Many theological controversies make excellent entertainment for demons. Satan must find it hilarious to watch Christians argue back and forth over something that none of them believes. Those who insist on exclusive psalmody, or to sing only the Psalms in worship, do not believe the Psalms. And those who spend much time arguing against exclusive psalmody usually do not believe either. Those who believe the Psalms are often busy with their own meaningful projects.
The exclusive psalmody people exclaim, “The Psalms of the Lord, the Psalms of the Lord,” but what do the Psalms say? Sing only the Psalms? Can they even move beyond Psalm 1? They start to sing, “Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the wicked, nor stands in the way of sinners, nor sits in the seat of scoffers. But his delight is in the law of the LORD, and on his law he meditates day and night.” If they survive this far, then they have to sing, “Whatever he does shall prosper.”
A man who refuses to stand with sinners, but who delights in the word of God and thinks about it day and night, can expect success in whatever he does. This is not figurative or “spiritual” success, because God said the same thing to Joshua, and there he clearly meant success as a spiritual, military, financial, and national leader. This would include success in knowing God, in following God, in military strategy and planning, in physical health and training, in business and education, in financial prosperity and wealth distribution, and many other things. “Whatever” Joshua had to do, and in his position he had to do everything, he would have success. To sing the Psalms would be to sing a doctrine of success, a success that is immune to the usual underhanded tricks to spiritualize or allegorize the biblical promises that tradition wishes to destroy.
This alone would shut down the exclusive psalmody camps, not only their doctrine of exclusive psalmody, but all the doctrines, policies, creeds, churches, seminaries, and denominations commonly associated with those who affirm exclusive psalmody, because they refuse to acknowledge this biblical promise of total success. Of course, most of those who call themselves Christians do not believe Psalm 1, or a thousand other parts of the Bible, so that they are shut down as well, but we are focusing the attention on exclusive psalmody camps right now because they insist on exclusively singing the Psalms, and this is our topic.
So we are already finished by Psalm 1:3, and likely even before that, since like most others, these same people are “scoffers” against the promises of God for wellness and miracles, so that they are in fact stopped at verse 1. Again, this does not apply only to the exclusive psalmody camps, because any group that affirms unbelief is cut off by Psalm 1 by the time we reach verse 3. There is no way to go further.
Nevertheless, we will force ourselves to continue, because when someone says that we should sing the Psalms exclusively, people from both sides of the issue become excited about the disagreement and they wish to fight about the principle forever. But I want to consider that which they do not care about: What do the Psalms say? There are so many items that we can discuss, so we must move quickly, and it will be a little messy.
Psalm 18
“For by you I can run against a troop, and by my God I can leap over a wall” (v. 29). This is a declaration of supernatural energy and achievement. This is what we can expect in people who have faith in God and the Spirit of God.
Samson uprooted the city gate and posts with his bare hands, and carried them up to the top of a hill (Judges 16:3). Elijah ran so much faster than a king’s chariot that even though the king had a head start, the prophet overtook it and arrived at his destination before the king (1 Kings 18:46).
If we belong to the same family of faith, and Hebrews 11 is clear that Christians indeed follow this heritage, then we ought to expect to perform similar superhuman feats. And to sing Psalm 18 is to make a faith confession that this is indeed available to us. It is to say, “By God, I have supernatural power. In Christ, I have superhuman strength.”
As Paul said, “To this end I labor, striving according to his energy, which works in me mightily” (Colossians 1:29). Ephesians 1 tells us that the same power that raised Jesus from the dead is working for us (v. 19). And Ephesians 3 tells us that God will give us more than we ask or think by this power that is working in us (v. 20).
Sing it! Let the whole church declare that we can wield this miracle energy even in our bodies. Let us declare this exclusively, and never sing anything to contradict or compromise this. If we sing this exclusively, then it means that all songs and talks and all sermons and doctrines that speak of weak health and energy and inability are excluded and condemned.
Psalm 23
“The Lord is my shepherd, I shall have no lack.” Sing it! Is this only referring to spiritual lack? This is a typical excuse. The same ones who warn people not to spiritualize and allegorize Scripture would spiritualize and allegorize like a madman when confronted with scriptures that they do not wish to believe. But Jesus said, “Your heavenly Father knows that you need them,” referring to the things that the pagans seek, such as food, clothing, and money (Matthew 6:32).
