Households of Praise:
The Importance of Family Worship

by Steve Turley

Should families gather together for regular family worship? There are many who do not think it important to do so. One view of family worship was expressed to me on the phone by a dear friend. "I don't understand the necessity of this," he said. "My wife and I have completely different schedules, so we have very few times when we are all actually together. But we talk about God all the time with our son. We pray with him at meals and at bedtime. Where in the Bible does it say that we, as a family, have to re-organize our schedules and formally come together for worship? Why do some people think this is so important?"

If we believe that the hearts of the nations will one day burn with a passion for the glory of God, that the earth will be "covered with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord as the waters cover the sea" (Hab 2:14; cf. Matt 6:10), then our view of the family in relation to that goal of history will have everything to do with our attitude towards worship in the home. If Christians declare that they will sing God's praises in the midst of the nations, then they are obviously going to sing His praises in the midst of their own households. With this in mind, this article seeks to offer some biblical direction for families and churches on the importance of regular family worship. With further observations and practical suggestions for getting started, it is my hope that we will appreciate the importance of daily gathering and soaking our households in prayer, praise, and the proclamation of the Word.

Preliminaries

Those skeptical about the importance of regular household worship often cite its seeming absence in the Bible. As one person asked me, "If it is so important, why didn't Jesus do it? Why didn't Paul talk about it?" It should be pointed out that, with the same reasoning, daily Bible reading is no more explicitly commanded, yet what would happen to our personal spiritual states if we left our Bibles on the shelves Monday through Saturday? However, given these concerns, it is important to set two parameters for how we are going to explore and interpret the biblical data.

First, the Bible is not written like an encyclopedia. It does not devote separate sections exclusively to various topics of interest. There is no complete "List of Do's and Don'ts" on the area of family worship. Instead, there is a common concern for worship and families carried through the whole of God's Word. Every one of man's actions and attitudes is to be motivated by an attitude of worship (Rom 14:23; 1 Cor 10:31), and the theme of God's praise pervades Scripture, with all of creation and everything that has breath being made to shine forth His praise (Ps 19:1-6; Ps 150:6).

Moreover the very redemptive drama itself unfolds in family-like terms. The triune God, the radiance of whose glory is revealed in household terms as Father and Son (Heb 1:2-3), is infinitely happy in the glorifying fellowship of the Trinity (Jn 17:5, 24). This happiness is poured out in the creation of a people, reflecting the image of God (Gen 1:26-27), and created for His glory (Is 43:6b-7), whom the Father would give to the Son as a bride (Jn 6:37-44; Eph 5:26-27, 31-32). The Son would redeem this bride with His own blood (Acts 20:28), with all of history culminating in the marriage supper of the Lamb (Rev 19:7-9; cf. Mt 26:29).

It can be seen that the Bible carries the theme of worship and families from Genesis to Revelation. The entire Bible, then, is our standard. When Paul pointed out in 2 Tim 3:16-17, that "every scripture is God-breathed" and has beneficial character "for every good work," he was talking specifically about the Old Testament. This passage affirms that if God has spoken in the Old Testament on a subject, then it is profitable and beneficial to New Testament believers, unless abrogated. Thus, any theology of family and worship must take into consideration the whole of God's Word.

Second, explicit biblical imperative is not the only way God commands His people. Jonathan Edwards, writing about the perpetuity of the Sabbath, asserted that if God has so made our faculties that we were not capable of receiving His will in any other way than a precept, then the objection is valid. But God has given us an understanding that is capable of receiving His will when made in another manner. Thus, if He has revealed His ways in a manner suitable to our capacities, it is enough. (1) God does not always make known His will in the same expressed terms. Biblical principles and practice, as well as good and necessary inference, can be as validly binding as expressed commands.

Given these two parameters, let us explore the biblical data of families and worship and how these two topics interact.

The Trinity and the Family Organism

God glorifies Himself in household terms as Father and Son, bonded in love with the Holy Spirit. As John Piper has written, "from all eternity God has been supremely happy in the fellowship of the Trinity." (2) Douglas Kelly points out that our very family life on earth is in some sense a pale reflection of the Holy Trinity, for Ephesians 3:14-15 speaks of him as the "Father . . . of whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named." (3) All fatherhood is derivative of the Father in heaven. It should then be no surprise that the triune God, by His Holy Spirit, works out the history of redemption through familes, with households praising the Lord revealed in household terms. Already, we can see that family worship comports very well with the triune nature of God.

