Comparison of Selected Worship Elements that Consist of Words^[1]

Attributes	Prayer	Praise in Song	Preaching & Teaching
Stable[2] form required to participate	No	Yes	No
God-breathed prophetic words	No	Yes[3]	No
Collection or writings provided by God	No	Yes	No
Instruction to compose	Yes[4]	No	Yes[5]
Examples that show how to compose	Yes[6]	Yes	Yes[7]
Promise of God’s help composing	Yes[8]	No	Yes[9]

 “reading the Scripture is not the same exercise of worship as singing, and neither is preaching the same as singing, or reading the Scripture. The same kind of distinction applies to the exercises of praying and singing even when the content is identical. The Lord’s Supper is an act of thanksgiving as well as one of commemoration and communion. But though the partaking of the bread and the wine includes thanksgiving, just as prayer and singing do, yet the celebration of the Lord’s Supper is an act of worship distinct from both prayer and singing, and the divine prescriptions respecting the celebration of the Lord’s Supper cannot be determined by the divine prescriptions regarding prayer or singing but must rather be derived from the revelation God has given respecting the observance of that distinct element of the worship of God.” ^[10]

1. Hughes, James R. In Spirit and Truth: Worship as God Requires (Understanding and Applying the Regulative Principle of Worship), 2009. PDF e-book, page 74.
2. For example, as a published text, or memorized.
3. Exodus 15:20, 21; Judges 5; Isaiah 5:1; 26:1; 2 Samuel 23:1, 2; 1 Chronicles 25:5; 2 Chronicles 29:30; 35:15; Matthew 22:43; Acts 1:16, 17; 2:29-31; 4:24, 25.
4. Matthew 6:9.
5. 2 Timothy 4:2.
6. Matthew 6:5-15.
7. Acts 17:16-34.
8. Romans 8:26; Ephesians 6:18.
9. Luke 10:16; Ephesians 3:8.
10. Murray, John & William Young. “Reports of the Committee on Song in Worship (Minority Report of the Committee on Song in the Public Worship of God Submitted to the Fourteenth General Assembly of the Orthodox Presbyterian Church).” opc.org Orthodox Presbyterian Church. Web. January 9, 2016.