The Bible exhorts us to “worship the One who made the heaven and the earth and sea and fountains of waters.”—Deuteronomy 4:24; Revelation 14:7.
WORSHIP
- Insight on the Scriptures, Volume 2 pp 1200-1202
One of the Hebrew words conveying the idea of worship (ʽa·vadhʹ) basically means “serve.” (Ge 14:4; 15:13; 29:15) Serving or worshiping Jehovah required obedience to all of his commands, doing his will as a person exclusively devoted to him. (Ex 19:5; De 30:15-20; Jos 24:14, 15) Therefore, for an individual to engage in any ritual or act of devotion toward any other gods signified his abandoning true worship.—De 11:13-17; Jg 3:6, 7.
Another Hebrew term that can denote worship is hish·ta·chawahʹ, which primarily means “bow down” (Ge 18:2), or do obeisance. (See OBEISANCE.) Whereas such bowing could at times simply be an act of respect or of courteous regard toward another person (Ge 19:1, 2; 33:1-6; 37:9, 10), it could also be an expression of worship, indicating one’s reverence and gratitude to God and submission to his will. When used with reference to the true God or false deities, the word hish·ta·chawahʹ is at times associated with sacrifice and prayer. (Ge 22:5-7; 24:26, 27; Isa 44:17) This would indicate that it was common to bow down when praying or offering sacrifice.—See PRAYER.
The Hebrew root sa·ghadhʹ (Isa 44:15, 17, 19; 46:6) basically signifies “prostrate oneself.” The Aramaic equivalent is usually associated with worship (Da 3:5-7, 10-15, 18, 28), but it is used at Daniel 2:46 to refer to King Nebuchadnezzar’s paying homage to Daniel, prostrating himself before the prophet.
As a father, I never required my children to worship me. I just wanted honor and respect. They never needed to thank me for every meal, clothing that I purchased for them, taking/picking them up from school and doctor visits, paying for their first automobile or their college tuition. They were never made to get on their knees and beg for forgiveness. Punishment was never used to make them see their wrongs, control them or instill fear.
Why does God need to be worshipped?