“He makes me lie down in green pastures” — not rotten pastures. Sing it! “He leads me beside still waters” — not raging waters. Sing it! Sing about the prosperity and tranquility that come from the divine shepherd.
“Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me.” It has been said that many revered Christian leaders in history had suffered lifelong depression, and it is often portrayed as normal. This is despicable. If we sing the Psalms exclusively, then we must deny that this is legitimate Christian experience. The Lord is a good and mighty shepherd. He comforts me, and his comfort is stronger than death. Depression cannot survive under divine comfort.
Before anyone complains about a doctrine of triumphalism or a lack of sympathy, let me state that I was one who suffered crippling depression when I was first converted. Jesus Christ changed everything. The God who commanded light to shine out of darkness had commanded light to shine in my darkness as well. The difference with these so-called Christian leaders is that I believed the word of God and declared deliverance by faith, and I completely triumphed. Why? The Lord had been my shepherd, and he comforted me with his truth and power. His comfort was stronger than depression. He annihilated the inner prison, and I became more stable and happy than those who have never had depression.
Psalm 42 says, “Why are you downcast, O my soul? Put your hope in God!” Jesus said, “These things I have spoken to you, that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be full.” And he said, “I am coming to you now, but I say these things while I am still in the world, so that they may have the full measure of my joy within them.” My joy does not waver, and my joy is never weak, because I have the joy of Jesus Christ in full measure. Paul said that joy is a fruit of the spirit. Joy is as natural to the believer as “the works of the flesh” are to the sinner, such as idolatry, strife, jealousy, and anger (Galatians 5).
Depression has no place in the Christian. There is no religious glory or redemptive purpose in a prolonged struggle with depression, let alone a lifelong struggle. But if you romanticize it, identify with it, and associate it with piety, then you will hold on to it. If you abide in the vine that is Christ, and if you walk in the spirit, then you will naturally have joy – invincible and overflowing joy. Declare your joy in Christ by faith, regardless of your feelings, and declare your freedom from depression. If you wish, sing the Psalms against depression. But do not look to depressed leaders as heroes. For all their attainments, they were defeated and deceived in that area.
“You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies.” This is spectacular. These people faced wars and assassinations, not a pathetic problem like your unbelieving professor or your obnoxious mother-in-law. Even though there might be those who hate me and oppose me, God will protect me, and cause me to prosper — to have a feast – right in front of them. Sing it!
“I shall have no lack.” But this does not mean that I will only have barely enough, because “you anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows.” Sing it! I will have an overabundance of everything I need, because he makes my cup overflow.
“Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life.” Sing it! There is no perhaps, no maybe, no “I hope and pray,” no “if it is his will,” but sing “surely” — it is certain that this will happen. It is guaranteed. What goodness? It is “I will have no lack.” What mercy? It is “I will fear no evil.” And it is not a general or occasional thing, but it will be this way “all the days of my life.”
All the days of my life, it is guaranteed that I will have no lack, no fear, total comfort, total protection, total anointing, total prosperity, to the point of overflowing. To sing the Psalms exclusively is to have an exclusive faith confession of such a doctrine, and to permit no alternative or compromise.
Psalm 30
“O LORD my God, I cried to you for help, and you have healed me.” Sing it! This work of healing is as one that raises the dead, for he says, “O LORD, you have brought up my soul from Sheol; you restored me to life from among those who go down to the pit.” Deliverance from fatal sickness or judgment.
Do not whisper it to yourself. Scream it out in song! You with cancer. Sing it: “God, I cried to you for help, and you have healed me.” And the cancer dies. You in that wheelchair. Sing it: “God, I cried to you for help, and you have healed me.” Now stand up and walk.
As the Bible says, “The prayer of faith [God, I cried to you for help] will heal the one who is sick, and the Lord will raise him up [and you have healed me].” And it says, “Himself took our infirmities, and carried our sicknesses.” Sing it!
To sing the Psalms exclusively is to sing about miracle healing exclusively, and to never sing about an acceptance of sickness. But others have no excuse. Anyone who sings the Psalms at all must refuse to live with sickness.
Psalm 91
“For he will deliver you from the snare of the fowler and from the deadly pestilence,” or in another translation, “For he will rescue you from every trap and protect you from deadly disease.” And “Do not dread the disease that stalks in darkness, nor the disaster that strikes at midday.” Invincible to every sickness. Immune to every deadly epidemic.
When an epidemic rolls in like a flood, Christians should be able to turn it back, literally with their bare hands, because Jesus said, “they shall lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover.” However, the church has been damnably rebellious in this ministry of healing, and handed the glory that belongs to God alone to the men of medicine. But medicine is in fact too weak to face the onslaughts of disease, and thus the church is responsible for the suffering and deaths of countless people through the centuries. Christians who do not teach and minister miracle healing are murderers.
What? Do we not want to sing the Psalms anymore? I command you in the name of Christ, sing it! Sing before the whole church, “God will deliver you from every trap and from every terminal sickness and deadly epidemic. He will make you immune to every poisonous substance and biological weapon.” Sing it! Sing it exclusively. Don’t you dare sing anything different.
“You will not fear the terror of the night, nor the arrow that flies by day.” Invincible to wars and weapons. Impenetrable to bullets. Sing it! I have heard of a few instances where Christians shielded themselves by the name of Jesus and bullets shot toward them at point-blank range were diverted to the side or to the ground. They did not put themselves into those situations for amusement, as if to put God to the test, but they found themselves in those situations, and called on the name of the Lord.
“A thousand may fall at your side, ten thousand at your right hand, but it will not come near you.” Impervious to massive attacks, widespread failures and fatalities. This easily applies to any kind of mass slaughter, even by weapons of mass destruction, including nuclear weapons. The promise is not only that the weapons will not be used against you, but that even if they are used against you, you will be immune to their effects. The weapons can strike directly on top of you, so that ten thousand fall at your side, but it will not affect you.
The king ordered Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego to be thrown into the fire. The flames killed the soldiers who came near the furnace, but these three believers walked around in the flames and came out unharmed — even their clothes were not scorched, and there was no smell of fire on them. Thus it is reasonable to believe that God would shield his people from weapons of mass destruction even when they are detonated right on top of them and killing those around them. Even among the “word of faith” people, very few could sincerely reach for this level in their faith confessions, so I applaud you if you are able to sing this before everyone. Sing it! Make that faith confession of total protection. Don’t let me catch you say anything that contradicts this.
If we find that we have not attained to the promises of God, the worst thing that we can do is to claim that they mean something else in order to justify ourselves. The only correct course is to teach them, sing them, and talk about them even more, so that we can at least head toward that direction, rather than abandoning faith in God altogether. We have to acknowledge that the promises of God obviously mean what they say, if we are to have a chance to receive them. If we reject them or mock them, and if we attack rather than cherish those who teach them, then there is no chance we will attain them.
“If you make the Most High your dwelling — even the LORD, who is my refuge — then no harm will befall you, no disaster will come near your tent.” Sing it! It does not say, “If it is the will of God in a specific instance, then he will protect you this time.” No, it says, “If you make” — you — “the Most High your dwelling,” then no harm will happen to you and no disaster can come hear you. If you want to sing the Psalms, then sing this. Sing that you will make the Most High your dwelling, and then sing that no harm and no disaster can come near you.
“For he will command his angels concerning you to guard you in all your ways; they will lift you up in their hands, so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.” Total protection. This protection is so absolute and so supernatural that a person can fall from a tall building and expect to be unharmed. Satan used this scripture to urge Jesus to jump from the top of the temple. Jesus did not refute Satan’s understanding of the passage, but only stated that it should not be abused: “You shall not put the Lord your God to the test.” Likewise, we can expect to be immune to poisons and diseases, but this does not mean we should drink poison for entertainment or to show off your faith. If Satan could teleport Jesus to the top of the temple, why didn’t he push him off and be done with it? Because then Jesus would not have been testing God. Psalm 91 would have come into effect, and Jesus would not have died from falling off the building.
Although in the temptation of Christ, Satan demonstrated by his hermeneutics much more faith in God than most Christian theologians, especially the theologians of unbelief, tradition, and cessationism, there is no need to rely on the devil for the proper interpretation. The text says that the angels will “guard you in all your ways” and that they will “bear you up.” If they will “bear you up,” then of course this applies to falling from a building. Anyone who disagrees with this is less qualified than the devil to teach Christian theology and Bible interpretation.
“You will tread upon the lion and the cobra; you will trample the great lion and the serpent.” Total dominance over evil and its agents. As Paul said, “The God of peace will soon crush Satan under your feet” — not under his feet, but your feet.
