Is the Psalter an Obsolete Songbook? – 1 – introduction

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 If the Mosaic covenant is obsolete and vanishing, then why should we sing the Psalms?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.