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Description
Through careful exegesis in both Old and New Testaments, David Peterson unveils the total life-orientation of worship that is found in Scripture. Rather than determining for ourselves how we should worship, we, his people, are called to engage with God on the terms he proposes and in the way he alone makes possible.
Publication
Eerdmans Pub Co (1993), Edition: North American ed., 317 pages
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Peterson methodically works through Old Testament Scriptures and then through New, unfolding the story of God’s call to his people to worship him.
His study of worship in the Old Testament centers on the cultic sacrificial practices instituted by God for the Israelites in the Pentateuch.
One of the strengths of the book is Peterson’s development of a biblical vocabulary of worship which transcends traditional studies which have focused on the English word, “worship.” He carefully examines a number of key Hebrew and Greek words which together describe worship and acts of worship.
Peterson shows how Old Testament worship practices are fulfilled and superseded in and by the person of Jesus Christ as he ushers in a new covenant between the people and God. He discusses key passages in the Gospels, Acts, and Revelation but his strongest work is in his discussion of Paul’s writings and in the theology of worship presented in the letter to the Hebrews.
The unavoidable conclusion of Peterson’s work is that the Biblical idea of worship encompasses far more than what we today would call “worship services.” It has to do with a whole-life orientation to God—a lifestyle of submission to God. Furthermore, worship is not something we can choose to do any way we like: acceptable worship is only that worship which is on God’s own terms. His working hypothesis is that “the worship of the living and true God is essentially an engagement with him on the terms that he proposes and in the way that he alone makes possible” (p. 20).
If worship is a whole-life activity, then how are we to understand the purpose of our Sunday corporate gatherings? According to Peterson, the Apostle Paul would say these gatherings are for mutual edification—for building up the church.
His study of worship in the Old Testament centers on the cultic sacrificial practices instituted by God for the Israelites in the Pentateuch.
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Surprisingly, Peterson pays little attention to the Book of Psalms, the song and prayer book of the Old Testament People. One of the strengths of the book is Peterson’s development of a biblical vocabulary of worship which transcends traditional studies which have focused on the English word, “worship.” He carefully examines a number of key Hebrew and Greek words which together describe worship and acts of worship.
Peterson shows how Old Testament worship practices are fulfilled and superseded in and by the person of Jesus Christ as he ushers in a new covenant between the people and God. He discusses key passages in the Gospels, Acts, and Revelation but his strongest work is in his discussion of Paul’s writings and in the theology of worship presented in the letter to the Hebrews.
The unavoidable conclusion of Peterson’s work is that the Biblical idea of worship encompasses far more than what we today would call “worship services.” It has to do with a whole-life orientation to God—a lifestyle of submission to God. Furthermore, worship is not something we can choose to do any way we like: acceptable worship is only that worship which is on God’s own terms. His working hypothesis is that “the worship of the living and true God is essentially an engagement with him on the terms that he proposes and in the way that he alone makes possible” (p. 20).
If worship is a whole-life activity, then how are we to understand the purpose of our Sunday corporate gatherings? According to Peterson, the Apostle Paul would say these gatherings are for mutual edification—for building up the church.
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