Psalm 96:1-9
The Day Observed #6
Pastor Martin continues his series on the Christian Sabbath, focusing on the positive duties of the Lord's Day. Drawing from the Second London Baptist Confession and various Scriptures, he outlines five primary uses: public worship, private worship, spiritual care of those under one's authority, spiritual fellowship, and works of necessity and mercy. He particularly expounds on Psalm 96 and Psalm 92 to demonstrate the biblical mandate for corporate worship and personal meditation on God's works, urging believers to embrace these activities as blessings rather than burdens, thereby experiencing a foretaste of heavenly rest.
Primary Texts
Topics
Outline 8 sections · 63 min
- The Negative and Positive Aspects of Sabbath Observance 0:04
- The Positive Duties of the Lord's Day 7:55
- Public Worship of God 10:58
- Private Worship of God 30:06
- Spiritual Care of Those Under Authority 45:31
- Spiritual Fellowship and Works of Mercy 49:13
- Managing the Hours of the Sabbath 52:10
- Psalm 92: A Sabbath Meditation 55:48
Key Quotes
“The Sabbath is then kept holy to the Lord, when men, after a due preparing of their hearts, after a due preparing of their hearts, and ordering their common affairs aforehand, do not only observe and holy rest all day from their own works, words, and thoughts about their worldly employment and recreations, but are also taken up the whole time in the public and private exercises of His worship”
“The negative aspect of Sabbath duty, taking a due care of avoiding what is prohibited, is not an end in itself. And it was never meant to be an end in itself. It was meant to be a necessary means for clearing the hours, of the day, for their proper, positive, God-appointed use.”
“Owen says the worship of God is that which we are made for as to our station in this world. God created us to worship Him. It is the means and condition of our enjoyment of God and glory wherein consists the ultimate end as unto us of our creation.”
“on God's day one of the foremost activities of a holy Sabbath is the public worship of God in the house of God amongst the people of God and in this brethren we engage in an activity which is most like the occupation of God's people in heaven”
“once that principle is embraced then opportunity to gather both morning and evening for public worship becomes a blessing and not a burden”
“to have sustained uninterrupted guilt free devotions on the Sabbath there's no need to feel pressure that I must now hurry off to my work devotional reading meditation on the precious things of God full and comprehensive prayer that perhaps is not possible on the other days of the week that's the legitimate business of the day those are the works of the day”
“he was refreshed in his spirit by meditating on his own works very good now brethren there is no more soul refreshing exercise that you can engage in than reflecting on the works of God meditating on the works of God”
“you will never have greater profit on the Lord's day than to pass it in the way of God's positive appointment never have a more profitable day than to pass it in the positive way of God's appointment”
Applications
All listeners
- Spend some portion of the day before the Lord's Day for a due preparing of our hearts and an ordering of our common affairs aforehand.
- Be in our places in the sacred assembly at the appointed hours and seasons of public worship on God's day.
- Embrace the principle that the Sabbath is God's day, to be used in His service, so that opportunities for public worship become a blessing, not a burden.
- Engage in private worship in more than an ordinary way on the Sabbath, utilizing the hours for communion with God.
- Use the hours not devoted to public worship for devotional reading, meditation on God's precious things, and comprehensive prayer.
- Use the Sabbath day for meditating on the works of God, reflecting on His creation and redemption.
- Take your children and direct their attention to God's creation, teaching them to behold what God has made.
- Use some portion of the Sabbath day for the spiritual instruction of your children and those under your authority.
- Use the Sabbath for spiritual fellowship with other Christians, speaking of spiritual things to mutual edification and setting an example for children.
- Exercise caution that works of mercy and necessity do not multiply without just cause, taking away from the better uses of the day.
- Take time this afternoon, and as a pattern for future Lord's days, to meditate on Psalm 92.
- If it has not been your practice, begin today to use God's day to these holy ends of worshipping God and attending to the business of your souls.
A full transcript is available on the tab. 120 paragraphs, roughly 63 minutes.
The Negative and Positive Aspects of Sabbath Observance
The following message was preached Sunday, February 21st, 1999, to Emanuel Reform Baptist Church of Sea-Tac, Washington. The speaker is Pastor Robert Martin. This message is the 23rd in a series of 24 titled, The Christian Sabbath. In this morning hour, we are continuing to examine the subject of the Christian Sabbath.
Very soon to come to the end of this series, but we are in a section of this series dealing with the proper observance of the Lord's Day. Our question is, how shall we use the hours of God's Day in the way best suited to doing the revealed will of God?
And in seeking to answer that question, I have commended to you the statement found in our Confession of Faith. It embodies, I believe, the best thinking of our Reformed and Puritan forefathers. The Confession says, The Sabbath is then kept holy to the Lord, when men, after a due preparing of their hearts, after a due preparing of their hearts, and ordering their common affairs aforehand, do not only observe and holy rest all day from their own works, words, and thoughts about their worldly employment and recreations, but are also taken up the whole time in the public and private exercises of His worship
and in the duties of necessity and mercy.
