What Worship Is

An attitude of worship comes upon us when we begin to see God as he is and then respond to his presence. Even in heaven the seraphim who behold God’s glory cry out, “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts, the whole earth is full of his glory” (Is. 6:3). When the disciples saw Jesus walking on the water, and then saw the wind cease when he got into the boat, “those in the boat worshiped him, saying, ‘Truly you are the Son of God’” (Matt. 14:33). The author of Hebrews knows that when we come into the presence of God (Heb. 12:18-24), the proper response is to “offer to God acceptable worship, with reverence and awe; for our God is a consuming fire” (Heb. 12:28-29). Therefore genuine worship is not something that is self-generated or that can be worked up within ourselves. It must rather be the outpouring of our hearts in response to a realization of who God is

-Wayne Grudem, Systematic Theology