Psalm 33:3
Sing to him a new song.Play skillfully with a shout of joy!
Sing unto him a new song; play skilfully with a loud noise.
Sing a new song, and play skillfully. The verse asks for craft as well as a shout of joy.
Psalms for Singing: Music in the Psalms
Seventeen verses on singing and instruments, from the cymbals of Psalm 150 to the harps hung on the willows in Psalm 137.
The psalms talk about music constantly, and many were written to be used with it. Fifty-five headings are addressed to the Chief Musician, and some name a tune or an instrument. Inside the psalms, people sing new songs, wake the harp at dawn and blow the trumpet at the new moon. They also stop singing. In Psalm 137 the harps hang on the willows, because the singers cannot sing the LORD's song in a foreign land.
The verses are grouped as the new song, the instruments, singing in hard times, and singing for a lifetime. Notes below explain what the headings say about music and where the phrase psalms, hymns and spiritual songs comes from. Tick verses to print them on one sheet.
Sing a new song
The words new song appear in six psalms: 33, 40, 96, 98, 144 and 149. In several of them the new song follows something God has just done.
Psalm 40:3
He has put a new song in my mouth, even praise to our God.Many shall see it, and fear, and shall trust in the LORD.
And he hath put a new song in my mouth, even praise unto our God: many shall see it, and fear, and shall trust in the LORD.
Here the new song is given, not written: he has put a new song in my mouth. It follows the rescue from the horrible pit in verse 2.
Psalm 96:1
Sing to the LORD a new song!Sing to the LORD, all the earth.
O sing unto the LORD a new song: sing unto the LORD, all the earth.
The new song is for all the earth, not one congregation. The psalm goes on to tell its hearers to declare his glory among the nations.
Psalm 149:1
Praise the LORD!Sing to the LORD a new song,his praise in the assembly of the saints.
Praise ye the LORD. Sing unto the LORD a new song, and his praise in the congregation of saints.
The new song belongs in the assembly of the saints. Verse 3 adds dancing, tambourine and harp.
Instruments in the psalms
Harps, lyres, trumpets, the ram's horn, tambourines, flutes and cymbals are all named. English versions differ in what they call them, and the KJV often has psaltery where the WEB has lyre or harp.
Psalm 150:3
Praise him with the sounding of the trumpet!Praise him with harp and lyre!
Praise him with the sound of the trumpet: praise him with the psaltery and harp.
Trumpet, harp and lyre, each named as a way to praise. The KJV reads psaltery and harp.
Psalm 150:4
Praise him with tambourine and dancing!Praise him with stringed instruments and flute!
Praise him with the timbrel and dance: praise him with stringed instruments and organs.
Tambourine and dancing, stringed instruments and flute. The KJV has timbrel and organs. Verse 5 finishes the list with cymbals, named twice.
Psalm 33:2
Give thanks to the LORD with the lyre.Sing praises to him with the harp of ten strings.
Praise the LORD with harp: sing unto him with the psaltery and an instrument of ten strings.
A harp of ten strings. The verse joins giving thanks with playing.
Psalm 98:6
With trumpets and sound of the ram’s horn,make a joyful noise before the King, the LORD.
With trumpets and sound of cornet make a joyful noise before the LORD, the King.
Trumpets and the ram's horn make a joyful noise before the King. The verses that follow have the sea roar and the rivers clap their hands.
Psalm 81:2
Raise a song, and bring here the tambourine,the pleasant lyre with the harp.
Take a psalm, and bring hither the timbrel, the pleasant harp with the psaltery.
A list of what to bring: a song, the tambourine, the lyre and the harp. The next verse ties the trumpet to the new moon and the feast day.
Psalm 57:8
Wake up, my glory! Wake up, lute and harp!I will wake up the dawn.
Awake up, my glory; awake, psaltery and harp: I myself will awake early.
The singer wakes the harp and lute, and then the dawn itself. The heading places the psalm in the cave, when David fled from Saul.
