Well, let's turn to Proverbs chapter 22. Today, Proverbs chapter 22. We'll read from the opening verse of the chapter. Proverbs chapter 22, beginning our reading at verse one. A good name is rather to be chosen than great riches, and loving favor rather than silver and gold. The rich and the poor meet together, The Lord is the maker of them all. A prudent man foreseeth the evil and hideth himself, but the simple pass on and are punished. By humility and the fear of the Lord are riches and honor and life. Thorns and snares are in the way of the fruit. He that doth keep his soul shall be far from them. Train up a child in the way that he should go, and when he is old he will not depart from it. The rich ruleth over the poor, and the borrower is servant to the lender. He that soweth iniquity shall reap vanity, and the rod of his anger shall feel. He that hath a bountiful eye shall be blessed, for he giveth off his bread to the poor. Cast out the scorner, and contention shall go out, yea, strife and reproach shall cease. Amen. I just point you to the words there in the verse number six at the commencement of this message today, train up a child in the way that he should go. And when he is old, he will not depart from it. It is a verse that reminds us of our responsibilities, and may God help us then to obey the word as it is before us here in Proverbs 22. Let's unite in prayer before we move on in our messages on family worship, and let's seek the Lord together. Our loving Father, we come as thy family, the family of God, those here who are saved, Lord, we come around Thy Word, round Thy feet. We desire to be instructed, to be taught of the Lord. Grant, dear Father, us to be biblical in our counsel. Save us, Lord, from the traditions of man. O God, we are aware, dear Father, that this can easily creep in. O God, to our practices, Therefore, grant, dear God, us to be biblical and help us, dear Father, to preach the word as that was given to us today. Lord, meet with us, send thy Spirit. Lord, fill me with thy Spirit. Fill the here with thy Spirit. And may, dear God, our hearts be blessed. Give fluency of speech, clarity of thought, Give power in the preaching of thy word and meet with us now as we meet around the open book, for we offer prayer in and through our Savior's precious name. Amen and amen. We deeply want a revival of domestic religion. The Christian family was the bulwark of godliness in the days of the Puritans. But in these evil times, hundreds of families of so-called Christians have no family worship, no restraint upon growing sons, and no wholesome instruction or discipline. See how the families of many professors are as dressy, as godless, as the children of the non-religious. How can we hope to see the kingdom of our Lord advance, when his own disciples do not teach his gospel to their own sons and their own daughters." These remarks were made by the Victorian preacher, Charles Haddon Spurgeon. Mr. Spurgeon was convinced that the neglect of family worship was detrimental to the spiritual health of the Church of Jesus Christ and the nation at large. Now in this service I want to continue what I commenced to preach upon last Lord's Day, namely the subject of family worship. I did say that we would conclude it today, but that is not the case. We'll have another message in the will of God next Lord's Day. Now we only got as far last week in looking at examples and exhortations from the scripture that indicated that some kind of family worship was practiced by certain families in Holy Scripture. On that occasion I drew your attention to Bible characters such as Noah, Abraham, Jacob, Joshua, David and Eunice. These were families who gathered together for family worship. We also quickly considered a number of texts that pointed to the need for parental instruction of children with regard to the commandments, the statutes and to the ways of the Lord. Well today we come to I would say the most practical aspect relating to family worship. Really, we're thinking about the conducting of family worship. How is family worship to be conducted within our homes? Now, time is always at a premium, and so we want to launch into this matter of the conducting of family worship. the conducting of family worship. Now I must be honest, when speaking on this subject, as men in the past have been, there is no single passage of Scripture that I can turn you to today that gives us guidance, that gives us guidelines, that gives us directives when it comes to how family worship is to be conducted within our homes. I cannot do that. I must be honest with you, I don't believe that there is some single passage that we have in Scripture that points us and sets out the guidelines, the principles, what is to occur in family worship. But we have established, I trust at least since last week, that such worship, such worship is to take place within our homes in some kind of form. Now how it takes place is a completely different matter. In general terms, family worship should be conducted in our homes reverently, earnestly, and simply. It should be conducted reverently, earnestly and simply. Richard Cecil, a