FROM THE LIBRARY OF REV. LOUIS FITZGERALD BENSON, D. D. BEQUEATHED BY HIM TO THE LIBRARY OF PRINCETON THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY Him : l Whither shall I go from thy Spirit, or flee from thy presence ?" ? § III. The Psalms furnish a full and accurate exhibition of man's natural state and character before God, and in contrast with His ineffable ?najesty and holiness : thus summed up by the same eminent writer from whom we have already quoted : "/)ur apprehension of the majesty and holiness of Goa should be accompanied by a sense of our ow r u nothingness and sin." The Psal- mist, alluding to the statement in Genesis, speaks of mfcn^as made a little lower than God (Luther), that God hath pu: all tilings under His feet, and glories in the iactthat man, though externally more helpless than any other creature, does by virtue of his godlike soul w r ield the government of nature. (Ps. viii.) Yet how defective is that corninion at present! (Vide ad. Ps. viii. 7.) * Hen. i. 5. t Heb. i. 8. J Ibid, verse in. § Alexander Gordon's "Design and Use of the Look of Psalms'': Phila., 1822. Mr. ' rordoa was pastor of the Associate Presbyterian congregation, Guinaton. 38 THE TRUE PSALMODY. How small is the manifestation of that dignity, the ca- parity oi which man certainly possesses ! — how circum- scribed and humbling his present bodily existence ! — how much exposed to accident, and how soon destroyed ! Hence David says : c The Lord knoweth our frame : he remembereth that we are dust. As for man, his days are as grass : as a flower of the field, so he flou- risheth. For the wind passeth over it and it is gone, and the place thereof shall know it no more.' (Ps. ciii. 14 — 16.) * Surely men of low degree are vanity, and men of high degree a lie : to be laid in the balance, they are altogether lighter than vanity.' (Ps. lxii. 9.) And in the eighth Psalm, which celebrates the dignity of man, he exclaims, in contemplation of the infinity and greatnesSkOf God in His works : ' What is man, that thou art mindful of him, and the son of man, that thou visitest him V Thus do the Psalms speak of the impotencyand finitenessofman. Thus our perishable condition is by no means the necessary and: absolute barrier of created existence, but the effect of internal discord originated by sin. It manifests ' the wrath of God because of sin.' (Of. Ps. xc. 7 — D.) The authors of the Psalms are so alive to a senso of guilt, that the voice of their conscience is audible amid all the accidental trials and sorrows of life, and i the mis- chiefs perpetrated by enemies, and that they; acknow- ledge the justice of the Divine chastisements. i(Ad. Ps. xxxviii. 21 ; cxli. 5.) They feel themselves nol entitled to the reception of Divine blessings without tl e confes- sion of their unworthiness. The exultant spring song of praise in Psalm lxv. is preceded by a confession of sin. They acknowledge that, were God to eiter into judgment with man, and to mark his iniquit could stand before Him (Ps. cxxx. 3 ; cxliii. Kings viii. 40 ; Eccl. vii. 21 ; Job ix. 2 ; xiv 14 — 10) ; that unconscious sin, regarded as a condition which apparently contradicts the original of a pure and holy human kind, needs the Divine forgiveness ; that es, none p. ; cf. 1 4 ; xv. THE TRUE PSALMODY. 39 sinfulness does not enter into our nature by imitation from without, but that it is in us from the first stages of our existence. (Ps. li. 7.) Far from seeking a ground for justification in our native depravity, David made that confession to indicate the sincerity of his repentance, and to show that he was alive to the full extent of his guilt. What an evidence of the depth of the perception of sin is furnished in expressions of pain and grief like those in Psalm xxxii. : ' My bones waxed old through my roaring all the day long ; my moisture is turned into the drought of summer' ! While natural reason talks only of trespasses against the moral law or man, and on that account remains so cold at the commiss.on of sin, every transgression is regarded in the Psalms as a trespass against the Divine Word and the livitg God, whose will originates the moral law. ' Thy wDrd have I hid in my heart, that I might not sin against thee.' (Ps. cxix. 11.) Conscious of his great- est offence against man, he cries, ' Against thee, thee only, have I sinned,' rightly apprehending that the most objectionable element of sin is its encroachment upon the Dnine law and the proof of man's wilful separation from and opposition to God. Where is to be found a more touching confession of a guilt-convicted conscience than in Psalm xxxii. 3, 4 : * When I kept silence (in- tended to conceal), my bones waxed old through my rearing all the day long. For day and night thy hand was h^avy upon me : my moisture is turned into the drougl.t of summer' ? The Psalmists occasionally speak of inDOcence and the purity of their hand (Ps. vii. 9 ; xviii. 21 — 26; xvii. 3 ; xxvi, 2—0 ; xli. 13); but the preceoing observations clearly show that they refer not to absolute integrity before God, but rather to guiltless- ness towards man. In Psalm xxxviii. the experience of affliction awakes a painful sense of guilt in David, and yet he gives expression to the consciousness of his innocence. He says (Ps. lxix. 4), ■ They that hate me without a cause are more than the hairs of mine head' ; 40 THE TRUE PSALMODY. and then adds, ' God, tlwu knowest my foolishness : and my sins are not hid from theeJ (Cf. in Ps. xxv. verses 7, 11, 18, with verses 19 — 21 ; and in Ps. xli. verse 5, with verse 13.) The assertion of his purity in Psalm xvii. 3, 4, is preceded by ' Let my sentence come forth from thy presence ; let thine eyes behold the things that are equal.' It is incontestah/y clear from Psalm vii. 3 — 5, that David refers in rerse 8, ' Judge me, Lord, according to my righteousness and according to mine integrity that is in me,' to righteous- ness and integrity in relation to specific accisations. And if such were not the case, might not a man, while assuring us of the sincerity of his piety, be at the same time conscious of daily failings and rqultiform guilt ? Such sincerity shows itself when we delight in the commandments of God, and strive to obey them : though the surmounting of obstacles constitutes the business of this life. "Who would have expecteU a con- fession of sin (Ps. xl. 12) after the description oi a heart so completely resigned to the will of God as that which precedes it ? The same Asaph who declares pod to be his sole consolation and portion was not fuhUc worship of God (a remark worthy the attention of the reader;, but also that they are all songs and hymns. Will this language be justified? Then why suppose that the Apostle means anything else by these terms, but the same Psalms of David ; and why represent those who confine the matter of their praise to these psalms as opposing the use of hymns and spiritual songs ? Josephus refers to the Psalms of David under the name of songs and hymns. The Apostolic Canons contain this injunction : * Erspo; rovg rov Aa£/<3 ^aXXsruj vfjjvovg xcti 6 Xaog ra aTipoan^ta •j^o-^aXXsToo, Let another sing the hymns of David, and let the people repeat the concluding lines.' Here we have not only a proof of the very great antiquity of the use of David's Psalms in the Christian Church, but also a proof that they THE TEUE PSALMODY. 83 were known by the name of hymns — the very same name in the original which the Apostle employs in the text. Dr. Gill tells us that they are spoken of in the Talmud by the name of ' songs and praises, or hymns.' Let us now open the sacred Scriptures, and here we shall find proof to the same effect. We find the psalms called ' Sepher Tehillim' (the Hymn Book), in the very title of the Hebrew copy of the Psalms. The 14oth Psalm is called Tehillal' David, which Gesenius trans- lates ' a hymn of David.' The same term is frequently introduced into the body of the psalm. Let the reader compare Psalm 22d and verse 23d of the Hebrew, with the Greek of Hebrews ii. 12, and he will find the decla- ration of the Psalmist, ' In the midst of the congregation I will praise thee' [ahalleka], rendered by the apostle, ['vpvritrui] ' I will sing a hymn to thee.' The word Hal- leluja, which so frequently occurs in the Psalms, is just a call to sing a hymn to the Lord. Other illustrations of this might be given, but let these suffice. Now, when we find the sacred writers, and among these the Apostle himself, using this very term 'hymn' in application to the songs of inspiration, is it not fair to infer that he used it with the same application in the passage before us ? But this is not all. It is generally supposed that the Apostle made use of the Septuagint version of the Scriptures. With this version the Ephesians and Colos- sians, being Greeks, were no doubt familiar. Let us open then this version of the Psalms, and we will find some of them bearing the title of a psalm, others of a hymn, and others of a song exactly corresponding to the three Hebrew titles, Mizmar, Tehilla, and Shir. These words in the Septuagint are the very same as those which are employed by the Apostle when he directs the Ephesians and Colossians to 'sing psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs.' Will the reader then look at this, and ask himself whether the probabilities in favour of our interpretation of this passage, are not such as almost to amount to a moral certainty. W r e may just remark, 84 THE TRUE PSALMODY. that the editors of the Repertory say, vol. 7, page 76, 'External evidence places the titles of the Psalms pre- cisely on the same foundation with the Psalms them- selves.' Professor Alexander, of Princeton, says, 'They are found in the Hebrew text as far as we can trace its history, not as addenda, but as intregral paits of the composition/ (5.) "Another consideration which makes it highly probable that the Book of Psalms is intended by the Apostle, is the fact that the same language is employed by the evangelist in Matthew xxvi. 30, where he tells us that the Saviour and His disciples at the celebration of the passover sang a hymn ; ['v/ivYitiavreg, they haviny hymned.'] That a portion of the Psalms of David was used, is almost universally admitted. Indeed there is hardly any thing upon which commentators seem to be more generally agreed than this. The evidence in its behalf is as strong as it well could be without being posi- tively asserted by the historian. The writings of the Jews abound with testimony to prove that it was their custom during that solemnity to sing the six Psalms of David, beginning with the 113th, and ending with the 118th. There is no evidence that a hymn was made for the occasion, and we know that it was His custom to comply with the observances of the Jews, of which this was one part, and certainly a most appro- priate part. Now if it be admitted that the hymn sung by our Saviour and His disciples on this most affecting occasion was an inspired hymn, we argue, from this ad- mission, that the hymns referred to by the Apostle in these passages belonged to the same inspired collection. If this inspired collection was used by our Lord and His disciples, the presumption is, in absence of all proof to the contrary, that they would still continue to be used by the disciples. That this admission is made by those who use uninspired compositions, we have only to refer to Mr. Barnes. He says on this passage, 'The passover was observed by the Jews by singing, or THE TRUE PSALMODY. 85 chanting, the 113th, 114th, 115th, 116th, 117th and 118th Psalms. There can be no doubt that our Saviour and the Apostles also, used the same Psalms in their observance of the passover.' Why then doubt that the Apostle referred to the same collection when he told the Ephesians to ' sing hymns?' Surely if any argu- ment can be drawn from the usus loquendi of the sacred writers, it is on the side of those who maintain that the reference in this passage is to the Psalms of divine inspiration. (6.) In the preceding remarks we have looked simply at the names employed by the Apostle in designating that which he would have these Ephesians and Colos- sians to sing. We now request the reader to give us his attention while we present to his consideration some additional evidence, drawn from the language employed by the Apostle in connexion with the use of of these three terms, (a.) These songs are called 'spiritual songs,' ['w5a/ vnvfianxa/.] The heathen made use of odes. In order to distinguish those which the Apostle would have them to use, he calls them * spiritual.' Now we apprehend that there is, in the use of this term, a proof that the songs referred to by the Apostle were those contained in the Scriptures. If the reader will take the pains, as we have done, to examine those places in the New Testament Scriptures where this word occurs, he will find that in every instance where the reference is not to created spirits, there is a distinct reference to the Spirit of God as the atuhor of that to which the term is applied. Thus * spiritual gifts' are such as are communicated directly by the Spirit. We shall here quote the words of Mr. Barnes on the word 'spiritual,' as it occurs in 1 Cor. x. 3, 4, ' And did all eat of the same spiritual meat, and did all drink of the same spiritual drink, for they drank of that spiritual rock that followed them.' 'The word spiritual here,' says Mr. Barnes, 'is evidently used to denote that which was given by the Spirit, or by God ; that which the result of His S6 THE TRUE PSALMODY,' miraculous gift, and which was not produced by the ordinary way, and which was not the gross food on which men are usually supported. It had an excellency and value from the fact that it was the immediate gift of God, and thus called angels' food. Ps. lxxviii. 25. It is called by Josephus ' divine and extraordinary food.' [Antiq. 3. 1.] In the language of the Scriptures, that which is distinguished for excellence, which is the im- mediate gift of God, which is unlike that which is gross, and of earthly origin, is called spiritual, to denote its purity, value, and excellence ; compare Rom. vii. 14 ; 1 Cor. iii. 1 ; xv. 44—46; Eph. i. 3. The idea of Paul here is, ' that all the Israelites were nourished and supported in this remarkable manner by food given directly by God.' Again he says, ' The word spiritual must be used in the sense of supernatural, or that which is im- mediately given by God.' In addition to the passages to which Mr. Barnes refers, let the reader consult Rom. i. 11 ; xv. 27 ; 1 Cor. ii. 13, 14, 15 ; ix. 11 ; xii. 1 ; xiv. 1—37 ; Gal. vi. 1 ; Col. i. 9. Now let this meaning be attached to the word in the passage before us, and we are brought to the conclusion that the songs here referred to by the Apostle, are those which were ' given by the Spirit, or by God,' which were 'not produced in the ordinary way,' but which were ' bestowed in a miraculous and supernatural manner,' and where will we find such songs but those which are contained in the Scriptures? In singing the Psalms of David, we know that we are singing such songs, for He himself tells us, that 'the Spirit of the Lord spake by him, and and His word was on his tongue.' That this is the import of the word spiritual, as here used, is rendered highly probable from the circumstance that the Apostle has expressly mentioned the Holy Spirit in the same sentence, (b.) Another reason for this interpretation is, that the Apostle directs to the use of these 'psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs' as the means of being 'filled with the Spirit.' Now, is not the word of God, the very THE TRUE PSALMODY. 87 word of God, the means which He makes use of in filling the hearts of His people ? When the Saviour prayed that the Father would sanctify His disciples through His truth, He adds, 'Thy word is truth.' There we must go, if we would be filled with the Spirit. Out of these living wells we must draw water, with which to refresh our souls, (c.) We find that the Apostle directs to the singing of psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs, as the means of letting 'the word of Christ dwell in them richly, in all wisdom. 7 Guyse has a sermon on this text, entitled, 'The Scriptures the word of Christ.' This he shows from three considerations. 'He is its author ;' ' He is its great subject ;' and 'He works and carries on His interest by it.' 'The Spirit of Christ,' we are told, ' was in the prophets, when they testified beforehand of the sufferings of Christ and the glory that should follow,' and it is said, ' He went and preach- ed to the spirits in prison ;' so that the Psalms of David may, with the greatest propriety, be called 'the word of Christ.' 'There is not,' says Bishop Horsely, 'a page of this Book of Psalms, in which the pious reader will not find his Saviour, if he reads with a view of finding Him.' 'We are in these Psalms,' (says Dr. Kussell, in his admirable letters,) ' brought, as it were, into his closet, are made the witnesses of his secret devotions, and are enabled to see even the inward work- ings of his heart.' Guyse, in the sermon before refer- red to, infers that the ' word of Christ,' as here men- tioned by the Apostle, includes not only the New, but also the Old Testament Scriptures. He remarks, ' It is in this most extensive view, that our Apostle seems to take it, by his speaking, in the remainder of the verse of teaching and admonishing one another in psalms, and hymns, and spiritual songs, which look with a very strong aspect toward the Old Testament writings, some of which are set forth under these titles.' Add to this the consideration that but a part of the New Testament Scriptures was written at this time, so that we may SS THE TRUE PSALMODY. readily suppose that the reference of the Apostle is to the ' psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs ' of the Old Testament Scriptures. At all events they must he such as belonged to the Scriptures, and this is all for -which we are now contending. Now, the reader will observe, that it is this ' word' (not simply the principles of this word, but the word itself j, which the Apostle would have these Ephesians to let dwell in them, by singing psalms, and hymns, and spiritual songs. Is not this more likely to be done by singing the sacred songs of this word, than by singing those which have been composed by erring man, whatever may be his piety and learning ? Is it not more likely that we shall in this way attain to that ' wisdom' of which the Apostle speaks in the same passage ? We know how it was with David ; ■ I have more understanding/ he could say, ' than all my teachers, for thy testimonies are my meditation.' " We have thus given these two passages a careful and critical examination. In this examination nothing has been assumed — not a single idea in the whole pro- cess of exposition has been advanced without a reason having been assigned for it. The points have been distinctly presented so that the reader can examine each of these points for himself, as it is laid before him. We now submit this exposition to the candid consideration of all who may desire to know the mind of God as revealed in His word, and with whom, in judging of matters pertaining to the worship of God, the great question ever is, What saith the Scripture f " Having subjected these passages to what we believe to be a faithful and impartial examination, it may not be out of place to inquire how far the result harmonizes with the views of distinguished divines and commen- tators. A careful inquiry will show that those who maintain that the hymns and spiritual songs mentioned by the Apostle are those of inspiration, have clearly the weight of authority on their side. THE TRUE PSALMODY. 89 11 In an edition of the Westminster version of the Psalms, published in 1673, the reader will find a pre- face sigued by the celebrated Dr. Owen, and twenty-five others, among whom are to be found the most illustrious divines that have ever adorned the church. Their testimony on the point before us is given in the follow- ing words: ' To us David's Psalms seem plainly intended by these terms of psalms, and hymns, and spiritual songs, which the Apostle useth. Eph. v. 19 ; Col. iii. 16.' "Ridgely, in his Body of Divinity, expresses the same view, and says: 'It cannot be denied that the Psalms of David are called indifferently by these names/ " Dr. Gill, the learned Calvinistic divine of the Baptist school, in the introductory remarks to his Com- mentary on the Book of Psalms, says : * To these several names of this book, the Apostle manifestly refers in Eph. v. 19, Col. iii. 16.' In his exposition of Eph. v. 19, he thus expresses himself: ' The hymns are only another name for the Book of Psalms,' and ■ by spiritual songs are meant the same Psalms of David, Asaph, 4c.' " Calvin, according to Doddridge, in his note to Col. iii. 16, * thinks all these words refer to David's poetical pieces.' " Beza, according to Macknight, ' thinks psalms in this passage denote those poetical compositions in which David uttered his complaints and prayers ; also those historical narratives by which he instructed the people ; and hymns are his other compositions in which he cele- brated the praises of God.' 11 Mackuight limits the ' psalms, and hymns, and spiritual songs, mentioned by the Apostle, to those which were * recorded in the Scripture,' and to such as were ' dictated by the Spirit.' The same view is expressed by the continuators of Henry's Commentary, and by Bloomfielcl, Brown, Home, Durham, Daille, and others. u The reader will see from the authorities to which we have referred, that our criticisms on these passages fit them in no new light to the church. Indeed, we 90 THE TRUE PSALMODY. question whether any one of the evangelical denomina- tions can find anything like the same authority, either in point of weight or variety, for their interpretation of any of the proof texts on which they rest anything that is distinctive in their profession, either in relation to doctrine, worship, or government." I. Some use is made in defending " hymns" of Isaiah xxvi. 1 : "In that day shall this song be sung in the land of Judah," &c. It is obvious, however, to remark, (1.) That this, if a " song" literally intended to be sung, is an inspired one ; how, then, can the language of the prophet be an argument for the use of uninspired bymns ? At most, it can only touch the question, whether any Bible songs may be used in worship other than those contained in the Book of Psalms? (2.) If sung, it must be sung as given, in a literal translation, though metrical. Hence this passage contains no argument for even a paraphrase — using the term in its modern acceptation. But (3.) It is by no means certain that it was intended that this passage should be used as a part of the church's manual of praise : for had this been the design of the Spirit, how did it happen that this " song" was not introduced into the worship of the church from the earliest period, and continued down to our day? Surely there has been some strange oversight here ! Whatever use has been made of this passage in song has been, so far as any testimony appears, of very late date. (4.) The prophecy has been accomplished, however, and the saints have used with gratitude this language in magnifying the power, and faithfulness, and mercy of Judah's Saviour and King, although they have not sung this passage in their exercises of devotion. (5.) Have the advocates of u hymns" given this song any prominent place in their public praises ? We cannot find the Scripture warrant w T hich is claimed for uninspired songs in God's worship. The Bible gives them no sanction. II. It is aflirmed that such hymns and songs have THE TRUE PSALMODY. 