by Michiana Covenant | Jan 17, 2014 | Patristics, Psalmody, Psalms, Psalter Hymnal
Is the Psalter an Obsolete Songbook? Why Sing All 150 Psalms AND the Best of the Best of All Ages?
Part 2
In the first section I introduced the question of the Psalter as the songbook of an obsolete covenant. Here we deal with two broader questions: 1) Why should we have congregational singing in worship? and 2) What should we sing in congregational worship?
Why Should We Sing?
Where is congregational singing clearly commanded in scripture? Particularly, I would ask, where is the congregational singing of whole psalms/hymns commanded in scripture? Some people point to the Psalms which call all nations to sing praise to the Lord – but it is not clear that this requires congregational singing in a worship service. In fact, when we look at the Jewish evidence for how the Psalms were sung in the temple, it is clear that the Levites did most of the singing – and that the congregation would only sing refrains.[1]
Singing is commanded. Paul says that we are to sing psalms, hymns and spiritual songs to one another (Ephesians 5:18 and Colossians 3:16). But the context there is not public worship. The context is daily life. I admit that I have been puzzled at the practice of advocates of exclusive psalmody – they are willing to sing non-inspired material in daily life, but not in public worship, in spite of the fact that the household is the context of Ephesians 5 and Colossians 3.
In fact, the evidence for psalmody in Jewish and early Christian practice is predominantly found in household contexts – in the context of daily life – rather than in liturgical practice. Justin Martyr describes early Christian worship in great detail (ca. 150 AD), but does not mention any singing. While there is second century evidence for a song in conjunction with communion, the evidence suggests that this Psalm would have been chanted by a cantor or cantors, with the congregation singing a refrain (often the “alleluia” of the Psalm). Certainly this was the common practice revealed in the sermons of John Chrysostom and Augustine at the end of the fourth century.[2]
In the fourth century a tidal wave of Psalmody spread from Egypt and Jerusalem throughout the Roman world. Often the advocates of exclusive psalmody challenge us with the question, “If the apostles sang hymns in worship, why are there so few early Christian hymns?” The proper reply is, “If the apostles sang psalms in worship, why is there so little evidence for early Christian psalmody?” In fact, congregational singing appears to have emerged in the fourth century – and appears to be rooted in the monastic practice of psalmody that began in Egypt, spread to Jerusalem, and was then taken by pilgrims throughout the whole western church. As the psalter spread throughout the Christian church, hymnody followed in the same generation. Ambrose taught his congregation to sing – using both Psalms and his own hymns – in order to combat the Arian heresy.
What then is our biblical warrant for congregational singing? I would suggest that Revelation 15:2-4 provides a clear example/model for congregational singing. The congregation of those who have conquered the beast and its image “sing the song of Moses, the servant of God, and the song of the Lamb.” I argued several years ago in New Horizons (June, 2007) that the book of Revelation provides the pattern for biblical worship – indeed, that the pattern of OT worship was modeled after the heavenly worship. I would suggest that congregational singing is a part of that eschatological pattern which we seek to imitate and in which we participate by faith.
What Should We Sing?
What does this have to do with the question of what the Christian church should sing? The songs of the heavenly worship are not simply the Psalms of the Old Testament. The song of Revelation 15 is described as “the song of Moses” and “the song of the Lamb.”
“Great and amazing are your deeds, O Lord God the Almighty!
Just and true are your ways, O King of the nations!
Who will not fear, O Lord, and glorify your name?
For you alone are holy.
All nations will come and worship you, for your righteous acts have been revealed.”
While not a quotation from the Psalms, the language of the Song of Moses and the Lamb is drawn from and builds upon the Psalms.
