Sing Psalms

Once I made the trek down, “How would I do it” lane, I stumbled across some folks who were adamant that we should be singing the psalms.

A quick note about “How would I do it” lane: avoid at all costs!

Alas, I found myself there, and I have been truly blessed by the suggestion of those godly folks to sing the psalms. Some were from the CREC, some were Reformed Baptists, some were RPCNA. An interesting intersection if you know anything about what those letters mean.

So, I think we should be singing the psalms in worship. Every psalm in the Bible. One way I put it is this:

There are 150 songs we should be singing before Amazing Grace.

Yes, this includes the imprecatory psalms. When Colossians and Ephesians say to sing “psalms and hymns and spiritual songs”, I do think it means all the psalms written in the Bible.

So, how should they be sung? Many musicians have put the psalms to music. There’s a rich history of metrical psalms. Some of them rhyme, some of them don’t (for good reasons). Contemporary artists have put the psalms to music (Shane & Shane come to mind). Step one is to sing the psalms.

What’s step two? Well, I guess I’m writing this so that you will experience what I think is the best way to sing the psalms. I’m even going to link to something!

It’s called chanting, and it’s fantastic.

Instead of the lyrics of the psalm being subservient to the music, chanting allows for it to be the other way around. Long lines can stay long; short lines short. It doesn’t have to rhyme in the least bit. In the psalms, it’s the thoughts that rhyme.

Anyhow, give it a listen. You just might like it.