Singing the Songs of Jesus

Revisiting the Psalms

Michael Lefebvre

• Publisher: Christian Focus Publication
• Year: 2011
• eBook ISBN: 9781845507077

1

THE PSALMS: BOOK OR HYMNAL –
AND DOES IT MATTER?

The German pastor and theologian, Dietrich Bonhoeffer, fa- mously asked this question about the Psalms: How did these words which men sang to God come to be regarded as words from God to man? That is, if the Psalms were composed for worshipers to lift their thoughts (by singing) up to God, why do we now study them (by reading) as thoughts from God down to us?¹

God designed most books of the Bible to be read as his words to us. When we read Genesis, we listen as God speaks to us about the origins of the nations. When we read the Gospel of John, we listen as God speaks to us about the life and teachings of Jesus. This is how we should receive sixty-five of the Bible’s sixty-six books. But the Psalmbook is different: it alone is composed as a collection of songs from men to God. They are no less God’s inspired word (more on that shortly), but of all the Bible’s books, in the Psalms we receive an exceptional gift designed to become our words to God.

There are other books of songs in the Bible. Prophets, like Isaiah and Jeremiah, composed much of their writings in song-like poetry. But these ‘lyrical prophecies’ are songs from God to his people (cf., Zeph. 3:17). The Song of Solomon, also, is an entire book of songs, but it is not designed for people to sing to God. It is a collection of inspired love songs between idealized lovers. With the exception of the Psalms, the many song-filled books of the Bible are addressed to God’s people: in them, God’s truth sings to us.

The Book of Psalms is unique. It is a hymnal. It is the only book of the Bible with God as the audience and God’s people as its appointed speakers. This is an important feature of the Psalms with significance for how we should use them in the church today.

The Psalms are words for God’s people to sing to him. This does not mean the Psalms are any less God’s Word to us than other books of the Bible. The fact is, the Spirit of God inspired these Psalms for us. They are, therefore, useful for instruction, reproof, correction, and training in righteousness with the rest of God-breathed Scripture (2 Tim. 3:16). The Psalms are worthy of study and useful for preaching as God’s Word to us. But because they are inspired hymns, God has given us these words for a further purpose also. In the Psalms, God speaks to us about the things we need to sing to him.

We see both these uses of the Psalms – as God’s words to men and man’s words to God – modeled in the New Testament. In 1 Corinthians 15:25–7, the Apostle Paul wrote about Jesus, ‘He must reign… for “God has put all things into subjection under his feet.”’ In that passage, Paul quotes Psalm 8:6 as God’s word to us about Christ. Like the rest of Scripture, the Psalms are God’s inspired word to us. But Acts 4:23–31 illustrates the further use unique to the Psalms.

In that passage, Peter and John led the Jerusalem congrega- tion in singing the second Psalm to God: ‘They lifted up their voices together to God and said [or sang], “Why did the Gentiles rage, and the peoples plot in vain? The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers were gathered together, against the LORD and against his Anointed.”’ The Jerusalem believers put their own sufferings under godless rulers into an ancient Psalm about ‘conspiring kings,’ and the words of Psalm 2 be- came their own words in song to God.

Like the rest of Scripture, the Psalms are fully God’s Word to us. But unlike the rest of Scripture, the Psalms are further designed to become our words to sing back to God. And the New Testament church continued to sing them. Why then, as Bonhoeffer asked, does the modern church (at least the Protestant church) see the Psalms only as God’s Word to us?

In the pages that follow, we are going to look for the answer to Bonhoeffer’s question.² Let me explain why this is important. It is not particularly important to know when this shift occurred. Finding a date for the decline of Psalm singing may be an interesting detail of history. But that is not the reason this question is important. What we need to find out is why this change occurred. If we can discover why the church stopped singing Psalms, we will better understand the issues that we need to address to recover fruitful Psalm singing.

Let’s start our search for the answer to this question with the use of the Psalms in the Old and New Testament periods.

The Psalms in the Old and New Testaments

During the First Temple period, the singing of Psalms ac- companied the public reading of Scripture. According to Deuteronomy 31:11, Moses wrote the books of the Law for proclamation in worship and 1 Chronicles 15–16 reports that David wrote Psalms for singing in worship.³ Second Chron- icles describes a temple worship service, saying, ‘The whole assembly worshiped, and the singers sang…And the officials commanded the Levites to sing praises to the LORD with the words of David and of Asaph the seer…’ (2 Chron. 29:28–30).

After the Babylonian captivity, the Second Temple was built. Public reading and preaching was reinstituted (e.g., Neh. 8). Congregational singing of the Psalms was also restored: ‘And they sang responsively, praising and giving thanks to the LORD [singing], “For he is good, for his stedfast love endures forever toward Israel’’ (Ezra 3:11, singing Ps. 136).

The singing of the Psalms continued through the tumultuous, intertestamental years, when the Greeks and later the Romans conquered Palestine. Among the records of the Maccabean wars (167–160 bc), for instance, we find this description of a praise assembly after a victorious battle: ‘On their return they sang hymns and praises to Heaven – “For he is good, for his mercy endures forever’’ (1 Mac. 4:24 NRSV, singing Ps. 136). The Psalms continued to be sung through the intertestamental times, into the New Testament period.