The Covenant and the Family Organization

This history of redemption and the formation of households combine to form the covenant household, a broad theological theme that stretches throughout Scripture. It is in the covenant household that both the cultural mandate and redemptive mandate meet. As God had created the first Adam to be fruitful and multiply naturally, and have dominion over the earth, so Christ the second Adam was given dominion over the earth, that His people would be fruitful and multiply redemptively (Gen 1:28; Mat 28:18-20). This particular theme of salvation was formalized, made binding, by means of covenant, where God sovereignly bound Himself to the believer and his household.

In both the Old and New Testaments, the covenants were with believers and their children (Gen 9:9; 17:7; Ps 89:3-4, Acts 2:39), so that husbands and wives were not only to multiply biologically, but redemptively as well (Gen 18:19; Ps 78:5-7; Amos 1:3; Mal 2:15). As Doug Phillips has said, "The family is the primary vehicle for communicating covenant promises to the next generation." (4) Jesus said of Zacheus, "salvation has come to this house" (Luke 19:9). The jailer was told, "Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will be saved, you and your household" (Acts 16:31). As the apostles preached the gospel, whole households were baptized and rejoiced in God (Acts 10:48, Acts 16:15, 33; cf. 1 Cor 1:16). Timothy had the faith passed down to him from two previous generations in his family, and thus had known the Scriptures from infancy (2 Tim 1:5; 3:15).

Throughout Scripture, then, we see the organic nature of God's covenant -- the line of God's covenant runs in the line of generations. God, in the history of redemption, does not have a view to the believer alone, but to the believer and his household. In 1 Corinthians 7:14, an unbelieving spouse and children are sanctified, set apart from the defiled world, by virtue of their relationship to the believer in their household. The Apostle Paul did not bless Onesiphorous alone, but as a representative of a household (2 Tim 1:16). Not intending to minimize or undermine the importance of the Church, for our present purposes we should note that Onesiphorous was not identified with a church, but with a family.

Inside the Covenant Home

It was in the very nature of the covenant household that family members were to gather together for worship. In the Old Testament, families were to model congregational worship by having family worship, "in all your dwellings", on the Sabbath day (Lev 23:3-14), thus parents taught their children to rightly observe this creation ordinance (Ex 20:10). Kerry Ptacek has observed, "Some writers on Christian worship have seen the tabernacle as a model for worship. Indeed the tabernacle says much about our approach to God; however, the Hebrews carried out worship as a congregation primarily in their homes." (5) The Passover, which initiated the annual and weekly worship, was a perpetual "service" observed by individual households, where the father was to teach his children the historico-redemptive acts of God (Exodus 12:25-27).

It is true that the Bible does not explicitly tell us what took place during times of family gatherings. There are no lists of "Do's and Don'ts", or a detailed description of a particular family's worship. But that is a far cry from concluding that we have absolutely no idea what was done, and therefore it must not have been that important. The Bible gives us a very good idea of what took place in the covenant home.

First, we have the explicit command of God for every believing parent, especially fathers, to diligently teach God's Word to his children (Deut 6:7-9: 11:18-21; 32:46-47; cf. Eph 6:4). The very words of God and the very acts of God in history were to be taught (Deut 4:9-10). In fact, Deuteronomy, and perhaps the whole Pentateuch, climaxes with these words, "Moses finished speaking all these words to Israel, and he said to them: 'Set your hearts on all the words which I testify among you today, which you shall command your children to be careful to observe -- all the words of this law. For it is not a futile thing for you, because it is your life . . . '" (Deut 32:45-47). In the NT, Paul said, ". . . faith [life] comes by hearing . . . the word of God" (Rom 10:17; cf. Jn 5:24). God's Word was central to parents faithfully teaching their children.

Second, it is important to notice that, biblically, the nature of teaching is not viewed as conveying mere propositional information, but is itself a part of praise for the purpose of praise. Singing and praising are ways of teaching in Scripture. This is expressed throughout the Book of Psalms, many of which are melody-filled exhortations and rejoicings of the acts and laws of God. His mighty acts were not to be merely studied, but praised (Ps 150:2). One generation was to praise the works of God to the next generation, declaring His mighty acts (Ps 145:4). Praise is identified with the family's teaching the historico-redemptive acts of God.

Psalm 78 in particular stresses the importance of "telling to the generation to come the praises of the Lord, and His strength and His wonderful works that He has done" (verse 4). This is followed by the command to "make them known to their children; that the generation to come might know them . . . that they may arise and declare them to their children," and for what purpose? "That they may set their hope in God . . ." (verses 5-7). Here, in this psalm, praise is not only a means of teaching, but the end as well. Paul identified teaching with praise when he exhorted the people of God to teach one another in songs of praise, letting "the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom" (Col 3:16, cf. Eph 5:19).

