Is it Sinful to Sing Hymns Other than the Psalms in Worship?

Is it sinful to sing hymns other than the psalms in worship?

  • Yes, only unaccompanied psalms should be sung in worship.

    Votes: 4 18.2%
  • Yes, only psalms should be sung in worship; accompaniment is acceptable.

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • No, it is not sinful to sing hymns other than the psalms is worship.

    Votes: 18 81.8%

  • Total voters
    22

Soyeong

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I'm confused about why this is even an issue. The Psalms are certainly a good source of inspiration for worship songs, but there is nothing in the Bible that says our songs must be from the Psalms and be unaccompanied. Even David used a harp. Was it a sin to sing worship songs to God before the Psalms were written? There were many different instruments used in the Bible and the only time God rejected worship was when it didn't come from the heart.
 
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SinnerInTheHands

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I'm confused about why this is even an issue. The Psalms are certainly a good source of inspiration for worship songs, but there is nothing in the Bible that says our songs must be from the Psalms and be unaccompanied. Even David used a harp. Was it a sin to sing worship songs to God before the Psalms were written? There were many different instruments used in the Bible and the only time God rejected worship was when it didn't come from the heart.

Most Presbyterians [who this thread was solely intended for] would historically abide by what is called the regulative principle of worship.

"Everything that I command you, you shall be careful to do. You shall not add to it or take from it." [Deuteronomy 12:32]

Thus, it argues that we are only to do in worship that which is set out in Scripture, and nothing more.
 
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Calvinist Dark Lord

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I'm confused about why this is even an issue. The Psalms are certainly a good source of inspiration for worship songs, but there is nothing in the Bible that says our songs must be from the Psalms and be unaccompanied. Even David used a harp. Was it a sin to sing worship songs to God before the Psalms were written? There were many different instruments used in the Bible and the only time God rejected worship was when it didn't come from the heart.
There are some on this particular forum who would strongly disagree with that assessment. i am not among them. It seems to me that they would have a lot of scripture to rationalise away.

However, the basic premise would be that the Old Testament temple service with it's regulations passed away with the advent, much the same way that the Old Testament ceremonial law passed away. Never mind that the worship of the New Testament was based on the highly liturgical, fixed form temple service.

i have some issues with the theory that all aspects of the worship service were a part of the Old Covenant and only applicable to that time.
 
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Soyeong

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Most Presbyterians [who this thread was solely intended for] would historically abide by what is called the regulative principle of worship.

"Everything that I command you, you shall be careful to do. You shall not add to it or take from it." [Deuteronomy 12:32]

Thus, it argues that we are only to do in worship that which is set out in Scripture, and nothing more.

Ah, that makes a little bit more sense, but still, that's talking about adding to God's law or taking away from it, so if they are adding a law that it is a sin to sing anything other than unaccompanied Psalms, then they are actually violating the very same law that they are seeking to obey.
 
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SinnerInTheHands

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Ah, that makes a little bit more sense, but still, that's talking about adding to God's law or taking away from it, so if they are adding a law that it is a sin to sing anything other than unaccompanied Psalms, then they are actually violating the very same law that they are seeking to obey.

Again, this was meant to be a discussion of Reformed practice amongst modern Presbyterians.
 
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SinnerInTheHands

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i have some issues with the theory that all aspects of the worship service were a part of the Old Covenant and only applicable to that time.

Not all aspects of liturgy were a part of the Old Covenant, unless you're speaking exclusively to Temple Worship.
 
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BryanW92

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Again, this was meant to be a discussion of Reformed practice amongst modern Presbyterians.

I'm PCA and we don't sing Psalms. I agree with Soyeong's statement about there being no law regarding Psalms only.
 
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Calvinist Dark Lord

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Not all aspects of liturgy were a part of the Old Covenant, unless you're speaking exclusively to Temple Worship.
Yes, that particular thought was concerning the Temple worship as laid out in Leviticus and other locations.

i do agree that not all aspects are part of the Old Covenant. It is when we start determining which are no longer operative that we get into trouble.

My own view is that i do not believe exclusive Psalmody was God's perfect will in the matter of worship, however, i believe it is permissible under the freedom of the Regulative Principle. i have often worshipped with congregations who practise exclusive Psalmody with no objections what-so-ever. i've even contemplated joining one such congregation (RPCNA)
 
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SinnerInTheHands

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On Psalms only, see Col 3:16

Thank you for bringing up Colossians 3:16. I always love analyzing and rebutting this verse when people quote it against the exclusive use of psalms.

Now the verse in Greek reads:

ὁ λόγος τοῦ Χριστοῦ ἐνοικείτω ἐν ὑμῖν πλουσίως , ἐν πάσῃ σοφίᾳ διδάσκοντες καὶ νουθετοῦντες ἑαυτοὺς , ψαλμοῖς , ὕμνοις , ᾠδαῖς πνευματικαῖς , ἐν τῇ χάριτι ᾄδοντες , ἐν ταῖς καρδίαις ὑμῶν , τῷ Θεῷ .
Or, transliterated:

Ho logos tou Christou enoikeitō en hymin plousiōs , en pasē sophia didaskontes kai nouthetountes heautous , psalmois , hymnois , ōdais pneumatikais , en tē chariti adontes , en tais kardiais hymōn tō Theō .
In English [ESV]:

"Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God."
Thus, the three titles we are most concerned with within this passage are ψαλμοῖς [psalmois], ὕμνοις [hymnois] and ᾠδαῖς πνευματικαῖς [ōdais pneumatikais], lit. psalms, hymns, and songs spiritual.

