Give Praise to God: A Vision for Reforming Worship

by Philip Graham Ryken, Derek W.H. Thomas, J. Ligon Duncan III

Old, Mohler, Clowney, Godfrey, Horton, and others write on the Bible and worship, elements of worship, preparing for worship, and worship, history and culture. “This book,” Phil Ryken writes in the introduction, “is for everyone who loves to worship God.”

Genres: Theology, Christian, Church, Ecclesiology, Leadership, Christianity, Nonfiction

536 pages, Paperback

First published December 1, 2003

About the author

Philip Graham Ryken is Senior Minister of Tenth Presbyterian Church in Philadelphia, where he has preached since 1995. He is Bible Teacher for the Alliance of Confessing Evangelicals, speaking nationally on the radio program Every Last Word. Dr. Ryken was educated at Wheaton College (IL), Westminster Theological Seminary (PA) and the University of Oxford (UK), from which he received his doctorate in historical theology. He lives with his wife (Lisa) and children (Joshua, Kirsten, Jack, Kathryn, and Karoline) in Center City, Philadelphia. When he is not preaching or spending time with his family, he likes to read books, play sports, and ponder the relationship between Christian faith and American culture. He has written or edited more than twenty books, including Bible commentaries on Exodus, Jeremiah, Lamentations, and Galatians.

Reviews

[Blake Laberee]

If I could force every minister and aspiring minister to read 10 books, this would be one of them.

What a wonderful collection of reminders for living, serving, and pastoring in the spirit of Soli Deo Gloria.

[Mitchell Traver]

Edited volume that held a coherent and unified voice, while allowing for diversity in emphasis and particular convictions. Hard to do. Also, a solid case made for Regulative Principle of Worship. Good and helpful book.

[Stephen Hoogerhyde]

Excellent book on worship. Sections include the Bible and worship, elements of worship, preparing for worship, and worship, history, and culture.

[Tori Samar]

As to be expected with an anthology, some of these essays are better than others. Some, truthfully, merit a second reading on my part to fully grasp the ideas being shared. All contribute something worthy of consideration to our worship discussions. Admittedly, at times I felt like an outsider-looking-in reading arguments in favor of "Reformed worship" when I myself do not hold to Reformed theology. At times, doctrinal positions are affirmed that I would not support. Nevertheless, I share much common ground with these contributors. We support following the regulative principle, preaching expository sermons, reading and praying the Bible, ministering the Lord's Supper and baptism, singing hymns and psalms, maintaining strong private worship, prioritizing family worship, worshiping in all of life, affirming the affections, and (most importantly) keeping God and His glory central to our worship.

Reading an anthology such as this also makes me thankful. In many cases, the essay authors seek to convince evangelical churches who have moved away from biblical worship to come back and worship God as He commands and merits. I, however, was able to read these essays and "give praise to God" for allowing me to attend a church where biblical worship is practiced. The many facets of worship I mentioned in my paragraph above are not foreign to me. I have the privilege of participating in them on a regular basis.

Soli deo gloria!

[Gus Crotty]

Yeah I liked it go ahead and cancel me

[Jon Cheek]

A lot of good content in most of the essays in here.

[John Yelverton]

Though there are nuggets of pure gold in this book, the discombobulation that occurs from the plethora of writers and their different interpretations of scripture is quite disconcerting and makes for a very difficult read.

[Matthew]

This is an outstanding book on a vital theme. I don't think I have read a volume on the subject of worship that has made me more excited about the matter in question and more concerned that everyone I know, pastors and elders of churches especially, should read it. Being a work of multiple authors, it is inevitably uneven in its quality. All the chapters are worth reading but some are just superb - including Terry Johnson and Ligon Duncan on Reading and Praying the Bible in Corporate Worship, Richard Phillips on The Lord's Supper, Paul Jones on Hymnody in a Post-Hymnody World, Terry Johnson on Restoring Psalm Singing to Our Worship, and Nick Needham on Worship Through the Ages. If you have even the vaguest of notions that maybe your church - and family - worship is not what it could be, please read this book. And if you believe that you have the worship of almighty God all sorted, it is even more important that you should read it.

