Dr. Joel R. Beeke

Should today’s Christians sing psalms in public worship? For a long time—about eighteen hundred years—that question would not have been relevant. Throughout those years Christians of all kinds used psalms in worship. Some chanted them as prose texts in Greek or Latin, and some sang them in metrical versions (the Hebrew psalms rendered into lyrical poetry according to the forms of a given language and set to tunes suitable for congregational use). The situation began to change in the late eighteenth century, and since then psalm singing or psalmody has almost disappeared in many groups of English-speaking Christians.

The last few decades have experienced a revival of interest in psalmody in many quarters. The Reformed Presbyterian Church of North America has produced two widely used versions of the metrical Psalms, The Book of Psalms for Singing (1973) and The Book of Psalms for Worship (Crown & Covenant Publications, 2009).¹ Great Commission Publications cooperated with Crown & Covenant to produce Trinity Psalter (2000), a companion to the well-known Trinity Hymnal (revised edition, 1990) used by many congregations in the Presbyterian Church in America and the Orthodox Presbyterian Church. The Associate Reformed Presbyterian Church, also in concert with Crown & Covenant, has published The ARP Psalter with Bible Songs (2011).

Meanwhile, the Free Reformed Churches, the Heritage Reformed Congregations, and the Protestant Reformed Churches continue to use The Psalter (1912), which was produced by a joint committee of nine Presbyterian and Reformed churches under the leadership of the old United Presbyterian Church of North America. Today it is published by Reformation Heritage Books. The Christian Reformed Church publishes two versions of its Psalter Hymnal (1975, 1987), both of which are based on the 1912 version. They recently also issued a third volume, Psalms for All Seasons: A Complete Psalter for Worship (2012). For those who love the Genevan Psalter, a large selection of psalms set to their proper Genevan tunes are included in all these books.

The complete Genevan Psalter has been published in English by the Canadian Reformed Churches as part of their Book of Praise: The Anglo-Genevan Psalter (revised edition, 2014). Finally, Blue Banner Books of Rowlett, Texas, has published The Comprehensive Psalter (2000), a new musical edition of the famous Scottish Psalter of 1650.

With all these resources available to us, it is good to consider the basic questions addressed in this and future articles: Should we sing psalms today? Why should we sing them? Perhaps the real question is why did English-speaking Christians ever give up singing psalms? Why don’t we sing them more? But it is always better to look at things in a positive light, so we shall proceed to answer the question as stated in a number of ways.

The Biblical Basis for Singing the Psalms

We who uphold the absolute authority of God’s Word should be directed by Scripture in all that we do. This is especially true of public worship, for there we must offer to God what pleases Him. Out of reverence for His holiness (Lev. 10:3), we must worship God as He has commanded in His Word. Let me present three reasons from the Bible why we should sing psalms.

God Gave the Psalms for Israel and All Nations to Sing

Where did the book of Psalms come from? Ultimately, the Psalms were inspired by the Holy Spirit (cf. Eph. 5:18–21). Though several men contributed to the book² under the Spirit’s inspiration, its principal composer was David, “the sweet psalmist of Israel” (2 Sam. 23:1). As God’s anointed king, David commanded that psalms be used in worship. He composed many psalms himself (about half the Psalter), and he organized the Levites under the leadership of Asaph to sing these psalms and play musical instruments for the service of the temple that Solomon would build. He even proposed a selection of his psalms for a special service of thanksgiving to inaugurate their use (1 Chron. 15:16–17; 16:4–36).³ Some of these temple musicians were also prophets, divinely inspired so that they too could write “the songs of the Lord” (1 Chron. 25:1, 6–7). So began the composition and collection of what we call the book of Psalms. Its traditional Hebrew title is sêpher tehillim, meaning “Book of Praises.”⁴ The Hebrew title could also be rendered as “Book of Prayers” or “Book of Hymns.” Our English title is derived from the Greek and Latin versions, based on the Greek word psalmos, from the verb psallo, meaning “to sing psalms” or “to sing a hymn.” The name “psalter” derives from the Greek title of the book of Psalms (Psalmoi), which is often translated as “Praises.”

