The 1912 Psalter was the product of nine denominations working together to provide a single Psalter for use in their congregations. The times have been few when God has given so many Reformed denominations to work together. Yet, even then, three of the nine denominations were already moving toward hymn-singing along with psalm-singing in church. […]
There be four things which are little upon the earth, but they are exceeding wise: The spider taketh hold with her hands, and is in kings’ palaces. — Proverbs 30:24, 28 The littlest spider grasped her thread in her hands and spun her web between the branches of a tree. She wove the thread back […]
The Wittenberg Hymnal was comprised of songs that were inspired by the Psalms and other parts of the Bible, but they were not as close word-for-word as possible. Nor did this songbook have a song and tune for every Psalm in the Bible. When John Calvin fled to Strasburg, Germany in 1538, he set out […]
Before the Reformation, singing in church was often done by a group of performers instead of the whole congregation. The Reformers believed that the whole congregation should sing to give praise to God together and be an active part of worship. By 1524, only seven years after the Reformation began, Martin Luther, working with a […]
It was the summer after my senior year of high school. I went to the Young People’s Convention. Perhaps you’ve heard stories about the convention from your older brothers and sisters? I enjoyed the conventions, but my favorite memory is not the banquets or hanging out with friends or the games or anything you’ve probably […]
The tree planted by the river’s side is mentioned several times in the Bible (Psalm 1:3; Jer. 17:8). It isn’t a specific kind of tree that is mentioned, but its location is important. In this passage, the tree is planted. Someone moved the tree to this spot so that it could have water and grow. […]
The sycomore tree is a lesser known tree in the Bible. It is mostly known as the tree that Zacchaeus climbs to see Jesus. The sycomore tree in the Bible is a type of fig tree and is not the same type of tree as the sycamore trees found in other parts of the world, […]
The palm tree is another important tree in the Bible. The type of palm tree native to Israel is also called the date palm because it produces large clumps of fruit called dates. Dates were an important fruit in Bible times. They were a main food that everyone ate since dates grew abundantly in the […]
The fig tree is the third tree mentioned by name in the Bible, after the Tree of Life and the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil. Adam and Eve used the leaves of the fig tree to try to make aprons for themselves to cover themselves after the Fall. Fig trees are mentioned as […]