A Psalm-Singing Church

It should sadden us to learn that the church of our day has neglected one of the greatest treasures God has given her to worship Him–namely, the Psalter. The living God has breathed out an entire book of truth for us to sing back to Him whenever we gather together in corporate worship. Perhaps such a neglect has occurred on account of antiquated translations, difficult accompanying tunes or simply because of a lack of familiarity with the Old Testament people, places, events and symbols. Regardless, the church is certainly no better for having passed over the numerous inspired songs in the Psalter.

It would be of enormous benefit to our churches if we would actively seek to reinstitute the practice of inclusive Psalm-singing in our congregations. At the very least, churches should try to sing one or more Psalms on a recurrent basis in gathered worship on the Lord’s Day. This takes a measure of planning and instruction on the part of pastors, elders and musicians. However, it is safe to say that any congregation that undertakes such an initiative, will reap rich, spiritual benefit. 

This year, at Church Creek PCA, one of the pastors will preach a sermon series on the Psalms in our evening worship service. Additionally, we plan on singing a portion of a Psalm–immediately after the exposition on it. It is our desire that this will help encourage our congregants to sing the Psalms with understanding and delight. There are a number of resources that we plan on using in preparation for this sermon series and singing of Psalms. Some of them are more theological in nature and some are more devotional.

In addition to the numerous worthwhile commentaries that have been published on the Psalms, I’ve found the following works to be most helpful in navigating the historical and theological nuances of the book:

Richard Belcher’s The Messiah and the Psalms

Herman Selderhuis’ Calvin’s Theology of the Psalms

Sidney Greisdanus’ Preaching Christ from the Psalms

O. Palmer Robertson’s The Flow of the Psalms

William Binnie’s The Psalms: Their History, Use and Teaching

Horatius Bonar’s Christ and His Church in the Psalms

John Calvin Heart Aflame

E.W. Hengstenberg Commentary on the Psalms, vol. 1, vol. 2 and vol. 3

Here are some of the Psalms we plan on singing over the next two years from The Book of Psalms for Worship (each Psalm has been coupled to a familiar hymn tune from the Trinity Hymnal):

• Psalm 1 A to the tune of the hymn, “I Sing the Mighty Power of God“
• Psalm 2C to the tune of the hymn, “Take My Life and Let It Be“
• Psalm 3A to the tune of the hymn, “Amazing Grace“
• Psalm 7A to the tune of the hymn, “Be Thou My Vision“
• Psalm 8 to “Amsterdam“
• Psalm 14A to the tune of the hymn, “O Sacred Head Now Wounded“
• Psalm 15A to the tune of the hymn, “More Love to Thee, O Christ“
• Psalm 16 to the tune of the hymn, “How Firm a Foundation“
• Psalm 17A to the tune of the hymn, “My Faith Has Found a Resting Place“
• Psalm 18A to the tune of the hymn, “Jesus, Thy Blood and Righteousness“
• Psalm 19A to the tune of the hymn, “Rejoice, the Lord is King“
• Psalm 20A to the tune of the hymn, “And Can It Be!“
• Psalm 21A to the tune of the hymn, “It Came Upon a Midnight Clear“
• Psalm 22B to the tune of the hymn, “The God of Abraham Praise“
• Psalm 23B to the tune of the hymn, “The Lord’s My Shepherd, I’ll Not Want“
• Psalm 24 to the tune of the hymn, “Lift Up Your Heads, O Ye Mighty Gates” (p. 198 in the Trinity Hymnal)
• Psalm 27C to the tune of the hymn, “How Sweet the Name of Jesus Sounds“
• Psalm 29 to the tune of the hymn, “O Worship the King“
• Psalm 30B to the tune of the hymn, “The Church’s One Foundation“
• Psalm 31B to the tune of the hymn, “Lead on, O King Eternal“
• Psalm 32C to the tune of the hymn, “I Heard the Voice of Jesus Say“
• Psalm 34B to the tune of the hymn, “Faith of Our Fathers” (No chorus after each verse)
• Psalm 36B to the tune of “O Love That Will Not Let Me Go“
• Psalm 37D to the tune of the hymn, “Love Divine, All Loves Excelling“
• Psalm 38C to the tune of the hymn, “God, My King, They Might Confessing“
• Psalm 39B to the tune of the hymn, “Abide with Me“
• Psalm 40A to the tune of the hymn, “Come Christians, Join to Sing“
• Psalm 43A to the tune of the hymn, “O For a Thousand Tongues to Sing“
• Psalm 45A to the tune of the hymn, “He Leadeth Me“
• Psalm 46A to the tune of the hymn, “I Sing the Mighty Power of God“
• Psalm 47A to the tune of the hymn “O God, Our Help in Ages Past” (repeat tune halfway through the Psalm)
• Psalm 48C to the tune of the hymn, “God Moves in a Mysterious Way” (without repeating the last line of each verse)
• Psalm 49B to the tune of the hymn “Take My Life and Let It Be” (repeat last line of each verse)
• Psalm 50B to the tune of the hymn, “I Love Your Kingdom Lord“
• Psalm 51A to the tune of the hymn, “Rock of Ages, Cleft for Me“
• Psalm 55A to the tune of the hymn, “O God, Our Help in Ages Past“
• Psalm 61 A to the tune of the hymn, “O Worship the King“
• Psalm 62B to the tune of the hymn, “I Sing the Mighty Power of God“
• Psalm 63B to the tune of the hymn, “Jesus the Very Thought of Thee“
• Psalm 65A to the tune of the hymn, “Stand Up, Stand Up for Jesus“
• Psalm 67B to the tune of the hymn, “The Church’s One Foundation“
• Psalm 69D to the tune of the hymn, “O For A Thousand Tongues to Sing“
• Psalm 70B to the tune of the hymn, “Alas and Did My Savior Bleed“
• Psalm 73A to the tune of the hymn, “My Hope is Built on Nothing Less” (p. 522 in the Trinity Hymnal) 
• Psalm 78A to the tune of the hymn, “I Heard the Voice of Jesus Say“
• Psalm 80 to the tune of the hymn, “Come, Ye Sinners, Poor and Wretched“
• Psalm 81A to the tune of the hymn, “The Lord’s My Shpeherd, I’ll Not Want“
• Psalm 84A to the tune of the hymn, “Faith of Our Fathers“