Using the Psalms in Worship

[Esaias]

Worship occurs on two levels and in two modes. The two levels are personal and corporate, and the two modes are liturgical and ethical. By "liturgical" I mean specific ritual acts of piety, devotion, adoration, etc of God (prayer, praise, communion/Lord's Supper, etc) and by "ethical" I mean moral virtue as manifested in practical habits, ie one's daily living or conduct. Ethical worship then is that manifestation of our service to God that shows up in our obedience to his commandments, in loving him with all our being and our neighbour as ourself, in being honest, trustworthy, temperate, courageous, pious, kind, loving, pure, virtuous, and so forth. Liturgical worship is that manifestation of our service to God that consists primarily in what can be called 'rituals of service', such as prayer, praise, and so forth. Personal worship concerns our worship of God, both liturgical and ethical, on a personal, individual level. Corporate worship concerns our worship of God - both liturgical and ethical - as a community of believers assembled together (two or three gathered in his name, etc.). There is then our personal liturgical worship, our personal ethical worship, our corporate liturgical worship, and our corporate ethical worship. In this thread I am going to explore a little bit of one aspect of liturgical worship, both personal and corporate, specifically the use of Psalms in worship.

I. The Psalms are, technically, songs meant to be 'sung', often to an instrumental accompaniment.

As such, one of the first and most obvious uses of the Psalms would be as songs, for that is what they essentially are. The Book of Psalms is the only genuinely inspired hymnbook of the church. No matter how 'anointed' we may think other compositions and songs and hymns may be, there is no doubt that the Psalms (and other songs found throughout the rest of scripture) are uniquely qualified to carry the designation of 'anointed', for they are God-breathed and are Holy Scripture. Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom; teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord. (Colossians 3:16 KJV) Here we see the purpose of singing: to teach and admonish one another. The word of Christ dwells in the assembly in part by the music we sing to one another. And, this singing is for the purpose of 'teaching and admonishing one another'. Whatever songs we sing in the assembly, they are to be for the purpose of teaching and admonition, and therefore need to be doctrinally correct. And there can be no doubt about the doctrinal correctness of the inspired Psalms. So in addition to whatever gospel songs and hymns are sung, the psalms themselves ought to be sung as well. This can be done several ways:
A. Sing the psalms as they are written. This will require original musical scores that can be adapted to the texts, and may involve adaptation of the text to the music as well (as long as the meaning is not changed).
B. Paraphrase or even re-translate the psalms into a metrical format with rhyme and meter. This has been done continuously since the 1500s and continues today as new metrical versions of the psalms are produced. (Metrical means that each line has specific number of syllables. 'Amazing Grace' is a metrical hymn in the meter of 8.6.8.6. (also called 'Common Meter' or CM) which means the first line has 8 syllables, the second has 6, the third has 8, and the fourth has 6, and this is repeated for each stanza. Any psalm that is in Common Meter or 8.6.8.6. can be sung to the tune of Amazing Grace, or any other Common Meter song such as 'Alas, and Did My Saviour Bleed'.)
C. Whole psalms or portions of psalms can be paraphrased into new songs. Isaac Watts began this way back when, and the tradition has continued ever since. New songs may or may not be metered.

II. The Psalms are not only songs, but are also prayers: The prayers of David the son of Jesse are ended. (Psalms 72:20 KJV) The Psalms then are not only meant to be sung, but also meant to be prayed. We see this in a corporate setting in the early apostolic church in Acts: And being let go, they went to their own company, and reported all that the chief priests and elders had said unto them. And when they heard that, they lifted up their voice to God with one accord, and said, Lord, thou art God, which hast made heaven, and earth, and the sea, and all that in them is: Who by the mouth of thy servant David hast said, Why did the heathen rage, and the people imagine vain things? The kings of the earth stood up, and the rulers were gathered together against the Lord, and against his Christ. (Acts 4:23-26 KJV) Here we see that the church prayed together corporately using the words of Psalm 2 as part of their prayer. By incorporating the psalms into our prayers, both corporate and private, we are using them for what they were divinely ordained to be used for.

The psalms, as prayers, teach us a lot about prayer, about our God, and about ourselves. By studying and being familiar with them, and by using them in prayer, by actually praying the psalms, we become renewed in our minds. We begin to think and pray Biblically, rather than humanistically.

Some remarks:

A. It is often said that many of the psalms are not suitable for either singing or praying, as they express sentiments with which we cannot relate. For example, Psalm 22 speaks of offering bulls on the altar, Psalm 109 is a long-winded invective against enemies, etc. Yet, we should keep some things in mind. First, under the new covenant animal and grain offerings, incense, blood and so forth have been replaced with spiritual offerings and sacrifices of contrition, prayer, praise, thanksgiving, repentance, obedience, and so forth. So when we read, pray, and sing about offerings upon the altar, we can understand their meanings in a new covenant sense. Second, the psalms express a wide range of feeling and experiences, some of which we may not be familiar with individually. But, God's people have experienced these things, and by singing and praying the psalms we join in with them in their experiences, as it is written: Rejoice with them that do rejoice, and weep with them that weep. (Romans 12:15 KJV) Furthermore, we must understand the psalms in their Christological context. Psalm 109 for example is a prophetic psalm concerning Judas and his fate, and serves as a warning to any who would follow in the footsteps of the son of perdition.

