What hymns?

I spent a lot of time dealing with psalm-singing because it is nearly universally neglected these days. I can also say that hymn-singing is neglected these days. Most Evangelical churches sing praise and worship songs, and African American Baptist churches sing a mix of praise and worship songs and Urban Contemporary Gospel. Hymns are infrequently sung. With the exception of one church, the African American Baptist churches I've been a member of sung the same few hymns over and over such as "Amazing Grace," "At the Cross," "Blessed Assurance," "Blessed Quietness," etc. I never sang "A Mighty Fortress is Our God" until I was in my early twenties, and I had been a baptized member of a church since I was six years old! As I lamented the absence of psalm-singing, I must also lament the absence of hymn-singing.

As I came to think of reformation in African American Baptist worship some years ago, I was eager to learn a definition of a hymn. I automatically assumed that a hymn was any song in a hymnal, and the only hymnal I was familiar with at the time (1999) was the New National Baptist Hymnal, which has a good number of traditional hymns such as "A Mighty Fortress is Our God," and hymns by Newton, Wesley, and Watts. As I thought about the meaning of a hymn, I knew that the apostle Paul could not have meant those when he commanded the Church to sing psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs. I asked a friend of mine who was Russian Orthodox and working on a Master's degree in music; she also directed a choir at a Methodist Church here in the Lansing area. She told me that a hymn was a biblical text set to music. With that, I knew that most hymns in hymn books are not hymns!

After this, I was done with my own assumptions. I finally went to the bible, and I found that the word "hymn" is used a few times in NT. Other than Paul's use in Ephesians 5 and Colossians 3, Matthew and Mark use the verb form of hymn in their accounts of the Lord's Supper. In Matthew 26:30 and Mark 13:26, the writers state that Jesus and his disciples sang a hymn after the supper. Well, I knew that because at my home church we ended our Lord's Supper service with those words from the gospels. We sang "Glory to his Name." I learned from commentators that Jesus and the disciples sang from Psalms 113-118, the Hallel. No one disputes this. Here in the gospels to sing a hymn is to sing psalms. It is interesting that translators of the 1599 Geneva Bible translate hymn as psalm in Matthew 26:30. The only other use of the verb form of hymn is found in Acts 16:25, where Paul and Silas sing "praises" in the prison at midnight. Again, the translators of the Geneva Bible translate "praises" as "psalms," and most commentators agree that Paul and Silas sang psalms. If we use the Scriptures to interpret themselves, then, we have a good argument that hymns and psalms are interchangeable terms.

For those unconvinced with this argument, at least, you can agree that a hymn must be addressed to God, or Jesus Christ that is biblical; a hymn must express the true character of the Trinue God and his marvelous works. Where do we find such? I'll address this in the next blog.

Helps for would be Psalm-Singing

It is clear that the Church of Jesus Christ must sing the Songs of Zion, which are the holy psalms. The Reformers were in agreement on this: Luther loved the psalms and retained psalm-singing in the German Mass; Calvin loved the psalms and he recruited a French poet named Clement Marot to put many of the psalms in meter for congregational singing; Anglicans loved the psalms and sang them exclusively well into the 18th century; and the Puritans loved the psalms and sang them exclusively. In fact, the first book published in Colonial America was the Bay Psalm Book.

When Baptists came on the scene in the 17th century, there was debate regarding the propriety of singing in the worship of God. General Baptists in England (and in America)believed that NT gave no warrant for singing in the public worship. Particular Baptists were the ones to begin singing, but there was disagreement regarding what to sing: were they to sing the biblical psalms, or was there warrant to compose their own hymns to sing? Some Baptists did sing the psalms, as reported by Terry Johnson in his marvelous essay, "Why the Psalms." So important was this issue of singing that the writers of the Philadelphia Baptist Confession of 1742 added an article called, "On the Singing of Psalms." Thank Calvinistic Baptists for recognizing that NT does warrant praise in the public worship of God.

