“Read the Bible, preach the Bible, pray the Bible, sing the Bible, and see the Bible.”
Such is the motto for those who embrace the regulative principle, as suggested by J. Ligon Duncan III in Give Praise to God (pg. 65). We are to read the Bible in public worship. We are to preach the Bible as God’s prime appointed instrument to build up His church (pg 66). We are to pray the Bible through pastoral prayer and praying in the mind- and spirit-set of the Bible (pg. 67). We are to see the Bible acted out as we participate in the baptism of believers and in the Lord’s Supper. And we are to sing the Bible. It is this point which most caught my attention. “...Our singing ought to be biblical, shot through with the language, categories, and theology of the Bible. It ought to reflect the themes and proportion of the Bible, as well as its substance and weightiness” (pg. 67). “...a Christian worship song...should look like a Psalm...If the songs we sing in worship look like Psalms, they will develop themes over many lines with minimal repetition...They will be rich in theological and experiential content” (pg. 68).
In our current “worship culture” of repetitive songs and choruses, is there a place to step back to this idea of meaningful Psalms and worshipful songs (the kind in which the words that we sing develop a full idea - not just repeating the same mini-idea over and over again)?
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