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They teach us to flee to the God of salvation through prayer and show us how to bring
our requests to God.
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They show us how to pray confidently in the midst of adversity.
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They show us the depth of communion we may enjoy with ourour covenant-keeping
God. They show how the living church is God's bride, God's children, and God's flock
(Ps. 100:4).
They provide a vehicle for communal worship. Many use first-person plural pronouns
("we," "our") to indicate this communal aspect, but even those with first-person singular
pronouns include all those who love the Lord and are committed to Him. They move us
to trust and praise God and to love our neighbors. They prompt reliance on God's
promises, zeal for God and His house, and compassion for the suffering.
They cover the full range of spiritual experience, including faith and unbelief, joy in
God and sorrow over sin, divine presence and divine desertion. As Calvin says, they are
"an anatomy of all parts of the soul."
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We still see our affections and spiritual maladies
in the words of the psalmists. When we read about their experiences, we are drawn to
self-examination and faith by the grace of the Spirit. The psalms of David, especially, are
like a mirror in which we are led to praise God and find rest in His sovereign purposes.
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Calvin immersed himself in the Psalms for twenty-five years as a commentator, preacher,
biblical scholar, and worship leader.
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Early on, he began work on metrical versions of the
Psalms to be used in public worship. On January 16, 1537, shortly after his arrival in Geneva,
Calvin asked his council to introduce the singing of Psalms into church worship. He recruited the
talents of other men, such as Clement Marot, Louis Bourgeois, and Theodore Beza, to produce
the Genevan Psalter. That work would take twenty-five years to complete. The first collection
(1539) contained eighteen Psalms, six of which Calvin put into verse. The rest were done by the
French poet, Marot. An expanded version (1542) containing thirty-five Psalms was next,
followed by one of forty-nine Psalms (1543). Calvin wrote the preface to both of those,
commending the practice of congregational singing. After Marot's death in 1544, Calvin
encouraged Beza to put the rest of the Psalms into verse. Two years before his death in 1562,
Calvin rejoiced to see the first complete edition of the Genevan Psalter.
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The Genevan Psalter is furnished with a remarkable collection of 125 melodies, written
specifically for the Psalms by outstanding musicians, of whom Louis Bourgeois is the best
known. The tunes are melodic, distinctive, and reverent.
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They clearly express Calvin's
convictions that piety is best promoted when priority is given to text over tune, while recognizing
that psalms deserve their own music. Since music should help the reception of the Word, Calvin
says, it should be "weighty, dignified, majestic, and modest"--fitting attitudes for a sinful
creature in the presence of God.
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This protects the sovereignty of God in worship and offers
proper conformity between the believer's inward disposition and his outward confession.
Psalmsinging is one of the four principle acts of church worship, Calvin believed. It is an
extension of prayer. It is also the most significant vocal contribution of people in the service.
Psalms were sung in Sunday morning and Sunday afternoon services. Beginning in 1546, a
printed table indicated which Psalms were to be sung on each occasion. Psalters were assigned to
each service according to the texts that were preached. By 1562, three Psalms were sung at each
service.
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Calvin believed that corporate singing subdued the fallen heart and retrained wayward
affections in the way of piety. Like preaching and the sacraments, Psalmsinging disciplines the
heart's affections in the school of faith and lifts the believer to God. Psalmsinging amplifies the
effect of the Word upon the heart and multiplied the spiritual energy of the church. "The Psalms
can stimulate us to raise our hearts to God and arouse us to an ardor in invoking as well as in
exalting with praises the glory of His name," Calvin wrote.
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With the Spirit's direction,
Psalmsinging tunes the hearts of believers for glory.