91 the sanction of long and general use in the Christian church : and some have gone so far as to put hymn- singing under the rule, that what the people of God always, and in all places, have held is right; regarding the exceptions as so few, that they may be left entirely out of the account. Jn reply, we might content our- selves with the re-assertion of the principle which holds a high place in the estimation of the purest Protestants, namely, that the practice of the church is of small moment in settling any controversy in regard to faith or duty, unless we go as far back as apostolic times, and ascertain the apostolic sanction; or, in other words, except as we find these matters of faith and duty re- corded or exemplified in the sacred Scriptures. We are persuaded, however, that those with whom we now reason can find no such use of hymns in the Christian church as implies the Divine approbation, or even until a late period, a full ecclesiastical sanction. For greater distinctness in considering the subject, we divide the history of the church into three periods — the Primitive, the Mediaeval, and the Pieformed. 1. The Primitive, extending from the close of the first century, down to the fourth or fifth.* And here we state : (1.) That no hymn can be traced back to apos- tolic times. A late writer f — almost an enthusiast in reference to hymns, but who has carefully examined his ground, says, " Three Hymns have come down to us from early times." These are the "Tersanctus," the "TeDeum," and the " Gloria in Excelsis." Of these, the " Te Deum " belongs* to the later periods of the fourth century : of the " Tersanctus," or " Thrice * Strictly taken, the limits of the Primitive Church, would be narrower than this. + The author of a work entitled, " The Voice of the Christian Life in Song: or, Hymns and Hymn-writers of Many Lands _es," understood to be by a clergyman of the English Establishment. The edition from which we quote, is that of Kobert Carter & Lrother, New York, 1859. 92 THE TRUE PSALMODY. Holy,'' it is said that " all that can be discovered " is, that it " can be found in the earliest known liturgies :" and of the "Gloria in Excelsis" that it is " possibly or probably more ancient than any thing Clement of Alexandria, the earliest hymn-writer, ever wrote."* And of all the " Anonymous Greek Hymns," this writer says, " Whether, therefore, the greater purity of many of these anonymous hymns arises from their greater antiquity, or from a fresh approach to that ever-present Fountain in an age when many had recourse to polluted waters and broken cisterns, is a problem we may contentedly leave unsolved." Now had hymns been used with apostolic sanction, could they have so completely perished ? No kind of literature is so certainly trans- mitted to future generations as songs. Is it possible, that songs which had been sung by the Apostles, and apostolic churches, should have so completely disap- peared from the life and memory of the church ? (2.) The Scripture Psalms were used from the earliest periods of the church, and the weight of evidence is in favour of their exclusive use in the apostolic church. The Biblical Repertory (1829), says, " From the Jewish synagogue, sacred music very naturally passed into the Christian sanctuary. Our Blessed Lord himself, on that memorable night when he instituted the sacra- mental memorial of his dying love, furnished the tran- sition act by concluding the solemnity with a hymn.f As the first Christians were drawn from the synagogue, they naturally brought with them those Song of Zion, which were associated with all their earliest recollections and best feelings, and appropriated them to the service of the new dispensation." It adds, speaking of alleged changes of an early date, " In the hands of Apostles or Christian poets of apostolic times, we have no informa- * Clement lived at the end of the second century. + The Hillel, some portion of Psalms 113 to 118. Princeton Bib. Repertory for 1829. THE TRUE PSALMODY. 93 tion. At a later period we find psalms in general use in the churches, and judged by the fathers the most estimable portion of their religious services. The Apos- tolical Canons contain the injunction : ■ Let another sing the hymns of David, and let the people repeat the concluding lines.' We can hardly conceive it possible that the Psalms of David could have been so generally adopted in the churches, and so highly esteemed by the best of the fathers, unless they had been introduced or sanctioned by the Apostles and inspired teachers."* Neauder, who without furnishing any direct proof of his statement, speaks of hymns at this early date, fur- nishes evidence in the following quotation against his own view, well suited to our purpose, " Besides the Psalms which had been used from the earliest times, and the short doxologies and hymns consisting of verses from the Holy Scriptures, spiritual songs, composed by distinguished church teachers, were also introduced among the pieces used for public worship, in the Western church. To the last named practice much opposition, it is true, was expressed. It was demanded, that, in conformity with the ancient usage, nothing should be used in the music of public worship, but what was taken from the Sacred Scriptures. As sectaries and heretical parties often had recourse to Church Psalmody to spread their own religious opinions, all those songs which had not been for a long time in use in the church, were particularly liable to suspicion."! In this, Neander is treating of a comparatively late period, and yet, even then the introduction of hymns, although written by " eminent teachers," was " opposed," and the " ancient practice'' was acknowledged, and, it would seem, main- tained to be, that nothing should be sung but what was | contained in the Sacred Scriptures," Hence, even these songs, which are said to have been " long in use,"' * Princeton Biblical Repertory for 1829. t Hist ii. 318. 94 THE TRUE PSALMODY. unless they were Scripture Psalms, must have been ins troduced after the times then called " ancient," going back to the apostolic. The significant fact, however, is, that the introduction of " hymns" was, at that time, an innovation. (3.) The first known hymn-writer was Bardesanes, " a native of iEdessa, a man of mind, of a Gnostic sect, and of course a zealous opponent of the doctrine of the Godhead of Christ, in the second century.' He was among the first, if not the first, that was dis- tinguished for the composition of new hymns. The Gnostic doctrines were poetic, and they were made popular, and widely extended by the hymns and odes of this heretical poet, and those of his more distinguished son, Harmonius, who, with his father, espoused the j same bad cause. Bardesanes ' imitated David, that \ he might be adored and recommended by similar honours, For this purpose he composed 150 psalms.'* Into I those psalms and hymns he infused his corrupt and mystic doctrines, rendering them agreeable to the taste of his readers - by the charms of novelty, and the "em- bellishments of oriental style/ And it is added, ' Thus the Syrian church was in danger of being overflowed with Gnostic errors through the mighty vehicle of song."f The next in order, is Clement, already men- tioned. He wrote but one hymn, but whether to be sung, or whether it was sung in the worship of God at the time, is a thing unknown : we have seen no evidence that it was. (4.) We have, besides the clear testimony of Neander, ample evidence, some of which we have furnished in our first chapter, that the Psalms of Scrip- ture were most highly regarded, and constantly used in the early church, while hymns were still regarded with suspicion. Augustine says — he is of the fourth century, " The Donatists, too, 'reproached the orthodox/ * Ephrsem the Syrian, as quoted by the Princeton Repertory of 1829, in an interesting article on "The Sacred Poetry of the Early Christian 8," p. ( t M'Master's Apology, pp. 44, 45. THE TRUE TSALMODY. 95 1 because they sung with sobriety the divine songs of the prophets, while they (the Donatists) inflamed their minds with the poetic effusions of human genius." In the Apostolic Constitutions-:' we learn that " the woman, the children, and the humblest mechanics, could repeat all the Psalms of David ; they chanted them at home and abroad ; they made them the exercises of their piety and the refreshment of their mind. Thus they had answers ready to oppose temptation, and were always prepared to pray to God, and to praise him, in any circumstance, in a form of his own inditing.*' Cassian of the fifth century, says, " The elders have not changed the ancient custom of singing psalms. The devotions are performed in the same order as formerly. The hymns which it had been the custom to sing at the close of the night vigils, namely, the 50th, 62d, 89th, 148th, Psalms, &c 9 are the same hymns which are sung at this day." And as late as a.d. 561 — 563, the council of Braga forbid " the introduction of other poetry into the Psalmody of the church, beyond the songs of canon- ical scripture."^ The history of this early period furnishes nothing of which the advocates of " hymns" attempt to make much use, excepting a passage in Pliny's letter to Trajan, early in the second century, and an extract from an epistle of the council of Antioch, a.d., 264, regarding a certain proceeding of Paulus of Samosata. Pliny says, that he had learned that the Christians of Bithynia " were wont to meet together on a stated day, before it was light, and sing among themselves alternately a * Of these Dr. M'Master says, " The collection of regulations. known under the name of the 'Apostolical Constitutions/ made its appearance in the fourth century. Though we may justly dispute its apostolical origin, it may be admitted of sufficient authority, as far as it indicates the customs of the third and following century. We see its testimony respecting the use the Book of Psah. + Ut extra psalmos vel scripturas canonicas nihil poetice compositum in ecclesia psallatur. M'Master, p. 05. 96 THE TRUE PSALMODY. hymn to Christ as God," &c. But what, we ask with some astonishment, is there in this — even admitting that Pliny's words are the precise ones that a Christian would have used in speaking of their psalmody — to countenance the supposition that they sang uninspired compositions ? Surely, the Psalms of the Bible exhibit Christ as a divine Person ! Does not the apostle Paul take arguments from the Psalms (see Heb. i.) to de- monstrate the proper divinity of the Son ? Have not a host of Christians, past and present, found Christ in these Psalms, and worshipped Him, in singing them, as a divine Saviour ? Nor was the early church igno- rant on this subject, as will appear presently. But, are not the words of a pagan pro-consul rather a slender foundation on which to build so large an edifice of hymn-singing? If hymns were then com- posed and sung — if this was the custom — if it had been consecrated, and the songs themselves in a sense, by the death of martyrs, we again ask, what has be- come of them, and why has it been left to subsequent ages to learn the fact that they existed from one rather vague sentence in a Roman pro-consul's letter ? Cer- tainly, we might look for some more direct and explicit knowledge of so important a fact, through some ecclesi- astical channel ! How much we have, has been seen already : or, more correctly, that we have nothing of the kind, through the testimony of the church herself. As to Paul of Samosata, we allow Dr. Pressly to speak. " There is a passage of history in connexion with the life of Paul of Samosata, which has sometimes been referred to, for the purpose of establishing the conclusion that hymns of human composition were in general use in the primitive age, in the orthodox church, I and that it was through the influence of heretical t( achers, that the Psalms of David were introduced. It will at once occur to the reflecting Christian, that it would be something very strange, if it were really so, that the enemies of the truth should manifest a par- THE TRUE PSALMODY. 97 tiality for a portion of the word of God, which has always been peculiarly dear to the humble, practical Chris- tian. But what are the facts in the case just referred to? Paul of Samosata, who rejected the doctrine of our Lord's divinity, has been represented as banishing from the church in Antioch * the old church hymns, that spake of Christ as the incarnate Word,' and as introducing in their stead the Psalms of David, as being better adapted to the promotion of Lis heresy. "That this portion of history, in so far as it stands connected with the subject of psalmody, may be set in its true light, I shall present to the reader an extract from the Epistle of the council of Antioch which con- demned the heresy of Paul, together with the Latin translation of the learned Valesius. Our information with regard to this matter is derived from the proceed- ings of the Council. The original may be seen in Harduin's Acta Conciliorum, Tom. L, or in the History of Eusebius, Lib. 8 cap. 30. ORIGINAL OF THE EPISTLE. •^aXfiovQ bi rovg (lev ug rov Kvpsw r,/jLCfjv Ir^o-jv Xputrov Tai/ffac, ojg dr, veeonpovg, xai vswrepav avoporj (ft^^a/x/xa-a. n; ia-jTov <3e, sv /isffr} rr t S/£xX?jalms of inspiration, and that it is not the term usually employed in reference to the compositions of uninspired men. " But, perhaps, it will be said that, the qualifying phrase, psalms ' in honour of our Lord Jesus Christ,' determines that they weru songs composed by men for the purpose of testifying to the truth of our Lord's divinity. To this I reply, that such a conclusion is by no means legitimate. All that appears from the lan- guage of the council is, that the psalms which were sung in Antioch had reference to Christ, and were in honour of him. Now, if the Psalms of David do bear testimony to the divine dignity and glory of the Lord 100 THE TRUE PSALMODY. Jesus Christ ; and if they do speak of him as being a divine person, and yet as appearing in our world in human nature; and if the church, in the days of Paul of Samosata, thus understood the psalms, then it was strictly proper and natural for these advocates of the truth of our Lord's divinity to speak of the inspired psalms as being sung in honour of our Lord Jesus Christ. " That the psalms do celebrate the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ ; that they do exhibit him to the view of our faith, as a divine person, and at the same time, as a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief, it cannot be necessary that I should undertake to prove. It may be sufficient to refer to the numerous instances in which the psalms are applied to the Lord Jesus by the writers of the New Testament, and particularly to the declaration of our Lord himself, in which He says to His disciples, Luke xxiv. 44 : * These are the words which I spake unto you, while I was yet with you, that all thiugs must be fulfilled which were written in the law of Moses and in the prophets, and in the psalms, con- cerning me.' " And while it is perfectly evident that Jesus Christ, in His person and work ; in His divine dignity, humili- ation, sufferings and death ; resurrection and ascension into heaven, is the great subject of the psalms, it is not less evident from the writings of the primitive Christians, that the psalms were thus understood by them. And this being the fact, it was perfectly natural for them, when speaking of these divine hymns, to represent them as being sung in honour of the Lord Jesus Christ. In confirmation of what has just been said with regard to the sense in which the psalms were understood by the primitive Christians, it may be suffi- cient for my purpose to adduce the testimony of Justin Martyr, who wrote about the middle of the second century. In his Dialogue with Trypho the Jew, in which the particular design of this learned father is to THE TRUE PSALMODY. 101 prove that Jesus Christ is the Messiah promised to the fathers, the psalms generally are referred to, as furnish- ing the proof of his position. For example, Justin quotes the 110th Psalm as applicable to the Messiah. And then addressing Trypho, he says : * I am not igno- rant that you Jews explain this psalm as though it referred to Hezekiah.' But he adds : ' The words them- selves declare that it relates to our Jesus.' After having pointed out clearly the application of this psalm to the Lord Jesus Christ, Justin addressed Trypho in the following language : ' That I may convince you that ye Jews do not understand your own Scriptures, I will mention another psalm dictated to David by the Holy Spirit, which you contend was spoken with reference to Solomon, your king, but which, in reality, was uttered concerning our Christ.' It is the 7'2d Psalm to which Justin here refers ; and after repeating the entire psalm he remarks : * In the conclusion of this psalm it is written, the hymns of David are ended.'' And then he proceeds to show that the things spoken in this psalm cannot apply to Solomon, as the Jews were wont to contend, but do relate to our Lord Jesus Christ. " If, then, the primitive Christians understood the psalms as referring to the Lord Jesus, as is abundantly evident from the writings of Justin Martyr and others, it was'strictly appropriate and natural, when speaking of them, to represent them as being sung in honour of Him. Aud the language applied to the psalms which were sung in Antioch in the days of Paul of Samosata, very correctly describes the Psalms of David, as they were understood in the primitive ages of Christianity. " If it were necessary to adduce further proof in con- firmation of what has been said in relation to the sense in which the psalms were understood by the primitive Christians, it would be easy to multiply testimonies from the writings of Irenreus, of Clement of Alexandria, of Athanasius, of Augustine, and others of similar character, who were distinguished advocates of the truth. 102 THE TRUE PSALMODY. Indeed, these Fathers, instead of experiencing any difficulty in seeing their divine Redeemer in the psalms, appear, from their writings, to have had Him presented to the view of their faith everywhere throughout these sacred hymns. 2. " But that the Psalms, the use of which Paul abolished, were not ' the compositions of modern men/ and could not have been set aside by him under the pretext that they were ' modern,' will appear from this consideration : That which he is said to have introduced, would be equally, if not in a greater degree obnoxious, to the same objection. The psalms which he removed were such as were ' in honour of the Lord Jesus Christ ;' those which he appointed to be sung in their stead were 1 in honour of himself.' isow, it is certain that none of the Psalms of David would be adapted to the purpose of celebrating the praises of Paul of Samosata. And it is no less certain that any songs which were in honour of this enemy of the truth must have been modern, and the compositions of an uninspired man. And though Paul was a heretic, it cannot be supposed that he was so perfectly devoid of common sense as to urge as a reason for setting aside the existing psalmody of the church, a consideration which would apply with greater force to the exclusion of what he proposed to introduce. " I am aware, that it has been customary to suppose, that Paul introduced the Psalms of David in the room of those which he displaced. Neander says, ' he pro- bably suffered nothing but psalms to be used.' Others not quite so modest, assert without any qualification, that it was the ' pompous Unitarian, Paul of Samosata, who first set the example of installing the psalms in the place of exclusive dignity.' But where, I ask, is the authority for sucli conjectures, or for such unquali- iiruiations ? The Epistle of the Council, by whose authority the heresy of Paul was condemned, says no bu ii thing. " So far from it, the express declaration of the Council THE TRUE PSALMODY. 103 is irreconcilable with such a supposition. The psalmody which, according to the Council, Paul introduced, was designed to celebrate his own praise ; was in honour of himself. And this could not have been an inspired psalmody, but must have been a system of which man was the author. " The conclusion, then, to which I am conducted, taking the language of the Council as my guide, and not suffering myself to be misled by the mere conjec- tures and suppositions of men, may be exhibited in the following propositions : 1. " The psalmody employed in the worship of God in the church of Antioch, in the days of Paul of Samosata, was a divine system. The psalms which were sung at that time, were in honour of our Lord Jesus Christ And this character belongs appropriately to the Psalms of David, for they speak of Christ and celebrate his glory. 2. " The daring impiety of the heretic Paul was manifested in this, that he took as much liberty with these Psalms, whose author is the Holy Spirit, as though they had been the compositions of uninspired men. 3. " The psalmody which he introduced was designed to celebrate his own praise. He appointed women in the church, on the great day of Easter, to sing songs in honour of himself, the hearing of which was adapted to fill the pious mind with horror."* II. The Mediaeval hymnology. From the period at which we have arrived in our inquiries, the subject of psalmody in the time of the Papal apostacy, is, of course, of little account in settling auy controversy. As early as the age of Ambrose — who wrote many hymns — and indeed, from the third century, hymns, Greek and Latin, fast multiplied. It was the age of rapid declen- sion in knowledge, in purity, in fidelity to the word of * Pressly, pp. 104— 17 '2. 104 THE TKUE PSALMODY. God. Evils of every kind grew apace ; soon reaching their culmination in the rise of the Antichrist. Passing over many centuries, we come to the middle ages, when we note two facts. The first, which we give in the words of the writer of the " Voice of the Chris- tian Life." Speaking of the hymn-writers of this period , he says, " With one exception, all were monks, and the monotonous routine of monastic life seems in their histories to have replaced the endless varieties of dis- cipline by which our Heavenly Father trains His chil- dren." " The one exception to the monastic character of mediaeval hymn-writers is King Robert the Second of France, author of the touching hymn, in which all his gentle nature seems to speak, ' Veni Sancta Spiritus ;' and King Robert had certainly more of the monk than of the king about him. He seems to have been, if ever any man was, made for the cloister, and being forced into the publicity of the throne, he threw as much as possible of the colouring of the convent over his home and his court."'