Psalmody in Lutheran Worship

When we gather for corporate worship at St. Peter’s, we often speak or sing a psalm together. The use of the psalms has been a core part of Lutheran worship throughout its history. Martin Luther held a deep appreciation and love for the psalms, and many of the hymns he composed are based on words from the psalms. For those who may not know, many Christian churches, including St. Peter’s, follow a 3-year lectionary cycle of assigned scripture readings. Each “proper”, as they are called, assigns an Old Testament, Epistle, and Holy Gospel reading to each Sunday, as well as an appointed psalm.

So, why are the psalms so important in the worship service? In the weekly scripture readings, we hear the words of the prophets, and the teachings of Jesus. These words teach us, instruct us, guide us, show us our sin (Law), and show us our Savior (Gospel). Speaking or singing a psalm together in worship gives us the opportunity to talk earnestly and honestly back to God. In the psalmody, we withhold no emotions from Him. The words of the psalms we speak express joy, anger, fear, sorrow, and thanksgiving. Most of the psalms are written in the first person, so they give us the opportunity to tell God how we are feeling and what we are dealing with.

What do these expressions look like? Here are some examples:

Joy

• “Shout for JOY to God, all the earth; sing the glory of His name; give to Him glorious praise! Say to God, ‘How awesome are your deeds! So great is Your power that Your enemies come cringing to You. All the earth worships You and sings praises to You; they sing praises to Your name.’” (Psalm 66:1-4)

• “This is the day that the Lord has made; let us REJOICE and be glad in it.” (Psalm 118:24)

Anger

• “Let them be put to shame and dishonor who seek after my life! Let them be turned back and disappointed who devise evil against me! Let them be like chaff before the wind, with the angel of the Lord driving them away! Let their way be dark and slippery, with the angel of the Lord pursuing them!” (Psalm 35:4-6)

Fear

• “The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? The Lord is the stronghold of my life; of whom shall I be afraid? When evildoers assail me to eat up my flesh, my adversaries and foes, it is they who stumble and fall. Though an army encamp against me, my heart shall not fear; though war arise against me, yet I will be confident.” (Psalm 27:1-3)

Sorrow

• “For when I kept silent, my bones wasted away through my groaning all day long. For day and night your hand was heavy upon me; my strength was dried up as by the heat of summer. I acknowledged my sin to you, and I did not cover my iniquity; I said, “I will confess my transgressions to the Lord,” and you forgave the iniquity of my sin.” (Psalm 32:3-5)

Thanksgiving

• “Give thanks to the Lord, for He is good, for His steadfast love endures forever.” (Psalm 136:1)

It’s not just through the assigned psalmody for each Sunday, however, that we speak or sing the words of the psalms. Psalm texts are found throughout our liturgy and hymnody as well. Here are just a few examples:

Liturgy

• “What shall I render to the Lord for all His benefits to me? I will offer the sacrifice of thanksgiving and will call on the name of the Lord. I will take the cup of salvation and will call on the name of the Lord. I will pay my vows to the Lord now in the presence of all His people, in the courts of the Lord’s house, in the midst of you, O Jerusalem.”

The text to this offertory hymn from Divine Service, Setting One is a direct quote of Psalm 116:12-14, 17-19.

• “Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me. Cast me not away from Thy presence, and take not Thy Holy Spirit from me. Restore unto me the joy of Thy salvation, and uphold me with Thy free spirit.”

Similar to above, the text to this offertory hymn from Divine Service, Setting Three is a direct quote of Psalm 51:10-12.

• “O come, let us sing to the Lord, let us make a joyful noise to the rock of our salvation. Let us come into His presence with thanksgiving, let us make a joyful noise to Him with songs of praise. For the Lord is a great God and a great king above all gods. The deep places of the earth are in His hand; the strength of the hills is His also. The sea is His, for He made it, and His hand formed the dry land. O come, let us worship and bow down, let us kneel before the Lord, our maker. For He is our God, and we are the people of His pasture and the sheep of His hand.”

This is the Venite from the service of Matins, and is a direct quote of Psalm 95:1-7.

Hymns

• Martin Luther’s Reformation Hymn, “A Mighty Fortress is Our God” (LSB #656/657), is a paraphrase of Psalm 46, Luther’s favorite psalm.

• Both “The King of Love, My Shepherd Is” (LSB #709) and “The Lord’s My Shepherd, I’ll Not Want” (LSB #710), are paraphrases of Psalm 23.

• “O Bless the Lord, My Soul” (LSB #814) is a paraphrase of Psalm 103.

• “On Eagle’s Wings” (LSB #727) is a paraphrase of Psalm 91.

These just scratch the surface of the wealth of psalm texts found in our worship services through the hymns and liturgy.

Paul instructs us in his Epistles to “Address one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody to the Lord with your heart.” (Ephesians 5:19) and “Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God.” (Colossians 3:16) When we speak or sing the psalmody in worship, we are expressing shared emotions together as a COMMUNITY of believers. What a joy to be able to share in one another’s burdens and thanksgivings. God’s blessings to us all as we continue to share in our expressions of faith through the words of the psalms in corporate worship.