Do you prefer hymns over psalms?

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Reading back over the thread provided clarity. The songs for the worship of the OT church were inspired prophecies. There is no continuing office of prophet; no more setting (i.e. the temple) in which that office would continue in the writing of inspired psalms ; and no command from God for the writing of uninspired songs for worship. As covenant theologians, we ought to be looking for what was abrogated in worship (the ceremonial) vs. what continued on into the new covenant.

Hymns, whether for public worship or other use, were written pretty early on in the early church. Other errors also crept in early, and continued to creep in. But again, there had been no command from God for the further writing of any songs for the worship of the church.
 
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their [sic] are some involved in the Psalter Hymnal who are EP :)

Earl:

How could someone involved in editing a Psalter Hymnal be EP?! Convictions would forbid any such participation.

And, yes, I am guided by the commands of Scripture in worship (what's come to be called the RPW in the 20th century). As you know, we don't all construct the RPW in the same way; otherwise, we wouldn't be having this debate.

I wasn't seeking to plow old ground again. I sought, rather, to raise a question about whether this thread contained expressions that seemed to downplay the newness of the new, if I could put it that way.

Even if one is EP (which, narrowly, I am not presently arguing), one must not arrive there by some sort of flattening of the dispensations, as WCF 7.6 notes.

Peace,
Alan
 
Earl:

How could someone involved in editing a Psalter Hymnal be EP?! Convictions would forbid any such participation.

And, yes, I am guided by the commands of Scripture in worship (what's come to be called the RPW in the 20th century). As you know, we don't all construct the RPW in the same way; otherwise, we wouldn't be having this debate.

I wasn't seeking to plow old ground again. I sought, rather, to raise a question about whether this thread contained expressions that seemed to downplay the newness of the new, if I could put it that way.

Even if one is EP (which, narrowly, I am not presently arguing), one must not arrive there by some sort of flattening of the dispensations, as WCF 7.6 notes.

Peace,
Alan

I asked because if I am not mistaken Chris Caldwell worked on the Psalter Hymnal and I think he did not water down his belief in EP. :)
 
My position on this is no secret (especially since I am a general editor of a Psalter Hymnal), so I shan't link to writings of mine linked here before or re-argue points that I've argued here or elsewhere.

One thing here does rather surprise me, however, and I've not discussed it here (though I have elsewhere). Jesus Christ appears in the OT exclusively in typical form (WCF 7.5) and only "under the gospel" is Christ "held forth in more fullness, evidence, and spiritual efficacy" (WCF 7.6). Expressions of several in this discussion, if I read them rightly, have tended to downplay this and speak as if reference to our Lord in His Incarnation is as explicit in OT times as NT.

If I've read this rightly, this is a misguided approach to redemptive history and biblical theology. Is Christ in the Psalms? Of course, and we rejoice in that! Bryan Estelle, our Hebraist for the TPH, is revising an essay on that to be published on our website (in progress). But to speak as if our Lord Jesus Christ is revealed in the OT with the explicitness that belongs only to the anti-type in the NT is not correct and threatens to "level out" all of redemptive history and take away the vital development that we see therein (and in which we glory!).

Again, maybe I misread some of you, though having looked again at some responses, I see a tendency to flatten out redemptive historical development that neither the Reformed more broadly nor the Puritans more narrowly embraced.

Peace,
Alan

As someone who is wrestling with EP, and leans EP, but has doubts, I think this is fair, Alan.

The danger with us reformed people in emphasizing the continuity between the OT and NT is that we can sometimes downplay/ignore the changes.

This doesn't solve the debate but is an important thing to keep in mind.

However, with all this said: a reading of the NT allows one to see the Psalms as literally filled with Christ. He is the "Son" in Psalm 2, He is the sufferer in Psalm 22, He is the one who walks through the valley of the Shadow of Death in Psalm 23, He is the one who ascends the Hill of the Lord in Psalm 24, He is the one who sits at the Father's right hand in Psalm 110, etc. etc. I think the Psalms really do explain who he is, what he does, and why it is important.

