What do you think of when you hear the word worship? Perhaps you think of a church service, or music, or your quiet time with the Lord early in the morning. Whatever picture comes to mind, worship does mean something, and we should know what that meaning is. We are commanded to worship, and we were created to worship God alone. Psalm 95:6 says, “O come, let us worship and bow down: Let us kneel before the LORD our maker.” The word worship comes from the Old English word “worthship.” It carries the idea of declaring the worth of something or attributing worth to something. While worship can include many things (like church, music, or devotions), we should know what is essential to worship—what makes worship . . . well . . . worship.
In Nehemiah 12, we find four essential elements to worship. Here, the children of Israel are ready to dedicate the newly rebuilt wall of Jerusalem to God and restart the Temple worship. The revival that had swept through the children of Israel had renewed their desire to do things the right way. Nehemiah 12:27 says, “And at the dedication of the wall of Jerusalem they sought the Levites out of all their places, to bring them to Jerusalem, to keep the dedication with gladness . . .” The Levites were chosen by God to lead the people in worship of Jehovah and that is the reason the children of Israel were now seeking them. For them, worship was an act of obedience that included at least four essential elements that we find in this chapter.
The first element of worship that we find here is purification. “And the priests and the Levites purified themselves, and purified the people, and the gates, and the wall.” (Nehemiah 12:30) Before the worship service could begin, the priests and Levites needed to pursue purification. The Levites first purified themselves, then the people, and then their surroundings. They realized that they were about to enter the presence of a holy God. If you ever wonder what the big deal is about entering God’s presence, just read Leviticus! The Levites were instructed to go through extensive and specific procedures in order to be able to enter God’s presence because He is holy, and we are not. Entering His presence is not to be taken for granted; it is a privilege! Thanks to Christ’s sacrifice on the cross, we as New Testament Christians no longer have to go through the procedures that the Levites did in Leviticus or here in Nehemiah. Christ’s intercession for us makes it possible for us to come before the throne of grace boldly. However, this does not mean that we should flippantly enter His presence. Like the Levites in Nehemiah 12, we must be pure before we can truly worship God. Psalm 24:3-4 says, “Who shall ascend into the hill of the LORD? Or who shall stand in His holy place? He that hath clean hands and a pure heart.” How can we declare God’s worth when we are grasping dirty sin in our hands? How can we attribute worth to our holy God when we are harboring sin in our hearts? First, we must make our hands clean before we can lift them up in praise. We must make our hearts pure before they can be filled with God’s worship. Purification—from sin and self—is an essential element of worship.
Another element that is essential to worship is singing. Nehemiah 12:27 continues, “ . . . to keep the dedication with gladness, both with thanksgivings, and with singing, with cymbals, psalteries, and with harps.” Verse 42 says, “And the singers sang loud.” This chapter mentions several musical instruments, choirs (or companies), and singers. Nehemiah dedicated two choirs for singing praises to God. As verse 31 says, “Then I brought up the princes of Judah upon the wall, and appointed two great companies of them that gave thanks . . .” The psalmist and king David had instituted music and singing as part of the Temple worship and they wanted to reinstitute that part of the worship service. Like the psalmist David, they understood that God created and loves music. The psalms are filled with singing to God in worship. Psalm 95:2 puts thanksgiving and singing in the same context, “Let us come before his presence with thanksgiving, and make a joyful noise unto him with psalms!” Psalm 96:1 says, “O sing unto the LORD a new song: sing unto the Lord, all the earth!” David understood that his voice had been given to him for a reason in Psalm 104:33, “I will sing unto the LORD as long as I live: I will sing praise to my God while I have my being.” Even when Saul was hot on his trail, David worshipped God with song, saying, “But I will sing of thy power; Yea, I will sing aloud of thy mercy in the morning: for thou hast been my defense and refuge in the day of my trouble.” (Psalm 59:16) Again Psalm 100 (often referred to as a thanksgiving psalm) says, “Serve the LORD with gladness: come before his presence with singing.” The Lord gave us our voices so that we could use them to sing praise to Him. The psalms wouldn’t mention singing so often if God didn’t intend for us to actually sing praises to Him. That is what we will be doing for all of eternity, so why not start practicing now! Whether we are doing it corporately in a church service, or alone as we go about our daily business, singing praise to the Lord is an essential element of worship.
