Author : Keith Sharp
A brother in Tampa, Florida has built a web site to advance the position that “we are authorized only to sin the inspired songs from the Book of Psalms/Praises in our worship as an assembly and even when we are not assembled”. He is influencing college age Christians and perhaps others toward his conviction both by the web site and his home studies. The mother of a young Christian whom he has influenced asked me for information on this subject. I have studied all the material on his web site and the teaching of the Scriptures on singing in New Testament worship. Must our singing in worship be confined to the one hundred fifty psalms in the Old Testament book of Psalms?
The Issue Stated
Not only am I not opposed to singing psalms from the biblical book of Psalms both in public and private worship, I encourage this practice. I recently completed teaching a rather lengthy class on the book of Psalms in the congregation where I preach, I have written a workbook on the Psalms, and the congregation bought and occasionally uses in our worship the book Psalms to Sing, which is a psalmody by my friend, the late Clarence R. Johnson.
But must we use only the one hundred fifty psalms contained in the Old Testament book of Psalms in our worship? May we sing religious songs written by uninspired men and women in worship? May we arrange other portions of inspired Scripture so that they may be sung in worship? These are the issues.
Have You Really Thought This Through?
It is true that the Psalms abound in figures of, references to, and prophecies of Christ, the church, and the New Testament age. But the book of Psalms is nonetheless part of the Old Testament (John 10:34; cf. Psalm 82:6; John 15:25; cf. Psalm 35:19; 64:4). Is the New Testament church confined to Old Testament wording for its praise and edification in song? The Old Testament prophecies of Christ were given in such a way that even the prophets themselves did not understand the meaning and application of their words (1 Peter 1:10-12). Are we limited to the veiled speech of the Law, or may we sing the bold speech of the New Testament? (2 Corinthians 3:12-18)
Furthermore, portions of the Old Testament Psalms simply are not appropriate for singing in worship in the New Testament age. Should we sing Psalm 150:3-5 in our worship assemblies?
Praise Him with trumpet sound;
Praise Him with harp and lyre.
Praise Him with timbrel and dancing;
Praise Him with stringed instruments and pipe.
Praise Him with loud cymbals;
Praise Him with resounding cymbals.
How about Psalm 137:8-9?
O daughter of Babylon, you devastated one,
How blessed will be the one who repays you
With the recompense with which you have repaid us.
How blessed will be the one who seizes and dashes your little ones
Against the rock.
Shall we include Psalm 20:3?
May He remember all your meal offerings
And find your burnt offerings acceptable!
What about Psalm 118:27?
The LORD is God, and He has given us light;
Bind the festival sacrifice with cords to the horns of the altar.
Shall we sing of our hatred of people?
I hate those who are double-minded,
But I love Your law. (Psalm 119:13)Do I not hate those who hate You, O LORD?
And do I not loathe those who rise up against You?
I hate them with the utmost hatred;
They have become my enemies. (Psalm 139:21-22)
How about teaching our children to sing this of the wicked?
O God, shatter their teeth in their mouth;
Break out the fangs of the young lions, O LORD. (Psalm 58:6)
It will not do to reply that we would sing a New Testament explanation or application of these psalms, for that would be our uninspired comments rather than the inspired Psalms. In fact, Brother Mann stated plainly, “I do not advocate paraphrasing an inspired song…” (Ibid/banter.html).
I will Also Ask You a Question
The Jewish leaders asked the Lord by what authority He taught (Luke 20:1-2). “Jesus answered and said to them, ‘I will also ask you a question, and you tell Me: ‘Was the baptism of John from heaven or from men?”” (verses 3-4) Their refusal to answer Him demonstrated their moral inability to deal with the question of authority, so He did not answer them (verses 5-8).
Brother Mann has a favorite question concerning authority.
Although we are to be “ready always to give an answer,” I have never heard a good answer to this question: “Where in the inspired Scriptures do we find instruction to write our own songs and sing them in worship?” (Ibid., were_here.html)
“I will also ask you a question”: Where in the inspired Scriptures do we find instruction to build a web site? When the author of the web site answers my question, he will have answered his own. By the way, I will answer his question later.
