“Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom, teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord. And whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through Him.” – Colossians 3:16-17
Worship is discipline and you are called to be disciplined in worshiping the true and living God. Have you thought of worship, or understood worship in this way before? This is another glorious part of the disciplined Christian life. If you think about it, as all of life is discipline, as all of life involves the collage of ways that God is teaching, molding, shaping, and growing you as a disciple of Christ, worship isn’t outside of His discipleship of you. Regardless of whether you’re talking about private (secret), family, or corporate worship (WCF 21.6), they’re all integral parts of it.
As you think more about worship being part of God’s discipleship of His people, what is true?
- God begins with worship in your heart- Your covenant Lord desires your prayers, study and praise in private, daily devotion. (Daniel 9:3-4, Matthew 6:16-18) You know all too well that it takes self-discipline to be regular in doing so. Don’t neglect this! For you’ll feel the consequences of neglect. And yet, God graciously blesses you with teaching and growth in grace in your relationship with and service to Him as you seek to be faithful. Persevere in private worship!
- God continues with worship in your home- As it’s important for you to be disciplined in private worship, this is also true for your family during the week. (Deuteronomy 6:6-7, Jeremiah 10:25) Children being fed and led, fathers leading their families in calling upon the name of the Lord is wonderful and needed for many reasons. Be disciplined in having family worship as it’s pleasing to God. It’s good and helpful in spiritual knowledge and skill building and battle readiness. It’s also good and helpful practice and preparation for corporate worship.
See and praise God for the encompassing work of worship throughout life for God’s people: Individual devotion, family worship, and worshiping families gathering together to worship together on the Lord’s Day. This is awesome, God-centered, Christ-centered living, isn’t it?
Further, consider two principles that are active in much of Reformed corporate worship are worth your learning:
- Reformed worship is conducted in accordance with Scripture- Scripture is both the rule of your faith and life, as well as worship. Know that the Bible regulates worship prescriptively, not merely proscriptively. Thus, whatever is not commanded in Scripture is forbidden as an ordinance of worship (WCF 21:1; WLC 108-109; WSC 50-51). Worship that is according to Scripture is worship that is founded on and fully consistent with the principles and ordinances of worship appointed in God’s Word. This principle is often called the Regulative Principle of Worship.
- Reformed worship is also covenantal- Worship is covenantal communion with God in His public ordinances. When we gather for worship, God meets with us and communes with us, and we with Him in a manner that expresses and nurtures the covenant-communion bond that unites us in loving fellowship. Accordingly, in the service of worship, there is a dialogue between God and his people. This principle is often called the Dialogical Principle of Worship. The OPC Directory for the Public Worship of God explains this principle this way: “Because a service of public worship is in its essence a meeting of the triune God with his chosen people, a worship service consists of two principal parts: those elements which are performed on behalf of God (through a representative voice) and those elements which are performed by the congregation (through their own or a representative voice). a. By his Spirit working through the ministry of the Word, God addresses his people in the call to worship, in the salutation and benediction, in the reading and preaching of the Word, and in the sacraments. b. His people, enabled by the Holy Spirit, address God in prayer, in song, in offerings, in hearing the Word, in confession, and in receiving and partaking of the sacraments.” (DPW I.C.1)
Though there are many other things that are true of Reformed worship, the biblical and covenantal nature of worship is essential in worshiping God from the heart, in the ways He commands, as well as your training as worship is regulated by the Word and the Spirit is working in and through the ministry of the Word and sacraments in your heart and life.
Therefore, this only adds to the necessity of your duty in being faithful, being disciplined to attend and participate in corporate worship each Lord’s Day, unless providentially hindered. Do you see this? Never forget the word of your covenant Lord to you through the writer to the Hebrews in Hebrews 10:24-25 regarding this, “And let us consider one another in order to stir up love and good works, not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as is the manner of some, but exhorting one another, and so much the more as you see the Day approaching.”
Not only is it the will of your King Jesus to assemble with the brethren to hear and join in the Gospel ordinances of the worship of God, but also for you to engage in mutual exhortation and edification. For indeed, the communion of saints is a great help and privilege. It’s a good means to aid steadiness and perseverance. It’s a divinely ordained means of teaching and admonishing one another, encouraging and stirring one another up as hearts and hands are mutually strengthened and mobilized.
Children, this is for you too. You’re not just along for the ride to church. You’re not just coming to church to see, play with, or hang out with your friends. That’s a great thing to look forward to, but importantly, you’re called to assemble and worship your God in spirit and truth with your family as well. Therefore, this discipline of heart and walk isn’t just for your parents. It’s for you too. Don’t resist it. Don’t gripe or complain but embrace it, praise your Lord Jesus with joy. Pray that God would work in you to prepare for and delight in worshiping Him with His people.
The Westminster Confession of Faith, Chapter 21.8, encourages you in such diligent preparation: “This Sabbath is then kept holy unto the Lord, when men, after a due preparing of their hearts, and ordering of their common affairs beforehand, do not only observe an holy rest, all the day, from their own works, words, and thoughts about their worldly employments and recreations, but also are taken up, the whole time, in the public and private exercises of his worship, and in the duties of necessity and mercy.”
Beloved, I pray this stirs your thoughts, deepens your understanding, and moves you to further study of God’s worship and your need to be disciplined in your faithful participation in it. Change is often hard. So is perseverance in obedience. And yet, what the living God calls you to do, He will equip you and move you to do for His glory and your good. Praise Him!