Sing the Psalms: The Reformed Regulative Principle of Worship & The Biblical Mandate

Without a shadow of doubt, the Reformed theologians and confessions of the 16th century upheld the Regulative Principle of Worship (RPW) which states that the Church may worship God in no other way than He has commanded in His word.

As the Reformers understood it, the RPW applied not only to preaching and sacraments, they also maintained it forbid use of musical instruments in worship and that it required the use of only inspired canonical psalms. Today, many Reformed argue that the RPW applies to song in only a general way, maintaining that worship songs are a mere circumstance of worship (WCF 1:6), and are governed by common sense and basic principles of Scripture.

This message covers the history of the Church's long-standing commitment to psalm-singing, shows the Biblical basis for the RPW, and then shows how song as an element of worship is strictly regulated by Scripture which requires the exclusive use of inspired psalms.

Finally, this message takes on 4 common arguments against the historic Reformed position on psalms in worship and then provides brief refutation of these common arguments made against exclusive psalmody.