Forsaken by God (22:2–6). The worshiper begins by expressing the darkest mystery of his suffering, namely the sense of being forsaken by God. It is a mystery because it appears to be rooted in a contradiction, namely the apparent contradiction between theology and experience. Theology, based upon the tradition and experience of the past, affirmed unambiguously that trust (the verb is used three times, for emphasis, in vv 5–6) resulted in deliverance. Indeed it was of the essence of the covenant faith that those who trusted in the holy God would not be disappointed—hence the praise of Israel upon which God was enthroned (v 4). But experience was altogether at odds with theology; whereas the fathers trusted and were delivered, the essence of the psalmist’s complaint (“my moaning,” v 2) was “the distance of my salvation.” The God of covenant, who was believed not to have deserted his faithful people, appeared to have forsaken this worshiper who, in sickness, faced the doors of death. And it was the sense of being forsaken by God that was the fundamental problem—more grave than the actual condition of sickness and the threat of death.

Peter C. Craigie and Marvin Tate, Psalms 1-50, Volume 19: Second Edition (Word Biblical Commentary), 198.

“And it is on Sunday that we all make
assembly in common, since it is the first day, on which God changed darkness and matter and
made the world, and Jesus Christ our savior rose from the dead on the same day.”

Justin Martyr

It has always been a matter which the Church has held in singular commendation, to see that little children should be instructed in Christian doctrine. That this might be done, not only were schools opened in early times, and people enjoined to teach their families well, but it was also a public practice, to examine children in the churches on articles of faith common to all Christians. That this might be carried out in order, a formulary was used which was called a Catechism. Thereafter the devil rending the Church, and making it a fearful ruin (the marks of which are still visible in most of the world), overthrew this sacred polity, and left nothing behind but certain remnants, which cannot but beget superstition, without any edification. This is ‘confirmation’, as they call it, in which there is nothing but mimicry, and has no foundation. What we set before you, therefore, is nothing else than the use of things which from ancient times were observed among Christians, and which has never been neglected except when the Church has been wholly corrupted.

From “To the Reader” in Calvin’s Geneva Catechism (French 1541 / Latin 1545)

The remedy both to legalism and antinomianism, therefore, is the free grace of God in Jesus Christ. The grace of God to us through the covenant of grace established in Christ’s blood should lead us to love and cherish the law of God.

RYAN M. MCGRAW, THE DAY OF WORSHIP – REASSESSING THE CHRISTIAN LIFE IN LIGHT OF THE SABBATH, 101.

Most of the duties set forth in connection with the Sabbath in Scripture relate to corporate rather than private worship. The “song for the Sabbath day” included morning and evening worship (Ps. 92:1–4). If the church of which you are a member has evening as well as morning worship, if you are at all able, attend both services. We often undervalue what happens in corporate worship simply because we lack the faith to believe that God is there in our midst. Although some of us gather together in small congregations in simple buildings with poor singing, we must come to corporate worship recognizing that, in a peculiar manner, we enter into the heavenly sanctuary and join the chorus of an innumerable company of angels. A large part of keeping the Sabbath is taking advantage of corporate worship. This is the high point of the day, and it is the part of the Sabbath that most closely resembles heaven.

RYAN M. MCGRAW, THE DAY OF WORSHIP – REASSESSING THE CHRISTIAN LIFE IN LIGHT OF THE SABBATH, 84.

The primary benefit of the Sabbath day comes through the means of grace, and you should structure the day so you are able to spend as much of it using the means of grace as you are able.

RYAN M. MCGRAW, THE DAY OF WORSHIP – REASSESSING THE CHRISTIAN LIFE IN LIGHT OF THE SABBATH, 83.

Disagreements among those who believe that the purpose of the Sabbath day is worship do not always reflect disagreements over principles, as much as the customized struggles and temptations of each individual heart.

RYAN M. MCGRAW, THE DAY OF WORSHIP – REASSESSING THE CHRISTIAN LIFE IN LIGHT OF THE SABBATH, 81.

Don’t be a digital dooms-dayer. Yes we must be aware of the dangers in social media, and, as pastors, we must alert and protect our sheep. But if we only or largely communicate condemnation and warning about social media, etc., then most people, especially young people, will just turn off.

David Murray, The Christian Ministry, Loc. 1643.

Disagreements over Sabbath-keeping should not rupture the fellowship of believers, and the doctrine of the Sabbath does not share the importance of the doctrine of justification or the authority of Scripture. Yet neither do the Scriptures treat the Sabbath as a peripheral issue. Can we honestly say that the modern church has attached the same importance to Sabbath-keeping that God has? Whatever position you adopt with respect to Sabbath-keeping, may the weight the Word of God attaches to this subject drive you to study these things with greater urgency and with increased earnestness to understand the will of the Lord.

Ryan M. McGraw, The Day of Worship – Reassessing the Christian Life in Light of the Sabbath, 29-30.

In 1853, the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church USA boldly declared, “A church without the Sabbath is apostate; a people who habitually desecrate this divine institution have abandoned one of the grand foundations of social order and political freedom.” Cited by Thomas Peck, The Works of Thomas Peck (1895; repr., Edinburgh: Banner of Truth, 1999), 1:195. Whatever you think about this statement, part of the reasoning behind it is that the world is predominantly dependent upon the means of grace that are exercised on the Sabbath for its knowledge of the gospel of Jesus Christ, and a church that denies the Sabbath day is implicitly rejecting the covenant of grace, of which the Sabbath is a sign. Imagine the violent reaction that would arise if a statement such as this one were even mentioned at the General Assembly of one of the major American Presbyterian denominations today! This shows how far the pendulum has swung in the opposite direction with respect to the church’s attitude toward Sabbath-keeping.

Ryan M. McGraw, The Day of Worship Reassessing the Christian Life in Light of the Sabbath, 22.