If the pattern for Christian worship is the heavenly pattern then there is no biblical warrant for exclusive psalmody. Nonetheless, since the Psalms are the God-inspired hymnal of the Old Testament church, they provide the foundation and pattern for the New Testament hymnal. As Paul Westermeyer has said so beautifully:
“In the Psalms we deal with the height and depth of human life, articulated in a most compelling way. We see our struggles against the backdrop of God’s goodness and mercy – our struggles with God and God’s struggles with us in steadfast love and faithfulness. We view the human drama in its savagery and kindness, in its barbarity and finesse, in the specificity of our daily lives and cosmic proportions of life, in the call to treat one another justly and with mercy….The content of the Psalms tells us what we sing about and why it calls forth our song. It tells us why the song is worth singing. It expresses the immensity and power of the song the church has to sing. It also suggests why superficial music simply cannot bear the weight of such a potent and significant song.”[3]
Why should we sing all 150 Psalms? Because it is right and proper to sing God’s word back to him. This is why our congregation sings versions of Deuteronomy 6, Habakkuk 3, Jonah 2, Joel 2, Zephaniah 3, Zechariah 9, Micah 7, and the Songs of Daniel, Zechariah, Mary, Simeon, Hannah, Deborah, and Moses (Exodus 15). Too often we assume that the songs of the church are “prayers” – but in fact, the songs of the church may also be where the church takes up the Word of God on our lips and sings it back to him. After all, many Psalms are not “prayers” but recitations of the mighty deeds of God. Many Psalms are designed to encourage and challenge each other – as Paul says, “teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs” (Col. 3:16). Singing is not just the “prayers of the people,” but is also the admonition of the Word of God!
[1] Those who wish to pursue the question of the history of singing in worship can find an almost exhaustive collection of quotations in James McKinnon’s Music in Early Christian Literature (Cambridge, 1987). His essays in The Temple, the Church Fathers, and Early Western Chant (Aldershot, 1998) are quite helpful. Calvin Stapert provides a wonderful discussion of patristic musical thought in New Song for an Old World (Eerdmans, 2006). Paul Bradshaw evaluates the recent literature in The Search for the Origins of Christian Worship (Oxford, 2002), and a synthetic history can be found in Paul Westermeyer’s Te Deum: The Church and Music (Fortress, 1998).
[2] See the 170 pages of primary source material provided in McKinnon, Music in Early Christian Literature.
[3] Paul Westermeyer, Te Deum, p26.
by Michiana Covenant | Jan 15, 2014 | Psalmody, Psalms, Psalter Hymnal
Psalm 6
This is the second place where I differ from the proposed Psalter. The OPC/URC proposal uses Olive’s Brow (from the BPS/BPW). While Olive’s Brow is a beautiful tune, it does not seem to me to be superior to the Genevan tune that has been used in the 1961 Trinity Hymnal and both Psalter Hymnals (1959 and 1987).
Text: 776 D (MCPC, 2010)
1 No longer, LORD, despise me, nor in your wrath chastise me. 2 Be gracious to me, LORD.
How long, LORD, must I languish? O heal me in my anguish; 3 my soul is troubled sore.
4 Turn back, O LORD, in favor and in your love deliver, save me in faithfulness.
5 How can the dead adore you, or bring their thanks before you; in Sheol who gives praise?
6 I am worn out with moaning; all night I weep with groaning, I flood my bed with tears.
7 My foes are all around me; my enemies surround me; my eyes are growing weak.
8 All who work evil, leave me; the LORD has heard my weeping. 9 The LORD has heard my plea.
10 My foes shall all be shaken, turned back, by shame o’ertaken; ashamed they all shall be.
Tune: O Esca Viatorum (Genvan 6) (Louis Bourgeois, 1549)
Commentary
Psalm 6 is titled, “To the Choirmaster: with Stringed Instruments; according to The Sheminith. A Psalm of David.”
Structure:
Our four stanzas take their shape from the ESV layout of Psalm 6. The text bears some resemblance to the text found in the old Trinity Hymnal with “Pleading” (Pleading is simply another name for Genevan 6).
