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 If the Mosaic covenant is obsolete and vanishing, then why should we sing the Psalms?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.
[1] See my sermon on Psalm 52, “A Song for Doeg, and Other Malefactors,” at http://www.sermonaudio.com/source_detail.asp?sourceid=michianacovenant
Part 2
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.
Part 3
The chief objections to the Psalms are often focused on some of the language in the Psalter. In the final two installments, we will focus first on the imprecatory Psalms, and then on the theme of death.
But Do We Have to Sing That?
There are some Psalms that are really hard to sing. Psalm 137:8-9 says:
O daughter of Babylon, doomed to be destroyed,
blessed shall he be who repays you with what you have done to us!
Blessed shall he be who takes your little ones and dashes them against the rock!
How can the church of Jesus Christ sing this?
Some people have argued that the New Testament has a fundamentally different attitude about our enemies. After all, Jesus taught us to love our enemies, and pray for those who persecute us. It would be easy to come up with a list of NT passages that appear to teach contrary to many Psalms, and thus argue that many Psalms are unworthy of Christian worship. But I would argue that there is not a single sentiment in the Psalms that is not echoed in the NT as well.
Let me give a few examples of the worst statements in the Psalms. For instance, the statement in Psalm 137:8-9, quoted above, declares a blessing on the one who destroys “daughter Babylon” (cities are often called “daughters” in the Old Testament). Given that Revelation 17-18 speaks of the fall of Babylon and her destruction, it is worth noting the cry of the heavenly host in Revelation 19:1-2 –
“Hallelujah! Salvation and glory and power belong to our God,
for his judgments are true and just;
for he has judged the great prostitute who corrupted the earth with her immorality,
and has avenged on her the blood of his servants.”
We need to remember that vengeance is a good thing. Scripture warns us not to take revenge, but does so through God’s promise, “Vengeance is mine, says the Lord, I will repay” (Romans 12:19). Therefore, according to Paul in Romans 12, we should pray that God will bring vengeance against those who seek to destroy us.
Paul explains this further in the previous chapter, in Romans 11:9-10, where he quotes Psalm 69:22-23 and applies it to rebellious Israel:
“Let their table become a snare and a trap, a stumbling block and a retribution for them; let their eyes be darkened so that they cannot see, and bend their backs forever.”
Here Paul says that David’s imprecation against his enemies should be applied to rebellious Jews in his own day. Paul will not seek to make God’s curse come to pass (he will not wage war against rebellious Israel), but he will pray that God will make it happen.
In the same way, the souls under the altar in Revelation 6:10 pray,
“O sovereign Lord, holy and true, how long before you will judge and avenge our blood on those who dwell on the earth?”
This is the prayer of the faithful: that God will make all things right in the end by bringing vengeance against those who have persecuted them.
Of course, this raises a serious question: when is it appropriate to pray for God’s destruction of our enemies? After all, Jesus did pray, “Father, forgive them” (Luke 23:34), and Stephen asked Jesus, “Lord, do not hold this sin against them” (Acts 7:60). It is worth noting that you find this same attitude in the Psalms. David says in Psalms 35 and 109 that he prayed for his enemies and afflicted himself in fasting for their healing when they were sick. But there comes a time when David asks God to destroy them. Likewise, we need to understand that Jesus’ prayer, “Father, forgive them,” does not mean that we never pray for vengeance.
Let’s start with Psalm 58, which offers a particularly sharp example of David’s curse against the wicked. He speaks against the “gods” – those who judge the children of mankind (probably referring to foreign kings – but possibly referring to Israelite judges). He compares them to serpents and adders, and calls on God to “break the teeth in their mouth” and “let them be like the snail that dissolves into slime, like the stillborn child who never sees the sun.” Then he concludes in verses 10-11:
“The righteous will rejoice when he sees the vengeance;
he will bathe his feet in the blood of the wicked.
Mankind will say, “Surely there is a reward for the righteous;
surely there is a God who judges on earth.”
The image is rather shocking. But what happens when you crush the head of your enemies? Your feet are spattered with blood! In the Old Testament, spiritual warfare had a strong physical component. And so Paul will apply these principles spiritually: “The God of peace will soon crush Satan under your feet” (Romans 16:20).
But what does this look like? When Paul writes to the Thessalonians to encourage them in their afflictions, he says in 2 Thessalonians 1:5-8 –
“This is evidence of the righteous judgment of God, that you may be considered worthy of the kingdom of God, for which you are also suffering—since indeed God considers it just to repay with affliction those who afflict you, and to grant relief to you who are afflicted as well as to us, when the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven with his mighty angels in flaming fire, inflicting vengeance on those who do not know God and on those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus.”
Those who attack and trample God’s people underfoot will receive God’s righteous judgment in the end! The New Testament says, “God considers it just to repay with affliction those who afflict you….inflicting vengeance on those who do not know God…”
We should never hold a grudge – and we should always pray that God would have mercy and convert the wicked – but at the same time, we should also pray that God’s vengeance would come against those who “stir up strife,” and who seek to destroy God’s people. So long as rulers devise wrongs in their hearts – and so long as the gods of the age deal out violence on the earth, we will need to sing Psalm 58.
