If we ask, “How should we worship God?” a healthy Christian and Protestant instinct will be to respond with another question: “What does the Bible say?” Rightly understood, this is a necessary and indeed a sufficient response.

We must not, however, presume that we alone know what the Bible says on this or any other issue. Wisdom and humility conspire to lead us to a broader attitude and to ask, “What have Christians down through the ages understood the Bible to say about how we should worship God?”

Unless we wish to make a virtue of solipsism, any serious consideration of worship must take into account the history of worship, as a sort of running commentary on Scripture, a commentary embodied in practice and preserved in literary monuments, especially liturgies.

from Give Praise to God: A Vision for Reforming Worship