the 7 hebrew words for worship

Having led worship in a number of different denominations and settings, it's fascinating how different the expressions can be. 

One of the things that has really helped me understand this is having a framework for why we do things the way we do. The 7 Hebrew words for worship are found in the Old Testament. These words describe all the different expressions and moments that we still see and experience in times of worship today. Not modern adaptations, but Biblical practices still being outworked. It’s brought clarity where we’ve been misunderstood as being over-emotional or too serious and equally brought challenge to the way I think through the times of worship that I help lead and am a part of.

Halel: The word Hallelujah comes from this. It means to boast, to rave about, to be clamorously foolish about, to celebrate.

As worship leaders, it is Biblical and an important discipline for us to release celebration. This is not emotional hype, but a reminder for us that it is necessary for us to enjoy and boast in the goodness of God.

Yadah: To hold out the hand (praise thankful, thanksgiving)

Physical posture is Biblical in our worship. Again, it is not just an emotional response or a personality preference but a Biblical principle. It is important to practice gratitude not just internally, but physically.

Towdah: An extension of the hand in adoration, avowal, or acceptance. Thanking God for something not yet received. 

This is a way that we can lead ourselves in worship when I don’t feel like it. Choosing to raise our hands & surrender. Acknowledging that He is God and we are not, even when we don't fully understand what's going on in our lives.

Shabach: to shout, to address in a loud tone, to command, to triumph

Sometimes we need to get loud! When Jesus arrived in Jerusalem on Palm Sunday, people were shouting; “Hosanna”, “Blessed is the King who comes” at the top of their lungs! They announced him. Prayer and praise is so connected to our bodies. Just as you would use you voice to warn someone of danger, there is a time to use that intensity in our prayer and praise.

Barak: to kneel down, to bless God as an act of adoration, giving conscious place to God

This is why sometimes we see people kneeling down or lying facedown on the ground. The Catholic church really grasps this; utter reverence before Almighty God.

Zamar: To make music in praise of God. 

There is a significance in using music to connect with God. Music has the wonderful ability to communicate something words cannot. To connect us to God on a deeper level. This is why we feel passionate about musical worship. Yes, worship is the whole of our lives but music has huge importance in the way we express it.

Tehillah: Perceived to involve music, especially singing; hymns of the Spirit. Unprepared, unrehearsed.

Something we love to make space for in our times of worship is this; hymns of the Spirit. Where we allow the work of the Holy Spirit to overflow in us and create. It’s messy and beautiful and some of our most precious and honest times of worship have come from these moments. It’s also where the Spirit has birthed new songs for us as a church.

Reflection: do we make space for all these different expressions or are we led by cultural/social preference?

Luke’s Story

I grew up in a musical home, in Norwich, with both parents as professional musicians - so music has always been in my life. I began learning violin at the age of 5 and remember enjoying the ability to create sound and doing something creative with others (mainly my Dad) at that point. Although I enjoyed the violin, at the age of 12 my imagination was caught by the guitar and there was no turning back! I began lessons with a brilliant teacher and from then on the guitar was really my main passion. 

Around this time my parents made the bold decision to move churches in order to help me engage in a thriving youth ministry - something for which I’m so grateful. I remember having a great youth leader who would take me out to McDonald’s for chats and read the Bible with me. Looking back, this was a foundational time for me in my faith and led to me getting baptised at 15. After this, I began to get involved in the worship team at church. I loved seeing people engage in worship whilst also slightly feeling like my jazz guitar lessons weren’t fully useful!! I’ve heard it said that in jazz you play 100 chords to 4 people and in worship you play 4 chords to 100 people!

This continued and when I switched schools for sixth form I met a brilliant music teacher, David Fitzgerald, who knew I was preparing to study music further in London. He was also a Christian. He told me to go to Holy Trinity Brompton when I arrived in London and that he’d connect me with one of the worship pastors there, Dave Clifton, who he knew.

As soon as I stepped into HTB I knew I was in the right place at the right time. The place was alive in the Spirit, something was happening, you could sense the presence of Jesus. I got involved in the worship team and just loved everything it all. One week at the Students group the worship leader had dropped out and someone mentioned to the leader that I played the guitar - so despite my best efforts to politely decline, I got roped in. The rest is history!

The thing is, I’d never sung much before and this was the most daunting thing to me, leading a whole room with my voice. I quickly signed up for some vocal coaching from an amazing singer and coach who attended HTB too, Marion King, who helped me unlock some kind of volume and tone! Enough to get going, anyway and from there, I put in the work to enable how I felt the Lord was calling me to lead others. From then on, I was just leading worship so much, perhaps 2 or 3 times a week in various settings; Students, Prayer meetings, Alpha, Sunday church. This was my training ground.

