The Necessity of Worship in Church

by R.A. Miller
Published June 2, 2026.

“Come and hear, all ye that fear God, and I will declare what he hath done for my soul.”
- Psalm 66:16

“Many come to these holy places, and are so transported with a desire of hearing, that they forget the fervency of praying and praising God,” writes Adams. One feeds the other. God’s Word calls us to praise God. Therefore, studying it should create in us a desire to worship him. Adams, very logically, puts it this way, “The word preached brings in knowledge, and knowledge rectifies devotion. So that all our preaching is but to beget your praying; to instruct you to praise and worship God. The most immediate and proper service and worship of God is the end, and hearing but the means to that end.”

Adams then raises another great point, one that directs our gaze toward eternity. What will be doing for millennia after Christ’s return? Worshipping. “I will be bold to tell you, that in heaven there shall be no sermons; and yet in heaven there shall be hallelujahs,” the clergyman wrote. This demonstrates the eternal perspective for Christians to cling to: Instruction is for now, but praise abounds forever.

The weekly assembly, then, functions as a preview of heaven. The saints will be gathered together, and praises to God will be sung. If this prospect does not stir the saint to worship, what will? “Come then hither, both to hear God and to praise God,” writes Adams, while citing the words of David, as both a preacher and worshipper, “Come and hear, all ye that fear God, and I will declare what he hath done for my soul.”