The OPC/URC proposal uses a LM text from Sing Psalms that divides the Psalm into five stanzas (two biblical verses per stanza). It is a very good translation — so I have no objection to the inclusion of the LM text with Olive Brow — but I would be disappointed to see the Genevan tune disappear from our repertoire.
Translation Notes:
Psalm 6 asks a hard question: “For in death there is no remembrance of you; in Sheol who will give you praise?” (v5)
Both the Sing Psalms translation and the MCPC translation do well with this.
Tune Notes:
The Genevan tune for Psalm 6 — sometimes called “Pleading” or “O Esca Viatorum” — fits beautifully with this lament. The internal rhymes of the AAB CCB poetic structure are mirrored in the musical lines as well. While the Genevan tunes can be challenging to learn, many of them are well worth the effort.
The Genevan tune has been used with Psalm 6 in the 1961 Trinity Hymnal, the 1959 and 1987 Psalter Hymnals, the RCNZ’s Sing to the Lord, as well as the Canadian Reformed Book of Praise.
Conclusion
I freely grant that the OPC/URC proposal is a good option. The Sing Psalms text is a good text, and Olive’s Brow is a good tune. I simply would argue that the Genevan tune is superior in conveying and supporting the text of this lament.
I have not yet preached on Psalm 6.
— Peter J. Wallace
by Michiana Covenant | Jan 15, 2014 | Psalmody, Psalms, Psalter Hymnal
Is the Psalter an Obsolete Songbook? Why Sing All 150 Psalms AND the Best of the Best of All Ages?
Introduction
By Peter J. Wallace
“In speaking of a new covenant, he makes the first one obsolete. And what is becoming obsolete and growing old is ready to vanish away” (Hebrews 8:13). If the Mosaic covenant is obsolete and vanishing, then why should we sing the Psalms? Aren’t the Psalms the songbook of an obsolete covenant?
It is true that the Psalms are the songbook of an obsolete covenant – in the same sense that the Ten Commandments are the Law of an obsolete covenant – and the whole Old Testament is itself an obsolete covenant! And yet, Paul writes that “all scripture [the whole obsolete testament] is God-breathed, and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of god may be competent, equipped for every good work” (2 Timothy 3:16).
I would suggest that the Westminster Confession’s threefold division of the law provides us with a helpful way to think about the Psalms as well:
1) even as “the moral law doth forever bind all” (20.5) so also the five books of the Psalms express the “perfect rule of righteousness” (20.2) – and, for that matter, the perfect rule of piety;
2) there are many ceremonial references in the Psalms, “prefiguring Christ, his graces, actions, sufferings, and benefits” (20.3), such as references to ceremonial cleansing in Psalm 51, or offerings and sacrifices in numerous Psalms;
3) and there are many judicial statements in the Psalms, “not obliging any other now, further than the general equity thereof may require” (20.4) – such as the particular statements regarding Edom, Babylon, Philistia, or Doeg the Edomite.[1]
In the same way that we should study the whole Law in order to 1) learn what duty God requires of us, 2) learn Christ from the ceremonies, and 3) learn equity from the judicials, even so we should sing the whole Psalter in order to 1) learn what piety God requires of us, 2) learn Christ from the types and symbols, and 3) learn equity from the way that the Psalms speak of rulers and nations.
In the Trinity Hymnals of 1961 and 1990, the OPC and PCA followed a principle of “selective psalmody,” which used partial Psalms, or highly paraphrased Psalms in order to give David a “new covenant” flavor. In so doing, the Trinity Hymnals omitted most of the “darker” themes of the Psalms – themes of judgment, death, and cursing. But according to the New Testament, the way the Psalms talk about judgment, death, and cursing are not obsolete! As we will see, Jesus and the apostles speak in very similar ways – sometimes even quoting the worst parts of the Psalms!
