O Sacred Head, Now Wounded: A Liturgy for Daily Worship from Pascha to Pentecost

“C. S. Lewis once expressed his view that modern worshipers who no longer used the church’s liturgy were guilty of spiritual arrogance—the only reason for ignoring it being the assumption that we can do things better. What would the blunt-speaking Lewis say about corporate worship today? And no doubt the character of communal worship is inevitably reflected in the private devotions of Christians. So where can we find help? In O Sacred Head, Now Wounded, Jonny Gibson once again comes alongside us with another splendid volume to guide our personal disciplines, inform our spiritual meditations, and nurture and nourish our private devotions. In addition, he enables us to grow into a biblical appreciation of the fact that, while Paul, Apollos, and Peter are ours, so too is the ministry of the historic and worldwide family of God.”

“A good liturgy is like a window rather than a wall, inviting worshipers to look through it and behold the glory and goodness of God. The devotional liturgies in O Sacred Head, Now Wounded welcome us to see the Redeemer with clear vision and renewed affections. Jonny Gibson has done it again—focusing on how the heart of the gospel vividly reveals the heart of God toward his people.”

“The most obvious virtue of O Sacred Head, Now Wounded is its comprehensiveness. It brings together passages from the Bible, the creeds and catechisms of the church, readings from the great Christians through the ages, and an abundance of liturgical materials. This abundance is firmly organized and meets the all-important criterion of being well thought out.”

“Jonny Gibson offers a disciplined structure for spiritual devotion rooted in ancient and Reformed Christianity. He has composed a daily rhythm of meditation and prayer, drawing from the Holy Scriptures, the creeds, the Heidelberg Catechism, the Westminster Shorter Catechism, the church fathers and Reformed theologians, Reformed liturgies, and the Psalter. Though designed to prepare a Christian for the annual remembrance of Christ’s death and resurrection in the traditional church calendar, these devotions could be used at any time of the year, for our Lord’s redeeming work should always be at the forefront of our minds.”

“Jonny Gibson’s liturgy for daily worship equips the reader to remember Jesus Christ in, as he puts it, an orderly, mystery-evoking, and worshipful way. I loved the content, structure, and rhythms of this book because they pointed me to the wonder of Jesus’s work of salvation and daily prepared my heart for the season from Pascha to Pentecost. It reminded me that form and liturgy can provide a beautiful framework for the personal and family worship of our Lord and Savior Jesus.”

“To some people, the word liturgy conjures up visions of dry-as-dust formal religion devoid of life and warmth. The irony is that evangelical informality, by which we often seem to say to God the first words that come into our heads, can result in dry-as-dust informal religion, sucked empty of depth and nourishment. There is a growing hunger for good liturgy. As a glad user of Jonny Gibson’s earlier book Be Thou My Vision, I warmly commend these deeply scriptural aids to remembering Christ in his death, his resurrection, his ascension, and the outpouring of his Spirit. They will do your heart good.”

“Just as Jonny Gibson’s Be Thou My Vision has enriched both my private worship and my preparation for the leading of public worship, so his O Sacred Head, Now Wounded will be a significant and structured resource for worship, both personal and public, at a significant season of the year. There can be no more important subject for Christian reflection and meditation than the passion, death, and resurrection of our blessed Savior, Jesus Christ. I believe that the use of this resource will not only enable us to reflect carefully and thoughtfully on the saving work of our Redeemer but will also lead to a new desire to honor and glorify the one who loved us and gave himself for us.”