As may be obvious, Baptists did include hymns of human composition in their service of praise. The 1689 London Confession actually differs from the Westminster Confession on this note. In chapter 22, article five, the Baptist writers stated "psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs" are to be sung. The Westminster divines, however, write in chapter 21, article that only "psalms" are to be sung. Also the Westminster Directory of Worship indicates that psalms are to be sung only. The Westminster Standards allow only psalms to be sung, but the Baptists theoretically allow humanly composed hymns and spiritual songs. (The meaning of hymns and spiritual songs are up for debate). It is interesting that hymns of human composition totally replaced the psalms within a few generations among Baptists.

Besides all of this, Baptists must sing psalms. How to get started? First, make psalm-singing a priority in the service of song. This means adding a Psalter for congregational singing. There are three psalters I suggest: one, Trinity Psalter, which published a words-only thin psalter that is good for churches used to singing hymns because the suggested tunes will be familiar; second, the Psalter-Hymnal of the Christian Reformed Church, which has all 150 psalms in the front of the book with good scripture songs that are mostly psalms; and third, The Psalter used by more conservative Dutch Reformed communions and published by Eerdmans.

I suggest singing one psalm per service (or portions of longer psalms) to begin with. Use a setting with a familiar tune. For example, in Trinity Psalter Psalm 3 is set to the tune of "Amazing Grace." Eventually, I suggest singing two psalms, or two portions of psalms during the service of song. Since the psalms are the inspired word of God, it makes sense to sing what is perfect, true, full of heavenly wisdom, and that reveals our God and his Christ more than the best uninspired words of man.

Can we improve upon what the Holy Spirit has given? Calvin, in his Preface to the Psalter, wrote:

What is there now to do? It is to have songs not only honest, but also holy, which will be like spurs to incite us to pray to and praise God, and to meditate upon his works in order to love, fear, honor and glorify him. Moreover, that which St. Augustine has said is true, that no one is able to sing things worthy of God except that which he has received from him. Therefore, when we have looked thoroughly, and searched here and there, we shall not find better songs nor more fitting for the purpose, than the Psalms of David, which the Holy Spirit spoke and made through him.

Why the Psalms?

According to Church history, Christians have always sung psalms. There are many who argue that the Church of Christ must sing the psalms exclusive to the singing of uninspired hymns. My intention in these blogs is not to argue for exclusive psalmody, though I believe the argument for exclusive psalmody is convincing. My intention is simply to posit a humble argument that the Church must sing the psalms in the worship of God.

Why the psalms? First, it is commanded. I've already given scriptural support for this. Second, the Holy Spirit has given the Church 150 psalms to sing. Third, the psalms are the Word of God that speak vividly about the Lord Jesus Christ (see Luke 24:44). Fourth, it is clear that NT churches sang the psalms (see 1 Cor 14:15, 26). Fifth, the Holy Catholic Church sang the psalms throughout its history as attested to by Church Fathers like Chrysostom and Augustine. Fifth, the 16th century Reformers restored both congregational singing and psalm-singing to their rightful place; and John Calvin is most responsible for this by helping to produce the Genevan Psalter. Psalm-sing became synonymous with Protestantism.

Protestants have forsaken a noble and spiritual heritage by neglecting the psalms. Since National Baptists hold to a confession of faith that upholds the inspiration, infallibility, and inerrancy of the Scriptures, to sing uninspired hymns and other songs in place of the psalms is grave problem. Because our worship must be Word-based, I argue that psalm-singing must dominate the element of praise in Christian worship.

African American Baptists must never allow tradition to cloud our thinking regarding reforming our praise. More than Negro spirituals, Thomas Dorsey's gospel blues, and the songs of contemporary artists are the biblical psalms. How can we sing the words of man more than the words of God?

How to reform this element of worship? In the next blog, I'll offer some suggestions.

Why NOT the Psalms?

