Psallos – The Old

Tennessee-based band Psallos is a collection of musicians whose goal is to “create artistically excellent and theologically rich music” that “remind you of the truths of Scripture; harmonies, rhythms, and timbres that express the emotional weight of these truths” (source: psallos.com).  Since they formed in 2012, Psallos released albums named after New Testament epistles, including:

• Romans (2015)
• Hebrews (2017)
• Jude (2019)

They intend to release an album after each of the 21 epistles that are a major part of the New Testament.

The Old and The New are a two-song set that contrasts the old and new covenants to each other.  This review is for The Old.

Note to new users: This is a different kind of review site!  Read About the Berean Test and Evaluation Criteria prior to reading this review.

1. What message does the song communicate?

Psallos uses Hebrews 9:1-10 as a basis for this entire song. They speak to an audience consisting of ladies and gentlemen, summarizing the Old Testament method of sin offerings. The tabernacle was attractive, containing many precious stones, jewels, silver, and gold. Both sections were separated by a large veil to separate the outer and inner courts.

Priests would enter the Tent of Meeting to offer daily sacrifices for the people.  The elected High Priest would enter the Holy of Holies annually to offer the yearly sacrifice for Israel.  Both were commanded by God, which showed obedience to God and repentance from Israel’s lawbreaking, preventing God’s promised curses for unrepentant sin.

The inner court contains the Ark of the Covenant, the 10 commandments, Aaron’s budded rod, and a jar of manna.  The Holy of Holies represents the Garden of Eden pre-fall, where Adam and Eve talked directly with God.

The Old Testament method of sin sacrifices is gone, replaced by the New Testament.

The song ends with a cleverly-worded Old Testament version of Robert Lowry’s popular hymn What Can Wash Away My Sin. Animal sacrifices cannot remove sin.  It can only cover it.

Side note: Stanza 3 repeats only a few times; However, the heavy hitter is Stanza 10.  This was intentional annoyance, expressing the monotony that is Old Testament sacrifices.  Even God was once bored with it (Isaiah 1:11-13)!  I give Psallos much credit for the cringe-worthy and clever usage of repetition to express their point.

I don’t normally talk about the music itself; However, should you decide to listen to this song, prepare for a two-minute slog between a third and halfway through the song.  It will change genres, from Classic Country to Electronic.

Score: 10/10

2. How much of the lyrics line up with Scripture?

All lines agree with Scripture.

Since this song does not follow a Verse/Chorus/Bridge format, I assigned stanzas to each paragraph.

Lyrics posted by permission.*

[Stanza 1]

Now gather ‘round all you ladies and gents:
Let me tell you about this earthly tent
To where the Lord descended and people were told to repent.

Psallos has an audience of men and women, explaining to them the “first covenant [that] had regulations of divine worship and the earthly sanctuary” (Hebrews 9:1).  The first iteration of God’s temple was mobile, erected by Moses according to Exodus 40:17-18.  Initially, Moses could not enter it because God’s glory covered it (Exodus 40:34-35).  Israel was informed of the blessing and cursing that God would bring upon them, depending on their obedience or lack thereof (Deuteronomy 28:1-68).  Should they repent as a nation, they will experience blessing once again (Deuteronomy 30:1-3).

[Stanza 2]

What you may not know, there Jane and Joe,
Is that long ago they’d take bulls and goats and they’d cut their throats
And hope the blood would save-a their souls.

The Israelite people of the Old Testament believed that the sin offerings in Leviticus 4:20–35 would result in forgiveness of sins.

[Stanza 3]

If you look back, Jack, to the Tabernacle
With a deep respect, I think you’ll be thankful
That the old is gone, and the new has taken its place.

This isn’t just Psallos’ opinion. Peter called the old covenant a “yoke around the neck” in Acts 15:10. Paul called it a “curse” in Galatians 3:10, but not because there was anything wrong with God’s perfect law (Psalm 19:7). The law brings about the knowledge of sin (Romans 7:7), which ultimately leads us to Christ (Galatians 3:24). Now that Christ has come, the old law is waning and waxing, ready to disappear (Hebrews 8:13). The new covenant is superior to the old (Hebrews 8:6). The old covenant is a copy and shadow of the heavenly things (Hebrews 8:4-5).

It was glorious space, that holy tent,

Psallos talks more about this in later lines.

For that come-but-stay-away covenant,
But the new’s been sent, and the old has passed away.

Essentially repeats ideas in lines 1-3.

[Stanza 4]

Now don’t mishear me, don’t get me wrong,
It was splendid tent forty-five feet long
And fifteen high and fifteen wide,

The dimensions of the tabernacle stem from the following:

• The outer wall’s length consists of 20 boards that are 1 and 1/2 cubits in width (Exodus 26:15-20), totaling 30 cubits.
• The outer wall’s width contains 6 boards (Exodus 26:22).  This gives us 9 cubits in width.  The corners contain a board each corner (Exodus 26:23).  Since the boards are double-thicked (Exodus 26:24), it adds another 1 and 1/2 cubits, totaling 10 and 1/2 cubits.
• Each board was also 10 cubits in height (Exodus 26:16).
• Each cubit is the length from the tip of the finger to the outer-bend of an elbow. It is an imprecise measurement based on the chief builder of the project, typically ranging from 17 to 22 inches. We’ll assume 1 and 1/2 feet. This gives us dimensions of 45 feet long, 15.75 feet wide, and 15 feet high. We’ll forgive the extra 0.75 since this is an approximation.

