The spiritual depth of the Psalms exceeds by far anything that was afterwards composed as a church hymn.
The psalms have always echoed the enduring, eternal keynote of the pious heart, while hymns usually had a temporary quality and were marked by what was popular at the moment.
In the struggle between hymns and psalms, all nominal members favoured the hymns over the psalms while the truly pious members are much more inclined to use the psalms rather than hymns.
from Onze Eeredienst, Our Worship, by Abraham Kuyper
While not wanting to get into the Psalms versus Hymns debate – which Kuyper hints at – I would like to add a small comment to your quotation.
The spirituality of the Psalms. If we are to teach and admonish each other by what we sing, I would rather you did it in the words of a psalm (which I can guarantee will help me gain and sustain a proper attitude to God) than in the words of a hymn which may have a nice tune but may be suspect when it comes to the doctrine or attitude it teaches. It’s a matter of certainty versus uncertainty for me.
By the way – the more I read of your blog – the happier I am with the thought of adding a link from mine to yours 🙂
Thanks, Hone. Excellent point. BTW, do you have a blog URL or should i assume your articles are all on the Examiner? Great thanks. Blessed Palm Sunday.