This brings us to our third essential element of worship . . . thanksgiving! The choirs that Nehemiah dedicated were called thanksgiving choirs because their sole purpose was to sing praise and thanks to God. Verses 27 and 31 say, “And at the dedication of the wall of Jerusalem they sought the Levites out of all their places, to bring them to Jerusalem, to keep the dedication with gladness, both with thanksgivings, and with singing, with cymbals, psalteries, and with harps. . . . Then I brought up the princes of Judah upon the wall, and appointed two great companies of them that gave thanks . . .” Thanksgiving was a central part of their worship service.
This is a theme throughout the Bible. For example, the psalms are filled with worshipping God through thanksgiving. As the psalmist says in Psalm 50:14-15, “Offer unto God thanksgiving; and pay thy vows unto the most High: and call upon me in the day of trouble: I will deliver thee, and thou shalt glorify me.” Psalm 100:4 says, “Enter into his gates with thanksgiving, and into his courts with praise: Be thankful unto him: and bless his name.” Psalm 106:1, “Praise ye the LORD. O give thanks unto the LORD; for he is good: for his mercy endureth forever.” Psalm 107:1, “O give thanks unto the LORD, for he is good: for his mercy endureth for ever.” So much is contained in those phrases, “for he is good: for his mercy endureth for ever.” There is so much to thank the Lord for—no wonder it took two choirs in Nehemiah 12 to give thanks. Their singing was not tepid or sheepish singing either; it was heartfelt and enthusiastic! As verse 43 says, “for God had made them rejoice with great joy: the wives also and the children rejoiced: so that the joy of Jerusalem was heard even afar off.” The neighbors could hear their songs of thanksgiving, and what others heard could only be described as joy.
That is what our songs of worship should sound like to others as well! We cannot worship (attribute worth to) God without acknowledging all that He has done for us. And we cannot acknowledge all He has done for us without being filled with joy—a joy that overflows in loud songs of thanksgiving. Worship is all about giving God the credit and the glory due His name. Nehemiah and the people recognized from the very beginning that the wall building was God’s work, and it was His glory now that the wall was completed! As it did for them, it only makes sense that thanksgiving is essential if we are attributing worth to (worshipping) God.
The last element of worship that we see in this chapter is giving. “Also that day they offered great sacrifices, and rejoiced: for God had made them rejoice with great joy. . . . And all Israel in the days of Zerubbabel, and in the days of Nehemiah, gave the portions of the singers and the porters, every day his portion: and they sanctified holy things unto the Levites; and the Levites sanctified them unto the children of Aaron.” (Nehemiah 12:43, 47) God had set up a system to provide for His ministers. When the people gave the portions to the singers and the porters and the holy things unto the Levites, they were really giving back to God. Worship is about giving back—giving back the worth, the honor, the glory due God’s name. As the children of Israel were then, we are expected to give to God’s ministers today. And we are to give more than just a tithe in church. Jesus said that when we give of ourselves, our time, and our resources to “the least of these,” we are giving unto Christ himself (Matthew 25:34-40). Giving to others, to brothers and sisters and strangers in need, is an act of worship to God.
From the psalms, we find that giving to God is not so much about money as it is about trusting and surrendering all that we have and all that we are to God. Psalm 4:5 says, “Offer the sacrifices of righteousness, and put your trust in the LORD.” After David had confessed his sin and sought forgiveness and cleansing from the Lord, he concluded in Psalm 51:19, “Then shalt thou be pleased with the sacrifices of righteousness, with the burnt offering and whole burnt offering: then shall they offer bullocks upon thine altar.” God doesn’t want our stuff until He has our selves. Psalm 54:6 says, “I will freely sacrifice unto thee: I will praise thy name, O LORD; for it is good.” The ultimate act of worship is giving ourselves up to God. If God has our selves, He will have everything that comes with us. When we give ourselves, our time, and our resources back to God, we are attributing worth to (worshipping) our God.
Nehemiah 12 gives us a glimpse into what a worship service might look like. Chances are, the worship service at your church looks and sounds very different than the one described in Nehemiah 12. But what can and should remain the same are the essential elements of worship: purification, singing, thanksgiving and giving. With these elements present, we can worship God anytime and anywhere. And we should.