A Treatise On Exclusive Psalmody Part 5: What Should We Sing? (8 Min Read)

(8 Minute Read)

When we come to this point the question that is asked to require such an answer is this: “What should we sing in the holy worship of the Lord on the Lord’s day?” However, the answer to this question can only be determined rightly when we have answered a more fundamental question: “Who regulates how we worship?” The answer to this question was answered above when we investigated the Regulative Principle of Worship. However, one more point must be investigated in our discussion to come to the proper conclusion that the Psalms alone ought to be sung. 

When we worship we approach God in the heavenlies

In the Old Covenant, we see the temple and tabernacle as the special dwelling place of God among his people. “As symbols or types, these institutions pointed to a future fulfillment. That fulfillment is found in Jesus Christ, the full and final manifestation of God’s presence with His people.” [1] And more specifically, we see that in the Newer Testament the temple of the living God has become the church, where the special presence of Christ dwells. In 2 Corinthians 6:16, Paul writes, “What agreement has the temple of God with idols? For we are the temple of the living God; as God said, ‘I will make my dwelling among them and walk among them, and I will be their God, and they shall be my people.’” “As a result, the Old Testament temple was, and the New Testament church is, an extension of heaven.”[2] This is because of what Hebrews 12:22-24 tells us saying,

“But you have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to innumerable angels in festal gathering, and to the assembly of the firstborn who are enrolled in heaven, and to God, the judge of all, and to the spirits of the righteous made perfect, and to Jesus, the mediator of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood that speaks a better word than the blood of Abel” (emphasis mine).

“As the church of the firstborn [is] enrolled in heaven, believers are heirs of God and joint-heirs with Christ. They are connected to the church triumphant already in heaven. They are united to Christ who is their great high priest in heaven and who is King and Lord of all.”[3] This is important to see because when it comes to the corporate worship of God, we are not just arbitrarily gathering together to do something in a flippant way. We are being beckoned by our God to come together to worship him with the heavenly hosts and the saints already in heaven on a particular day when the Lord receives bounds of praise! This is significant and adds to the importance of everything we do in worship, including the songs we choose to sing. 

Singing in the Newer Testament

As Christians living in the New Covenant dispensation, we do not often think of where our worship derives. We do not think of why we do what we do. However, it is integral to know this, because the worship of God is what links all of God’s covenant people, from Abraham to the believer 100 generations from now. We derive our praise from the Old Testament temple and we know this because the scripture uses sacrificial language to describe our New Testament praise. Consider Hebrews 13:15 which says, “Through him then let us continually offer up a sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of lips that acknowledge his name” (emphasis mine). The significance of this is astounding, because the writer of Hebrews is drawing upon the sacrificial system of the Older Testament. The phrase “sacrifice of praise” in the Greek is thusian ainesis, and in the Septuagint (LXX),[4] (the version of the Old Testament scriptures that the early church possessed) this exact phrase is found in Leviticus 17:12-15 in regards to the peace and thanks offerings made by the Levitical priests. This is significant because the writer of Hebrews is making a direct connection between Old Testament worship and New Testament worship. Hebrews 13:15 “uses the language of the bloody Old Testament thank-offering, redefining this sacrifice of thanksgiving as ‘the fruit of the lips that give thanks to God. The Old Testament bloody sacrifices become the New Testament songs of praise.”[5] To further the significance of this connection it must be understood that the sacrifices by the Levitical priests were integrally tied to the singing of Psalms during the sacrifices. We see the best description of temple worship illustrated for us in 2 Chronicles 29:25-28, which says, 

“And he stationed the Levites in the house of the LORD with cymbals, harps, and lyres, according to the commandment of David and of Gad the king's seer and of Nathan the prophet, for the commandment was from the LORD through his prophets. The Levites stood with the instruments of David, and the priests with the trumpets. Then Hezekiah commanded that the burnt offering be offered on the altar. And when the burnt offering began, the song to the LORD began also, and the trumpets, accompanied by the instruments of David king of Israel. The whole assembly worshiped, and the singers sang, and the trumpeters sounded. All this continued until the burnt offering was finished”(emphasis mine).

