Psalm-singing / fourth of several

Why sing psalms regularly?

Church history is a wonderful thing. While I am no professional historian, I think I qualify as an "amateur," a "lover" of church history. And it has much to tell us about psalm-singing -- from the ancient church, through the reformation, and up to our hour.

Interestingly, Particular Baptists (those of the 1689 Confession of Faith) were not exclusive psalm-singers (as were Presbyterians). In fact, it would seem that, once they got the urge to sing hymns (at the Lord's Table), psalm-singing fell to the side. Or they sang Watts' psalms (which are more like paraphrases). You'll not find, for instance, a section for the psalter in Wm. Gadsby. Yet some Baptists were glad to sing psalms. See the opening 150 hymns in C. H. Spurgeon's hymnal for Met Tab.


Today psalm-singing among Reformed Baptists is rare. We often rely on the Trinity Hymnal for our musical canon, with psalm portions/settings scattered throughout. But there is little, if any, deliberate focus on the psalms themselves. We are not intentional, regular, or methodical. I would like to challenge that.

So why this excursis about Baptists and psalm-singing? I think we have to make the case that the intentional, regular and methodical (not exclusive) use of the psalter in congregational praise is not the domain of presbyterians only. It is something we have become convinced of reading our Bibles. You know, the part about "singing to one another with psalms, hymns and spiritual songs." And it is a practice, even among Baptists, with precedence.

Many are the lists and discussions about why we should sing psalms. I'm taking the liberty of quoting directly from Joe Holland (a church-planting pastor (PCA) in Virginia). See his discussion here. This is thorough without being long-winded (my disease).

1. When you sing psalms, you literally sing the Bible.

The hymn, "When I Survey the Wondrous Cross" is a moving meditation on the cross of Christ. No hymn matches "For all the Saints" in its contemplation on the communion of the saints. But neigher of these hymns are the actual words of the Bible. They are reflections on it. Forgetting for a moment that we are not singing the psalms in Hebrew, we are still singing the very words of God. The versification, themes, and content of the psalms are the inspired Word of God for his church in every age. When you sing a psalm, you sing the Bible.