When Jesus came, he preached from the Old Testament writings (e.g., Luke 24:44). He also sang the Psalms to the Father. For instance, in Mark 14:26, Jesus led his disciples in singing the Passover Psalms (Pss. 113–118).⁴ On the cross, Jesus used one of the Psalms of lament to lift his cry of sorrow to heaven: ‘And about the ninth hour Jesus cried out with a loud voice, saying, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”’ (Matt. 27:46, citing Ps. 22:1). The author of Hebrews also tells us that Jesus sang the Psalms (Heb. 2:11–12; 10:5).

After Christ’s ascension, the New Testament church con- tinued singing the Psalms. We have already noted the hymn service reported in Acts 4. Likewise, Paul instructed the New Testament churches to lift their praises which was to involve ‘singing psalms’ (Col. 3:16; cf., Eph. 5:26; see also 1 Cor. 14:26; James 5:13).

Throughout Old Testament, intertestamental, and into New Testament times, the Psalms were consistently sung. The Psalms were read and preached (e.g., Acts 2:14–36; Heb. 1), but they were also the church’s song book through the biblical periods. Bonhoeffer’s shift, where the Psalms came to be used primarily for reading, had not occurred in biblical times.

The Psalms in the Early Church

The example of Psalm singing by the New Testament apostles laid the foundation for centuries after them. Hymn historian Millar Patrick explains, ‘The Psalter naturally became the hymn-book of the Church from the beginning. The early Christian writings bear constant witness to the use made of it in private and public worship. In due time [new] Christian hymnody arose, but the psalms never lost their place of primacy.’⁵

John Chrysostom was one of the great preachers of the Early Church, ministering in Constantinople in the 4th century. Chrysostom reflects the love of Psalm singing in his day, ‘If we keep vigil [at night] in the church, David comes first, last, and midst. If early in the morning…first, last, and midst is David again…O marvellous wonder! Many who have made but little progress in literature, many who have scarcely mastered its first principles, have the Psalter by heart.’⁶

New hymns were eventually written, as well.⁷ For example, an unnamed poet composed this early hymn based on the angels’ song in Luke 2:14:

Glory to God in the highest,

and on earth peace, good will among men.

We praise Thee, we bless Thee,
we worship Thee, we glorify Thee,

we give thanks to Thee for Thy great glory…
For Thou only art holy; Thou only art the Lord,

O Jesus Christ, to the glory of God the Father. Amen.⁸

Even when new songs appeared, however, they never sup- planted the singing of Psalms. They supplemented Psalm sing- ing. Throughout the Early Church years, the Psalms continued to be sung in Christian worship.

The Psalms in Medieval Worship

Protestants often have a dim view of the medieval years. This is unfortunate. God was doing great things among his people in those centuries between the fall of Rome and the Reformation. Nevertheless, there were also religious developments in those centuries which the Reformers would later reject as unbiblical.

Pope Gregory the Great (540–604) introduced the so-called ‘Gregorian chants’ into church worship during this period. This enchanting musical style was intended to increase the otherworldliness of cathedral services, intensifying the sense of heavenliness in worship. In fact, to further ensure the ‘heavenliness’ of the church’s praise, professional choirs began to take over the singing. Even if well intentioned, this was a tragic shift in worship. Singing was taken away from the congregation altogether. But the Psalms were still sung.

The Psalms continued to be the primary source of church praise. Both the Eastern Orthodox and Roman Catholic service calendars (the Daily Offices) called for the cathedral choirs to sing through the entire Psalmbook, beginning to end, every week.

The Psalms were also sung in private homes. Although the laity was not singing in worship services, they sang Psalms in their own daily routines. Among the wealthy who could afford it, many purchased their own copies of the Psalms for private, devotional singing. King Alfred the Great (849–899) spent time singing Psalms every day and carried the Psalms with him for that purpose.⁹

It is ironic, but even in that period when congregational singing ceased, Christians continued singing Psalms.

The Psalms in the Reformation

The recovery of congregational singing was one of the great hallmarks of the Reformation. Martin Luther exclaimed, ‘The substance of worship is, that our dear LORD speaks with us through his holy word, and we in return speak with him through prayer and song of praise.’¹⁰

Luther was a skilled musician, himself. He taught the people to sing the biblical Psalms again, and he composed new hymns which he called, ‘German psalms for the people.’ One of his most famous hymns is ‘A Mighty Fortress’ – a favorite of many to this day.

Other Reformers, like John Calvin, shared the same passion for congregational singing. Calvin did not share Luther’s practice of writing new hymns, but he also promoted congregational Psalmody, commissioning the translation of the Psalms into metrical verse for the churches of Geneva. The completed Genevan Psalter was published in 1562...

Table of contents

• Cover Page
• Title Page
• Copyright
• Dedication
• Contents
• Endorsements
• About the Author
• Preface
• 1 The Psalms: Book or Hymnal – and Does it Matter?
• 2 The Power of Psalmody: Two Specialties of the Biblical Psalms
• 3 Singing with Jesus (part 1): Recognizing Christ in ‘Praising Conversations’
• 4 Singing with Jesus (part 2): Christ in the Psalms of repentance and Davidic events
• 5 Confusion and Glory (part 1): Using the Psalms as They’re Meant to Be Used
• 6 Confusion and Glory (part 2): Cursing in Faith with the Psalms of Imprecation
• 7 As Confusion Gives Way to Glory: Letting the Psalms Carry us to Praise
• Epilog. Winning the Worship Wars: Modern Reformation through Recovering Psalmody
• Bibliography