A metrical psalter is a singable translation of the book of Psalms. God intended Israel to sing psalms, especially in public worship. Psalm 92 is inscribed “A Psalm or Song for the sabbath day.” It begins, “It is a good thing to give thanks unto the Lord, and to sing praises unto thy name, O most High” (v. 1). It is true that psalms may also serve as prayers, and they are rich sources of doctrine and practical instruction. But the Hebrew words for sing and song appear more than 180 times throughout the Psalms.⁵ Psalms cry out to be sung. So it is no surprise that when King Hezekiah restored the worship of Judah, he “commanded the Levites to sing praise unto the Lord with the words of David, and of Asaph the seer” (2 Chron. 29:30).

However, we should not think of psalms as exclusively for Israel’s use. They summon all nations to join in Israel’s songs to the Lord. For example, Psalm 96:1 says, “O sing unto the Lord a new song: sing unto the Lord, all the earth.” Psalm 100:1 says, “Make a joyful noise unto the Lord, all ye lands.” Psalm 117:1 says, “O praise the Lord, all ye nations, praise him, all ye people.” Psalms have a missionary emphasis and expectation that all nations will turn to and worship the Lord (Pss. 22:27; 66:4; 67:1–3; 86:9). Psalm 96:3 says, “Declare his glory among the heathen, his wonders among all people.” The goal of this declaration is to call all men to join Israel in singing these psalms of praise to the Lord. Citing the prophecies contained in Psalms and in Isaiah (Rom. 15:8–12), the apostle Paul testifies of “the grace that is given to me of God, that I should be the minister of Jesus Christ to the Gentiles, ministering the gospel of God, that the offering up of the Gentiles might be acceptable, being sanctified by the Holy Ghost” (Rom. 15:16).

Why should we sing psalms? The first reason is because God gave them to His entire church, Jew and Gentile alike, under both the old covenant and the new. As Bradley Johnston notes, “The Apostle Paul commanded the Ephesian (5:19) and Colossian (3:16) churches to sing the Psalter and commented on the Corinthians’ psalm singing (14:15, 26). James likewise commanded his readers to sing psalms (5:13).”⁶ Someone, however, might object that psalms are old covenant songs and are poorly suited for Christ’s new covenant people. This leads us to consider the next reason for singing psalms.

The Psalms Reveal Christ in His Sufferings and Glory

Though written under the old covenant, the Psalms are extremely relevant for God’s new covenant people. Of the many times that the New Testament quotes the Old Testament, over 40 percent of those quotations come from the Psalms—116 direct quotations.⁷ The epistle to the Hebrews alone quotes ten different psalms (2, 8, 22, 40, 45, 95, 102, 104, 110, 118).⁸ Added to this are the many indirect allusions to the Psalms throughout the New Testament.

Our Lord Jesus Christ taught us that the Psalms are about Him. Luke 24:44 says, “He said unto them, These are the words which I spake unto you, while I was yet with you, that all things must be fulfilled, which were written in the law of Moses, and in the prophets, and in the psalms, concerning me.” Though we are no longer under Israel’s civil and ceremonial laws in terms of their details, the Old Testament is not an obsolete document. The Old Testament testifies of Christ (John 5:39; Rom. 3:21), and “whatsoever things were written aforetime were written for our learning” (Rom. 15:4).

What does the Old Testament teach us about Christ? Our Lord sums it up in Luke 24:46–47: “Thus it is written, and thus it behooved Christ to suffer, and to rise from the dead the third day: and that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in his name among all nations, beginning at Jerusalem.” Therefore, when we turn to the Psalms, we should expect to find the themes of Christ’s sufferings and death, His resurrection and exaltation, and His triumphant work of saving sinners from all nations in the world. As Luther wrote in his preface to the Psalms in 1531:

Yea, the Psalter ought to be precious and dear, were it for nothing else but the clear promise it holds forth respecting Christ’s death and resurrection, and its prefiguration of His kingdom and of the whole estate and system of Christianity, insomuch that it might well be entitled a Little Bible, wherein everything contained in the entire Bible is beautifully and briefly comprehended, and compacted into an enchiridion or Hand Manual.⁹

