Man Discovers Jesus’ Hymnal

What if I told you that it’s possible to sing the very songs that Jesus sang in worship? What if I told you that a man recently discovered those very songs? It’s true. Joe Holland, Pastor of Christ Covenant Presbyterian Church (PCA) tells the story at 9Marks (HT: Aquila Report). Like a lot of other evangelicals, Joe came to seminary without much awareness of the Psalms. He knew hymns and contemporary worship songs but not the Psalter. His Greek prof, however, required him to pick up a copy of the Trinity Psalter for class. Joe was puzzled. What hath the Trinity Psalter to do with New Testament Greek? Much in every way! As part of class they began with a psalm (a capital idea!) That was his introduction to the Psalms, Jesus’ songbook/hymnal. Our Lord used no other songbook.

Joe spent some time in the Peruvian mountains where he came into contact with a Presbyterian pastor, who explained to him why Reformed folk sing God’s Word in worship. He reports:

We had a long conversation about why this was their practice, but one reason stood out to me. He was fighting heresy in the churches he pastored. False teaching slipped into his churches through folk songs adjusted for worship. Psalm singing was his attempt to guard his people from heresy sung to a familiar tune. Psalms served that growing community of churches as a biblical bulwark against encroaching syncretism. Reflecting on that conversation, I realized that I had become a psalm singer through missions.

Joe lists six benefits of singing from Jesus’ songbook:

1. When you sing psalms you literally sing the Bible.
2. When you sing the psalms you interact with a wealth of theology.
3. When you sing the psalms you are memorizing Scripture.
4. When you sing the psalms you guard against heresy.
5. When you sing the psalms you sing with the full range of human emotion.
6. When you sing the psalms you praise the person and work of Jesus Christ.

He also gives four steps toward recovering Jesus’ songbook:

1. Find a Psalter you can sing (he gives some good options)
2. Know your Bible.
3. To sing the psalms well you must understand how the psalms direct us to the person and work of Jesus Christ.
4. The fourth thing you and your congregation will need is the willingness to try something new.

Read it all here:
http://heidelblog.net/2014/03/man-discovers-jesus-hymnal/