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The Reading Room - Articles
Biblical and Confessional Worship Part 1
Among the many articles written in the Westminster Confession of Faith is a segment devoted to worship in the Church. The twenty-first chapter lays down guidelines for religious worship and Christian Sabbath day observance. These paragraphs contain many sound propositions that stimulate a solid and spiritual worship, both in the assembly of saints and in private devotions. The forethought given by the Westminster divines is quite evident. Their chief concern was that the worship of God should remain biblical and pure, and that the man-made superstitions that permeated Roman Catholicism be rejected conclusively.
However, this section of the confession has not been received without its share of disputations. Controversies have swirled around the ramifications of the Sabbath commandment propounded in paragraphs 7 and 8, and the small phrase in paragraph 5 (“singing of psalms with grace in the heart”), which some take to mean exclusive psalm singing (WCF 21:5, 7-8).
This article will not delve into the reasons why Christians should observe the Sunday Sabbath day, but it will examine the idea of exclusive psalmody and worship in the Church overall. Should the book of Psalms be the Church’s only hymnal? Is it wrong, or even sinful to use another portion of the Bible in worship, or are most of our churches in error because we sing such non-canonical hymns as “A Mighty Fortress” or “The Church’s One Foundation?” In answer to these questions I believe that to use the whole Bible, and even many non-canonical hymns, is both biblical and in agreement with the Confession of Faith. Our churches are not in error by incorporating these things into worship.
Before defending the above proposition, we must acknowledge that the book of Psalms has been the inspired hymnal of the Church for 3,000 years. The liturgies of ancient Israel, the Apostolic Church, and the visible Church down through the centuries, have all used the Psalter. By no means should the modern Church ever feel that an improvement over the Psalms could be possible. On the other hand, many other books of the Bible contain songs and hymns that were sung by the ancient Church. These inspired verses need to be used as readily as the Psalter in our worship services.
As mentioned above, the proponents of exclusive psalmody base their argument on the small phrase in chapter 21 “...singing of Psalms with grace in the heart (paragraph 5).” The problem with this approach is that they are using a sound, but uninspired confession as their proof-text. The Westminster Confession of Faith was never intended to be the criterion for worship, theology, or practice. The Westminster divines gave the Standards to the Church as a framework, and to point the way back to the only criterion for worship, the Holy Scriptures. The very first entry in the chapter under discussion states,
“But the acceptable way of worshipping the true God is instituted by himself, and so limited by his own revealed will, that he may not be worshipped according to the imaginations and devices of man, or the suggestions of Satan, under any visible representation, or any other way not prescribed in the Holy Scriptures (WCF 21:1).”
The Shorter Catechism is also in agreement with this proposition,
Q: “What rule hath God given to direct us how we may glorify and enjoy him?”
A: The word of God, which is contained in the scriptures of the Old and New Testaments, is the only rule to direct us how we may glorify and enjoy him (WSC 2).
These two excerpts from the Confession show where the Westminster divines wanted their emphasis to be. The articles produced at Westminster Abbey were never to usurp authority over the Bible. They were to point the way back to the Sacred text for further study.
The proposition from WCF 21:5 is taken from scripture, but the whole verse is not given. Both Ephesians and Colossians give the full blown picture of what the Apostle Paul intended to say, “But be filled with the Spirit; speaking to yourselves in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord...(Eph. 5:19).” In this verse, as well as the similar text in Colossians 3:16, Paul does not give the New Testament order of worship per se, but rather manifests to the Church what it really means to be filled with the Holy Spirit. The five participles in the Ephesians text--speaking, singing, making melody, giving thanks, and submitting (in verses 19-21)--are all used with an adverbial idea in mind, modifying the commandment, “But be filled with the Spirit.” In Colossians participles are also used to show how the Word of Christ is to dwell in us richly.
Although the worship service of the Early Church is not the main thrust of these two passages, Paul evidently envisioned these actions taking place when the churches assembled together, whether it was in an informal gathering or on the Lord’s Day. If this is true, what does the Apostle mean by psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs? Those who hold to exclusive psalm singing believe that these three types of songs refer exclusively to the Psalter. They arrive at this conclusion because the three Greek words that are used in Ephesians and Colossians are found in the Greek translation of the Book of Psalms. This, however, is a weak argument; one can find the same words in the Greek translation of Isaiah.1
Without belaboring the definitions of these words too much, there is a distinction in meaning among the three. The word psalmos (psalms) refers to songs being sung with musical accompaniment, and probably denotes the psalms in the Old Testament. Humnoi (hymns) were songs of praise to deities or public heroes, while Christian humnoi exalted the living Christ. Odai pneumatikai (spiritual songs) could be either spontaneous singing in the Spirit, or songs of a spiritual nature contrasted with their secular counterparts. It is obvious as one studies the New Testament that saints in the Church wrote and sang spiritual songs to praise their Savior. The Greek meanings behind these English words seem to indicate that the early Church used more than the Book of Psalms when it met together in worship.
1 See Rev. Ed Crawford’s paper on, “The Music of the Church” -(pg.4 para. 2.)
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