Now, using this statement as our general framework in this segment of the study, we've already seen that the Bible says, We've already examined several principles. We've seen, first of all, that we ought to spend some portion of the day before the Lord's Day for a due preparing of our hearts and an ordering of our common affairs aforehand. We've seen, further, that the scope of our duty is the proper use of the whole day. Our duty to keep the Sabbath holy is not exhausted in a few hours surrounding the morning services of the house of God.
We've seen, further, that there is a principle that is pervasive in the biblical materials that greatly helps us to answer the question, What should I or should I not do on God's day? And the principle is that the Lord's Day indeed is God's day. And it is not my day to use as I please, but to be used as God has ordained. Now, I've suggested to you, and this is the plan we've been following, that the most natural way to treat the Lord's Day is to use the Lord's Day as God has ordained.
To treat our subject is to approach it both negatively and positively. That is, asking two questions. What should I not do on the Lord's Day? And then, what should I do on the Lord's Day?
We've seen that the words resting and consecrating sum up the proper use of the Sabbath. We are negatively to rest or to cease from doing some things, though those things are legitimate on the other six days of the week. And positively, we are to consecrate, or devote the hours of the day to holy or sacred uses. Now, taking up this dual approach, first negatively and positively, we have looked to this point at the negative aspect of Sabbath observance.
That is, to a resting or ceasing from common uses of the day. Our question was, what should I not do on the Lord's Day? From what things ought I to rest? And the answer that we saw, that we should cease from the works of our ordinary employment, works of necessity and mercy accepted, we should cease from our recreations, and we should cease from allowing our minds and lips to be occupied by the things and the business of this world.
Now, today, we come to the positive use, which we are to make of the day. It's not enough, of course, to simply cease from our works. It's not enough to simply cease, from our recreations or other personal inclinations. That alone will not produce the Sabbath which God has commanded.
We must regard the positive as well as the negative aspect of Sabbath duty. The Puritan Thomas Case rightly observes, he says, This is a rule which holds in the exposition of all the commandments of the law and of the gospel. And the rule is this. Cease to do.
And learn to do good. There, quoting from Isaiah 1, verses 16 and 17. The case is saying it's never enough simply to take the negative aspects of the law or the negative aspects of the commandments of the gospel. There is a positive counterpart.
And that which holds in the exposition of all is this rule, cease to do evil, learn to do good. He goes on to say that the negative and the positive precept have such, a mutual relationship to one another that the one infers the other. And take away one, and you destroy the other. If you take away the negative, you will destroy the positive.
If you take away the positive, you destroy the usefulness of the negative. He says, It is impossible to do what is commanded without due care of avoiding what is prohibited. And then on the other side he says, Neither can that man, rationally pretend to keep the Sabbath that lieth a bed all day because he doth not work. He's taken the negative because that's all he does.
He's not keeping the Sabbath which God has commanded. Now so far in this segment of our study, we've focused almost exclusively on exercising what Case calls due care of avoiding what is prohibited. But we can't stop there. If we stop there, we will have a view of the Sabbath which will be grossly distorted and which will leave us, in fact, no biblical Sabbath at all.
The negative aspect of Sabbath duty, taking a due care of avoiding what is prohibited, is not an end in itself. And it was never meant to be an end in itself. It was meant to be a necessary means for clearing the hours, of the day, for their proper, positive, God-appointed use. Resting from our labors, drawing back from our recreations, seeking to deal with our hearts and minds in such a way that we do not even think our own thoughts or speak our own words, that's not an end in itself.
The purpose of that negative aspect of the duty is to clear the hours of the day of those common things that are legitimate on other days. But to clear it, so that we might then, in a positive, affirmative way, give ourselves to doing those things appointed by God as the real, proper business of the day. In other words, we are called to rest from our own works, to rest from our own pleasures, to rest from our own inclinations so that we may use all that we are up to and including our thoughts in the way of God's appointment.
The Positive Duties of the Lord's Day
Well, having seen the answer to the question, what should I not do on God's day, our question now is, what should I do on God's day? What is my positive duty? What is my positive obligation? What is the business that God has appointed as the legitimate, rightful, holy, sacred business of this day?
And the answer to that question is that positively, we should consecrate or devote the hours of the day, to those sacred uses set before us in the scriptures. We're not left having cleared the deck of those things which would be our natural inclination for the use of the day. We're not then left to our own natural inclinations to fill up the void. Our Father, in His wisdom, has given us clear direction in precept and in example of how He would have us use the hours of His day.