Is there an aspect of Christ's person or work that is not given in the Psalms, other than his Hebrew name Yeshua?
 
I asked because if I am not mistaken Chris Caldwell worked on the Psalter Hymnal and I think he did not water down his belief in EP. :)
Earl, that Psalter Chris spoke of is a wonderful one his church undertook to produce for their own use. It’s mostly a collection of “the best of the best” from various psalters. I was able to snag one of the leftovers they had from that project and it’s great. Wish it could be used more widely.
 
How could someone involved in editing a Psalter Hymnal be EP?! Convictions would forbid any such participation.

It seems to me the discussion could be helped by a robust definition of the word 'hymn'. Can you help with that Dr. Strange?
 
It seems to me the discussion could be helped by a robust definition of the word 'hymn'. Can you help with that Dr. Strange?

The First paragraph is a general definition. The second has a brief but interesting history on the use of hymns in the early Church. It is long but I think it adds historical context to this debate. The third describes pagan usage of hymns. These last two are provided by James Strong. This is the same Strong behind the famous Strong's Dictionary

"hymn. From Greek hymnos, a song sung to a deity. The field covering the study and practice of church music is called hymnody. The Psalter contains many hymns, and Christians sang these (Eph 5:19; Col 3:16; 1 Cor 14:26) and other compositions (Phil 2:6–11; 1 Tim 3:16), and early on new compositions were welcome (Tert., Apol. 39). Throughout the Middle Ages hymns, mostly the Psalter, were sung by clerical choirs, and not by the laity (in much of the OC singing is done by the *clergy and choir). Modern congregational hymn singing, including newer compositions, essentially began with Luther, though the Calvinist churches tended toward psalm singing. Later Watts composed original hymns sung to the older meters developed for the psalms. Wesley was influenced by the personal emphasis of the pietists (see Routley). The nineteenth century saw the recapturing of the medieval Latin hymns, this time for congregational singing. Many of the well-known English-language hymns sung in churches today are rooted in the later evangelical movements (see gospel song). Revival and evangelistic-meeting songs include “How Great Thou Art!” and “It Is Well with My Soul.” A number of women have written hymns, among them Frances Havergal, Christina Rossetti and Fanny Crosby.

Provance, B. S. (2009). In Pocket Dictionary of Liturgy & Worship (pp. 68–69). Downers Grove, IL: IVP Academic."

