Three Ways to Sing the Psalms

March 15, 2023 Rob Smith

“Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom,

teaching and admonishing one another in psalms, hymns and spiritual songs,

singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord.”

-Colossians 3:16 (NKJV)

Introduction

This article is not a defense of Exclusive Psalmody; that argument has already been taken up on this site, which can be found here, and I highly recommend it to you. Though I do not adhere to Exclusive Psalmody, I do adhere to Majority Psalmody.

We, as reformed, confessional Christians, argue that the Word of God is a sufficient rule for all of faith and life, and that includes our music. Our Triune God has given us a hymnbook, smack dab in the middle of our Bibles, and its contents should make up the majority of our worship. Sadly, this is not the case. Most evangelical churches simply do not sing the Psalms, and for those who do (mostly of the reformed flavor), do so seldomly. This is a subjective statement and will vary church to church, of course. There are specific reformed denominations that either sing the Psalms exclusively or for a majority of their service, but these churches are the exception, not the current rule.

My argument here is to not only encourage the Saints to recover singing the Psalms, in their homes and in their churches, but also to show the Saints that there are three different ways they can go about singing the Psalms, both in their homes and in their churches. We are most acquainted with the Metrical singing of the Psalms (think Brian Sauve or Psallos), but the two other ways to sing the Psalms are Chant and Prose.

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Singing the Psalms Metrically

When it comes to singing the Psalms, more often than not, our minds drift to this first style: Metrical Psalm Singing. Metrical Psalm Singing is to sing the Psalms in a poetic meter; in other words, you sing the Psalms in a hymn-like style.

For example, the words of Psalm 23 are set to the metrical tune of “Amazing Grace”. “Amazing Grace” is set to the tune of New Britain, with a meter of 8.6.8.6. What in the world does that mean? Well, the verses match the number of syllables of the tune. “Amazing Grace” is set to 8.6.8.6 meter, so the syllables of each line will shift between 8 and 6. Count the syllables with me below:

A – Ma – Zing – Grace – How – Sweet – The – Sound (8)

That – Saved – A – Wretch – Like – Me (6)

I – Once – Was – Lost – But – Now – I’m – Found (8)

Was – Blind – But – Now – I – See (6)

Now, when it comes to Metrical Psalm Singing, you will take that same tune, and place the words of Psalm 23 on top of it. This becomes a process all in itself, and there are faithful Christians who have come before us and others who are with us now who do this. To save time and space, I will use Psalm 23 from the 1651 Scottish Psalter. Sing these words to the tune of “Amazing Grace”:

The – Lord’s – My – Shep - herd – I’ll – Not – Want (8)

He – Makes – Me – Down – To – Lie (6)

In – Pa -stures – Green – He – Lead- eth – Me (8)

The – Qui – et – Wa – ters – By (6)

What’s wonderful about Metrical Psalm Singing is that there are plenty of resources out there that contain the entire Psalter, all set to metrical tunes. These include:

The 1651 Scottish Psalter (available in app form)[1]
The Book of Psalms for Worship (also available in app form)[2]
The Trinity Psalter Hymnal (you guessed it, there is an app)[3]
The Cantus Christi 2020 (there is an app, but it’s not exclusively the Cantus Christi 2020)[4]

Metrical Psalm Singing, in my opinion, is the easiest and most convenient way to start singing the psalms. It is beautiful and easily accessible for churches to implement, given the congregational nature of metrical singing in general.

Watch this video for an example of Metrical Psalm Singing.

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Chanting the Psalms

This form of Psalm singing may seem off putting to most evangelical Christians. We hear the word “chant” and immediately our minds drift to that scene of the monks bonking their heads with wooden paddles, whilst chanting in the movie “Monty Python and the Holy Grail”.

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In all seriousness though, when we do hear the word “chant” we think of Medieval Roman Catholic Monks, robed and hooded, speaking in Gregorian chants. That is not what we mean by Chanting the Psalms.

This is where the English language can get in the way of definitions. We hear the word sing, and we think…singing. We hear the word chant, we think…talking (really slowly). This is simply wrong.

The word “sing” in English is derived from the German word singen. Makes sense right? Chanting comes from the French word chanter. Still makes sense, doesn’t it? What if I were to tell you that chanter is French for singing? Yep, that is in fact the definition. In the English language we have two (at minimum) words for singing, singen and chanter.

Therefore, we can say that singing is singing and chanting is singing. They are the same. But, they are also different.

When we sing a piece of music, more often than not, the words are fitted to the music (like Metrical Psalm Singing), and that is fine and good and right. When it comes to chanting, it is the opposite. Instead of fitting the words to a musical piece, the music is fitted to the words.

You could say then that singing is driven by the music and chanting is driven by the words.

Of course, chanting the Psalms can still be strange to evangelical ears. We are not used to singing this way. We don’t even know what this looks like on paper. Do evangelicals even do this? Or is this strictly Roman Catholic and/or Eastern Orthodox?

You may be surprised to know that chanting the Psalms is part of our evangelical heritage. There are evangelical churches today that chant the Psalms. This form of singing is mostly seen in churches by our Lutheran and Anglican brothers. Sunday after Sunday, faithful Lutheran and Anglican churches across the world are chanting the Psalms.