leading evangelical Anglican of the 18th and 19th centuries remarked, let family worship be short, savory, simple, plain, tender and And so when we come to the conducting of family worship, we are really leaning on the advice and the practice and example of those who conducted such worship in their homes in the past. One such man was the Christian writer A.W. Pink. Pink gave the following counsel when writing on this matter of family worship. He said, worship should begin with a few words of prayer invoking God's presence and blessing. A short passage from his words should follow with brief comments thereon. Two or three verses of a psalm or hymn may be sung, closed with a prayer of committal into the hands of God. Though we may not be able to pray eloquently, we should pray earnestly. This is how A.W. Pink spoke of family worship. Now there are a number of things that I want to emphasize that I trust will assist you when it comes to the worship of God within your family and in your home. I want you to firstly think with me about the who of family worship, the who of family worship. Now I did say last week when referring to the case of Noah and his family, remembering a family consisting of mother, father, grown sons and their wives, I said on that occasion that all of them were present at the altar in Genesis chapter 8. It is into Genesis 9 verse 1 that God tells them to disperse and to multiply and to replenish the earth. And so all all the family, even those who were of an age that they were married themselves, were found at the family altar. In the case of Jacob that I referred to in Genesis chapter 35, I believe again that the complete family circle was there present in that act of worship at the place called Bethel. And so from these two examples, regardless of age, Regardless of age, each member of the family who lives under the same roof ought to be present when family worship is taking place. Just because someone is in their teenage years or even beyond, should not exclude them from the gathering together with mother, father, and with the rest of their siblings. Just because they maybe are pressured regarding time, does not mean that it excuses them to be absent at the place of worship. I believe that all under the same roof ought to gather for the worship of God. I also mentioned last week that the father of the home is to lead in the family devotion. The Bible teaches us clearly that fathers, those heads of household, They must consider themselves to be prophet, priest, and king of their own particular household. That is what God has entrusted you with, brother. Those of you who hope to someday marry, you young men, you will become prophet, priest, and king within your home. As prophet, then you are obliged to read God's word. and instruct the family in the whole counsel of God. As a priest, we do not make sacrifices as priests, but rather we are to pray, for that was part of the priestly role, to pray, to intercede, and as priests we are to pray for, and we are to pray with our families. We are to intercede on behalf of those within our homes, as kings. You are to govern. You are to discipline your children. That is what God has called you to do. This is not something that you are to pass on to your wife, but rather as the husband, as the father of the home, there is that need for governance, there is that need for discipline within the family unit. Because you are prophet, priest and king in your home. Matthew Henry wrote a book on family worship, and speaking on this particular issue, he said, masters of families who preside in the other affairs of the house must go before their households in the things of God. They must be as prophets, priests, and kings in their own families, and as such, they must keep up family doctrine, family worship, and family discipline. Then is there a church in the house, and this is the family religion I am persuading you to." However, that does not say that a wife, a mother, and the children of the family cannot take part in some way within the family worship. There is the matter of family prayer. that all can participate in, the reading of scripture, something else that mother and children can participate in, and even in praise, there is the scope for such to play an active role in. But it is the father, I believe, that takes the lead with regard to the instructing of his children and the encouragement of his wife, the who of family worship. In the second place, I want you to think with me about the when. of family worship, the weighing of family worship. Now in this point, I believe that common sense needs to prevail. Common sense needs to prevail. It would be ideal, it would be ideal to commence the day as a family in worship. Of course it would. But if a father rises at 5, 4, 6 a.m. in the morning to make his way to work, It would not be logical and at least in my mind sensible that the whole family is brought out of their beds just in order to fulfill the duty of family worship. Now these are matters of conscience. I'm not going to fall out with you with regard to these things. These are matters of conscience. But I find no indication in the