Theological Foundations of Worship (Worship Foundations)

Biblical, Systematic, and Practical Perspectives

Williams, Khalia J., Lamport, Mark A., Ross, Melanie C., Lamport, Mark

• Publisher: Baker Academic
• Year: 2021
• ISBN:
  9781493431083
• Topic: Theology & Religion
• Subtopic: Christian Rituals & Practice

This volume brings together an ecumenical team of scholars to present key theological concepts related to worship to help readers articulate their own theology of worship. Contributors explore the history of theology's impact on worship practices across the Christian tradition, highlighting themes such as creation, pneumatology, sanctification, and mission. The book includes introductions by N.T. Wright and Nicholas Wolterstorff. A forthcoming volume will address the historical foundations of worship.

Part 1: Biblical Practices of Worship

1
Old Testament and Worship

Andrew E. Hill

The Bible records the story of “salvation history,” God’s progressive plan of redemption that culminates in the Christ event: the life, death, burial, resurrection, and ascension of Jesus the Messiah. The ultimate destination of God’s story is worship, the worship by his people Israel (Isa. 43:7), the worship by his church (1 Pet. 2:4–5), and the worship by the nations (Ps. 86:9). Worship is “the human response to God.”1 According to Robert Webber, “worship does God’s story”; that is, worship is a narrative that tells the story of God’s redemptive activity in history.2 The basic plotline of the biblical story may be outlined as follows:

Triune God of the Bible

↓

Creation→ Fall ↓→ ←Judgment→ ←Redemption→ Re-creation

[. . . . . . . . . . . . . . Covenants . . . . . . . . . . . . . .]3

Old Testament Worship and the Primeval Prologue: Genesis 1–11

The early chapters of Genesis portray humanity in a direct relationship with God as Creator. This immediate and ongoing experience of God’s divine Presence emphasizes worship in the form of intimate fellowship with the Creator (cf. Gen. 3:8) and in the form of service to God in priestly management of their garden environment (2:15).4 This human propensity for worship is rooted in the nature of persons created in God’s image (the imago Dei), the image (essence) and likeness (nature) of God (1:26–27).5 Significantly, God’s creation of woman as the fitting complement to man (2:20–24) “completes the preparation of the image of God and emphasizes an equal share in fulfilling God’s will on earth, specifically, worshiping and serving the LORD, ruling and having dominion over the earth, and producing life—not just physical life but eternal and spiritual life.”6 The fall of humanity was both “paradise lost” and “worship lost.” Our ancestral parents were overcome by the temptation to become “like God” (3:5). The mystery of divine testing and an explanation for the probationary experience of humanity in the garden aside, God delights in loving obedience from his human creatures, not forced submission.7 The rest of the biblical narrative tells the story of God’s relentless and gracious pursuit of humanity, to restore the worship we once knew in the intimacy of his divine Presence.

After the fall, humanity responded to God in worship in various ways: presenting tribute offerings (Gen. 4:1–5), calling on the name of the Lord in prayer (4:26), living an obedient life before God (5:22, 24; 6:9), offering sacrifices of thanksgiving (8:20–22); accepting God’s post-flood covenant to fulfill the earlier creation mandates to populate the earth (9:18–19; cf. 1:28). Although the origins of proper worship of God after the fall are unclear, it is likely that God revealed liturgical forms by which reverent awe might be appropriately expressed.8

Two of the worship accounts in Genesis 1–11 are especially instructive for biblically informed worship. The first, the presentation of tribute offerings by Cain and Abel (4:1–5), places emphasis on the heart and attitude of the worshiper, not the type or quality of offering given. As Daniel Block observes, Cain responded in anger to God’s rejection of his offering, not in humility and remorse.9 His anger led to the murder of his brother and lying to God (4:5–9). In retrospect, the New Testament indicates that Abel’s offering was accepted because God deemed him to be righteous (Heb. 11:4).

The second account, the post-flood worship of Noah, also contributes to the biblical understanding of post-fall and post-flood worship. Our basic definition of worship is seen in Noah’s response to God’s deliverance with thanksgiving, symbolized in ritual sacrifice (Gen. 8:20). The mysterious but consistent interplay of God’s work of judgment and redemption is situated in covenant relationship (Gen. 9). A series of God-initiated covenant relationships with humanity will undergird his redemptive story (cf. Gen. 12:1–3). Noah’s altar building and presentation of clean animals as burnt offerings foreshadows one of the core rituals for worshiping God in the patriarchal and Mosaic eras of Israelite history (Gen. 8:20–22; cf. 15:9–11; Exod. 20:24–26).