"Hymnology. “Poetry and its twin sister music are the most sublime and spiritual arts, and are much more akin to the genius of Christianity, and minister far more copiously to the purposes of devotion and edification than architecture, painting, and sculpture. They employ word and tone, and can speak thereby more directly to the spirit than the plastic arts by stone and color, and give more adequate expression to the whole wealth of the world of thought and feeling. In the Old Testament, as is well known, they were essential parts of divine worship; and so they have been in all ages, and almost all branches of the Christian Church. Of the various species of religious poetry, the hymn is the earliest and most important. It has a rich history, in which the deepest experiences of Christian life are stored. But it attained full bloom (as we will notice below) in the evangelical Church of the German and English tongue, where it, like the Bible, became for the first time truly the possession of the people, instead of being restricted to priest or choir” (Schaff, Ch. History). “A hymn is a lyrical discourse to the feelings. It should either excite or express feeling. The recitation of historical facts, descriptions of scenery, narrations of events, meditations, may all tend to inspire feeling. Hymns are not to be excluded, therefore, because they are deficient in lyrical form or in feeling, if experience shows that they have power to excite pious emotions. Not many of Newton’s hymns can be called poetical, yet few hymns in the English language are more useful” (Beecher, Preface to the Plymouth Collection). The hymn, as such, is not intended to be didactic, and yet it is one of the surest means of conveying “sound doctrine,” and of perpetuating it in the Church. The Greek and Latin fathers well understood this. Bardesanes (see below) “diffused his Gnostic errors in Syriac hymns; and till that language ceased to be the living organ of thought, the Syrian fathers adopted this mode of inculcating truth in metrical compositions. The hymns of Arius were great favorites, and contributed to spread his peculiar doctrines. Chrysostom found the hymns of Arian worship so attractive that he took care to counteract the effect of them as much as possible by providing the Catholic Church with metrical compositions. Augustine also composed a hymn in order to check the errors of the Donatists, whom he represents as making great use of newly-composed hymns for the propagation of their opinions. The writings of Ephraem Syrus, of the 4th century, contain hymns on various topics, relating chiefly to the religious questions of the day which agitated the Church.” Yet a mere setting forth of Christian doctrine in verse does not constitute a hymn; the thoughts and the language of the Scriptures must be reproduced in a lyrical way in order to serve the needs of song. The most popular and lasting hymns are those which are most lyrical in form, and at the same time most deeply penetrated with Christian life and feeling. Nor can hymns, in the proper sense of the word, be other than popular. The Romish Church discourages congregational worship, and therefore she produces few hymns, notwithstanding the number of beautiful religious compositions which are to be found in her offices, and the fine metrical productions of the Middle Ages, of which more in a later portion of this article. Hymns for Protestants, being “composed for congregational use, must express all the varieties of emotion common to the Christian. They must include in their wide range the trembling of the sinner, the hope and joy of the believer; they must sound the alarm to the impenitent, and cheer the afflicted; they must summon the Church to an earnest following of her Redeemer, go down with the dying to the vale of death, and make it vocal with the notes of triumph; they must attend the Christian in every step of his life as a heavenly melody. There can be nothing esoteric in the hymn. Besides this, the hymn, skilfully linked with music, becomes the companion of a Christian’s solitary hours. It is the property of a good lyric to exist in the mind as a spiritual presence; and thus, as a ‘hidden soul of harmony,’ it dwells, a soul in the soul, and rises, often unsought, into distinct consciousness. The worldly Göthe advised, as a means of making life less commonplace, that one should ‘evéry day, at least, hear a little song or read a good poem.’ Happier he who, from his abundant acquaintance with Christian lyrics, has the song within him; who can follow the purer counsel of Paul, and ‘speak to himself in hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in his heart to the Lord’ (Eph. 5:19)” (Methodist Quarterly, July, 1849). For the vocal execution of hymns as a part of Church service, see SINGING; and for their instrumental accompaniments, see MUSIC.
On the question of the use of hymns of human composition in the Church, there were disputes at a very early period. The Council of Braga (Portugal), A.D. 563, forbade the use of any form of song except psalms and passages of Scripture (Canon xii). On this subject, Bingham remarks that it was in ancient times “no objection against the psalmody of the Church that she sometimes made use of psalms and hymns of human composition, besides those of the sacred and inspired writers. For though St. Austin reflects upon the Donatists for their psalms of human composition, yet it was not merely because they were human, but because they preferred them to the divine hymns of Scripture, and their indecent way of chanting them, to the grave and sober method of the Church. St. Austin himself made a psalm of many parts, in imitation of the 119th Psalm; and this he did for the use of his people, to preserve them from the errors of Donatus. It would be absurd to think that he who made a psalm himself for the people to sing should quarrel with other psalms merely because they were of human composition. It has been demonstrated that there always were such psalms, and hymns, and doxologies composed by pious men, and used in the Church from the first foundation of it; nor did any but Paulus Samosatensis take exception to the use of them; and he did so not because they were of human composition, but because they contained a doctrine contrary to his own private opinions. St. Hilary and St. Ambrose made many such hymns, which, when some muttered against in the Spanish churches because they were of human composition, the fourth Council of Toledo made a decree to confirm the use of them, together with the doxologies ‘Glory be to the Father,’ etc., ‘Glory be to God on high,’ threatening excommunication to any that should reject them. The only thing of weight to be urged against all this is a canon of the Council of Laodicea, which forbids all ἰδιωτικοὺς ψαλμούς, all private psalms, and all uncanonical books to be read in the Church. For it might seem that by private psalms they mean all hymns of human composition. But it was intended rather to exclude apocryphal hymns, such as went under the name of Solomon, as Balzamon and Zonaras understand it, or else such as were not approved by public authority in the Church. If it be extended further, it contradicts the current practice of the whole Church besides, and cannot, in reason, be construed as any more than a private order for the churches of that province, made upon some particular reasons unknown to us at this day. Notwithstanding, therefore, any argument to be drawn from this canon, it is evident the ancients made no scruple of using psalms or hymns of human composition, provided they were pious and orthodox for the substance, and composed by men of eminence, and received by just authority, and not brought in clandestinely into the Church” (Orig. Eccles. bk. xiv, ch. i).


