Psalm 29 Versification

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This past week my friend and co-pastor, Chad Davis sent me his versification of Psalm 29. Having heard Don Whitney teach about using the “Psalm of the day,” Chad was reading, meditating on and praying from Psalm 29 on April 29th. As he did so, Chad employed his poetic gifts to versify this psalm in a 87.87.D meter. Chad had the tune for “Come Thou Fount” in mind but any tune in this meter will fit (e.g. “Joyful, Joyful We Adore Thee,” “Glorious Things of Thee are Spoken,” “Savior, Like a Shepherd Lead Us”). This is part of the beauty of metrical arrangements.

Here is Chad’s versification. I think it is very well done- faithful to the text and easily singable.

Praise the Lord, O heavenly beings
Praise His glory and His might (v. 1)
Worship all His holy splendor
Give to Him what’s His by right. (v. 2)

For His voice o’er waters thunders,
Over many waters roars (v. 3)
Full of majesty and power
Is the voice of our great Lord. (v. 4)

That great voice has such deep power
Mighty cedars it can break (v. 5)
Like a calf or wild oxen
It can make this whole world shake. (v. 6)

This voice makes the wild to tremble (v. 8)
From it flash forth fire and flame (v. 7)
This Lord brings both life and judgment
In His house all praise His name (v. 9)

O’er the flood our God is reigning
And His reign will never cease (v. 10)
May He give strength to His people
May He bless us with His peace (v. 11).

Reformation Heroes

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Reformation Heroes, by Diana Kleyn with Joel Beeke
(Reformation Heritage Books, 2007), hb., 240 pp.
Ages 6+

I have been meaning to comment on this book for some time. It is an amazing resource- the most thorough book for children on this topic that I know of. It is based on a 19th century book, The Reformation and Its Heroes, by Richard Newton. I have commented on a number of books on characters from the Reformation here because the Reformation is one key area of history with which I want my children to be well acquainted. If you feel the same, this book is a must have.

It is not difficult to find books on Luther or Calvin, or even Wycliffe, but the comprehensiveness of this book is amazing. It covers precursors to the Reformation, English, German, French, and Dutch Reformers Anabaptists and the Catholic response. Here is a list of the people and events discussed in the book:

Peter Waldo
John Wycliffe
Anne of Bohemia
John Huss
Martin Luther
Philip Melanchthon
The Protest at Speyer
Martin Bucer
Ulrich Zwingli
Heinrich Bullinger
William Tyndale
Edward VI
Thomas Cranmer
Hugh Latimer
Nicholas Ridley
John Foxe
John Knox
Guido de Bres
The Heidelberg Catechism
Caspar Olevianus
Zacharias Ursinus
Frederick III
Peter Martyr Vermigli
John Calvin
Theodore Beza
Jan Laski
The Duke of Alva
William, Prince of Orange
Petrus Dathenus
Quenn Marguerite of Navarre
Queen Jeanne d’Albret of Navarre
Admiral Coligny & the tragedy of St. Bartholomew’s Day
Charlotte, the Nun of Jouarre
William Perkins
William Ames
William Teelnick
Konrad Grebel
Felix Manz
Ludwig Ha’tzer
Gerog Blaurock
Thomas Muntzer
Jan Mattjis
Jan Beukelssen
Melchior Hoffman
Jakob Hutter
Balthasar Hubmaier
Menno Simons
The Counter Reformation

I consider myself fairly well informed on the Reformation, but there are names on this list that I did now know before this book! The stories are well told and nicely illustrated. I heartily recommend this book.

Carson on Use of OT in Hebrews

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Our Ryan Center Conference this last weekend, “Word Within the Word,” went very well. It was a delight to see old friends and former students as about 230 registrants along with many students packed into the Grant Center.

Dr. D. A. Carson’s plenary addresses were excellent, and I commend them to you as examples for understanding how the NT uses the Old Testament. This is an important and sometimes difficult issue. As Dr. Carson stated in the first session:

“If you’ve never been troubled by the way the New Testament quotes the Old, you’ve never read the New Testament and looked up the texts it actually quotes.”

He dealt with three texts in Hebrews where OT texts are quoted. Links will take you to the audio of each lecture.
Plenary 1– Psalm 2:7 and 2 Samuel 7:14 in Hebrews 1
Plenary 2-Psalm 95 in Heb 3-4
Plenary 3– Gen 14 and Psalm 110 in Heb 7

In these lectures Carson not only demonstrates the way to understand the use of the Old Testament but also makes valuable observations on theology and pastoral application. Listening to these lectures will be a valuable investment of time.

Whitney on Praying the Psalms

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Last Thursday we were privileged to host Don Whitney as part of the ongoing Psalms Project here at Union. His two sessions on praying Scripture were very helpful. You can hear him giving the same basic lectures in another setting here.

The church through the ages have used the Psalms as a guide to their prayer. We can benefit much form this practice as well, and Whitney’s approach is a helpful way to go about it. I encourage you to take the time to listen.

On Friday, then Whitney preached on Rom 8:31, “If God is for us, who can be against us?” It was a wonderful sermon applied well. It is a good example of true pastoral preaching.

Wesley on the Importance of Reading

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Ray Ortlund posted this quote recently I had to pass it along. Letters Along the Way is a book I heartily recommend.

