Psalms of Grace

As more and more evangelical protestants are discovering the liturgical riches of the Psalms, new collections of sung psalmody are constantly being produced, sometimes by denominations and sometimes by single congregations. Psalms of Grace falls into the latter category, having been created by Grace Community Church in Sun Valley, a neighbourhood of Los Angeles. Grace Community Church is an independent megachurch with more than 8,000 members and an expansive campus including a Spanish-language congregation, a seminary, a bookstore, and a production company. Its longtime pastor, John MacArthur, has had an enduring radio ministry called Grace to You. The congregation has recently produced two liturgical collections, Hymns of Grace and Psalms of Grace. 

As I've observed before, it is unusual for a single congregation to produce its own hymnal and highly unusual for one to produce a metrical psalter. The resources needed for such projects are generally beyond what a congregation can manage on its own. By contrast, a denomination can pool the resources of multiple congregations to compile hymnals and psalters. The successive Psalter Hymnals of the Christian Reformed Church are probably the best known examples, as is the Trinity Psalter Hymnal, which was put together by two co-operating denominations. Two years ago I reviewed New Psalter: Psalms for the Church, the work of Grace Immanuel Bible Church in Florida. Now it's time to evaluate Psalms of Grace.

To begin, Psalms of Grace is a high-quality collection of metrical Psalms drawing on the best work of the past, along with newer contributions. As such, it could easily be used by other congregations seeking a way to incorporate psalm-singing into their liturgies. Unlike the Genevan Psalter or the 1650 Scottish Psalter, Psalms of Grace includes multiple sung versions of each psalm, numbered, for example, 62A through 62E. Most of the texts are matched with music, along with guitar chords above the treble staff. Some texts are offered without music but with the metre indicated immediately below, enabling the worship leaders to select an appropriate tune with a matching metre. Each set of metrical psalms is preceded by a prose version of that psalm formatted for responsive reading by the congregation. The prose psalm is followed by a prayer, whose origin is explained at the beginning of the volume:

The prayers are adapted from The Scottish Collects of 1595. These prayers were included in the 1595 and 1650 Scottish Metrical Psalters, and in fact were translations of prayers from the Genevan Psalter. It is understood that they were written by Augustin Marlorat, a colleague of Calvin and Beza in the Genevan Reformation. They first appeared in the Genevan Psalter in 1561 and soon made their way to the Scottish Puritans who translated them into English, retaining some of the French language expressions.

For the prose psalms, Psalms of Grace uses the Lockman Foundation's Legacy Standard Bible, produced by scholars at Grace Church's associated Master's Seminary. A distinctive feature of this version is the use of the divine names Yah and Yahweh rather than LORD, as is found in most English-language Bible translations. For example, here is Psalm 149:

Praise Yah!
Sing to Yahweh a new song,
His praise in the assembly of the holy ones. 
Let Israel be glad in his Maker;
Let the sons of Zion rejoice in their King.
Let them praise His name with dancing;
With tambourine and lyre let them sing praises to Him.
For Yahweh takes pleasure in His people;
He will beautify the afflicted ones with salvation.

Psalm of Grace draws on a variety of sources. The influential 1912 Psalter contributed 76 metrical psalms. Fourteen psalms are from the Scottish Psalters, a lower number than I would have expected. Fifty-one come from Sing Psalms (2003), the Free Church of Scotland's psalter. Three are from the 1973 Book of Psalms for Singing, and 23 from the Book of Psalms for Worship (2010), both produced by the Reformed Presbyterian Church of North America. 

The index ascribes three psalms to the Genevan Psalter, although five more are ascribed to Louis Bourgeois and are also from that Psalter. Psalm 36A uses an adaptation of the tune for Psalm 101. The same tune is used for 53C, and not 53B as is erroneously listed in the index. Psalm 97D uses the proper Genevan melody for that psalm and is taken from the CRC's 1987 grey Psalter Hymnal. Psalms 9C, 100C, and 134A use the tune for Psalm 134 (OLD HUNDREDTH) rendered in isometric rhythm. Psalms 112B and 119:97-104B use an abbreviated version of the melody for Psalm 124.

Englishman Henry Francis Lyte is author of 38 very loose psalm paraphrases, some of which are explicitly christological, such as 22A:

Oh what a conquest Jesus won,
When on the fatal tree,
His great atoning work was done,
And earth from guilt set free!

Similarly, 49 texts are by the great Isaac Watts, including the much loved "Joy to the world! the LORD is come!", a very free rendition of Psalm 98 sung in celebration of Jesus' birth. Whether these belong in a metrical psalter can be debated, of course.

A few psalms are through-composed, meaning that they are not set in stanzas and the music has no repetitions. Psalms 8B, 15D, 23B, 24B, 45C, 57E, 64A. 67B, 95B, 108D, 119:9-16C, 121A, and 121C are examples.

Here is Psalm 19B, as sung by the Grace Church congregation, as set to the familiar tune DUKE STREET:

Here is Grace Church's music director, Philip Webb, discussing why the congregation decided to pursue this project of a new metrical psalter:

Parts 2 through 8 can be found at the congregation's YouTube channel.

Recent reports tell us that independent evangelical congregations now make up the largest portion of Protestantism in the United States. The vast majority of these do not sing the Psalms on a regular basis. For those that do so or are considering doing so, I recommend that they seriously consider Psalms of Grace. The one drawback is that the volume uses an in-house Bible translation not widely known or used elsewhere. But this is a minor flaw in what is otherwise a significant contribution to the larger church's liturgical life.