For me the big shift was from using music, through jazz, to express myself to then using music to help others express themselves and their worship to God. This blew my mind. That I could use the music I played to help people encounter Jesus!! I loved the responsibility and honour to be able to set the table like this, finally, I felt like my musical gifting had a greater purpose than for just a select few.  At this point, I also began writing songs - I just couldn’t help myself! Pouring out my worship in my bedroom.

Through HTB, Alpha and later on Worship Central, I had the immense privilege of travelling all over the world leading worship at various churches and conferences. I loved it. Seeing people meet with God through the gift of worship and music was so special. It’s all I wanted to do and quite quickly I knew this was what I was made for.

Throughout this time I was receiving some incredible coaching from my student pastor Jamie Haith who was a worship leader himself, Al Gordon who was leading the new wave of worship in the younger generation and then Tim Hughes as he joined HTB as Director of Worship. Al and Tim really took me under their wing and taught me so much as I co-led with them and basically followed them everywhere and anywhere! 

I remember having a few meetings with the Head of Faculty at Music College where he suggested I was spending too much time at church or on church trips and not enough time practising. Tricky as those conversations were, I knew the desire to pursue jazz was just not there anymore and that this was what I was made for. But my Mum (and Tim!) wisely said I needed to see my degree through. As soon as I had completed my Bachelor of Arts (Hons) music degree I joined the staff at HTB in September 2008 as a worship pastor, helping to lead the worship team as we grew as a church. I saw a real shift in worship during my time there. It was a joy to be a part of all the life that God was releasing through worship.

Rewinding a little, it was during this period at HTB that I met Anna. We were both students and on fire in our faith. Anna and I got married in November 2008. She was still in the throes of her musical theatre career but towards that coming to an end, she got more involved with leading worship and we began to co-lead together which was fun!

2008 to 2013 was a huge adventure, particularly seeing the launch of Worship Central - the vision to see every local church set on fire with the worship of Jesus. I got to travel loads and experience worship in different contexts and cultures, starting an Academy to equip the next generation of worship leaders, learning how to write songs better, releasing ‘Spirit Break Out’ into the world, helping to lead and grow the worship team of an expanding large city centre church. It was an incredible time.

In 2014 Anna & I took a step of faith, knowing that our time at HTB was coming to an end, and joined the planting team to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. We were asked to set the course and vision for worship and although we were excited and fully bought in, we also knew this wasn’t a long-term calling for us, so we invited a Worship Central Academy graduate, Stew McIlrath, and his wife Abi to join us and lead it into the future. This was such a fun experience and we learnt a lot of different skills and ways of leading that were new. Throughout our 7 months there, we met and trained lots of worship leaders across South-East Asia. And of course… ate loads of amazing food!

During this time we were journeying with Tim & Rachel Hughes about the long-term plan and through some prayer and discernment knew that Gas Street Church in Birmingham was next! We’ve been based here since 2015 and have loved it! In the start-up phase, Anna was leading the charge, building the team from scratch and setting the foundations for all that has been. I then took on the baton from her in 2019, helping to not screw up what she’d set in motion! Since then, we have grown to 3 locations and planted a few churches too. We’ve always felt the desire to help resource the broader church with our music and in 2020 we launched Gas Street Music which I get to steer.

The truth is I wouldn’t be doing what I am today without leaders ahead of me having invested in me, creating space for me to make mistakes, ask questions, stretch and learn. I feel this innate responsibility to carry on this lineage, to help in the raising up and growth of worship pastors. Never has there been a more important time for worship to be released on the earth and for that we need good leaders.

Anna’s Story

Growing up in Dublin, my first experience of leading worship was in a Catholic context. My parents are Catholic, Spirit-filled Christians and raised us in the same light - attending Mass every Sunday and whichever local youth group (of any denomination) where the Spirit was moving. I had an incredible youth leader and a strong group of Christian friends. It was a rich time of life.

Moving to London to pursue a career in dance and Musical Theatre at the age of 18, I ended up going along to do Alpha at Holy Trinity Brompton. I’d visited HTB before with my Dad one summer. I needed to figure out my faith again. A friend of a friend had recently committed suicide and it left me questioning so much. I also found leaving home behind and moving culture really hard and lonely. So, I needed to know if this was all real or not. I didn’t want to waste any more time if it wasn’t. 

I met Luke in my first Alpha group. He was being trained up as a worship leader and also helping in the Students group. His job was to sit quietly and pray whilst the group was going on (which I didn’t know) so I thought he was just arrogant and a know-it-all! Although I found him really compelling. They nicknamed me the ‘feisty Irish’. As far as I was concerned, I had nothing to lose and I didn’t know these people so the gloves were off. I had to figure out this faith thing. 

After Alpha finished, I joined the Students group where Luke was really involved. We had the most incredible Student pastors who steered through what I can only describe as a deeply formative and precious season. Holding us close and letting us go simultaneously, stunning leadership.

A while later I signed up to join the worship team as a BV. Tim Hughes and Al Gordon were worship pastors at the time.