I came into Reformed theology in late 1998. For me, the word of God began to make better sense, especially regarding the doctrine of election. Eventually, I learned that being Reformed, or Calvinistic had a great bearing on worship. In the Summer of 2002 I began to study worship song. Previously, I had come to hold seriously Paul's commands to sing psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs. My superficial understanding of those commands led me to believe that we should sing the biblical psalms in addition to hymns such as "A Mighty Fortress is our God," or "Amazing Grace," etc. I basically equated spiritual songs with good hymns that were doctrinally and theologically sound.

In 2002, I wanted to know more of the degree of prominence of psalm-singing in the contemporary church and historically. As I grew up in traditional African American Baptist churches, we never sang an entire psalm. I remember our choir at one church that sang a portion of Psalm 27 as a "prayer chant." That's it. As I thought about this, no one, I mean a pastor, ever looked in the Scriptures to state that we need to sing psalms. The first time I heard anyone even suggest psalm-singing was at a leadership meeting at a church where I served in the ministry; because of my ignorance, I blasted the idea calling it "High Church." I was wrong. The person that offered the suggestion was a musician who played at a Lutheran church and had been reared in African Methodism. I later learned that both of these traditions feature psalm singing or chanting.

When I did begin to study psalm-singing, I became convinced that not only should we sing psalms but we MUST sing psalms. How could I have missed this? I've referred already to Paul's commands in Ephesians 5 and Colossians 3. James also commands psalm-singing: "Is any merry? let him sing psalms" (5:13b). We know that the Church at Corinth sang psalms (see I Corinthians 14:26). All of these NT commands support the commands in OT to sing psalms (see Psalm 95:2; 98:5). It is clear that the Church of God must sing psalms.

Since this is a clear command, why are there only two metrical psalms in The New National Baptist Hymnal(see Hymns 2, 7), one psalmodic refrain (Hymn 532), and four paraphrases of psalms (Hymns 19, 210, and 289). That's it. We know that few, if any, African American Baptist churches only sing from the hymnbook. Most of the singing is from whatever is contemporary in the gospel music industry. Because of such, psalm-singing is obsolete and forgotten.

To worship according to the word of God, African American Baptists must rediscover psalm-singing.

And What Shall We Sing?

As mentioned in the previous blog, singing is an important portion of African American Baptist worship services. It is common, at least traditionally, for African American Baptist churches to have annual musicals. In these musicals, gospel music is the usual focus; though one of my former churches put on a portion of Handel's Messiah every December.

In the worship services I've attended over the years at African American Baptist churches, choirs usually sing up-to-date gospel and Urban Contemporary Christian music. Today, the writers are mostly Pentecostal/Charismatic and the lyrics often put forth false doctrines such as Word of Faith doctrines. Within the Pentecostal framework, there are many "Oneness" song writers and performers such as Marvin Sapp.

With this, if African American Baptist churches are to keep the commandments of biblical worship they must sing "psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs." Paul gave this commandment on two occasions (Eph 5:19; Col 3:16). This is it. The Church of Jesus Christ is to sing these only, but the question begs: what are psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs?

I intend to answer the question in subsequent blog entries. Have a blessed Lord's Day!

Service of Song

Besides a unique way of preaching, African American Baptist churches have been known for their vibrant singing. It is a given that in order for an African American Baptist church to grow it needs a stellar music ministry with multiple choirs and great musicians. I've been a part of churches without large, great sounding choirs, and these churches have experienced very little growth.

Is this singing that occurs in the majority of African American Baptist churches true to biblical commands? In this particular article, I want to focus solely on congregational singing as a commandment. My simple argument is that in NT worship the whole congregation must sing the songs of the Lord---all of the songs. This would exclude choir singing.

Some will counter argue at this time that there were levitical choirs in OT temple worship; this is true. Without going into great detail, the important point to note is that there is no longer a Levitical priesthood to sing. We know from 1 Peter 2:9 that the Church is a "royal priesthood." We also know from Hebrews 13:15 that all of the people of God are to offer the sacrifice of praise. Sacrificing is a priestly duty that all of God's people are to offer through the Great High Priest, Jesus Christ. A levitical priesthood has been fulfilled in both the work of Jesus Christ and now the work of the Church in its praise of God. In brief, this is one biblical argument that precludes choir singing in NT worship.