My basic argument is that the church should sing all 150 Psalms – as well as the best of the best hymns of all ages (and by “hymn” I mean other songs, not found in the Psalter). Further, I argue that historically, Psalmody is always at the foundation of good hymnody. When all 150 Psalms are sung and prized, there you will find the best hymns. When psalmody deteriorates, hymnody also follows. The following posts will give a brief précis of my argument.
[A condensed version of this essay will appear in the March edition of
New Horizons]
by Michiana Covenant | Dec 31, 2013 | Psalmody, Psalms, Psalter Hymnal
Psalm 5
Text: 77 77 D (The Psalter, 1912; adapted by Rowland Ward, 1991; alt. MCPC, 2012)
1 Hear my words, O LORD my God; to my groans attentive be.
2 Hear my cry, my King, my God, for to you alone I pray.
3 When the morning comes, O LORD, you shall hear my pleading cry;
when the dawn comes, I will watch, and direct my prayers on high.
4 Truly, you are not a God who in evil takes delight;
evil shall not dwell with you, 5 nor the proud stand in your sight.
Evildoers you do hate; 6 you destroy all those who lie;
for the LORD abhors and hates those who murder and deceive.
7 But in your abundant grace to your house I will draw near;
looking to your holy place, in your fear I’ll worship there.
8 Guide me safely, O my LORD, in your perfect righteousness;
since my enemies are near, make straight paths before my face.
9 Not one word they say is true; from their heart destruction comes;
like an open grave their throat; and they flatter with their tongues
10 Make them bear their guilt, O God; by their counsels let them fall;
cast them out for all their sins, for against you they rebel.
11 But let all who flee to you find their refuge and rejoice;
let them ever sing for joy; spread protection over them.
Those who truly love your name will exult in you always.
12 For you bless the righteous, LORD, and you shield him with your grace.
Tune: Aberystwyth (Joseph Parry, 1876)
Commentary
Psalm 5 is titled, “To the Choirmaster: for the Flutes. A Psalm of David.” Note on authorship: the reference to the “holy temple” may suggest that this Psalm was written in the days of Solomon or later. The phrase “A Psalm of David” does not require that David himself actually wrote it. It is not likely that David would refer to the tabernacle as a temple, or speak of entering God’s “house” (v7). David was most painfully aware that God did not have a house, and only God’s intervention prevented him from building a temple (2 Samuel 7).
So why do these Psalms have the title, “A Psalm of David”? I would argue that the Davidic titles of the Psalms (especially here in books 1-2) are reminders for us to sing these Psalms with a Davidic focus — which means a Messianic focus. As these Psalms were sung in the temple, and as they were drawn together into the Psalter, they would have been constant reminders of how David was central to Israel’s future (think of how God told Ezekiel that he would “set up over them one shepherd, my servant David” (Ezekiel 34:23). The idea that you have to choose between a “David-centered” or a “Christ-centered” interpretation of the Psalms is wrong headed, because David is the Christ.
Structure:
Our five stanzas take their shape from the ESV layout of Psalm 5 in five stanzas. We considered the Sing Psalms text — but that required ten stanzas, which broke the Psalm up awkwardly. And since Aberystwyth has been used so much in our churches, we thought it prudent to work of off the text
Translation Notes:
The 1912 Psalter text (which is set to Aberystwyth in the Trinity Hymnal #51) needed considerable work, which Rowland Ward began in his 1991 Complete Book of Psalms for Singing. The whole Psalms was largely retranslated to bring it into conformity with our desire to eliminate the use of “Jehovah” and other archaic language, as well as to restore the language of “groaning” in verse 1. One comparison may be especially helpful:
Verse 10 (ESV) — “Make them bear their guilt, O God; let them fall by their own counsels;
because of the abundance of their transgressions cast them out, for they have rebelled against you.”
(1912 Psalter in TH) — “Bring, O God, their plans to naught, hold them guilty in thy sight,
for against thee and thy law they have set themselves to fight.
(Ward in CBPS) “Give them justice, O my God; them for all their sins expel,
in their own schemes catch their feet: you they hate, and thus rebel.
