--- title: "Return to the Psalms | Worship in Spirit and in Truth" description: "Return to the Psalms — section 23 of Worship in Spirit and in Truth by Pastor Owen Anderson. Read the original text online with Scripture references and section navigation." canonical: "https://ctkrp.org/worship/worship-in-spirit-and-in-truth/return-to-the-psalms/" author: "Owen Anderson" source: "https://ctkrp.org/assets/papers/worship-in-spirit-and-in-truth.pdf#page=33" --- # Return to the Psalms | Worship in Spirit and in Truth Christians, some of you may greet these words with eager delight, while others may reject them in disdain. If you eagerly sing the psalms, remember to do so with understanding, not from a place of mere legalistic piety. Sing them with joy and liveliness. These are the very Words of God given to you as songs of love. They teach us the purity of His truth and holiness. Sing them with courage and conviction as your own. God doesn’t expect you to be a professional singer any more than He expects everyone to be professional theologians. We all improve with time. But He does require us to make use of the Word He gave us as a special gift. He asks us to raise our voices as they are now and with other Christians. This delights God. As his child, take joy in delighting Him. As a Christian, the Psalms are yours and they are prefect—lacking nothing for worship of the most holy God. Don’t listen to the lie that God has kept some good thing from you by not including a book of inspired songs in the New Testament. To neglect what He has given us, and especially to replace it with a man-made tradition, is a serious error, committed very many times by Israel and the Church. But if you resist the use of God’s Word in worship, be warned: you are treading the path of Cain and his descendants—a path that leads to separation from God. Let this reality stir within you the fear of God and a desire to return to Him. I am not calling into question your saving faith. Many believers in the Old Testament, New Testament, and church history, have neglected God’s Word and resisted its truths when it is brought to them. They may indeed still believe in Jesus as their Savior but the more they resist Him the more they give us all reason to doubt the credibility of their faith. God has graciously told us how to worship Him, and it is a delight to do so. His Word is perfect, teaching us everything we need to know to be restored to communion with Him. His Psalms lack nothing that the Christian needs. His Psalms provide the fullness of what worship requires: they praise the glory of God (psalms), teach us doctrine (hymns), and express the experiences of the believer’s life (spiritual songs). These are the titles given to the Psalms in the Septuagint. These are the very categories we are commanded to sing in the New Testament: "Addressing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody to the Lord with your heart" (Ephesians 5:19). "Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God" (Colossians 3:16). This verse shows us that these three designations (psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs) were understood to be the word of Christ—they are inspired scripture. That means they are not referring to uninspired songs that Christians wrote and then brought into public worship. The Hebrew reader would have recognized the titles given to Psalms in the Septuagint. The Word of God in the Psalms is sufficient for our worship. Will you humble yourself to delight in the worship God has prescribed, or will you continue in the error of inventing worship according to human preference? Choose the path of faithful obedience, for in doing so, we honor the holiness of God and draw nearer to Him in Spirit and truth. Return to the pure worship of God. God has removed the glory of His Psalms from your churches and your worship services. Seek His face in repentance. Confess that you held his holiness and purity of worship in low esteem and placed your own comfort and preferences first. Ask him to help you understand His Word in the Psalms to see them as a source of joy and life. Learn to sing them to each other in times of joy and times of trials (James 5:13). If you turn to Him in repentance and bear fruit in keeping with that repentance, He will forgive and restore you. Your communion with God will deepen and you will thank Him for His fatherly love in calling you from worldly worship. Sing Psalms let joy resound. Give all glory to God who alone is worthy of our praise. Original source: [Worship in Spirit and in Truth, Owen Anderson (2025)](https://ctkrp.org/assets/papers/worship-in-spirit-and-in-truth.pdf#page=33) ## Related reading - [Severe Consequences](https://ctkrp.org/worship/worship-in-spirit-and-in-truth/severe-consequences/) Canonical page: https://ctkrp.org/worship/worship-in-spirit-and-in-truth/return-to-the-psalms/