(The following letter against uninspired hymns and organs in worship appeared in The Christian Sentinel, a Canadian magazine. The author we take to be Mr George Forrest, Brucefield. For loyalty to the Lord Jesus, he had been compelled to separate himself from the fellowship of the Presbyterian Church. A Methodist neighbour, learning of this action, kindly invited him to worship in the Methodist Church. The following letter gives the Presbyterian’s reasons for declining the Methodist invitation. We publish the letter for its argument by a layman on behalf of purity in the worship of God.) — F.P. Mag Vol. 7, page 252.
My Dear Friend — In writing these lines I have no intention or expectation of making you withdraw your allegiance from the Methodist Church. That is not my object at all, but rather to state, in as plain language as I can, my reasons for not accepting the invitation which you so kindly extended to me the other night, to come and worship with you in the Methodist Church. I stated at that time that because they use hymns of human composition, to the exclusion of the Psalms of the Bible, and also use an organ in the service of praise, and as I find no authority in the Word of God for using any of these things, therefore I cannot conscientiously join in that part of the service. For I still hold by the Reformation principle — “that what is not commanded in worship is forbidden,” for “God may not be worshipped in any other way than is prescribed in His Word.”
But we are again and again commanded to sing Psalms. In proof thereof see the following Scriptures: “Sing unto him, sing psalms unto him,” I Chron. 16:9. “Take a psalm, and bring hither the timbrel,” Ps. 81:2. “Sing unto him, sing psalms unto him,” Ps. 105:2. “Sing unto the Lord with a harp; with the harp and the voice of a psalm,” Ps. 98:5. We have all these in the Old Testament and if we turn to the New Testament we find that it teaches the same thing. “But be filled with the Spirit; speaking to yourselves in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs,” Eph. 5:18,19. “Teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord,” Col. 3:16. “Is any merry? let him sing psalms,” James 5:13. Then in Matthew 26:30 and in Mark 14:26 we have Christ’s own example; for when He was closing the Old Dispensation by observing the last Passover, and instituting the New Dispensation by observing the first Supper, He, with His disciples, “sung an hymn” (rendered in the margin of the Bible, “or psalm”), or what is known as the “Great Hallel” which was always sung at the Passover. It began at the beginning of the 113th Psalm, and portions were sung at different intervals during the ceremony, until they concluded both the ceremony and the Hallel with the closing verses of the 118th Psalm.
In these passages we have simply the command and the example to sing psalms, but if we turn to Psalm 95:1-3 we will find a reason given why we should sing psalms. “O come, let us sing unto the Lord; let us make a joyful noise to the rock of our salvation. Let us come before his presence with thanksgiving, and make a joyful noise unto him with psalms. For the Lord is a great God, and great King above all gods.” Now these are the words that the Spirit of the Lord has put into the mouth of His people to sing to His praise. And mark, it is because He is a great King. Well, where there is a king there is authority, there is power, and the king is surely the best judge of what is most acceptable to himself. And would it not be a daring thing in me to set aside these God-given songs, and come before Him with others of mere human composition, no matter how good they may be or how much I might esteem them myself, or what others might think of them?
In this connection turn to Malachi 1:14. It might be well to read the whole passage, but mark this particularly — “But cursed be the deceiver that hath in his flock a male, and voweth and sacrificeth unto the Lord a corrupt thing; for I am a great King, saith the Lord of hosts, and my name is dreadful among the heathen.” Now, this language is adapted to the Old Testament Church, but it is also applicable to the New Testament Church. For observe that the male was the very thing that the Lord had appointed and commanded to be brought to Him in sacrifice, and see the doom on the deceiver who would keep that back and present a corrupt thing. Now, would I be any better than that deceiver if I should throw aside these songs which the Lord the King has given to me to sing to His praise, and bring before Him the productions of a corrupt creature like myself? For no matter how nice they may appear, they have always the marks of corrupt fingers upon them. And I would like to bear in mind that I have to deal with a great King in this matter, a King who has authority and likewise power.
But it is not only the thought of power and authority that should influence me in this matter; but the thought of His love and mercy, and grace, and His wonderful condescension should make me accept and use the gift which He has so graciously given me. And I am sure that it is for my profit to obey, for “in keeping his commandments there is great reward.”