(BPW) Make them bear their guilt, O God; snare them in the things they planned!
Cast them out for all their sins: rebels who against you stand.
(MCPC) — “10 Make them bear their guilt, O God; by their counsels let them fall;
cast them out for all their sins; for against you they rebel.
Verse 10 makes four points: 1) make them bear their guilt; 2) let them fall by their own counsels; 3) cast them out for their sins; and 4) do all this because they have rebelled against you. The 1912 Psalter leaves out #3, Ward alters counsels to schemes; the BPW changes “fall” to “snare.”
Again, I don’t claim that we have succeeded in every line — but working through the Hebrew text with Bryan Estelle was tremendously helpful.
Tune Notes:
Aberystwyth is a beautiful, haunting Welsh tune. Given that the Psalmist opens with a cry for help and a reminder to God that he hates all evildoers, this Psalm needs a tune that has some darkness in it. On the other hand, at the center of the Psalm — stanza 3 (verses 7-8) — there is the robust confidence of a man who enters God’s house and bows down toward the holy temple. Aberystwyth works with this as well, by bringing in the major at the beginning of the 3rd and 4th lines.
Furthers, Aberystwyth is used with Psalm 5 in the Trinity Hymnal (#51) and the Trinity Psalter, as well as the BPS and the BPW, so we knew that we would be summarily executed if we tried to replace this…
Conclusion
My sermon on Psalm 5 can be found at: http://peterwallace.org/sermons/Ps05.htm
— Peter J. Wallace
by Michiana Covenant | Dec 31, 2013 | Psalmody, Psalms, Psalter Hymnal
Psalm 4
Text: CM (Sing Psalms; alt. 2009)
1 Respond, God of my righteousness, my comfort in distress.
Display your mercy to me now, and answer my request.
2 The glory of my name, O men, how long will you despise?
How long will you delude yourselves, still searching after lies?
3 Then know the LORD has set apart the godly as his own;
the LORD will hear me when I call and my request make known.
4 In anger do not break God’s law; consider and be still.
5 Present a righteous sacrifice and wait upon his will.
6 “O who can show us any good?” I hear so many say.
O LORD, shine on us with your light; reveal your face, I pray.
7 You filled my heart with greater joy than others may have found
as they rejoiced at harvest time, when grain and wine abound.
8 In peace I will lie down and sleep; my heart will rest secure,
for you alone, O gracious LORD, will keep me safe and sure.
Tune: Dunfermline (Scottish Psalter, 1615)
Commentary
Psalm 4 is titled, “To the Choirmaster; with Stringed Instruments. A Psalm of David.” Psalms 3-4 are connected by the language of “lying down and sleeping” in 3:5 and 4:8. Psalm 4 is often sung as an evening song because of its emphasis on beds and sleeping. There is an aspect of lament in Psalm 4 — particularly in the complaint in verse 2 against the “men” who love vain words and seek after lies — but even that darker tone is taken up into his confidence in verse 3, “the LORD has set apart the godly for himself.”
Therefore, the overall tone of the Psalm is one of quiet confidence.
Structure:
There were no structural issues that concerned us. All the metrical translations that we considered did well at this.
Translation Notes:
We were generally satisfied with the Sing Psalms text, and made only a couple of minor changes to improve inflection. The connection with the Aaronic benediction in verse 6 is important. “Lift up the light of your face upon us, O LORD” (ESV) should be seen in connection with verse 7’s comment on how God has given me more joy than “they have when their grain and wine abound.” The Aaronic benediction would have intersected with the worship of God’s people especially when they came to the temple, bringing their tithe for the Feast of Booths. Psalm 4 helps us remember that the joy of the Lord provides greater safety and satisfaction than all of human riches.
