Resources on Music (Church)
For many believers, singing Psalms and traditional hymns is a new experience. One obstacle to singing them confidently is unfamiliarity with many of the tunes to which they are set. Last month I purchased the Trinity Psalter Hymnal App and have been using it in my devotions. It contains the texts and music for the entire Trinity Psalter Hymnal, which our church uses as its psalter. Piano recordings assist in learning unfamiliar tunes. My heart’s desire is for my congregation, First Presbyterian Church of Yazoo City, to know the psalms and great hymns of the church and to sing them with confidence. This app will prove a valuable resource in achieving that goal.
Read MorePsalm singers will want to visit Sing: A Resource for Singing the Psalms, the website of Dr. Timothy Tennant, president of Asbury Theological Seminary, and his wife, Julie. All 150 metrical psalms are paired with suggested tunes, which are found at the top of each psalm. For example, Psalm 94 is set to the tune Kingsfold. The authors share that “this resource grew not only out of their theological and musical training, as well as their deep love for the Scriptures, but also out of a very personal experience of encountering God through singing the Psalms together daily.” The website is easy to navigate, and provides excellent resources and helpful tips for believers wishing to include psalm singing in their personal and family worship. (HT: John Rakshith…
Read MoreFor more than a year I preached at the evening services of a congregation that sings only the Psalms in worship. Among my many happy memories are meeting young children who sang the psalter outside of public worship to the musical recordings of New Song, a student group from Geneva College that sings the Psalms a cappella. The children’s enthusiasm for New Song led me to purchase Psalms of Praise Volume 1 and Volume 2. What a joy to find children whose musical tastes were shaped by the Psalter and traditional tunes! We shouldn’t underestimate the capacity of children to learn at an early age great music and to commit large portions of scripture to memory. I am grateful to live in a day when beautiful Psalter recordings are available, including…
Read MoreI enthusiastically sing the Psalms, both in private and public worship. Therefore, I am grateful to live in a time when new resources encouraging their use appear regularly. My friend John brought to my attention the iPhone/iPad app for the RPCNA’s The Book of Psalms for Worship. If you are unfamiliar with tunes in the Psalter, the app enables you to view printed metrical psalms while singing along to suitable tunes. The obstacle of not knowing the tune is overcome. Many books and articles extol the benefits of Psalm singing. Dr. Terry Johnson makes the case with clarity and brevity. Let me add another benefit of singing the Psalms: it promotes a pace of reading the text suitable for understanding, reflection, and prayer. During my four…
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