Drawing on his decades of experience as a pastor, hymn writer, and hymnal consultant, Fred Anderson here offers pastors and worship leaders a rich treasury of singable psalms — one for each psal
Drawing on his decades of experience as a pastor, hymn writer, and hymnal consultant, Fred Anderson here offers pastors and worship leaders a rich treasury of singable psalms — one for each psalm text or canticle appointed in the three-year Revised Common Lectionary.
Anderson renders each psalm into metered text, using contemporary, biblical, inclusive language, and suggests appropriate pairings with familiar hymn tunes. Short pastoral reflections on each psalm text provide background on what is being sung — and are also useful for sermon preparation and personal meditation.
M. Craig Barnes
—Princeton Theological Seminary
"The Psalms come alive when put to music. From the beginning they were given to express the high drama of life with God through song, which travels deeper into the heart than can words alone. Fred Anderson has long distinguished himself as a scholar of worship who also knows the challenges of putting together the Sunday service every week. This will be an often-used resource for any church committed to joining the deep tradition of making the psalter a hymnbook."
Jeremy Begbie
—Duke Divinity School
"A much-needed collection. Coming from years of pastoral experience 'in the trenches,' it witnesses in an exceptional way to the power of meter and music to convey the depths of God's Word."
C. Michael Hawn
—Perkins School of Theology
"Fred Anderson here offers the Christian community an immeasurable gift. Already represented in several hymnals, these metrical psalms will enrich this genre of congregational song that will stand the test of time. Worshipers will find their appreciation of the psalter deepened by singing and praying these metrical poems in addition to reading the psalms."
Arlo Duba
University of Dubuque Theological Seminary "A rich treasury of singable psalms from the heart of the Christian Bible. Reflecting thirty-five-plus years of Fred Anderson's ministry, this publication can certainly be called 'the Anderson Psalter.' "
Joseph D. Small
—PC(USA) Office of Theology and Worship
"Fred Anderson has been at the center of the current revival of hymn singing. His metrical texts, set to familiar hymn tunes, have graced hymnals for the past twenty-five years. Now he has completed his spiritual labor on all of the psalms in the Revised Common Lectionary, together with metrical settings of biblical canticles. With specified meters and suggested hymn tunes, these profound and lovely texts are ideal for congregational worship as well as personal and family use."
— Theology Today
"A treasure chest of singable psalms and a much-needed resource. . . . Anderson's well-crafted psalm texts are accessible, yet poetic. The language throughout the metrical settings is contemporary, inclusive, and biblical. His vivid imagery makes the psalms come alive in new ways. . . . No doubt, appreciation of the psalter, and singing the psalms, will grow as congregations and individuals use this rich resource."
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Fred R. Anderson is pastor emeritus of Madison Avenue Presbyterian Church in New York City and a recognized hymn writer whose hymns and metrical psalm texts appear in a number of Protestant and Catholic hymnals around the world.
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