Why don’t Baptists sing the Psalms? Some Baptist churches do, but by and large the singing of the Psalms is not common practice among us. Why is that? Psalm singing has been a staple of worship for Christians from the very beginning of church — a fact widely acknowledged. Among the reasons for this widespread and longstanding practice of Christians is, no doubt, the direct command of Scripture that we sing the Psalms. Paul explicitly exhorts us in this practice in both Ephesians and Colossians: “be filled with the Spirit, addressing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody to the Lord with your heart” (Eph. 5:19).
“Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs” (Col. 3:16).
I am not convinced by the arguments of those who argue that we should sing only the Psalms, but I’m even less convinced by the common practice of singing anything but the Psalms.
The singing (and praying) of the psalms is seen throughout Scripture. Significantly we find Jesus and the disciples singing psalms together as they conclude the Last Supper — “After singing psalms, they went out to the Mount of Olives” (Mark 14:26). The common Jewish practice was to sing Psalms 113–118 before, during and at the close of the Passover meal. Thus Jesus, having just said His body would be broken and His blood spilled, knowing His betrayal, arrest, scourging and crucifixion were just ahead, closed this meal singing with His disciples Psalms that include these words: “I shall not die, but live, and declare the works of The Lord” (118:17).
“Out of my distress I called on the LORD; the LORD answered me and set me free. The LORD is on my side; I will not fear. What can man do to me? The LORD is on my side as my helper; I shall look in triumph on those who hate me” (Ps. 118:5–7).
“Bind the festal sacrifice with cords, up to the horns of the altar” (Ps. 118:27b).
“The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone. This is the LORD’s doing; it is marvelous in our eyes” (Ps. 118:21–23).
No surprise then the significance of this Psalm was not lost on apostles. In Acts 4 when asked by what authority they preached and healed Peter cited Psalm 118:21–24.
Also when Paul and Silas were imprisoned they found comfort in “praying and singing hymns to God” (Acts 16:25). Most scholars suggest “hymns” here refers to Psalms as this word was commonly used to refer to the Psalms.
With the Psalms being a part of regular singing, their words were available to the mind for praying, which we also see represented in Scripture. As Jesus hung on the cross He used the words of the Psalms as His own prayers (Mark 14:34, citing Ps. 22:1; Luke 23:46, citing Ps. 31:5). Later the first recorded prayer meeting of the early church would use Psalm 2 as their prayer (Acts 4:23–31).
Given that the Psalms show up often in context of trial and suffering, it is not surprising that in the later history of the church, the singing of the Psalms has been a mainstay for suffering Christians. Stirring accounts abound of faithful believers steeling themselves in the face of persecution by the singing of the Psalms — from the Scottish Covenanters and French Huguenots of the 16th and 17th centuries, to Dutch Christians under Nazi occupation, to Hungarian believers under communism in 20th century. Of these Hungarians someone recently stated, “It can be justly argued that psalm-singing carried them through four decades of communist tyranny.”
With such biblical command and precedent as well as historical example, would we not do well to revive this historic practice? As we see our culture darkening and the pressures against faithful Christian practice and witness increasing, ought we not avail ourselves of this time-tested resource? If God has given us these songs and prayers, doesn’t this suggest we need them? For myself, seeing the mighty spiritual oaks that have grown up in the soil of the Psalms, I want to use the same fertilizer.
Resources abound for setting Psalms to recognizable tunes that we might sing them, learn them and take them deep into our souls. To find some of the resources, visit http://psalter.org or www.amazon.com.
Let us, then, join our forefathers, the apostles, and our Lord in the singing of the Psalms.
Editor’s Note — Ray Van Neste, professor of biblical studies and director of the R.C. Ryan Center for Biblical Studies at Union University in Jackson, Tenn., is editor, along with Richard Wells, of “Forgotten Songs: Reclaiming the Psalms for Christian Worship” (B&H, 2012).
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