Presbyterian “Quirks”: The Sabbath, Psalms-Singing, and Images of Christ

That our spirituality should be guided by faith isn’t necessarily a controversial point among evangelical Christians. Where this becomes controversial, though, is when we extend this logic to chart out how to think about these Presbyterian “quirks.”

The title of this class captures what most people think when they first learn about Sabbatarianism, Psalms-singing, and a rejection of images of Christ, three distinctive areas of Presbyterian piety: That’s quirky! These distinctives raise a lot of questions, and, even with people who have been Christians for a long time, they struggle to understand just why Presbyterians insist on these elements to such a degree.

In many areas, Presbyterians might simply seem traditional in their style. Even if an evangelical Christian prefers more “contemporary” worship styles, musical selections, and creative expressions in their worship services, they probably have some frame of reference to understand a “traditional” style that doesn’t necessarily go in on those approaches to worship. When it comes to these “quirks” however, many evangelical Christians are shocked to learn that Presbyterians consider these issues to be of great moral significance.

This is where we see a difference, then, between a traditional approach to piety and worship, and a confessional Presbyterian approach. These issues are not nostalgic pining for “the good old days,” but deeply formed biblical convictions.

In this class, however, our goal will not be to defend these distinctive beliefs and practices. There are other resources on those issues. In particular, R. Scott Clark has collected a stellar set of resources on the Sabbath, Psalms-singing, and images of Christ.

Instead, in this class, my goal is to offer a positive vision to help you imagine what Reformed and Presbyterian piety and worship might be like if you began to lean into these practices. My goal is that, even if you are not (yet!) persuaded that these practices are biblical, you might at least have a positive imagination about how these practices might reform your relationship with God. Or, at the very least, I hope that after this class you won’t find these beliefs and practices so quirky!

The Foundation: A Biblical and Spiritual Piety

The biblical foundation for this approach is in 2 Corinthians 5:7: “for we walk by faith, not by sight.” This verse captures not merely an encouragement that there is a world beyond this life that we cannot see; more, it captures an entire ethos for living. John Owen writes this:

There are, therefore, two ways or degrees of beholding the glory of Christ, which are constantly distinguished in the Scripture. The one is by faith in this world, which is ‘the evidence of things not seen’; the other is by sight, or immediate vision in eternity, ‘We walk by faith and not by sight’ (2 Cor. 5:7)….No man shall ever behold the glory of Christ by sight hereafter, who does not in some measure behold it by faith here in this world. Grace is a necessary preparation for glory, and faith for sight.1

If the essence of Christian piety is to behold the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ (2 Cor. 4:6), this is something that is (1) by faith, (2) spiritual—that is, by the Spirit, and (3) through the Word of God. That is, our spirituality is guided not by what we can see, but by faith in God’s Word.

The Sabbath

I’d like to draw our attention to two important and surprising texts about the Sabbath. First:

[12] And the LORD said to Moses, [13] “You are to speak to the people of Israel and say, ‘Above all you shall keep my Sabbaths, for this is a sign between me and you throughout your generations, that you may know that I, the LORD, sanctify you. [14] You shall keep the Sabbath, because it is holy for you. Everyone who profanes it shall be put to death. Whoever does any work on it, that soul shall be cut off from among his people. [15] Six days shall work be done, but the seventh day is a Sabbath of solemn rest, holy to the LORD. Whoever does any work on the Sabbath day shall be put to death. [16] Therefore the people of Israel shall keep the Sabbath, observing the Sabbath throughout their generations, as a covenant forever. [17] It is a sign forever between me and the people of Israel that in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, and on the seventh day he rested and was refreshed.’” (Ex. 31:12–17)

When the Lord insists that his people keep the Sabbath, he does so by insisting that the Sabbath is a sign. A sign is something visible that points us to something else—in this case, to something invisible. Specifically, the Lord teaches that the Sabbath is a (visible) sign that he (invisibly) sanctifies us.

Sabbath-keeping, then, is a sign about our spirituality, but not a sign of what we are doing for God. That is, Sabbath-keeping is not a weekly method for virtue signaling (“I thank you, Lord, that I’m not like those immoral people who don’t keep Sabbath!”). Rather, Sabbath-keeping is a sign of what God does for us. We rest as a testimony to the watching world of what God is doing in and through us, to sanctify us. It is a powerful reminder amongst ourselves, as well as to the watching world, that we cease from work because we believe that God is at work (John 5:17).

The second text is an important corollary:

[13] “If you turn back your foot from the Sabbath, from doing your pleasure on my holy day, and call the Sabbath a delight and the holy day of the LORD honorable; if you honor it, not going your own ways, or seeking your own pleasure, or talking idly; [14] then you shall take delight in the LORD, and I will make you ride on the heights of the earth; I will feed you with the heritage of Jacob your father, for the mouth of the LORD has spoken.” (Is. 58:13–14)

God teaches us that we learn to delight in him by learning to delight in his Sabbath. That is, the Sabbath is a means of God’s grace toward us. As a sign, the Sabbath proclaims to the watching world that God is sanctifying us. But, as a means of grace, the Sabbath is the venue in which God teaches us to delight in him.

It is in this context that we must understand the strict limitations for the Lord’s Day:

WLC Q. 117. How is the sabbath or the Lord’s day to be sanctified?

A. The sabbath or Lord’s day is to be sanctified by an holy resting all the day, not only from such works as are at all times sinful, but even from such worldly employments and recreations as are on other days lawful; and making it our delight to spend the whole time (except so much of it as is to be taken up in works of necessity and mercy) in the public and private exercises of God’s worship: and, to that end, we are to prepare our hearts, and with such foresight, diligence, and moderation, to dispose and seasonably dispatch our worldly business, that we may be the more free and fit for the duties of that day.

We are to spend the entire Lord’s day in public and private exercises of worship—and we are to duly prepare our hearts and our affairs to enter into that worship as much as possible—not to restrict ourselves. Rather, the Lord’s Day is an invitation to delight in the Lord by worshiping him. This delight isn’t in something that is material, visible, or earthly, but in something that is spiritual, invisible, and heavenly.

As Thomas Boston observes, those who live according to the flesh choke on this spiritual delicacy of the Sabbath: