Psalms, Hymns & Spiritual Songs - A Biblical Study

A common objection to singing only the book of Psalms in worship is, “Doesn’t the New
Testament instruct us to sing “psalms and hymns and spiritual songs” (Colossians 3:16;
Ephesians 5:19)?”

Many churches, especially those with “traditional worship” sing “hymns,” which are
songs written by men and women, set to various tunes, and compiled in a hymnal. The
majority of “hymns” in modern hymnals were written in the 1800s and 1900s. Many
churches that consider themselves “contemporary” sing “praise songs” in worship, which
are usually shorter, simpler, and more repetitive choruses. The majority of praise songs
have been written since the 1970s, and the charismatic movement took the lead in
producing a significant portion of these new songs. Are modern hymns and praise
choruses what the apostle Paul had in mind when he spoke of “hymns and spiritual
songs” in the New Testament?

Additionally, Paul referred to singing “psalms,” and yet very few churches in our day
actually sing the psalms. Most hymnals have a few hymns based on psalms and many
praise songs include short excerpts from various psalms, but didn’t Paul mean more
than that when he said to sing “psalms”?

In order rightly to grasp Paul’s meaning regarding “psalms and hymns and spiritual
songs,” we must consider the historical context of Paul’s writing and the grammatical
meaning of the words in Scripture, as it was written 2000 years ago. The Old Testament
was originally written in Hebrew. At the time of Christ and the apostles, it was customary
to read from the Greek translation of the Old Testament, which was called the
Septuagint. Several of the New Testament writers quote from the Septuagint. When we
compare the original text of the New Testament with the Greek translation of the Old
Testament, we discover that the words “psalms and hymns and spiritual songs” used in
the New Testament are the same words that appear in the Old Testament Book of
Psalms to refer to the 150 psalms that God’s people sang in worship before the coming
of Christ.

When we consider this relationship, it becomes clear why many in church history and at
the time of the Protestant Reformation went back to singing the Psalms in worship
instead of hymns and praise songs written by men. If Paul’s readers in the first century
would understand “psalms and hymns and spiritual songs” to all refer to the content of
the Book of Psalms, then we also should view these in the same way. God says to “let
the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom, teaching and admonishing one
another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to
the Lord” (Col. 3:16). “Speak to one another with psalms, hymns and spiritual songs.
Sing and make music in your heart to the Lord” (Eph. 5:19, NIV). In these two
passages, God is instructing us to sing, speak, teach, and admonish by using the 150
Psalms of Scripture, which are God’s divinely-inspired song book. Such an
understanding of these passages should cause us to return to singing the psalms and to
incorporate the 150 psalms in our Christian worship.
Here are the words from the Greek New Testament:

Colossians 3:16 o` lo,goj tou/ Cristou/ evnoikei,tw evn u`mi/n plousi,wj( evn pa,sh| sofi,a|
dida,skontej kai. nouqetou/ntej e`autou,j( yalmoi/j (psalms) u[mnoij (hymns) wv|dai/j
(songs) pneumatikai/j (spiritual) evn Îth/|Ð ca,riti a;|dontej evn tai/j kardi,aij u`mw/n tw/| qew/|\

“Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom, “teaching and
admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing
with grace in your hearts to the Lord.” (NKJ)

Ephesians 5:19 lalou/ntej e`autoi/j ÎevnÐ yalmoi/j (psalms) kai. u[mnoij (hymns) kai.
wv|dai/j (songs) pneumatikai/j (spiritual), a;|dontej kai. ya,llontej th/| kardi,a| u`mw/n tw/|
kuri,w|(

“speaking to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and
making melody in your heart to the Lord”

The Greek Old Testament (Septuagint [LXX])—translated about 250 B.C., used at
the time of Christ and the apostles, and quoted by the New Testament writers,
employs these same three Greek words to refer to the songs found in the Book of
Psalms:

Hymn, Psalm, Song

LXT Psalm 75:1 eivj to. te,loj evn u[mnoij yalmo.j tw/| Asaf wv|dh. pro.j to.n VAssu,rion

“For the end, among the hymns, a Psalm for Asaph; a Song for the Assyrian.”

Psalm, Song

LXT Psalm 4:1 eivj to. te,loj evn yalmoi/

“For the end, a Song of David among the Psalms.”

LXT Psalm 47:1 yalmo.j wv|dh/j toi/j ui`oi/j Kore deute,ra| sabba,tou

“A Psalm song (“ode” or psalm of praise) for the sons of Core on the second
day of the week.

Song

Psalm 44:1 eivj to. te,loj u`pe.r tw/n avlloiwqhsome,nwn toi/j ui`oi/j Kore eivj su,nesin wv|dh.
u`pe.r tou/ avgaphtou/

“For the end, for alternate strains by the sons of Core; for instruction, a Song
concerning the beloved.”
Psalm

Psalm 45:1 eivj to. te,loj u`pe.r tw/n ui`w/n Kore u`pe.r tw/n krufi,wn yalmo,j

“For the end, for the sons of Core; a Psalm concerning the secret things.”

Hymn

Psalm 53:1 eivj to. te,loj evn u[mnoij sune,sewj tw/| Dauid

“For the end, among hymns of instruction by David.”

Psalm 54:1 eivj to. te,loj evn u[mnoij sune,sewj tw/| Dauid

“For the end, among hymns of instruction by David.”

Psalm 60:1 eivj to. te,loj evn u[mnoij tw/| Dauid

“For the end, among hymns of David.”

Psalm 99:4 eivse,lqate eivj ta.j pu,laj auvtou/ evn evxomologh,sei eivj ta.j auvla.j auvtou/ evn
u[mnoij evxomologei/sqe auvtw/| aivnei/te to. o;noma auvtou/

“Enter into his gates with thanskgiving, and his courts with hymns; give thanks to
him, praise his name.”

Psalm, Hymn

Psalm 66:1 eivj to. te,loj evn u[mnoij yalmo.j tw/| Dauid

“For the end, a Psalm of David among the Hymns.”