The Psalter

"O come, let us sing unto the LORD: let us make a joyful noise to the rock of our salvation. Let us come before his presence with thanksgiving, and make a joyful noise unto him with psalms" (Psalm 95:1,2).

"And he (Christ) said unto them, These are the words which I spake unto you, while I was yet with you, that all things must be fulfilled, which were written in the law of Moses, and in the prophets, and in the psalms, concerning me" (Luke 24:44).

"...Be filled with the Spirit; Speaking to yourselves in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord; Giving thanks always for all things unto God and the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ" (Ephesians 5:18b-20).

"Is any among you afflicted? let him pray. Is any merry? let him sing psalms" (James 5:13).

Psalm singing has been an essential part of Reformed Worship since the time of the great Reformation of the 16th century, and every true reformation of the church since then has seen a return to the singing of the Old Testament Psalter (book of Psalms). With thanks to God we are also seeing a renewed interest in Psalm-singing in our day even while many churches have long-departed from this God-honoring and Christ-centered practice.

The following is an ongoing project to place the entire Psalter on the internet with hopes that it will increase the interest in Psalm Singing in worship, which can serve as a means to unify the Church of Jesus Christ. This version of the Psalter was published in 1927 and is currently being used in the worship services of the Protestant Reformed Churches in America (PRCA). The piano accompaniment is from "The Psalter-Accompaniment for Singing", produced by Deborah A. Benson, with pianist: Mary A. Haak. Many of these Psalter numbers have been recorded by the Protestant Reformed Psalm Singing Choir under "Fitting Praises" which are also on this website. You can hear these renditions by going to the appropriate "Fitting Praises" link.

To watch a beautiful video and hear the Psalm Choir sing a versification of Psalm 19
Click on the picture below

We encourage you to read, listen to, and sing the Psalms from these Psalter Sections:

After you find the Psalter number, click on the Title to play the tune.
If the Music covers the words that were listed, simply minimize (-) the page.

Of historical and practical interest is also the "Introduction" which was written for the latest edition of the Psalter in the PRCA:

INTRODUCTION

This volume contains, first of all, the Psalter, a metrical version of the 150 Psalms of the Old Testament. Following the Psalter are the doctrinal standards,the liturgy, and the Church Order of the Protestant Reformed Churches in America.

This Psalter was first published in 1912 by the United Presbyterian Church. It was the fruit of the labors of nearly twenty years, by a committee drawn from nine American and Canadian denominations. The chorale section, which contains versions of many of the best-loved Dutch psalms, was added later. The Christian Reformed Church adopted the Psalter for use in their churches in 1914. The Protestant Reformed Churches, since their inception, have used the Psalter as the songbook for their worship services. They added to the chorale section two metrical versions of the Lord's Prayer.

The 1912 edition of the Psalter has been published by Wm. B. Eerdmans Co. in Grand Rapids since 1927. The Protestant Reformed Churches have recently published several special editions, adding the early-church Trinitarian creeds to the doctrinal standards and providing a short introduction for each of the confessions. They made also some changes in the liturgical section, mainly in formatting, punctuation, and capitalization. The songs of the Psalter were left untouched in these special PRC editions.

The doctrinal standards, liturgy, and Church Order of the PRC arise out of the rich tradition of the Reformed Churches in the Netherlands, the foundational principles of which were laid by John Calvin.

We echo the sentiments of the editorial committee for the first edition of the 1912 Psalter as expressed in the preface to that book:

With this brief preface the book is sent forth on its sacred mission. It presents anew the immortal songs of the Holy Spirit, those matchless hymns of the Bible which have been sung in far-off countries and centuries, which were chanted by our Lord and His disciples, and which with their measured language of religious feeling and devotion will abide until the end.

May this book be blessed by the God of all grace to the futherance of His praise.

If you desire to read more about the Psalms in worship, we encourage you to make use of these two resources available on our website: