It is forbidden to set pesukim (verses) of Tehillim to melodies of idolatry.
Sources and Explanations
Sefer Chassidim (siman 238) writes: “One who has a small son lying in a cradle, so that he should not cry, they should not sing to him songs and melodies of non-Jews, nor melodies of Israel that are for Hakadosh Baruch Hu etc., and any melody that is played before idolatry, that melody should not be made for Hakadosh Baruch Hu.”
The Responsa of the Bach (the Old Responsa, end of siman 127) also writes to forbid in such a case, and this is his wording: “Regarding what is sung in synagogues with melodies that they sing in their house of worship, it appears that it is forbidden only specifically with those melodies that are designated for the idolaters, since it is a statute of idolatry, like a matzevah (pillar) which is forbidden everywhere because the Canaanites made it a statute of idolatry, … but if they are not designated, it appears that there is no prohibition in this, for in this case one can certainly say that we do not learn from them.”
It appears that this is also the intent of the Rema (Orach Chaim 53:24) in what he wrote: that a chazzan who speaks obscenely or who sings songs of non-Jews, we protest against him so that he should not do so, and if he does not listen, he is removed. The Magen Avraham explains his words (53:31) as follows: “That is, with a melody that is played for idolatry,” and this implies that he plays the melody of idolatry even though he does not sing it with the words of the idolatry. So too Rabbi Ovadia Yosef wrote in Responsa Yabia Omer (vol. 6, Orach Chaim, siman 7, ot 1) to distinguish between melodies that non-Jews play for idolatry, which is very severe and is forbidden, and melodies that non-Jews play for their own enjoyment, even if they are melodies of romantic songs, which is permitted.
From the sefer “Shaf Veyativ – Laws of Saying Tehillim” by Rabbi Shay Tahan, Chapter 5: How to Say Tehillim and Precise Pronunciation, Halacha 22 (p. 80 in the print edition). Translated from the Hebrew original.