In past decades, theologian and teacher, James. B. Jordan, has made it part of his ministry to recover chanting the Psalms in more reformed churches. A ministry created in his honor, The Theopolis Institute, has published and produced videos on how to chant the Psalms.[5]

For the best example of what Psalm Chanting looks like, see the video below:

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Now, you may have watched the video and still found Psalm Chanting to be strange. You must ask yourself the question, is it strange because it is wrong or is it strange because it is foreign to our western evangelical ears? Is it foreign because you’ve never done it that way? Is it foreign because you just don’t know how to do it, or how to go about starting to chant?[6]

James B. Jordan said, “When you sing the Psalms metrically, you are not actually singing the Psalms, you are singing a sermon on the Psalms.”

Although I do not fully agree with Jim here because I just told you that you can sing the Psalms metrically, I want to point out what I believe he means in this statement. When it comes to singing the Psalms metrically, a bit of translation work must happen. Most Metrical Psalms are the product of taking English translated Psalms and rearranging them to a meter. This requires using different words (for the sake of rhyming and syllables) to fit the meter. In so doing, the Metrical Psalm, in a sense, is giving an interpretation of the Psalm, and not actually the Psalm itself.

I do not want to belabor this point, because I do believe singing the Psalms metrically is a valid form of Psalm singing, but the biggest difference between Metrical Psalm Singing and Psalm Chanting is that the latter is simply singing the text as it stands. No rearrangement, no need for a thesaurus, just the text. And that is a difference that can’t be overlooked.

I would encourage you to take up Psalm Chanting, start by including it in your nightly family worship. You can find a plethora of videos on YouTube, from the Theopolis Institute and some Lutheran channels,[7] teaching you how to chant the Psalms. You can also purchase books of Psalms set to chant tones.[8]

How to Sing the Psalms in Prose

Finally, the last way to sing the Psalms, and in my opinion, the best way to sing the Psalms, is in Prose. This means you are singing the Psalm as it stands (in accordance with a specific translation). The reason I believe this is the best way to sing the Psalms is because it is the best of both worlds. You are singing the Psalms set to a beautiful piece of music (like metrical music), but you are also singing the Psalms as they stand (like chanting).

David Erb, a renown musician, and member of Christ Kirk, in Moscow, ID, has written the Cantica Sanctorum: A Collection of Psalms, Hymns and Spiritual Songs, which contains over 50 of the Psalms written in the prose style. They are absolutely gorgeous pieces of music that should be sung in the Churches of God. Most of the Psalms are in accordance with the New King James Version, with a few in the original King James Version. Erb’s hope is that the Psalms would not only be sung in Churches but that God’s Word will also be memorized. His music can be bought standalone,[9] but it can also be found in the Cantus Christi 2020.

I cannot express to you all how beautiful and powerful these Psalms are. One example will have to suffice below (although I want to include so many more):

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To memorize God’s Word set to beautiful music will richly bless your life. Children memorize scripture better set to music, too, yet in prose, they will memorize the full text, not a stylized version of it. Hearing your wife sing a psalm while washing the dishes is arguably one of the most beautiful sounds in the world, as well.

Final Thoughts and Conclusion

Psalm singing is a Biblical command for all Christians. Psalm singing has all but disappeared in the evangelical world today, and that includes many reformed churches. The Church needs a reformation of Psalm singing.

This reformation of Psalm singing takes on three different forms: Metrical Psalm Singing, Psalm Chanting, and singing the Psalms in Prose. I would love to see churches include all three in their services and have that flow into the congregants’ homes.

But, there is a catch. Because Psalm Singing has been all but abandoned in the Church today, it will take work. It will not be easy. However, just because it will not be easy does not give the Church an excuse not to pursue it. Douglas Wilson, in the introduction to the Cantus Christi 2020, says this:

“Because we are recovering a number of older forms of musical and lyrical expression, some of the psalms and hymns contained do represent a challenge. Learning them will not necessarily be easy – but one of the things we are abandoning is a convenience store approach to musical worship. There are many songs here that are an acquired taste. We can have confidence as we seek to acquire this taste because we know that in the history of the Church, generations of average Christians used to rejoice in and with these songs.”[10]

Whether it is singing Metrical Psalms, Chanting Psalms, or singing the Psalms in Prose, more than likely, you are going to come across forms and tunes you are not used to, but you should want to get used to them. Get used to Metrical Psalms. Get used to Chanting the Psalms. Get used to singing the Psalms in Prose. Get used to the Psalms our fathers sang, in all of their God-glorifying forms.

But You are holy,

Enthroned in the praises of Israel.

Our fathers trusted in You;

They trusted, and You delivered them.

They cried to You, and were delivered;

They trusted in You and were not ashamed.

-Psalm 22:3-5

Bibliography:

[1] Available on Apple, 1650 Split Leaf Psalter on the App Store (apple.com), also available bound, The Scottish Psalter: A Reformed Book of Worship with Metrical Tunes: Press, To Be a Pilgrim, Cardwell, Jon J.: 9781981233731: Amazon.com: Books

[2] Available on Apple, Book of Psalms For Worship on the App Store (apple.com), also available bound, The Book of Psalms for Worship, Psalter, Book of Psalms – Crown & Covenant Publications (crownandcovenant.com)

[3] Available on Apple, Trinity Psalter Hymnal on the App Store (apple.com), also available bound, Leading Supplier of Reformed Sunday School Curriculum: Great Commission (gcp.org)

[4] Available on Apple, Sing Your Part on the App Store (apple.com), also available bound, Cantus Christi 2020: Psalter & Hymnal - Canon Press