I Don't Want To Sing Psalms, I Want To Sing About Christ!

"Martin Luther used to call the Book of Psalms "a little Bible." Bishop Horne describes it as "an epitome of the Bible." These terms are fully justified in the fact that in the Psalter we find concentrated all the truths which are elsewhere elaborated and enforced in all the divine Word. It thus possesses an internal completeness not found in any other single book in the inspired volume. Having, evidently, this thought in mind, Thomas Scott, the eminent commentator, says, "There is nothing in true religion -- doctrinal, experimental, and practical -- but will present itself to our attention whilst we meditate upon the Psalms. The Christian's use of them in the closet, and the minister's in the pulpit, will generally increase with the growing experience of the power of true religion in their own hearts."

"One essential reason for this internal completeness of the Psalter is that Christ is the central figure in it, as He is in the entire Word of God. Every book, indeed, of the Old Testament is intended to lead directly or indirectly to Jesus Christ. But in this respect the Book of Psalms stands preeminent among the entire thirty-nine." 

Read the entire article here. 

Making Melody in the New Testament

“Either Way, We Must Sing and Sing Only”

David B. Smith

"Psallo is one of five plural participles in Ephesians 5:19-21, used to explain how a person is to be “filled with the Spirit” [or as it is paralleled in Col. 3:16, to “let the word dwell in one richly”]. The five participles are speaking, singing, making melody, giving thanks and submitting. In Ephesians 5:19, psallo is translated “making melody.” Unfortunately, some people abuse the term in an effort to justify the use of instrumental music in worship. In fact some corrupted versions of the Bible completely disregard the meaning of the term, like the Amplified Bible which reads “offering praise with voices [and instruments]...” Such abuses go far in showing the lack of regard many translators have for the inspiration of the Bible. 

"Psallo (Greek) is the New Testament equivalent to the Old Testament zamar (Hebrew). But even in the Old Testament, the word zamar did not inherently mean “to use the instrument.” The context determined whether the instrument was included. It is only used figuratively in the New Testament. And all credible translators know that it is only correct to translate the term into something like “making melody.” Lexicographers agree on this point. The object of the verb would decide whether the instrument was intended. And in Ephesians 5:19, there are only two options – neither of which authorizes natural or mechanical instruments of music: 

"1. If the phrase is taken locatively, it means that making melody occurs “in the heart.” In such a case, melody is restricted to this one location, since 'specific action commands' exclude all other actions.

"2. If the phrase is taken in the instrumental case, it means that making melody occurs “with the heart.” In such a case, the heart is the only tool God allows for the making of the melody.

"Herein is the beauty of the phrase, as it appears in the Bible: the meaning is the same regardless. Either way, the songs must be sung and the melody must be made in the heart of man and with the heart of man. To use a play on words, the heart is the only authorized instrument. There can be no other conclusion but this.

"So when saints come together and blend their voices in song, they can be confident that they are accomplishing exactly what God requires for this act of worship without addition or subtraction. And this is the key to true worship (John 4:23-24), which goes before God as a sweet smelling savor."

https://www.thelordsway.com/SODDYDAISYTN/doclib/psallo.pdf

The Keliy of the Old Testament, The Hoplon of the New

It's interesting to consider the use of the term "musical instrument" in Scripture. Our present usage of the phrase could possibly skew our understanding of the place and sanction of musical instruments in worship, particularly in the Levitical sacrificial system as compared to now.

In the Bible, the Hebrew word keliy is often translated by the word "instrument."  But it's also variously translated "furniture," "articles," "weapons," "clothing," "baggage," armor," "yoke," "tool," "implement," "jar," "vessel," and "equipment." Strong's defines keliy as "an article, a vessel, an implement, a utensil, a tool." The various keliy were often those things which had a common use; but sometimes keliy is used to describe things set apart to a holy use. For instance, in Exodus 25:9, keliy describes the various furnishings of the Tabernacle. God tells Moses, "According to all that I shew thee, after the pattern of the tabernacle, and the pattern of all the instruments (keliy) thereof, even so shall ye make it." These instruments included the ark, the mercy seat, the cherubim, the table, and the candlestick. Keliy in the Old Testament was something useful, something that furnished out, equipped. When used in worship, these articles and implements were strictly regulated by God, to be made and used according to God's exact pattern.

