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.

Ortlund, Old Time Religion

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Check out Ray Ortlund’s post, “I Remember When.” It is not simple nostalgia but a warning about “chronological snobbery” (to use C S Lewis’s term). There is much to contemplate in the post. Here is just one excerpt:

I remember when churches were not commodities but communities. I grew up in a spiritual neighborhood, where the adults took responsibility to care for the next generation. I lived among hundreds of spiritual aunts and uncles who loved me, told me about Jesus, taught me the Bible, corrected me when I got out of line and generally sacrificed for me so that I could grow up to be a man of God.

Let us be such communities of faith.

Lessons on Sin

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The last two weeks in Sunday School at our church I have taught on the Fall and the resulting spread of sin. It is always good and challenging for me to study these texts again. The audio of the lessons are online (recorded last semester). In the first session I aim to walk through Genesis 3 noting how the first temptation proceeded and seeking to draw out lessons for our encounters with temptation. In the second lesson, we traced the spread of sin in the following chapters of Genesis, again seeking to draw out implications on the reality and aggressiveness of sin and what that means for us in seeking to resist sin.

I need regularly to be reminded about the aggressive nature of sin, lest I lull myself to sleep or seek a truce with it, forgetting that the fight with indwelling sin is always “kill or be killed” (Rom 8:5-8).

Psalm Singing and Sanctification

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I mentioned previously that my family has begun to sing Psalm 128 at our dinner table. It has been very enjoyable and a great blessing in various ways. We have begun including other psalms.

Recently, we ate dinner at a fast food restaurant in order to go on to a store for some errands. I did not think of or mention the singing of the psalm. As we drove from the restaurant to the store, one of my boys asked, “Daddy, since we could not sing our psalm in the restaurant, can we sing it while we’re in the car?” You better believe we can! If a small step on my part can lead to my 11 or 12 year old asking to seize a moment to sing scripture together, let me take that step!

Then, our singing of Psalm 128 has had an unexpected sanctifying influence on me. The children enjoy the song so I can often hear them singing it lightly as they go about their tasks in the home. I hear them singing “Bless the man who fears Jehovah and that walketh in his ways” and the rest of the Psalm which expounds the benefits which will come to them as their father fears and obeys God. These truths, in the voice of my 12 year old boy who is entering into manhood or my two year old daughter (or anyone in between), has a sobering effect on me. It leads easily to preaching to myself along these lines:

These children will know specific blessings from God as you fight sin, truly fearing God and obeying him. This sin which tempts you is no mere personal matter. It has implications for these little ones as well. Will you be this man about whom they sing? Will you by grace live in such a way as to bring down the blessing of God upon them?

These are truths I already know, but they come home in special force this way. This has been a good reminder to me not to be spiritually lazy, but to cry out to God for his grace to be a godly man.