And we are to positively, devotely, devote the hours of the day to those things that He has made plain are the business of the day. Now again, taking the lead from our confession of faith, we read, the Sabbath is then kept holy to the Lord when men, after a due preparing of their hearts and ordering of their common affairs beforehand, do not only observe a holy rest all day from their own works, words and thoughts about their worldly employment and recreations. There's the negative. Those are the things that we are to set aside, but the confession goes on, but are also taken up the whole time, that is the whole day, in the public and private exercises of His, that is God's worship, and in the duties of necessity
and mercy.
Now though our confession does not use precisely the language that I'm going to use today, it gives us a general framework. And I want to commend to you the following positive uses of the Lord's day. We'll treat these all in equal measure. In a couple of cases, we'll simply pass by with brief comment and come in a subsequent message in one case to open it up more largely.
But in any case, what are the positive uses we are to make of the day? What should I do on God's day? Well, I believe the Bible teaches us that I should give myself faithfully to the public worship of God. I should give myself faithfully to the personal and private worship of God.
I should give myself faithfully to the spiritual care of those under my authority. I should give myself to the spiritual fellowship of the saints. And I should give myself faithfully to those works of mercy and necessity which arise in the course of the day. Now let's look at these each in turn.
Public Worship of God
First, among the positive uses for the Sabbath day is the public worship of God. Now please consider the premise that some portion of the hours of the Lord's day ought to be used for the public worship or the corporate worship of God in the assembly of His people.
Now that's the main premise that I'm going to set before you in this segment of the study. That some portion of the hours of the day is to be used for the public worship of God. The public corporate worship of God in the assembly of His people. Now I trust that it is unnecessary to prove that the worship of God is the duty of all men and especially the duty of God's believing people.
We can turn on almost any page of the scriptures or to almost any writer in the scriptures and come away with the distinct clear unequivocal importance that it is the duty of all men and especially of God's people to worship the one true and living God. That duty can be established two ways. It can be established from what the old writers called the law of nature and it can be established from the testimony of scripture. John Owen in his commentary on Hebrews is speaking of the witness of the law of nature or the law of creation.
He says none will deny but that it is required of us in and by the law of nature that some time be set apart and dedicated unto God for the observation of His solemn worship in the world. In other words, Owen says it is a self-evident principle. It is a principle that men recognize as part of their nature as part of what God has made them to be. And of course this is a reason one of the primary reasons if not the primary reason that men are universally religious.
That there is not a culture that exists on the face of the earth has ever existed on the face of the earth. There is not a tribe. There is not a nation. There is not a group of people above one or two individuals that has taken the position that it is not our duty not our business to be worshiping the divine.
The law of nature, Owen says, none will deny that it is required of us in and by the law of nature that some time be set apart and dedicated to God for the observation of His solemn worship in the world. And it is plain, he says, to everyone that this natural dictate or this natural law is inseparably included in the law of the Sabbath. He goes on to say the general notion of the Sabbath is a portion of time set apart by divine appointment for the observance and performance of the solemn worship of God. That idea is bound up in the very concept
of the Sabbath day. Owen says the worship of God is that which we are made for as to our station in this world. God created us to worship Him. It is the means and condition of our enjoyment of God and glory wherein consists the ultimate end as unto us of our creation.
This worship, therefore, is required of us by the law of our creation. Moreover, he says, in this worship it is required by the same law of our being that we should serve God with all that we do receive from Him. And no man can think otherwise. For is there anything that we have received from God that shall yield Him no revenue of glory?
Is there anything whereof we ought to make no acknowledgement to Him? Who dare, for one so to imagine? Among the things thus given us of God is our time. He does not simply give us the breath of life.
He does not simply give us our bodies. He does not simply give us those things needed to sustain life. He gives us our time, Owen says. So upon its own account, firstly and directly, a separation of part of that time unto God and His solemn worship is required of us.
It is, logically says, that some revenue of that time should be given to God. Some tithe of it, some portion of it be given back to God. It is on its own account a separation of a part of it unto God and His solemn worship is required of us. It remains only to inquire what part of time it is that is and will be accepted with God.
This, he says, is declared and determined in the fourth commandment to be the seventh part of it, or one day in seven. The law of nature. God has so constituted us that it is our duty to render back to Him of the time that He has given a portion for His worship. That's the duty of all men.
And what is taught in the law of nature, what is taught in the law of our creation is declared even more plainly so in the scriptures. Here I ask that you turn to Psalm 96.
Psalm 96, we find these words. Beginning in verse 4. Psalm 96 and verse 4.
The psalm begins, perhaps we'll start at verse 1. Oh, sing to the Lord a new song. Sing to the Lord all the earth. There is the implication of the duty of all men to sing praises to God.
Sing to the Lord all the earth. Sing to the Lord. Bless His name. Proclaim the good news of His salvation from day to day.
