Rev G. G. Hutton
A lecture given on New Year’s Day, 1997, at Struan Free Presbyterian Church
Why Psalms only? This is a valid question, considering that those who hold that only the inspired Psalter should be used for congregational praise are a minority today. Even in a body like the Free Church, we can detect a mood change when an influential figure like Professor Donald MacLeod is publicly heralded in the press as a “reformer” because he is reported to desire, along with other changes, the introduction of “hymns” into Free Church worship. It is to be expected that his ideas will have a long-term effect upon a sizeable section of that denomination. Why, some may ask, should we continue this practice which is considered by many to be antiquated and unpopular, and thus add to the difficulties of the Church when it appears to exercise a decreasing influence in society? We shall endeavour to present you with some answers, in the hope that your resolve to unashamedly defend and continue this hallowed tradition will be fortified. It is a tradition, I firmly believe, which is established and required by the authority of the Word of God, and one which has served the church well in some of the darkest days in her history.
It would be useful, before going further, to remind ourselves of what the Westminster Confession of Faith has to say regarding the acceptable way of worshipping God, which of course includes the element of praise. In chapter 21, section 1, we read: “The acceptable way of worshipping the true God is instituted by Himself, and so limited by His own revealed will, that He may not be worshipped according to the imaginations and devices of men, or the suggestions of Satan, under any visible representation, or any other way not prescribed in the Holy Scripture.”
So, as a Church and as individuals, we must look to Holy Scripture, God’s own Word, in order to learn what is required of us when we assemble together to worship Him. As you know, the Scriptures are the only rule to direct us how we may glorify God. Our inquiry then is about what we are taught, by precept and example, from the Scriptures, concerning the mode of public praise. What songs should we sing? How should we sing them? Who should sing them? When should they be sung? These are not questions to be dismissed as irrelevant. If we are to worship God in a manner that meets with His approval, these questions must be addressed. These questions exercised the minds of our Reforming fathers, and it ought to be beneficial to us to recall their attitude to the worship of God. What we refer to as the regulative principle, was the principle by which they arrived at the position that it should be “Psalms only” in the congregational worship of God. We can partly answer the question, Why psalms only? by saying, We are Reformed and Protestant. We appreciate the tireless labours and self-denying efforts of those who under God wrestled with these issues and handed to their children the fruits of their labours. As our Protestantism weakens, so does our appreciation of their accomplishments. If however, we are guided by the same principle as guided them, I have no reason to doubt that we shall arrive at the same conclusions as they.
I think Calvin gives us the gist of reforming thought when he writes: “Such is our folly, that when we are left at liberty, all we are able to do is to go astray. And when once we have turned aside from the right path, there is no end to our wanderings, until we get buried under a multitude of superstitions.”
John Knox, leader of the Scottish Reformation, when refuting the Romish mass, indicated the foundational principle of worship in these questions: “What has the Lord required? not, What has He not forbidden?” He also says, “This principle purified the Church of human inventions and Popish corruptions… All worshipping, honouring, or other service invented by the brain of man in the religion of God, without His own express commandment, is idolatry.”
The views expressed by Calvin and Knox are perfectly scriptural and in keeping with the spirit of the great commission given to the Apostles by Christ: “Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you:…” (Matthew 28:19).
Throughout the nations of the earth, the ambassadors of the Redeemer are under a solemn obligation to emphasise the necessity of observing what has been commanded by the Saviour. The Lord Jesus did not say, “You may teach them to observe whatsoever is not forbidden.” Many people, I fear, appear to suggest that He told His Apostles, “Anything not explicitly forbidden is acceptable.” No one can read the New Testament seriously without becoming aware of the efforts of the early Christians to adhere, along with the Apostles, to the principles of our Lord’s commission. Take, for example, what Paul wrote to the Corinthians, (in chapter 11 of the first epistle), “Be ye followers of me, even as I also am of Christ. Now I praise you brethren, that ye remember me in all things, and keep the ordinances, as I delivered them to you.” He also wrote with reference to the ordinance of the Lord’s Supper, “For I have received of the Lord that which also I delivered unto you.” Under the ministry of the Apostles, the Church was forbidden to depart from what the Saviour Himself commanded. The language of the Apostle John is very emphatic: “Hereby we do know that we know him, if we keep his commandments. He that saith, I know him, and keepeth not his commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him. But whoso keepeth his word, in him verily is the love of God perfected: hereby know we that we are in him.” (1John 2:3-5.)
