Select List of Works on Psalm Singing

Image: From the Geneva Psalter (1556)

Note: A friend recently asked me for a list of resources on psalm singing, so I compiled the select list below. You can also find resources on psalms at the Crown and Covenant site (here).

1.    Michael Bushel, The Songs of Zion (Crown and Covenant, 1980).

This is probably the strongest and most extensive modern defense of exclusive psalmody.

2.   Joel R. Beeke and Anthony T. Selvaggio, Eds., Sing a New Song: Recovering Psalm Singing for the Twenty-First Century (Reformation Heritage Books, 2010).

This is a collection of articles on Psalm singing in history, Psalm singing in Scripture, and Psalm singing and the modern church.

3.   The Worship of God: Reformed Concepts of Biblical Worship (Mentor, 2005).

This is a collection of papers from the Spring 2003 Theology Conference at Greenville Presbyterian Seminary. Chapter 8 is “The Biblical Case for Exclusive Psalmody” by Brian Schwertley (pp. 181-204) and Chapter 9 is “A Defense of Biblical Hymnody” by Benjamin Shaw (pp. 205-218).

4.    Malcolm Watts and David Silversides, The Worship of God (Market Press, 1998).

This book has three papers on the theme of worship from the 1997 Salisbury Conference. The articles argue against the use of instruments in worship and in favor of exclusive psalmody.

5.   W. Gary Crampton, “Exclusive Psalmody,” in John W. Robbins, Ed. The Church Effeminate (The Trinity Foundation, 2001): 150-161.

Crampton argues in favor of singing psalms in worship but also that there is no Biblical warrant to eliminate altogether uninspired hymns and songs. He holds that one does not need to be an exclusive psalmodist to be confessional.

JTR