Another argument is that there are two specific commands from Paul to sing psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs to each other (Eph 5:19; Col 3:16). There is no way to interpret these passages to mean that a choir is to assume this duty because it would mean that the members of the choir would teach and admonish each other and not the rest of the congregation. In addition to this, we have command after command in the Psalms themselves to praise, thank, and bless the Lord (see Psalm 95, Psalm 96, Psalm 103, etc.). These are commands for the people of God, not a choir.

The Reformers sought and succeeded in reforming singing in the Church during the 16th century. Luther gave the service of song back to the congregation, and so did the other Continental Reformers like Calvin. Singing in the Roman Catholic Church had become the privilege of professional singers; yes, choirs. Calvin abolished choir singing in favor of congregational singing in Strasbourg and in Geneva.

Congregational singing was dominant among Anglicans, Puritans, Methodists, and Baptists through the 19th century. Choir singing that began among Evangelicals in the mid and late 19th century was a nuance. Among African Americans during the times of slavery not only did they sing congregationally in their own congregations and mixed congregations, but also in informal prayer meetings. Even today, it is practiced in traditional "devotional services" and prayer meetings.

To reform the practice of choir singing in African American Baptist churches, it must be realized that singing is a commandment for all of the people of God; we are to sing psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs together. In worship that is dialogical, God speaks to us in the call to worship, the reading of the Scriptures, and the preaching of the Scriptures. We speak to God in praise and prayer. We are all priests; so let us offer the sacrifice of praise through our Lord Jesus Christ.

Till I come...

To the credit of what folk call traditional African American Baptist churches, there is a time for a straight reading from the Holy Scriptures. This is in obedience to Paul's command to Timothy, and by implication all ministers, found in 1 Timothy 4:13.
In that passage, Paul states, "Till I come, give attention to reading, to exhortation, to doctrine." When Paul states "give attention to reading" he means the reading of the Holy Scriptures. For Paul, the Holy Scriptures were the Old Testament. In the New Testament Church, there was still the reading of the Law, the Prophets, and the Psalms. Does this mean that we in the New Testament church have innovated in our reading of the New Testament? No. Paul commanded the Colossians to read the letter he wrote to the Laodiceans, and vice versa (see Colossians 4:16). We are to read both the Old Testament and the New Testament in the public worship.

I've seen this command executed in a few ways. First, I've seen an Old Testament passage read and a New Testament passage read at every worship service. Second, I've seen an Old Testament passage read in the morning, and a New Testament passage read in the evening. Third, I've witnessed random readings.

I believe the most useful execution of this command is to read a passage from both testaments at every worship service. This allows the worshippers to know the connection between the testaments, and comprehend that there is no disjuncture in the Holy Scriptures.

One more thing that is needed in the reading of the Holy Scriptures: one needs to give the meaning of the passage. This is what Ezra and other priests and Levites did as recorded in Nehemiah 8:1ff. The Scriptures owing to their inspired nature are able to give one the wisdom that leads to salvation that is in Christ Jesus through faith (see 2 Timohty 3:15). With explanation, the reading of the Holy Scriptures can lead sinners to salvation by the power of the Spirit. Because of this, it is important that Scripture reading should not be neglected in African American Baptist churches. Also someone qualified to teach should read the Scriptures so to give a proper interpretation of the passages. This would include ministers, lay teachers, and deacons. Children and women are disqualified biblically from reading the Scriptures in public since women are precluded to teach in public assemblies and precluded to teach men (see 1 Corinthians 14:34; 1 Timothy 2:11-15), and children are under the subjection of their parents (see Exodus 20:12; Eph 6:1-4).

Let us be churches always reforming.