These examples of Apostolic teaching serve to remind us of the obligation we are under, to introduce nothing into the doctrine and practice of the Church, or into the worship of God, for which we have no Scriptural mandate. Lest any should think that the act of praise in the Church is not included in the matters upon which Apostolic authority is stamped, we simply point to what Paul wrote, again to the Corinthians, “I will sing with the spirit, and I will sing with the understanding also,” (1Cor. 14:15). Why, we may ask, did Paul speak in this fashion about praising God? Surely the most valid reason is that Jesus Christ Himself taught; “God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth.” The Saviour’s words show that worship is to be with the spirit and with the understanding. Paul himself desired to worship God in this manner, and he would have the Corinthians also to worship God in like manner. This is an important lesson as to how we are to render praise to God: though it has to be said, few care much for it nowadays.
In answer to the question, What should we sing when worshipping the Lord? we state without hesitation, The divinely inspired Psalms. The first reason we give in defence of this position is that in the Psalms we have a portion of the divinely ordained Scriptures written poetically in order that the words and expressions would be used for singing praise to God. No one can argue with the fact that the Psalms have a unique literary style, clearly indicating that they have a purpose beyond what other parts of the inspired Word have. The Bible is God’s book, the literary styles of which were chosen by Himself for the purposes He has wisely ordained. It is designed to meet particular needs in the experiences of His people as they endeavour to serve and worship Him, and is altogether sufficient for that purpose. What an insult to Divine wisdom, even to suggest that the Book of Psalms is not sufficient or that it is in any way inferior to the uninspired productions of men.
In The Imperial Bible Dictionary (edited by Dr. Patrick Fairbairn) we read in connection with the design and use of the Psalms: “It is Israel’s book of song and prayer for public worship, serving for the worship of God and for the edification of the church. What the church in her various conditions has to bring before the Lord: complaint in distress and temptation; supplication for forgiveness, for comfort and help; praise and thanks for experienced manifestations of grace; praise of the greatness and glory of God; prayer for the fulfilment of the divine promises; and again, what serves the church, when she approaches the sanctuary of God, for comfort, for instruction, and for warning, has found its expression in these songs.”
Because of the unquestionable purity of the doctrine in the Psalms, there is no need to doubt their being acceptable to God. It is His own doctrine. Here is a perfect manual of praise. If we doubt this, then we must look for something better, but where in the universe shall we go to find it? The Rev. George Laverty, minister in Poyntzpass, Ireland, in the early part of this century, stated, “In the Psalms the Divine character is portrayed by God Himself. One attribute is not mutilated and another misrepresented. Mercy and truth meet together, and also mercy and righteousness at the same time. Man could not find out the acceptable way of approaching into the Divine presence: man utterly failed to find the way of truth. ‘The world by wisdom knew not God.’ ‘No man hath seen God at any time: the only begotten Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, he hath declared him.’ God hath been pleased to give us the revelation of His will through His Son, and it is our duty to receive and accept that revelation in all that it teaches and enjoins. And it is presumption in any man to add to what God has given: it is an assault upon Divine wisdom, implying that God’s Word is defective, requiring man’s art and ingenuity to perfect and adorn it.”
What those who resort to hymn singing fail to understand is that by rejecting God’s manual of inspired praise, they are actually rejecting the sovereignty and wisdom of God. They will not permit God to dictate to them nor impose upon the Church what, according to His wisdom, is best suited for praising Him in His worship. This is an act of gross folly. When singing the Psalms, we are singing the truth. When singing hymns of human composition people are singing what is often erroneous, and what, in any case, God has neither approved nor required for worshipping Him.
To be concluded