The Sanctifying Psalter
At the Young Adults Weekend 2018, Rev. David Whitla gave a seminar entitled The Sanctifying Psalter; the article below is a transcription from his notes.
Read Colossians 3:1-17
At the heart of this text are two issues: God’s Goal and God’s Means. Firstly, God’s Goal is to sanctify His church. That is God’s purpose for you, and for the corporate body of believers. This goal of sanctification is expressed in threefold action – you must ‘put off’ (vs 8) your sin, you must ‘put on’ (vs 10,12,14) the new man and you must act together. Excepting blasphemy, all the sins and exhortations mentioned here relate to our interaction with each other. Is God’s goal your goal? Are you striving to put sin to death? To actively put on righteousness? To act in unity with your brothers and sisters in the body? We must pray for these things, and long for them, that we would love what Christ loves, and delight in his delights
But God does not command us to be sanctified and then leave us to bumble about, trying to find out how we do that! God has provided the church with means so that this goal of sanctification can be accomplished. The main purpose of this seminar is to show you how one of the means provided by God for the holiness of his church is a sanctifying Psalter. We’ll consider six ways in which the Psalms are a means of grace that sanctifies us.
The Psalter is composed of Psalms, Hymns and Songs of the Spirit
We must beware of making what is called an anachronism fallacy when we come to verse 17. This is when we take words that have changed their meaning, and don’t consider what they meant to the original audience. People often assume that the biblical terms Psalms, Hymns and Spiritual Songs mean the same as how we use them today: the Psalms as we know them, Hymns written by Wesley and co. and Spiritual Songs referring to Contemporary Christian Music. This is the wrong way to think about it. The Old Testament Church used the Psalter exclusively, and, when Paul referred to these three genres, he assumed that his readers (the Colossians) were familiar with their Greek version of the Old Testament. In this manuscript, the Septuagint, the three words Psalms, Hymns and Spiritual Songs all appear as titles of the Biblical psalms. (Psalm appears 67 times; Hymn, 6 times and Song, 36 times) Not only this, but it is also common Biblical practice to speak of things in threes. Therefore, using these three terms together forms a corporate unity – the Biblical book of Psalms. Looking at this further, we see that this Psalter is composed of spiritual psalms, hymns and songs. Spiritual qualifies all three of these nouns – not simply as religious rather than secular, but instead, it means that they are inspired by the Holy Spirit. Only the psalms found in the Psalter can qualify as this sort of worship. So even if you aren’t persuaded of their exclusive use, at the very least the 150 Psalms of the Biblical Psalter should be included in our worship. And when we do include it, we will find it is a sanctifying Psalter. Do we see this, and do we sufficiently esteem the Psalter? The Holy Spirit himself crafted this Book of Praise as a means to sanctify you, and it is effective to that end in a distinct way that other compositions cannot be. This Psalter is far from insufficient or out of touch; rather it will nourish and satisfy us spiritually in a way that no other songs will. Why would we reject such a gift from God?
2. The Psalter is the Word of Christ
You are what you sing. Most of the music we are surrounded by is vacuous, pointless noise, and singing along with it is often far from beneficial. But what about when we sing the Psalter? These Psalms are “the word of Christ” and in them he speaks to us
Let the word of Christ Dwell in You... as you sing When we sing these songs, we are singing the very words of Christ. Not only are they the words of Christ, but the Psalms are about Christ. The NT writers cite the entire Psalter as Messianic, not just the obvious ones, as we read in Luke 24:44: “All things must be fulfilled which were written in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms concerning Me.” In modern hymns and worship music, the focus is all wrong. We tell God what we think of him, whereas in the Psalms, God tells us what we should think of him! This way, we can be sure that their content is without error, because it comes to us directly from God. As Athanasius, an early church father, once wrote, “The Bible speaks to us, but the Psalms speak for us.” Coming back to what we said early – you are what you sing – then if we are steeped in the Psalter, which is the word of Christ, then we will become more like Christ – we will be sanctified! Every aspect of the Psalter breathes the Spirit of Jesus, and conforms us to his image.
3. The Psalter “Dwells Among You”
God has sent his Word forth (in the form of the Psalter) among his people. The Psalter is Christ’s song book for the Church in all ages and all nations. But how can this be? Setting aside the matter of musical settings, consider the Psalter’s adequacy and availability to all nations and cultures. Hebrew poetry, which the Spirit chose as the vehicle for this inspired book of praise, is uniquely suited to give expression to God’s worship. Poetry, as a genre, is notoriously difficult to translate. Rhythm, rhyme, metre and style present huge challenges to translators. But this is not the case with Hebrew poetry, since it is not a poetry form governed by rhyme. Rather, Hebrew poetry can be replicated through a paralleling of thought instead of sound. That makes the Psalter translatable into any language with relative ease – it truly is an international songbook! Not only does it fit every language, but the Psalter is also uniquely suited to all human experience. Luther described the Psalter as a “Little Bible”. It is a complete systematic theology in song, not in the abstract of a dusty theological tome, but couched in terms of your lived, human experience, which was itself shared by Christ, the GodMan, even to the point of his bearing the guilt and shame of our sins. God’s Psalter is among us. It shouldn’t be alien or foreign to our Christian experience. Does it dwell with you? Do you use it in your church and in your home? Where else could you find such a hymnal that transcends culture and denomination?!
4. The Psalter is to be sung!
“Sing psalms, hymns and spiritual songs to the Lord!” This is a command, not an option! Not just for meditation, study, and prayer. Even if you don’t accept exclusive psalmody, you are still commanded to sing the Psalms – you cannot reject inclusive psalmody! Some other common objections we might have:
I can’t sing: “Sing Psalms to the Lord!” – even if we aren’t tuneful, we all sing something.