The Universal Nature of Praise

As praise is used as a teaching tool for the family's communicating covenant promises to the next generation, we again see the grander issue of the universal nature of praise. All creation is to praise God and declare His glory (Ps 19:1-6; Job 12:7-8). All the earth is to sing to God and show forth His salvation from day to day (Ps 96:1-2). All the families of the peoples are to give glory to God (1 Chron 16:28). His praise is to be continually in our mouths, inviting others to magnify God with us (Ps 34:1, 3). We are to declare His praises among the nations and in the midst of all peoples (Ps 57:9; 108:1-3). Indeed, "Let everything that has breath praise the Lord!" (Ps 150:6). As Jonathan Edwards once wrote, "the very notion of publicly praising God, is to declare abroad His glory, to publish His praise, to make it known, and proclaim it aloud . . . It is fit that God's honour should not be concealed , but made known in the great congregation, and proclaimed before the sun, and upon the house-tops, before kings and all nations, and that His praises should be heard to the utmost ends of the earth ..." (6) He concluded by saying, "I believe a time is coming when the earth will be filled with such things." This all-encompassing universal aspect of praise, of declaring the glory of God in all things, would obviously include the family.

The Importance of Family Worship

As we surveyed the issue of family worship in the Bible, we saw that believers were identified with their families as covenant households, families gathered together for worship, parents were to diligently teach their children God's Word, and songs of praise were intrinsic to the concept of teaching. And all these rivers ultimately meet in the ocean of God's praise covering the earth. Thus, family worship has a very important role in the life of the Christian home and church.

The importance of this role can be seen by further observations:

The formation of a Christian world-view. What if we spent most of our family time in the evening, not in front of the television, but singing hymns, praying, studying the Bible together, and talking about life in relation to God? Just think how a potential five thousand hours of family worship can accumulate into the formation of a Christian world-and-life-view for our children, all to the glory of God. This is obviously something that should be encouraged by all churches.

The learning of the importance of worship. Family worship will aid in teaching our children the importance of worship. As they set aside all their other activities, they will be daily reminded of our true purpose in life, to glorify God and enjoy him forever, and daily focus attention on our future life of worship in the unveiled presence of Christ (Rev 5:8-14), all with the hope that this heart-attitude will spill over into the pews on Sunday morning.

The nurturing of a covenant household culture. Ephesians 5:22 - 6:4 (cf. Col 3:18-21) portray how the Christian home is to radiate the gospel, with each member functioning in accordance with his or her respective God-ordained role within the family. During family worship, this vision comes to life - - ideally, fathers are loving their wives as Christ loved the church, wives are submitting to their husbands as to the Lord, children are obeying their parents in the Lord, and fathers are raising their children in the fear and admonition of the Lord. In short, a culture of relationships is realized through worship where the gospel looks plausible, natural and normal. Family worship helps the covenant home realize the biblical structure of relationships that allows the gospel to thrive.

Evangelism. Unbelieving children in the neighborhood can be invited to participate in family worship, and get exposed to worship and the gospel. As each individual household of God represents a portion of the Household of the God, this can be an important first step in integrating unbelievers into the Church.

Practical Tips for Family Worship

As the issues behind family worship have been highlighted, there are a variety of options and ways of glorifying God depending on the circumstances of the family.

It may be beneficial to organize the biblical information in such a way as to give children a systematic understanding of Scripture. This way, the topics of God's glory, creation, Scripture, man's fall, Christ's redemption, regeneration, prayer, and praise, will all be understood individually, as well as how they relate to one another. In regards to the systematic approach, I would recommend the supplemental use of a catechism, such as the Westminster Shorter Catechism or, for younger children, the First Catechism (published by Great Commission Publications). Make sure to get a catechism with Scripture references! Catechizing is biblical (Lk 1:4; Acts 18:25; 21:21, 24; Rom 2:18; 1 Cor 14:19; Gal 6:6), and serves as a map to navigate through the Scriptures.

The following is a suggested format:

Prayer - One cannot understand the Word of God apart from prayer and divine illumination (Ps 119:18). Open with an illumination prayer or a prayer song.

Song - Because God is so glorious, we cannot just talk about and to him, we must sing joyfully about and to Him. Dr. Louis Schuler has commented that God asks us to sing because he requires our praises to be heartfelt, and music has the power to uplift our emotions and stir our hearts, "the acts of singing and of hearing others who are singing helps to focus attention on the meaning of the words and moves our emotions in a way that words alone may not accomplish." (7) This can be a wonderful time to teach your children the great hymns of the faith.

