I knew a very wise man … that … believed if a man were permitted to make all the ballads he need not care who should make the laws of a nation….
We have all experienced the power of music. No doubt you have at times found yourself in a downcast mood and suddenly heard some bright, uplifting tune that instantly dispelled the gloom. Perhaps you have experienced the opposite – some strain of melody, some movement of harmony caught you off guard, pulled at your heart, and moved you to tears.
We’ve all had the experience of music lingering with us longer than we expect. Songs learned as children have a way of coming to mind at the most random times, reminding us of simple truths such as: “Jesus loves me, this I know, for the Bible tells me so.” Or sometimes they remind us of lyrics and memories that we would rather forget.
Perhaps because of its rhyme, rhythm and melody, people often remember music when everything else is gone. A dear elderly lady lay in a coma for the last few days of her life, neither speaking nor opening her eyes. Yet, a group of us gathered around her, singing her favorite hymn. To our amazement, she sang the chorus with us. She said nothing more and gave no other indications of life except her breathing; the next day she was in the presence of her Savior.
Yes, there is something very powerful about music. It somehow reaches beyond the surface and mind, touching the inner being of the human soul. It both expresses and shapes the deepest thoughts and desires of the heart.
People do not go about their days reciting the laws of the land, but they do go about singing songs, deeply imbibing whatever is communicated through lyrics and music. Thus, the music of any people both shapes and communicates who they are.
What was this framework of life which the Pilgrims were imbibing? What were their songs, and what can these songs reveal to us about the Pilgrims themselves? We can identify at least three areas:
1. Bible as Foundation
During their worship, the Pilgrims sang only the 150 Psalms. This immediately communicates their character and priorities. They were seeking to be biblical in everything. They believed that God had authorized in His Word only the Psalms as worship music.
This is a theme that runs throughout the Pilgrim story and is indeed what made them become Pilgrims. They were seeking to do all things only in conformity to God’s Word, which is why they endured the persecution of King James I, clapping them up in prison, besetting their houses with soldiers, separating families and loved ones. When the Lord opened a way for them to go to the Netherlands where they could worship without compromising His Word or being persecuted for it, they took the opportunity. When the looseness of the Dutch proved to be inconducive to a godly, biblical life, they left for the great and hazardous unknown of America. This willingness to hazard all and sacrifice much (even their very lives) to maintain biblical worship and a biblical life, reveals a steadfast loyalty to God’s Word.
2. Depth of the Foundation
Looking at the text of the Psalms, we see that the Pilgrims chose the Psalter that most closely and accurately translated the original Hebrew. A Psalter is a book of the 150 Psalms cast in poetry and set to music. There was a Psalter already in use and accepted in the Church of England that the Pilgrims could have used, but it took poetic liberty in stretching some of the expressions of the Psalms, prioritizing smooth poetry over literal translation and precision. These changes were small but important to the Pilgrims.
The Psalter the Pilgrims used, on the other hand, explicitly stated in its preface, “Rather than I would stray from the text, I strain now and then, with rules of our English poesy.” In other words, the rules of poetry might be strained for the sake of faithful textual translation. This reveals the depths and lengths to which they went to achieve biblical obedience.
3. Growth Upon the Foundation
The Psalter also reveals the world of which the Pilgrims were a product. The tunes and sources come from a variety of countries touched by the Reformation. England, Holland, France and Scotland were all in the process of reforming, getting closer to God’s Word, but they had not yet carried everything to its full implication. Their eyes were opened to and had gained a hunger for pure Bible truth. William Tyndale had translated the Bible into English so that “every ploughboy” could read it for himself. The Pilgrims’ pastor, John Robinson, was a champion of the truths proclaimed at the Synod of Dort. Pilgrim elder William Brewster printed a tract for the reformed church of Scotland, protesting the impositions of the English king upon the Church of Scotland. The Pilgrims did not arise out of a vacuum; they lived in a world recently enlightened by the truth of God’s Word, still seeking further knowledge of it and growth in it. They were without question children of the still young and incomplete Reformation, learning from fellow Christians who were seeing God’s “light and truth break forth out of His holy Word,” but, in the words of their pastor, “only insofar as they followed Christ,” making Christ and His Word their only head and standard while looking to be continually reforming, semper reformanda.
Sinners like the rest of us, the Pilgrim story is not a model of perfection. But this glimpse that their music gives into their heart and soul reveals an earnest desire to be biblical in doctrine and practice – something refreshing and rare. And the fruit it produced is remarkable.
Through their Psalms, God enabled the Pilgrims to endure extreme affliction, even to the point of seeing half their number die, and yet upon their lips was praise and gratitude to the Lord.
This is how the Psalms teach us to handle difficulty. They express the trials to the Lord and lay them before Him with sincerity, praising and thanking Him for what He is doing. The Psalms are for both tough and happy times. They are for life as it is. They are honest and realistic about life and give us proper expressions to the Lord for even the blackest days. The Psalms made the Pilgrims who they were, and they reveal to us hearts that are worthy of emulation.
Perhaps this is music’s most powerful function. We become like what we worship. As we worship the Lord with the Psalms He has given us, we become more like Him and are conformed more and more to His image.
Yes, to truly understand the heart, mind and soul of the Pilgrims, we need to understand their music. And their music was quite different from today’s. The Psalms of the 1600s gave way to the hymns of the 1700s, to the gospel music of the 1800s, and to the praise worship of today. In those earlier centuries, church music focused on the adoration of God and His attributes and, later on, the way of salvation and man’s testimony. Now, the focus of much church music is on how we feel about it.
What do the songs we sing reveal about us? How are they shaping us? Are we learning truth through what we sing? Are we strengthening our souls? Are we cultivating hearts of gratitude and praise, even in adversity? To do so is to be a true Pilgrim, to make God’s Word the influence upon and the expression of our very heart and soul.
This Thanksgiving, we urge you to turn your hearts toward the Psalms. If you can’t sing them, at least read them, and read them aloud together.
And as you digest your turkey, ask yourself, why don’t we sing from the “Pilgrim Psalter” today?
As church music has changed, have we changed? And is that change for the better?
Besides serving as Senior Counsel for the Foundation for Moral Law (morallaw.org), Col. Eidsmoe also serves as pastor of Woodland Presbyterian Church (PCA), Notasulga, Ala., and as Chairman of the Board of the Plymouth Rock Foundation (plymrock.org). Mary Huffman serves as organist for Woodland Presbyterian Church (Woodlandpca.org) and as Secretary of the Board of the Plymouth Rock Foundation. She has reproduced the Pilgrims’ Ainsworth Psalter as The Pilgrim Psalter.
They may be contacted for speaking engagements and more information at eidsmoeja@juno.com or Mary.L.Huffman1@gmail.com.
The views and opinions expressed here are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the policy or position of 1819 News. To comment, please send an email with your name and contact information to Commentary@1819news.com.
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