When asked to explain how the Reformed Presbyterian Church differs from other Protestant denominations our first response is often to say that we use only Psalms in congregational praise without the accompaniment of instrumental music. When we give this answer it is interesting to watch the reaction of some people. A look of incredulity often appears on their faces usually followed by a comment like "Are your services not rather dull and boring". After this initial reaction some will say "But we like the hymns". "Hymns are lively and they speak about Christ." "Hymns have been used by God to convict certain individuals of their sin and therefore they must be all right." "How are we to attract and retain our young people if we don't bring in innovations to the way we worship."
 

Most, if not all, of us have experienced the above reactions or something like them. Why then do we sing only Psalms in the worship of God? If we do so simply because this was what our forefathers did or because we happen to like singing the Psalms then our justification for this practice has no solid foundation. What then are our reasons for using only Psalms to praise God in the worship service? Clearly this is a very important question and in the space available we will only be able to deal with it in a very general way.
 

It is important at the beginning to recognise that every thing we know about God comes from the Bible - His inspired Word. For example we would know nothing of His attributes such as the fact that He is a Spirit, infinite, eternal, unchangeable in His being, wisdom, power, holiness, justice, goodness and truth were it not for the fact that He has revealed this to us in His infallible Word. To depend on our wisdom and feelings to construct a picture of God and His requirements is to dethrone Him and bring Him down to our level. His Word must be the only basis for building our understanding of Him, how He wishes us to live our lives including how we should worship Him.
 

What then has God's Word to say about how we should worship Him and in particular about the praise element of this worship? Right from the beginning it is clear that our worship must be God-centred and must conform to His designated standards. Hebrews 11:4 states that God approved of Abel's offering but not Cain's. Why was this? Was it because the fruit, which Cain offered, was second quality fruit? Clearly there was nothing wrong with the offering that Cain brought other than it was not what God had commanded and this was the reason that it was not acceptable. Take also the detailed instructions that God gave Moses concerning the construction and fitting out of the Tabernacle - the place where He could dwell among His people Israel and where they could worship Him. (Exodus 25:8). These instructions covered, not only the material that the Tabernacle was to be made from, how it was to be erected, the furniture that was to be placed in it but also the robes that Aaron was to wear. You see there was no scope for human ingenuity. Moses was not free to change any thing from that which God had commanded or to add anything else which appeared to him to be appropriate.
 

Likewise in the New Testament, Jesus told His disciples in Matthew 28:19-20 "Therefore go and make disciples of all nations………and teach them to obey everything I have commanded you". He did not say that they could choose those bits of His teaching that suited them or that they could add on things, which He had not forbidden. No He said "teach them everything that I have commanded you".
 

There are, of course, examples of people who offered worship to God, which he had not commanded. Take the case of Aaron's sons, Nadab and Abihu as recorded in Leviticus 10:1-3. We are told that they put fire in their censors and added incense and offered it before the Lord. There is no reason to doubt that they were not sincere in what they did. They may even have thought that the strange fire was a great improvement on the fire from the altar but it was an addition of their own which God had not commanded and we are told that, as a result, they died before the Lord. Nadab and Abihu were not the only persons in Scripture to fall into this trap of offering worship, the detail of which God had not commanded. For example, King Uzziah, of whom Scripture records that he"...did that which was right in the sight of the Lord", incurred God's wrath for trying to worship God in a way which he was not commanded to do (2 Chronicles 26:.16-20). Consider also the Pharisees. They worshipped God but their worship was not acceptable to Him. Why? Mark 7:8 gives the answer "You have let go the commands of God and are holding on to the traditions of men". It is a serious thing to offer worship to God, which although appearing right to us, has not been commanded by Him.

Paul Martin (1974) has it right when he states. "When we come to worship God the focus of man is to be on God. Worship is an act of confessing subjection to God. The nature of that subjection is demonstrated in the worshipper's complete reliance on God's revealed Word for his expression of worship rather than making himself the judge as to how he will be subjected to God." The Westminster divines also had a good understanding of the importance of always offering worship, which God had commanded. "The Westminster Confession of Faith in Chapter 21 states "But the acceptable way of worshipping the true God is instituted by Himself, and so limited by His own revealed will, that He may not be worshipped according to the imaginations and devices of men, or the suggestion of Satan, under any visible representation, or any other way not prescribed in the holy Scripture".
 

We all recognise that God has provided us with a book with which we are to praise Him, a book that is without error, a book which we are told in Timothy 3:16 as part of description concerning all Scripture, is "able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work". Why then would we want set aside this book and use merely human compositions? We should always remember that we are bringing our praise to a Holy God. Our likes don't come into it. We must offer that praise that is acceptable to Him. Remember what happened to Cain who felt that he could use his on ingenuity in the type of offering that he brought to God or Nadab and Abihuu or Uzziah.
 

In this we have concentrated mostly on what Scripture has says about this subject. Had there been space we could have pointed out that there are no psalms, hymns or songs (other than those of the Bible) preserved from the Apostolic and Post-Apostolic period of Church history. Nor is there any evidence whatever that such were in use at that time. Indeed for the first 500 years of Christianity the Church was almost entirely an exclusively Psalm singing Church. Also following the Reformation, Psalm singing was the standard recognised practice in churches of the Presbyterian and Reformed family, including Episcopalians and Congregationalists. It is only within the last one hundred to one hundred and fifty years that hymn singing has come to prominence in these denominations.
 

To conclude, let us never be ashamed of belonging to a Psalm singing denomination. Rather count it a great privilege to worship God using His inspired Word rather than the words of men, however moving they may be.