In due course of time, God gave an expanded pattern of worship to David, along with the prophets Nathan and Gad, with exact instructions for additional keliy for use in the Temple in the worship of God. These were also strictly regulated by God, and would be implements for the sounding of music. 1 Chronicles 15:16: "And David spake to the chief of the Levites to appoint their brethren [to be] the singers with instruments (keliy) of musick, psalteries and harps and cymbals, sounding, by lifting up the voice with joy." 

So, in the Old Testament, there were keliy for the Tabernacle, keliy for warfare, keliy for farming, keliy for food and eating, keliy for clothing the body, and then, beginning in 1 Chronicles 15:16 with David's appointment of the Levites, keliy for music. All keliy for worship were strictly appointed and regulated by God, whether the candlesticks for the tabernacle or later for the loud-sounding cymbals for the temple. 2 Chronicles 29:25: "And he set the Levites in the house of the LORD with cymbals, with psalteries, and with harps, according to the commandment of David, and of Gad the king's seer, and Nathan the prophet: for so was the commandment of the LORD by his prophets."

In the New Testament, the only Greek word that conveys the same sense as keliy is hoplon, which appears once, in Romans 6:13: "Do not present your members to sin as instruments (hoplon). Strong's defines hoplon as "any tool or implement...arms used in warfare, weapons." So hoplon in the New Testament also conveys the idea of a utensil, a tool, something used; even for warfare, as does keliy in some places in the Old.

Now a little about the use of the English word "instrument" to translate keliy. It was surely chosen carefully by the early translators of the English Bible, because at that time, it still conveyed the sense of its roots, which were in the Old French estrument and the Latin instrumentem; its definition was "a tool, apparatus, furniture, dress, document." Instrumentem is from instruere (to instruct, to arrange, to inform, to teach).  We still retain a vestige of this earlier meaning when we speak of surgical instruments, and also, in keeping with the idea of instruction, of legal instruments.

Mostly, we now associate the word instrument with music. But the earlier translators chose the word instrument to translate various instances of the Hebrew keliy because, for them, it still had connotations of being something useful, a tool or an implement; and because of its associations with the ideas of furnishing out and instructing, as the musical instruments were to do for that age of the church.

Hopefully all this helps to show that the musical keliy of  David and the Temple were divinely appointed implements that furnished out the public worship of God for that time, just as the earlier keliy had furnished out public worship in the Tabernacle. Most know and agree that the keliy of the Tabernacle served as mere copies of the heavenly realities they represented. When the heavenly reality came, and was fulfilled in the Person and work of the Lord Jesus Christ, so did the need for, and usefulness of, these copies. They were ceremonial, and vanished away. And this is just as true for all the later keliy of the Temple, including its musical keliy. They were commanded for use by the Levites for raising sounds of joy (1 Chronicles 15:16-28) and for giving thanks (2 Chronicles 7:6). The musical keliy were themselves the sound of praise. They served as types and shadows of what was to come at the inauguration of the new and better covenant—  sacrifices of praise and thanks to God from hearts "richly indwelt by the word of Christ;" praises voiced without elaborate ceremony by "singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord" (Ephesians 5:18-20, Colossians 3:16).

The lifeless keliy are obsolete in the new covenant, done away with by the accomplishment of Christ. The instruments (hoplon) we now present to God for his service are our living bodies. How privileged we are! Every member of the body of Christ may now serve in this priestly function, once reserved for the Levitical tribe of Israel. Gone are the burdensome mechanical furnishings and helps needed under the old dispensation. It is in spirit and truth, with our bodily members, that we now serve and worship God.

To return to the use of the old covenant keliy is to go backward to a more difficult dispensation. How the Levites who labored under the awful realities of the sacrificial system (which included the playing of the musical keliy) would have rejoiced to see our freedom from the external demands of the ceremonial law, a benefit won by Christ, bestowed upon his New Testament church, and enjoyed by her when she worships God in spirit and in truth!

Psalters

The beauty of having and using the songbook given to us by God to use (i.e., the Psalms), is the simplicity and safety and efficacy of it. No more worship wars! No more indecision about whether a song is sound or appropriate—all of the Psalms are profitable for teaching, for reproof and correction and training in righteousness. We will be edified, and we will be sanctified by singing the Psalms!

How we have complicated our worship and activities in the church. It turns out that we don't have to pull off a lot of complicated activities in order to please our Lord and edify his saints. In fact, all the complication and effort and busyness is contraindicated by the simplicity of what the church is to be about.

