Worship

We have been working on a Psalms-related project for a number of years.

Its objects are

  1. To encourage the recovery of family worship
  2. To encourage the recovery of Psalm singing in personal and family worship
  3. To encourage authentic Psalm singing through a translation close to the original

The project is important because

  1. Family worship, once nearly universal, is now rare in the face of the pressures and enticements modern life. 
  2. We believe that family worship is an essential element of local Church gathering.  Well established family worship under the guidance of Church leadership is the best bulwark against the encroachment of the State in times of crisis.
  3. Scripture urges us to sing, not to listen to singing.  This was one of the things Churches recovered at the Reformation.  Most Christians today sing one day a week in Church, and never without musical accompaniment.
  4. For seventeen hundred years virtually the whole of Christendom sang the Psalms in worship.  Very few evangelical Christians now sing Psalms, and what now pass for ‘Psalms’ have little resemblance to the words of the Biblical Psalms.
  5. We believe that singing words given by the Holy Spirit for worship produces a thoroughly Biblical spirituality that delights in God’s mercy but does not shy away from his holiness and what the Apostle Paul calls ‘the severity of God’ (Romans 11:22).

Three substantial new books on the Psalms are being published by Pearl Publications in Spring 2023.  All are available in hardback, paperback and as EBooks.  ISBNs are given below.

A Help for using the Psalms in Personal and Family Worship

A Help for using the Psalms in Personal and Family Worship includes daily notes through the whole of the book. These can be used devotionally. However, our hope is that families and individuals will use it to sing their way through the book of Psalms in a year. The book provides other materials to assist the many Christians today who would not know where to start in singing the Psalms, and who are unaware of the resources that are available.

  • The book is intended for use by families and for personal praise and worship.
  • Gives short thought-provoking devotional and expository notes on all the Psalms.
  • Enables the use of the whole book of Psalms for worship on a yearly basis.
  • Encourages readers to rediscover the singing of the Psalms in worship.
  • Signposts other resources that can be used.
  • 11 helpful appendices.
  • 445 pages.

Hardback: 9781901397048     Paperback: 978190139703-1   EBook: 9781901397055

Every Psalm for Easy Singing – Verse Only edition

Every Psalm for Easy Singing: A translation for singing arranged in daily portions is a new translation using the same 365 portions as the Help.

  • A new translation of the Book of Psalms in verse form.
  • Presented in uncomplicated format.
  • Uses the same metre throughout for ease of use.
  • Translates from the Hebrew relying heavily upon the translation decisions of the older versions, notably the King James Authorised Version, the Dutch Bible (1637), the Welsh Bible (1620), Calvin’s translation (1557) and the Geneva Bible (1560).
  • Enables the Book of Psalms to be sung through in a year by being in 365 portions.
  • It is very suitable for personal worship or for members of a family group in connection with the ‘Help’.
  • The Ebook format and linked audio resources on this website make it easy to use in personal worship.
  • 250 pages.

Hardback: 9781901397079     Paperback:9781901397062     EBook: 9781901397086

Every Psalm for Easy Singing – expanded study edition

The expanded edition has extensive footnotes and appendices. The object of these is to explain the translational and exegetical decisions.  It is intended for serious Bible Study, and to enable anyone who leads group or family worship using the Help for using the Psalms in Personal and Family Worship to be better prepared for the time of worship.

  • Provides the verse translation of the Psalms with explanation of the translation decisions.
  • Uses the same 365 portions as the ‘Help’.
  • Links to the audio resources and suggested tunes on this website.
  • It is very suitable for leaders of a family group or for serious Bible Study.
  • It has an Appendix explaining the translation of key Hebrew words in the translation, including the names of God, the words for ‘man’ and the ‘law words’ in the Psalms which Every Psalm for Easy Singing seeks to distinguish in translation and by notes.
  • It has an Appendix on ‘How to sing this book’.
  • A full account of resources used in preparing the translation is given.
  • 390 pages, 2,400 footnotes.

Hardback: 9781901397109     Paperback: 9781901397093    EBook: 9781901397116