- And again, " We need only study the sacred poetry of the middle ages to understand why the Reformation was needed. One painfully expressed fact meets us at the outset. Of Moue's ' Collection of the Latin Hymns of the Middle Ages,' in three volumes, one is filled with hymns to God and the angels ; one with hymns to the blessed Virgin Mary ; and one with hymns to the saints." The second fact is, that the Albigenses and Waldenses— God's faithful witnesses in Southern France, and among the Alps — were psalm- singers. We quote from Dr. M'Master : " In the middle ages, the ages too of moral gloom and terrible superstition, the purest section of the church of God was found in the valleys of Piedmont. Among the Waldenses were found the simplicity of the apostolic order, and the purity of evangelical worship. They sung, ' 'mid Alpine cliffs,' the Psalms of Scripture. And * "Voice," &c, pp. 167, 1C8, 200. THE TRUE PSALMODY. 105 long before the Reformation dawned on Europe, they sung them in metre. 'The Albigenses, in 1210, were metre psalm-singers.' In those ages when darkness covered the earth, and gross darkness all other people, the Vaudois, as Thuanus, who was their enemy, relates, 1 could all read and write. They were acquainted with French so far as was needful for understanding the Bible, and the singing of Psalms? It was required of those who were to be ordained to the ministry along with other scriptures, to commit to memory ' the writ- ings of David.' Numbers of those, who, under the persecution of the Duke of Savoy, a.d. 1686, sought a refuge in the Swiss cantons, three years after, returned under their pastor, Arnaud, who was also their martial chief. Having overcome their enemies, and regained their native valleys, * at the church of Guigon they engaged in worship, sang the 74th Psalm, and their colonel and pastor, Arnaud, preached on the 129th Psalm.' The morning-star of the Reformation used them. Wichliffe is blamed by some for singing metre psalms. John Huss, in the fifteenth, as WicklifTe had done in the fourteenth century, sung the psalms in verse."* These are very significant facts. Hymns made by monks or monkish men ; and by none other so far as the record has reached the intelligent author of the " Voice," &c, while the only witnesses of Christ, in their purity and obscurity, adhered to the singing of psalms. The lesson is an instructive one. We will not forget it. III. The Reformed period. The Reformation in Germany, led by Luther, did not reject the use of hymns, although it repudiated en masse, Mediaeval hymns. This same Reformation, however, retained not a few of the outward appliauces of the corrupt system which had succeeded it ; and in one instance, at least, * M ; Master, p. 71. 106 THE TRUE PSALMODY. approached too nearly the worst heresy of the Papal system,* It was far otherwise with the Reformation in the Western Church : sometimes styled the Zuin- glian or Swiss Reformation, with which affiliated the same great movement, in France, Holland, and Britain ; and also in some of the German states themselves. We quote again from the " Voice of the Christian Life," &c. " The Reformed Churches of France and French Switzerland seem to have had no literature correspond- ing to the hymns of Protestant Germany. Did the peculiar form which the Reformation took in France, then, tend to quench the spirit of sacred poetry, or what other causes brought about this result ? When we remember that the same absence of an evangelical national hymn literature, springing up spontaneously as a national growth of the Reformation, which charac- terizes the Reformed Churches of France and French Switzerland, exists also in the sister Church of Scotland, it is impossible not to connect this fact with the similar form which the Reformation took in all these lands. None of the strictly Calvinistic communities have a hymn- book dating back to the Reformation. It cannot surely be their doctrine which caused this; many of the best known and most deeply treasured of the more modern hymns of Germany and England have been written by those who receive the doctrines known as Calvinistic. Nor can it proceed from any peculiarity of race, or de- ficiency in popular love of music and song. French and Scotch national character are too dissimilar to explain the resemblance ; whilst France has m any national melodies and songs, and Scotland is pecu- liarly rich in both. Is not the cause then simply the common ideal of external ecclesiastical forms which per- vaded all the Churches reformed on the Genevan type ? The intervening chapters of church history are, as it were, folded up, as too blotted and marred for * We mean the Doctrine of Consubstantiation held by Luther. THE TRUE PSALMODY. 107 truth to be read to profit in them ; and, next to the first chapter in the Acts of the Apostles, was to stand, as the second chapter, the history of the lieformed Churches. Words were to resume their original Bible meaning, nothing was to be received that could not be traced back to the Divine hand. Ecclesias- tical order was to be such as St- Paul had established or had found established ; clearly to be traced, it was believed, in the Acts and Apostolical Epistles. Thus, the Book of Psalms became the hymn-book of the Reformed Churches, adapted to grave and solemn music, in metrical translations whose one aim and glory was to render into measure which could be sung the very words of the old Hebrew Psalms. 5 '-:' Passing to England, this author proceeds : " The Church of England is, in form, liuked to the Mediaeval Church by ties far stronger and more numerous than the Lutheran Churches of Germany. The thinking people of England were, after the Marian exiles re- turned from the Continent, more strongly attracted to the Protestantism of Switzerland and Scotland than to that of Germany. Thus, between Anglicanism and Puritanism, it happened that, until the last century, we cannot be said to have had any national, that is, any people s hymn-book at all. Probably no person or community ever felt any enthusiasm either for Stern- hold and Hopkins, or Tate and Brady; and although some stray hymns have crept into our modern hymn- books from earlier days, until the eighteenth century, we had no People's Hymn-book ; none, that is, that was placed on cottage tables besides the Bible, and sung when Christians met, and chanted beside the grave. The Wesleys seem to have been the first who gave a People's Hymn-book to England ; unless that of Dr. Watts may be called so, published about the beginning of the eighteenth century. Not, indeed, that * " Voice," &c, 252—254. 108 THE TRUE PSALMODY. England was silent those two hundred years, or that the sacred chain of holy song was ever altogether broken in our country. We had our ' Te Deum' and ' Magnificat,' and the English Psalms in the music of their own grand and touching prose — a melody as much deeper to our ears than any metrical manufacture of the same, as the morning song of a thrush is, than the notes of a caged bird that has been painfully taught to sing two or three tunes. These were said in village church and quiet home, making rich melody in the heart, and pealed through the old cathedrals to choral chant, in a language ' understood of all the people.' The Prayer-book, with all its musical flow of choice words, floating down on its clear stream of pure English, the song and prayer of the true church of all ages, and the English Psalter — this was the hymn-book of half our people ; while, in many a Puritan congregation, the heroic purposes of the heart, the individuality of Puritan religion, which made every hymn sung as by each worshipper alone ' to God,' must have breathed poetry into any verses, and fused them, by inward fire, into a music no external polish could ever give. With the eighteenth century, however, the history of English hymn-books must begin."* 1 And of Scotland we need not speak. Her Reformers neither made hymns nor sung them. Let us now sum up the history of psalmody, and thus turn the objector's argument against himself. 1. The " psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs" of the Bible passed over to the New Testament Church. 2. There is not a shadow of historical evidence that any other hymns were sung in apostolic times in the wor- ship of God. 3. Some heretics did, at an early period, make and use hymns ; but these earliest of human composures have disappeared, leaving behind them only the fact that they once existed ; or, at most, a few * " Voice," &c, 255, 256, 259. THE TRUE PSALMODY. 109 waifs which cannot be recognized or allotted to time and space. 4. The first known orthodox hymn-writer lived at the close of the second century, and there is no evidence that the single hymn which he composed was ever sung in God's worship. 5. Opposition was made at a later period to the introduction of human compositions, while the psalms of the Bible were held in the highest estimation, and were sung both in the East and in the West. 6. During the middle ages, the Waldenses sang the psalms: hymns were made by monks, and sung in the Popish communion. 7. At the Reformation the psalms exclusively were used in worship in the " strictly Calvinistic churches." The Lutheran churches, which retained some of the trap- pings of Popery, retaining also the use of hymns. 8. The practice of Calvinistic churches was based upon the principle, that the Bible is the only rale in worship. 9. The Church of England was then almost exclusively a psalm-singing church. 10. No hymn-book was found in the Western Reformed Churches until something more than a century ago. Hence, 11. The Scripture Psalms were ever sung in God's worship in the purest days and parts of the church — in the Apostles' days, among the Waldenses, and in the most scriptural of the Reformed Churches. Whatever assistance the cause of hymn-singing may derive from the occasional use of hymns in times, either ancient or modern, when religion had begun to decline, or from their use among the followers of Anti- christ, we cheerfully allow it ; but we do claim, that in using exclusively the Bible Psalms, we follow the " footsteps of the Hock." IV. The advocates of these other songs and hymns argue from analogy : we may compose and offer our own prayers, why not hymns also ? Dr. Pressly thus satisfactorily disposes of this argument : " However plausible this argument may appear at first view, a little examination may satisfy the honest inquirer after 110 THE TRUE PSALMODY. truth, that it is entirely fallacious. The things which are compared are dissimilar, and, consequently, the reasoning is inconclusive. Prayer and praise agree in one particular, and that is, they are both ordinances of religious worship. But in almost every thing else they differ. And, therefore, it is a pure assumption to say, that because we may employ our own language in prayer, therefore it is proper to compose in our own language our songs of praise to God. Not only are these religious exercises different in their nature, but, that God himself regards them in a different light, is evident from the fact, that He has made provision for His church in the one case, which He has not in the other. But that the reader may see more satisfac- torily the difference between these Divine ordinances, and the absolute necessity for provision in the one case, which is not necessary in the otlier ; and, conse- quently, the fallacy of the conclusion which is drawn by those who reason from the one ordinance to the other ; let us notice a little more in detail, some parti- culars in which they differ. 1. " In prayer we come to God to ask for those things which we need ; but in praise we ascribe to Hini the glory which is due unto His name. As our situ- ation and circumstances are ever varying, our wants are very different at one time, from what they are at another. Our petitions must, consequently, be framed in accordance with our wants. But God is unchange- able, and His praise is always the same. That glory which is proper to be ascribed to His name, at one time, will always be proper. No matter what may be our situation ; whether we may be in prosperity or in adversity; whether we may be the subjects of joy or of sorrow, still God is to be praised for what He is in Himself, and for the exhibitions of His glory which He has made in the works of creation, of providence, and of redemption. And what ascriptions of glory are due to Him, the .Spirit of God has declared in those THE TRUE PSALMODY. Ill psalms and hymns and songs, which are the produc- tions of His infinite wisdom. 2 "In social prayer, one leads in the exercise, while others follow and unite with him in presenting their supplications before the throne of grace ; bat, in praise, all simultaneously lift up their voices together in extoll- ing the name of God. And hence it results, that in the exercise of praise, a written form is absolutely necessary, while in prayer, such form is unnecessary. And hence, as our songs of praise assume a character of permanency, which does not belong to our prayers, we can see an important and obvious reason, why provision should be made for our assistance in the performance of the one duty, which was not considered necessary in the other. And in connexion with this consideration, I remark — 3. "That since, in singing God's praise, a written form is necessary, there is provided for the church, in the word of God, a Book of Psalms, while there is uo Book of Prayers. This is a fact which deserves special attention. The infinitely wise God, does nothing in vain, and never works without design. From every part of the word of God we learn that it is our duty, both to pray to Him and to sing praises to His name. And while the duty in both cases is perfectly plain, it is no less evident, that God has made provision with regard to the performance of the one duty, which He has not thought proper to make with reference to the other Not only are we commanded to sing psalms, but a Book of Psalms which contains the songs of the Spirit of purity, of love, and of grace, is provided for our use. Men may say, that 'as we use our own language in prayer, so may we in praise ;' but the fact that God has Himself provided for us a Book of Psalms, while He has given us no Book of Prayers, rebukes the unwarranted assertion. And from the provision already made for us by Him who knows the glory due to Himself, there is no need lor us to prepare songs or" praise, unless we are disposed to adopt the presuuip- 112 THE TRUE TSALMODY. tuous principle, that we are more competent to decide what is proper to be employed in praising God, than He himself who is the object of praise. But in relation to prayer, the case is entirely different. While it is plainly our duty to pray, He with whom is the residue of the Spirit, has not thought proper to provide for us a collection of prayers. And consequently, in comply- ing with the divine command— * In every thing by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known unto God' — we must, from the necessity of the case, express our requests in our own language. The reader can, therefore, have no difficulty in perceiving that the cases are dissimilar, and consequently, that it is by no means a legitimate conclusion, that, as we may use our own language in prayer, so may we in praise. But still further — 4. "Our Lord taught His disciples to pray, and gave them an admirable form of prayer, with reference to which He has said, ' After this manner pray ye.' " But He gave His disciples no divine song, as a model of praise, according to which they were to compose their songs, with a direction, as in the case of prayer, to sing after this manner. And why, with reverence I would ask, did not the great prophet of the church, furnish in the New Testament a book of sacred hymns, or direct some one of His Apostles to perform this service ? The only rational answer which can be given to this inquiry, is, that He did not consider it neces- sary. He had already raised up a sweet Psalmist of Israel, whom He had qualified for the work, and by whom He had provided lor His church, such a collec- tion of psalms, and hymns, and songs, as to His infinite wisdom and goodness seemed proper. "And with regard to the difference between these two religious duties, I observe once more — 5. "That as provision has been made in the case of praise, which has not been made with regard to prayer, so there is a promise of divine help in the performance THE TBUE PSALMODY. 113 of the duty of prayer, which is not given in relation to praise. It is graciously promised by Him who is the hearer of prayer — ' I will pour upon the house of David, and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the Spirit of grace and of supplications.' (Zech. xii. 10.) And as the Christian needs assistance in performing the duty of prayer, for which provision has not yet been made, we find it written — * The Spirit also helpeth our infirmi- ties ; for we know not what we should pray for as we ought ; but the Spirit itself maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered.' (Rom. viii. 26.) Here then we see, that the God of grace, who knows what the Christian needs, has graciously pro- mised divine assistance to direct us in the expression of our requests in prayer — * We know not what to pray for as we ought ; but the Spirit helpeth our infirmities.' We have no Book of Prayers, in the use of which we may make our requests known unto God ; but we have the promise of the aid of the Spirit of grace and of sup- plications, to help our infirmities, and to instruct us how to pray. But there is no promise in all the New Testament, of the aid of the Holy Spirit, as the Spirit of psalmody, to aid us in preparing our songs of praise. He, in whom are hid all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge, did not think proper to raise up, under the gospel dispensation, a sweet Psalmist of Israel, to pro- vide for the church a system of songs, as He had for- merly done; nor did He commission any of His Apostles to perform the service ; nor did He promise to send His Spirit in any subsequent age, to qualify any man for the execution of a work of such importance. And why not? The only satisfactory answer which can be given, is that such a service was unnecessary, since it had already been performed. " It is then quite manifest, not only that prayer and . praise are religious duties, which are different in their nature, but that God himself regards them as so differ- ent that, in His infinite wisdom, He has thought proper 114 THE TRUE PSALMODY. to make that provision for the use of His church in the one case, which He has not in the other. It is no valid objection to our reasoning to say, that some of the psalms are termed prayers ; that the language of prayer is employed throughout the psalms; and that in prayer we ascribe praise to God. All this may be true. In these particulars, and in others which might be men- tioned, there may be a coincidence between these two exercises of religious worship. But still it remains true, that prayer and praise are not only two different ordi- nances, but that God regards them as different, and has made provision to aid us in the performance of the duty of praise, which he has not furnished for our assistance in prayer. And, consequently, to say that, since it is proper in prayer to use our own language, therefore it is right to do the same in singing God's praise, is to reason after the manner of men, but not in accordance with the wisdom of God.''* V. The right to make and use " hymns" is claimed to be a part of our Christian liberty : and in this con- nexion we are reminded of the character of the .New Testament dispensation as one of greater light, freeness, and enlargement, than the old ; and perhaps it may be suggested, likewise, that such as decline to use "hymns" are rather narrow-minded and illiberal. But what is the Christian liberty of the New Testa- ment dispensation? Most certainly it is not a liberty to form our doctrinal belief, or rules of life, or religious varices, irrespective of the Word and authority of Christ. It consists in part — the part which alone can have any relation to the issue before us — in our libe- q from the bondage of the Mosaic ritual and cere- monial law. This was a burdensome service. But was it ever a " bondage" to sing the psalms of inspiration ? to hold fellowship with the Most High in the exercise of praise, in the very thoughts and expressions which * Press!)' on Psalmody, pp. 120 — 125. THE TRUE PSALMODY. 115 He himself had furnished ? It never was — none will dare to say so — and it is not now. This argument is a most decided example of that kind of fallacious reason- ing which is styled " begging the question." The issue before us is, " Have we liberty to make and sing in the worship of God, songs other than those of the Bible?" Yes — say these reasoners — we have this liberty, — be- cause — we have this liberty S We answer, this is the very issue on which we are brought into conflict ; and you do not prove your position by assertiwj it, however often and confidently. VI. It is said that songs composed by uninspired men, may be read with edification, and even uttered in musical, instead of mere speaking tones, by an indi- vidual, and why not use them in religious worship f We are not disposed to deny the premises here affirmed. We do not go so far as to maintain that the human voice may not be used in singing, as well as in reading, other songs than those in which God is formally wor- shipped. But there must be, and is, a wide difference between the singing of songs for recreation, or even as an expression of our own emotions whether sad or joy- ful, and the employment of songs in the solemn and devout prescribed worship of God, There is an ordi- nance of praise, which this reasoning leaves entirely out of view. Any one who is capable may write a religious essay, He may read it in the hearing of others. Any one may speak on religious topics in social intercourse. But there is still the ordinance of preaching, and the institution of the ministry, estab- i lished and guarded by the will of Christ. Nor is every utterance of gospel truth by a Christian mii.ister, the formal preaching of the Word. So, there is an institu- tion of government and discipline in the house of God ; and yet, it is competent to every Christian to admonish and warn his erring brother. Again, every act that wp perform in our daily avocations should be done to the "glory of Gud;"' and yet there are exercises properly 116 THE TRUE PSALMODY. and formally devotional. Every day should the Chris- tian live unto Christ, yet is there one day in seven set apart, specially, for religious worship. As we peruse the Bible, and so in reading Christian biography, we may read many prayers, and be instructed and quickened by them, but there is still an ordinance of prayer. Any one may, under certain circumstances put into another's hand, a morsel of bread and a cup of wine, but there is, notwithstanding, the ordinance of the Lord's Supper. "We may make pictures — these may represent scenes of deep religious interest — the sufferings of the martyrs, the trials of the persecuted, or other events calculated to stir up devout recollections, or grateful emotions : we may have them in our dwellings, we may look upon them ; and be edified as we do so. Now, would we listen to one who would attempt to demonstrate that there is no ministry, no church dis- cipline, no holyday, no sacrament of the supper, no formal prayer, by insisting upon the right, or the duty of private Christians to give utterance to the truths of the gospel, to rebuke the sinner, to lead a holy life, " to do all in the name of the Lord Jesus," to feed the hungry and minister to the sick, to read the prayers offered by the saints in their day ? Or, from the law- ful use of paintings in our dwellings, will any one of us argue — w r e know who do thus argue — that these and similar appliances, may be introduced into our places of worship as " aids to devotion ?" So, in answer to this argument, we say, there is an ordinance of praise, and when we inquire of the word of God, how this ordi- nance is to be observed, we find not only that it is a scripture ordinance, but also that provision has been made for its observance — and, as we shall see hereafter, for wise reasons — in a Book of Psalms, itself sufficient as a manual of praise. W 7 e must not confound, as this argument does, the reading,* or even the singing of * Erskine's Gospel Sonnets are excellent reading : but were never meant for "hjmns," or used in worship. THE TKUE PSALMODY. 