scriptures as to the time of day when such worship is to take place. I believe it ought to be a time when all of the family are present. And so, after lunch, after dinner, or even beforehand, might be a best time suited. But that'll be something for you and your family, or you as the husband, as the father, to decide. And so the when, really I find nowhere in Scripture that tells us when such should take place. Some believe that it should take place morning and evening. in relation to the morning and the evening sacrifices. Some men of Reformed faith believe that should be the case. I cannot stipulate. We cannot start to read into Scripture and apply Scripture where maybe Scripture is silent on the matter, but it ought to be the family should be there. The family should be alert. Their minds alert, ready to hear the Word of God. And I suppose when we deal with the weighing of it, I suppose I could make a little comment as to the length of time that family worship is to be. Again, this is something that is a matter of conscience, something between you and the Lord. I don't feel that, again, there's biblical ground for me to stipulate how long your family worship is to be, whether it's to be 10 minutes, 15 minutes, 20 minutes, 30 minutes, an hour. I'm not telling you how long it's going to be. I certainly do not want to be like the scribes and the Pharisees that the Savior spoke off there in Matthew 23 verse 4, for they bind heavy burdens and grievous to be born and lay them on men's shoulders, but they themselves will not move them one of their fingers. In other words, do as I say, not as I do. However, any Christian author or minister And I have read widely on regard to this, anything that I have read on this matter does emphasize gravity, but not to the extent that it is rushed with a done and dusted attitude by the one conducting the worship within their home. I refer you back to what A. W. Pink said. He spoke about worship should begin with a few words of prayer, a short passage of God's Word. Brief comments, two or three verses of a psalm. This is how he conducted his own family worship within his home. And so there is emphasis on brevity, but not to the extent that, well, it's done and dusted for another day, Monday's ticked off, we have done our family worship. It is not to be done in a rushed or in a hasty manner, that it just seems to be an add-on, but rather it ought to be a central part of what happens Either in the morning or in the evening. This is family worship. This is family devotion time. This is Bible time. This is how we would refer to at home. We're doing Bible time. We're coming around the Bible, the scriptures, and the worship of God. And so these matters. The who and the when, these are but brief matters. But let me conclude, and we're only really starting, but let me think about, in the third place, the how of family worship. How, how is it to be done? Well, according to those who have practiced family worship in the past, family worship, it should be a simple affair consisting of three basic elements. And for memory's sake, to help you to remember them, let me say that they all begin with the letter S. These are S's, and so it'll help you in your memory. In the first place, there ought to be supplication. There ought to be supplication. Prayer ought to be part of family worship. I think of Hannah. Hannah prayed for her son. before he was even conceived within her womb. For this child I prayed, she said. But I believe that whenever she said that, she not only meant prior to his conception, but I believe that she also meant that she continued to pray for him. She prayed for him as an infant. And as he started to grow up, here's a mother praying for him, and I believe that she would have prayed with him as he was about the family home. Now we are exhorted in the Word of God to pray without ceasing. This continual prayer rising from our hearts Well, if that is the case, then, if we are to pray without ceasing, there are times throughout the day that we're found in our homes. That is obviously the case. And so there is prayer ascending from our hearts as we are in the homes. But there is another verse of Scripture that reminds us that we are to pray everywhere, lifting up holy hands. We are to pray everywhere. And surely, prayer in the home is covered in that phrase everywhere. Yes, we can pray at work, we can pray at school, we can pray in the car, we can pray in the van, we can pray in the fields, we can pray in the playground, but yet we can also pray and we ought to pray in the home. Prayer garrisons our home. Prayer is that which will, as it were, fortify our families against the inroads of the devil. We ought to pray. Like prayer! In times of family worship, I believe, should include the following, and we're using, once again, that acronym, X-A-C-T-S, the great elements of prayer, what it should involve as we gather the family round, as we seek the Lord in prayer, even before we come to the reading of the scriptures, the explanation of the scriptures, there is this rising of our hearts, the taking of ourselves away from the world, Our attention from off the