We must not omit to explain the reason why words of
this kind should be not merely said, but rendered with melody and song;
for there are actually some simple folk among us who, though they
believe the words to be inspired, yet think the reason for singing them
is just to make them more pleasing to the ear!
This is by no means so; Holy Scripture is not designed
to tickle the aesthetic palate, and it is rather for the soul's own
profit that the Psalms are sung. This is so chiefly for two
reasons.
In the first place, it is fitting that the sacred
writings should praise God in poety as well as prose, because the freer,
less restricted form of verse, in which the Psalms... are cast ensures
that by them men should express their love to God with all the strength
and power they possess.
And, secondly, the reason lies in the unifying effect
which chanting the Psalms has upon the singer. For to sing the
Psalms demands such concentration of a man's whole being on them that,
in doing it, his usual disharmony of mind and corresponding bodily
confusion is resolved... and he is thus no longer to be found thinking
good and doing evil.
And it is in order that the melody may thus express
our inner spiritual harmony, just as the words voice our thoughts, that
the Lord Himself has ordained that the Psalms be sung and recited to a
chant.
Moreover, to do this beautifully is the heart's desire
and joy....
Well, then, they who do not read the Scriptures in
this way, that is to say, who do not chant the Divine Songs
intelligently but simply to please themselves, most surely are to blame,
for praise is not befitting in a sinner's mouth.
But those who do sing as I have indicated, so that the
melody of the words springs naturally from the rhythm of the soul and
her own union with the Spirit, they sing with the tongue and with the
understanding also, and greatly benefit not themselves alone but also
those who want to listen to them....
When, therefore, the Psalms are chanted, it is not
from any mere desire for sweet music but as the outward expression of
the inward harmony obtaining in the soul, because such harmonious
recitation is in itself the index of a peaceful and well-ordered heart.