117 songs, however good, and the formal celebration in acts of worship, of God's high praises. But what is the ordinance of praise? Does it con- sist merely in the use of musical instead of reading tones? And can there be so much difference between these two modes of uttering the same sentiments, as that the one is allowable, and the other not ? This is a very subtle form of the general argument which we have just considered. And we remark — (1.) That the same kind of reasoning would be equally available, as we have seen, to confound other religious acts and ordi- nances with the doings of every day, or of the Christian life. (2.) It is not the mere use of singing tones, but the design of the act, and its circumstances, which we are here to consider, just as we do in reference to bap- tism, the Lord's supper, and laying on of hands in the act of ordination. Are we engaged in celebrating GoJ"s praise in song, according to His appointment, and in circumstances to which that appointment relates? If so, we must have regard to something more than the tones merely in which we utter our praises. We must take with us the entire institution of praise as a part of the prescribed order of worship. Hence, (3.) It is most important to remember that we have a book, pro- vided by Him whose name we magnify in song, and appointed for this very end ; and no command or pro- mise regarding another. Had we a Book of Prayers in the Scriptures — were w r e commanded to use this — were there no precept enjoining the use of any prayers contained in this book — were there no promises oJ in making prayers, the whole ordinance of prayer be comprehended within this inspired liturgy, with the appropriate and prescribed restrictions, seasons, &c. We have no such prayer-book ; but we have a hymn, or psalm book — similar in position, in reference to the ordinance of praise, as our supposed inspired prayer- book to that of prayer. Hence, we ought to infer that, in sinking praises, this alone is to be used; whatever 118 THE TRUE PSALMODY. other uses we may lawfully make of song. (4.) If there were no difference between reading and singing, we might omit the singing entirely, and only read psalms and hymns ! would this be the ordinance of praise? (5.) God has linked singing of psalms to the ordinance of praise, and we should not cavil about it, as if there were no material difference. (6.) While we do not undertake to assign the reasons for this divine ordinance, we may be at liberty to say, that song is a powerful medium of propagating sympathy, as well as of awakening it ; and, again, that there are proofs abundant, arising chiefly from the peculiar power of songs over the faith, &c, of those that use them in their devotions, that it was not unbecoming the divine wisdom to make this restriction, VII. It has been said, that inasmuch as the minister of Christ uses his own words in his public ministry, and may even quote a hymn, we may do so likewise in singing praise : and this for the reason that preaching is a part of public worship. To this, it is enough in this place to reply, that there is a vast difference be- tween addresses made to God in song, and an address made to an assembled congregation; the preacher does not preach to the Most High — he speaks to the people before him. He who would confound these under the general name of " worship" has yet to learn the proper nature of each part of our social religious exercises. VIII. An argument is taken from the fact, that men have now the " gift of song," implying, it is said, that they may use it in providing songs for the church's use in her devotions. To this we reply : (1.) The gift of song existed under the Old Testament, and yet none, unless such as were specially inspired of God, were employed in composing songs for purposes of devotion. (2.) We hear nothing of any poet in the apostolic church undertaking to make hymns ; not one hymn can be traced to the days of the Apostles : and yet there were some, no doubt, who could have written in metre. THE TRUE PSALMODY. 119 Paul could, we are quite confident ; yet we have no hint of any attempt on his part to make a hymn-book. (3.) If there loe any validity in this argument, it takes a wide sweep. If the possession of the gift confers the right to use it in making songs for the church, who can refuse to adopt and sing any given hymn : the poet can claim a divine sanction — authority direct from heaven — and who dare repudiate auy of his works? (4.) The church, in her members, has the gift of speech ! Is every one that can speak entitled to claim the office of the ministry ? It is not enough to have the gift : there must be a warrant to use it for this specific pur- pose in the house of God. v . And so of song. Let those who have the gift show us a Scripture warrant — we have seen that they cannot — to prepare us songs other than those of the Bible. (5.) There is still among men, and some of them Christians, the gifts of sculpture, &c: must we employ them to provide us statues and orna- ments for our churches ? (6.) This is, again, a " begging of the question." We deny the right to use this gift for this particular purpose, To establish this right, they must furnish us with better authority than the mere possession of the gift. IX. It is affirmed that godly men have favoured the use of hymns — have composed and sung them dtirin ( their lives — have been edified by them — and have died without experiencing any scruples upon this subject. The facts asserted in this argument we may admit. Devout men have so thought, and so acted ; but the conclusion we utterly repudiate. To receive all that even excellent men have held, w T ould make strange work in the church. Many good men have lived in the I of doctriues more or less erroneous, and have retained their errors to the last, Should we adopt these errors, or even tolerate them ? Good men have differed in relation to important matters of practice, as well i faith. Some have been Presbyterians, some Episco- palians, some Independents. The Jansenists — and 120 THE TRUE PSALMODY. some of these were pious men — held many of the errors of the Popish system, particularly the Papal supremacy. What kind of a church that would be, which should attempt to combine in one system, upon the authority of the pious and devout, these heterogeneous, and often positively inconsistent principles, can scarcely be ima- gined — certainly, it could not be described. We would have a parity of the ministry and diocesan bishops! A prayer-book, and no prayer-book ! government by sessions, by presbyteries, &c, and by the people, presby- ters being excluded ! The Pope acknowledged, and at the same time renounced as the Antichrist ! To say no- thing of ^ prof ess Ion in the same church of conflicting opinions on important matters of faith. And as to the edification of good men by the use of such songs, it is not impossible that the truths which they may contain may be employed for this end by the Spirit of God, even when the songs themselves are improperly used. Of this we have no need to judge. The truth is, in this whole matter, men are no rule of faith or of duty. " To the law, and to the testimony." The Word of God alone is a " lamp unto the feet, a light unto the path." Men — good men — owing to the imperfection of human knowledge, may build upon the one foundation, "wood, hay, and stubble," and still be saved, while their works shall be burned up (1 Cor. iii. 11 — 14); but surely we are not bound, or even war- ranted, to copy their errors — to appropriate their " wood, hay, and stubble !" The safe rule is that which the Spirit furnishes, speaking by the great Apostle, " Be ye followers of me, even as I am of Christ." (1 Cor. xi. 1) X. It has been supposed, and urged, that the sing- ing of the Psalms of Scripture, in a New Testament sense, " with our hearts and minds full of the New Testament commentary," is somehow a warrant for the making and using of hymns: and this upon the prin- ciple that " It cannot bo wrong to express in words, THE TRUE PSALMODY. 121 in the worship of God, what it is right to conceive in thought." It has also been stated, in this connexion, that " the most rigid advocates of an Old Testament Psalmody first comment, and at the close of his com- mentary, the minister counsels the people to sing as he has expounded !" And it is added, " It comes to this, that we must choose between a prose commentary which can neither be remembered nor sung, and a metrical comment, which all may hold with their hands, and look upon with their eyes, and render vocal with their tongues." On this very singular argument for hymns we re- mark— (1.) If we mistake not, the design of all comment is to ascertain and trace the true meaniug of the Scrip- tures, whether Old Testament or New. (2.) We were not aware that the minister who expounds the Word of God, imposes an obligation upon his hearers, either to read or to sing the words of the Bible " as he has ex- pounded." We had imagined that expositors, whether writing or speaking, were " helps," and not " lords of the faith'' of the hearer. (3.) If the psalms are cor- rectly expounded, the worshipper is aided in singing them " with the spirit and with the understanding ;" if incorrectly, he is not only at liberty to reject the com- ment, but bound to do so. (4.) If this argument is worth anything for the purpose for which it is adduced, it is equally available to a much greater extent ; for it might as well be said, that the hearer is bound to read his Bible — any part of it — with the minister's comment in his mind and heart, as to sing a psalm as it is expounded. (5.) It seems to be taken for granted here, that New T Testament truth is not in the psalm, but is merely put into the commentary ; for, certainly, if this truth be there already, it can do no harm, and may do much good, to have the fact clearly set forth, as we are about to sing. (6.) If it be right to fix, by a metrical version, prepared as a paraphrase and net a translation, the meaning of a psalm, and use this instead of the 129 THE TRUE PSALMODY. psalm itself, why not apply this rule to the whole Bible, and re-write it. in the form of a paraphrase, so that no comments will be needed, and then put this into the " hands" of the people as an infallible exposition ? Hence — (7.) The concluding statement of this argument is inconsistent with true Protestantism ; for it advocates this very thing — the substitution of our own words as a commentary for the words of the Bible itself, in the exercise of praise. (8.) The whole argument, if it has any force at all, is valid only against explaining the psalms, and if so, against explaining any part of the Bible. We now proceed — II. To adduce some arguments against the use of unin- spired hymns in the church's worship, whether domestic, social, or public. It can hardly be necessary to remark, that we do not object to the expression of Scripture truth in rhythmical forms. An author may make " Gospel Sonnets," as well as " sermons." The only question is, regarding the use of them in the worship of God. Against this we argue. And, I. The praises of God were celebrated in song, for many centuries under the Old Testament economy, but only in inspired songs. We have already seen, in one of our quotations from the pen of Dr. Pressly, that the church in the patriarchal age seems, so far as we have any light at all upon this subject, to have conducted the worship of God without the use of song. Neither the Bible, nor tradition, gives any other evidence. That the poetical faculty was entirely wanting, is extremely improbable. Yet none ever attempted, until inspired of God, to provide songs to be used in religious exer- cises. Still more. In after ages God was praised in song ; but only in song as indited by the Holy Ghost. None ventured to obtrude their own compositions upon the people of God as the matter of their praise. Hence, in times subsequent to David and Asaph, we find Hezekiah and Judah, in the great reformation accom- plished in the reign of that good king, employing none THE TRUE PSALMODY. 15 3 other than the psalms already furnished. (2 Chron. xxix. 30.) And so throughout the entire Old Testament dispensation. Poets there were, unquestionably ; and yet, r.o psalms or hymns were ever introduced into God's worship except inspired psalms and hymns ; none at all, after the canon of Old Testament Scripture had been completed. This is an instructive and admonitoiy fact ; to be met only by the clearest and most unques- tionable warrant in the New Testament : such a war- rant as we have already seen cannot be adduced. II. There is no authority by which we are, or can be called upon, to sing uninspired hymns. It needs no argument to show that the poet himself cannot make this demand upon us. We may refuse to sing his songs, and do no dishonour to God. Nor can the minister by reading from his place such songs, impose the obligation upon his fellow-worshippers to sing them. His audience may sit in silence and decline to respond to his call, which they cannot do, without sin, if able to sing, when called upon to unite in praising God in the " psalms and hymns and spiritual songs'' of the Scriptures, upon which He has impressed the sanction of His own authority, any more than they can refuse to read His word, or wait upon the ministry which He has appointed. We might have in our possession any hymn-book, for half a century, unopened, confining ourselves to the Psalms of the Bible, and be guiltless before God : which we could not do if it had His au- thority and sanction as containing the matter in which He is to be praised in song. Nor has the church any authority to make and enforce the reception and use of a hymn-book. For even in those churches in which hymn-books have been authorized in modern times — there was no such true church until of late — no scru- ples hinder the most severe criticisms upon the very hymns which have received the very highest sanction — criticisms affecting, not merely the poetry and the rhyme, but the very matter and entire character of the 124 THE TRUE PSALMODY. hymn.* And it is not impossible but that the whole book might be thus handled by various critics, each adducing objections against such songs as might offend his views or his tastes. Hence, we are compelled to conclude that even those who have no difficulty in conscience as to the use of uninspired compositions, are conscious that the church has not been commis- sioned to prepare a book of hymns — that when the task has been undertaken, the book is still destitute of any authority that can claim its devout and conscien- tious reception and use. But we go farther, if these hymns have no autho- rized place in God's worship ; if they are destitute of His high sanction, they can be regarded in no other light than as <: will-worship ;" that is, worship of man' de- vice, and, hence, not only unprofitable, but unacceptable; not only unacceptable, but offensive in God's sight, and so to be most carefully eschewed. Thus, as we have seen, in our history of psalmody, our reforming fathers thought. They rejected, on this principle, all matter of praise in song, but that which they found prescribed and ordered of God. III. The employment of human compositions in the worship of God, does, in fact, set aside, at least for the time, the Psalms of the Bible. The advocates of hymns are not entirely agreed as to the propriety of using the Scripture Psalms at all. Some go so far as to deny them any rightful place in New Testament worship. The great majority, however, admit that they may be used, and that too, as a manual of praise, which He who is King in Zion, has provided and ap- pointed. Hence, they are rather disposed, in most cases, to resent the imputation that they exclude God's Psalms from His own house, and assert that they claim no more than the right to sing other songs by times. On this we remark, (1.) That it suggests the inquiry, * Instances of thia will be given in the sequel. THE ffEUE PSALMODY. 12S whether they allow to the Psalms of the Bible a pla^e of higher authority, than they do to their own writings ? Do they sing them because they are God's, and appointed by Him, or solely on the ground that they are selected by the worshipper for this purpose — or, it may be al- lowed by church authority? If they can sing, or omit to sing them, as they determine at the time, alternating them with " hymns," it would appear to be quite clear that there can be no regard to God's appointment at all ; or, at feast that that appointment is liable to be overruled, at any time, by the choice of the worshipper. This is the only fair conclusion from the premises ; and yet we are far from affirming that all who thus act, do deliberately subject a Divine appointment to the taste, or judgment, or caprice of the worshipper: but ihcy act as if they did. (2.) Is it not evident — provided the Bible Psalms have a sanction which cannot be claimed for songs of man's composing, that the use of these songs in God's worship, at any given time, is de- rogatory to this authority and sanction ? If the Most High has appointed the Psalms to be sung in His praise, and has fixed the seal of His appointment to no other hymns or songs — and this we have already shown — then, does it not follow, that in mingling a hymn in our devotions, we do, for the time, set aside an appoint- ment of God, and this on the ground, expressed or implied, that we have found something better; for this occasion at least? Should we use, five times out of six, the Psalms of the Bible, we would really exclude them from their appointed place by the substitution of something else for the sixth service of song: for, if these psalms be provided for oar use, as God's or- dained matter of praise, it is not merely when vtechoose to use them that the command bears upon us, but all lime. (3.) The inevitable conclusion is, that to mingle mere human hymns with the "Psalms," is no- _ less thau to exclude the latter from the position thej are entitled, as given of God, to occupy — is to 126 THE TRUE PSALMODY. make a Divine appointment to depend upon our own will. If we may set them aside for one time, we may, for the same reasons, and, on no higher authority, set them aside entirely and for ever. IV. Hymns, such as we oppose, are sectarian. Every hymn-singing denomination has its own hymn-book. There is a Methodist hymn-book, a Baptist hymn-book, a Congregational hymn-book, or books, a Presbyterian hymn-book, or books, a Cumberland Presbyterian hymn- book, a Universalist hymn-book, &c, &c. This is a kind of necessity ; acknowledged by high authority to be so. We refer to the Biblical Repertory (vol. xviii. p. 505) — "The Psalmody of the Christian assembly has generally partaken largely of those characteristics of thought and expression, which arise from the circum- stances of the people. In a divided state of the Church, when the different denominations are zealous for their respective forms of doctrine and worship, the lyric poetry becomes strongly argumentative and polemical : addresses men rather than God ; and is employed to defend and inculcate theology, and to confirm the attachment of the people to their peculiar articles of faith. Hence each sect has its psalmody. Both policy and conscience are deemed to require the hymns to coincide in sentiment throughout with the creed of the sect. And these doctrines are not only stated in poeti- cal language, or language professedly poetical, and dwelt upon in a strain of devout meditation, but are frequently inculcated in a sort of metrical argument, and appeal to persons not supposed to believe them." In opposition to ail this sectarian perversion of this part of God's worship, the advocates of the exclusive use of the Scripture Psalms hold large minded and catholic views. That the church may become one in her visible organization, and in worship, some at least of their hymn-books must be sacrified. They cannot all remain. Let them all be discarded, that the one and sufficient Book of Psalms furnished by our Saviour THE TRUE PSALMODY. 