William Sommerville published 'Exclusive Use of the Psalms of David in Worship' (1855)

Context

Glasgow provides a biographical sketch of Rev. William Sommerville (1800-1878), a Reformed Presbyterian missionary to Nova Scotia. Sommerville successfully established Covenanter congregations by persuading general Presbyterians to adopt RP worship practices including exclusive psalmody. He was also a prolific controversialist who published a substantial defense of exclusive psalmody.

Extract

The Presbyterians of Grand Pre agreed to sing the Psalms of David and conform to other peculiar usages of the Covenanter Church, and he became pastor of this congregation, May 16, 1833…His abilities were those of a powerful evangelical preacher, and a resolute defender of Scripture doctrine. His genial spirit and earnest benevolence attracted many to the acceptance of the Covenanter faith. He met and measured spiritual weapons with all opponents of different denominations. His controversies were principally with the Baptists and their mode of applying water in the sacrament of baptism; and with other denominations for the exclusive use of the Psalms of David as a matter of praise in divine worship. He was a gifted controversialist, and his pen was seldom at rest…Among his publications are: “Dissertation on the Nature and Administration of the Ordinance of Baptism,” in two parts, two editions, 1845 and 1866, pp. 319. “Exclusive Use of the Psalms of David in Worship,” 1855, pp. 189. “Rule of Faith,” 1859, pp. 28.

Significance

This extract documents two important phenomena: (1) the process by which general Presbyterians could be persuaded to adopt exclusive psalmody and become Covenanters, showing that denominational boundaries were permeable based on worship convictions, and (2) the existence of a substantial 189-page book defending exclusive psalmody, published in 1855. Sommerville’s work represents a mid-nineteenth-century scholarly defense of the RP position and deserves further research. The fact that Sommerville “attracted many to the acceptance of the Covenanter faith” through his psalmody arguments suggests that exclusive psalmody was a compelling position for some Presbyterians dissatisfied with hymn-singing practices.