Study in the Standards

Westminster Shorter Catechism Q60

The Doctrinal Heading for this section of questions (Q43-62) is The Means of Grace: The Commandments: The First Table. (see Harmony Index)

WSC Q60. How is the Sabbath to be sanctified?

Psalm 92 is an inspired confessional statement and a fitting backdrop to the present catechism question. May the Lord grant understanding, obedience, and a glad heart as we approach this topic.

Psalm 92, A psalm. A Song for the Sabbath day.

It is good to praise the LORD and make music to your name, O Most High, to proclaim your love in the morning and your faithfulness at night, to the music of the ten-stringed lyre and the melody of the harp. For you make me glad by your deeds, O LORD; I sing for joy at the works of your hands. How great are your works, O LORD, how profound your thoughts! The senseless man does not know, fools do not understand, that though the wicked spring up like grass and all evildoers flourish, they will be forever destroyed. But you, O LORD, are exalted forever. For surely your enemies, O LORD, surely your enemies will perish; all evildoers will be scattered. You have exalted my horn like that of a wild ox; fine oils have been poured upon me. My eyes have seen the defeat of my adversaries; my ears have heard the rout of my wicked foes. The righteous will flourish like a palm tree, they will grow like a cedar of Lebanon; planted in the house of the LORD, they will flourish in the courts of our God. They will still bear fruit in old age, they will stay fresh and green, proclaiming, “The LORD is upright; he is my Rock, and there is no wickedness in him.”

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Westminster Shorter Catechism Q60

Illustrations by John Whitecross – #2 of 8: The Rev. Dr Benedict, once minister of Sluinfield, gave a writer in the Connecticut Observer the following account, a few years before his death: Soon after he left college, he had occasion to travel southward, as far as the State of North Carolina. Being unacquainted with the way, he was desirous to find some one to accompany him. A man who had frequently travelled that road, in the business of a pedlar, was about to commence the journey, and informed him that it would give him pleasure to be his companion and guide. They accordingly set out together. At the close of the week, Dr Benedict remarked to his companion, that the journey thus far had been pleasant to him; but he added, ‘I know not how I shall do next week, provided you intend to continue your journey on the Sabbath. I cannot proceed till Monday; and if you leave me, I shall probably lose my way.’ The man replied, ‘I have not travelled upon the Sabbath for several years, though my business leads me to take long journeys. I formerly did, but I always lost more than I gained by the practice. Some hindrance or accident would occur the following week, which convinced me that it is for my interest to rest on the Sabbath.’

John Whitecross – 1828
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Question 60 asks how we keep the Sabbath holy, and answers that we keep the Sabbath holy by resting the whole day from worldly affairs or recreations, even ones that are lawful on other days. Except for necessary works or acts of mercy, we should spend all our time publicly and privately worshipping God.

Comments and considerations:
We have seen before that sanctify means to set apart, to take a thing and remove it from one sphere and place it in another for a particular use or purpose. In religious worship, objects or persons were by ceremony or mere acknowledgement sanctified or made holy, set apart from the ordinary or mundane. As Christians, we are set apart from the world, sin, and darkness, unto light, righteousness, and Christ. Similarly, the Sabbath day (and since Christ’s resurrection, the Lord’s Day) has been set apart; worldly employments and recreations that are lawful and necessary on other days cease to be so on this day, which is to be spent in the public and private exercises of God’s worship. The Sabbath is our call to focus on the God who provides all our needs, and we are to rest all that day in that fact! The command to rest is almost an oxymoron, particularly as it is found in Heb. 4:9-11—“labour therefore to enter into that rest” (KJV)—but that highlights our contrary and rebellious sinful nature. The parent of a young child knows how difficult it to convince that child to go to bed, and then to get up after their slumber. We are born resistant and dislike being told what to do, even when the command is as kind as this: “Come unto me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest” (Matt. 11:28). Yet God persists in lovingly commanding us to cease our lawful work and recreations, and to rest in the Lord on a day set apart for worship, prayer, and praise.

