Rhythmic Psalms is a new way to sing the Psalms in personal or corporate worship. It builds on the long and continuous tradition of singing or chanting all of the Psalms, with two main differences—the whole text is marked up for singing in rhythm[1], and the tunes feel more contemporary than ancient or classical. It is most closely related to Anglican Chant.
Any Rhythmic Psalm may be sung to any Rhythmic Psalm tune. Using interchangeable tunes for singing the Psalms, which has existed for centuries, allows for variety in mood and style while providing a framework that becomes familiar over time.
My hope in the Rhythmic Psalms experiment is that some singers of my time, who are accustomed to singing songs and hymns of worship together in rhythm, can learn to do the same with entire Psalms.
The Psalms: Rhythmic Psalms Version
I wanted to publish the entire book of Psalms marked as Rhythmic Psalms, but copyright restrictions prevented me from considering most modern translations as the basis. After some research, I began working with the World English Bible, which is in the public domain.[2] My revisions resulted in the “Rhythmic Psalms Version,”[3] which I am sharing with minimal restrictions.[4] Note, however, that this method of singing the Psalms is not dependent on any particular version of the text.
Why the Psalms?
In the first decades of my walk with Christ I “mugged” the Psalms; that is, I focused on verses and passages that one might have printed on a coffee mug. I would read all of the Psalms in a yearly Bible-reading plan or in a college course, but the Psalter was not central to my daily or weekly worship.
Over time, however, my view of the Psalms has completely changed. We do need them all. We deal with their complexities because we are complex, and the life of faith is complex. We use these words that God has graciously given us as we live out this complex life with, and in, him.
Christopher Ash concludes the introduction to his multi-volume commentary on the Psalms with these words:
The Psalms show us how to develop strong and godly affections—and indeed, fierce and healthy aversions as well. They train us to avoid both the unpredictable reefs of error and the deserts of a dusty orthodoxy. For the Psalms perfectly combine thoughts and feeling, theology and prayer, longings and realism, the subjective and the objective.
All these blessings come to the church of Christ when the Psalms are given their proper place. As Bonhoeffer wrote, “Whenever the Psalter is abandoned, an incomparable treasure is lost to the Christian church. With its recovery will come unexpected power.” [5],[6]
The Challenge of Singing the Psalms
There are many sincere songs of faith in popular styles to choose from, old and new, with more being written every day. In contrast, every method of singing the Psalms has its challenges for modern English language singers. As a result, for large segments of the church, Psalm singing was abandoned so long ago that no one in living memory has considered doing it.
We who were never offered the possibility of singing the Psalms have missed out on a feast of song intended to sustain our spiritual lives.
I notice, however, how strongly I have been drawn to the Psalms, and see the same thing happening in others. Rhythmic Psalms is an experiment done in hopes that it may lead some back to the life-giving practice of singing the Psalms.
[1] I call this markup method Rhythmic Chant, since it can easily be applied to other biblical poetry, but for simplicity will refer only to Rhythmic Psalms in this book. [back]
[2] Read more about the World English Bible. [back]
[3] This is a revision based on comparisons with several faithful translations. [back]
[4] See the copyright page for details on the Creative Commons license used. [back]
[5] Christopher Ash, The Psalms: A Christ-Centered Commentary, Volume 1, Introduction: Christ and the Psalms (Wheaton: Crossway, 2024), 26. [back]
[6] Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Psalms: The Prayer Book of the Bible (Minneapolis: Augsburg Publishing House, 1970), 26. [back]