Tag: Reformed theology

17Sep

Metrical Psalms? There’s An App For That

Once all the rage in Reformed churches, translations of the book of Psalms set to rhyme and meter were once commonplace. The first book of any kind published in Britain’s New World colonies was the Bay Psalm Book, printed in 1640 in Cambridge, Massachusetts. (A copy of this book owned by Boston’s Old South Church was sold a few years back at a Sotheby’s auction for a staggering $14,165,000).

Some metrical psalms have survived the ravages of time to remain in present day hymnals, including “Old Hundredth” and a version of Psalm 23. The text of the former, from the 1561 Anglo-Geneven psalter, may be familiar to you:

All people that on earth do dwell,
sing to the Lord with cheerful voice:
Him serve with fear, his praise forth tell,
come ye before him and rejoice.

The Church of Scotland adopted a psalter in 1650, in collaboration with the Westminster Assembly, the full official title of which is The Psalms of David in Metre According to the Version Approved by The Church of Scotland. The “1650 Psalter”, or “Scottish Metrical Psalter”, borrowed extensively from prior versions, including 269 lines of the “Bay Psalm Book”. This 1650 edition is still used in parts of the Scottish Highlands and in some Presbyterian churches elsewhere.

A website devoted to hymnody and old psalters, Music For the Church of God, said this about the Psalter:

In spite of its age and sometimes quaint wording, the Scottish Psalter still retains great power even today. If one had to use only one metrical Psalter, this one would be a good choice.

Now, a developer has created an app that contains all 150 psalms, matched to several optional tunes (with MIDI tune player), and commentary by Scottish theologian John Brown of Haddington (1722-1787). I commend this app to you as a great way to get acquainted with this treasury of faith.

Screenshot of 1650 App

Get it for iOS in the App Store.

Android here.

Kindle store (Kindle Fire) here.

17Dec

Rest In Peace, Dr. Sproul

This week brings news of the passing of a great Christian teacher and organizer. I personally count theologian R. C. Sproul as one of my “virtual teachers”, as his publicly available lectures have been a great source of personal reflection and spiritual formation.

He was a powerful advocate for Reformed theology and helped me to understand it better as at least one very logical approach to understanding scripture. (I don’t necessarily regard myself a convert to that approach but I see its validity). Most of all he was passionate about Christianity and can be considered one of its better expounders from the late 20th century.

A tribute from famed author and speaker John Piper praises Sproul for “an incomparable combination of his unashamed allegiance to the absolute sovereignty and centrality of God, his total devotion to the inerrancy and radical relevance of the Christian Scriptures, his serious and rigorous attention to the actual text of Scripture in shaping his views, and his jolting formulations of biblical truth in relation to contemporary reality.”

“This was R.C.’s goal: a heart that is stunned and humbled and captivated by the transcendent greatness and purity of God.”

I cannot say it better. He died Dec 14 at age 78.