The Psalms are full of Christ. There are statements that refer plainly to the glorious Son of God, such as Psalm 2 where God calls Christ His anointed Son set on His “holy hill” and Psalm 110 which says, “The Lord said unto my Lord, Sit thou at my right hand, until I make thine enemies thy footstool” (v. 1; cf. Matt. 22:41–46; Heb. 1:13). There are poignant prophecies of Christ’s unique person and earthly ministry, of His natures and states, and especially of His death, as in Psalm 22:1, “My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?” (cf. Mark 15:34).¹⁰ This psalm also speaks of the success of His redemptive mission in verse 27, heralding the time when “all the ends of the world shall remember and turn unto the Lord: and all the kindreds of the nations shall worship before thee.” Moreover, the laments in the Psalms not only help us in expressing our own grief under trials but also assist us in meditating on the sufferings of Christ and the glory that would be revealed.

Furthermore, as David Murray says, it is not just the plainly messianic psalms that point us to Christ. In the Psalms we sing to Christ whenever we praise God as our rock, our shield, our king, and our Redeemer. This is because Christ, as the Son of God and the blessed Second Person of the Trinity, is the only Mediator of God’s saving works. The Psalms teach us to sing with Christ, for in His human nature the Lord Jesus was a faithful Israelite who grew up with the Psalms—a point to which I will return in a moment. And they lead us to sing of Christ. God sovereignly shaped the life of David so that in many of his experiences he was a type or pattern of Christ.¹¹ The Psalms are not just the spiritual meditations of an everyday Israelite; they revolve around the Lord’s anointed King.¹² Thus even David’s prayer in Psalm 31:5 becomes Christ’s dying prayer: “Into thine hand I commit my spirit” (cf. Luke 23:46).

The Psalms reveal Christ in the whole of His person, natures, offices, states, and glory. Therefore, it is suitable for Christians to sing them, for they express our faith, hope, and love in the Lord Jesus. At this point, however, someone might object that while Christians should study the Psalms, there is no reason or warrant for us to sing them. Answering this objection leads to the next reason to sing psalms.

Christ and the New Testament Church Sang the Psalms

The Lord Jesus Christ is our great example of a true man of God. Christianity is summed up in His words, “Follow me.”¹³ It is therefore significant to us that when Christ celebrated His last Passover and instituted the first Lord’s Supper—right at the hinge between the old and new covenants—He was singing psalms. Matthew 26:30 tells us, “When they had sung an hymn, they went out into the mount of Olives” (see also Mark 14:26). The words “sing a hymn” (humneō) mean to sing a song of praise to God. The tradition at Passover was to sing the Hallel, consisting of Psalms 113 through 118.¹⁴ The night before He was crucified, the Lord Jesus, together with His chosen disciples, was worshiping God through singing psalms!

After Christ’s resurrection, as gospel preaching gathered the church from the Jews and Gentiles, they too sang psalms. Ephesians 5:18–19 says, “Be filled with the Spirit; speaking to yourselves [or to one another] in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord.” Colossians 3:16 says, “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.” All three of these words—psalms, hymns, and songs (which overlap in meaning)—are used frequently in the Bible for the contents of the Psalms.¹⁵ For example, all three words appear in the Greek translation of the inscription or title of Psalm 76.¹⁶ John Cotton (1584–1652) noted that these words are “the very titles of the songs of David, as they are delivered to us by the Holy Ghost himself.”¹⁷ Cotton is reminding us of something many editors of today’s Bibles seem to have forgotten, namely, that the inscriptions attached to many psalms are part of the original Hebrew text and therefore part of the inspired Word of God. Furthermore, in Ephesians 4:8, 26, Paul quotes twice from the Psalms, before his command to sing “psalms and hymns and spiritual songs” in Ephesians 5:18–19. It would be very strange for Paul to use this language if he intended no reference to the Psalms. Therefore we may conclude that Paul taught churches to sing psalms as a rich and varied collection of sacred songs.