Tune Notes:
Dunfermline is an old Scottish Psalm tune that deserves a place in all Psalters. It fits particularly well with the tone of quiet confidence in Psalm 4. The melody moves mostly in seconds and thirds, creating gently flowing arcs in the first, third, and fourth musical lines — the only exception being in the second line, where the interval of a fourth is followed by the least movement in the melody — creating a contrast with the gentle flow of the rest of the tune, and highlighting this particular phrase. This works especially well in stanza 1 “my comfort in distress” — stanza 2 “how long will you despise?” — stanza 4 “consider and be still” — and stanza 7 “my heart will rest secure.”
Dunfermline is found in the BPS (8), BPW (8, 111), Trinity Psalter (131), Sing Psalms (9), the CBPS (35, 95), 1959 Psalter Hymnal (60), and is used with hymn 383 in the Trinity Hymnal.
Conclusion
I have not yet preached on Psalm 4.
— Peter J. Wallace
by Michiana Covenant | Dec 24, 2013 | Psalmody, Psalms, Psalter Hymnal
Psalm 3
Text: CM (BPS, 1973 — alt. MCPC 2012)
1 O LORD, how many are my foes! How many fighting me!
2 They say, “In vain he waits for God; salvation he’ll not see.”
3 You are my shield and glory, LORD; you lifted up my head.
4 I cried out, “LORD!” and from his hill to me his answer sped.
5 I lay down, slept, and woke, again; the LORD is keeping me.
6 I will not fear ten thousand men entrenched surrounding me.
7 Arise, O LORD! Save me, my God! You punish all my foes.
You smite the face of wicked men, their teeth break with your blows.
8 Deliverance is from the LORD, salvation his alone!
O let your blessing evermore be on your people shown!
Tune: Detroit (Supplement to Kentucky Harmony, 1820; harm. Dale Grotenhuis, 2009)
Commentary
Psalm 3 is titled, “A Psalm of David, when he fled from Absalom his son.” Most of the Psalms in books 1-2 are “of David” — which does not necessarily mean that they are by David. Many of them, like Psalm 3, are connected to certain events in David’s life. This doesn’t mean that David composed them at this time. Rather, it means that we should sing them in memory of those episodes. For Psalm 3, this is especially fitting in light of what we just sang in Psalm 2. In Psalm 2, the Son of David is the Anointed King — the one who will inherit the nations. In Psalm 3, the son of David is one of the “many foes” who rise against me and “set themselves against me.”
This is something that I would like to work on. While we worked hard to make the connections between Psalm 1 and Psalm 2, we did not do as well with the connections between Psalm 2 and Psalm 3 (one of our elders, Mark Hanson, pointed this out to me).
Structure:
Our metrical version follows the five-fold stanza structure of the ESV.
Translation Notes:
The theme of salvation (verses 2, 7, 8) is central to this Psalm — and so a metrical text should use the same word in these places (we used both “deliverance” and “salvation” in verse 8 in order to fill up the meter).
Psalm 3 is the first (and by no means the last) of the imprecatory Psalms. These Psalms remind us that salvation for God’s people involves the destruction of the wicked. After all, God is the one who said, “Vengeance is mine — I will repay.” It is important for us as Christians to remember that God is the one who will “break the teeth of the wicked” (v7).
Tune Notes:
Detroit is a beautiful old folk tune (from the Supplement to the Kentucky Harmony of 1820). The minor key fits the lament — especially considering that we should be thinking of David’s torment over Absalom’s revolt! The rising action of the first line captures well both David’s wail over his innumerable foes (v1), the mockery of the foes (v2), as well as the confidence that emerges over the last three stanzas.
I suggest that accompanists can help here by starting quietly and picking up tempo and volume gradually through stanzas 3-5.
Detroit is found in the CRC Psalter Hymnal (1987) with Psalm 83.
Conclusion
Since this is an unfamiliar tune, I hope to have this recorded soon — but for now, you can hear the tune at:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mtpkZWOwHig
(And since you cannot make out the words in this recording, it works fine for capturing the melody!)
I have not yet preached on Psalm 3.
— Peter J. Wallace
