Practical question about Psalm singing in church

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StevieG

Puritan Board Freshman
Hello everyone,

I haven't been a part of a church that singings Psalms at all for a long time and as I train for ordination as a minister at the moment this is one of a number of things I'm thinking about how to best introduce when I get to that stage and also encourage Psalm singing in the church that I am currently placed/training in.

My question is about how your church practically goes about singing the Psalms each week? This isn't an EP/Non-EP question or whether we should use music or not, but specifically about how your church works through them each week. Do you simply start at Psalm 1 and work through to 150 and then back to the start; balance between the five books or are they picked to fit in with the themes of the sermon that particular Sunday?
 
In our congregation we will pick usually 2 or 3 psalms from a mix of both the 1650 Scottish Psalter and the ‘Sing Psalms’ book and ending (usually) on a classic hymn.
These are picked thematically according to the preaching text.
We sing acapella with a precenter taking up the psalm.
 
Steven,
Generally we will connect psalm selections to the theme or themes to be preached on. The opening psalm may be more generally focussed on worshipping, praising and thanking God - a psalm of adoration, but its generally possible to accomplish that end and connect to the theme that the sermon will major on.

So for example I recently began a series on Genesis. The psalms for that morning were:
Psalm 19:1-4 - I explained how that the created world displays God's power and glory etc....
Psalms 19: 5-9 - i explained how the world around us was marvellous, that it was inadequate on its own to reveal salvation etc.. thus we need special revelation in God's Word. Genesis is specialy revelation that explains the world around us.
We concluded by singing the creation Psalm 104 (some of it, the last part actually) which described God's joy in creation and the wisdom of those who study his works and yet also recognising that the Christ who created is coming and will bring this world to an end.

For another example it was communion last Sabbath morning and we sang the following. Our theme for our Communion Service was Romans 5:6-11 God shows his love for us in that while we yet sinners Christ died for us.

Psalm 32 - I explained the blessedness of justification through faith in Christ....how by him we are forgiven, reconcilded etc.
Psalm 103 - first few stanzas - which show us that "he" is the one who redeems etc.
Psalm 23 at the table....which sets before us the bountiful table of Christ's supplies.
Psalm 24 to conclude - our hope of entrance into heaven...because Christ the King of glory in his death conquered death for his people.

I think it is important to briefly explain the psalm, the section of it to be sung, the purpose you have chosen it, and also particularly explain it as a psalm of Christ, about Christ in his person and work, one way or another.
 
Our Psalms are typically connected with the sermon. If we open worship with a Psalm, it will be concerned with praise and adoration. The only time we really ever go sequentially is for the “Song of Preparation,” which is the song before the reading and preaching of the Word, in which we will often sing sequentially through Psalm 119 over many weeks.
 
My Psalm and other song selections are often connected to themes around the sermon but can also be simply tied to the part of the service we're singing them in, like Taylor said they do, around praise and adoration or confession and forgiveness of sin. I'm interested in the idea of singing through the Psalter, but with the Psalter we use some of the selections would probably quite difficult for our congregation so it's something I'm not going to do for at least awhile.
 
I think it is important to briefly explain the psalm, the section of it to be sung, the purpose you have chosen it, and also particularly explain it as a psalm of Christ, about Christ in his person and work, one way or another.

Your sentence above is the very heart of grasping the grandeur and magnificence of singing the Psalms over against man-made hymns.

It hit me like a locomotive about 22 years ago. I could probably tell you the mile marker on the country road where I was riding my Suzuki Hayabusa when it struck me while I was reciting Psalm 1:

Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly,
nor standeth in the way of sinners,
nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful.

But his delight is in the law of the LORD,
and in his law doth he meditate day and night.

And he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water,
that bringeth forth his fruit in his season
his leaf also shall not wither,
and whatsoever he doeth shall prosper.

That's as far as I got when, as a mighty rushing wind, accompanied with wonder, awe, and strong crying, I saw the truth.
I was singing about Jesus, with Jesus, and to Jesus' wondrous person, all the glory of the Triune God. And I was never the same.

Since that day, I sing only the Psalms in my private devotions--often two or three of them from the 1650 Psalter. I sing them serially from 1-150 but occasionally go to a particular Psalm as I am led.