We will never be sanctified by singing the words of men, no matter how well-written the song. Sanctification is promised from one source alone, and that is the word of God (John 17:17). We have a huge solution to much of what ails the church right in our hands—the book of Psalms. Here you can find helpful reviews of the various psalters available. (That's a great website to bookmark and return to again and again for helpful articles, links and resources.)

Links to Helpful Articles

A roundup of helpful links:

Christ in the Psalms:

"Every book, indeed, of the Old Testament is intended to lead directly or indirectly to Jesus Christ. But in this respect the Book of Psalms stands preeminent among the entire thirty-nine."



Calvin on the Psalms:

"Now what Saint Augustine says is true, that no one is able to sing things worthy of God unless he has received them from him. Wherefore, when we have looked thoroughly everywhere and searched high and low, we shall find no better songs nor more appropriate for the purpose than the Psalms of David, which the Holy Spirit made and spoke through him. And furthermore, when we sing them, we are certain that God puts the words in our mouths, as if he himself were singing in us to exalt his glory."

On whether the Psalms are really appropriate for New Testament worship:

"The quality of congregational praise when we sang from the Psalter, in my opinion, exceeded that of singing from the Hymnal. In fact, I began to studiously narrow down the particular hymns that I considered to be of equal quality with the Psalter selections. Through the weeks, that list of hymns became smaller and smaller. The day arrived when I had to confess that no hymn... measured up to the quality, inspiration, usefulness of a Psalm from the Psalter."

On the purity of our worship (really small print! but worth enlarging.): 

"No part of Christian worship is more plainly warranted by the Oracles of God, than the ordinance of the singing of psalms."

And one could go on about how the Psalms are necessary for the unity, comfort and joy of the church. More links to come, hopefuly.

Two Great Sermons

Two great sermons from G.I. Williamson on the Psalms and singing them:

"Psalms, Hymns, and Spiritual Songs"

"The Mind of Christ"

Very helpful.

The History of Psalm Singing in the Christian Church

Informative: "The History of Psalm Singing in the Christian Church" by Terry Johnson (online article).

The Return To Rome

In Spirit and Truth: Worship as God Requires (Understanding and Applying the Regulative Principle of Worship) by James R. Hughes:

"Within a generation after the Puritans, the Protestant Church began drifting back toward the worship practices of the Roman Catholic Church of the late Middle Ages. Today, that return is almost complete. We once again see Protestants following liturgies and ecclesiastical calendars that are similar, if not identical to, those followed by the Roman Catholic Church. In many respects, there is no essential difference."

A very informative online book.

The Inner Life of Christ In The Psalms

A quote from the Preface of "The True Psalmody," published in 1861:

...I believe there is one view of Christ—and that not the least important to the tired and troubled believer—that can only be discovered in the Book of Psalms. I mean His inward life. No eye-witness of the outward man, even though an inspired evangelist (i.e., one of Jesus' apostles), could penetrate the heart. But the Spirit who "searches the deep things of God" has, in the Psalms, laid open the innermost thoughts, sorrows, and conflicts of our Lord.The [writers of the gospels] faithfully and intelligently depict the sinless Man; the Psalms alone lay open the heart of "the Man of sorrows".

Understanding this view has been most meaningful in my enjoyment of the Psalms, and most enlarging of their edification to me. It has shown me Christ more in the Psalms and increased my love for him and my appreciation of all that he bore for his people, in life and in death. I've realized that in the Psalms, as the pre-incarnate Christ speaks of his sufferings to come, and speaks to the Father about them, and calls on Yahweh to save and rescue him, he is training us to do the same. What a tremendous Author of our salvation!

"The True Psalmody" is an old book that as far as I know, can only be accessed online, but it's a valuable addition to those looking to figure out this psalmody/worship question. Here's a link to it: "The True Psalmody". The quote above is from the first Preface of the book by Rev. Henry Cooke, and outlines his story of coming to see the worth of singing only the Psalms in the church.

Christ Sings in the Congregation

Since I last wrote, back in February, I've been gradually coming to a more convinced position that the gathered church, most wonderfully, is to sing only God's word. This conviction has been formed by Scripture. I've also been helped by church history, and the teachings of  many Reformers like Calvin, and by so many of the Puritans, especially, who had to deal with controversies over the singing of the church.

In the two main parallel texts looked to for the doctrine of New Testament singing (Ephesians 5 and Colossians 3), Paul says that our singing is to be in accord with being filled with the Spirit (Ephesians 5:18, 19) and being richly indwelt by the word of Christ (Colossians 3:16). They are one and the same thing—to have hearts richly indwelt by the word of Christ is to be filled with the Spirit of Christ. We are to sing the word of Christ back to God and to each other.

