The Christian and The Psalms

According to the apostle Paul, “All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: That the man of God may be perfect, throughly furnished unto all good works” (2 Timothy 3:16-17).

What scripture is Paul referring to here? He means what Christians call the Old Testament Scriptures. As Paul also affirmed to Timothy, who had been raised on these Scriptures, that they are “able to make thee wise unto salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus” (v.15). The New Testament Scriptures had not been completed at that time.

And what does this mean, that the Old Testament Scriptures are able to make those who study them “wise unto salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus”? The apostle means that the laws and types and prophecies, when properly understood, ultimately direct us to the Lord Jesus Christ himself. In this matter Paul had come to agree with Christ, who had affirmed to the Jews: “Search the scriptures; for in them ye think ye have eternal life: and they are they which testify of me” (John 5:39).

The Messiah enabled his disciples to see him in all the Old Testament Scriptures: “And he said unto them, These are the words which I spake unto you, while I was yet with you, that all things must be fulfilled, which were written in the law of Moses, and in the prophets, and in the psalms, concerning me. Then opened he their understanding, that they might understand the scriptures, And said unto them, Thus it is written, and thus it behoved Christ to suffer, and to rise from the dead the third day: And that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in his name among all nations, beginning at Jerusalem” (Luke 24:44-47).

The apostles proved that Jesus is the Christ, and they preached the gospel of Christ, out of the Old testament Scriptures. Examples can be multiplied, but here I will mention only two. In Acts 2, Peter spoke of king David, calling him a prophet who knew that “God had sworn with an oath to him, that of the fruit of his loins, according to the flesh, he would raise up Christ to sit on his throne; He seeing this before spake of the resurrection of Christ, that his soul was not left in hell, neither his flesh did see corruption. This Jesus hath God raised up, whereof we all are witnesses” (Acts 2:25-32). And as Paul wrote in an epistle: “I declare unto you the gospel which I preached unto you…For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures; And that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures” (1 Corinthians 15:1-4).

Not only do the Holy Scriptures of the Old Testament bring us to Christ as Paul says to Timothy (see also where he says the same in Galatians chapter 3), but they still instruct us after we have become a Christian: they are profitable to us for Christian doctrine, Christian reproof, Christian correction, and Christian training in righteousness. Paul impresses this truth particularly upon young pastor Timothy: he will be brought to spiritual completeness and maturity as a “man of God”,¹ by his continued study of the Old Testament Scriptures, and consequently they should be a large part of his preaching as a Christian pastor. All men, women, boys, and girls who desire to be Christians will benefit from “all scripture” of the Old Testament: we all need the doctrine, reproof, correction, and training in righteousness that the Old Testament Scriptures can give us.

Paul declared at the start of his second epistle to Timothy, that he himself as a Christian still served the God of his Old Testament forefathers with a pure conscience (2 Timothy 1:3). And when the apostle stood before the Roman governor Felix in the magistrate’s court, this was his confession: “But this I confess unto thee, that after the [Christian] way which they call heresy, so worship I the God of my fathers, believing all things which are written in the law and in the prophets: And have hope toward God, which they themselves also allow, that there shall be a resurrection of the dead, both of the just and unjust. And herein do I exercise myself, to have always a conscience void of offence toward God, and toward men” (Acts 24:14-16). All true Christians can, and should, stand with Paul and confess these same truths today.

Coming to the Lord Jesus Christ brings us into communion with God. God has saved us, and he has adopted us into his family by the covenant of grace. Whether we are Jews or Gentiles by birth, throughout all ages and from every nation, all people who are saved are included in this one people of God. As our Saviour said of his church that he is building, “And I say unto you, That many shall come from the east and west, and shall sit down with Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, in the kingdom of heaven” (Matthew 8:11). True Jews “inwardly” remain in their spiritual “olive tree”, still partaking of its “root and fatness”; and Gentiles to whom God is granting “repentance unto life” are grafted into this same olive tree and partake of the same root and fatness—through continuing to profit from the same scriptures (see Romans 2:29; Acts 2:39; 11:18; 15:14-17; Romans 11).

If the Old Testament Scriptures have been given to the Christian also—if these holy scriptures are able to make us wise unto salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus; and if they are profitable to teach Christians doctrine, reproof, correction, and training in righteousness—then so has the Book of Psalms been given to us for these same purposes. And if the Psalms have been given by God to the one people of God to sing in their worship of him, then all Christians must likewise sing the Psalms.

The Book of Psalms is an integral part of the Old Testament Scriptures. The Psalms are God-breathed, infallible, inerrant, and they are still being preserved by God so that we possess them. The Psalms are most fitting to be sung by Christians with grace in our hearts to the Lord, our God.

Besides this provision and preservation of the Psalms by God for us, we Christians still have the God-breathed commands within the Psalms themselves to sing the Psalms (47:6-9; 95:2; 105:2). And we have the example of the people of God obeying God in singing the Psalms both in their synagogue worship services and at their ceremonial meals in their homes, and at the festivals and pilgrimages in Old Testament times.

And in the New Testament Scriptures, furthermore, we have our Lord Jesus Christ’s own example of singing the Psalms. We should take it as significant that even after Jesus had taught his disciples by the bread and the wine that he was about to fulfil the law for his people in giving his own body and blood in the sacrifice of himself (see Hebrews 9:26)—Jesus continued to sing the Psalms. After our Lord had instituted the Lord’s Supper to succeed the Passover, we read: “And when they had sung an hymn, they went out into the mount of Olives” (Matthew 26:30). That “hymn” was The Hallel (Psalms 113-118), or the last portion of it, that was sung at the end of the Passover meal, while the participants were still at the table.