Declare His glory among the nations. His wonders among all peoples. For the Lord is great and greatly to be praised.
He is to be feared above all gods. And all the gods of the peoples are idols or more literally things of nothing. But the Lord made the heavens. Honor and majesty are before Him.
Strength and beauty are in His sanctuary. Give to the Lord, O families of the peoples. Give to the Lord glory and strength. Give to the Lord the glory due to His name.
Give Him the worship. Give Him the praise. That is His rightful portion. Give to Him the glory due to His name.
Bring an offering and come into His courts. O worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness. Tremble before Him all the earth.
Now I can't imagine a sincere professor of the Christian faith taking issue with the principle contained in these verses. It is the duty of every man to worship the true and living God. But did you notice that this text does not just teach that it is our duty to engage in private worship of God. Now that's certainly implied.
But the psalmist doesn't stop there. He goes on to speak of God's public worship. Give to the Lord, O families of the peoples, give to the Lord glory and strength. Give to the Lord the glory due to His name that is the universal duty of all men.
But now notice the last clause there in verse 8. Bring an offering and come into His courts.
It is not the private worship of God which is the theme of this psalm. It is not that which David has set before us. It is the public worship of the living God. All the families of the earth are to bring an offering and come into His courts, into the assembly of His people, into the place of His public worship, there to bring their offering, there to offer their praises, there to give to Him the glory which is His due.
And from the very beginning, the public worship of God has been part of and at the heart of the Sabbath day. In the first recorded instance of Sabbath activity, we saw Cain and Abel engaged in public worship bringing their offerings to God. The very first instance of Sabbath worship that is set before us in the scripture is an account of the public worship of God of these men not simply in their dwellings engaged in the private devotions in private worship of God but bringing their offerings and offering them at some public place. We also saw
that under the terms of the Old Testament, the Sabbath day was to be used as a day of sacred assembly as well as a day for private and family worship. For example, Leviticus 23 and verse 3, Six days shall work be done, but on the seventh day is a Sabbath of solemn rest, a holy convocation or a sacred assembly. Now what is that portion of God's word telling us? It is telling us that the day was not just appointed for the private worship of God.
That the Sabbath was appointed for a holy or a sacred convocation or assembly of God's people. You shall do no matter of work the text says it is a Sabbath unto the Lord in all your dwellings.
Leviticus 26 and verse 2 You shall keep my Sabbaths and reverence my sanctuary I am the Lord.
In that simple text the Sabbath of the Lord the day of the Lord and the house of the Lord are brought together so that it would take an abuse of the text beyond imagination to separate them and to say that there is no use of the house of God on God's day. No. You are, the scripture says, to keep my Sabbath and reverence my sanctuary I am the Lord.
Moreover, we know, do we not, that the Lord Jesus engaged in public worship and in public worship as His ordinary pattern on the Sabbath day. Please turn to Luke chapter 4 and verse 16.
Luke chapter 4 and verse 16. Now we know there are a number of texts that speak of our Lord being in the synagogue, His healings on the Sabbath day in the synagogue. But now look at Luke chapter 4 and verse 16.
There is a note or a phrase here that tells us what our Lord's ordinary pattern on the Sabbath day was. Luke 4 and verse 16. So He came to Nazareth where He had been brought up and as His custom was.
As His custom was. This was the habit of our Lord. This was His custom. This was His regular behavior.
As His custom was He went into the synagogue on the Sabbath day.
On any Sabbath day. You would have found the Lord Jesus Christ in the assembly of God's people. Gathered for the public worship of God in the institution that existed in His day.
He did not go to the temple in Jerusalem every Sabbath day. There were seasons appointed for the males of Israel to appear at the temple. It wasn't every Sabbath day.
Every Sabbath day God's people gathered in the synagogues and there ordered their worship in such a way that it was to be pleasing to God edifying to themselves but in any case there was a public gathering. There was an order of worship. There was the singing of psalms. There was the exposition of the word of God.
There was the fellowship of the saints, etc. And every Sabbath the custom of the Lord Jesus Christ was to be in the synagogue at the appointed season of public worship.
We also saw in an earlier message that the Lord's day was the day when the apostolic churches gathered for public worship. We saw several texts in the book of Acts and several texts in Paul's letters that indicated that the ordinary time of the public worship of the apostolic churches was on the first day of the week or the Lord's day.
Now, I think it's inescapable that our duty especially if we are imitating our Master which is ever our duty our duty is to be engaged in the public worship of God in some portion of the Lord's day. Our duty to worship God includes His public worship and seeing that this has ever from the beginning been one of the chief activities of God's holy day then brethren I am without embarrassment to say to you that we ought to be in our places in the sacred assembly at the appointed hours and seasons of public worship on God's day.
Without embarrassment we ought to be I say to you in our places in God's house at the appointed hours for public worship on God's day.