Position Based on Factual Errors
Brother Mann’s basic argument is
The Greek terms “psalm,” “hymn,” and “song” are used (in various forms in the Book of Praises/Psalms) 90, 32, and 93 times respectively in the Septuagint… In referring to “psalms, hymns, and songs,” Paul is referring to the Greek terms for the songs contained in the book of Praises/Psalms itself (Ibid, meanings.html).
Thus, he contends, the apostle Paul, in Ephesians 5:19 (“speaking to one another in psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs”) and Colossians 3:16 (“teaching and admonishing one another with psalms and hymns and spiritual songs”), is specifically commanding the church to use the psalms of the Book of Psalms exclusively in worship.
He is factually in error. Yes, these three words are used of the one hundred fifty psalms in the Book of Psalms. But none of these words is used exclusively in Scripture of the Book of Psalms. The web site itself contains the facts that all three words – “psalms,” “hymns,” “songs” – are used in various places in the Septuagint, the Greek translation of the Old Testament that Christ and the apostles often quoted, to refer to things outside the Book of Psalms (Ibid. cf. Lamentations 3;14; 5:14; Judges 16:24; Isaiah 12; Daniel 3; Amos 5:23; Habakkuk 3:3,19; Deuteronomy 3:19,21). Brother Mann’s web site answers his own argument.
The truth is, every definite citation of the Book of Psalms in the New Testament is made in the same way i would identify this biblical book today. There are only four, and all are in the books written by Luke. In Luke twenty four-two the Master introduced a quote from Psalm one hundred ten one as being from “the Book of Psalms.” In Luke twenty-four forty-four He spoke of the Old Testament in the three fold division recognized by the Jews, “the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms.” In this reference “Psalms” includes but is not limited to the Book of Psalms. Rather, this division of Scripture “consisted of the Psalms, Proverbs, Job, Song of Solomon, Ruth, Lamentations, Ecclesiastes, Esther, Daniel, Ezra, and Nehemiah, and the two books of Chronicles” (Barnes, e-Sword). The apostle Peter introduced a quote from the Book of Psalms by stating, “For it was written in the Book of Psalms” (Acts 1:20), and the apostle Paul likewise introduced a quote by informing his hearers, “As it is also written in the second Psalm” (Acts 13:33).
There are only three New Testament uses of the word “psalm” where it is not clearly identified as an Old Testament reference. The first is First Corinthians fourteen twenty-six, where it is a reference to a song composed by a Christian. The other two are Ephesians five nineteen and Colossians three sixteen. Thus, with the parallel to First Corinthians fourteen twenty-six, we would expect these to be general references to songs of praise rather than specific references to the Book of Psalms.
The crushing blow to this error is the fact that the apostle Paul speaks with approval of the use of songs in worship, even in the public assembly of the church, that are not from the Book of Psalms. The entire fourteenth chapter of First Corinthians is about the use of miraculous, spiritual gifts in the public, worship assembly of the church (cf. Verses 1,5,12,18-19,23,26-28,31-35). In this context, the apostle writes, “What is the outcome then? I will pray with the spirit and I will pray with the mind also; I will sing with the spirit and I will sing with the mind also” (verse 15). Both the context and language of the verse demand that “with the spirit” refers to inspiration. Paul thus approves Christians composing their own, new songs, songs not found in the Book of Psalms and singing them in the public worship. In the same context, when he observes, “each one of you has a psalm” (verse 26), he employs the word “psalm” to denote a song composed by an inspired Christian, not found in the Book of Psalms, and sung in the public worship assembly of the church. Case closed.
Brother Mann further contends:
The definition of the term “spiritual” (“pneumatikos”) is different when it modifies ‘things’ as opposed to people or beings. When it modifies things, it signifies things that originate from God… Therefore, in Ephesians 5:19 and Colossians 3:15(sic), the spiritual psalms, spiritual hymns and spiritual songs are those that come from the Spirit, that is, they are inspired (Ibid).