Some quick observations of this passage are as follows: first, we would see the sacrifice that was offered is typological of Christ. So worship in the Old Testament is based around the sacrifice of the animal, which ultimately Christ would be our final and perfect sacrifice, who we still worship around even today in corporate worship on the Lord's day. Additionally, the “song to the Lord” was nothing other than the 150 Psalms of David and the other prophets given to writing divine songs for the Lord (1 Chronicles 25:1, 6) sung by the Levitical choir. 

When we come to Hebrews 13:15, therefore, we understand that Praise is now the sacrifice we offer to the Lord. It is the fruit of our lips, which as we will see, is nothing other than the Psalms, just as it was for the people in the Old Testament Temple. 

Clearing a stumbling block

Before jumping into a discussion on Ephesians 5:19 and Colossians 3:16, I want to briefly address an issue that may be a hindrance to the reader. It is desirable to remove any block of stumbling before we begin, with the hopes that it will allow you to have an ear more ready to hear what is being said. 

It is objected that these passages are in reference to private worship/devotion rather than public worship. Observe first and foremost, that Paul's letter both to the Ephesians and the Colossians begin with him addressing the church, the saints, as a group (Ephesians 1:1; Colossians 1:2). In both instances, the word saints (hagios) is used in the plural sense and indicates the audience to receive these letters. So at the outset, it must be admitted that these letters were to be read in the congregation to the corporately gathered body of Saints. In Ephesians, this is further evidence by corporate language throughout the entire letter.[6]

When we come to chapter 5 we see more proof because all the nouns and pronouns used up to verses 18-19 in regards to the audience to which he is speaking are in the plural sense. One reason this is an issue is that America (and probably a majority of the world) is woefully individualized. So not only is it difficult in English to determine whether the word “you” is plural or singular, our natural reading of that word will always tend to the singular rather than the plural. Not only this, but in verse 19 when Paul writes, “addressing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody to the Lord with your heart,” and the words “your heart” is in the plural, and can alternatively, and accurately, be translated as “singing with the heart of each of you” or “singing and making melody to the Lord with each of your hearts.”[7] So Paul is speaking these words to the body, not individuals, who are supposed to communicate with one another. Additionally, when Paul writes, “making melody to the Lord with your heart” the “heart” is in the singular, indicating that the church expresses itself with one heart, but also that the heart is the instrument through which the spirit expresses praise. And this takes us immediately back to Hebrews 13:15 which says, “Through him then let us continually offer up a sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of lips that acknowledge his name” where not only is the “let us” in the plural and corporate sense, but that our sacrifice comes from our lips - we sing from our hearts. Likewise, in Colossians 3:16 Paul writes, “Let the word of Christ dwell in you (plural) richly, teaching (masculine plural nominative participle) and admonishing one another (plural) in all wisdom, singing (masculine plural nominative participle) psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your (plural) hearts to God.” Not this only, however, note the immediate context: Colossians 3:1, “If then you (plural) have been raised with Christ . . .” 3:2 “Set your (plural) minds (multiple minds) on things that are above . . .” 3:3 “For you (plural) have died, and your (plural) life is hidden with Christ in God.” And this pattern continues throughout the passage. So we can safely say that for these reasons, the immediate and pressing context of these passages is the corporate body and worship of God. 

All though this is the case, let us imagine for a moment that these passages are not in the context of corporate worship and instead are in the context of private or family worship. Then in these two instances, we would see Paul saying that in private worship we have the liberty to sing whatever we want (assuming that Psalms, Hymns, and Songs are not the same thing). If that is the case then where is the idea granted biblically that we can sing uninspired hymns and songs in corporate worship? We would still be in the same position as before. This is a valid question because nowhere in the New Testament (or the Old) do we see anything but Psalms sung in the context of corporate worship. So we are left in the same position, without justification for singing anything but the Psalms in corporate worship.  One cannot have it both ways. 

[1] Dunsun, Ben. n.d. “A Dwelling Place for God.” Ligonier. https://www.ligonier.org/learn/articles/dwelling-place-god/.

[2] Prutow, Dennis J. 2013. Public Worship 101. N.p.: RPTS Press. pg 38

[3] ibid.

[4] The Septuagint is the Greek translation of the Hebrew Old Testament

[5] Prutow, Dennis J. 2013. Public Worship 101. N.p.: RPTS Press. pg 233

[6] Ephesians 2:19-22; 3:14-19; 4:4-13

[7] Prutow, Dennis J. 2013. Public Worship 101. N.p.: RPTS Press. pg 306-307