I'm sure most of us have read at least a few passages from the book of Psalms and wondered, "Why is it called a book of songs when there are no songs in it?" That was my question as I decided to read through the whole book, start to finish. How does this look like a song?
"Blessed is the man
who walks not in the counsel of the wicked,
nor stands in the way of sinners,
nor sits in the seat of scoffers;
but his delight is in the law of the Lord,
and on his law he meditates day and night." (Psalm 1:1-2)
One answer to this is obvious: because it's been translated into another language. We know that songs lose some meaning and most of their rhythm when they're translated directly into another language. So why didn't the translators just capture the meaning of the text and then turn it back into a song in English? After all, that's what most translators do with songs. According to John McMath, former Bible professor of Moody Bible Institute, the reason for this is that the original Hebrew songs didn't rhyme. Instead, they used a deep sense of meaning for the "rhyme." In order to keep to the richest translation, Bible translators translate the psalms as literally as possible, a paradoxical approach to translating songs. Despite this, people, like the people behind the Psalm Project, have tried to put the psalms to music. Remember the passage I quoted at the beginning? If you don't, just scroll up. The Psalm Project put it to music, and here's what it sounds like:
However, the problem is finding the right tune to set the psalms to. We could play it safe and use the original tune:
However, if you're like me, you turned it off immediately. Our western ears just don't appreciate middle-eastern music. Here are a few more styles:
Folk:
90s:
Modern Hymn:
However, no matter which style it's set to, the meaning doesn't change. The Psalms weren't meant to just be read, but to be used to praise the Lord. So the next time you read a passage in Psalms, try listening to the psalm as music. After all, one of the reasons the psalms were written was because we remember songs better than anything else. Since starting this post, I've actually started to listen to each passage I read, and I'm amazed that I can remember what I read so well.
No matter which style of music you prefer, I encourage you to listen to the Psalms and truly see the beauty the psalmists try to capture in song. For "Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the wicked, nor stands in the way of sinners, nor sits in the seat of scoffers; but his delight is in the law of the Lord, and on his law he meditates day and night." ~Walk as a child of light!