Why Does Your Church Sing Such Old Songs?

I’m sure this is what most visitors are itching to ask us as soon as we sing our first Psalm of praise in our Lord’s Day worship service. Although we sing some of the great hymns of the church, we prefer to sing Psalms in our service. Why? Instead of singing songs written by Biblically-illiterate teeny-boppers and hiphoppers, why not sing from the songbook written by God himself for his people?

Rev. Danny Hyde of Oceanside United Reformed Church has written a clear but concise article, “Why We Sing Old Testament Psalms,” explaining why our Reformed churches prefer to sing from the Psalter. He says that the Psalms are the songs of Israel, Jesus, the Apostles, and the historic church. We sing Psalms for three big reasons: (1) our love for God’s Word; (2) for our Spirit-filled Sanctification; and (3) they promote a “holistic humanity.”

But many people argue that we can’t sing praises to Christ when we sing the Psalms. To allay this fear, Rev. Hyde shows in the last portion of his article how Christ is the center of the Psalms. He lists Psalms that point forward to the person and work of Christ, who himself said that “the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms” were all about him (Luke 24:44; cf. 24:27).

To see how much richer are the Psalms than hymns, and learn how to sing them, go to my Psalter Hymnal website.

 


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