{"id":2318,"date":"2018-09-17T02:15:08","date_gmt":"2018-09-17T02:15:08","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/theundergroundchurch.net\/blog\/?p=2318"},"modified":"2018-09-17T02:15:08","modified_gmt":"2018-09-17T02:15:08","slug":"metrical-psalms-theres-an-app-for-that","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/theundergroundchurch.net\/blog\/2018\/09\/17\/metrical-psalms-theres-an-app-for-that\/","title":{"rendered":"Metrical Psalms? There\u2019s An App For That"},"content":{"rendered":"

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\u2019s New World colonies was the Bay Psalm Book<\/em>, printed in 1640 in Cambridge, Massachusetts. (A copy of this book owned by Boston\u2019s Old South Church was sold a few years back at a Sotheby\u2019s auction for a staggering $14,165,000).<\/p>\n

Some metrical psalms have survived the ravages of time to remain in present day hymnals, including \u201cOld Hundredth\u201d and a version of Psalm 23. The text of the former, from the 1561 Anglo-Geneven psalter, may be familiar to you:<\/p>\n

All people that on earth do dwell,
\nsing to the Lord with cheerful voice:
\nHim serve with fear, his praise forth tell,
\ncome ye before him and rejoice.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

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<\/em>. The \u201c1650 Psalter\u201d, or \u201cScottish Metrical Psalter\u201d, borrowed extensively from prior versions, including 269 lines of the \u201cBay Psalm Book\u201d. This 1650 edition is still used in parts of the Scottish Highlands and in some Presbyterian churches elsewhere.<\/p>\n

A website devoted to hymnody and old psalters, Music For the Church of God<\/a>, said this about the Psalter:<\/p>\n

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.<\/em><\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

\"Screenshot<\/a><\/p>\n

Get it for iOS in the App Store<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Android here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Kindle store (Kindle Fire) here<\/a>.<\/body><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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\u2019s New World colonies was the Bay Psalm Book, printed in 1640 in Cambridge, Massachusetts. (A copy of this book owned by Boston\u2019s Old South Church […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[32,65],"tags":[1069,858,1070,949,1071],"class_list":["post-2318","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-history","category-music","tag-1650-psalter","tag-music","tag-psalms","tag-reformed-theology","tag-scottish-metrical-psalter"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/theundergroundchurch.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2318","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/theundergroundchurch.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/theundergroundchurch.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/theundergroundchurch.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/theundergroundchurch.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2318"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/theundergroundchurch.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2318\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2332,"href":"http:\/\/theundergroundchurch.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2318\/revisions\/2332"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/theundergroundchurch.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2318"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/theundergroundchurch.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2318"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/theundergroundchurch.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2318"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}