Interview with Reggie Kidd, 2.15.06: What Psalms Teach the Church About Worship

This is Part 2 of my on-going interview with Dr. Reggie Kidd about worship. (See Part I here.)

Reggie) was one of my professors of New Testament at Reformed Theological Seminary-Orlando. Additionally, he serves as Dean of the Chapel at RTS/Orlando and as Pastor of Worship at Orangewood Presbyterian Church (PCA) in Maitland, FL.

Recently Reggie published an excellent, rich book on worship titled With One Voice.

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GL: Reggie, you say that the Psalms as a whole tell a story. We’re used to thinking that the narrative books in the Hebrew Bible tell the story of Israel. Can you explain what you mean that the Psalms have a story line? And what difference do you think it makes for us to know that?

 

RK: As the book of Psalms was being put together over time, the editors arranged the Psalms into five different “books.” If you read through the “books” in order, you relive Israel’s history — you can’t help but get caught up in her plight and you’re invited to own her hope as your own.

“Book One” (Psalms 1-41) has the largest cluster of Psalms that deal with David’s own life experiences — these Psalms help to paint a portrait of the emergence of David’s kingdom.

“Book Two” (Psalms 42-72) depicts the transfer of rule from David to Solomon — Psalm 72, in fact, comes from Solomon himself.

“Book Three” (Psalms 73-89) looks like it was compiled during the Exile — it’s mostly Psalms of the sons Asaph and of Korah — and it ends with the very dark Psalm 89, decrying God’s people’s plight after the failure of Solomon’s rule and the division of the kingdom upon his death: “You have rejected, you have spurned, you have been very angry with your anointed one. You have renounced the covenant with your servant and have defiled his crown in the dust” (Psalm 89:38-39).

“Book Four” (Psalms 90—106) is an affirmation that even in Exile, God’s people should know that their God is still their King. Psalm 90 is a Psalm from Moses, and it begins with a reminder that long before there was a king: “Lord, you have been our dwelling place throughout all generations.” The last two Psalms in this “book” rehearse for a captive people just how it is that they got to where they are. Further, these Psalms give the exiles words to ask God for deliverance: “Save us, O Lord our God, and gather us from the nations, that we may give thanks to your holy name and glory in your praise” (Psalm 106:47).

“Book Five” (Psalms 107-150) looks into the future, when God has raised up a “horn for His people,” a new King (Psalm 148:14). The Psalms of this “book” lean into a final deliverance when God’s people have been “crowned with salvation,” when they dance deliverance’s dance and sing salvation’s “new song” (Psalm 149:3-4).

So Israel’s songs tell her story — and when we sing them (or even just read them) that same story becomes ours.

GL: Given what you’ve said about this, don’t you think it’s odd that the Psalms end in a burst of praise when Israelwas undergoing some of its worst experiences? How do you make sense of the eruption of praise in the last psalms and Israel’s misery of exile?

RK: The outburst of praise at the end of the Psalter is odd indeed. Nothing in Israel’s history — even after the exile ended — came close to bearing the freight of all these “Hallelujahs.”

I think we should think of the last Psalms (especially Psalms 145-150) as “eschatological Psalms.” These Psalms point us to the end — they leave at the same place the New Testament leaves us. (And it’s another reason to think of the Psalter as “telling a story”). Isn’t it curious that the only place the New Testament uses the term “Hallelujah” is at the marriage feast of the Lamb: “Hallelujah! For our Lord God Almighty reigns. Let us rejoice and be glad and give him glory! For the wedding of the Lamb has come, and his bride has made herself ready” (see the fourfold repetition of “Hallelujah” in Revelation 19:1-6)?

The book of Psalms seems to have shared the same secret — we win in the end, so it’s OK to start the party now.

GL: You talk about the war imagery in some of the Psalms. What does our contemporary Church need to re-learn about the Lord and life in Him from these Psalms? At the same time, have you heard of people drawing illegitimate conclusions from war songs? Basically, how do we make sense of these songs about warfare today?

RK: Christ said he came to bring a sword to the earth (Matthew 10:34). He came on God’s behalf to break the demonic grip on the human race. That’s what his resistance to the Devil in the wilderness was about. That’s why he expelled demons, healed the sick, and raised the dead. It’s why the hymn-writer sings: “Death of death and hell’s Destruction.”

Jesus rose from the dead and gave what Paul called the “sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God” to the church (Ephesians 6:17). As Paul anticipated going to Rome, the center of political power in the world of his day, he wrote about the “power of the gospel,” of which he was “not ashamed” — that word has the power to take out God’s enemies by conquering their hearts.

In our day, the proclamation of Jesus’ victory over sin and death and hell and hell’s Devil is the chief part of God’s warfare to win back this planet.

Sure, over the course of the church’s history, some have misunderstood the battle imagery, and thought they could advance God’s rule through the sword of the flesh instead of the sword of the Spirit — I think of the Crusades, of militant abolitionists, of murderers of abortionists. Just like poor Peter in the Garden of Gethsemane who offered a pathetic defense of Heaven’s Champion with his little toothpick, managing just to cut off a servant’s ear. It’s as if he were saying, “OK, Lord, I’ll handle it from here.” As if that’s what God needed from us.

No, Jesus, said then, and says now, “You live by the sword, you die by the sword” (Matthew 26:51). Jesus has to fight his battle his way. He brought life by his death. We battle on his behalf with words that offer life over death and with hands that reach out with the same mercy that has taken us captive.

GL: In the disagreements about worship today, one factor that stirs people up is the aspect of emotion. I’ve been in churches where I wondered if emotion was the raison d'être for assembling. But I’ve spent far more time in churches that are basically state of the art de-humidifiers. How do you think about this and what do the Psalms have to teach us about biblical worship and emotion?

RK: One of my favorite seminary professors, Harvey Conn, used to say, “We’re not just souls with ears stuck on.” We’re whole people, made to bear God’s image and to relate to him with all our being — with heart and soul and mind and strength. Our emotions are no less and no more fallen than our brains — no more and no less in need of salvation.

Worship that’s worth being called worship pays full attention to all that it means to bear God’s image. And this is exactly where the Psalms help. John Calvin called the book of Psalms the best “architecture of the soul” (or words to that effect) available — through the Psalms we learn a vocabulary for redeeming our emotions, for experiencing a congruity between our own passions and God’s.

© 2006, Reggie Kidd & Glenn Lucke.

Comments

[David Lumpkins]

Really excellent posts. Hope to see more of such from Common Grounds Online in the future.

[Taran (male)]

One disappointment from this interview is a deeper exploration of the lack of lament in contemporary worship experiences. There are more lament psalms than praise psalms in the Psalter, yet they are almost completely absent contemporary corporate worship experiences. I would be interested to read Dr. Kidd's thoughts on the subject.

[Glenn]

Taran,

Thanks for your comment. As you would guess, we can't do EVERYthing in the interview, but Reggie does have material on this in the book.

May I encourage you to pick up a copy of With One Voice and see Reggie's extensive material on lament.

Here is the Amazon link:
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0801065917/commongrounds-20