Do we rightly observe God's day if contrary to the example set before us in Scripture if contrary to the example of our own Savior the Lord Jesus Christ if contrary to the command of Scripture do we rightly observe do we rightly keep the Lord's day if we forsake the assembling of ourselves together can we rightly say that we've kept the Sabbath holy if not providentially hindered some have settled into what John Owen calls a marvelously undue custom or an unwarranted custom and that custom is that of neglecting public worship on the pretense
that all the worship that we owe God is conducted in private or in our families that when we've had our private worship when we've had family worship that's all that God requires of us that he does not expect us to be in his house that is not the teaching of the word of God that is not the teaching of the word of God on God's day one of the foremost activities of a holy Sabbath is the public worship of God in the house of God amongst the people of God and in this brethren we engage in an activity which is most like the occupation of God's people in heaven
for everywhere we read of the corporate worship of God's saints as one of the chief features of the heavenly Sabbath or the heavenly rest some complain of the burden of multiple services of public worship and instruction on God's day some complain well you know we come for the Sunday school class at 9.30 there's another service at 11 o'clock and then we've got this service in the evening at 6 o'clock and they complain about that it's a burden it's a burden to have multiple services of public worship and instruction on God's day it's a burden to have to be there
I find that most of those complaints are traceable to a misconception of the day to a misconception of its purpose it's the misconception that it's our day to be used as we wish and that in some way if we're expected to worship God more than once in his public assembly then it's an infringement on our time an infringement on our plans that's usually what it boils down to not in every case there are those whose physical condition is such that it is simply not possible for them to be public in God's house at every hour of appointed worship in the day
but that's not the case with most for most of us the issue the complaint arises out of a misconception of whose day it is and that if we're required to be there more than once it's an infringement on our time an infringement on our plans that is to totally misconstrue the day that's a wrong view of the Sabbath day as I've argued throughout this series the Sabbath is God's day it's to be used in his service and once that principle is embraced then opportunity to gather both morning and evening for public worship becomes a blessing
and not a burden once you recognize it's God's day once you recognize it's to be used in his service as he appoints the Sabbath once that principle is embraced then the opportunity to gather both morning and evening for public worship becomes a blessing and it is a blessing because it enables us to profitably fill a large portion of the day with the major activity for which the day was designed now that's a blessing brethren I would not want to belong to a church that only had one service on the Lord's day I wouldn't want to be left to my own devices to have to fill up
Private Worship of God
the rest of the hours of the day now that's a very pragmatic reason but it's a good reason to have opportunity morning and evening helps us profitably fill up a large portion of the day with the major activity the public worship of God for which the day was designed now public corporate worship of course doesn't exhaust our duty to worship God on his day we ought also to engage in private worship in more than an ordinary way the fitness of the Lord's day
for that purpose I trust is obvious the usefulness of the Lord's day for private worship of God I hope that principle is obvious on the Sabbath having ceased from our works having ceased from our recreations we may give ourselves to communion with God in a way that the labors or the activities of the other six days do not permit on the other six days we have many activities among the which is the worship of God and the spiritual nurture of our souls we should be having daily devotions
we should be engaging daily in some activity of private worship but that's not the primary activity of the six non-sabbatical days on those days we are to labor in our colleagues that's what those six days exist for but on the Sabbath day spiritual activities become the supreme priority and on the Sabbath day we have not just minutes which we can devote to personal devotional exercises that's ordinary experience on the other six days that we have but minutes fifteen minutes twenty minutes thirty minutes forty five minutes whatever it ends up being
given the press of other responsibility but on the Sabbath we have not just minutes that we can use for personal devotional exercises but hours that can be used in this way without fear of those things taking us away from our other duties on the Lord's day we can read we can meditate we can pray as long as we like without worrying that our work will be neglected and that's one of the great blessings of the day that it exists as an opportunity each week at least one day
to have sustained uninterrupted guilt free devotions on the Sabbath there's no need to feel pressure that I must now hurry off to my work devotional reading meditation on the precious things of God full and comprehensive prayer that perhaps is not possible on the other days of the week that's the legitimate business of the day those are the works of the day and if you're wondering how to fill the hours of the day not devoted to the public worship of God you need look no further than here
for a profitable way to spend those hours you don't need to be racking your brain what do I do next how am I going to fill these hours in the afternoon how am I going to fill these hours in the evening you need look no further than the private worship of God it may be that you'll want to continue the pattern of your daily worship of God your daily devotions it could be that that would be a very profitable use of 30 minutes before coming to God's house for the first service of the day but then add an hour or two in the afternoon add an hour in the evening after returning from the evening service before retiring