“Because he loves me, I will rescue him; I will protect him, for he acknowledges my name. He will call upon me, and I will answer him; I will be with him in trouble, I will deliver him and honor him. With long life will I satisfy him and show him my salvation.” Promise of rescue, protection, answer to prayer, deliverance, and honor. Promise of long life — immunity from sickness, from disaster, and from early death. Sing it! If you want to sing the Psalms, then sing this.
When you sing, don’t ever let me catch you embracing sickness, failure, tragedy, danger, or anything other than total protection, victory, healing, honor, and long life. Do you still want to sing the Psalms, and only the Psalms? Excellent, then I charge you in the presence of God to never sing anything other than supernatural protection and healing and triumph, or may the judgment of God fall upon you. If you disown the promises of the Psalms, then may the God of the Psalms also disown you.
Stop playing games. Do you think you can avoid the word of God forever by pretending to be stuck in some theological tug of war? You are not stuck. You can see exactly what the word of God says. If you are so sure that I am wrong, then wager your soul on it. I dare you. But whether you are willing or not, you are already doing it once I have shown you the word of God. You are super stupid if you think that you can just sit back and wait, and debate, and criticize forever, pretending that you are seeking truth when the truth has been made clear to you. You have no choice. You are either saved by the word of God, or you are damned by it.
Psalm 103
“Praise the LORD, O my soul; all my inmost being, praise his holy name.” Yes, sing it! Let’s go! My body is bobbing back and forth to this as I write! I love to praise the Lord. Praise him for his loving kindness. Praise him for his grace and might in our salvation by Jesus Christ.
“Praise the LORD, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits — who forgives all your sins and heals all your diseases, who redeems your life from the pit and crowns you with love and compassion, who satisfies your desires with good things so that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s.” Total forgiveness — “forgives all your sins.” Total healing — “heals all your diseases.” Redeemed to life. Crowned with love. There is more than total healing, but also renewed youth — “your youth is renewed like the eagle’s.” What a faith confession. Healing for all diseases and immunity from aging or reversal of aging are just as much associated with the nature of God and the benefits of redemption as the forgiveness of sins.
When you say you only sing the Psalms, this is what you want, right? What? You want to sing about sin, sickness, poverty, defeat, tragedy, sadness, and old age? Too late. You said you want to sing the Psalms. Sing before the whole church: “Praise the Lord! Forget not all his benefits!” What benefits? “He heals all your diseases!” “He renews your youth!” The prevention or reversal of old age is an ordinary aspect of redemption, received by faith. It was demonstrated in Abraham and Sarah, and the Bible says that we who are of faith have inherited the blessings of Abraham. It was also demonstrated in Moses and Caleb. So, sing it! I will force you to sing it. SING. IT.
You want the Psalms? Good. I will waterboard you with the Psalms. If you sing “forget not his benefits,” but then attack those who teach these benefits, sing these benefits, and receive these benefits, including the healing of all diseases, then do you not prove yourself a hypocrite and a reprobate? If you sing “he heals all your diseases,” but then never pray for the sick or receive miracle healing for yourself, then who are you singing to? The doctors? The demons? Now, SING.
Psalm 107
“Some were fools through their sinful ways, and because of their iniquities suffered affliction; they loathed any kind of food, and they drew near to the gates of death.” Some people are sick because they are stupid (“some were fools”) and because they are sinful (“because of their iniquities”). As Jesus said, “Sin no more, lest a worse thing come upon you.” This is referring to physical sickness, not spiritual sickness — “they loathed any kind of food.” This is referring not to mild sickness, but even terminal sickness — “they drew near to the gates of death.”
So it is anti-Psalms to deny that some sicknesses come because of sin, and it is anti-Psalms to say that sickness is a gift from God, coming upon the righteous to teach them something or to bring glory to God. Jesus called sickness satanic bondage (Luke 13:16), and Peter called it satanic oppression (Acts 10:38). And Jesus said that God was glorified by miracle healing, not by sickness (John 11:4, 40). If someone says that he sings only the Psalms, then I would expect him to preach that sickness comes from sin and the devil, and that only miracle healing by faith brings glory to God.