Worman, J. H., W. J. R. T. (1891). Hymnology. In Cyclopædia of Biblical, Theological, and Ecclesiastical Literature (Vol. 4, pp. 433–434). New York: Harper & Brothers, Publishers.


"Hymn (Ὕμνος). This term, as used by the Greeks, primarily signified simply a song (comp. Homer, Od. viii, 429; Hesiod, Op. et Dies, 659; Pindar, Ol. i, 170; xi, 74; Isthm. iv, 74; Pyth. x, 82; Æsch. Eum. 331; Soph. Antig. 809; Plato, Republ. v, 459, E, etc.); we find instances even in which the cognate verb ὑμνεῖν is used in a bad sense (φαύλως ἐκλαμβάνεται, Eustath. p. 634; comp. Soph. Elect. 382; Œd. Tyr. 1275; Eurip. Med. 425); but usage ultimately appropriated the term to songs in praise of the gods. We know that among the Greeks, as among most of the nations of antiquity, the chanting of songs in praise of their gods was an approved part of their worship (Clem. Alex. Strom. vi, 633, ed. Sylburg., Porphyr. de Abstin. iv, sec. 8; Phurnutus, De Nat. Deor. c. 14; Alex. ab Alex. Gen. Dies, iv, c. 17, s. f.; Spanheim in not. ad Callimachum, p. 2; comp. Meiners, Geschichte aller Religionen, c. 13); and even at their festive entertainments such songs were sometimes sung (Athen. Deipnos. xiv, xv, 14; Polyb. Hist. iv, 20, ed. Ernesti). Besides those hymns to different deities which have come down to us as the composition of Callimachus, Orpheus, Homer, Linus, Cleanthes, Sappho, and others, we may with confidence refer to the choral odes of the tragedians as affording specimens of these sacred songs, such of them, at least, as were of a lyric character (Snedorf, De Hymnis Vet. Græc. p. 19). Such songs were properly called hymns. Hence Arrian says distinctly (De Exped. Alex. iv, 11, 2), ὕμνοι μὲν ἐς τοὺς θεοὺς ποιοῦνται, ἔπαινοι δὲ ἐς ἀνθρώπους. So also Phavorinus: ὕμνος, ἡ πρὸς θεὸν ᾠδή. Augustine (in Psa. lxxii) thus fully states the meaning of the term: “Hymni laudes sunt Dei cum cantico. Hymni cantus sunt, continentes laudes Dei. Si sit laus, et non sit Dei, non est hymnus. Si sit laus et Dei laus, et non cantatur, non est hymnus. Oportet ergo ut si sit hymnus, habeat haec tria, et laudem et Dei et canticum.” See CHANT.

M’Clintock, J., & Strong, J. (1891). Hymn. In Cyclopædia of Biblical, Theological, and Ecclesiastical Literature (Vol. 4, p. 432). New York: Harper & Brothers, Publishers."
 