127 himself, through the inspiring influences of His Spirit, may be alone made use of by all His people, in the holy exercise of praise. The coming unity of the church will abolish these uninspired hymn-books, or, at least, exclude them from the sacred worship of God. V. It has been found impracticable — especially in the more enlightened and orthodox denominations — to frame a hymn-book universally acceptable, and of a per- manent character. Change, change, change, has been written and re-written upon these efforts to get better sqngs for Christian worship than those of the Bible. We might here, very properly allude, once more, to the fact that every denomination has its peculiar system of hymns. Every new schism produces some change in the songs sung in religious exercises. Every new phase of doctrine, particularly when it puts on a visi- ble form as the exciting cause and shibboleth of a new ecclesiastical organization, makes its appearance in the shape of new hymns ; destined themselves to' illustrate, in turn, the inherent — and we believe insuperable — difficulty in the way of securing entire uuanimity. In this connexion, we present, as quoted by Mr. Sommer- viile, some testimonies in regard to the estimation in which the majority of existing hymns is held by some, 8t least, who do not confine themselves to the use of Scripture Psalms. " A * Layman' in the New York Independent, Feb. 23, 1854, says—' We have some two thousand pieces which are called Psalms or Hymns. Perhaps two hundred of them may pass for odes or lyrics suitable for singing. Fifty more might possibly be selected by an expert.' The LW aaUst, Feb. 15, 165'>, has the following : — ; Proiessor B. B. Edwards believed that two or three hundred Psalms or Hymns would include all which are of sterling value for the sanctuary.' Unquestionably he was right. The popular demand for new and more numerous hymns, it cannot be denied, arises in part from the wide die faction with a large number of those with which our 128 THE TRUE PSALMODY. hymn-books are filled. Let us have fewer and choicer. Let them be truly sacred lyrics, and not feeble prose, measured and amputated to the proper length, and afterwards still farther mangled, at the mercy of men who wonder that David (or rather the Holy Ghost, who spake by him) * had not sufficient native sense to have composed his psalms in proper metres, ready at once to be cantered through ' De Fleury, or paced through State street.' The Glasgow Examiner for Sept. 18, 1852, thus remarks upon the ' Hymn-book of the U. P. Church :' * The collections contain a great many beautiful effusions of sanctified genius, and not a few very trashy productions.' V The last hymn-book of the Presbyterian Church (Old School) furnishes an example in proof of our statement deserving of especial notice. This book is the result of a second and laborious attempt to prepare a proper hymn-book. The first, which was compiled by a very able committee of the Assembly, and by the labours of a number of years, and which was long sung, was an acknowledged failure. The committee to whom w r as entrusted, in 1838, the task of revising it, pronounced in their report to the Assembly the following judgment upon its demerits : " On a critical examination, they found many hymns deficient in literary merit, some incorrect in doctrine, and many altogether unsuitable for the sanctuary as songs of praise, for want of suitable sentiments, although not incorrect in doctrine or defi- cient in literary merit."* But did this committee, whose report, and a new book, which they had compiled, were adopted in 1840, suc- ceed any better in satisfying the whole body? The Biblical Repertory, conducted by the Professors of the Theological Seminary at Princeton, says: "We are free to confess that there are many things in the book laid before the Assembly which we think ought not to * Spirit of the Nineteenth Century, vol. ii. 582. THE TRUE PSALMODY. 129 be there; hymns which we consider unsuitable for the worship of God. Some of them are mere sentimeutal effusions ; some objectionable for the lightness of their measure, and others for their want of all poetic excel- lence." Others agreed with the Repertory; and just now a spirit of dissatisfaction with their hymns begins to make itself manifest in influential quarters. The '•' Southern Presbyterian," a paper connected with that denomination, referring to a difficulty which has arisen out of a late discovery that one hymn occurs twice in the book, says : " It is not enough to ' remove duplicate hymns ;' those must be removed which are unpoetical aad lacking in lyrical merit.' It thinks some of the hymns would do very well as ' doctrinal treatises, spiri- tual maxims, practical lessons, didactic essays, doctrinal argumentations and defences, very sensible, but very sedate and angular moralizings in verse.' Hence some of these ' are neither read nor sung — not sung, because they are not fit for the purpose ; and not read, because people do not now go to the hymn-book when they feel like reading.' And then proceeds thus : * But it may be asked, What harm do those pieces in the book? We reply, they encumber it ; they are in the way when one is looking for hymns that are hymns; they increase the price, whilst they add nothing to the value of the volume. V.'e say nothing about the credit they do us, or jail to do us, as a denomination making some pretensions to taste in poetry, as in other tilings. This is a tender subject, and we do not wish to give offence. Wonder if Dr. Dewey had not been recently looking over some of these j'ieces, when he asked with so pompous, triumphant emphasis, 'What poem has Calvinism written?'" A "greatly respected correspondent" of the Presby- terian of this city, and " who has given the sulject," we use the words of the editor, " much consideration," thus writes of the hymnology of the times, making no exceptions in regard to any particular system : " Our hymnolugy is far enough from perfection. It has grave 1 130 THE TRUE PSALMODY. defects and blemishes. It needs emending and purging. It does not recognise and carry out, as a distinctive and controlling principle, this — that song, in the devotions of the family and the church, is truly a service of wor- ship. It abounds with hymns addressed to creatures, sinners, saints, angels, the living and the dead. These hymns are not the impassioned cry of an adoring soul, calling on all things to praise and magnify the Lord. That is of the very essence of worship. But they reason, exhort, expostulate, promise, threaten ; they moralize, soliloquize — sometimes eulogize. They sing to frail, sinful, dying men — not to the great and holy God. And as our books liberally provide such composi- tions, ministers and people use them, and have used them, until the sense of their incongruity with the idea and fact of worship is almost or quite effaced."* Nor is there universal acquiescence in the common opinion among such as use hymns, of the excellency of Watts' " Imitations.'* Dr. R. J. Breekenridge, a very competent judge, uses this language regarding it : " We freely confess that, for ourselves, we consider the Para- phrase of the Psalms, by Dr. Watts, the most defective part of our psalmody ; and only more and more marvel that such a miserable attempt should have acquired so much reputation."! Dr. Junkin, who holds a high position in the same body — Old School Presbyterian — thus characterizes this attempt to improve the Psalms of the Bible : " Dr. Watts has attempted, professedly, to improve upon the sentiment, the very matter, and the order, and by various omissions and additions, to fit the Psalms for Christian worship. This is unfair. If Pope had taken the same license with the poems of Homer, all the amateurs of Greek poetry in the world would have cried — shame on the presumptuous intruder ! But it is a pious and zealous Christian divine who has * S. D„ in the Presbyterian, Nov. 20th, 1858. + fepirit of tbe Nineteenth Century, vol. ii. 080. THE TRUE PSALMODY. 131 taken this#liberty with the songs of Zion, and almost the whole church acquiesces in it. What would we think of the French poet who, proposing to enrich French literature with a versification of the master- piece of the English muse, should mangle and transpose the torn limbs of the Paradise Lost, until Milton him- self might meet his first-born on the highway and not recognise it? And must this literary butchery Le tolerated, because, forsooth, the victim is the inspired Psalmist ? Why should the Heaven-taught bard be misrepresented thus ? Let us rather have the songs of inspiration as God inspired them, and as nearly as is possible, and consistent with" the laws of English versification. God's order of thought is doubtless the best for his church. If any one think he can write better spiritual songs than the sweet singer of Israel, let him do it ; but let him not dress the savoury meat which God hath prepared, until all the substance and savour are gone, and then present it to us as an imita- tion of David's Psalms."* Thus the efforts of one of the most intelligent, and orthodox, and literary denominations in this country, have signally failed to procure a hymn-book on whose merits they can agree.f They may try it again ; but only to subject themselves to another mortifying failure Among an ignorant people, or people of lax doctrinal views, it may be possible to secure a more general acquiescence in a volume of hymns. But this does not * Lectures on the Prophecies, by George Junkin, D.D., pp- 281, 233. + The new hymn-book, we might have said above, was severely criiicised on the iioor of the Assembly, by which it was adopted. The chairman of the committee, somewhat disturbed by the unfavourable remarks upon the book, at length rose, and said, in substance, that he could sympathize with a good d had been said; for after revising each hymn, time after time— in all, some six or Beveu times, he had thought it •• the nn am at book he had ever Been," — adding, with a smile, " of oou think better of it now." 132 THE TRUE PSALMODY. weaken — it rather strengthens the argument against hymns, derived from the apparent impossibility of at- taining this in an educated and inquiring community. Now, it is certainly not unreasonable that we should demand of these churches that they suit themselves in a book of hymns, before they ask us to join them in the singing of hymns. Indeed, with what propriety — we had almost said, with what decency — can they call upon us to unite with them in laying aside, even in part, if there were no more, the Book of Psalms in a literal rendering, and in the adoption of hymns in our devotions, while they are so far from being satisfied with their new psalmody? We have a book which has stood the test of thousands of years ; which, as we have seen, has instructed, edified, and cheered hosts of the saints of God, living and dying; and with which we are fully satisfied.* It is rather too much to ask us to desert the stable position we now occupy, and to enter upon seas of uncertainly — to subject ourselves to similar harassing toils in the hitherto vain pursuit of unity and uniformity in singing hymns of human com- position — particularly as we have in the psalms which the Most High has graciously provided us, ample matter for the celebration of His praises. VI. The advocacy of hymn-singing has led to the adoption and utterance of sentiments which strike at the very fundamentals of Christianity. We begin with Dr. Watts, who "imitated" the Psalms of the Bible, and also prepared many of the hymns now in use. This favourite poet and hymn-writer allowed himself to speak of the Psalms of Scripture in the following terms : "Some of them are almost opposite to the spirit of the gospel ; hence, it comes to pass, that when spiritual affections are excited within us, and our souls are raised a little above this earth in the beginning of a psalm, we are checked on a sudden in our ascent towards heaven, by * Of the version used in our churches, we have something to say in the sequel. THE TRUE PSALMODY. 133 some expressions that are fit only to be sung in the worldly sanctuary. When we are just entering into au evangelical frame, the very next line which the clerk parcels out to us, hath somethiug in it so extremely Jew- ish and cloudy, that it darkens our sight of God the Saviour. Thus, by keeping too close to David in the house of God, the vail of Moses is thrown over our hearts. While we are kindling into divine love, some dreadful curse against men is proposed to our lips; as, Ps. lxix. 20 — 38, which is so contrary to the new commandment of loving our enemies. Some sentences of the Psalmist may compose our spirits to seriousness, but we meet witn a following line, that breaks off our song in the midst ; our consciences are affrighted, lest we should speak a falsehood unto God ; thus the powers of our souls are shocked on a sudden, and our spirits ruffled — it almost always spoils the devotion — our lips speak nothing but the heart of David. Thus our hearts are, as it w T ere, forbid the pursuit of the song, and then the harmony and the worship grow dull of necessity. Many ministeis and private Christians have long groaned under this inconvenience ; there are a thousand lines in it — the Book of Psalms — which were not made for a church in our days to assume as its own. I should rejoice to see David converted into a Christian : there are many hundred vents in that book (of Psalms) which a Christian cannot pro- perly assume in singing — as Ps.lxviii. 13, 16, and lxx?;iv. 3, 6 ; Ps. lxix. 28, and Ps. cix. are so full of cursings, that they hardly become the tongue of a follower of the blessed Jesus. By that time they sue fitted for Christian Psalmody — the composure can hardly be called inspired or divine — I could never persuade myself that the best way to raise a devout frame in plain Christians, was to bring a king or captain into our churches, and let him lead and dictate the worship in his own style of royalty, or in the language of a /hid of battled* • Preface to Imitation, Works, Vol. 7, p. 24. 134 THE TRUE PSALMODY. Another, Dr. James Latta, uses such language as the following: "Whether these psalms (mentioned 1 Cor. xiv. 26) were the effect of previous study and inspira- tion united, or of immediate suggestion, they were certainly not designed to inspire them — (the converts to the gospel) with veneration and respect for the Psalms of David. Any person will quickly perceive how remote psalms and hymns, formed upon it (the orthodox Nicene Creed) would be from the doctrine of the Old Testament. Nor do I think the introduction of the Psalms of David into the Christian church was very honourable to the cause of Christ. It deprived Him of divine honour — it deprived the asserters of His deity of all opportunity of bearing testimony to it in that part of their worship — it decided clearly in favour of that tenet of Arianism, that divine worship was to be paid only to the Father, and so had a direct tendency to wake heresy triumphant!"* The Psalms of the Bible — unchristian in spirit, in doctrine, unfit for. devotion — tend to make heretics, How different this estimate of the inspired Psalter, from the testimonies to its excellence which we have furnished so abundantly in our first chapter ! And in whose service, but in that of the infidel, were Dr. Watts and Dr. Latta employed in patting forth such utterances against the word of God? Others have gone nearly as far, in other forms, in this work of undermining the faith of the church. They have virtually denied that the church- we speak in re- ice to her ordinary members — has, in her posses- sion, the word of God at all : asserting, substantially, that there is no Bible, except in the original Greek and Hebrew, Mr. Black, against whose views on mody Dr. Anderson composed his able work, thus e some sixty or seventy years ago : "That there neither is nor can be any such thing as the inspired * Discourse on Psalmody, 43, 51, 77. THE TRUE PSALMODY. 135 forms of the psalms in our language, unless an imme- diate revelation were made in that language : that it is not possible to retain the words and phrases of the original in any translation; that as a prophet is to speak in the language which is suggested to him, his words are justly called the words of the Holy Ghost ; ' but that whenever a translation of that subject is made into any other language, the words of the language into which it is translated are no more the words of the Holy Ghost, than Greek is English." We need not pause here to vindicate the claim of our Bibles as they are in the hands of the people of God, to be, indeed, the word of the living God. This is part of our con- troversy as Protestants with the Popish apostacy. Another late writer follows in the same strain : " The inspired songs of the Old Testament are written in Hebrew, and that has been a dead language to her ever since her (the Christian church's) first existence. She might translate these songs : but the songs themselves she could not use."- And, of course, provided this be true of the psalms, it must be equally so of any portion of the Bible ; and so, in his zeal against the exclusive use of the Scripture Psalms, this writer would take away from the plain people of God, the entire word of God : for, if the translated psalms are not the psalms, then the translated sermon on the mount, is not the sermon on the mount : if translated psalms occupy, substantially, the same position as the ordinary compositions of men, which express Scripture truth, then are the translated epistles of Paul to be re- garded in the same light as other sound Gospel teach iug ; as to the inspired Paul's epistles, however, we cau- n ot have them in our hands unless we can read Greek ! These doctrines would deprive us of the Bible alto- gether: they would bereave the Church of Christ of any authoritative standard of faith and duty, accessible to unlettered Christians, and would hand these over * Morton on Psalmody, p. BO. 136 THE TRUE PSALMODY. to the teachings and interpretations of the learned, and especially to the clergy. Thus the Papists teach, rea- son, and conclude. But this is not all. While at one time the claims of the Scriptures in the vulgar tongue are„brought douu to the level of ordinary compositions ; at other times, the writings of men are exalted so as to bring them up to the height, at least, of the translated word of God.. " And if the subject matter is inspired, that is enough ; the song is an inspired song. For everybody knows, and the Doctor admits it, that the composition has its character from the subject matter. Every song, then, having for its subject matter inspired truth, is in reality an inspired song."* If this be so, then, every sermon which faithfully presents Gospel truth, every acceptable prayer as well as every sound hymn, must be " inspired" also ! And then, so far from having no English Bible, as at other times seems to be taught, we have any number of them — they are beyond computation ! Another, of higher name, teaches, indirectly, the same singular doctrine. He says, " Human compo- sure, properly speaking, is something, whether in prose or verse, composed by men, the subject-matter of which is human views, wishes, concerns, or interests. It is not proper to call a poem, the ground and substance of which is some doctrine, precept, promise, &c, in the word of God, a ' human composure.' " Dr. Pressly, among other judicious comments upon this remarkable definition of the phrase " human composures,'' says, " The reader wall perceive that the author of the * In- quiry' does not choose to appear before the public as the advocate of the use of songs of ■ human composure/ in the worship of God. And to extricate himself from this difficulty, he has invented a convenient definition of the phrase, ' human composure.' He maintains that a composition, which has been written and arranged by man, provided the matter of it be taken from the * Morton on Psalmody, page 92. THE TRUE PSALMODY. 137 Bible, is not a 'human composure,' but is 'divine.' And according to this definition, every evangelical sermon in the world is a ' divine' composition ! and Dr. Ralston's ' Brief Explication of the Principal Pro- phecies of Daniel and John,' is a ' divine' book ! Against such an abuse of language, for the purpose of elevating the compositions of men to a level with the word of God, I enter my solemn protest."* And well he may : for it is more than an " abuse of language'' — it is false teaching, calculated to mar the faith of the church. It is not our purpose to enter into any detailed refu- tation of these heretical assertions and doctrines. Every champion of the church's common faith, as against iufidels, Papists, and enthusiasts of all sorts, who pretend to share in inspiration, is equally bound with us to engage in this work. These are errors which assail the very foundations. We hold them up as beacons to admonish the reader to beware of enter- ing upon that course of reasoning which has led to such conclusions as these, regarding the character and spirit of the Bible itself, and as to the fact whether wo have any Bible at all, in any other tongue than the Hebrew and Greek, or even any Bible whatever, in- spired in a way far transcending all that ordinary, even good teaching can claim. Nor do we design to affirm, or even insinuate, that all who favour the singing of hymns, have gone these lengths. An Alexander, or a Junkin, would revolt at teachings like these, as sincerely as we do. But to these results, not a few, as we have seeo, have been driven in their advocacy of hymn-making and hymn- singing in the worship of God. Nor can we exempt from all blame, the denominations in behalf of whose practice in this matter of psalmody these statements have been made : for we have yet to learn that these * Pressly, p. 22. 138 THE TKTJE PSALMODY. assertions and reasonings have been met by any such rebuke on their part, as they certainly deserve. It is no hallowed cause in which men, not deficient in sagacity, have felt themselves constrained, somehow, by an inexorable logic, to defend their views at such an expense. If hymns cannot be vindicated without dis- paraging the translated word of God and its claim to hold, when faithfully rendered, an incomparably higher place than the compositions even of the most enlightened and experienced Christians, their defence ought, by all means, to be abandoned. VII. The introduction and the use of hymns, hah been followed by the abandonment, to a very great ex- t nt, of congregational singing ; and, even in domestic worship, there is, if we are not greatly mistaken, com- paratively little use of sacred song. Hymns and " Imi- tations" of the Psalms have been, in a vast number of instances, the precursors of various appliances and arrangements in connexion with the musical services of the sanctuary ; while these, again, have had the effect of closing the lips of the worshippers. So that, except in social meetings, we may safely assert, that in most denominations,* which favour the singing of uninspired songs, they often do not after all sing them, either in public or domestic worship ! The great mass of the worshippers ( 9 ) in public service " sit mute" — to use an expression employed by a late writer respect- ing the Independent Churches of England — while a few in the choir attend to this part of the services. Is not this, notoriously, the fact ? too notorious to require any proof! And, not in this land alone, but in others, r'though not everywhere to the same extent, the use of hymns has largely sent the entire "service of song" into some corner of the church edifice, committing it to a few, and these not always specially devout and solemn. In many congregations, the voice of a wor- * The Methodist denominations do still, we believe, retain congregational singing. THE TRUE PSALMODY. 139 shipper anywhere out of the choir-gallery, would he frowned upon as an unwarrantable interference with the artistic efforts of the select few ! As to the devotions of the family, in this country at least, we are quite safe in asserting that they are generally conducted in hymn- singing denominations by reading the scriptures and praying alone ; singing praise is omitted. Dr. J. W. Alexander says, " This part of the service (family sing- ing) has fallen out of the practice of many households, and (strangely enough) extensively in those regions where scientific music has been most boastfully culti- vated." " It is a remarkable fact, that in those circles of the religious world which consider themselves the most accomplished, there are many families where sacred music receives no separate attention . . . ; when the hour of family worship arrives, no hymn of praise ascends to God . . . ; our Christian daugh- ters, practising for hours a day under great masters of singing, are sometimes unwilling to lend their aid even in the house of God." . . " We believe that the revival of psalmody in the house, would contribute to train voices for the sanctuary." " It is mournful to think, that a service which was so precious to our ancestors, and which they made sacrifices to enjoy, even when under the sword of persecution, should die out in many Christian families in these days of peace, when there is no lack of worldly rejoicings, ' and the harp, and the viol, tabret, and pipe, and wine, are in their feasts.' " (Is. v. 12.