“Then they cried to the LORD in their trouble, and he delivered them from their distress. He sent out his word and healed them, and delivered them from their destruction.” Sing it! If someone says he sings only the Psalms, then I would expect him to preach that sickness is healed by repentance and prayer. As James said, “The prayer of faith will heal one who is sick, and the Lord will raise him up. And if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven.” If someone sings the Psalms, then he must be one of the strongest practitioners of miracle healing. He will not walk around the issue, or explain it away. He will throw himself into it completely, and exclusively.
“He sent his word and healed them.” God’s word causes healing, the opposite of sickness. As the Bible says, “For they are life to those who find them, and healing to all their flesh.” God’s word does not only heal the spirit, but heals “all their flesh.” If someone sings the Psalms, then he must believe that God sends his word to heal people, not something else. Anyone who believes the Psalms will preach this, and he will even sing it! He will commit exclusively to miracle healing by faith in the word of God.
Psalm 112
“Praise the LORD! Blessed is the man who fears the LORD, who greatly delights in his commandments!” What does “blessed” mean? “His offspring will be mighty in the land; the generation of the upright will be blessed.” This is a grand promise, but if it is too vague to you, here comes the money.
“Wealth and riches are in his house, and his righteousness endures forever.” This is not spiritual wealth, but dirty, filthy, MAMMON. Paul uses Psalm 112:9 in 2 Corinthians 9:9, and there he refers to a donation of money that he collects for Christians in Jerusalem. There is no way to allegorize your way out of this, and why would you want to?
Do you still want to sing it? And remember, Psalm 107 says, “Let the redeemed of the LORD say so.” You have to sing it, and you must also say it. If you praise the Lord in your songs, then you cannot curse the Lord in your speech. So sing it, and then say it: “Praise the Lord! I fear the Lord and delight in his commandments. So I am blessed. My offspring will be successful. I will have wealth and riches.”
What a faith confession. To sing only the Psalms is looking like a better and better idea. The Psalms are infested with health and wealth. Wait, why are you leaving? Come back! Sing!
Suffering Psalms
The Psalms often contain expressions of suffering, and this might be used as an excuse for unbelief. However, the mere mention of suffering means nothing. What is the context of the suffering? And what happens to the suffering?
Of course the Psalms refer to suffering, but they do not say that God rescued and blessed a person, and then despite God’s blessing the person lost everything and suffered. They declare the opposite. The Psalms say that a person suffered and lost everything, but God rescued and blessed him, and changed his life for the better.
They are not stories of how human suffering triumphs over divine blessing, but how divine blessing triumphs over human suffering. The Psalms do not say that suffering overcomes redemption, but that redemption overcomes suffering, often by miraculous deliverance, healing, prosperity, and victory.
Psalm 34 says, “The righteous person may have many troubles, but the LORD delivers him from them all” — from all of them. A righteous person may only have a few problems, or he may have many, but God will match and exceed all of them with his deliverance.
Psalm 73 says, “My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.” My heart in itself may fail, but God is the strength of my heart. God cannot fail, so my heart will never fail.
Psalm 107 clearly recognizes the reality of sickness, but the men cried out to God, and “he sent his word and healed them.” As James said, “Is any of you sick?” He indeed mentions suffering, but then he says we should destroy this suffering by faith. The sick will be healed, and if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven.
Thus the objection backfires, because it draws attention to the fact that the Psalms acknowledge human suffering, and address it with divine blessing, eliminating this excuse for unbelief. The Psalms do not sing about suffering as a mere psychological release, and they do not sing to God as if he is a mere psychological crutch. The Psalms do not validate suffering, but it sings about God’s solution against it.
On the other hand, the only way that the objection would make sense is for it to suggest that human suffering overcomes divine blessing, for otherwise there would be no reason to mention suffering in the Psalms as an objection to what we have said. This is blasphemy toward God, rejection of the Psalms and the Scripture, and thus also a forfeiture of salvation.
Messianic Psalms
The Psalms also contain messianic promises and prophecies, and this might be used as an excuse for unbelief, as if the blessings of God do not apply to us. The strange thing is that those who preach suffering from the Psalms do not assert that the suffering is limited to the Messiah. When the Bible refers to suffering, it applies to everybody, but when the Bible refers to blessing somehow it always refers to someone else. When I hear that something is a messianic promise, I hear, “This is secured for me in Christ, and no one can take it from me.” But when they hear that something is a messianic promise, they say, “This is for him, not for you. Good luck, buddy, you’re on your own.” Isn’t that funny? Isn’t that curious? Isn’t that…demonic?
