Why We Love Our Hymnal
February 28, 2023
Dear CPC Family,
The Bible calls us to “Sing to the Lord a new song; sing to the Lord, all the earth” (Psalm 96:1) and to address “one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody to the Lord with your heart”(Ephesians 5:19).
One of the clearest ways we do that is in congregational singing during our worship services. And CPC’s primary source for congregational singing is the Trinity Psalter Hymnal. There are faithful and healthy churches using many types of musical styles and songs for worship. And we are not bound as a church to only use the Trinity Psalter Hymnal—there are many new edifying, biblical, and singable worship songs every year. But we are thankful for the Trinity Psalter Hymnal (TPH) as the main well from which we draw for congregational singing.
Here are a few reasons why:
The TPH helps us to take “great care,” in the words of our Directory for Public Worship, that all the songs used in worship “are fully in accord with the Scriptures.” We don’t believe we must only sing the very words of the Scriptures (or the psalms), but we do believe that everything we sing should align with what the Bible teaches.
The TPH collects the best from 2,000+ years of Christian worship music. There’s a reason that many (not all!) of the most popular worship songs from the past decade are either forgotten or sound dated while “Of the Father’s Love Begotten,” written sometime between 348 and 413 AD, has lasted for more than 1600 years … and counting. That shouldn’t make us snobby about our music and closed off to new songs. A song for worship isn’t good just because it’s old or bad just because it’s new. Instead, we should be thankful for believers in the past (and the present and future) who use their skills to help us worship the Lord.
The TPH gives us access to the biblical psalms in a singable format. The psalter is the church’s inspired song book! Singing psalms connects us with believers not just in church history but in redemptive history (Moses, David, the returned exiles—for example). We’re not limited to biblical psalms but we do rejoice to incorporate the psalms into our worship often.
My hope is that the Trinity Psalter Hymnal will be even more of a blessing to CPC in the years to come. Here are some ideas for how to make that happen:
Feel free to borrow a church copy of the TPH during the week. Use it for your own devotional time or family worship. There are just two conditions: First, and very obviously, remember to bring it back on Sundays. Second, you need to promise to sing louder in worship afterwards!
Consider downloading the Trinity Psalter Hymnal app. It’s available for both iOS and Android and each psalm or hymn has a piano accompaniment feature. It’s very useful in getting to know the spiritual treasure we have in our hymnal!
Pick a hymn to learn by heart, either on your own, with your family, or with a friend. Here are some CPC favorites to begin with: Holy, Holy, Holy (#230), Be Thou My Vision (#446), Jesus! What a Friend for Sinners! (#456), Come, My Soul, and Bless the Lord (#103C), and I Have No Other Comfort (#480).
So, church family, let’s pray that the Lord will make us a church that is known for singing with great joy: “May the God of endurance and encouragement grant you to live in such harmony with one another, in accord with Christ Jesus, that together you may with one voice glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.” (Romans 15:5-6).
In the Father’s Love,
Pastor Andrew