Book Review – Called To Worship by Vernon M Whaley

Called To Worship is a very well written and thoroughly researched exploration of worship throughout the ages – from Genesis to Revelation – a weighty tome that has taken me the best part of three weeks to finish reading.

Author Vernon M Whaley is the Director of the Center for Worship at Liberty University and his enthusiasm for us to answer God’s call to worship shines through from every page. Leaving no stone unturned in his examination of worship, he takes us on a journey through the Bible that begins in the Old Testament with a study of the worship of Abraham, Moses, Joshua, Judges and Kings, continues in the books of Wisdom, Psalms and the Prophetic books, and then enters the New Testament taking us through worship in the Gospels and the early church. Our journey ends with a discussion of worship in eternity based on the book of Revelation.

I liked the way each chapter concludes with a summary of the worship principles to be gleaned from that particular chapter, and particularly enjoyed the chapter on worship in the Psalms that concluded with a full week of devotions from the book of Psalms to be used in personal worship.

Dr. Whaley makes the point on more than one occasion that the purpose of worship is not to please the congregation but rather to please God, something which should give some worship leaders pause for thought. He also emphasizes that just how we worship is somewhat irrelevant, what is of importance is that we do in fact worship, whether that be accompanied by an organ, drums and guitar, or no instruments at all.

Called to Worship is aimed primarily at Pastors and Worship Leaders, however I would recommend it to anybody seeking to increase their knowledge of worship based on solid Biblical practices.

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1. Book Review – Living with Confidence in a Chaotic World by Dr. David Jeremiah