In any case, let us address the objection. Take Psalm 41. It says, “Even my close friend, whom I trusted, he who shared my bread, has lifted up his heel against me.” We know that this is messianic, because John wrote about Jesus, “But this is to fulfill the scripture: ‘He who shares my bread has lifted up his heel against me'” (John 13:18). However, the fact that it is messianic does not mean that the Psalm applies to nobody else. It is first a Psalm of David, and verse 4 says, “O LORD, have mercy on me; heal me, for I have sinned against you.” If a text that is messianic applies only to the Messiah, this would mean that Jesus committed sin against God. Thus anyone who uses messianic prophecies this way renounces his own salvation. But if Jesus never sinned, then it means that a text that is messianic might not apply only to the Messiah.
Moreover, many of the Psalms explicitly require general application to those who fit the descriptions. We will use some of the Psalms we discussed to illustrate. Psalm 1 refers to a righteous man. If God expects all of us to delight in his word, then we must expect all of us who delight in his word to prosper. And he said the same thing to Joshua. Psalm 23 says that the Lord is my shepherd. Jesus is our shepherd, and so we can say, “Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life.” Psalm 103 says, “Bless the LORD, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits, who forgives all your sins, and heals all your diseases.” Again, either we believe that this is only for the Messiah, so that we must believe that he sinned, and thus eject ourselves from salvation, or we believe that this is for us, so that we must believe that God heals all our diseases.
Psalm 2
Let us take Psalm 2 to combine the discussion on messianic prophecies in the Psalms and how the disciples applied the Psalms. Read Psalm 2. It is as messianic as it can get: “You are my Son; today I have begotten you” and “Kiss the Son, lest he be angry, and you perish in the way, for his wrath is quickly kindled. Blessed are all who take refuge in him.”
When the early disciples were persecuted, they cited Psalm 2:1-2 in prayer, and said, “You spoke by the Holy Spirit through the mouth of your servant, our father David: ‘Why do the nations rage and the peoples plot in vain? The kings of the earth take their stand and the rulers gather together against the Lord and against his Anointed One.’ Indeed Herod and Pontius Pilate met together with the Gentiles and the people of Israel in this city to conspire against your holy servant Jesus, whom you anointed” (Acts 4:25-27).
The persecution came from political and religious authorities. What followed from this? Did they say, “God, give us better politicians! God, let us vote these people out of office! God, help us seize control of these seminaries!” This is what Christians say nowadays. But the disciples appealed to Psalm 2, and said that the Scripture was being fulfilled, and prayed, “Now, Lord, consider their threats and enable your servants to speak your word with great boldness. Stretch out your hand to heal and perform miraculous signs and wonders through the name of your holy servant Jesus” (4:29-30).
There was persecution from political and religious authorities. Messianic prophecies were being fulfilled. The prophecies were about the Messiah, and not directly about them. But instead of praying for God to vindicate the Messiah apart from them, they used the messianic prophecies as a basis to pray for themselves. They prayed that God would enable them to continue to preach with boldness, and that God would continue to work miracles of healing, and signs and wonders by the name of Jesus. They applied the messianic prophecies to their own situation, and derived from it that they ought to preach the gospel and heal the sick, with signs and wonders.
If I have nothing but Psalm 2, I can have a ministry of preaching and healing, and signs and wonders. Psalm 2 belongs to the Messiah, and he had a ministry of preaching and healing, and signs and wonders. I operate under his banner and in his name, and therefore I also have a ministry of preaching and healing, and signs and wonders. The messianic prophecies guarantee this to me. All our discussions about faith, the gifts of the Spirit, and the promises of prophecies and miracles, serve to reinforce the doctrine more and more. But Psalm 2 alone is sufficient as our ticket to participate in the Messiah’s ministry — the most devastating miracle ministry the world has ever known: “After they prayed, the place where they were meeting was shaken. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and spoke the word of God boldly” (Acts 4:31).