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I don't know who this Caldwell fellow is. ;) While some relations reverted to an "a", my gggggggrandfather Coldwell (but pronounced Caldwell) spelled it that way when he came over with the first Scots Irish wave in 1718 from Donegral. Jeri is right, I worked on a small but full psalter for my church making use of those they had learned over the years. Got permission to use from some various psalters. The too many the church was used to from the 1912 we redid those against the predecessor to it (1871 I think) and a few fresh renderings.
I asked because if I am not mistaken Chris Caldwell worked on the Psalter Hymnal and I think he did not water down his belief in EP. :)

Earl, that Psalter Chris spoke of is a wonderful one his church undertook to produce for their own use. It’s mostly a collection of “the best of the best” from various psalters. I was able to snag one of the leftovers they had from that project and it’s great. Wish it could be used more widely.
 
I was interested in a definition of 'hymn' as used by EPers in distinction from metrical Psalms.

If I sing Psalm 23 with an electric guitar, bass, and drum set, is it a hymn or a Psalm?

If I rap a Psalm is it a hymn or a Psalm?

If I sing part of a Psalm in a contemporary style is it a hymn or a Psalm?

If a song is partly Psalm and partly freely composed, can an EPer sing the part that comes from a Psalm? (Like "Come Let Us Worship and Bow Down.")
 
If I sing Psalm 23 with an electric guitar, bass, and drum set, is it a hymn or a Psalm?

...a psalm...

If I rap a Psalm is it a hymn or a Psalm?

Is the rap a psalm or the psalm a psalm? The latter is pretty clear...the action of rapping is not a psalm. Rapping is also not 'singing'.

If I sing part of a Psalm in a contemporary style is it a hymn or a Psalm?

No clue what 'contemporary style' means. If you sing a Psalm, you are singing a Psalm...

If a song is partly Psalm and partly freely composed, can an EPer sing the part that comes from a Psalm? (Like "Come Let Us Worship and Bow Down.")

"freely composed" is defined as what? As in, for example, if you composed it? Is it possible for an EPer to sing the part that comes from the Psalm? Anything is possible, doesn't make it wise or necessarily according to God's command.
 
After reading a post asking whether singing a psalm to an electric guitar turns it a hymn, I am thinking a Cheetos Chicken Sandwich from KFC might be one of the few things that makes sense in this thread anymore.
 
I'm beginning to feel that, after such a long thread, a Cheeto sandwich from KFC may be a sanctified thing... just so we don't end up biting and devouring one another instead :).

My position on this is no secret (especially since I am a general editor of a Psalter Hymnal), so I shan't link to writings of mine linked here before or re-argue points that I've argued here or elsewhere.

One thing here does rather surprise me, however, and I've not discussed it here (though I have elsewhere). Jesus Christ appears in the OT exclusively in typical form (WCF 7.5) and only "under the gospel" is Christ "held forth in more fullness, evidence, and spiritual efficacy" (WCF 7.6). Expressions of several in this discussion, if I read them rightly, have tended to downplay this and speak as if reference to our Lord in His Incarnation is as explicit in OT times as NT.

If I've read this rightly, this is a misguided approach to redemptive history and biblical theology. Is Christ in the Psalms? Of course, and we rejoice in that! Bryan Estelle, our Hebraist for the TPH, is revising an essay on that to be published on our website (in progress). But to speak as if our Lord Jesus Christ is revealed in the OT with the explicitness that belongs only to the anti-type in the NT is not correct and threatens to "level out" all of redemptive history and take away the vital development that we see therein (and in which we glory!).

Again, maybe I misread some of you, though having looked again at some responses, I see a tendency to flatten out redemptive historical development that neither the Reformed more broadly nor the Puritans more narrowly embraced.

Peace,
Alan

Thank you Dr. Strange. If the concern sticks anywhere, I'm probably perpetrator #1. Just possibly I'm still feeling the impact of numerous theological shifts in the past 18 months. But to put some thoughts in confessional boundaries which may be necessary here on my part...