All the Old Testament ceremonial laws have been fulfilled by Christ, the Lamb of God, our Passover; and they have therefore been set aside by the Lord’s people in the New Testament era (John 1:29; 1 Corinthians 5:7; Hebrews 10:1-14; Revelation 21:22). But the commands to sing the Psalms were not a part of the ceremonial law, and they were not set aside when the ceremonial laws were abrogated. So, the practice of the Lord’s people singing the Psalms should continue to this day.

Our God’s command to sing the Psalms has not been revoked, but it is rather repeated and reinforced in the New Testament Scriptures. God the Holy Spirit, through the apostle Paul, commands us to sing the “psalms and hymns and spiritual songs” that comprise the Book of Psalms (Ephesians 5:19; Colossians 3:16). Paul’s instructions in his epistles are commands given to all Christians—and given with the authority of Christ himself (see 2 Thessalonians 3:4, 6, 12, etc.). The apostle James also urges us to “sing psalms” (James 5:13).

Whether before or after the Messiah came into the world, the Lord’s people know him (Jehovah) personally—as only the saved, born-again, spiritually converted people of God know him. The Lord’s people have a love for God and a love for the people of God. They have a desire for holiness, and a reverential fear of God. They have repentance for their sins and they have faith in the LORD and his Anointed One. They praise and bless God’s holy name, and they purpose to obey his moral law (Psalm 2:2, 6; 3:8; 24:3-6; 25:10-14; 32:1-2; 51:1, 10-11; etc.).

Make no mistake: the Holy Spirit gave the Psalms to the Lord’s people, who are converted people. The Psalms are not the songs of the unconverted. Moreover, the Psalms are not for a different people—they are for the one people of God, and that means they are for us Christians too—for our doctrine, our reproof, our correction, and out training in righteousness.

The Lord himself has provided the Book of Psalms for his people to sing in their worship of him.² We are commanded what to sing to the Lord: namely, these “psalms and hymns and spiritual songs”. And we are commanded how to sing to the Lord: we must speak the Psalms to our own selves, so that we properly learn their lessons; we must teach and admonish one another by singing them in our church fellowships, for mutual encouragement and accountability in practical godliness; and we must sing them as born-again, saved people with grace in our hearts, and while making melody in our hearts, to our Lord (Ephesians 5:19; Colossians 3:16).

We are promised what will happen both in our own souls and in our families and churches though the repeated practice of singing the Psalms. Singing this what and how (as above) lets, or enables, the word of Christ to dwell in us richly in all wisdom—in our hearts, minds, and memories. The apostle Paul also says that, when we speak the Psalms to our own souls, we are filled with the Holy Spirit.

We desire the word of Christ, the whole Bible, to dwell in us richly in all wisdom. The Psalms are comprised of a summary, or curriculum, that has been given to us by God himself to help us learn “all scripture”—both law and gospel, history and prophecy, and everything else that makes up the Bible, in both the Old and the New Testament Scriptures. That is what Paul calls “the word of Christ in all wisdom” (Colossians 3:16). The Psalms lead us into all the Scriptures, and they lead us to Christ in all the Scriptures, and they keep us in our life-walk with Christ in all the Scriptures.

We desire the Holy Spirit to fill us, and we desire this in-filling to manifest outwardly in the fruit of the Spirit (Galatians 5:22-23; Ephesians 5:9), forming our character and the way we live as Christians. That is a large part of what the Psalms are for, says Paul.

Being filled with the Spirit is not a mindless or meaningless experience, or a mere feeling that is imagined to be spiritual. No, but being filled with the Spirit involves the words of the Bible: words that have been given by the Spirit of God, who is also the Spirit of Christ (see Romans 8:9). Let these words dwell in you richly in all wisdom. Learn the word of Christ, understand it, and responded to it in obedience, repentance, faith, hope, love, and worship.

This is how the Psalms do their part in thoroughly furnishing us unto all good works. When we sing the “psalms and hymns and spiritual songs” that the apostle referred to, with grace in our hearts to the Lord, they lead us into all the word of Christ—into all the Bible. When we learn the Psalms and sing them together in our Christian fellowships, they put us right in our hearts, minds, and lives, both morally and spiritually. Or, that is what they should do—we must not sing the Psalms merely for a the vocal workout, or for social entertainment. We must honour God with our lips and our hearts while we sing the Psalms (Isaiah 29:13; Psalm 51:15; Hebrews 13:15).

The spiritual practice of congregational Psalm-singing will bring us all to repentance, faith, hope, love, joy, and thankfulness toward God, and to a closer walk with him. This will make a major contribution to our sanctification by the truth, the re-formation of the image of God in us, his adopted children (John 17:17; Romans 8:15; Colossians 3:10; Ephesians 1:5; 4:24).

We believe that authentic New Testament, apostolic, Christian worship involves singing the whole Book of Psalms to the Lord. We must learn the Book of Psalms, so that they become the songs of our life as Christians. We must love the Psalms and sing them in our own personal worship to the Lord; and we must teach and admonish one another in our families and in our congregations by singing the Psalms—same as our Christian brothers and sisters were to do in Ephesus and Colosse in those days.

Singing uninspired hymns and songs to God always means singing the Psalms less. When Christians sing to the Lord anything other than the Psalms, they are not supplementing the Psalms but swapping them out. Their preferred unauthorised and uninspired hymns and songs (however “spiritual” they may be in their content), have displaced the Psalms in the worship they offer to God in their church services.

We believe that we would not be doing what we are commanded if we sang to the Lord any other than the psalms and hymns and spiritual songs of the Book of Psalms. We would be doing something else instead, something contrary, something disobedient.

We believe we should not add to, or set aside, or modify (whether “Christian paraphrase”, “modernise”, “simplify” or any other way), any of God’s Psalms.