Psalm 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 MoreA Prayer for the Lord’s Day, February 1 (based on Psalm 19)
O GOD, Creator of all things, grant that we may acknowledge and magnify thy great strength and power that declare thee in the conserving and guiding of this world. Suffer not that we wander any whit from thy holy law, which is pure and perfect, but that, taking delight therein, we may wholly be so governed by it that in the end we may be participant of the heavenly salvation through Jesus Christ. AMEN. – Prayers on the Psalms from the Scottish Psalter of 1595 (Carlisle, PA: Banner of Truth, 2010), 53
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 MoreIn Modern Times Paul Johnson chronicles the rise of the Soviet terror state. “The arbitrary nature of the arrests was essential to create the climate of fear which, next to the need for labour, was the chief motive for the non-party terror. An OGPU [the Soviet secret police from 1922-34] man admitted to the Manchester Guardian Moscow correspondent that innocent people were arrested: naturally – otherwise no one would be frightened. If people, he said, were arrested only for specific misdemeanours, all the others would feel safe and so become ripe for treason.” (Harperrenial, 2001), 274-275 State-sponsored terrorism and mass murder will be Communism’s enduring legacy. With one of my book clubs, I shared my fear that many Americans are forgetting how…
Read MoreRepenting of Our Repentance
What is genuine repentance? Charles Hodge helps us understand: “Our repentance needs to be repented of, unless it leads us to confession and restitution in cases of private injury; unless it causes us to forsake not merely outward sins, which attract the notice of others, but those which lie concealed in the heart; unless it makes us choose the service of God, as that which is right and congenial, and causes us to live not for ourselves but for him who loved us and gave himself for us.” – W. Andrew Hoffecker, Charles Hodge: The Pride of Princeton (Phillipsburg, NJ: P&R, 2011), 224.
Read MoreFredric Church: “The Icebergs”
Several years ago Lynne and I visited the Dallas Museum of Fine Art. On display was landscape painter Fredric Church’s majestic “The Icebergs” (64” x 112”), which depicts a scene from the painter’s voyage off the coast of Labrador in the mid-19th century. I was struck by the story of thousands of New Yorkers, like modern moviegoers, standing in line at its debut. They paid to see it. The narrator explained that few, if any, of the viewers had ever seen an iceberg. There were no photographs, perhaps not even other paintings of icebergs. So, the visual experience was novel. Look at the picture. The broken mast was a later addition, added to give the painting perspective. Interestingly, the broken mast – a symbol of…
Read MoreTo a Soldier’s Wife: “I am lying mortally wounded”
Joshua Chamberlain is best remembered as the hero of the battle of Little Round Top at Gettysburg. Today I want to remember him as the author of a remarkable letter. A Bowdoin College professor, Chamberlain possessed no formal military experience when he enlisted after the outbreak of the Civil War. However, he proved himself a quick study in the art of leadership, rapidly rising to the rank of colonel of the 20th Maine. The young leader established himself an able field commander. His clear thinking, personal courage, and command presence under fire were critical in repulsing the Alabama 15th’s attempt to take Little Round Top on July 2, 1863. Had the Confederates succeeded, leaving the Union left flank exposed, the withdrawal of the northern army from Gettysburg would have been…
Read MoreA Prayer for the Lord’s Day, January 25 (based on Psalm 18)
“O LORD, the buckler and defence of all those who love thee, hear thy poor servants who call upon thee in truth and verity, and deliver them from their enemies. And forasmuch as there is nothing better than to acknowledge and follow thy holy will, chase from us all darkness of error and ignorance; and let thy light so shine over us thy poor church that, being strengthened by thy strength, we may employ ourselves wholly in setting forth thy praises, through Jesus Christ thy dear Son. AMEN.” – Prayers on the Psalms from the Scottish Psalter of 1595 (Carlisle, PA: Banner of Truth, 2010), 52.
Read MoreThe Death of a Great Man: Winston Churchill, January 24, 1965
Tomorrow is the 50th anniversary of the death of Winston Churchill, arguably the greatest leader of the 20th century. This brief video contains footage of his state funeral. In yesterday’s National Review Online, Victor Davis Hanson argues that “the United States has never owed more to a foreign citizen than to Winston Churchill, a monumental presence 50 years after his death.”
Read MoreJohn Adams, who would become our second president, travelled across Europe in behalf of the young nation. Even when separated by ocean, he and his beloved wife, Abigail, stayed in touch by letter, expressing their mutual admiration and devotion, offering commentary on the major political issues of the day, and diligently tending to the pressing concerns of family life. Letters took months to arrive, so much consideration was given to their composition. Each thought had to be weighed carefully and expressed clearly, every word just right. In a 1782 letter Abigail informed him of their 17-year-old daughter Nabby’s romantic interest in a promising young lawyer, Royall Tyler, the talented son of an affluent family. Gifted with a sharp mind, he became valedictorian of his class at Harvard. By all accounts,…
Read More