Singing Psalm 128

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It may seem that I have gone “Psalm-crazy” from my recent posts, and that assessment would not be altogether inaccurate. Over the years as I have discovered how generations of Christians were nurtured on the Psalms and have seen various historical examples of the faith that blossomed from such nurturing, I have longed for this for myself and my children. Oh, to be like those who, having grown up singing the Psalms, know all 150 Psalms by heart! If I did not know of real examples of this I might doubt the possibility.

This, then, is not merely an academic or abstract issue for me. My wife and I took a Trinity Psalter a couple of weeks ago and worked through it looking for Psalms set to tunes we know (a key point of this Psalter is to provide familiar hymn tunes for Psalm settings). In the process we came across Psalm 128 in a version adapted from the Scottish Psalter.

Blessed the man that fears Jehovah
And that walketh in His ways.
Thou shalt eat of thy hands’ labor;
And be prospered all thy days.
Like a vine with fruit abounding
In thy house thy wife is found
And like olive plants, thy children
Compassing thy table ’round

Lo, on him that fears Jehovah
Shall this blessedness attend
For Jehovah, out of Zion,
Shall to thee His blessings send
Thou shalt see Jerus’lem prosper
All thy days ’til life shall cease
Thou shalt see thy children’s children
Unto Isr-a-el be peace.

When I sang these words with my wife, it hit me that this is particularly suited to the family setting. So, for the last two weeks my family has sung this Psalm to the tune of “Come Thou Fount” at meal times. It has been a wonderful experience, and my children have about memorized this Psalm just from our singing. And we all have enjoyed it.

I commend it to you.

Psalms Project Site

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Brian Denker has set up a blog site to house information on the speakers for the Psalms Project which I have been commenting on here. At the site you can see the upcoming schedule as speakers as well as get the links for the audio of addresses already given. This is the place to go to keep up with the project and to know when new audios are available.

Doug Bond on the Psalms

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Regular readers of this site will know that Douglas Bond is one of my family’s favorite authors. We were blessed with the opportunity of having Doug in our house for a few days last week. Doug was here to speak in chapel as part of Union’s Psalms Project. You can read some about his address and get a link to the audio at my other blog.

One of my boys commented, “Daddy, all of Mr. Bond’s books have to do with the Psalms.” He is right! In the Crown & Covenant series as well as the Faith and Freedom series the main characters sing the Psalms and demonstrate that their speech and lifestyles are molded by the Psalms. The Mr. Pipes series is devoted to introducing readers to the singing of the Psalms and hymnody shaped by the Psalms.

I commend to you these books, Bond’s address, and the Psalms!

Doug Bond on the Psalms

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We were privileged to have Doug Bond in chapel last Friday giving an address titled, Biblical Poetry in a Post-Biblical, Post-Poetry World. After arriving in town at 2am the morning of chapel Doug’s was having trouble with his voice, but he gave a brilliant lecture on the place of the Psalms in our life and worship. He also spoke to a communications class and then spoke again on the psalms shaping our worship in the afternoon.

I have pasted in here Bond’s concluding points from his chapel address (some of which he had to skip due to time). They are his points on why the Psalms are valuable to us today.

1. If you wish you prayed better, with more heart, with words worthy of God, learn the Psalms.

2. Secondly, you and I need the Psalms today because the Psalms keep in perfect tension the poles of joy and fear in our worship … Joy and trembling are perfectly wedded in the Psalms.

3. …we need the Psalms today because they help free us from our slavery to the here and now, to the goofiness of personal taste.

4. Fourthly, we live in an egalitarian age, where high register things, especially words and language, are scorned. All the more reason you and I need the majesty of the Psalms to elevate our ability to enter God’s courts, a place you would never slouch or swagger into un-tucked. Worship is the highest-register activity a human being can engage in, and the content and tone of the Psalms ought always to regulate our attitude and posture in that worship.

5. Fifthly, Psalms give us theological discernment. The Psalms help us measure what is worthy and what is not. They help us reject vacuous praise, praise verbalized but without objective theological reasons informing those words. You and I need to return to the inspired sung worship of the ancients because it adorns doctrinal truth and helps us see the loveliness of that truth.

6. In the sixth place, recovering Psalm singing in our worship and life will raise the bar for all new worship poetry in every age. Seek God in the Psalms and then measure everything else by what you find there. Stop asking of what you listen to, what you sing, what you write, if it sounds like the latest thing. Rather ask: is it Psalm-like? An honest answer will enable you to rise above the inappropriate and tread on the high places of the earth.