Absolutely true. The least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than John the Baptist. The prophets longed to see the things which the apostles saw, and hear the things they heard, and never did hear them. God did not pour out His Spirit on all flesh in the Old Covenant times, and they did not yet see the Covenant of Grace sealed in the blood of Christ. Most starkly of all, they did not have the Word made flesh and dwelling with man. Thank you for the reminder that these absolutely must tame our view of continuity of the covenants, and the relationship of the Old and the New.

Yet still, the apostles were those who brought out things old and things new, as Jesus had said. There is a new administration that exceeds the old one, though the things old had also taken on a new value. Like John says, "I beseech you, O Lady, not as though I wrote a new commandment to you, but one which we had from the beginning; and this is the commandment, that we love one another." Love is an Old Testament truth, yet love is now new--can be understood far more deeply, practiced in a far richer manner--because of the example of Christ.

For the types and shadows, Christ is not explicit. He's not mentioned by His name, that's acknowledged. Yet, I think we'd agree that the New Testament alone, without the Law and the Prophets, would leave us with a deficient view of Jesus Christ. I didn't really understand the soul sufferings of Christ until I understood Isaiah 53. In our recent communion season I learned more of it through Psalm 22. Ephesians 1:20-22 and Matthew 28:18 didn't make sense until I understood Psalm 2, and this Psalm along with Psalm 8, 23, 45, and 110 have probably done the most to shape my view of the kingship of Christ, and WLC 45 on Christ as King almost seems to summarize them. The New has unlocked the Old, but then the Old throws light on the New.

I think what we're driving at is that the coming of Christ doesn't make the Psalms insufficient--rather, it makes us able to sing them with far more joy and understanding than ever was possible for a Jew, and even the Psalms then become tools to quicken the fullness, evidence, and efficacy of the New Covenant. As the New Testament unlocks the Old, so the Old turns around and unlocks the New.

Again, thank you for your remarks and keeping us within the pattern of sound words :)
 
Our pastor Paul Martin mentions Richard P. Belcher’s Book “The Messiah and the Psalms: Preaching Christ from All the Psalms.” Rev. Martin has done a lot of work in this area and has a resource list on the topic. I’ll try to get that from him and post it here on the board.
 
All of this discussion reinforces my earlier point:

- most of us would agree Christ is present in the psalms implicitly, not explicitly. That is, he is really there in the types and shadows, but not yet with the fullness of the new covenant revelation.

- I think we are all agreed that we don't want simply to sing the psalms like David did. We want to have fixed in our minds while we sing the new covenant fullness. (Those thoughts are necessarily uninspired, unless we are actually thinking words of a particular Scripture)

- to that end, I think we are all agreed that it is beneficial for a pastor to (briefly) expound those new covenant connections before singing a psalm, so that we can sing with proper insight. Of course, he does so with uninspired words. So, in with and around our singing of psalms and comprehending their true significance are all sorts of uninspired (but hopefully still true) words. Presumably, the worshiper needs to evaluate the pastor's introduction just like he does a sermon, so simply singing psalms does not completely remove that element. It takes quite a bit of skill and Biblical knowledge to do this well - which is what I spend much of my seminary class trying to impart!

- all a (good) hymn does is to shortcut that process by going directly to a (true but uninspired) exposition of the Scripture. Of course, it can do that well or badly, just as pastors can explain Christological connections in the psalms well or allegorically, and people can have all sorts of thoughts about the psalm they are singing that may be true or wildly inaccurate. In some cases, because the hymn is directly based on a new covenant text, it will be easier for people to sing it with true understanding of the gospel in their hearts than a psalm, just as we typically start seminary students out preaching from Paul rather than the psalms. Sometimes pastors may need to explain a hymn, just as much as a psalm, but more often they tend to be self-explanatory.

- of course, none of this matters if God has indeed commanded us to sing the psalms and only the psalms. But that is precisely the issue of which many of us are unconvinced (from the Scriptures, not from preference). Especially since "the psalms" are a book that grew over a lengthy history (over 500 years), during which there were clearly many other songs floating around, some of which ended up being used by at least some people in worship contexts (witness the extra psalm in the Septuagint, now found in Hebrew form among the Qumran documents).
 