Now, quoting an article on the subject by a Reformed blogger:

"According to tradition, based on the letter of Aristeas, the Hebrew Scriptures were translated into Greek in the second half of the 3rd century BC. It is called the “Septuagint” (LXX) because legend has it that it was translated by 72 scholars in 72 days. Whatever one makes of the story or even the quality of the translation (it varies from book to book) “the importance of the Septuagint,” says NT scholar Stanley Porter, “cannot be underestimated.” He continues by noting that the “Septuagint constituted the set of sacred writings for early Christians….” The first-century (apostolic) church used the LXX more than any other form (translation) of the Old Testament. The NT writers, under the inspiration of the Spirit, quoted one OT book, from the LXX, more than any other: the Psalms. Of the Psalms the most quoted is Psalm 110. We cannot doubt that the NT church was familiar with the 150 Psalms." [Found here].
Can you guess what was written under each psalm within the Septuagint, the LXX?

I'll tell you: four categories.

- ψαλμός [psalmos; psalms], used for Psalms 2-8, 10-14, 18-24, 28-30, 37-40, 42-43, 45-50, 61-67, 72, 74-76, 78-84, 86-87, 91, 93, 97-100, 107-109, 138-140, and 142.

- σύνεσις [sunesis; understanding], used for Psalms 31, 41, 43-44, 51-54, 73, 77, 87-88, and 141.

- ὕμνος [humnos; hymns], used for Psalms 5, 53-54, 60, 66, and 75.

- ᾠδή [ódé; ode/song], used for Psalms 3, 17, 29, 38, 44, 47, 64-67, 74-75, 82, 86-87, 90-92, 94-95, 107, and 119-133.
Three of these should look familiar. Why? Because Paul references them in Colossians 3:16.

He tells us to sing psalms [ψαλμοῖς (psalmois)], hymns [ὕμνοις (hymnois)], and songs spiritual [ᾠδαῖς πνευματικαῖς (ōdais pneumatikais)], directly corresponding with the LXX distinctions of ψαλμός , ὕμνος , and ᾠδή . But that's not all Paul writes. He also tells us to "teach and admonish one another in all wisdom [σοφίᾳ]." Arguably, though Paul uses different words, we could stretch and say that he refers in this verse to all four categories, with σοφίᾳ matching σύνεσις. Arguably.

Now, this is by no means "official" or "doctrine," but it does shed an interesting light on the verse.

Food for thought, per se.

Here's a good article on the subject: http://heidelblog.net/2012/09/psalms-hymns-and-spiritual-songs-in-the-septuagint/
 
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SinnerInTheHands

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Yes, that particular thought was concerning the Temple worship as laid out in Leviticus and other locations.

i do agree that not all aspects are part of the Old Covenant. It is when we start determining which are no longer operative that we get into trouble.

My own view is that i do not believe exclusive Psalmody was God's perfect will in the matter of worship, however, i believe it is permissible under the freedom of the Regulative Principle. i have often worshipped with congregations who practise exclusive Psalmody with no objections what-so-ever. i've even contemplated joining one such congregation (RPCNA)

I like the RPCNA. Problem is it's so small.
 
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hedrick

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On Col 3:16: These terms are used elsewhere in the NT, and not in the way post 14 describes. There are headings on a number of the Psalms suggesting what categories they fall into, but that doesn't mean that they are technical terms for parts of the book of Psalms. The natural conclusion of the article quoted in post 14 would be that those three words cover the whole range of Christian songs, and thus they cover the whole range of Psalms. The article doesn't try to argue that they are technical terms for sections of the Psalms.

There's a nice detailed treatment of Col 3:16 in the Word commentary, but it's a bit too long to quote here. Indeed in 1 Cor 14:26, the context suggests that people are inspired by the Spirit with new songs.
 
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Calvinist Dark Lord

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I like the RPCNA. Problem is it's so small.
Not in my part of the country. i'm from the Pittsburgh area. The RPCNA seminary is in Pittsburgh, they have a major college (Geneva College) in Beaver Falls PA, and there are about five or six congregations within an easy drive from my home.
 
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SinnerInTheHands

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Not in my part of the country. i'm from the Pittsburgh area. The RPCNA seminary is in Pittsburgh, they have a major college (Geneva College) in Beaver Falls PA, and there are about five or six congregations within an easy drive from my home.

I'm in Chicago, so there's only one about an hour train drive north of me.
 
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hedrick

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Except for the fact that that's exactly what the article tries to argue for.

Nope. The article claims to show that those three terms are used in the superscriptions to Psalms. All that shows is that they are all common Greek terms for describing songs. For your argument to work, they need to be technical terms referring to the book of Psalms.

I don't doubt that the author of Col was using recognized terms for songs, as that article says. I just doubt that the recognized terms would have been understood as limits to songs in the book of Psalms.
 
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