Old Testament Worship during the Patriarchal Period (2000–1400 BC)

Progressive revelation in the Old Testament (i.e., the gradual self-disclosure of God to his people) implies a progressive understanding and practice of worship as well. The variety of terms for worship used in the Old Testament reveal the multifaceted character of Hebrew worship and indirectly speak to its developmental aspects.10

The developmental nature of Hebrew worship is also evidenced at times in the worship responses of the patriarchs to specific events of divine revelation. For instance, altar building was a key element of patriarchal worship. These altars often marked site-specific places of theophanies and were associated with acts of ritual sacrifice and prayer (Gen. 12:8; 26:25; 35:7; cf. Exod. 20:24–26). In addition, altar building sometimes precipitated a change in place name as a result of divine intervention and a dramatic word from God (e.g., “Adonay-Yireh [The LORD Will Provide],” Gen. 22:14; El-Bethel, [“God of Bethel”], 35:7). The numerous names ascribed to God through the biblical narrative were another way the Hebrew patriarchs and matriarchs came to know the character, attributes, personality, and purposes of their God.11

The worship by Abram and Sarai was divinely initiated: their worship of God occurred as he revealed who he is in word and deed. And that worship was divinely motivated: their worship was the human response to divine self-disclosure (notably in theophany). We learn that “the LORD said to Abram, ‘Leave’” (Gen. 12:1), and “Abram left” (12:4). His response of obedience was an act of worship, another illustration of the basic definition of worship selected to frame this study.12

During this era significant developments in worship include covenant-renewal ceremonies (Gen. 15:8–21; 35:11–15); the rite of circumcision as a sign of covenant obedience (17:9–14); prayer (praise and thanksgiving, 12:8; 13:4); intercession (18:22–23) and petition (24:12); altar building (e.g., 12:7, 8; 13:18; 22:9); the setting up of stone pillars and pouring of libations as a drink offering (28:18, 22; 35:14); taking of vows (31:13); sacrificial offerings of animals and foodstuffs (31:54; 46:1); pilgrimage to sites of theophany (35:1); tithing and a cultic meal of bread and wine (14:17–24).

The Joseph story supplies a definition of divine providence: God’s overruling for good (Gen. 50:20). This theological truth will inform the prayers of God’s faithful, especially prayers of lament, petition, and intercession in times of crisis (cf. Pss. 33:18–22; 44:23–26 [24–27 MT]; 73; Lam. 3:19–27; Hab. 3:1–19).

Abram’s encounter with Melchizedek, the priest and king of Salem, is an important episode in God’s redemptive story (Gen. 14:17–20). Abram and Melchizedek have the “Most High God” in common. He blesses Abram, suggesting his own primacy. The psalmist references the priesthood of Melchizedek in the context of Davidic kingship. On the basis of the Melchizedek story, the book of Hebrews develops the theology of the greater priesthood of Jesus the Messiah (Heb. 4:14–5:10; 7:1–28). Ralph Martin observes that “at this early offering of thankful worship to Yahweh, the basic elements of Israel’s worship form were present. From [Israel’s] nomadic beginnings, [its] worship included theophanies, promises of the land, the practice of marking important places with an altar, the figure of a high priest, and a cultic celebration using bread and wine.”13

The story of Abraham’s “binding” of Isaac (Gen. 22) is an example of the interface of culture and revelation. The mystery of testing and providing in God’s redemptive dealings with fallen humanity, including the introduction of the divine name Adonay-Yireh, “The LORD Will Provide,” is emphasized (v. 14). The story dramatizes a theological truth by means of an object lesson and teaches that the ultimate purpose in worship is the glory of God. The memorializing of a foundational theological principle through story, in this case God’s disapproval of human sacrifice, affirms the principle of “substitution” in sacrificial worship (cf. Lev. 18:21; Deut. 12:31; 18:10).

Old Testament Worship during the Mosaic Period (1400–1000 BC)

The miraculous deliverance from ...