We're looking at the second part of verse thirteen. Is any merry? Let him sing psalms. And our theme is entitled, The Sufficiency of Samody. The Sufficiency of Samody. Is any merry? Let him sing psalms. England's greatest king, and I think I say that not only with boldness but with truthfulness. England's greatest king was Alfred the Great, and he reigned from 849, so maybe the younger ones might want during the week to study the life of King Alfred. He was a great king. But it was his practice to sing the psalms every day, and he carried a psalter with him for that very purpose. so that when he wasn't doing business he could take out the psalter and he could sing. The King of England singing Psalms to God. If only we had such rulers in our nations doing that. Psalms singing was of course the only phrase uttered by men and women until the hymn-writing theias principally led by Isaac Watts. And since that time Sadly, psalmody declined to be replaced by human compositions. I know that many churches practice what we rightly call tokenism. They say we're going to sing one psalm and then everything else that is sung is made by men. But in recent times there has thankfully been a resurgence of interest in Samoday. But Samoday must not be limited to public worship. That is James' particular point. Is any merry? Let him sing sad. We must not limit it to public worship alone. And so our study focuses upon the use of psalmody outside of public worship, family worship and private worship. It is a rather striking point, yet necessary and for this reason, because psalmody has been too often restricted to either public worship or to the reading of psalms when one is feeling discouraged or depressed or melancholic as a form of consolation when in trouble. Now it is all of these things, don't get me wrong, it is all of these things, but it is more. And sometimes we forget that more. And sadly too often when believers are merry, when they're joyful, their minds do not automatically turn to the sands as a vehicle to express that joyfulness, that happiness that they are experiencing. And that leads us to perhaps question, well why not? Could it be that the reason why they are happy is an earthly, worldly, carnal reason? Maybe we need to be more critical of what is often referred to as emotions. If we're suddenly feeling happy, maybe we should be asking ourselves, why? Why am I suddenly happy? Maybe I shouldn't be happy because the thing that I'm happy over is sinful. We need to question ourselves more and to be more suspicious of ourselves. Why is it that so many turn to pop songs to express a moment of happiness. That is puzzling, is it not? It should be puzzling. Why should Christians be even interested in pop songs anyway? There is a pertinent question. Why are the Psalms neglected, particularly when we are married? So as we pose all these questions and more to come, I trust, we begin to see that James is making a very important point. a very pertinent personal point. When you are happy, when you are feeling merry, do you sing songs? What songs do you sing? Pop songs? Is that what you sing? As adults? As children? What songs do you sing? Now, James says, as any among you afflicted, let him pray. We can all identify with that, because when we are afflicted, we do pray. But the second injunction, as any merry, let him sing Psalms. Do we follow that in a regular order? Well, I want this morning to give you seven reasons why, when you're merry, sing psalms? First of all, they are commanded. James clearly states, psalm singing is a command. The same command, the same force of the language as in the first part of verse thirteen, is any among you afflicted, let him pray. Is any sick among you, let him call to the elders of the church. So in the middle he says, as any merry let him sing psalms. This is not a mere suggestion. It is not a wish or a desire. James is telling us. I tell you, he says. So the singing of psalms is a gospel duty, a New Testament duty. The fact that James says it makes it a New Testament duty, a duty repeated elsewhere in the New Testament, in And in Colossians, what is more, we note from Paul's letter to the Corinthians that the church practised Samodhi, and we know that because they were abusing it. And he makes reference to them. Let's turn for a moment to Psalm 105. Psalm we sang a moment ago. Psalm 105, verses 1 and 2. O give thanks unto the Lord. Call upon his name. Make known his deeds among the people. Here we see that in times of thanksgiving, in seasons of joyfulness, what are we to do? First to sing unto Him. Well, we sing, and we are to sing to God. And what are we to sing? And what are we to sing to God? We are to sing psalms to God. You see what they say, when you are merry, Sing to God. Where did that merriment come from? It came from God we trust. Therefore return thanks to God for that season, that occasion of joy. And take up a psalm and express that joy to God. Talk ye of all his wondrous works. Glory ye in his holy name. So the singing of psalms, the instrument to be used in those occasions of thanksgiving. Now the origin of this psalm reveals that it was indeed a time of joy. It was an occasion of thanksgiving. The origin is told us in 1 Chronicles 16. They were Verse 1, brought the Ark of God and set it in the midst of the tent. And in verse 4, he appointed Sturgeon of the Levites to minister before the Ark of the Lord and to record and to thank and praise the Lord God of Israel. And then he goes on to recite for us a psalm that in due time is included in the Psalter and it's Psalm 105. So it's left as a permanent record in the church. A season of thanksgiving. And the psalm opens giving thanks to God. You are merry, you are joyful, a moment of rejoicing. Here is a sign that you may take up and sing to God because you are