*) There are exceptions : but the fact is indisputable, that congregational singing, and singing in family wor- ship, have largely disappeared : f and a most singular fact it is. Claiming the right to sing anything they please — advocating a wide liberty of selection — boasting * Dr. J. W. Alexander's Thoughts on Family Worship, pp. ■'. 226, 230. + Some efforts are making to revive congregational singing ; but with only partial success. 140 THE TRUE PSALMODY. that they have found hymns — multitudes of them — more suitable for New Testament service of sacred song ; they do probably — really sing nothing at all — in the pub- lic — it may be in the domestic worship of God ! Hav- ing banished the " psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs" which God has provided, adopting in their stead, either " imitations" of them, or hymns, they have gone on to a practical disregard of the ordinance of praise itself! They neither sing the Psalms of the Bible, nor any other! Not so the psalm-singing churches. They retain congregational singing. In a very few instances, the choir principle may be adopted partially, but no where, we believe, can there be found a congregation which remits the exercise of praise to a few occupants of a gallery. And so of family worship. In psalm-singing denominations, both in this country and in Europe, the celebration of God's praise in the songs of Zion, is one part of the exercises of family worship. On this we quote from Dr. Alexander : " The use of psalmody in family worship we believe to have been almost universal (he might have said universal) in the Old Presbyterian Church of Scotland, as it has been laudably kept up till this day. That it tended, in a high degree, to increase the interest of all concerned in the service, and to pro- mote Christian knowledge and sound piety, we cannot for a moment doubt."-:' All this has now mainly de- parted from one class of churches, while it has remained in another. Is there not a very solemn lesson, both of instruction and admonition, to be learned from this ? But why has singing praise been dropped so exten- sively in connexion with the use of hymns ? We sug- gest the following : (1.) The hymns lack authority. It is very difficult to make out the call of God in the case of any given hymn at a given time. Even admitting that it is a duty to sing praise, the question rises as to the call to this duty in the given case. We have no » Thoughts, &c, p. 222. THE TRUE PSALMODY. 141 doubt at all that this radical defect in the entire system of hymns, has wrought gradually, but effectively, to produce the state of things we now witness, and so many deplore. (3.) And, in part, arising from the same cause, the idea of worship has ceased to no inconsider- able extent to be attached to the singing of hymns. We here use the words, and support our statement by the authority of the writer from w T hom we have already quoted : " Is the true character of this service that of worship ? Probably few or none would, in form, deny it. Our hymn-books, however, and the usage of many Christian ministers and people do deny it, in fact. At least they hold it as a mixed service, partly worship and partly not. They sing now to God, and now to crea- tures. They do this, not only in mere musical exercises and recreations w T hen there is no profession of worship, but also when households encompass the domestic altar, and the great congregation waits before God. As a Divine ordinance, then, the service of song is one of worship. This is the view of the Bible, the doctrine of the church, the usage of heaven. Like prayer, it is worship in its most direct form. What then ? This. Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and Him only shalt thou serve. No creature, man or angel, may share this honour. It belongs exclusively to God. The conclusion is inevitable and urgent. It reaches our hymn-books. It demands a material change in their cha- racter. They are not formed on this definite and prime principle. Sometimes, indeed, they agree with it, as often they violate it. Whatever their compilers thought sufficiently pious and lyrical seems to have been inserted without a controlling reference to its fitness for the specific purpose of worship. They abound, therefore, with meditations, invitations, exhortations, expostulations, soliloquies, and even dialogues. Here they sing to creatures, and there to God ; thus practically teaching that the one is as right and becoming as the other."* * S. D., in the Presbyterian, Nov. 27th, and Dec. 4th, 1658. 142 THE TRUE PSALMODY. (3.) The abandonment so largely of congregational singing, may be traced to that fondness for fine, scien- tific music, which has ever followed in the train of hymns, when used among a cultivated people. The associations of every day musical training and recre- ations, are readily transferred to the Sabbath, and the sanctuary. It is all the singing of songs : men's songs. These may differ in their subject, but they are one in their origin. Hence, unlike those, who use the word of God alone in singing His praise, there is no parti- cular sense of incongruity in treating hymns as other songs are treated — that is, made the mere vehicle of music, instead of employing music to deepen the impression of the sentiments uttered. Whether we have traced the causes of this state of things accurately or not, our facts remain. They deserve high consideration. VIII. The use of hymns in religious exercises en- dangers the church's purity : hymns may be used, and have been, in diffusing errors and heresy. That the songs used by the church in her devotions have no feeble influence upon her faith, we have already affirmed. The fact is beyond question. The notion of sacredness becomes, in some cases, attached to them. Their constant use impresses them deeply upon the mind, and upon the heart. Hence, error incorporated in songs and sung in devotional exercises, occupies the most favour- able position possible. Corrupters of the faith have ever understood this well ; and, hence, have availed themselves of the instrumentality of songs as a most ef- fective means of propagating their erroneous opinions. The Biblical Repertory, speaking of Bardesanes, says, "The Gnostic doctrines were poetic, and they were made popular, and widely extended by the hymns and odes of this heretical poet, and those of his moredistin- guished sun, Harmonius."* Neander makes a similar • 1829, p. 530. THE TEUE PSALMODY. 143 statement regarding later generations : " and as sectaries and heretical parties often had recourse to church Psalmody to spread their own religious opinions, all those songs which had not been for a longtime in use in the church, were particularly liable to suspicion."* And finally, the Repertory, alluding to the partisan use which the various factions of the church made of song, says, " Thus one of the most sacred portions of the worship of the church militant, in which it was designed to ap- proximate most closely to the services of the church above, degenerated into the mere watch-word of a party, and the signal for strife and controversy." We can trace, not very distinctly, but with sufficient clearness for the purpose of admonition and warning, the hurtful workings of this agency even in the hands of those esteemed orthodox. The author of the " Voice of the Christian Life in Song," thus speaks of the "Anonymous Greek Hymns" — "If any difference is apparent between the theology of these early hymns and that of St. Paul and St. Peter, it seems to be this : the incarnation and nativity of our Lord seem in the hymns to fix the attention, rather than His death and resurrection. The language would perhaps be rather — 'I was determined to know nothing among you, save Jesus Christ, and Him incarnate,' than, 'I was deter- mined to know notiling among you, save Jesus Christ, and Him crucified. ' And in some measure the results of this difference may be traced. There is great rejoic- ing in Christ as the Restorer and Saviour, great adora- tion of Him as God manifest in the flesh, but perhaps less apprehensive of Him as the Redeemer of sinners, the Lamb of God, who has washed us from our sins in His own blood ; and, therefore, less apprehension of the completeness of the redemption, and the blessed security of the believer, living or dead. From this tendency to make the manger, rather than the cross, the centre of the faith, probably arose those first mis- * His. ii. 318. 144 THE TRUE PSALMODY. apprehensions of the position of the Virgin Mary, which afterwards spread so sadly."* A perusal of these " Hymns" shows clearly enough that this is no unfounded surmise. The same author, sets up a token of warning when speaking of the one hymn ofClement.f " Through all the images here so quaintly interwoven, like a stained window, of which the eye loses the design in the com- plication of colours, we may surely trace, as in quaint old letters on a scroll winding through all the mosaic of tints, ' Christ in all.' And could the earliest Christian hymn hear a nobler inscription ? Yet, at the same time, we must remember, that whilst the truth of the early Christian writings bears precious testimony to the Christian life of the times, their defects and mistakes bear, by contrast, no less valuable testimony to the in- spiration of those earlier writings in which neither defect nor mistake is found." J Ephraem Syrus was the great " orthodox'' hymn- writer of the fourth century. But who was Ephraem? A monk of Mesopotamia — perhaps a pious man, but a believer in relics, in prayers to and for the dead, and in a kind of purgatory. The writer from whom we have just quoted, thus speaks of him : " His learning might seem foolishness to children among us, and his theology may fall far short of the fulness and simplicity of the Apostles' teaching; but his heart seems to have been steeped in the Gospel histories ; and, however dim might have been his explanation of the way of salva- tion in those Gospels, he surely found the Saviour, whom not having seen, he loved, and in whom he rejoiced with joy unspeakable and full of glory, receiving the end of his faith, even the salvation of his soul."§ It may be said, however, that his hymns may have been orthodox — that his errors found no place in them — and, hence, that Ephraem neither diffused nor con- firmed errors by his songs. We admit that his hymns * Voice, &c, pp. 27, 2R. + Clement lived at the close of the second century. J Voice, &o., pp. 45, 40. § Ibid, pp. 54, 55. THE TRUE PSALMODY. 145 contain much truth, and often beautifully and touch- ingly expressed. But they also contain more or less of his errors. The same writer, who admires him greatly, says again — " There is also a song of Ephraem's about Paradise, the feet of whose mountains the highest waves of the deluge could but touch and kiss, and reverently turn aside ; where the sons of light tread the sea like Peter, and sail the ether on their chariots of cloud. And there is a hymn on the resurrection, full of beau- tiful images, or rather visions ; the gates of paradise opening of themselves to the just; the guardian angel striking his harp as he goes forth to meet them, when 'the Bridegroom comes with songs of joy from the East, and the kingdom of death is made desolate, as the children of Adam rise from the dust, and soar to meet their Lord.' There is mention also of a fire to be passed through ere paradise is reached (a fire not purga- torial, but testing), the unjust being devoured by it, and the just gliding through untouched."* We have here, with some idle fancies, an allusion to a " fire" after death, that might soon, to say the least, become " pur- gatorial." Finally, we present as we find it in the pages of Dr. M 'Master, a stanza, from this author, re- commending prayer for the dead. "Behold our brother is departed From this abode of woe : Let us pray in his departure That his guide may be propitious. Beatify him in the mansions above. May his eyes behold thy grace. Feed him with thy lambs/ 1 These fanciful notions and erroneous views, thus in- corporated with the hymns of so popular a writer, could not fail to work injury. True, the age of Ephraem was one already quite distinctly marked by the adop- tion of many of the errors which developed rapidly * Voice, &c, pp. r oi), 54. + M* Master, p. 49. 146 THE TRUE PSALMODY. into the Papal apostacy. It is also true, that this monk was among the most orthodox men of his day and place — he belonged to the East ; but all the worse, when even he introduced into his hymns errors of such a cha- racter. His general orthodoxy, and the acknowledged excellence of many of his compositions, would give countenance, currency, and stability, to the false, the fanciful, and the visionary. Poison is all the more dangerous when mixed with wholesome viands. When we come nearer to our own times — the middle ages, and since — we find the same agency used to establish errors. In the former, the monks sang, and others sang with them, of the "Virgin," and of the lite- ral " cross, 5 ' &c. " Long before error had been stere- otyped into a creed, it has echoed from the hearts of the people in hymns. We need only study the sacred poetry of the middle ages to understand why the Re- formation was needed. One painfully expressive fact meets us at the outset. Of Mone's ' Collection of the Latin Hymns of the Middle Ages,' in three volumes, one is filled with hymns to God and the angels ; one with hymns to the blessed Virgin Mary ; aud one with hymns to the saints. ,? * In our own day, what mean these confused sounds from the many denominational hymn-books ? Why such hymn-books at all ? The truth is, each embalms its peculiar views in song, and so endeavours to give them currency and permanence. Hence, nearly every fresh schism of any magnitude in these bodies, gives rise to some modifications in the " service of song." That there is danger attending the use of uninspired songs in our days, we infer from the actual character of a large number of the hymns now in use. And this we prefer to give in the language of a writer upon whom we have already made a draught : — " The Plymouth compiler, in his 364th hymn, offers to ' Christian con- gregations/ as a help to worship, this song to Mary: * Voice, . But ye are the streams of which si i all come unto mount Zion, and make glad the city of Ood } the unto the city of the living God, holy place of the tabernacles the heavenly Jerusalem, liom. of the Most High, xlviii. 2. ix. C, 7, 8. They are not all Beautiful for situation, the joy Israel which are of Israel: THE TRUE PSALMODY. 155 of the whole earth, is Mount Zion, on the sides of the north, the city of the great king. li. 18. Do good in thy good plea- sure unto Zion : huild thou the walls of Jerusalem, liii. 6. Oh that the salvation of Israel were come out of Zion! When God hringeth back the captivity of his people, Jacob shall re- joice, and Israel shall he glad. neither, because they are the seed of Abraham, are they all children : but, in Isaac shall thy seed be called. That is, they which are the children of the flesh, these are not the children of God: but the chil- dren of the promise are counted for the seed. Gal. vi. 16. Peace be on them, and upon the Israel of God. Ps. xxvii. 4. One thing have I desired of the Lord, that will I seek after ; that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the Lord, and to in- quire in his Temple, xlviii. 9. We have thought of thy loving- kindness, O God, in the midst of thy Temple, lii. 8. But I am like a green olive tree in the house of God, ^ Ps. liv. 3. For strangers are risen up against me, and op- pressors seek after my soul, cxxxvii. 4. How shall we sing the Lord's song in a strange land! Ps. cvi. 4, 5. Remember me, Lord, with the favour that thou bearest unto thy people: visit me with thy salvation : that I may see the good of thy chosen, that I may rejoice in the gladness of thy nation, that I may glory with thine inheritance, cxxxii. 9. Let thy priests be clothed with righteousness, cxlviii. 14. He also exalteth the horn of his people, the praise of all his saints ; even of the children of Israel, a people near unto him. Jno. ii. 19. Jesus answered and said unto them, Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up. 1 Cor. iii. 16. Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and the Spirit of God dwelleth in you ? 1 Tim. iii. 15. That thou mayest know how thou ough test to behave thyself in the house of God, which is the church of the living God. Eph. ii. 19. Now, therefore, ye are no more strangers and foreigners, but fellow-citizens with the saints, and of the household of God. 1 Peter ii. 9. But ye aro a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a pe- culiar people ; that ye should show forth the praises of him who hath called you. Col. i. 12. Giving thanks unto the Father, which hath made us meet to be partakers of the in- heritance of the saints in light. 156 THE TRUE PSALMODY. Ps. xlii. 4. When I remember these things, I pour out my soul in me : for I had gone with the multitude, I went with them to the house of God, with the voice of joy and praise, with a multitude that kept holyday. cxxii. 3, 4. Jeru- salem is builded as a city that is compact together : whither the tribes go up, the tribes of the Lord unto the testimony of Israel, to give thanks unto the name of the Lord. For there are set thrones of judgment, the thrones of the house of David. Eph. i. 10. That in the dis- pensation of the fulness of times, he might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven, and which are on eartli ; even in him. Heb. xii. Ye are come unto the heavenly Jerusalem, and to an innumerable com- pany of angels , to the general assembly and church of the first born, which are written in hea- ven, to God the judge of all, and to the spirits of just men made perfect, and to Jesus the Mediator of the New Covenant. Luke i. 32. The Lord God shall give unto him (Jesus) the throne of his father David. Ps. 1. 5. Gather my saints together unto me ; those that have made a covenant with me by sacrifice, lxvi. 15. I will offer unto thee burnt sacrifices of fatlings, with the incense of rams; 1 will offer bullocks with goats, cxviii. 27. Bind the sacrifice with cords, even unto the horns of the altar. xliii. 4. Then will I go to the altar of God, unto God my ex- ceeding joy. Kom. xii. 1. I beseech you, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God. 1 Pet. ii. 5. Ye also, as living stones, are built up a spiritual house, an holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices, acceptable to God by Jesus Christ. Heb. xiii. 10. We have an altar whereof they have no right to eat who serve the tabernacle. Ps. exxxvii. 1, 8. By the rivers of Babylon, there we sat down, yea, we wept when we remembered Zion. daughter of Babylon, who art to be de- stroyed; happy shall be be that rewardetti thee, as thou hast served us. Rev. xvii. 5. And upon her forehead was a name written. Mystery, Babylon, the great, the mother of harlots, and abominations of the earth. xviii. '10. llejoice over her, thou heaven, and ye holy Apostles and Prophets; for God hath avenged you on her. " Before a comparison of the mode of expression used iu the psalms with that which is found in the THE TRUE PSALMODY. 157 New Testament, every objection to the use of the songs of Zion, on account of the frequent allusions which they contain to the nature and circumstances of the religious institutions of Israel, vanishes. It is not intended to make the impression that there is no allu- sion to the types in the Book of Psalms, which is not found introduced by Christ and His Apostles to describe spiritual things. But We find them using figurative language derived from all the leading and primary char- acters of the former economy; and in this they iurnish an evidence of the correctness and consistency of Chris- tians, putting the name of the type to express the thing typified."* Finally, even Dr. Watts himself — who seems to have originated this objection, and certainly has stated it most strongly — has the following : — " Before thine altar, Lord, My harp and song shall sound The glories of thy word." III. It is said that the psalms are not adapted toa season of religious reviving. This objection could scar- cely be offered by one acquainted with the psalms themselves, and with their history. We have already asserted and shown that the psalms do give expression to the liveliest Christian emotions and affections — that they have been singularly esteemed and loved ; habitu- ally read, and studied, and sung, by many of the most spiritually-minded and devoted of the servants and ministers of Christ. Surely, the Apostolic church was a living and active chnrch, but it is acknowledged that the psalms were then sung ; and so far as the evidence goes, no other religious songs. The waldenses sang the psalms and nothing else in their Alpine valleys ; and in their seasons of persecution found in these in- spired psalms, strength and hope. The French church, * Sommerville, pp. 24 — 27. 158 THE TRUE PSALMODY. and the churches of Switzerland, used nothing else in song, during the palmiest days of their religious life ; while these sacred songs contributed no little to the spread of the gospel.* These psalms constituted the only psalmody of the Scottish church in her first and second Reformations. These were the songs whose melody was heard in the cottages, in the glens, in the moors, and on the mountains, "and often on the scaffold and at the stake, in the dark days of Scottish persecu- tion. In these psalms, the multitudes who waited upon the preaching of Livingston, celebrated God's praises in that day of the Lord's power when five hun- dred souls were converted by means of one sermon at the Kirk of Shotts. The thousands who turned to the Lord, flocking as " doves to their windows" during the season of genuine and extensive reviving subsequent to that day, used none but Bible Psalms. These psalms were the sacred songs of the revived church in Ireland, in the days of the Bruces, the Welshes, the Blairs, the Cunninghams, and Livingstons, when large districts were aroused and turned, almost as one man, to God.f The early Presbyterians of this country, used none * The following is taken from Lorimer's "Protestant Church in France," p. 19, Phila. ed. — " In 1535, the Scriptures were translated iuto the French language, by Olivetan, the uncle of the celebrated Calvin, and shortly after the Psalms of David were turned into verse by one of the popular poets of the day, and set to melodious music. This last undertaking was at- tended with remarkable success. There had been nothing of this kind before, and so the whole music of the people was per- verted to sinful and superstitious purposes. Now, the national genius was enlisted on the side of truth. ■ This holy ordi- nance,' says Quick, ' charmed the ears, heart, and affections of court and city, town and country.' This one ordinance alone, contributed mightily to the downfall of Popery and the propa- gation of the gospel. ... No gentleman professing the Reformed religion would sit down at his table without praising God by singing. Yea, it was an especial part of their morning and evening worship to sing God's praises." t Reid's History of the Presbyterian Church in Ireland. THE TRUE PSALMODY. 