In fact, if you study the imprecatory Psalms, you quickly realize that there are only two times when the Psalmists will pray for God to curse people:
1) when wicked Israelites are oppressing helpless Israelites (e.g., Psalms 5, 7, 9-10, etc.; this is especially prominent in books 1-2 of the Psalter – which has the Davidic kingdom as its presupposition);
2) when wicked foreigners are oppressing Israel (this occurs occasionally in books 1-2, but becomes especially prominent in book 3, with the Psalms of exile: 74-83 all have at least echoes of wicked foreigners in view).
In other words, we need to pray the imprecatory Psalms against:
1) wicked Christians (apostates) who are oppressing helpless Christians in the church;
2) wicked rulers who are knowingly and intentionally persecuting the church.
Notice that the Psalms are not hostile towards “the nations.” Think of the positive treatment of Babylon in Psalm 87 (especially intriguing in light of the curses on the nations in Psalms 74-83!):
“Among those who know me I mention Rahab and Babylon;
behold, Philistia and Tyre, with Cush –
‘This one was born there,’ they say.
And of Zion it shall be said,
‘This was and that one were born in her’;
for the Most High himself will establish her.
The Lord records as he registers the peoples,
‘This one was born there’ (Psalm 87:4-6).
All the enemies of Israel – even Babylon the cursed – will be reborn in Zion! The only time that the Psalms call for God to judge the nations are when the nations are pillaging and plundering Zion.
Finally, what about curses? Paul says in Romans 12:14, “Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse them.” Some would say that this is conclusive evidence that Christians should never curse those who persecute them! And it is true that Christians should not revile and swear like the nations do. But remember that five verses later, Paul says, “Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave it to the wrath of God, for it is written, ‘Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord’” (Romans 12:19). In other words, Christians should never seek to do anything to curse their enemies, but we should pray that God will bring vengeance – like in Psalm 94.
Consider the example of Jesus and the apostles.
1) In Matthew 23, Jesus hurls imprecations upon the scribes and Pharisees. The seven woes upon the scribes and Pharisees conclude with “You serpents, you brood of vipers, how are you to escape being sentenced to hell” (v33) – clearly reminiscent of Psalm 58’s description of the wicked rulers.
2) In Acts 8:20, Peter curses Simon Magus, “May your silver perish with you, because you thought you could obtain the gift of God with money.” Certainly Peter calls him to repentance – but that doesn’t stop him from cursing him!
3) Likewise, in Acts 13:10, Paul, “filled with the Holy Spirit,” said to Elymas the magician, “You son of the devil, you enemy of all righteousness, full of all deceit and villainy, will you not stop making crooked the straight paths of the Lord? And now, behold, the hand of the Lord is upon you, and you will be blind and unable to see the sun for a time.”
4) In Matthew 10:14, Jesus says to his disciples that if a town will not receive them, “shake off the dust from your feet when you leave that house or town. Truly I say to you it will be more bearable on the day of judgment for the land of Sodom and Gomorrah than for that town.” Paul, and Barnabas, in Acts 13:51, apply this to the Jews in Pisidian Antioch: “they shook off the dust from their feet against them and went to Iconium.” Likewise in Acts 18:6, when Paul faced opposition in the synagogue in Corinth, “he shook out his garments and said to them, ‘Your blood be on your own heads!” and went to the Gentiles.
This last episode is particularly fascinating, because one of the people who heard that curse was a man named Sosthenes (the ruler of the synagogue who was beaten by the Gentiles in v16). Several years later, Paul writes to the same church at Corinth: “Paul, called by the will of God to be an apostle of Christ Jesus, and our brother Sosthenes” (1 Cor 1:1). Paul had cursed Sosthenes and the rest of the synagogue – not out of malice, or out of any personal sense of ill will – but simply because Jesus had commanded that those who will not heed the call of the gospel need to know that God’s curse rests upon them until they repent!
What pattern do you see here? The ignorant are dealt with gently. Those who willfully rebel are forborne as long as possible – but then the curse of the gospel is proclaimed against them. When was the last time that you said, “Your blood be on your own head,” or “you son of the devil” to someone who persistently refused to hear the gospel? (This would be especially appropriate in the case of a religious leader who is leading people into destruction). I would suggest that one primary reason why we have failed to heed this New Testament teaching is because we have labeled it “obsolete” in the Psalter and removed it from our singing.
Part 4
Finally, as we consider the importance of including the whole Psalter in our congregational singing, we look at Psalm 88 and its doctrine of death and the grave — and why Christians need to sing Psalms like this more often.
Death and Depression: Why We Need to Sing Psalm 88 More Often
Some argue that there are obsolete doctrines in the Psalms. For instance, some claim that Psalms 6:5, Psalm 30:9, and Psalm 88:10-12 reflect an obsolete doctrine of the grave. Psalm 88 is perhaps the most egregious example, so I will focus my attention there.
