Singing the Psalms

Stephen Gibson

Have you ever wondered what the original melodies of the Psalms sounded like? Those have been lost with time so should we only be speaking them aloud? I’ve heard some great melodies put to Psalms over the years but a while ago I started singing them in my own times with God.

 

I’ll sit at the piano with my bible open on a Psalm and sing a simple spontaneous melody to the words on the page. I’m aware of several things:

• The slower pace of singing the Psalm rather than speed-reading allows me to reflect on the words.

• I usually reach a phrase at some point that needs to be sung over and over and I’m trusting this is the prompting of the Holy Spirit to minister this truth to my life for today.

• The emotions in the Psalms sometimes reach areas of my soul that I don’t always express – crying out, pain, overflowing thankfulness, anger and inexpressible joy.

Why not try doing this today? It could be a different Psalm each day or you might want to meditate on the same Psalm over a week. The Psalms are meant to be sung!