Keeping the Sabbath Holy to the Lord (Part 2)

Part 1 of this two-part article series dealt with the first two responsibilities found in Chapter 21 Paragraph 8 of the Westminster Confession of Faith: “the due preparing of their hearts” and “ordering of their common affairs before-hand.” This second article will deal with the remaining three responsibilities from WCF 21.8. Before we begin examining these remaining responsibilities, take a look at WCF 21.8 once more:

This Sabbath is then kept holy unto the Lord, when men, after a due preparing of their hearts, and ordering of their common affairs before-hand, do not only observe an holy rest all the day from their own works, words, and thoughts about their worldly employments and recreations, but also are taken up, the whole time, in the public and private exercises of His worship, and in the duties of necessity and mercy.

This paragraph of the Confession contains five items which together form the way in which the Christian would keep the Sabbath holy. These five items can be grouped into a list of two: those responsibilities to be carried out before the Sabbath and those responsibilities to be carried out on the Sabbath. This second article will deal with the three responsibilities to be carried out on the Sabbath: “observe an holy rest all the day,” “public and private exercises of His worship,” and “duties of necessity and mercy.”

What does it mean to “observe an holy rest all the day?” This responsibility is fairly obvious; it means that you must rest for the entire Sabbath day. Now, this does not mean you have to sit on the couch like a slug all day, but it does mean that you need not concern yourself with the employments and recreations which you are normally concerned with on the other six days of the week.

As husbands and fathers, there are practical ways in which you can encourage Sabbath rest for your family:

1. Devote yourselves to planning recreation on the other days of the week

This can be a difficult thing in today’s culture as travel sports reign supreme. The problem with travel sports is that the tournaments and games are almost always on weekends, which means that you will miss Lord’s Day worship with your family at church. As difficult as this can be, put your kids on sports teams which do not play on the Lord’s Day. Leave that day free for worship and rest. The same goes for exercising. Work out on the other six days of the week and rest yourselves on the Lord’s Day.

2. Complete your weekend chores on Friday and Saturday

If you properly plan your week and prepare yourselves, then you will have nothing pressing on the Lord’s Day to take care of. Cutting your grass can wait until another day. Running errands can wait until another day. Working on house projects can wait until another day. If these things cannot wait, then you should have planned better during the previous week and that is your fault.

Now, what does it mean to observe “public and private exercises of His worship?” This responsibility is to attend corporate worship with your church on the Lord’s Day and then spending the rest of the day in private worship. Private worship could be prayer, Bible study, reading and studying the catechisms with your family, or singing psalms and hymns with your family.

Once again, as men, there are practical ways in which you can carry out this responsibility for yourselves and your families:

1. Attend corporate worship with your family

Go to worship with your family! Apart from an emergency, there is no excuse to miss corporate worship. If you are tired that morning after a long week, go to worship! If you did not sleep well because your baby was up all night, go to worship! If you are stressed because your job has been out of control, go to worship! Going to corporate worship is where you will receive a dose of the ordinary means of grace; where you will pray with the saints, observe the sacraments being administered, and hear the Word of God read and preached. This is where you will receive refreshment for your souls. Do not neglect this!

2. Spend other times of the day in private and family worship

Read Scripture and study it with your family. Read a few questions from the Westminster Larger or Shorter Catechism with your family and look up the Scripture proofs. Discuss these things with your wives and children and seek to better understand God and His Word. Sing a psalm or hymn with your family. You can purchase a Trinity Psalter Hymnal or download the Trinity Psalter Hymnal app on your phone and sing these psalms and hymns together. What a sweet thing it is when families sing to God together!

Finally, what does it mean to carry out “duties of necessity and mercy?” This is a topic which is oft debated, even in Reformed circles. What is a duty of necessity or mercy? I would argue that certain things are certainly not acts of necessity or mercy. Cutting your grass is not an act of necessity. However, dropping off a meal to an older widow in your church is an act of mercy. Cleaning your bathrooms is not an act of necessity. However, if a water pipe breaks in your kitchen, repairing it is certainly of necessity.

Take a look at each of these things more in depth:

1. Duties of necessity

Johannes G. Vos, in his commentary on the Westminster Larger Catechism, says that “works of necessity are works which cannot be avoided, or cannot be postponed until another day.” Vos uses the example of feeding farm animals, milking cows, and collecting eggs from chickens. These tasks cannot be postponed until another day and could cause harm to the animal if it was attempted. In my full-time profession, I am a police officer. It is clearly an act of necessity to respond to emergency calls, chase criminals, direct traffic when a tree falls in the road, etc. These tasks cannot wait until another day.

2. Duties of mercy

What exactly constitutes a duty of mercy? An act of mercy is something which has as its aim, the assistance of another person. If you are a doctor, nurse, EMT, police officer, or firefighter, then it is an act of mercy when you respond to medical calls or assist patients in the hospital. These tasks are clearly aimed at the relief of suffering and the betterment of your fellow man. Perhaps assisting an older widow in your church with tasks around the house could be an act of mercy, particularly if she cannot perform these chores on her own.

Gentlemen, remember that you bear a unique responsibility and calling to lead your families in all manner of things, one of which is leading them in keeping the Sabbath holy. As husbands, fathers, and heads of households, you set the spiritual tone in your households. If you have been neglecting the Lord’s Day with your family, let this be the day in which you resolve to keep it. Act like men, mount up, and observe the Sabbath with your families.

Jared Dean serves as Assistant Pastor of Liberty Presbyterian Church in Owings Mills, MD, as a police officer and chaplain at a county police department in Maryland, and serves as an editor of Reforming Men.