Or “Did God really say we should sing the psalms?”
Joining the sound team of a modern evangelical church can range from just clicking through YouTube videos (simple) to overseeing an entire music production, requiring in-depth technical skills and the ability to do live mixing (complicated).
Suppose you find yourself somewhere in the middle of that spectrum, you might be tasked with the following responsibilities:
- Make sure all the cables are plugged in correctly
- Turn on the power
- Do a sound check on the microphones
- Do a sound check on the guitar
- Make sure the preacher’s microphone is muted during singing
- Make sure the volume levels are rightly adjusted
- etc.
This is a very simplified checklist, and for the most part the operations run smoothly because of lists like these and the faithful people who ensure that they are implemented Sunday after Sunday. In short, this checklist is essentially our way of trying to ensure the best possible outcome in the context of singing.
It should therefore not surprise us that God also has something to say to His new covenant Church (a “checklist” of sorts) when it comes to singing, given the immense importance of songs in shaping our minds and determining our group identity. What might be surprising though, is the brevity and simplicity of His list: one phrase. Just one explicit command from God that regulates what we are to sing, and it’s given to us twice:
“addressing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody to the Lord with your heart” ~ Ephesians 5:19 (ESV, my emphasis)
“Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God.” ~ Colossians 3:16 (ESV, my emphasis)
In both cases, God instructs us to sing psalms, hymns and spiritual songs. The word “psalms” is an undisputed reference to the book of Psalms which the Jews (including Jesus) would have known and sung regularly. The meaning of the words “hymns and spiritual songs” are somewhat contested, as some believe this is part of a grouping term also referring to the psalms1. Nevertheless, it is sufficient for now to point out that God intends for his people to sing at least the psalms.
Despite the clarity and simplicity of the instruction, this is one of the most neglected practices in most of the modern church. It has reached the point that singing a psalm is an anomaly in some contexts – if not unheard of – unless it’s a very loosely rendered psalm or if the contents of the psalm is included only partially or in veiled form.
So why don’t we sing psalms? There are multiple reasons, but they most likely include a combination of the following:
- Congregants don’t know any psalm songs. Most of our songs are imported from America, where an external constraint is placed upon the songs that they should be palatable to “Becky”, a female persona created to help Christian radio decide whether or not to put a song on their playlist2. If Becky, a church-going mother of two, feels that the song is too violent or otherwise uncomfortable she might turn to a different station. This and other reasons leads to songs void of references to God’s righteous judgment and His indignation towards the wicked — themes which abound in the psalms.
- The psalm songs that congregants do know are not musically enjoyable or easy to sing to.
- The psalms require a lot of work to be put into song.
- It might be that we are uncomfortable with the content of some psalms and do not want to open the door to those psalms being sung.
- It might be that we deem the psalms as failing on metrics of utility, such as bringing forth certain feelings or responses from the congregation.
- For churches highly focused on drawing people into the service, the psalms do not lend themselves to being as easily re-interpreted in light of carnal worldviews (as compared to a song with a theme such as “hope will arise from the ashes”). Because of that, the likelihood of visitors who are not born again enjoying the content and returning because of it is probably much lower.
- We struggle to understand the psalms or to see how they are applicable to us in the new covenant.
Someone might ask: is it not sufficient that we sing hymns and spiritual songs?
Firstly, what we understand as hymns and spiritual songs is in all likelihood not what Paul had in mind. Looking at the hymns of the early church, they were for the most part statements of doctrine put into song, a far cry from most of the songs we sing today.
Even if we entertained the comparison, the counter question is “why stop short of the full command of God”? Does it not leave a bad taste when we read of the more faithful kings of Israel, only to find the verdict of their lives ending with an account of their partial obedience (e.g. 2 Kings 10:30-31, 15:4)? Does not King David’s men then put us to shame, who risked their lives for what he expressed only as a wish (2 Samuel 23:15-16)? How much more should we be willing to lay ourselves down for that which the true King only hints at as His desire, let alone that which He commands.
For further reasons why we should sing the Psalms (not that they are needed), here are a few more arguments:
- It is the songs that Jesus sang, therefore as His disciples we would do well to follow in His example.
- It gives expression to the width and breadth of human emotion, from lament to joy and indignation to repentance, helping us to process those emotions as a people after God’s own heart.
- It will act as a corrective to so much of the skewed emphases in our modern songs.
- It’s an extremely effective way of storing God’s Word in our hearts (Psalm 119:11).
Rather than seeing the various challenges to the singing of psalms as insurmountable obstacles, we should see them as opportunities to proclaim even more loudly to the world (and to each other) that “the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men” (1 Corinthians 1:25). Maybe new wine skins are needed for the content of the psalms, and we feel that we do not yet have them, but we can always labor towards correcting that. If it’s a leap of faith, then let’s follow the second Adam who staked his life on the Word of God (Luke 4:1-12) and trust that even if it seems impractical in the flesh, it will be wisdom for us in the end.
Footnotes