Call the Sabbath a Delight
BCO 48 on the Whole Day, Holy Rest, and a Culture of Worship
On Polity Matters we are currently working our way through the final section of the Book of Church Order, so all of our newest episodes are about worship. I thought it would be worthwhile to reflect on these matters here, as they pertain to the aim of this blog as a whole. What follows is reflections on BCO 48-4 through 48-7.
In the first half of BCO 48, the Directory establishes the foundation: the Lord’s Day is a moral obligation rooted in God’s law, sanctified by Christ’s resurrection, and meant to be approached with deliberate preparation. If we miss those opening moves, the rest of the chapter will feel either excessive or arbitrary—like a list of rules detached from any coherent purpose.
But the Directory’s purpose is neither arbitrary nor merely restrictive. It is pastoral. It wants to form a people who know how to receive one day in seven as a weekly invitation into communion with God.
That’s why the second half of the chapter is so practical. BCO 48-4 through 48-7 answers the question most Christians eventually ask, sometimes out loud and sometimes only in their own conscience: What is this day for?
48-4 The Whole Day
“The whole day is to be kept holy to the Lord; and to be employed in the public and private exercises of religion. Therefore, it is requisite, that there be a holy resting, all the day, from unnecessary labors; and an abstaining from those recreations which may be lawful on other days; and also, as much as possible, from worldly thoughts and conversation.”
This paragraph is stunningly direct. It identifies the positive center first—public and private exercises of religion—and then it names the kinds of abstaining that protect that center.
Morton Smith highlights the positive core: the day is for public and private worship. The rest/abstain language serves that end. It is not random austerity. It is purposeful protection.
The Directory also includes a phrase that shows pastoral realism: “as much as possible.” We are embodied, needy creatures. The aim is not perfectionism. The aim is orientation: a day claimed for God.
Isaiah 58: a day of delight, not self-pleasure
Isaiah 58:13–14 sits at the climax of a chapter contrasting self-serving religion with delight-driven obedience. The Sabbath becomes a test case: do God’s people actually delight in Him, or are they mainly interested in their own ways?
“If you turn back your foot from the Sabbath, from doing your pleasure on my holy day, and call the Sabbath a delight and the holy day of the LORD honorable; if you honor it, not going your own ways, or seeking your own pleasure, or talking idly; then you shall take delight in the LORD…” (Isa. 58:13–14)
That is the heart of it. The point is not dreariness. The point is delight—delight in the Lord Himself.
The “whole day” doesn’t mean “every second in a pew”
“The whole day” does not mean every moment must be a formal act of worship. It may be better to think of the day’s flavor—the way a wedding day shapes everything about the day even though the ceremony itself is only one part. The day is set apart. It is influenced by what it is for.
And again, this helps with the practical questions. Instead of living in endless debates over minute details, we need clear principles:
Public worship is the anchor.
Ordinary work is laid aside except for necessity and mercy.
Ordinary recreations that distract from worship and rest are restrained.
The day is shaped by what helps us seek God, rest in Him, and love neighbor.
In homes with young children, this is where we need both firmness and sanity. It is rarely wise to turn the day into a household surveillance state. Kids have energy. They will play. There is a difference between quiet, ordinary play that fits within a day of worship and the kind of “recreation as escape” that pulls the entire home away from the Lord’s Day.
Remember that priorities clarify the day. Once you schedule the big things—morning worship, evening worship (if your church has it), family worship, conversation about the sermon—many of the “can I?” questions begin to answer themselves.
48-5 Remember Your Neighbor
“Let the provisions for the support of the family on that day be so ordered that others be not improperly detained from the public worship of God, nor hindered from sanctifying the Sabbath.”
This is one of the more easily neglected dimensions of Sabbath observance: the way our choices affect others.
The Directory here becomes very practical beyond the confessional standards. The original context likely assumed households with servants or domestic workers: don’t arrange your comfort so that others must break the Sabbath to support you.
