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This is in response to Allen Diles letter in the Jan. 2001 issue of the Chronicle. He was concerned about the giving of correct  scriptures which address engaging our minds and our actions in worship. I will give what I have found.

Romans 15:6 speaks of glorifying God with one mind and one mouth. I Cor. 14:15 speaks of praying and singing with the spirit with the understanding (spirit is defined as 'breath, or blast').

I Timothy 2:8 says: 'I will that men pray everywhere LIFTING UP HOLY HANDS, without wrath and doubting.' This New Testament  use of raised hands while praying, seems to be a carryover from the  Old Testament. David, in the Psalms ( 28:2, 47:1,6, 63:3,4,  134:2, 143:6 ) says: LIFT UP YOUR HANDS in the sanctuary and bless the Lord. O CLAP YOUR HANDS, all ye people, SHOUT  unto God with the voice of  triumph, sing praises. Because thy loving kindness is better than life, my lips shall praise thee. Thus will I bless thee while I live. I will LIFT UP MY HANDS  in thy name. Psa. 141:1 says: Lord,  I CRY unto thee. Let my prayer be set forth before thee as incense, and the LIFTING UP OF MY HANDS as the evening sacrifice. Isa. 12:5,6,  Psa. 132:9, and 5:11  say to: Let those that put their trust in thee (the saints) rejoice, let them ever SHOUT for joy. Judges 3:9 states  that when the children of Israel CRIED unto the Lord he raised up a deliverer. 

When Solomon prayed he knelt on his knees and  SPREAD HIS HANDS TO HEAVEN ( I Kings 8:22,54). Ezra and the people stood, and LIFTING THEIR HANDS BOWED THEIR HEADS and  answered 'AMEN' with their faces to the ground (Neh. 8:5, Lam. 2:19). People fell down on the ground and worshipped in Job 1:20, and Rev. 4:10.

As can be seen, people in the Old Testament were very outward in their expressions to God. Isa. 12;5,6, Psa. 5:11, Zec. 9:9, and Zep. 3:14 speak of CRYING AND SHOUTING - be glad and rejoice with the heart.  Eph. 5:19 repeats the admonition of the rejoicing being from the HEART: Sing and make music (defined as instrumental) in the HEART. God really seems to enjoy loud worship, for in Psa. 33:2 and 147:7  he says to Praise him with the harp, sing unto him with the psaltery and on an instrument of ten strings.  Sing praise upon the harp unto our God. The 'Alleluias'  and 'Amens' were 'as the voice of mighty thunderings'  in  Rev. 19: 1-7. In Ps. 34:3, and 107:32  they exalted God together saying 'alleluia' for the Lord God omnipotent reigneth and said to: Let us be glad and rejoice and give honor to him.   

David, who wrote the psalms, lived long after the old covenant laws were given to Moses. The outward expression used in worship during the time of, and after David seems not to be mentioned earlier. In  Col. 2:14-17 we find food, drink, festival, new moon and sabbaths as being in the Mosaic laws that were nailed to the cross, but no mention is made of  their method of worship being changed.

Beulah Wall
Oklahoma City, Ok