Then consider these words from the author of Hebrews 2:10-12, 13b (quoting Psalm 22:22 and Isaiah 8:18):

For it was fitting that He, for whom and by whom all things exist, in bringing many sons to glory, should make the founder of their salvation [Christ] perfect through suffering. For He who sanctifies [God] and those who are sanctified all have one source. That is why He [Christ] is not ashamed to call them brothers, saying, "I will tell of Your name to my brothers; in the midst of the congregation I will sing Your praise...behold, I and the children God has given Me.

Christ from of old decreed that he would tell in the assembly of his brothers of the Father's great name.Christ will do this praising of the Father's name in song, as he leads in singing the praise of the Father, in Christ's own words, not man's—from the great songbook of the church through the ages, the inspired psalter. This was the Trinitarian plan of Father, Son, and Spirit.

The Greek word for "sing" in Hebrews 2:12 is "hymnneō," which has no other meaning than "to sing". It's the same word used in Matthew 26:30 which basically reads, "And when they had hymned (hymnneō), they went out..."   It's well-accepted that the "hymn" sung by Christ and his disciples on this occasion was one of the Hallel psalms, which consisted of Psalms 113-118 and Psalm 136, sometimes referred to as "The Great Hallel."

If the singing of Hebrews 2:12 is the singing of Christ then the song consists of his words; if they are his words, then they are now the written Scripture. How could it be otherwise—how could we "put words in his mouth," so to speak, even if they are the very best songs man can produce?

There are many more things to say about this, but being limited by time and talent, I'll stop here, and finish with the thought that this is so wonderful to me. Many arguments against limiting our songs in the church to the Scripture, and specifically to the Psalms, may come to mind.

But these protests pale compared to the evidence from the Bible as well as church history that these are indeed the songs we're to sing. If singing the Psalms together is God's will for the church, then nothing but blessing can come from our obedience to do it. However, every local church must come to its own conviction of the rightness of this. Everyone who cares about the singing together of the church should seek to come to a conviction of conscience about it.

Here's a good place to begin reading, if you're interested and willing.This essay on the Ephesians and Colossians passages might help jump-start your thinking (and lead to some good questions) to help you in searching the Scriptures for yourself:

"Of Psalms, Hymns, And Spiritual Songs And The Regulative Principle of Worship (RPW)".  Be sure and click on the link provided to the PDF of the full article.

Also, read through the comments on the Heidelblog post as Dr. Clark responds there to some common questions.

Old Light on New Worship

I have mentioned this book in a previous post, and I wanted to talk a little more about it. (I need to clarify that Pastor Price does not hold to exclusive psalmody and in fact I don't remember whether he even speaks of singing the Psalms. However, this book is very helpful on wrestling through the issues with musical instruments in worship.)

It's written by a pastor named John Price, who pastors a Baptist congregation in New York. He's not famous, not a celebrity pastor, and hasn't spoken (as far as I know) in any big-name conferences. That in itself doesn't qualify him or disqualify him. I only mention that because in this age of popularity-driven books, DVD's, live simulcast conferences and such, a quiet "no-name's" book about an important and controversial topic isn't likely to cause much of a stir, not enough to filter down to the attention of the average Christian in the average church. But that doesn't mean the book is not sound, helpful and important.

Any book must be judged on its own merit, not by the fame or charisma of the author. The standard by which to judge is, of course, the teaching of Scripture. I believe this book is very Scripturally solid.

Pastor Price makes the case for the fact that God has always regulated the activities of his gathered people. He has always prescribed what is to be done and how. He (God) has never left it to chance, or left it up to us to come up with innovations, bright ideas, or anything else of our own invention. He has made all clear in his word, both in the Old Testament and in the New; but as is often the case, clarity does not equal simple (not in the sense of the doctrine falling effortlessly into our hands).

Just realizing that much—that God has always prescribed for his people the activities that they are to engage in when they meet together as the church—is hugely helpful in causing us to stop short and determine to take a serious look at what we are doing, and why. That realization caused Pastor Price to take a step back, and in the fear of the Lord to check it out! He came up not with new, previously unheard of information, but with old information that has by and large been forgotten.

