1650 Psalter

“Speaking to yourselves in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord;” (Eph. 5:19).

“Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom; teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord.” (Col. 3:16).

The Psalter is often referred to as “The Scottish Psalter of 1650” since the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland approved the text of this Psalter for use by the church in 1650. This “songbook of God’s word” for church worship has been in continuous use since its initial publication, and has remained unaltered, from its original wording. See resources here on psalmody.

The text was originally the work of Westminster Divine Francis Rous (1579-1659), who completed his text in 1644. But before the text was approved for use in the Scottish church, it was subjected to six years of scrutiny and revision by two different groups of highly learned elders of the church. Every word and phrase was carefully weighed for faithfulness to the original Hebrew texts.