THE IMPORTANCE OF REGULAR WORSHIP

By Gary McDade

An increasing exhortation about regularly assembling for the worship of God and never forsaking it is made by the writer of Hebrews, “Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is; but exhorting one another: and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching” (Hebrews 10:25). In his scholarly treatment of *Studies In Psalms*, the late Robert R. Taylor, Jr. addressed “Worship God Regularly” in the chapter on “Worship In The Psalms” (pp. 153-161). He wrote,

The psalmists lived under a law that demanded daily sacrifices at the altar by their priests, the weekly remembrance of the sabbath day, the new moons (monthly activities), the annual feast of Passover, the feast of weeks (called Pentecost in the New Testament) and the feast of tabernacles as well as their family devotionals such as are inculcated in Deuteronomy 6:4ff. Regularity of worship over a lifetime is seen in these timely selections from Psalms. Let us read reverently and relish permanently these sacred sentiments, “I will sing unto the Lord as long as I live: I will sing praise to my God while I have my being” (104:33). One of the psalms Israel hymned as they ascended Jerusalem at regular intervals was Psalm 134. Two of its three verses read, “Behold, bless ye the Lord all ye servants of the Lord, which by night stand in the house of the Lord. Lift up your hands in the sanctuary, and bless the Lord” (134:1, 2). As long as breath was in the body just that long the psalmist of Psalm 146 declared his persistent resolution to praise his adorable Creator and Lord on high. He stated, “While I live will I praise the Lord: I will sing praises unto my God while I have any being“ (146:2).

And then brother Taylor observed, “Regularity of worship among our members now is the life’s blood of any local church. The local congregation cannot function in its absence. Irregularity of worship, if practiced by all, will kill a local congregation quicker than almost any other persistent problem. Ask any experienced elder or veteran preacher if this is not the case” (pp. 156-157).

Christians today live under a far superior covenant made possible by the Son of God shedding His blood to bring it into existence (Matthew 26:28). Why should not “the importance of regular worship” be acknowledged and activated in the lives of every Christian?