One of the things that you will probably notice when you visit us, is that we sing the Psalms of the Bible a cappella, that is, without instrumental accompaniment. We sing the Psalms because, as everyone recognizes, the Scriptures command that we sing them. We sing only the Psalms because we understand "psalm, hymns, songs" (Ephesians 5:19; Colossians 3:16) to be a three-fold reference to the three types of poems in the book of Psalms according to the titles in the Septuagint (the Greek translation of the Old Testament that the apostle Paul used). The Psalms are well-suited to New Covenant worship as they speak clearly of Christ (see especially Psalms 2, 22, 89 and 110) and include the full range of Bible doctrine. We use only our voices in praise because we understand artificial instruments with singing to be like incense with prayers; namely, a shadow of the tabernacle system that is superceded by the cross of Christ (see Revelation 5:8; Psalm 141:2; Hebrews 10:18; see chapters 8-10).
Another thing you may notice is that we have no choir or, more accurately, the whole congregation is the choir. In the Old Testament only the priests offered sacrifice and only the Levites were in the choir. In the New Testament, every believer is a priest and every worshipper is in the choir. Singing God's praises is a great privilege and, consequently, a great responsibility. Therefore, we strive to understand what we are singing and to sing skillfully (see Psalm 33:3).
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