Eulogistic Quotes on the Psalter

‘In God I will praise his Word’

Ps. 56:4

‘How sweet are thy words unto my taste! yea, sweeter than honey to my mouth!’

Ps. 119:103

‘Yea, the Psalter… might well be entitled a Little Bible, wherein everything contained in the entire Bible is beautifully and briefly comprehended, and compacted into an enchiridion or Manual… the Psalter is the very paragon of books…’

Martin Luther  1531

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Intro

The Psalms, being a sufficient manual for sung praise through the centuries of God’s people, it is no wonder that some of the most beautiful and precious quotes of praise have been attributed to the Psalms though Church history.  Here is a collection of such quotes that will inflame your soul.  As Augustine said (Calvin quoting him), ‘No one is able to sing things worthy of God unless he has received them from Him.’

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Order of Contents

Collections of Historic Quotes
.       From Reformers
More Quotes
Quotes on the 1650 Scottish Psalter
Sing the Psalms!

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Collections of Historic, Eulogistic Quotes on the Psalter

Binnie, William – Testimonies to the Estimation in which the Psalms have been Held, p. 380 ff., 12 pages, from his The Psalms: their History, Teachings and Use  Buy

C.P.R.C. – The Historical Use of the Psalms  19 quotes

Hanna, Jr., T.H. – Specimens of Eulogies on the Psalms  1907  9 pp., from The Psalms in Worship: a Series of Convention Papers… ed. John McNaugher (1907), pp. 481-490

Hay, Robert – Specimens of Eulogies on the Psalms  1907  8 pp., from The Psalms in Worship: a Series of Convention Papers… ed. John McNaugher (1907), pp. 491-498

Ker, John – Testimonies to the Value of the Psalms  1886  14 pp. from The Psalms in History and Biography, pp. 177-191

M’Clenahan, D.A. – ‘Testimony of Hymn Singers to the Superiority of the Psalms’  1902  10 pp., from Psalm Singers’ Conference held in Belfast (1902) pp. 180-190

The Pastor’s Workshop – ‘Sermon Quotes on the Psalms’  31 quotes through Church history, some modern

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Collected Quotes from Reformers

Martin Luther’s Prefaces to the Psalter  1531 & 1545 Prefaces, 10 paragraphs

Stewart, Angus – John Calvin on the Wonder of the Psalms  n.d.  30 paragraphs, with 17 block Calvin quotes

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More Quotes

Dietrich Bonhoeffer

Psalms: the Prayer Book of the Bible  Buy

‘Wherever the Psalter is abandoned, an incomparable treasure vanishes from the Christian church.  With its recovery will come unsuspected power.’

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Herman Bavinck on his deathbed

“There is so much comfort and encouragement in the psalms!”

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Quotes on the 1650 Scottish Psalter

The 1650 Scottish Psalter is something of the King James Version of psalters: it is the most literal, poetic and well loved of the psalters, as well as having had the most unifying widespread use throughout the generations of Church History.

Quotes on the 1650 Psalter  120 quotes in alphabetical order by last name

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Sing the Psalms!

The Scottish Metrical Psalter, 1650  Buy

All the psalms are set to Common Meter, which means that if you know the tune to ‘Amazing Grace,’ you can sing the whole psalter.  Here are several handful more tunes you may know to help you start singing the songs that Jesus sang.  Once you get a little better, try the traditional tunes that the Scottish covenanters sang long ago!

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 ‘I have been accustomed, to call this book, I think not inappropriately, ‘The Anatomy of all the Parts of the Soul’, for there is not an emotion of which any one can be conscious that is not here represented as in a mirror.  Or rather, the Holy Spirit has here drawn … all the griefs, sorrows, fears, doubts, hopes, cares, perplexities, in short, all the distracting emotions with which the minds of men are wont to be agitated…’

John Calvin
Preface to the Psalms

‘Thy word is very pure: therefore thy servant loveth it.’

Ps. 119:140

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Related Pages

Psalm Singing

Psalters Online

The History of Psalm Singing

The Westminster Assembly and Psalm Singing

The Puritans and Psalm Singing 

Musical Instruments in Worship

Worship

Prayer