With beautiful walls on the side and it was divided in two big parts.

Though we could read all the details in Exodus, the author of Hebrews gives us an accurate summary in Hebrews 9:2-5.  It contains a lot of gold and indeed, it looked gorgeous!  It was divided into two main parts: the outer courts and holy of holies, separated by a large curtain structure.

[Stanza 5]

The priest would start in the holy place
Where he would go in each day to offer things
So that the Lord would change his mind and not destroy everyone in line.

Hebrews 9:6 also summarizes the Old Testament sacrifices, where priests entered into the outer courts and offered their daily sacrifices. This was to remind Israel that they owe allegiance to God and through repentance, prevent the curses that God will bring upon them for unrepentant sin (Deuteronomy 28:15-68).

[Stanza 6]

The next part was the Most Holy Place and every year there was just one day,
Where the high priest would go behind the curtain determined to avert
The certain wrath of God that would destroy the vermin of the land.

Similar in message to Stanza 5, except it references the yearly elected High Priest who offered sin sacrifices for all Israel (Hebrews 9:7).

[Stanza 7]

And in the grand plan of wisdom divine, the inside was like a Garden,
Ripe with relics prized which symbolized that Paradise you might could find.

Hebrews 9:4-5 Summarizes the ark of the covenant, which was overlaid with gold, contained the ten commandments, Aaron’s budded rod, and a jar of manna, and two golden cherubim laid on top. The Holy of Holies is where man can speak directly with God much as Adam and Eve did in Genesis 2 and 3. In that sense is the inside “like a Garden”.

Jesus Himself said that loving God and your neighbor as yourself is the foundation for all the Old Testament laws (Matthew 22:38-40). With that in mind, the 10 commandments represent the Law, Aaron’s rod the prophets, and the manna that reminds Israel that He will sustain them (Exodus 16:33-35).

[Stanza 8]

And if you look back, Jack, to the Tabernacle
With a deep respect, I think you’ll be thankful
That the old is gone, and the new has taken its place.

Repeats Stanza 3, lines 1-3.

[Stanza 9]

It was glorious space, that holy tent,
For that come-but-stay-away covenant,
But the new’s been sent, and the old has passed away.

Repeats Stanza 3, lines 4-6.

[Stanza 10]

Kill the bull, offer the grain,
Make a sacrifice to God and then do it again.

References the ideas expressed in Stanza 2 as a seemingly infinite loop.

[Stanza 11]

What can wash away my sin? Not the blood of animals.
What can make me whole again? Not the blood of animals.

As stated in Hebrews 10:4-11, Old Testament sacrifices does not remove sin.

[Stanza 12]

O feeble is the stream that leaves my soul unclean!
No creature can redeem. Not the blood of animals

Repeats ideas in Stanza 11.

Score: 10/10

3. How would an outsider interpret the song?

This song is thick with Christianese, making it difficult for non-Christians to follow.  Unless they have taken the time to study the Bible on their own, they will comprehend little of what Psallos offers. The wrath of God portion will ease their interpretation, understanding it as religious. It was probably not written with unbelievers in mind.

Score: 4/10

4. What does this song glorify?

It glorifies God through its faithful adaptation of Hebrew 9’s first ten verses.

Score: 10/10

Closing Comments

Psallos’ The Old is a great song for believers. It is an accurate portrayal of Hebrews 9:1-10, adding commentary that is consistent with the message expressed in that chapter.  It weaves in other elements outside this text such as the tabernacle’s dimensions, objects, beauty, connection with Eden, and obsolete sacrifices that fit nicely with the theme of this song and the book of Hebrews as a whole.

Psallos skillfully uses repetition to communicate the boringness of Old Testament sacrifices and brilliantly rewords part of What Can Wash Away My Sin to conclude that animal shed blood cannot erase transgression, glorifying God.  Many unbelievers will find it difficult to comprehend unless they have a good understanding of the Old and New Covenants in the Bible.

I cannot recommend this for corporate worship.

Final Score: 9/10

Artist Info

Track: The Old (listen to the song ) (listen to the song [Apple Music]) (listen to the song )

Artist: Psallos

Album: Hebrews (buy the album)

Genre: Hot Jazz, Electronic, Hymn

Release Year: 2017

Duration: 5:22

Agree?  Disagree?  Don’t be shy or have a cow!  Calmly and politely state your case in a comment, below.

*Copyright © 2017 Cody Curtis Music. All rights reserved. Used by permission.

Updates:

03/25/2021 – Updated per repetition announcement.  I moved my commentary as part of the side note in section 1.