What’s wrong with the following sentences?
“I threw.”
“The boy washed.”
“She picked up.”
What’s wrong is that the verbs are transitive verbs, and require a “direct object.” Those sentences omitted this “object.” The following sentences are correct:
“I threw the ball.”
“The boy washed his bicycle.”
“She picked up the penny.”
Now, what’s wrong with the following sentence?
“Here I am to worship.”
Again, what’s wrong is that “worship” is a transitive verb, and therefore requires an “object.” In this case, the object is God:
“Here I am to worship You.”
This is meaningful, because instead of focusing on the action — worshiping — we should focus on the object — God. Using correct grammar facilitates this right focus.
OK, there are two possible ways we can go from here:
- We can become critical of people and songs that omit the “object” in sentences that require one.
- We can focus on the “object” of our worship, rather than on the act of worshiping.
I’m doing my best to go down path #2.
(FWIW, I love the song “Here I Am to Worship” by Tim Hughes, and find myself quietly adding “You” to the end of that phrase when I sing it in church.)