If you sing Psalm 2, then preach with boldness. If you sing Psalm 2, then heal the sick and cast out demons. If you sing Psalm 2, then perform signs and wonders in the name of Jesus. If you do not preach, if you do not heal, and if you do not expect signs and wonders, then forget Psalm 2. Just forget about it. You do not believe it, and if you sing it, you sing damnation unto yourself. If in your worship you sing Psalm 2, and then in your sermon you attack those who heal the sick and believe in signs and wonders for today, that they are received by faith in the name of Jesus, then you damn yourself by your worship, and you damn yourself by your sermon.
If you argue for exclusive psalmody, and for that matter, even if you argue against exclusive psalmody, or if you act as if you care about the Psalms one way or the other, but if you do not believe the Psalms, then you damn yourself by your debate. He who sings the Psalms but refuses what the Psalms say might as well light himself on fire, with the fire of hell.
Self-Damning Worship
Those who disagree with exclusive psalmody are not better than the exclusive psalmody people, if they both refuse to believe the Psalms. But why are they like this? How can they sing the Psalms, whether exclusively or not, but reject what they say? “What right have you to recite my laws or take my covenant on your lips?” (Psalm 50:16). How can they claim to revere the Psalms, but believe the opposite of what they teach?
Isaiah was right when he said of them, “This people draw near with their mouth and honor me with their lips, while their hearts are far from me, and their fear of me is a commandment taught by men.” And Jesus said, “In them is fulfilled the prophecy of Isaiah: ‘You will be ever hearing but never understanding; you will be ever seeing but never perceiving. For this people’s heart has become calloused; they hardly hear with their ears, and they have closed their eyes. Otherwise they might see with their eyes, hear with their ears, understand with their hearts and turn, and I would heal them.'”
How can they read the words, and never see what the words say? As Paul said, “But their minds were hardened. For to this day, when they read the old covenant, that same veil remains unlifted, because only through Christ is it taken away. Yes, to this day whenever Moses is read a veil lies over their hearts. But when one turns to the Lord, the veil is removed” (2 Corinthians 3:14-16). This is a frightening explanation. The veil is taken away only through Christ when one turns to the Lord. If they see but cannot perceive, and if they hear but cannot understand, it can only mean that they do not have Christ, and they have not turned to the Lord. Paul continued, “And even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing” (2 Corinthians 4:3). I have no authority to offer a different explanation.
It is self-damning to defend the principle of the inspiration of Scripture or the sufficiency of Scripture, and then refuse to believe what Scripture says. But those who defend cessationism do this as a routine. They call it apologetics! Those who teach unbeliefism make it their creed. They call it orthodoxy! It is self-damning to defend the principle of singing only the Psalms, or singing any of the Psalms, and then refuse to believe what the Psalms say. But those who sing the Psalms do this as a lifestyle. They call it worship!
Suppose you are a person who defends the principle that a man should love his wife and be faithful to her, and you even condemn those who disagree, but then you hate your wife, you beat you wife, you cheat on her, and you divorce her! Do you not condemn yourself? Now suppose you defend the Bible and condemn those who oppose it, but then you hate the Bible, you reject the Bible, you contradict the Bible in your doctrines and actions, and you criticize those who believe and obey the Bible. Do you not condemn yourself?
The truth is that you like to defend the idea of the Bible, and the idea that you defend the Bible, but you hate what is in the Bible. The Bible is only an idea to you, a mere symbol. You use it as a mascot or a banner for your religious posturing, but you hate what it says. This is what you do with God. This is what you do with Jesus Christ. You like the idea of God, and the idea of Christ, and even more the idea that you defend them, so that you can think of yourself as a spiritual hero and impress people with your piety and expertise. But you hate God, and you hate Jesus Christ, and you hate what they say. And so you damn yourself.
Here is my answer to exclusive psalmody. If you believe the Psalms, then you can sing whatever you want. If you do not believe the Psalms, then sit down and SHUT UP!!! Most churches would be better off singing “Jailhouse Rock” than whatever it is that they do during worship. (Look at the lyrics. One guy is having so much fun that he doesn’t want to leave!) Then they would stop investing themselves, exclusively or not, in something that they do not believe.
The truth is that almost nobody believes the Psalms, so very few people in the whole of church history would have the right to say anything much about the matter, let alone compel me to agree with them. And as long as nobody believes the Psalms, the controversy is a huge waste of time. Let us first restore faith in the Scripture, before we work ourselves into a frenzy as to what we must do and with which part of what book and by whom we do it and where we can do it and at what time and for how long. Utter foolishness. What a bunch of worthless brats. Grow up.