joyful. It is commanded. But then secondly, we must note that they are inspired. The Psalms are inspired. And we can demonstrate that in a number of ways. First of all, David was the mouth of the Holy Spirit. Acts 1 verse 16, men and brethren, this script you must need to be fulfilled, which The Holy Ghost by the mouth of David spake. So David's mouth used by the Holy Spirit himself. David was but the mouthpiece of the Holy Spirit. So the words that he spoke were God's words. God put these words in his mouth. And second, In fact, just before we go to the second point, there's a parallel to it in Acts 4.24 and it tells us that God spoke by the mouth of David. Acts 4.24, Lord thou art God. Verse 25, Be by the mouth of thy servant David a said. So in Acts 1, the Holy Ghost by the mouth of David and Acts 4, God by the mouth of David spoke. So when King David is writing these words. Where did these words come from? They came from God. And secondly, we can say that David had the prophetic gift. Acts 2 verse 30, speaking of David, therefore being a prophet. So David had the prophetic gift. He was the prophet of God. Now what was the special thing about prophets in scripture? God said, I will put my word in their mouth. So they could say, thus saith the Lord. David was a prophet, the New Testament tells us. And being a prophet, we are told he spoke concerning And the third element to this, David's words were inspired. If we turn to Ephesians chapter 5, verse 19, we read, verse 18, But be filled with the Spirit, speaking to yourselves in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs. The word spiritual that is used there simply means indicted by the Holy Spirit. They have come from the Holy Spirit. The words have been given by Him. They are therefore the words of God. They are infallible, they are inerrant, they are inspired words. You know there is one other aspect to this. If ministers are to preach the Word of God, why then would it be acceptable to use extra-biblical compositions to praise God? Ministers are to preach the Word. We are to sing the Word. Why on earth would we tolerate or allow extra-biblical compositions and song as a means of mutual edification, speaking to yourselves? Third reason. They are Christ-centered. They are Christ-centered. Maybe that's why when we are feeling happy, We don't sing psalms because our happiness is not Christ-centered. Colossians chapter 3 verse 16, let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom, teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs. Here we see an explicit connection between the Word of Christ and Psalms. Remember the term Psalms, Hymns, Songs are the titles for the Psalms and they are given for us in our Scriptures. So when you sing these hymns and songs, they are the words of Christ. They are His words. But you know, there's another little piece of evidence that sometimes we perhaps may overlook as we're reading through scripture. You see, not all the Psalms we note were written by David. So what then do we say about those Psalms in our Psalter not written by David? Well, we have an explanation given in 2 Chronicles 25. 2 Chronicles 29 rather. 2 Chronicles 29. 2nd Chronicles 29, we read in verse 2, and he did that which was right in the sight of the Lord according to all that David his father had done. Now why is this important? Very simply, it is important because we note that all that is done in the tabernacle was done under the direction and control of the king. But the important thing is that when we come to study what happens whenever David introduces the regulations for the temple, as it is eventually called, no longer the tabernacle, we note that when David is issuing commands, he issues commands to the Levites and he sets them in particular courses. He sets them in order and he selects certain ones from the midst of the Levites and they are appointed to write under the King, under King David. David, of course, in doing all of these things appoints not only who is to do the writing, but they are to do it for him. In other words, a significant feature of the Sands is that they are led by the king. They are led by the king. They are under his service. that is governed by him. Let's go back for a moment in Israel's history. Moses, under God, issues commands concerning the tabernacle. And after all those commands are given, he is commanded by God to write a song. He writes the song, he gives it to them and then he proceeds to lead them in worship. After Moses comes Joshua. What does Joshua do when Moses dies? We are told that he leads the people in worship. So his first act after the death of Moses is to lead the people in worship. After Joshua, there is no clear successor until Saul. What does Saul do on becoming king? He leads the people in worship. After Saul comes David, who under God and under God's command specifies the permanent worship of God. And David's significance, of course, is to set forth Christ. It is David's image, so to speak, that is impressed upon the church because he stands as a type of Christ. He is the prophet of Christ. And all this is set out for us in the Psalms. They are kingly psalms. A priestly king, a prophetic king, presenting to us Christ our King. So to sing these psalms is to sing of Christ the King. He leads us in worship. Now, there's always an objection on this. Some say they find it difficult to see Christ in the sands. Well, my short answer is this, that Paul commands believers to sing with the understanding. Part of that understanding is to see how Christ fulfills the Old Testament rituals. That means, given the New Testament, we should not have too much difficulty in understanding what the Psalms are teaching us. Which is why we can say, rightly, they are Christ-centered. So when we sing the Psalms, we are singing of