159 other, during those ''golden days, when souls were enlightened with such a knowledge of Christ, as if the light of the sun had been seven fold, as if the light of seven days had poured at once on the worshipper with healing iu every beam."* The Bible Psalms are adapted to any season of genuine reviving of religion. They have. been tried. They have never been found wanting. The revival to which these psalms are not adapted, should itself be suspected. IV. It is said that the psalms are difficult to under- stand ; and, perhaps, it may be insinuated that this is virtually acknowledged by some who use them, inas- much as they formally explain them in their public exercises. This is an objection which we would not be surprised to find in the mouth of a Papist, who, on this alleged ground, refuses the Bible to the common people, and refers them to what he styles the plainer and safer teaching of a priest ; but we would hardly have looked for it from any one, who, as a Protestant, holds that the Bible is not an unintelligible book. We admit, indeed, that the psalms, in common with other Scriptures, are characterized by an inexhaustible ful- ness of meaning ; but we deny that they are, in any peculiar degree, hard to understand. The truth is, they are much more intelligible than many other por- tions of the Bible. They present fewer difficult pas- sages — scarcely any in fact ; and, in the main, are singularly clear. They have ever been favourite read- ing : the pious have enjoyed them with a special relish. They have found none of this asserted obscurity in these sacred songs, but rather an unusual, and, generally, transparent clearness, while the less studious, or thoughtful, or spiritual, alone complain that they are obscure. We quote with satisfaction the following judgment of the distinguished Dr. Horsley : " Of all * Webster's History, p. 124. 160 THE TEUE PSALMODY. the books of the Old Testament, the Book of Psalms is the most universally read ; but, I fear, as little as any understood. This cannot be ascribed to any extra- ordinary obscurity of these sacred songs ; for of all the prophetic parts of the Scriptures they are certainly the most perspicuous. But it is owing, partly, I fear, to some dulness of the faculties of the natural man upon spiritual subjects. There is not a page of this Book of Psalms in which the pious reader will not find his Sa- viour, if he reads with a view of finding Him ; and it was but a just encomium of it that came from the pen of one of the early Fathers, that it is a complete system of divinity for the use and edification of the common people of the Christian church."* Scott the distin- guished commentator says, " There is nothing in true religion, doctrinal, experimental and practical, but will present itself to our attention w T hile we meditate upon the psalms. And hardly an occasion of praise and thanksgiving can be conceived, to which some portion of them, faithfully rendered in poetical versions, may not be applied with peculiar energy and propriety ;*and indeed the Christian's use of them in the closet, and the minister's in the pulpit, will generally increase with the growing experience of the power of true religion in their own hearts "\ A correspondent of the " Presby- terian Magazine," bears like testimony — " The very excellence of the Book of Psalms has, in this, its effect. Their depth of matter, their spirituality, their sub- limity, their transcendent elevation of devotion, raise them above the comprehension, and above the standard of de\otional feeling of ordinary Christians. It is a fact, that Christians of deficient attainments often find themselves more edified in reading other books than the Bible, and really relish them more. But the higher Christians rise in gracious experience, the higher is their esteem for the pure word of God, until at length, * Quoted by M'Mastcr, p. 131. + Preface to Psalms. THE TRUE PSALMODY. 161 every human production becomes iusipid in comparison therewith. As it certainly can have no good effect to promote in the public mind, a preference of other books, to the Bible, so it is conceived there can no good effects arise from promoting in the public taste a preference of other compositions to the psalms the Holy Spirit hath inspired."* As to the exposition of the psalms, if this is an ac- knowledgment of such obscurity in the psalms as is impenetrable to ordinary intellect, why not apply the same principle to other Scriptures ? to the Sermon on the mount? to the Ten Commandments ? to the Lord's Prayer? These are explained, and re-explained, in every pulpit ; but who imagines that he is confessing, while engaged in such an exercise, that the Bible is unintelligible? These expositions are all "helps:" they aid the reader, the inquiring, the Christian. And so with the " Explaining of the Psalms :" it is designed as a help to the better understanding of the psalms, and to quicken the mind and heart, as the worshipper is about to enter upon the exercise of praise. Yet, even this is entered upon but rarely, compared with the whole number of times the psalms are sung. Finally, if there be in the psalms a depth of meauing — if there be some parts of them requiring investigation, this is a reason for the careful study of them — a reason for endeavouring to bring up the Christian intelligence to a higher level, and uot a reason for degrading the exercise of praise to the level of the heedless and unin- quiring capacity. V. It is said that the Book of Psalms is unsuitable for the use of children. If so now, it must have been fully as much so, at the least, when God gave it to His church. Besides, whatever force there may be in this objection, the psalms share with the rest of the word of God. Part of both are intelligible, not to infanta, but to children of some development and education ; * Presbyterian Magazine, July 1822, quoted by M'Master, K 103 THE TRUE PSALMODY. and as they grow iu ability and wisdom, and, of course, more capable of understanding the Scriptures, they become better acquainted also with the psalms. The children of the Jews, of the Apostolic church, of the French, Swiss, and Holland Reformed, of our Scottish forefathers — were not comparatively deficient in Chris- tian knowledge : nor are the children of the psalm, singing churches now. None of them have lost any- thing by the want of little religious songs. Instead, their minds were and are strengthened by early fami- liarity with songs so superiorin acknowledged excellence. We go further. We deny that the psalms are unin- teresting to the young. Many of them — as thousands can testify — are highly attractive, and become, from an early age, imprinted upon the hearts of the children of the church. This is all that we can fairly ask. It were a singular principle to apply to the worship of God, that every thing in it must be adapted throughout, or even mainly, to the easy comprehension of the very young. Must we have a " child's Bible as well ?" VI. It is said that the psalms are not adapted to the condition and experience of every worshipper. If this be an objection, it must have been, as some we have already noticed, an equally solid reason why the psalms never should have been sung in the worship of the church, either in Old or New Testament times. The objection is, moreover, equally good against any hymn- book whatever : for the special circumstances, the ex- periences, etc., of all the worshippers, will scarcely ever be identical in any worshipping assembly. And finally, this objection leaves out of view the fact, that in sing- ing psalms, God is praised. And, hence, the joyful i hristian may praise Him for deliverances wrought for the sad and afflicted : the sad and afflicted may praise Him for the promises and tokens of His favour which lill the heart of the emancipated believer with joy and gladness. T?oth can celebrate His works of power and of mercy in behalf of His church and kingdom, while both THE TEUE PSALMODY. 1G3 may see in the tones of grief and sorrow, and again in the notes of exultation and triumph, the heart of a Saviour once suffering, now exalted. VII. It is said that churches which use hymns are more prosperous — grow more rapidly — than those that do not. It might be enough to reply, that mere statis- tics settle no principle of moral or religious truth. Rome reasons in this very way. Few Christian com- munities have grown as rapidly as the Mormons or the Spiritualists. But does the objection state the fact ? It may be that, in some localities and times, the asser- tion of the objector may be true. But it is not true when we regard the matter as we should, in a more comprehensive spirit. When has there been a more rapid increase in numbers than in the Apostolic age? or in the era of the Reformation? If psalm-singing churches do no not grow so rapidly now, it must be owing, not to their psalmody, but to other causes. Again, mere growth in numbers is no criterion of a church's real prosperity. Growth is, indeed, eminently desirable. It is a ground of rejoicing, high and holy, when multitudes flock to Zion ; but we must look beyond this : we must have regard to other elements of true and lasting prosperity. If mere additions to the numerical strength constitute any argument in behalf of doctrines and practices, then Presbyterianism is less worthy of acceptance than Methodism, for the latter has grown the most rapidly — Methodism less worthy of acceptance than the Baptist views and system, for the latter grows most rapidly of all. Does the Most High endorse all these varying doctrines by blessing with increase those who hold them ? And is His approbation, in the degree of it, to be measured by this increase ? The fact is, the Most High may and does bless His own truth, even when it is presented intermingled with some error ; to ascertain what is truth, we have but one resort — " the law and the testimony." Still, we do not admit that the growth of the psalm- 164 THE TRUE PSALMODY. singing churches is even in this day so much less than the growth of others as the objection requires. We believe they will bear scrutiny well on this point. Most of them, so far as we can judge of statistics, are not far behind any of their contemporaries. And should there even be some ground for the objection, may it not be owing rather to the fact that the use of the psalms has generally been found associated with a closer adherence to Scriptural requirements in the admission of mem- bers, and a more careful discipline exercised over those within ? VIII. It is said that the spirit of some of the psalms is inconsistent with that of the New Testament — ia fact, that some of them are unchristian. This objection is thus stated by Dr. Watts—" I have been long convinced, that one great occasion of this evil arises from the matter and words to which we confine ail our songs/-!' Some of them are almost opposite to the spirit of the Gospel ; many of them foreign to the state of the New Testament, and widely different from the present circumstances of Christians. Hence, it comes to pass, that when spiritual affections are excited within us, and our souls are raised a little above this earth, in the beginning of a psalm, we are checked on a sudden in our ascent toward heaven, by some expressions that are most suitable to the days of carnal ordinances, and fit only to be sung in the worldly sanctuary. While we are kindling into divine love, by the meditations of the loving kindness of God, and the multitude of His tender mercies, within a few verses, some dreadful curse ayainst men is proposed to our lips, which is so contrary to the new commandment of loving our enemies.'' To this we reply — (1.) That assertions of this kind would be altogether consistent — coming from those who deny the inspiration of the scriptures ; or rather, from those who go farther, and condemn the Bible as a bad * In 1712, Songs of Presbyterian Churches "confined" to the psalms. THE TRUE PSALMODY. 165 book ; but we cannot understand how such an objection can be offered, or thought of, by any one who believes that the psalms are a part of the inspired word of God. It does appear to us very like the language of blas- phemy, if it be not the language of infidelity. (2.) It is a fact sufficiently remarkable, that those very psalms which are styled pre-eminently " cursing psalms" — the 69th and the 109th — are among the number of those psalms which we can on the most unquestionable tes- timony identify as directly appropriated to the betrayer of our incarnate and suffering Saviour. They are both quoted, and in the most striking manner, in the New Testament — Acts i. 20 — and are spoken of as " scrip- ture, which the Holy Ghost by the mouth of David, spake before concerning Judas. " (3 ) Our Saviour him- self used these very psalms : they are His language. In proof of this we have but to examine the psalms them- selves, taking with us the above inspired interpretation of them. It will be seen that the speaker is no other than Jesus himself. It is He that speaks of the traitor in the terms of fearful but just denunciation, which Dr. Watts, and many since his day, have ventured to de- nominate unchristian ?* (4.) Finding these and similar utterances in the psalms, it would be wisdom in the objector, to study carefully their import, and then, seek to have his mind and heart brought into conformity with the Spirit of Christ speaking in them — a spirit of eternal justice and holiness. (5.) If we must do so, however, let us inquire, whether the Spirit of Christ in David did really move him to utter unchristian seutiments ? Here we quote from Sommerville : "If the psalms have been dictated by the Holy Ghost — if by the Spirit of Christ, who speaks not of himself, but speaks w r hat he hears, the character of the author determines the character of the Book. * Let the reader turn to these psalms and satisfy himself in this respect. 106 THE TRUE PSALMODY. If God, the author, be holy, there is nothing unholy in the Book of Psalms, or calculated to encourage unholiness ; if God be merciful, there is nothing in it inconsistent with mercy, or calculated to encourage cruelty ; if God be love, there is nothing in it contrary to the spirit of love, or calculated to encourage hatred or revenge; in one word, there cannot be anything in the book op- posed to any perfection of the Divine character, or failing to recommend conformity to God upon the part of man. Whoever, therefore, quarrels with the spirit or matter of the psalms, sets himself in opposition, not to man, but God, for he implicitly imputes to God whatever he charges upon his word. " Or again. The inspiration of the psalms and of the Xew Testament being taken for granted, if the psalms do not manifest the same spirit, inculcate the same doctrines, enjoin the same moral duties, prohibit the same sins, which are set forth in the New Testa- ment, it follows that the Holy Ghost is inconsistent with himself. But it would be no difficult matter to show that the spirit, the doctrines, the precepts, the prohibitions — in a word, the design and tendency of both are the same. And we know that the Old Testa- ment saints — we know that David possessed and exem- plified that very character which the Gospel of Christ recommends. Will any man venture, upon mature consideration, to set declarations from the pen of David, especially remembering that it was guided by the Spirit of God, the expression of whose inflexible justice, of whose detestation of sin, of whose determination to punish it — to all which holy men of God have been enabled — to which David was enabled to say, Amen — he may have mistaken for the language of unforgiving cruelty; will any man venture to set declarations, the spirit and design of which may be misunderstood, in opposition to facts? Are malignity and revenge rashly to be imputed to the man, who found his enemy in a cave — his enemy who had attempted his life, who was THE TRUE PSALMODY. 107 at that moment in pursuit of him, attended by three thousand men, that he might overtake and kill him — and would not put forth his hand against his person, though urged by his followers ? Will we attribute malignity aud revenge to him who, coming into the camp of his adversary by night, and rinding him and his men asleep, neither injured him nor would permit another to do it, though solicited, and could show the sword and cruise of water which he #had carried away from his head, a testimony at once of his own power to have taken revenge, and of the simplicity an 1 ingenuousness of his temper and conduct? Was the man malignant and revengeful, who, when an ungrate- ful rebel in the day of adversity cursed him and vilified his character, could say, profoundly resigned to the award of Heaven, ' Let him alone, and let him curse ; tor the Lord hath bidden him.' And shall we join with the many who have conspired to vilify the cha- racter and the words of the sweet singer of Israel, even at the hazard of charging the Spirit of Christ with want of consistency ? God forbid. . . . Once more, and I dismiss this branch of the inquiry : Is such language as this cruel ? * Cut them off in thy truth.' 1 1 will bring again from the depth of the sea ; that thy foot may be dipped in the blood of enemies, the tongue of thy dogs in the same.' ' Let them be blotted out of the book of the living, and not be written with the righteous/ Is it inconsistent with the spirit of the Gospel, to use it with the character of the Chris- tian ? Mark the consequences, Then the words of Paul, moved by the Holy Ghost, not merely writing to the church, but to a bishop of the church, must share in the same condemnation. ' Alexander the copper- smith did me much evil : the Lord reward him accord- ing to his works.' (2 Tim. iv. 14.) If the spirit manifested in such portions of the psalms as those quoted be unchristian, by what spirit shall we say the Apostle was actuated? If the psalms be incons: 168 THE TRUE PSALMODY. with the Gospel, then Paul must be inconsistent with himself, for in the sixteenth verse we read, ' At my first answer no man stood with me, but all forsook me: I pray God that it may not be laid to their charge.' Let him who is straitened in the use of some portions of Zion's songs, explain the consistency of the fourteenth and sixteenth verses of the fourth chapter of the second epistle to Timothy, and he shall find himself near an enlargement. Another consequence follows. The saints enter into the regions of love and peace, with all the cruelty and revenge of earth about them. * And when he had opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of them that were slain for the word of God, and for the testimony which they held : and they cried with a loud voice, saying, How long, O Lord, holy and true, dost thou not judge and avenge our blood on them that dwell on the earth?' Finally, God must delight in carnage, and be chargeable with encouraging cruelty in His people. The great God has a supper, to which the fowls of heaven are invited, that they may ■ eat the flesh of kings, and the flesh of captains, and the flesh of mighty men, and the flesh of horses, and of them that sit on them, and the flesh of all, free and bond, both small and great/ * I heard,' says John, ' another voice from heaven, saying, Come out of her, my people.' This must be the voice of God himself, for who else claims the saints for his own ? And what does the voice proclaim in addition to a call to come forth from among the children of mystical Babylon ? Reward her even as she has rewarded you, and double unto her double according to her works : in the cup which she hath filled fill to her double. Rejoice over her, thou heaven, and ye holy apostles and prophets; for God hath avenged you on her." (Rev. vi. 10; xviii. 4 — (> ; xix. 17, 18.*) (6.) Finally, we affirm, that it is one of the true and * Sommerville, pp. 43 — 40. THE TRUE PSALMODY. 160 godlike excellencies of these psalms — whatever senti- mentalists may say — that they do celebrate the awful justice of God, the most righteous Lawgiver and Judge, " to whom belongeth vengeance" — Hisjusticein vindi- cating His truth, His people, and the claims of His Son, and in visiting as they deserve, the malignant and impenitent enemies of the Person, the throne, the grace, of Jesus Christ. Let us hear Tholuck — " In modern times the opiuion seems to obtain, that love to enemies is enjoined as a duty in the New Testament only. The gratuitousness of that opinion is apparent from consult- ing correct translations of Lev. xix. 18 ; Ex. xxiii. 4, 5 ; Prov. xxiv. 17, 18, 29; xxv. 91, 22; Job xxxi. 29. To form a right estimate of the misgivings alluded to, we should consider the end contemplated by punishment. The common view is, that, with God and the pious, punishment springs from love, and contemplates the improvement of man. But what is to be done if you have to deal with an incorrigible sinner? The end of improvement, therefore, cannot exhaust the purpose of punishment. Philosophy agrees with Christianity, that the specific purpose of punishment is retribution, i.e., the welfare of the individual is to be disturbed in the same measure as he has disturbed or infringed upon the law of God or the state. Hence it appears, that to deny the punishment of a hardened sinner (not on personal ground, but from a sense of the holiness of the divine law) is as little to be regarded as evidencing moral imperfection, as it would be to desire that those who are susceptible of improvement should, by means of correctives, be brought to their senses. The objection is met, if it can be shown that the imprecations and prayers for Divine punishrneut do not flow from the vindictive disposition (viz., personal irritability and passion) of the Psalmists, but from the motives just now alluded to. Those supplications would then cor- respond to the earnest desire of a good monarch, or a just judge, to discover the guilty, that justice might be 170 THE TRUE PSALMODY. administered ; and the expressions of David, the private individual, ought to be referred to those noble motives which developed the principles he uttered when a king. (Ps. ci. 8.) " The Psalmists frequently state sentiments like the following, as the motives of their prayers for the punish- ment of their enemies — that the holiness of God and his righteous government of the World should be acknowledged, that the faith of the pious should be strengthened, that they should praise God, that the haughtiness of the ungodly should be brought within bounds, that they should know that God is the righteous judge of the world, and that the fulfilment of His glori- ous promises should not fail."