All of this discussion reinforces my earlier point:
- all a (good) hymn does is to shortcut that process by going directly to a (true but uninspired) exposition of the Scripture. Of course, it can do that well or badly, just as pastors can explain Christological connections in the psalms well or allegorically, and people can have all sorts of thoughts about the psalm they are singing that may be true or wildly inaccurate. In some cases, because the hymn is directly based on a new covenant text, it will be easier for people to sing it with true understanding of the gospel in their hearts than a psalm, just as we typically start seminary students out preaching from Paul rather than the psalms. Sometimes pastors may need to explain a hymn, just as much as a psalm, but more often they tend to be self-explanatory.

I would suggest however, there is a conscience issue with a hymn that a psalm explanation does not have. The pastor, if in error in the psalm explanation, does not make me regurgitate his error with my own lips and my own heart.

But if a hymn is in fact erroneous or heretical, then the minister is asking me to sing it to the Lord. That is a problem of the conscience, and I don’t think that many of those who want to strongarm God’s people into singing hymns appreciate it (not saying you are, in fact I find you remarkably balanced and nuanced in this matter, but other posters have not approached the matter quite as delicately).

I can mentally disagree with a sermon, I can verbally withhold my ‘Amen’ from a congregational prayer if I disagree with the prayer, but if a minister is going to put words into my mouth and command me to sing them to the Lord, it must be done with a great and sober consideration.
 
The New has unlocked the Old, but then the Old throws light on the New.

Well put, and I am in full agreement with all that you write in this post, Jake.

And in Iain's that follows (I eagerly await his BT on worship!).

And the always thoughtful Rom makes an excellent point, which is why what we sing must be properly vetted (just as preaching and praying is) by those who hold the ruling and teaching offices in the church. That vetting is much easier if from the inspired word, though a wrong use can be made of anything, even the Word of God (per Job's "friends," Satan's use of the Word, and those who quote Rom. 8:28, e.g., to those in immediate devastation).

One could, in other words, imagine misguided comments before a Psalm of imprecation that would make you not want to sing the Psalm. I've read things online and elsewhere, which, if said in worship would prompt me not to sing the Psalm. All this is to say, that nothing's automatic and one may choose to "sit out" not only a hymn that one finds lacking, but a psalm being put clearly to a wrong use (I can furnish examples; this is not an unreal supposition).

Nothing short circuits our responsibility to live coram Deo everywhere, especially in worship.

That having been said, I deeply appreciate the renewed emphasis on and desire to sing the Psalms (my oldest son is with Jacob on chanting them, btw, and there is, historically and otherwise, a good case to be made for such).

The older I grow, the more precious in every respect the Psalms become to me. They are surely, as our beloved Calvin said, "an anatomy of all the parts of the soul."

Peace,
Alan
 
I'm beginning to feel that, after such a long thread, a Cheeto sandwich from KFC may be a sanctified thing... just so we don't end up biting and devouring one another instead :).



Thank you Dr. Strange. If the concern sticks anywhere, I'm probably perpetrator #1. Just possibly I'm still feeling the impact of numerous theological shifts in the past 18 months. But to put some thoughts in confessional boundaries which may be necessary here on my part...

Absolutely true. The least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than John the Baptist. The prophets longed to see the things which the apostles saw, and hear the things they heard, and never did hear them. God did not pour out His Spirit on all flesh in the Old Covenant times, and they did not yet see the Covenant of Grace sealed in the blood of Christ. Most starkly of all, they did not have the Word made flesh and dwelling with man. Thank you for the reminder that these absolutely must tame our view of continuity of the covenants, and the relationship of the Old and the New.