A pastor from a denomination that sings all 150 Psalms once asked me, “when would you ever sing Psalm 88 in worship?” I simply answered, “Do you really have no one in your congregation who suffers from depression?” Psalm 88 reminds us that there are days in the Christian life that may end in utter blackness.
“Do you work wonders for the dead?
Do the departed rise up to praise you?
Is your steadfast love declared in the grave,
or your faithfulness in Abaddon?
Are your wonders known in the darkness,
or your righteousness in the land of forgetfulness?”
Some think that some or all of the Old Testament authors had no clear idea of the resurrection, and so expressed unclear or incomplete ideas regarding the afterlife. They grant that the text is inspired by God and true so far as it goes – but they argue that it was written at a time when the people of God were uncertain about the afterlife, and so Psalm 88 is not appropriate for Christian worship. After all, we know that the departed will rise up to praise God!
Geerhardus Vos takes a different – and more helpful – approach:
“And most touching of all I think is the form which this sentiment assumes in the mind of the Old Testament saints in view of the mysteries, so much greater to them than to us, of the state after death. Did you ever observe what is the thought that seems to have most acutely distressed and perplexed the writers of some of the Psalms when they tried in vain to pierce this veil of mystery enveloping to them the future world? It was the fear that in these strange regions there might be no remembrance of God, no knowledge of his goodness, no praise of his glory. We may be assured that when a religious want is in this way projected into the world to come so that the fear of its not being satisfied proves stronger than the fear of death in itself, we may be sure that there it has been recognized as the supreme, the essential thing in religion.”[1]
But the question of the afterlife is not really the issue in Psalm 88. The question in Psalm 88 has to do with God’s promises to Israel, and particularly, with God’s promises to David. If the Davidic king is overthrown, and Israel is destroyed, then what will become of God’s promises? To use New Testament language, if the Gates of Hell prevail and the church is destroyed then what will become of God’s promises to Jesus? “Do you work wonders for the dead?”
Of course, this is precisely where Psalm 88 is so helpful for the church to sing! If God never works in history, then what can God do for the dead? This is what makes Psalm 88 such a beautiful song of the cross. After all, Psalm 88 opens “O LORD, God of my salvation…” How can salvation come to God’s people? It is only if God does “wondrous works” in history. It is only if God is the God of the living that there is any hope for the dead!
In the end, the answers to the questions in verses 10-12, which so obviously appear to be “No!” – in fact, are “Yes!” God’s steadfast love will be declared in the grave – when he raises Jesus from the dead. Israel’s only hope – and our only hope – is if God triumphs over the grave by raising up his Son to eternal life!
But what about us? Psalm 88 is helpful for the Christian to sing – not just about Jesus, but also for ourselves. Because in the Christian life there are days that end in darkness and despair like this:
“Your wrath has swept over me;
your dreadful assaults destroy me.
They surround me like a flood all day long;
they close in on me together.
You have caused my beloved and my friend to shun me;
my companions have become darkness.” (88:16-18)
It was true for Jesus on the cross – and it can be true in the Christian life as well. There were days when Paul himself “despaired of life” (2 Cor 1:8-10 – which almost quotes Psalm 88 with its emphasis on how God is the one who delivers us from deadly peril). Paul talks openly about his own discouragement in 2 Cor 4:7-12 — though the fact that God is his salvation prevents him from reaching ultimate despair (just like Psalm 88 never reaches ultimate despair). After all, Psalm 88 is a Psalm of the cross. This is what Jesus endured for us. The reason why we must sing Psalm 88 is because when we sing Psalm 88 in union with Christ, we can sing Psalm 88 with the same hope as the Psalmist — because God is the God of our salvation! The Psalmist’s hope was exactly the same as our hope. He hoped in the same Redeemer.
As Geerhardus Vos put it, there are different redemptive-historical epochs, but there is a “homogeneity of redemption.”[2] Certainly there can be a difference in “tone” between the Davidic era and New Covenant – which is due to our diverse redemptive-historical eras. Certainly the resurrection of Jesus gives us a greater joy and glory than anything in the “obsolete covenant” – but this simply demonstrates that we need to sing more than the Psalms.
Conclusion
Congregational singing is where the church participates in the songs of the heavenly assembly. As such, we should use the songs of the old covenant in the same way that we use readings from the old covenant. And as the word of Christ dwells in us richly, perhaps once again in our daily lives, we will begin “teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in [our] hearts to God” (Col. 3:16).
While we often prefer to avoid themes of darkness, depression, cursing, and death, we cannot do so without ignoring New Testament teaching on the subject. One of the best ways of renewing our understanding and piety in such matters would be to resume singing the “hard” Psalms, singing them in the light of the glory of Christ.
Of course, congregational singing should not be limited to the 150 Psalms – but it will always be nourished and enriched by the Psalter. But the relation between psalmody and good hymnody will have to wait for another essay!
[1] Geerhardus Vos, Sermon on Psalm 25:14, http://www.kerux.com/doc/0301A1.asp
[2] Geerhardus Vos, Eschatology of the Psalter, p8 — fn 6. On page 15 he mentions Psalm 88, but without comment.
[A condensed version of this essay appeared in the March edition of New Horizons]