things of time, those matters that have come into our families, those concerns, we're bringing them to the throne of heavenly grace. We're going to lay our problems and our troubles at Jesus' feet. We're coming to the mercy seat. And this is what occurs or should occur in the place of prayer. So this acronym ACTS. What should prayer involve? Well, the letter A speaks of acknowledgement. And what are we acknowledging? Well, in prayer there ought to be acknowledgement of who God is. Who is this God that we're coming before? Who is he? This is the high and lofty one who inhabiteth eternity. This is the one who is infinitely wise. This is the one who is infinitely holy. This is the one who is infinitely just. This is the one who is infinitely good. This is the one who is infinitely true. And as the children hear this in prayer, they become, and it's instilled into their hearts that God is greater than man. This God is to be feared. This God is to be revered, this God is to be obeyed, this God is to be loved, this God is to be served as we come to acknowledge who our God is and we also come to acknowledge our dependence on God. Give us this day our daily bread. We need Him for our temporal needs. And forgive us our trespasses, we need Him for our spiritual needs. And we come to acknowledge that we are dependent on God. And without Him as individuals, and without Him as a family, we can do absolutely nothing. And that we come to acknowledge that all things that we have received as a family have come from His good and gracious hand. we come to acknowledge our God in prayer. There is the letter C, confession of sin, confession of sin. We cannot expect our children to own up to their sins if we fail to confess our sins, our sins. I'm not speaking about private sins, I'm speaking about sins in the family. If your home is like our home or any other home across the province, it'll come as no surprise to you that there are often things that are said and there are often things that are done in families to members within the family that are contrary to God's word. Things said and things done that should never have been done or said. Those sins need to be confessed. If I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear me. We think of that verse, that counsel in the New Testament concerning a husband and wife, and if there is that issue between them, then it speaks of their prayers being hindered. There needs to be sin confessed. No point you coming to worship God with unconfessed sin. If thou hast something against thy brother, Jesus Christ said, leave thy gift at the altar and first be reconciled to thy brother and then come and offer the gift. Oh, whenever we come for family worship, it helps us with regard to keeping short accounts with each another. You can't have shouted at your wife and then come to the throne of heavenly grace, brother. and to the wife. You can't be criticizing your husband and then coming to the throne of heavenly grace and children. You can't be saying to your brothers or to your sisters things like, I hate you, and then try and come to God, the throne of heavenly grace. God will not hear the prayer, so there needs to be a confession of sin. A daily confession of sin will reconcile first a family to God, and then will reconcile a family to each other. Listen to these words of George Whitefield. He wrote, there are no families, but what have some common blessings of which they have all been partakers to give thanks for? some common crosses and afflictions which they are to pray against, some common sins which they are all to lament and bewail. But how can this be done without joining together in one common act of humiliation, supplication, and thanksgiving is difficult to devise." In other words, confess your sins. If there's a matter between husband and wife, A matter between children, sin must be confessed. It must be a place where confession of sin is to take place. Then the letter T, thanksgiving, Philippians 4 verse 6. Be careful for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known unto God. All of the blessings that we receive in this life, the food we eat, the clothes we wear, the homes we live in, the gospel preaching church we attend, the health we enjoy, and a thousand other blessings, all come to us from the loving hand of Jehovah. We should be continually offering thanks to Him for these gifts. He's the one who protects us from the evil one. He's the one who protects us from calamity and harm. He's the one who protects us from our own foolishness. But ought not in our praying should we not thank God for His Son? This is the greatest gift ever given to us, thanking God for the gift of the Lord Jesus Christ. And as we thank Him, for Christ, and as we come to the Father through Christ to thank Him for His Son and His salvation, that's an opportunity then for you to pray for the salvation of children that are not saved in your family. But mom and dad here, our children here, mom and dad praying for their salvation. And then there is supplication, the letter S, In that part of prayer, I believe it will cause the family to look beyond their own needs and