Psalm-Singing at Grace Church:
Singing the Songs Jesus Sang
By Pastor Daniel J. Dillard
Music in worship is an important subject! The songs we sing are major “shaping influences” on us as we grow up into maturity. There are many excellent worship songs, both ancient and contemporary, but the best songs of all are God’s songs, inspired by the Holy Spirit: the Psalms of the Bible. Those are the songs that Jesus was taught and sang from childhood to mature manhood. The Psalms Jesus sang doubtless helped him understand his own unique role as the God-Man, pictured in the Psalms. So for example, as Jesus sang the Twenty-third Psalm, he could see a foreshadowing of himself and his mission as the Good Shepherd who gives his life for the sheep.
So as we sing the Psalms it helps us know our Lord Jesus Christ better, and the Psalms likewise help shape us to more like him. We have the great honor, blessing and gift of singing the very songs Jesus sang!
Moreover, we sing the Psalms in solidarity with Jesus Christ and with His whole Church, His Body, worldwide. Down through the ages until very recently, most branches of the Church sang all 150 Psalms. Sadly, in recent times Psalm-singing has almost disappeared, but recently there has been a great revival in Psalm-singing.
Moreover, Psalm-singing is a way of conducting Spiritual warfare “not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places” (Ephesians 6:12).
We cannot fully express what a great blessing it is to praise God using words inspired by his own Holy Spirit, with Psalms such as Psalm 84!
We want to encourage you to join us in singing God’s own songs, straight from the Bible in English translation. One of our elders, Bruce Williams, is a godly, mature Christian man and Bible teacher, and also a skilled musician and songwriter. Bruce has prayerfully put his gifts to work to produce musical versions of the Psalms straight from the text of the English Standard Version (ESV) of the Bible.
You can download the sheet music with the words of the ESV text at the following links:
Psalm 1
Psalm 2
Psalm 3
Psalm 4
Psalm 5
Psalm 6
Psalm 8
Psalm 11
Psalm 13
Psalm 15
Psalm 16
Psalm 19
Psalm 20
Psalm 23
Psalm 24
Psalm 27
Psalm 29
Psalm 32
Psalm 42
Psalm 43
Psalm 46
Psalm 47
Psalm 54
Psalm 61
Psalm 63
Psalm 64
Psalm 65
Psalm 67
Psalm 70
Psalm 75
Psalm 82
Psalm 84
Psalm 85
Psalm 93
Psalm 98
Psalm 99
Psalm 100
Psalm 110
Psalm 111
Psalm 112
Psalm 113
Psalm 121
Psalm 121 (Alternate Tune)
Psalm 122
Psalm 123
Psalm 124
Psalm 125
Psalm 126
Psalm 127
Psalm 128
Psalm 130
Psalm 131
Psalm 133
Psalm 138
Psalm 141
Psalm 142
Psalm 146
Psalm 150
Some Modern Hymns:
All Creation Worships Thee
Christ the Lamb Has Overcome
Come to the Fountain of Mercy
Come to the Table of Grace
Come to Us, Our Blessed Jesus
Doxology
Gloria Patri
I Love the Lord
In the Bread and in the Wine
King of Glory, Christ Incarnate
May Christ E’er Be Preeminent
Mercy Full and Mercy Free
Rejoicing in Our King
The Father Sent His Only Son
The Father Sent His Only Son
The Sounds around Your Throne
Worthy is the Lamb