Obiezioni al canto dei Salmi - I salmi imprecatori non solo adatti
From Diwygiad
Another objection to the sufficiency of the Psalter is the idea that the imprecatory Psalms are inappropriate for worship in the new dispensation. The imprecatory Psalms are songs in which the psalmist petitions God (often in a strong manner) to pour our His wrath upon his (the psalmist's) and/or the covenant people’s enemies.49 Isaac Watts (who did more to destroy exclusive Psalmody among Reformed believers than any other person) wrote, "While we are kindling into divine love by the Meditations of the Loving Kindness of God and the Multitude of His Tender Mercies, within a few Verses some dreadful Curse against Men is propos'd to our lips."50 The idea that the imprecatory Psalms are inappropriate for Christians to sing is totally unbiblical for a number of reasons. First, the Psalms were written by the Holy Spirit; therefore, the idea that these imprecatory petitions are barbaric or unethical is totally wicked. Second, one can only regard the imprecatory Psalms as improper for new covenant believers if one holds to a dispensational or modernistic hermeneutic. Both of these theological perspectives are unscriptural and outside the pale of the Reformed faith.51 Third, the imprecatory Psalms are frequently quoted in the New Testament (e.g., Ps. 69 and 109). "Psalm 69, which bears more of the imprecatory character than any other Psalm except 109, is quoted in five separate places and referred to in several others. No other psalms are more frequently quoted in New Testament than the imprecatory psalms, except the Messianic psalms."52 Jesus even applies Psalm 69 as a prophecy regarding His own situation (cf. Jn. 15:25).
Many believers have argued that the imprecatory Psalms are an excellent reason why the church must have kinder, gentler hymns to supplement the Psalter. This type of thinking is unbiblical. It ignores both Scripture and history. One must always keep in mind that the Psalter was written and organized by the Holy Spirit. It therefore contains a balance and proper emphasis on the attributes of God and His dealings with men that is exactly what God desires. The attributes of God, such as His wrath, are not ignored or downplayed, but given proper emphasis. God’s hatred of the wicked and His awful judgments against them are an important part of the Psalter. "God is both sovereign and righteous; he possesses the unquestionable right to destroy all evil in his universe; if it is right for God to plan and effect this destruction, then it is right also for the saints to pray for the same."53
Anyone who is familiar with the shift from exclusive Psalmody toward Psalm imitations and uninspired hymns in Reformed and Presbyterian churches knows as a fact of history that the proper balance of the Psalter was immediately lost when manmade compositions were permitted. Hymn writers avoid the judicial aspect of God’s character in favor of love and heavenly bliss, etc. The history of human hymnology is a history of declension. It is only a matter of course for sinful human beings to neglect unpopular doctrines in their hymnals. Even if a humanly-produced hymnal contained no unorthodox doctrines, it still could be grossly unbalanced theologically by emphasizing popular doctrines while ignoring the less popular teachings. The God-centered Psalter has increasingly been replaced with man-centered worship. "Historically, churches have only used both Psalms and hymns together in near-equal numbers for one generation. Beyond the first generation, hymns dominate. Why should this be so? We can't be sure, but we can surmise that hymns demand less of the worshipper than do Psalms. The Psalms teach us as we sing them in a way that hymns do not. Since the hymns of an age fit better with the preconceptions and preferences of that age than do the Psalms, imperfect saints resist the difficult teachings of the Psalms and embrace the easier, often half-complete picture of God and the Christian life drawn by their hymns."54 In other words, the imperfect man-made hymns eventually drive out the perfect, balanced, God-breathed Psalms. Thus far, that has been a tragic fact of history.
