Posted on 05/19/2013 7:24:57 PM PDT by ReformationFan
We sing the Psalms because the people of God have been doing so since as early as Moses (Ps. 90) and especially during the days of David, when the Psalter became the “hymnal” of Israel. When we sing them, we identify with our most ancient forefathers and offer transcendent praise, applicable in all times and in all places.
(Excerpt) Read more at theaquilareport.com ...
God inhabits the praises of His people.
One hundred and nineteen years later, the great Methodist hymn writer William Kirkpatrick of Philadelphia wrote "Hallelujah! Praise Jehovah!"--a wonderful rendition of Psalm 148.
I surrender all.
I surrender all.
All to Jesus, I surrender,
I surrender all.
cha cha cha!
It’s amazing how many Psalms David himself wrote which are seared into our collective consciousness.
The Psalms are wonderful.
In the original Hebrew, they are even more lovely, having intricate wordplay, acrostic arrangements, interesting meter, and economy of language that boggles the mind.
Psalm 119 is ESPECIALLY ingenious, as it is divided into stanzas that have the exact same number of lines, each one beginning with the same letter of the Hebrew Alphabet. Not only THAT, the CONTENT of the stanza relates directly to the symbol of the letter itself.
Then, on top of THAT, the ENTIRE Psalm, with all its intricacies, are a cohesive whole which bears the theme of the Beauty of the Law (The Word, The Precepts) of God.
And that’s just ONE of the 150 Psalms in the Psalter.
However, one does not have to be able to read Hebrew to be able to appreciate the Psalms. The fact that they are just as powerful and lovely in English or whatever language they are translated into, testifies to their Inspiration.
I. Psalm 108 (Verse 2); Psalm 100 (complete)
II. Psalm 23 (complete); Psalm 2 (verses 1-4)
III. Psalm 131 (complete); Psalm 133 (verse 1)
Thank you for that!
:-)
When I was last in a PCUSA church, 3 or 4 years ago, I scanned through the hymnal. I was encouraged to see that the middle quarter or third of that volume was a psalter.
Psa 27:5 For he will hide me in his shelter in the day of trouble; he will conceal me under the cover of his tent; he will lift me high upon a rock.
Connor Quigley, of the RP Church in Scotland, has brought to my attention this website which he has set up as a great resource for recordings of various Psalters sung a cappella.The one thing it lacks: Gaelic psalm singing. My wife firmly believes that Gaelic is the language of heaven. Certainly, the singing of Gaelic psalms has an otherworldly, even eerie feel to it, combined with a strange, evocative beauty. Here is an excellent video made at the then-church of Ref21 blogger, Iain D., along with beautiful scenery from the present Mrs. T's home island.
Who really wants praise bands, or even organs, when one can have the fragile beauty of the human voice?
Linkage: http://www.thepsalmssung.org/
Gaelic psalms at Back Free Church, Isle Of Lewis- 20/21/oct/2003
(GRPL ping for anyone who might have missed this thread.)
Will it include a liturgy for gay “weddings?”
Actually, looks fairly OK.
I spent the past 2.5 years in a URCNA congregation. The singing of Jesus’s “hymn book” was alive and well among those Saints.
That is until you've heard mine. Then you'll be begging for a kazoo or even a bagpipe. :O)
I'm sure when we've been there ten thousand years, God will probably still be asking me to sit the next one out.
Some of hymns with recognizable titles may have `updated` words.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.