into the wider world as they supplicate, as they intercede for others. You see, praying for others will check a spirit of selfishness entering into our hearts. If it's all about us and our family and our needs, that develops a mindset of selfishness as we come to pray. But the child of God ought to pray for the well-being of others. We are exhorted in Scripture to pray for all men. Let me read it to you. 1 Timothy 2 verse 1 to 3, I exhort therefore that first of all supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks be made for all men, for kings, and for all that are in authority, that we may lead a quiet and a peaceable life in all godliness and honesty. For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior. They're our friends. There are relatives, there are acquaintances who need to be saved. For them, we can pray at the family altar. There are believers who are suffering under various trials and temptations, believers who are sick, those who have been injured, maybe those who are going through financial problems, those who have been in times of sorrow. We can pray for them. Parents and children should pray for the minister. the congregation, for the office bearers, for the ministry leaders, for the ministry of the local church. There are Christians who have backslidden, who need to be restored. For them, we can pray. There are various missionaries who can benefit from a family's intercession. There is a need to go beyond the family, to pray for others, This is why we encourage you always at the start of the year to take that little calendar with all of our missionaries on it. You can look at the date each day and pray for those on that particular date. I believe it was Nepal today. Did you pray for the work in Nepal? Or is it all about your family, your needs? Oh, child of God, we need to have enlarged hearts, praying one for another, bearing one another's burdens, bringing the family of God to the throne of grace, bringing the church of Jesus Christ before the Lord in prayer. Let me quote again Matthew Henry from his book, Family Religion. He wrote, the benefit of prayer will reach far. Because he that hears prayer can extend his hand of power and mercy to the uttermost corners of the earth and to them that are afar off upon the sea. Now while family prayer on every occasion may not involve all four aspects of prayer that I've just mentioned, that acknowledgement, confession, thanksgiving, and also supplication, it should involve at least some. Now you may be thinking, Reverend Short, if I start to pray like this, and prayer is but only one of the three elements to family worship, it's going to take hours. It's going to take hours for our family devotions, but that is not so. Again, as I've said, I've read extensively concerning this, And the men that I've read, they have emphasized that a low prayer in family worship is to be regular and varied, spiritual and simple. It is also to be short. James Smith, he said, this prayer in the family should be short. Long prayers are never acceptable in the presence of others, but they are very injurious in families where there are children or unconverted servants. A.W. Pink said, prevailing prayers are usually brief ones. Beware of wearying the young ones. One present Reformed preacher, when setting forth guidelines on family worship, he wrote the following about prayer. Be short. With few exceptions, don't pray for more than five minutes. Tedious prayers do more harm than good. Don't teach in your prayer. God doesn't need the instruction. Teach with your eyes open. Pray. with your eyes shut, what good counsel, I believe. Prayer ought to be a frequent occurrence in any Christian home. Before we rise in the morning, we should pray. Before meals are at, we should pray. Before going to bed, we should pray. In times of crisis, we should pray. In times of calm, we should pray. In times of family worship, we should pray. The fragrance of prayer ought to permeate our homes. This is a house of prayer. Now just concerning, seemingly as I've just made comment on it, just concerning that matter of giving thanks before our meals, let me say that there is biblical warrant for such prayer to be offered. 10 times in the New Testament we are told that Jesus Christ gave thanks for food. Six times more we are told that he blessed the food before he ate it or before he broke bread for others. Now if the Lord Jesus Christ took time to thank God for the food, you should. you should. Whatever it is, you should thank God for the food. You know, the Lord Jesus Christ did this both publicly and privately. He gave enough thanks before meals. Some people think, well, whenever we go out for a meal in public, we'll not give thanks for food. Well, that is not the example of Jesus Christ. Lord Jesus Christ, when feeding the 5,000, he took the bread and he blessed it and he gave thanks. in public, but he also did it in private. The Lord's Supper, the Communion Feast, the Last Passover, the Passover Feast, whichever you want to call it, in private, he did the same. He took the cup, he took the bread, we read it in Corinthians, always he gave thanks, and then