Psalm 96:7-9 Ascribe to the Lord, O families of the peoples, ascribe to the Lord glory and strength! Ascribe to the Lord the glory due his name; bring an offering, and come into his courts! Worship the Lord in the splendor of holiness; tremble before him, all the earth!
Happy is the household where the altar burns day and night with the sweet perfume of family worship!
A Christian man had never set up family prayer, but his little boy went to visit an uncle, and when he came back he said, “Father, why do you not do as uncle Isaac does?” “What is that, child?” “Why, he reads a chapter every morning and every evening, and prays with his family.” Father attended to family worship after that. The child’s remark was a great help.
I agree with Matthew Henry when he says, “They that pray in the family do well; they that pray and read the Scriptures do better; but they that pray, and read, and sing do best of all.” There is a completeness in that kind of family worship which is much to be desired.
Every house should be the house of God, and there should be a church in every house; and when this is the case, it will be the greatest barrier against priestcraft, and the idolatry of holy places. Family prayer and the pulpit are the bulwarks of Protestantism.
We sometimes hear of the children of Christian parents who do not grow up in the fear of God, and we are asked how it, is that they turn out so badly. In many, very many cases, I fear there is such a neglect of family worship
That family of Mr. Matthew Henry, to which I have referred, was so well ordered that, very often, visitors to the house, who were unconverted when they went there, were converted during their visit.
If there be such a Church in our house, let us order it well, and let all act as in the sight of God. Let us move in the common affairs of life with studied holiness, diligence, kindness, and integrity. More is expected of a Church than of an ordinary household; family worship must, in such a case, be more devout and hearty; internal love must be more warm and unbroken, and external conduct must be more sanctified and Christlike.
Let us be cheerful and happy at family worship. In your private devotions you should also “Serve the Lord with gladness.”
Oh how holy and how heavenly ought your families to be when God has so favored you above many of his own people. Be very grateful, and while you are joyous, lay the crown of your joy at your Savior’s feet; and if you have now a church in your house, maintain the ordinance of family worship with the greater zeal and holiness, and pray for others that the Lord in like manner may visit them also.
~ Charles Spurgeon
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