I’m not used to these Psalms: “Sing Psalms to the Lord!” – learn them, for there is a whole new repertoire of treasures that awaits you. They are God’s Word, not a tradition.
They aren’t culturally up-to-date: “Sing Psalms to the Lord!” – we have already seen that they were written for every age of the Church, not just the OT!
I don’t know the tunes: “Sing Psalms to the Lord!” – Come to Psalm sings, learn the tunes, practise them, and make a joyful noise. This is a book to be sung!
But why does God command us to sing? Think about it: what do we do when we are in extremes of emotion? Our first response is to sing. Songs are the overflow of the meditations of the mind and the emotions of the heart. They express our innermost thoughts in poetry. As Christians, our reaction in joy, thanksgiving, anguish, trial, should be to sing. Christianity is a singing religion. “Is any one of you happy? Let him sing psalms!” (James 5:13) Singing also has the unusual ability to keep our minds fixed upon the message we are singing. James Fergusson writes: “Singing to God with the voice is a profitable ordinance of God’s worship under the Gospel, … not only holding forth that which the Word read does, but also staying the heart upon the sweet and lively meditation of the matter which we sing”. Psalms are the ideal songs to get stuck in our heads! So let’s sing the Psalms. And as we do, let’s remember to whom we sing: “singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord.” Many today seek to entertain the people rather than praise God. They should remember the words of Psalm 22:3:
God inhabits your praises! Are they holy praises? Are they true praises from a soul that longs for God’s glory: “singing with grace in your hearts”?
5. The Psalter is a Tool for Mutual Edification
“Teaching and Admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs”… We “sharpen one another” in the Church by singing psalms. Psalms impart Wisdom. Such mutual edification is, of course, from all Scripture, but the Psalter is here singled out. As Matthew Poole puts it: “He does not say, ‘teaching and admonishing from these’, but in them; implying it is a peculiar ordinance of Christ for Christians to be exercised in holy singing, with an audible voice musically”. What does it mean to be “Teaching” one another? In a sense you teach one another, not because all are ordained teachers, but because all are singing ordained songs that were given for our instruction (e.g. “a Maskil” of David) “Singing of psalms is a teaching ordinance as well as a praising ordinance; and we are not only to quicken and encourage ourselves, but to teach and admonish one another, mutually excite our affections and convey instructions” (Matthew Henry). You are yourselves taught by them as you sing. As in Psalm 4, you “Speak within your hearts” and Psalm 42, you “Speak to yourself”: your minds and hearts receive and consent to the truth of the Divine Words even as you sing them to their Divine Author in praise! Psalm singing produces a beautiful by-product: while fully engaged praising God, He is busy teaching you!
So what about “Admonishing”? Paul explains Sanctification in terms of sins you put off and graces you put on. Strikingly, you don’t have to look far to discover all of the sins of (v5-9) and graces of (v12-15) within the Sanctifying Psalter: Penitential Psalms (e.g. 32, 51, etc.) address uncleanness of the human heart (often in terms of spiritual prostitution and adultery); Psalms of Imprecation (e.g. Ps.56, 59, 137) pray for salvation from the hands of those who pour forth violence and blasphemy, as well as petitioning God to not let them share in their sins; Messianic Psalms and Psalms of Deliverance protest the humility, meekness and longsuffering of the singer in the face of false accusations, whilst pointing us to Messiah himself as the epitome of holiness, in whose righteousness we are clothed.
Psalmody also promotes piety and unity. (v15) All the language of the passage speaks of the oneness of the Body of Christ, the Church. Then Paul says one means God achieves this is by corporate psalm-singing (v16). Singing the praises of God in corporate worship is intended to be the thing that unifies the people of God, not that which divides them! Few things are more antithetical to this text than the concept of the “worship wars”. The Psalter is the Word of Christ which dwells among his flock: it is truly ecumenical and a needed solution to the conflict. Singing is by definition a practice that (at least outwardly) unifies those who sing together. You can’t sing as a congregation and not be united in voice; (you may of course sing as hypocrites), but surely the outward unison of voices is a snapshot of the harmony of the Church. Even psalm singers may be guilty of fostering division in the Body by their attitude to this means of grace. The RPCI does not own psalmody! Beware of being an ungrateful, unworthy recipient of a great gift, a great trust! Do not, by your attitude to others who don’t share this distinctive practice (and thus impoverish themselves), be found guilty of the very thing God designed as a means of grace to eradicate division in the Body of Christ!
6.The Psalter is to be Sung with Grace in the Heart
Paul says to sing the Psalter with grace in the heart; this phrase is better rendered “in a state of grace” than “with thankfulness” (ESV&NIV). As with all Means of Grace, the gracious work of the Holy Spirit is needed in a gracious heart renewed by him to be effectual. “That this holy singing be not only harmonious and tunable to the ear, but acceptable to God, it is requisite [that it] proceed from a gracious spirit, or grace wrought in the heart by the Holy Spirit” (Matthew Poole). Grace in the heart is necessary for Psalmody to be a Means of Grace. If not, it might be a Means of Judgment to the ungracious heart. Is your Heart involved and not the mind or outward form when you sing? “God must be worshipped in spirit and in truth” (John 4:24) “Vain repetitions” are not restricted to prayer! Think about what you are singing, and do not “offer a sacrifice that costs you nothing!”
God’s Goal is your sanctification! God’s Means of your sanctification is the Word of Christ dwelling in you richly, and in particular, as you sing Psalms. So sing them! Sing them at home, in your families and in public worship with grace in your hearts. Make them your life’s companion, a wholly sufficient manual of praise. Teach and admonish one another by them and may God make them a source of unity, joy and holiness.
“Let us come before His presence with thanksgiving; let us shout joyfully to Him with Psalms” Psalm 95 v 1 