All three biblical reasons for singing psalms result from one great truth—namely, the uniqueness of the Psalms as part of Holy Scripture, God’s authoritative, eternal, living, and powerful Word. It pleased the Spirit to include a collection of hymns in the canon of Scripture. The unique divine origin of this collection implies that there can be no other songs like these as the gift of God to His church, and obedience to His will requires that God’s people use them as God Himself intends and commands—as the sacrifice of praise that we offer to Him.

We see, then, that there is a strong biblical reason for singing psalms. They are God’s gift to Israel and all nations to sing His praises. They glorify Christ as the One who suffered and entered into His glory to save sinners. And they were the songs of the Lord Jesus, His apostles, and the apostolic church.
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1. There are also a significant number of CDs and MP3s of the Psalms, especially with The Book of Psalms for Worship. This makes it even easier and more convenient for families to learn psalms together. I wish to thank Paul M. Smalley for his invaluable assistance on these articles.
2. Twelve psalms were written by Asaph, ten by the sons of Korah, two by Solomon, and one each by Heman, Ethan, and Moses; one-third of the psalms are anonymous.
3. The song of 1 Chronicles 16:7–36 is a composite from three psalms: 96:1b–13a; 105:1–15; 106:1b, 47–48.
4. Peter C. Craigie and Marvin E. Tate, Psalms 1–50, 2nd ed. ([Nashville]: Nelson Reference, 2004), 19:31.
5. This includes nouns and verbs from the roots zamar and shiyr, including psalm or song (mizmor).
6. Bradley Johnston, 150 Questions about the Psalter (Pittsburgh: Crown & Covenant Publications, 2014), 5.
7. Bruce K. Waltke, “Christ in the Psalms,” in The Hope Fulfilled: Essays in Honor of O. Palmer Robertson, ed. Robert L. Penny (Phillipsburg, N.J.: P&R, 2008), 41.
8. Simon J. Kistemaker, “Psalm 110 in the Epistle to the Hebrews,” in Hope Fulfilled, 140.
9. Martin Luther, Standard Edition of Luther’s Works, ed. John N. Lenker (Sunbury, Pa.: Lutherans in All Lands, 1903), 1:9–10.
10. Direct messianic psalms referred to in the New Testament include 2, 8, 16, 22, 40, 45, 68, 69, 72, 89, 109, 110, 118, and 132.
11. David Murray, Jesus on Every Page: 10 Simple Ways to Seek and Find Christ in the Old Testament (Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 2013), 187–97.
12. Waltke, “Christ in the Psalms,” 32.
13. Matthew 4:19; 8:22; 9:9; 16:24; 19:21; Luke 9:59; John 1:43; 10:27; 12:26; 21:19; cf. 1 Corinthians 11:1.
14. Michael Green, The Message of Matthew (Downers Grove, Ill.: InterVarsity, 2000), 277; William Hendricksen, Matthew, vol. 1 of New Testament Commentary (1973; repr., Grand Rapids: Baker, 2000), 912; Donald A. Hagner, Matthew 14–28, vol. 33B in Word Biblical Commentary (Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 1995), 774. Thus we find repeated references in the Gospels to Psalm 118 in the week before the Passover (Matt. 21:9, 42; 23:39).
15. Seventy-two of the ninety-nine occurrences of the word psalm (psalmos) in the whole Greek Bible appear in the Psalms, and of those seven occurrences in the New Testament, all four in Luke–Acts refer to the book of Psalms. Thirteen of the eighteen biblical uses of humnos are in the Psalms, and two more in the Septuagint also refer to the psalms of David. Forty-four of the seventy-eight biblical uses of ōdê appear in the Psalms. So at least 135 of 195 uses (69 percent) of these words in Scripture explicitly refer to the book of Psalms, and others may as well. 16. εἰς τὸ τέλος ἐν ὕμνοις ψαλμὸς τῷ ασαφ ᾠδὴ πρὸς τὸν ἀσσύριον.
17. John Cotton, Singing of Psalmes a Gospel-Ordinance (London: by M. S. for Hannah Allen, 1647), 16

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