God's Hymnbook

http://www.christianitytoday.com/ch/booksandresources/miscellaneous/godshymnbook.html

[Christianity Tday] 3 Sep 2009--In Reformed churches people sing a lot, and what strikes outsiders is that they bring their own songbooks to the service. That many mothers have a stack of them to take to church every Sunday can be blamed on Calvin. God must be given praise, and those who know him do nothing more readily. God's Word demands a response, and singing is one means of response, preferably using God's own hymnbook, the Psalms. Calvin appealed to Augustine, who also thought there were no better songs than the psalms of David. For Calvin there was an existential element in them as well, because he saw many parallels between his own life and that of David. In the same way, he saw similar kinds of parallels between the Protestants in France and the Israelites in Egypt, the church militant and Israel in the desert, and scattered Protestants and Jews in the Diaspora. Such parallels were just too evident and suggestive not to invite comparisons and connections, and so the Psalms were understood with clear reference to the circumstances in which Calvin and the members of his congregation found themselves. The Psalms became songs for a pilgrim church, for believers who knew heaven to be their home country and were at home nowhere on earth. The Reformed became so attached to this collection that they sang from it in prosperity and adversity, while sailing the seas, fighting on battlefields, and while waiting on their deathbeds.

Behind this high view of singing there was a fear of at least two problems. The first was the problem of the silent congregation. As the Reformers saw it, Rome had muzzled the congregation. The priest sang in incomprehensible Latin, and if there was a choir, it took responsibility for what the congregation should actually do. Thus, Calvin wanted to do away with clergy and choirs that took the place of the congregation. If the Scriptures said that God was praised even from the mouths of infants (Ps 8:2), young and old should sing, should be taught to sing, and should be given something to sing from. In short, a songbook was needed. There was, however, a second problem as well. It was through song that errors could come into church. Songs were more memorable than sermons, and since there were many songs containing unbiblical elements, Calvin thought one should not go beyond the Scriptures. On the one hand, music could strengthen the work of the Word. When Isaiah said that he wanted to sing to God (Is 5:1), Calvin commented that teaching was readily communicated in song than in a "less lustrous" manner. On the other hand, however, because melody was like a funnel whereby wine could be poured into a barrel, poison and corruption could also quickly enter one's heart if the wrong words were set to music. Why would one run the risk of singing human interpretations when a divinely-approved, ready-made songbook could be found within the Scriptures? It is, after all, the understanding of what one is singing that constitutes the difference between a singing bird and a singing person. The heart seeks understanding, and understanding delights the heart. The heart wants to pray; music and song stimulate prayer; and so it comes full circle for Calvin. …