The modern concept of “Praise & Worship” is unbiblical for it equates the concept of worship with music alone. In other words, worship means music. According to this interpretation, wherever there is worship, there must be music (all worship must be music driven). This idea is foreign to the Word of God. Worship refers to the way we acknowledge God’s worth (Psalm 29:1-2; 96:7-8). 1 Chronicles 16:29 states “Give unto the Lord the glory due His name; bring an offering, and come before Him: worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness.” Worship is a spiritual occupation in which we give to God from our hearts the adulation and praise due to Him. The Bible does not teach that music has to accompany worship. Music is only an expression of our inward joy and celebration in the presence of God. Sometimes our joy and adoration is expressed in praise, proclamation, or prostration and not necessarily in music alone. Look at how Jesus disciples worshiped Him:

When Jesus disciples worshipped they clasped His feet and worshipped Him (Matthew 28:9).

Then they worshipped Him and returned to Jerusalem with great joy. And they stayed continually at the temple, praising God (Luke 24:52-53).

And when they climbed into the boat, the wind died down. Then those who were in the boat worshipped Him saying ‘Truly you are the Son of God (Matthew 14:32-33).

There was praise and worship on all these occasions; BUT NO MUSIC. The form of worship is not at all important. Their worship was their acknowledgment and proclamation that Jesus is God. The outward expressions in these cases happened to be joyful praising and physical prostration. In the heavenly worship scenes in the Book of Revelation, the angels and elders worshipped God by SAYING and not by singing (See 4:8; 4:10-11;5:12-13 in NASB, NKJV; only in 5:9 we read they sang.

The sinful woman’s worship (Luke 7:36-39) was wordless. This woman brought a flask of perfume and as Jesus reclined on a couch while eating, she washed His feet with her tears, wiped them with her hair, and kissed them repeatedly. Then she anointed them with the costly perfume. Worship of this woman was without one word! The silence of her worship speaks volumes on worship. She was preoccupied with the person of Christ. Her worship took place at the very feet of Jesus without a word, sermon or music!! She teaches us a very valuable lesson on worship - the best worship may be wordless.

Music can be a very valuable and powerful tool in worship and edification, but it is not essential. We do not see the role of musicians, singers, worship teams, and worship leaders in the descriptions of the life and ministry of the New Testament Church. We do not see these roles in the list of spiritual gifts. The main focus of music in the New Testament is in the context of edification and not worship (Colossians 3:16; I Corinthians 14:26).

Worship in the word of God is not restricted to something which we do on a certain day. It compasses every moment of a believer’s life - Worship is the celebration of God’s supreme worth in such a manner that God’s worthiness becomes the norm and inspiration of human living (Ralph Martin). Our life is to be praise and worship, whether we sing everyday or not. Worship is the sacrifice of self and not just the sacrifice of offerings - I urge you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship (Romans 12:1). Worship means putting our lives on the altar of God. For those in Christ, the only acceptable worship is to offer themselves completely to the Lord. The book of Hebrews reminds us about the sacrifice of praise, of doing good, and of sharing (13:15-16). We may yield all of these sacrifices unto God as individual priests on a continuous basis throughout our lives. Where is music in all this? Let us not learn theology from the popular culture of our day.

Praise is giving thanks to God for who He is by focusing our heart on God. Praise leads us to worship. Praise is a spiritual offering (Hosea 14:2). God is to be praised for all that He is (praising the name of the Lord) and has revealed Himself to be. Praise is also advertising. We are both the product and the advertisement of our faith. There is no limit to the ways in which God may be praised. Why should we connect these concepts always with music? It is not a matter of music.

Today, we see a lot of Praise & Worship Products in Christian bookstores. Advertisements are made for Resources for Praise & Worship. Beware of these fads that rob the church of her glorious mission of sublime worship.