7. Finally, Psalmody and classic hymnody serve to unite you and me with the vast throng of dazzled worshipers throughout the ages. The Psalms are God-given sung praise that transcends all barriers, ones of race, gender, ethnicity, geography, and most-importantly, Psalms free us from that, oh so, postmodern, all-preoccupying, all-excusing barrier: personal taste. Psalm poetry is for all time, the ultimate multicultural poetry, poetry for “All people that on earth do dwell.”

If you do not know of Doug Bond’s books I encourage you to check them out. His fiction provides, among other things, some of the best reflection on the value of the Psalms and deeply inspiring and convicting portraits of godly fathering. His Fathers and Sons series
series expounds on the fathering portion more explicitly.

Baucham, What He Must Be

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Vodie Baucham has a new book focused on a father’s role in deciding who can marry his daughter- What He Must Be: …If He Wants to Marry My Daughter. This role is important, and I hear of more and more fathers who are taking this seriously. However, most of us have not seen this done, so good examples and thoughtful reflection are at a premium. Baucham’s book aims to give us such reflection.

One of the challenges, which I see often in my work as college professor and pastor, is that many well meaning young men have never been taught what it means to be a man and are not ready to lead a family. Baucham mentions this stating:

“We cannot expect young men in our culture to turn up as ready-made husbands. Our culture is broken. As a result, young men are broken. They do not have the tools they need. This is not always due to a lack of spiritual commitment. It is usually a result of a lack of teaching and discipleship. They just don’t know what they don’t know. As a result, fathers have to consider the possibility that they may, in a very real way, have to build their own son-in-law.”

This is true. I recently had a good conversation with Douglas Bond on this very point. I was encouraged hearing how when a young man comes inquiring about his daughter he takes it as an opportunity for discipleship- not just saying “No”, when that is necessary, but showing young men what they are lacking and how to mature.

I am looking forward to reading Baucham’s book. I have no doubt it will be substantive and helpful. Baucham is a leading voice helping the church thinking more carefully about the family.

ESV Study Bible Online, Free for March

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Crossway is making the online version of the ESV Study Bible available for free for the month of March. You can register here. Continual access to the online version comes with the purchase of a hard copy. This offer thought allows others to give the material a try. The online version is great for access and ease of use.

I am not the right person to assess the value of the study Bible since I wrote the notes for the Pastoral Epistles, but I have greatly appreciated the work of others in this study Bible. I am also impressed with the wealth of information available in all the extra articles.

So, I encourage you to take advantage of this free offer and see how useful it is to you.

Ortlund, The Word and Worship

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We had a wonderful visit from Ray and Jani Ortlund as the Psalms Project continued yesterday. Dr. Ortlund preached in chapel from Psalm 1, noting that the Psalter, as the divinely inspired worship guide, begins with attention to Scripture. The Ortlunds also held an informal Q&A with students on a wide range of topics concerning doing ministry. They were very encouraging.

Mrs. Ortlund’s address to the ladies, “Fearlessly Feminine,” was recorded and should be available soon. An interview discussion with Dr. Ortlund, Tim Ellsworth and myself on pastoral ministry should be available soon as well.

It is impossible for me to capture all the impact of the day here. At the close of the day, and old quote came to mind about a man who had the chance to hear the great Scottish preachers of his day. Here is the quote:

“An Englishman who had come to Scotland about the time the Standards were adopted by the Scottish Church and who had never shown any sense of religion before, being asked on his return what news he had brought from Scotland, replied, “Great and good news. I went to St. Andrews where I heard a sweet majestic looking man (Robert Blair) and he showed me the majesty of God. After him I heard a little fair man (Samuel Rutherford) and he showed me the loveliness if Christ. I then went to Irvine where I heard a well favoured, proper old man with a long beard (D. Dickson) and he showed me all my heart. ”
(from The Original Secession Magazine)

I thought of how I have been impacted by not just the preaching but the presence of some key men of God today. When I met and talked with C. J. Mahaney I felt like I truly understood the power of real humility. When I hung out with Ray Ortlund yesterday I felt like I gained a real appreciation of genuine graciousness and generosity towards others. In both cases I was convicted by my lack of these virtues and was drawn to more deeply desire these virtues.

Tolkien, Reconciliation

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This scene between elves and dwarves in The Fellowship of the Ring is a powerful description of reconciliation:

“And the Dwarf, hearing the names given in his own ancient tongue, looked up and met her eyes; and it seemed to him that he looked suddenly into the heart of an enemy and saw there love and understanding. Wonder came into his face, and then he smiled in answer.” (Book 2, Chapter 7)

This should be happening regularly among believers, and then the watching world will see the reality of the gospel.