Sing Psalm 139

Anyone who spends any time at Tri-County Bible Church, MyTwoCents, or ChurchWorksMedia.com knows that I’m concerned that the church should be singing the Psalms, Scripture’s inspired hymnal. It’s a command, after all (Col 3:16; Eph 5:18-19). The challenge is to do so in a way that doesn’t make you sound like Yoda; some Psalters are painfully archaic and obtuse. “Awkward, they are.” I’m grateful for Joe Tyrpak, who in addition to writing excellent metrical psalms (available here) regularly finds Psalm settings that we’ve not yet learned and teaches them to us. One of my favorites which he’s introduced at TCBC is a rendering of Psalm 139 by David G. Preston, provided by The Jubilate Group. I’m including just the first stanza of You, O Lord, Have Searched and Known Me below. You can register on their site for free to get the rest.

Now, you’ll need to marry the text to the right tune. That’s where it gets fun. We’ve sung it to the tune from Mac Lynch’s song All the Way (#101 in Majesty Hymns, #134 in Majesty Music’s new Rejoice Hymns, for those who use those hymnals). It’s a perfect match, both in its meter and its tone. I hope it will encourage you to sing more Psalms, more often. Give it a try! Grace.

You, O LORD, have searched and known me,
You know when I sit or rise;
Every thought and deed lies open
To your all-perceiving eyes.
You have laid your hand upon me,
Guarded me before, behind;
Knowledge so sublime, so towering,
Far transcends an earthly mind.

Psalm 139, David G. Preston © D.G. Preston/Jubilate Hymns

“Your Beauty Fills Our Eyes” on New Taylor CD

Matt and Christy Taylor’s second CD, Everlasting Praise, has been released, and it includes the ChurchWorksMedia.com hymn Your Beauty Fills Our Eyes. The song was arranged by Mac Lynch and performed with Dan and Holly Leeper. I’ve enjoyed the entire CD and am happy to recommend it to you. Among other Gospel-centered selections, it also includes The Object of Your Love, written by Andy Gleiser and composed by my good friend Greg Habegger.

The CD can be ordered from The Wilds Online Store, or you can purchase the entire recording or individual tracks at Amazon or iTunes. Samples are available at all 3 cites.

Olympic Moments, 2/14/10

I enjoyed the discussion that followed my first Olympics post, so I’ll keep chiming in with observations as I have opportunity. Of course, I welcome feedback, as that’s part of the fun. I’ve only seen portions of games thus far, but here’s my two cents on the first two days of competition:

• With teammates like that, who needs enemies? Apolo Ohno’s sixth Olympic medal was lost until he got some help from a greedy South Korean. South Korea had a sweep going into the final turn, but 1 of the 3 decided to try to push for first rather than enjoying his team’s dominance. Oops. He and a teammate careened into the pads, allowing two Americans to capture the silver and bronze. “Wanna get away?”
• Speaking of Ohno, short track speedskating is just hard to watch. It’s about as nerve-racking as any sport I’ve seen. Except figure skating. And gymnastics. And luge. And…well,  you know.
• I like Bob Costas a lot. And Al Michaels. I’m trying to get used to Cris Collinsworth, though he still comes off as sorta snarky to me. On the other hand, I’ve not seen Keith Olbermann yet, so I’m not complaining. Dan Patrick? I’m not sure what I think.
• Brian Williams had a fascinating piece on the danger of the winter Olympic events. I thought about it, and it’s true. Anybody can run and jump and swim. But most of the winter games are just nuts. And now that I’m listening, I keep hearing about how this guy punctured a lung, this girl has 80 stitches, this lady has had 6 knee surgeries. And, of course, the luge fatality just put an exclamation point on it. I’ll just watch, thanks.
• I grew up in Colorado, and I skied a lot. The way Olympic skiers attack the moguls is amazing. Crazy. They must have springs where I have knees.
• What a nice win for Hannah Kearney. Canadian silver medalist Jennifer Heil had just finished a near perfect run, and I told my girls (who, I know, should have been in bed) that she deserved the gold. Good for her. Then Kearney just smoked her run. That was fun.
• Finally, before I’m accused of ignoring anything not related to U.S. athletes, what’s not to like about Switzerland’s Simon Ammann? Harry Potter’s doppelgänger (er, celebrity look-alike for non FaceBookers) won again. Fittingly, they showed clips of his 2002 win and interview in Salt Lake City. Loved that.
• And finally finally, Scott Hamilton is a dead ringer for Mac Lynch. No? And come to think of it, I’ve never seen them at the same place at the same time. Hmmm.

Missionary Motives, Dan Anderson: “Missions is the natural outflow of knowing God.”

