Recovering Psalmody

In college I was first introduced to the debate of exclusive and inclusive Psalmody through R. Scott Clark's book, "Recovering the Reformed Confessions." As an exclusivist he argued that the Church should only sing the Psalms in the context of corporate worship. Interestingly, at that time I was ignorant of the rich classical Reformed tradition and found the concept of singing the Psalms shocking. Importantly, I must make the distinction that I am not referring to songs based on the Psalms or even a paraphrase of the Psalms but singing God's word to God. It was simply a foreign concept to me since all I heard growing up in church were praise choruses such as "yes Lord, yes Lord, yes, yes Lord." or "Hallelujah's" repeated eleven times. I always thought that the book of Psalms was primarily meant to be read but certaintly not to be sung. However, in light of Scripture and church history I should have been shocked that I was shocked.

Historically, the Church sang the Psalms from the 10th century B.C (the time of King David) until the 16th and 17th century A.D (Protestant Reformation). Even if hymns were composed they were only supplumental to the Psalms but never intended to be replacements. It was only until the 18th century with the rise of the modern hymnwriting movement that the practice of Psalm-singing was gradually being replaced. Sadly, by the mid-20th century Psalm-singing was practically unheard of. In the OT during the First Temple period we observe that God's people sang the Psalms in the context of corporate worship. 2 Chron. 29:28-30 says, "The whole assembly worshipped, and the singers sang...and Hezekiah the king and the officials commanded the Levites to sing praises to the Lord with the words of David and of Asaph the seer." After the Bablylonian captivity and the Second Temple was built we observe the Israelites participating in congregational singing of the Psalms (Ezra 3:11; Ps. 136). In the Intertestamental period during the Maccabean wars (167-160 B.C) it is recorded in 1 Mac. 4:24 that God's people assembled and praised the Lord with Psalms after a victorious defeat. In the NT we see Jesus leading his disciples in the Passover Psalms (113-118) in Mark 14:26 as accustomed in first century Judaism. In the early church we discover preachers such as John Chrysostom (349-407), archbishop of Constantinople and Augustine of Hippo (354-430) emphasize the importance of singing Psalms in the Christian church. During the Reformation period we observe Reformers such as John Calvin (1509-1564) advocate congregational Psalmody in the publication of the Genevan Psalter in 1562. Clearly, there is evidence from Scripture and testimony from the Church for the predominance of congregational Psalm-singing in the context of corporate worship.

So, why is there such a decline in Psalm singing in the Western Church? As Deitrich Bonhoeffer (1906-19450) once asked when did the book of Psalms become primarily a book to read and not to be sung? Perhaps, it is that we have not seen Christ as our Song-Leader and the Psalms as His inspired hymnal for the Church. In the ancient Near-East kings were not merely political figures but also played a fundamental role in worship, namely, as priestly-kings (2 Sam. 23:1; Ex. 15:1-21; Josh. 10:12-13; Judg. 5:1-31; 1 Sam. 10:5, 9-13). Scripture teaches that Jesus is our King and he leads us in praises into the presence of the Father. Hebrews 1:11-12 says, "For he wo sanctifies and those who are sanctified all have one source. That is why he [Christ] is not ashamed to call them brothers, saying "I will tell of your name to my brothers; in the midst of the congregation I will sing your praise" (emphasis added). Unfortunately, we live in a culture with anti-historical tendencies that is rooted in Enlightenment thinking of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. As Carl Trueman stated, "While the last thing a theologian in the sixteenth century and before wished to be accused of was novelty or innvovation, in the Enlightenment era an iconoclastic view of history was seen as a part and parcel of the freeing of humankind from bondage and darkness" (18, Wages of Spin). Therefore, let us recover Psalmody and sing praises to our God with God's word as taught in Scripture and practiced throughout the history of the Church.

RECOMMENDED RESOURCES
1. Psalms and Contemporary Worship - Robert Godfrey
http://www.sermonaudio.com/sermoninfo.asp?SID=6910103182
2. Singing the Songs of Jesus - Revisiting the Psalms - Michael Lefebvre
http://www.amazon.com/Singing-Songs-Jesus-Revisiting-Psalms/dp/1845506006/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1295998148&sr=8-1
3. Sacral Kingship in Ancient Israel - Aubrey R. Johnson
http://www.amazon.com/Sacral-Kingship-Ancient-Israel-Johnson/dp/1597528978/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1295998273&sr=1-1