Sing Psalms, Let Joy Resound: A Case For Exclusive Psalmody
Ephesians 4:4-6 indicates that Christians ought to practice one
single faith. It reads: "There is one body, and one Spirit, even
as ye are called in one hope of your calling; One Lord, one
faith, one baptism, One God and Father of all, who is above all,
and through all, and in you all."
The apostolic notion of one, uniform faith clearly does NOT
envision the smorgasbord of various worship practices -- from
the faithful to the absurd and goofy -- that dots today's
religious landscape in the name of Christendom. The apostles did
not lay down different worship patterns at the various churches
they established, as is obvious from such statement as: "If
anyone wants to be contentious about this, we have no other
practice -- nor do the churches of God" (1 Cor. 11:16).
Likewise, God has told Moses, "See to it that you make
everything according to the pattern shown you on the mount."
Just so, after correcting many deviations from the God-given
pattern, Paul the apostle told the Corinthians "The rest I will
set in order when I come" (1 Cor. 11:34).
Moreover, those who care to look into it will find that the
phrase "set in order" represents a technical liturgical term
found three times at the end of Exodus as a summary for the
refrain, "just as the Lord had commanded Moses, so they did."
Exodus uses the phrase "set in order" specifically of those
symbols clearly regarding the Church -- the table of showbread
(representing the Lord's Supper), the lampstands or candlesticks
(representing the churches themselves in Revelation 1-3) and the
altar (representing the prayers and praise of the saints in the
New Testament).
This order does not refer to "order in general" where
orderliness sits opposed to chaotic worship, as many have
falsely supposed. Rather, it has in mind the priestly order
assigned to care for the worship of God to see that it proceeds
precisely as God has commanded, without deviation or exception.
In the New Testament, this means the priestly order of
Melchizedek. Hence the saying of Paul, "Follow me as I follow
Christ." The context tells us here that Paul was making a
liturgical point, meaning "Following the apostlic pattern as we
have delivered to you the teachings of Christ." The apostolic
duty requires Paul to perform the liturgy of the churches just
as Christ -- the head of the Church as High Priest forever after
the order of Melchizedek -- dictated by his words and deeds.
The now-heated question of just which songs Christians may
properly sing in their worship services often bears the title,
"the exclusive psalmody debate." Those who favor the exclusive
singing of the biblical book of Psalms -- which group would
include this author -- have a great many persons up in arms over
the "strictness" of it all. And so the debate rages on. We
believe, and wish to argue the point that the relevant passages
from Ephesians 5, and especially from Colossians 3 (below) form
the linchpin of the debate. Here, those who urge that we sing
all manner of man-made songs falter and stumble. And, here, the
Bible rules out their position, as we will now proceed to
demonstrate.
Ephesians 5:18-20 reads, "And be not drunk with wine, wherein is
excess; but be filled with the Spirit; Speaking to yourselves in
psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody
in your heart to the Lord; Giving thanks always for all things
unto God and the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ ..."
Colossians 3:15-17 (King James Version) reads: "And let the
peace of God rule in your hearts, to the which also ye are
called in one body; and be ye thankful. 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. And whatsoever ye do in word
or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to
God and the Father by him."
Now we wish to focus special attention on the Colossian passage,
asking just WHAT are these "psalms, hymns and spiritual songs"?
EP advocates like us maintain that this forms a tri-fold
reference to the Bible's psalter, using the three most common
titles for them in the version of the Old Testament most often
quoted by the apostles. If you open to the book of Psalms, and
read the superscripts just above them (which introduce each
Psalm), you will note that they often read this way: "A psalm of
David, a hymn," or "A Psalm of David, a song."
Thus, just as Jesus commonly used triads to refer to one thing
only -- as when "ask...seek...knock" refers to prayer, so Paul
used "psalms, hymns and songs" to refer to those songs which his
audience knew by those titles from the Septuagint. But we do not
advocate this as some likely but unproven hypothesis. Let us
proceed on then to the proof of it.
When judging the meaning of any one passage, those surrounding
it immediately have first priority in aiding our understanding.
As we say, "local context is king." And, interestingly, the book
of Colossians yields a local parallel to the triadic passage in
question just two chapters earlier. Our focus now turns to this
text.