Reading of the Word - Read a passage from the Bible, maintaining a balance of Old and New Testaments. For younger children, you may want to skip certain passages like long genealogies, large sections in Ezekiel or Jeremiah -- and focus on more narrative and Gospel. Let the passage generate questions and discussion. For supplements to the Bible reading, use catechism questions.

Catechism Questions - Read the catechism question and answer out loud to the family. Have the children memorize both the question and answer. After an initial reading of the question and answer, read out only the question, and see if they can say the answer exactly as it appears in the catechism. If they don't know the answer, ask more questions to clarify what the answer is that you are looking for.

Scripture References - Read the Scripture references to the Catechism questions. See if everyone in the family can memorize the Scripture passage that goes along with the catechism question. Go ahead and turn to other passages that you may think of that relate to the question/answer. When you review the question in the future, ask if they can remember the Scripture reference by heart. You may want to focus on a set series of questions for the week, so catechism wording, Scripture references, and songs can get memorized.

Catechism and Song - A wonderful and biblical way to teach young children is to sing songs that capture the teaching of the catechism question. This will express the pattern of thought conveyed by the catechism and Scripture passage in both melody and rhyme, which is very effective in communicating to youngest of minds. Fretboard Fellowship Ministries has a resource entitled, Tuning Children's Hearts, which combines hymns and praise songs topically with the questions of the First Catechism.

Closing Prayer - This would be a wonderful time for Family Prayers. One person, some, or all could pray, and lift up your family, neighbors, pastor, church, the nation and world. Have a missionary box with a card for each missionary -- pray for one each day, and when completed, do it again. And perhaps close with a song.

Try spending about 20 minutes each day (remember - we are to teach "diligently", which logically translates to "daily"), beginning and closing in prayer, asking God to shine His light on hearts and minds, to taste the sweetness and savor the excellencies of Christ.

The Last Word

Jonathan Edwards, in his "Farewell Sermon" to his congregation in Northampton, warned them not to neglect so sacred a duty as family worship: "We have had great disputes how the church ought to be regulated; and indeed the subject of these disputes was of great importance: but the due regulation of your families is of no less, and, in some respects, of much greater importance. Every Christian family ought to be as it were a little church, consecrated to Christ, and wholly influenced and governed by His rules. And family education and order are some of the chief means of grace. If these fail, all other means are likely to prove ineffectual. If these are duly maintained, all the means of grace will be likely to prosper and be successful." In other words, if it is true of material matters, that a man who does not provide for his own home is worse than an infidel, how much more true is 1 Timothy 5:8 regarding spiritual matters? Indeed, Jeremiah declared, "Pour out your fury on . . . the families who do not call on your name" (Jer 10:25).

Gathering for worship, reading God's Word, and singing praise, are all intrinsic to the covenant home. In continuing family worship today, we rejoice and God is glorified. May it be our prayer, as it was Jonathan Edwards', that our homes may be as little churches, daily sounding forth the melodies of praise. And may the splendor and beauty of God's praise spill over into our churches and communities, and indeed throughout all the world, that "the earth might be covered with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea."

By the way, my friend who was so skeptical, recently phoned me with a much different attitude about family worship, saying, "We are doing it now, all together, and it is going great!". My, are not the echoes of His excellence glorious.

1 Jonathan Edwards, "The Perpetuity and Change of the Sabbath," The Works of Jonathan Edwards, vol. 2 (Peabody, Massachusetts: Hendrickson Publishers, Inc., 1998), 94.
2 John Piper, The Pleasures of God (Portland, Oregon: Multnomah Press, 1991), 18.
3 Douglas Kelly, Worship in the Presence of God, ed. Frank J. Smith and David C. Lachman (Greenville: Greenville Seminary Press, 1992), 103.
4 Douglas Phillips, Vision Forum's Quest for Family Renewal, www.visionforum.com.
5 Kerry Ptacek, Family Worship (Taylors, South Carolina: Southern Presbyterian Press, 2000), 10.
6 Jonathan Edwards, "Thoughts on the Revival of Religion in New England," The Works of Jonathan Edwards, vol. 1 (Peabody, Massachusetts: Hendrickson Publishers, Inc., 1998), 419-420.
7 Dr. Louis and Kimberly Schuler, A Review of the New Trinity Hymnal, www.biblicalhorizons.com/biblicalhorizons/mRR.shtml?rr/RR016.htm, 3-4.

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