Which Psalter does your congregation use?

[jawyman]

We use two songbooks, one in the AM, one in the PM. We have a congregation which is composed of people partly from Presbyterian, partly Reformed backgrounds. We use the Trinity Hymnal in the evening; and in the morning, the older version of the CRC Psalter-Hymnal (pre-revision, so yes, these are getting tattered and worn).

We use the Trinity Hymnal as well as the CRC Psalter Hymnal, but we intermix the two during worship and we have a third as well. During evening worship we sometimes use a chorus book.

 

[Semper Fidelis]

We use The Book of Psalms for Singing as published by the RPCNA. But I do not recommend it because so many of the tunes are difficult for people to "carry" (sing) in a congregation. I prefer the Trinity Psalter. It was edited by Terry Johnson, minister of Independent Presbyterian Church in Savannah, GA, and the tunes (melodies) are overall easy for a Congregation to sing.

I think it's very important, for those of us who strive to give our congregations an appreciation for the psalter, not to promote a bad outlook for it by forcing them to try to sing difficult tunes, which can in themselves prove to be a real distraction while they are genuinely seeking to worship God. It's my desire to see people grow in their love for using the psalter, and I think difficult melodies can present something of an obstacle to that.

DTK

Interesting. Thank you for that observation.

I have to say that I don't have a ton of experience with many of the Psalms yet as we're building up the repertoire of very small children and it's been a long time since I attended a congregation that uses the Psalter at all. I had a Pastor a number of years ago who was married to the daughter of an OPC minister who had grown up singing the Psalms with her family. They sang the Psalms with their children and I was "hooked" on the idea back then before we had children.

My four are all under five and it's my goal to add a new song every month or so because it takes a long time for them to commit verses to memory. We haven't found the tunes to be too difficult yet and I hope I don't encounter really complex tunes. I simply love, however, that my children are committing the Psalms to memory and the blessing to me has been enormous. My five year old boy has fears at night and I always remind him of what we sing in Psalm 3.

I do agree that our goal ought to be to get congregations to sing the Psalms together. Unfortunately, the goal for many Churches would be to sing any Psalms today because they are virtually absent from many congregations. Those that argue against Exclusive Psalmody would do well to argue for the inclusion of the Psalter along with the other songs they are arguing for.

I also agree with some keen observations made by Mike Horton and others on the White Horse Inn. Many of the praise choruses that quote the Psalms aren't really singing the Psalms as composed but simply take the concluding refrains from the end of the Psalms. They frequently only quote "...I will worship you..." but leave out all the wonderful works that God has done for His people. They also leave out many of the laments and other really deep and profound wrestling that occurs in the Psalms. It impoverishes us that we don't sing such songs to salve our souls or give expression to certain devotional thoughts that are most beautifully expressed in the Psalms.

A few weeks ago I was very blue one Sunday Evening after hearing that a family was leaving our Church due to all the turmoil ongoing. During family devotions we began to sing Psalm 3 and I just cried out to the Lord.

"...and from His hill, to me His answer sped."

 

[Augusta]

We use two songbooks, one in the AM, one in the PM. We have a congregation which is composed of people partly from Presbyterian, partly Reformed backgrounds. We use the Trinity Hymnal in the evening; and in the morning, the older version of the CRC Psalter-Hymnal (pre-revision, so yes, these are getting tattered and worn).

We use the Trinity Hymnal as well as the CRC Psalter Hymnal, but we intermix the two during worship and we have a third as well. During evening worship we sometimes use a chorus book.

If the CRC Psalter Hymnal is grey then we use these same two. I like the psalms in the Trinity Hymnal. I wish we had the Trinity Psalter as well.

 

[refbaptdude]

We use the Book of Psalms for Singing.

Steve

 

[jawyman]

We use two songbooks, one in the AM, one in the PM. We have a congregation which is composed of people partly from Presbyterian, partly Reformed backgrounds. We use the Trinity Hymnal in the evening; and in the morning, the older version of the CRC Psalter-Hymnal (pre-revision, so yes, these are getting tattered and worn).

We use the Trinity Hymnal as well as the CRC Psalter Hymnal, but we intermix the two during worship and we have a third as well. During evening worship we sometimes use a chorus book.

If the CRC Psalter Hymnal is grey then we use these same two. I like the psalms in the Trinity Hymnal. I wish we had the Trinity Psalter as well.

Ours has a blue cloth cover. Like Bruce's church, our psalters are rather old. Little Farms was a CRC mission church, but we left the CRC due to doctrinal issues.

 

[Augusta]

Is CREC is what I remember in ours now that I think of it. Ours is grey and has psalms and hymns and the major creeds including the Apostle's, the Nicene, and the Athanasius creeds, the Canons of Dort, the Heidleberg, and I can't remember what else.

 

[N. Eshelman]

Jeff

That is the 1951 Psalter-Hymnal. That is common place for the URC.

It is a revision of a 1930s P-H that is the revision of the UP Psalter of 1912 that the FRC, HRC, PRC, First RP, PRTS, etc. use. It is THE Psalter choice for Grand Rapids Psalm singers. I do not know of ANY other West Michigan Psalm singing congregation that uses ANYTHING else!

 

[jawyman]

Jeff

That is the 1951 Psalter-Hymnal. That is common place for the URC.

Yup, that's the one. The 1951 Psalter-Hymnal. I prefer the Psalter we use at PRTS.

 

[Glenn Ferrell]

The TBS Psalms of David in Metre, which is the 1650 Scottish Psalter.

 

[Kevin]

Myself I like "Bible Songs".

I was first introduced to the idea of singing the psalms when I was a student in the (late) Dr Kyrkendals' class on the Psalms.