Worship should be done in a way that pleases God on the basis of his revealed will in Holy Scripture.

Worship is glorifying God and enjoying him. Christians worship God because God created men (male and female) to worship Him. “Worship is the center of our existence, at the heart of our reason for being”(Old, 2002). In worship God’s people come together to meet with God and to give glory to His name. Public worship (as opposed to private and family worship) is corporate. The great distinctive of the Reformed approach to public worship is that it aims for the form and substance of corporate worship to be suffused with Scripture and scriptural theology. An apt motto for this approach is: “Read the Bible, Preach the Bible, Sing the Bible, See the Bible” (Duncan, 2005).

As the Bible teaches that the Sabbath is holy, it follows that worship is a holy activity, set apart from the rest of the activities of life. God has given mankind a holy time: one day a week for worship and rest. The Reformed liturgical calendar is weekly, not seasonal. Every Sunday is Resurrection Sunday!

The Regulative Principle
What is the acceptable way of worshiping the only true God? “The acceptable way of worshipping the true God is instituted by himself, and so
limited by his own revealed will, that he may not be worshipped according to
the imaginations and devices of men,…or any other way not prescribed in Holy
Scripture” (Westminster Confession of Faith, 21.1). This is the Regulative Principle.

Worship should be done in a way that pleases God on the basis of his revealed will in Holy Scripture. There are two ways of offering false worship: (1) Worshiping a false god (1st Commandment), and (2) worshiping God in a false way (2nd Commandment). The Reformed view permits only what God expressly prescribes in the Bible.

Reformed Tradition limits worship to the basic elements of the ministry of the Word, administration of the sacraments, prayer, sung prayer and praises, and collections for the relief of the saints (see Westminster Confession of Faith, 21:5). All of these elements are to be included in worship. On the other hand, practices not prescribed in scripture, such as candle lighting, incense burning, lighting an Advent wreath, drama, and dance are to be excluded.

The Order of Service
The circumstances of worship should be conducive to worship that is decent and orderly (1 Cor. 14:40), although it should be interesting and engaging. The church session needs to determine how and when the elements should be carried out in worship. For example, times and places for corporate worship and the forms of songs sung are determined by the session’s prudential judgment. For instance, the lighting and heating and voice amplification should be designed to be conducive to proper congregational worship.

The correct forms are ones that please God. They are not geared to our emotional gratification, but are to edify, build us up in the faith, and increase our knowledge and understanding of God’s Word. Theology (content) and worship (form) cannot be separated.

The function of the order of service is not to draw attention to itself but to aid the soul’s communion with God in the gathered company of the saints by serving to convey the word of God to and from God, from and to his people (Duncan, 2005). “The perfect church service would be one we were almost unaware of; our attention would have been on God” (C. S. Lewis, Letters to Malcolm: Chiefly on Prayer, 1964). Transfixed on God, our “worship is not about what we want or like (nor do His appointed means divert our eyes from Him), but rather is about meeting with God and delighting in Him” (Duncan, 2005). Focus on performance and entertainment, and congregational applause, is not appropriate.

Approach to Worship
Christians are weak, frail, and sinful, prone to wander, in constant need of God’s grace. This grace is especially received in worship.

“Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who
promised is faithful; and let us consider how to stimulate one another to love
and good deeds, not forsaking our own assembling together, as is the habit of
some, but encouraging one another; and all the more, as you see the day
drawing near.” (Heb. 10:23-25)

The Bible tells us to worship God with fear and sobriety in an orderly way.
“Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, let us show gratitude, by which we may offer to God an acceptable service with reverence and
awe; for our God is a consuming fire” (Heb. 12:28-29).

Nevertheless, this is an irreverent age. Much of current worship is oriented toward entertainment, focused on addressing the felt needs of the congregation. The greatest perceived sin is to be “boring.” Contemporary worship often seeks to be casual, cool, comfortable, chatty, busy, humorous, pleasant, and cute, as if the seraphim now would prefer to address God not as “holy, holy, holy,” but as “nice, nice, nice” (Farley, 1998).

Reformed worship should be joyful (Ps 100). It should also involve other emotions such as grief, anger, desire, hope, fear, and love. But outward show of emotion needs to be tempered by moderation, self-control, and respect for God and God-imagers.

Believers come to God with a blood sacrifice, that of the Redeemer and Lord Jesus Christ. The biblical example of reverent worship is found in Revelation, when the elders say, “To him who sits on the throne and to the Lamb be blessing and honor and glory and dominion forever and ever” and then they fall down and worship their God (Rev. 5:13-14). Through faith in Christ we may approach God with boldness and confidence (Eph. 3:12). This confidence is not in themselves; instead worshipers are to boast in Christ.

The benefits of worship are justification, adoption, and sanctification (Westminster Shorter Catechism, 32). We are assured of God’s love for us, our peace of conscience, our joy in the Holy Spirit, our increased grace, and our perseverance to the end (Westminster Shorter Catechism, 36). These are made effectual by the Spirit of God through the ordinary means of grace, whereby Christ communicates to us the benefits of redemption are his ordinances, especially the Word, sacraments, and prayer, all of which are made effectual to the elect for their salvation (Westminster Shorter Catechism, 88). The world sees these as “foolish” means, but Christians trust in the power of God—not the preacher, music, or any works of man.

