Psalm singing is not a natural or first choice for human nature. Our nature likes songs that put ourselves central, but the Psalms put God central. Singing about rich human faith experiences is much nicer than singing about our sins, God’s justice and salvation, God’s wrath, or the unrest of our souls.
We let church members select their favorite songs for worship. In a few years, our worship could resemble what the church members like. Being in such a situation, having lost the singing of Psalms in his church denomination, Dr. John Witvliet challenges pastors:
“šš«š š²šØš® š š¢šÆš¢š§š šš”š š©ššØš©š„š šØš ššØš ššš±šš¬ ššØ š¬š¢š§š šš”šš š°š¢š„š„ ššØšš” šš±š©š«šš¬š¬ šš”š šš±š©šš«š¢šš§ššš¬ šš”šš² šš„š«šššš² š”ššÆš ššš ššØš«š¦ šš”šš¦ ššØš« šš±š©šš«š¢šš§ššš¬ šš”šš² š”ššÆš š§šØš š²šš š”šš? ā£ā£šš«š š²šØš® šš„š„šØš°š¢š§š šš”š Pš¬šš„š¦š¬ ššØ šš«šš¢š§ š©ššØš©š„š ššØ š¬šš² ššØ ššØš š°š”šš šš”šš² š°šØš®š„š š§ššÆšš« š¬šš² šØš§ šš”šš¢š« šØš°š§?”
We commonly distinguish between traditional and contemporary worship, even in our CanRC churches. Witvliet identifies another level: worship is either “merely expressive” or “expressive and formative.” Formative worship is challenging but intended by God. And… it may not make our pastors popular…
Witvliet’s prayer is that “God’s Spirit may use the Psalms to sculpt our souls, to shape our desire, and to deepen our capacity for communion with God and one another.”