you see by that method much good soul nurture can be accomplished and the day the hours of the day can profitably be used in a holy way as I've gone about doing a pastoral visitation over the last couple of years and speaking to you about your personal devotions one of the complaints I've heard is I don't ever seem to have time for my devotions I always I'm always rushed there's always the press of business there's always the press of these responsibilities and those responsibilities pastor I don't know what to do well I can't always solve your problem I can't always make a suggestion what to do on the other six days of the week to clear that up but the Lord's day is there representing not just
minutes but hours that legitimately guilt free can be used for the very things that you're lamenting you can't do on the other days the private worship of God is part of the legitimate business of the day and I believe in that private worship that we especially ought to use the Sabbath day for meditating on the works of God what should I think about pastor what should occupy my thoughts to what subjects should I turn as profitable for God's day I've always been intrigued by a statement that's found in Exodus 31 in verse 17
please turn there with me in speaking of the Sabbath as a sign between God and the children of Israel this statement follows Exodus 31 in verse 17 for in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth and on the seventh day he rested and was refreshed on the seventh day he rested and was refreshed now how did God refresh himself on his Sabbath he wasn't physically tired he didn't need
to rest his body he didn't need he wasn't mentally tired he didn't need to rest his mind he wasn't emotionally wrought out by his works he didn't need some kind of time to rejuvenate his spirit but yet the text says he was refreshed by his rest how was he refreshed what does the scripture tell us that God did when he finished creation he looked at all the things that he had made and he was refreshed and he said to himself it's very good it's very good
he was refreshed in his spirit by meditating on his own works very good now brethren there is no more soul refreshing exercise that you can engage in than reflecting on the works of God meditating on the works of God from the very beginning men have been able to reflect upon God's great works of creation to be able to behold the things that he has made not to the end simply of admiring their beauty but to the end of seeing in the things that are made
the fingerprints of the character of the living God to see his wisdom to see his mercy to see his knowledge to see his power to see his goodness in the things that he has made and though I do not believe that we ought to turn the Lord's day into hiking day or turn it into a day of outdoor recreation one of the best things perhaps we can do with some portion of the day is to step aside for a moment and simply open our eyes and look at the things that God has made
to take our child in our arms and to behold the marvel of a creature knit in his mother's womb by the hand of the living God in a few weeks the flowers will begin to come up in our gardens begin to see the leaves on the tree budding forth beauty will be springing everywhere take your children outside find one single flower direct the child's attention to that flower not that that child might be impressed simply with the beauty of the flower or see the intricacy of its construction but that you might say to your child behold what God
that's a legitimate use of the Sabbath day to meditate on the creation of God at the time of the exodus those who experienced the great redemption out of Egypt from that point onward on the Sabbath day they were to think upon the great deliverance that God had given one of the chief themes of the day was to be the exodus the redemption the deliverance from bondage in Egypt that was an enlarged privilege they knew more of their God by virtue of the works that he had performed in their
salvation and now under the new covenant our privilege has been enlarged again and we can think not just of a deliverance from bondage in Egypt we can marvel at the deliverance from sin that has been secured by our Savior Jesus Christ one of the great blessings of the day is to take the scriptures in hand to read of our Savior to read of what he has done and to meditate on the works there is no more soul refreshing exercise that may be engaged in than to meditate on the things and the day
is set apart for that some portion of the day ought to be used for that that like our great example our souls might be refreshed by beholding the works of the living God and you see Sabbaths that are spent here in that way will be to no small degree a foretaste of the heavenly Sabbath rest there are these statements found in the book of Revelation there we are told that the people of God will sing certain songs forever and ever and among them we find the words of Revelation
4 and verse 11 worthy art thou our Lord and our God to receive the glory and honor and power for you did create all things and because of your will they are and were created the song of heaven will be to sing of God's creative work creation won't be forgotten in the new heavens and the new earth God's people will still be looking back to that first day when God said let there be light and marvel at the glory of the creator Revelation 15 and verse 3 again the song of the redeemed great and marvelous are thy works oh Lord God the almighty
great and marvelous are thy works the people of God will forever be remembering and meditating and having their souls refreshed by the sight of the works of their God and brethren the importance of using portions of the Lord's day for personal devotional exercises the importance of that can't be overestimated in his classic work entitled the Lord's day Daniel Wilson rightly observes and here I quote more depends on the intervals between the public exercises of the Lord's day than we may at first imagine
fill those intervals with vain conversations idle visits worldly reading carelessness indolence or sloth fill those hours with those things and all the fruit of public and domestic worship is destroyed the taste of these things is lost and the form of them will not long be preserved in begin to fill those hours with worldly occupations and worldly recreations and following worldly inclinations and it won't be long before we will abandon the private worship of God altogether on his day but let