But there is an exception to our rest. We serve a God of wisdom and tender compassion, who desires mercy and not mere sacrifice (Matt. 12:7; Hos. 6:6). We do not live in a perfect world. The effects of sin require that those in certain fields (law enforcement, military, healthcare, and public systems) must work to maintain security and public welfare. These labors are thus considered works of necessity and mercy. Our Lord pointed out the need to care for distressed livestock and continued, “Of how much more value then is a man than a sheep? Therefore it is lawful to do good on the Sabbath” (Matt 12:12). This is one of many Scriptural examples of works of necessity that maintain public and private welfare.

It is important that the Sabbath principle remain intact for those taken up in the works of necessity and mercy. They need their one-day in seven to rest and reflect, to glorify and enjoy their God. We rest that we might work, using our gifts and talents to serve our families, employers, customers, and communities—coram Deo*.

* Before the face of, God. To live coram Deo is to live one’s entire life in the presence of God, under the authority of God, to the glory of God. http://www.ligonier.org/blog/what-does-coram-deo-mean/

Training Hearts and Teaching Minds Questions:

Read Matt. 12:1-8. What are some lessons you can draw from this text? How does this passage support the statement “…so much as is to be taken up in the works of necessity and mercy”?
Works of mercy include the work of doctors, nurses, fire fighters, and police officers who help people who need help right away. What was the mercy performed on the Sabbath in Luke 13:10-16?
How does Is. 58:13-14 describe Sabbath activity and the promised results for God’s people?
What Sabbath activities are described for the church in Acts 20:7 and I Cor. 16:1-2?
Psalm 92 is called a Psalm or Song for the Sabbath. How would reading and considering this Psalm prepare you for Sabbath day activities?

Harmony of the Standards: WSC Q60, WLC Q117 & 118, and WCF XXI.VIII

WSC Q60. How is the Sabbath to be sanctified?
A. The Sabbath is to be sanctified by a holy resting all that day, even from such worldly employments and recreations as are lawful on other days[a]; and spending the whole time in the public and private exercises of God’s worship[b], except so much as is to be taken up in the works of necessity and mercy[c].
[a] Ex. 20:10; Neh. 13:15-22; Isa. 58:13-14
[b] Ex. 20:8; Lev. 23:3; Luke 4:16; Acts 20:7
[c] Matt. 12:1-13
WLC Q117. 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[a], 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[b]; 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[c]) in the public and private exercises of God’s worship[d]: 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[e].
[a] Exod. 20:8, 10
[b] Exod. 16:25-28; Neh. 13:15-22; Jer. 17:21-22
[c] Mat. 11:1-13
[d] Isa. 58:18; Luke 4:16; Acts 20:7; 1Cor. 16:1-2; Ps. 92 (title, A psalm or song for the Sabbath-day); Isa. 66:23; Lev. 23:3
[e] Exod. 20:8; 16:22, 25-26, 29; Luke 23:54, 56; Neh. 13:19; (See number 2)

WLC Q118. Why is the charge of keeping the Sabbath more specially directed to governors of families, and other superiors?
A. The charge of keeping the Sabbath is more specially directed to governors of families, and other superiors, because they are bound not only to keep it themselves, but to see that it be observed by all those that are under their charge; and because they are prone ofttimes to hinder them by employments of their own[a].

[a] Exod. 20:10; 23:12; Josh. 24:15; Neh. 13:15, 17; (See above in 117.); Jer. 17:20-22

THE WESTMINSTER CONFESSION OF FAITH
CHAPTER XXI.
Of Religious Worship, and the Sabbath Day.

VIII. This Sabbath is then kept holy unto the Lord, when men, after a due preparing of their hearts, and ordering of their common affairs beforehand, do not only observe an holy rest all the day from their own works, words, and thoughts about their worldly employments and recreations[a]; 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[b].
[a] Exod. 20:8; Exod. 16:23-30; Exod. 31:15-17; Isa. 58:13-14; Neh. 13:15-22
[b] Isa. 58:13-14; Luke 4:16; Matt. 12:1-13; Mark 3:1-5

Question(s) for further study:
On expanding upon WSC Q60 and how the Sabbath is to be sanctified, the Larger Catechism questions provide light on the use of our other days activities in what way? How are those in authority accountable for Lord’s Day observation; and how ought we to prepare for the Sabbath and why?

Joe LoGiudice

Ruling Elder Emeritus, Orthodox Presbyterian Church (OPC). Currently retired after a forty-five-year career in operations management, and (most recently) retired after nine years as the Principal of Covenant Christian Academy in Westminster, CA.

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