![]() ![]() A song of thanksgiving, the responsive reading, the sermon, and the song of response to communion all drew on Psalm 120. The call to worship was a psalm-based litany ending with “our help is in the name of the Lord, who made heaven and earth” (Psalm 124:8). The gathering music for the first service included “Let Us Go to the House of the Lord,” a Bruce Benedict song based on Psalm 122. He rearranged, wrote, and commissioned new psalm songs to create a well of one to four songs for every Psalm of Ascent. ![]() That’s why he used the Psalms of Ascent in many parts of worship and geared that use to different learning styles.īenedict collected songs from psalters, versifications by Isaac Watts and Charles Wesley, Sacred Harp versions, and psalm songs by contemporary musicians Brian Doerksen and Brian Moss. “There’s incredible value in sustained engagement with difficult biblical texts through multiple experiential forms of learning,” Benedict says. Other weeks he’d shake his head and say, ‘Not this one,’” Benedict says. “Sometimes Tom would tell me that he felt like he had really conquered a psalm. He checked in with Dodd from time to time. In some ways, that’s at the heart of the community pilgrimage undertaken in the texts themselves,” Benedict notes. Scott’s teaching gave us permission to fail, to struggle, to all come at the Psalms of Ascents on even ground. We use prose, legal documents, or something else. “Not only are we trying to engage with texts written over 2,000 years ago, but none of us uses poetry to say the most important things in our lives. Benedict says that seeing poetry as the language for what matters most “became a central paradigm” and explained “a huge disconnect” that today’s Christians often feel when told they should enjoy the psalms. ![]() He explained that people in the ancient Near East used poetry to express the most important things in life and culture. He said he just didn’t get poetry,” Benedict says.Įarly in the series, Old Testament professor Scott Redd visited to teach about the Psalms of Ascent. “Tom loved music but always struggled to read and enjoy the psalms. Benedict tells a story about Tom Dodd, a church music team member who works as a solid waste engineer. Poetry is keyĬhrist the King Pres focused on Psalms 120-134 for 15 weeks, from autumn through Palm Sunday. What his church discovered can help your congregation craft a scriptural immersion. Benedict is director of worship and congregational life at Christ the King Presbyterian Church in Raleigh, North Carolina. The Psalms of Ascent worked that way for the Israelites who sang them while traveling together to Jerusalem to worship God at the three yearly festivals.īruce Benedict wondered what would happen if his church engaged every which way with the Psalms of Ascent. These experiences make people feel united, whether in joy, sorrow, or purpose. Walking seven times around the Kaaba in Mecca. Singing your national anthem in a stadium. Psalms of Ascent: songs for the journey Story ImagesĬounting down at Cape Canaveral or Times Square. By: Joan Huyser-Honig and Bruce Benedict Tags: psalms, psalms of ascent Feature Story posted on January 31, 2011 Immersing themselves in these psalms helped worshipers view their lives as people journeying together on their way home to God. ![]()
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