these intervals be duly occupied with earnest prayer examination of the heart communion or fellowship with God meditation intercession for children family friends reflections on the public instruction we have received and all will assume another complexion altogether how we fill the hours between the services of public worship is just as important as having those hours of public worship and instruction all of the taste we'll have for what is public will be formed in private Wilson goes on to say that our
private devotional seasons on the Lord's day quote are the cement as it were which binds together the separate materials of the sacred day it goes on to say how can we expect any breathings of grace any communion with the father spirit any quickening and elevation of the heart if we draw near to God merely in the outward form and mock him with the pretense of service our affections being left behind a heart unprepared by private duties is not likely to be benefited by the public and on the other hand instructions and exercise in the house of God not followed by secret meditation and prayer are not likely to abide in
Spiritual Care of Those Under Authority
the memory or influence the conduct what he's saying is if we're not spending time with God in private there'll be no profit from spending time with him in public some portion of the day ought to be given to private worship that's lawful it's legitimate and it's needful but now the day also represents an enlarged opportunity to engage in the spiritual care of those under our authority now we'll come to this subject more fully next time we'll look back to the institution of the law there in
Exodus 20 there is not simply the declaration of how we are to keep the Sabbath personally there's instruction given about those under our authority as well the day represents an enlarged opportunity to engage in the spiritual care of those under our authority I trust I don't need to persuade any of you what your duty is towards your children our duty is to rear them in the fear and instruction or discipline of the Lord it's our obligation may not sometime be profitably used on the Sabbath day for that purpose ought not sometime to be profitably
used on the Sabbath day for that purpose it is sadly often the case with the vast majority of us that we are rushed in our family devotions on the other days of the week if not neglecting them altogether because of the pressure of other things is that not reality brethren is that not where we really are living that on the other days of the week we are either rushed or pressured in such a way as to neglect the nurture of our family and spiritual things altogether the pressure of extended work hours
the pressure of having children come home with two arm loads of homework with the expectation it will all be done and all perfect by the next morning the press of small children all kinds of pressures that come to bear we find ourselves rushed if not neglecting these things altogether but on the Lord's day there are hours to take this business up there are hours that we shouldn't be filling with homework there are hours that are not filled with our callings many of those pressures not all many of
those pressures simply have no legitimate place on God's day should we not use some portion of the day for the spiritual instruction of our children those under our authority more on that next time then part of the day can also properly be used in the spiritual fellowship of God's people the spiritual fellowship of God's people I touched last time on the fact that I don't think we ought to bind our consciences that we can never ask a brother or sister on the Lord's day about some issue of a secular nature in their life how did the job interview go etc but frankly beyond questions of
Spiritual Fellowship and Works of Mercy
courtesy and information the day is not given for a general secular fellowship with one another it's a day though that we can use for spiritual fellowship and some of the most precious Lord's days afternoons that I can remember were days spent with other Christians in which we spoke of spiritual things to our mutual edification in which we bared our hearts unburdened ourselves spoke of the common things we held in the faith prayed for one another committed to continue to help one another Lord's day afternoons that seemed too short
because there was not time to continue and what an opportunity brethren in that spiritual fellowship with one another to give our children an example of the blessedness the profitableness of Christian fellowship I suspect that some of our children will remember most about the Lord's day the conversations that they were not directly involved in but that they were witness to the things they heard come out of mom and dad's mouth the things they heard come out of some respected brother or sister those things in many instances
have been used to the good of the soul of a child some part of the day can be very profitably used for spiritual fellowship with our brothers and sisters in Christ and then lastly part of the day also may be used as our confession rightly says the works of mercy and necessity that arise in the course of the day our Lord defended such works against the unholy restrictions of the Pharisees I would simply offer one word of caution let's take care that such things not multiply without just cause it can be easy to get caught up in a round of
exercises works of mercy especially but let's remember that if we allow such things to multiply without just cause that we may be in a sense taking away from the better uses of the day works of mercy works of necessity were never meant to be more than exceptions to the chief use of the day they were never meant to be the main use of the day never meant to be more than exceptions to the chief uses of the day now having heard what I've described as a Lord's day engaged in the exercises private and domestic religion
Managing the Hours of the Sabbath
perhaps you're wondering how's it going to be possible to fill a whole day with such things without intermission pastor how can I fill 24 hours with public private and family worship and the fellowship of God's people and works of mercy without intermission but that's not what I've described at all that is a caricature that is not reality we don't spend the whole of the other six days in our works without intermission do we how many men here work 24 hours a day how
many men work 24 hours a day in your calling none of us do on those days we take time to sleep we take time to take our meals we take time to do other necessary things and the fact is we do the same thing on the Sabbath we sleep part of the day we take time to take our meals we use time for other necessary things that cannot be avoided on God's day and all in all when you add it all up after taking care of the