B. The psalms include numerous declarations of thanksgiving, blessing God, benedictions, calls to worship, petitions, etc. When for example we read of Jesus taking bread and giving thanks, and blessing, it is certain that he knew what to say based on his familiarity with the Psalms and the benedictions found throughout them, as well as throughout the rest of Scripture. Have you ever found yourself not knowing what to say in prayer, or in saying the blessing over a meal, or some other situation? The Psalms supply your needs, and by constant recourse to them you will begin to develop your own unique, but Biblically informed 'manner' of praying, blessing, and giving thanks. For example one of the most common Biblical expressions is 'for the Lord is good, because his mercy is everlasting'. It recurs in ever verse of psalm 136, constituting a refrain or chorus. It occurs in several other psalms as well. Interestingly, it is mentioned as being a prescribed manner of praising God: And when he had consulted with the people, he appointed singers unto the LORD, and that should praise the beauty of holiness, as they went out before the army, and to say, Praise the LORD; for his mercy endureth for ever. (2 Chronicles 20:21 KJV) We see it also again, in 2 Chron. 5:13, 2 Chron 7:23, and Ezra 3:11. Psalm 95 includes an awesome call to worship in its opening verses. Psalm 106 concludes with a 'doxology' or benediction that would serve perfectly as an ending to any prayer, or even as a beginning.

C. By using the psalms as part of regular worship, both corporate and personal, one is continuing the tradition of God's people from the most ancient of times. One is literally joining in with the ancient, divinely ordered worship of the one true God, Jesus Christ, the Creator. Nothing is more 'relevant' than that which has existed continuously from the ancient past, and which will continue into eternity...

[Esaias]

Give ear to my words, O LORD, consider my meditation. Hearken unto the voice of my cry, my King, and my God: for unto thee will I pray.
(Psalms 5:1-2 KJV)

One of the most recurring themes in the psalms is the request that God would pay attention to the one praying, that God would hear them, hear their cry, etc. It occurs over and over again in various formulations throughout the psalms. Might God be trying to tell us something? When was the last time you prayed and began with a request for God to actually hear you?

Keep in mind, prayer is not for God's benefit. God knows what we need before we ever ask. So why pray? Obviously prayer is for our benefit. It does something to us more than anything else. Namely, it helps put us into the right spiritual state for God to operate in and through us. God does what he does, but he uses means or methods to get the job done. And one of those methods is prayer. Our prayer.

And when we see repeatedly in the scripture, in the psalms, which were given for our instruction and admonition, when we repeatedly see the petitioner specifically requesting audience with the great King of the Universe, combined with a bold confidence that he has obtained audience with the King, perhaps we should learn something from that...

LORD, I cry unto thee: make haste unto me; give ear unto my voice, when I cry unto thee. Let my prayer be set forth before thee as incense; and the lifting up of my hands as the evening sacrifice.
(Psalms 141:1-2 KJV)

Out of the depths have I cried unto thee, O LORD. Lord, hear my voice: let thine ears be attentive to the voice of my supplications.
(Psalms 130:1-2 KJV)

In thee, O LORD, do I put my trust; let me never be ashamed: deliver me in thy righteousness. Bow down thine ear to me; deliver me speedily: be thou my strong rock, for an house of defence to save me.
(Psalms 31:1-2 KJV)

[votivesoul]

This is fantastic teaching.

One phrase from the Psalms I often seem drawn to, as a refrain in my own times of prayer, is from Psalm 65:2,

O thou that hearest prayer, unto thee shall all flesh come.

Additionally, because my name is Aaron, I sometimes quote Psalm 118:3,

Let the house of Aaron now say, that his mercy endureth for ever.

You are so right on that the Psalms, more than any set of songs, needs to be front and center in a church's worship. Keep up the encouragement!

[Esaias]

Originally Posted by votivesoul

This is fantastic teaching.

One phrase from the Psalms I often seem drawn to, as a refrain in my own times of prayer, is from Psalm 65:2,

O thou that hearest prayer, unto thee shall all flesh come.

Additionally, because my name is Aaron, I sometimes quote Psalm 118:3,

Let the house of Aaron now say, that his mercy endureth for ever.

You are so right on that the Psalms, more than any set of songs, needs to be front and center in a church's worship. Keep up the encouragement!

One of the things that has bothered me for years is that a lot of people often simply don't know HOW to incorporate the psalms into their private, much less corporate, worship. 'Praying the psalms' is often seen as being stilted and programmed, or 'catholic'. We want to pray our own prayers, we want to be 'genuine and spontaneous'. We can't see how repeating the words of a psalm really constitutes 'praying'.