Yet still, the apostles were those who brought out things old and things new, as Jesus had said. There is a new administration that exceeds the old one, though the things old had also taken on a new value. Like John says, "I beseech you, O Lady, not as though I wrote a new commandment to you, but one which we had from the beginning; and this is the commandment, that we love one another." Love is an Old Testament truth, yet love is now new--can be understood far more deeply, practiced in a far richer manner--because of the example of Christ.

For the types and shadows, Christ is not explicit. He's not mentioned by His name, that's acknowledged. Yet, I think we'd agree that the New Testament alone, without the Law and the Prophets, would leave us with a deficient view of Jesus Christ. I didn't really understand the soul sufferings of Christ until I understood Isaiah 53. In our recent communion season I learned more of it through Psalm 22. Ephesians 1:20-22 and Matthew 28:18 didn't make sense until I understood Psalm 2, and this Psalm along with Psalm 8, 23, 45, and 110 have probably done the most to shape my view of the kingship of Christ, and WLC 45 on Christ as King almost seems to summarize them. The New has unlocked the Old, but then the Old throws light on the New.

I think what we're driving at is that the coming of Christ doesn't make the Psalms insufficient--rather, it makes us able to sing them with far more joy and understanding than ever was possible for a Jew, and even the Psalms then become tools to quicken the fullness, evidence, and efficacy of the New Covenant. As the New Testament unlocks the Old, so the Old turns around and unlocks the New.

Again, thank you for your remarks and keeping us within the pattern of sound words :)

Jake,

It seems like this thread may be coming to a close (probably a good thing), but I wanted to commend you. Though we may disagree on EP, I am always amazed by your example of kindness and humility amid strong opinions. The Spirit's work is evident in you in how you conduct yourself. It has been a wonderful example and challenge to me.

Thanks for a good discussion!
 
For those who have been participating in this thread, what has been learned?
 
For those who have been participating in this thread, what has been learned?
Charity can be and has been shown from both sides, though misunderstandings persist.

Exclusive psalmody, it has even been suggested, "flattening out" the distinctions between Old Covenant and New, is (or is the result of) a kind of "Reformed Dispensationalism."

The tenor of this discussion has in general been commendable, but at comments like these remind me that there is a very real impasse. No doubt the hymn-singers here have felt that their own views have been unfairly represented as well.

In this thread and the others that have been touching on the same subject there were a few posts that suggested all this talk of hymns and psalms are just a big fuss over nothing. After all, aren't we all brothers? Won't we be singing together in heaven? Why let these things divide us when there is so much that unites us?

I regard these comments as quite unfortunate. I have sincere respect for the hymn-singer who recognizes that what we're dealing with is the worship of the most holy God. Truly, the church ought to make worship a priority. That will of necessity cause some division.
 
Our pastor Paul Martin mentions Richard P. Belcher’s Book “The Messiah and the Psalms: Preaching Christ from All the Psalms.” Rev. Martin has done a lot of work in this area and has a resource list on the topic. I’ll try to get that from him and post it here on the board.

There is also Singing the Songs of Jesus by Michael [don't ask me to spell his surname, but he is an RPCNA minister]. I was inspired to re-read that book a few years ago when my current minister preached a sermon on Hebrews 10 prior to communion about how the Psalms were really about Christ.
 
There is also Singing the Songs of Jesus by Michael [don't ask me to spell his surname, but he is an RPCNA minister]. I was inspired to re-read that book a few years ago when my current minister preached a sermon on Hebrews 10 prior to communion about how the Psalms were really about Christ.
Michael Lefebvre. His book is excellent.
 
There is also Singing the Songs of Jesus by Michael [don't ask me to spell his surname, but he is an RPCNA minister]. I was inspired to re-read that book a few years ago when my current minister preached a sermon on Hebrews 10 prior to communion about how the Psalms were really about Christ.
Lefebvre- I haven’t read that one, good to know. @Tom Hart, I see this book is available in Korean? https://www.google.com/amp/s/rpkore...A%B5%AC%EC%9E%85songs-of-Jesus-in-korean/amp/

If so you should buy some and pass them around!
 
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