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United Presbyterian minister and Professor of Theology at Xenia Theological Seminary James Harper (1823-1913) was the author of a commentary on the Westminster Shorter Catechism published in 1905. In addressing the matter of what praise is commanded and accepted by God in worship, he writes:
Question XL. What did God at first reveal to man for the rule of his obedience?
Q. 34. Touching the exercise of praise, what is the law?
A. That this is to be performed by the singing, or chanting, of hymns to God. Eph. 5:19; Col. 3:16; Jas. 5:13; Acts 16:25; Ps. 67:3-5; 96:1-3; 100:1, 2.
Q. 35. Has God supplied the very songs to be used in this exercise?
A. Yes. He furnished expressly for this purpose "a book of praises" to the Church in its Old Testament stage, and has never recalled that appointment, but in the New Testament Scriptures has confirmed it.*
Q. 36. What confirmation is afforded in the New Testament?
A. a. There is no annulment of the previous order, as there is in the case of the sacrificial system;
b. Our Lord and His disciples sung, as is almost universally conceded, a series of Scripture psalms at the institution of the Supper, a New Testament ordinance, thus seemingly binding them together. Matt. 26:30; Mark 14:26;
c. The directions given in Eph. 5:19 and Col. 3 16 enjoin the singing of the Psalms, to denote which exhaustively three different terms are used.
In regards to this last point, the reader may wish to take note of a paper written by Harper for the 1902 Psalm Singers’ Conference held in Belfast in which he discusses at greater length the question of what is meant by “psalms, hymns and spiritual songs” as found in Eph. 5:19 and Col. 3:16 (available to read here).
Appended to these remarks is a note which further elucidates Harper’s understanding of the place of the Psalms in worship.
Note.
If it is true, as will be more particularly shown in the exposition of the Second Commandment, that every part of our worship should have Divine appointment, the question, "What shall we sing in the worship of God," demands serious attention. By those who admit that the singing of God's praise is divinely prescribed, it is generally conceded that the compositions embodied in the Book of Psalms may properly be used in this exercise. But many who make this admission contend that uninspired compositions may also be used in the service of praise. As a matter of fact, also, those who take this view generally drop out the Psalms, and use instead in solemn worship hymns composed by uninspired and erring men.
In favor of restriction to the inspired Psalter as the matter of praise a few considerations are subjoined.
1. God gave to the Old Testament Church inspired songs for use in worship;
2. These songs were in course of time collected into one book called by Divine authority "The Book of Psalms," and forming an important and unique part of the sacred canon. Luke 20:42; Acts 1:20;
3. There is no clear evidence that God ever authorized His ancient people to use in the stated service of song any hymns but those which form the Psalter;
4. The use of this psalm-book for the purpose of praise has not been discountenanced in the New Testament;
5. On the contrary, the use of it as the "book of praises" has been in the New Testament countenanced, commended, and even commanded.
For instance, in instituting the Supper, a New Testament ordinance, our Lord with His disciples "hymned"; and it is generally agreed that in accordance with Jewish custom the hymns used were a series of psalms beginning with the 113th and ending with the 118th of the Psalter. Thus the Psalter was by Christ Himself declared to be a fit companion of the Supper;
Moreover, in Eph. 5:19 and Col. 3:16 the use of "psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs" is enjoined. These are found in the Psalter; many of the Psalms being in the ancient superscriptions styled "songs" (See Ps. 120- 134 inclusive). In the Septuagint, or Greek translation, the 72nd psalm closes thus, "The hymns of David, the son of Jesse, are ended"; and this is the translation which was, no doubt, in use among the Christians in Ephesus and Colosse,
Josephus, the Jewish historian, a contemporary of the Apostle Paul, states in his account of King David, that he composed many "hymns and songs" for purposes of worship.
Besides, the word "spiritual," prefixed in Eph. 5:19 and Col. 3:16 to the word "songs," denotes something produced by the Spirit of God, that is, inspired. Moreover, the Ephesians and Colossians are not told to make, but only to sing, to take, not make, spiritual songs for worship. It is implied that they already possessed such;
6. If in the apostolic Church other songs than those embodied in the Psalter were used in worship, the survival of them, or of some of them, might surely be expected; but none such can be found;
7. It is certain that in the early centuries of the New Testament Church the inspired Psalter was preeminently the hymn-book of Christians;
8. Heretics seem to have been the first to substitute compositions of their own;
9. The Psalter is the true union hymn-book.
In another place Harper addresses the theory that because in most cases prayers are not set but left to the wisdom of Christian prudence, saints may therefore compose or sing uninspired matter for praise in the worship of God. We not given a divine prayer book, but we are provided a divine hymn-book.
Question CVII. What doth the conclusion of the Lord's Prayer teach us?
Q. 6. Yet is not provision made in Scripture for the offering of praise to God as a distinct service?
A. Yes; we are in His Word enjoined again and again to render praise to Him; and in the compilation called "The Book of Psalms" a praise-hook, as distinguished from a prayer-hook, has been provided for our use in the exercise of praise.
Q. 7. Are there not petitions woven into the praises embodied in the Book of Psalms?
A. Yes; and in like manner praise of God is implied in our prayers; but the dominant, or characteristic, feature of the Psalms is praise, whereas the distinctive feature of the Lord's Prayer and of all prayer is petition.
Thus does Harper present a case within his exposition of the Westminster Shorter Catechism that psalmody is the divinely-mandated and only authorized matter for praise in God’s worship. In this he follows the example of perhaps the earliest American exposition of the Westminster Confession of Faith, written by Robert Annan in 1787, which also argued for the singing of inspired psalms only in worship. Not all American commentaries on the Westminster Standards affirm this position regarding the place of psalms in worship, but it is worthwhile to hear the reasons given by Harper for this historic Presbyterian practice.