The Dialogical Principle
Liturgy is what people do when they worship. Good Reformed liturgy fits with Reformed doctrine. The covenantal pattern of Christian worship takes the shape of a dialogue between God and his people (The Dialogical Principle). Worship is vertical rather than horizontal.

“The parts of worship are of two kinds: those which are performed on behalf
of God, and those which are performed by the congregation. In the former
the worshipers are receptive, in the latter they are active. It is reasonable
that these two elements be made to alternate as far as possible.”
(Directory of Worship of the Orthodox Presbyterian Church)

Who participates in dialogical worship? The minister of the Word speaks for God and for the congregation in pastoral prayer. The congregation of believers responds to God with song, confession, and praise. The latter are corporate responses to God, spoken or sung in one voice.

Worship Through Music
For whom does the church sing in worship? The Psalmist says, “O sing to the LORD a new song, for he has done marvelous things! His right hand and his holy arm have gotten him victory” (Ps. 98:1). Luther said that music was a gift of God that had “the natural power of stimulating and arousing the souls of men.” To sing in worship is to gain a theological education. To “sing a new song” does not mean to be culturally relevant, but to “make sure the hymnody of the church accurately reflects the fullness of God’s words and deeds in all stages of redemptive history” (Hart and Muether, 2002). Congregational song should edify the people of God; music in worship is not to be primarily a vehicle to attract outsiders or as an appeal to the unchurched. Musical standards are not to be lowered to appeal to outsiders; they are to be raised so that God’s people will grow in faith.

Song is a form of prayer to God; it is not a matter of taste, but rather one of theological conviction. It is to promote holiness, to set apart from the world rather than to promote worldliness. Those participating in song should have the attitude of worship, not performance or horizontal outreach—focusing on what God has done not on “me.” The choir and the congregation worship through song offered prayerfully in dialogical worship.

Worship music can include solos or music by small groups, if the musicians offer it as prayerful, theologically sound worship with reverence and awe. Whether the music is contemporary or ancient or composed in the nineteenth century or some mixture, it should be presented after careful consideration of its theological content and the appropriate context in the dialogical setting of the worship service. For example, should a prelude–whether by organ, piano, or orchestra—during the time of quiet meditation, immediately before the Call to Worship, be a jazzy arrangement that ends in a crescendo? Moreover, is not the use of excessive repetition, characteristic of much contemporary music, actually detrimental to the sustained reflection on God, His attributes, and His works? In contrast, the Psalms engage in limited repetition, are rich in content, and stress the objective work of God in salvation of his people. Worship music must be planned carefully so that it fits with the overall theme of the sermon and other elements of the service.

Four criteria for music in worship are that it is: (1) singable, (2) biblically and theologically sound, (3) biblically and theologically mature—versus fast food, and (4) emotionally balanced (Johnson, 1998).

Worshiping our Triune God is our number one priority. The proper attitude when coming to worship is not that of individual consumers, looking for the best-equipped nursery or most dynamic youth program or the most entertaining music; instead, worshipers should first of all come to thank and praise God corporately. Principled Reformed worship is scriptural (regulative principle), simple, spiritual, God-centered, historic, reverent and joyful, Christ-mediated, corporate, evangelistic, delightful, active and passive (dialogical principle), and takes place on the Lord’s Day (morning and evening) (Duncan, 2005). By God’s amazing grace we are privileged to worship Him and enjoy Him forever!

References

Calvin, J.: 1960. Institutes of the Christian Religion, J. T. McNeill, editor, translated
by F. L. Battles, 2 vols. Philadelphia, PA: Westminster.

Duncan, J. L.: 2005. Worshiping God Together: Congregational Worship at First
Presbyterian Church. Jackson, MS: First Presbyterian Church.

Farley, E.: 1998. “A Missing Presence”. Christian Century. 115 (March 18-25), 276.

Hart, D. G. and J. R. Muether: 2002. With Reverence and Awe: Returning to the
Basics of Reformed Worship. Phillipsburg, NJ: P&R Publishing.

Johnson, T. L.: 2000. Reformed Worship: Worship That Is According to Scripture.
Greenville, SC: Reformed Academic Press.

Lewis, C. S.: 1964. Letters to Malcolm: Chiefly on Prayer. NY: Harvest.

Old, H. O.: 1984. Guides to the Reformed Tradition: Worship, J. H. Leith and J. W.
Kuykendall, editors. Atlanta, GA: John Knox Press.

Old, H. O.: 2002. Worship: Reformed According to Scripture. Louisville, KY:
Westminster/John Knox Press.

Orthodox Presbyterian Church. Directory for Worship.

Ryken, P., D. Thomas, and L. Duncan, editors: 2004. Give Praise to God.
Phillipsburg, NJ: P&R Publishing.

Westminster Confession of Faith, including Directory of Worship.

Westminster Shorter Catechism.

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J. Thomas Whetstone, D.Phil., lives in Chesapeake, Va.