Sunday, March 28, 2010

Psalm singing done well

I have mentioned here before that the Reformed Presbyterian church we attend sings out of a Psalter exclusively. While we do not agree with this position known as Exclusive Psalmody (this exchange is helpful), we do believe in singing the word of God for His glory and our benefit.
This video clip is from Douglas Wilson's church which sings the Psalms but not exclusively nor without instrumentation. This particular song is from Psalm 119:169-176 (known as Psalm 119X). Lyrics are written out below so you learn your part and sing along. :)



Before Thee Let My Cry Come Near from Daniel Foucachon on Vimeo.


Full post here: Psalms as Musical Ballast
Have the Psalter but not familiar with all the tunes? Use this site to play each Psalm's melody.

Before Thee let my cry come near,
O Lord; true to Thy word, teach me.
Before Thee let my pleading come;
True to Thy promise rescue me.

Since Thou Thy statutes teachest me,
O let my lips Thy praise confess.
Yea, of Thy word my tongue would sing,
For Thy commands are righteousness.

Be ready with Thy hand to help,
Because Thy precepts are my choice.
I’ve longed for Thy salvation, LORD,
And in Thy holy law rejoice.

O let Thine ordinances help;
My soul shall live and praise Thee yet.
A straying sheep, Thy servant, seek,
For Thy commands I ne’er forget.

Wednesday, March 17, 2010

for whatever it is


When we get everyone settled at the table, we grab, hopefully clean hands and we give thanks for the food that is about to be eaten. In our strange way of speaking English, we usually refer to this time as praying for the food. And the type of prayer offered is always one of thanksgiving unless you're the cook, and then it turns into a quick supplication, and please let it taste right, amen.
Giving thanks is of course popular in most every culture. Some like ours, even have national holidays to help us focus our thoughts. And around that time of year, Christians (rightly) lament that the world around us doesn't even acknowledge who they are supposed to be thanking. But since we're heading into the planting season, that's not the topic of this post.
Our traditions of giving thanks before a meal are often accompanied by uncertain rules. Do we have to pray over this granola bar we're having at the playground? Should we give thanks after we gone through the drive-through or does that only apply if we go in and sit? Do drinks count as food? If so, do you count each recommended glass of water chugged down throughout the day? Does the breakfast prayer include anything before 12:00 sharp? Whew, when did this praying for food get so complicated? Thankfully we have the Bible to help us focus on what is most important, being thankful for all of it. And again thankfully, we have pastors and teachers who instruct us in our application of the Word.
Sanctified by Word and Thanks
Teaching our children to rightly give thanks for the food (and drink) set before us is a biblical command, not a cultural norm. God's children should know the difference and love to honor it.

photo: my birthday cake from last week, baked by my visiting mom; it's angel food cake stuffed with chocolate cool whip. very thankful.

milk

I found this article helpful as a nursing mom in clearing up confusion in the kinds of milk my body produces.
Differences in breastmilk

Saturday, March 06, 2010

finally


For the last half a year I have periodically searched the web for someone critiquing Michael Pollan's books from a Christian worldview since they weren't titles that had made it to my husband's must-read list. The next best thing? Having someone like Douglas Wilson write his thoughts about the ideas and arguments Pollan makes regarding food, its evolution, production and consumption.
I'm always happy when someone smarter than me reads the same stuff that I do and writes about it. It makes me feel somewhat smart too. Like, at least I reading the same stuff that smart people read and I'm smart enough to know that I'm not very smart. (My mom says something like that all the time.
Start with Homeopathic Poison and then read the more recent posts in the Creation and Food label. And if you never heard of Michael Pollan or have never read his books, go read Wilson's posts anyway. They're more interesting then most stuff on the web.

*photo: now infamous celery patch in last year's garden. that's a joke of course.