Again, a great many hymns are less or more erroneous in the subject-matter of them. Then the very fact that I have to sit in judgment on them before I begin to sing them is in itself a strong argument against their use. I may not be capable of judging in every case what is right or what is wrong. But I have no such difficulty with the Psalms of the Bible, for they are the production of the Spirit of the Lord. For the Psalmist says, “The Spirit of the Lord spake by me, and his words were in my tongue.” If then, the Lord hath given me these beautiful and comprehensive songs, and as a great King hath commanded me to sing them to His praise, can I set them aside and use anything else in their place and not be guilty of the crime of rebellion against that great King? I have been told by some that the hymns which they use are all scriptural and have no error in them, and therefore it is right to use them in the worship of God. But even if that statement be true (which I very much doubt, and I might use a stronger expression), that is not the point to which I would specially call your attention, but the authority of the King, who is not to be worshipped in any way not prescribed in His Word.
But one other thought before I leave this part of the subject. In singing Psalms we are often using Christ’s own words. The Psalmist says, “The Spirit of the Lord spake by me and his words were in my tongue.” Well, in the 34th Psalm we have these words, “Extol the Lord with me, let us exalt his name together.” Now, think of that: the Lord Jesus Christ, by His Spirit, calling you and me to join with Him in exalting and extolling the name of the Lord of Glory condescending to ask us to help Him to praise his own glorious name? And yet we are asked to put aside these glorious songs, and for what? Well, for very little; for the hymns, in comparison with the Psalms, are very little indeed, although in their own place they, at least some of them — are very good. But their place ought never to be to displace an ordinance of the Lord.
So much for hymns, but what about the organ?
I have no doubt but some will be very ready to seize upon some of the texts that I have quoted in favour of the Psalms, to prove that it is right to use instruments in the worship of God. But let us examine the matter a little more closely. It is granted that instruments were allowed, or commanded, if you like, to be used in the Temple service. But there is nothing in the New Testament Church to correspond with the Temple of the Old. Both it and the ceremonies connected with it were typical of Christ and His work. But when Christ came and accomplished what was therein typified, then the types and ceremonies were done away with. There was no more need for them, for they were only “Carnal ordinances imposed until the time of reformation.” But Christ being come, He is our Temple, our altar, our sacrifice, and our High Priest. So all these instrumental accompaniments of the Psalms that came in under the ceremonial law were put aside with the rest of the ceremonies. Not so the Psalms themselves. They are moral, and are therefore adapted to both dispensations.
But instruments were never used in Christian worship until they were brought in after the Roman apostacy, and are therefore anti-Christian. Or to use the words of Dr Owen, “When spiritual life decayed in the Church, they brought in the fine arts to make up with outward show what they wanted in spiritual life.” I have often heard the 150th Psalm quoted as giving authority for the use of the organ. But if that be granted, it proves altogether too much, for it is in the form of a command to use not only the organ but also trumpet, psaltery, harp, timbrel, dance, stringed instruments, and cymbals. Now if that be so, then the Churches which are not using all these things, are, to say the least of it, guilty of the sin of omission, and the Churches that are using the organ only are guilty of separating or putting asunder what God in His Word hath joined together. Nay more, once admit this, and we are bound to adopt the whole Jewish ritual, sacrifices and all. But, as mentioned before, these all came under the ceremonial law and came to an end with the rest of the ceremonies. They are only the weak and beggarly elements, to which Paul said the Galatians again desired to be in bondage.
But to come back to the two things, the organ and the hymns, they were never used in the Christian Church until brought in by the Papacy. They were put out at the Reformation, and if I am not misinformed, they were not brought in again until about the year 1745, when Mr Wesley introduced them again, and I think it was the same year that the Church of Scotland smuggled in the Paraphrases which are just on the same level with the other hymns. Now, see how in less than 150 years they have succeeded in driving the Lord’s songs out of His Church altogether, at least out of some branches of it. But the whole secret lies in this, The Psalms are spiritual, and before they can be appreciated, there must be a spiritual taste.
I have never yet heard a good solid reason for preferring the hymns to the Psalms. I have heard some say that they liked them better than the Psalms, and that they enjoyed them better than they did the Psalms. But the mere fact that I like a thing is no proof that that thing would be good for me. I might like something that would be very injurious to my health. And if that be so in temporal things, how much more in spiritual things?
For we read that “the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit, neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned,” and that “the carnal mind is enmity against God; for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be.” This being the case, what need have I for serious self-examination, to see where I stand, if I am preferring any thing of man’s invention in the worship of God instead of what He Himself has appointed in His Word.
But I need not enlarge. You will understand by this why I cannot join the Methodist Church, and why I did not accept your kind invitation to worship with you. But the Methodists are not by any means alone in this matter. The Presbyterians are also in the transgression. May the Spirit of Truth guide us unto all truth.