Certain Calvinist sects maintain that musical instruments should not be used in church praise and worship, and that hymns are idolatry.

Here’s a quote, “the Idols (Man Made Hymns) of John and Charles Wesley, Isaac Watts, the Trinity Hymnal, Fanny Crosby, and Others”.

The Bible is our authority, so we soon find that musical instruments are good and proper for Church.

Ps. 98:4 Make a joyful noise unto the LORD, all the earth: make a loud noise, and rejoice, and sing praise.
Ps. 98:5 Sing unto the LORD with the harp; with the harp, and the voice of a psalm.
Ps. 98:6 With trumpets and sound of cornet make a joyful noise before the LORD, the King.

Ps. 150:3 Praise him with the sound of the trumpet: praise him with the psaltery and harp.
Ps. 150:4 Praise him with the timbrel and dance: praise him with stringed instruments and organs.
Ps. 150:5 Praise him upon the loud cymbals: praise him upon the high sounding cymbals.

Further, we find that the Bible supports both psalms and hymns.

Col. 3:16 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.

Yes, even Jesus and His disciples sang a hymn after the Last Supper, and according to the Bible, hymns are not psalms.

Now, are we really to reject the wonderful repository of hymns in our Redemption Hymnal? Are we really to ban Scripture in Song (etc.) choruses too?

How can the following be “idolatry”?

Amazing Grace
Count Your Blessings
Stand Up for Jesus
Power in the Blood
etc. etc.

Of course, not all of these folks are quite so overtaken with this fault. Some of the modern psalmists want to sing the nice and emotional things, but fail to sing about the violence of God (the imprecatory psalms). Even the Puritans knew better than that.

Psalm 68:1 Let God arise, let his enemies be scattered: let them also that hate him flee before him.