Trained by the Psalms

Peter Leithart writes of the importance of "reinstituting the Psalter as the songbook of the church". "Before the rise of revivalist and gospel hymnody, the psalms had always been central to the church's worship.... The psalms inculcate a very different kind of piety than the piety of revival hymns. Many of the psalms, of course, come from David, a warrior and a king, a man of action. His passionate, sometimes desperate prayers are uttered in the context of conflict, battle, fight, loss, persecution, deprivation. They are militant, sometimes raw. The psalms are public hymns. When David dreams of retreat and safety, he does not think of retreating to a garden alone, but of joining the throngs of worshipers at Yahweh's temple. A congregation trained to live out of and in the Psalter is a congregation prepared for battle. It is a congregation prepared for public witness. No congregation trained in the psalms will be surprised when fiery trials hit."

The End of Protestantism: Pursing Unity in a Fragmented Church (Brazos / Baker, 2016) note 18, page 221