Your mouth is simply the conveyor belt of your heart. In fact, Proverbs 16:23 tells us the heart of the wise teaches the mouth. Your heart already knows how to worship — it just has to teach your mouth how.

Music, and then there's music

My high school choir director, Joseph Groppuso, used to drill something into us in his Italian accent: "There's music, and then there's music." There's the physical execution of the notes — matching pitch, keeping rhythm, watching the director. And sometimes that's all it was: mechanical, a mess. But then there were moments when what we were doing took on a quality elevated above the mechanics. He lived for those moments. He'd stop us and say, "This time you were making music. Something's happening inside of you." We were no longer singing from our throats. We were singing from our souls.

That's exactly how it is in the house of God. We can sing the songs, execute the stanzas, hit the refrain and the bridge — or we can worship Him from our hearts. My mouth and my heart are meant to be connected.

What God Is Doing While You Praise

The Bible gives us a whole vocabulary for this, and almost every Hebrew word for praise involves the body.

There's yadah — to lift and throw out the hands. This word implies action, not passivity; the Psalms repeatedly call us to lift our hands to the Lord. There's towdah, the sacrifice of praise, thanking God for what He is about to do, before you've seen it. There's zamar, which literally means to touch the strings — music with instruments. And there's shabach, to shout, to commend Him in a loud tone. Psalm 47:1 says shout unto God with the voice of triumph. God does sanction volume — not because He's deaf, and not so He can hear us, but because His majesty is worthy of great and extravagant praise.

Then there's halal, the most common word for praise in Scripture — to shine, to boast, to celebrate, to rave, to be clamorously foolish. It's where we get hallelujah. Boasting and raving about Him until it seems foolish. Now that may sound extreme, until you set it beside Zephaniah 3:17, which shows us what God is doing while we praise: "The Lord your God in your midst... will rejoice over you with gladness... He will rejoice over you with singing."

Most of us picture God like the Lincoln Memorial — a stone figure on a throne, unmoving, just there. But the Lord in your midst is rejoicing. He's celebrating. He's singing over you. One version explains the Hebrew sense this way: God is shouting so loud over us, because He loves us, that if we could hear it, we'd almost be embarrassed for Him. When it comes out of our true heart, it's never too much down here — and it's never too much up there either.

But there's one word that infers the opposite: barak — to kneel, to bless, to be still and reverent before Him. There are holy moments when words would only destroy the communication. We've had times where the presence of God was so strong that no one dared make a sound. Even as the pastor, I didn't dare interrupt the Holy Spirit. Silence, too, is worship.

The Highest Praise — and the God Who Is Waiting

The highest level of praise in Hebrew is tehillah — the high praises of God in your mouth. Psalm 33:1 says this praise is beautiful, comely, on the upright. And Psalm 40:3 says, "praise waits for You, O God, in Zion."

That verse has stayed with me, because in my experience it's usually God who is waiting for us. He's ready. He's so ready to take us higher, to change us, to make a difference. He inhabits the praises of His people — He pounces like a lion, ready to move. The real question is never whether He's ready. He's ready. Am I ready? Are you ready? Are we ready?

If we would just come prepared — already percolating, thanksgiving and praise already stirred in us, the fire hydrant about ready to explode — and walk in together saying, "Lord, come, because we're ready." That's when heaven meets us.

And let me say this plainly, because Scripture says it plainly. Isaiah 29:13 — "this people draw near me with their mouth, and with their lips do honour me; but have removed their heart far from me." If you find yourself there — going through the motions, sensing that it's hollow — don't wait for anyone to notice. Come to the altar, or get on your knees at home, and do business with God. Whatever has gotten in the way, whatever has cut the line of connection, get reconnected. And He will draw near to you.

The Father is actively seeking true worshipers. John 4:23 — "the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeketh such to worship him." Let that be me. Let that be us.

We'll dwell more on worship next time, because worship isn't only musical — it involves your whole life. Anything you were created to do, done with the gifts God gave you and offered unto Him rather than unto people, is worship He receives.

So this week, would you offer Him the instrument He gave you? If this stirred something in you, share it with someone who needs it, or leave a comment below and tell me how God is teaching your heart to worship. Better still, come and be with us this Sunday — and don't just come to sing. Come ready. Because praise is waiting for Him, and He is waiting for you.

Support the Mission

If this message encouraged you, prayerfully consider supporting The Love Church as we continue to share God’s Word and reach our community with the love of Jesus.

Support the Mission

You can also watch the full sermon on our Youtube page below.

https://youtu.be/yy1P96WWCmE