Psalter Recommendations for an Inclusive Psalmody

[CovenantalBaptist]

Dear PB friends,

I have recently started an expository preaching series on the Psalms. In the Lord's providence our church does not have a Psalter, we use the old Welsh hymnal "Christian Hymns" published by the Evangelical Society which has some Psalms but not as many as I would like. We hope to purchase the Trinity Hymnal (which has more Psalms) and ultimately a Psalter when funds become available or as the Lord provides through cast-offs from other congregations (if you know of congregations that are casting off the Trinity Hymnal or any Psalter please contact me). For the record we regularly sing Psalms and I believe in consistent inclusive Psalmody.

Question 1: Do any of you know of a royalty-free doctrinally solid and singable Psalter on the internet? Preferably one that has the music, but words with reference to common tunes are also welcome.

Question 2: If money was no object, which Psalter do you believe has the best combination of faithful words with easily singable music that fits the words? A further consideration is that the vast majority of my congregation has English as their second language.

Question 3: What other Psalters would you recommend I look at? I currently personally own the CRC Psalter Hymnal (1988) and the RPCNA The Book of Psalms for Singing (1978 - my current favourite).

Thanks in advance,
Chris.

 

[N. Eshelman]

1912 United Presbyterian Psalter: This one fits in well with many hymn singing churches. It has a lot of familiar hymn tunes and the translations are more free than others. This is in public domain so you could make inserts or use an overhead... I mean... power point.

We use the 2009 Book of Psalms for Worship. I really like the words and the music. It has an international flavor to it.

The 1951 Psalter-Hymnal that the CRC used and the URC uses now would be a good one to have if you would replace your current hymn books. It has all 150 Psalms, as well as THE BEST hymns ever written. It compares to the blue Trinity Hymnal- except the Trinity hymnal hides the psalms in the midst of the hymns- and does not call them psalms (crazy, I know).

So- if I were an inclusive psalm singing church and needed to replace my current hymnals, I would use the 51 CRC/ current URC song book.

If money were no object, I would go with the 2009 Psalms for Worship- about $20 per book.

If I wanted to add an inexpensive psalter that was able to be reproduced without a conscience problem- I would go with the 1912 United Presbyterian Psalter.

(Some will tell you the Psalms of David in Metre- but I am not one of those- they are cheap too, but hard to sing for some of us).

 

[Idelette]

Personally, I love the 1650 Scottish Psalter best! There are other Psalters that I do like as well, but the Metrical Psalms were translated from the original Hebrew and is a faithful translation. Personally, I've found that I can recall more of Scripture by singing from this Psalter in particular. And it's interesting because I've found the tunes much easier than the RP Book of Psalms for Worship. Here is some more information on the development of that Psalter: http://www.reformation-scotland.org.uk/documents/development-of-scottish-psalter.pdf I paid $14 for my Psalter (which included s/h) http://www.tbs-sales.org/

 

[21st Century Calvinist]

Sing Psalms from the Free Church of Scotland is a contemporary version of the Psalms translated from Hebrew. There are several well known hymn tunes used. They are not available online. I believe that Crown and Covenant sell them. The copyright restriction is very generous- you can reproduce up to 6 whole psalms in any non saleable media, just acknowledge the source.

 

[CovenantalBaptist]

Thanks everyone. I will definitely look into all the suggestions. Nathan, I didn't realize that there was a 2009 Psalter from the RPCNA. I will have to look that one up. I still fondly remember a teenage trip to Silver Lake (near Ottawa, Ontario) for an RPCNA family conference. The singing of Psalms at that conference is a treasured spiritual memory. 20 years later I still remember singing Psalm 119B with all my heart.