Edited by Philip G. Ryken, Derek W. H. Thomas, and J. Ligon Duncan III
The ministry of the late James Montgomery Boice, erstwhile pastor of the historic Tenth Presbyterian Church in the heart of Philadelphia, centered on God-honoring and glorifying worship. Give Praise To God seeks to extend Dr. Boice’s vision for biblically-based corporate worship founded squarely upon the regulative principle of worship. Helpful chapters discuss family and private worship as well. The eighteen contributors provide a solid and well-rounded discussion of a Reformed vision for worship. Highlights of the volume include Ligon Duncan’s two chapters in which he asks whether worship is important to God and then proceeds to unpack the biblical evidence for the regulative principle. Derek Thomas offers helpful responses to various criticisms of the regulative principle and Albert Mohler cogently argues for the centrality of expository preaching in corporate worship. Terry Johnson and Ligon Duncan provide a thought-provoking call for extensive readings from Scripture in corporate worship and the use of Bible-saturated language in the pastoral prayer. Richard Phillips contributes an informative discussion of the place and significance of the Lord’s Supper. Paul Jones argues well for the integral place of hymnody in worship, ably augmented by Terry Johnson’s encouragement of the use of psalmody by the church. Several other contributions, including chapters on worship in all of life by William Edgar and worship and the emotions by W. Robert Godfrey, make this a seminal discussion of the centrality of worship for the Christian. If you are looking for a winsome argument for the regulative principle, this is the book to read.