What is Worship?

I wish I were full of answers today, but instead I’m full of questions. Yesterday I was struck by the word worship. It is a word I’ve heard and used all my life; “I go to Church to worship.” But suddenly it hit me that I don’t really know what that means.


I looked up the word and my dictionary said, “Reverence offered a divine being or supernatural power; also: an act of expressing such reverence.” The word comes from Old English weorth which means worthy and -scipe a suffix which in English translates into –ship a suffix meaning “state or condition of.” That only gave me more questions. How do I “Reverence God”? Is the state of "worthy" mine or His?

From this etymology of the word I got the feeling that worship is praising God's worthiness. But simply saying words of praise seems to fall short of what my heart tells me is intended.

What all this pondering boils down to is this question: What is the difference between sitting through a Sacrament meeting and worshiping at a Sacrament meeting?

I’ve pondered for hours now and think I’m discovering some important things, but I’d like to hear what you think. Please leave a comment and tell me what you think it means to worship God or how you think we should worship.