I won't go on about it in this post, but will just leave it at that. There are very important things to know about the doctrine of the singing of the church, and it takes an understanding of God's prescriptions in both the Old Testament and the New to get them. John Price has laid some very important foundational work in his book, I believe. Is he right in every aspect? It's not for me to say for sure, though I do believe from my own studies that he gets his main emphasis right. I'm convinced that we need to be talking about this in our own churches. Because we care about what God wants and has prescribed, we should be open to reconsidering what we do when we gather as the church.

The Church Only and Ever Sang the Word of God

I've been floored to realize that for both Israel and for the apostolic church, the songs they sang—all the songs they sang—were inspired songs. These songs were each and every one written by God's appointed spokesmen, his prophets. These were the songs given to God's people to sing.

No one was free in Old Testament Israel to innovate in penning new songs for the people to sing. The songs of the Old Testament were all written inerrantly because they were written prophetically. Moses (Deuteronomy 31:19-32:44), Deborah and Barak (Judges 5:1-31), and of course King David, the anointed "psalmist of Israel" (2 Samuel 23:1) come immediately to mind. Korah and others who wrote some of the Psalms were also prophets. We know they were because in the Old Testament, "prophet" is the very definition of the one who inerrantly spoke God's words, words which became written Scripture ("in former times God spoke to us through his prophets, but in these last days he has spoken by his Son"—Hebrews 1:1).

Again, these were the songs, the only songs, that Israel was to sing. The Psalms were the songbook of the nation of Israel., and no command of God ever abrogated that. Where is the New Testament command that changes the command to sing only the words of God given through his prophets?

To our modern ears, Paul's command in Ephesians 5:18-19 and Colossians 3:16 to sing psalms, hymns and spiritual songs sounds like a mandate to songwriters. We might get the idea from it that fresh new songs for the church to sing were being written. But it wasn't so. "Hymns" and "spiritual songs" were descriptions used in the headings of the Septuagint Psalms—the Greek Scripture that Christ and the apostles used, and from which they quoted. Paul's readers would have understood Paul, in speaking of psalms, hymns and spiritual songs, to be talking about singing what God's people would have always sung: the word of God.

Where does that leave us today with our song lists for Sunday morning filled with songs written by 20-year-old recording artists? I think it leaves us a good ways away from God's command, to say the least.

More later. I was simply struck, a while ago, by the stark fact that God commanded one thing—that his people sing his word—and that he never rescinded that command.

Singing Together and Musical Instruments

Over the past years and months, I have become an adherent to the regulative principle of worship (i.e., what we do when we gather as the church). I hear a lot of people talking about the regulative principle, but many no longer adhere to the historical understanding of it. The regulative principle is that what we do in worship must be regulated by the word of God; therefore, only what is prescribed in the word of God may be practiced in worship.

Alternatively, the normative principle, which most churches now hold to, says that as long as any practice or activity is not forbidden in Scripture, it may be done in worship as long as it measures up to a denomination's, or local congregation's, criteria. This opens the churches up to whatever practices and activities are approved by its leaders and demanded by the congregation.

My conviction gained from Scripture is that God has always prescribed the lawful practices and activities of the gathered church. In the New Testament no less than in the Old, God's word is very specific about what the church should do. When the Old Testament worship forms passed away, so did its many activities, except for the ones prescriptively described in the New Testament: prayer, praise, singing as prayer and praise, giving, preaching and teaching, breaking bread together/the Lord's supper, water baptism.

I highly recommend this book: Old Light on New Worship: Musical Instruments and the Worship of God, a Theological, Historical and Psychological Study by John Price as a place to begin. Fascinating!!

Here's a website with a lot of good information on the regulative principle, the need for it, and consequence of not adhering to it: Musical Instruments in the Public Worship of God.

Happy researching—I hope you will!

The Singing Together of the Church

The title of this post is the phrase and topic that has been percolating around in my mind for the past six years. I care a lot about it—have an interest in it that won't let up. I guess I am convinced that the church must keep reforming, and that we actually need to reform back to a previous time in our history and then go forward again from there. I do believe the evangelical church in the West, at least, is fast losing aspects of the Reformation that made us evangelical, made us Protestant.

The greatest realizations I've had concern what the New Testament Scriptures have to say about the use of musical instruments when we gather as the church and about the use of Psalms, hymns and spiritual songs when we gather as the church. There's a lot in the New Testament to inform our doctrine of singing, actually—much more than people seem to realize.

It's what the Scriptures say that counts, so in this blog I want to explore that. I'm looking forward to having somewhere to deposit and park some thoughts. Lord willing, I hope to begin that soon.