Colossians 1:27-28 "To whom God would make known what is the
riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles; which is
Christ in you, the hope of glory: Whom we preach, warning every
man, and teaching every man in all wisdom; that we may present
every man perfect in Christ Jesus ...." This text highlights
some stark parallels with Colossians 3:15-17, just two chapters
later. First, we learn that "the riches of glory" is "Christ in
you, the hope of glory" -- which is a mystery among the Gentiles.
Paul was revealing this mystery -- salvation to the Gentiles --
that Christ might indwell them, bringing to them the hope that
they too would be raised to life in glory at the resurrection.
Paul calls this, "Christ [dwelling] in you, the hope of [future]
glory." Paul thus refers to the gospel of Christ (the mystery he
preaches), as "preaching" which activity he then subdivides into
two participles connected by "and" -- "teaching and warning."
So "teaching and warning" means "preach the Gospel of Christ" in
chapter 1. Now, when we come to chapter 3, we find the EXACT
SAME pair.
The sentence in question reads from chapter 3: "Let the word of
Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom; teaching and
admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual
songs." Now the translators of most versions of the Bible have
unfortunately missed this parallel. Yet, "teaching and warning"
in chapter one displays the exact word pair in Greek as that
found in chapter 3, "didaskountai kai nethetountai." [say "DID
ASK OON TYE KYE NEH THET OON TYE"]
This either means "teaching and warning," or else "teaching and
admonishing." But whichever one chooses, it should appear
identically BOTH in chapter 1 AND in chapter 3, as it does in
Koine Greek. So here is the obvious parallel:
[CH 1.] "preach Christ" [Christ who is dwelling in you] =
teaching and warning [every man] in all wisdom [CH 3] "Let the
word of Christ dwell in you" = teaching and warning [one
another] in psalms, hymns and spiritual songs.
Thus, the phrase "in all wisdom" in chapter one matches the
trifold expression, "in psalms, hymns and spiritual songs" found
in chapter 3. Now this wisdom is the wisdom of the gospel -- the
word of Christ. The text says so plainly. Moreover, chapter 2
(v. 3) begins by saying that "all the treasures of wisdom and
knowledge are hid in Him [Christ]."
The parallel is unmistakable. Paul has called upon the
Colossians to sing the divine wisdom, the Word of Christ, by
singing "psalms, hymns and spiritual songs." This can refer to
nothing else but the canonical psalter, using the titles over
the psalms which appear in the Septuagint, the most commonly
used version of the Older Testament employed among the Christian
communities and among the Diaspora Jews. Now a few further
points remain. If one denies the parallel above, then Paul has
refered to 3 things rather than just one.
It then remains incumbent upon the naysayer to show just exactly
WHAT the three are, how each differs from each other, and how
each can be named by the apostle "the word of Christ." To my
knowledge no one has even attempted this. It is not sufficent to
say "these three are not what exclusive psalmody advocates say."
One must also show EXEGETICALLY and precisely what Paul meant by
these three terms, if not the canonical psalms. Remember,
whatever these are, all Christians have a command from God to
sing them. So we must know what they mean.
Next, one should note that, when the apostles preach the gospel,
the word of Christ, throughout the book of Acts, they most often
quote from the book of Psalms when they quote the Bible. By
their actions, they virtually equate the two. This shows that
the parallel I have drawn out from the text, between Colossians
1 and 3 -- between preaching Christ and singing the psalms (the
word of Christ) -- is native to Paul's mindset. Finally, note
that the Ephesian parallel to Colossians 3 links singing the
Psalms with "being filled with the Spirit." This link makes much
better sense in understanding the triad to refer to the Psalms,
since God identifies Himself with His written Word throughout
the Bible.
Thus, since the Spirit of God inspired the written Word of God,
to be filled with (or to let dwell in you richly) the word of
Christ (Psalms) is also to be filled with the Spirit who
inspired that Word. The idea that this triad somehow names
man-made songs leaves us with the unanswered question: "How does
being filled with the words of mere men" in any way lead to
being "filled with the Spirit"? This seems like an oxymoron,
especially given the Bible's teaching on what comes from the
hearts of men (depravity).
What then? When Christians gather together, they ought to shun
the singing of anything other than what God has given us. Only
what God produces is good enough for God. And Christians must
offer Him only the very best. Sing psalms, let joy resound. For
they that worship Him must worship in Spirit and in Truth.