* IX. It is said, that if we sing the psalms we must also sing the titles to the psalms : and as some of these titles allow the use of instruments, that we must also use them. It is added, that in the Hebrew 7 Bible, the title is often marked as the first verse. To this we remark: (1.) That, at best, this can be no argument against using the psalms. If the titles were really meant to be sung, or if the psalms were designed to be always sung in connexion with the instruments referred to, this much would be gained by the objector, but no more. (2.) Does any one believe that the title " Psalm of David," &c, was ever meant to be sung? or ever was sung? or that no Jew was allowed to sing these psalms in the ordinary services of religion without using the " harp,'' &c? (3.) As to the division of psalms into verses — as these are marked in our Bibles — this is a modern affair altogether. (4.) The authenticity of these titles is not universally acknowledged. Let this point be settled first. (5.) We follow, in omitting the titles, the example of our prose version, which never marks the title as being part of the psalms. (6.) When the objector can tell us precisely what these instruments * Tholuck on Psalms, p. 4*2, 43. THE TRUE PSALMODY. 171 were, it will be time enough to inquire about their claims. In fact, they belonged to the temple, and were not used in the ordinary worship even of the Jews. In fine, we repeat : as to many of these objections, there is a spirit in them so adverse to a Scriptural faith, and a true piety, that the very fact that they are adduced on behalf of the use of hymns, constitutes a distinct, and by no means feeble, argument against them. A cause which resorts to such a course of rea- soning is not a good one. We should fear and eschew it. CHAPTEE V. SOME REMARKS UPON THE SCOTTISH VERSION OF THE PSALMS. We have thus far kept before us but one definite pro- position — the Psalms of Scripture faithfully rendered, the church's sufficient and appointed manual'of praise, to the exclusion of ail uninspired hymns and songs. We have sought to establish and vindicate this propo- sition, irrespective of every question regarding the merits of a particular version. And here we might leave the entire subject; for we are persuaded that, if our propo- sition were generally admitted, there would be little controversy in reference to the particular version in which the psalms should be sung : all would be resolved into the single inquiry — important at the same time — as to the claims of any version, or professed version, to be a true and accurate rendering of the words and senti- ments of the inspired Psalmist. This could be quite readily and amicably settled, as it has been settled in other ages, and in other lauds, to the entire satisfaction of the church and the people of God. It is well known, however, that the controversy on the subject of psalmody has, of later years, been largely 17:2 THE TRUE PSALMODY. complicated with that of the merits of the version usu- ally styled " the Scottish version." Of this version, the advocates of the use of hymns have — many of them — allowed themselves to speak in terms expressive of everything but respect. They speak of it rather scorn- fully, as " Rouse," or as " Rouse's Psalms." They criticise, with the utmost severity, its rythm and its grammar ; while, with some exceptions, they do, not- withstanding, admit its fidelity to the original Hebrew. They seem, in a word (we refer still to the many, not to all) to view it as deserving only of the most contemp- tuous treatment, and assert that it holds its place in the esteem and love of the psalm-singing churches merely through the power of prejudices imbibed by early education and long usage. Hence, we feel our- selves warranted, if not obliged, to append, as we now propose to do, a few remarks upon this particular version. And, 1. It cannot, with a due regard to Scriptural truth, and a proper reverence for a faithful translation of the "Word of God, be styled " Rouse," or " Rouse's Psalms," nor even, in absolute terms, " Rouse's version." True, indeed, this version is mainly due to the labours of an eminent scholar and gentleman of that name, a mem- ber of the Assembly of Divines, at Westminster, but was subjected to a careful scrutiny, first in England, in the year 1645. * They made amend- ments. It was then transmitted to Scotland, and again examined and revised with the utmost care. Aiton, in his Life of Alexander Henderson, refers to this version of the psalms as follows — " The version of the psalms by Roos (Rouse) was intended not only for the Church of Scotland, but also for that of England, during the general prevalence of Presbyte- rianism. After all pains in England had been bestowed upon the psalms, they were sent down to Scotland in portions ibr further consideration. The Church of * Neil's History of the Puritans. \oI. i. p. 388. London, 1837. THE TRUE PSALMODY. 173 Scotland appointed John Adaroson to revise the first forty psalms, Thomas Crawford the second forty, John Row the third, and John Nevey the last thirty Psalms. The committee were enjoined not only to observe what needed amendments, but also to set down their own method of correcting. It was recommended to them to make use of the travails (i. e. f labours), of Rowalliu, Zachary Boyd, or any other on that subject, but espe- cially of the then existing Paraphrase (version) so that whatever could be found better in any of these works might be adopted. The version thus purified by the Scottish committee was sent to all the Presbyteries of the church, who transmitted their observations to the original committee. These reported their labours on the remarks from the Presbyteries to the Commission of the Assembly for Public Affairs. After the Com- mission had revised the whole, they were sent to the Provincial Synods, and through them again transmitted to the Presbyteries : and after their further considera- tion, the version, thus fully prepared, was sent up to the General Assembly. The version so prepared was then "allowed by the authority of the General As- sembly of the Kirk of Scotland, and appointed to be sung in congregations and families" (1049) : and thus it was finally adopted, superseding, by its acknowledged merits, the versions previously in use both in Scotland and England. Hence, this translation is not absolutely " Rouse' s." It has received the imprimatur , after amendment, of the roost learned assembly, perhaps, ever convened on earth ; and of another, the Scottish Assembly, not much inferior. Now, we have an English Bible : a translation from the original Hebrew and Greek, made by forty-seven learned men of the English Universities, who divided themselves into six companies for the purpose.- They had been called together by King James I. Did we know, as we do not, the name of the particular individual * Neal'a History, vol. i. -A54. 174 THE TKUE PSALMODY. who prepared the first draught of the Book of Proverbs, what would be thought of the spirit of the professing Christian man, who would indulge, habitually, in speak- ing of the Book of Proverbs, not as the Proverbs of Solomon, but as " Bilson's Proverbs," or " Smith's Proverbs :"* or even as " Bilson's version," or " Smith's version ?" Would this be tolerated as decent, or be- coming? We think not. How do a large part of the religious community now, regard the contemptuous flings sometimes made at our English Bible, as " Kiug James' Bible?" Luther translated the Bible into the German tongue : what would be thought of the man who would constantly speak with contempt of the Ger- man Bible, as if it were not God's Bible, but ''Luther's?" And yet none of these translations were subjected to such scrutiny of competent authority and learning, as this version, which grave men permit themselves scorn- fully to speak of in no other terms than " Rouse's Psalms," or, at best, " Rouse's version :" sometimes asking whether Dr, Watts had not as gcod a right to make Psalms as Rouse. 2. In view of the facts which we have just presented, we are, certainly, at liberty to pronounce, very decidedly, the " Scottish version" to be an accurate rendering of the original. We are aware, indeed, that attempts have been made to disparage it even in this respect, but they have signally failed. In fact, it is even less liable to the charge of inaccuracy than our generally faultless English Bible. Where it differs from the prose, competent judges pronounce most frequently in its favour as really the more accurate. Hence, 3. Between this version and Dr. Watts' " Imita- tions," for example, there can be no comparison on the score of fidelity. Dr. Watts did not profess to render the psalms into English verse : his design was, and so declared, to make psalms, taking the Scripture as a kind * To these men the publishing of the translation was com" mittcd. We use their names for illustration merely* THE TRUE PSALMODY. I/O of basis. Hence, he never called his work a " version ;" he says " he imitated" the Psalms of David, " in the language of the New Testament." How he has per- formed his work, Dr. Cooper has thus shown : " He (Dr. Watts) expressly says, in his preface, 'It must be acknowledged that there are a thousand lines in it (the Psalms of David) which were not. made for the church in our days to assume as its own/ Of course they have been omitted. Where, then, is the imitation of these thousand lines ? He further tells us that he 1 has entirely omitted several whole psalms, and large pieces of many others ;' where is the imitation of these psalms? But has he left them out as unfit to be used in the worship of God ? No ; had he merely done this, our feelings would have been far less shocked. He has given the whole one hundred and fifty ' Psalms of David, in metre,' though several whole psalms, and large pieces of many others have been entirely omitted, according to his express declaration. Let us look, for instance, at the 109th psalm. The original, as we have it in our prose and in our metrical translation, contains thirty-six verses ; that of Dr. Watts contains six verses, and there is not an idea in the one to be found in the other, unless it be the address in the first line, ■ God of my praise.' The psalm, as it comes from God, is taken up with a fearful description of the awful doom of his implacable enemies, and is applied in the New Testament to Judas. The subject of Dr. Watts' imitation — of Dr. Watts' * version,' is ■ Love to enemies from the example of Christ.' Can there possibly be a greater perversion of language than to call this a version of the 100th psalm? and yet they charge the friends of an inspired psalmody with excluding Dr. Watts' ' rich and beautiful version of the psalms from the sanc- tuary.' What would he think if the Apocryphal psalm, in the Septuagint version of the psalms of David, were published to the world, and used in the worship of God as one of the Psalms of David, and shall he think it 176 THE TRUE PSALMODY. 1 strange' that we are unwilling to admit into the sanc- tuary, as a version of the Psalms of David, psalms which, in the language of the pious Romaine, * are so far from the mind of the Spirit, that I am sure if David were to read them, he would not know any one of them to he his ?' How could we regard with feel- ings of complacency their introduction into the sanc- tuary, as a version, believing, as we do, with Profes- sor Alexander of Princeton, that they are « all intended to be used in public worship ;' and believing, also, with the same author, that ■ the arrangement of the psalms was the work of Ezra, the inspired collector and redae- teur of the canon.' No, we cannot so regard their in- troduction. We must continue to protest against it, however strange our opposition may appear to the admirers of what they call 'Dr. Watts' rich and beau- tiful version of the psalms,' 3"* 4. We do not, however, claim perfection for the Scottish version of the Psalms. We are well aware that its rhymes are frequently defective, that it contains some obsolete words, and that its rhythm is sometimes at fault. This is only saying, what all acknowledge respecting our English Bible — that it is susceptible of amendment. But like that Bible, the work of amend- ment will need to be gone about very cautiously, lest the fidelity of the words and the vigour of the style be impaired in the process. But is this version so rude as is often asserted ? Is it justly, and necessarily offensive to a cultivated Chris- tian taste ? We say, without hesitation, it is not. We have ample evidence that it is not ; for it has com- mended itself to not a few of the best minds for its evi- dent faithfulness, its fulness, its nervous energy, and even for its highly lyric character of style. Nor do we go back to the days of the Westminster Assembly for our proofs. We find them in the fact, that this version is * What Drs. Breckenridge and Junk in think of Watts' " Imi- tations" we have already seen. THE TRUE PSALMODY. 1 i i now used, or has beeii, even in these late days, with satisfaction by men whom the world knows well as singularly accomplished — such men, for example, as are now, or others who lately were, the ornaments of the Scottish and Irish Presbyterian Churches : to say nothing of many in the psalm-singing churches in this country. We have other testimonies. The eminently accomplished and pious author of the " Life of Faith" — Komaine — thus replied to some who thought it strange that he should use the version of Sternhold and Hopkins — " They wonder I would make use of this version, which they think is poor, flat stuff, the poetry is miserable, and the language low and base. To which I answer, they had a scrupulous regard for the very words of Scripture, and to these they adhered closely and strictly ; so much as to render the versifi- cation not equal to Mr. Pope. I grant it is not always smooth ; it is only here and there brilliant. But what is a thousand times more valuable, it is generally the sentiment of the Holy Spirit. That is very rarely lost. And this should silence every objection — it is the word of God. Moreover, the version comes nearer to the original than any I have ever seen, except the Scotch, of which I have made use, when it appeared to me better expressed than the English. You may find fault with the manner of ekeing out a verse for the sake of the rhyme, but what of that ? Here is every- thing great and noble, although not in Dr. Watts' way or style. It is not like his fine sound and florid verse : as good old Mr. Hall used to call it, Watts 1 jingle I do not match those psalms with what is now admired in poetry : although time was when no less a man than the Rev. T. Bradbury, in his sober judgment, thought so meanly of Watts' hymns as commonly to term them Watts ivhymns. And, indeed, compared to the Scrip- ture, they are like a little taper to the sun ; as for his psalms, these are so far from the mind of the Spirit, that I am sure if David was to read them, he would L 178 THE TRUE PSALMODY. not know any one of them to be his."* M'Cheyne (him- self a poet) says — " The metrical version of the psalms should be read or sung through, at least, once a year. It is truly an admirable translation from the Hebrew, and is frequently more correct than the prose version. " Even Sir Walter Scott (no mean authority in matters of taste and poetry) says — " The expression of the old metrical translation, though homely, is plain, forcible, and intelligible, and very often possesses a rude sort of majesty, which perhaps would be ill exchanged for mere elegance. I have an old-fashioned taste in sacred as well as profane poetry : I cannot help preferring even Sternhold and Hopkins to Tate and Brady, and our own metrical version of the psalms to both. I hope, therefore, they will be touched with a lenient hand." Rufus Choate, of Boston, is at all events a man of taste. He has said — " An uncommon pith and gnarled vigour of sentiment lies in that old version : I prefer it to Watts." It were well, indeed, could the fidelity of this version be combined with a more entire exemption from the minor faults which attach to it. But, in the meantime, we would, with myriads of the saints of God, prefer to have the Word of God as the matter of our praise, rather than the most flowing and smooth of mere human utterances. * This same Romaine wanted words to describe what he thought of those who supposed they could make " better psalm3 than those of the Bible." APPENDIX A. Psalms for loth Testaments. In addition to the more direct argument by which we have established in our 2d chapter, the permanent ap- pointment of the Book of Psalms as the church's manual of praise, we quote the following from the pen of the learned author of "The Typology of the Scrip- tures ;" embodying in our quotation the high commen- dations of this book from the pen of another distin- guished writer : — " These psalms are chiefly summaries, in a poetical and im- pressive form, of great truths and principles, derived from the past acts and revelations of God, by some of the most gifted members of the church, and accompanied with such pious re- flections and devout breathings of soul, as the subjects natu- rally suggested, through God's Spirit, to their minds. In them is expressed, we may say, the very life and essence of the sym- bolical institutions and manifold transactions in Providence, through which the members of the old covenant were instructed in the knowledge, and trained to the service of the true God — and so expressed as to be most admirably fitted for forming the minds of all to right views and feelings concerning God, and enabling them to give due utterance to these in their exercises of devotion. But was this the character and design of the Book of Psalms merely to the Old Testament Church ? Is it not equally adapted for the suitable expression of pious feeling, for a help to devotion, for a directory of spiritual thought and holy living, to the church of the New Testament ? Is there a feature in the Divine character as now developed in the Gospel, a spiritual principle or desire in the mind of an enlightened Christian, a becoming exercise of affection, or a matter of vital experience in the Divine life, of which the record is not to be 180 AITENDTX. found in this invaluable portion of holy writ? And how could such a book have existed among the sacred writings centuries before the Christian era, but for the fact that the old and new covenants, however much they may have differed in outward form, and however the transactions respectively connected with them may have been inferior in the one case to the other, yet were alike pervaded by the same great truths and principles ? Thus the Book of Psalms, standing mid-way between both covenants, and serving equally to the members of each as the handmaid of a living piety, is a witness of the essential identity of their primary and fundamental ideas. There the disciples of Moses and of Christ meet as on common ground, the one tak- ing up as their most natural and fitting expressions of faith and hope, the hallowed words, which the other had been wont to use in their devotions ages before, and then bequeathed as a legacy to succeeding generations of believers. So intimately connected were they with the affairs and circumstances of the dispensation, which was to vanish away, that they one and all took their occasion from these, and are fraught throughout with references to them ; and yet, so accordant are they to the better things of the dispensation that abideth, so perfectly adapted to the ways of God as exhibited in the Gospel, and the spiritual life required of its professors, that they are invariably the most used and relished by those, who are most established in the grace, and most replenished with the blessing of God. It was confessedly carnal institutions, under which the holy men worshipped, who were employed by God to indite these divine songs, as it was also the transactions of an earthly and temporal life, which formed the immediate ground and occa- sion of the sentiments they unfold ; yet where in all Scripture will the believer, who ' worships in spirit and in truth,' more readily go to find language for expressing his loftiest concep- tions of God, for portraying his most spiritual and enlarged views of the character he is called to maintain, or breathing forth his most elevated desires and feelings after divine things ? So that the psalms may well be termed, with Augustine, ' an epitome of the whole Scriptures,' and a summary, not as Luther said, of the Old Testament merely, but of both Testaments together, in their grand elements of truth and outlines of his- tory. ' AYhat is there necessary for man to know,' says Hooker, * which the psalms are not able to teach ? They are to be- ginners an easy and familiar introduction, a mighty augmenta- tion of all virtue and knowledge in such as are entered before, a strong confirmation to the most perfect among others. Hero- ic al magnanimity, exquisite justice, grave moderation, exact wisdom, repentance unfeigned, unwearied patienco, the mys- teries of God, the sufferings of Christ, the terrors of wrath, APPENDIX. 181 the comforts of grace, the works of Providence over this world, and the promised joys of that world which is to come, all good necessarily to he either known, or had, or done, this one celes- tial fountain yieldeth.' We may, therefore, conclusively appeal to the character of this extraordinary book, as confirmatory of the general views, which it has been our object to establish. It renders clear as noon-day the perfect identity of those great truths and principles, on which both economies were founded as to the institutions of worship, and the providential dealings respectively connected with them. And as we know the one to have been all arranged in preparation for the other, conse- quenty in pre-ordained connexion with it, we thus learn what was the real nature of the resemblances, which formed the connecting link between the things of the two covenants, and, how we are to explain the one as types and the other as anti- types." APPENDIX B. The correspondent i( S. D." of the Presbyterian — from whom we have taken some facts in regard to the hymns now in use, but without intending to endorse all his theories — denies that the psalms were all in- tended to be sung, even under the Old Testament dispensation ; of course, while he finds fault with the hymnology of the age, he also denies the appointment of the Book of Psalms, as a whole, for the use of the church in New Testament times ; quoting as his only authority — for he gives no argument — Dr. Davidson of England. T vYe also can give authorities much supe- rior in their character to that of a writer who was obliged to relinquish, on account of his Rationalistic views on the subject of Inspiration, the position which he had long held as Professor in the Lancashire Inde- pendent Theological Seminary. Dr. J. W. Alexander, speaking of the psalms, says, " all intended to be used in public worship." Thohick s a comparatively orthodox German (Intro- duction, p. 2) — " The psalms have ever since the first * Fairbairn's Typology,