O, if I could only tell you of the myriad of times I was granted an audience and allowed to see the Father's beautiful face in the singing, you would be convinced and converted to Psalm singing for the rest of your life.

I am sure and know from experience that not even all EPers have as yet seen the Glory that is so often my privilege. The singing of the Psalms is, and should be, so much more than just "the proper way to worship."

soli Deo Gloria
 
I'm interested in the idea of singing through the Psalter, but with the Psalter we use some of the selections would probably quite difficult for our congregation so it's something I'm not going to do for at least awhile.
This is the beauty of the 1650 Psalter and common meter tunes. ;)
 
We have a mix. One of our selections is sequentially moving through the Psalter, one Psalm per month. That helps repeat exposure to a Psalm to learn it. One of our selections is sequentially moving through the Psalter, one Psalm per week. This helps keep breadth and exposure, and it is accompanied by a Psalm explanation before singing. The rest of the Psalm selections are thematic and tied to the sermon.
 
We usually pick Psalms that tie into the sermon themes in some way (although as others have mentioned, sometimes we'll select a Psalm simply for its place in the service i.e. confession, adoration, etc...)
 
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Psalms are chosen based on their connection to the themes of the sermon. In family worship it is customary to sing through the psalter from one time of worship to the next. It's the same with reading through Scripture.
 
This is the beauty of the 1650 Psalter and common meter tunes. ;)
Yes it is! But I think, at least for me and probably the rest of our Session, the archaic language would be a deal breaker, at least for using it to sing through the whole Psalter. But that's a discussion for a different thread!
 
At DRPC, I preach a psalm of the month every month. That particular psalm is sung the whole month as the opening psalm of the services. Other than that, the other psalms in our services are associated with the sermon theme.

The preaching of a psalm each month allows us to sing with the understanding (1 Corinthians 14:15) through the entire psalter over time. And then singing through the themes of sermons in other services reinforces the preaching (and helps show the people of God they can turn to the psalm book for all their needs).
 
At DRPC, I preach a psalm of the month every month. That particular psalm is sung the whole month as the opening psalm of the services. Other than that, the other psalms in our services are associated with the sermon theme.

The preaching of a psalm each month allows us to sing with the understanding (1 Corinthians 14:15) through the entire psalter over time. And then singing through the themes of sermons in other services reinforces the preaching (and helps show the people of God they can turn to the psalm book for all their needs).
In addition to those benefits, I'll add that I've found that singing a Psalm of the month is a really good way to introduce a Psalm setting that may be unfamiliar and a little challenging for the congregation at first. The end result is that the congregation not only has a Psalm they can sing with greater understanding (even if you don't preach on it) but another song the that the congregation thinks of as among "our" songs that we all know and sing really well.

It's a great practice and may be a little easier than just working your way consecutively through the Psalter in most congregations.
 
In addition to those benefits, I'll add that I've found that singing a Psalm of the month is a really good way to introduce a Psalm setting that may be unfamiliar and a little challenging for the congregation at first. The end result is that the congregation not only has a Psalm they can sing with greater understanding (even if you don't preach on it) but another song the that the congregation thinks of as among "our" songs that we all know and sing really well.

It's a great practice and may be a little easier than just working your way consecutively through the Psalter in most congregations.
This isn't directly related to the OP, but one thing our church does on this matter of unfamiliar Psalm tunes is we have a fifteen-minute Psalm-sing before evening worship every Lord's Day. This is where people (usually the children) can raise their hands and call out a Psalm for us to sing together. We've learned several new tunes this way. Very low pressure. We've also had a time of teaching new Psalms for a half-hour or so after our monthly fellowship meal.
 
This isn't directly related to the OP, but one thing our church does on this matter of unfamiliar Psalm tunes is we have a fifteen-minute Psalm-sing before evening worship every Lord's Day. This is where people (usually the children) can raise their hands and call out a Psalm for us to sing together. We've learned several new tunes this way. Very low pressure. We've also had a time of teaching new Psalms for a half-hour or so after our monthly fellowship meal.
I love that practice but it can be tough on many accompanists (or, at least I'd imagine so, for a congregation that sings acappella without great ability to read music) to do on the fly without preparation. I'd love to be able to do that someday, but we're not there yet and I don't have the musical ability to make it happen. It's a blessing when it can be done though!
 