Fast forward the dating story (!) fresh out of college and university Luke and I got married. I had finished training and started working in the Musical Theatre industry. Alongside work, I got involved singing BVs with Worship Central. We did some UK tours and training events and recorded songs. It was a golden time of watching, learning and cultivating an understanding for what God was doing in the Church around the UK and the world. 

Age 23, I felt the pull to lead worship so I learned guitar, in order to be able to get more experience through leading in loads of contexts, and gave it a shot! It was awkward for me as Luke was already going for it and I did not want to be that token wife. After my first time co-leading with another female leader at a prayer event I cried and vowed I would NEVER do that again - it was awful.

The next step after that was leading every week at our small group that we ran. I still think this is the best worship leader training ground. There’s nowhere to hide! I remember another worship leader telling me, if you can lead a room of 10 people well, then the rest is easy. I agree with her! 

Soon enough Luke and I began to co-lead on Sundays. By this point, I felt like I was on a fast track for worship leading. Every week, twice a week, Luke would give me detailed feedback. He’s the king of feedback. I was really used to getting feedback from the MT industry so it was brilliant for me and it meant I grew so quickly. Being at HTB who are second to none at developing leaders and church planting, I was in a greenhouse for leadership development. 

At the end of 2012/early 2013 (exactly 10 years ago!) my Musical Theatre career ended, painfully. Another story for another time perhaps. 

At that point, I was so heart broken. I had poured so much into it, left home in pursuit of it and it was done. Just like that. I reached out everywhere I could, looking for wisdom and direction. Among other things, a trusted friend gave me a prophetic word that God was trying to put something in my hands and it was necessary for me to fully let go of what was already in them to receive it. Amidst the pain of my dashed dreams, I heard it and pondered it, not yet knowing quite what it all meant. 

Luke & I continued to lead together and Tim opened up some opportunities for me to join in with some bits of teaching and training with Worship Central. He was always so encouraging. After a few months, he invited me to join the staff at HTB as a worship leader. He knew there was something more in us leading together and I’ve always been grateful for the way he makes bold, prophetic faith steps towards what he senses God doing. He also took real care in creating space for both of us, separately and as a couple. Luke had recently written Spirit Break Out which was taking off around the world and it could have been easy for me to feel side-lined but Tim held a space for us where I always felt seen and valued. 

We travelled and connected with loads of different people across the UK and the world. We heard all the good, the bad and the ugly! We spent time with other worship leaders, encouraging one another, imparting to one another and cheering each other on. I’m still bowled over by how the Lord moved powerfully in that space. Some of our deepest connections happened in that time. What I realise now is that all this time, God was building a clearer picture and a passion for the worship life of the broader Church deep within us. 

Fast forward to 2014, Luke and I were invited to spend 7 months in Malaysia helping with the church plant of HTBB, Kuala Lumpur. The vision was for it to be a training hub for Alpha and Worship Central as well as starting the church from scratch. Whilst there, we travelled around SE Asia running training events and gathering worship leaders as well as raising up our own team alongside Stewart and Abi McIlrath (phenomenal leaders now at HTB). It was during this time that we were discerning what was next and felt God speak clearly about moving to Birmingham to be worship pastors at a new church plant, Gas St under Tim & Rachel Hughes.

In August 2015, we moved to Birmingham! Starting from scratch at Gas St, with me as worship pastor and Luke running Worship Central with Tim. We knew it was a crucial moment. It was prophesied that we would be a church that was “woven in worship”. So we dug deep. Using all the fuel of the conversations and miraculous God encounters we’d been part of, the training and experiences we’d had, reading book after book on building culture, team building and pouring it all into the pot.

I spent 4 years pouring my heart and soul into building something that I knew would far outrun me. Loving every minute. It wasn’t without its challenges but I learned along the way, that that’s part of the deal and how we navigate challenges is formative.

In 2019 we started a family. After 9 months after the arrival of our baby I felt a strong conviction, after some journeying, to focus my time & energy on those crucial years of our children and our home life. I also knew that after 4 years, our team and our church was ready for a new level. Someone once had a picture of Luke and I running a race together and in different seasons, one of us would take the lead - I knew it was one of those changeover moments. I continued leading worship and overseeing the worship life of our church but with Luke in the driver’s seat. It honestly brings me so much joy to watch him steer. 

Coming through (actually, still in) the intensive season of leading small children, which is hands down THE best leadership training program I’ve ever been in (sorry HTB), I feel like I’m a version 2.0 of myself. I feel like I’m uncovering hidden depths and experiencing the glory in the dirt on a whole new level. I’m, more than ever, ready to step in and crack open the conversation around real life worship. So many of our friends are key worship leaders and incredible thinkers in this area and we’re always talking about it. Yet we realise that’s not the case for everyone. It seems like a no brainer to open up this conversation. It’s so easy to feel discouraged and isolated in this position and we can’t let that happen on our watch.