Overview

The fourth commandment closes the first table — our duty to God — by sanctifying time. This section (Q57–62) gives the commandment, explains how the Sabbath is to be kept, identifies the Christian Sabbath as the Lord’s Day, shows how it is sanctified, names the sins forbidden, and weighs the reasons annexed.

The Questions & Answers

Q57. Which is the fourth commandment? A. The fourth commandment is, Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days shalt thou labour, and do all thy work: but the seventh day is the sabbath of the Lord thy God: in it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates: for in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day: wherefore the Lord blessed the sabbath day, and hallowed it.

Q58. What is required in the fourth commandment? A. The fourth commandment requireth the keeping holy to God such set times as he hath appointed in his word; expressly one whole day in seven, to be a holy sabbath to himself.

Scripture Proofs (ESV):

“Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy.” (Exod. 20:8, ESV)

Further proofs: Deut. 5:12–14; Gen. 2:2–3; Lev. 23:3.

Q59. Which day of the seven hath God appointed to be the weekly sabbath? A. From the beginning of the world to the resurrection of Christ, God appointed the seventh day of the week to be the weekly sabbath; and the first day of the week ever since, to continue to the end of the world, which is the Christian sabbath.

Scripture Proofs (ESV):

“On the first day of the week, when we were gathered together to break bread…” (Acts 20:7, ESV)

Further proofs: Gen. 2:3; 1 Cor. 16:1–2; John 20:19, 26; Rev. 1:10.

Q60. How is the sabbath to be sanctified? A. The sabbath is to be sanctified by a holy resting all that day, even from such worldly employments and recreations as are lawful on other days; and spending the whole time in the public and private exercises of God’s worship, except so much as is to be taken up in the works of necessity and mercy.

Scripture Proofs (ESV):

“If you turn back your foot from the Sabbath, from doing your pleasure on my holy day, and call the Sabbath a delight…” (Isa. 58:13–14, ESV)

Further proofs: Lev. 23:3; Neh. 13:15–22; Matt. 12:1–13.

Q61. What is forbidden in the fourth commandment? A. The fourth commandment forbiddeth the omission, or careless performance, of the duties required, and the profaning the day by idleness, or doing that which is in itself sinful, or by unnecessary thoughts, words, or works, about our worldly employments or recreations.

Q62. What are the reasons annexed to the fourth commandment? A. The reasons annexed to the fourth commandment are, God’s allowing us six days of the week for our own employments, his challenging the seventh as his own, his own example, and his blessing the sabbath day.

Scripture Proofs (ESV):

“…for in six days the LORD made heaven and earth… and rested on the seventh day. Therefore the LORD blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy.” (Exod. 20:11, ESV)

Further proofs: Exod. 31:15–17; Gen. 2:2–3; Lev. 23:3.

Exposition: The fourth commandment is grounded in creation itself (Q62: God’s “own example” of resting on the seventh day) and so is part of the abiding moral law, “one whole day in seven” (Q58). Q59 confesses the change of day: with Christ’s resurrection the Sabbath moved from the seventh day to the first — “the Christian sabbath” or Lord’s Day — honoring the new creation begun in His rising. Q60 describes its keeping positively (worship, public and private) and with the gracious exceptions Christ Himself affirmed: “works of necessity and mercy.” Q61 names the failures — careless worship, idleness, and treating the day as ordinary. The day is to be a “delight” (Isa. 58:13), not a grim burden.

Connections

• WLC Q115–121 — the fourth commandment; the duties required; the change of the day; how the Sabbath is sanctified; the sins forbidden; the reasons annexed.
• WCF 21 (Of Religious Worship and the Sabbath Day) — the full doctrine of the Lord’s Day.
• Loci: The fourth commandment; the Sabbath / Lord’s Day; the moral law and creation ordinances.

Pastoral & Practical Significance

The Lord’s Day is one of God’s kindest gifts, and this commandment frames it as both duty and delight. In a world of relentless productivity and digital noise, the Christian Sabbath is a weekly act of faith: laying down our work to declare that we are not slaves but children, that our worth is not in our output, and that the world is upheld by God, not by us. Q60’s “holy resting” is not mere idleness but a positive filling of the day with worship, fellowship, and acts of mercy — and Christ’s own example (healing on the Sabbath) guards us from a joyless legalism that would forbid even necessity and mercy. The day points backward to creation (God rested), and forward to the eternal rest that remains for the people of God (Heb. 4:9–11). To keep the Lord’s Day is to rehearse the gospel one day in seven: ceasing from our works, we rest in His. Call the Sabbath a delight, and you will find God Himself to be your reward (Isa. 58:14).

For Memory & Reflection

• Memorize Q60 especially; anchor verse: Isaiah 58:13–14. Q58 and Q59 are also worth committing.
• Is the Lord’s Day a delight or a burden to me? What keeps me from “resting” in it?
• The Sabbath rehearses the gospel — ceasing from my works to rest in God’s. How can I keep the day in a way that preaches that to my own heart?