he gave it to his disciples. Privately and publicly, Christ gave thanks for food, 1 Timothy 4 verse 4 and 5, For every creature of God is good, and nothing to be refused if it be received with thanksgiving, for it is sanctified by the word of God and prayer. I believe that the giving of thanks before meals instills into the hearts of our children that it is from God from whom all blessings flow. And that public prayer before meals in a restaurant, in a public park, is a testimony to the ungodly. And here's a family who acknowledges that every good and perfect gift is from above, and it cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variableness, neither is there a shadow of turning. Christ gave thanks for the meal. Do you give thanks for your meal? Or do you just plough in? You just make your way into it. I tell you, God has given us the harvest. God has given us of his bounty. Do not be like the nine lepers who did not return to give thanks. And if you're in a home where thanks is not given, you can reverently bow your head or bow just your heart. before God just to thank Him as you partake of that food. Oh, may God help us to honor the Lord, to honor the Lord in these things. The second element, this is not as lengthy, these two. The second element that ought to be incorporated into family worship involves the scriptures. It is obvious in the home of Timothy that that occurred. We read there in 2 Timothy 3.15, and that from a child that was known the holy scriptures, which are able to make thee wise unto salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus. The word child is infant. This child didn't read the scriptures himself. This is before the years of understanding, before the age of literacy, that he was able to read the scriptures for himself. Who read these scriptures? Well, I don't believe it was dad. He had no time for God. But there's mother and grandmother. I believe reading the scriptures to young Timothy, the reading of scriptures ought to be at the heart of family worship because it makes the hearers wise on to salvation. It is our guide for living. And it is that which sanctifies our hearts and our lives. Now in what form or in what way the Scriptures are read, whether it be chronologically, whether that is from Genesis to Revelation, whether that's taking a book at a time, or whether the Scriptures are read in conjunction with some family devotional book again, it is a matter that I cannot stipulate on, just to say that the Bible, the Scriptures, ought to be read wherewithal. shall a young man cleanse his way by taking heed thereto according to thy word. The word of God is that which sanctifies. And whenever you come to read the scriptures, you could remind your children that you're coming to read the word of the living God. This is God's word. You could instill into their hearts the solemnity of it. This is the Bible. It will instill into their hearts the respect and the reverence that they should have for the Scriptures, and that will then spill over into our public worship services. As the Word of God is opened, the children will have their Bibles opened. The young people will have the Scriptures before them open. They'll not put them into the pubis in front of them, but they'll keep the Bible in front of them, because the Bible is our only rule of faith and of practice. And they'll come to learn that the Bible is not like a school textbook, but that this is the Word of the living God, that it is truly unique, that it alone has absolute authority and it alone merits our unqualified trust and our unqualified obedience. This is the book that this family is being led by. The book and the book alone. And so, wisdom is required. Wisdom is required when coming to the Scriptures about how much we read in our family devotions. Better to read a little and to understand the content than a large portion and no profit or benefit derived from it. And so, Father, focus on the quality, not the quantity. A short reading with some comments is better than a long reading with no attention or application of them made. I mentioned a document last week, the 1648 Directory of Family Worship produced by the Church of Scotland. It's in the back of our Westminster Confession of Faith, the larger copy. It does teach some things as we come to the reading of the Scripture. I paraphrase. It isn't word for word. I'm paraphrasing. It says, as you read the Scripture, if a sin is rebuked in the Word, then we are to call the family to keep watch against it. If a judgment is threatened, then we are to warn them of it. If a duty is commanded, then we are to press it upon them. If a promise is offered, then we are to urge them to trust and to receive its comfort. Many things we come across in Scripture, promises, sin, judgment, duty, as we come to them, we stop, we apply it, and say, here, we have a promise. This is a promise that you can claim. Here is a Judah. Seek first the kingdom of God. Are you seeking first the kingdom of God? Are you putting your games console? Are you putting your sport? Are you putting your television before the Lord? Simple, brief, pressing, applicable comments