GOD MADE THE PSALMS TO BE SUNG

It should be clear in scripture—God made the psalms to be sung. This is what the word “psalm” means. It is from a Hebrew word meaning to make music. Some say the original root points to instrumental music making. But the word clearly came to be used of vocal music. “Psalm,” then is a synonym of “song.”

Second, the psalm inscriptions are filled with musical terms. They were delivered “to the chief musician,” as one translation would put it. The phrase, however it is translated, refers to a leader of music in some capacity.

Third, Ephesians 5:19 and Colossians 3:16 refer to psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs as being sung. “Singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord” is at the core of our spiritual life in both of these passages. Even in the New Testament, with Jews and Gentiles, the psalms were to be sung.

Finally—an illustration. A mother makes a birthday cake for a son. A cake communicates by the words on the cake, but also by its sweetness in eating. The words could say, “Happy birthday! We love you!” But also, the sweetness of taste conveys the sweetness of the love in a way that words alone cannot. Mom does not simply want her son to read the words on the cake and never eat it. She labored over the sweetness and the beauty of the cake. (Nor does Mom want the son to savor the sugar without getting the message of the words, of course). Likewise, God wants us to get the word-message of the psalm, but also experience the sweetness of it in singing. He wrote the psalms to be sung!