Christ. But then there's a fourth reason. They are doctrinally sound. There is nothing taught in the Psalms that is spurious or false or doubtful. That was one of the notions raised by a man called Isaac Watts, who had the audacity to claim that there were things in the Psalms that a Christian couldn't sing. And the full title of the 1719 hymnal was this, and I'll read the full title to you. The Psalms of David, imitated in the language of the New Testament, and applied to the Christian state and church, or worship. Of course, the Christian state for him was the British Empire, which seems a very strange thing to understand our Priests to be, that we're singing Priests and they are fitted to the British Empire. What happens when the Empire is gone, as it has? What happens to Priests? But the crucial thing is, he's arguing with the Sands. He is telling us that anything he considered un-Christian, he either removes or rewrites. He believes that the Psalms needed modification. He claims, in effect, that David had defective views. which in the light of later revelation he could see, but David couldn't see his imperfections or the defaction of what he wrote, even though under the governance of the Holy Spirit, that he had a limited understanding. So the Psalms needed renovating. Now we can prove the signness of the Psalms in many ways, but just simply one illustration of this by noting from Hebrews 1 and 2 the numerous quotations from the Psalms in describing the New Covenant. That's quite striking, isn't it? The vocabulary of the New Covenant is the language of the Psalms. But I draw your particular attention to Hebrews 7 and Hebrews 8. Why is Hebrews 7 and Hebrews 8 of interest? Because they are essentially an exposition of Psalm 110. In other words, the Apostle Paul believed that the Psalms were doctrinally sound, without defect, not needing modification, not needing to be rewritten or reworked. So when James says to us, as any Mary, let him sing Psalms, he is confident because they are doctrinally sound. They are sound songs. Fifthly, they are edifying. Colossians 3, verse 16 again. We note, Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, in all wisdom, teaching and admonishing one another. Teaching and admonishing. Now how do we teach and admonish one another? That is undertaken by singing psalms. Teaching and admonishing one another in psalms, hymns, songs, singing. So when we sing, we are edifying one another. We are teaching and admonishing one another. You see, the only element in public worship with authority to inform the minds of Christians and to correct the lies of Christians is the Word of God. It is by the Word of God that you correct the lies of men and women. So, in our singing of Psalms, there's edification. If we assume that the hymns and songs refer to extra-biblical compositions, we're doing something, or we're allowing something, to be the basis of edification that we would refuse to allow in any other part of worship, no matter how accurate it is. So when James says, as any merry, let them sing psalms, he says it because they edify, they edify, they teach and they admonish, they correct, they instruct the value of the psalms. to edify. When you are merry and you pull out some pop songs to sing, well they are teaching you too. But they're not edifying you, but they're filling your heads with worldly ideas. And sixthly, they are sung with and to the Lord Jesus Christ. When we sing these psalms, they are sung with the Lord Jesus Christ and they are sung to the Lord Jesus Christ. First of all, they are sung with the Lord Jesus Christ. Here we turn to Hebrews 2 and we shall read from verse 11. For both he that sanctifieth And they who are sanctified are all of one. For which cause he is not ashamed to call them brethren, saying, I will declare thy name unto my brethren in the midst of the church while I sing praise unto thee. And again, I will put my trust in him. And again, behold I and the children which God hath given me. And so on down to verse 18. Noting in verse 17, it behoved him to be made like unto his brethren. Here we see that the Lord Jesus Christ leads us in praise. That's the marvel of the Incarnation. As any Mary, let him sing Psalms. Who leads us in praise? The Lord Jesus Christ. And secondly, they are to be sung to the Lord Jesus Christ. Colossians 3.16 says, singing, with grace in your hearts, to the Lord. Singing to Christ. So in singing of Psalms, they are Christ-led, but they're also to Christ. Let's take an illustration of this from a psalm, Psalm 69. Psalm 69, and remember that in this psalm the eye is the king and God is the father. So verse 8, I am become a stranger unto my brethren and an alien unto my mother's children for the zeal of thine house hath eaten me up and the reproaches of them that reproach thee are fallen upon me." Here the king sings to God, I, he says, me. So the king leads us in praise and when we sing it, we are rejoicing with Christ in his devotion to God's house. It is Christ. who leads. Remember, the Psalms are kingly Psalms. They are led by the King. So when the King speaks, it is Christ who speaks. And when we sing it, we are singing of the King's devotion to God's house. And yet, if we turn back to Psalm 37, the King speaks to us. Psalm 37, Threat not thyself because of evildoers, neither be thy envious against the workers of iniquity. Verse 3, Trust in the Lord and do good. Verse 4, Delight thyself also in the Lord. Verse 5, Commit thy way unto the Lord. So when we sing these words, We are instructed by the King himself. The King says to us, trust God. Commit thy way unto God. Delight thyself in the Lord. So the King leads us, but the King also speaks to us. Here we have a king-led conversation. A conversation between Christ and the singer. When you are merry, sing Psalms. What