Psalms and Psalm-Singing –
Introduction – This text will serve as
a springboard into a series of sermons through the psalms. For many, the recovery of the Psalter could
be likened to Josiah’s recovery of the book of the Law (2 Chron 34). For Josiah, repentance led to reading,
hearing, meditating, and obeying – it was as though he was
born-again-again. For others, learning
the psalms has felt awkward at best and, at worst, threatening to what we judge
to be ‘better’ or ‘preferred’. And
what’s with that jigging anyway?
Text – “Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom; teaching and
admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with
grace in your hearts to the Lord.”
The Word of Christ – All of the scriptures
speak of Jesus Christ (Luke 24:25-27, 44-45) and Paul has the OT in mind as he
writes this. We are not only to know
about the OT, nor a cursory set of facts and stories from the OT. We are to let that word dwell in us – it is
to find its home in us. We are to look
like it lives here. Bible reading,
scripture memorization cards and other devotional habits are great, but the
instruction here is to accomplish the goal of Christ’s word dwelling in us by
means of singing. We know that memory,
meditation, and internalization are always easier with music. While this power of music exists universally,
we are to use this means in a particular way as we apply it to our worship and
to obeying this verse.
Richly – The word is to dwell in
us richly, not in an impoverished way, not poorly, not tritely, not in some
mantra-fashion. When it comes to
determining the triteness/beauty of lyrics and music, the scriptures must
fashion our understanding of objectivity in beauty and appropriateness. We must also be Trinitarian in our thinking,
understanding that there is not one absolute perfect way to sing, chant, or
recite a psalm.
In All Wisdom – The songs should not
collapse under the lyrics, and this takes wisdom. Ethan and Heman (1 Kings 4:31) were chief
musicians with Asaph (their names appear on the titles to Psalms 88 and 89) and
they were men listed among the wisest.
Their theology and their musicianship were both needed to carry the
weight of glory found in the worship of God.
This means that, with David, these men have given to us under the
inspiration of the Holy Spirit a standard; a bar has been set, to which all of
our hymn-writing should be measured.
There is rich hymnody out there, but we must return to the 150 examples
to teach us wisdom and constrain our composition.
Teaching and
Admonishing
– We are to teach the whole counsel of God (Acts 20:27), and one of the
experiences we have had in returning to the psalms is to see how broad our
singing is to be with regard to topics, emotion, and purpose. As teachers, we must know where we are taking
our students, we must be able to assess where we are and where we need to go,
and we must follow Paul as well in making sure we do not exasperate our flock
(Col 3:21). At the same time, as we
sing, we should be drawn up short with God’s holiness, our sinfulness, God’s
redemption of His people, and His work of our sanctification. As a body, we must understand the
double-blessing of working hard to learn and love the psalms. You instruct yourselves and you instruct
others, and God uses the music of His people to do so.
Psalms,
Hymns, and Spiritual Songs – We use the term psalms to distinguish from what we call
hymns, and that is fine. We just have to
remember that that is not what Paul meant.
Psalms (like psalm 3), hymns (like psalm 55), and odes (like psalm 122),
are terms pointing to the 150 psalm Psalter.
These were regularly chanted and sung in the Jewish OT synagogue and the
Gentile, NT church.
With Grace in
Your Hearts
– Heart attitude matters. Musical
literacy and cultural refinement are not alone sufficient. This singing comes from a filling of the Holy
Spirit (Eph 5:17-19) – it is a work of God, not a work for God. And so the learning and the singing are to be
rich with a heartfelt richness, full of thankfulness and grace (the context of
The Treasury of David –
This is the title of the Psalms given by Spurgeon in his devotional commentary,
and that is what we should be looking for in this series – the treasure in the
psalms for the people of God.
A Changed
Mentality
– The Psalms teach me to approach the singing of God’s worship with a greater
sense of militancy, and less of a nightclub, entertainment, mentality (Psalm
68, 110, 2). The Psalms teach me how to
pour out my feelings (47, 42, and 63).
They teach me how to sing covenantally (45), how to command my soul
(103), and how to identify with Christ’s crucifixion and resurrection
(22). They teach me to be much more
aware of the enemies of God and God’s people (76) and to sing against them
(137). They teach me how to view my
approach to this Lord’s Day worship (122 and all the psalms of ascent).
God’s Mercy
is from Generation to Generation – Let us carefully choose
music and songs that emphasize the communal aspect of the Church universal and
in all ages. Some churches try to have a
“mild service” and a “wild service”. We
want our generations together in the grace of God and connected to generations
past and future.
The Aesthetic
of Poetry and Music
– Lady Wisdom is to be adorned with beautiful aesthetics, and she knows what
looks good on her. Listen to her. And this means that we must also be careful
to discipline our consumption of other kinds of music. Don’t blunt your appreciation of what is
going on here like a child who won’t eat his dinner because he stuffed himself
on candy. And good poetry and music
always take some work to learn and appreciate.
Do not grow weary in doing good.
Praying While
We are Singing – Singing the psalms is a
form of prayer (as is singing or chanting prayers like the Lord’s Prayer). Learning to sing and to sing these psalms
transforms your prayers as well. But
this also requires work and training and practice. But Oh, the fruit.
Dave Hatcher – January 16, 2005