“What has exceedingly hurt you in time past, nay, and I fear, to this day, is want of reading. I scarce ever knew a preacher who read so little. And perhaps, by neglecting it, you have lost the taste for it. Hence your talent in preaching does not increase. It is just the same as it was seven years ago. It is lively, but not deep; there is little variety; there is no compass of thought. Reading only can supply this, with meditation and daily prayer. You wrong yourself greatly by omitting this. You can never be a deep preacher without it, any more than a thorough Christian. Oh begin! Fix some part of every day for private exercises. You may acquire the taste which you have not; what is tedious at first will afterwards be pleasant. Whether you like it or no, read and pray daily. It is for your life; there is no other way; else you will be a trifler all your days, and a pretty, superficial preacher. Do justice to your own soul; give it time and means to grow. Do not starve yourself any longer. Take up your cross and be a Christian altogether. Then will all the children of God rejoice (not grieve) over you; and in particular yours.”

– John Wesley, writing to a young preacher, quoted in D. A. Carson and John D. Woodbridge, Letters Along the Way, page 169.

Bonhoeffer, Praying the Psalms

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My colleague, Jim Patterson, recently passed on to me an excerpt from Bonhoeffer’s Life Together where he discusses praying the Psalms. It is a good piece on how and why we can pray the Psalms, including the imprecatory psalms and the ones that claim innocence. His basic argument is that the Psalms are the prayers of Jesus and we join him in praying in his name.

As we prepare here for Don Whitney’s seminar on praying the Psalms tomorrow, I thought I’d share a few quotes from this section by Bonhoeffer.

“From ancient times in the Church a special significance has been attached to the common [in the sense of ‘corporate’] use of the psalms…. The custom has been largely lost and we must find our way back to its prayers.”

“…the prayer of the psalms belongs in a peculiar way to the fellowship. Even if a verse or a psalm is not one’s own prayer, it is nevertheless the prayer of another member of the fellowship.”

By praying the Psalms one “learns to pray the prayer of the Body of Christ. And that lifts him above his personal concerns and allows him to pray selflessly.”

“The more deeply we grow into the psalms and the more often we pray them as our own, the more simple and rich will our prayer become.”

[BTW: Whitney’s seminar tomorrow is open to the public. Feel free to come for the seminar even if you have not previously registered]

Whitney Seminar on Praying the Psalms

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As part of the ongoing Psalms Project here at Union Don Whitney will be with us Thursday April 23 for a seminar titled, “Turning the Words of Scripture into the Wings of Your Prayers: The Simple, Permanent Cure to Boring Repetition in Prayer.” He will focus on praying the Psalms.

Here is the schedule for the day. The cost is just $10 to cover the lunch.
Noon Lunch
12:30 Session I
2:00 Break/refreshments
2:30 Session II
4:00 Adjourn

The seminar will take place in Luther Hall on the Union campus.

To register you can contact Stacy Preston- spreston@uu.edu or 731-661-5062.

Whitney will also preach in chapel Friday morning on “If God Is for Us, Who Is Against Us?” out of Rom. 8:31.

Guns of the Lion

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Guns of the Lion, Douglas Bond
Faith & Freedom Trilogy
(P&R, 2008), pb., 260 pp.
Ages 6+

Readers of this blog will know that the Van Nestes are big fans of Doug Bond. When he visited last month than and began reading to us this latest book on the M’Kethe family, it was a treat. This is book two in the Faith & Freedom Trilogy, which is the continuation of the Crown & Covenant Trilogy.

We loved this book! The story here shifts back to Scotland to pick up what has transpired in the portion of the M’Kethe family which remained there. The bulk of the book is in the form a lengthy letter from Gavin in Scotland which is being read by Ian, the main character of the previous volume, in New England. As always, the story is tied into key historical events of the times. In this case the issue is the attempt of Bonnie Prince Charlie to regain the British throne. Gavin is conscripted into the English army where he finds himself engaged in the naval battle where England sought to stop Charles journey to Scotland as well as in the various battles between the English Redcoats and the Charles’ Scottish Highlanders. This culminates in the fateful Battle of Culloden.

Bond’s characteristic action and compelling story telling are here again. We found ourselves not wanting to stop each night and hurrying to get back to reading the next evening. The new aspect in this story is the reality of ambiguous situations where it is unclear what path is the right path. Gavin struggles with competing claims to his loyalty, stuck between two kings neither of which is particularly inspiring or righteous. This rings true to the historical situation as well as to many situations that arise in our own lives.

Speaking of historical situation, the timeline at the back of the book is a wonderful aid in putting together events that were happening in America and events in Britain. We often fail to see how events in different areas overlap and inform.

The psalms also play a major part once again. This time it is particularly Psalm 100 in the metrical version by William Kethe (“All People that on Earth Do Dwell”). As Gavin sings and reflects on this Psalm, much profitable theological reflection emerges. I was deeply nourished by this Psalm as we read this book and found that Psalm 100 got into my soul! As a result we have begun singing Psalm 100 as a family. This book helped give us context for this Psalm.

We heartily commend this book to you and your family. It is a fun read and beneficial. I have also begun recommending this book and the related series to young men in college as good examples of growing into manhood.

The Bond Blog!

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Bond. Doug Bond– far more beneficial than the sometimes known British cousin James.

Douglas Bond has started a blog where you can see updates on speaking events, forthcoming books and other material from him. You can also find there J. C. Ryle’s Thoughts for Young Men (entire book) read by Bond. This is an exciting development and I encourage you to check it out.