Exhortation, February 15

Exhortation for February 15:

Since the time of David, Psalm-singing has been the center of prayer and singing for the people of God. That is obvious in Judaism, for from the time of Solomon’s temple, through the “Second temple” period after the exile, and into the period of the New Testament, the Psalter was the hymnal of the church. The same is true of the early church. Psalms were chanted and sung in churches during the early centuries; monks chanted through the entire Psalter each week during the Middle Ages; and one of the great liturgical achievements of the Reformation was the development of Psalms that could be sung in congregational worship.

We are seeing something of a revival of Psalm-singing today, not only here in Moscow but also in various places around the country. In some cases, people have visited Moscow, been overwhelmed by our Psalm-singing, and gone home to organize Psalm-sings in their home churches. But, since familiarity often breeds incomprehension, it’s important to remind ourselves continually of why we are doing this.

First, we are doing it above all because it is well-pleasing to God. God requires Psalm-singing. “Sing and make melody in your heart, in Psalms, and hymns and spirit-songs,” Paul says. I do not believe that God forbids hymns, and the church has a great tradition of church music. But those hymns must be secondary to Psalms in the church’s worship and piety, since Psalms are God’s own hymns, which He commands us to sing. Refusing to sing Psalms would be as much a violation of God’s commandment as neglecting the celebration of the Lord’s Supper. But the Psalms are not only commanded by God but PLEASING to Him. Yahweh is the Hero of the Psalms, and He enjoys hearing His exploits sung by bards. He delights in our praises, and He particularly delights when we praise Him with the songs He has given.

Second, we are learning Psalms because our Psalms provoke God to act for us. I mentioned in the communion meditation last week that the Supper is a memorial, and that means it is presented before the Father to “remind” Him of His covenant. God does not forget, for His throne is surrounded by the rainbow. But just as He acts in response to prayer even though He knows what we need before we pray, so also He responds to our “memorials” even though He remembers His covenant before we remind Him. And one way we remind Him to act in accord with His promise is in song. Chronicles tells us that song is a memorial before the Lord, and as we sing of God’s great acts, we are calling on Him to do it all again. We praise Him for cutting Rahab in pieces, and we want Him to do it again; we celebrate the gift of manna in the wilderness, and we remind Him to provide for us in the same way; we sing of David’s many dangers and many deliverances, and we remind God of His promise to rescue us from all evils.

Third, we are learning Psalms to prepare us for war. Singing Psalms is itself an act of war, because we are calling on Yahweh, the Divine Warrior, to fight for us. But singing Psalms also empowers us for battle. It is simply a fact that vigorous singing heightens our spirits, increases our energy, makes us ready for action. Armies throughout the centuries have known this, and every great army has had fight songs, and sports teams know this principle too. Here especially we need to make sure that the Psalms are dominant in our singing, for, sadly, many of the hymns of the Christian church have been hymns for retreat rather than battle, hymns of withdrawal rather than Psalms of advance.

It is also important to be reminded of how we should sing. Take time to learn the Psalms at home with your children, and take advantage of the Psalm-singing opportunities we have. And when you come here to worship sing even the Psalms we don’t know all that well. Don’t sit silently waiting for a familiar tune. And sing vigorously. The acoustics in this room are terrible, but don’t let that inhibit you. The Lord will hear and notice, and someday Lord willing we will sing in better circumstances. Paul says that we are filled with the Spirit to sing Psalms and hymns and spirit-songs, and the Spirit is always, always an energizing power. Psalm-singing at the temple was part of Israel’s replication of Sinai: The smoke of hundreds of sacrifices rose from the altar and enveloped the temple mount, as the smoke and cloud enveloped Sinai. And that rising smoke was accompanied by singing and shouts from thousands of priests and worshipers, by the crashing of cymbals, by stringed instruments and trumpets, music that mimicked the deafening and thunderous voice of God when he came to Sinai. So, do your best to make the walls and ceiling shake, and we can be confident that the Lord who made the ear will hear and will make Moscow shake.