Singing in hard times
The psalms do not keep music for good days. These songs are sung at night, in danger and in exile.
Psalm 42:8
The LORD will command his loving kindness in the daytime.In the night his song shall be with me:a prayer to the God of my life.
Yet the LORD will command his lovingkindness in the daytime, and in the night his song shall be with me, and my prayer unto the God of my life.
His song shall be with me in the night. The same psalm asks the soul why it is in despair, so the song comes in the middle of distress.
Psalm 77:6
I remember my song in the night.I consider in my own heart;my spirit diligently inquires:
I call to remembrance my song in the night: I commune with mine own heart: and my spirit made diligent search.
The writer remembers his song in the night, but the memory is part of the trouble. Verse 9 asks whether God has forgotten to be gracious.
Psalm 59:16
But I will sing of your strength.Yes, I will sing aloud of your loving kindness in the morning.For you have been my high tower,a refuge in the day of my distress.
But I will sing of thy power; yea, I will sing aloud of thy mercy in the morning: for thou hast been my defence and refuge in the day of my trouble.
According to the heading, Saul sent men who watched the house to kill him. The psalm still ends with singing aloud in the morning.
Psalm 137:4
How can we sing the LORD’s song in a foreign land?
How shall we sing the LORD’s song in a strange land?
Here the singers refuse. Their captors by the rivers of Babylon demanded songs of Zion, and they had hung their harps on the willows.
Singing for a lifetime
Lines that promise to keep singing, and one that turns study into song.
Psalm 104:33
I will sing to the LORD as long as I live.I will sing praise to my God while I have any being.
I will sing unto the LORD as long as I live: I will sing praise to my God while I have my being.
I will sing to the LORD as long as I live. It comes near the end of a long psalm about the whole created world.
Psalm 47:7
For God is the King of all the earth.Sing praises with understanding.
For God is the King of all the earth: sing ye praises with understanding.
Verse 6 repeats sing praises four times. This verse asks for understanding as well as volume.
Psalm 119:54
Your statutes have been my songsin the house where I live.
Thy statutes have been my songs in the house of my pilgrimage.
Your statutes have been my songs. In the longest psalm, even the law becomes something to sing at home.
What the psalm headings say about music
Many psalm headings read like notes for musicians. Psalm 4 is for stringed instruments, Psalm 5 is with the flutes, and Psalm 6 is upon the eight-stringed lyre. Others name a tune: Psalm 56 is set to Silent Dove in Distant Lands, and Psalms 57, 58, 59 and 75 to Do Not Destroy. The headings name these tunes, but the text does not give the melodies. Psalm 92 is headed a song for the Sabbath day.
Psalms, hymns and spiritual songs
The phrase comes from the New Testament, not from the book of Psalms. Ephesians 5:19 speaks of speaking to one another in psalms, hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord. Colossians 3:16 uses the same three words for teaching and admonishing one another. Both letters treat psalms as something believers sing together.
Questions
Which psalm mentions the most instruments?
Psalm 150 names the trumpet, harp, lyre, tambourine, stringed instruments, flute and cymbals in three verses. Psalm 81:2 and Psalm 98:5 to 6 name several as well.
What does sing a new song mean in the psalms?
The words new song appear in Psalms 33, 40, 96, 98, 144 and 149. In Psalm 40:3 and Psalm 98:1 the new song follows something God has done: a rescue, or marvelous things.
Were the psalms meant to be sung?
Many headings say so. Fifty-five are addressed to the Chief Musician, and several name an instrument or a tune.
Where does psalms, hymns and spiritual songs come from?
From Ephesians 5:19 and Colossians 3:16 in the New Testament, which both describe believers singing psalms to one another.
Is there a psalm about not being able to sing?
Psalm 137:4 asks how we can sing the LORD's song in a foreign land. The singers had hung their harps on the willows by the rivers of Babylon.
Other moments
Psalms of Praise and WorshipPsalms of Thanksgiving and ThankfulnessPsalms of Happiness and JoyPsalms of LamentPsalms for the Morning
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