But the principle extends naturally: Sabbath-keeping is not only “what do I avoid,” but “what do my choices require of others?” Restaurants, entertainment venues, unnecessary commerce, unnecessary travel—these can become ways we quietly outsource Sabbath-breaking to others while telling ourselves we’re doing fine.
And this applies in the home as well. The fourth commandment speaks not only about you, but your household. Don’t turn Sunday into an ordinary “big production day” that burdens the household and crowds out rest, worship, and peace.
BCO 48 is giving direction for a Christian culture of worship, not just individual scruples.
48-6 Private Devotion Serves Public Worship
BCO 48-6 turns us back to preparation, now specifically on the morning of the Lord’s Day:
“Let every person and family, in the morning, by secret and private prayer, for themselves and others, especially for the assistance of God to their minister, and for a blessing upon his ministry, by reading the Scriptures, and by holy meditation, prepare for communion with God in his public ordinances.”
The logic is beautiful: private devotion → public worship. The goal is “communion with God in his public ordinances.”
This also gives a gentle correction to one of the most common modern habits: we often treat worship like a product we consume rather than communion we prepare for. BCO 48 says: pray, read, meditate, prepare.
And there’s one specific application the Directory names: pray for your preacher. If a congregation complains about preaching, one BCO remedy is: pray for your preacher before you arrive.
I’ve been helped by hearing an experienced minister describe a season where he felt unusually weighed down and anxious about preaching, and then later noticed a distinct relief and freedom. He eventually learned that a significant portion of the congregation had begun praying for him regularly before worship. That kind of prayer changes a church.
Now, in a household with young children, this preparation will not always look like long quiet stretches of solitude. But it can be woven into your habits. Pray at breakfast. Pray in the car on the way to church. Ask the Lord to quiet your heart, forgive impatience, and bless the preaching. You don’t need a perfect morning to obey these instructions.
48-7 A Full Day
Finally, BCO 48-7 offers what may be the most constructive paragraph for people who mainly associate the Sabbath with “what I can’t do”:
“Let the time not used for public worship be spent in prayer, in devotional reading, and especially in the study of the Scriptures, meditation, catechising, religious conversation, the singing of psalms, hymns, or spiritual songs; visiting the sick, relieving the poor, teaching the ignorant, holy resting, and in performing such like duties of piety, charity, and mercy.”
This is a palette. It is a vision for a worship-shaped life.
And the Directory assumes you will have time outside public worship. The question is: what will fill it?
Notice the variety:
Word and prayer
Meditation and catechesis
Religious conversation and singing
Mercy and charity
Holy resting
That last one matters. Take a nap. Rest is not the enemy of Sabbath holiness; it is part of it. We are not trying to prove ourselves by exhaustion. We are trying to honor the Lord by receiving His gift.
For families, there is real wisdom here. The “whole day” does not mean “whole day in the sanctuary,” but it does mean the day is claimed for God’s worship and neighborly love. You can anchor the day in public worship and then fill the remaining time with family worship, conversation about the sermon, hymn singing, catechizing, visits, hospitality, and rest.
And for parents with young children, there’s a simple pastoral tactic I’ve found helpful: make the day special in appropriate ways. Little traditions—simple, wholesome treats—can help children associate the Lord’s Day with joy. The aim is not bribery; the aim is to make the day feel like a delight and a gift rather than a gray obligation.
And one more encouragement: if you are using the Lord’s Day for the purposes it was designed for, you are unlikely to find yourself with endless idle time. You won’t run out of good things to do. The “problem” of boredom is often just the problem of not yet seeing what the day is for.
Call the Sabbath a Delight
If you read BCO 48 asking, “What does this tell me I have to do?” you will probably miss the point from the start. The Directory is aiming deeper than compliance. Like Scripture, it is aiming at our desires. Isaiah’s language is the right place to land: “call the Sabbath a delight.”
The Lord’s Day is meant to be good. It is meant to be anticipated. It is meant to shape the church into a people who know how to stop, gather, listen, pray, rest, and love—because God Himself has invited us into communion with Him.
So the question is not mainly, “What am I not allowed to do?” The question is: How can I receive this day as God’s gift, and use it in a way that helps me delight in Him?