"The woman said to him: Our fathers worshiped on this mountain, and you say that in Jerusalem it is the place to worship." Jesus said to her: "Woman, believe me, the time is coming when neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem will you worship the Father. You worship what you do not know, we worship what we know, for salvation comes from the Jews, but the hour comes, and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and in truth, because the Father also worships he seeks to be worshiped, God is a Spirit, and those who worship him, in spirit and in truth, must worship. "souce
What is adoration?:
Worshiping God is the most noble, high and important activity that human beings can perform. We were created for that, and when man sinned thus breaking his relationship with God, he sent his own Son to redeem us so that we could be true worshipers again. This is what Jesus wanted to convey to the woman when he said: "the Father such worshipers seek to be worshiped". So important is the theme, that worship will be our main activity for all eternity. We can see it often in the book of Revelation, where all celestial beings worship God without ceasing.
"And the four living creatures had each one six wings, and around and within were full of eyes, and they did not cease day and night to say: Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty, who was, who is, and he that shall come, and whenever those living beings give glory and honor and thanksgiving to him who sits on the throne, to him who lives for ever and ever, the twenty-four elders fall down before him who sits on the throne, and they worship the one who lives for ever and ever, and cast their crowns before the throne, saying: Lord, you are worthy to receive the glory and the honor and the power, because you created all things, and for your sake will exist and were created. "source
Well, when we ask ourselves what adoration is, we find that, as is usual in the Bible, it does not offer us any definition, but rather its way of teaching us is showing us numerous examples of people who worshiped God in order that Through them we can learn how we should do it.
Thus, the first thing we observe in the Scriptures is that a worshiper is someone who has a personal relationship with God that he loves intensely. Let's notice, for example, how King David began Psalm 18 expressing his love for God: "I love you, O Jehovah," and immediately invoked him because he recognized that "he is worthy to be praised" (Ps 18: 1-3). As it can not be otherwise, it is our love of God that leads us to adore him. Although, of course, this love is a poor response to the great love we have received from him (1 Jn 4:10). Therefore, if worship does not arise as a genuine response to our love for God, everything we do will be nothing more than simple, cold, dry religious rites, lacking in meaning, and in no way pleasing to God.
Now, we all know that true love of God implies absolute surrender. The Lord taught us that to love him we must do it with all our heart, with all our soul and with all our mind (Mt 22:37). Thus, genuine worship implies the surrender of all that we are as an offering of love. We can find a good illustration of this in the sacrifice of the burnt offerings that were made in the Old Testament. The peculiarity of this type of offering was that the animal offered itself completely to the Lord in a pleasing odor, unlike the other sacrifices in which different parts were reserved for the priests or the offerer (Lev. 3: 1-9). So, we could say that adoration is an "all-burnt offering", where the worshiper does not keep anything for himself, but surrenders himself unconditionally to God, devoting his whole life to him. It seems that the apostle Paul had this kind of sacrifice in mind when he exhorted the Christians in Rome:
"So, brothers, I beg you for the mercies of God, that you present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy, pleasing to God, which is your rational worship."source
The role of music in worship:
We have already said that in the Bible we find two main ways of worshiping God: through prayer and also through singing. In the book of Psalms, which we could say that served as a "hymnbook" for the believers of the Old Testament, we find the lyrics of many songs of adoration. By the way, this is the longest book in the Bible, which gives us an idea of the importance that God gives to music.
However, having said this, we must also say that it is a mistake to limit the worship exclusively to singing, because we also find many other occasions throughout the biblical revelation in which different people worshiped God through their prayers.
And on the other hand, not all the songs that we sing are of adoration and praise to God. And although in many circles "praise" is associated with the period dedicated to music, this is not exact. There are hymns in which the theme is confession, or the request for protection, or thanksgiving for some gift received ... but not worship. So, if we seek to worship God with our music, it will be necessary to choose the songs well, paying special attention to their lyrics.
In the first place, in some cultures it is very easy to get carried away by the rhythm of the music without thinking about anything that the lyrics say. In other cases we can hum Christian songs "catchy" without reflecting at any time on its content. Other times music has such "strong" rhythms that it is almost impossible to understand its lyrics. In all these cases, it is not possible to have an experience of intimacy with the Lord that leads us to authentic adoration. We must remember the psalmist's exhortation: "Sing with intelligence" (Ps 47: 7). Because singing or listening to Christian music without paying attention to what is said is not something that we should identify with adoration.
In the second place, and it is very sad to say it, it seems that many times Christians pay more attention to singers than to God himself. They seem to feel for them a fascination similar to what the people of the world have for their musical idols. But the time of worship is not to show ourselves, or the gifts that God has given us, but to direct our eyes toward God. There is always the temptation to turn those gifts and talents into the center of worship, thus usurping the place that legitimately belongs only to the Lord. Christian singers have a great responsibility at this point.
Third, some Christian singers, now known as "the great worshipers," are responsible for the tremendous impoverishment of much of the worship that is offered today to God through music. You only have to see the poverty of his lyrics, which in many cases only consists of simple phrases that are repeated indefinitely. This shortage of terms and concepts in worship has nothing to do with the richness that springs from the Holy Scriptures.
Fourth, there is also the danger of thinking that God is more present in our worship when we have good technical means, be it sound, lighting, choirs, famous singers ... But that is not true. In fact, this can easily lead to arrogance. The prophet Isaiah has left us a beautiful verse that should be remembered in relation to this: "Thus said the High and Sublime, who dwells in eternity, and whose name is the Holy One: I dwell in height and holiness, and with broken and humble in spirit, to live the spirit of the humble, and to revive the hearts of the broken "(Is 57:15). God is not impressed by our super organization, because he is the High and Sublime, the one who inhabits eternity. And his presence in our lives is only guaranteed by a broken and humble heart before him.
