1. Psalm explanations are not Bible studies. They prepare people for worship and singing. Study and worship are two different activities. To be sure, the Psalms can be studied like other parts of Scripture. However, using the Psalms in worship requires a different perspective. God gives us the Psalms to guide us in the proper expression of our own hearts’ hopes, griefs, sorrows, and joys.

Informing the mind differs from preparing the heart. Psalm explanations may inform the mind but, more importantly, they should prepare hearts to sing. They should lead members of the congregation in expressing their own soul’s love for the Savior.

2. Psalms were written for congregational choirs. Many psalms have the superscription or title, “For the Choir Director.” The Psalms were written to be sung by the levitical choirs in the Old Testament temple during the morning and evening sacrifices. Today, “we are the temple of the living God” (2 Cor. 6:16). We are also priests of God: “Like living stones [we] are being built up as a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ” (1 Pet. 2:5). Although psalms are of great encouragement to us as individuals, they are primarily designed for public, corporate worship. In the congregation we sing as individuals and lift our voices together with others. We sing to the Lord, we sing to ourselves, and we sing to others in the congregation.

3. Psalms are for all generations. David and certain of his followers authored many of the Psalms. Because David was known as “the sweet psalmist of Israel” (2 Sam. 23:1), the Book of Psalms became known as the Psalms of David. These Psalms were sung for generations after the death of David and continued to be sung in the temple during the time of Jesus. From this perspective, the Psalms are trans-generational. To the present day, the Psalms give comfort and hope to the people of God.

Since the Psalms are trans-generational, and since psalm explanations are not Bible studies, it is not important for psalm explanations to set the historical context, give the background of the author, or outline the circumstances in which a psalm was written. In fact, very few of the psalms state the circumstances in which they were written, and much that is said about them in this vein is speculative. The Psalms deal primarily with the heart—and how God deals with the hearts of men and women throughout the generations remains the same. Guiding congregants in the expression of their hearts becomes the overriding consideration in explaining the Psalms in and for worship.

4. Psalms are for all cultures. Yes, the Psalms were written within a particular culture, that of ancient Israel. Knowing something of this culture is of benefit. For example, Old Testament temple worship does have some distinctives. Understanding these distinctives is helpful in understanding the Psalms. This understanding is especially important in seeing how these Old Testament worship distinctives point to Christ and thus strike our hearts.

Another cultural distinctive is that of Hebrew poetry. Hebrew poetry is written in various forms of parallelisms. There is no rhyme or meter as in Western poetry. The result is that this form of poetry can be readily translated into any language and retain its original poetic form (making this poetry cross-cultural). Furthermore, how God deals with the hearts of men, women, young people, and children does not change from culture to culture just as it does not change from generation to generation. The accent in the Psalms is on the heart: God’s approach to our hearts and our hearts’ response to God.

In preparing to sing the Psalms in worship, we ought not to look back to David and to Israel but look up to God and to Christ. Our task is to use the words of the Psalms to freely express the content of our hearts to the God of heaven, no matter our age or generation, no matter our ethnic or cultural background. Psalm explanations should guide us into this grand purpose.

Dennis J. Prutow | reformedvoice.com/rptsprof