Presbyterian Worship: Its Spirit, Method and History

by Robert Johnston

"Then he taketh bread and giveth thanks, either in these words following or like in effect."

The student of the life of the great Scottish Reformer does not need to be told that the framer of the Book of Common Order was not himself bound by any particular form of prayer in public worship. On the occasion of his memorable sermon after the death of the Regent Moray, his prayer at its close was the passionate outburst of a burdened soul, impossible to one restricted by prescribed forms, while his prayer, which is still preserved, on the occasion of a national thanksgiving, is an illustration of the perhaps not excellent way in which, in this exercise, he was accustomed to combine devotion and practical politics; a part of it ran thus:

"And seeing that nothing is more odious in Thy presence, O Lord, than is ingratitude and violation of an oath and covenant made in Thy Name: and seeing that Thou hast made our confederates of England the instruments by whom we are now set at liberty, to whom we in Thy Name have promised mutual faith again; let us never fall to that unkindness, O Lord, that either we declare ourselves unthankful unto them, or profaners of Thy Holy Name."

It is not surprising that one who allowed himself such liberty in public prayer should lay no binding forms upon his brethren in the ministry.

It remains only to be said, with regard to the restrictions of the Book of Common Order, that so far from providing any fixed form of prayer for uniform, use, even the Lord's Prayer was not imposed in any part of public worship. It is added, together with the Creed, to the form of prayer called "A Prayer for the Whole Estate of Christ's Church," but this prayer is governed by the general rubric already quoted, which permits such variation as the minister, moved by the Spirit of God, shall deem desirable. There is nothing to show that it was expected that the Lord's Prayer should be used as an invariable part of public worship.

With these facts before us, whatever our judgment may be of the wisdom of Knox and of the Church of his day in the matter of a regulated service, we cannot close our eyes to the evident conclusion that the Reformer was wholly opposed to the bondage of form in prayer. In this part of public worship he claimed for himself, and exercised under the guidance of the Spirit of God, the greatest freedom; and consistent with this position he never sought to impose as a part of regular public worship, the repetition by the minister of even that form of prayer which of all others has for its use Divine authority. To whatever in worship the Book of Common Order may lend its countenance, it assuredly gives no support to the imposition upon worshippers of prescribed forms of prayer.

Side by side with that part of public worship already considered there has always been associated the exercise of Praise.

Although the Scottish Church conformed most closely to the Churches of France and Switzerland, yet it was impossible that it should not, to some degree, be influenced by the spirit of the German Reformation. This influence was especially marked in that which was a special characteristic of the German Church, a love for sacred song and a delight in the same on the part of the people.

The Book of Common Order contained, as has been mentioned, in its early editions, the complete Psalter, and to this were added, subsequently, a few Scripture Hymns, together with the Doxology Gloria Patri in different metres, so that it could be sung at the end of every Psalm. This Doxology appears in Hart's edition of the Book of Common Order of 1611, in six different metres, under the general head of "Conclusions," and was evidently used regularly at the close of the Psalms sung in public worship. It was not until the beginning of the seventeenth century that there began to arise criticisms of the custom of singing the Doxology, and it would, therefore, appear that during the formative period of the Scottish Church, which we are considering, it was regularly used, and occasioned no objection and aroused no opposition. The Hymns which were printed with the Psalter were few in number, and were chiefly free paraphrases of sections of Scripture. They are "The Ten Commandments," "The Lord's Prayer," "Veni Creator," "The Song of Simeon called Nunc Dimittis," "The Twelve Articles of the Christian Faith," and "The Song of Blessed Marie called Magnificat." The purpose of the Hymns appears to have been the memorizing of Scripture and important doctrinal truths, and there is no evidence that they were employed in public worship, although a place was not denied them in the Book of Common Order; in the Order for Public Worship mention is made of Psalms only, and in all the accounts, which have come down to us in correspondence or history, of the public services of that time, the people are invariably spoken of as joining in a Psalm, while even in the public processions, which were common on occasions of national rejoicing or thanksgiving, Psalms only are mentioned as being sung by the people.

The singing was usually led by the Reader, but there is occasional mention in the records of the time of the "Uptaker" of the Psalms, who evidently performed the duties of a Precentor.