But consider, how did any of us ever learn to talk? By imitating our parents and others we heard. How many singers begin by trying to imitate other singers? How many musicians start off imitating the styles of other more well known musicians? It's a basic part of education called 'modeling'. Excellence in anything is generally acquired by imitation at first. If a person wants to write well, they should model and imitate the writings of those who write well. If a person wants to sing well, they should model and imitate those who sing well. Once that is done, the individual begins to adapt what they are imitating to themself, and they begin to develop their own style or method.

I now find myself praying routinely in a manner that is very 'Biblical', ie it sounds a lot like the psalms, even if I am not directly repeating the specific wording of any particular psalm. But my praying has been informed by the psalms, due to a conscious, intentional effort to pray the psalms as prayers. And I find my praying has grown by leaps and bounds since I began to do this several years ago.

I have had three major 'leaps' in my prayer life. The first was many years ago when I went to prayer meeting with old half blind Brother Blair. He and I were the only ones there, and I learned that night what 'fervent, spiritual prayer' was all about. I learned it from his example. I discovered the Bible really means 'cry aloud' when it says 'cry aloud'. I discovered what it means to
'travail', and what 'groanings which cannot be uttered' are all about. Brother Blair taught me to pray until I came to the end of my own natural ability and understanding an then to press on, relying on God's help. 'Pray without ceasing' to me came to mean 'don't give up, when you run out of energy and wisdom in the natural, that's when the Holy Ghost is poised to take over, if you'll just let Him.'

The second major leap was when I began to view the Our Father aka Lord's Prayer as a model or template for praying. With that, I always had an 'outline' of things to pray for. And without any hesitation I thank that crazy charismatic preacher Larry Lea for that perspective, that's who I first heard it from. Whatever else he might have been into, he was correct about THAT issue lol.

The third major leap was when I discovered the psalms were not just songs but prayers, and that there was apostolic precedence for praying them (Acts chapter four, eg). Old Brother Blair taught me about the manner of praying, Larry Lea taught me the outline, and from the psalms (and other prayers in the Bible) I learned the content of praying.

I don't claim to be some great prayer warrior, but I can personally see where my prayer life progressed exponentially at each of those three stages.

[Scott Pitta]

We sang Psalm one during church this morning. It was a different arrangement than the one I knew.

I do enjoy singing the psalms at church

[Michael The Disciple]

The Jesus Movement was instrumental in putting the Psalms to music. We used to sing them a lot. The Charismatic movement picked up on it and some of the greatest praise and worship ever was born.

[Esaias]

Originally Posted by Michael The Disciple

The Jesus Movement was instrumental in putting the Psalms to music.

Christians have been singing the psalms from the beginning as their primary music. It was only in the 19th and 20th centuries that most Protestants abandoned psalm singing.

The charismatics have barely scratched the surface in rediscovering the music of God's people.

[KeptByTheWord]

We were a part of a house church some years ago and the songs sung were primarily out of the Psalms. I think I compiled a list of the Psalms songs then, and they were beautiful, and powerful to both sing and pray.

Is there a thread that shares songs from the Psalms with the music to them? I could probably post the list of the psalms that we sung in that group, but have no way to share the actual tune that they were sung to.

[Esaias]

Originally Posted by KeptByTheWord

We were a part of a house church some years ago and the songs sung were primarily out of the Psalms. I think I compiled a list of the Psalms songs then, and they were beautiful, and powerful to both sing and pray.

Is there a thread that shares songs from the Psalms with the music to them? I could probably post the list of the psalms that we sung in that group, but have no way to share the actual tune that they were sung to.

We use several methods (we have various psalms on our yout00b page illustrating some of those methods).

1. We use the 1650 Scottish Metrical Version (SMV) of the Psalms (can be had online for free) which has all 150 psalms translated into common meter. Any of them can be sung to the tune of "Amazing Grace" or any other common meter hymn, or even "Gilligan's Isle" if one were to so choose. We primarily use Amazing Grace, Martyrdom, and one or two original psalm tunes. We're working on learning more tunes. There are hundreds of common meter psalm tunes and hymn tunes, a good older metrical hymn book is a great help, or google "common meter hymn tunes" for sound files. The only thing is the 1650 SMV has some quaint archaisms that may come across as strange to the newcomer. lol There are other, more contemporary metrical Psalters available, though. Isaac Watts also made a metrical psalter paraphrase in addition to his hymns.

2. Some psalms we sing straight from the KJV text or a very close paraphrase.. This of course requires composing an original melody to fit the words. We have done several that way. It also can be done by taking the first verse of a psalm as a refrain or chorus, which is sung responsorially after each verse (antiphonal or call and response). A third way of course is to go verse-by-verse in a responsorial or antiphonal reciting (one person recites a verse, the assembly recites the next verse, back and forth through the psalm). Or men recite one verse, women the next, back and forth to the end. Or one can recite the psalm with the worshippers responding with an Alleluia or similar refrain after every one or two verses.

3. A smaller portion (1 or 3 or whatever verses) of a psalm can be made into a song, praise chorus, etc. Also, portions or verses of different psalms can be woven together to make a new song (origin of the ancient Canon and Ode in Christian hymnody, this is also an ancient Jewish method of psalm singing). This of course may require new melodies to fit the text.

[houston]

Many Reformed are exclusive psalmody.