My brother Dan is one of the finest missionaries I know. I wrote of him a while back in a post entitled “My Brother, My Hero.” He’s served the Lord in a dangerous part of Brazil for over a decade, enduring life-threatening challenges, seeing a fellow laborer nearly assassinated, and fearing for the safety of his seven children. Yet, he has faithfully served the Lord, seen Brazilians saved and trained for the ministry, and participated in the planting of several churches.

Responding to my question about especially influential Bible texts, Dan cited the book of 1 Thessalonians:

“One of the greatest passages that keeps me on the field is 1 Thessalonians.  Paul writes of the struggles and false accusations but leaves very clear the motive for his service.  I Thessalonians 2:17-20 says, ‘But we, brethren, being taken from you for a short time in presence, not in heart, endeavored the more abundantly to see your face with great desire.  Wherefore we would have come unto you, even I Paul, once and again; but Satan hindered us.  For what is our hope, or joy, or crown of rejoicing? Are not even ye in the presence of our Lord Jesus Christ at his coming?  For ye are our glory and joy.’ The separation and struggles are only worth it because of the souls of the lost.”

Dan mentioned several other factors that pushed him toward the mission field:

Loving the New Wilds CD

My good friend Matt Herbster told me a while back that I’d like the new Wilds Quartet CD, Creator, Redeemer, & King. He’s right. Matt, Scott Ashmore, Mac Lynch, and Matt Taylor have provided a recording that is chock-full of thoughtful meditations on Christ’s work. One of my favorite tracks is My Faith Still Clings. The text is new to me. Though it sounds like a dead guy wrote it, I was hoping the writer was still in the land of the living and would be writing more. Alas, it sounds like a dead guy wrote it because a dead guy wrote it. Too bad. Anyway, the music is fresh and fervent, and the text is stellar:

My sin is great, my strength is weak,
My path beset with snares;
But Thou, O Christ, hast died for me,
And Thou wilt hear my prayers.

Refrain
To Thee, to Thee, the Crucified,
The sinner’s only plea,
Relying on Thy promised grace,
My faith still clings to Thee.

The world is dark without Thee, Lord,
I turn me from its strife
To find Thy love a sweet relief;
Thou art the light of life.

Temptations lure and fears assail
My frail, inconstant heart;
But precious are Thy promises,
And they new strength impart.

Unfold Thy precepts to my mind,
And cleanse my blinded eyes;
Grant me to work for Thee on earth,
Then praise Thee in the skies.

As for the rest of the CD, the orchestrations are well done, and the blend of the quartet is very easy to listen to. Best of all, they sound like they sound interested, which is always a good thing. :) It’s so gospel saturated that I wonder if it’s indicative of an intentional push in that direction by the Wilds. I hope so. I don’t mean that to be a slam on other projects of theirs, which I enjoy. But the last two recordings I’ve purchased—this and the Pettit Team’s So High the Price—focus on the cross almost exclusively. The Christ-centeredness of both recordings is something to celebrate!

Creator, Redeemer, & King does have several tracks that appear on other albums (including He Lifted Me, Sing Hallelujah, It Was for Me, and Press On). I’m guessing that that’s a financial necessity, as the Wilds does it with some regularity. (Update: Not so, a tall insider who sings bass tells me.) But the vocals and harmonies on this CD are fresh enough that I don’t mind the repeats, especially of a song like He Lifted Me.

You can buy the whole thing here or—surprisingly!—buy individual tracks for $.99 here. I commend it to you. I own a lot of recordings from the Wilds. This one is already my favorite, both for the content of the selections and the musicality. Nice job, men! Thank you!

Dan’s Reply to “My Brother, My Hero”

Dan intended to post this as a comment in response to this post, but it is so challenging that I chose to highlight it by making it its own post.

Thanks, Chris. Your article was very encouraging.

When we were teens at The WILDS of the Rockies, I committed my life to serving God in whatever way He might choose to use me. A year later, I believed that God was calling me to the mission field. Uncle Michael’s example was a huge factor in my decision along with a firm belief that anything less than my all would be a mockery of my Savior who gave all for me. I heard a song that year that I have often prayed as a prayer of commitment to the Lord. More often than not, it has just been on my own as I struggled with a difficult situation or decision.

I tried to sing this prayer at the close of a missions conference this fall at our brother Jeff’s church in Colorado Springs. I fumbled through the introduction, struggled through the first verse, and then totally lost it on the chorus. A good friend, Arnie, helped me through the rest of the song. Why would such a simple and beautiful song have such an impact on my life and still be at times nearly impossible to sing without a flood of emotion? Because the simple message of the song is not always so simple in day to day practice.

I have told God many times through the years that “I hold no thing back from Thee” but the day to day surrender of those “things” that have become a godly wife and best friend and our seven children is at times nearly more than I can give.