Worship and Praise are NOT the Same Thing.

Worship- 1^st Usage According to Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance

Genesis 22

 1.  And it came to pass after these things, that God did tempt Abraham, and said unto him, Abraham: and he said, Behold, here I am.

 2.  And he said, Take now thy son, thine only son Isaac, whom thou lovest, and get thee into the land of Moriah; and offer him there for a burnt offering upon one of the mountains which I will tell thee of.

 3.  And Abraham rose up early in the morning, and saddled his ass, and took two of his young men with him, and Isaac his son, and clave the wood for the burnt offering, and rose up, and went unto the place of which God had told him.

 4.  Then on the third day Abraham lifted up his eyes, and saw the place afar off.

 5.  And Abraham said unto his young men, Abide ye here with the ass; and I and the lad will go yonder and worship, and come again to you.

 6.  And Abraham took the wood of the burnt offering, and laid it upon Isaac his son; and he took the fire in his hand, and a knife; and they went both of them together.

 7.  And Isaac spake unto Abraham his father, and said, My father: and he said, Here am I, my son. And he said, Behold the fire and the wood: but where is the lamb for a burnt offering?

 8.  And Abraham said, My son, God will provide himself a lamb for a burnt offering: so they went both of them together.

Strong's Ref. # 7812

Romanized  shachah- Pronounced shaw-khaw'

a primitive root; to depress, i.e. prostrate (especially reflexive, in homage to royalty or God):

KJV--bow (self) down, crouch, fall down (flat), humbly beseech, do (make) obeisance, do reverence, make to stoop, worship.

Praise- 1^st Usage According to Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance

Genesis 29:

30.  And he went in also unto Rachel, and he loved also Rachel more than Leah, and served with him yet seven other years.

 31.  And when the Lord saw that Leah was hated, he opened her womb: but Rachel was barren.

 32.  And Leah conceived, and bare a son, and she called his name Reuben: for she said, Surely the Lord hath looked upon my affliction; now therefore my husband will love me.

 33.  And she conceived again, and bare a son; and said, Because the Lord hath heard that I was hated, he hath therefore given me this son also: and she called his name Simeon.

 34.  And she conceived again, and bare a son; and said, Now this time will my husband be joined unto me, because I have born him three sons: therefore was his name called Levi.

 35.  And she conceived again, and bare a son: and she said, Now will I praise the Lord: therefore she called his name Judah; and left bearing.

Strong's Ref. # 3034

Romanized  yadah- Pronounced yaw-daw'

a primitive root; used only as denominative from HSN3027; literally, to use (i.e. hold out) the hand; physically, to throw (a stone, an arrow) at or away; especially to revere or worship (with extended hands); intensively, to bemoan (by wringing the hands):

KJV--cast (out), (make) confess(-ion), praise, shoot, (give) thank(-ful, -s, -sgiving).

In other words- to lift up.  Most scriptures I looked at concerning praise were directly related to singing, and/or playing on musical instruments. 

Worship equals pressing yourself down in the presence of the Lord, while praise is lifting Him up with words, song, dance, music, etc.

Many praise leaders are called worship leaders, but they aren’t necessarily even worshipping for themselves. 

Psm 22: 3.  But thou art holy, O thou that inhabitest the praises of Israel.

Isaiah 29: 13.  Wherefore the Lord said, Forasmuch as this people draw near me with their mouth, and with their lips do honour me, but have removed their heart far from me, and their fear toward me is taught by the precept of men:

Praise without worship!

It is possible to praise God and have His presence come to receive the praise He is due, and still not be obedient to His word, and therefore not be in worship.  His presence does not always equate to His approval.  He promised to be with Israel, and He was! Until He wasn’t.  His promises are yea, and amen, but His promises are also almost always  conditional upon obedience.  This is not salvation by works, but repentance/baptism/receiving the Holy Ghost are not considered a works of righteousness, scripturally.

Titus 3: 5.  Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost; (Read Acts 2:38)

He will yet save Israel, but the current people known as Israel are not obedient to His word.  Many are professing atheists.  At His return, Israel will recognize Him and repent- then they will receive salvation. 

Zechariah 12:

9.  And it shall come to pass in that day, that I will seek to destroy all the nations that come against Jerusalem.

 10.  And I will pour upon the house of David, and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the spirit of grace and of supplications: and they shall look upon me whom they have pierced, and they shall mourn for him, as one mourneth for his only son, and shall be in bitterness for him, as one that is in bitterness for his firstborn.

Zechariah 13: 6.  And one shall say unto him, What are these wounds in thine hands? Then he shall answer, Those with which I was wounded in the house of my friends.

God’s promise to Israel is faithful.  God’s promise to the church is faithful.  But not all of Israel were considered Israel, just as not all of the church are really in the church.

Romans 9:

6.  Not as though the word of God hath taken none effect. For they are not all Israel, which are of Israel:

27.  Esaias also crieth concerning Israel, Though the number of the children of Israel be as the sand of the sea, a remnant shall be saved:

Romans 10:

8.  But what saith it? The word is nigh thee, even in thy mouth, and in thy heart: that is, the word of faith, which we preach;

 9.  That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.

 10.  For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.

 11.  For the scripture saith, Whosoever believeth on him shall not be ashamed.

 12.  For there is no difference between the Jew and the Greek: for the same Lord over all is rich unto all that call upon him.

 13.  For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.

This is where most preachers stop.  Just believe and call on his name…but the scripture doesn’t stop there.

 14.  How then shall they call on him in whom they have not believed? and how shall they believe in him of whom they have not heard? and how shall they hear without a preacher?

 15.  And how shall they preach, except they be sent? as it is written, How beautiful are the feet of them that preach the gospel of peace, and bring glad tidings of good things!

 16.  But they have not all obeyed the gospel. For Esaias saith, Lord, who hath believed our report?

 17.  So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.

There is an obedience to the gospel that most don’t even know about.  What obedience?  If the gospel is the good news, isn’t obedience just believing the good news?  

Remember Titus 3 5.  Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost; 

If you're walking in rebellion to the word, your praise won’t save you.   All of Israel experienced God’s presence while walking in the desert 40 years, but all of that generation died in the wilderness, not obeying, not living by faith. Imagine- seeing the might works of God in your midst, and still being in rebellion!  Imagine, God saying that those who lived in the shadow of His might and watched miracle after miracle were disobedient by doubting Him and not believing His promises!  Imagine that today!  Now stop just imagining.  That is reality today.

Living by faith means walking in obedience, not hope alone.  Faith without works is dead.  Walking by faith is obeying the lord in the face of adversity and an unbelieving world.  Living in hope that believing will be good enough… well the devils believed in one God…and trembled.

James 2:

19.  Thou believest that there is one God; thou doest well: the devils also believe, and tremble.

 20.  But wilt thou know, O vain man, that faith without works is dead?

Praise is good and scriptural, but it is NOT the same as worship.  True worship will always bring you to praise.  Praise too often takes the place of worship in the believers life, and becomes a trap and a deception.  If you aren’t walking in obedience, your heart is far from Him, no matter how loud you sing, or how close He feels to you. 

Remember Israel.