Understanding Worship: Biblical Foundations for Delighting in and Feasting on God

by Sam Storms

Step into a deeper understanding of worship with Understanding Worship by pastor and scholar Sam Storms. Storms challenges conventional perceptions of worship, encouraging readers to approach God with a heart ready to receive all his goodness as we find our delight and satisfaction in God's love.

Through compelling biblical examples, Storms demonstrates how worship can lead to a profound experience of freedom and joy as you better

The demon-defeating, heart-healing power of praiseHow to worship without insulting GodThe contrast between new covenant and old covenant worshipThe place of money in worshipA Revelation vision of the throne of GodHow charismatic worship is similar and different from other types of worshipStorms includes several addendums and appendices as well that address tough topics like the wrath of God, the question of spontaneous baptism, and the question of whether Christians and Muslims worship the same God.

368 pages, Paperback

Published September 9, 2025

About the author

(Some early works written as C. Samuel Storms)

Sam has spent 39 years in ministry as a pastor, professor and author. He was visiting Associate Professor of Theology at Wheaton College from 2000-2004, and is currently Lead Pastor for Preaching and Vision at Bridgeway Church in Oklahoma City. He has authored 22 books and founded Enjoying God Ministries. He's a graduate of The University of Oklahoma (B.A.), Dallas Theological Seminary (Th.M) and The University of Texas (Ph.D.). He and his wife Ann have been married for 40 years and are the parents of two grown daughters and have four grandchildren. On a more personal level, Sam loves baseball, books, movies, and anything to do with the Oklahoma Sooners.

Reviews

[Philip Brown · Rating 4 out of 5]

Yea, overall I liked this. It's a welcome addition to Storm's "Understanding..." series that touches on some key aspects of corporate worship that—in my experience—evangelicals in my context of NZ are weak in: Christian Hedonism, the ordinary means of grace, the sacraments (including a Reformed view of the supper etc. etc.), giving. The defense of credo-baptism was good. The word study stuff was real good and worth another look at. I also liked his exploration of worship in the book of Revelation, and his unpacking of the Mount Zion passage in Hebrews 12. Storms is a Charismatic believer, which makes the book a unique contribution to the literature on worship. In my opinion, this aspect of Storm's approach strengthened and weakened the book. It strengthened it in that I think the book could be a real contribution to bridging the gap between Reformed Protestants and Charismatics/Pentecostals. Storms criticises the inadequacies of both groups in a way that I think brought clarity and understanding. I think he defended the best elements of Charismatic worship ably. I like that he interacted with Scott Aniol's interesting critique of Charismatic worship theology at the recent G3 Cessationist conference. It weakened it in that—in my opinion—some aspects of Charismatic worship that are curious and unnecessary (I'm being nice) were defended by Storms. For example, in Chapter 18, Storms responds to an article arguing that we should not use worship songs from theologically questionable churches. Some of his points were fair: It's impossible to completely avoid "supporting" things you don't agree with, at least indirectly. Some of the questionable lyrics are defensible (I think he demonstrated this well in the lyric "You didn't want heaven without us.") Some of the most celebrated Christian theologians and songs have skeletons in the closets, etc. etc. At the same time, I think the article had some good points that aren't so easily dismissed. I didn't think the defence of "Reckless Love" was as persuasive. Giving Bethel's music a pass because their statement of faith is technically orthodox falls into their trap. They are not dangerous because people are consuming their statement of faith. They are dangerous because what they are exporting and promoting goes far beyond what their statement of faith addresses. I'm not convinced by his argument about "spiritual songs" (though I'm open to being persuaded otherwise). I beg to differ with Storms on the regulative principle (though practically speaking I think we'd say a lot of the same things).

All in all, I really enjoyed this. At the very least, readers will come away from it thinking Sunday mornings through a whole lot more, and this would be a win.