[Oliver Pierce]

Finally finished this and I'm glad I did! Every chapter was good except for Paul Jones's chapter which was a weird homage to Boice's hymns. Several chapters were really excellent and almost worth the price of the book alone, especially "Calvin's Theology of Worship" by Hughes Oliphant Old. Overall, this book helped give me a framework for better understanding some of the Reformed worship values I hadn't dug into as much, such as reading/praying of scripture in worship services, psalm-singing, and family worship. I wondered if the book would be dated given it was written in 2003 but it did not feel so at all. I did appreciate how much focus went into the church's worship through out history. It was a very "catholic" book in that sense. Fun book to read in quarantine to get excited about worshiping again when we are able to gather again.

[Tyler Brown]

Some amazing chapters in this book on worship. Ligon Duncan's defense of the regulative principle is a masterpiece. Dr. Edgar's discussion of worship in all of life from Romans 12 is superb. These are worth the price of the book by themselves.

My only criticism is, with most reformed works on worship I've found, I think we can downplay how important culture is and be blind to how Europe and white America has shaped our worship. A few authors did try to address this criticism by claiming that Reformed worship is more like Hebrew worship than European worship or that the Regulative Principle is the most flexible of any worship approach, since it distinguishes elements and circumstances. Some of that is true in theory, but the practical chapters show a lack of careful thought about how culture affects worship.

[Paul Vawter]

If you're a proponent of the regulative principle of worship and/or Reformed covenant theology you'll probably like this book. Since I am neither, it was not especially helpful, although there were some good points along the way. The essays on preaching by Mohler and Dever were thought-provoking (did I like them because I'm also a Baptist?), and Nick Needham's survey of the history of Christian liturgy was fascinating (I'll probably incorporate that into my church history lessons at some point). I doubt I'll return to the rest.

[Sam Sinclair]

The book gets three stars for its uneven quality. I would give five stars to the essays written by Duncan, Mohler, and the essay on using the Bible in worship by Johnson. Likewise, the chapter on worship through history was quite enlightening.

However, the chapters on baptism, hymnody, emotions, and contemporary challenges were missed opportunities. The essays did not seem to touch on the core issues, but instead got caught on secondary asides.

[Jonathan]

Nourishing essays on worship that lift the soul and anchor the feet in the historic Protestant tradition. I read over about one year. While I do not remember all the contents, I do know that each essay challenged me to think deeply, to love greatly, and to worship God supremely. Recommended not as an introduction to reformed worship but as an encouraging read especially to those leading worship.

[Eric]

This book provided an excellent, and robust, take on worship from a reformed perspective. As with any multi-authored work, some chapters are far better than others. Overall it is a helpful work. It is full of practical suggestions and helps for people to think through. That being the case, I know it wkll be a book I will revist as I think through corporate worship.

[Hunter Hanson]

A great resource on worship. Not all chapters are created equal, but I thought the first 7 chapters contained very valuable information on leading corporate worship. Chapter 13 on family worship was also very good.

[Adriana]

Overall, a wonderful read! Quite academic. Some contributors were easier to read than others.

[Matthew Robinson]

A comprehensive theology, history, and application of Reformed worship. Ligon Duncan's chapters are especially compelling.

[jacob van sickle]

Very helpful.

[Sarah Elizabeth]

recommended by Alejandro Johnson

[Amanda]

Some chapters were better than others, but a helpful book overall on worship.

[Drew]

some chapters are better than others.

[Jakob Siegel]

One of my go to books for all things public worship.

[Jon Pentecost]

Really helpful discussion of a biblical view of worship.

Highlights were Duncan's chapters on the regulative principle, Duncan and Johnson's chapter on public reading and prayer, and Godfrey's chapter on worship and emotions.

You may not agree with every argument in it, but this book is useful in showing how scripture should shape not only what we do in worshiping the Lord, but our very attitude and posture in approaching worship of the Triune God.

[Bill Brown]

Great book with great historical content. I am preparing a lesson on the history of church music. This book was of great help in understanding how the early church, the medieval church, and the reformers felt about music.

[Seth Miller]

There are some really great thoughts in this book and some insightful comments. Unfortunately, I found several of the arguments to be rather contrived. Also, occasionally I felt that the book could have been entitled "Give Praise to James Montgomery Boyce."

[Alex]

Read pp 17-73 by Ligon Duncan for a course on Worship.

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Also read the chapter on "Reading and Praying the Bible in Corporate Worship".

What an edifying chapter! One that I will likely return to.

[Jason]

A refreshing book. Not always convincing, but definitely edifying.