Even if he is correct, First Corinthians fourteen fifteen and twenty-six prove this would refer to songs composed by Christians as well as those found in the Book of Psalms. But he’s factually wrong on this also. The word “spiritual” is often used in the New Testament before an object to describe its nature rather than its source (Romans 15:27; 1 Corinthians 9:11; 15:44; Ephesians 1:3; 6:12; Colossians 1:9; 1 Peter 2:5). The context determines its meaning. Nothing in the context of Colossians 3:16 demands that “spiritual” refers to inspired rather than simply pertaining to the spirit.
Brother Mann argues:
For the first several centuries – for almost the first thousand years actually – most followers of Christ sang only inspired songs, specifically those from the book we call Psalms and the Jews called Praises (Ibid /start.html).
I’ve already proven the first century church employed worship songs of their own composing. While the study of church history is interesting, it proves nothing about what is acceptable to God. Nevertheless, the web site is factually wrong here as well.
An author towards the close of the second century could appeal against the Artemonites, to a multitude of hymns in proof of the faith of the church in the divinity of Christ: ‘How many psalms and odes of the Christians are there not, which have been written from the beginning by believers, and which, in their theology, praise Christ as the Logos of God?’ (Philip Schaff, History of the Christian Church. 2:228)
Answering Some Arguments
Brother Mann equates the use of hymnals to the uninspired creeds of denominations (Ibid /were_here.html). Only if we demand that people agree with the hymnal in order to have fellowship with us.
He claims:
We make our passions and emotions and sensibilities the standard by which we write our songs and choose what we sing. And because we have no authority to write songs, we have no standard to judge whether those songs are right for worship beyond our own subjective guesses (Ibid).
I most certainly do not endorse all the songs used by my brethren in worship. Yes, some do choose songs based on emotion rather than on Scripture, but if we “let the word of Christ richly dwell within” us (Colossians 3:16), we will demand that our songs teach the truth of the word of Christ. The Scriptures are the objective standard by which to measure sermons, articles, web sites, and songs. One abuse doesn’t justify another.
“In the New Testament there is no “hymn-writing gift” given to the church. It would therefore be presumption for anyone to write a song to be used in the public worship of God” (Ibid).
That gift is found in First Corinthians fourteen and twenty-six.
“But why are there no admonitions against singing false things? Because there was no need to. The early christians (sic) sang only inspired songs and never substituted man-man lyrics!” (Ibid).
How could we “let the word of Christ richly dwell within” us while singing false things? We teach when we sing in worship (Colossians 3:16), thus, all warnings against false teaching are warnings against singing error.
To use man-written songs to comply with the command that we be filled with the Spirit (Eph 5;18) and that we are to let the “word of Christ dwell in us richly” (Colo. 3:16) is equal to reading only commentaries or workbooks and saying we studied God’s word (Ibid).
What about listening to uninspired sermons or reading an uninspired web site? This does prove that our songs must be scriptural.
“Teaching is a distinct activity from singing” (Ibid /banter.html). No, it’s not (Colossians 3:16).
Conclusion
Oh, yes, that question. “Where in the inspired Scriptures do we find instruction to write our own songs and sing them in worship?” It’s implied in First Corinthians fourteen fifteen and twenty-six.
But consider this. The apostle Paul stated, “We proclaim Him, admonishing every man and teaching every man with all wisdom, so that we may present every man complete in Christ” (Colossians 1:28). Are preachers today to follow the example of Paul, who was a preacher as well as an apostle (1 Timothy 2:7)? Are we, as he, to proclaim Christ, employing all wisdom, as we teach and admonish? Is this not authority for preacher to prepare carefully crafted, uninspired sermons, articles, and web sites based on Scripture?
The same apostle commanded the same Christian in the same letter:
Let the word of Christ richly dwell within you, with all wisdom teaching and admonishing one another with psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with thankfulness in your hearts to God (Colossians 3:16).
Are Christians today to do what Paul directed the “saints and faithful brethren” at Colosse to do? Are we to employ the word of Christ to teach and admonish one another with all wisdom in song? Is that not authority for Christians to prepare carefully crafted, uninspired psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs based on Scripture?