such as this will help in the instructing of the children. And the reading of Scripture is a part of family worship that all can take in. Each person can read. You can maybe read a verse at a time. This will see to the involvement of all present as worship in this setting, as it is a corporate act. This isn't just an individual, but that we're involved in. this worship of God. We're reading the Scriptures together. If your child cannot yet read, you could get them to read along with you. You could say a few words. They could repeat those words. It is getting them to know the Scriptures. putting them into their mouth the words of God. Very quickly, very quickly. The third element, song. That all scares us, song, in worship. There is a verse of Scripture, Psalm 118, if you want to turn there, verse 15. We'll make a few brief comments. Psalm 118 verse 15, the voice of rejoicing, the voice of praise is the Hebrew word and salvation is in the tabernacles or the homes, the tents of the righteous. The right hand of the Lord doeth valiantly. The praise of God is in the homes of the righteous, the singing of praise. the singing of God's praise. Philip Henry, I spoke about Matthew. Well, Philip Henry was Matthew Henry's father. He believed that this text in Psalm 118 verse 15 believed that it provided a biblical basis for the singing of Psalms and families. He argued that joyful singing comes from the individual tents, the individual homes of the righteous. It involves, he said, family singing as well as temple singing. Therefore, the sound of rejoicing and salvation, he said, should rise from family homes on a daily basis. The sad thing is that there are some Christians, some Christian parents, who do not seem to be concerned that their children know the lyrics and the tunes of the world's songs. They know their lyrics, they know their tunes. They maybe allow the radio to be played in the car when such music is being played. They maybe like the music themselves. The Christian, we are not to be conformed to this world. What about teaching them the Lord's song? The songs of Zion, what are not putting into their tongues the lyrics and the tunes of the Psalms and the hymns and the spiritual songs that present within them such great doctrines, the great doctrines of the Word of God. Now obviously, mom, dad, your goal isn't to win a singing competition. That's not the goal. It is to worship God as a family. And singing is part of worship, part of worship. You know, we read in the book of the Revelation about a family. It's called the family of the redeemed, the family of the glorified. And what are the family doing in their heavenly home? Well, they're singing the song of Moses and off the lamb. And if they do that in their heavenly home, why not then begin tuning your heart and voice on earth while you wait to join those of the family of the redeemed who have already been glorified, singing? It can be part of family worship. It can be in our homes. It's evident here in the book of Psalms that it was. Again, as I said, I'm not here to bind heavy burdens upon you as the people of God, but I believe that some form of family worship should be engaged in within our homes. And the elements that many have participated in down through the ages, those of our church fathers, the Puritans, the Reformers, There was always supplication. There always seemed to be the Scriptures. There always was the Scriptures. And then at times there was singing, the singing of the Psalms, the hymns, and spiritual songs. That's where I need to end. God willing, next week I want to bring to a conclusion this study. I want to answer some of the excuses that people have for not having family worship in their homes. And then I want to set forth then the benefits, the blessings of such a practice taking place in our families, because there are benefits that flow out of it. And may God help us then with regard to the hearing, and not only the hearing, but then the doing. of God's precious Word. But that's where I'll end today. May the Lord bless our hearts. Let's seek the Lord together in a word of prayer, brief word of prayer. Loving Father, gracious God, we come before Thee and we cry to Thee, O God, that Thy hand will be upon us, Thy blessing, Thy presence, Lord, within our homes, within our families, help us to conduct, dear God, ourselves as we ought to conduct. May God be pleased to dwell among us. Lord, not only corporatively, but Lord, as families, as family units. Lord, may God be honored. May God be feared. We recognize that God will be feared in the assembly of the saints when God is feared in the homes of the saints. It is but, Lord, as it were, an outworking. That which happens in the church is the outworking of that which happens in the home. Therefore, give us worshiping homes, that we might have a worshiping church, and then, dear Father, that that will spill over into our community, into our district, and that God will be honoured and feared even in coming days. So answer prayer, meet with us around the table of the Lord. Those who can wait, we ask these our petitions in and through the Saviour's precious name. Amen.