Your sentence above is the very heart of grasping the grandeur and magnificence of singing the Psalms over against man-made hymns.

It hit me like a locomotive about 22 years ago. I could probably tell you the mile marker on the country road where I was riding my Suzuki Hayabusa when it struck me while I was reciting Psalm 1:

Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly,
nor standeth in the way of sinners,
nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful.

But his delight is in the law of the LORD,
and in his law doth he meditate day and night.

And he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water,
that bringeth forth his fruit in his season
his leaf also shall not wither,
and whatsoever he doeth shall prosper.

That's as far as I got when, as a mighty rushing wind, accompanied with wonder, awe, and strong crying, I saw the truth.
I was singing about Jesus, with Jesus, and to Jesus' wondrous person, all the glory of the Triune God. And I was never the same.

Since that day, I sing only the Psalms in my private devotions--often two or three of them from the 1650 Psalter. I sing them serially from 1-150 but occasionally go to a particular Psalm as I am led.

O, if I could only tell you of the myriad of times I was granted an audience and allowed to see the Father's beautiful face in the singing, you would be convinced and converted to Psalm singing for the rest of your life.

I am sure and know from experience that not even all EPers have as yet seen the Glory that is so often my privilege. The singing of the Psalms is, and should be, so much more than just "the proper way to worship."

soli Deo Gloria
What a great testimony Ed, a blessing to read.
 
I love that practice but it can be tough on many accompanists (or, at least I'd imagine so, for a congregation that sings acappella without great ability to read music) to do on the fly without preparation. I'd love to be able to do that someday, but we're not there yet and I don't have the musical ability to make it happen. It's a blessing when it can be done though!
As one of our church’s accompanists, that is why I practice my sight reading. ;)
 
This isn't directly related to the OP, but one thing our church does on this matter of unfamiliar Psalm tunes is we have a fifteen-minute Psalm-sing before evening worship every Lord's Day. This is where people (usually the children) can raise their hands and call out a Psalm for us to sing together. We've learned several new tunes this way. Very low pressure. We've also had a time of teaching new Psalms for a half-hour or so after our monthly fellowship meal.

We do this once a month instead of the education hour. It’s quite helpful and a number of us, me included, who see sheet music as a bunch of random dots on a page are able to pick up new tunes rather quickly.
 
Thanks to everyone who has responded to my question! This has been a really encouraging read, especially what @Ed Walsh said in post 6. I've been singing Psalms from the Sing Psalms book in my personal devotions for a while now and found it to be an extremely enriching experience of worship. This is what has specifically prompted the question and desire to help introduce Psalm singing into my church.

It seems really simply after reading it, but I love the idea of preaching on a Psalm at the start of the month and then using that Psalm of the whole month to help the congregation learn it.

Do many churches end up singing through the entire Psalter in a year? Or does it normally take a few years to cover it all if you are reusing individual Psalms over a few weeks?
 
We are FCC so we sing only psalms. One thing we do that any congregation can do is sing through the psalter consecutively. That way you sing they the whole psalter roughly once a year. We use the 1650 psalter.
 
My congregation is IP. In the morning service, we generally do one or more Psalms per Lord's Day, supplemented with hymns. Usually the Psalm selection(s) are tied to the sermon theme/text. Also certain Psalms are used for other occasional parts of worship. For example, a selection of Psalm 116 (with emphasis around Psalm 116:13) is used often after taking Communion; Psalm 133 used when new members join; etc.

In the evening, we sing more Psalms and use it as a time to better learn our Psalter.
 
I've gradually been introducing psalm singing to our congregation. I selected a dozen or so to learn and we introduced them and went back and repeated a few times as we introduced a new one. The following year I selected another dozen to learn and rotated them into the mix. So we cycle through them in canonical order with a pattern of introduce and the next time repeating. This is more for learning to sing them than any other reason.
We alternate Lord's Days reciting and singing a psalm as the congregation learns.
 
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