Though the “Book of Praises” was gathered during the OT era and used in the Temple’s worship, its full intent as a canon of praise could not be fully grasped until Christ came. Its intent was to reveal and praise the Savior-King . . . Continue reading →
psalmody
Resources For Recovering Psalmody
We know what Jesus’ songbook was. His songbook is as near to you as your Bible. It is in your Old Testament. It appears just between Job and Proverbs. You may be forgiven for being confused because your English translation of Matthew . . . Continue reading →
How The Dutch Reformed Lost The Psalms
The king’s arbitrary actions roused very little public dissent. Most clergy were happy to get paid regularly again and their parishioners welcomed the restoration of the national church, even if it was subject to closer government control. Opposition against the new regime . . . Continue reading →
Flavel Versus Cary: The Baptists Have Made Infant Baptism The Article Of Standing Or Falling Of The Church
But if your meaning be, (as I strongly suspect it is) that we must not expect to be owned by Christ, except we give up infants baptism; then, I say, it is the most uncharitable, as well as unwarrantable, and dangerous censure . . . Continue reading →
Synod Of Dort (1578): Psalms Only To Be Sung In Worship
76. The Psalms of David translated by Pieter Datheen shall be sung in the Christian gatherings of the Netherlands churches as has been done until now, excluding the hymns which are not found in the Bible. National Synod of the Netherlands, German, . . . Continue reading →
New App To Help You And Your Congregation Sing Psalms
The most ancient Christian practice of worship was to sing the Psalms. Our Lord sang the Psalms of ascent with his disciples (Matt 26:30). The Apostles sang Psalms (1 Cor 14:26, “ἕκαστος ψαλμὸν ἔχει“). The early Christian church sang Psalms in public . . . Continue reading →
Singing In Acts 16:25 And Plausibility Structures
In the English Standard Version Acts 16:25 says “[a]bout midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the prisoners were listening to them…”. Several other translations (e.g., NASB, NIV, TEV, ASV, RSV, NLT, NKJV, HCSB) follow this or . . . Continue reading →
Against Revising Church Order Art. 39 (Or Why We Should Not Sing Fewer Psalms) (Updated)
We sometimes talk about “the worship wars” as if they are a new thing. They are not. There are examples of ecclesiastical arguments over what should be sung in church dating to the ancient church. In one case a regional synod in Spain issued a ruling against the singing of hymns (non-canonical songs) that some churches had begun singing. Continue reading →
Be Adventurous: Sing Psalms
Do you sing psalms in your church? I guess that in most Bible-teaching churches today the answer is “no,” or “not very often,” or perhaps “sometimes in a metrical version,” or “some of our songs are based on or inspired by psalms.” . . . Continue reading →
Singing The Psalms Was A Powerful Weapon In The English Reformation
[T]he metrical psalms were the ‘secret weapon of the English Reformation,’ ‘perhaps the most powerful of the persuasive weapons in the armoury of English Protestantism,’ ‘a potent weapon’ against Catholicism….Psalm-singing was never universally welcomed (Queen Elizabeth seems snobbishly to have disapproved of . . . Continue reading →
The Contested Legacy Of Singing God’s Inspired Songs In The Reformed Churches In South Africa
The scope of this article is focused on an investigation of song in worship in the period leading up to and including the 150-year history of the RCSA. It focuses on the period from the dissenting ‘Doppers’ to the adoption of the . . . Continue reading →
If We Sang Only God’s Word This Could Not Happen
If God’s Word is sufficient for anything, it is sufficient for public worship. If we sang only God’s Word then we would never sing a hymn about climate change. Continue reading →
Five Reasons We Do Not Need Ken’s Doxology
In a recent essay I mentioned in passing that we do not need Bishop Ken’s seventeenth-century substitute (i.e., “Praise God from whom all blessings flow…”) for the Psalms since there are five doxologies inspired by the Holy Spirit and included in the Psalter . . . Continue reading →
What Was Jesus’ “Playlist”?
Last summer, my daughter walked into the Apple Store in our local mall, and came out the proud owner of a new iPhone 12 Pro. In those first hours of set-up, one of her first priorities – as any teen will tell . . . Continue reading →
Review: 150 Questions About The Psalter
In an age of TikTok and Christian pop music, the Psalms can seem like a dusty relic in a poorly visited part of a museum. Sure, many modern choruses are snippets of Psalms or rough paraphrases of them, but their tunes and . . . Continue reading →
God’s Word Is Sufficient For Singing In Worship
The point is that God has told us to worship him, giving us his Word to direct all our faith and practice. Everything we need is in the Word, including our songs. One fundamental reason—which should delight our hearts and practically grow . . . Continue reading →
Saturday Psalm Series: Singing In Acts 16:25 And Plausibility Structures
In the English Standard Version, Acts 16:25 says “[a]bout midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the prisoners were listening to them…”. Several other translations (e.g., NASB, NIV, TEV, ASV, RSV, NLT, NKJV, HCSB) follow this or a . . . Continue reading →
Saturday Psalm Series: Keith Getty’s Critique Of Contemporary Worship Music Is A Step In The Right Direction
In 2008, Mike Horton called attention to the phenomenon of a radically subjective turn in American evangelicalism, in Christless Christianity. Unfortunately, a single book diagnosing the deep sickness of American evangelical Christianity was not enough to turn the tide. In that volume, Mike . . . Continue reading →
Saturday Psalm Series: Singing With Good King David—Calvin On The Psalms
But the peculiar gift of man is to sing knowing what he says. Further, the understanding ought to accompany the heart and affections, which cannot be unless we have the song imprinted in our memory, that we may be ever singing it. Continue reading →
A Wonderful Sound From Synod Escondido (URCNA) 2024
The sounds of Synod 2024 Continue reading →