necessary things such as bathing dressing preparing to go to God's house taking your meals etc by the time you take care of all the necessary things by the time you travel to and from God's house by
the time you spend time speaking with brethren after and around the services by the time you eliminate all of that there ordinarily are only a few hours in the afternoon and a couple of hours in the evening which we have for the exercises of private and family religion when you get right down to it when you take everything else out that cannot be done away with it leaves only a few hours most of us don't get home on a Sunday afternoon before 1.30 by the time we have our lunch it's 2 o'clock or 2.15 or so we leave at 5.30 to come back to the church you tell
me how many hours are left in between we ordinarily leave here 8 o'clock 8.30 generally speaking we're to bed by 10 o'clock 10.30 get the children to bed perhaps earlier you
seems that the dilemma is not how to find ways to probably use these hours but how to do all we would like to do in the few actual hours that are at our disposal that seems to me to be the real dilemma it's not how am I going to fill 24 hours but how am I going to get everything I really would like to do in the four or five hours that's probably where the issue really lies I would like to ask you to turn please to Psalm 92 there's one major Sabbath passage that we didn't touch on in the series thus far
Psalm 92: A Sabbath Meditation
and it is Psalm 92 I want to make a suggestion to you how to spend this afternoon and hopefully as a pattern for future Lord's days if you'll note in Psalm 92 if you're using the New King James the heading that is first there praise to the Lord for his love and faithfulness that was added by the editors of this edition of the English Bible that's not found in the Hebrew text but now the next phrase is a Psalm a song for the Sabbath day a song for the Sabbath day that's part
of the inspired Hebrew text it's actually verse one in the Hebrew text it has as much authority as the rest of the Psalm it is as much verbally and plenarily inspired as the rest of the Bible now this is the only Psalm it is the only portion of the scripture that is set apart as being especially for the Sabbath day and in closing today I want to urge you to take some time this afternoon to meditate on this Psalm I want to read it very quickly consider the themes that are found here it is good to give thanks to the Lord and to sing praises
to your name oh most high to declare your loving kindness in the morning and your faithfulness every night on an instrument of ten strings on the lute and on the harp with harmonious sound for you Lord have made me glad through your work I will triumph in the works of your hands oh Lord how great are your works your thoughts are very deep a senseless man does not know nor does a fool understand this when the wicked spring up like grass and when all the workers of iniquity flourish it is that they may be destroyed forever but you Lord are on high forever more for behold your enemies oh
Lord for behold your enemies shall perish
that is my portion you have exalted like a wild ox I have been anointed with fresh oil my eye also has seen my desire on my enemies my ears hear my desire on the wicked who rise up against me the righteous shall flourish like a palm tree he shall grow like a cedar in Lebanon those who are planted in the house of the Lord shall flourish in the courts of
he is my rock and there is no unrighteousness in him the psalm is full of themes suitable for a Lord's day afternoon the psalm speaks of the rightness of worshiping God speaks of the rightness of rejoicing in his works he speaks of the brutishness the senselessness and foolishness of being ignorant of God's works and of being insensitive to the duty of worshiping God he speaks of the judgment that awaits the godless and the blessing that is the portion of God's people those are great themes those are marvelous themes
eminently suitable for the passing of a Lord's day afternoon and I would urge you this afternoon take an hour take more meditate on the themes of this psalm and ask yourself do I rejoice in God's works or am I brutish and foolish like the wicked man the scribe in the psalm ask yourself ought I to fear the judgment coming on the godless for the psalm touches on that theme or ought I to exalt in the blessings promised to the godly what is my case what is my case
what a theme for a Lord's day afternoon surely a Sabbath afternoon spent in such a way is profitable beyond measure far more so than anything else you could do
we cease from our own works on God's day not to spend the day in idleness we cease from our works to worship God we cease from our works to attend to the business of our souls and if this has not been your practice I urge you begin today to use God's day to these holy ends you will never have greater profit on the Lord's day than to pass it in the way of God's positive appointment never have a more profitable day than to pass it in the positive way of God's appointment
our Father we thank you for the day that you have appointed and we find it no burden Lord to rest from our labors and our recreations and our inclinations when we know oh Lord that we may use these hours to have communion and fellowship with you
in the things that you have appointed not following our own ways or seeking our own pleasures or speaking our own words calling the Sabbath a delight and the holy day of the Lord honorable Lord we ask for your blessing and pray that you would show us what a blessed thing it is to keep Sabbath according to your appointment we ask your grace we ask for the spirit and we ask for your forgiveness for our many sins and these
things in Jesus name
This transcript was generated by automated speech recognition and may contain errors. It is provided for study and reference only; the audio recording is the authoritative source.
Passages Expounded
This passage is expounded to establish the universal duty of public worship and the call to come into God's courts.
This verse is used to demonstrate Jesus's consistent practice of attending public worship on the Sabbath.
This Psalm, designated 'for the Sabbath day,' is presented as a guide for profitable meditation and reflection on God's works and character.
Texts Expounded
Also Referenced
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