is happening? Christ is talking to us. Christ is fellowshiping with us. He leads us. and he talks to us. How can anyone miss singing sounds when they are happy? Christ has a conversation with us as we sing. And secondly, they are experimental. They are experimental. Here we turn to Ephesians 5, verse 18. Ephesians 5, 18. And be not drunk with wine wherein is excess, but be filled with the Spirit. Well, how can we be filled with the Spirit? Do we need some Pentecostal experience? Some post-conversion experience? to be somehow mysteriously baptized in the Spirit? No, says Paul, to be filled with the Spirit, take up God's songs and sing them, speaking to yourselves in psalms and hymns and songs, indicted by the Holy Spirit. As Colossians 3.16 puts it, Singing with grace in your heart. Singing with grace in your heart. All this is experimental. Which is why Calvin called the Psalms an anatomy of all parts of the soul. Unlike human compositions which are invariably, shall we say, positive and devotional, The sounds describe how we actually feel. We don't always feel like singing. We don't always feel really bubbly and excited. There are times we are filled with fears and with doubts and with problems and contradictions and expectations of judgement. So when we take up these songs, we are actually singing honestly. But when we take up human compositions, we're not singing honestly all the time, because we don't feel like singing, but everybody else is singing and they all seem quite happy, so we have to pretend we're like them too. Really positive. There are times our hearts ache, times we're plagued with doubts and fears. And the sounds start with our doubts, and they start with our fears, and they start with our perplexities, and then we're working our way through these doubts and fears, understanding them, and then they finish with praise and delight in God. will move from being melancholic to joyful. If Samadhi was like modern hymnody it would be banal and repetitive and even with some of the older hymns dishonest. The particular design of Samadhi is to bring the heart to song and to bring the heart to praise, we need instructions and examinations. It wrestles with us, it teaches us, it fights with us and then it overwhelms us and conquers us. As Sam leads us along verse by verse, we don't always jump to praise in a very happy, jolly mood. There's a path along which we must go and we must follow the psalmist in that path. We must stick with it until we get to the very last clause. The Psalms meet us in our confusion, in our fears, in our stress and in our doubts and explains it to us and then leads us into that moment of cheerfulness. Look at Psalm 73. It's a psalm full of struggle, of fears and doubts and perplexities. It begins with the declaration of truth as we know, but how do we get to that declaration of truth? We must follow him through all the problems and perplexities until we get to that last note. That's biblical experimental theology. There's nothing shallow, no quick fix. No instant gratification, but solid instruction. So when James comes and he says to us that then he'd marry, let him sing psalms. Follow the psalm right to its climax. I've already alluded at least one in Psalm 105. It is a great psalm of thanksgiving. It starts with thanksgiving. moment of being married. Seven reasons why, when you're happy, take out the psalter. Let me finish with application. First of all, a warning. A warning against filling your minds with worldly silly songs. Let me in particular apply the warning to parents. Do not you encourage or train your children to love pop songs or any other worldly songs for these reasons? You are teaching them by your example and by your permission and alliance and encouragement that it is okay for your children to fill their minds with worldly songs. That's what you're saying. It's okay, you're saying. Your mind can be filled with the songs of the ungodly. We don't mind that at all. It has our approval. And secondly, you are robbing them of giving their minds and lips wholeheartedly to God. You are saying, in effect, we are stopping you giving your lips and your minds wholeheartedly to God. So when they feel happy. Teach them, encourage them, take up God's bigger place. Not to go to pop songs and listen to the rubbish that is composed and promoted by the wicked. ungodly. Why should their songs have a place in your life? What right have they got to have access to your life and your mind and your lips? Music has a very powerful influence upon thoughts and feelings and the affections of men and women. What we need is nothing less than a total stirring of the affections to God by psalmody. So we need the warning. Don't encourage either yourself or your friends or your children to go and listen to pop songs. And secondly, an exhortation to us all. Here is a duty. Keep it up. Maintain this duty. With modern technology, we can carry a small soldier in our pocket. And when you're sitting waiting on a bus, or waiting on the potatoes to cook, or whatever, you've got a minute, like King Alfred, you can take out that psalter and you may sing. And with even greater technology, we can even download them being sung, so as we're driving, we can sing with it. Let me say this, the ungodly cannot sing to God. That's a tragedy. The unconverted will sing anything but the songs of Zion. The godly, and only the godly, can sing these songs. Now we have started a new week. What shall you sing in the days ahead when you are happy? What are you going to sing? Are you going to be like King Alfred? Are you? Oh, I say to you, as you go about your business and your factions arise to Marymount, sing to God. Sing to Him. Sing to Christ. Sing often. Be led by Him. Have a conversation with Him. Converse with Christ in your moment of merriment. Amen.